Related
iMedia is my new finger scrolling application to manage contacts. I decide to open a new thread because I think it's more clean have a new one for this new project instead to speak about it into SSContact thread.
SSContact was my first pocket pc application and it give me opportunity to learn many things about programming, so I started this new project with some more knowledge baggage.
This app has been developed in pure native code C++ and WinApi, do not require frameworks and use just few Kbyte of RAM (only 61Kbyte for my device). I worked very much to optimize finger scrolling and now it's fast also in 200 Mhz processor devices.
iMedia is still in development stage so it's not fully working and isn't ready to use, I'm releasing it for people that want give me a help to build this new work If you need a complete app that use few memory try SSContact or iContact developed by Larna.
News
07/07/2007 - thread day
Features
- few KBytes RAM usage
- fast and smooth 360° scrolling
- transitions details window with contact picture
- left and right dpad to jump letters dividers
- scrollwheel support
History
Code:
- 20070711 improved slide detail window :)
- 20070709 just some optimization (slide, dividers)
Known issues
- too much this app is still in development stage
Faqs
- Yes you can't call and you can't send SMS, this is just a test app.
download below
Cool, guybrush..the flick/scroll contact field is really heating up...
The scroll feel is pretty much OK to me.
I have the impression to control it as I want.
Excellent start !
Hello Guybrush,
iMedia works very very fast and smooth , but it dont display well in my Wizard WM5, it shows as 70% of the screen, also when i select one contact i cant dial any number, it only show the contact list again when i press the number.
I really like the smooth scrolling and fast speed, is better than iContacts and ContactManager but the interface need more improvement, i really value your work and thank you for sharing with us
Sorry my bad english.
Same Issue here
innovaciones said:
Hello Guybrush,
iMedia works very very fast and smooth , but it dont display well in my Wizard WM5, it shows as 70% of the screen, also when i select one contact i cant dial any number, it only show the contact list again when i press the number.
I really like the smooth scrolling and fast speed, is better than iContacts and ContactManager but the interface need more improvement, i really value your work and thank you for sharing with us
Sorry my bad english.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its not full screen, and when i push a contact, it only shows the Mobile #, and , when i push the #, it doesnt do anything. just goes back to the list. great start though. id like it to show all #s when i push a contact...
I know my english isn't perfect but should be easy understand this application isn't complete and ready to be used, or maybe you doesn't read first post. BTW you think really I don't know it's not fullscreen and you can't call ?
guybrush
I was about to tell to stop friking whining that it doesn't work. You made it pretty clear that it's just a test and NOT a fully working app! DOH! Some people...
Hi,
Just for info, it now works on my device, I tried a previous version you posted in the contact manager thread, that wasn't working.... so it's good news.
Also a comment regarding horizontal sliding, it's my concept, I got a patent on it, my lawer will call you, it's the end for you... well just kidding (and maybe you app has it before mine...). Seriously, while sliding I see that the text seems to "move" (not being drawn at the smae logical coord) on the part of the screen that slide, so I suppose you're redrawing the sliding part, based on my test, it was a lot more performant to draw the current screen in an offscreen bitmap, and blit this image as needed. Even on such device, blitting is faster than drawing some lines of text. just my 2 cents
ehehe i had patent for left index and continuos scrolling ehehe about sliding window it was a thing I would like to do before you posted your first app (iPhone is a big resource of ideas ) , I remenber i said you when i saw your app btw you can ask Larna if you not believe me, I always boring him about my program ask him to test 'cause i don't have a slow device ehehehe, I already did a new version much better about slide window, the concept is easy, one is drawing and one is moving that's why i don't found a way to take a bitmap when second window is out of viewport
Guybrush said:
ehehe i had patent for left index and continuos scrolling ehehe about sliding window it was a thing I would like to do before you posted your first app (iPhone is a big resource of ideas) ) , I remenber i said you when i saw your app ) btw you can ask Larna if you not believe me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let say our lawer will discuss it
Guybrush said:
I always boring him about my program ask him to test 'cause i don't have a slow device ehehehe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For what it's worth, emulator device are a little bit slower than my 200mhz device... maybe it can help you test.
Guybrush said:
I already did a new version much better about slide window, the concept is easy, one is drawing and one is moving that's why i don't found a way to take a bitmap when second window is out of viewport
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure I'm following you Except that apparently you're actually using many windows and controls?
Still not working here on my Qtek 9090 with WM5. The program appears, but then closes almost when i touch it. On the other end, the program itself doesn't really appears as it should. As i've said before, i think it's because of the foreign characters.
A pic of the app is attached.
@tene
I'll try to explain, I have two different window controls not just one.
