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[AaronM]

Hello all. I am a highschool student that wants to start making android apps.

Is this a good idea, and can I earn some money off of it? I have Windows and I really want to get a mac to make iOS apps later on.

Please help me.
Thanks

[dustin]

If you want to learn how to program or learn how to make games then it is a good idea, there isn't any better way then to just try it out.  That said while you can earn money my guess is that as a highschool student just starting you would not earn any real amount of money.  This is because making games is hard and your first couple are likely to be horrible (not that that's bad that's just how the firsts of any skill are) even if you do finish them (something that many people struggle with).

If you still want to go through with it I might suggest using flash instead.  I found the android development environment to be somewhat tricky to set up especially compared to flash.  You can bundle your flash games to run on android and even iOS as well as the web and while they will be slower I doubt it will make a huge difference for your first couple games.

If your doing it because you think it'd be a good way to earn some cash it's not really a good idea.  It's likely you won't earn any significant money for a long time.  Most people have been making games a while before they get something sellable.

[kamac]

I wouldn't use Java, it's quite complicated when using with Android.

Also, i don't think making much money of your android games/apps is very possible. There's only a few apps/games earning true money of the market, rest is getting 30$ a month and lower.

If you like BASIC, you can use Basic4Android. Very cool, and your question will be answered on their forums in a second. Althrought, it costs around 30$, 2 months of free updates (You can use discount coupon).

[PompiPompi]

I didn't know there are many options coding for Android without using Java.
Even if you code in C++ you will need to go through Java.
Coding in Java for Android is not such a bad idea, given the circumstances. I would think.

[kamac]

I didn't know there are many options coding for Android without using Java.
Even if you code in C++ you will need to go through Java.
Coding in Java for Android is not such a bad idea, given the circumstances. I would think.

Using Basic4Android you don't have to go throught Java. They even offer loads of free additional libraries coded in Java for B4A, made by the community.

If you want to make games for android, pick B4A. Way faster development than Java.

Just my personal thoughts.

I didn't know there are many options coding for Android without using Java.

There's also Monkey  . Costs loads, but can produce games to HTML5 and some others.

And... There's App Game Kit. I wanted it so badly, i've been waiting for it, but just before it's release i found B4A  .
The only bad thing in App Game Kit is that they are taking some percents off your sales.

[bart_the_13th]

You can use Flash + AIR3 to make games on android.
Android maybe not the best option for selling games, but since iOS has already been crowded with games, I say you can go for it...
And why don't you target social games and desktop games anyway?

[AaronM]

And why don't you target social games and desktop games anyway?

I have already made desktop games with C# and Game Maker. I think mobile games would be better.

[mikejkelley]

I have Windows and I really want to get a mac to make iOS apps later on.

You don't need a mac to make iOS apps.

There's only a few apps/games earning true money of the market, rest is getting 30$ a month and lower.

This isn't a function of a crowded market, it's a function of the market being crowded w/ crap. If a game isn't making money it's bcs it, the marketing, or both, suck.

[PompiPompi]

Well given that the iPhone "emulator" from Apple isn't really an emulator(or so I was told), which means it doesn't emulate CPU instructions like the Android emulator. I say you eventually do need an Apple device to test your application.
Although, I would think this is true to almost any target platform, you usually need a real device of that platform.
Also, some time ago I thought Apple didn't allow to dev application for it's hardware without owning an Apple computer. Or something like that.

[kamac]

Well given that the iPhone "emulator" from Apple isn't really an emulator(or so I was told), which means it doesn't emulate CPU instructions like the Android emulator. I say you eventually do need an Apple device to test your application.

Android emulator is really slow.

[Tumetsu]

Android emulator is very slow and IMO completely useless from what little I have tested it. Also, you don't need Mac for developing for iOS but for uploading process of the game and apparently in start of the project to generate needed certificates.

[PompiPompi]

Yea, I know Android emulator is slow, that is because it emulates it to the level of assembly instructions.
While the iPhone "emulator" just have an API compiled for the local machine. That is why I think you do need an Apple device to properly test your application.
A simple example is that something that works on the Apple "emulator" might crash on a real device. But I don't have experience with it, so I don't know.
The Android emulator is not useless, it's useful to test basic functionality. Of course it's not so good to test performance and "real time" gameplay. But not completely useless.

[tametick]

You can use Flash + AIR3 to make games on android.

Or HaXe/NME

[CowBoyDan]

Yea, I know Android emulator is slow, that is because it emulates it to the level of assembly instructions.
While the iPhone "emulator" just have an API compiled for the local machine. That is why I think you do need an Apple device to properly test your application.
A simple example is that something that works on the Apple "emulator" might crash on a real device. But I don't have experience with it, so I don't know.
The Android emulator is not useless, it's useful to test basic functionality. Of course it's not so good to test performance and "real time" gameplay. But not completely useless.

An interesting note:  The android emulator seems to run a lot faster on OS X, might be because a lot of the google guys use macs.  Still, I don't think it was really meant for game development.  Debug functionality with usb to device is great.  Also.. I tried running x86 android in virtual machine and connecting to it.  General performance was AMAZING, but if you are using opengl es its crap because virtual machine doesn't (didn't for me) handle pass through hardware acceleration to the host os.

[Virion]

You can use cocos2d-x which is a C++ port of cocos2d. It works on iOS, Android, Windows, Linux, Mac, etc without changing much of the code. I have tried it on iOS and it works fine. I havent try it on android yet but I'm sure it will work (saw numerous success stories on their website)

I have wrote about it on my blog http://blog.bigbunkerstudio.com/?p=47