I started developing a game application for Android, but as I progress I decided to switch to cross-platform environment. Performance is very important as there is some complex audio processing on the background. After few days researching the subject I came to conclusion that the most successful option is Marmalade SDK.
Now I need to decide if to use IwGame or Cocos2D-X or both for development. Both looks great and interesting. Have anyone used these and can share experience?
Thanks.
It depends on how much your game is dependent on the game engine. Cocos2D-x is more feature reach and heavy duty game engine, contributed by many open source developers, while IwGame engine is build by an individual (or may be a team of individuals) just for marmalade.
I've used Iwgame engine for 3D game camera rotation only and it was too easy to set it up and within a day I could make my game running fine. So if your needs are not high, just use IwGame .
Physics engine like Box2D and Chipmunks are said to be better linked with Cocos2D-x, however I've used them separately in marmalade project and faced no problems at all. So it's not a big deal to have a better linked physics engine.
To work on Cocos2D-x, you'll need to learn it first, while IwGame is not too complex to start. But once you worked with Cocos2D-x, it'll be easier for you to work on serious projects and you'll want to use only this.
IwGame offers a very powerful built-in mark-up language (XOML) that can make laying out game levels, designing animations, creating user interfaces very easy. IwGame also allows you to host your content on remote server and download it on demand. Oh, it also has built in support for ads and in-app purchasing.
Cocos2D is the more mature engine but I believe IwGame is more feature rich and easier to use.
I only use cocos2d-x (without Marmalade). I think it is pretty handy when making games, but the setup process and getting your first game to work aren't that easy.
I didn't try IwGame, so I cannot say much about it.
You can get a feel of what cocos2d-x games look like in my profile.
Related
When do you think is best to to use a mobile App Maker (Ex: Appery.io) and when to code using a framework (Ex: Ionic)?
Of course, that coding with a framework doesn't tie you to any App Maker label... But, besides that, any other matter I should consider.
I need to start a simple project that querys a some REST API and have some doubts.
So I thought about posting here to open my head to someone who has walked this road before.
I don't mean this to be an open ended question on what is the best framework and comparing them all. I am just trying to establish is it really necessary to go down the heavier more complicated frameworks or can I get a mature long term solution using something like Appery?
Thanks!
When it comes to mobile apps, and as in your case, apps that load dynamic data from server, it is usually better to go for mobile app frameworks rather than, for online app builders. There can be multiple reasons for this :
App builders usually come with a lot of features, but they almost always fail for some Custom client requirements.
They usually tend to cater the need for static apps, when it comes to dynamic apps that have a lot of data manipulation stuff, you should prefer your own framework and logic to do so..
You can almost everytime modify / tweak a framework, You can't do so with an appbuilder.
You aren't sharing your code on cloud [Matters if you are working for some critical organization / client].
You have total control over your code / view. You can tweak it, twist it and almost guarantee total ownership. All you are bound to is the limitation your framework imposes.
You can mix and match frameworks, that doesn't applies for an appbuilder.
These are some of my quick thoughts, there can be [and are] many more reasons for switching towards a mobile framework..
AppMakers are generally there as tools for Rapid Prototyping. These days they market that you can make production apps using Appmakers but when you start using them you will notice that one or some other requirement you have cannot be implemented. In my experience, app development time seems to be less for AppMakers but it is generally more. On the other hand Mobile App Frameworks provide a lot of flexibility and code reusability too.
In your opinion, what is the best mobile game engine to make a game like this:
There is a menu. From the menu you go to the level selection. The level select scene knows what levels you have completed because of a variable saved on the device (maybe in the cloud).
You select a level. It goes to what level you selected.
There is a ball in the middle of the screen, you can touch anywhere and the ball will start off in that direction. It will bounce of walls, but never slow down. Once you have completed the stage, or you have failed, a screen will pop up with the options to either restart the game, go back to the menu or continue to the next level (if you passed).
That is the basic overview of the game I want to make (without giving away too much detail). I am trying to do this with Corona SDK, but Corona's Storyboard API is pretty hard to do if you want to be able to go from the level select to the game and repeat that over and over again.
Please only suggest engines that have good documentation.
Otherwise, any game engine would do as long as it has a free option.
Honestly , There are tons of mobile engines out there that can help you get the job done. Knowing that it's huge and vast, I find Unity as your best bet. It makes implementing the menu easier and plus you can make menus pretty easily. In addition to that, It also now offers 2D support which I think helps you achieve your goal pretty easily with free mobile deployment.
Alternatives to Unity are :
Corona - Which you have already tried
App Game Kit - Which is also amazing : http://www.appgamekit.com/
I find those engines the three best engines for the game your looking to build since it's easy and needs some fast mobile game development engines.
You can also try some WYISWYG programming environments such as Scirra's Construct 2.
Hope you find that useful.
V-Play (I am part of the developer team), a cross-platform 2D game engine, has a breakout demo game template that you can take as a base for your game. There is also a tutorial and template that shows scene and level switching that will be helpful.
The engine is not free, but it has a free trial version where you can test it.