[ A ] <- [ B ]
window A is drawing while B is moving versus A that's the concept of my slide window.. my initial idea was take a bitmap of window B and than blit only interesting parts of it while A is is drawing during timer procedure But i don't found a way to take that bitmap because B is not on viewport.
@edu
I think that is caused by windows live contacts. I haven't a check to remove them
Guybrush said:
@tene
window A is drawing while B is moving versus A that's the concept of my slide window.. my initial idea was take a bitmap of window B and than blit only interesting parts of it while A is is drawing during timer procedure But i don't found a way to take that bitmap because B is not on viewport.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
imagine you have somewhere a Draw function that take an HDC as parameter. I suppose the HDC is to an offscreen bitmap to avoid flickering. and that you blit this bitmap in the WM_PAINT msg handler? Am I right?
Anyway, your perf seems good now, so it may not be an issue. The real advantage of playing with bitmap, is that it scales well: no matter how complex the rendering of you list become, you know that the slide will stll be smooth.
I just need to ask...any way you can release a wm2003 version?
I'll not support 2003
Mate, I have a Wizard (WIZA200) and when I run the imedia i get the attached screen. No scrolling no moving, nothing.
do you have windows live ? omapclock ? from screenshot it's a strange issue.. i tried to clean buffers during creation of separators. it's ok on my device.
Guybrush said:
do you have windows live ? omapclock ? from screenshot it's a strange issue.. i tried to clean buffers during creation of separators. it's ok on my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No Windows Live no OmapClock...
WM5 or WM6 ? I've attached a new version... tell me if it solve your problem.
I'm currently using my own taskbar icons, combined with WKTask to add some functionality.
Now I've heard about WisBar Advance, including its capability to change the taskbar (and softbuttons) skins. This is a feature that greatly appeals to me.
Who uses (or has used) this application and can give me some information on what to expect?
- What's the memory usage?
- CPU usage?
- Will it work with HTC's new start menu (TF3D2)
- Is it easy to configure?
I've already read that it won't work properly with panels, but that's np for me.
Thanks!
Angelusz said:
I'm currently using my own taskbar icons, combined with WKTask to add some functionality.
Now I've heard about WisBar Advance, including its capability to change the taskbar (and softbuttons) skins. This is a feature that greatly appeals to me.
Who uses (or has used) this application and can give me some information on what to expect?
- What's the memory usage?
- CPU usage?
- Will it work with HTC's new start menu (TF3D2)
- Is it easy to configure?
I've already read that it won't work properly with panels, but that's np for me.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- What's the memory usage?
Don't have exact figures.. but it's not that much
- CPU usage?
I used to turn it off when playing divx files in Coreplayer.. does that tell you enough? again.. no exact figures
- Will it work with HTC's new start menu (TF3D2)
no idea
- Is it easy to configure?
Yes it is.. just make the right size bitmaps and it will work.
I did use it for a while but found it to give troubles when using panels.
When you're in a differrent panel and use an application and close it wisbar makes you return to your home panel again instead of the one you were in before opening that app.
This was a killer for me.. plus performance does suffer a little.
Also I had some issues to get all icons and fading "press button" colors to my liking (wanted to use bitmap for the fading which isn't possible)
All in all I did like the options.. but the program does need some tweaking for me to actually buy it
The last time I tried WisBar Advance, it didn't seem very compatible with TF3D. Not sure if any difference in the newer versions.
Hmm. Guess it's not what I need then, can't have something that's just aesthetic to slow my device down too much.
Thanks for the info!
Hi there
not THAT much threads here related to development questions. Now it's absolutly ironic that I ASK this, cause Im no dev and coded the last small tools in C some 10 yrs ago. I'm a complete and definite noob in C++ ... bada SDK is my first contact with C++. I though it's interesting to try some first steps in bada.
Started in SDK 2.0.2. I found out that code examples in Internet relate to bada SDK 1.x and things seem to have changed here and there. After 3 days I was able to understand structurally what I collected together or found in help.
Question: What did you guys face as difference in 2.0 compared to 1.x?
I wasn't able to invoke the app "terminate()" command. What do I need to include/declare? I'm puzzled. this is the most difficult exit function of all languages I know
I had trouble to insert a photo as the splash screen. You guys have difficulties too?
More philosophic question: What do you think of Samsung, that they gave you SDK 2.0 and even started a competition, while there's STILL NO bada 2.0 device ready? So you can only test in Emulator or Remote ... is it normal in this industry that you don't have access to the target platform while creating an app?
Oh, just want to mention: I'm no competition - I'm too uneducated to code - and no time for a serious app.
Ray
Its simple, alot of things gone easier.
