Well as it turns out people love free stuff! I was quite surprised by the demand! I'm sure OpenFeint's marketing helped drive up the demand in addition to the free cost.

So for the 28 hours (approximately) that Kascade was given away, the final numbers are:

- Total downloaded: 36,142
- Peaked at #91 for all the Free Apps (US)
- Peaked at #52 on the Free Games category
- Peaked at #8 on the Free Games - Puzzle category
- Peaked at #8 on the Free Games - Family category

After Kascade returned to the normal $0.99 price, there was a definite uptick in sales. Still early to tell if the sales will continue to stay at a higher level or will eventually return to the pre-sale levels.

Overall, I am quite pleased with participating in their giveaway.

textview.scrollEnabled = NO;
NSString *contentsToAdd = @"some string";
NSInteger len = [contentsToAdd length];
NSRange cursorPosition = [self.textview selectedRange];
NSMutableString *tfContent = [[NSMutableString alloc] initWithString:[self.textview text]];

// insert the string or replace the selection
NSUInteger loc = cursorPosition.location;
if (cursorPosition.length == 0)
  [tfContent insertString:contentsToAdd atIndex:loc];
else
  [tfContent replaceCharactersInRange:cursorPosition withString:contentsToAdd];

// now update the text view
[self.text setText:tfContent];
cursorPosition.location = loc + len;
cursorPosition.length = 0;

// should move the cursor
textview.scrollEnabled = YES;
self.textview.selectedRange = cursorPosition;
[tf release];

This entry is part 1 of a series that provides a starting point for anyone using cocos2d. This post kicks things off with useful links and setting up your project.

Starting Links

In addition to the main cocos2d site, the following is a list of links that I found helpful in starting development:

• http://monoclestudios.com/cocos2d_whitepaper.html
• http://lethain.com/entry/2008/oct/03/notes-on-cocos2d-iphone-development/
• http://beta.letstalkiphone.com/2009/05/tic-tac-toe-in-cocos2d/
• Misc links including the ones above

All the links above refer to the older versions of cocos2d and so all the examples will have to be slightly modified (new in 0.9 is that all classes are now prefixed with CC).

Setting Up

The good news that as of 0.8.1, cocos2d provides XCode templates to start your own project. It installs three templates: basic cocos2d, cocos2d + Box2D, and cocos2d + Chipmunk. Box2D and Chipmunk are two different physics engines (Chipmunk was derived from an early version of Box2D). Box2D is C++ and Chipmunk is C.

Once you select the XCode template, you have a simple example application that runs in the simulator after a build.

One thing to note is that the template copies all the cocos2d files (and its dependencies) into your project directory. This will be problematic if you to update your cocos2d install like I will need to do (especially with the pre-beta) since I would need to recopy all the files again. That sounds painful so there should be a better/easier way... static libraries to the rescue!

Static Libraries

Doing some research on the web, these two links provided most of the relevant information to enable making cocos2d a static library.

• http://blog.stormyprods.com/2008/11/using-static-libraries-with-iphone-sdk.html
• http://www.clintharris.net/2009/iphone-app-shared-libraries/

The first link shows how to create static libraries and use them in XCode for the iPhone. I'm not sure about prior releases, but the 0.9 version comes with static libraries already included as targets in the XCode project file so this link wasn't as relevant for the setup side of things (although it is a great read).

However, it did point out that you would need a version for every device/simulator combination you want to work with. Not ideal. After reading the second article, there is a way to avoid that.

Before I get into that, you should remove the 'cocos2d sources' from your newly created project. Down in the Targets section, remove the 'cocos2d libraries'.

Right click on your main target and Get Info. On the General tab, remove the 'cocos2d libraries' reference from the Direct Dependencies as well as under the Linked Libraries section.

At this point, I followed Clint's steps (from the second article) - except I skipped his first one: Set up a shared build output directory that will be shared by all Xcode projects.

I didn't do this and everything seems to work fine since the referenced project will build based on your current settings. Of course, I just started my development with this so time will tell if I really needed it.

