FreeGameDev

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Hi,

Before posting, I’d like to be sure our project is FOSS, even if there's “no strict rule”…

A graphic designer and I made a game for iPhone (currently under testing) written in Objective-C. We used the great GPL editor Tiled (http://mapeditor.org). Images are under CC-BY license, sources are under LGPL (because the App Store rejects GPL) -– the code and assets on GitHub: https://github.com/PolipGames/Edgar/.

However:

• An iOS app needs proprietary libraries. Even VLC, for example, uses UIKit (see https://github.com/videolan/vlc/blob/8e ... put/ios2.m). Same problem for the main other mobile OS…
• We use Apple’s SpriteKit framework. The project would be “more libre” with Cocos2d or lua, but these libraries have much less specific documentation for iOS. As a beginner in game programming, I think I couldn’t have made it.

So, do you think our game, or any iOS app, may be called FOSS?

(I’ll be away in the mountains, without Internet, until April 3, sorry in advance if I reply late…)

Best,

Paul

palrogg {l Wrote}:So, do you think our game, or any iOS app, may be called FOSS?

I would consider your game FOSS because it is only linking to system libraries. But I don't generally consider iOS FOSS useful. If I like your program and fix a bug or add a new feature, I can't put it on a iOS device. You have to pay the annual developer fee to be able to put your program on an iOS device AFAIK.

Ok, thanks! I'll post a showcase

dulsi {l Wrote}:You have to pay the annual developer fee to be able to put your program on an iOS device

In fact, this changed last year. You can at last compile on any iOS device with XCode (free) and an USB Cable. Maybe I should write a tuto about it?

Developer fees are a problem for most mobile devices: you have to pay to publish on Android, Windows Phone and iOS (99% of the market share). I hope this will change with projects like Firefox OS and Plasma Pulse!

palrogg {l Wrote}:In fact, this changed last year. You can at last compile on any iOS device with XCode (free) and an USB Cable. Maybe I should write a tuto about it?

Developer fees are a problem for most mobile devices: you have to pay to publish on Android, Windows Phone and iOS (99% of the market share). I hope this will change with projects like Firefox OS and Plasma Pulse!

This is pretty good news regarding iOS, although it is unfortunate you still require the proprietary XCode. Still, I am glad this barrier was removed.

What you are saying about publishing on Android through the Play Store is correct, although there is F-Droid which provides a free alternative.

Made a seperate thread for this and moved it into the correct sub-forum.

Android also allows to sideload any .apk pretty easily.

I was pretty impressed by Visual Studio just hooking up directly to my Android tablet via USB and letting me deploy my MonoGame games there. It was all very smooth and painless. I guess this wasn't possible even like a year ago because IIRC you had to pay some exorbitant Xamarin studio license or something (like $1000), but recently they stopped charging for it.

Hopefully the FOSS trend of pressuring large companies like Microsoft to open up their stuff more will continue. While I was disappointed by Visual Studio Code's license, I do appreciate that they're at least making it cross-platform, which is a step in the right direction.

They also have been opening up .NET more and more and that makes me happy, especially since I want to eventually try my hand at developing a new language for .NET Framework.

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