Game Engines?

[dime]

Any good 2d game engines for Android?  Something like Slick 2D would be optimal.

[steveyO]

The only non commercial engines I found (for 2d) were AndEngine and Rokon.   I used AndEngine for a few nights and quited liked it. Easy to set-up, easy to use, active forum. Havent tried Rokon yet.  Any others?

[derhannes]

I've tried the previous version of rokon and I really liked it.
The new version should be even better, but I haven't had the time to give it a chance..

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[Karmington]

Shiva3D free to build test versions, about 170e for indie licence.
http://www.stonetrip.com/

[Nate]

http://code.google.com/p/libgdx/

[tberthel]

AllBinary Game Development Kit.  I will release a free version before next year.  I have not decided how much source will be released.  I have developed 9 games with it.  Including ZeptoWars an RTS game.  It supports J2SE, J2ME, and Android.

I still need to finish my first multiplayer and 3d game with it, and update the associate ecommerce website before I release it.

[AIRobo]

In my apprehension android ronkon is the bestest  2D game engin.

[AIRobo]

http://code.google.com/p/rokon/

[Nate]

In my apprehension android ronkon is the bestest  2D game engin.

What specifically makes you feel that way?

[SunshineKiller]

a little late, but ive started using rokon. The guy that is developing it seems to have added many functions that a game needs. It i think can do OpenGL stuff, not sure cant remember off the top of my head.

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[hell32.dll]

Having an experience on AndEngine and Rokon i can completle judge thats the better free 2d game engine is AndEngine. Because Rokon is bad supported and have many engine bugs, it still raw.

[Nate]

AllBinary Game Development Kit ... I have not decided how much source will be released.

With a name like that, you'd think none.

FWIW, I think Rokon is dead. Last time the author did any changes was Sep 05, 2010.

Note than Andengine is Android only. This is pretty silly, as it is a HUGE productivity boost to develop on the desktop with hot swap/JRebel.

Been making a lot of progress on GDX lately. It is getting really good!

[strategy]

Having messed a bit about with AndEngine (I'm thinking of leveraging it for Pirates and Traders), I was pretty impressed with how easy it was to set up. It's always interesting to work with my kind of games (turn-based 2d boardgame like interface) with these kind of engines, because you almost have to fight all the fancy functionality implemented for 3D games in order to do what is really a fairly simple scrolling map. AndEngine seems to handle this pretty well, though the initial suggestion I received to use a TMXTiledMap was bad (memory crash).

Rokon was not as friendly to work with.

I really should take a look at libGdx too, but the limited tutorials have put me off so far.

[Nate]

I really should take a look at libGdx too, but the limited tutorials have put me off so far.

See the tests for some sample code, eg:
http://code.google.com/p/libgdx/source/browse/trunk/tests/gdx-tests/src/com/badlogic/gdx/tests/BitmapFontTest.java

[gouessej]

Ardor3D works on Android (and in desktop environment) and could be used for 2D too.

[badlogicgames]

I really should take a look at libGdx too, but the limited tutorials have put me off so far.

Happy to inform you that we have full Java docs as well as a comprehensive test collection showing of how to use 95% of the features in libgdx as well as a sample (3d) game. Check out the google code site.

I guess Java docs are out of style. Might explain why Andengine gets away with not having any documentation at all :/

[strategy]

Happy to inform you that we have full Java docs as well as a comprehensive test collection showing of how to use 95% of the features in libgdx as well as a sample (3d) game. Check out the google code site.

My problem is that 90% of the time I'm looking at doing 2D, so most 3D examples tend to be way overkill in terms of what I need to do. But I plan to dig into this again - you have made some really nice improvements in the recent updates.

I guess Java docs are out of style. Might explain why Andengine gets away with not having any documentation at all :/

Yep, I've noticed this happening with other open source projects too. I blame the increased popularity of wikis and forums. 

[kdrudy]

I've written 3 games from the ground up completely and I'm thinking of looking at using a pre-existing engine for my next project so this has been a helpful thread to see.  Gives me some ideas to look at.

[CyanPrime]

Ardor3D works on Android (and in desktop environment) and could be used for 2D too.

This. Very this.

[gouessej]

Can anyone advice me from where i can  Download  free trial of Visual3D Game Engine??? I also need help for developing next-generation 3D game???If anyone has any advice I would be very grateful....

Why not using Ardor3D?
http://www.ardor3d.com/
JMonkeyEngine 3?
http://www.jmonkeyengine.com/
JPCT-AE?
http://www.jpct.net/jpct-ae/

Visual3D Game Engine is not compatible with Android and it does not use Java, it relies on .NET and XNA.

[cylab]

You are probably falling for a spam bot

[Eli Delventhal]

You are probably falling for a spam bot

Yup. I removed the post, and someone else already banned that user.

[Addictman]

Hi.

Just recently came back to javagaming after a deep dive into .NET. Now I'm looking to get into Android development, so of course I return to my favorite javagaming forum (yes, hugs to you all!).
I notice this thread has been going for some months, so I'm going to reiterate the original question.

