Cocos 2d-x: Present and Future

[FelixFox]

Dear all,

I’m quite new to cocos 2d-x, and probably I should have know better before starting this topic, but I love cocos 2d-x (it is C++ and cross-platform - what is not to like) and simultaneously have strong concerns regarding the present stage and future development of this platform.

I would really like to ear from experienced users.

The Present

1. The learning curve is really, really hard;
   Most of the learning resources you reference in the manual and in README.md are outdated by aprox. 5 years: broken links, exemples made in old cocos versions that don’t run anymore, references to Cocos Studio (deprecated),…
   Please make it easier for new programmers to come and join the platform.
   updatedTutorials -> easierLearningCurve -> moreCocos2dxUsers -> moreContributors;

2. It is hard to update a cocos 2d-x project;
   Apple seems to be deprecating everything ( OpenGl, UIWebViews,…) and it is very hard to keep existing projects made in older cocos 2d-x versions. Though the topic is widely discussed in the forum, there seems to be no consensus and I would like to ask for an official guideline.

3. What is happening behind the scenes?
   How many developers are actively working on cocos2d-x development?
   …well, according to GitHub many, but consistently, only two: @minggo and @coulsonwang, which BTY, I would like to acknowledge (as well as @slackmoehrle, for being the forum super-glue). Who is supporting this team?

The Future

4. The broken links and outdated resources (e.g. https://github.com/cocos2d/cocos2d-x/blob/v3/README.md) make look like the platform is being abandoned … is that so?

5. Is the development of a supporting library in the future plans (e.g. implement pinch to zoom, scroll view, etc…) ?

6. I’ve noticed you have abandoned Trello and now rely on Github Milestones. What about the long term plans?

7. What are the plans for AppleTV and AndroidTV?

Please do excuse me for this rather long post.
Feedback is welcome.

Cheers,

Felix

[slackmoehrle]

1. The learning curve is really, really hard;

true. We don’t quite have the resources to teach game development or a programming language. We also don’t have an editor for Cocos2d-x. Other game engines provide more resources here.

We are starting to add more tutorials and videos. Our Knowledge base category will accumulate these.

2. It is hard to update a cocos 2d-x project;

I’ve never found it so hard to update, but I agree there could be obstacles for larger projects. I tend to use GitHub and pull down updates. I then diff AppDelegate, RootViewConroller and build settings to see what might have changed.

3. What is happening behind the scenes?
   How many developers are actively working on cocos2d-x development?

Our developers take charge of pieces of projects and they provide this service to all the tools that need it. Development is our largest department and it is composed of several teams of various numbers.

4. The broken links and outdated resources (e.g. https://github.com/cocos2d/cocos2d-x/blob/v3/README.md) make look like the platform is being abandoned … is that so?

I submitted a PR to remove the old links and update current ones.

No, the platform is not being abandoned. We are just about to release Cocos2d-x v4.

5. Is the development of a supporting library in the future plans (e.g. implement pinch to zoom, scroll view, etc…) ?

No

6. I’ve noticed you have abandoned Trello and now rely on Github Milestones. What about the long term plans?

we plan to release 3.18 and v4 and then v4 will be the main branch.

7. What are the plans for AppleTV and AndroidTV?

None currently. We started experimenting with Apple TV as a hobby years back.