IOS (IPHONE) vs ANDROID game development? which one should i go for first?

well, i decided to learn java in order to make games for android , thinking that its a lot better since its really growing rapidly , but i have lots of friends saying that iphone market is more solid, so im not quite sure,

based on what i read about unity, i only need to make the game working on my computer, then use the plugin whether is ios or android to port the game to that O.S. is it true?

i've been searching the forums for quite sometime, reading about games, development and stuff like that, its amazing that people actually think that the PC market is most profitable one, but i can't think of way to advertise or sell any game on pc unless its been released by a company with lots of employees, as for me, a one man developer "if i get lucky" i might get a 2d graphic designer , im aiming for games on ios and android. since i dont really need to re-learn the objective C or Java for making games. (correct me if im wrong though).

so what do you guys suggest? iphone? or android? would it be a hassle to release it on both phones?
im currently lost to be honest. i mean sure, i have the idea and all, the concept is pretty easy to accomplish, however where to start is the hard part . i heard that i basically need no prior programming language to start making a game, maybe few scripting knowledge. i just downloaded unity3d , and i'll start checking youtube/tutorials

sorry for making this long.
basically what do i need to make an iphone game? and android game? if you were me, would u make an iphone? or android game? and why? ..

thanks.

ps. would help a lot if you have a link on where to start "i do use the search function and google" but if you feel generous, i'd appreciate it =)

 

Definitely iPhone and possibly Mac app store. I have heard android users tend to spend less on apps in general and the android app store from what I have heard is a complete mess. I have had an app on apple's store and have not had one problem.

 

I would say i-phone for it's uniformity and loyal customer base

 

There was a similar question about a week ago:

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/11...tart-out-developing-on-Android-or-IOS-(iPhone

For Android you will need:
PC or Mac
Android phone (Nexus S is a good one)
Unity Android ($US400)

For iOS you will need:
Mac only (OSX 10.5 or higher [requires at least 1GB RAM and Intel CPU])
iPod Touch or iPhone
Apple developer account ($US99)
Unity iOS ($US400)

Software development is difficult, Unity does make things significantly easier than other engines but if you have no software experience it will take time and effort to learn. There are some good resources available.

If you are planning on releasing a title you should have more than one device for testing. The costs can add up quite quickly, it really depends on budget but if it is going to be on both platforms, I found Android easier to get going. As people say there is more money in the iOS market, it is far more competitive for the same reason. I don't think a b-grade title will make much money anywhere these days.

 

I would say iPhone too but have no experience in it.

Also you will need objective C# actually. You dont need Java. I'm sure its good to know and might help you in your career but you dont need it for unity as such.

Also dont underestime how difficult these things are...

 

That's a scary concept. Objective C is what you mean, you shouldn't really have to deal with that at all, you can write all your code inside Unity using C#. I think some third party integrations for ads and OS features require bits of Objective-C, similarly there is some C++/(Java?) coding for integrating some of those features for Android too.

 

I thought that you still have to know your fair way around objective C as soon as you want to release on iOS? If not lucky us

 

You can program in unity with C#, but you can also use a variant of JavaScript nicknamed unity script. It might be good to know C# if you are trying to get help on the Internet, but in reality, you can get along pretty well with only knowing JavaScript.

 

Android is the easiest. Install the Android SDK then it's just one click build with your phone connected via USB. It compiles and boots up on your phone just as if you were building on the PC. Android phones tend to have better hardware for gaming too. But iPhone is better if you want to make money.

Android market is much better now, it's had two complete revisions in the last 4 months and is much more streamlined than it used to be. Easy to pay for apps too where previously it was a bit of a pig.

Only reason to develop for the iphone is that the locked hardware means it's harder to pirate and people are more likely to buy your game. Can't think of any other reason but that is a biggy

 

ANDROID. Its opensource hence it has a good future.

 

I'm not entirely sure, I haven't released anything for iOS yet, but I can build and run my game without touching any Objective C.

