Would Corona ever do this to their users?

[reddotinc]

Thanks for going into detail Magenda

The lack of success stories will only be for a while if we have anything to do with it ;)… If we can do what we want with Corona then we will do everything in our power to be an ambassador of what Corona can do.

To the fact that Monster Dash typed games wouldn’t be possible with Corona, It would be interesting to see what is the upper limit in terms of speed. Of course, I haven’t even started using Corona yet but I’d like to think we could try our best to push it to the max

The development of Corona will only grow as time goes by, and hopefully with more users it will exponentially increase the development of it.

// red. [import]uid: 7143 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7607[/import]

[jstrahan]

I wouldn’t say couldn’t make something just look at some of the apps a few have done with gs that you would think couldn’t be done [import]uid: 7911 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7608[/import]

[reddotinc]

Exactly. Just because it hasn’t been done yet, doesn’t mean it isn’t possible

// red. [import]uid: 7143 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7609[/import]

[Magenda]

Well, I didn’t actually said it is not possible to built fast paced games with Corona (take Doodle Dash for example). I would just choose a lower level library to work with, for rather demanding games.

You can always start with Visual Basic for developing Crysis but you wouldn’t want such a thing! Each platform has advantages and disadvantages. I consider Corona to offer “speed of development” as an advantage, without sacrificing too much in terms of “game performance”. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. It’s just “cheap” enough…

Regarding GS, isn’t “Bumps” a GS game, for example? It starts after 30 seconds on my iPhone 3G and its performance is at least …unacceptable (#%^%^$%$@@). I don’t even consider it as a “game”! I didn’t believe in my eyes when I first saw it in top100 charts. The same game concept would shine as a diamond had been built with Corona!

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[jonbeebe]

@reddotinc: My wife and I work together and we’ve made 3 games so far (1 is waiting for review).

Here’s our latest (scroll down towards the bottom for more updated screenshots):
http://developer.anscamobile.com/forum/2010/09/21/dungeon-tap-waiting-review-screenshots-info

The one before that (iTunes link):
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragons-keep/id388743429?mt=8

Our first Corona made game (converted from GS–made to be WAY better):
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doodle-dash/id382456881?mt=8

We’re currently working on an update to our second game, and then once that’s finished, we’ve got a few more in the pipeline. Lua is easy to learn, and Corona is definitely the most user-friendly choice after GameSalad (though it is FAR above it). If you’re worried about code then Unity is definitely not for you.

I heard a lot of talk about waiting for GameMaker when they support iPhone. I’ve used GameMaker and the code you’d have to type is very similar (if not a little harder) than Lua–so once again, Corona is your best bet–and yes, I used GameSalad and produced two games before moving to Corona.

At least download the 30-day try, be optimistic, and give it your best shot and you’ll be surprised what you can do with Corona.

lordtarantor: Welcome aboard! The best thing to do is to be optimistic when learning. I know code can be overwhelming at first, but honestly, in GameSalad you are coding–you’re just not typing anything. I’ve used both GameSalad and Lua and I can say… it got annoying dragging around those little ‘code boxes’ in GameSalad and it was a refresher being able to just type it.

Take this for example. In GameSalad, to put an image on the screen, you’d drag the little box over into the list, select your image, and type the coordinates that you want placed in the X and Y boxes.

In Corona, instead you’d simply type:

myObject = display.newImage( “image.png” )
myObject.x = 160
myObject.y = 240

You see! It’s not even that much different, but it IS much more flexible.

And the best part is, you don’t even need to memorize those functions off the bat because there is online documentation (it’s basically my second home when I’m creating a game lol). But eventually you will memorize a large majority of them automatically.

What really motivated me in the beginning was thinking about all the cool things Corona would allow me to do that GameSalad didn’t. Produce a professional, high quality, high performance game with MY branding on it, with OpenFeint leaderboards, facebook friends leaderboard (I posted a tutorial on how to do that recently), social posting, and the list goes on.

So please, be optimistic and give it your best shot… If you’re serious about making games and are coming from GameSalad, I’m sure Corona will be a breathe of fresh air [import]uid: 7849 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7625[/import]

[Eric]

@jstrahan, send an email to support asking for a trial extension. We definitely intend to address the limitations of the 30 day trial. It’s a pain for you and it’s also a pain for us. For now though that’s what we have. We’re working on additional tutorials.

We at Ansca are committed to listening carefully to our users. If you are not successful in your goals, then how can we be? [import]uid: 54 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7628[/import]

[reddotinc]

@jonbeebe I have read your interviews, so know all about you

I am VERY optimistic about Corona. I am very glad to be starting something that will hopefully allow us to do the things that we want to do. I’ve just been granted an extra 30 day trial (the first 30 days started 16 weeks ago and never got to see the light of day!).

Thanks for your comments, but beware we will be gunning for the Corona golden team slot

// red. [import]uid: 7143 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7629[/import]

[jonbeebe]

Wait I just caught this from above:

“Monster Dash typed games wouldn’t be possible with Corona”

I beg to differ!

I’ve played Monster Dash and yes, it is a very well put together game… but that has to do with the developer, not necessarily the engine (but they obviously used a very capable engine).

I believe Monster Dash is very much possible. My game, Doodle Dash! was my FIRST Corona-made game. It’s probably just as fast-paced as Monster Dash, and although it’s not as smooth or clean-cut as Monster Dash, that’s the developer… not the engine. Had I been more experienced with Corona, I’m sure Doodle Dash would have had most of it’s little “quirks” ironed out from the very beginning.

