Developed by Corona Labs Inc. in mid-2009, Corona is a software development kit which lets software programmers build 2D mobile applications for iOS, Android, and Kindle, desktop applications for Windows and OS X, and connected TV applications for Apple TV, Fire TV, and Android. With the object of making the process of engine development more transparent, it’s a move that’s being planned for years; it also empowers the community to directly affect future growth and potential. As part of a succession of steps on a longer development journey, delegating Corona to the community is the unquestionable way to rapidly respond to market shifts and vicissitudes, ensuring Corona stays pertinent and appreciated to all mobile app developers. Corona SDK for cross-platform mobile game development is the perfect platform for developing games, but the mobile game development process is a tricky thing to do.
Vlad Sherban, product manager for Corona Labs said that the evolution of Corona to the open-source model of development has been their lasting vision since Corona Labs was acquired by Appodeal in 2017. He said that this move is likely to bring transparency to the development process, enabling users to contribute features or bug fixes to make the project better for everyone.
The open-source model will bring more discernibility and elasticity to the growth process by allowing visibility into precisely what the engine team is working on and where the project is going, and by underwriting appreciated new features that will help spearhead Corona to the next level. Other benefits for businesses include the likelihood to obtain a commercial license for source code and modify the engine for specific profitable projects. Corona is a cross-platform framework ideal for rapidly creating apps and cross-platform 2D game development.
Corona Labs will continue to have a devoted team and setup to support our prosperous plugin ecology and infrastructure, as well as to keep up to date with the ever-changing supplies and updates coming from applications stores. Driven by the new open-source model and reinforced by the development of new features and bug fixes will make Corona more community-driven — but not without our help and supervision. Eventually, going open source will provide poise in the future of the engine and an opportunity to grow community involvement in engine development. Most parts of Corona’s code will be open-sourced barring some plugins, the Corona Marketplace, and the build infrastructure. This is not a final or thorough list as the team may open source even more as we move forward.
With the object of open source game development, Corona will be dual-licensed under both commercial and open-source licenses. The open-source license is the GNU GPLv3 license, and commercial license will be accessible upon agreement with Corona Labs.
Xamarin, PhoneGap, Ionic, NativeScript, and React Native are some of the most suitable cross-platform mobile app development frameworks.
Corona SDK has been widely used for a while, with most of the newer apps and games predicated on this SDK. So, the question now is: Is Corona SDK the best mobile game development platform? When apps are made locally, they turn out great but are really costly to yield on more than one platform. As such, this is where Corona SDK comes to your salvage.
It’s no surprise that many people who want to learn to develop for Android want to start by making a game. And there’s no better way to develop a game by using Android technology.
While there are many platforms for game development, such as Unity, AppGameKit, Fusion, and more, the best of the best platform by far is Corona SDK.
Yes. The core Corona framework is completely free, including Corona Native which can be used to extend Corona with native languages (C/C++/Obj-C/Java).
Of late, mobile app development has gained a lot of traction, with a number of developers trying to cash in on this rewarding field. Nevertheless, the major problem that developers face across streams is the different programming languages and operating systems. And when it comes to evaluating the comparison between such topics there is no best ever.
Here are the major reasons why developers usually prefer Corona SDK for cross-platform mobile game development:
With Corona SDK, you just need to write your code once, and there it runs on all stages. You might just need restrictive code here and there to make it platform precise. With native apps, the same effort goes in making apps on different platforms, growing the development time and cost.
Corona is known to be ultra-fast with the least lag as compared to other SDKs in the market today. It could even regulate easily to all the screen determinations you require. The fast FPS is certainly advantageous. Usually, with SDKs like Phonegap and ImpactJS, the FPS is too sluggish, making mobile game development a lagging experience.
The emulator is really speedy when you compare to your Android emulator. The emulator revives your project as you save a file and makes the development process much faster.
This is the main point when it comes to Corona SDK. There is no devoted Corona SDK IDE. It has great plugins for any platform you want to use. It feels great to have all things in one place.
Corona uses several images and music files. With just a line or two of basic coding, you could effortlessly show images or play music. You need a really good designer if you are working with Corona.
Corona SDK uses Lua, which is known to be quite easy to learn and use.
Like all SDKs, even Corona SDK has its list of cons. The commonest problem faced by Corona users is that it is quite costly. Another problem is that you do not have a way to integrate native plugins, so it might not be practicable to use Corona for all your applications. Furthermore, it is hard to test your apps developed on Corona on devices. You do not have the option to arrange it on to the device directly. You will have to amass, build, and then install your game on the device each time you want to test.
Therefore, these are some of the main pros and cons of Corona SDK. Simply put, Corona is found to be comparatively easier and more widespread than all other SDKs owing to its features. Developers find it really easy to learn and use it, making it one of the most loved SDKs for game development.
The debate on whether it is the best would not end anytime soon, there’s no doubt it’s one of the best options available.
The gaming industry is one of the largest in the world. It offers hundreds of thousands of people globally and as of 2017, rakes in a revenue of over $100 billion yearly. That’s why a lot of developers and aficionados want to build their own games and rake in the dough. With so many mobile game development tools on the market, Corona SDK is the perfect framework for cross-platform mobile game development. There is no one magic tool that will solve all your problems, different mobile game development tools serve different purposes and audiences.