CustomList, GroupedList, SllidableList, IconList, ... all collected to two types
ListView and GroupedListView, they both are using SimpleItems (Image, Text, Option) or a CustomItem as we devs them wish. GroupedItems are in GroupedListView and saying itself what they does, both lists have a fast scroll option and automatically relocating on need their items. The best autoscroll for bigger text in elements and of cousre the behind Context menu for each item which can be changed in different ways if user slides left or right and so on. Finally to update the list, only UpdateList() is needet not after every change every item as i used in badaSI before.
Than we have the powerfull Gallery that provides all featuers to show pictures as you all saw it in badas Gallary App.
Then header and footer, very nice, devs can so made a good basci gui that looks good integreted to the os, the best function of them are the back button option with its listener, it reduces a lot of time.
My pesonal favorit is the extension for animation class, there you can make every thinkable animation for forms, panels, controls and other stuff, with some code lines. So the UIx is improved and no extra code is needet.
I would rather say that the 2.0 sdk makes c++ a lot of easier to use also for beginners, the api itself is self explaining for what it stands, so it is not like old c++ stuff bada SDK makes many things alot of easier than people think. And of course it has more oportunities than other ... and so on.
Push Notifications and some old unaccessable System Privilegs are now free to use for every developer. Auto resolution takes a lot of work from us all devs.
PThread is addet so porting applications from other oses like ios are much easier, in my oppinion useless cause i am not porting i am writing from scratch.
In a whole overview of the new sdk, a lot of new stuff that makes everything easier, and the old stuff is still in there to support older applications. so no visible changes are there if you see an custom list or a listview in voluntas as example, but the behind things made it a lot of easier and better for memory.
And so on....................
ah, so push noti was there before, but only to priviledged partner dev's right?
Lari, you list is your favourites? What of them will help most often? Header/Footer? Auto Resolution to unite higher and lower lever Waves? Let's see if there's still two separate bada versions for the 2 familys.
Ray
So finally I got the Terminate() function up and running ...
In the form.cpp I had to add these:
#include "<myappname>.h"
... to get declaration of my app name
using namespace Osp::App;
... to enable the Terminate function (don't know if the include makes this unnecessary now ... in "<myappname>.h the public Osp::App::Application,
is used as class
<myappname>::GetInstance()->Terminate();
... only with this the function worked.
Is this standard in C++? Help didn't show me this way, and it seems quite complicated for me as a former ANSI C amateur
Ray
hello? zehn zoicha kaesdreck!
PREVIOUS POST:
Hi all!
My post should be in the developer page, but since I have less than 10 posts I'll post it here. Hope someone'll read it, I think it may be useful to everybody. BTW sorry for my poor english.
I am a user of Windows 8 from the developer preview, and I learned to appreciate the new Start Page and get used to.
The only thing that makes it still "just bearable" to me is the poor (more like nonexistent) non-metro applications customization. I understand that Windows wants developers to create Metro Apps, but their usability on a desktop PC does not fully not convince me; for some uses I prefer a thousand times to use the classic applications.
The question is: how to get the tiles to the classic desktop applications more pleasing than a monochromatic square with an icon?
I started to look far and wide on the Internet, finding not that much (really this does not affect anyone?), but I found something, something (even right in this site).
I've thought about three different ways of solving this problem. Since it's a little bit tl;dr i'll organize them under quotes.
1- An app that opens programs
- it is relatively easy to modify images of Metro Tiles for metro applications already installed, just follow this guide.
- For those who have knowledge of programming C + +, Javascript, or, generically, any language to Visual Basic, creating a tile for your application is extremely easy, so easy even I did it (I don't know programming, sadly). Still, nobody yet has thought to create standard desktop applications with these tiles, even Microsoft itself (Visual Studio RC hasn't got it!).
- I know that Metro Apps work a bit like the sandbox, but you can set the permissions to access images, documents and so on, so should not be impossible to make up a "double bounce" (metro app that opens a link in the Documents which opens the user desktop) without slowing down too the opening of the original program. I do not think is too complex, yet I can not do it alone.
- Also, an xda user found a way to bypass the sandbox and HERE someone (looks like the only one on the ENTIRE internet, apart from me) wondered about this problem and tried to solve this by itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2- The icon, centered and bigger
- a simple and elegant solution: can't we just edit the registry to bring up the icon in the middle of the tiles and change as well as the size of it equal to the tile itself? Then we should just make bigger icons for programs large enough to not be pixelated.
I searched a bit in regedit on:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ ImmersiveShell \ Grid
However, I found "only" how to enlarge or shrink the tile itself or the number of these files. There are a lot of other data but does not have competence to understand the setup.
