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Building Game Prototypes with LÖVE

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Re: Building Game Prototypes with LÖVE

#31

Post by furyofantares »

cableshaft wrote: post #22
furyofantares wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is pretty easy to build for iOS, Android, and web.

Getting it built isn't too bad (at least iOS and Android, Web was giving me WebAssembly errors I couldn't figure out), but accessing native functionality seems harder and do not have any good tutorials (a couple really old discussions online that are probably out of date is all I could find). Like if you want to release a game on iOS you're going to need some sort of Ad framework and access its game center for achiev…

That's true.

I have managed to expose some native apis from iOS, web, Windows and Steam but that is far less straightforward and the LLM is sure it knows what to do and it does NOT. Web searches are not great either.

Re: Building Game Prototypes with LÖVE

#32

Post by vunderba »

trevorhinesley wrote: post #4

To the OP, try DragonRuby for your next game if you miss hot reloading but like the scripting, code-first nature of LÖVE. It’s also cross-platform. Not sponsored, just a big fan and it scratches many of the same itches as you described with LÖVE.

Hmmm. DragonRuby seems to be a closed source proprietary game engine (at least as far as I can tell). With open source engines like Love2D / Godot / PhaserJS / Pyxel becoming more popular - this may be a deterrent for many devs on HN.

Something else to consider is traction, if you get stuck in DragonRuby there's probably not a huge amount of docs/tutorials around it. That being said, it does seem like they have a pretty active Discord at least.

Re: Building Game Prototypes with LÖVE

#33

Post by cableshaft »

furyofantares wrote: post #31
cableshaft wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting it built isn't too bad (at least iOS and Android, Web was giving me WebAssembly errors I couldn't figure out), but accessing native functionality seems harder and do not have any good tutorials (a couple really old discussions online that are probably out of date is all I could find). Like if you want to release a game on iOS you're going to need some sort of Ad framework and access its game center for achiev…

That's true. I have managed to expose some native apis from iOS, web, Windows and Steam but that is far less straightforward and the LLM is sure it knows what to do and it does NOT. Web searches are not great either.

If you've found anything online that has helped you get that working, if you remember and don't mind sharing I'd appreciate it.

Re: Building Game Prototypes with LÖVE

#35

Post by vunderba »

raincole wrote: post #34

(Off topic) Which open-source engine/framework is best in terms of cross-platform? It seems that LÖVE is desktop-only. Edit: by cross-platform I mean desktop + console + mobile.

Like everything the answer is... it depends on what you're looking for.

What does cross-platform mean to you? Just MacOS/Windows/Linux? Web? Consoles? Android? iOS? Blackberry?

Godot comes pretty close to a batteries included cross-platform engine that handles 2D/3D.

JS engines can likely be ported (with varying degrees of effort as PWAs, electron/tauri, etc) to most systems as well - look into Phaser though its intended use is 2D.

Re: Building Game Prototypes with LÖVE

#36

Post by gwervc »

edflsafoiewq wrote: post #29
fao_ wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It took them many months to get it on Android. It's surprising given that back in June? 2024 I just extracted the .love zip from the executable, patched a file or two, and merged it into the love android apk and it Just Worked. Just goes to prove the last 5% rule

The difficulty of porting to mobile is generally changing the UI to work well on a small touchscreen.

This. I'm making a game and I have an Android and iOS experimental branches. Even with a multiplatform framework (Monogame), compilation and basic run isn't a given. Then thing like small buttons needs biggee touch target, text input requires adaptation. All those 3 days + 1 day + a week + ... quickly adds up.

Re: Building Game Prototypes with LÖVE

#37

Post by valcron1000 »

raincole wrote: post #34

(Off topic) Which open-source engine/framework is best in terms of cross-platform? It seems that LÖVE is desktop-only. Edit: by cross-platform I mean desktop + console + mobile.

Probably Monogame, a C# framework that supports Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS, iPadOS, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch

Re: Building Game Prototypes with LÖVE

#38

Post by cableshaft »

raincole wrote: post #34

(Off topic) Which open-source engine/framework is best in terms of cross-platform? It seems that LÖVE is desktop-only. Edit: by cross-platform I mean desktop + console + mobile.

Love2D can be cross-platform. Balatro was made in Love2D and was released on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Switch, Desktop, iOS, and Android.

That doesn't mean it's well-supported or easy to fully support those other platforms. I'm struggling with getting iOS native functions working with Love2D in iOS, for example, although Balatro proved that it's definitely possible. The basic game (the game as it works on my PC) is working on my iPhone just fine, though, and wasn't too difficult to get up and running. I also have an APK working on a cheap Android phone I got.

Re: Building Game Prototypes with LÖVE

#39

Post by jasonhr13 »

trevorhinesley wrote: post #4

To the OP, try DragonRuby for your next game if you miss hot reloading but like the scripting, code-first nature of LÖVE. It’s also cross-platform. Not sponsored, just a big fan and it scratches many of the same itches as you described with LÖVE.

I prototyped a game in a few frameworks/engines, namely: Godot, GMS, Defold, Love, and DragonRuby. I ended up sticking with DR because I found the api the most intuitive, and because I’m a career ruby dev and just can’t get myself to enjoy Lua. I find DR and Love to both be fantastic for those who just want to code.

Re: Building Game Prototypes with LÖVE

#40

Post by trevorhinesley »

vunderba wrote: post #32
trevorhinesley wrote: post #4

To the OP, try DragonRuby for your next game if you miss hot reloading but like the scripting, code-first nature of LÖVE. It’s also cross-platform. Not sponsored, just a big fan and it scratches many of the same itches as you described with LÖVE.

Hmmm. DragonRuby seems to be a closed source proprietary game engine (at least as far as I can tell). With open source engines like Love2D / Godot / PhaserJS / Pyxel becoming more popular - this may be a deterrent for many devs on HN. Something else to consider is traction, if you get stuck in DragonRuby there's probably not a huge amount of docs/tutorials around it. That being said, it does seem like they have a pre…

> DragonRuby seems to be a closed source proprietary game engine

Yes, but check out: https://docs.dragonruby.org/#/misc/faq?id=dragonruby-is-not-...

And

https://docs.dragonruby.org/#/misc/faq?id=what-if-i-build-so...

> If you get stuck in DragonRuby there’s probably not a huge amount of docs/tutorials around it.

You’d be surprised. The docs are extensive and there are sample games galore in the distro. https://docs.dragonruby.org/#/

Also the Discord is incredibly helpful and the creators chime in regularly.

It’s a pretty special engine and community IMO

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