has anyone tried tools for apache cordova in visual studio?

Hi, so Microsoft has released tools for Apache Cordova CTP3.1. Has anyone tried building apps with it?

If yes, how was the performance compared to crosswalk and intel xdk

Link: https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/cordova-vs.aspx

Yes, using it right now.

Performance is the same, since you're basically doing on your pc the same things you're doing on the cloud through the intel XDK.

You only have the advantage to not rely on cloud compilers and test the newest features and bugfixes without waiting Intel updates (FYI I tested X-Walk 13 Canary and performance is still terrible compared to X-Walk 7, but that's not a surprise since it's based on the still flawed Chromium 41)

If you want to build your X-Walk apps with Visual Studio there's a simple tutorial at this link.

http://www.spritehand.com/2015/01/using-crosswalk-with-visual-studio.html

Keep in mind that there's currently a bug that prevent the automatic download of cordova plugins from the apache registry, so you have to download and unpack them manually in the project folder (Microsoft claims that the issue has been fixed in CTP 3.1, but didn't work for me).

Thanks — Did you try for other operating systems such as iOS and WP8.1 Universal? What was the difference between exporting to Windows Universal App through tools for cordova and the method mentioned by scirra (Link: https://www.scirra.com/tutorials/993/ho ... store-apps) ?

akkthedev, didn't try iOs, WP8.1 universal works as good as the C2 exporter in terms of performance but you'll face the same blocking issues that prevent any serious game to be published.

First, audio support is a mess: you'll have to write your engine in C# and call your functions through the C2 browser object. Second, there's no ad support at all for windows phone 8.1. If you want Admob or PubCenter support you'll have to revert to windows phone 8 export with its old and slower webview. I also tried to integrate leadbolt with the iframe plugin by pode but without success.

I'm hoping the new Spartan browser coming with Windows 10 is going to fix the audio, and offer fast JS runtime.

I looked at publishing a few games on Windows Phone 8.1, but no reliable audio and a lack of ad monetisation mean it's not worth it -yet.

I heard Spartan Browser supports WebAudio. Also, can someone detail to me what exactly the audio bug is about. From my app, I saw that the song part was messing up. Also have any of you tried cranberrygame's AdDuplex plugin. I feel that AdDuplex is a much better platform than PubCenter. Any ideas about leaderboard support? Because Google Play Games has a feature called support other app platform... any idea what that is for?

I heard also some time ago that Windows Phone 8 would a great leap forward for html5 apps and it wasn't true at all, then I heard later that Windows Phone 8.1 would be the best platform for html5 and it wasn't true at all again. So I'm not excited at all about spartan. Every, and I mean EVERY platform that claimed great things for html5 developers has been a constant source of disappointment in the last three years.

Audio bug is simple to explain. Streaming is not consistent, so your music sometimes stops and there's no way to avoid it and If you play more than one sound at the same time time your app has a great chance to crash.

AdDuplex is not a monetization service, it's a promotional tool. AFAIK there's no way to monetize a windows phone 8.1 app made with C2 through ads.

So basically only a freemium app? That sucks.

Jbtw thanks for explaining the Audio Bug Knifegrinder

Knifegrinder

1. What about the plugins?

2. Where can I read about the bug that prevent the automatic download of cordova plugins from the apache registry?

Thanks

The plugins are still an issue in Both VS2013 and VS2015 Preview. The plugins never install. It is better to Use the Cordova CLI to add plugins manually.

Knifegrinder I compiled a test apk using VS2015 but performance is very bad compared to IntelXDK. Is there a setting that must be changet to get the same performance as with IntelXDK at least ?

Just tried the Cordova tools in the latest VS2015 Community, built the APK and tested it on my phone.

The bad side of the test is no musics nor sounds from the game.

Is this the Cordova side, Visual Studio or my phone (my phone was the almost-obsolete Samsung Galaxy Chat with less RAM)?

As for android apps, I feel XDK is the best. In VS you cannot use CrossWalk runtime that provides really good performance. For apks just stick to XDK.

akkthedev

Can I use Crosswalk with Visual Studio now? I don't want to use Intel XDK

http://www.spritehand.com/2015/04/using ... tudio.html

The above link provides a tutorial for using crosswalk project with VS 2015.

Hope it helps