For something like this app http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=323242790&mt=8, what sort of game framework is needed? It’s all 2D and I’ve read how popular Cocos is. The problem is I’m not a game programmer and there aren’t any good Cocos tutorials out there. Would Cocos be able to create a game like the one linked above?
If someone uses CoreAnimation (Quartz 2D), do they have to create the physics from scratch?
I don’t see any games with the Unity 3D logo on startup, which must display if you use the Indie license. What is the style of game Unity works best with?
For a beginner, should they start with Cocos or something such as Unity, which has lots of free resources (images, sounds, etc).
I’m no expert in iPhone development but have been studying it, and will try to chip in my 2 cents.
Yes, it seems that Cocos would be very suitable for what you are planning to do, and it would most definitely be able to make something like that Cartoon Wars. Plus it also gives you two choices of integrated physics engines to choose from. Streaming Colour’s Owen Goss is developing a game using Cocos and vlogging the experience, he occasionally comments about physics-engine related issues http://www.streamingcolour.com/blog/ .
You can also pick CoreAnimation, but then you are on your own to do the physics. If I’m not mistaken, the NimbleBit http://www.nimblebit.com/ guys developed their games (Scoops, Moon Drop) directly in Quartz.
Unity, despite being a 3D engine, is also suitable for the job. Zombieville USA was developed using it (more details here http://www.thecareergamer.com/?p=513 ) and has a cutout animated feel that resembles the link you shared. I guess all those games that don’t display the indie Unity logo simply were made using the full version. It seems that using Unity allowed them to develop Zombieville in a very small amount of time. Also, in Unity you are not stuck with Objective C and allowed to use C# as well.
Good luck!