Toronto Chapter
Summary, August 13 2009
Apple iPhone application development
By: Derek Maninang
This August’s event was well attended by many industry developers and followers of applications for the iPhone. With the creation and rise of the Apple iPhone many developers have looked at this as an opportunity to not only strive to create a successful business venture but to also be part of a new direction that the gaming industry is heading in terms of mobile application development.
Owen Goss kicked off the evening as the moderator introducing the guest speakers to the packed room. Before the event had commenced an announcement was made by organizers of Mobile Innovation week, an event geared towards leaders and innovators in the mobile applications industry which is scheduled to be held in mid-September.
The first guest speakers of the night were representing Cerebral Vortex Games. Jason MacIsaac and Nick Kenyere spoke of the challenges they faced in creating Ghostbreaker. Using the Unity game engine this ghost hunting app for the iPhone (which is still in development) utilizes the integration of the camera to search for ghosts to eliminate that are present in the players surroundings. Ghostbreaker's challenges were many as they were faced with tight restrictions placed by Apple on how the camera can be used. Also performance issues were a problem that had to be tackled while trying to render 3D images with the camera in real time.
Dave Wood from Cerebral Gardens followed with his look in to the prevention and understanding of how iPhone applications can be pirated. His presentation gave the audience a view on the importance of developers understanding in to how software is pirated in order to prevent it. Piracy detection and how the developer can warn the user about using their pirated software was also touched upon. With the research and development being used to prevent piracy the major obstacle that still remains is how developers can turn existing pirated software users in to potential customers.
Audio Designer Harry Mack concluded the night with his presentation on tips with audio for iPhone apps as well as how to help improve sound quality with your mobile device. Currently he is working on a free-to-play strategy game application called Mind Twist which in collaboration with Richard Garfield, the creator the card game Magic The Gathering, is scheduled to be released on the iPhone and Facebook.
Augusts IGDA meeting came to an end with a short session of discussions ranging from questions for the guests speakers to discussions about the state of the mobile game industry particularly where iPhone application development is heading. We followed up the evening with a social gathering for some beers at the Elephant & Castle.
IGDA Toronto would like to thank Rob Berry and the City of Toronto for providing the conference room along with the Tim Horton’s coffee and donuts. A special thanks to all the guest speakers as well as everyone one else who came out to support this months meeting.
If you would like to get more information on any of the presentations or any other developers discussed in this article you can visit the links listed below.
www.mobileinnovationweek.com
www.cerebralvortexgames.com
www.cerebralgardens.com
www.harrymack.com
www.toronto.ca/
