Learn Lua for iOS Game Development

Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Apress (December 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1430246626
ISBN-13: 978-1430246626

02/02/2013 · No Responses

So you have a great game idea for iPhone or iPad, but Objective-C just seems a bit daunting. What are your alternatives? The App Store is very picky about languages, but there is hope: Lua is a versatile, lightweight, fast, and easy to learn language that you can use to build your iOS games and get them accepted into the App Store.

Learn Lua for iOS Game Development walks you through the Lua basics, then shows you how to create games using the top Lua frameworks like Corona SDK, Gideros, Moai, and even how to create games on the iPad (not just for the iPad) with Codea.

You aren’t tied to Xcode and Objective-C — you can create all sorts of amazing games with Lua. But if you already have an existing iOS game, you’ll also learn how to integrate Lua to extend the game. If you’re an aspiring or current iOS developer, you need to know Lua, and Learn Lua for iOS Game Development will give you just what you need to do that.

What you’ll learn

Lua basics for iOS
How to choose a Lua framework depending on your needs
How to use Corona, Gideros, Moai, and more
How to use Lua to create a game faster and easier than with Objective-C
How to use Lua libraries, wrappers, and third party tools

Who this book is for
Beginning iOS developers who find Objective-C difficult but HTML5-based tools too limiting; more advanced iOS developers who want to integrate and open their apps to extension via Lua scripting.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction to Lua
Chapter 2. Lua Libraries
Chapter 3. File Operations
Chapter 4. Math with Lua
Chapter 5. Strings
Chapter 6. Threading
Chapter 7. Tips and Tricks
Chapter 8. Corona SDK
Chapter 9. Gideros Studio
Chapter 10. Moai
Chapter 11. LOVE
Chapter 12. Codea
Chapter 13. Libraries
Chapter 14. Third-Party Applications
Chapter 15. Sample Source Code