Anything you can share with us regarding the “Text rendering plugin” @Rob?
The intent is to have a way to do some simple markup.
Rob
Thank you for the information. That’s nice to hear. Hopefully, it’ll cover most of the HTML styling. Worth the wait 
Investigate Linux builds
I know that many many people have asked for this and I do think this is a nice to have feature, but let’s be honest, there isn’t much money, if any, to be made by creating games for Linux. The draw to Linux is it’s $0 price tag for the OS and many thousands of apps and games available for it, many of which are open source. If a person really wants to make a game for Linux, they can use one of over a hundred free game engines that already exist for Linux or they can create an HTML game using Corona and then wrap it into a Linux executable using something like Electron. I think that from a business perspective, for both Corona/Appodeal and it’s users, it would be far more valuable to pursue major consoles, specifically the Switch, XBOX, and PlayStation. Our company has a couple more games in the pipeline that are aimed at mobile only and we are using Corona for that, because Corona is awesome. But we also want to publish a platformer type game. The kind of game we have in mind will be best for consoles/TV and desktop. If we stick with Corona for that, we will be limited to Steam, Android TV, and Apple TV, and maybe Switch if that happens. But if we want to publish to PS or XBOX (and be guaranteed to be able to publish to Switch) we will be forced to use a different game engine. I understand that Corona’s dev resources are limited so I am not suggesting that Corona pursues any of the consoles, but if they are going to add another platform to the mix, please don’t make it Linux.
I agree redninjacat, console builds are way more important than a zero pay market such as Linux!
I believe the Linux interest is in being able to use Linux as a platform to develop from and produce Android/HTML5 apps. However, any Linux support will come as baby steps.
Consoles are not a developer’s utopia. You frequently have to get a developer account with the platform, pitch ideas to them, get the idea approved in advance. You likely will have to buy their development hardware, which could run several hundred to several thousand dollars. You may have to meet rules like being a business entity and not an individual. At a minimum forming an LLC for this purpose can run you several hundred dollars with annual filing fees.
Sony for instance also requires you to have a static IP address (which typically costs money, your home Internet is most likely dynamic IP allocation based) and you have to have a real email address, not something from Gmail/Hotmail etc. This means having a website on a hosting service and email accounts tied to that domain. These all have ongoing fees. The platform may also charge you a per game or per-account fee as well. It’s definitely not like mobile where anyone can create an account, upload a packaged file, submit it, get it approved and get going.
I think many people may assume “Oh let’s build for Console Type X, output a package, upload it, and watch the bucks start rolling in”. It doesn’t work that way. I just want to set some realistic expectations on what it means to develop for consoles. Microsoft seems to be moving more to the Apple/Google model with their Store model and support for UWP builds. This could be a reasonable path to Xbox One support.
Rob
Rob
That’s great about UWP. I see that on your roadmap too and I think that’s fantastic. If you can add support for UWP and the Switch that would definitely, IMO, justify sticking with Corona for a large scale project since that only leaves out the PS. But what I just read between the lines in your post is “Corona is aimed at hobbyists and hobbyists aren’t capable of doing the things necessary to get on a console”. I know that’s absolutely not what you said but that is what I heard. I’d say our last game was somewhere between the hobbyist and pro levels but we plan to reach pro status eventually. We are an LLC, have a real email, have a static IP, have several web sites, have had various dev systems*, virtually all that stuff. We understand that getting on a console is not easy. But we are serious about this and will get a game on a console eventually. Definitely not this year, and probably not next year either, but eventually. And we realize that will take time, money, blood, sweat, and tears.
If you were to push back due to customer demand for Linux versus consoles or because of dev constraints, I totally get that. Corona is a fantastic tool for building mobile games. Being able to develop for Steam, HTML, and Apple TV is really nice frosting on the delicious Corona cake.
* I was on a team at Universal Studios years ago that developed a few Crash Bandicoot games for the PS1. We had one green and one blue PS (see this page about old PS dev hardware). Once development had moved to the PS2, I got to personally keep one of these PSs. Presently, our company only has a dev Apple TV. Regardless, whether it takes a few hundred or a few thousand dollars to buy a dev kit, we will pay it if we have a worthwhile game to publish.
linux is for servers surely? if you have to run your desktop on linux (and no idea why you would want to do this) then simply fire up a WINE session for running windows apps.
spending dev time on linux is a waste of time IMHO.
@redninjacat, I did not mean to imply that Corona is for small indies only. We have customers from AAA studios to one-person shops using our product. We have to balance our development efforts to try and benefit developers using Corona of all sizes and needs.
If you’re part of our developer community who can make use of console development, then fantastic. As we get there, Corona will be great for you, but there are a lot of people who see this post and get excited over some console platform listed on the roadmap. I just want to make sure that expectations are set for those who expect it to be as easy as deploying to Google Play.
Rob
@Rob, a big thanks for the info, I have to say that the possibility of opening up these huge markets to Corona developers would be fantastic. Things are tighter than ever on the App Stores, so expanding outwards to conoles could be a big way for many of us to grow and thrive.
Greg