Pre-purchase Inqueries. Q's that need A's

Getting Started Newbie Questions
#1

I am very close to purchasing Corona SDK, which has looks to be an amazing product after researching it all weekend, and am prepared to make the jump but had a few questions that I was hoping someone might be able to answer. If you have anything extra to fill in, please let me know.

  1. Would two people developing together experience any issues or problems if one is a MAC user and the other is a PC? (both SDK and 3rd parties, which I assume changes depending on the 3rd party dev.)

  2. Are there any types of games that Corona simply can’t pull off at this time (besides 3D)? e.g. VS Fighting game, Mario type game, RPG, DotA’ish etc.

  3. Does a development team need one subscription per team, or does each dev need a subscription?

Another issue…

I am a music producer and web designer by trade and produce with Logic Pro on my mac. Logic, sound files, and it’s extensions and plugins take up a lot of memory more often than not.

Is Corona memory intensive and/or take up a lot of space on the computer? Would one recommend a using a different machine or will I be fine using my mac.

I would prefer to use my Macbook, but I also have a PC which I use for web design and graphics. Only problem is, the lack of mobility.
[import]uid: 134652 topic_id: 23320 reply_id: 323320[/import]

#2

Hey :

  1. Would two people developing together experience any issues or problems if one is a MAC user and the other is a PC? (both SDK and 3rd parties, which I assume changes depending on the 3rd party dev.)

A) There shouldn’t be any issues.

  1. Are there any types of games that Corona simply can’t pull off at this time (besides 3D)? e.g. VS Fighting game, Mario type game, RPG, DotA’ish etc.

A) Not really :slight_smile:

  1. Does a development team need one subscription per team, or does each dev need a subscription?

A ) You can run Corona on two computers with one corona subscription.

And corona takes up about 100mb of space when installed [import]uid: 84637 topic_id: 23320 reply_id: 93366[/import]

#3

I’ll add a bit to Danny’s comment for #2. Corona is VERY capable and considerably advanced in many ways, and it gets better all the time. But there are some game types it’s not “ideal” for, so in complete fairness you should be aware of that before purchase.

  1. Massive tile-based games are not yet easy in Corona, for example something like “Zelda: Link to the Past”, or similar RPGs with huge scrolling worlds composed of many thousands of tiles. However, the new graphics pipeline introduced last week should make this possible in coming months. Such a feature just isn’t bundled in the SDK at this moment.

  2. Physics need some improvement. If you’re dealing with fairly general physics, like objects colliding, falling, etc., then Corona is great. But if you want to create a physics simulation with a complex design, like dozens of objects all interacting under different forces, friction, gravity, air resistance, etc. then Corona can’t do it (yet). There is also no support for things like raycasting, buoyancy, or liquid effects. “World of Goo” would not be possible in this SDK, unfortunately. Hopefully physics is the next big tuneup on the list after the new graphics API (hint hint Ansca :wink: )

  3. Networking is fine, and easy to implement, but you probably can’t do something like a MMORPG with hundreds or thousands of players interacting in a world at once. Then again, a team of 2 really couldn’t do something that advanced in a reasonable timeframe no matter how talented they are, so scratch that as a limitation in this case. :slight_smile:

Otherwise, Corona is a really flexible and advanced SDK and, very importantly, it’s FUN to work with. Lua is also easy to learn, at least the basics. This is my third SDK… first was GameSalad (corny and weak), second was Torque2D (went bankrupt but now it might be back). Now I’m 1.5 years into Corona and I’m not planning to go elsewhere.

Brent Sorrentino
Ignis Design [import]uid: 9747 topic_id: 23320 reply_id: 93471[/import]

#4

Sorry to ninja bump this thread, I was looking to purchase Corona SDK but I am planning to make a Zelda type game. Is Corona SDK still not a good option for Zelda type games? This would be a deciding factor on purchase or not.

Also been looking at the Dusk engine or Million Tile Engine to also help with everything and they seem like they can handle a zelda type game?

#5

I reckon the million tile engine is more than capable for a Zelda like game.

I’m sure that if you post this question in the MTE forum there will be plenty of users of the product that would back up this statement, along with the creator.

Hope this helps :slight_smile:

#6

Sorry to ninja bump this thread, I was looking to purchase Corona SDK but I am planning to make a Zelda type game. Is Corona SDK still not a good option for Zelda type games? This would be a deciding factor on purchase or not.

Also been looking at the Dusk engine or Million Tile Engine to also help with everything and they seem like they can handle a zelda type game?

#7

I reckon the million tile engine is more than capable for a Zelda like game.

I’m sure that if you post this question in the MTE forum there will be plenty of users of the product that would back up this statement, along with the creator.

Hope this helps :slight_smile: