Thinking to develop a game and worried about aligning the linear algebra and computer programming? That’s a long time gone. Many of the latest tools are available to meet your conceptualization to cater to the basic functions of developing a game and also helps you to focus more on building game mechanics. The development of games is not a single-player entity but involves a complete team including the game designer, the developer, the critics, the player, and the level designer. All these team members combine their efforts to develop a game, which is booming the internet by storm.
The gaming industry generates more than $100 billion and employees thousands of people from different sectors around the globe. This is the very reason that many of the game developers are creating their games and to develop a game, these developers need some useful tools to streamline their programming. However, no magic solves all problems ranging from concept to finalizing – the gaming industry is not a niche arena any more. The gaming market is expected to reach $9,200 million until 2023 and much of the growth is expected in the mobile-based educational games that have paved a new trend in the market.
Role of game developer
Game Developers are the mind behind the idea – the creator who starts from scratch and programs a worthy game. Game developers are involved in multiple aspects – from game programming, level balancing and putting together art and animations provided by various team members. Game developers use various tools to facilitate with game development. The article discuss those tools in details. At times, few tools allow beginners or game creators to develop games without limited coding experience.
Game development tools
Few drag and drop tools help you develop games without coding. The dragging of the frameworks will allow the developer to create a game at a rapid pace and also release it on Play Store or the iOS as quickly to boost the ratings of the developer and also earning money.
Game maker studio
The module allows the developer to create a game using their interface. Game Maker Studio provides a complete setup for the developers; from conceptualization to designing – all is provided within a click. You can build the game by following their tutorials, which can help you, prototype or build a fully functional game with limited programming knowledge.
Game Maker Studio is the perfect game development tool to create 2D games and easily export them to various platforms. This is the first application, which is available for PC and is very popular among armatures game developers. Some of the noteworthy games created with the tool includes
- Heartbound by Pirate Software
- Delta Rune by Toby fox
- Cook, serve & delicious 2 by Vertigo gaming
- Crash-land by Butterscotch
Here are quick glance for benefits and drawbacks for the tool.
| Pros | Cons |
| Animations and audio management is simple | Very expensive for beginners |
| Single programming language | Gives limited control |
| Allows port to multiple platforms | Debugging and trouble shooting is tough |
Construct 3
Construct 3 is an HTML5 game creator that requires NO coding is required as most features are provided as drag and drop. The features of Construct 2 are fabulous and the effects can be customized according to your needs. The game can be tested and edited without re-compile, which makes development faster. Few of the noteworthy games developed in Construct 2 includes
- The next penelope by Aurelien Regard
- Airscape by Notion games
- CoinOpStory by KaMoZoTo
Construct 2 is a very powerful tool and very easy to use for creating games. But still, some of the pros and cons are also in every highlighted tool:
| PROS | CONS |
| Better interface and powerful plug-ins | Doesn’t allow to change code or manage things |
| Better game performance | Limited ability to use and customize font and text |
| With powerful plug-ins, productivity is much more than anticipated | Missing scripting support |
Corona SDK
Based on one of the easiest coding language Lua; the Corona SDK is the most powerful framework and easy-to-learn platform which is used by many of the latest developers who have the passion to work from a selected plug-in and extensions to bring their dreams into reality. Few of the noteworthy games developed in Corona includes
The Corona SDK is one of the speedy SDK for games and yet some of the interesting Pros and Cons are as under:
| PROS | CONS |
| Quick development process | No editor for GUI |
| LUA language – understandable | Available only for 2D games |
| Very powerful Object oriented programming | Doesn’t support Mac |
Fusion
The trend of creating 2D games continues and Fusion allows you to create games with a wide range of extensions and programming. All the elements of the games including the positioning of the codes and the strings of texts can easily be handled using the mouse. Top games developed in fusion includes
- Five nights at Freddy’s by Scott Cawthon
- Baba is you by Hempuli
| PROS | CONS |
| Drag and Drop interface | Some of the features are outdated |
| Developers can also create games for Windows | Many of the Gaming extensions are not available |
| Well optimized | Very limited access for FREE members |
Build Box
The only drag and drop software used for gaming is the Build box which is mainly the choice of newbies as it allows the developers to create a game without programming. Build Box is the choice of game enthusiasts who are unaware of any coding and just have flair to create a game. The main features of Build Box are the collision editor and the options bar, which can easily monetize the operations and the physics of the game.
| PROS | CONS |
| Easy to learn for new developers | Very Expensive |
| Unlimited Templates | Stability issues on Windows |
| Cross-platform | Poor customer support |
Game engines
For developers, it is very important to finish the game and get control of the module. The customized options are endless when the developer is targeting the libraries and the tools that are not required when creating from scratch.
Unreal engine
One of the most popular and eventfully the most successful game engine awarded by the Guinness World Record, Unreal Engine is the best game engine to create a full-fledged 3D game. Many of the developers are using more sophisticated tools and also using the guides to create a game on their own but need a lot of guidance before finally testing the game. Few noteworthy games developed using unreal engine includes
- Gears of War
- Mass Effect by Electronic Arts
- Bioshock by Irrational Games
| PROS | CONS |
| Quality community support | Not suitable for 2D or small scale games like hyper-casual |
| Updated mechanisms and support features | Requires extensive engineering and programming experience |
| Easily operated tools for all the leading platforms | High cost for the platform |
Unity engine
Probabally one of the most widely adopted game development engine today is Unity. Though started as engine for 3D Games, it has evolved into very effective platform for building 2D as well as 3D Games and for variety of platforms, i.e. mobile , steam or consoles. Few of the noteworthy games developed with unity engine are :
- Lara Craft Go
- Her Story by Sam Barlow
- Kerbal Space Program
| PROS | CONS |
| Classic editing tools | Not suitable for 2D mobile games due to high file size |
| Supporting conversion of formats according to different operating systems | Requires extensive programming exposure |
| Providing Free License |
Marmalade SDK
The concept behind the Marmalade SDK is the execution of developers to write once and deploy the codes instantly. All the platforms connecting the gaming consoles are supported by Marmalade, which gives developers exposure to control from devices and utilize as many files as they can to deploy the game.
| PROS | CONS |
| Single Source Application | Difficult to submit the created games to Apple Store |
| Easily Re-deploy application to another platform | Occasional Bugs |
| Integrated Libraries for variations in programming |
Cocos 2d-x
This open-source framework is the most advanced cross-platform that provides all the GUI based games to interact using the smallest footprint. The core engine provides the gaming stimulation to provide the fastest speed and optimize through any device using any operating system.
| ADVANTAGES | DISADVANTAGES |
| Lua Language available | only supports 3D |
| Free, Open source | limited plug-ins available |
Audio tools
All the games developed cannot provide the FUN element if the sound is not good. The audio tools provide a wide range of sound effects that can be used according to the game to provide an ultimate experience to the user :
Wwise
This is the most advanced audio tool that features rich-interactive support for developers to create dashing audio using the cross-platform sound effect. Wwise allows the developer to create and tweak sound as and when required using all the behavioural aspects of the game.
FMOD
FMOD is the only audio tool for game developers that allow them to mix the sound files with all the formats and collaborate with all the operating systems as the visual interface provides the developers with enough room to collaborate with other developers and test the project at the same time before final launch.
Conclusion
Choosing a right tool helps you in delivering finished product faster, better and hence cheaper. GenITeam is full stack game development agency and can help in selecting the right tool for game development. We expect Unity and Unreal Engine will be leading in 2020.
