As someone who learned iOS development by myself in high school, I wish I had something like makegameswithus to help me along the way. There were plenty of resources available to learn Objective-C, but I found that one of the major pain-points was getting through the stuff that's not related to code (managing certificates, publishing, managing artwork/copy). Those are still valuable skills to have, but something mgwu seems like it would help a lot for someone who is starting out. Games are a powerful tool to inspire students to create something really cool. Good job!

Agree. While the title emphasizes Objective-C/programming, in this particular example/game, I think the visual/art side is more significant. Good job, indeed!

I'd like to think that the visual/art side is significant in all the games we've helped produce! Check out the one we released right before The Deeps: http://itunes.apple.com/en/app/killah-killah-whale/id5320424...

The thing is so far, none the developers of the 20+ games that we are currently producing knew Objective-C before they started, so the learning side of what we do is important too for many developers.

Thanks! The app store really is an awesome marketplace for creations that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Indeed the art looks solid enough that it makes me want to try it.

Possible design improvements (all can be seen in the last screenshot):

* the color of the text in the top left corner is uncanny, doesn't blend with the rest of the screen, and doesn't provide good readability.

* huge areas like the right side look too patterny. Using something like procedural generation would make it feel much better (see e.g Tiny Wings)

Thanks for the feedback! I handle sourcing and making the art for the MGWU games. Although I didn't directly work on the art for this game (I was recently hired), it is on the top of my list to redo the rocket icons/text. The "patterny" area you are seeing is lava and if you download the game you will probably find that it's slight deficiencies are not as noticeable in actual gameplay - some procedural generation could be great though.

We are into shipping product asap here; The Deeps is an awesome game (really!) and future versions are going to be even better.

> The "patterny" area you are seeing is lava and if you download the game you will probably find that it's slight deficiencies are not as noticeable in actual gameplay

I suppose per your description that it looks better in movement than statically, hence not the best thing to show in the screenshots.

Right, but particle effects and all the other scenery look better in motion too... You're right though. It would certainly be better to show only the edges of it so it looks less like a pattern.

Touché. We'll make sure the screenshots all look great for the next update.

You're claiming to be an "old guy here" and making video games in high-school?

wtf. that's not old. wait till you're in your 50s or 60s to call yourself old.

I think he meant that he _was_ making games in high school but is now "old" (e.g, 50s).

I am 36, and I know that I am not old, but sometimes I feel old here.