Roku Developer Program

[2dguy]

I couldn't find this info anywhere, but what languages can I use to develop games for the roku devices? I already have an android ready app, does Roku support android apk's? Thanks for any help.

[renojim]

At this point I believe BrightScript is your only option (APKs are most definitely not supported). They used to have an NDK that allowed you to use C/C++ (other languages?), but I believe that's no longer an option and was pretty much reserved for special partners anyway. There was also some other game platform partnership, but I can't remember what it was and I don't know if it's still available.

-JT

[2dguy]

Thank you for the quick reply, much appreciated. And with that... my dreams of roku game development are gone. lol..  😛

[Komag]

"2dguy" wrote:
Thank you for the quick reply, much appreciated. And with that... my dreams of roku game development are gone. lol..  😛

Really? Are you a programmer? Not willing to learn Brightscript?

[marcelo_cabral]

Before you give up you should check my open source games:
https://github.com/lvcabral/Prince-of-Persia-Roku
https://github.com/lvcabral/Lode-Runner-Roku

And also the amazing engine created by Romans I XVI:
https://github.com/Romans-I-XVI/Roku-gameEngine

[Komag]

I didn't know about the game engine, interesting!

[2dguy]

re: Roku/Brightscript...

Q) What are the best examples of 2D games on Roku developed in BS? Videos or channel links appreciated, thx.

Q) I'm mainly interested in developing arcade games that typically have 100s of 2D sprites zipping around. Is this possible and if so, what kind of frame rate can I expect?

Thank you.

[Komag]

Anything by Romans I XVI:
Retaliate
SNAKE
Rainbow Dash
Tiles
Midnight Divide

or marcelo.cabral:
Prince of Persia
Lode Runner
Moon Patrol
Quartet

Or just browse the games and try some for yourself

So far, ALL games are basic/simple. Nothing I know of has hundreds or even dozens of sprites, except maybe Retaliate, which is still pretty basic.

[37mediagroup]

Yeah Retaliate's a great game. Midnight Divide (same developer) seems to have stepped up a bit of the overall graphics & feel of the look & graphics, but personally I find Retaliate has more of an 'arcade' style..

[2dguy]

Thx for the replies. I've played several Roku games, but I remember reading where some apps were allowed to use low level tools other than Brightscript to code their games so I didn't know which games were designed using BrightScript. Looks like BS is very capable. Is there a better forum for Roku game development using Brightscript? Thx.