Question on Android for Dave & Jeff

Hello Dave & Jeff,

Welcome to JavaRanch.

Here is my question for you.

I am new to Android development having only few months experience in the same. I want to get into game development. Please tell me what all the technologies I should know for getting into game development in Android. Is it a hard thing to go into game development for a fresher?

Thanks and Regards

If the game is rich in graphics you probably want to use OpenGL, and if it's processing-intensive you should check out the NDK (for C/C++ development on Android).

Hi Astha,

Although I have yet to write a game in Android, this is something that interests me. I have a couple of tips that you may find helpful:

1) The java.util.Timer and java.util.TimerTask classes are often used in game apps. You might want to check out Stack Overflow's "Android timer? How?" topic (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4597690/android-timer-how) for more information.

2) Some time ago, I wrote a pair of articles on a technology known as Corona for the BuildMobile.com website:

http://buildmobile.com/getting-started-with-corona-building-apps-for-multiple-platforms-and-markets-simultaneously/
http://buildmobile.com/getting-started-with-corona-building-your-first-corona-app/

Corona is the product of a company called Ansca Mobile and lets you conveniently create cross-patform mobile apps (for Android and iOS) in a simple language called Lua. You can achieve some very powerful and interesting games with Corona, which also simplifies development. Perhaps I'm shooting myself in the foot by turning your attention to Corona/Lua as an alternative to Java. However, I want to be fair about this and let you know that this alternative exists if you find Java too daunting for game development.

All the best.

Jeff Friesen

Thanks Jeff and Ulf
Now I got some idea that how to start in game development. Thanks Jeff for these relevant links.