If you are using C++ you could try Oxygine 2D framework. It could be build on top of SDL2 or Marmalade.
You might also want to try GameSalad (I'm one of the co-founders). It's a cross platform 2D game engine and drag and drop development tool. On the manuals page there an example project called Crazy Wall Breaker which is a Breakout clone and I know there's a billiards template floating around somewhere.
I've been a php/ruby/flash/android/iphone developer for quite some time. I'm starting my mobile/browser game development career. I've been searching for a cross-platform framework that would be the best choice for me as a beginner. I fond the Sparrow framework (iPhone) but I'm not sure about it.
Btw... I'll start with simple games (racing or super mario-style).
My questions:
- Which framework should I use?
- Is it possible to create a game in flash and then export it to native OS (iPhone,Android,Symbian).
- I like screen casts (video tutorials), where can I found them?
- Other tips?
Thx 10x!
Using flash is very different than any other framework ive used. Flash takes care of almost everything for you (ie. Loading images, sprites, animations, etc.) while other languages/frameworks require this to be done manually unless you use a game engine. If you are looking to develop on the iphone cocos2d is a good framework to use. Starting from flash and moving to a different framework would be harder than starting with a different framework and moving to flash.
You can use flash, but unless your game is turn based I wouldn't recommend it. The Adobe packager is still dirt slow.
If you want something that is cross platform and pretty easy to get into you should check out Unity3D. It's mostly 3D specific, but has some user created 2D addons. You can use ECMA style syntax as well so it wouldn't be a huge leap away from flash.
I'm mainly asking this to professionals who know the playing field of professional developing. Is it worth it to learn and develop skills in Silverlight?
I know that penetration for Silverlight is obviously low in comparison to Flash but Silverlight seems lighter and a more cutting edge technology.
What are some of the benefits Silverlight has over Flash?
Is there a lot of work for Silverlight developers (of course combining them with ASP.net)?
Thank you very much for all the responses. :)
Edit: I program mainly in C# so there will be an obvious plus side to using it.
Also, how reliable are these results: BubbleMark
It's a huge topic and you can read articles all day on Flash-vs-Silverlight-vs-AJAX.
I use Silverlight and was completely over the moon when it was released due to the ability to employ the CLR in browser based applications. Javascript/DHTML development drives me nuts and for me Silverlight was my way to escape its clutches. As far as Flash goes my very brief foray into it found ActionScript to be more painful than Javascript but that was years ago and things have undoubtedly improved since then.
Basically if you're using .Net for your back end then it makes perfect sense to use Silverlight for the front end. It means you only have one development environment and language to deal with and where appropriate you can reuse a lot of your back end code on the client.
In practice it's not quite that easy and my experience has been that there is a lot of resistance in user land towards Silverlight. The main bone of contention is generally that the cross browser and operating system support is not good enough. Users that employ Opera or use Linux or PowerPC Macs can't use Silverlight (Moonlight isn't there yet). Those users are generally vocal ones.
If you know all your users will be on IE/Firefox on Windows/Mac Intels or you have a compelling application that users will change their set ups for then Silverlight is almost certainly your best option. If you have an application that you want to hit a wide range or disparate users you may need to weigh up the options a bit more.
The fact that Microsoft has thrown their weight behind Silverlight as the Web Application Framework of choice gives it a pretty decent chance of becoming widely used (though certainly no guarantee).
To position yourself in the most versatile way, though, you might want to consider first learning about the capabilities and limitations of both systems and then learning how to implement with both.
There will probably be many projects done with Flash, and many done with Silverlight. If you can program to either, you will be in a good position. If you are able to provide skillful assistance in deciding which one is best for a given project, you will be in a great position.
I tried it and did not like it. I didn't like the split development environment, xaml, or the limited install base and platforms it runs on. The IDE and platform itself still has a ways to go before I would consider it for use in a production environment.
Has anybody got any real world stories build mobile web sites with NetBiscuits?
Someone told me it was the next big thing in mobile development (http://www.netbiscuits.com/home) and it looks pretty good from their site. Just wondered if anybody (besides them) has actually used it.
From a few months time working with it, I can say that they're indeed one of the best (if not the best) out there. The support is also insanely quick and good.
Only thing making me stop using it is the price. Especially if you're a small company and want to use their POI feature.
However I have yet to find a good replacement. May end up rolling my own version...
Edit: Related question.
They have created an entire xml (bml) based markup language that emulates html that has a very steep learning curve. I would seriously reconsider using it.
I have seen it working nicely. It also supports ASP.NET controls SDK that can be used to write ASP.NET app from Visual Studio. Once this app is deployed on your premise, you can use live bridge agent to connect this app to a Live Bridge server that Net Biscuits hosts. Your app is called a backend app in this case. This is a very useful feature when you do want to have Forms capability in your app and also want it to be accessible on NetBiscuits platform.
Check http://kb.netbiscuits.com/tactile/edc/livebridge_help.html. BiscuitML is also easier to grasp.
Look out for performance issues though. Customers in Australia have had response time issues - probably due to the Cloud Platform being located in USA/UK.