Technical Selection Guide for mobile game development

Technical Selection means to select specifications for hardware, software, and technologies to be used based on actual business management needs, and to select feasible technical solutions before developing products. The selection of core software development technologies involves comparison and consideration of programming languages, environments, frameworks, functions, and other aspects.

The selection of mobile game development technology is generally based on the selection of the game engine, whether to select a game engine, generally from the following aspects:

2D/3D.Using 2D or 3D expressions is the first major issue to be considered before game development. Generally, the difficulty and cost of 3D Game Development are several times or more than several times that of 2D, even with the help of the game engine, this is still the case. However, 3D's performance and space are also less than those of 2D, making it easier to differentiate, so that your game can gain a place among many games.

Cross-platform.Currently, mobile phone operating systems are entering the Warring States Period. Only cross-platform products can access as many target users as possible. Supporting iOS and Android is the most basic, and WP and so on is also the best way to cover.

Performance.The performance of mobile games is still subject to hardware, so the software must also be optimized for the hardware. The game engine must use the underlying code and system APIs, and make full use of the performance of the CPU and graphics card. At the same time, it must be stable enough to have enough game instances.

Scalability.The game engine cannot support all the functions required by developers. Therefore, it is necessary to support expansion for developers to develop their own desired functions. Of course, it would be better if there is a plug-in library.

Development tools.Game Development involves three aspects: technology, planning, and Art. Each aspect is closely related to the game development process. Is it a convenient and easy-to-use development tool for these three aspects, it is also a place to evaluate the game engine.

In addition to the above aspects, there is still a controversial point in technology selection, that isTechnical trends.

On the one hand, when selecting a model, we should avoid blindly selecting new technologies. The improvement of new technologies is not achieved overnight. Before that, some of its consequences will be borne by early adopters. On the other hand, new technologies will solve some old problems. If there are pain points in these areas, adoption of new technologies may lead to unexpected breakthroughs.

HTML5 has developed rapidly in the past two years. As a born cross-platform technology, it is also eye-catching in the use of games. HTML5 introduces WebGL, which is basically fully supported by mainstream browsers. Currently, HTML5 game engines simply encapsulate WebGL and Canvas APIs. The performance is quite different from that of traditional game engines, development is not necessarily less difficult than traditional engines. Therefore, it is not recommended currently, but its development situation deserves attention.

Currently, mobile games are the only clear business model for mobile platforms. Even 90% of the profits on Chinese appstores come from games. In the foreseeable future, the competition in the mobile gaming market will become increasingly fierce. In this case, differentiation is an inevitable choice for the survival of mobile games, choosing a good mobile game engine is the basis for differentiation. Therefore, do not underestimate the engine's choice, or you will regret it one day in the future.