what scripting language OUYA supports?

foxdeltagames

Hi Everyone, Sam here. thisis my first time here.

Sorry if this question was asked before and answered. I looked around as much as I can to find a similar question, but couldn't find one.

What scripting language OUYA supports? We been working on a project for a while now using Unity 3D and it is being done in C#

Can we still make a game for the OUYA using C#, or will we have to use JavaScript? If we can use C# will we have to do anything special to make it run on the OUYA.

I want to know so I can relay the information to our programers, before they spend a ton of time programing the game in the wrong scripting language.

Also one more question, we need to export ( make a game build) the game for Android right?

Thanks a ton guys.

Killa_Maaki

Scripting language makes zero difference. The only thing OUYA cares about is running APKs (Android applications). That's it. APKs don't have a scripting language, they basically have an intermediate bytecode (like assembly, but not tied to a particular machine - which allows them to be executed on pretty much any machine). High level languages are compiled into this bytecode - which means what language you use doesn't matter as long as the end result is a valid APK.

That said, Unity doesn't care what language you use either. ALL of them compile to the same intermediate bytecode. You could even mix and match Javascript and C# (which I don't recommend, it's a bit of a nightmare to interop the two - I even convert JS to C# when I can just to make it easier).
So yes, C# will work. Unity still exports it to APK. And I think the Unity ODK might actually be easier to use from C# (I don't know, never tried it from JS)

tgraupmann

So on Unity you can use your preference: C#, JavaScript, and Boo.

On the OUYA side, you can use: Java, C++/NDK.

And there's probably a lot more...

AmazingSparckman

I'm just using Multimedia Fusion 2 for 2D games but I'm using Unity for 3D games.

nobleRobot

There are a number of cross-compiling frameworks out there, so really, with a little tinkering, you can compile just about anything into an OUYA-compatible APK.

My favorite environment is Adobe AIR, which is written with ActionScript 3 (and if you want to punish yourself, MXML) and is already a good solution for creating Android games. Adobe is actively looking to support OUYA-specific features in the AIR runtime going forward, although you still have to do a few workarounds right now.

tgraupmann

I'd like to create examples and document the pipeline for Adobe Air.

foxdeltagames

ok thanks for the help. We been making our main project in C# in Unity, and now this smaller project for the OUYA is being program in C# as well in Unity. Also is there a tutorial some where on how to export a game build to the OUYA for testing reasons? we manage to make a build with 360 controller support, but it is a Windows build.

what are the things I will need to make it work in the OUYA?

tgraupmann

The Unity Input example works with the Xbox 360 controller out of the box from the ouya-unity-plugin.

nobleRobot

tgraupmann said:

I'd like to create examples and document the pipeline for Adobe Air.

Oh my, I'd love you forever! I'm having a great time building my project, and I'm getting a lot of help from the ANEs created (and generously donated to the community) by Gaslightgames, but sometimes I do wish the workflow was a little more "offically supported." ;-)

I'm a motion graphics designer turned developer, with a lot still to learn, but I am vary familiar with the ins-and-outs/history of AIR for Android, and if time allows I'd be happy to help collect resources or edit documentation if/when the time comes (gotta use that English degree for something).

tgraupmann

Has @Gaslightgames upgraded the Air plugin to ODK 1.0.6?

GaslightGames

Hey folks - both the controller and IAP ANEs are at 1.0.5, iirc.

If I can get a spare couple of minutes, I'll update both to the latest ODK.  If it might help, I could write some tutorials on how we build apps for the OUYA with AIR?

Not just the ANEs, but the Manifest file changes, GameInput and other things that would help with supporting the platform, etc.

No idea when I'd get a spare day to write something useful, but I could write out some text/scripts and others could check/test and we could come up with something concrete after a few iterations?

tgraupmann

I'll add examples to the ouya-sdk-examples and the documentation to the air page in my signature. Thanks!

nobleRobot

You've got a friend in me, Gaslight. Let me know when you have something started, and I can help check it out and flesh out outlines. As you say, I'm sure we can get something together pretty quickly.

tgraupmann

Some good Adobe Air details by Shay Pierce in here, near the bottom of the article:

http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/get-on-top-ouya-port