In my last technical post, I talked about the programming languages required for each mobile system. I said that if you want to develop a game (or app) for iOS system, you would need to program using Objetive-C and if you target Andoid, you would need to use Java. If you are ok with that, you just need to download the respective IDE (Integrated development environment) and start programming. Find below some IDEs that you can use:
If you want to know more about the IDEs avaliable, just google "IDE for Android" for example.
For those who do not want to write two codes for the same game/app, there is an alternative called Development Platform (or also called Cross-Development Platforms). These platforms allow you to write a single code and the platform makes the necessary work to build you game/app in the desired final system (iOS, Android, Windows Phone,...). There are a lot of these platforms and if you want a list of them, just google it. Find below some of platforms that I investigated when I was choosing the one that I would use.
Unity
Pros: Great platform for 3d development; One time license fee
Cons: Required extra effort to configure for 2d development
Corona
Pros: Very easy to use and t program; Focus on 2d games
Cons: License fee is annual
Ethanon
Pros: Very robust platform for heavy image games; Free
Cons: Not easy to program (require similar C++ programming language knowledge)
I chose Corona to develop my games. A recent survey published by Game Developer magazine with mobile game developers found that 53.1% use Unity, 39.8% use a custom engine, 17.7% use Cocos2D, 5.3% use Marmalade and 5.3% use Corona (the number don't sum up 100% because one developer can use more than one platform). You can find the article about the survey here.
Any question or if you want to add some info, feel free to post a comment.
- For iOS development: you need to use the X-Code IDE
- For Android development: There are several available. One of them is called Eclipse.
If you want to know more about the IDEs avaliable, just google "IDE for Android" for example.
For those who do not want to write two codes for the same game/app, there is an alternative called Development Platform (or also called Cross-Development Platforms). These platforms allow you to write a single code and the platform makes the necessary work to build you game/app in the desired final system (iOS, Android, Windows Phone,...). There are a lot of these platforms and if you want a list of them, just google it. Find below some of platforms that I investigated when I was choosing the one that I would use.
Unity
Pros: Great platform for 3d development; One time license fee
Cons: Required extra effort to configure for 2d development
Corona
Pros: Very easy to use and t program; Focus on 2d games
Cons: License fee is annual
Ethanon
Pros: Very robust platform for heavy image games; Free
Cons: Not easy to program (require similar C++ programming language knowledge)
I chose Corona to develop my games. A recent survey published by Game Developer magazine with mobile game developers found that 53.1% use Unity, 39.8% use a custom engine, 17.7% use Cocos2D, 5.3% use Marmalade and 5.3% use Corona (the number don't sum up 100% because one developer can use more than one platform). You can find the article about the survey here.
Any question or if you want to add some info, feel free to post a comment.
