Just a quick question and im looking for opinions or more knowledge I suppose. When the individuals developers of these games on here, release updates. Why is it that, they don't update all the platforms, that the game was previously released on? I personally play the games on here on my Android. There are quite a few games on here that I like. But when its being updated. Android is on v2 and all the other platforms are on v9.. Is it just laziness or is there something else going on. Thank you for any responses ahead of time !!
Game Release and Updates
- Thread starter BayouBanga
- Start date
- Sep 13, 2016
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Because it takes extra effort and time to port games to different platforms. And that might not be worthwhile in every case, especially for every single update.
So either just wait until the next android version is released or instead play on pc like most people.
So either just wait until the next android version is released or instead play on pc like most people.
I dont know if you do, I know I don't. And this is just a general question. How long does it actually take to port something ? Is it something that if you know what your doing takes 20 minutes. Or no matter what takes a couple hours ?
- Aug 5, 2020
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It takes as long as it takes. It's not a one size fits all process and some difficulties are more intractable than others.
- Sep 13, 2016
- 3,540
- 7,112
Heavily depends on what engine the game is running and how the game was made, best case scenario takes less than a minute to just compile the apk.
But things aren't always perfect, the developer more often than not has to test if everything is working, and if something is wrong then they have to go back and change the code until things become compatible with android as well. This process can take a few extra hours or even days depending on how deep the incompatibilities are.
In short, it is a process that can lead to a lot of extra headache to something that probably isn't worthwhile midway through the game development. More often than not ports are made once the game is actually complete to avoid having to manage and update two different versions of the game in parallel.
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Two typical reasons for having an earlier version for android, but not the latest, are:
1) The Android port is made by a someone else, not the developer. That someone else has moved on/not gotten around to it yet.
2) Game size: Afaik Android ports aren't supposed to exceed 2 GB in size. I was able to just make an Android port without extra effort for the early versions of my game, but now the game has 5 GB. So to make an Android port, I'd first need to compress it.
1) The Android port is made by a someone else, not the developer. That someone else has moved on/not gotten around to it yet.
2) Game size: Afaik Android ports aren't supposed to exceed 2 GB in size. I was able to just make an Android port without extra effort for the early versions of my game, but now the game has 5 GB. So to make an Android port, I'd first need to compress it.