Solar2D questions/concerns

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

(cross-posted from the discord channel)

Hello,

I’m thinking of getting back into Solar2D – it’s been a looong time (used to be a very active Corona user from like 2010-2013ish). Was hoping someone could chime in to respond to some questions/concerns I have:

  • How reliable are various platform builds? (ie. if Android, iOS, or macOS release an update), how well does Solar2D support required changes for these platforms? I remember in the past every iOS/mac update brought upon a bunch of breakages that needed to be updated/fixed in the core before builds would start working properly again.

  • Are the IAP/Ads plugins reliable/easy to get working? For example Godot is touted as “the” Unity alternative, yet it has tons of issues when it comes to its mobile plugins so it seems to be primarily focused on desktop games.

  • How is the “bus factor” with Solar2D? ie. is it mostly a one-man shop or is the community pretty good with maintaining it? How confident are you in Solar2D’s future if something happened to the main developer(s), they lose interest, life happens, etc. ?

I really want to use Solar2D (instead of Unity) for my upcoming projects but don’t want to get bit by any of these issues after spending significant amount of development time. I appreciate any responses!

My target platforms are Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, macOS (don’t need HTML5 or console for now)

(as a side note if Solar2D ends up meeting my requirements I’d likely start contributing to the community as time permits, after I’ve re-learned the ins/outs of the engine and got caught up with all the updates over the past decade)

#2

Hello!

Making mobile games is my side job and gives me a pretty nice extra income.
I got no idea about Windows, Linux and macOS builds.

Sooner or later all new requirements are supported and always before dead lines.
If you count the time extensions then much much sooner.

I use IAP, Appodeal, Admob and Unity ads.
IAP and Admob plugins never failed me.
Unity ads for me work only for Android devices but its probably something fixable.
Appodeal is working for me although I use older versions of the adaptors because I think more time should spend on the plugin updates and Im afraid to use newer versions.

I strongly believe that Solar2D is the cockroach of game engines. It will survive no matter what hehe.

For 2D mobile games I really don’t understand why someone would use another game engine.
For 3D games Unity is the boss.

At least thats how I see it and thats how things work perfect for me.

Edit: Also Im a late adopter of newer builds and plugins versions. I update only if I really have to and see that there are no error posts :D.

#3

Thanks for the response! “The cockroach of game engines” Ha! That made me laugh – and it’s true. It’s been around since basically the beginning of the mobile era and it looks like it’s still going strong even though the company is long gone (one of the founders, Carlos Icaza, sadly passed away in 2016).

I look forward to digging back in after all these years.

1 Like
#4

Jon Beebe? I still have some code lying around somewhere you shared back in the day. Welcome back!

  • Many devs managed to release their games on PC as well but I guess it’s safe to say it’s mobile first.
  • From what I see, @Scott_Harrison mostly handles plugin updates for some time now. Frequently used plugins are being handled well. Maybe he can give a more clear picture on the subject.
  • Few people are pushing for new features(though some still undocumented) and fixes. I don’t want to ping them all at once but you can easily see them on GitHub. Some of their handles are either similar or same here.