Game Development
These days electronic gadgets are not essential for just communication or engineering usage, but for entertainment purposes also these have become prime choice of people. Regardless of ages, races or cultures, people are getting addicted to mobile or electronic games more and more. The main reason of popularity of this form of entertainment is – it can be performed from the safety of home. Minimal cost and anytime anywhere availability are some other reasons of online games are becoming popular day by day.
As a result game development as an industry is also booming from over a decade now. Like other, this industry also have changed over time. Now most of the developers use some game development software or platforms, which enables them to create great games over minimum time.
Here are some distinct advantages of using these tools and platforms:
- These game development software helps developers create a game from a all aspects like, UI design, build, visual and presentation
- Reduce time and increase efficiencyAdd standardization
- Allow customization to help the developer explore their own creativity
- AR tools integration
Here are some game development software or platforms that are popular among developers:
1.Unity: This one of the mostly used and proven platform for game development used by developers for a long time. This cross platform tool was introduced by Unity technologies way back in 2005. Till then this tool came though different evolutions. The best part is unity game developers can create or import 3D, 2D assets. So you can create them in Maya or Blender or even you can purchase and use them in your unity-developed game. It is easy for a first time developer as Unity provides great help resources. Personal use of this platform is free whereas different commercial versions are also available. Some of the well-known games created by Unity are Lara Croft Go, Pokémon Go, Angry Birds 2.
Platform Support:
- iOS
- Android
- Windows
- Fire
- Tizen
Some of the games created by using Unreal Engine are Fortnite, Evil Dead: The Game, Batman: Arkham City, Sea Of Thieves, Robo Recall etc.
2. Unreal Engine: If you are a beginner in game development, this is a perfect tool for you as this let you create games without doing any complex coding. One can create nice 3d graphics for the game inside the tool and also can test their game inside only. Overall it’s a single platform for visual design and simulation for the user.
Platform Support:
- Windows PC
- Mac OS X
- iOS
- Android
- Xbox One
- Linux
- HTML 5
- Different VR platforms
- Sony PlayStation 4
Some of the games created by using Unreal Engine are Fortnite, Evil Dead: The Game, Batman: Arkham City, Sea Of Thieves, Robo Recall etc.
3.AppGameKit: This is another game development tool that offers cross platform support. The best part of appGameKit is that it uses a language similar to C++, so beginner or expert game developers can use to create their games. This tool offers different prices for different versions.
Platform Support:
- Windows
- iOS
- Android
Some of the games developed by using appGameKit are NA4, Bouncing Brendan, Zombie Highway.
4.Amazon Lumberyard: This platform was created by Amazon for providing a complete ecosystem for game developers. It allows developers to create excellent visual assets through integration with Twich, provides cross platform support, VR viewing etc. Not only development but creating community is an option that made this platform advantageous for game developers.
Platform Support:
- Windows
- iOS
- Android
- PS4
- Xbox One
Some of the games developed by using Amazon Lumberyard are Star Citizen, The DRG Initiative, New World
5.Cocos2d-x – It is cross platform game development tool introduced by Facebook. It is a popular tool for creating small sized game up to 1.5 MB. It supports visual editing, previewing of game, debugging etc. This tool comes with detail documentation and it has excellent community support.
Platform Support:
- Android
- iOS
- HTML 5
- Windows
- Mac Os
Some of the games developed by using Cocos2d-x are Angry Birds Fight, Clash of Kings, The Marvelous Snail, Street Fighter: Duel, Rabbids Wild Race etc.
6.Solar 2D – Solar 2D, also known in it’s former name Corona SDK is an important option in 2D game development. It uses a language named ‘Lua’ which is easy to understand and work with. There are many plugins available at Corona marketplace made the development easy. A real time simulation helps developer to make changes easily in their games.
Platform Support:
- Android
- iOS
- HTML 5
- Windows
- Mac Os
- Linus
- Android TV
Some of the games developed by using Solar 2D are Grow Beets Clicker, I Love Hue etc.
7.Buildbox – With Buildbox it is easy to create 3D and 2D games in short time. You can select & import images, designate them to a character, background, decoration – anything and your game is ready. You can modify the game real-time. You do not have to be a coder to be a game developer on this platform.
Platform Support:
- iOS
Some of the games developed by using Buildbox are Color Switch, Ball Jump, Slip Away, Blue Edge etc.
8.Titanium: This platform owned by Appcelerator, supports game development with use of JavaScript. It’s well equipped modules let developers create game without writing much codes. Other things that attract developers to this platform are it has a free version and it’s single code base.
Platform Support:
- Android
- iOS
- HTML 5
Some of the games developed by using Titanium are Eufloria, Razor Freestyle Scooter etc.