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Zipline Games推iOS和Android跨平台游戏开发解决方案

发布时间:2011-04-07 16:31:45 Tags:,,,

据venturebeat报道,手机游戏公司Zipline Games最近推出了支持开发iOS和Android跨平台游戏的解决方案——Moai游戏开发平台(Moai Game Development Platform,Moai取名于太平洋复节岛上的巨石雕像)。

Moai Game Development Platform

Moai Game Development Platform

因为手机领域长期存在的平台分裂性问题,游戏开发者不得不大费周章,向多个平台推出不同版本的游戏。为解决这一问题,不少新兴企业纷纷推出了自己的解决方案,但目前尚无一者堪称理想的工具。

Zipline的这项新技术主要面向专业游戏开发者,它主要分为两部分:其一是负责控制游戏的云寄存等后端处理任务的一项基于服务器的技术,其二是基于Lua游戏编写语言的软件开发工具箱。这套解决方案使用的是开源开发平台,最适合创建2D游戏。

游戏邦获悉,Moai游戏开发平台在软件开发工具箱这方面的劲敌包括:Moblyng、Epic Games、MoMinis、RealNetworks、Ansca Mobile、Sibblingz、GameSalad和Appcelerator Titanium等公司旗下的工具;在云技术层面的竞争对手则包括Heroku。Zipline公司董事长Todd Hooper表示,他们主要偏重于开发高质量的游戏,而非简单的应用产品。该开发平台还将提供云服务,支持开发者使用开源的Lua基础设施。因为Lua是一种简洁轻量的语言,所以由此创建的游戏运行速度会很快。Moai游戏开发平台支持开发者同时向iPhone和Android平台发布游戏。

尽管Zipline只是一家初创企业,但已获得了一些显赫人物的支持,这其中就包括新兴游戏公司Smith & Tinker董事长及著名游戏开发者Jordan Weisman,后者已计划使用Moai开发手机游戏。据称已有一些不知名的工作室正采用Moai开发游戏,Zipline自己也正利用该工具创建两款游戏。

对于一家去年12月份才刚成立的公司来说,这种成绩还算不俗。

Hooper表示创建出色的手机游戏,再通过基于云的后台系统对其进行扩展,一直是困扰游戏开发者的一个现实问题。但开发者采用了Moai工具后,就可以集中精力构思独特的游戏玩法,使用Lua语言一次性完成代码编写,不需要在多种语言和框架之间来回切换。

游戏邦认为Moai平台的云技术非常关键,因为它可以帮助开发者快速创建针对多人模式游戏、可下载内容的相关功能,这些功能可以有助于开发者更顺利地实现收益。

当然,开发者也可以选择使用Heroku服务,但大多数游戏开发者对这项服务所采用的Ruby开发程序都不是很熟悉。另外,许多开发者自主创建的解决方案,经常跟不上游戏发展步伐,在游戏产生影响力之后就开始失效。

WolfToss

WolfToss

据Hooper所称,Zipline使用自己的工具创建了一款物理益智游戏《WolfToss》,在不到一周的时间中该游戏就可运行于iPhone平台,仅隔数天之后,它又顺利登陆了Android平台。这种开发过程确实很高效,也证明Moai是个很管用的开发平台。

Zipline创始人是来自任天堂、Groundspeak和Amaze Entertainment的元老级人物,由联合创始人Patrick Meehan担任首席技术官。该公司位于西雅图,目前有10名成员,投资者包括Founders Co-Op和Benaroya Capital。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,转载请注明来源:游戏邦)

Zipline enables real games that run across mobile platforms

Zipline Games is launching a new game development platform today that allows game makers to craft a single game that’s capable of running across both Apple and Google mobile platforms.

Game developers’ resources are getting stretched thin adapting games to run on all the different types of mobile platforms, and quite a few startups are trying to solve the problem, making the market crowded. But the fact that there are so many suggests that no one is solving it perfectly yet.

Zipline’s technology, called Moai Game Development Platform, targets professional game developers and has two parts. (Moai is named after the human face carvings on Easter Island). One is a server-based technology that handles back-end processing tasks such as cloud hosting for games. The other is a software development kit built around the Lua game scripting language. The whole solution uses an open-source development platform that works well with two-dimensional games.

On the software development kit front, rivals include Moblyng, Epic Games, MoMinis, RealNetworks, Ansca Mobile, Sibblingz, GameSalad and Appcelerator Titanium. On the cloud front, rivals include Heroku. Todd Hooper (pictured), chief executive of Seattle-based Zipline, said his company will distinguish itself by focusing on high-quality games, not simple stuff. It will also provide cloud services and let developers use the familiar open source Lua infrastructure. Since Lua is a low-level language, games built with it run fast. The platform lets developers publish to the iPhone and Android at the same time.

While Zipline is just getting started, it has one high-profile convert. Jordan Weisman, chief executive of game startup Smith & Tinker and a renowned game developer, plans to use Moai to make a mobile game. Moai games are already in production at multiple unnamed game studios, and Zipline is doing two games of its own to show off the platform.

That’s not bad for a company that was formed in December.

Hooper said that game developers have been fretting about the challenge of building great mobile games and extending them with a cloud-based backend system. Moai lets developers focus on their unique game play and write code in Lua from start to finish instead of switching between multiple languages and architectures.

The cloud part of the platform is important because it enables game developers to quickly make features for multiplayer games, downloadable content, and persistent worlds. All of those features can make it easier for developers to make more money from their games.

Developers could use Heroku, but most game developers aren’t familiar with the Ruby development process it uses. And many solutions game developers create themselves don’t work properly when a game becomes popular.

Hooper said that Zipline used its own tools to create a physics-based puzzle game called Wolf Toss. Within a week it was running on the iPhone and it ran on Android a couple of more days after that. That’s a pretty fast development cycle and shows that the platform is easy to use, Hooper said.

Zipline’s founders include veterans from Nintendo, Groundspeak and Amaze Entertainment. Co-founder Patrick Meehan is the chief technology officer. The company has raised an undisclosed amount of money from investors including Founders Co-Op and Benaroya Capital. Zipline has 10 employees.(source:venturebeat


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