Iphone app creation for the lazy and greedy

September 30, 2008 1:09 PM

Are there any platforms for developing Iphone/Itouch applications that don't require a ton of coding? I'm think along the lines of the old Hypercard, or an interactive fiction engines.

I'd like to be able to create a text adventure and sell it in the app store. Thanks, and please forgive my cluelessness.

posted by mecran01 to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

One of the restrictions placed on developers: "An Application may not itself install or launch other executable code by any means, including without limitation through the use of a plug-in architecture, calling other frameworks, other APIs or otherwise."

So essentially you can't write an emulator or virtual machine for the iPhone, which could be interpreted to include things like HyperCard players, Infocom interpreters, Flash players, or Java runtimes.
posted by indyz at 1:26 PM on September 30, 2008

Best answer: Well, for a counterpoint, the Infocom interpreter iphonefrotz is apparently already in the app store. A little bit of googling also turned up this software, which might be useful.

I think it's a pretty cool idea to use mobile devices as a potential market for text adventures, since they haven't had a market for a while. Best of luck!
posted by closetpacifist at 1:47 PM on September 30, 2008 [1 favorite]

iPhone has a web browser, why not just create a webpage?
posted by aeighty at 2:10 PM on September 30, 2008

Response by poster: Because I wish to create something that can be sold, and thus finance my plans for world domination.
posted by mecran01 at 2:46 PM on September 30, 2008

Response by poster: I want to creat a $1.00 application that ties into an online community, and I'm fond of text adventures.
posted by mecran01 at 2:46 PM on September 30, 2008

So then maybe the question should be... are there any web-development architectures that fit the OPs bill? (I don't know). This would have the fringe benefit of working with other types of smart phones, as well as computers. Of course, you'd have to find somewhere to host it, but if you were after "community" then you'd have to anyway.
posted by RustyBrooks at 5:26 PM on September 30, 2008

If it's a simple text adventure that can be created entirely in HTML and Javascript, you could create it in that, then create a super simple iPhone App which is just a WebView which opens to a page of your HTML.
posted by AaRdVarK at 6:28 PM on September 30, 2008

Your best way to do this would be to setup some sort of web-gateway to your text adventure that works well with the iPhone's browser. Natively coding apps is, I can speak from personal experience, extremely frustrating for the lone quasi-experienced programmer.

Also bear in mind that Apple has all SDK users under an NDA that prevents them from discussing the technicalities of issues like these - and there is little or nothing in the way of a developer's community for you to tap into as a result.

Go Web, young man.
posted by Ryvar at 6:47 PM on September 30, 2008

Response by poster: Tilestack looks like an interesting possibility. I had forgotten the name of it when I posted this question, but then remembered which twitterer had linked to it. Only downside is there's no way that I can see to sell your creations.
posted by mecran01 at 1:19 PM on October 1, 2008 [1 favorite]