Game Engines: Mobile Platforms and Choosing the Right Engine for Your Project
March 18, 2014
Game Engines: Mobile Platforms and Choosing the Right Engine for Your Project So you want to learn a thing or two about game developing for mobile platforms and aren’t sure how to go about it? Perhaps you have a high concept of a game already done, something you’ve put hours and hours into, maybe even have concept artwork done or even started making assets but you’re not sure what game engine will be the right match for your concept. As a game developer, hobbyist or paid professional, finding a game engine can be tough work. Some engines will cost you a small fortune for its limitless features, others may be absolutely free but will require you to do a lot of back-end work to get it to do the things you want, and unless you’re a knowledgeable programmer in the engines native language you might find that you’re better off forking over a few bucks to get something more user friendly. In this essay I want to walk you through the process of how to find the engine that’ll be the best for your project. To do this you need to ask yourself the right questions, but first let’s break it down to the beginning. Yossarian King, a veteran lead designer at EA studios turned indie developer, describes game engines as “abstract game code from the specific hardware platform, that provides key functionality such as rendering, animation, physics, and networking, and usually includes a tool chain and content pipeline“. Game engines are powerful sets of tools congregated into one (hopefully) easy-to- use interface that allows the skilled user to make interactive software and applications. It is up to the developer(s) to find an engine that is capable of the project that is being envisioned. Is the project 2d or 3d? Will it require the use of particle effects, animation and cinematics or physics? These are some basic questions that require you to have a firm understanding of what it is you are trying to accomplish with your game. Let’s imagine that we are a
Game Engines: Mobile Platforms and Choosing the Right Engine for Your Project So you want to learn a thing or two about game developing for mobile platforms and aren’t sure how to go about it? Perhaps you have a high concept of a game already done, something you’ve put hours and hours into, maybe even have concept artwork done or even started making assets but you’re not sure what game engine will be the right match for your concept. As a game developer, hobbyist or paid professional, finding a game engine can be tough work. Some engines will cost you a small fortune for its limitless features, others may be absolutely free but will require you to do a lot of back-end work to get it to do the things you want, and unless you’re a knowledgeable programmer in the engines native language you might find that you’re better off forking over a few bucks to get something more user friendly. In this essay I want to walk you through the process of how to find the engine that’ll be the best for your project. To do this you need to ask yourself the right questions, but first let’s break it down to the beginning. Yossarian King, a veteran lead designer at EA studios turned indie developer, describes game engines as “abstract game code from the specific hardware platform, that provides key functionality such as rendering, animation, physics, and networking, and usually includes a tool chain and content pipeline“. Game engines are powerful sets of tools congregated into one (hopefully) easy-to- use interface that allows the skilled user to make interactive software and applications. It is up to the developer(s) to find an engine that is capable of the project that is being envisioned. Is the project 2d or 3d? Will it require the use of particle effects, animation and cinematics or physics? These are some basic questions that require you to have a firm understanding of what it is you are trying to accomplish with your game. Let’s imagine that we are a