Getting Started with Corona - Dive in OR start with LUA tuts?

Getting Started Newbie Questions
#1

Hello Community,

I have played around with Corona a bit so I am familiar with some of the very basic APIs, and can change scenes, create touch events, but have never developed any small games yet. I understand that Corona uses LUA as their scripting language to call their APIs. It seems like it might be beneficial to go through some LUA tutorials to understand the language before jumping back into Corona (took a long break :P).

I work for an online payment gateway and help developers integrate into our APIs, so I am exposed to their code on a regular basis which usually consists of PHP, .NET, Javascript, some ColdFusion. I am familiar with PHP / MySQL, and some ASP. The problem is I am a developer, just self taught to understand how to assist my clients.

I want to understand the fundamentals of what goes into the thought process behind coding the ‘framework’ if you will of your game. Besides using a lot of if/else statements and simply transitioning directly from one scene to the next, I am not sure how to go about actually developing the game.

What are your thoughts on someone who is relatively new to Corona/LUA who wants to develop 2D games?
Is it best to start learning Corona and through Corona learning about LUA (since I will be using Corona for my development in the end) or are there benefits to learning LUA first?

Any insight and comments are appreciated! [import]uid: 135255 topic_id: 32305 reply_id: 332305[/import]

#2

In most cases, I suggest that new users gain a decent foundation in Lua before they dive into Corona. In your case, being more familiar with programming in general, you can probably learn “as you go”.

Of course, I still suggest that you study Lua basics at http://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/. Most of Chapter 2 is necessary as a foundation.

For game design principles, check out http://mobile.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/corona/ for great tutorials. These can help you understand the concept of game development beyond just logical coding methods.

Best of luck!
Brent Sorrentino [import]uid: 9747 topic_id: 32305 reply_id: 128565[/import]

#3

I had Python knowledge before hand, the syntax was familiar and I just learnt as I went along. Looking back, a little primer into Lua would have helped just get over the basic syntax differences.

[python]

Python Code

a = 'Hello ’
b = ‘World’
print a + b
[/python]

[lua]-- Lua Code
a = 'Hello ’
b = ‘World’
print (a…b)[/lua] [import]uid: 62706 topic_id: 32305 reply_id: 128595[/import]

#4

In most cases, I suggest that new users gain a decent foundation in Lua before they dive into Corona. In your case, being more familiar with programming in general, you can probably learn “as you go”.

Of course, I still suggest that you study Lua basics at http://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/. Most of Chapter 2 is necessary as a foundation.

For game design principles, check out http://mobile.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/corona/ for great tutorials. These can help you understand the concept of game development beyond just logical coding methods.

Best of luck!
Brent Sorrentino [import]uid: 9747 topic_id: 32305 reply_id: 128565[/import]

#5

@Brent - Thank you the tutorial links. I will likely go through the LUA manual on their website as you have suggested to get a better basic understanding of the language. Do you have particular tutorials you would recommend through tutplus?

@Crafty - Python is another language I dabbled with when I was first introduced to programming all together. That was a long time ago and I haven’t really touched it since, but looking back on my experiences with Python, it was actually very easy to create basic applications with. Started by creating a clock and little things like that. It is encouraging to hear that LUA has a similar feel. [import]uid: 135255 topic_id: 32305 reply_id: 128692[/import]

#6

I had Python knowledge before hand, the syntax was familiar and I just learnt as I went along. Looking back, a little primer into Lua would have helped just get over the basic syntax differences.

[python]

Python Code

a = 'Hello ’
b = ‘World’
print a + b
[/python]

[lua]-- Lua Code
a = 'Hello ’
b = ‘World’
print (a…b)[/lua] [import]uid: 62706 topic_id: 32305 reply_id: 128595[/import]

#7

@Brent - Thank you the tutorial links. I will likely go through the LUA manual on their website as you have suggested to get a better basic understanding of the language. Do you have particular tutorials you would recommend through tutplus?

@Crafty - Python is another language I dabbled with when I was first introduced to programming all together. That was a long time ago and I haven’t really touched it since, but looking back on my experiences with Python, it was actually very easy to create basic applications with. Started by creating a clock and little things like that. It is encouraging to hear that LUA has a similar feel. [import]uid: 135255 topic_id: 32305 reply_id: 128692[/import]

#8

If anyone else is looking for any good beginner tutorials for corona and lua, then I suggest the “Build an Endless Runner Game” by Tyler King at tutplus.

http://mobile.tutsplus.com/series/build-an-endless-runner-game-from-scratch/

It starts with a primer on basic lua commands and syntax and begins transitioning into corona specific commands. Props to Brent Sorrentino who recommended the tutplus tutorials. [import]uid: 135255 topic_id: 32305 reply_id: 128807[/import]

#9

If anyone else is looking for any good beginner tutorials for corona and lua, then I suggest the “Build an Endless Runner Game” by Tyler King at tutplus.

http://mobile.tutsplus.com/series/build-an-endless-runner-game-from-scratch/

It starts with a primer on basic lua commands and syntax and begins transitioning into corona specific commands. Props to Brent Sorrentino who recommended the tutplus tutorials. [import]uid: 135255 topic_id: 32305 reply_id: 128807[/import]