How to create a game app from scratch?
Ajay Kumar
Director at MVM Infotech, Bangkok | e-Business Consultant | Web, App, eCommerce & Travel Tech Expert | SEO & Digital Marketing | 200+ Clients Served
With a global market generating $100 Billion this year, it’s no surprise that lots of people wish to get in on the game app action. however getting rich off of the App Store is only one of the many possible motivations! who knows, you could simply be interested in making something fun for your friends, or actually building a lasting piece of digital art.
What do we need to get started?
While we typically focus on app makers, you’ll notice that none of them are actually good for building games. What you’ll need instead is something referred to as a game engine, or a dedicated software for making games for app development Bangkok. unlike app makers, you need to install them on your computer, that leads us to the first item in our checklist:
A computer: you’ll need to install the game engine on your computer or mac. Note that some game engines are only computer or only mac. They don’t work on both.
A smartphone (or two): you may need to test the game on your desired platform. It’s worth ensuring it plays nice on both an iPhone and an android phone if you want to achieve both markets – and it’s worth trying on low end devices too!
A developer account: to submit your game app. It prices $99 per annum for the App Store and $25 for life with the Play Store. unlike with mobile app developers in Bangkok, you’ll be in charge of updates and ensuring the game works on all devices, means many new updates per year.
A way to create art: whether you’re going 2D or 3D, you’ll need game assets. you’ll notice plenty of free resources online and some game companies have got their own marketplaces. however the most effective way to build your game stand out is to make things just like the characters, background, music and menus yourself.
And a Game engine too?
Yup. That’ll be your main tool. And currently that you’re going down the rabbit hole of game making, you’ll see that there are variety of solutions, from the very basic to the extremely sophisticated. Roughly speaking, you’ll categorize game engines with the following features:
Game templates: the simplest way to start – and also the most limiting. You won’t be able to change something regarding the game except the characters, backgrounds, music, that kind of thing. In short, the mechanics of the game can’t be tweaked at all. as an example, AppyPie or ChupaMobile provide templates (these are online solutions, by the way).
Drag and drop: this is the best method for beginners. You have a list of behaviours (if this happens, then that happens) and you can just apply them to your game objects. For example you create a 2D square and create a behaviour that says “if I press on the screen, the square jumpsâ€.
Visual scripting: a more advanced solution that provides you all the flexibility of code without having to code. You primarily create “nodes†that represent actions or events for your game objects. This creates a kind of diagram that represents everything happening in your game window.
Coding: the pros will tell you this is the only serious way to get complete control over your game, especially if you want it to be complex. And if you’re interested in a career as an game app developers Bangkok, you might as well start learning while doing! The good news is that some game engines offer their own simplified scripting language that makes it easy to grasp the basics for beginners.
Can we make any kind of game?
Technically speaking yes. But of course that depends on your amount of time and dedication. However, it is worth noting that beginners will probably have more success creating mobile games such as:
Puzzles / Word games
Casual games
Platformers
Arcade games
More complicated 3D game genres like FPS (first person shooters) or a MMO (massively multiplayer online games) won’t only need some code, however they’re also not necessarily the best suited for playing on a smartphone or tablet.
Which game engine should I choose?
This is the big question, and clearly it’ll completely depend on your level of skills and the kind of game you want to create. however below is a list of some of the engines we think would be the best suited for you.
GameSalad
GameBuilder Studio
BuildBox
ClickTeam Fusion 2.5
GameMaker Studio 2
Stencyl
Unity
Unreal
Conclusion
It’s worth noting that there are several levels of what you’ll call “a game appâ€. If you would like to use a ready-made template, you can. If you’re more serious regarding game development, it’s also zzzz available to anyone with a computer, a bit of time, and online resources. And there seems to be more and more solutions available all the time.
So the good news is that you won’t necessarily have to code to make your smartphone game, especially if it’s an easy one. and the better news is that the best games, especially within the mobile world, aren’t necessarily the most complex!