Game Development Community

iTGB and downloading of add-ons?

by BeyondtheTech · in iTorque 2D · 06/05/2009 (9:07 am) · 4 replies

I know that the iPhone 3.0 OS will allow developers to perform in-game purchases, but I wanted to know if the current version of iTGB allows the downloading and storing of additional files that can be used later in the game.

It's a pretty high-level question, but the reason I'm considering this option is to possibly create a workaround for the 10MB limit that the App Store imposes on non-Wi-Fi networks. If I can make future games under 10MB, then at first launch, download additional graphics or sound files from a central server, that could help out in guaranteeing more purchases of the product, and even the ability to update portions of the game on the fly.
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Torque Owner Bret Patterson
#1
06/05/2009 (9:17 am)
Yes you definitely can do that. I haven't looked into how hard it is to do though. However after messing with level loading, custom data blocks, etc it's pretty easy to see how it would be done. You'd need to have a console function as a bridge to get the users document directory where you downloaded the content and then load relative to that directory.
It's definitely something I'm very very interested in doing, but I have so many other high priority items I haven't seriously investigated it.

Torque 3D Owner Marc Dreamora Schaerer
Gayasoft
#2
06/05/2009 (10:19 am)
When following that path, keep in mind that you can't put a "disfunctional launcher app" on the iphone with the target to download the majority of the content digitally.

Torque Owner BeyondtheTech
Default Studio Name
#3
06/05/2009 (2:33 pm)
I was thinking more of the lines of all the audio files for the dialogue, otherwise you'll just have the subtitled text. Bonus feature, but not required to enjoy the game as it is. Also, if video playback can be streamed as an alternative to being stored, that could benefit some.

Torque 3D Owner Ronny Bangsund
Torque Cheerleaders
#4
06/05/2009 (5:36 pm)
You can already do all this in 2.x. Some games have an in-game download option for new maps, and there's nothing in the store kit you require to implement that right now. All you need is a file with a list of content and their locations for your game to download if you want to give away content. Even a store with prices above $0 is possible if you implement your own, although that is a big job if you haven't got the infrastructure in place through other means.

I suggest an XML file, like Sparkle does it, with content+version numbers+web location. Add an icon image to display in the game for each download if you want more than a plain text list. Maybe also a summary to show in the list, and a longer informative text when the user clicks "Info" on it. I'd love a framework for that sort of thing with script extensions for iTorque.

There are video streaming examples in "iPhone SDK Development" from Pragmatic Press (beta book - releases right after 3.0 is public with lots of 3.0 stuff). I recommend that book. It's the most useful out of all the iPhone books around.