If you’re looking to develop your own games for Android you’re going to need to know where to start. Of course, there are plenty of online courses that can help you with this. There are even some college classes that focus specifically on this topic.
But before you spend your hard earned money see if you think you have what it takes to learn this amazing skill.

The Outline — an Overview of Android Game Development includes: 1) Programming in Linux 2) Game design basics 3) Code in Java and port to Android 4) Code using basic Linux Tools — below we have listed each one of these with a little more detail.

Learn Linux, First
Before you even think of making a game for android you should learn how to program some basic things on a basic Linux installation. There are thousands of tutorials all over the web, from the most basic to the most complicated things you could imagine. If you can learn some basics writing some programs on Linux then you might have what it takes to actually make a game for the android.

Game Design Basics
You should also spend some time reviewing some game design theories. There are plenty out there. You might just want to make a basic side scroller or puzzle game. But if you don’t know a thing about balancing the game you might spend hours and hours programming a game that’s too difficult (or easy) to be any fun to play, and worst of all? If you don’t code everything just right you won’t even be able to go back and change the difficulty. Study the basics and make sure you understand them before diving in.

Code it in Java
This is one of the most popular routes for game designers looking to get an app on the Android. Java is a fairly simple object oriented programming language. It allows you to write your program once and then run it on any system that supports the Java virtual machine. If you can learn to program a game in Java on any operating system then you can get it into Android. You really should focus on the previous suggestions before you jump into this, though, because they’re helpful when coding in Java, too. If you think you already have what it takes (or already know how to code games in Java) then you’re good to go!

Learn to Code with Basic Linux Programming Tools
You’re going to need to learn some “advanced basic” tools. These aren’t tools that the biggest newbie can use, but after you have learned some basic programming skills you will easily be able to transition into these tools. They include: 1) OpenGL 2) GCC 3) The GIMP – OpenGL is a graphics rendering engine. It provides an API that you can use to issue instructions to the machine to display the graphics in your game.

GCC is the GNU C Compiler. It’s a standard tool used to take your C programs and convert them to stand alone applications. It’s critical that you learn to use this if you’re going to be successful at coding games for the Android. The GIMP is the “Graphic Image Manipulation Program” and is a popular tool for independent game developers that need to make their own graphics. Take the knowledge you’ve learned and apply it, grasshopper. You will be a super star in the gaming world in no time.

So, let’s recap the Story
It really all depends on what kind of a person you are and how hard you’re willing to work. Once you start the courses you will see if this is something you want to do. If you can’t wait for the next class this is the game for you. If you’re nervous and think how all this Linux and Java programming is boring stuff you should find some other occupation.

Author Bio: This article is drawn by Jason Phillips. He is a gaming freak and love to play video games. Moreover he has written many commendable articles on online gaming, click here to see some games.