I used to have this program called The Games Factory that makes it easier to create PC games without having to know a lot of coding, and instead they had this thing called an "event editor" where you just had to specify the effects of each possible action (using regular English and/or options they give you) and it would convert it to the proper code.
Is there anything like this that could help with creating Android games? I have a lot of ideas for new games and I'd love to be able to port some of the PC games I made onto my phone.
no. (at least 10 chars)
Sure there is, Unity for one is an engine/sdk for games.
http://unity3d.com/
It may not be as easy as what you're used to but there is certainly stuff out there.
There's something called Corona too
http://www.anscamobile.com/corona/
There are at least a few more out there, though not sure how easy they are for non-programmers.
Android is not mature to PC level. Therefore this kind of development tools don't come out yet. Also Android SDK is updated very often, which makes it quite hard to catch up with the version.
If this is not profitable, I don't think that toolkit / framework will come up for public use. To create a user-friendly and highly functional software takes huge workforce.
Related
Hello.
Do you know a site or thread which has basic instructions about making a "hello world" app for PPC? Just to get me started.
What tools do you guys use? (doesn't matter if they are free or not)
How do you export/publish it as a .CAB?
Thanks.
PS. I searched and didn't find a thread like this and I don't want to use somebody else's thread.
Are you familiar with programming?
I use Visual Studio 2005 to create my apps. It has the ability to create a *.cab file as well
Visual Studio 2005 is not free.
You can find tons of info at the MSDN.
You can also use some library simplifying access to pocketPC by taking care of all necessary OS calls. Xflib looks good, especially if you want to code games, there are also some examples provided with lib download, and sources for most games hosted on their site are available. Might be a good place to start if you'd like to avoid learning winAPI and get right down to coding the actual app Another good thing is that it uses open source ceGCC compiler, so MS Visual C isn't needed. Also, you won't really need to make CABS to distribute programs coded this way, since they consist of one single exe file.
Go to www.xflib.net for downloads and install instructions.
And if you're a total beginner when it comes to programming, I'd try scripting out first. Have a look at mortscript (good because of it's multi-platform usage) or AutoIt (for windows desktop)
Thanks for the answears so far .
I'm not a programming noob, but not profesional. I've done some apps and games. I plan to start with easy things first as a coin toss app... it comes quite handy... or perhaps a handy stuff thing, inclusing the coin toss, unit converting (there are many), dices, chronometer, etc. All with stadistics and many options, like a random mode and a rigged mode ;D for dice and coin toss...
Then move on to something greater, who knows.
For something like that I suppose visual studio is best. I'll try both anyway. Any advise?
By the way is there an emulator like toolkit for J2me? Something a friend can download to run it without a programming software (or a phone).
Thanks again.
Edit: I believe I found an emulator, at least for XFlib (found there).
Device emulators
visual studio has its own device emulators you just have to download the proper SDK's like WM6 sdk or WM5 sdk to be more device specific, it's supports emulator debuging and device debuging but apps made with VS tend to slower and more memory hungry than apps implemented in C. But for me it's the easiest way to app development.
can you post the emulators link or better yet the whole thing itself here if its small enuff? im also working in xflib and would be much easier to use a standalone emulator rather than the one with vs2008. thanks
Hi, I never did that, but I was playing to Anthelion 2 on my PPC and I thank that it could be great to port Homeworld 1 or Cataclysm to the PPC, and I would like to know how to do that, I think that I could "recompiler" it, but I don't know how, and I would like to know if a tutorial has been created somewhere on the net?...
I'm not sure if it would be even technically possible. Well, the newest pdas _might_ be powerful enough to run something like HW1 but i'm not sure if it's such a good idea. Did you try to run homeworld in 640x480 resolution? Most of the time you'll see ships as groups of two to eight pixels. Now imagine it all squished on a phone three-inch screen: try ordering your corvettes to smash that annoying bomber on a screen that small I think that a bit better idea would be porting really old games, that were designed to run in VGA or even lower resolutions (SubCulture, Command&Conquer, I-War, Dark Forces are some of the titles i'd pay for ).
Anyway, back to porting subject.
First of all you would need the source code of the program you want to port - in case of homewrld1 it's not a problem.
