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Honest advice sought: Unity or Corona

Discussion in 'iOS and tvOS' started by emf715, Jan 20, 2011.

  1. emf715

    emf715

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2011
    Posts:
    2
    Hi all,

    Here's the deal: I made my first game, Tribbs, completely within xcode. It was a tough learning process, but worthwhile. After that, I discovered GameSalad, and whipped up my next game, Pico Firme Bago, in a couple of weekends. Although I was happy to see how much easier it was, needless to say, I was underwhelmed by gamesalad's performance. I'm looking to move up to Corona or Unity.

    My interests are mostly in 2D physics puzzlers. I've heard that Unity can handle those well even though it's built for 3D. Does anyone have any experience with Corona vs Unity? If I'm going to invest the time in learning something new, I'd like to be able to stick with it a while; no more jumping ship.

    Any and all advice is welcome and appreciated,
    Evan

    Tribbs: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tribbs/id410956026?mt=8
    Pico Firme Bago: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pico-firme-bago-lite/id412344832?mt=8&ls=1
    Pico Mini: http://itunes.apple.com/app/id414482633
     
    emf715, Jan 20, 2011
    #1

  2. tonyd

    tonyd

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2009
    Posts:
    1,224
    I've never used Corona, but I suspect you'd get better performance out of an engine optimized for 2D.

    But Unity has some significant advantages over Corona... for starters you buy Unity rather then 'rent' it, no annual fee required. Second, it supports multiple platforms, including Macs, PCs and Consoles (not just iOS and Android). Finally, you do the Xcode build on your own machine... rather than submit your project to Corona for compilation.
     
    tonyd, Jan 20, 2011
    #2

  3. emf715

    emf715

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2011
    Posts:
    2
    Thanks Tony,

    The owning vs renting, as well as the xCode integration sound like major advantages. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and dive into Unity. I expect the learning curve to be steeper than Corona, but I think it's my best bet for keeping my future options open, especially if game development become more than a hobby. Maybe I'll even try something in 3D. Too bad I have no artistic talent...
     
    emf715, Jan 20, 2011
    #3

  4. tonyd

    tonyd

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2009
    Posts:
    1,224
    FYI, there are plans for Unity to release more built-in 2D functionality in a future version.

    In the meantime, you might want to check out Sprite Manager or Sprite Manager II.
     
    tonyd, Jan 20, 2011
    #4

  5. mudloop

    mudloop

    Joined:
    May 3, 2009
    Posts:
    1,107
    Well, yes, but the update costs may be bigger though.

    I only built some demo apps with Corona, but I wasn't under the impression that it sent it to Corona for compilation - does it?
    In any case, having the xcode project in Unity means you can extend Unity's functionalities, whereas with Corona you're stuck if their API doesn't support something.

    But I'm watching Corona closely,because it could become interesting.
     
    mudloop, Jan 20, 2011
    #5