I’ll start with the TLDR: Because they’re quicker to write and easy to maintain.
The longer story is this……
As a currently part time indie game developer, I have limited time to write games. So if I have any chance to release any amount of games in a year, I need to stick to simple games, that are quick to write. Based on this, I can go one of two ways, write casual single tap mobile games, like Flappy Bird, Pineapple Pen or 2048, or I could focus on older Arcade style games like Space Invaders, Tempest, Missile command and Pac Man.
Now I’ve chosen retro arcade games for two reasons. One, I am less likely to get sued, due to the sheer number of arcade game clones over the decades, and secondly, I prefer playing the older arcade style games that the newer often, single tap only mobile games that dominate the market today.
My current project is finishing off “Many Mini Invaders” – Play Store link here
After this, I’ll be moving onto a version of Bomber, sticking to 8-bit blocky graphics and 8-bit sounds for that authentic feel. I’ll use my old PC version as a base to work from.
I agree! What platform(s) do you use for creating arcade games? I’m a MS CS teacher, asking for what might work in my classes!
Hi,
If I’m writing for PC then I use a program called Blitz Basic, but that’s obsolete now.
When writing for Android, I use Basic4Android (B4A), http://www.b4x.com. It’s based on viaul basic, but compiles to native android code, and has many useful libraries for graphics, database access, google maps, embedded web views, etc….. It’s much easier than using Android Studio that means you need to learn either Java or Kotlin.