Game Development - Platforms

This article will be focusing on some of the game development platforms as a  general introduction. The article is more theoretical and not coding based, but it’s very vital to choose game platforms carefully for the game development.

Prerequisites

1. Gaming Enthusiasm.

Let’s begin now.

Here is the list of game development platforms, which I have selected.

1. Cocos2d-X
2. Cocos2d-XNA
3. Unity3D
4. Game Maker
5. Marmalade
   
   
   

Cocos2d-X

Cocos2d-X platform is a 2D game development platform. This platform is open-source, so it comes with both the perks & flaws of being an open-source. This is a cross-platform game development engine, which means that single code (with few adjustments) games can be developed for Android, IOS, Windows Phone, Windows Store, desktop etc. This platform provides all the best libraries to develop 2D based games. This platform is not visually  based (i.e. drag or drop based development) as it is purely coding based. Therefore, you need to either use game level editors or execute the program every time you want to see the visual adjustments of the game. This platform exclusively uses C++ as its underlying development language. Thus, if you are not a fan of development in C++, you need to choose other suitable platforms. I worked in this platform but did not enjoy C++ as an underlying language, although the provided libraries are amazing.



Cocos2d-XNA

Cocos2d-XNA platform provides the same features as Cocos2d-X. The only difference is its underlying development language, which is C# with XNA.

This platform is a combination of the three platforms

1. Cocos2D (for 2d game development).
2. XNA (for visual graphics assets creation).
3. Monogame (for cross-platform development).

I personally prefer this platform, though it comes with loads of bugs and not much help is available for the resolution of the bugs.



Unity3D

Unity3D platform is mainly 3D game development in its initial version. Since unity3D version 4.x, unity3d is being used for 2D game development as well and now with new release of unity3d version 5, many new enhancements have been observed especially in 2D game development. The most attractive thing about Unity for the developers is its visual drag & drop development feature with the flexibility of unity's underlying development languages, developers can develop the games in either JavaScript or C# but C# is preferred most. It is available for the cross-platform development. It is available in free & paid version, which makes it a complete package for both professionals & novice game developers.



Game Maker

Game Maker platform is cross-platform game development engine. It was mainly developed for 2D based  games, however, new versions may have support for 3D development. I am not sure though as I have no experience personally in working Game Maker. This engine is not free of cost to use all its features.



Marmalade

Marmalade platform is another cross-platform game development engine. It provides the support for 2D based games. Its underlying language is C/C++, The main aim of this platform is to provide the single code base for all the platforms i.e. the developers do not need to use any other extra library for the cross-platform deployment. I have not personally worked on this platform, so, it is difficult for me to comment more on this. A free version of this platform is available.



In a nutshell, it is really difficult to choose between the platforms. It is entirely dependent on the requirements of the developers. I personally recommend Unity3D latest version.

Conclusion

This article is all about highlighting some of the common game development platforms which are required to develop all kinds of games i.e. desktop based games, mobile based  games or console based games.

Disclaimer

I do not own any of the images.