If you write it they will come!!
…by they I mean of course the edits to the book. It’s in technical review now and the edits from the reviewers are starting to come through. This is really exciting as I’m starting to see what people think about the book. So far the feedback has been really positive.
I’m due to have all edits for the book by the middle of March and due to have them all addressed by the end of the month. The book should also be up on Safari Rough Cuts very soon and I’ll let you know as soon as that happens.
I also finished Sir Lamorak’s Quest over the weekend :o) I’ve been tweaking graphics and the map and now sent out a new version to the beta testers yesterday. This version contains the final map and all game content in place. The only changes I’m planning on making now are to game play to make sure its balanced i.e. not to easy and not too hard. Again, this is really exciting and after the months that have gone into it I’m really pleased it’s soon going to be in the wild for people to play.
All in all this is shaping up to be a busy and exciting month :o)
Mike
17 Comments
pearapps on March 1st, 2010
New update video soon? :(
RoberRM on March 1st, 2010
Oups! Does that mean that you won’t be covering the process of preparing and sending the application to Apple? I’ve read elsewhere that it is not as easy as it seems (but I could be mistaken).
Congratulations on seeing the end of the tunnel. ;)
Nick on March 2nd, 2010
Accessing Safari Rough Cuts costs 42.99 US a month in subscription fees. Way too much for me!
Who is your publisher Mike? Not just Safari I hope. Companies like Wiley do MEAP (early access editions) which are the same thing as rough cuts, but you only pay for the book you want and you get the whole thing as an eBook when its ready.
bigsprocket on March 2nd, 2010
@Nick – you can buy rough cuts books a la carte on Safari. There’s a bundle that gets you the final printed product, plus PDF rough cuts along the way.
Congrats on this big milestone, Mike!
George on March 2nd, 2010
“The book should also be up on Safari Rough Cuts very soon”
This is Fish n’Chips to my ears.
BW Griggs on March 2nd, 2010
MEAP is pretty awesome if you need access to content before publication.
On the subject of submitting to the App Store – it is easier than you think. Creating a distribution certification is the toughest technical challenge, but the walkthroughs are thorough and it’s quite simple once you do it once or twice. Honestly, I spend more time writing the App Store description and picking keywords.
mike on March 2nd, 2010
@Nick, my publisher is Addison-Wesley. I’m not sure what the price will be while its in rough cuts but when its published it will be available as a full colour paperback. I’m really chuffed is going to be full colour as I’ve been able to use nice screen shots, diagrams and code colour coding :o)
@George, you just had to mention Fish n’Chips….hhhhhmmm :o)
@RoberRM, I’m with BW on this. I did consider doing a chapter on app store submission, but given the amount of information available on the app store now including the wizard they have created, it has become a lot easier than it was. If people are getting stuck I’ll do tutorial on it when the book is out :o)
Mike
kingbombs on March 2nd, 2010
Awesome news, i do like some of the programming books published by Addison-Wesley
I’m curious, did they come to you and ask you to write it or did you want to write it and asked around for publishers?
mike on March 2nd, 2010
They actually found me. Chuck, my editor, had an idea of what he wanted and then came across this blog and watched the tutorials. Based on what he saw and the feedback you guys were giving he contacted me and the rest, as they say, is history.
I have often thought of creating a book as I’ve never come across a book on writing games that has ticked all the boxes, I just never thought it would happen. Addison-Wesley coming to me as they did was a real surprise and has allowed me to create the book I always wanted to read :o)
Mike
G-Force on March 2nd, 2010
Congratulations Mike, I can’t wait.
I stumbled across your site/tutorials a few days ago, and I can honestly say that ‘I can’t put it down’, I’m sure it’ll be the same with the book.
I really hope the book and SLQ goes well for you, I’ll certainly be getting both.
Please do keep up the great work, it’s helped me loads in my recent iPhone Dev direction change.
Kind Regards,
G
Nick on March 2nd, 2010
@Big Sprocket, thanks for that info, this is definitely a book I want, looking forward to seeing it in print too. Color too!! Congratulations Mike.
rbackman on March 3rd, 2010
Congrats on finishing the game and the book!! Im sure they will be great. I look forward to trying them both :-)
nathanael on March 3rd, 2010
Your blog is great. I wanted to ask you if you plan on doing a tutorial/simple game with OpenGl ES 2.0
kingbombs on March 4th, 2010
What might be kind of cool is when you are ready to allow people to read the book on Safari Rough Cuts, put an easter egg on the site that links you to the book a day early. Be funny to see all of us digging around the site clicking on anything and everything trying to find a clue :D
Kevin on March 7th, 2010
Congrats on the book Mike. Your blog and tutorials by the way are great.
I’m an old 80′s game developer and have been riveted by your tutorials. So much so I’ve decided I’m toying with the idea of producing a game for the iPhone. That’s if my old brain can assimilate all the good stuff you’ve been showing us.
Without your blogs I don’t think I would have known where to start.
I will be buying your book no doubt as soon as it hits the shelf.
Kind regards
K.
mike on March 7th, 2010
Thanks Kevin, I really appreciate the comments. Believe me that I know what you mean when it comes to assimilating all the new stuff available to create games. Even though I’ve been writing games for my kids in Java for a while, my brain was still wired to use z80 or 6502 assembler LOL
I really hope you are able to get into the iPhone and create something, I know I’ve been having so much fun myself :o)
Mike
Peter on March 1st, 2010
Congrats Mike – I’m sure it will be a wild success and I can’t wait to get a look at it myself!
Peter