Apps recomendation for the best library to make games

[powerpoint45]

I'm wondering what most android games use.I currently use canvas but I'm not sure what other libraries would be good?

 

[aciampal]

Canvas and OpenGL are the two main built in libraries you can use to make games.
The first is limited to 2D, while OpenGL can be used for both 2D and 3D games.

A very useful dissertation about the two libraries can be found at :

Google I/O 2010

It's the recording of a speech ad Google IO - 2010, a little bit old but valid.

 

[jonbonazza]

I don't reccommend using canvas for even 2d games. Its very slow.

 

[heroesgame]

Well that really depends on what you want to build. If you only have to draw a handful of objects in your game the speed won't matter and you can learn Canvas in a fraction of the time you need to learn OpenGL.

With simple games in the style of Tetris, Bejewelled or snake from the Android examples, no one will be able to tell the difference between the two methods.

 

[jonbonazza]

Well that really depends on what you want to build. If you only have to draw a handful of objects in your game the speed won't matter and you can learn Canvas in a fraction of the time you need to learn OpenGL.

With simple games in the style of Tetris, Bejewelled or snake from the Android examples, no one will be able to tell the difference between the two methods.

That's true. Puzzle games and very simple games such as snake would probably still perform at an adequate speed with canvas and would benefit from the simplicity of the API. However If you wish to buy something along the lines of an RPG or other more complex genre, then I suggest learning your way around OpenGL.

 

[powerpoint45]

Thank you everyone

 

[jonbonazza]

There also exist many middleware libraries and game engines that you can use such as libgdx (middleware), Unity (game engine), UDK (game engine), etc...