 

Its also a wandering pile of open security holes ranged in the medium to severe range, its possible to illegaly read out all your data without rooting or without you allowing non market place apps. Opensource != good, opensource = every trash spitter will use it (huwai for example)


and no you don't need to know objectc if you want to release to iOS unless you want to write plugins for features unity does not offer out of the box

 

thank you guys for the kind replies, well... to be honest since i was an iphone customer, and im an android one, i have to agree with the ones who said that iphone market is a lot better than the android. guess i'll start without learning C# at the moment, since it uses both java script and C # , i might use them both, im sure i got myself into programming in C# few years ago, but left it cuz i had nothing to do with it.

anyways, thank you for clearing things for me . i appreciate it.

 

iOS: Small set of hardware to support. Generally fast/good quality. Easy to support.

Android: Small handful of hardware as at least as good as iOS devices, some better, but TONNES of S***ty pieces of crap as well. These ppl will download your game and give you a crappy rating because they were too cheap to buy a decent phone and your game doesnt play well on their cruddy device. Ignorance is bliss!

iOS: Market is flooded. Being a well established market, getting noticed can be as much about luck. You're game will have to be polished to even get a look in. Will probably also need to feature (kittens/ninjas/pirates/angry animals/zombies). You will need to go through quality control, but thats a good thing IMO.

Android: Younger market, so not as much competition, but its full of crap (and getting fuller), there are no quality controls, and ppl WILL pirate your software if you write anything half decent (even crappy stuff gets ripped off)

iOS: You need a mac (note: only for the final compilation... you can do all the work on a pc)
Android: You dont

 

I personally cannot squeeze a f*cking penny out of the android market, but maybe it's just me. Android customers are pretty cheap, imo. Since they got angry birds for free they expect every paid app to be by better than angry birds.
But if you are not in for the money but just for fun, then I like android. There's no review process, you can publish, unpublish versions of your game as you please. You can use the android customers as beta testers for what you would release on iOS or publish your game for free there to try to get some popularity for your iOS version.

 

iOS if you use a mac. Android if you don't and can't afford a mac.

 

you only need a bottom of the barrel mac to do the compilation... as long as it can run the latest version of xcode, you are all good.

Speaking of xcode. What a cruddy IDE that is...

 

The only thing is a 'bottom of the barrel' mac costs as much as a mid range PC. I got burned by this logic buying a 6 year old mac mini second hand only to discover that the min spec. for a recent OS had made this official Apple hardware obsolete. I then had to buy another mac, I bought the cheapest available for $AU700, an equivalent PC would cost half as much.

 

true, well to be honest im thinking about the future, like most said, since android is open source "i heard some rumors that 4.0 will probably be closed source" im not sure though, anyways, lots of people think that since its opensource everything on it should be free. now, i certainly can't afford mac atm , but i can surely borrow one from a friend of mine or use one i have at work. .

btw, dont i need the unity3d pro license? in order to deploy as well? whats the difference between ios and ios pro, as well as the android/android pro.

but seriously guys , thanks , that cleared alot of thoughts about where to start. im definitely going for iphone.

 

see here:
http://unity3d.com/unity/licenses.html

 

I believe the minimum you will need to pay to do iOS releases is $400 for the iOS licence/plugin/whateveritscalled.

The pro offers more features, but depending on the game your making, you wont need them. I don't think you get profiling on the free version, which is a bit of a bummer. End of the day, I would get my game 90% done on the free version, then trial the pro to get those features for a limited time.

As sad as it is, the main reason I jumped straight into pro was because I wanted the external version control. Going between mac/pc was proving to be a pain in the ass.

Im still to buy iOS licences. Going to wait a few months till ive got more money + more game ready.

 

thanks guys, and best of luck jlcnz

just checked that license link, there are too many stuff that i have no idea about, so im guessing its better to stay basic for now "money wise" of course