Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
specific screen coordinates. But that can be a real challenge from the graphic design
point of view because a dozen versions of each background should be prepared.
Having made minor changes in the backgrounds, you're required to re-export all the
versions again. Such an approach also needs some additional disk space for all the
backgrounds (however, this is not so problematic; iOS games now can be pretty big).
The source file for a background used in the Blueprint 3D game is very wide; it in-
cludes extra parts to cover all possible widescreen ratios. The following screenshot
shows the background used in Blueprint 3D:
However, if you choose this type of background for your game, try to optimize the
process as much as possible. First of all, try to design the background with some
reserve. Its canvas can be a little bit larger than the actual screen resolution; it is
good to mark it like a 16:9 (or even 21:9) frame, which will save you from all pos-
sible shocks the new generation of devices will bring. All the types of backgrounds
can be stored in one AI file with several artboards. The first artboard serves iPad; it
has resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels (in this example, the landscape orientation of the
canvas is used). Being exported in double resolution, this artboard will provide the
background for a Retina-based iPad (2048 x 1536 pixels).
The second artboard is placed at exactly the same position at which the first one has
but features another height: it is not 768 pixels, but 683 pixels. Are you confused a
little bit? You are right: there is no such screen size in the specifications. The secret
is simple: this is a graphic billet for the iPhone with screen ratio 3:2 (first four gener-
ations of the device). You should export the background by navigating to File | Save
for web and entering the correct dimensions— 960 x 640 (or 480x320 for pre-Ret-
ina models)—in the Image size tab; in other words, 960 x 640 pixels is 93.75 percent
of 1024 x 683 pixels. Voilà! An export process becomes a bit easier because you
need nearly one illustration to create a background both for iPad and classic iPhone.
Starting with iPhone 5, the new type of resolution is used: 1136 x 640 with a rare
aspect ratio 71:40. You can try to use the same width of the artboard, introducing the
billet with the size 1024 x 577, but such canvas is too narrow, and large parts of the
background illustration will be truncated. It is better to create a new artboard with a
height equal to 683 pixels but with a larger width equal to 1212 pixels. The export-
ing routine is still the same: in the Image size tab, the correct dimensions should be
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