New to LUA and LOVE

[Stormfury]

Hi everyone,

I have been programming for quite a while, and have made various games using AS3 and Flash, C++ with SDL, have made Applet games and other programs in Java, and have experience with Sockets in both C++ and Java.

I have never used Lua, and have just learned about LOVE.

Should I head right to the tutorials and examples on this website and the LOVE documentation and jump right in, or should I spend some time on Lua?

Is there a "be all, end all" tutorial site for LUA?

Thanks for the help! Speak with you all soon

[Robin]

I would recommend first reading Programming In Lua (http://www.lua.org/pil/), and keeping the reference manual at hand after that (http://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/).

Lua's not a large or complicated language, so it shouldn't take too long before you can jump into LÖVE and it's API.

Since you've been programming for a while, I take it you already know that practice makes perfect, though.

[Stormfury]

Since you've been programming for a while, I take it you already know that practice makes perfect, though.

Oh, I hear ya..

Thanks for taking the time to reply. So at this stage in development, can LOVE be used with LUA to make 2D games, or is LOVE still an in-development, conceptual framework?

I don't know if I should be spending my not-so-open schedule learning this, or something more documented such as python (with pygame).

Again, thanks for your help.!

[Robin]

It is very ready for making games with. If you want to get some lovin', the soon-to-be-released version 0.6.0 is your best bet, since it has a load of improvements, and the API is quite different in certain places.

If you didn't know already, the most recent builds of 0.6.0 are available at http://love2d.org/builds, and documentation at http://love2d.org/potato.

[napco]

By the way, i've spent some days learning pygame, and i've noticed that LOVE is faster and better documented. With LOVE you can also make standalone games.

[Robin]

By the way, i've spent some days learning pygame, and i've noticed that LOVE is faster and better documented. With LOVE you can also make standalone games.

I agree, I love Python, but PyGame just makes me cry, now that I've discovered LÖVE.

[Stormfury]

Thanks for all the replies. I have a book, Focus on SDL, and I am experienced with C++. Can you please make a case as to why I should learn lua and use LOVE as opposed to learning SDL to go Alongside my pre-existing knowledge of c++ and network programming. Will I be able to do create a game with possible connectivity to a c++ server?

[Robin]

1. LÖVE is easy to learn.
2. Games for LÖVE are easier to maintain and quicker to write than anything in C++.
3. LÖVE is awesome!
4. LÖVE has an awesome community around it.

As for network connectivity, yes, it is possible. We have a few networked games made with LÖVE already, and it should be possible to connect to any server, no matter what language it was written in, but bartbes knows more about networking. He wrote a library, LUBE, that has TCP and UDP support IIRC.

If you still don't know, why don't you try jumping in and learning how to LÖVE? If you don't like it, at least you broadened your perspective, learned a new language and another way to look at the process of game designing.

[bartbes]

I see your networking knowledge is limited..
Once on the internet (or LAN, of course) it doesn't matter which language the server/client has been written in, as long as they speak the same protocol (which you have either designed or implemented).

[Stormfury]

Silly mistake of mine .. I was posting from my iPhone and rushing.

I can't wait to start making LOVE - you guys have a great community.

And my degree is in Network and Information Security - stupid me, I know very well that it doesnt matter which language, as long as they both support the same protocols... lol

Anyways, I'll start learning LUA and hope to make LOVE with all of you