Seems the easiest way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3- Copying from Google
As you surely know Google has launched the Google Chrome metro interface, with some special features:
- The program does not come from the Windows App Store, but can be downloaded from the Chromium Project site, therefore, is installed in the usual place of Chrome (User / AppData / Local) and not in the folder WindowsApps. This is quite unusual, because I thought it was the "exclusive" folder for metro applications;
- From my analysis I understood that the application that starts, both in desktop and Metro look, is always the same, "chrome.exe". To confirm this I noticed that, in fact, the folder "Metro" in "Google Chrome" folder contains only the userdata files and not specific ones for the program, which instead are contained by the classic Chrome folder;
- I'm pretty sure that all Google Chrome files are in this folder, since I found inside the "Manifest" and the images for the tiles. Trying to change the PNG and cleaning the cache also changed the tile in the Start bar.
- The first step, too simple for it to be working ( ) was to copy the manifest and the images folder in the folder of another program (obviously changing the directory on the manifest through Notepad), clearing the cache and restarting the PC. It did not work, of course.
- The next step was to open the folder "C: \ Users \ MYUSERPROFILE \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Start Menu \ Programs" and try to understand more of nature of the link to Google Chrome...Only to find out that the link to Chrome was not there! ... Does anyone know where it is?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And that's all. There is still nobody in the world that seems to manage a tweak for having tiles in non-metro applications, so if someone here manages to do this he'll be like the first in the ENTIRE WORLD
Hope this motivates you. I hope to read something from you developers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The user Argony-OT has found a solution to add metro tiles in the start page for common legacy application. Link to his thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1899865
Otinademoniac said:
Hi all!
My post should be in the developer page, but since I have less than 10 posts I'll post it here. Hope someone'll read it, I think it may be useful to everybody. BTW sorry for my poor english.
I am a user of Windows 8 from the developer preview, and I learned to appreciate the new Start Page and get used to.
The only thing that makes it still "just bearable" to me is the poor (more like nonexistent) non-metro applications customization. I understand that Windows wants developers to create Metro Apps, but their usability on a desktop PC does not fully not convince me; for some uses I prefer a thousand times to use the classic applications.
The question is: how to get the tiles to the classic desktop applications more pleasing than a monochromatic square with an icon?
I started to look far and wide on the Internet, finding not that much (really this does not affect anyone?), but I found something, something (even right in this site).
I've thought about three different ways of solving this problem. Since it's a little bit tl;dr i'll organize them under quotes.
1- An app that opens programs
2- The icon, centered and bigger
3- Copying from Google
And that's all. There is still nobody in the world that seems to manage a tweak for having tiles in non-metro applications, so if someone here manages to do this he'll be like the first in the ENTIRE WORLD
Hope this motivates you. I hope to read something from you developers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would think that Microsoft would give a way for Google to bypass the restriction on side-loading (for verified developers like Google or the like) if they requested (Of course, they could also have found a way to install Metro Applications without the developers license/enterprise requirement, etc.)
This is probably how it works since the Metro application is not in the usual Installation folder. It is something to wonder about though.
My god! Me and my friend are having this same problem with windows 8! We like the metro menu a lot, but we want to customize non metro program tiles!! We can make some pretty cool images for the tiles, but we just dont know how to change the tiles. I think ur on to something with Google chrome though! I hope some can figure this out! Ur not the only one who wants this!
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
bb12489 said:
My god! Me and my friend are having this same problem with windows 8! We like the metro menu a lot, but we want to customize non metro program tiles!! We can make some pretty cool images for the tiles, but we just dont know how to change the tiles. I think ur on to something with Google chrome though! I hope some can figure this out! Ur not the only one who wants this!
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that I haven't got enough knowledge (not as much as my dedication to the cause ) to really do something with this...I am kinda searching for some help from XDA Developers
Same problem here
I'm also having the same problems on Windows 8. I'm also finding a way to change the default traditional app icons to the metro look, like what google do. Hmmmm.... Microsoft should add a feature to change default non-metro icons to non-metro tiles.
What's weird is that, as someone made me notice, if you make Google Chrome (the W8 version) the default browser for Metro instead of Internet Explorer, IE loses it's metro icon and become a normal Windows monocoloured tile. It's weird enough for making me think that the "copy Google" way is a bit harder than expected.
On the other hand, I've got a friend of mine searching in Windows 8 resources for a way to enlarge and center icons in Start Scren. Nowadays all the icons are big and detailed enough to fit inside a tile, and if they don't we can always make our own. I think that this is actually the easiest way.
Anyone have any clue that might help the cause? Also, since I still have less than 10 post, might someone link this thread in the Windows 8 hacking-developer forum?
