How can I link my iPad game into an ibook?

DragonTea

Hey all! Looking to link the ipad game we developed into an ibook we also developed. The ibook and game would already be installed on the ipad itself.

Would I be able to make a custom url? Any ideas?

jamie_c

I think you can use URL's in the iBook format, if so couldn't you just link to an HTML 5 version of the game uploaded to the Arcade?

I'm not that familiar with iBook format though so I could be wrong.

DragonTea

Jamie thanks! We did consider uploading a HTML5 version and then hosting it online and then from there using a url link. However - the html5 would be a much lower quality version so we were trying to find a different workaround without having to use the internet. There is no guarantee that the Children's Center will have access to the wifi network. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to answer!

DragonTea

So then I guess a new question would be, if we make it into HTML5 and then publish it through gamesalad... would we be able to take the HTML5 and make it into a widget for the ibook? Maybe in something like dashcode?

I have not done this before but I guess it is an idea.

famekrafts

Can't you make an interactive iBook within gs itself, might be easier to link the game and iBook. Haven't used pro yet so no idea how the linking works.

jamie_c

All you can do with Gamesalad HTML 5 games is link to them from the arcade. You don't actually get access to the code of the game.

If you check out the Gamesalad Arcade you'll see most game have an 'embed' link listed on the page. You copy this link and place it on your own webpage and the game shows up there. That is the only control you have though as far as I know.

SlickZero

The open URL feature is just a link to any web page that will be opened. It takes you away from your game, and opens the web page in a browser window. In my experience, the user usually winds up shutting down the game because of the way iOS navigates. You can navigate back to the app in progress, but it's sorta tricky.

Let me see If I understand you correctly, you are wanting to have both apps installed on the iPad, and have them reference each other? If that's right, I'm sorry to say that's not possible. And neither is making a widget with the HTML5 version.

So I believe at this time, your only option is to have the ibook linked to the HTML5 app, but that sounds like that's not what your design plans are for your project.

DragonTea

Slick you got it. We were trying to find a way to have the ibook open the game app on the ipad which I'm slowly (through all my research today) finding is not possible. Neither is making the widget or creating a custom url scheme with the gamesalad app since it would break the signature. We're sort of at an impasse. If you can create a custom url scheme in a xcode plist file then you can indeed have one app open another via link but unfortunately we can't do that with this due to the fact it can't be edited after publishing.

But at the moment - since the CMC has their own iPads for the department we can preinstall the apps on the device and just let the kids know at the end of the ibook to go open the games.

So frustrating all these wonderful different technologies and they can't play nice together.

If anyone can think of a work around - or future development please let me know. Like unity has their embedded viewer I wish ibook had some sort of embedded app.