Hi, I want to get AppGameKit so I can start developing for iOS (iphones, ipads, etc.), but I don?t really want to sign up to become an Apple developer just yet ? I?d like to start easy and create a few apps for me and my friends rather than letting them loose on the entire world.

Is there any way I could restrict iOS apps to my friends, or is iOS development simply an ?all or nothing? approach?

No it can't be restricted. You can use the AppGameKit player to test your app but you can not distribute it that way. Either TGC publishes your game (if its good) or you'll need a Mac + App developer account.

So I couldn't just have my friends download the AppGameKit player app, give them the bytecode files, and let them run it through that?

Would the AppGameKit player app remember the last set of bytecode data it was sent, and be able to run it even if it was outside the wifi range of the original computer?

The player is some sort of receiver app. The AppGameKit IDE sends the bytecode + all media files to the player over wifi. As soon as the player on your frieds iOS device closes or you press 5 seconds on the top of the player, then the transmitted game/app ends and cannot be reloaded until the AppGameKit IDE sends it again.

Ah, I see. In that case I have some serious thinking to do. I don't own a mac but I may well have to get one, and I'm not sure if any games I created would be good enough for TGC to even consider!

Getting AppGameKit will definitely involve moving up a league - up till now I've been content with crafting something simple (not even games, usually), but now I think I'd be aiming for the quality of Evochron Mercenary. That's quite a jump for me...

Why not simply use AppGameKit to create something, then use the free player to test. If it's worth it then you can consider buying a Mac (mini would do). I think that's the "cheapest" way to start.

The AppGameKit player only deletes the bytecode after pressing the top of the screen for 5 seconds, so your friends should be able to exit agk player on the iphone and still have the game available to play when it's restarted. That's how it's working for me.

That's how it's working for me.

How have you got this working? I thought the AppGameKit player isn't availabel for the iPod / iPhone yet.

TheGameCreators supply the source code, simply compile it in xcode, deploy and run. Then broadcast the game

You mean the iOS player is available as source code? Is this already in my Mac installation?

Thanks

@MC

That's correct x2

You mean the iOS player is available as source code? Is this already in my Mac installation?

Yes. Under IDE\Apps\interpreter_ios.

In the documentation under Guides there are sections for Tier 1 and Tier 2 that describe everything you need to do to prepare your apps for distribution to the various platforms.

This is one big reason I like some web formats to export your games to, this way you could have your game on the web and have it playable on any platform.

This makes more sense than just one format or another.