Otinademoniac said:
What's weird is that, as someone made me notice, if you make Google Chrome (the W8 version) the default browser for Metro instead of Internet Explorer, IE loses it's metro icon and become a normal Windows monocoloured tile. It's weird enough for making me think that the "copy Google" way is a bit harder than expected.
On the other hand, I've got a friend of mine searching in Windows 8 resources for a way to enlarge and center icons in Start Scren. Nowadays all the icons are big and detailed enough to fit inside a tile, and if they don't we can always make our own. I think that this is actually the easiest way.
Anyone have any clue that might help the cause? Also, since I still have less than 10 post, might someone link this thread in the Windows 8 hacking-developer forum?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what might cause it, but I know that it's a behavior that's been there since Developers Preview, after setting Chrome as the default browser it would go away, Even when I set the older chrome versions as default it would do it.
Still nothing...! This is quite frustrating, I'm searching really deeply a way to edit the METRO UI, but nothing yet found. Any help?
The way I think would be easier is to center and make bigger the Icon inside the Metro Tiles. I'm trying to use a Resource Editor in windows, but I haven't found anything yet.
Hi, I'm (obviously) new here.
I actually joined just to try and help figure this very issue out.
1. I actually noticed about an hour ago (when installing Firefox) the change that occurred with the Metro tile for IE, changing to a default tile. Your post made me chuckle, as I had literally just done that very thing. It was as if IE felt unloved. :laugh:
2. I am a designer. The ability to not change these tiles right now is killing me from the inside! I could easily set some color values or make my own icons in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop and then make new metro-esque tiles the way I want for nearly all my apps in no time.
So, with all of that said... I too shall be looking into how we can manage making our own tiles for non-metro apps.
I wonder (and this is a cheap cheap fix) if one were to design an application icon for say, Firefox, and it would be the actual size & dimension of the pre-fixed metro square...would that icon fill the sqaure and at least give the appearance of being a metro app? It may, but I fear it might just down-size the icon entirely leaving us at square one.
All my design programs are on my OS X hard drives. Later I'll plug them back in, then re-boot my hackintosh and try to make a fill-in metro styled icon for testing purposes.
-TYPØ
Hi TYPOGRAPH1C, sadly changing the icon size won't work, nowadays almost every application icon for Windows have a resolution big enough to fit more than just the METRO tile; sadly, it's still not working.
Also, I've tried (withouth success) another experiment: In the "Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu" folder you can find the links for some of the METRO APP; those icons are from a DLL! I've tried to simply copy one of those in another folder and make a legacy program use it, but it didn't work. I guess is one way less to try
That is unfortunate. And, who knows this may be something we can't fully tackle until the full release of the OS. But, I do know that I went through yesterday and counted 30+ apps that I personally would like to make icons for. Mainly the general stuff I use, but a lot of them are things many people use as well. So between now and the finalized OS release, I should have them all done. And if worst case, we can never set the tiles ourselves... at least I'd rock some custom metro style icons on my taskbar.
But if we do get this working... I was actually thinking last night about this. If we were able to achieve the correct look for the tile icons, I suppose it would be 100% possible to have practically nothing living on the taskbar in Windows 8 (besides the current open desktop application). Everything could be bound to the Start Menu and grouped accordingly in theory.
-TYPØ
I am also looking for a solution. I really want all my programs to have the tile icon.
What i already did is make a white icon for some programs and then specify it as the icon.
Like this you have the icon in the tile (downsized ofc) but the tile itself isn't filled with a background color.
I looks better than the full colored icons from before but i still want the whole metro tile look.
Otinademoniac said:
Hi all!
3- Copying from Google
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can read all about "metro enabled desktop browsers" when you get some free time. It's a cool idea, but unfortunately, you can only have one.
Could someone who knows how to make Tiles not make a custom tile app that can then handle custom image and file path, so we just update the details within the app so it points the the right place? So we could install the placeholder with the new set details and pop the icons are Larg and Small and offer booting the exe?
I have NO idea how to make tiles but I just thought maybe that could be a way?
rexzooly said:
Could someone who knows how to make Tiles not make a custom tile app that can then handle custom image and file path, so we just update the details within the app so it points the the right place? So we could install the placeholder with the new set details and pop the icons are Larg and Small and offer booting the exe?
I have NO idea how to make tiles but I just thought maybe that could be a way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows Phone has custom tile apps...Wiztiles is one I use. A user can create custom tiles using pictures they have on their phone. These tiles can then be used to link to specific functions. The function I use it for is to point to websites. You can have it open many of the built in apps on WinPhone. It will open email and draft a new email for you with contact, subject and even the body of the mail drafted...all you have o do is hit send, or edit then send. Same with sms. It can be used to dial a contact or perform a search in the marketplace or Bing app. So it doesn't just open an app, it opens and performs an initial action in the app. Not sure how much of a leap it would be to have it point to 3rd party apps, but the basic idea is there.
