A book on R.U.B.E

General discussion about the R.U.B.E editor
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Phantom Ppepper
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Sep 10, 2013 3:59 am

A book on R.U.B.E

Post by Phantom Ppepper »

I'm not gonna lie… this software has been the most useful tool that I've used so far in working on iOS programming. I consider myself an absolute beginner. I guarantee I would spend a lot of money on a comprehensive book on how to use RUBE in general and more specifically how to use RUBE with Cocos2D. Have you thought about publishing a book?? ;)
iforce2d
Site Admin
Posts: 861
Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:20 pm

Re: A book on R.U.B.E

Post by iforce2d »

If I was to publish a book it would be more likely to be about Box2D usage in general, rather than RUBE. But no, I have no plans for either.

The Box2D tutorials are a small book already, and the format is easier to search, convenient for readers to comment with feedback and point out places that are incorrect or unclear, and easier for me to correct and update, and if things change in future (eg. Box2D library releases) then it's easier to get new topics done quickly. I don't see a lot of benefit to a book really.

As for RUBE documentation, the built-in help is also a small book worth of content, and should be pretty comprehensive. Until recently it was a bit hard to locate topics even if you knew they existed, but as of v1.5 you can now full-text search the help which should improve the ability to find things. Just recently I also converted this to be viewable online so that non-English speakers can use Google translate to view it in their own language: http://www.iforce2d.net/rubehelp

There are also 17 video tutorials (over 4.5 hours in total) which cover all the core features of the editor, and four update videos covering the features added in each release after the initial release. I understand that people often don't want to watch through videos just to try and find something, and the fact that they cannot be text-searched is a weakness, but if you are serious about getting a good foundation it would be worth setting aside a couple of hours to watch the first 9 videos at least.
You can find a list of the core tutorials in the first page of the built-in help, and a full listing here:
http://www.iforce2d.net/rube/?panel=tutorials

For those who prefer written tutorials, there is a set of topics in the built-in help for "Getting started" which goes over the basics of manipulating and creating simple items.

For Cocos2d there are sample loader implementations available (in the trial download zip and also separately from users page if you have purchased), and I have uploaded a number of videos on YouTube explaining setting up RUBE and getting some example scenes loaded. You can find them here:
RUBE with Cocos2d setup
Creating menus with RUBE
RUBE with Cocos2d-X
msm1982
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2013 4:13 pm

Re: A book on R.U.B.E

Post by msm1982 »

Hey,

just wanted to commend you on all the documentation. Considering the great dev work you have done on the editor itself, I am impressed how much effort you actually put into creating great documentation as well.

You actually posted this somewhere else, but I followed the suggestion and find it very helpful. For others, you can view the editor documentation outside of the editor. On linux, you can install QT Assistant and load the editor helpful separately to read it full screen in that application.

Also, thanks for the box2d tutorials, they are really invaluable for those like me how are just being introduced to box2d
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