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I currently developed 4 multiplayer games on Android using andEngine.

The problem is the engine is kind of dead(no commit in the past 8 months) and I'd like to start developing in another good engine.

I saw playN and it looks promising, but my target is only Android devices(maybe iOs).

So, if I target only mobile devices what are the advantages/disadvantages of using playN vs a specific android game engine.

Fofole
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Interresting question. Here is my point of view.

Personally, as a PlayN huge fan, I see anyway one disadvantage if you compare it with a specific android game engine. PlayN use only OpenGL ES 2, it's a real problem if you want to develop a simple 2D game with big compatibility. For instance, it won't work on Samsung ACE.

But, I see many advantages :

  • Testing. Testing is really great with PlayN. You don't have to load a heavy emulator. You load the test and you can play it in a native window.

  • The Maven generation is quite awesome ! All your project can be generated, tested, run with maven with simple command lines. I know it's more a maven advantage than a PlayN advantage, but PlayN is really well connected with. In two command lines you can create your project and test it (because it comes with a sample code)

  • You only want to develop for Android, that's great, but don't shut the door already. You can develop your game for android, test and publish it. If people like it, you don't have to do much work to publish it on iPhone the next month.

It's just what I think. I hope it helps.

sajjadG
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dawi
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  • Thanks alot. Very nice observations. I currently was more inclined for libgdx but you even the balance :) – Fofole Mar 07 '13 at 10:11
  • More than 90% of devices support OpenGL ES 2.0. It's quite enough for more. http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html – Hartok Apr 01 '13 at 23:07
  • So I don't have chance, I know much people that don't have opengl es 2.0 than people who have it. For instance, in France a lot of people bought the Samsung Ace (with Android 2.3). You can't build PlayN with that phones. – dawi Apr 02 '13 at 08:09
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I'm no expert, but from what I've seen in PlayN's website, you can't compare AndEngine to PlayN. PlayN is no game engine, it's a library to help you compile your game in several platforms.

By the way, you say there's no activity in AndEngine, but I've just checked and, well, it's not much, but the project seems to be alive in github.

Also, I would like to bring another engine to the discussion: libgdx.

I'm thinking of creating some videogame for android and I'm doing some research for game engines and so far the most promising I've found among the free engines is libgdx. What do you think about it?

Daniel Hernández Alcojor
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