Is Corona right for me? - I'm producing an educational app, not a game

Getting Started Newbie Questions
#1

Hi. First up, I’m not a programmer, but I’m up for learning. I also want to get a decent handle on the technical side so that either I can create something simple myself or at least be knowledgeable enough to be able to help and understand if we do end up getting someone else to do the programming. Anyway, my question regards the possibilities of Corona. I’m developing an educational application and will potentially be doing more in the future. Corona and the tutorials, questions and forum posts seem to be weighted quite heavily towards games development. Would Corona be suitable for a less GFX-y, video-and-text based app? We do want the ability to make it look good, use gestures etc, but that will be an aesthetic advantage rather than the backbone of the app.
I very much like what I’ve seen of Corona so far, so if you do feel it’s a suitable SDK could you point me in the direction of any tutorials that are less games-focussed?
Forgive me if it’s a bit of a vague request, but I’m the only person thinking about this and I suppose I’m looking for a second opinion. Thanks in advance

Update: as I suggested above, the app is also going to use video as an important central feature. I’ve just seen the media.playVideo API can’t run on the simulator, so I wouldn’t be able to see if the video runs or if I’ve got the correct code in (particularly important as I’m a newbie). Am I barking up the wrong tree with Corona? Thanks again [import]uid: 196027 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 333668[/import]

#2

Hi,

You can definitely use Corona to make an Educational based app. I use it predominantly for business based apps and it works great. You often have to do a bit more research to get it to work correctly, but if your patient and don’t need to rely on tutorials then you will be fine.

Unfortunately i don’t know of many non-game tutorials so i can’t point you in the right direction, but i can assure you that non-game apps can and already have been made to a high standard in Corona.

Thanks,
Jamie [import]uid: 69826 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133854[/import]

#3

Thanks for your reassuring response Jamie. I’m now trying to figure out whether I can use video and test it… [import]uid: 196027 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133855[/import]

#4

I found the best non-game tutorial to be this one:

http://masteringcoronasdk.com/

You also probably want to take a look at:
http://www.x-pressive.com/WidgetCandy_Corona
http://www.x-pressive.com/TextCandy_Corona

which can be useful in designing apps that rely on widgets.

[import]uid: 198234 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133859[/import]

#5

Thanks FullThrottle I’ll check those out. Much appreciated [import]uid: 196027 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133861[/import]

#6

Tom,

If you use Photoshop, you should check also Kwik, from Kwiksher.com. You can create full apps (lots of tutorials and apps made with the product in the Showcase), directly from Photoshop with no (or much less) code than doing it from the scratch.

Alex [import]uid: 4883 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133867[/import]

#7

A monster compendium of Corona SDK tutorials:

http://www.learningcorona.com/

and links to a lot of the tools you can use with Corona:

http://www.learningcorona.com/tools.html [import]uid: 79933 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133868[/import]

#8

Thanks guys I’ll check these out. [import]uid: 196027 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133876[/import]

#9

Hi,

You can definitely use Corona to make an Educational based app. I use it predominantly for business based apps and it works great. You often have to do a bit more research to get it to work correctly, but if your patient and don’t need to rely on tutorials then you will be fine.

Unfortunately i don’t know of many non-game tutorials so i can’t point you in the right direction, but i can assure you that non-game apps can and already have been made to a high standard in Corona.

Thanks,
Jamie [import]uid: 69826 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133854[/import]

#10

Thanks for your reassuring response Jamie. I’m now trying to figure out whether I can use video and test it… [import]uid: 196027 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133855[/import]

#11

I found the best non-game tutorial to be this one:

http://masteringcoronasdk.com/

You also probably want to take a look at:
http://www.x-pressive.com/WidgetCandy_Corona
http://www.x-pressive.com/TextCandy_Corona

which can be useful in designing apps that rely on widgets.

[import]uid: 198234 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133859[/import]

#12

Thanks FullThrottle I’ll check those out. Much appreciated [import]uid: 196027 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133861[/import]

#13

Tom,

If you use Photoshop, you should check also Kwik, from Kwiksher.com. You can create full apps (lots of tutorials and apps made with the product in the Showcase), directly from Photoshop with no (or much less) code than doing it from the scratch.

Alex [import]uid: 4883 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133867[/import]

#14

A monster compendium of Corona SDK tutorials:

http://www.learningcorona.com/

and links to a lot of the tools you can use with Corona:

http://www.learningcorona.com/tools.html [import]uid: 79933 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133868[/import]

#15

Thanks guys I’ll check these out. [import]uid: 196027 topic_id: 33668 reply_id: 133876[/import]