Need a Visual Editor for PC

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

Can anyone recommend the best visual editor for PC user.
Sadly i miss out on the Composer GUI without a MAC. I have seen the Level Director but not sure if it’s the only choice out there. I will be building kids apps and really need to be able to see exactly where my graphics and sprites are going and working with different device resolutions.
Does anyone have a workflow that integrates Photoshop? I love my CS3 version and was wondering if there are any clever workarounds with regards to taking scene mockups from Photoshop to Corona via your editor of choice.

Thanks in advance 

#2

I’m not sure if there is anything for CS3, but there is a tool for CS5:

Kwik - http://kwiksher.com/ 

Note: Don’t forget, Corona has a page dedicated to 3rd party tools & services:  http://coronalabs.com/resources/3rd-party-tools-and-services/

#3

Thanks @roamingranger. I have checked Kwiksher and it’s good but i want 100% control over my mechanics and also, it isn’t cheap, neither is Photoshop CS5+ which it requires. I am not upgrading from CS3.
I was just wondering if any PC developers were using anything other than Level Director. And i’d be interested to know how people prototype their apps and games for so many device resolutions.
I am disappointed that the Composer GUI is for MAC only. If i was a paying subscriber, i would be seriously miffed about that.
Why is there NO PC VERSION? 

#4

Check out the Goji editor: http://www.gojieditor.com

Not sure it says anything on that home page about being for Corona, but I know the guy who wrote it has been on here saying it works for us.

Well, not *us* since it’s Windows only, so I’m all like, “Pffft! WTF?!?” Because people who don’t use Mac don’t deserve tools that look that neat. Can I get an amen?

 Jay

#5

Hi @J.A.Whye. The Goji Editor says it’s for the Marmalade SDK. Looks like he’s shelved Corona - or has he?
I would love a MAC and agree that it has some of the nicest tools. But seems like beauty comes at a price.
Just discovered Affinity Designer for the mac yesterday and my jaw dropped watching the demo video. For £35 it’s an Adobe Illustrator killer! 

#6

This is from the Goji Editor Forum posted by @appeasym on 31|8|14:
“HI Everyone,
The Goji Editor has undergone some major changes over the past few months with the biggest change being tight integration into the Marmalade tool chain and removal for direct support for Gideros and Corona.
Why have I taken this route? Firstly, Marmalade recently released a free license making the Marmalade SDK freely available to all developers and enabling tight integration of Goji into the Marmalade build and deployment system, this enables developers to use Goji to create…”

#7

Ah, no wonder it doesn’t mention Corona on the home page. Sorry, not sure where else for you to turn.

 Jay

PS - And I hate to say it, but you’re not missing out on much by not being able to use Composer GUI. I hope it will grow into something awesome, but it’s not close yet (opinion only, not immutable fact).

#8

I’ve been using Level Director (LD) for a couple of years now and love it, I also love the support which is amazing.

There is a small learning curve but like anything it’s simple once you know how.

I was able to prototype a fully parallax scrolling working game in approx 15 minutes using LD as the libraries that ships with it take care of all the complex stuff, including the ability to automatically wrap objects for continuous style games.

I tried composer GUI but this is just too basic and doesn’t have the asset management that comes with LD i.e. configure an asset once (including physics and animation) and use multiple times.

There is a free download, you should try it or simply look at the supplied examples.

#9

I do think Coronalabs are - should be -  duty bound to make a top notch visual editor for Mac and PC users when you consider the cost from basic to enterprise licensing. It’s not a cheap tool. Why they cannot do this is beyond me.
Cocos2D-X now offers it’s users a FREE Cocos Code IDE  (video Demo on youtube)  and Cocos Studio (visual demo on youtube) as a Visual editor and animation tool - and they’re both stunning. 

 

#10

Yes it would be nice but as they have mentioned before there is a balance between spending time on making the SDK stable and adding features requests or making tools that already exist.