The website the OP posted which was this http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9527644/launching-a-desktop-application-with-a-metro-style-app actually does have a method on creating an app to launch a desktop app if anyone wants to try it. Me I'm not that great with code.
a tip for hex editors, just DUI hackers: twinui.dll UIFILES.
I think that it's possible, because you can open internet explorer desktop from internet explorer immersive
@Ka-la I've tried some time ago, but twinui.dll get corrupted... (Next time I will retry )
Pasquiindustry said:
I think that it's possible, because you can open internet explorer desktop from internet explorer immersive
@Ka-la I've tried some time ago, but twinui.dll get corrupted... (Next time I will retry )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I managed to size content in my tiles in RTM pretty succesfully, not sure why you corrupt it. Im not using Windows 8 at the moment so I cannot really help. I remember there were templates for many variant of tiles (widewithpicture and smallwithpicture and so on). If there is one for that applies to desktop apps, it might be possible to apply a metro one to it
I'll give it a shot once im using Windows 8 but cant promise anything.
Maybe i had wrong edits in wrong place
Hello, XDA!
I have created my own 2D game engine that utilizes OpenGL and sports many features to help make programming 2D games for Android as quick and simple as possible. I created this engine for use in my own projects but then I thought why no make it open-source? I think other people could benefit from this and input from other developers could help fine tune this thing so it's as good as it can be.
So I gave my engine the name "BobEngine" after my online alias and uploaded the first public release called "BobEngine 1.0 Thingama" to GitHub. That was months ago and now I've finished working on the next update: BobEngine 2.0 Shishka.
I've got a post on my website detailing what's new in update: http://www.bobbyloujo.com/2015/01/bobengine-20-shishka-update.html
BobEngine uses a similar structure to GameMaker games so if you've ever used that you may be interested in BobEngine. BobEngine uses a specialized BobView to display the content of Rooms. Rooms are collections of GameObjects which each have a graphic and attributes such as x and y positions, width, height, angle, frame, etc... Rooms and GameObjects also have step, newpress, and released events built in. The step event happens each frame, the newpress event happens when a new pointer is touched on the screen, and the released event happens when a pointer is lifted from the screen.
There are many other tools included with BobEngine and the best way to start learning how to use them is have a look at the examples that are included! In the GitHub repository you'll find an Android Studio project called "BobEngine". This project contains the "bobEngine" library module that you'll need to include in your own projects if you want to use BobEngine. Also in the BobEngine project are modules for each of the included examples. Currently there are examples that demonstrate the structure of a BobEngine game, how to use input from the touch screen, and how to manipulate the camera. I'll be creating more examples in the future to show off all the things you can do with this engine!
All the methods and data members in BobEngine are internally documented and the examples include a lot of internal documentation to help you out as well.
I'll keep updating the library with new things as I think of them. If there is anything you think should be added go ahead and post about it in this thread.
Benjamin Blaszczak
a.k.a. Bobby Lou Jo
@Bobbyloujo on Twitter
Edit: Forgot the GitHub link: https://github.com/Bobbyloujo/BobEngine
@Bobbyloujo
Thanks man will try this today and welcome 2 xda :highfive:
Thanks sir...pls give us some game template made from your lib
Great job man. It looks great.
I will try as soon as possible
Sylvain
Thanks man. Will surely try it out. good work.
Awesome, just what I've been looking for. Thanks!
nice work, and thanks for putting your time and effort into it.
Could this be used to recreate "biomenace" for android?
Thanks everyone!
@berlyshells Anything you want to see in particular? I could probably throw together a Flappy Bird clone real quick or something...
@verbuyst It certainly looks doable if you put the time and effort into it.
Bobbyloujo said:
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im not really looking for anything in particular..probably any game source with comments (of the functions/what for is this code etc..) inside the code would be nice haha i just requesting but its you're choice sir im sorry im just a newbie
TIA
A new example has been added to the repository per @berlyshells request. This example is called Jumpy Bug and it is a Flappy Bird clone. It demonstrates what a full game programmed with BobEngine looks like.
Bobbyloujo said:
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thank you very much sir..you are indeed a good hearted person..this is what i really love on xda
While working on my most recent project I made a few changes to BobEngine. The changes have been uploaded to GitHub.
