How can i make a Sidescrolling Platformer?

Games
#1

hey so im wanting to make a side scrolling platformer and im not to sure where to start

are there any tutorials out there that cover them extremely well

or could someone possibly tell me the key features that ill need to know in order to make one

like what events, functions, and other things that are required for making one

im still relatively new to this and just need a good kickstart to actually get the ball rolling

im familiar with using sprites, physics.addBody(, touch and tap event listeners

but there are a few things ims itll trying to figure out, like on how to easily lay out a map for my character to interact with.

for example, like having a moving platform off screen and the player walks left it then comes on screen and the player can jump on it, im just clueless on how to do this

#2

It’s not as simple as answering these questions, unfortunately.

What goes into making a platformer with Corona SDK is a university-level course on its own, so boiling it down to a forum post (even one that references only tutorials) is hard to do. The reason being, there are many different permutations of platformers. To quote @roaminggamer:

As an SDK, Corona does an excellent job of simplifying the creation of games and apps.  However, you will still need to learn basic Lua coding, art, physics (concepts), and 2D math.  There is no way to avoid this, and honestly I don’t think folks should try to avoid this.

 

In your case, I would forget about making a game to start.  Instead, focus on examining the many examples that are bundled with the Corona download.  Then look at books, websites, etc that talk about and train on topics using Corona.

 

Then, once you start to grasp the fundamentals, start making small (I mean tiny) games using very basic art.

 

Finally, you should be ready to start making your game idea.

 

Oh, and don’t forget to read the forums posts (see what other people are asking about talking about) as well as the blogs.  Watching the Corona Geek hangouts can’t hurt either.  There are 191 (or more) prior episodes.

I realize that this was advice to another poster, but it’s still true in this case. No one wants to discourage you; on the contrary, below you will see a ton of resources that you can use to learn. However, none of them are going to show you “how to build a platformer” from pillar to post in exactly the way you want your game to look, operate, function and feel. If you find a tutorial that details how to create a platformer, and follow it to the letter, you will come out with a game that works exactly like the one that was in the tutorial, and you will very likely not be satisfied with that.

For example, the question “how to easily lay out a map for my character to interact with”, is a very good one. However, there are umpteen different ways to accomplish it. Some could use physics; some couldn’t. Some might necessitate the development and implementation of your own physics engine, independent of Box2D, which is what Corona leverages. That by itself is a very deep question that can be answered any number of ways.

TL;DR: Check out the resources below. None of them answer your question completely (because there aren’t any that fit the criteria you laid out) but they can get you started.

https://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/62463-abot-enemy-ai/

https://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/63637-creating-bullets-and-enemies-on-the-fly-performance/

https://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/55780-ask-a-better-question-get-a-better-answer/

https://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/61724-how-to-create-a-platformer/

#3

thank you i will definitely get to work on going through those posts, and i understand what you mean by following a tutorial exactly you will only come up with what they made and you wont have an original idea or way of doing it, my goal with a tutorial is ofcourse to follow it but take from it some important tips and tricks that can help me get a grasp on how the game could be made, and to teach me how certain functions and parameters work, i do better learning these types of things from videos for some reason, i know a little bit of lua and am still learning, and i am making smaller games to gain a grasp on how it all works to gain my own way of doing things and well to make my own games, 

your right about none of them answering my question completely but you definitely gave me enough info that i needed to get started towards my goal

thank you

#4

You’ve gotten some great advice above. I just want to add that you should spend the time going through our “Getting Started” guide and build out the couple of apps they give you.

https://docs.coronalabs.com/guide/programming/index.html

There are a lot of fundamental skills to be gained from it that will help you going forward.

Rob

#5

thanks for the guides im definately gonna try and work with these apps so far ive been working on them and they have taught me some more that i didnt know, im gonna go through these and then come up with a new idea for a smaller game and return back to my idea of doing a platformer once i learn alot more and practice alot more

Thanks

#6

So.
My tipp…
You need a engine for your levels. Called TileEngine.
Without it will be more harder to begin from 0.
May you test at first events, collsion handler e.g.
But.
You will start with a tile engine lime MillionTileEnige or Dusk Engine.
Then you will use a sample project out of it and you will start to implement your own functions.

Thats how i did it.
Good. Firstly i started to program a side scroller arcade shooter. Takes me 3 months.
And then finally got it. GazerStar my first game, 3 months for everything…

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9EgYcjb-g8[/media]

Now im hanging with my jump and run for some months now.
The engine is finished but now i have to do enemies, create levles e.g.