Secondly, you would have to make sure that all libraries (graphic, sound, input, etc) used by a game have windows mobile/windowsCE versions. Again, homeworld1 seems lucky since it has been ported to SDL - a multiplatform opensource graphic/sound/input library.
But that's where good news end. Porting a game is not just a matter of grabbing the PC version source and recompiling it. If it was as easy, we would have hundreds of PC games already ported You need considerable programming skills to actually create a port because usualy not all libraries used by a game a compatible with WindowsCE. An example - the opensource version of homeworld uses OpenGL for graphic rendering. The pocket version would have to use OpenGL's "little brother" - OpenGLES. As far as i know, they're not 100% identical, so to put it simply, you would have to make the game talk in OGLES language, instead of standard OGL. And doing changes in graphic rendering routines usually breaks something else, so you'd have to go and fix it.
I'm not trying to discourage you here but i'd suggest learning to program for WindowsCE (or at least for PC) _before_ attempting to port anything - doing it the other way around will be just a waste of time and a source of frustration.
There are some development resources that can help start the adventure with programming here on xda. You could also search for some general C/C++ tutorials targeting PC's. If you consider getting into programming, i suggest checking out SDL - Many games use it, and thanks to this library you can skip the OS-specific part of coding and get right to the fun stuff - a program that actually does/displays anything For an even easier start, you might want to check out QuickCG - a SDL wrapper simplifying the coding even further.
Oki, thanks for your answer, I've a friend who is learning to program in C++, so, I'll ask him if he can help me to do that, it would be great to have this game on a PPC (perhaps the Diamond, because it has D3D and OpenGL Drivers, or of the iPhone, but I guess that the programming language is not the same as the PPC...
[EDIT] STARCRAFT would be great to, and easier to port on PPC, because of his age and that he uses 2d Graphisms...
You should look into the stratagus engine.
antrak said:
You should look into the stratagus engine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice Engine, but it's not Starcraft, but I can't find the Source Code on the net, they could give the source code with the game when you buy it
Psycho said:
Hey, it's Calvin, I found him
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stargus a starcraft's clone, I'm trying to download it, but I don't know if it works for PPC...
You might want to check this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=497086&highlight=starcraft
I am wondering if there is any type of library or environment where I could run a program written exclusively for WinMo 6. I can't post the app here due to copyright issues, but is this possible?
It seems you need something similar to wine for linux, i'm just thinking why do that with all the android apps we have
I can think of lots of programs that are not available for the android. I don't think the android has a large enough base for many outfits to utilize the wonderful potential of the android. For now the vast number of apps to me are cute little things operating in a insular little bubble.
Hope things change but for now I keep my HTC Wmo phone around
Regards, PK
ezangrando said:
It seems you need something similar to wine for linux, i'm just thinking why do that with all the android apps we have
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oziexplorer, there's nothing so powerful for off road navigation in android.
No. You cannot.
Android = Dalvik/Java
Winmobile = C/C++ and/or DotNet
Pretty much all of the significant apps have been made from scratch for android. If you want a specific app, the best way to go about it is to bug the developer of that app. It is a good guess that they may be already working on a version for android and/or thinking about it. Your request might be the only thing they need.
Hi All,
For sometime I have been looking for a suitable Active Directory Management tool on a mobile device, however have never found anything which quite cuts the mustard. For this reason I have decided to give it a bash myself. I am the proud owner of a lovely shiny new Desire and it feels like it's just crying out for an app of this nature.
Just hoping I might be able to discuss a matter which requires some expertise. I have the latest versions of the Eclipse IDE for Java Developers and the SDK installed, so far I'm having much success with my first GUI builds after following a cracking tutorial Although I can handle the GUI elements (which I normally hate), I'm struggling to forge my first LDAP connection.
I have found info about the "Java Naming and Directory Interface" for java (*however no download) and just wondering if anyone else has had any success using it to code an Android app? I'm not digging for too much info for the moment, just trying to get some assurance that what I am trying to achieve is actually possible.
Not everyone's cup of tea, I know.. But decided it'd be worth asking.
Much Love,
Futurian
I am not to sure if this is the correct area for this. But I am wondering how hard it is to make a Android game? This isn't something I want to just jump into, but learn while I am doing it and take my time.
