Livecode is getting behind competition...

[et_phone_home]

As stated in the internet:

"Weighing the Pros and Cons re #LiveCode and #Corona SDK for quick iPhone app development. Corona great for games, LiveCode for other apps. – by StewartLynch (StewartLynch)"


I totally agree.

I think livecode is the best language that I’ve met, easy, interesting and powerful enough for your creations.

I bought this Livecode for IOS, thinking of making games for Iphone. I'm creating my games but I still need to know more about the language, so, I’m studying it. After reading
all the dictionary I found that there are no specific language for aiding in the creation of games. We can manipulate animated gifs basically but no one uses gifs because they are limited to 257 colours.

After i check the Corona at Ansca I checked that they have specific language for using with sprite sheets and manipulating animations.

If they had a IDE as Livecode has, I had no doubt that i be using corona by now, because I want to create games and your code is not very helpful in creating games at least in the animation and movement department.

You can say that there is the "Animation Engine", but, 1st its an add on and this possibilities should already be included in Livecode. 2nd, the name should be "Motion Engine" instead of "Animation Engine". It helps the movement of objects but not the frame animation.

The last proof that Livecode is bad for game creations, at least the ones requiring animations, is to look at the games you've already created. In your main page, in the beginners section you show some code, moving some non-animated objects. You've shown an example how to create a game with sheeps, again non-animated sheeps. In the code examples you have an Hangman game, no sort of animation of any kind. the only "animation" in a game I saw was an archaic type of platform game with some very basic animation.

People want to create games for IOS and Android... and if you don't gets some specific language for helping creating games you'll be behind the competition very fast.

Livecode is way better than corona, but people prefer it. You have a IDE, a easier Language... And still, people prefer to use Corona.

Probably because it allows them to "easily" create animated games.

As you can see in the next page they have specific functions for animation, sprite sheets... and they also have a 2D Physics engine.

http://developer.anscamobile.com/resources/apis/


So my request is obvious.


Spend some time creating some specific language for manipulating animations and help the creation of a game and you can easily be the best software to create games for IOS and other platforms too.


THX

[shaosean]

I think a lot of it has to do with the history of the two products, but it is very true that there is a lot of "modern" features that are lacking in Rev.. Now that Rev has released the iOS External SDK, you can always add in the features that you require (of course this is easier said than done)..

[townsend]

I took a quick look at that Corona SDK. I just want point out-- there's is no IDE.
It's bare bones development. Code is written with a simple text editor,
in this C-like language, Lua. Yes-- they have a good physics engine.
But no IDE and no debugger? Good luck with that.

[et_phone_home]

Livecode is great and i don't even tested Corona because there is no IDE. livecode is the first language that i really tried to learn the others just to look at the syntax i gave up in the minute.

I just think Livecode has to get a little step ahead for the game production and you can check the game they promote, dragging sheeps... i never saw a project of livecode using decent sprite animation.


We'll wait

[shaosean]

Malte had this awesome game where you had to jump from platform to platform and (if my aging memory serves me correctly) the hairy guy jumping was animated.. Not to rain on your parade though, even if Rev had amazing sprite features, the single thread kills performance when too much is going on..

Have you taken a look at REALbasic?
IDE - check.
Sprites - check.
Easy to use language - check (it is if you understand dot notation)

I was using REALbasic before it was REALbasic, but missed the simplicity of HyperCard so I fell in love with MetaCard (which Rev bought) but as my programming skills grow and my "want" to do more grows, I too am finding Rev a little limiting (but I have not abandoned it 100% yet)..

-Sean

[dglass]

Have you taken a look at REALbasic?
IDE - check.
Sprites - check.
Easy to use language - check (it is if you understand dot notation)

No mobile support at this point. And probably won't be for a fair bit.

