2D toolchain for mobile games: requirements, options, cross-platform solutions.

Since early days of computer games and mobile entertainment in particular, game development industry has always been in need of convenient and efficient solutions for the work on various 2D tasks. Everything became even more complicated due to fragmentation in resolutions or performance of mobile devices. No matter of games complexity, prevalence of 3D or overall level of technology, there will be constant demand on quality 2D content and the tools to create such content. This lecture will overview industry requirements and give a hint on available solutions as well as their advantages and disadvantages.
By Ivan Beliy (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000598398762)

Transcript

1. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. 2D toolchain for mobile games Requirements, options, cross-platform solutions 8 - N O V - 1 5 1
2. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. INTRODUCTION My name is Ivan Beliy • 8+ years in the industry • Have worked on 2D games as well as tools • 4 years in Marmalade Technologies Limited • Now Product owner in tooling department 8 - N O V - 1 5 2
3. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. WHAT IS 2D PIPELINE • Set of tools and application code to perform all tasks from visualizing idea up to displaying 2D content in the final release of the game • Step-by-step plan on how to organize 2D content development and its integration into the game • May be completely integrated as well as consist of multiple separate parts 8 - N O V - 1 5 3 Create images Add to game editor Create animations Add physics Add interaction Pack resources Load & display all in game
4. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. 2D PIPELINE COMPONENTS • Graphics editor • Layout editor • Resource packer • Particles editor • Animation editor • Physics editor • Map editor • Resource manager • Font system • 2D graphics runtime • 2D physics runtime 8 - N O V - 1 5 4
5. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. 2D PIPELINE APPLICATION 8 - N O V - 1 5 5
6. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. APPLICATION • HUD • Menus • Game UI • Game maps • 2D animations • Auxiliary game screens • Hit testing & collision testing 8 - N O V - 1 5 6
7. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. 2D PIPELINE REQUIREMENTS • Main requirement – high efficiency • Concentrate all in one tool yet maintain extensibility • Functionality • Flexibility • Convenience • Simplicity • VCS compatible resources • Stability, support, addressing feedback 8 - N O V - 1 5 7
8. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. OPTIONS • Cocos2d-x • Corona • Unity • Overlap2D • Yoyo Game maker • App Salute Creator • Construct 2 • Sprite Builder (based on cocos2d-iphone) • Marmalade 2D Kit 8 - N O V - 1 5 8
9. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. COCOS2D-X Advantages • Tons of auxiliary tools • Large community • Open-source • Free Disadvantages • Engine is not very powerful comparing to commercial solutions • 3d-party services integration is painful • Limited editor 1 1 - N O V - 1 5 9
10. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. UNITY 1 2 - N O V - 1 5 1 0 Advantages • All-in-one tool • Huge asset store • Powerful enough to satisfy >70% devs • Extreme number of supported platforms • The most known and used tool at the moment Disadvantages • Slow • Black box • Not flexible • Not always convenient • Not possible to exceed limitations
11. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. FLASH + SCALEFORM 1 4 - N O V - 1 5 1 1 Advantages: • Supports much from Flash functionality, not limiting designers in anything • Can be used to edit separate resources • Supports almost any sort of animation imaginable • SWF are used as packages • Editor is super convenient for experienced designers Disadvantages: • Expensive • Heavyweight • Requires layout tool for scenes • Requires external game engine • Applicable for big studios and AAA titles only • Requires skilled programmers to optimize games, combine with other engines
12. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. APP SALUTE CREATOR 1 4 - N O V - 1 5 1 2 Advantages: • Easy to use • 100% WYSIWYG • Does not require programming skills • Complete game creation tool Disadvantages: • Non-flexible • Windows-only • Limited to certain game mechanics set
13. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. MARMALADE 2DKIT 1 4 - N O V - 1 5 1 3 Advantages: • Flexible • Lightweight • Transparent output • 3 supported runtimes Disadvantages: • Project in its infancy • Not a full-scale solution. Yet
14. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. MARMALADE 2DKIT STRUCTURE 1 4 - N O V - 1 5 1 4 2D Editor • Layout tool • Animation editor • Resource manager Iw2DEngine • TTF Fonts • Compatible with 3d-party engines Marmalade Quick • Easy to use RAD LUA-based engine Vanilla cocos2d-x • Better animation • Better layout tool
15. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. MARMALADE 2DKIT PLAN 1 4 - N O V - 1 5 1 5 Animation is about to get released UI widgets Animation round 2 Powerful font system Effects Timelines Scripting
16. N A T I V E P E R F O R M A N C E . A N Y D E V I C E . ©2015 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. CONFIDENTIAL. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. 8 - N O V - 1 5 1 6 Marmalade Technologies Ltd. 200 St John Street, London, EC1V 4RN UNITED KINGDOM hello@marmalademail.com