I'm looking for an Android game engine that has three things:

• Ability to code for Android in C or C++
• API to get user's location
• Send and receive data to/from a server (it would need to store small bits of information, like said location)

(Being a game engine, it should be a given that it handles graphics/music/sound/interaction easily. I don't need anything fancy like physics/navigation/taking over the world/etc.)

That's it. Paying for it is not out of the question but I'd rather not pay monthly.

Could anyone suggest an engine like this?

Thanks!!

Moving to Mobile forum. Please check out the Forum FAQ, where engines are the first question.

Thanks for the move. Looked at the FAQ but could still use some suggestions as the list is not thorough (Esenthel being one of the engines that seems to do Android but is not on there). And even if the engines support Android some don't do what I'm asking for so I'm looking for help from people who know for sure either way.

Looked at the FAQ but could still use some suggestions as the list is not thorough (Esenthel being one of the engines that seems to do Android but is not on there).

Correct. That looks like a fairly minor engine.

* Ability to code for Android in C or C++
* API to get user's location
* Send and receive data to/from a server (it would need to store small bits of information, like said location)

The first requirement you can do with just about any Android engine that lets you write platform-specific code; it isn't difficult to add native code to a project, especially when you have the source of the engine. If you want an engine with the core functionality written in C or C++, there are a few of those. I'm assuming Cocos2d-x doesn't meet your needs because you want other features, but it might do what you need.

The second requirement is something you get with Android automatically. It all exists in a nice little bundle inside the com.google.android.gms.location package. If you want to access it in C or C++ code you'll need to wrap it up yourself, or just use the Java package.

Network communication is common in game engines, and many people have written stand-alone libraries with game-centric functionality. Shouldn't be hard to find something that meets your needs.

I don't know of any Android-specific game engines that specifically use both the first and second entries together, you'll probably either need to wrap the gms.location interfaces you need for your app or just switch to Java.

I don't know anything about Java so I'll continue to look for engine suggestions but thanks for the feedback.

Be forwarned that all Android apps are Java. Some libraries might be better at hiding this than other such as Unity but that is C#. If you want your C++, I suspect there are more libraries than full blown engines out there and in that case you're better off knowing some Java and more importantly Java Native Interface (JNI).

It's pretty much like iOS, you're better off knowing some ObjC...

I use an engine now (Leadwerks) with which I can code in C, export to Android, simply compile and run in Eclipse and I have an Android app. It just doesn't do the last two items. I'm sure there are others out there that do and I'll be doing more research this weekend, probably with forum posts on the respective sites. Thank you.

I would seriously consider Java. An engine can do a lot but if there is one thing missing the the engine and you are developing in C there is not way to add it without editing the engine. In a java engine you can use the engine to its full potential and if something is missing you can use java to add it directly to the project and not to the engine.