Chapter 1. Designing Games with Swift

Apple's new language has arrived at the perfect time for game developers. Swift has the unique chance to be something special; a revolutionary tool for app creators. Swift is the gateway for developers to create the next big game on the Apple ecosystem. We have only started to explore the wonderful potential of mobile gaming and Swift is the modernization we need for our toolset. Swift is fast, safe, current, and attractive to developers coming from other languages. Whether you are new to the Apple world, or a seasoned veteran of Objective-C, I think you will enjoy making games with Swift.

Note

Apple's website states, "Swift is a successor to the C and Objective-C languages."

My goal in this book is to guide you step-by-step through the creation of a 2D game for iPhones and iPads. We will start with installing the necessary software, work through each layer of game development, and ultimately publish our new game to the App Store.

We will also have some fun along the way! We aim to create an endless flyer game featuring a magnificent flying penguin named Pierre. What is an endless flyer? Picture hit games like iCopter, Flappy Bird, Whale Trail, Jetpack Joyride, and many more – the list is quite long.

Endless flyer games are popular on the App Store and the genre necessitates that we cover many reusable components of 2D game design; I will show you how to modify our mechanics to create many different game styles. My hope is that our demo project will serve as a template for your own creative works. Before you know it, you will be publishing your own game ideas using the techniques we explore together.

The topics in this chapter include:

• Why you will love Swift
• What you will learn in this book
• Setting up your development environment
• Creating your first Swift game