As I’m happy with the 3rd party tools my preference would be for them to focus on making the SDK stable and to squeeze some more performance out it.

I’ve also found that the 3rd party developers have a better focus to improve and support their own products because that’s all they do, whereas Corona would always see ‘tools’ as a lower priority.

#11

I’m not sure if there is anything for CS3, but there is a tool for CS5:

Kwik - http://kwiksher.com/ 

Note: Don’t forget, Corona has a page dedicated to 3rd party tools & services:  http://coronalabs.com/resources/3rd-party-tools-and-services/

#12

Thanks @roamingranger. I have checked Kwiksher and it’s good but i want 100% control over my mechanics and also, it isn’t cheap, neither is Photoshop CS5+ which it requires. I am not upgrading from CS3.
I was just wondering if any PC developers were using anything other than Level Director. And i’d be interested to know how people prototype their apps and games for so many device resolutions.
I am disappointed that the Composer GUI is for MAC only. If i was a paying subscriber, i would be seriously miffed about that.
Why is there NO PC VERSION? 

#13

Check out the Goji editor: http://www.gojieditor.com

Not sure it says anything on that home page about being for Corona, but I know the guy who wrote it has been on here saying it works for us.

Well, not *us* since it’s Windows only, so I’m all like, “Pffft! WTF?!?” Because people who don’t use Mac don’t deserve tools that look that neat. Can I get an amen?

 Jay

#14

Hi @J.A.Whye. The Goji Editor says it’s for the Marmalade SDK. Looks like he’s shelved Corona - or has he?
I would love a MAC and agree that it has some of the nicest tools. But seems like beauty comes at a price.
Just discovered Affinity Designer for the mac yesterday and my jaw dropped watching the demo video. For £35 it’s an Adobe Illustrator killer! 

#15

This is from the Goji Editor Forum posted by @appeasym on 31|8|14:
“HI Everyone,
The Goji Editor has undergone some major changes over the past few months with the biggest change being tight integration into the Marmalade tool chain and removal for direct support for Gideros and Corona.
Why have I taken this route? Firstly, Marmalade recently released a free license making the Marmalade SDK freely available to all developers and enabling tight integration of Goji into the Marmalade build and deployment system, this enables developers to use Goji to create…”

#16

Ah, no wonder it doesn’t mention Corona on the home page. Sorry, not sure where else for you to turn.

 Jay

PS - And I hate to say it, but you’re not missing out on much by not being able to use Composer GUI. I hope it will grow into something awesome, but it’s not close yet (opinion only, not immutable fact).

#17

I’ve been using Level Director (LD) for a couple of years now and love it, I also love the support which is amazing.

There is a small learning curve but like anything it’s simple once you know how.

I was able to prototype a fully parallax scrolling working game in approx 15 minutes using LD as the libraries that ships with it take care of all the complex stuff, including the ability to automatically wrap objects for continuous style games.

I tried composer GUI but this is just too basic and doesn’t have the asset management that comes with LD i.e. configure an asset once (including physics and animation) and use multiple times.

There is a free download, you should try it or simply look at the supplied examples.

#18

I do think Coronalabs are - should be -  duty bound to make a top notch visual editor for Mac and PC users when you consider the cost from basic to enterprise licensing. It’s not a cheap tool. Why they cannot do this is beyond me.
Cocos2D-X now offers it’s users a FREE Cocos Code IDE  (video Demo on youtube)  and Cocos Studio (visual demo on youtube) as a Visual editor and animation tool - and they’re both stunning. 

 

#19

Yes it would be nice but as they have mentioned before there is a balance between spending time on making the SDK stable and adding features requests or making tools that already exist.

As I’m happy with the 3rd party tools my preference would be for them to focus on making the SDK stable and to squeeze some more performance out it.

I’ve also found that the 3rd party developers have a better focus to improve and support their own products because that’s all they do, whereas Corona would always see ‘tools’ as a lower priority.