Does Appmobi & CocoonJS Deliver?

Hi all,

I am new to C2. Seems like an amazing 2D engine. I have dreams of publishing to iOS, Android, Windows phone 8 and Chrome / Google play Store. Yet, reading the forums on problems and bugs with appmobi and cocoonjs, seems like its a work in progress. I don't want to master this great game engine only to be confronted with publishing issues after paying for dev licenses. My only wish was that C2 could at least publish to iOS and Android with one-click from within the engine and i would willingly pay any extra for that. Please would some of you tell me i have no reasons to be cautious. <img src="smileys/smiley5.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

I wouldn't mind hearing some first-hand accounts as well, since I'd love to pursue this angle--huge market out there. I've read a lot mixed accounts of the experience and that concerns me. C2 is freakin amazing with web games, which is a great start.

I was going to publish my final game using cocoonJS but the problem is splash screen is not customized yet, i had contact with ludei but they will be late to reply :S

Joannesalfa

Do you mean to say that Ludei inserts its own Splash into the build or just no splash? Is that part of the 'free' beta stipulations ?

Joannesalfa

Do you mean to say that Ludei inserts its own Splash into the build or just no splash? Is that part of the 'free' beta stipulations ?

You can't get rid of "Powered by CocoonJS" splash screen. I know it's a technology for developers, but the publishers won't allow this intro, we know the pricing is free until 2013, ludei hid a fact.

That's strange. I had no problem getting my 'Powered by Unity' game in the apple app store.

Any part of the Ludei Terms of Service prohibit you from removing this?

Have you looked at decompilers to replace the offending screen?

There's APKTool code.google.com/p/android-apktool for android.

iPhone is a might bit harder to break apart and put back together and one would need a Mac. If one were so inclined...

I have 2 games published with CocoonJS and it works very well. The only thing I am hating about it right now is the need to use MoPub to serve ads. I wish it had native admob support, or one of the other bigger ad networks without the need to go through mopub.

It would be nice to hear from some Appmobi users.

Not sure what CocoonJS will charge in the new year. Saw a demo video from Ludei on Youtube and noticed their rather large splash screen and logo. Seems too invasive and they should allow developers to remove it easily. If that's not the case, then i might opt for Appmobi instead. Appmobi also replied to my messages very promptly - always a good sign that they actually care. Sadly Ludei did not!!

I am still on the wall as to whether i'm gonna go with C2 or Stencyl. I might use both actually. Stencyl does offer universal apps for iOS which is a big winner for me. But i prefer C2's interface and methodology.

Thanks for your replies guys!

<img src="smileys/smiley9.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

Hey mister k, Ken here from appMobi. I just wanted to chime in on a couple points.

Hi all,

I am new to C2. Seems like an amazing 2D engine. I have dreams of publishing to iOS, Android, Windows phone 8 and Chrome / Google play Store.

You are totally able to do this today no matter what service you go with. The different services let you build for different stores so you will have to make sure the service you select allows you to build and deploy to the stores you want. Here at appMobi you can build for iOS, Android, Amazon, Nook, Win8, Chrome, Facebook. I worked on a game that is deployed to all of these (except win8 as it was not in existence when we built the game).

Yet, reading the forums on problems and bugs with appmobi and cocoonjs, seems like its a work in progress. I don't want to master this great game engine only to be confronted with publishing issues after paying for dev licenses.

I'm willing to bet any service will continue to be a "work in progress" as the industry changes so rapidly. What it was 6mo ago is not what it is today. So any service will continue to evolve, improve and continue to be a work in progress. My advice is to stay away from the ones that aren't :)

As for publishing issue, with any rapidly evolving technology there will be bugs that crop up. However I think you will find that the support is there and they are usually resolved fairly rapidly.

The biggest thing you can do as a developer regardless of what build service you use is to design the game with mobile in mind and don't assume you can just port a desktop browser game into a high performance mobile game. For instance, you have to be a bit more conscience about the size of your image and sound files and not load up your game with 200 large sprites and 75 different sound effect files.

Please would some of you tell me i have no reasons to be cautious.

My personal opinion is you don't have anything to be cautious about, just be mindful of the differences between desktop and mobile and START SMALL. Don't jump in and expect to make the next super involved mega game. Heck even if it's a breakout clone. This way you will learn the technologies, find any hurdles and if you run into bugs report them. We're here and listening :) And if you do go the appMobi route and ever need any help. Just PM or email me keniss@appmobi.com. I'm more then happy to help.

Many thanks Tap for clarifying a few worries of mine.

I really like the options of being able to publish to OS, Android, Amazon, Nook, Win8, Chrome, Facebook. I have no delusions about becoming the next Rovio or Supercell - i wish! But if i'm having to pay $99 for iOS, Android, Windows dev licenses, i want to be sure that i can actually get the game up and running. The ability to test on emulators is a big plus for me. I am a little confused about Appmobi's MAU pricing structure.

So far, Appmobi is the quicker to respond to questions and annoying beginner's worries <me> so thanks for stopping by.

Appreciated!

<img src="smileys/smiley4.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

But if i'm having to pay $99 for iOS, Android, Windows dev licenses, i want to be sure that i can actually get the game up and running. The ability to test on emulators is a big plus for me.

I absolutely understand and agree. That is why we have both the XDK emulator which is good for things like making sure the game fits the device properly and testing out the appMobi JS api. Then we have appLab which will let you test your game on any device. And as long as you have the latest version of appLab you can be sure that how your game runs there will be how it runs after you build it. So if it runs smoothly when testing in appLab it will run smoothly when built. If it's slow, then there's some optimization that is needed.

I am a little confused about Appmobi's MAU pricing structure.

I will try and help. A MAU is a monthly active user. So if 1 user plays your game 50 times. That is still 1 mau. The first 10,000 mau's are free. Once your app exceeds 10,000 mau's appmobi charges the LESSER of $0.10 per mau or 50%.

Example: (keeping the number simple)

You're app has 10,100 maus (100 over the free 10,000) and it's making $20 a month. The app is making $0.20/mau so appMobi gets $0.10/mau. (50%)

Now, let's say your app still has 10,100 maus and is making $100 a month. The app is making $1/mau. appMobi still only takes $0.10/mau (10%).

Finally let's say your app still has 10,100 maus and is making $10 a month. That's $0.10/mau, appMobi only takes $0.05/mau (50%)

Did that help at all?? :)

So far, Appmobi is the quicker to respond to questions and annoying beginner's worries <me> so thanks for stopping by.

Appreciated!

Not annoying at all. I enjoy helping out.

I wish DirectCanvas needs a serious update that could run better than before.

I have a lot of projects.

Joannesalfa - I can not confirm nor deny that an update to DirectCanvas is coming. :) As for the issue you are experiencing in the game you sent me, I will be working with our lead DC developer this week to hopefully get it resolved for you.

I just want to mention that my game which was running on my old iPhone 4 as 1-2fps got a huge jump to 3-35 fps with CocoonJS <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

My biggest issue with CocoonJS is the huge ugly splash that shows right after mine. This breaks the whole meaning of having my splash in there. They should just use that simple grey logo that they have as a template.

It's like showing some pictures of cute babies and then a nuclear explosion and assume that people are still on the same happy mood and not confused when we get back to those babies.

Currently I can't publish with CocoonJS because I can't have adds in my games or remove that splash. I have send them a request for a premium account but they don't seem to reply to it in any ways.

In 2013 they will charge something like 250$/month for a serious project.

So with the current support I can't recommend CocoonJS for anyone who want's to publish a serious project on mobile devices.