LiveCode Game Academy
The LiveCode Academy is back... and this time we’re teaching gaming.

by Mark Taoilinn

The launch of LiveCode 5 has opened up new, exciting development opportunities for LiveCoders. The new high performance graphics engine, incorporating graphics hardware acceleration, OpenGL and animated sprites gives you the chance to enter the booming mobile game space with fully featured LiveCode-built games that perform 10X faster than any LiveCode built apps have before.

We understand that making killer mobile games with LiveCode is new to many of you. But here at RunRev we’re always keen to support you in whatever way we can - and we’re really excited about being able to help you get started into the vibrant, exciting and rewarding sphere of mobile games. That’s why we want to teach you LiveCode game making in our latest LiveCode Academy.

Introducing the LiveCode Game Academy
Running from the start of December through to the end of January (with a Christmas break), the LiveCode Game Academy will teach you everything you need to know to make amazing mobile game. This will be the third iteration of the LiveCode Academy and we will be building on the accomplishments of the two earlier academies where people with all levels of development experience (from complete beginners through to professional developers) successfully built their own mobile app in just seven weeks. Many of them are now working on their own projects and/or have just released their own apps into the apps stores.

"The lessons are great for those that may be completely new to programming yet enough detail is included to satisfy an experienced coder....The staff and community is very involved and supportive. It seems like there is a place for experienced and non experienced coders to co-exist and learn from each other" - Alan Gansdy, LiveCode Academy Graduate

What’s included in the Academy
Over seven live webinars our expert tutors will introduce different aspects of mobile game theory. The webinars will be complemented by practical readings, sample code and the extremely popular dedicated forum where you can share ideas with fellow students and ask questions of the LiveCode tutors.

Topics will include:

- Game design considerations
- Coding basic gameplay
- Animating game pieces (eg. Manipulating sprites)
- Working with layers and backgrounds
- Optimizing your game performance
- Managing different devices and resolutions on iOS and Android
- Deploying to your iOS or Android device
- Marketing your game
         - Going social: integrating Facebook and other social networks into your game
         - Game business models: Freemium (free with in-app purchases) and paid
         - Submitting to the app store and Android marketplace

Take a look at our sample game, Galactic Gauntlet, in the iOS App store to see just one example of the type of games you could be making after the academy. Galactic Gauntlet will also be in the Android Market Place soon.

Why Join?
The Academy is perfect for existing programmers who want to add an extra string to their LiveCode bow and perfect for new users who want to start with the exciting world of mobile game creation. The theory and concepts that you will learn in during the course will be useful not just for mobile game, but also for including game play elements into other mobile and desktop applications to encourage engagement and to intensify the user experience. The lessons on optimizing performance and managing different devices and resolutions will be useful for every developer and the session on marketing yours apps will be valuable to everyone. 

 “The academy has been incredible. The value to this online school is priceless. The people who have joined the academy are like-minded and everyone helps everyone”. Runrev is doing a fantastic job “ - Mike Felker, LiveCode Academy Graduate

So, please join us in December to unleash your killer game - remember, if you can imagine it, you can build it.

Places for the LiveCode Game Academy are limited. Register early to avoid disappointment.

About the Author Mark Taoilinn is Sales and Marketing Manager for RunRev Ltd.