Android Game Programming For Dummies

Chapter 5

Creating a Simple Title Screen

In This Chapter

Handling graphics for backgrounds

Making functional buttons

Transitioning between screens

What will be the first thing your game’s players see when they launch your game? Some games go straight into play mode, but most commonly the player sees a title screen or splash page. Sometimes the game shows credits preceding a title screen, or credits listed right on the title page. Either way, almost all games (including the very first video games) have some sort of initial screen that gives the player a place to start a new game, resume an old game, change options, and/or view high scores.

This common feature of games — including mobile games — is a logical place to start building your own version of Crazy Eights. You’ll want a screen that looks good on as many different devices as possible, displays the name of the game, and includes buttons for starting or resuming a game.

You can download sample files for this chapter at www.dummies.com/go/androidgameprogramming.

Creating a Custom View

The title screen needs a custom view. To create ...