What
I started a port of the popular Robotlegs framework for building Flash & Flex ActionScript 3 applications to Lua for the Corona SDK.
Why
Longer post here.
The short version: Lua & Corona and hardcore game development are new to me. I’ve dabbled and had a few projects, both professional and personal, over the past decade, but nothing like the full-time opportunities/gigs I’m getting now that mobile has legitimized an already legitimized industry. Utilizing Robotlegs has made the GUI/HUD development for games super simple in a foreign and strange land. It’s also helped me learn more about Lua & Corona by breaking out of my comfort zone from within a comfort zone. Motivation is a fragile thing that must be cared for & nurtured. This helps me not get frustrated when I hit brick walls with the limited time I have in researching new technologies.
Keep in mind this is one the design goals, and thus helpful features of PureMVC being ported to other platforms.
…also, I figured it’d help others.
Where
You can get it on Github; it has an example in there too to show you one way to use it.
How
You just require the classes in, and extend the rest. Some gotchas if you’re an ActionScript 3 Developer:
- I haven’t figured out Lua’s annotations and metadata strategies. As such, you have to manually inject dependencies.
- This includes manually mediating your Views via context:createMediator/removeMediator(viewInstance).
- Another gotcha is put a classType property on your Views till I figure out how to do reflection in Lua.
When
Keep in mind this isn’t an official port, nor is it finished. I’m still learning and it’s a proof of concept. I’m finding I’m only using it for game GUI and HUD stuff; and that’s like only 5% to 20% of the game code… so while it’s helpful for both learning & development, I’m sure there are strategies/ideas I’m not thinking about that you’re welcome to add/modify, etc.
Hope this helps you!
Download/Modify – Robotlegs for Corona on Github.
As you mentioned Robotlegs could be useful for the GUI and HUD, maybe a port of an entity framework (something I learnt about recently from Tom who presented for us) would be useful for the games themselves (unless there already is one)?
http://www.tomseysdavies.com/2011/02/03/getting-started-with-ember/
http://www.lfpug.com/entity-systems-%E2%80%93-a-better-way-to-develop-games/
Oh hai, Tink! We’ve uh… yeah, you know, missed you on TwitRAR and G+.
I had no idea about Ember, thanks a ton for the links! I have no clue yet if there is an equivalent; there is so much to learn…. drowning in forum posts, emails, and browser tabs…
Missed me? I’m on both, just don’t say much, I’m a very quiet guy you know ;)
http://twitter.com/#!/tinklondon
https://plus.google.com/116007491607791413614/posts