After the download has finished, extract the file to a location of your choice. We can use the unpacker that is included in Mac OS X by default, but any third-party unpacker should work as well. Let's take a look at the following screenshot to see what the Sparrow package has to offer:
The samples folder consists of three subfolders, and they are as follows:
barebone: This is a bare minimum project and a good start for creating your own games and will serve as the template for our game as welldemo: This is a sample application showcasing many of the features found within Sparrowscaffold: The scaffold template provides some base classes and more boilerplate code than thebareboneexample
Markdown files are, in essence, text files that can be rendered into HTML files. They are as follows:
BUILDING.md: This gives a quick start on how to use the libraryCHANGELOG.md: This gives a detailed list of items on what exactly changed between the versionsLICENSE.md: This is the license Sparrow usesREADME.md: This is a short introduction into what Sparrow is
Sparrow is a free and open source software, which means its source can be viewed and modified by anyone.
Like many other pieces of software in the Mac/iOS universe, Sparrow is licensed under an unmodified two-clause Simplified BSD license, which allows us to use Sparrow as long as the copyright notice, the list of conditions, and the disclaimer is distributed with the source or the application.
Note
What does this mean if we were to modify the source code?
The modified source code must have the same LICENSE.md file and the contents of this file are not allowed to change.
What does this mean if we were to develop a game with Sparrow and distribute the game on the Apple App Store?
The game needs to have the contents of LICENSE.md present in the game itself. Having the contents of the file in the options or credits screen is a valid solution.