The document provides an overview of tools and frameworks for Android game development, including AndEngine and jPCT-AE, detailing their architectures, setup processes, and features. It discusses concepts such as game engines, scene creation, resource management, and performance optimization strategies. Additionally, it highlights monetization systems and libraries for scores and achievements to improve user engagement.

1. Tools for Android Games
Raul Portales
@sla_shalafi @thepilltree
raul@plattysoft.com http://thepilltree.com

2. Summary
● Introduction to game development
● Engines
● AndEngine
● jPCT-AE
● Scores / Achievements
● Monetization systems

3. Game Architecture (Simplified)
Game Engine
Draw Thread Game Objects Update Thread

4. Performance Tips
● Avoid object creations
● Use pools and pre create them
● Avoid getters and setters
● Public attributes instead
● Avoid collections
● Avoid interfaces
● Use a single Activity

5. Why use OpenGL?
Performance

6. Why use OpenGL?
Performance

7. Why use any Engine
You don’t want to start from scratch

8. AndEngine

9. AndEngine
● http://www.andengine.org/
● 2D Graphics Engine
● LGPL
● Extensions
● Physics Engine (Box2D)
● Live Wallpapers
● etc

10. Games built with AndEngine
● Chalk Ball
● Bunny Shooter
● Greedy Spiders
● Wheelz
● Farm Tower
● ...

11. Games built with AndEngine

12. Project setup
● Put the jar under libs
● Add them to the build
path
● Don’t forget “armeabi”
● Get the source
● Import project
● Create res dir

13. Concepts
● Engine
● Scene
● Sprites + Handlers
● Texture / Texture Atlas
● Sprite
● Body
● Fixture

14. Game Architecture / AndEngine
Game Engine
Draw Thread Game Objects Update Thread
Scene UpdateHandler
Sprites

15. Activity creation flow
● BaseGameActivity
● onLoadEngine
● onLoadResources
● onLoadScene
● onLoadComplete

16. Creating the Engine (1/2)
public Engine onLoadEngine() {
DisplayMetrics om = new DisplayMetrics();
getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay().getMetrics(om);
camWidth = 480;
camHeight = (int) (om.heightPixels*480f / om.widthPixels);
RatioResolutionPolicy rrp = new
RatioResolutionPolicy(camWidth, camHeight);
Camera camera = new Camera(0, 0, camWidth, camHeight);

17. Creating the Engine (2/2)
EngineOptions options = new EngineOptions(true,
ScreenOrientation.LANDSCAPE, rrp, camera);
options.getRenderOptions()
.disableExtensionVertexBufferObjects();
return new Engine(options);
}

18. Loading Resources
public void onLoadResources() {
BitmapTextureAtlas bitmapTextureAtlas = new
BitmapTextureAtlas(64, 64,
TextureOptions.BILINEAR_PREMULTIPLYALPHA);
mBoxTextureRegion =
BitmapTextureAtlasTextureRegionFactory
.createFromAsset(bitmapTextureAtlas, this,
"box_icon.png", 0, 0);
mEngine.getTextureManager()
.loadTexture(bitmapTextureAtlas);
}

19. Texture Atlas
● Quite a pain for AndEngine
● Built by hand
● Size must be a power of 2
● One big or many small ones?

20. Creating the Scene (1/3)
public Scene onLoadScene() {
Scene scene = new Scene();
PhysicsWorld physicsWorld = new PhysicsWorld(new
Vector2(0, SensorManager.GRAVITY_EARTH), false);
Shape ground = new Rectangle(0, camHeight - 2,
camWidth, 2);
FixtureDef wallFixtureDef =
PhysicsFactory.createFixtureDef(0, 0.5f, 0.5f);
PhysicsFactory.createBoxBody(physicsWorld, ground,
BodyType.StaticBody, wallFixtureDef);
scene.attachChild(ground);

21. Creating the Scene (2/3)
Sprite box = new Sprite(0, 0, mBoxTextureRegion);
FixtureDef boxFixture =
PhysicsFactory.createFixtureDef(1, 0.5f, 0.5f);
Body boxBody =
PhysicsFactory.createBoxBody(physicsWorld, box,
BodyType.DynamicBody, boxFixture);
physicsWorld.registerPhysicsConnector(new
PhysicsConnector(box, boxBody, true, true));
scene.attachChild(box);

