Ok, I'm coming from Lua and LÖVE and want to get into Mobile Game Development. I'm 13 years old and have made a game. I'd like to port this game over to Android: http://love2d.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=34307

I know, the game might be kind of meh, but I'd still like to port it over. Maybe not release it, but just mess around with Mobile Game development.

The problem is, I can't find a way to get started with Android Game Development on YouTube/Vimeo/DailyMotion/anything like that. I don't like reading books for those sorts of things. TheNewBoston's tutorials are outdated. Maybe if someone could help me find a tutorial?

I don't really like Java, but I can't find anything else to use with Android. Python+Kivy didn't work because I didn't like Kivy. LÖVE-Android is kind of a lost cause, ActionScript+CitrusEngine didn't work because of lack of docs on ActionScript+Software+Docs on CE. C/C++ sucks IMO(I don't like it), and Ruby is kind of meh. If I had to I'd use Ruby, but what I really want is to use Lua.

I love Lua! It's awesome!! CoronaSDK looks good, but I couldn't find any tutorials on it!! Like, at ALL!! Corona seems to be the way to go, so I have a few questions on it:

1) It is PURE PURE PURE PURE PURE PURE PURE PURE 100% code, right?

2) I can publish to Android + iOS, right?

3) I can make good games with the free version, right?

4) I can integrate GameCenter/ScoreLoop/OpenFeint and Facebook/Twitter/Google+, right?

5) A 13 year old could do this, right? :)

Also, I hear (if you are a serious developer) the $500 a year fee for the CoronaSDK is WAYYY worth it. Is this right?

So yeah, if I get money from some apps that I made I'd like to make iOS apps, and make money from that. Then if I get money from that I'll get a paid version of Corona and make more apps :)

Also, now I have questions about Google Play that I couldn't find the answer to!

I hear it's $25(or £17 for me(I'm from Ireland)) to publish an app to Google Play. Is this per-app or per-year or per-month or what? I know iOS is £100 a year, which is insane(unless you have the money). I own a Mac(I own several), so I can do iOS development No problem! :D

So yeah, thanks for reading. Please don't take a rage-fit at me if some questions here are stupid. I'm new to Mobile Game Development and really want to get my hands dirty! Thanks!

If you want to make a game for any of the mobile platforms you will need to use tools for that platform.

There are a few cross-platform tools available (in the Forum FAQ) but you will notice that Lua is not one of them. Some of the free tools support Lua script, but they require additional work.




Much of the rest of your post deals with doing business as a youth.


The answers to 2, 3, 4, and 5 are "No, not without an adult."


At age 13, you cannot publish your programs by yourself. Some of the SDKs and development tools also have agreements that cannot be entered into by a minor.

It may not feel like it, but posting apps and games for sale online is doing business. Taxes are involved, contracts (express or implied) are involved, financial regulations are involved, and so on.

At age 13 you will not legally be allowed make the agreements with Apple or Google or Amazon or any of the other major game distributors. You will need a parent/guardian to agree to the forms, to provide bank account information, and to provide tax information. There are ways for it to be done, but in order to do it legally your parents need to be active participants.

Also it costs money for the publishers to provide the service. The fees they charge is actually very small for the business world. When you become an adult you will discover that the fees (and taxes) of the real world cost much, much more. Get your parents involved if you really want to enter the business world.

For the agreements you can always just lie and say your older, I'm sure you've already done your fair share of that if you've come this far.

I checked out your game and it looks pretty neat, keep up the good work and I bet you'll have a great future in game development!

The one problem you'll have is dealing with all the money related stuff, like taxes or even just getting paid. you'll need a parent or someone to help with that. If you keep trying and being persistant you'll find a way to get it done.

I'd honestly suggest just taking the time to learn java if you wanna do android, everything else is gonna be a complicated headache to get working right and to learn without and prior android experience. using java in eclipse with the android plugin is definitely the most hassle free way to work with android, it just means your gonna have to set aside some time to really learn at least basic java before you start porting your game over. There are a lot of free android game engines for java also, I'd recommend libgdx or andengine for you. Libgdx is my personal favorite. Or if you don't want to use an engine check out Mario Zechners android game programming book. I know you don't like books but If you can force yourself to go through a whole book carefully and do everything the auther says to the letter, you'll feel like an expert by the time your done. I used to hate reading technical books too but when I need to learn something quickly and thoroughly I force myself to read a book and make sure I understand every line in the entire book without telling myself "i don't need that," or "I already know that" and skipping over it.

thats all I have I'm gettin tired.

Good luck and keep being persistant! You have the talent to do some awesome stuff

For the agreements you can always just lie and say your older, I'm sure you've already done your fair share of that if you've come this far.

I checked out your game and it looks pretty neat, keep up the good work and I bet you'll have a great future in game development!

The one problem you'll have is dealing with all the money related stuff, like taxes or even just getting paid. you'll need a parent or someone to help with that. If you keep trying and being persistant you'll find a way to get it done.