I'm looking for a good setup for Android game development. My first game will be a relatively easy 2D game, but long-term plans include 3D as well. I'm NOT looking for something that takes care of "everything" for me, practically abstracting the fact that I'm working with Android (I'd like to learn to actually program FOR Android too, you know?), but I'm looking for something lean&mean that helps me with all the boring and repetetive stuff.

Any suggestions? Pros/Cons with the different libraries/engines?

[tberthel]

Well mine does the following:

Provide easy game development for 3 billion plus devices.

The AllBinary Arcade Game Development Kit contains over 100 very small libraries to help ease arcade game development. The main features include the following:
Multi-Platform - Android, J2ME, and J2SE (Moblin/MeeGo, IPhone, Linux, Windows, Solaris, Mac, and More)

Fullscreen and Windowed Support (Does not require restart to toggle between)

Real Time Strategy (Building, Waypoints, Geographic Resources, and More)
Multi-player support for social networking and game lobby
OpenGL Support (1.5 and ES 1.0/1.2) with JOGL and JMonkeyEngine
Game Object Placement (Maps, Levels, Enemy Positions and More)
Genre Specific Libraries (Racing, Scroller, Map Based, and More)
Network Libraries (Licensing, Remote Scores, and More)
Feature/Configuration Options Framework
Tile Map Creation, Editing, and Loading
Touch Screen Buttons & Gestures
Save/Load/Delete Game State
Special Collision Detection
Vector Graphics Support
Custom Input Mapping
Key Input Processing
Orientation Controls
Transitions/Progress
Special Animations
Heads Up Displays
Power-Ups/Drops
Screen Shakes
Path Finding
Vibration
Physics
AI/Bots
Teams
More...
Other Info:
Over 140,000 lines of efficient Java code over 100 very small libraries
Most of the libraries are use by our games, but some are not
Only about 6% of the code is specific to any game
Game Tools:

I use 4 open source tools (BSD or AL licenses) and 2 of our own tools for development of games. They are not part of the submission, but they do make it a complete game development library and would be part of the game library distribution.

Some Unique Capabilities:
Only game specific library that supports all 3 platforms
Unique set of features for the mobile world as listed above.
Feature/Configuration Options Framework provides the runtime flexibility for phones of different capabilities like the following:
Sound
Screen Shakes
Rotation Fidelity
Vector vs. Image Graphics
Other Game Specific Graphics Options
Game Challenge Levels and Sub Challenges Levels
And more...
I think that while this seems trivial it is not. It could revolutionize all game development by allowing and application to flex for each device. I will extend the Feature/Configuration Options Framework even further by adding a dynamic auto option selection for a specific phone instead of the default activity options. This will make it so the FPS is never slow as long as the user does not add options for custom gameplay.
Some of the features provided by the game library are the most performant available. For example, I use a custom A* Algorithm in the Path Finding library for Zepto Racer that is more performant than any I have seen.
Single tool for all your mobile game library needs. No separate physics or audio libraries or tools needed.
Emulation:

Fast Android plugin and various other libraries for the MicroEmulator
OpenGL Support:
OpenGL ES 1.0 uses vertex list
OpenGL ES 1.2 uses direct_texture if available
OpenGL 1.5 uses direct_texture if available
Scene Editor is available for making 3D games
3D game libs for movable camera view being Isometric, Top, Follow, and more

Future Impl:
Real map integration
More plaform support
Robotics Integration
MDA Integration
Finish integration for 3D games - Scene Editor and Camera Views

On the down side I still have not opened it because I don't know how to market it to make money from it. 

Although, I did just finish adding multiplayer support.  So, now I am working on my first multiplatform multiplayer game.  Which is great for me right?  f**k I don't even have a clue if that helps.  I guess I will need to add 3D printers that build robots next.  I wonder if that would help?  Well I only have 3 more projects before I die:  1. 3D Printing 2. Resource Collection 3. Integrating my projects together.

RTS Game + E-Commerce + Input Automation + 3D Printing + Resource Acquisition
= Replicating Robot Army

[gouessej]

The AllBinary Arcade Game Development Kit contains over 100 very small libraries to help ease arcade game development. The main features include the following:
Multi-Platform - Android, J2ME, and J2SE (Moblin/MeeGo, IPhone, Linux, Windows, Solaris, Mac, and More)

How do you support iphone?

[tberthel]

XMLVM, JVM, or my own secret sauce take your pick.

[kappa]

nice attempt at ascii art with the engine features

[gouessej]

XMLVM, JVM, or my own secret sauce take your pick.

There is no allowed JVM for iphone and XMLVM is a bit broken on this platform, that is why I'm a bit surprised.

[tberthel]

A JVM does install on at least one IPhone.  I have seen it and it was in the AppStore for 4.99 for about a year.

[dishmoth]

A JVM does install on at least one IPhone.  I have seen it and it was in the AppStore for 4.99 for about a year.

You're saying that your engine runs on the iPhone, but it's the customer's responsibility to install a JVM for it?