Dynamic Content Scaling - What dimensions to start from?

Getting Started Newbie Questions
#1

The dynamic scaling capability of Corona sounds pretty impressive. I had been working on my own scaling solution until I realized that Corona looks to solve this in a very effortless (for me!) way.

Does anyone have any advice as to what dimensions I should develop for/let Corona scale from?

My sense is that I should “start big” and let the dynamic capability scale the content down rather than vice versa. Does that seem like a good choice?

I aim to target iOS devices first and foremost. I’m excited to publish to other platforms as well but my aim is to have a product that looks great first and foremost on iPad and iPhone.

With all this in mind, should I develop around the iPad screen dimensions?

Thanks for any insight anyone can share :slight_smile: [import]uid: 105707 topic_id: 28204 reply_id: 328204[/import]

#2

Here are a few ideas:

For your “thing” in general:

-You could develop for both, and make a function for choosing which device (That’s a lot of work. I do that, being a perfectionist)

-You could develop for the iPad, scale it out for the iPhone, and put your game logo or something in the blank space that appears to the sides (if landscape) or top and bottom (if portrait)

-You could make two different versions, one for iPad, one for iPhone, but people might complain

For your images:

-Images tend to be pixelated being scaled up, and grainy scaled down, so you could put two versions of the image in your “thing”

-You could make a ‘half’ image, that doesn’t look too bad scaled up, and doesn’t look too bad scaled down, but that might not look good on a retina screen

It’s up to you, though.

binc [import]uid: 147322 topic_id: 28204 reply_id: 113945[/import]

#3

If your targeting iOS i would start at the iPhone 3gs sizes (320 Wide x 480 Heigh)
[import]uid: 84637 topic_id: 28204 reply_id: 113979[/import]

#4

I prefer to start bigger and let Corona scale down, but others prefer the other way around. Both have a few tiny caveats that have been discussed extensively in the forums.

My current rule of thumb is to start at the device (its resolution) which I truly want my app to appear best on. For most of my stuff, it’s iPad 1&2. This ensures that everything… objects, text, buttons, etc… line up perfectly on those two devices. I really don’t fuss about what happens on an iPhone 3GS because the screen resolution is low and some tiny mis-alignment is acceptable to me.

In summary, I suggest 640-768 (width) and 960-1024 (height) to hit iPhone4 and the first two iPads.

Brent [import]uid: 9747 topic_id: 28204 reply_id: 114018[/import]

#5

I know the obvious reaction here is to go for maximum sharpness and resolution, but I have had very nice looking results with a different approach.

One of my last projects uses a screen width of 512 pixels as base resolution, which allows me to be very efficient with my background images, memory-wise, and which gives a nice arcade-game look to my graphics. Is the image razorsharp? No, but it looks very good, and that the decisive factor.

Do you have Jetpack Joyride running on an iPad? You should check it out: the resolution is far from Retina, but it’s one of the best looking games out there in my opinion, and the fuzzy arcade look works wonders there.

As mentioned above, 640 width is a good starting point, naturally, but the crappy thing is that 640 px wide takes up as much memory as 1024 px wide, so you do lose a lot in this way - although for a lot of projects this is the way to go. [import]uid: 70134 topic_id: 28204 reply_id: 114028[/import]

#6

Great to hear everyone’s input. I hadn’t considered most of these points but I’m not surprised that there’s so much depth to the issue.

@binc - I’m working on a grid based game so I was originally coming up with a solution that would chose assets and spacing based on the platform in use… I too share a perfectionistic streak :slight_smile:
Since Corona will scale dynamically, I’m tempted to put this manual method on the back burner… although solving it after the fact if I’m not pleased with the dynamic result could be a real bear…

@Danny - I’m actually surprised you would recommend starting with the 3GS resolution… you are Ansca Staff so I’d be interested to hear more insight behind your recommendation. Based on thomas6’s comment that might actually work well for me.

@Brent - I like your rule of thumb regarding choosing dimensions that suit my favored platform. I hadn’t considered that the size of the older iPads is close to that of the newer iPhones.

@thomas6 - I took a look at Jet Pack Joyride and have to agree that the “softness” of the scaling suits the retro style look. My game is going to have a very old-school look (mostly because I’m not much of a digital artist and I seem to have better luck with retro style pixel art!) so that may work well for me. Can you help me understand why the 640px takes as much memory as 1024? I guess it’s the whole 8/16/32/64/128/256/512/1024 multiple thing?
Thanks for everyone’s perspective on the issue. I haven’t made up my mind on the best approach yet but will keep you posted on what I learn. I’m still glad to hear more thoughts on the topic. [import]uid: 105707 topic_id: 28204 reply_id: 114105[/import]

#7

I have the same question:

Till now we developed in resolution 480x320.

The next application we want to release only for new cell phones for both Android and iPhone platforms (like iPhone4 and SamsungGalaxyS2).

What is the “next” advanced resolution after 480x320? Thanks. [import]uid: 144261 topic_id: 28204 reply_id: 114217[/import]