A video tutorial series that will teach and inspire you to control anything with Swift!
Learn more about Sprite Kit
Sprite Kit is a 2d game engine for creating apps for iOS / Mac OS devices. Sprite Kit comes included with Xcode and since it is developed by Apple, developers can be assured that future versions of the iOS / Mac OS support their past projects.  Sprite Kit is available for both Swift and Objective C based apps, and is very similar between the two.
Developed with Swift 1.2
This course teaches Xcode development using Swift 1.2, Apple’s latest programming language. Swift can be used to create both iOS Apps to sell through the App Store, or Mac OS apps to sell through the Mac App Store.
Learn more about your instructor...
This course is taught by Justin Dike, owner and lead developer at CartoonSmart.com, creator of the Fantastic Worlds iOS Starter Kits, and author of iOS Game Programming with Xcode and Cocos2d (published by Focal Press). Justin has been programming iOS games since the release of the first iPhone and has been teaching development for just as long, covering mostly game related topics. He’s proficient with Cocos2d, Sprite Kit, Objective-C and most recently Swift.
Jump into production
This seven hour tutorial series has one main aim to it: give you a quick start guide to programming one of the hardest elements of any game, controlling your characters. Most programmers begin a new app by prototyping the controls. It’s just a natural starting point for production, and it can be one of the biggest stumbling blocks for new developers.  With a dozen example projects and 24 videos, you can start wherever you like and implement any of the control systems below…
- Accelerometer controls
- Simple touches, taps and swipes
- Rotation, pan, pinch, and long press gestures
- Path-based movements
- Aim and release slingshot style controls
- Directional pad controls
- Virtual joystick controls in a top-down flying game
- Virtual joystick controls in an isometric-viewed world
- Virtual joystick controls in a traditional side scroller/ platform world
- Attacking, jumping and double-jumping with virtual buttons
This series was developed with Swift 1.2 and uses Apple’s very own Sprite Kit game engine. While you master the control methods above, you’ll also learn the basics of game development: animating texture atlases, creating classes for players and collision objects, working with physics, creating world nodes, and countless other nuggets of know-how for making an awesome game with Xcode.
Watch a Preview of Each Finished Project…
Over 7 Hours of Swift and Sprite Kit Tutorials, broken into bite-size chunks
Session 1 –Â Touch Movements
We will start off softly and work with simple movements based on where the user touches the screen. In the first video we will check to see if the touch was a greater distance from the character sprite on the x or y axis and move to the further point. Then we will work with SKActions to move first on one axis, then another, to walk around in a kind of RPG style.
- Simple Touch Movements
- Using SKActions to Move
- More SKActions to Move
Session 2 – Path Movements
In these tutorials we will discuss how to make a sprite follow a path. This could be useful for tower defense style games or classic-style arcade games like Space Invaders. And believe it or not, Sprite Kit actually has an SKAction specifically for following a path!
- Making Characters Move on a Path
- Create Centipede Style Movements
Session 3 –Â Accelerometer Controls
These tutorials will focus on using the Accelerometer with Swift and Sprite Kit to control a character or do things like balance / roll a marble.
- Accelerometer Basics
- Accelerometer Controls on the X and Y
Session 4 –Â Gesture Recognizers
These  tutorials will look at how to use gesture recognizers with Swift and Sprite Kit. We will start off though by looking at how to animate textures (image sequences) using a .atlas folder in Xcode. Tap gestures will trigger the animation. We will then create a project where a ship spins around using the rotation gesture, and aims toward a target that is also rotated in line with it.
- Texture Atlas Animations
- Taps and Rotation Gestures
- Rotating and Moving a Ship with Target Attached
- Adding Swipe Gestures and Turning the Ship with Degrees
- Pan Gestures and Converting a Point From View
- Pinch and Long Press Gestures
Session 5 –Â Joystick Controls
In these tutorials we will create a virtual joystick that moves a spaceship and then extend the functionality to a side-scroller style level. This will involve creating a physics based Sprite Kit world, with classes for the Player and Object. We will fine tune the level of player control with each video.
- Initial Setup
- Top Down Movements with a Virtual Joystick
- Creating a Player Class with Physics
- Creating an Object Class with Physics
- Detecting Contact Between Objects and the Player
- Moving and Attacking with a Joystick and Button
- Jumping and Double Jumping
Session 6 – Aim and Release Controls
In this tutorial we will modify one of the previous joystick projects to sling a character forward from a set position in an aim and release fashion. Â We will also look at how to add the character and platforms into a “worldNode” which will get moved as the character is slung so it doesn’t go out of view.
- Aim and Release Slingshot Controls
Session 7 – Isometric Controls with a Joystick or Directional Buttons
In these two tutorials we will modify our joystick controls to work with an isometric level and then convert that project to use a virtual directional pad instead.
- Isometric Movements
- Create a Directional Pad to Move the Character (instead of Joystick)
Two affordable purchasing options…
Purchase Option 1 - Lifetime Access
Get Lifetime Access to this course for a one-time purchase price. You can download (or stream) the movie files and download any source projects.
Already have Lifetime Access? You can get started watching the video tutorials from right here.
Purchase Option 2 - Subscription Access
Both Monthly and Yearly Subscribers can stream every video tutorial on the site. Yearly subscribers get access to the latest version of every starter kit whenever they want, plus access to hundreds of dollars worth of royalty free game art (yes, it’s an amazing deal). You can cancel your Monthly or Yearly subscription anytime directly through Paypal.
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