I've created a few android apps but using just regular layouts and views.
Now I am trying to learn a game developing and I understand that I need to use either custom drawings to canvas or open gl to get better graphics and performance.
I just can't quite figure out where to start.
For example, to get graphics like this (see attachments) is drawing to canvas is enough, or should I learn Open GL, or is it only achievable with things like unity or libgdx?
This looks like a pretty straightforward game. A few images, a few animations to move them around, and possibly some particle effects (celebration fireworks, etc). You would get the images and then use a game engine like unity or a framework like libgdx or monodevelop.
I have experience with both Unity and libgdx (which is similar to monodevelop and XDA). I would suggest you use unity just because of the editor. This is something that I think isn't mentioned as much in the unity vs libgdx comparisons. The unity editor will allow you to prototype the game visually MUCH quicker than using a code-focused environment like libgdx. There is an open source editor for libgdx called Overlap2D but it of course doesn't have nearly as many features. For loading the scene from the editor into your game it's using an entity component system (just like unity) called Ashley. In similar to unity and is basically mimicking it.
I would recommend using libgdx only if you're an experienced developer and require the level of low level control libgdx provides, or if you just want to learn. It's good to learn and get experience with working at a lower level, such as managing the game loop and assets yourself.
Also some recommend unity only for 3D games. This was the case couple years ago, but now they have official 2D support, so it's pretty good for 2D games now. The editor works the same as for 3D games. They even have a 2D physics editor built in (assigning colliders to images, creating joints between colliders, etc).
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My thesis is to create an 3D android game. I have installed the 3D softwares like 3DS Max, ZBrush, Blender. I also downloaded Android SDK for Windows and I have Eclipse Juno. But I don't know how to start. Thank you in advance. :)
If you want to write a game, use a game engine.
I would advice against using OpenGL directly if you want to focus
on game mechanics or story. 3D game engines like
Unity or JMonkeyEngine
give you all the tools you need to turn your 3D assets into a game:
Importers for various file formats, a scene graph,
math libraries, and usually tons of example projects that get you
started quickly.
If you want to write a rendering engine, use OpenGL
With OpenGL you can build everything mentioned above yourself: Write
or find importers for your assets, figure out a lighting model, write
a scene graph. If you want to do all that, cool, use OpenGL. But
doing this technical stuff will keep you busy; you will have less time
to make a really great game.
I prefer OpenGL ES for Android. Good performance and easy enough to learn.
It's better to start from basic with opengl and then understand concept of using 3d and then prefer standard tool to use.
I have listed android game engine tool for 2d and 3d. Hope it might help u.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17163446/what-is-the-best-2d-game-engine-for-android/17166794#17166794
Start with unity3d which is a game engine, I am not sure but the names that you have posted are used for making 3d models for the game.
Your Thesis? That's pretty broad scope! :)
What I would be looking for, is something with lots of example code (since you say you don't know where to start) and good community involvement (ditto the start thing).
If you only need a single player setting, then I would suggest libGDX as a place that would be a good jumping off platform, as there are lots and lots of step thru tutorials along with lots of example code (and a very up to date wiki on the API), and a pretty good group at helping out with issues.
Since it is open source, you can dig as deep as you want into the inner workings to understand (or be mystified like me) as to how the code is accomplishing whatever task you are looking at. (which might be handy for your thesis)
While it might not be quite as polished as some other commercial 3d development kits, the BadLogic crew has made some very big progress the past few months on the 3d side of the house, along with breaking my JSON code... thanks! :) )
I am completely new to game development and I have a requirement to develop a game where I need to animate players on a field . I went through few docs but still have lots of doubts.
can I achieve this using openGL ES alone. What I understand is
that openGL is part of android sdk, I don't have to do anything
extra than the actual game coding?
I saw some engines like andengine which is given as based on openGL.
What does that mean and is it better / easier to use these engines
If so is there any engine recommended for animating players on filed
?
You can use Unity 3d. unity can export and generate an apk for android
http://unity3d.com/#mobile-games
I am not very familiar with android development so maybe question will be not really about development process.
I noticed control in a bunch of different games where i can drag circle and in this way unit will move.
This is default control from some library or every developer just writes something similar?
Any examples or tutorials where i can get it?
This is called an Analogue controller and most game development frameworks like AndEngine and LibGDX offer it. Both such Engines are open source, and the code for this component in the AndEngine framework can be found here.
However, you might want to consider using the game engine itself in your app, instead of picking up bits of it and writing your own.
I'm trying my hand at making a platform game and have been thinking about what I would use to design levels.
I was thinking of using a tile palette that would contain the graphic tiles and their properties. And a similar palette that would contain sprites.
This way I could drag and drop tiles/sprites onto a grid and specify property values. This could all be saved to some kind of file that would be read by the game.
Without getting too into the details, is this a sound overall strategy? Is there anything major that I'm forgetting? Or perhaps there's a better method?
This is a rather open-ended question, but I don't think there is anything wrong with your approach. You might have to try a few things to find out what works for you.
When I make platform games I find it useful to be able to edit levels while I'm playing them, by adding in code to the game which allows me to select a graphic tile from a palette and paint it onto the screen. The behaviour is usually linked to the graphic for my games but you could paint behaviour as well. You then need code for your game to save levels as well as load them. Obviously, you would probably want to remove the editor before releasing the game.
I don't know how much experience you have with game dev, but if you're thinking about making a tile-based platform game then your best bet is leveraging existing libraries/tools to avoid "re-inventing the wheel". I highly suggest looking into open source libraries/tools because you can modify them to your liking. I've had some good experience with libgdx and AndEngine in which case both have TMX support which is a file format that can be used in conjunction with Tiled map editor. I personally like libgdx because it has javadoc and very actively developed, and also that it's a framework rather than engine which gives you more flexibility (although more coding in some aspects).
So far i came through simple applications/games development, i just started seeing what is openGL ES 1/2. What i would like to know is to write games/apps with rich graphics(3d) and animations, what is the starting point of learning? and is there any other tool/IDE to develop such apps/games.
Thanks
Everything programming wise is done with existing eclipse and android SDK. For asset creation you need to pick your own 3D modelling package (e.g. blender, 3ds max, maya) and image editor (photoshop, gimp, or even ms paint) for making textures, sprites etc. You'll also need to write an (in-app) parser for whatever 3d model format you choose to save your models as. Android does however have various methods for loading in images
Alternatively, there are some game engines out there for android that you can pick up off the shelf if you don't want to write your own from scratch. Unity3d is the only one I can think of right now, but I know there are others as well
Here are simple application for developing graphics and gaming purpose.
3d Game Tutorial - part I
3d Game Tutorial - part II
There are lot of application examples available. Please, refer above links.