Hello,
I’m just getting started with game development and have found quite a few different options out there.
One is Gamesalad… another of course is Corona SDK.
Has anyone tried both? Just wondering who the best is? 
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Corona. Of course, you actually have to be a programmer to make use of Corona (it is based on Lua which is very easy to learn, but you still have to be a programmer). GameSalad is designed for non-programmers to be able to create games. It’s actually pretty nifty for what it is, but if you’re serious about creating for the App Store and have past experience programming, I strongly recommend Corona. [import]uid: 5540 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 100452[/import]
Thank you… I’m actually experienced with PHP and Perl (and a little Javascript) so that shouldn’t be a problem. I was kind of guessing that Gamesalad might be for “complete noobs” but wasn’t sure… ha [import]uid: 141560 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 100455[/import]
I have to say that while I agree (strongly :P) with Pinback’s recommendations of Corona being the best I entirely disagree with the idea only GS is created for non-programmers.
I started with Corona with NO coding experience, I came over from GS because frankly the limitations, lag time and some various issues surrounding disregard for developers presented a problem for me.
I could do nothing more than basic HTML tags at that time. Nada, effectively.
Corona is for programmers as well as “complete noobs” - if they are willing to put in a little effort.
So, to your question; “Has anyone tried both? Just wondering who the best is? :)”
Yes, not just myself but many of our developers have come over from GS, we have a thread in Off Topic just for converts
I am aware I may seem biased as I’m part of the team but I wasn’t when I started, I just loved Corona so much I had to get more involved 
TL;DR - Yes, I’ve used both, Corona is #1 [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 100519[/import]
I have no experience with GameSalad, but I was an experienced C/PHP/JavaScript programmer and was immediately put off by Objective C and I found Corona.
There will be some learning hurdles in particular if you switch back and forth like I do. The good news is that things that are required in C based languages like semi-colons at the end of the line are optional in Lua and you can still put parens around your IF conditionals. The curly brace habit will be the tougher one. [import]uid: 19626 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 100551[/import]
I initially used GS a couple of years ago and created a nice little robotron clone. It ran great in the simulator but awful on the device.
Thats when I decided to ditch GS as not having much control over memory/resources would be an issue.
As a C/Delphi dev of many years took the plunge and did an ObjectiveC/iOS course and released a few ‘utility’ type apps onto the app store. I then found Cocos2d, spent some time with that and released a game using it. Its pretty good actually.
Then I discovered corona. I struggled at first, I’m used to compilers which do syntax and type checking and I’d never done much scripting. After some persistence I did another (albeit basic) game using corona.
The speed with which you can do stuff is amazing.
What I like;
a) resources - tons of stuff on the web, example code, tutorials
b) 3rd party tools - now we have sprite/level editors and more importantly IDEs with code completion and debugging - all geared to make your life easier!
Enjoy
Gary [import]uid: 7334 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 100558[/import]
I’ve started studying your tutorials and you have a well made site (techority.com) ! I think you should write an ebook (if you haven’t already).
So far I love Corona… it is pretty easy and intuitive so far. [import]uid: 141560 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 100676[/import]
Hey, thanks, I appreciate that
As to an ebook, I’m actually casually in the process of writing an introductory guide. It is taking awhile because I’m doing it in my down time - and I have VERY little down time
After using Corona for a little while (a week or two for me) you get this “Uh huh!” moment and after that it all starts falling into place and you can really have a lot of fun.
Welcome to the community, I hope you will stick around [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 100753[/import]
Another sdk worth keeping an eye on is gideros
It’s lua based like corona but you compile your apps locally, not through server, is free and already offers some features that corona doesn’t.
I moved from gs to corona, but am now converting some stuff I’d started in corona over to gideros.
Another worth checking out is stencyl, v2 out any day now and is pretty impressive, think of it as gs++ as it has a bit of a steeper learning curve than gs, bu you don’t have to code at all, but it produces native code too, which you can edit, and even write objectivec code yourself if you want.
It’s a fraction of the corona price, but doesn’t support android ATM, bt that’s coming v.soon.
Competition’s always a good thing for consumers, so I’m hoping we start seeing more and more progress from corona as a consequence and even a more competitive price.
