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LiveCode creators look to go open source with crowdfunding help
UK-based RunRev is working on the next generation of LiveCode, which for the uninitiated is a cross-platform scripting language inspired by Apple's HyperCard and HyperTalk. This new version of LiveCode is intended to be open source and free for schools, in addition to offering a number of improvements including an entirely new visual editor for bringing apps and games to life. In order to make the new LiveCode a reality, RunRev is turning to Kickstarter to crowdfund its development. With just over a week to go in its campaign, the company is less than halfway to its funding goal of £350,000 (US$541,436) so it's not a sure bet that the current plan will work out. Should funding fail, RunRev is hoping to take a more conservative approach to a second campaign, according to company reps posting in Kickstarter comments. We wish RunRev the best of luck; we've been impressed by LiveCode in the past, and what they're looking to do with the next generation definitely looks promising. We'll be keeping an eye on the Kickstarter campaign's progress as the clock ticks down.
LiveCode launches Game Academy, learn to make a game in seven weeks
Starting today, if you want to be a mobile developer, you have a prime opportunity to make it happen. RunRev, makers of LiveCode, is offering Game Academy, an online course in game development. Here's how it works: Over the course of seven weeks (there's a break in the middle for Christmas), you will learn how to use LiveCode to develop a basic mobile game. Nothing fancy, just a little fun thing to help you learn your way around LiveCode. You'll get webinars, reading material, sample code, and even a free trial of the LiveCode software. A couple of bonus things to know here: First, you can start with ANY level of development experience. I met with RunRev's CEO Kevin Miller at MacTech this year, and he assured me himself that even though I've never launched XCode, I will be capable of going from zero to finished game by the end of the course. Also, it's free! You can cancel at any point, but when you get to the end you can buy LiveCode for $99. Here's another bonus: Once you create your game or app, you can actually compile it for iOS or Android. Or both! Remember you will have to go through whatever the requirements are for distribution for your app in the respective stores. Kevin himself gave a live demo at MacTech, where he went from zero to app in three minutes flat. If you're still curious how your app might turn out, you can always check out the list of apps built with LiveCode.. I'm excited about it, and already signed up. Will you be there?
revMobile: write iPhone and iPad apps without knowing Objective C
One of the biggest barriers to entry for people who want to develop their own iPhone apps is the requirement to actually know how to program in Objective C. Runtime Revolution (AKA RunRev) has been developing and marketing a HyperCard-like development environment since 1997. To quote the company's site, "Rev uses plain-English words and phrases for most of its operations, eliminating the obscure symbols and complicated structures required of other programming languages. Rev is easy to learn and use, requires 90% less code, and can deliver a 10-fold increase in productivity over traditional languages." What does this have to do with developing for iPhone and iPad? The answer is simple -- the company is stretching the development environment to the mobile computing market with a new product, currently in pre-alpha, called revMobile. For developers who want to market their products to the widest possible range of mobile devices, revMobile not only supports the iPhone and iPad world, but Nokia's Maemo platform and Windows Mobile 7 as well. Since apps can also run on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux, this represents a very robust development environment. The video at the top of this post shows a simple game being conceptualized, designed, and written in a little over 3 hours. RunRev has always been compiled at runtime, but for the purposes of getting RunRev apps into the App Store, revMobile apps are going to be compiled at build time so that a single executable is available for submission. You can find out more about revMobile, including pricing and availability, at the RunRev website.
