Starting cocos2d

I had a terrific time at the #VTM_iPhone (Voices That Matter) conference in October - one of the best things I got from it (besides great contacts) was a chance to see cocos2d in action. I'd heard of cocos2d, of course, but I hadn't connected with it yet. It looks like exactly what I need.

For what, you ask? Well, I have two needs: 1) I want to write my next game, and I'd like to work in the 2d world this time, instead of fighting with OpenGL. And 2) I've got a 13-day class on writing iPhone games (two 70 minute periods a day) that I am teaching in January. To programming neophytes, and a couple of experienced kids. Actually, I am co-teaching it with one of my older students.

So I need something with a quick entry point and lots of flexibility. Cocos2d looks to be just that. We can get stuff up on the screen and moving on the first day, and perhaps interacting by that afternoon! And with hooks for animations, sprite sheets and tile maps, we can focus on ideas of game design, rather than some of the mechanics of writing all that code.

The one weak point, as I see it, at the moment is documentation. There's some, and it's growing, but at the moment, it is still a bit lean.
Here are some resources I've found:

• The official Programming Guide at Cocos2d-iphone.org.
• Ray Wenderlich's excellent blog, which includes some good cocos2d resources.
• Here are two books:
• This book by Steffen Itterheim, which has scary fruit on the front, looks promising - it comes out in a month.
• This book by Rod Strougo, the presenter at VTM, also looks terrific. Sadly, it does not come out until March, which is a couple of months after my class ends.

Still, I'm looking forward to trying Cocos2d and will share what I learn here.


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