Cocoa Machine tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2007-11-05:/blog//1 2009-10-24T01:44:17Z Mac OS X & iPhone Development Movable Type Publishing Platform 4.01 Daring Fireball: Herd Mentality tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2009:/blog//1.30 2009-10-24T01:23:15Z 2009-10-24T01:44:17Z http://daringfireball.net/2009/10/herd_mentalityI think there’s a simple reason why the herd mentality is worse in the PC industry: Microsoft. In fact, I think it used to be worse. A decade ago the entire computing industry — all facets of it — was... Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/
I think there’s a simple reason why the herd mentality is worse in the PC industry: Microsoft. In fact, I think it used to be worse. A decade ago the entire computing industry — all facets of it — was dominated by a herd mentality that boiled down to Get behind Microsoft and follow their lead, or else you’ll get stomped. That’s no longer true in application software. The web, and Google in particular, have put an end to that.

I can not agree more with Gruber on this statement.  All I can add, is thank goodness this is now the case.
]]> More Free iPhone Tutorials tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2009:/blog//1.29 2009-08-21T00:45:28Z 2009-08-21T00:51:06Z Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/
I wanted to get some feedback on what kind of tutorials I should post.  I guess I can start from the very basics and work to advanced topics, but I feel a lot others have already done this.  Unless, a lot of you feel other tutorials have not been clear or have not been detailed enough about various topics.

So please send me your thoughts and requests.
]]> TRON Inspired iPhone Game Light Riders tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2009:/blog//1.28 2009-02-27T21:02:08Z 2009-02-27T21:31:09Z Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/
For the next version, we already have our 3D bike models completed.  If you have watched any of the videos, you will notice 3D bikes.  Those are the same models we are using in the upcoming 3D update.  Our competitor has an upper hand with their 3D view, at least for now ;)  I only wish I could show you what is coming for Light Riders.  It's going to be insane.  I can not wait for everyone to get these new updates.  I can say, the video is a hint on what is coming your way :)

If you have any thoughts or ideas, please go over to http://iphonestudio.dsmedialabs.com/, and shoot us some feedback through our contact form.  We are always looking at how we can improve our products.

I will be posting some new iPhone development tutorials here soon.  It has been nuts here at DS Media Labs.  DS is a small studio of friends and we have developed 20+ iPhone apps in 9 months.  I would say we have been pretty busy.
]]> Vote on iPhone Tron Style Game Name =) tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2009:/blog//1.27 2009-02-09T14:33:00Z 2009-02-09T14:36:44Z We need to come up with a different name for our game Light Bikes.  As most of you know, LightBike is now taken.  We need to rebrand our game and want to allow the users to vote on it.  So... Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/ Light Bikes.  As most of you know, LightBike is now taken.  We need to rebrand our game and want to allow the users to vote on it.  So please head over to Touch Arcade and vote!  NOW!


]]> iPhone Tron Style Game tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2009:/blog//1.26 2009-02-03T13:45:35Z 2009-02-06T14:34:34Z So, back at iPhone Dev Camp 2, we entered the competition with a TRON style game for the iPhone.  We called it Light Bikes.  Since iPhone Dev Camp 2, we have rewritten pretty much all the code and the game... Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/ So, back at iPhone Dev Camp 2, we entered the competition with a TRON style game for the iPhone.  We called it Light Bikes.  Since iPhone Dev Camp 2, we have rewritten pretty much all the code and the game uses a 3D engine.  We are using OpenGL and OpenAL.  It supports 4 players over WiFi.  Each player uses a separate device.

The first version we are doing has a overhead camera view.  We are putting in support for different camera views for 1.1.  The game will mostly likely be pushed to the App Store this weekend.

It came to a surprise a few weeks back when we seen another company stole our name (LightBike) to ride on our coat tales with all the websites and press we had generated over the past few months.  

Pretty sad if you ask me.  So, because of this, we are going to be rebranding our Light Bikes game as Neo Riders.

Be looking for reviews on Touch Arcade and other sites for Neo Riders.


