What Room Size is Best for a Mobile Game?

[MouseLiver]

TL;DR I'm a decent programmer wanting to make a point and click dating sim for mobile. I need to know what size room would be best for mobile screens and how to shrink it or blow it up to match every screen without any distortion. There is no need for complex cameras or views, the room size will remain 100% visible and fixed at all times. I've tried doing research online, and have read through several articles that don't really explain it well enough, they just kinda dump code onto me. Any help would be appreciated!

Hello! I'm currently working on a dating sim game for iOS and Android. I've been watching Heartbeast tutorials for a couple of months now, I take notes while doing it and ensure that I understand the code before resuming the videos. I know finally feel comfortable enough to go ahead and begin making my own game, but there are some specific things, like this question, that I still can't work out, and figures that turning to this community would be my best option for development time.

Before I begin, I need to know what size room I should use. I don't want to waste my time on sprites or even on placeholder sprites if I'll just have to resize everything further down the line. Since this is essential a simple point and click game, I know I won't have to mess with cameras or views at all. There is no need for object following, zooming, panning, etc. I just want to know how I can make it fit every type of screen across all iOS and Android devices without weird distortion.

I've searched online already, and couldn't really find anything comprehendable. I hate copy and pasting code, I need to be able to understand it if I'm going to use it. I've heard great things about this community and figured I could probably find some help here If someone could help me out and explain how it all works, that would be awesome! I look forward to developing my first game, and I'm sure you'll all be hearing updates and probaaaably a few more questions out me. Thanks!

 

[flyinian]

TL;DR I'm a decent programmer wanting to make a point and click dating sim for mobile. I need to know what size room would be best for mobile screens and how to shrink it or blow it up to match every screen without any distortion. There is no need for complex cameras or views, the room size will remain 100% visible and fixed at all times. I've tried doing research online, and have read through several articles that don't really explain it well enough, they just kinda dump code onto me. Any help would be appreciated!

Hello! I'm currently working on a dating sim game for iOS and Android. I've been watching Heartbeast tutorials for a couple of months now, I take notes while doing it and ensure that I understand the code before resuming the videos. I know finally feel comfortable enough to go ahead and begin making my own game, but there are some specific things, like this question, that I still can't work out, and figures that turning to this community would be my best option for development time.

Before I begin, I need to know what size room I should use. I don't want to waste my time on sprites or even on placeholder sprites if I'll just have to resize everything further down the line. Since this is essential a simple point and click game, I know I won't have to mess with cameras or views at all. There is no need for object following, zooming, panning, etc. I just want to know how I can make it fit every type of screen across all iOS and Android devices without weird distortion.

I've searched online already, and couldn't really find anything comprehendable. I hate copy and pasting code, I need to be able to understand it if I'm going to use it. I've heard great things about this community and figured I could probably find some help here If someone could help me out and explain how it all works, that would be awesome! I look forward to developing my first game, and I'm sure you'll all be hearing updates and probaaaably a few more questions out me. Thanks!

You can look at current resolution for mobile phones and base your game off of that. current phone resolutions

It also depends on how much detail you want in your game. If you want less detail go with a smaller resolution. If you want more detail go with a larger resolution.

I do believe a 16:9 resolution is recommended for just about anything.

It's better to use a smaller resolution in a aspect ratio because you can scale the resolution to fit the phone's resolution. There are also tricks you can do to hide black bars.

As for sprites, Keep them an integer of 2's. 2x2, 4x4,... 16x16, 32x32, 64x64, etc.

Smaller the sprite the better.

Take a look at this article about scaling your game.

For the room size, Just make it the same size as your view port. Room size doesn't effect resolution. The view port and the camera effects the resolution. You'll want to make the view port and the camera same size.


P.S. I am also making a point and click game and I ma using a base resolution of 640 X 360. It should scale nicely to any 16:9 resolution.

 

[ophelius]

Most phones have a 16:9 aspect ratio. These are some common resolutions with that aspect:
480x270
640x360
960x540
1280x720
1600x900
1920x1080

Set your camera to one of these sizes which is how big an area that will be captured in your room and sent to the viewport. Your viewport should be equal to or an integer multiple higher than your camera. A higher viewport will mean more accurate pixel movement.

Even if the phone has a different aspect ratio, GM will centre the game on the screen putting black bars on the top/bottom or sides.

If you don't want black bars, then you'll need to write code to figure out the display size and screen ratio, and then resize your camera and viewport in-game to match the ratio. So if your code determines the screen is 4:3, then your camera and viewport should be resolutions like 800x600, etc. This will mean having to dynamically position things in your camera's view to make any ratio work. Most people just make it easy on themselves and live with the black bars.

But pick 16:9, on most phones it will be full screen.