Apple Game Frameworks and Technologies

Design and develop sophisticated 2D games that are as much fun to make as they are to play. From particle effects and pathfinding to social integration and monetization, this complete tour of Apple's powerful suite of game technologies covers it all. Familiar with Swift but new to game development? No problem. Start with the basics and then layer in the complexity as you work your way through three exciting—and fully playable—games. In the end, you'll know everything you need to go off and create your own video game masterpiece for any Apple platform.

Tammy Coron @Paradox927

edited by Margaret Eldridge @margaret

Design and develop sophisticated 2D games that are as much fun to make as they are to play. From particle effects and pathfinding to social integration and monetization, this complete tour of Apple’s powerful suite of game technologies covers it all. Familiar with Swift but new to game development? No problem. Start with the basics and then layer in the complexity as you work your way through three exciting—and fully playable—games. In the end, you’ll know everything you need to go off and create your own video game masterpiece for any Apple platform.

Discover the power of Apple Game Frameworks, Xcode, and Swift by building three exciting games: Gloop Drop—a new twist on a classic arcade game, Val’s Revenge—a roguelike dungeon crawler, and Hog—a social player vs. player mobile dice game. With Apple Game Frameworks, you can create high-performance, power-efficient games that work across all Apple platforms, including iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.

In this book, you’ll discover how to…

Design and develop rich 2D gaming experiences using Apple’s built-in game frameworks. Harness the power of SpriteKit using Xcode and Swift to create engaging player experiences. Use the visual Scene Editor to build complete scenes. Unleash the power of the Particle Editor to create amazing effects. Use GameplayKit to add advanced features to your games like pathfinding, artificial intelligence, and complex rule systems. Build larger, more complex worlds with tile maps and Xcode’s visual Tile Map editor. Bring people together using GameKit and Game Center, Apple’s social gaming network. Increase revenue with third-party banner ads and rewarded ads using Google AdMob™. Monetize your games with StoreKit and in-app purchases.

So, grab your gear and get your game on—it’s time to level up your skills.


Tammy Coron is an independent creative professional and the maker behind the AdventureGameKit, a custom SpriteKit framework for building point and click adventure games. As an author, editor, illustrator, and indie game developer, Tammy spends her time creating content and teaching others.


Don’t forget you can get 35% off with your Devtalk discount! Just use the coupon code “devtalk.com" at checkout :+1:

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Editor Margaret Eldridge @Margaret here saying hello. Author Tammy Coron @Paradox927 has done a fantastic job with this book, and we are keeping the beta rolling with fresh chapters every few weeks. If you are interested in game development Game Developer Forum games, be sure to check it out, and don’t forget your 35% discount (just enter devtalk.com as the coupon code.

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Hey, folks.

Thanks for stopping by the forum. My name is Tammy Coron, and I’m the author of this book.

So, you might be wondering why SpriteKit? Well, that’s a good question—and one that I get asked quite often. For those who ask, my response is always the same: “Why not SpriteKit? It has everything you need to build great games.”

With SpriteKit and the rest of the Apple game frameworks and technologies—like GameplayKit, Game Center, Xcode, and Swift—you have access to the tools you need to create high-performance, power-efficient games that work across the entire Apple ecosystem.

What’s especially neat about SpriteKit is that it’s built on top of Metal, a robust Apple framework that provides near-direct access to the graphics processing unit (GPU). Because SpriteKit leverages Metal, it’s possible to tap into your game’s full graphics and compute potential (using Metal) while also providing a simpler programming interface (using SpriteKit).

Another benefit of using SpriteKit, especially if you’re already familiar with Xcode and Swift—even more so if you’re new to game development—is that the learning curve isn’t as steep as something like Unity or Unreal Engine. Don’t get me wrong, Unity and Unreal Engine are phenomenal tools and well worth learning—I’ve used them both and will continue to do so—but there’s something so beautifully simple, yet strangely powerful about SpriteKit.

So, is SpriteKit the best tool for making games? Well, maybe. It all depends on what you’re trying to do and why you’re doing it. So… what are you trying to do? Let me know in the comments!

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Thanks for the info Tammy (and Margaret!)

Which books/resources do you recommend before reading this book? I’ve been meaning to learn Swift for a while and this looks like a fun book but I prefer learning the basics first and would appreciate your thoughts on which resources to get/do first… I’m sure others would be interested in hearing your thoughts about this too :nerd_face:

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Hello, and thanks for the question.

To get started with Swift, your best bet is to read the Swift Documentation. The examples are useful, and the explanations are easy to follow—even the more complicated ones. I’ve been using Swift since its release, and I still refer to the documentation (almost daily).

But reading the docs isn’t a prerequisite for this book. The code, sample games, and explanations in my book are written in such a way that new programmers can pick it up and learn as they go. I explain a lot of concepts like extensions, protocols, and things of that nature. There are also footnotes throughout the book that point to the relative bits in the Swift documentation.

Hope that helps!

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Great idea!

As an iOS dev that recently started messing around with SpriteKit/GameplayKit, I’m really excited about this book.

On GameplayKit, it’s mentioned:

Out of curiosity, are these the only three GK topics covered by the book?
Any chance of covering Entity-Component or Agents-Behaviors-Goals (or any others)?

In any case, I’m looking forward to reading this book.

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Hi, Fernando.

Thanks for your question—and welcome to the SpriteKit/GameplayKit party. :smiley:

To answer your question, yes. There are three chapters in this book that cover GameplayKit. The first one covers entities and components. The second one covers state machines, and the third one covers AI, including pathfinding with agents and behaviors. You’ll see these topics as you work on the second game in the book, Val’s Revenge.

Hope that helps!

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Awesome!
I’m even more hyped now! :grin:

Cheers!

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Hey, folks. Thanks for stopping by.

I’ve been working on a “trailer” video for the book. What do y’all think?

You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IPrmUznUKY

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Howdy readers! Tammy @Paradox927 has a new web site up for Apple Game Frameworks and Technologies: https://applegamedeveloper.com/

She posted a few sneak peek pages from the book if you are still thinking about buying it but haven’t decided yet. Use your DevTalk discount for 35% off here: https://pragprog.com/book/tcswift/https://pragprog.com/book/tcswift/

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@Paradox927’s new book is out of beta and in print—it’s also the #1 New Release in Swift Programming Language on Amazon. I’m more than a little excited about that! Thank you Tammy and all the reviewers and beta readers! :clap: :partying_face:

For those of you who like paper, you can order from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2QRilDm or have your local independent book store order it for you.

Use Coupon Code “TCSWIFTCOMPLETE” for 40% off the ebook at pragprog.com/titles/tcswift.

Note: if you read it, please leave a review here and on Amazon. We really, truly appreciate honest reviews.

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