Game Engines?

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Yup. I removed the post, and someone else already banned that user.

Hi.

Just recently came back to javagaming after a deep dive into .NET. Now I’m looking to get into Android development, so of course I return to my favorite javagaming forum (yes, hugs to you all!).
I notice this thread has been going for some months, so I’m going to reiterate the original question.

I’m looking for a good setup for Android game development. My first game will be a relatively easy 2D game, but long-term plans include 3D as well. I’m NOT looking for something that takes care of “everything” for me, practically abstracting the fact that I’m working with Android (I’d like to learn to actually program FOR Android too, you know?), but I’m looking for something lean&mean that helps me with all the boring and repetetive stuff.

Any suggestions? Pros/Cons with the different libraries/engines?

Well mine does the following:

Provide easy game development for 3 billion plus devices.

The AllBinary Arcade Game Development Kit contains over 100 very small libraries to help ease arcade game development. The main features include the following:
Multi-Platform - Android, J2ME, and J2SE (Moblin/MeeGo, IPhone, Linux, Windows, Solaris, Mac, and More)

Fullscreen and Windowed Support (Does not require restart to toggle between)

Real Time Strategy (Building, Waypoints, Geographic Resources, and More)
Multi-player support for social networking and game lobby
OpenGL Support (1.5 and ES 1.0/1.2) with JOGL and JMonkeyEngine
Game Object Placement (Maps, Levels, Enemy Positions and More)
Genre Specific Libraries (Racing, Scroller, Map Based, and More)
Network Libraries (Licensing, Remote Scores, and More)
Feature/Configuration Options Framework
Tile Map Creation, Editing, and Loading
Touch Screen Buttons & Gestures
Save/Load/Delete Game State
Special Collision Detection
Vector Graphics Support
Custom Input Mapping
Key Input Processing
Orientation Controls
Transitions/Progress
Special Animations
Heads Up Displays
Power-Ups/Drops
Screen Shakes
Path Finding
Vibration
Physics
AI/Bots
Teams
More…
Other Info:
Over 140,000 lines of efficient Java code over 100 very small libraries
Most of the libraries are use by our games, but some are not
Only about 6% of the code is specific to any game
Game Tools:

I use 4 open source tools (BSD or AL licenses) and 2 of our own tools for development of games. They are not part of the submission, but they do make it a complete game development library and would be part of the game library distribution.

Some Unique Capabilities:
Only game specific library that supports all 3 platforms
Unique set of features for the mobile world as listed above.
Feature/Configuration Options Framework provides the runtime flexibility for phones of different capabilities like the following:
Sound
Screen Shakes
Rotation Fidelity
Vector vs. Image Graphics
Other Game Specific Graphics Options
Game Challenge Levels and Sub Challenges Levels
And more…
I think that while this seems trivial it is not. It could revolutionize all game development by allowing and application to flex for each device. I will extend the Feature/Configuration Options Framework even further by adding a dynamic auto option selection for a specific phone instead of the default activity options. This will make it so the FPS is never slow as long as the user does not add options for custom gameplay.
Some of the features provided by the game library are the most performant available. For example, I use a custom A* Algorithm in the Path Finding library for Zepto Racer that is more performant than any I have seen.
Single tool for all your mobile game library needs. No separate physics or audio libraries or tools needed.
Emulation:

Fast Android plugin and various other libraries for the MicroEmulator
OpenGL Support:
OpenGL ES 1.0 uses vertex list
OpenGL ES 1.2 uses direct_texture if available
OpenGL 1.5 uses direct_texture if available
Scene Editor is available for making 3D games
3D game libs for movable camera view being Isometric, Top, Follow, and more

Future Impl:
Real map integration
More plaform support
Robotics Integration
MDA Integration
Finish integration for 3D games - Scene Editor and Camera Views

On the down side I still have not opened it because I don’t know how to market it to make money from it.

Although, I did just finish adding multiplayer support. So, now I am working on my first multiplatform multiplayer game. Which is great for me right? Fuck I don’t even have a clue if that helps. I guess I will need to add 3D printers that build robots next. I wonder if that would help? Well I only have 3 more projects before I die: 1. 3D Printing 2. Resource Collection 3. Integrating my projects together.

