Mobile app development is famously difficult – not only does it usually require either an esoteric coding language, it will also often require you to work from a specific framework or even, in the case of Apple games, require you to only develop on an Apple product, all while paying a fee. The barrier to entry in game development, at least with apps, has sadly never been higher.
DevKit: Make Games appears to challenge this norm, by offering users the ability to design a game entirely using the inbuilt assistant, then actually publish it directly to the marketplace.
In DevKit, you are given your own handy assistant, represented as a brain that hovers comfortingly on the side. Using your Brain, you can design your entire game simply by answering a series of questions.[sc name=”quote” text=”In DevKit, you are given your own handy assistant, represented as a brain that hovers comfortingly on the side. Using your Brain, you can design your entire game simply by answering a series of questions.”]
However, the initial simplicity with the series of questions belies the inherent complexity going on behind the scenes. Every question asked by the brain, what your Primary Object should be, how do you want it controlled, what should it do when it touches Secondary Objects, every one of those questions represents huge chunks of code that has been pre-written and modified based on your responses to the questions.
This makes the entire process of developing your own game no more difficult than having a bit of a think about what you want. The Brain takes care of every behind the scenes element, leaving only the general decisions to you.
Once you’ve gone through the questions, you get a chance to try your game out. The finished product is obviously… not going to be the best, but that’s okay, but it’s only your first try! Go back and try again as many times as you want! There are so many ways to fine tune and expand your game beyond just the basic one you first make, so don’t worry about not succeeding as a developer.
Once you’ve gone through the process of your first game, the real fun begins when you realise that you can go extremely deep into the nitty-gritty code and change anything and everything you’d like. The beauty of Devkit is that it opens the platform for aspiring developers, but it doesn’t try to hold your hand if you don’t want it either.[sc name=”quote” text=”The beauty of Devkit is that it opens the platform for aspiring developers, but it doesn’t try to hold your hand if you don’t want it either.”]
Devkit is difficult to describe, as it is, in itself, self-propagating. It’s all about making new apps and making it easier than ever before to enter the scene of development.
Any good app should fill a gap in the market and provide something that is needed, but just doesn’t exist yet. For all the difficulties inherent in trying to design an app, Devkit needs to exist – it must. How else are we to get new and interesting games in the future?
Devkit isn’t just a great app. It gives back to the community.
A charitable app. With a brain. What’s not to like?
[review pros=”Incredibly helpful at getting started developing. Easy to use and helpful AI.” cons=”For the experienced user, can feel ever so slightly patronizing.” score=9]
[appbox appstore id1082925346]
