

IPhone or Android for new game development? - qrush

So here's my dilemma: I have a great idea for a new mobile game that could go on either platform. I don't think it'll be easy to share code between the platforms despite both using OpenGL ES. I personally have access to a Droid and Droid Eris, and would have to purchase an iPod Touch to playtest. It seems like the audience for iPhone would be larger, but I'm more partial to Android. Any ideas on which I should choose?
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Magneus
I develop applications for both platforms (no games yet, though) and, despite
my disdain for Apple, I'd argue that iPhone is a better platform for
developing 'conventional' games.

The iPhone's ability to write in plain C will help if you're planning on using
any off-the-shelf libraries. Yes, you can do this with Android's NDK using
JNI, but it's not nearly as seamless.

Also, if you're going to be using OpenGL, Android's OpenGL ES 1.1
implementation is 'not complete,' while iPhone claims a complete ES 1.1
implementation, with newer models (3GS, latest iPod) supporting ES 2.0.

Lastly, if you're doing a performance-intensive game, you may want to keep in
mind that your Android code will run on top of Dalvik, while iPhone code will
be compiled to binary. Hopefully, this won't be an issue, but I imagine it's
not fun to realize that you'll have to port most of your physics and game
logic to C using the NDK.

Again, I have no experience developing a legitimate game on either platform,
so take my words with a grain of salt. And as an Android user myself, I'd love
to see more games on the platform. Best of luck, and let us know what you
choose!

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nailer
I'm an Android user and generally find HTC sense an improvement over my old
iPhone in a number of ways.

However currently applications downloaded from the market must install to in-
phone memory, not the SD card. This severely limits their size. Some apps
alternatively just have a downloaded in the market that fetches the rest of
the app onto the SD card when launched, but the user experience for that isn't
great.

I'd wait until Android gets native market -> SD card capability. In the
meantime, go for iPhone.

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clavalle
There are a lot of good tools for game creation on the iPhone (Unity, for
example) that just don't exist for Android yet. They are coming,
(JMonkeyEngine is coming out with one sometime soon I hear). Also the audience
is bigger, though Android is catching up. All that being said, it is probably
easier to make a name for yourself in Android game development...basically it
is a tossup. Go with the language you are more effective in, and if you get
some cash coming in from that, port it over to the other platform.

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danmelnick
Well, they both have their strengths and weaknesses obviously. One thing I'd
say in Android's favor is that if you make a really kick-ass game, you'll be a
big fish in a small(er) pond. I think with the iPhone there's a higher
risk/reward, but with Android you have a chance to make a really big splash.

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wastedbrains
I'd go for the Andriod, it is gaining steam. I think the big fish in a smaller
pond idea makes a lot of sense. If it does well on one platform I would look
at finding someone with experience on the other to help port it.

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elvo86
You're audience probably will be larger on the iPhone OS. Plus, you might
enjoy coding in Objective-C more than Java (for the non-OpenGL ES stuff).

I'm biased toward the iPhone, though.

