*Android Development
-
September 24, 2012 at 12:09 am #1037I’ve been taking lessons for a year now, as I’ve been learning with the ADK and SDK that Google has provided. I can’t quite give out much information now, but how would others think about some… lightweight games being ported or made for the AndroidOS? Kaive already noted that he codes with Javascript, while I code with (Visual) C++ and C# . I have great experience in the Eclipse IDE as well, which helps for the Android App development as there are plugins to help for it.
(If you’re remotely interested in app development, but have almost no experience, go to developer.adroid.com/training/basics/firstapp/index.html … or programming in general, google around, I highly recommend a ‘For Dummies’ book on the programming language you want to start. If you need tools, there’s plenty of free tools out there- including Visual Studios 2010/2012 Express as well as the $1000 Professional edition, free of charge if you’re a student, which you can get at http://www.dreamspark.com )
So before any of you guys even think ‘who needs this on their phone?’, keep in mind Android is also on tons of tablets. You can’t deny that taking a portable copy of a possible updated version of ‘common grounds’ isn’t a nice idea, let alone any furry game.
Also before anyone touches the marketing idea, I’m not putting any naughty things on Google Play. If anything, I’d have the .apk file ready to download through here.
Basically I am asking you guys of your opinion. If you think its a horrible idea, please let me know. if you like the idea, let me know! (Don’t give me the ‘compatibility’ speech either, i’ll do all the research/develop through multiple platforms rather than just phones. By platforms I mean through Qualcomm chipsets, Tegra chipsets, etc etc. )
NOTE: You’ll come to find me as the ‘idiot’ of the forums, as I like bringing up ideas like this. Maybe this post doesn’t belong on a site like this, maybe it does. At least it’ll make the site seem a bit less dead, and something more to talk about. c:
September 24, 2012 at 12:12 am #1038Certainly is a good idea! but don’t limit to just android go apple as well! =D
And wow to knowing so much programming code D= I only know java/java script D=
September 24, 2012 at 8:22 pm #1043I like the idea but the only programming i did was with qbasic while in middle school and java in high school. I toyed with html for a while but nothing to useful there either. lol
September 26, 2012 at 5:15 pm #1050Games for the Android would be awesome. I haven’t looked into it completely and don’t mean to give a compatibility speech, but the thought of having to test on so many different versions has scared me away from droid development so far ;_;
Mobile device games tend to be very light on the graphical resources, so far as I’ve seen. Have been impressed with how developers seem to get around that. It’s another roadblock I’ve had with getting into it, as I don’t think people want to download a 100+ meg app, but you do have a good point about tablet users.
And there’s always OUYA, a video game console built on Android: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console
(Check out the money pledged–incredible!)
September 27, 2012 at 10:36 am #1059@Kaive: Not sure about the Android user habits, but at least on iOS there are quite a lot of graphically intensive games on the market that clock in at 1GB and more.. so people DO buy large apps. If I take Common Grounds with its 400MB as an example – I’ve currently got 12 games on my tablet that are larger than that. Even the iWork Numbers spreadsheet app is larger than CG. (?!)
(Strangely enough, the largest at the moment is Monopoly at 950MB.. I wonder what EA has stuffed in there, the graphics themselves are rather simplistic.)My opinion on the OUYA.. it’s crap. The kickstarter project managed to separate a few geeks from their money, nothing else. If it ever hits the light of day, it’s still useless. There’s Android HDMI sticks for your TV on aliexpress starting at 50$ which can do more than the OUYA is planned to do. Attach a PS3 bluetooth controller to one of them and you’ve got an OUYA.
Still, Android lacks games, and lacks support from the big console game studios. Who’d pay 200$ just to play Angry Birds on the big screen? Also, Android is the wrong platform for a console. Android is targeted at low-power mobile devices, a gaming console is a high-performance stationary device.September 27, 2012 at 3:28 pm #1065950 megs of Monolpoly, awesome XD Might be the sound, as that can easily eat up a lot of space. Am actually flirting with iOS for a port of the current game I’m working on, specifically the iPad, as I don’t think the smaller devices (droid phones included) will fit in with the layout.
Have to admit I haven’t looked into OUYA much beyond what I’ve heard people say. From that, I think the draw will be the ‘open source’ model, where everything has to have some kind of free version. Causal and classic gamers and indie dev audience. Can always attach one’s computer to the TV, use a keyboard to joypad mapping program, and experience TV console thrills as well.
But if it causes developers to actually make big droid games, will be exciting to see what happens. When will mobile phones and tablets have games more like the DS and PSP?!
September 27, 2012 at 4:28 pm #1068@kaive That’s what I do with my desktop. I have it connected via HDMI to my 42 inch 3DTV for a lot of gaming, like WOW (BTW Skyrim looks epic in 3D). I am also currently planning a couple of Mame cabinets in the future, when time and money allow LOL.
