I’m leaving GameSalad and I have to option:
-Cocos2D
-Corona
I have 9 month and I want to start with Corona.
Cocos2D have a great documentation page.
The question is:
Which are the best way to learn Corona?
PS: when corona will have a GUI? [import]uid: 9961 topic_id: 2616 reply_id: 302616[/import]
I’ve got programming skill (Obj-C, C, C++, JavaScript, C#, Java) but never used LUA so I don’t know how to start.
The documentation on this site is a bit messed up. I must start with?
Could someone help me? [import]uid: 9961 topic_id: 2616 reply_id: 7456[/import]
Use the demos that come with Corona, ive also uploaded a joystick to the sample code area of this site.
Honestly with Corona it will be difficult for a little while and then things will just click. The code is clean, simple and logical and once you get around how to correctly set up an app, loops, transitions etc… it will all make sense.
The lua website has lots of references and your Javascript knowledge will help as it works in a similar way.
Look at the demos I have uploaded along with the joystick, they show some simple setups and the Corona demos all demonstrate an individual or two feature.
Compared to most other languages I got up an running in no time in Corona and ive not looked back. I use JQuery a lot and I find this site and the api reference much better then that of JQuery. [import]uid: 5354 topic_id: 2616 reply_id: 7571[/import]
Read the language page in the API docs, try some of the samples that come with the SDK and download the examples from the site. Then read the language page again. Then start writing your own app and it will all come together.
m [import]uid: 8271 topic_id: 2616 reply_id: 7574[/import]
>>PS: when corona will have a GUI?
My guess… never. But that is the same like Cocos2D.
>>Which are the best way to learn Corona?
If you know how to program in a similar language like LUA, then should study the documentation and the samples. It is important to understand the event driven concept that drives the engine. If you haven’t coded before, then you are up for an adventure.
[import]uid: 5712 topic_id: 2616 reply_id: 7451[/import]
It doesnt need a GUI. I use xcode for code editing, others use BBEdit or one of its offshoots.
For graphics I use Adobe Fireworks. It uses the same coordinate system, exports slices, you can do animations and its pixel based so the results look sharp, especially compared to photo editing software like Photoshop.
One user on here has written export to Corona from Fireworks and Photoshop so basically that all the GUI you need.
Now if you are wanting to setup a game visually in Corona, like laying out a level from sprites etc… you would need to write an app to do that. Thats what a lot of studios do regardless of the dev kit.
The tip here is to do it as an iPad app or add everything into a group and scale the group so you can see more of the level. Use the joystick to move the group around and touch / drag to setup elements. [import]uid: 5354 topic_id: 2616 reply_id: 7579[/import]
Joystick!? What/Where is it?
PS: I have Photoshop how can I see the coordinates [import]uid: 9961 topic_id: 2616 reply_id: 7620[/import]
Hi there,
I am also a recent “convert” to Corona/Lua, previously from GameSalad and Torque2D. There seem to be alot of ex-GameSalad users here, for various reasons I won’t get into right now.
If you have previous programming skills, especially Javascript, you’ll probably find Lua easy to learn. I think a core difference compared to Obj-C, C++, etc. is that Lua is not really an “object-oriented” language. However, there are ways to make it behave like that. Currently that method (metatables and such) is confusing to me, but I just started on Lua about a week ago and hopefully it will make sense soon.
This page has several examples of this, and the site in general is a vast resource for Lua.
http://lua-users.org/wiki/SampleCode
The current documentation on Ansca’s site is lacking; they have admitted so and are working to improve it. In the meantime, I suggest you just open up various main.lua files from the Sample Code directory in the app, follow along, and tinker around. Lua is a bit strange to me compared to TorqueScript, mostly in the way functions/variables must be ordered in a very specific manner, lest the app breaks because something isn’t in the proper “scope” of whatever is requesting it.
As for the lack of a graphical/GUI game editor, I thought this would be a major inconvenience. Both GameSalad and Torque2D have them, so I became accustomed to it. In truth it hasn’t been a problem; you can rapidly prototype your game in the “mock” phone/pad display without compiling a giant package of code every time, so you see instant changes with a simple “Command-R” refresh.
Best of luck, I think you’ll like Corona, especially after GameSalad. I certainly do, so far!
Brent
[import]uid: 9747 topic_id: 2616 reply_id: 7622[/import]
Heres the joystick example, http://developer.anscamobile.com/code/joystick, download the .zip file as it has some examples and will show you how to set up a simple app.
In Photoshop
Make a slice, then right-click it, and select Edit Slice Options (or just double-click it). The X and Y values will tell you where your slice is. Alternatively, you can turn on Grid or Rulers, on the View menu.
Try Fireworks if you can, its an Adobe product now and Photoshop was hacked long ago by Adobe to try to get PS to compete with Fireworks. They are however 2 very different programs. Fireworks has a proper vector engine for one, slices, layers, groups, all sorts that will help in building a game. Each vector object (or bitmap) is treated like an object, much like Corona, so its much easier and compliments Corona, its like a front end for it if anything. [import]uid: 5354 topic_id: 2616 reply_id: 7627[/import]
I just started 2 days ago! I come from C, Objective-C, Html, and some Action Script. So far Corona SDK is amazing! But I am having trouble also its the LACK of documentation. I have already started to code on my own with some help from the web. But I am working on a demo to help newcomers like me be able to learn some of the basics. Lua is really just a simplified version of C to me!
Can’t wait to show you all our up coming game!
-Gamexcb [import]uid: 8517 topic_id: 2616 reply_id: 7699[/import]
Lack of documentation? Do you mean how to code a game with corona? They had two nice samples in the samples area but I think they got lost when they installed the new theme. [import]uid: 5712 topic_id: 2616 reply_id: 7707[/import]
We are trying to get them back online.
Carlos [import]uid: 24 topic_id: 2616 reply_id: 7716[/import]
Having principly used BASIC/C/C++/C#/Java/JavaScript/Lua I would say that Lua is an enhanced and better-thought-out version of JavaScript (although, it’s obvious the roots are not in js). The basics are very easy to pick up and really only require time and enough intent to learn the language. The operators are all the same as you’d expect and really only method calls, as far as syntax go, differ significantly, but these would be familiar to an Objective-C developer. The big difference would be for a object-oriented developer to have to let go of the concept of classes as this doesn’t really feature in lua. Though, once you grok the idea of tables and just how powerful they are for a language which is Turing and syntax complete, though maybe not as feature-rich as language like C#, it really is beautiful and easy to use.
Just IMHO.
m [import]uid: 8271 topic_id: 2616 reply_id: 7719[/import]