22. Creating the Scene (3/3)
scene.registerUpdateHandler(physicsWorld);
scene.registerUpdateHandler(mUpdateHandler);
return scene;
}

23. Types of bodies
● Dynamic
● It is affected by physics like gravity
● Kinematic
● It moves in a specified way
● Static
● It does not move

24. More Interesting things
● TiledTextures / Animated Sprites
● Animations
● Sound Engine
● Particle Systems
● Collision Detect
● Polygonal Bodies
● Menus

25. Intermission
← AndEngine Example apk

26. jPCT-AE

27. jPCT-AE
● http://www.jpct.net/jpct-ae/
● 3D Engine
● 3DObjects
● Lights
● etc
● No physics
● It has collision detection

28. Games built with jPCT-AE
● SpaceCat
● SkyFrontier
● Forgotten Elements
● Mobialia Chess
● Freddy Budgett
● Alien Runner
● ...

29. Games built with jPCT-AE

30. Project setup
Add jpct-ae.jar to libs / Build path

31. Concepts / Classes
● Renderer / FrameBuffer
● World
● Texture / TextureManager
● Object3D
● Light
● Camera

32. Game Architecture / jPCT-AE
Game Engine
Draw Thread Game Objects Update Thread
Renderer World
3DObject

33. Preparing the GLSurfaceView
mGlView = (GLSurfaceView) findViewById(R.id.glview);
mGlView.setKeepScreenOn(true);
mViewRenderer = new MyRenderer(mGlView, mWorld);
mGlView.setRenderer(mViewRenderer);

34. Renderer setup
public void onDrawFrame(GL10 gl) {
buffer.clear(back);
synchronized (mWorld) {
mWorld.renderScene(buffer);
mWorld.draw(buffer);
}
buffer.display();
}

35. Setup the World
mWorld = new World();
mWorld.setAmbientLight(150, 150, 150);

36. Loading Textures
Resources res = getResources();
Texture texture =
new Texture(res.getDrawable(R.raw.texture));
TextureManager.getInstance()
.addTexture("texture", texture);

37. Loading Objects
mModel = Loader.load3DS(getResources()
.openRawResource(R.raw.model), 1)[0];
mModel.setTexture("texture");
mWorld.addObject(mModel);
mWorld.buildAllObjects();

38. Creating Lights
Light sun = new Light(mWorld);
sun.setIntensity(250, 250, 250);
SimpleVector sv = new SimpleVector(0, -100, -100);
sun.setPosition(sv);

39. Handling the camera
Camera cam = mWorld.getCamera();
cam.setPosition(new SimpleVector(0, 0,-100));
cam.lookAt(mModel.getTransformedCenter());

40. More about the camera
● It has a position
● Camera.setPosition
● It has a target
● Camera.lookAt
● It has a rotation
● Camera.setRotation

41. The 3D axis

42. Operations with objects
● Hierarchy
● addChild
● Move
● setPosition / translate
● Rotation
● rotateX, rotateY, rotateZ

43. More Interesting Things
● Keyframe Animations
● Collision detect (Ellipsoids)
● Billboards
● Transparency
● Culling
● Primitive Objects

44. And a workaround
● Overlay native layouts
● Menus
● Dialogs

45. Another Intermission
← jPCT-AE Example apk

46. Bonus: Other Engines
● PlayN
● https://developers.google.com/playn/
● NME
● http://www.haxenme.org/
● Unity
● http://unity3d.com/
● Game Maker
● http://www.yoyogames.com/make

47. Scores / Achievements

48. Why use a Library?
● Not reinventing the wheel
● It is proven that works
● Familiarity for users
● Other games use them
● You do not own the servers
● You don’t, and that is good

49. Available libraries
● ScoreLoop ● OpenFeint

50. What do you get?
● Achievements
● Not very impressive
● Leaderboards
● That is interesting
● News Feed
● Friends management
● Improved engagement

51. Easy to integrate
● Android Library Project
● Initialize with the Application
● Open a specific screen
● 2 lines of code
● Submit a score or achievement
● 2 lines of code

52. Monetization
Too much to say for a single slide

53. And now...
● Lunch
● Pitch your game idea
● Gather a team
● Hackaton
● Demos, Pizza & Beer

54. Tools for Android Games
Raul Portales
@sla_shalafi @thepilltree
raul@plattysoft.com http://thepilltree.com