Thats how it look like at the moment:
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APF73COukjA[/media]

So thats what i would suggest:

  • Do a lot of tutorials
  • Do a small game with tutorials and learn how to touch, events 
  • start to use a engine 
  • adapt the engine
#7

It’s not as simple as answering these questions, unfortunately.

What goes into making a platformer with Corona SDK is a university-level course on its own, so boiling it down to a forum post (even one that references only tutorials) is hard to do. The reason being, there are many different permutations of platformers. To quote @roaminggamer:

As an SDK, Corona does an excellent job of simplifying the creation of games and apps.  However, you will still need to learn basic Lua coding, art, physics (concepts), and 2D math.  There is no way to avoid this, and honestly I don’t think folks should try to avoid this.

 

In your case, I would forget about making a game to start.  Instead, focus on examining the many examples that are bundled with the Corona download.  Then look at books, websites, etc that talk about and train on topics using Corona.

 

Then, once you start to grasp the fundamentals, start making small (I mean tiny) games using very basic art.

 

Finally, you should be ready to start making your game idea.

 

Oh, and don’t forget to read the forums posts (see what other people are asking about talking about) as well as the blogs.  Watching the Corona Geek hangouts can’t hurt either.  There are 191 (or more) prior episodes.

I realize that this was advice to another poster, but it’s still true in this case. No one wants to discourage you; on the contrary, below you will see a ton of resources that you can use to learn. However, none of them are going to show you “how to build a platformer” from pillar to post in exactly the way you want your game to look, operate, function and feel. If you find a tutorial that details how to create a platformer, and follow it to the letter, you will come out with a game that works exactly like the one that was in the tutorial, and you will very likely not be satisfied with that.

For example, the question “how to easily lay out a map for my character to interact with”, is a very good one. However, there are umpteen different ways to accomplish it. Some could use physics; some couldn’t. Some might necessitate the development and implementation of your own physics engine, independent of Box2D, which is what Corona leverages. That by itself is a very deep question that can be answered any number of ways.

TL;DR: Check out the resources below. None of them answer your question completely (because there aren’t any that fit the criteria you laid out) but they can get you started.

https://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/62463-abot-enemy-ai/

https://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/63637-creating-bullets-and-enemies-on-the-fly-performance/

https://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/55780-ask-a-better-question-get-a-better-answer/

https://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/61724-how-to-create-a-platformer/

#8

thank you i will definitely get to work on going through those posts, and i understand what you mean by following a tutorial exactly you will only come up with what they made and you wont have an original idea or way of doing it, my goal with a tutorial is ofcourse to follow it but take from it some important tips and tricks that can help me get a grasp on how the game could be made, and to teach me how certain functions and parameters work, i do better learning these types of things from videos for some reason, i know a little bit of lua and am still learning, and i am making smaller games to gain a grasp on how it all works to gain my own way of doing things and well to make my own games, 

your right about none of them answering my question completely but you definitely gave me enough info that i needed to get started towards my goal

thank you

#9

You’ve gotten some great advice above. I just want to add that you should spend the time going through our “Getting Started” guide and build out the couple of apps they give you.

https://docs.coronalabs.com/guide/programming/index.html

There are a lot of fundamental skills to be gained from it that will help you going forward.

Rob

#10

thanks for the guides im definately gonna try and work with these apps so far ive been working on them and they have taught me some more that i didnt know, im gonna go through these and then come up with a new idea for a smaller game and return back to my idea of doing a platformer once i learn alot more and practice alot more

Thanks

#11

So.
My tipp…
You need a engine for your levels. Called TileEngine.
Without it will be more harder to begin from 0.
May you test at first events, collsion handler e.g.
But.
You will start with a tile engine lime MillionTileEnige or Dusk Engine.
Then you will use a sample project out of it and you will start to implement your own functions.

Thats how i did it.
Good. Firstly i started to program a side scroller arcade shooter. Takes me 3 months.
And then finally got it. GazerStar my first game, 3 months for everything…

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9EgYcjb-g8[/media]

Now im hanging with my jump and run for some months now.
The engine is finished but now i have to do enemies, create levles e.g.

Thats how it look like at the moment:
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APF73COukjA[/media]

So thats what i would suggest:

  • Do a lot of tutorials
  • Do a small game with tutorials and learn how to touch, events 
  • start to use a engine 
  • adapt the engine