Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
C-related code is somewhat out of the scope of this topic, I won't cover this in detail.
When you want to use the plug-in, you need to add it to the Gideros Player (while testing) or to
Xcode and compile it in the final build. For the desktop player, the code needs to be compiled and
present in the directory as a dynamic library (
.dylib
).
If you plan to distribute a plug-in for other users, it would need to be built as a library. The required
files are
.dll
for the Windows desktop player
.dylib
for the Mac desktop player
.so
for the android device player
.a
for the iOS device player
Note
The choice of language also determines the platforms the plug-in can be used on. A plug-in
written in C or C++ can be used on both iOS and Android devices. A plug-in written in Java can be used
only on Android, and a plug-in written in Objective-C can be used only on iOS.
Summary
Gideros Studio is a package that comes complete on both Windows and Mac OS X and includes
a range of tools to help develop and test applications. If the framework does not fulfill your
expectations, or if you want to extend your application by adding some additional code (e.g., C,
C++, Objective-C, or Java), you can do this by using the Lua API bridge and wrapping the code in
a plug-in. Gideros Studio is a growing framework with a growing community. The framework is very
similar to ActionScript, and hence it is an easy move for ActionScript 3 developers. Where Corona
SDK positions itself as an easy-to-use framework (which it is), Gideros Studio fills the gaps providing
the plug-in. While a simple task like displaying an image on the screen is a bit involved with Gideros
Studio, it has the advantage of letting you keep a library of functions that allow for simpler usage, as
in the examples in this chapter.
