[java] Java to develop Mobile Games

I never made games for mobile devices, but once I investigated the possibility of porting a proxy from PowerPC to PalmOS. In order to experiment a little, I downloaded Java ME (micro edition) and the NetBeans IDE, that already has many features to build Java ME applications. I don't remember if I needed to download an optional package for it.
Mobile devices are a big market and they will become more and more. I think that if you are interested in this it could worth in the future to know the enviroment.

If you plan to do it commercially, you need to look into who's publishing right now and how you can get your stuff on the phones. Quite simply, some providers aren't seeking third-parties to develop phone games for their download services.

you may want to check this thread for resources: The Big FAQ

eclipse is good for j2me. throw in the eclipseme plugin and you've got everything you need (heard of intellij idea java ide, they say it's up-to-par with eclipse).

"a small game" - define small :) because all mobile games are small ;) anyway, if you want your game to reach max audience, you'll probably want to port it on as many devices as you can. typical commercial game comes for 40+ devices, each device version translated in 5 languages. as a one-man show, it's next to impossible to reach this mass market level - keep in mind that each device has different issues, starting from screen size (btw, this really means that you need to have different art assets for at least mainstream screen resolutions) and ending with funny bugs. also, keep in mind that it's quite impossible to reach mobile phone operators without the previous requirements, so you'll have to go some other ways for distribution.

good luck ;)

Netbeans 4.1 and its mobility package is a great IDE to work with J2ME, and it's free. Most of the features are tighted to business development and J2EE integration, but it's really worth taking a look.

My advice to you is to stay close to Sony-Ericsson ;) They have many tools and APIs available for their phones, everything is easy to integrate and put to work. Besides that, they have policies for third party developers, and many contests as well.

BTW, Sony Ericsson has support for their emulators in the netbeans environment. You can find more info here.

Son Of Cain

Yes, i have just discovered NetBeans on the internet and will have to try it out this weekend. To be honest I suspect that I don't really know enough about mobile devices and how to program for them. For example I still don't understand what is actually necessary for a mobile user to download and install a game on a mobile. Will have to research this.

What about iPods?

Martin.

Ok, so it looks like mobile game would requie a lot of effort even if it was really simple because of the variety of incompatible features on different mobiles.

So i suppose i have to bring in more resources. Are the profits on mobile games worth even doing? Is there any indie market for it? I know i will have to do proper research ofcourse.

Cheers, Martin.