Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Knowing about Sprite Kit
Apple presented iOS 7 in September 2013, featuring numerous new features for users
and developers. One of them is Sprite Kit—a new framework for game developers.
Sprite Kit is a native SDK from Apple that allows simple entry into game development,
without unnecessary overhead and a long learning process. If you are familiar with
Cocos2d, you will have an easy time with Sprite Kit, as it is heavily inspired by the
former. Sprite Kit provides native rendering and animation infrastructure to work
with sprites as well as animations, particle systems, scenes, actions, physics simulation,
and video effects.
A sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation integrated into a
larger scene. Any image can be a sprite—a character, a tree, or a bullet.
It allows easy work with sprites, the core component of all 2D games. Almost
everything you can see on the screen of a 2D game is a sprite.
Benefits of Sprite Kit
Sprite Kit has certain advantages that will help you determine if you want to base
your game on it. They are as follows:
•
Sprite Kit is part of the iOS SDK:
This means that it will be supported by
Apple, and everything you write is likely to be future-proof. Your code will
not magically stop working (or even compiling!), and things you are getting
on screen are guaranteed to stay the same. Everyone who works with
third-party libraries is aware of the issues that come with using a non-native
SDK. With Sprite Kit, you can forget about installation problems and
compatibility problems.
•
Easy-to-use API
: This is developed by some of the best engineers in the
world. Everything is logical and works as expected. Clear methods and
properties work just as you would expect them to.
•
Built-in tools
: With this, you no longer have to use third-party software to
make your texture atlases, assets, or fonts. You just drop in your images and
Xcode does everything for you.
•
Built-in physics engine
: This makes your life as a developer much easier.
You do not have to pick out one of the third-party physics engines or work
on integration of that code into your project—it just works out of the box.
