ITGB update?

#1 I'd like to know about this as well please.

Why is it running so slow - can we skip certain parts of TGB (collision detection etc) to make it faster?

Thanks.

#2 I've been interested in speaking to current iTGB users but I believe Conor is the only one using iTGB in the IRC channel. Hey GG and mods, since forum access is only available to license holders would it be possible to set up a public iTGB forum for us to ask questions and general status of iTGB? I'm interested in iTGB and I have to make a choice about licensing the engine or just going from scratch on my game. But I don't know a lot about the engine other than that's been blogged in the two releases. Wasn't the iTGB portion of TDN also supposed to be up? Thanks!

-Wenceslao

#3 The TDN section for iTGB got pushed back due to TGEA 1.8 Beta and general documentation updates. If you have some questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

#4 I haven't pushed any new content to the sections yet, but if you want TDN news or articles, this is where you can start:

iTorque TDN Section

#5 I dont know all the details about differences between iPhone and iPod Touch, so I wonder if anybody knows if its possible to make games for iPod Touch aswell by using iTGB. All I know is that an iPod Touch is pretty much identical to an iPhone but without the actual phone function. Are there other differences?

#6 @Sobo - I currently work with the iPod Touch. There are two main differences in hardware I bring up when comparing iPod Touch to iPhone:

- iPhone has a camera
- iPhone features continuous connection to the Internet

You must remember, though, you can't 100% develop iPod Touch solely. There are conditions you need to keep in mind for iPhone users, such as handling incoming calls and how that affects your game.

Does that help?

#7 Thank you for the answer! I was really just wondering if iPod Touch can run games at all, but I just read the system requirements for iTGB and noticed that the product deploys to the iPod Touch aswell.

I have another question regarding the license though. It seems strange to me that you have to pay per title as a indie. It makes this product unaffordable for all the hobby programmers like me. Or does this only apply to commersially sold titles?
I would be very interested in iTGB if I could pay the license and make infinite amount of games, just like I can with the ordinary TGB.

#8 @Sobo - The licensing issue is not really something I can comment on, as that is outside my realm. This was brought up in the last IRC Hour meeting, but I do not personally get involved with the business aspect of things.

I focus mainly on documentation, community, and QA. On the side, I am a hobby programmer as well. So, like you I have to be realistic about my budget and available time.

#9 I was just accepted into the iPhone dev program by Apple (how gracious!), and I've been reading up on what I need in terms of hardware. iPod touch, cheapest possible, seems to be the best choice, as Apple warn that funky things may happen to the device. You should be prepared to have the device being a development device only (I guess because they may force it to update the OS with betas?).

The touch has wi-fi and the same CPU and GPU as the iPhone, and with the latest version of the device, also an external speaker and a microphone. The iPhone has the various phone networks in addition, but I don't know if the touch is any less network-connected than the iPhone. In all software you make, Apple *require* you to not expect constant connection. All apps not made by Apple have the limitation that they may be pushed aside for system functions. This, and information in a recently released book, leads me to believe that you can't get too much information about calls/SMS. It just happens. The notifications for those things are not publicly documented.

(I'd like some clarification from developers who have actually tried - it'll be a couple of days until I can afford an iPod touch, and probably more before I perform miracles with it ;)

I'd also like to know if a free game "eats" a licence. Would be nice to give away some small games eventually.

This is the book I've been getting information from, by the way:
http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321553519

#10 The best filter for licensing questions is licensing at garagegames dot com.

I'm not sure about the restrictions on titles that are given away for free. That would be a great question to ask licensing. If you are talking about releasing a game with a free demo, then the free demo will not require two licenses (one for the commercial game and one for the demo).

#11 I asked at the IRC hour last week and from the information I gathered, you're right David, a game with a demo is one title so only requires one license. You will require one license for every title you release so that would include any titles you want to release for free.