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Gideros actually looks pretty nice, I must say. It adresses my main concern about Corona SDK, that I need to compile via ansca servers: What if I want to compile the game in -let’s say- 10 years? Will ansca still be there? I hope so. Is it guaranteed? I don’t think so. So if Corona SDK wants to survive, Ansca has to rethink that server-only-compilation strategy… (IMHO)
But still, originally coming from Flash development, Corona SDK just kicks ass! And after 2 years of suffering with objC-development, learning LUA was like a walk in the park. I really love that language and I don’t want to develop in any other language anymore
The community here is great! Everyone helps each other. You just have to take a look to the code sharing section. Nice inspiring snippets and modules for free! In contrast to those objC-Forums where the standard answer is “RTFM noob!” this Forum is like a tent camp of game enthusiasts
Well, I’m gonna stick with Corona SDK for now but will definitely keep an eye on Gideros. That offline compile and export is quite compelling and, in the long term, would be a reason to switch.
cheers
-finefin
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So if Corona SDK wants to survive, Ansca has to rethink that server-only-compilation strategy… (IMHO)
I agree. Instant testing on device also.
The great thing about Corona is the quality of third party softwares that are available.
LevelHelper, CoronaComplete, Corona Project Manager, AutoLAN, Director, Kwiksher, Spriteloq, Lime, SVG Level builder and more (I’m forgetting but others are great too and their devs make a great work).
Some of them are being ported to Gideros (and Cocos2d like LevelHelper), though.
I would add Unity3d that is also a great alternative, even for 2D.
The learning curve is a bit harder but there are a lot of job available everywhere in the world for the people that would like to join bigger teams to get some xp/salary.
Learning how to use it is a good investment to build a career, in my opinion.
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Gideros looks very good with its offline compile and instant device testing. And if they add compiling to Mac, Windows and Linux I will be seriously considering it as an alternative to Corona.
It also includes what they call plugins which add things like Gamecenter and StoreKit for in app purchases.
More importantly in their roadmap their Next major release (due Summer 2012) includes Feature #10: Add/remove/edit plugins which looks like it will allow developers to access device functions not supported by Gideros by either downloading a plugin written by someone else or making their own plugin.
The plugins currently in it are objective c with lua functions that link the objective c to the lua language used in Gideros.
This could be a very good feature if implemented in the right way.
It also builds to both Android and iOS at the moment. For free with their splash screen or for $150 a year without their splash screen.
I will be keeping an eye on Gideros to see how it progresses, and when my corona license expires consider switching. [import]uid: 40711 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 101004[/import]
Yes Gilderos is pretty good.
But the best thing about Corona is the user community. I do not know how good Gilderos’ community is… but just saying.
IMO the 2 main things missing from Corona are
1.Offline Compiling as others mentioned
2.Native Code Integration(which I’d love to have but Ansca seems so reluctant to add this. Seemingly this has been requested numerous times. So I don’t have much hope in this case.)
I think Gilderos trumps Corona in both these cases.
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Corona has a great user community. But it is easy to see how that community could easily move to Gilderos since they are also Lua-based.
Offline compiling is now a huge issue with Carlos’s departure. Native code integration/outside plugins is also a big one, since it would allow Corona to “grow” much faster than it is right now. [import]uid: 135391 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 101025[/import]
I totally agree with sateesh and nate2.
These features are really essential if corona wants to keep their position as “the worlds #1 mobile development platform”. I only hope they will realize that soon, because I like corona sooo much!
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I’ve started playing with Gideros few days ago, and you can already build your own obj c plugins.
Is not easy (especially for testing, since you need to export to XCode to test the plugins), but it’s definitely possible (there’s a UIKit plugin you can use to add native interface elements).
There’s a lot of work to be done on Gideros, that’s true, Corona in some aspects is waaay ahead. But there are some very compelling advantages in Gideros (offline compiling and obj c plugin).
Another framework I’m evaluating is MOAI (http://getmoai.com/), the framework used for Crimston Steam Pirates (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2KCySh45pQ). But it’s quite confusing and complicated compared to Corona and Gideros… however it’s open source, and it looks like you can integrate Obj C with lua code.
Also, I’m also trying with Cocos2D-x (can export to iOS and Android)… but well, there’s much more complexity… [import]uid: 9158 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 101127[/import]
Thanks shedder I just had another look and found the page on the wiki about making plugins.
The link is (http://giderosmobile.com/DevCenter/index.php/Gideros_plugins) if anyone else would like to take a look. [import]uid: 40711 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 101130[/import]
What about cocos2d / cocos2d-x?