Changes:
The extra functionality provided by BobActivity has been moved to a new class - BobHelper. A BobHelper can be used by any activity. When using a BobHelper, be sure to call its onResume() method from your activity's onResume() method. BobActivity still functions the same way it did before. BobHelper is useful for when you want to use some other kind of activity has your application's main activity but still want the extra functions from BobActivity. For example, if you want to use BaseGameActivity from the BaseGameUtils library for Google Play services.
SplashActivity has been totally changed because, frankly, it sucked before It is now an abstract class. Create your own activity for showing splash screens and extend SplashActivity. Implement the setup() and end() methods. In the setup() method, call addSplash(R.layout.your_splash_layout, time_in_ms) to add a splash screen to show as defined by an xml layout. You can add up to 10 layouts. Add them in the order you want them to show. The end() method is called after the last splash screen has been shown. In the end() method, start an intent for your main activity and then call finish() to close the splash screen activity.
Other small changes.
How many games have made using library? Looks cool)
Thanks..I tried AndEngine and it failed to import on my Android Studio.
Marshal3 said:
How many games have made using library? Looks cool)
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Uhm... about three. There's Plane Popper, Crazy Taxi Driver, and I just finished Bounce the Beach Ball. Other than that, I've made a few examples that you can find in the repository - including a Flappy Bird clone. Also, I've been working on a platformer.
basil2style said:
Thanks..I tried AndEngine and it failed to import on my Android Studio.
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Let me know if you need any help with BobEngine!
Hello again, XDA!
I've updated BobEngine again. This update brings the following major additions:
Gamepad support! You can now get input from any standard gamepad using BobEngine. A new example has been added to the Android Studio project that shows and explains how to use this new gamepad support. The example is called controllerexample.
Multiple quads per GameObject. Up until now, a GameObject consisted of a single textured quad (well, two triangles that form a quad). Sometimes it is useful to have many quads grouped together. If you use this, note that all the quads for each GameObject must have the same graphic. This is a very niche feature that I added for a particular purpose but didn't end up using myself. If you'd like an example of what can be done with this, let me know and I'll make one.
Some other miscellaneous stuff has been changed as well. It's been so long since I posted an update that I forget everything I changed! One useful change I made was to the camera features. Rooms now have their own camera values, meaning if you change the camera in one room, then switch to another and change the camera there, then switch back to the first room the camera will be where you left it in the first room.
BobEngine can of course still be found here on GitHub: https://github.com/Bobbyloujo/BobEngine
Here's a video showing off gamepad support: https://youtu.be/vRdaaaJnqGk
As always, if you have any questions feel free to ask. Also, if you've made anything with BobEngine I would love to see it! Whether it's something big or something small I'd love to see how others have used my engine
If you haven't already, please follow me on Twitter. My handle is @Bobbyloujo and I post updates about the games and things I'm working on there pretty frequently. Right now I'm working on something pretty big!
Another new update today!
Changes:
* TextDisplay object added! TextDisplay is a GameObject that can be used to output text! Text can be centered, aligned left or right. A new example has been added to show how this new object can be used.
* A new 'visible' attribute has been added to GameObjects. Setting gameObject.visible to false will cause the object to be hidden so it isn't drawn.
* The getAngle() function in Room.java was broken. It has been fixed so now getAngle() and getAngleBetween() both work properly.
* The getRatioX() and getRatioY() functions sometimes would not work properly on some devices. This has been fixed.
* When using multiple quads per GameObject, the performance has been increased. This was done by collecting vertex data from the quads in a way that does not require the concatenation of many arrays.
As always, the repository can be found here: https://github.com/Bobbyloujo/BobEngine
It'll really help me out if you follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bobbyloujo
And like my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BobbyLouJo
If you have any questions or would like to report a bug, please leave a message in this thread or PM me on XDA, Twitter, or Facebook.
Have a great week!!
Version 3.0 Bobsled
It's been a while, but in the time since my last update I've added a lot of new things to BobEngine. Since it's such a big update, I'm giving it a new version name: v3.0 Bobsled. Here goes:
RoomCache - In BobView.java you will find a new static class called RoomCache. As the name implies, RoomCache is used for storing and retrieving instances of Rooms. The nice thing about RoomCache is that you can call getRoom(Class roomType) with any class type that inherits Room and the function will return an instance of that room type, even if you haven't manually added a Room of that type to the cache. The function getRoom(...) will search the cache for an instance of roomType and return it if one is found OR it will create a new instance of roomType using reflection and return that. You'll also notice that there is a getRoom(Class roomType, Object... args) function. If you have created a room type that takes parameters other than (BobView view) like a default Room does, you can use this method to pass the required arguments to initialize a new instance of that room type if need be. The cache holds a specified max number of Rooms. When the cache is full and a new Room is added, the oldest Room is removed. You can make your own RoomCaches, but each BobView has it's own cache with an initial size of 3. To access it from your BobView, just call getRoomCache().
