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javaandroid2d-games

Where do I start to make an Android 2D game?

I am still very new to coding and Stack Overflow, this is my first question. I have been coding random apps, and experimenting with Android for the last 3-4 months. I recently published my first app. Just a day counter, with a widget. Still pretty basic, but my intention has always been to create Android games. My question is where do I start to make an Android game? Should I make games using just the default libraries and API on Android Studio or should I just make a Java game on Eclipse then try to import it to Android. I am trying to start by doing a simple 2D game. Can someone please explain to me what options do I have, or point me in the right direction please. Thank you.

Solution

  • You can use either Android standard API like Canvas API or OpenGL ES A good book explaining both aspects is Mario Zechner's Beginning Android Games. You can find a good examples of using both API in different games.

    Also you can use third party frameworks and engines. Good one is Cocos2d-x (it is c++ framework) it is well known open source cross platform game development framework with good community and a lot of examples and books over the internet.

    Also you can check Unity (C# or JavaScript) it is proprietary game engine extremely easy to learn and use (you can make many features like sprite animation without any code). This engine have large community and books. There is also a ton of well written documentation. (There are two licenses personal and pro).

    Another good is Unreal Engine (C++) it is similar to Unity but from other developer. This is also good engine for game development and free to download and use (you must pay 5% royalty to epic games only if you earned more than 3k on your game).

    There is also libGdx framework for cross platform development (java).

    You can also check marmalade(C++), Corona SDK (Lua), AndEngine (pure android game engine).

    My own opinion you should check Unity or Cocos2d-x. These are two most popular engines for Android/iOS game development so you will easily find books, videos and tutorials and even video courses (1 2) how to work with these engines.