Late night programming fueled by the power of caffeine.

Universal SpriteKit resource image asset files

I’ve been working on SpriteKit in XCode and have finally determined the best way to use the Universal asset files on each device.

In the fantastic game tutorials from Ray Wenderlich’s site recommends 2048 x 1536, with all background images set to the same size.  But I wanted to make sure to optimize each of the images with the new Universal asset size collection.

This new asset size allows for 1x – 3x images and are the type that the default app uses when creating a Swift SpriteKit game.

For the asset sizes for your background images (in landscape mode)

  • 1x: 1024 x 768
  • 2x: 2048 x 1536
  • 3x: 3072 x 2304

Most of the different platforms will use the 2x resolution.  But the iPad 2 uses the 1x, and the iPhone 6 uses the 3x.

  • iPhone 4: 2x
  • iPhone 5: 2x
  • iPhone 5s: 2x
  • iPhone 6: 2x
  • iPhone 6s: 3x
  • iPad 2: 1x
  • iPad Air: 2x
  • iPad Retina: 2x

In my GameViewController, I hard code my GameScene to 1024×768.

   class GameViewController : UIViewController{
      override func viewDidLoad(){
         super.viewDidLoad()

         let skView = self.view as! SKView

         skView.showsFPS = true
         skView.showsNodeCount = true
         skView.ignoresSiblingOrder = true

         let scene = GameScene(size: CGSize(width: 1024, height: 768))
         scene.scaleMode = .AspectFill

         skView.presentScene(scene)
      }

Then in the Game Scene, to present your background image

   class GameScene : SKScene{

      let background : SKSpriteNode = SKSpriteNode(imageNamed: "background")

      override func didMoveToView(view: SKView){
         background.position = CGPoint(x: size.width / 2, y: size.height / 2)
         addChild(background)
      }
   }

Plumber’s Nightmare

Download from the iTunes store

You are in a puzzle of twisty little pipes, all alike!

You have been given the arduous task of connecting all of the pipes to complete a circuit without end. They start off easy, but become a real nightmare!

The puzzle is simple to play: Touch a pipe to turn it!
Red valves are used to close off the end of a pipe.
When all the pipes are connected, the level is complete.

The game is designed to let you play at your leisure. Play for a few minutes, and continue back where you left off. Great for those bathroom breaks when there is nothing else to do.

There are three levels of difficulty with more than thirty levels each. When you complete a level, the next one is unlocked. Try to solve them all!

We are never satisfied with those boring computer generated puzzles, so we took on the arduous task of creating each level by hand.

Some levels have certain themes, like all cross pipes, all three way pipes, or all twists. Some have one large pipe connected from one end to the other.

And the hard ones? Well… let’s just say I drink too much caffeine!

Available for the iPhone/iPad and for the HP Pre.