Also Android has larger games out for it. I have the Sims on my phone and tablet right now. Graphics are about as good as the Sims for PC too.
October 7, 2012 at 1:40 am #1088@ Kaive: Leave the compatibility to me. See, I’ve already isolated a few parts of the libraries to test on the SDK, and so far I think the game could easily run on a Snapdragon S1 processor / Tegra 1 without any problems. Give me another month and I /might/ have a simple demonstration available. See, its not testing it on multiple devices, its just making sure it supports more than just one resolution, and making sure you have altered code for the processor/chipset type. That doesn’t mean “I need one for HTC, Samsung, LG-” none of that bs.
And the GPU for phones? It really is like coding for lightweight Nvidia and AMD/ATI GPU’s. The Adreno GPU from Qualcomm is a rebranded ATI ‘mobile’ GPU. (Not 100%, but it does use much of the same instruction sets due to AMD practically giving the design to Qualcomm), while the Nvidia Tegra uses the GeForce instructions.
Really, the only thing you are doing, is coding for another operating system. Thats it. Yes, it EVENTUALLY will get more complicated later on, but with a game like common grounds? Its just coding for another operating system.
Sorry, I am sleep deprived.. so some things I say are kinda.. meshed. But Im.. sure everything I wanted to say is in there. somewhere.
October 7, 2012 at 2:00 am #1089@ Woo: Who pays for a phone that’s damn near $1000? People just do. Would I? No. Most phones are compatible (by most, I mean Android and more recent Apple phones) with the Mini-HDMI connection, so really anyone can connect their phone to the ‘big screen’. I’ve done it with my Evo V.
@ Kavori: You’re right. It does play great like the PC version, and phone hardware is advancing quickly to allow that. I mean seriously, Samsung Galaxy S III = Quad-Core Snapdragon S4. HTC OneX? Nvidia Tegra 3 ~ Quad-Core CPU and even more so on the GPU.
October 7, 2012 at 10:40 am #1090@Sparky Indeed. Hell my cheap tablet is an Nvidia Tegra dual core as is.
October 7, 2012 at 12:56 pm #1095Neat! Am very curious about the range of resolutions, as it’s kind of important when designing / aligning the gui to the screen.
Will eagerly await your possible demonstration! ^^
October 7, 2012 at 11:06 pm #1098@ Kaive: I really can’t promise anything. See, I don’t know too much about JavaScript and such to actually reconvert it into the OS without it being buggy. The SDK kinda helps me with that, so in the end I may just send the code to you with comments and all for you to read through Notepad++ and whatnot, so you can asses the difficulty on coding for a new OS.
The range of resolutions go as follows: (Common Android-device resolutions)
240 x 320; Usually with lower end single-core phones.
320 x 480; Usually with the mid-ranged single-core phones, many Snapdragon S1’s have this resolution.
540 x 960; This is qHD (Quarter HD) and is used in a considerable amount of higher end budget phones (This is what my phone runs on). Usually these phones have sufficient graphic power to run most games smoothly.
600 x 1024; This is usually common with the lower end tablets you buy in really any store. These tablets would have enough graphic power to play something like Common Grounds, but they would struggle with something more- as these tablets usually run on a single-core solution.
720 x 1280; This is the last resolution I know thats common for the highest end phones and tablets. These phones usually sport a powerful dual-core or quad-core system, with sufficient graphics to play pretty much everything.Yes, there are tablets that reach the 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution, but from experience its not as common as what I listed above. And from the resolutions, it is possible for more powerful phones to sport a lower resolution- but not vise versa.
I hope this helps set a guideline for ya!
@ Kavori: Though this is /pointless/ info, its a fun fact: The 3DS was suppose to run with the Tegra 2. Actually, right before release, it WAS running the Nvidia Tegra 2. Not trying to side track from the initial topic, but I guess its nice to point out Nvidia makes it easy to at least program for the same graphic libraries even on different systems. Also, obviously I state this while assuming you didn’t know the above fact. xD I don’t mean to make it seem like- if you somehow already DO know that fact, that I’m making you feel dumb or something :C
October 7, 2012 at 11:12 pm #1099@ Brodie Roberts: I do NOT know how I’ve been avoiding your comment for so long D: I’m not ignoring you, I promise. After learning more through the AnrdoidOS, and getting Kaive comfortable if he DOES grow to the idea- and learn to program (For mobile devices, of course. I personally would love to be a mobile app developer someday), I would definitely try to code for the iOS and Apple devices.
October 8, 2012 at 2:59 pm #1106@Sparky I did know it was supposed to be an Nvidea chip, but never looked into which one. Its interesting tough. Another random fact is that the Atari Jaguar was the first system to sport a 64bit data bus, though it consisted of multiple processors (16-bit CPU,32-bit RISC processor, and a 16-bit DSP). It is claimed to have had a 64 bit processor for the graphics portion and for the memory bus to get high bandwidth out of cheap DRAM as well. Anyway, that was a random bit of info…
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.