So how challenging is it to someone who has no experience?
Thank You
Do you have any programming experience at all?
If you know languages like C++ or Java you're pretty close already. Android is programmed in Java, and you need to be familiar with Java's memory management to understand what happens behind the scenes since memory is critical on a mobile device. Also you should get some experience with multithreaded programming, since most times you'll need threads to complete tasks without getting the UI stuck.
Android uses a component based architecture that might be a bit unfamiliar in the beginning, since there's no 'main' entrypoint and you have to split your app into 'activities' that talk to each other through 'intents'.
Games present additional challenges, since they often require you to take care of several things involved with graphics and audio, so maybe they're not the ideal first step into programming.
I started programming for my phone on my Touch HD (windows mobile 6.5, using c#). I'd done some java (not a lot, really, and I hated it), some c (a bit, liked it much more) and quite a few script languages.
I have to say, I got into c# with the compact .NET framework VERY easily. It was very straightforwards, nicely syntaxed ... it was just programming as I'd known it. I've made some office apps, one or two games (just for fun, although the apps were meant to be sold ... **** MS for going wp7 and incompatible!; they were solid pieces of software engineering, if I say so myself)
Two weeks ago I got my Desire HD and a few books on programming Android ( O'Reilly, Sam's) and went looking through developer.android.com .
And I have to say, I find it hard! The concepts and how they work together are a bit ... uhm ... distributed. Good software design, but hard on the programmer (and ****ing verbose to actually type in the porgamming! Sheesh!). It took me a while to grok how all these systems are fitting together: to be honest, I'm still trying to make it all jell. All these intents, services, activities, broadcast receivers ... very interesting, but just thinking of the best (or even correct!) way of setting up your porgram is kinda difficult.
But, that's just me, in two weeks time in my spare time. I am getting it now and it is interesting (and, actually, very well set up for what they want android to do/be). c# was just easier, friendlier and faster to get into.
Sorry if this sounds negative: learning a new language isn't EASY, but it is FUN And very informative. If you have a few hours to start off with and then an hour a day, go for it ... but keep in mind there are easier/more straightforwards programming languages/environments than android (or so I think).
I would like to know this too because I got my HTC Wildfire for a few months now and I just rooted my phone yesterday to get into the whole development and modding.
I would like to learn how to make a widget first and then move onto a app/game. My goal would be to know how to create a 2D based side scroller, I would like to recreate "Bio Menace" for the Android. (I have the sprites and maps, now I only need to learn to make it into a game). (Bio Menace was my all-time favorite game when I was a child and I sometimes still play it on dosbox, but I would like to take it with me on transits to work)
I have no experience in Programming at all, I only did graphical stuff (Photoshop, 3DS Max) I know a little html for basic websites, but this was also more in Dreamweaver with the layout to designer.
So I found these books on android, but before I begin to read any of them. Can somebody tell me which book is best to start on first or which book to skip? I also like a video tutorial, but has anybody seen it? Is it any good?
Ebooks
Apress: Beginning Android 2 http://apress.com/book/view/9781430226291
Apress: Pro Android Games http://apress.com/book/view/9781430226475
Apress: Pro Android 2 http://apress.com/book/view/9781430226598
CommonsWare LLC The Busy Coders Guide to Android Development http://commonsware.com/Android/
Sam's Sams Teach Yourself Android Application Development in 24 Hours http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Android-Application-Development/dp/0321673352
O'Reilly Media: Building Android Apps with HTML CSS and JavaScript http://oreilly.com/catalog/0636920010067
O'Reilly Media: Hello Android 3rd Edition http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781934356562
Video tutorial
O'Reilly Media: Developing Android Applications with Java, Part 1 http://oreilly.com/catalog/0636920001690
Sorry to threadjack you, but it made no sense to me to start a new thread on the same topic. There really should be an own section for noobs or a good sticky with this kind of information for noobs.
lol Im in the process of learning java right now, basic java though.
Mathods
Interfaces
Static Methods
Im pretty interested in what I need to know for development on the andriod platform. By mid/late spring I should know quite a bit more. Taking an Advanced java course. Current I only know C#, C++, and Visual Basics.
Never worked on a GUI before =(.