Desperately need some help with this

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

Hi all, I know this isn’t strictly ‘Corona Business’, but I’m really struggling… I’ve tried everything and I’m really frustrated.

I’ve been trying to get hold of Mike Dogan from X-Pressive (Particle Candy), but all the evidence suggests they’re dead. 

I bought PC in good faith a year or so ago, but I can’t get hold of updates, or even my original download link… They’ve stopped tweeting, they’re not replying to support requests and I’m really stuck.

I’ve managed to find the actual Library from one of my old backups, but I desperately want to get hold of their sample projects, which I’ve since lost after updating my Mac.

I have proof of purchase. Is there anyone out there, who’s willing to send me over a copy of the sample projects that PC is bundled with? doesn’t even need to be the latest version, anything would be a small mercy at this stage.

If someone can help me, it would be a real favour in ‘the bank’.

Kind regards

Mark

#2

Unfortunately, he has a tendency to do this. I was in the same situation last year, where he disappeared and didn’t reply to any of my emails, tweets or other methods of contact. He did eventually appear from nowhere, however shortly thereafter the same thing happened again. I think that his interest in Corona has dropped to zero and is instead focusing his efforts elsewhere. I can’t rely on such a service.

It’s a shame, but due to this I stopped using all of his products and now I’m using Corona’s built-in particle system. You’ll need to have an extra tool called Particle Designer to create the effects, but it’s worth it. For a Text Candy replacement I’d recommend Glyph Designer to create bitmapped fonts and use it with a Corona module called Font Manager. 

https://github.com/autismuk/Font-Manager

(I’ve sent a PM to you)

#3

Thanks for saying hi, it’s nice to know that there’s someone else out there who’s feelin’ my pain. I did actually check out Particle Designer, but I don’t have the spare cash just yet… Mainly why I was pushing so hard to get hold of my PC copy.

I didn’t get your message, but I’ve sent you one through anyway.

All the best

#4

Hi @Caithan Games,

I strongly suggest that you use the Corona particle system in favor of Particle Candy, for the reasons described. To clarify, you actually can use it without buying Particle Designer, as the system accepts JSON-formatted input for all particle emitters and effects. See this guest tutorial for details:

http://coronalabs.com/blog/2014/04/29/tutorial-corona-particle-tools-and-data-formats/

Alternatively, you can use the free “CBEffects” library. Caleb is a very active member of the Corona community, he also authors the Dusk engine (among other things), and he’s reliable and responsive to user input.

http://gymbyl.com/programming/cbeffects.html

Take care,

Brent

#5

Hi Brent, the necessity for PC was due to an immediate requirement, but I’ll be migrating as soon as I’ve finished my current title… I’ve heard a lot of good things about CBE, which I’ll probably use as an interim solution whilst I brush up on my JSON.

Regards

#6

I think the x-pressive Candy products are abandonware. Corona’s built-in particle system does work really well. I’ve been using Particle Designer and like it. You can try using this site, http://particle2dx.com/ for a free alternative.

#7

Unfortunately, he has a tendency to do this. I was in the same situation last year, where he disappeared and didn’t reply to any of my emails, tweets or other methods of contact. He did eventually appear from nowhere, however shortly thereafter the same thing happened again. I think that his interest in Corona has dropped to zero and is instead focusing his efforts elsewhere. I can’t rely on such a service.

It’s a shame, but due to this I stopped using all of his products and now I’m using Corona’s built-in particle system. You’ll need to have an extra tool called Particle Designer to create the effects, but it’s worth it. For a Text Candy replacement I’d recommend Glyph Designer to create bitmapped fonts and use it with a Corona module called Font Manager. 

https://github.com/autismuk/Font-Manager

(I’ve sent a PM to you)

#8

Thanks for saying hi, it’s nice to know that there’s someone else out there who’s feelin’ my pain. I did actually check out Particle Designer, but I don’t have the spare cash just yet… Mainly why I was pushing so hard to get hold of my PC copy.

I didn’t get your message, but I’ve sent you one through anyway.

All the best

#9

Hi @Caithan Games,

I strongly suggest that you use the Corona particle system in favor of Particle Candy, for the reasons described. To clarify, you actually can use it without buying Particle Designer, as the system accepts JSON-formatted input for all particle emitters and effects. See this guest tutorial for details:

http://coronalabs.com/blog/2014/04/29/tutorial-corona-particle-tools-and-data-formats/

Alternatively, you can use the free “CBEffects” library. Caleb is a very active member of the Corona community, he also authors the Dusk engine (among other things), and he’s reliable and responsive to user input.

http://gymbyl.com/programming/cbeffects.html

Take care,

Brent

#10

Hi Brent, the necessity for PC was due to an immediate requirement, but I’ll be migrating as soon as I’ve finished my current title… I’ve heard a lot of good things about CBE, which I’ll probably use as an interim solution whilst I brush up on my JSON.

Regards

#11

I think the x-pressive Candy products are abandonware. Corona’s built-in particle system does work really well. I’ve been using Particle Designer and like it. You can try using this site, http://particle2dx.com/ for a free alternative.