Discover how Lego Minifigures Online was optimised for tablets

This year, mobile games will replace consoles as the largest game segment by revenue, according to market research firm Newzoo. It’s no surprise, then, that developing touch-based Windows games and Android software development are top of the agenda for today’s game developers.

When Funcom developed Lego Minifigures Online, it considered both 2 in 1 PCs and Android tablets to be primary target devices. To get the best from Intel graphics hardware, it used Intel’s pixel synchronisation extension, which gives developers control over the ordering of pixel shader operations. That formed the basis of the improved smoke and cloud effects that you can see in the article here.

Funcom and Intel also worked together to increase the battery life by nearly 80 per cent on 4th generation Intel Core processors, and by more than 100 per cent on 5th generation Intel Core processors. You can discover how in this presentation from Game Developer Conference 2015 (PDF). One of the tools that was used for profiling the game is Intel Integrated Native Developer Experience, the professional edition of which is free for a limited period.

To improve the performance on Intel processors, Funcom also ensured that the game was compiled for Intel platforms and that Android installation packages included native binaries for Intel Architecture. To test your Android app for Intel processor compatibility, try these Android testing services.

You can find out more about how Lego Minifigures Online was designed in this profile here. For more support with developing your games and apps, visit the Intel Developer Zone.

• This blog post is written by Softtalkblog, and is sponsored by the Intel Developer Zone, which helps you to develop, market and sell software and apps for prominent platforms and emerging technologies powered by Intel Architecture.