beginner mobile platform questions

[jukka]

Forgive these noob questions from someone who knows nothing about android/iOS. I have used SFML to make a couple of old game clones and it's really fun to use. I'm wondering whether to continue to invest time with the end goal of releasing games for mobiles....

1) Could the same SFML game code be used to compiled for android and ios, without platform-dependent changes required?

2) I realise the support is experimental at the moment and maybe contains bugs, but could anyone make a tentative guess about when SFML will support mobile platforms in a stable manner? e.g. in a year's time could I release a professional standard stable game for android & iOS using SFML ?

Thanks a lot

[eXpl0it3r]

1) Could the same SFML game code be used to compiled for android and ios, without platform-dependent changes required?

Yes and no. The API will be the same for both platforms, so you should just be able to use the same code, however since you're dealing with touch screens on mobile platforms and mouse/keyboard input on desktop platforms, you'll have to make sure your game and input design works for both systems.

2) I realise the support is experimental at the moment and maybe contains bugs, but could anyone make a tentative guess about when SFML will support mobile platforms in a stable manner? e.g. in a year's time could I release a professional standard stable game for android & iOS using SFML ?

We're currently lacking someone maintaining the iOS port, however development on the Android port, should probably get picked up pretty soon again.
But until we find someone stabilizing the iOS port, we can't give any kind of estimate unfortunately.

[Mario]

The mobile version is pretty stable and it's unlikely there'll be significant breaking changes. There are even a few games already released that use SFML. You just have to be extra careful when testing and there might be missing features right now (e.g. no sound on iOS) or things changing/being expanded (e.g. there's no way to use haptic feedback so far).

You can also publish your own game right now, just make sure the users know that it's essentially a beta and you shouldn't necessarily try to sell your product until you're sure everything is working as expected.

[jukka]

OK, thanks for the replies guys!

[CJ_COIMBRA]

But until we find someone stabilizing the iOS port, we can't give any kind of estimate unfortunately.

I am curious on this I mean I have a basic idea but what exactly someone should know about  to be able to fill this position?