Since I’ve started to offer KoboldTouch developers have been wondering what will happen to Kobold2D? I’ll answer these questions here.
Kobold2D Updates
When cocos2d 2.1 (stable) is released, I’ll update Kobold2D to include this latest cocos2d version. Same with any other cocos2d version that will be released in 2013. I won’t update to beta versions - sometimes they’re riddled with bugs, other times the next beta comes only a week or two later.
I’ll continue to support and update Kobold2D for as long as there’s interest in it but I’ll definitely focus my efforts on KoboldTouch now.
KoboldTouch “Lite”
Sometime in 2013 (probably not before Q2) I’ll release KoboldTouch “Lite” for free, with limited features and support. This Lite version will then take over as the successor of Kobold2D, while Kobold2D will remain available for some time.
KoboldTouch “Lite” will have the MVC framework but not much else. It will not include any additional features such as OS integration, better tilemap rendering, Box2D Objective-C wrappers and what not.
This ought to help developers get accustomed with the MVC framework.
Relaunch of www.kobold2d.com
Sooner or later I’ll relaunch the www.kobold2d.com website as www.koboldtouch.com. I’ll go for a simple look & feel (KISS), it will include the Kobold2D articles and I’m going to write all KoboldTouch documentation publicly.
For one this will make it easier for me to write and publish documentation. It should also help KoboldTouch’s popularity to reveal its documentation to both developers and search engines.
KoboldTouch compatibility with Kobold2D
KoboldTouch is not 100% compatible with Kobold2D, since I’ve already trimmed the less popular libraries from KoboldTouch: Chipmunk, Chipmunk Spacemanager, Cocos3D, ObjectAL, SneakyInput, iSimulate, AdMob. The remaining libraries are: cocos2d-iphone, cocos2d-iphone-extensions, CocosDenshion, Kobold2D, Box2, Lua and a few smaller additions (BitArray, LOG_EXPR, etc).
You should be able to port code that does not use one of these libraries with ease. Though without adapting to the MVC framework you lose a lot of the benefits of using KoboldTouch.
Custom Folders and Source Control
Issues regarding custom folders and source control usage come up frequently. I will alleviate those with KoboldTouch.
The project starter tool will be improved to support creating new projects in a custom folder, with or without copying the offline documentation to the new folder. The project upgrader tool will also work with custom folder locations.
The documentation accounts for most of the disk space usage of a Kobold2D/KoboldTouch project and should therefore not be included when you intend to manage this project with source control. Specifically if it’s an online repository with limited disk space. With the additional libraries stripped and documentation not included, a new KoboldTouch project weighs in at around 15 MB of disk space.
What will remain is that the installer will install to a fixed folder, since you will then be able to create new projects in any custom folder so there’s no real need for a custom folder location during installation.
There are plenty of issues with PackageMaker to overcome to support custom folder locations and I’d rather spend that time on other things. As was always the case, you can of course move the Kobold2D folder anywhere else after the installation completed - it’s just one click & drag operation in Finder.
Your question not answered here?
Let me know by writing a comment.
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KoboldTouch brings you the best 2D game development experience for Apple’s platforms!
KoboldTouch is the only Objective-C, ARC-enabled 2D game engine built on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern. Write ambitious games with greater ease!
KoboldTouch is also a continuously evolving, customer driven game development framework for iOS & Mac OS X, designed by game industry veterans to incorporate game development best practices and decades of experience.
Learn more about KoboldTouch features and what’s in it for you:
Open the “About KoboldTouch” Page for Details
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What you’ll get in bulletpoints:
- Five tutorials on how to create File and Project templates
- Extensive reference for all known TemplateInfo.plist items (keys) and settings
- Explanation of the placeholders (eg ___FILENAME___) and variables (eg ___*___)
- Frequently Asked Questions answered
- Many tips and tricks
- Total of 70 pages of documentation (PDF) from 70+ hours of experimentation
- File and Project Template example files
Synopsis
This unofficial but comprehensive Xcode 4 Template documentation explains how to create File and Project Templates for Xcode 4. Xcode 4 uses a template format significantly different from the one used in Xcode 3, which renders all previous information on Template creation useless. The new format is also much more complex and allows for greater flexibility, for example a template can now consist of multiple inherited templates.
This Xcode 4 Template documentation first gives you a quick overview what File and Project templates are. Step-by-step tutorials show you how to create your own File and Project Templates. In the reference section the format of the TemplateInfo.plist and related files are meticulously documented. Finally there’s the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section with answers to common questions. The documentation is fully hyperlinked so that you can quickly look up keywords in the reference section. Several example files for File and Project Templates help you get started and can be used as the basis for your own templates.
Available for free
The documentation is now available for free:
Download Xcode 4 Template Documentation (ZIP, 6 MB)
Disclaimers
This is not official documentation. I can not guarantee that the documentation is 100% correct, much of the information was found out through lots of trial and error. Nevertheless this documentation contains a lot more information than what is currently available on the Internet.
THE DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE DOCUMENTATION OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE DOCUMENTATION.
I keep running into posts where users ask how fast cocos2d is, or why their particular code is slow.
I compiled a procedures checklist that you should go through before reporting performance issues.
I also tried to explain why the question of how fast cocos2d is has no real-world relevance.
Then i added a link to All-Seeing Interactive’s cocos2d Performance Tips as this is such a great post! It covers a lot of topics:
- Profiling with Instruments
- Testing on different devices
- Textures and Texture Atlases
- Speeding up loading times
- Reducing memory usage
- Flipping textures
- Pixel formats
- PVRTC (Texture Compression)
- CCSpriteSheet
- Pre-render programatically generated textures
- Avoid using atomic accessors
- Read the best practices documentation
As always i hope you find these additions help- and useful.
I just published an update to the Marketing FAQ beginning with the lesson Your Privacy isn’t.
Those are mostly thoughts i had while i was cleaning out my Twitter list (who i am following) to make room for all the much more interesting people who are now following me because of this new cocos2d website. The Twitter celebrities had to go to make room for you! 
It never actually crossed my mind that the Marketing FAQ would be so popular. For me it was a last minute addition to the cocos2d FAQs from a spontaneous thought. I’ll make sure to update Marketing and PR more frequently. I certainly learned a lot about it while i was busy with my colleagues getting an iPhone game company startup funded for the better part of 2009.
