Android dev

[IHateMyJob2004]

15 years of industry experience doing software. Mostly Java. I want to write an Android app and was wondering where I should start. Not obvious things like the IDE. I want to write a simple 2D game. I want to know how to embed ads into it. Where do I start for that sort of thing? What are the APIs I need to learn about? Any good hello world places to start? That sort of thing.

I have an older Android tablet but that is it. I think Android does emulation on a computer. Does that work for game development? I have a laptop with an i5 processor if that matters.

 

[Jodell88]

Use libGDX and call it a day IMO. Does everything you'd want to do.

 

[wolf_squad]

yup, libgdx will do it for you. google around, there are some tuts. but with that much java experience under the belt, it should be a walk in the park.

 

[purbeast0]

i've written an android game using cocos2d, but i did it the opposite way. i wrote it in objective c and used apportable to port it to android. working on another game written in unity right now though, which is cool because i'm writing it all in javascript and it just compiles to ios (haven't tried compiling to android yet though).

also, just because you have been doing java for 15 years, the game development is quite a bit different. i mean you will obviously pick it up quickly with that much experience, but it is pretty different than writing your normal java apps.

i was doing java swing front end for a while with a jboss backend in java before i started writing my first native android apps, and that definitely did help. however i will say, the google developer process is just such a headache, especially compared to ios development. the documentation is awful for android. it is just organized so poorly and the docs about learning how to use the google play services, which you will probably be using for at least the ads, will have you literally going in circles with links pointing back to eachother. this was earlier this year so not sure if it's gotten any better, but man it's painful.

to be honest with you, while i'm not familiar with the libGDX as mentioned by the others, i would definitely at least look into a library/tool/framework that will allow you to deploy to both ios and android if you are going to be doing all of that work.

EDIT:

looks like libdgx is multiplatform so that one should be good.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Ya, I should be able to figure it out. Thanks for the leads. Might start playing with Android this weekend.

As for games .... been dealing with customization of CAD tools for several years at work so the 3D math doesn't worry me. And I just want to make a 2D game. Maybe 3d layering for backgrounds but that's later down the road.

 

[SearchMaster]

however i will say, the google developer process is just such a headache, especially compared to ios development.

My app is not a game, so I can't speak to that, but my experience has been completely opposite. I find Android development TONS smoother than iOS...plus being able to automatically publish your app within a few hours without the hassle of waiting for 1-6 weeks (yes, it literally took 6 weeks the first time) to get past Apple's BS "approval" process is a joy.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Someone at work mentioned and engine. I'll be checking that out also.

 

[wolf_squad]

fyi, libgdx is both faster and better documented than and engine. not to mention, that it's multiplatform.

but I think even cursory try-outs will show how good libgdx has gotten over the years.

 

[Markbnj]

fyi, libgdx is both faster and better documented than and engine. not to mention, that it's multiplatform.

but I think even cursory try-outs will show how good libgdx has gotten over the years.

Thanks for the tip. I have an idea I want to try and I have been pondering what platform to do it on. This is worth a look.