12 June 2015
From the Forum — Issue #76
Welcome to the latest installment of From the Forum. In this series, guest blogger Alex Jackson highlights outstanding threads from the Corona Forum. The goal is to bring attention to the most captivating, interesting, and thought-provoking discussions taking place in our very own backyard.
Please visit the forum to join these conversations or start your own!
1. Center to rotation in open space
As long as humans have strode the surface of this beautiful blue marble called Earth, we have wanted to launch projectiles into objects. From sling shots to trebuchets to rocket launchers, we can’t wait to do some serious damage using inertia and physics.
Replicating this for gaming was was the next logical step. Corona makes it easy to develop your own tower defense game so that you can go ahead and fire objects at will! Getting to that point, however, means a good amount of coding and testing to make sure everything works as it should. One recent conversation that took place in the forums was based around the rotation of a “turret” on a base. This turret needs to be move to face whichever object at which it will be firing.
Our old friend and Corona SDK superhero RoamingGamer provided some very useful code that showed the best way to rotate, and will get many well on their way to landscape destruction! Head on down to the original thread to check it out for yourself.
2. Downloading asset files just got a little bit easier
I am a big proponent of keeping app sizes smaller and manageable. These days, bandwidth can be costly, and the likelihood of users of starting a huge download when they aren’t on WiFi is low, so having a streamlined app is the best way to maximize the amount of downloads you can get.
One way to accomplish this is by only including asset files that are necessary, and downloading any additional graphics or other media when the user requires it. It’s a simple idea that allows one to deliver high-level functionality to your user-base.
I always monitor the forum for any thread that talks about this concept and provides some valuable snippet from which the community can benefit, and the below post fits that bill to a T. Go ahead and check out a simple way to get that sweet download logic into your app, and if you have any other suggestions for us, don’t be shy, and post away!
https://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/55694-networkrequest-not-getting-a-response-from-android/
3. The blockbuster CoronaViewer was waiting for!
I’m an unabashed admirer of the CoronaViewer option to which developers have access. The ability to create and edit a project, edit it on the fly and have the app update on all devices without the build process cuts untold wasted time out of the process, and let’s us get down to the business of development, rather than administration of development.
The only real problem, if one can call it that, is that you used to only be able to “sync” one CoronaViewer project, per device. There were workarounds to this, but they weren’t that flexible and didn’t allow for much variation in project formats. Now, that wall has been knocked down, and we can use additional projects with one CoronaViewer configuration! A joyous day, indeed. Head down to the original thread to learn more about the way you can take advantage of this now!
About Alex
Alex Jackson is an indie developer and the founder of Panc Interactive, specializing in retro-style gaming. He has created several mobile applications, enjoys long walks on the beach, pixel art, and reading the Corona forums. Contact him by email or follow him on Twitter: @pancinteractive. Check out his new game Crosstown Smash on iOS, Android, and Amazon devices.
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