Advice for Android App Scaling

Hi all,

I'm making an Android game (landscape 480x320) and I can't seem to find the correct scale mode. My art assets end up a little off of the screen even though I place them correctly in the scene. Other scale modes will leave too much room on one side of the screen. Would a camera be required to resolve this issue?

Can anyone recommend the proper scale mode for an Android (landscape) game that would allow my assets to be displayed without being stretcher or cut off, or with too much empty space on the screen?

Thank you

For reference: http://www.stencyl.com/help/view/mobile-app-scaling/
I'd say Scale to Fit (Full Screen). Though I guess you should double-check your device's screen resolution and the common resolutions of the devices nowadays, and make your game's resolution a multiple of that to fit properly on the screen.

It seems to be common practice to place game elements relative to the center of the screen to account for this myriad of resolutions, or to make your game's scenes with the highest resolution available in mind, and position the actors on the scenes within bounds of the smallest resolution.

Thank you for the reply,

I don't understand why the game assets are far left of the screen and not centered, with a lot of empty space on the right side of the screen when using Scale to fit (full screen).

You can chceck the Log Viewer to see which scale is being used when you test your game. Also, sanity checking: are you setting the scale under Settings > Mobile > Display?

The display settings are set to 480x320. Currently, if I have it set to scale fit (fill) and place my assets an couple of grid squares away from the borders of the screen, they display properly on the phone.

According to the logs, my phone resolution is 1440x720.

I suppose that I could place the assets away from the borders so that they display properly. But that leaves a lot of space on the screen that I could use to place more actors/elements theoretically I suppose.

480x320 and 1440x720 are different aspect ratios, that's probably why you are seeing blank space on your device.

As I said: it is my understanding that you have to design your game with the biggest aspect ratio/resolution in mind, but place your actors on the scene with the smallest resolution in mind. So smaller devices will have everything on screen, and bigger devices will just have the extra space outwards. The attached image is a template by AdventureIsland that was shared on discord a couple of years ago, and explains how they design their games to account for the resolution shenanigans on mobile.

Thank you Luyren. I will put my brain to work.