How to create games on Android alone

Many people, downloading games for mobile platforms, are thinking: "Why not make the dream a reality? Why not make your product that is better and more interesting than what the interactive entertainment industry already offers?" If you do not know how to create games on "Android", but want to learn, this article will tell you about some pitfalls that await novice developers.

Idea

The first thing you need to create a game is an idea. At the first stage it can be written in any form. It is desirable that it "cling" and was understandable. Most likely, during the incarnation it will be changed. Something has to be added, and something - completely removed or remade. In this there is nothing strange - with further elaboration of the details, the functionality will not only have to be thoroughly described, but it will also be tested for suitability.

Do not completely abandon the primary description of the idea and start creating Russian games on "Android", skipping this stage. Collection of thoughts is the main point of the start, from which it is easiest to start the movement. In addition, the ideas outlined on paper will allow you to look at the conceived more objective, perhaps in advance to note and correct weaknesses.

Feature List

Since it is impossible to create games on "Android" without their detailed elaboration, at this stage it will be necessary to continue working in a text editor and describe the features that will be in the game. Let's take an example: the God of War series is a slasher. The main character's weapon is the whip. During the battle, you can make long beautiful combo attacks. Each level ends with a fight with the boss.

This list is rather stingy and reflects only the main features, that is, those that highlight the game against the background of others. In fact, there are many more, but other features are secondary. In describing the first to go those without which your future creation can not exist, and the last - less important, which can be sacrificed to please the speed of development.

Dizodok

Since it is almost impossible to create a new game without this document, we will have to work on it as well. Dizdok - short for "design document", it includes the most detailed descriptions:

• Object model and entity functionality.
• Functional specifications.
• Game content.
• Interface.
• If necessary, a knowledge base can be added.
• The object model.

The object model

The object model contains information about each game essence: weapons, armor, NPC, spells, player. It is unique for every game.

Functionality should be understood as:

• Can I put on \ remove \ buy \ sell \ improve.
• Will remain in inventory after death.
• Will the strength lose over time or with some action.
• Does the character or group characteristics increase?
• Does it have a set of special properties.

The items described above are not necessary, their number can be reduced or increased for each separate group of entities.

Functional specifications

In the continuation of the answer to the question of how to create games for "Android", you should tell about the next section of the dzedoka. Functional specifications describe the gameplay one by one. Here it is necessary to tell as precisely as possible what the main character can do and how this is realized. The same must be done for each NPC separately. In addition to playing characters, it is necessary to touch first-aid kits, weapons, armor, environmental elements.

In fact, this section is a set of rules affecting all game moments, from the menu and ending with how the impact damage will be calculated. The more you work through each individual item, the easier it will be to implement your project.

Content

Before creating a good game, you need to think about what will be in it. Describing the specifications, you can specify that the characters will shoot from a firearm, which is loaded cartridges with a hard fixed damage. If you hit the NPC from this parameter, the power of the armor will be subtracted. Also it will be necessary to indicate the name of each individual sample of weapons, armor, NPC. And, of course, you need to describe the look. The content is a brick, from which the entire game will be built.

Interface

The interface is a set of functions and buttons, through which the user will interact with the program. The main thing that should be considered when creating it is convenience. To understand how to organize all the elements, you can start and analyze the best samples of the genre, moving the most appropriate solutions to your project.

Select engine or designer

Another step that will have to be done before creating games on "Android" is to choose a game engine. Long gone are the times when everything had to be done from scratch. Today, taking the finished designer, you can do all the work by writing a minimum of code.

The choice of the engine is worth doing, based on some of its features:

• Terms of Use.
• Capabilities.
• Price.
• Support by developers.
• Documented.
• The size of the community.
• Simplicity.
• Expandability.

Terms of use : perhaps once bought a designer, you will not become its full owner. It happens that with the commercial success of the game you have to pay a percentage of profits to the developers of the engine. The main thing - before creating games on "Android", read the license agreement of the product selected for implementation.

Features : they must completely cover the needs of the developer. If the product offers more than necessary, the game can be easily expanded, use the new functions of the driver. But think about the balance! Use Unreal Engine for Tetris - stupid.

Support : First of all, it is important to find out if the product has development? Are the errors corrected from version to version? Does it acquire new functionality and tools? The engine, which is developing rapidly, has an advantage over the engine, frozen several years ago.

Community : what is the number of those who use the constructor? If users are large, find documentation, lessons, master classes, examples is not an issue. If users are relatively small, this information may not be available in the amount that will allow you to do something competitive.

Expandability : Before creating your own game, take the trouble to find out if you can connect extraneous modules to the selected engine. Usually they are used to export or import 3D models, sounds, scripts, and sprites. If there is support for such tools, the designer is not limited to internal utilities for creating content.

UDK

Unreal Development Kit - not the easiest to learn game engine, but one of the most powerful. It is used not only by novice developers, but also by large corporations. If you are looking for the answer to the question: "How to create a 3D game and which engine to choose it?" - you should explore the possibilities of UDK.

To describe the program logic, the internal scripting language - UnrealScript is used. The developer's site provides a lot of lessons, both filmed on video, and described in the text version. In doing so, they cover the maximum functionality - from the editor to writing their scripts.

Torque 2D / 3D

Torque is one of the most popular game designers for mobile platforms. Has all the necessary set of editors and debugging tools. When developing, programmers paid much attention to convenience and tried to make all utilities the most simple and affordable.

The designer comes with documentation that describes most of the features. On the official site can be found training programs and sources of several ready-made games.

Torque Script is built into Torque for writing scripts. The properties of each object can be defined in advance. Also in the designer is a set Box2D, which deals with physical calculations.

If you are trying to find the answer to the question: "How to create a network game and which engine to choose?" - you can safely say that Torque will make a multiplayer project in a short time. All the necessary functionality is built in advance, and the examples on the official website will show how to use it most rationally.

Study

After choosing a game engine, it remains unclear how you can create a game. Have to spend a lot of time on their training. Since there are no teams yet, you will need to do everything yourself: write scripts, create textures, sprites, models (if the game is three-dimensional), write a script, test. It is easy to guess that a beginner developer will have to comprehend the basics of many professions: a programmer, a writer, a tester, an artist, a designer.

It is best to learn in practice, that is, in the process of working on your project. Another way to learn everything you need is to work in a company that develops games. At the same time, it is not worthwhile to immediately mark the post of the main programmer: even if you are offered to deal with routine matters, do not give up the opportunity to look at geymdev from the inside.

Work in any company starts from the bottom, this is normal. And the skills of the scripter, the level designer, the balancer, the tester will be very useful, and these are the industries in which most juniors work. After a few years of such training, you will be able to learn how to create quads and technical tasks, learn about bug trackers and form a database of contacts. After the work done, in order to create Russian games on the "Android", you will need to spend much less forces, because you will reserve all the necessary skills and abilities.

It is possible that by proving your competence in the development issues, you will not have to leave the old team, moreover, in it you will take a leading position with your project.