Pro Android Games, Second Edition

Pro Android Games, Second Edition

by Vladimir Silva
Released October 2012
Publisher(s): Apress
ISBN: 9781430247975

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Book description

In the last few years, Android has progressed with the debut of better fonts, new User Interface and Experience (UI/UX) APIs, tablet considerations, multi-touch capabilities, multi-tasking, faster performance, improved battery management techniques, and now Google TV Android Apps for the Android game app developer repertoire.

With actionable real-world source, Pro Android Games, Second Edition shows you how to build more sophisticated and addictive Android games, by leveraging the power of these recent advancements found in the new Android Jelly Beans development platform as well as those you've counted on in earlier releases. Multi-touch code gives these games and their players dynamic input and exchange ability, for a more realistic arcade game experience. Faster and better performance offers game players a more seamless, fun arcade experience like never before on Android. There is also improved native C/C++ integration with Android's NDK as well, which makes coding, compiling, and converting both productive and efficient with gains in app performance.

Pro Android Games, Second Edition features the following improvements:

  • Updates to the latest version of the Android SDK, NKD, plus the latest Eclipse IDE.

  • Greater focus on tablets the ever changing device resolutions, and hardware specs.

  • Native game development and hardware accelerated graphics.

  • Bigger and Better Real World Engines, such as Quake I and II Plus an oldie from the previous edition: Doom

  • Coverage of the new smart TV APIs (Google TV), UI, UX, multi-touch and multi-tasking features available with Android Jelly Bean.

  • A look into the future with augmented reality

  • Advanced techniques for improving your game playing experience including better multi-tasking, improved performance optimization, battery management and more.

  • A "Quake 3D"-like game app case study

    • You'll definitely have fun, and perhaps you'll even make some money. Enjoy!

    What you'll learn

  • Key advanced Android gaming techniques using the new Android SDK and NDK

  • How to add and integrate multi-touch

  • How to use Bluetooth controllers (Zeemote)

  • More gaming tricks and tips, such as hybrid 3D graphics with OpenGL and JNI

  • How to port, augment a 3D shooter "Doom"-like game app using OpenGL

  • How to build a 3D shooter game like "Quake" and "Quake II"

  • How and where to best deploy these game apps

    • Who this book is for

    This book is for savvy Android app developers who are looking for professional or advanced techniques for porting, augmenting and building 3D game apps that are complex, fun and lucrative.

    Table of contents

    1. Titlepage
    2. Contents at a Glance
    3. Contents
    4. About the Author
    5. About the Technical Reviewer
    6. Introduction
    7. Chapter 1: Welcome to the World of the Little Green Robot
      1. Setting Up Your Machine
      2. Download and Install the SDK
      3. Configure Your Eclipse
      4. Installing the Native Development Kit
      5. Creating an Android Emulator
      6. Configuring a Real Device
      7. Importing the Source Code into Eclipse
      8. Summary
    8. Chapter 2: Gaming Tricks for Phones or Tablets
      1. Compiling Native Code in Android
      2. Application Architecture
      3. Compiling the Shared Library
      4. Testing the App on a Device
      5. Java Wrappers for C/C++ Event Handling
      6. Multitouch Tricks
      7. Summary
    9. Chapter 3: More Gaming Tricks with OpenGL and JNI
      1. The Power of Mobile Devices
      2. OpenGL the Java Way
      3. OpenGL the Native Way
      4. Scaling Video Buffers with Hybrid OpenGL ES
      5. Summary
    10. Chapter 4: Efficient Graphics and Portability with OpenGL ES 2.0
      1. Portability
      2. Superb Efficiency with OpenGL ES 2.0
      3. Invoking OpenGL ES 2.0 in Android
      4. Project Icosahedron
      5. Adding Swipe and Multi-Touch Pinch for Zooming
      6. Compiling and Running
      7. Summary
    11. Chapter 5: 3D Shooters for Doom
      1. The Sky Is the Limit with the Java/C Power Combo
      2. Bringing Doom to a Mobile Device
      3. Game Architecture for Doom
      4. Java Main Activity
      5. Handling Audio Independently of the Format
      6. Native Interface Class
      7. Native Layer
      8. Compiling Doom with the NDK
      9. Testing Doom in the Emulator
      10. Summary
    12. Chapter 6: 3D Shooters for Quake
      1. A Little About the Quake Jargon
      2. The Power of Code Reuse: Quake in Less Than 500 Lines of New Code
      3. Quake for Android Architecture
      4. Changes Required to the Native Quake Engine
      5. Running on a Device
      6. Summary
    13. Chapter 7: 3D Shooters for Quake II
      1. Reviewing the Code
      2. Escaping the Shackles of the Java Heap
      3. Taming the Mighty Quake II Engine
      4. Building Quake II with the NDK
      5. Running on the Device or Emulator
      6. Quake II Performance on Multiple Devices
      7. Summary
    14. Chapter 8: Fun with Bluetooth Controllers
      1. Dissecting the Wiimote
      2. A Wiimote Controller App
      3. Zeemote
      4. Summary
    15. Chapter 9: A Look into the Future: Augmented Reality and Google TV
      1. What Is AR?
      2. AR and Android
      3. Getting the ARToolKit Running on Android
      4. Other Toolkits Out There
      5. Google TV
      6. Summary
    16. Appendix A: Deployment and Compilation Tips
      1. Signing Your Application
      2. JNI Cheat Sheet
      3. Final Thoughts
    17. Index

    Product information

    • Title: Pro Android Games, Second Edition
    • Author(s): Vladimir Silva
    • Release date: October 2012
    • Publisher(s): Apress
    • ISBN: 9781430247975