Book: Learn Cocos2D 2

On May 26, 2011, in , by Steffen Itterheim

Learn Cocos2D 2 (Third Edition)

Release Date: August 29, 2012

Explains both Cocos2D 2.0 and Kobold2D v2.0 side-by-side. All source code projects and descriptions have been updated to fully utilize ARC (automatic reference counting). ARC makes learning Cocos2D even easier and results in faster code with fewer bugs.

Also explains TexturePacker, PhysicsEditor, Tiled, Glyph Designer, Particle Designer and other tools. Source code is compatible with Xcode 4.4, iOS 6 and Mountain Lion (Mac OS X 10.8).

Download Source Code (3rd Edition):

Cocos2D Source Code (ARC) (Cocos2D v2.0; includes 12 Cocos2D ARC templates)
Kobold2D Source Code (ARC) (Kobold2D v2.0; uses Cocos2D v2.0)
Download Kobold2D and install it to get the Kobold2D & Cocos2D Xcode documentation.

Exact game engine versions used by the book:
Download cocos2d-iphone v2.0 and/or download Kobold2D v2.0.4


Second Edition

Release Date: November 9, 2011

Explains Cocos2D v1.0, introduces Cocos3D and Kobold2D. Also explains TexturePacker, PhysicsEditor, Tiled and other tools. Source code is compatible with Xcode 4 and iOS 5.

Download Source Code (2nd Edition):
Source Code (Cocos2D v1.0.1)
Download Kobold2D

First Edition

Release Date: December 2, 2010


Explains Cocos2D v0.99. Source Code is compatible with Xcode 3 and iOS 4. Explains tools like Zwoptex, VertexHelper, Hiero, Tiled and others.

Download Source Code (1st Edition):
Original Source Code (Cocos2D 0.99.x)
Updated Source Code (Cocos2D v1.0.1)


Full Description

Create compelling 2D games with Learn cocos2d 2: Game Development with iOS. This book shows you how to use the powerful new cocos2d, version 2 game engine to develop games for iPhone and iPad with tilemaps, virtual joypads, Game Center, and more. It teaches you:

  • The process and best practices of mobile game development, including sprite batching, texture atlases, parallax scrolling, touch and accelerometer input.
  • How to enhance your games using the Box2D and Chipmunk physics engines and other cocos2d-related tools and libraries.
  • How to add UIKit views to cocos2d and how to add cocos2d to UIKit apps.
  • The ins and outs of the Kobold2D development environment for cocos2d and its pre-configured libraries, including Lua.
  • Best of all, this book will have you making games right from the very start. It guides you step-by-step through the creation of sample games. These fun examples are modeled after popular App Store games and teach you key concepts of the new cocos2d 2 game engine and relevant tools like TexturePacker (texture atlas), PhysicsEditor (physics collision shapes), Particle Designer (particle effects), Glyph Designer (bitmap fonts), and others.

This book offers a rock-solid introduction to creating games made entirely with cocos2d and little or no iOS SDK and OpenGL code. It also details alternative implementations, identifies the best free and commercial tools for cocos2d game development, features coverage of the author’s improved cocos2d game engine (Kobold2D), and even helps you enhance your game’s marketability on the App Store.

Who this book is for

The book is aimed at beginning game developers looking for an easier and even more powerful way to create compelling 2D graphics using OpenGL and Objective-C. It is assumed that the reader will have some knowledge of object-oriented programming and the Apple and iPhone/iPad developer environment.

Learn Cocos2D Book Reviews

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I’m happy to announce that the cocos2d book I’m writing is now available for early access as an Alpha Book! If you click on the previous link or the image you can view the book’s description. Look for the “Buy Alpha Book” button on the left side of the book’s website, inside the “Book Details” frame.

Access to the Alpha Book costs $27,99 - the same as the eBook version. You get to read the unedited, unfinished pre-release chapters of the book. The full book isn’t available yet, but when it becomes available, you will be able to download the full eBook.

At the moment 5 chapters are available with new chapters being written on a weekly schedule.

Your feedback will be very valuable to make this book the best it can be! Please send your feedback to Apress, not to me directly. Apress will evaluate your feedback and send it to me with duplicate and already planned or implemented feedback sorted out, so that I can focus on writing.

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