UPDATE:  I have removed the statement about the source code.  I was contacted by Pankaku, Inc and they have assured me that they built their version from the ground up.  I apologize for posting information based on a source that was incorrect.
]]> Unit Testing with iPhone SDK tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2009:/blog//1.25 2009-01-20T22:41:25Z 2009-01-20T22:42:50Z Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/ I know this is old, but for those of you looking to have a nice Unit Testing process down for your apps, definitely check out the below link.

http://www.sente.ch/s/?p=535&lang=en

]]> Touch Roulette: Russian Roulette on iPhone and iPod Touch tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2009:/blog//1.24 2009-01-20T21:29:48Z 2009-01-20T21:58:52Z So, at DS we are always looking for good drinking games and making bets.  We are always looking at little fun apps we can do in between our normal development sprints.  Cause, like everyone else with ADD, you got a... Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/
Touch Roulette was born.  You can go check out the YouTube video or the Touch Roulette page at iPhone Studio to get more info.  We submitted it to Apple today.  We will see how that goes...  

We are still working hard on Neo Riders (previously Light Bikes), FLOverload 2.0, and Rogue Sniper.  You will see vids, review, and eventually the actual apps on the App Store in the next couple weeks.


]]> Stun-O-Matic: Taser on your iPhone tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2009:/blog//1.23 2009-01-13T00:23:12Z 2009-01-13T00:26:02Z The application I blogged about yesterday, Stun-O-Matic, is now on the app store. So, if you want a taser on your iPhone or iPod touch, go grab it :)... Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/ Stun-O-Matic, is now on the app store. So, if you want a taser on your iPhone or iPod touch, go grab it :)]]> iPhone Ninjas tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2009:/blog//1.22 2009-01-10T17:48:49Z 2009-01-12T01:42:51Z All I can say is, wow.  The DS team has been working around the clock pretty much since July 2008.  We were working hard before that, but nothing like we are now and have been since last summer.  The iPhone... Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/
Since last summer, we have been working on or have finished 16 iphone applications.  Out of the 16 iphone applications we have finished 6.  Out of the 6 we have finished, 2 of them belong to us.  FLOverload [app store] was the first app we ever did.  We rushed it to the App Store to be one of the first on it when it launched.  Big mistake on our part.  It has a lot of problems. A LOT.  We then started getting slammed with client work and took it on to help bootstrap the company.  It came down to deciding to take on funding and give up a large portion of the company or bootstrap ourselves through consulting.  We chose the latter and it has worked okay so far.  We would like to be working on more of our own stuff.  It is now getting to that point.

The crazy part about all this is our team.  The team I work with is just sick.  We have 1 designer and 8 iPhone Developers.  Out of the 8 iPhone developers, 2 of them are working only on our 3D game engine.  That leaves 1 designer and 6 iPhone developers to work on 10 active applications.  The applications range from very easy to very complex.  So, I can safely say that this team is one of the best in the industry.  It is amazing the amount of work that comes out of this small company.

The great news is that we have new application on the App Store that is ours.  Sounds of Fury made it on a few weeks back and is a fun little sound making app that allows you to be a Ninja.  Who the hell does not want to be a Ninja?  No hands, I thought so.  You should check it out.  We have a lot of cool updates coming for it.

FLOverload [apps store] is getting an overhaul. It is coming in two stages.  The first update, 1.5 is a complete rewrite of the game engine and fixes all the issues and complaints.  We have also addressed the other issues of no instructions and the game not being intuitive to play.  We think this is the beginning to a game that could have been a lot better.  FLOverload 2.0 is adding 2 other game play modes that are completely different games.  We have dubbed the original ClassicFLO.  The other two modes are going to be a lot of fun, at least we think so, and we hope you do to.

We have two new applications submitted and in review right now.  Stun-O-Matic and Confessional.  We always love to hear feedback on our current and future applications.  We are opening a beta site to the public on Monday. We will accept a limited about of testers, but those accepted will help us beta test all of our games.  We will post more details here and on the company blog.

Next week we are releasing betas of our game Light Bikes and a new game we have not announced to the public yet.  We will post more details on Monday.

