New Tools for Game Development on Android
Article Summary
Google just open-sourced a physics engine with fluid simulation and made Unity integration dead simple. If you're building mobile games, December 2013 brought some serious firepower to your toolkit.
Google announced major updates to its game development ecosystem, focusing on making advanced physics and cross-platform integration more accessible. The release includes both a new open-source library and improved tooling for popular game engines.
Key Takeaways
- LiquidFun open-sourced: C++ 2D physics library with particle-based fluid simulation
- New Unity plugin supports sign-in, achievements, leaderboards, and cloud save
- Game categories expanding in February 2014 with Simulation, RPG, and Educational
- LiquidFun builds on Box2D, works across Android, Linux, OSX, and Windows
Google is lowering the barrier to advanced game physics and cross-platform services, giving indie and mid-size studios tools previously reserved for larger teams.
About This Article
Game developers struggled to add realistic physics and fluid simulation to their games. Building these systems from scratch took significant time and required specialized expertise.
Google open-sourced LiquidFun, a C++ 2D physics library built on Box2D that includes particle-based fluid simulation. It comes with pre-built methods to compile for Android, Linux, OSX, and Windows.
Developers can now add advanced physics and fluid interactions to games across multiple platforms without as much complexity. This makes it easier to build more sophisticated gameplay experiences for the three out of four Android users who play games.