RTS Game + E-Commerce + Input Automation + 3D Printing + Resource Acquisition
= Replicating Robot Army

How do you support iphone?

XMLVM, JVM, or my own secret sauce take your pick.

nice attempt at ascii art with the engine features :slight_smile:

There is no allowed JVM for iphone and XMLVM is a bit broken on this platform, that is why I’m a bit surprised.

A JVM does install on at least one IPhone. I have seen it and it was in the AppStore for 4.99 for about a year.

You’re saying that your engine runs on the iPhone, but it’s the customer’s responsibility to install a JVM for it?

It is wrong because such an application would not respect Apple’s terms and conditions on its AppStore.

Well I don’t own a IPhone, but I have seen one run a JVM from the App Store. The store policies have changed I would guess several times over the years.

Generating Objective-C for some of the libraries I have are fine, but I have not done every library as I am always adding more and don’t use Objective-C except for the thrill of making my stuff work on IPhone.

Then give us a pointer. I am in close contact with Oracle and it is still not allowed to put a JVM onto the AppStore despite the recent change in the policies.

Ok but as I said, XMLVM is a bit broken, Flexycore still requires XCode like MonoTouch.

Concerning Meego, Nokia confirmed that the N900 has no official JVM, the users can install J2SE For Embedded by themselves but it does not completely work, there are some problems of focus and keyboard. That is why I’m still surprised when you say your engine supports IPhone and Meego.

Well I personally tested my games with Moblin/Meego. So Java worked fine for me on Moblin/Meego except for a sound issue. I was able to make a work around using a native sound library.

Technically any distribution with Open Office must allow Java. It is part of the license.

While many of my game libraries work on IPhone and one game did run I do not have it deployed to the Apple AppStore.

So deployment to a store does not mean it is not available or illegal for some.

Personally, I am not willing to pay for the Apple AppStore anyways. With my games in 20+ stores for Android, J2ME, and BlackBerry I don’t really like the pay to play system. I may rethink that at some point. I am still negotiating the approval process for the AppUp store even though I was the first Java games previously approved for Moblin during a competition. So again working and deployment to a store are not the same. Yes, I know that Apple are dicks to Java on the IPhone now, and since you are close to Oracle you know that a JVM is real.

BTW, I don’t really need J2SE for my stuff to run. Sub J2ME is the baseline. I just have add on api’s for other crap like sensors and touch and such for specific platforms.

Might i suggest to have a look at libgdx? It might well be what you are looking for. Kev also ported Slick to Android via libgdx and it works just fine.

A vendor may decide neither to use PhoneMe nor to pay to get J2SE For Embedded which means that some phones on Meego may have no JVM.

How do you deploy your games for IPhone without using Apple AppStore? The other legal ways Apple allows are quite restrictive, people can download and install a game from a web site but the author has to pay something for each install…

Oracle already has even a JVM for the IPod, Sun Microsystems employees already used it with Project Wonderland. There is a difference between having a working JVM and having a JVM that is allowed to be installed :frowning:

If MeeGo has OpenOffice then it must allow the installation of Java, and it does.

You can install anything you want on a device that you purchased. It is your hardware. You can throw it, kick it, lick it, cuddle it, or other.

I see this thread has been inactive for some time, but was hoping to find some updated opinions on the topic.

The 3 that seem to come up the most frequently in my searches are AndEngine, libgdx and Slick-ae. Are these still the top choices, and does one of them stand out more than the others? I’ve spent a bit of time with AngEngine and it seems to have a fair amont of functionality. The missing docs is a bit of a pain, but they provide a fair number of examples.

tberthel,

your website allbinary hurts my eyes :frowning:

I love the 1995 feel to it :slight_smile:

I couldn’t find any decent places that talked about your engine there? Where is more information, aside from what you posted.
the listed link allbinary.appspot.com link didnt work for me

http://allbinarygames.appspot.com/

http://allbinarygames.appspot.com/AllBinaryGameDevelopmentKit.jsp

The 3d and multi-player stuff is actually done now.

I created a git hub account a few years ago and a few days ago I actually added a AllBinary Platform project. So, you will have access to some source and an SDK when I release a custom version of raspberry pi hardware in the coming year. Probably 2 months after a raspberry pi is in my hands.