Once you get to the step called Configure the Library Dependencies, Linking, and Header Files, you just copy the subset of libraries from the cocos2d project reference. A good starting point for inclusion: cocos2d. Chipmunk (for physics), libpng, and CocosDenshion (for sound).

A Few Notes

In 0.9 libcocos2d.a actually includes FontLabel so you don't need to explicitly pull that in (if you do you will have an issue with a duplicate symbol).

You will need to make a single change in this version of cocos2d in order to get the libpng.a to work. Open the cocos2d project and for the libpng target, remove (uncheck) the pngtest.c from the libpng static library target. This file has a main which causes a duplicate symbol issue when compiled in with your application.

The integration was painless. After registering on their site, I followed the post on how to integrate OpenFeint in 19 minutes. For the Achievements, you use the OpenFeint website to create one or more achievements to unlock (Kascade currently has 60). Originally, you had to enter your achievements in the order that you wanted them to appear, but they've pushed out an update that now allows reordering - that really helps! I used a spreadsheet to list all the names and point values for all 60 achievements so it would be easier to change and balance rather than flipping through different webpages. Then I entered them in one by one.

A few things to note:

• OpenFeint is in C++ so you have to change any files that reference it to .mm (instead of .m). To minimize this, I created an OFHandler class that made the majority of the OpenFeint API calls. My classes would then my OFHandler singleton. See the code snippet below.
• OpenFeint's SDK has all the source code, so its easier to figure out how things really work. For example, I wanted to call their [OFAchievementService unlockAchievement: <insert_value_here>] API call every time a certain number of blocks were removed. I didn't want to do a network hit every time for this, but the code showed it used a database to store the achievements that were already awarded so it wouldn't make the network call again.
• OpenFeint's Achievements do not work offline (unlike their scoreboard). Hopefully they will fix this in a new release as this would be very useful. I could write my own logic, but I'll wait and see first.
• They auto generate #defines for all your achievements so you don't have to know the numeric value. See the OFHandler.mm section below for an example of usage.

All-in-all, the OpenFeint system has been great to work with. They seem committed to adding new features and provide excellent support. If your game can take advantage of an online scoreboard/leaderboard or achievements I highly recommend it!

OFHandler.h

// your class would differ based on your achievements

@interface OFHandler : NSObject {

}

- (void) unlockAchievementForRemaining: (NSInteger) remaining colorCount: (GameMode) colorMode;

- (void) unlockAchievementForScore: (NSInteger) score;

- (void) unlockAchievementForColumns: (NSInteger) colCount totalCount: (NSInteger) total colorCount: (GameMode) colorMode;

- (void) unlockAchievementForHistory: (GameHistory*) hist;

- (void) unlockAchievementForRemovedBlocks: (NSInteger) numRemoved wildCards: (NSInteger) numWild;

+ (OFHandler*) singleton;

@end

OFHandler.mm

// A snippet of one of the calls. The #defines were auto generated by the OF site.
/**
 * This should be called upon every game over and checks the number of blocks remaining achievements.
 */
- (void) unlockAchievementForRemaining: (NSInteger) remaining colorCount: (GameMode) colorMode
{
 switch (remaining)
 {
   case 6:
     [OFAchievementService unlockAchievement:NO_BONUS_FOR_YOU_];
     break;
   case 5:
     [OFAchievementService unlockAchievement:FINALLY_A_BONUS_];
     break;
   case 4:
     [OFAchievementService unlockAchievement:OOOH_A_BIGGER_BONUS];
     break;
   ...
 }
 ...
}

Google Framework

After some further work, the above setup allows easy running of unit tests. However, debugging those Unit Tests is another story. I found another page that walks
through using the Google Toolkit for Mac to do unit testing. This allows you to run the unit tests as an executable and at least output console output (still can't seem to debug it). Note that with this framework, you need to set the active executable to your Testing executable in order to run. Any NSLog calls will be output to the console.

Unit Test Assertions

The table below is a quick reference to the different types of assertions that can be done in the UnitTest.

