I am looking into alternatives for ios&mac app store development. Corona sdk uses less code but the pricing is pretty high. Cocos2d I believe is freeware but uses objective C. Are there add ons for it enable the developer to use less code?
Plus if I stuck with unity3d, don’t think mac app store would generate as much profit as doing a iOS game. Downside is iOS exporter is 400 dollars and that’s expensive. Advice?
Unity works on iOS too!
400 is not bad, especially for an i0S license - considering it’s the hottest market right now 
If you can’t code, use a visual node based tool like playmaker.
You can make good money, but you need a very good product and good marketing too. Don’t expect to just magically make money. The vast majority will barely make $500, which covers the license cost for unity basic. That’s good if you plan on making a few games. Just don’t expect a magical shower of gold.
@DrPygameNewb Not sure why you say Corona sdk’s price is pretty high. It’s actually about $350 for development to both ios and android. That’s less thn the unity exporter.
I know. It’s just easier for easier games to make easier money, that’s all. That’s why alot of people prefer it to, for example, PC. It has a higher chance of being bought (well this is debatable, it really all depends on what type of game you were trying to make in the first place)
So you can back this claim up? As in… you have experience using PlayMaker? I’ve heard reactions from a few reviews on it that beg to differ.
Can you confirm that you can make an actual game without scripting? Thanks.
X-code is a bloody nightmare, never ever again. Objective C is just as bad so I would say, if you want to live in hell. Sure go use xcode.
Corona is limited but cheap, good and fast for 2D iOS / Android (the latter is still problematic to be honest). Yet you will need top notch visual art to make an impact and this BIG problem is not dependent on the engine you’re going to use. Good luck!
also remember that corona license fee is per year , unity ios is one time only, so in the long run corona is much more expensive than unity and a lot more limited
As typane pointed out earlier, I’ve heard mixed things about xcode and objective C, and since Cocos2d relies on it, aren’t there cheap templates or other add-ons that make it more like corona?
What would be the features in corona sdk that would make it appealing compared to Unity3d when making a strict “2d” game?
The structure behind is so different (2d/3d), so I’m wondering.
Also from a business point of view, which one would allow faster prototyping/release of nice little 2d games or ebooks with basic touch interactions?
Both are great tools, but which one is better suited for those needs?
The main advantage of Corona is that the set of projects available for learning just cover much of the span allowed to simple 2D apps, e-books included. You need to use your own art and a very limited programming effort in lua to come up with something “nice with basic touch interactions”. On the other side, those niceness and simplicity will not be enough to sell in the market these days 999 out of 1000 times.
Unity is much more powerful and not suited to hobbyists and newcomers imho. With 2 years experience here and a modular/functional programming background from my daily job as an applied researcher, I still find it difficult to master Unity in depth. Their latest releases 3.4 and 3.5 add to the difficulty and move towards the professional side of the trade.
All in all and when asked for advice, I simply suggest to start with Corona and Unity free, eventually switching to Unity Pro after 1-2 years first hand experience (not done it myself yet).
I’m not sure why everyone dislikes Objective C and Cocos2d all my games so far including Fishing bears ( in my signature) in POH! For Charlie Samways have been made using it. I have also made a number of client games with it in a matter of weeks.
You really can’t get much easier IMO adding a fully interactable menu with animations is less than 5 lines of code:
CCLabelTTF *menuLabel = [CCLabelTTF labelWithString:@“Play!” font:@“Arial”];
CCMenuItem *theButton = [CCMenuItemLabel itemWithLabel:menuLabel target:self selector:@selector(doSomethingWhenClicked: )];
CCMenu *theMenu = [CCMenu menuWithItems:theButton, nil];
[self addChild:theMenu z:10];
A number of things could easily be more comfortable than XCode/Objective C plus Cocos2D, nonetheless it’s a valid and performant option.
@CoatlGames
If you’re part of the majority who prefers buying updates of the tools they use then Unity, if used on iOS, more or less comes down to a fee as well.