Upcoming Workshop: Cocos2D via Minigames!

Learn Cocos2D via Minigames!

Learn Cocos2D via Minigames!

This is just a quick announcement if you hadn’t heard already, that Rod Strougo and I will be running a Cocos2D via Minigames workshop next week!

We’ll be giving the workshop next Friday, April 8, at the Voices That Matter iPhone Developers Conference in Seattle, Washington.

If you haven’t been to VTM before, it’s a great conference, and I learned a lot last time I went. Looks like there’s some amazing talks this year – check out the full schedule here.

What’s This Workshop About?

This workshop is for beginners to Cocos2D. The first section walks you through Cocos2D from the ground up, starting with Sprites, Actions, and Touch Handling, so you can make a minigame like this:

The second section covers Scenes and Layers, Menus and Fonts, so you can add a game over scene and a title scene with a menu like this:

In the third section, we show some more intermediate-level techniques, such as using sprite sheets, animations, the retina display, and more – basically extending the above minigame to be even better.

In the fourth and final section, we give you an intro to Chipmunk physics! We’ll show you how to set up a basic Chipmunk scene and add various bodies, so you can make a puzzle game like this:

Caveat: We’re trying to fit a lot into this workshop, so the above plan may be modified if we are running short on time! :]

Do I Get To Code?

Yes you do!

Everyone who comes to the workshop should bring your own Mac so you can code along. It’s a hands-on workshop – we’ll give some slides and demos, then turn you loose so you can try it yourself.

You should have Xcode installed on your machine prior to the workshop. We’ll be using Xcode 4 for demos and such, but if you’re still using Xcode 3 it’s OK. Also, please download Cocos2D 1.0.0-rc on your machine before the conference. You don’t necessarily need to install it now though as we’ll cover how in the class.

You’ll be making your own games in the hands-on labs – and don’t worry, we’ll provide you with the art, made by my lovely wife!

I’m also pleased to announce that Juraj Hlavac from GameCollage has volunteered to help us answer questions during the hands-on portion of the class! Juraj is an experienced Cocos2D/Chipmunk developer so we’re very excited he’ll be there helping everyone out!

Important note: This workshop assumes you are familiar with Objective-C programming and have used Xcode in the past. If you’re completely new to Objective-C, you may want to study up on it a bit first – you’ll get a lot more out of the workshop that way!

Can I Still Sign Up?

Yes you can! You can sign up at the Voices That Matter conference site.

In addition, when you sign up you can use this Priority Code to save $100 off the price of the conference: SEASPK4

Oh btw one more cool thing – Rod and I be giving out the first printed pre-production copies of our Cocos2D book ever made at the conference to a few lucky attendees!

Rod, Juraj, and I are looking forward to meeting all who attends, and hopefully get some more Cocos2D devs out there on the App Store! :]