Along with RoomCache, BobView has received two new goToRoom overrides: goToRoom(Class roomType) and goToRoom(Class roomType, Object... args) for switching to rooms retrieved from the RoomCache.
Input events (newpress, released) are now handled on the main thread (same thread as step event). Handling game logic on the separate input thread was causing a lot strange glitches in my games when values were being changed when I was not expecting them to be changed. Now, input will be handled on the same thread just before the step event.
For even more convenience and even quicker game development, a new constructor has been added to GameObject: GameObject(Room room). This will automatically assign an instance ID number AND add the object to the room. What typically looked like this before:
Code:
GameObject object = new GameObject(room.nextInstance(), room);
room.addObject(object);
Now looks like this:
Code:
GameObject object = new GameObject(room);
So simple! The old constructor is still there and behaves the same way for those who want it and for backwards compatibility.
Setting GameObject.visible to false will now hide all Quads belonging to that GameObject. This will not change the Quad.visible field for any Quad. Also, similarly to GameObject, Quads are now added to the GameObject when initialized.
Animations can now be played once and looped for a limited number of times. animationFinished() will return true when an animation has finished playing.
Animation class - a new class has been added to GameObject.java. This class can be used to predefine animations with a start frame, end frame, fps, and loop times.
Previously, I was using 3 coordinates for each vertex. I learned it's possible to use only 2 in OpenGL. Since the 3rd vertex is not needed, I changed the code to use only 2 vertices. I'm not sure if this actually caused any performance improvement.
Graphic.Parameters class - A new class in Graphic.java allows you to predefine Graphic parameters to use with GameObject.setGraphic(Graphic.Parameters params). Useful for when you want to switch between graphics on a GameObject often.
A new method in the Graphic class called setDimensions(int width, int height) allows you to set the height and width of the DPI level image you want to use for setGraphic(Graphic g, int x, int y...). Previously, you would have to use setPreciseGraphic(...) if you had different sized images for different DPI levels that have multiple graphics on them.
Set the color intensity of all GameObjects on a specific layer using Room.setLayerColor(int layer, float r, float g, float b, float a).
Graphics management (this is a big one):
The Room, Graphic, and GraphicsHelper classes have been updated to improve and simplify management of graphics for large games. A new GraphicsHelper.cleanUp() method makes it easy to manage graphics. You can choose points in your game to call cleanUp(). When called, Graphics that have not been used recently will be unloaded and removed from the GraphicsHelper. Graphics have a new public field called 'persistent' which when set to true will cause the graphic to remain loaded when cleanUp() is called. All non-persistent Graphics will survive through a set number of cleanUp() calls before they are removed. If a Graphic is removed but then a GameObject tries to use it again, it will automatically be re-added to the GraphicsHelper and reloaded.
You can also manually call:
Graphic.load() to load a graphic after is has been added to the GraphicsHelper.
Graphic.unload() to unload a graphic
Graphic.remove() OR GraphicsHelper.removeGraphic(Graphic g) to unload and remove a Graphic from the GraphicsHelper.
OKAY, I think that's just about everything. I actually had to look through the changes in the GitHub commit to remember all the things I've changed xD There are a few other small changes but I didn't think they were important enough to list. Now I want to ask you guys something:
Is there any interest in a full-blown tutorial series for BobEngine?
I could start with the basics, then explain more advanced features like graphics management. I could also take requests for certain tutorials. I could even cover general game development topics and how to implement them with BobEngine. Doing this would be a lot of work so before I dive in I really want to gauge the level of interest in BobEngine. So far, it's been difficult to tell how many people are interested because I haven't gotten an overwhelming amount of replies here but every once in a while I get a PM or email asking for help. So if you're using BobEngine raise your hand!
And of course: if you've made anything with BobEngine I would love to see it! I've seen a few things and it makes me happy to see you guys using getting some use out of my engine.
Thanks for your time! If you have any questions, just ask. You find any issues with BobEngine, post them here or on GitHub and will fix them. Also don't forget to let me know if you're using BobEngine!
Once again, the repo can be found here: https://github.com/Bobbyloujo/BobEngine
Thanks again,
Ben a.k.a. Bobby Lou Jo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bobbyloujo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BobbyLouJo
you are great and i should more from you
I am a new man in the electronic area, and you have developed your own staff, you set a good example for me.
Jackiefire said:
I am a new man in the electronic area, and you have developed your own staff, you set a good example for me.
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Thanks! Your support means a lot.