[shaosean]

Probably happen after they get their Cocoa framework pushed out (which should be soon)

[BvG]

I agree that LiveCode is not usable for even the most simple small animated games. Even turn based games like a graphically reduced bejeweled would run slowish on iPhone. Heck, using a browser based approach with javascript (there's a few toolkits that make default apps out of html/css/javascript pages), will create faster and smoother animations on mobile then LiveCode. Even for small and easy advergame-type approaches, LiveCode is not an option as soon as there's any constant animation required, like a jump'n run figure that is doing an idle animation.

If you're into advanced games (3D graphics), then Unity is probably the easiest to learn development environment for iPhone.

[shawnb]

The Corona SDK & lua are quite ahead when it comes to app development for games. You mention a simple text editor, but have you seen coronoprojectmanager.com? Probably not. Even Notepad++ is quite capable. Corona SDK is a great alternative to learning java or x code. For business apps, I'm not sure. Just getting my feet wet with Corona.

I took a quick look at that Corona SDK. I just want point out-- there's is no IDE.
It's bare bones development. Code is written with a simple text editor,
in this C-like language, Lua. Yes-- they have a good physics engine.
But no IDE and no debugger? Good luck with that.

[Youks]

Hi all,

I bought Livecode to be able to program quickly Apps (iOS+Mac+Win) even though RealStudio is great on Mac but to be honest to deploy Games on iOS the best tool to date is Corona!!

Regards.

[kcwvc52]

i'm with you guys on this. livecode is just not cutting it when it comes to game building tools. i love coding in livecode but it is just not there for game development. If livecode doesn't catch up, it will become a total waste of my money. i hate objective c and have very limited knowledge of open-gl in xcode. is there not some kind of ios external that could help smooth things out for us looking to build games in livecode?

[Sjatplat]

I could not agree more and I have posted my own share of concerns in this forum.
The functions are there, but the graphics engine is lagging big time.
I had an Idea for a game on IOS but I had to put it in the drawer because of the extremely slow graphics performance of livecode on the platform.
I am now developing another app. This one is not a game, and very text-based - but it need some simple graphic capabilities. Like moving some Text or a background from left to right with a swipe.
Even these simple tasks is far from smooth and is embarassing compared to the smooth feel of iOS itself.
When you move from the operating system and into an app that is not media-heavy or gamey - the app should respond like the system itself....or else it feels amateurish.

S.

[kcwvc52]

I really hope developers at livecode are paying attention to these post. This is really important that this is working properly. I have several apps on the app store working successfully from livecode but I have had complaints about things being sluggish at times when including animations and changing cards. I didn't pay 500 dollars for software to be laggy on iOS. I hope they get this fixed before my company begin working in games. I'd really like to use livecode but at the current state it's not possible. Please listen to us. Open gl support is a must!!!!

[deebee]

Open gl support is a must!!!!

An OpenGl external for the desktop version would be awesome as well!

[richervin]

I reviewed Marmalade and Corona, but quickly realized they are low level programming platforms. If you want to write a "ground up" application that will run with high performance across every known mobile platform, they are "there".

But that's not what I'm doing. I'm creating business-style apps that are full of input fields, buttons, date pickers, e-mail integration, etc.

I knew I wanted something like Visual Basic, and I have found it here... but it is not yet mature.

If anyone knows of anything like this that is MORE mature for mobile platforms, I would love to hear about it.

Corona and Marmalade appear to be working to develop more widget-type capabilities and a library of user-ready widgets, but their approach is haphazard. They are clearly focused on game apps. Also, you have to learn and understand MVC architecture to even begin to develop the simplest user interface. Marmalade's "Hello World" app doesn't even use a widget - it writes "Hello World" on an error console with no user interaction whatsoever. Also, their sample apps are all graphically oriented, which means you have to design graphical elements before you can one demostrable piece of code.

That said, I think it is time for RunRev to change gears. They should split their PC and Mobile development efforts. I have no interest in my mobile app running on a PC. It doesn't even make sense. Conversely, any PC apps developed in LiveCode will be unusable on a mobile platform.

Let's have some dedicated widget classes for mobile apps. I do NOT need both a PC and mobile deployment option in my license. If I am developing mobile apps, I ONLY need mobile deployment.