As far as resources go, I’m sure our second title, Dragon’s Keep (as well as our third) has just as many graphical resources being used at once as Monster Dash does.

I’ve yet to look in the app store at a 2D game and think… “Too bad that’s not possible with Corona” although I did that MANY times when I was using GameSalad.

Now when I look at the app store at other games… I only get inspired and excited about some of the things I hadn’t thought of yet! lol [import]uid: 7849 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7630[/import]

[carlos_m_icaza]

Here are some interview, re: success stories
http://blog.anscamobile.com/category/interview/

Here are some testimonials
http://anscamobile.com/corona/testimonials/

Carlos [import]uid: 24 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7633[/import]

[jstrahan]

thanks eric
glad to know yall are here helping and listening it makes a world of difference
im stuck on a pc right now but when i get home ill have my mac and start learning looking forward to talking alot here with friends and making new friends [import]uid: 7911 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7654[/import]

[ignis075]

R.I.P. GameSalad. I, for one, will not miss it… in fact, I deleted the entire application from my computer just a couple days ago, and with this latest “announcement” I don’t regret my decision to abandon GS forever.

In the few months I used that package, the community was constantly confused and bickering about its pricing structure, which was obscene in its former incarnation. I mean honestly, 2000 frickin’ dollars annually for the “Pro” package, and you still had to endure the lame GameSalad loading logo and terrible performance? Sure, they offered a basic $99/year option, but it wasn’t viable for anybody who’s serious about creating and marketing games in the App Store.

Their new incarnation sounds even worse , if that’s possible. Publishing games under a “Gamesalad banner” and paying for that right each time? Being bundled into some kind of “GameSalad Store” within the App Store? Any sensible developer should see what an invasion of proprietary rights that is… software tools/SDKs should obviously be purchased by their users, but the end result should not be stamped or identified with the source tool! If I create a poster in Photoshop, I shouldn’t be required to include an Adobe “watermark” on it! Corona understands that perfectly. GameSalad is utterly clueless.

The GameSalad “brand” already has a bad reputation in indie game circles, probably due to slow performance and long loading times. I expect this new system will make it even worse.

Full speed ahead, Ansca and Corona! I’m basically on board already; I’ll be paying for the Game Edition package probably within a week.

Brent

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[jstrahan]

just found this link
http://lua.gts-stolberg.de/en/index.php?uml=1 [import]uid: 7911 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7768[/import]

[dknell]

@jstrahan,

Thanks for the link! That’s a great Lua resource. *bookmarked* [import]uid: 8194 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7771[/import]

[jstrahan]

welcome im reading it now [import]uid: 7911 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7772[/import]

[carlos_m_icaza]

@jstrahan

sent you an email …

Welcome everyone !

Carlos [import]uid: 24 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7793[/import]

[jstrahan]

@Carlos
Did not receive email [import]uid: 7911 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7801[/import]

[carlos_m_icaza]

@jstrahan

hmmmmm…

ends with @me.com

…trying again…

[import]uid: 24 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7847[/import]

[carlos_m_icaza]

@dknell

sent you email too…

carlos [import]uid: 24 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7849[/import]

[cavedawes]

Wow the news that Gamesalad has recently announced has certainly split game developers. I’ve used Gamesalad, but drag and drop gets a bit tedious when with Corona you can create really cool physics effects in very few lines. Also not sure if developers really want to become authors pandering to a publisher, so Corona seems a better option and the new prices are still not going to break the bank!

I think with code you’ve got greater flexibility e.g. If I was to increase the number of levels in my Teddy Pairs app I’d only need to add a handful of lines referencing an already existing function. It’s interesting that in my day to day job I’ve created games using Adobe Flash and AS2 or AS3 and included simulated physics where I’ve had to cheat using 100+ lines of code e.g. a keepy uppy game where a ball has to bounce at different angles and velocity. Looking at the game engine in Corona it looks like you could do this in about 10 lines of code, which would could utilise the accelerometer and just create a function which you reuse with different graphics so that it becomes a reusable game engine.

I wish all the team at Ansca the best of luck and keep up the great game engine and tech support. It’s time for me to invest some proper time in making new apps rather than me experimenting with code in Teddy Pairs lol! [import]uid: 3183 topic_id: 2620 reply_id: 7928[/import]

[jonbeebe]

@cavedawes: Great points you made there. And to prove what you’re saying, two of our games (Doodle Dash and Dragon’s Keep) started off with the base-level engine… so a lot of the redundant work was taken care of. Both games branched off in their own directions, but the “hard stuff” was taken care of by copying and pasting from one project to the other and modifying from there.

THEN, with our third title (Dungeon Tap), it was a completely different game, but it utilizes the accelerometer for movement just like our previous two titles. It took quite a bit of logic to get tilt-controls down as perfect as I possibly could, so it was nice when I was able to just take the block of code that handled that and use it in Dungeon Tap as well! Coding is way more flexible than drag and drop.

And honestly…

Even when you’re dragging and dropping with GameSalad… all you’re doing is coding. I’ve used GameSalad and their “behaviors” are nothing more than functions. They just did a good job of creating the illusion that if you’re dragging and dropping then things are easy! When really, learning GameSalad is in many ways just as difficult as learning Corona… Just because you’re not typing in GameSalad doesn’t mean you’re not coding.

When GameSalad folks take the time to sit down with Corona/Lua for about an hour and really try to learn it, they quickly realize it’s not much different… it’s just a different way of doing it. And to their pleasant surprise, although it’s code–when it comes to Lua–it’s almost always a lot easier than what they thought it was going to be.

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