One more thing...  We have launched a rough beta of our site for Dark Age of Reality.  Check it out and let us know what you think!

When you get a chance, come over and visit our company site too.

Talk to you soon.
]]> iPhone Ad Hoc Distribution tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2008:/blog//1.21 2008-08-07T00:25:26Z 2008-08-07T00:29:52Z I was going to post a guide to do this, but Craig Hockenberry already did.  You can find his post here.  I will add to this though, that it is easier to create a PayLoad folder, drop your app bundle... Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/ here.  I will add to this though, that it is easier to create a PayLoad folder, drop your app bundle into it, and then zip up the PayLoad folder.  Rename it to your app name with a .ipa extension.  For example, LightBikes.ipa.  Then your users can just drag and drop your ipa file to iTunes and Sync.  This will work for both Windows and Mac users.]]> DS Media Labs is looking for Technology Ninjas tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2008:/blog//1.20 2008-08-05T20:29:53Z 2008-08-05T20:39:00Z Are you sick at Cocoa development, OpenGL, or making pixels do your bidding?  Want to be part of a cool company doing really cool things?  Check us out at www.dsmedialabs.com and our new iPhone Studio division at iphonestudio.dsmedialabs.com.  We are... Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/ www.dsmedialabs.com and our new iPhone Studio division at iphonestudio.dsmedialabs.com.  We are looking for talent to join our team right away.]]> iPhoneDevCamp r0x0r3d tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2008:/blog//1.19 2008-08-05T20:20:35Z 2008-08-05T20:35:33Z The DS Media Labs team sponsored and attended iPhoneDevCamp 2.  I have to say, it was pretty damn cool.  We took part in the hackathon and received honorable mention for Light Bikes.  We would have taken first if we would... Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/
Or next game at DS Media Labs is called Light Bikes.  It is a Tron light bike game.  We wrote all the code in 14 hours at the hackathon and actually got a playable demo showing off the concept.  We also finished up our Menu system and score tracking back end.  It turned out really good.  

Make sure you attend next year!  It was a blast.

Check out our new site and Light Bikes.
]]> iPhone User Interface: The wrong way tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2008:/blog//1.18 2008-07-04T08:28:14Z 2008-07-04T08:30:38Z http://stevenscreek.com/Do not design your user interfaces like this.  Please, I beg of you!... Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/
Do not design your user interfaces like this.  Please, I beg of you!
]]> WWDC, here we come! tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2008:/blog//1.17 2008-06-08T05:57:47Z 2008-06-08T06:06:22Z I went indie earlier this year along with my 2 friends. We started our design studio/development company, DS Media Labs,  late last year. It initially was just for fun side projects, but it took off from word of mouth advertising.... Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/ DS Media Labs,  late last year. It initially was just for fun side projects, but it took off from word of mouth advertising. Then because of my involvement in the open source iPhone community, we got contacted to do various iPhone projects for clients. One client, so huge, it's hard to believe we are working on the project.  Exciting stuff for a little company like us. We hope one day we can be like Panic. We look forward to the day where we move into our new studio space and start hiring more talent and future friends.

Glenn Martin and I are heading to WWDC in 2 hours.  This is our first WWDC. Boy, did we pick a good one to go to or what. This is going to be insane. I hope to meet a lot of great developers and hopefully future friends. See you all there!  If you want to hang out and grab some beers or something.  Email me.  ben@ my companies domain I mentioned above.

P.S.  Be sure to check out our site on Monday morning for some announcements :)
]]> Video Tutorial: iPhone Interface Builder tag:www.cocoamachine.com,2008:/blog//1.16 2008-04-12T18:30:45Z 2008-04-13T05:08:24Z Removed due to NDA violation being brought to my attention.My bad guys.  It was stupid of me to post this.  I am under NDA on this stuff and I should have known better :(  I apologize.  I will post some... Ben S. Stahlhood, II http://cocoamachine.com/blog/
My bad guys.  It was stupid of me to post this.  I am under NDA on this stuff and I should have known better :(  I apologize.  I will post some tutorials when it's fully released.

Once again, sorry :(
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