Getting Started with SpriteKit

Key Features

• Learn the key concepts of game development in iOS
• Take advantage of SpriteKit to create your own games and improve your apps
• Follow the step-by-step chapters to create a complete product ready to submit to the App Store

Book Description

SpriteKit is Apple’s game engine to develop native iOS games. Strongly boosted by the Apple Inc., Cupertino, it has increased in popularity since its first release. This book shows you the solutions provided by SpriteKit to help you create any 2D game you can imagine and apply them to create animations that will highlight your existing apps.

This book will give you the knowledge you need to apply SpriteKit to your existing apps or create your own games from scratch.

Throughout the book, you will develop a complete game. The beautiful designs implemented in the game in this book will easily lead you to learn the basis of 2D game development, including creating and moving sprites, and adding them to a game scene. You will also discover how to apply advanced techniques such as collision detection, action execution, playing music, or running animations to give a more professional aspect to the game. You will finish your first game by learning how to add a main menu and a tutorial, as well as saving and loading data from and to the player’s device.

Finally, you will find out how to apply some mobile games techniques such as accelerometer use or touch detection.

What you will learn

• Create and configure a SpriteKit project from scratch
• Load and manage the basic elements of games such as sprites, labels, and geometrical primitives
• Handle touch events, detect collisions, and play sound audio files
• Create complex elements, animate sprites, and run the parallax effect
• Complete your games with key components such as a main menu, transitions between scenes, a tutorial, and the ability to load and save data
• Increase the efficiency of your device using the accelerometer or by adding shaders, lights, and shadows
• Gain complementary techniques such as creating or finding audio resources, applying SpriteKit to apps, or using third-party tools

About the Author

Jorge Jordan is an iOS indie developer who’s passionate about how things work since his childhood. This is the reason why he graduated in computer science and became a Java developer. After buying his first iPhone, he became deeply interested in its technology and spent his spare time learning how to develop apps for Apple’s smartphones.

Over time, he founded www.insaneplatypusgames.com, where he tries to make his dreams and games come true. He is also a member of the tutorial team at www.raywenderlich.com.

Also, he has worked on a book titled Cocos2d Game Development Blueprints, Packt Publishing.

In his free time, he loves to play video games, play bass guitar, and watch TV series.

You can follow him on Twitter; his Twitter handle is @jjordanarenas.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. The First Step toward SpriteKit
Chapter 2. What Makes a Game a Game?
Chapter 3. Taking Games One Step Further
Chapter 4. From Basic to Professional Games
Chapter 5. Utilizing the Hardware and Graphics Processor
Chapter 6. Auxiliary Techniques