Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/14320
n n n n Mobile Gaming Probably the most notable of these is Unity 3D, which is a cross-platform development tool that supports the iPhone, Web, native Mac and Windows, and the Nintendo Wii. Tis envi- ronment allows developers to create the game once and then distribute it in many places. Unity provides the ability to create 3D envi- ShiVa 3D offers the first game development environment geared toward Android, the iPhone, and Palm’s WebOS. with the release of Android’s Native Develop- ment Kit Version 3, which finally gives devel- opers full support for OpenGL, which is cru- cial for creating fast 3D games and content. Google also has announced its intention to fully support mobile Flash 10.1 on Android, which opens up Web-based game and video to the platform. In a related move, Adobe just announced AIR for Android, which brings the Flash development environment to Android. Tis allows Android developers to create na- tive content using the AIR tool kit originally created for iPhone development but denied by Apple’s policy change. Android’s distribution model is slightly dif- ferent than Apple’s, with the Android market being much less restrictive. Te open nature of Android also allows for applications to be installed from outside of Google’s official channels, including third-party app stores or a developer’s own Web site. While this certainly democratizes distribution, it potentially opens up the platform for malicious software, as well. Tis may be the price paid for Android’s open nature, but, hopefully, smart users will only install software from trusted sources. Getting in the Game Mobile game development on smartphones and tablets has opened the door to a lot of new studios. Te simplicity of mobile games offers small developers a much lower barrier to entry into the business of gaming. In many ways, it represents a return to more entrepre- neurial times, when a singe developer or small team could spend a few months in isolation and come up with a best-selling classic. Add to this incentive the fact that most development can take place on a simple PC or Mac with development tools that are affordable or even 56 July 2010 free, and you can see why mobile gaming, and mobile development in general, is becoming such a hotbed of activity. Flash is certainly one of the most popular Web development platforms for gaming, and has been for some time. Any mobile device that accesses the Internet will certainly run across Flash-based Web content, including games. Writing games for the Web makes game devel- opment easy, because playing the game simply requires a browser that supports Flash. While it was originally intended as a Web- development tool, Adobe had expanded Flash CS5 as an iPhone development platform— that is, until Apple revised its development guidelines and fired a shot across Adobe’s bow. While this is certainly a blow to Adobe, it does ronments, characters, and assets, or import those from a number of 3D content creation packages, including Autodesk’s 3ds Max and Maya, Max- on’s Cinema 4D, and the Blender game engine. Te environment includes a complete scripting language that allows developers to author games. It’s important to note that Unity 3D does not seem to suffer the limitations imposed on Flash as a development environment for the iPhone. Tis is because Unity 3D outputs Xcode, which is compatible with the approved iPhone devel- opment environment. French-based Stonetrip’s ShiVa3D is an- other trailblazing game development envi- ronment. Te ShiVa3D environment offers output to both the iPhone/iPad and Android, as well as WebOS, Web publishing, and con- sole publishing for the Wii. Much like Unity, ShiVa3D offers a complete game development environment with the ability to import as- sets from a number of 3D packages and use a scripting environment to pull it all together into an interactive game. Te environment also opens up the 3D capabilities of advanced Android phones, allowing for fast, rich games that can compete with the best content cur- rently on the iPhone. Mobile gaming is one of the fastest changing areas in 3D development today, as both the as- Pocket Legends (left) and X-Plane (right) are for the iPad, and iPhone and iPad, respectively. not take Flash out of the game entirely. Google has offered full support for mobile Flash 10.1 on Android, allowing for any Web-based con- tent to be viewed on Android devices. And while Adobe doesn’t have an app-generation program for Android just yet, that could also be a possibility in the future. In addition to Flash, there are a number of other development environments aimed to- ward specific platforms and directly at games. sociated hardware and software are evolving at a staggering pace. At this point, it looks like the big battle will be between Apple and Google for dominance, with other companies falling by the wayside. Either way, it’s a good time to develop 3D content for mobile gaming. n George Maestri is a contributing editor for Computer Graphics World and president/CEO of RubberBug animation studio. He can be reached at maestri@rubberbug.com.