IPhone dev on Windows - possible?

#21 @Daryl, so that's okay to run OS X on legally? I'm confused.

Or did Apple put a stamp on the Intel chips they agree to be OS X worthy? Seems a little (read alot) stupid to me.

#22 @Andy - No, it's not legal. The license for Mac OS X Server allows one to run in a VM, but only if the host machine is a Mac. That is, the "Mac only" requirement remains, but Server allows you to run multiple virtual instances on a single Mac.

Honestly, I doubt it would even work. Macs do not use the traditional (for PCs) BIOS. They use a different set of firmware called EFI. Last time I checked, only the Mac version of VMWare provides EFI to guest VMs.

#23 I'm fairly certain I have read that the iPhone SDK stuff (emulator,etc) won't work on non-mac hardware. I seem to recall that provisioning won't work on non-mac hardware either.

I haven't tried this myself as I have a macbook pro that I develop on. I think the easiest/cheapest way to develop for the iPhone is to just get an Intel macmini

#24 XCode, provisioning and all that jazz have no real hardware requirements. OS X is all it needs. The big problem is that a "Hackintosh" solution is a pain in the anatomy to install and keep reliable.

Best solution: Macbook (the dinky, white one that looks like a toy). They can be had even cheaper than the Mac mini at the moment, at least where I live. I've even seen the black one cheap now and then.

The Mac mini is less of a solution because it's a major hassle to open. I can upgrade RAM on a Macbook blindfolded :)

I'm using more than 2GB of memory in my daily programming routine, so I recommend upgrading. The mini is limited to 2GB maximum, and has a laptop drive at 5400rpm. Not ideal when the system starts swapping out memory.

Programming on the mini is fine if you add a faster drive, or don't have 20 programs open all the time. A Macbook can be a lot more pleasant. Old Macbook if on a shoestring budget, alumininuninuim models if you have the cash. If MS haven't rotted your brain completely, you will even start to like it.

#25 Mac can run Windows, but Windows cannot run mac. So if you want to develop for both Mac and Windows, you should get a mac computer and dual boot windows on it. Apple has a software called Boot Camp that allows you to dual boot Windows OS on a Mac computer. That is possible because Mac has switched to Intel processors instead of PowerPC processors.

#26 Yes, Mac is hardware. Windows is software ;)

Boot Camp lets you repartition your drive and install another OS, but it's targetted towards Windows. You can look for a fancy bootmenu like rEFIt, if you want it looking good.

#27 Or, you can run Windows virtually, in Parallels or VMWare. The latest versions of both support 3d acceleration, and perform well enough to run Visual Studio to build your game, create an .msi installer for it, and do some basic testing. You can send it off to your Windows-using teammates for more in-depth testing on the "real thing."

#28 I'm a bit lost here.

I want to start developping for the Iphone but I want to know if its possible for me to write all my scripts and stuff on my PC on the TGB and just at some point copy all my coding on Mac.. without any changes ?

#29 @Rick - It is possible to do, but you will not be able to write any Obj-C code, which is how you can add additional iPhone features. However, you can write your game play in source and TorqueScript without having to work on a Mac.

At some point, though, you have to get on a Mac so you can test in the simulator, deploy to a device, and submit to the app store.

#30 thx for the fast reply Michael!
And just to know, what Iphone features are already included in the TGB engin? Is there anything to use the touch screen or tilting as controls?

I'll definitely get a mac later if everything goes well during my production phase. As I'm a newbie in programming, I don't know how far I can go with the "adding features" to the Iphone ;)

is there any Iphone specific documentation about specs, controls, deployment and technical limitation/ performance?

thx

#31 @Rick - Yes, touch, multi-touch, and accelerometer are supported. We just added iPhone OS keyboard support, and are working on Camera + Photo Library browsing.

I have been writing iTGB specific documentation, but not as much as I would like to. It is enough to get you started, though, as well as explain some of the limitations and setup.

#32 "IPhone dev on Windows - possible?"

If the answer is no, maybe it would be better to make it more clear under the Requirements box, on iTGB page. I was quite confident that the answer would be yes.

I realize this is Apple's limitation, not yours, but some people might end up acquiring licenses without realizing they need a mac (or access to mac, at least).

Other than that, the engine looks great! Makes me consider getting a Mac
Keep up the good work!

#33 iPhone development has a Mac as a requirement. It would be the exception, not the norm, if Windows was possible to use to deploy to the device.

#34 Yep I've been steaming alone with iPhone development now using ShiVa (programming on PC) and Xcode(Mac). ShiVa is great for fast prototyping (especially 3d - no stuffing around with OpenGL ES) and XCode make me feel like a real programmer :) I cheat a bit though and use Cocos2D and Chipmunk ontop to make it easier to do 2d games with physics.

So my rig is a Mac Mini (latest with GeForce card) and 2Gig RAM running on Leopard. I have an iTouch 8Gig to test on. This was the cheapest buy-in for me.

XCode is great because I can use the iPhone simulator as part of the OS3.0 SDK, but it doesn't do accelerometer stuff on the fly, meaning I have to compile, test on the iTouch, stop, change code, compile again.

Only the other hand, in ShiVa (on the PC) I got the BlueSoleil blue tooth driver so I can use my WiiMote on-the-fly to debug accelerometer code, but really any analogue joystick can be used for fairly comparitive testing. ShiVa is good for this type of testing because you can edit-and-continue which, so far as I know, no other language/IDE system allows you to do this anymore.

Oh yeah, and ShiVa uses a version of LUA for scripting. If I just want to program on the Mac all day I can use Parallels to run ShiVa (using an easy migrate license process) in a Windows VM and it sets up a networking dropbox to copy the compiled binary across to the Mac, where I use the S3DAuthoringTool (now OS3.0 compat) to make a XCode binary ready to drop into XCode's Organiser to upload to iTouch ( need developer account, developer cert, provisioning profile setup as well ).

If all this sounds complicated, it's not, it just took a few weeks to organise and get my head around.

However all this being said, I still want to try iTGB and iTGE because the tools look cool and the results are impressive.

#35

Quote:Yep I've been steaming alone with iPhone development now using ShiVa (programming on PC) and Xcode(Mac)

Don't you need a copy of ShiVa installed on a Mac to compile it to iphone? (I believe that's how iTGB works, right?). Or do you need the iphone SDK + XCode only?

By the way, does your company/yourself have a website where I can see some of your work? I'm really curious.

Take care!

#36

Quote:
Don't you need a copy of ShiVa installed on a Mac to compile it to iphone? (I believe that's how iTGB works, right?). Or do you need the iphone SDK + XCode only?

No ShiVa doesn't work on Mac unless like I have, you are running it on a VM - in my case Parallels. The Mac needs the iPhone SDK, XCode and the free S3DAuthoringTool from StoneTrip to make the final app.

Quote:
By the way, does your company/yourself have a website where I can see some of your work? I'm really curious.

Yes I will update my website and blog soon once the latest app I'm working on has been sent up to Apple for approval. Not long now.