Table 1: Macros Available in OCUnit from Apple

+ (NSString*) getHash:(NSString *) text
{
    NSData* myData =
         [text dataUsingEncoding:NSStringEncodingConversionAllowLossy];
    CC_SHA1_CTX ctx;
    uint8_t * hashBytes = NULL;
    NSData * hash = nil;

    // Malloc a buffer to hold hash.
    hashBytes = malloc( CC_SHA1_DIGEST_LENGTH * sizeof(uint8_t) );
    memset((void *)hashBytes, 0x0, CC_SHA1_DIGEST_LENGTH);

    // Initialize the context.
    CC_SHA1_Init(&ctx);
    // Perform the hash.
    CC_SHA1_Update(&ctx, (void *)[myData bytes], [myData length]);
    // Finalize the output.
    CC_SHA1_Final(hashBytes, &ctx);

    // Build up the SHA1 data.
    hash = [NSData dataWithBytes:(const void *)hashBytes
                          length:(NSUInteger)CC_SHA1_DIGEST_LENGTH];

    // if could not create, then exit otherwise clean up
    if(hashBytes)
      free(hashBytes);
    else
      return nil;

    // now return this as an hex-encoded string
    NSMutableString *stringBuffer = [NSMutableString
                                     stringWithCapacity:([hash length] * 2)];
    const unsigned char *dataBuffer = [hash bytes];
    int i;
    for (i = 0; i < [hash length]; ++i)
    {
        [stringBuffer appendFormat:@"%02X", (unsigned long)dataBuffer[i]];
    }

    return [[stringBuffer copy] autorelease];
}

One thing to note is the you need to include the following line:

#import <CommonCrypto/CommonDigest.h>

Fortunately for me, a Lite version of Flik translates into providing just a few levels instead of the full set of levels and so I could focus on those changes.The steps below outline what was done.

Change Your Code

Where your Lite version differs from the full version at the code level, you should add #ifdef areas that are applicable to the Lite version versus the full version. While you can do an explicit #define in your code and change this before compilation, see the 'XCode Build Settings' below to see how to have XCode do this for you.

#ifdef LITE
// LITE logic goes here
#else
// FULL logic does here
#endif

To test that your targets are setup correctly, add this code somewhere:
#ifndef LITE
#error "Not Lite"
#endif // LITE

That will cause your build to FAIL on all non-Lite builds, and SUCCEED (assuming no other compile issues) on all Lite builds.   -William (from Apple Forums)

Copy Your Target

In XCode, expand the Targets item and select your application. Right click and say duplicate. At this point you probably should rename this to end in 'Lite' or 'Free'. You may want to rename the Info.plist file as well.

XCode Build Settings

For each Build Configuration that you need (e.g. Debug, Debug Device, Device Ad Hoc Distribution, Device App Store Distribution), you need to change the following settings for the Lite version. This can be found on the Build tab of the Project Settings for your Lite Target (select your target and then select the Project > Edit Active Target ... Lite).

• Info.plist File
• Product Name

You can actually specify "Configuration: All Configurations" in the top left of that screen to avoid the hassle of doing this multiple times. -William (from Apple Forums)

One other item to change on this tab is the Preprocessor Macro. This is the same as doing a #define in your code. See the section aboe on where this can be used in code.

XCode Properties Settings

If you add a space in your product name, this causes an issue in the Identifier field on the Properties tab. This normally starts out with: com.yourcompany.${PRODUCT_NAME:identifier}. If your name is 'App Lite', then this will fail during the upload process to Apple. You should explicitly set this to something unique, following Apple's recommended scheme.

While you are on this screen, you should change the Icon File to the file you will create next.

Graphics and Other Files

You should create a different icon to be displayed on the App Store. The simple way to do this is just add the word 'Lite' to it. You should make sure that this icon is added to just your Lite target and not your full target. Conversely, you should also make sure the Lite icon is not in the full target.

You should do this with all the other images or files that should be in one version and not another. You also need to prepare other images for the iTunes App Store.
That should be it. At this point you should be able to build both your full and Lite versions of your application easily. Just change the Active Target before you build.