I'd honestly suggest just taking the time to learn java if you wanna do android, everything else is gonna be a complicated headache to get working right and to learn without and prior android experience. using java in eclipse with the android plugin is definitely the most hassle free way to work with android, it just means your gonna have to set aside some time to really learn at least basic java before you start porting your game over. There are a lot of free android game engines for java also, I'd recommend libgdx or andengine for you. Libgdx is my personal favorite. Or if you don't want to use an engine check out Mario Zechners android game programming book. I know you don't like books but If you can force yourself to go through a whole book carefully and do everything the auther says to the letter, you'll feel like an expert by the time your done. I used to hate reading technical books too but when I need to learn something quickly and thoroughly I force myself to read a book and make sure I understand every line in the entire book without telling myself "i don't need that," or "I already know that" and skipping over it.

thats all I have I'm gettin tired.

Good luck and keep being persistant! You have the talent to do some awesome stuff

I know Java already, and I have tried LibGDX. Don't kill me for saying this, but it was just a headache. I couldn't get it to display an image, after asking around for a week people said that it worked for them. The ADT plugin for Eclipse: I've tried that, and I think I have it setup right. It shows an Android logo when it starts up, but doesn't actually startup. I've never heard of andengine.

And also, thanks for your kind words about my game! It was my first project and I did get a lot of positive feedback on the thread. But I feel like I can do better.

And yeah, to get far you do need to bend the truth a little, right? ;) It's like reading the Term's and Conditions: Not everyone does it(though I'm sure a few people do! ;) )

If you want to make a game for any of the mobile platforms you will need to use tools for that platform.

There are a few cross-platform tools available (in the Forum FAQ) but you will notice that Lua is not one of them. Some of the free tools support Lua script, but they require additional work.




Much of the rest of your post deals with doing business as a youth.


The answers to 2, 3, 4, and 5 are "No, not without an adult."


At age 13, you cannot publish your programs by yourself. Some of the SDKs and development tools also have agreements that cannot be entered into by a minor.

It may not feel like it, but posting apps and games for sale online is doing business. Taxes are involved, contracts (express or implied) are involved, financial regulations are involved, and so on.

At age 13 you will not legally be allowed make the agreements with Apple or Google or Amazon or any of the other major game distributors. You will need a parent/guardian to agree to the forms, to provide bank account information, and to provide tax information. There are ways for it to be done, but in order to do it legally your parents need to be active participants.

Also it costs money for the publishers to provide the service. The fees they charge is actually very small for the business world. When you become an adult you will discover that the fees (and taxes) of the real world cost much, much more. Get your parents involved if you really want to enter the business world.

Actually, my parents are very active in this. I'm trying to get my dad into programming, and they are active and are willing to support me(and have done) the whole way through this(Since 10).

Thanks for the replies and answers guys! :D

You could look up GameMaker Studio. It makes the different platforms easier to code for. It has a history of being known as a "toy" and "kids" thing, but in reality it is much more powerful than that, especially recently. The IDE is where you load in all of your resources(and create some too). You won't need to code in loading sprites or sounds, and the room editor is where you say what things are where. This program is designed for 2d games, but there are a bit of 3d capabilities too, though 2d is probably best for speed, ease, and considering the mobile market.

The actual game coding can be done with a simplistic drag&drop kind of thing, but it is somewhat limited, and even though it can do much, the window gets cluttered if you have too many blocks, so you will likely want to learn the GML scripting language. It has similarities to Java/Javascript/C++, so you could probably pick it up quick, and once you do, you can do about anything with it.

Another point is that at the moment, if you have the Master Collection, which right now costs $499, you get the best version of the program, with all of the current exports, and any future exports they create this version. That means you get Windows, Linux, MacOS, iOS, Android, HTML5, Tizen, Windows 8(different from regular windows for the desktop integration), and Windows Phone 8, along with any future exports this version comes out with. Also, it is a one off purchase, not a yearly thing, and the next version is pretty far off, as it will be a complete re-write.

Another thing I can say is that the company(yoyogames) that bought this software has made great improvements since they did so. Originally, it was designed to only work on windows, though it was pretty good for that. Yoyo has turned it into something else. They have made the actual code much faster and added many features. Just a few days ago, they have released a beta version that includes code compilation and shaders. The normal versions at the moment don't do any shaders, so some special effects are harder to do, but now, you will be able to write OpenGLES shaders, which can be in use for anything that gets drawn, so you can do many special effects. This also will upgrade the 3d side of things, because with shaders, you can create your own materials instead of the default diffuse one that gets used in 3d mode. And the code compilation is going to be great too. The GML code currently gets interpreted at run-time, similar to Java's code interpretation, and so is relatively slow. Once they are done with this, that GML code will be compiled to native code, which would be like C++ on windows, Obj-C for iOS, etc... so the speed will be top-notch.

Maybe I wasn't clear, but GameMaker is, well, a Game Maker. Why would I use that? GML, like you said, I can use, but even so. Why would I use it!? I don't like the idea of GameMaker and never have. It'd be different if you wanted to make a high-res CoD game, then you could understand using UDK or something, but why would I use GameMaker? It's just a stupid answer.

I just reviewed a game by a 13 year old on my blog: http://unkandapps.blogspot.com/2013/06/strategic-labyrinth-lite.html

B4A is 'easy' for Anddev and it can handle even advanced tasks like hardware acceleration, database connectivity, etc. and the support is far above par. The game in my signature was written in B4A.

B4A is paid, thought it does look good :) Defiantly better than suggesting Game Maker

Thanks for suggesting it! I'll keep it in mind!!