Apparently, in 2012 they plan to release both javascript and lua bindings for cocos2d-x (their cross-platform SDK) and a WYSIWYG editor called CocosBuilder. Also, a Cocos2D-HTML5 framework that is being sponsored by Google(!).
They just had a conference where a Cocos2D-X developer “demonstrated a stress test of early Cocos2D-HTML5 build, where 1000 sprites smoothly moves and crowded the screen in Google Chrome while still maintaining around 30 FPS, all this is inside a no hardware acceleration canvas2d environment.”
Is Corona’s roadmap anywhere near this impressive? cocos2d is open source, right? [import]uid: 135391 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 101140[/import]
My experience with GameSalad is this:
It’s easy to place a few objects on the screen and get them moving, but the minute you want *any* game logic at all (or even just basic mechanics), you end up having to have a major mess of state variables kicking around, affecting each other.
It’s like having to write a finite-state-machine to get your programming done, rather than actually writing code. Harder, in my opinion, for a task of any complexity.
(I needed multi-touch for one app; the only reliable method to achieve it in GameSalad is to create 10 hidden objects [or one for each simultanous touch you need], one tied to each touch, and track their location, using those variables to affect other objects. Very roundabout, and makes further layers of game logic very hard.)
That being said, I’m slightly regretting my decision to purchase Corona, but am still giving it a chance. There are some quite fundamental parts I need that are broken or incomplete (anti-aliasing, webView, physics), and bug fixes/progression doesn’t seem to be forth coming.
I have a bit of a problem with Ansca continuing to develop new features (e.g. storyboards) when other documented features just plain don’t work. After hitting the wall with the fourth or fifth of these items, the frustration level is building. I’m spending more time in worksarounds than coding, lately.
There are other red flags that worry me a bit, like incomplete or out of date documentation; I worry that attention to detail is lacking, which isn’t great for a development tool.
I think Ansca has done a wonderful job historically, but worry that they’re dropping the ball a bit with quality/bug fixes/feature completeness. I’d be interested in other opinions.
Gideros very much interests me; upon a quick review, it seems to be catching up quickly to Corona, and the ability to add your own native code extensions could be huge for me (for features that are lacking, or more often, broken, in Corona).
I’m not quite ready to give up on Corona just yet; I do like the product, the company, and the community. But I’m definitely at the point where I’m actively searching for alternatives.
Hopefully Ansca will get through some growing pains and solidify/complete existing features a bit, before a capable alternative wins me over. (Perhaps they need to do an Apple-like move and have a major release focused solely upon stability and bug fixes, rather than new features.)
Also, Kudos to Ansca for not killing this thread talking about alternatives. It shows faith in their own product, and respect for developers.
-d [import]uid: 40450 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 101258[/import]
This is turning into a very interested thread. I’m just getting started with Corona and purchased a pro subscription this year. I’m a relative beginner and was sold on the ease of use, multi-platform delivery and the strong community. In my opinion, Corona is still delivering on that original promise. The problem is that the expectations of the more experienced Corona developers have been raised as they continue pushing the limits of the SDK. Advanced Corona developers have reached the limits of the SDK and need more power. It’s a good problem to have and is a great example of the success and widespread use of Corona.
Ansca is clearly at a critical tipping point. They need to decide if: (a) they want to service more advanced developers; (b) they want to focus on providing the best products and services for beginning to mid-level developers. It’s quite possible that Ansca will opt for “b” as this appears to be their current target market based on existing marketing and promotion. If this turns out to be the case, the advanced devs seem poised to move to other options at the cost of added complexity that might scare off beginning- to mid-level developers.
Remember, Ansca is a business and if the cost to develop and support functionality for advanced users (not including bug fixes) is significantly greater than the revenue returned – it’s not a good business decision. Unfortunately, making such decisions is extremely difficult as your long-time users and strongest supporters are likely to fall into the advanced segment and losing them hurts the community. Perhaps, the new enterprise offering is part of the solution.
With Carlos stepping down, Ansca needs to increase their communication about the future direction of CoronaSDK to ease the concerns of existing developers and to reassure new developers that they are making the right choice (e.g. Walter’s Corona Engineering post was a great example and very encouraging). Clearly, the bugs need to be fixed and some clarity on the top priority road map items would be great (UserVoice FTW)! I’m very hopeful that Ansca will make the right decisions. With competition and options increasing, Ansca needs to deliver to stay on top. I think they will. [import]uid: 78891 topic_id: 24782 reply_id: 101286[/import]