iOS developers, Marmalade Juice is here!

The clever bunnies over at Marmalade Technologies have today released an awesome new piece of open source technology called Marmalade Juice that I have no doubt many iOS developers will be thrilled to hear about. Catchy name aside, what is this Marmalade Juice technology all about and what can it do for iOS developers? Lets take a quick look at what is says on the tin.

“Marmalade Juice is a new and innovative technology which gives developers the ability to recompile their iOS projects natively for Android. And, because there is no need for laborious re-writing, you can focus on making your game the best it can be.”

So what does that mean? In essence it means that you can take your existing Objective-C XCode code base, compile and run it on the Android platform. As Marmalade Juice is an evolving technology there are a few areas that Juice does not currently fully support, but using the already existing Marmalade extensions you can still utilise them with a little code rework. Not much to ask considering that its infinitely easier than learning the Java / Android development ecosystem, oh and don’t get me started on Eclipse!

So in essence Marmalade Juice equates to easy porting from iOS to Android (that’s over 1 billion extra devices to target your games at!) for iOS developers around the world and an extra revenue stream, which is always nice for budding indie developers and the big boys alike.

All you need to get going is Marmalade Juice, XCode and the Android SDK.

Oh, even more great news. Juice will now be included in all Marmalade licenses and for a limited amount of time the yearly community license is free, so you get to play with Juice for free!

Interested? then mosey on over to the Marmalade Juice web site and grab a license whilst its free.

Made with Goji Editor games Shuffle Match and Shuffle Match for Kids now on iPhone, iPad and BlackBerry

Pocketeers has announced the release of two of its new memory game titles aimed at adults and children, Shuffle Match and Shuffle Match for Kids. Both titles were created using the Goji Editor game IDE and the AppEasy cross platform game engine.

Shuffle Match is a fun endless challenge memory game that starts out with an easy two grid and progresses up to a ten grid over time, ramping up the difficulty the longer you play, guaranteeing a great memory workout. Features include:

* Endless challenge, go as far as your memory will take you
* Easy and hard play modes
* Track your progress
* Play up to 10 x 10 memory grid in hard mode
* Very colourful graphics
* Great sound track
* NO IAP so no chance of kids running up huge bills

Shuffle Match for Kids is a version of Shuffle match that is optimised for children and has been tested on children of different age groups to optimise grid sizes and round times to ensure that the game does not become too difficult too quickly. 3 game modes are available based on age range, including younger than 6, 7 to 10 year old’s and 11+. Features include:

* Designed for 3 age ranges (6 and younger, 7 to 10 year old’s and 11 and over)
* Very colourful graphics
* Perky sound track
* Your child can track their progress to see how they improve
* NO IAP so no chance of children running up huge bills

Both titles are also available on Android, Blackberry PlayBook and BlackBerry 10 phones and tablets.

Shuffle Match and Shuffle Match for Kids were created using the Goji Editor which is a powerful game and app creation IDE that is compatible with AppEasy, Marmalade Quick, Corona and Gideros engines.

AppEasy 1.5.4 now available, source encryption, 3D math and dynamic geometry

AppEasy Version 1.5.4 is Now Available

AppEasy the cross platform mobile game and app development system for iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows that is aimed at all levels of experience releases latest update

AppEasy version 1.5.4 is now available for download from here.

Please upgrade to the latest version. Note that before updating, close down your current version of AppEasy, rename c:\AppEasy to c:\AppEasy2, install and run AppEasy then copy any changes / certificates from c:\AppEasy2 to c:\AppEasy. Note that if you install the update before renaming c:\AppEasy then simply exit the AppEasy project manager, rename the folder and run AppEasy again.

Changes include:

  • Added encrypt source to AppEasy project manager which will cause all xml and lua assets to be encrypted
  • If actor has geometry assigned and no shape and it is under control of physics then the geometry will be assigned as the shape as long as the geometry is polygon based
  • Added new matrix library to deal with Matrix maths
  • Added actor library functions setVertex(), setRGBA() and setUV() which can be used to modify the actors underlying geometry
  • Added support for decrypting lua and xoml assets, add decrypt tag to appeasy.xml with attribute enable=”true” to enable
  • template.from container can now be nil to create resources in global resource space
  • Fixed docked actors that are scaled
  • Fixed issue in AppEasy where proportional sizing was not taking into account virtual resolution scaling

Source Encryption

You can now protect your Lua and XOMl sources from prying eyes by enabled source encryption from the AppEasy project manager. This will turn your source files into an unreadable format that can only be understood by the AppEasy player.

Dynamic Geometry and Matrices

The most fun addition to this update is the ability to modify the geometry of actors that have a geometry attached. Coupled with the new matrix library you can create some interesting geometry animations as well as 3D projection. Check out Test71 which shows a large 50×50 3D grid of quads.

Updates will be pushed to AppEasy Core SDK on Github soon.

Shuffle Match – Made with the Goji Editor

I’ve just released a new game for Android called Shuffle Match that is entirely created with the Goji game editor exported to AppEasy. Its currently available on Google Play and will be available on other stores sooonish, including Apple. I will be releasing the entire project for this game in the near future, so that others can learn from it.

The game was inspired by my youngest daughter, who likes to play matching games.

Heres a few details about the game:

Put your memory through a fun workout that starts with an easy warm up and progresses to a gruelling challenge worthy of any memory master.

  • Endless challenge, go as far as your memory will take you
  • Easy and hard play modes
  • Track your progress
  • Play up to 10 x 10 memory grid in hard mode
  • Very colourful graphics
  • Great sound track
  • NO IAP so no chance of kids running up huge bills
  • Compatible with phone and tablet

Game play is simple and casual, remember the numbers on the left board then shuffle the board and find them on the right board. Earn big bonuses by chaining guesses together. Track your stats from game to game to see how you improve.