Well, the short answer is that I don’t want to learn Objective C in order to write a proper iOS app :¬D
Since I’m already familiar with HTML / CSS / PHP / MySQL I figured why not just use that to cobble something together. In addition I figured that there are a couple of other ways to add some value to the game by making part of it online:
- You can include a lot of different types of media as part of the game (images, sounds, video etc) which you couldn’t if it was simply printed.
- You can continuously add to the pool of questions – and even open this part up to anyone who is interested in contributing.
- Since the game is controlled programatically, you have the opportunity to introduce some random elements which would be difficult to do otherwise
- You can use it (almost) anywhere you have a connection to the web
So with that in mind I figured that what I came up with would basically be a series of static web pages that would serve the purpose but not be as polished as a real app. Boy was I wrong! Turns out that taking advantage of webkit which the iOS uses, and it’s support of HTML5 and CSS3 you can create something that is indistinguishable from a compiled app! Here are a few resources I found which were great help:
Designing Web Apps for the iPad by Stephen Vescio was invaluable in terms of describing the general approach as well as some of the limitations.
How to make an HTML5 iPhone App by Alex Kessinger is another awesome project page which includes bits and pieces which I used to get Yes Chef! up and running.