Preface

Welcome to Practical Android 4 Games Development. This book takes you step by step through the evolution of two different mobile games; from concept through code.You will learn how to conceive a game from a root idea and carry through to the complex task of coding an engine to turn your idea into a playable game.

I decided to write this book to teach the skills needed to create your own 2D and 3D games for the Android 4 platform. Android 4 unites the operating systems of Android-based mobile phones and tablets under one common SDK. This means that the games you develop can be played on the latest tablets and phones, and on the best possible hardware. The same game is now playable on either kind of device; you just need to take the first step and create a compelling game.

When the first Android SDK with full OpenGL ES 2D and 3D support was released, I immediately found myself looking for ways to create games that were compelling and fun to play. That's when I realized that the skills needed to create these games, though not hard to master, were definitely not easy to discover on one's own. In fact, unless you had previous experience in OpenGL and specifically OpenGL ES, it was very hard to just dive right in to casual Android game development.

I decided to take what I had learned in developing casual games on Android and break that knowledge into a core set of basic skills that could be easily mastered and expanded on as you progress in your game development. These basic skills might not see you creating the next Red Faction: Armageddon right after you complete this book, but they will give you the knowledge necessary to understand how such games are made and possibly create them with the right dedication and practice.

No doubt you have your first Android game already mapped out in your head.You know exactly the way you want it to look, and exactly the way you want it to play. What you don't know is how to get that idea out of your head and on to your phone or tablet. While it is great to have an idea for a game, it is getting that game from the idea stage to the “playable on a mobile device” stage that is the tricky part.

My advice to you as you read through this book is to keep your ideas simple. Do not try to overcomplicate a good game just to because you can.What I mean by that is, some of the most “addictive” games are not necessarily the most complex. They tend to be the games that are easy to pick up and play but hard to put down.Keep this in mind as you begin to conceptualize the kind of games you want to make. In this book you will make a simple engine that will power a scrolling shooter.The scrolling shooter is a simple game type that can encompass very difficult and challenging games.It has long been considered one of the more addicting arcade style games because it offers fast action and a nearly unlimited amount of game play.It is very easy to go back to a scrolling shooter time and time again and have a rewording gaming experience.This is why I chose this style of game to start you off.In the end, if you try to make games that you would like to play as a gamer, then your experience will be rewarding. I hope you enjoy your journey into the wonderful world of Android game development.