Countdown to LGC: ARM

ARM’s developer community manager Gemma Paris talks about educating developers in making games for mobile.

ARM is not only a creator of innovative multimedia IP; its very business model is an innovative creation. ARM encourages openness along the full length of the supply chain in order to deliver high-performing products to consumers.

The Ecosystem which has consequently emerged is a global network of over 1,000 silicon and software companies aligned to provide end-to-end customer solutions, from design to end-use, for ARM-based products.

The ARM Mali Ecosystem is growing at a fast pace. This community of over 125 companies working with ARM Mali Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) includes a diverse array of partners ranging from Silicon to User Interface and Browser, GPU Compute to Game Engines and Middleware. On top of this, the ARM Mali team supports a vibrant developer community which designs the graphics-rich applications that enhance ARM Mali-based devices.

Many of these game developers have moved to mobile from the traditional desktop and console space. Without realising that the mobile space has a completely different architecture limited by power constraints, many of them continue to develop the same way they had done on traditional platforms. But by coding in accordance with this new mobile architecture, the developer can achieve cutting-edge effects and use high-quality assets.

To help with this, the ARM Mali team invests in developer education and support. Game developers can find a wealth of tutorials and sample codes showing how to optimise code for mobile applications at http://malideveloper.arm.com. They also have access to free tools for software development, asset creation and performance analysis. Alternatively, they can head to http://community.arm.com to raise ideas and questions with other developers and ARM?Mali experts.