I'm just starting out in app development and have a board game concept that I would like to visualize before coding it.
Which free ware would you recommend that I use and then afterwards maybe even port assets and other resources to my Eclipse Android IDE?
The key thing for me right now is to have a tool I can use to make and see the game :-O
If it happens to generate simple java code,that'd be great ;-)
If it's a plugin editor for eclipse that'd be superb :-)
And lastly has anyone ever used Java Ascii Versatile Editor for this purpose?
BTW there's a fantastic eclipse free hand drawing resource called Sketch currently in development.
Have you tried Google's AppInventor?
I'm not quite sure what you mean with the term "visualize"
If you are refering to graphics - maybe with some animations - than inkscape might be a good tool. It creates vector graphics as SVG (which allows scripting for simple animations).
SVG also has the advantage that you can render it easily to PNG at various resolutions.
Related
I created some animations for a mobile app, now I need to provide assets for Android and iOS developers.
Usually we use a PNG sequence. But I really want to find a solution to migrate to 'vector' (I mean not raster) elements.
I can deliver very clean and light SVG files. Is that something that developers can process and transform in what they need?
Ps: I cant's export the animations to AfterEffects at the moment, so Lottie is not a solution for now.
I would like to create an android game but one thing I do not understand is what I should use to create the graphics for it,
It is going to be a 2d game with movable images but would I use OpenGL ES or something else?
You should use OpenGl ES to get the best performance. Alternatively you could use Canvas drawing which is the default way of drawing in Android...
But the easiest way of creating an Android game probably by using Unity 3D...
Not Java development thoe :)
Try it via libgdx
it is easy to use.
Thanks
LibGDX is a fast library that is essentially a wrapper around OpenGL, saving you a lot of time. Unfortunately the documentation around it is severely lacking, so there is quite a steep learning curve, but once you are used to the library development is very fast.
It also gives you the option to run your code as a java application instead of the android emulator, which saves a lot of time.
There are a few good tutorials on the wiki to help you get started, but you will ultimately have to rely on the Java Docs and the test code to see how to use the library properly.
There are other options such as AndEngine, which is easier to learn but has less flexbility and runs slower, so ultimately you are better off with LibGDX.
I'm trying to make an android game here, but I'm not sure what is it that I need to learn - J2ME or flash development?
Also, if flash then is there a difference between flash development (coding) & flash animation?
I'd really appreciate any help here.
Maybe a good read for you
if you want to go the easy route, I'd recommend Flash/Flex/ActionScript. Flash/Flex/ActionScript programming can all be comingled to a certain extent. Flash animations are typically done in a more graphical environment but you can absolutely create your objects programmatically and make them do the same things through Flex/ActionScript.
Also, you may want to look into the controversy over HTML5 and Javascript. That might be a viable alternative for you. Plus, it would double as getting familiar with desigining sites as well.
Java would be the way to go. Due to the fact that java has greater flexibility and is easier to start off with in certain aspects.
Flash/Flex/ActionScript can be easier with designing graphics but the scripting can get a bit complex and tedious.
http://androidforums.com/android-games/217545-should-i-use-flash-air-java-develop-games.html
Google yields many results.
Android game development tutorials
Java is the only way to go. Adobe has abandoned mobile Flash, and even before that, only a limited subset of Android devices supported flash.
The only sensible option is Java with the Android SDK.
is there a plugin for designing android layouts in photoshop? Creating android XML layouts is unnecessarily tedious (especially with having to type "android:" for every parameter, and typing out the layout parameters on every function when they might as well be auto-included when you begin the opening tag for that element), this is a factor of the tools available.
I'm sure people pride themselves in typing it out, but remember HTML elitists that brag about coding in notepad? Analogy: You CAN use a wrench a to drive a nail into wood, but there are better tools.
I imagine that photoshop's slice tool and html export tool could EASILY be configured to save for android XML, layers could be RelativeLayouts with the positioning intact. Has anybody done this already?
try this tool, not perfect, but usable:
http://www.droiddraw.org/
Why can't you use the ADT plugin in eclipse? The latest version released a few weeks ago includes a pretty good graphical editor.
I'm not looking for a mock up tool, I'm looking for a reasonable GUI design tool for the final product in the style of Apple's Interface Builder. Droid Draw is buggy, out of date and inaccurate in my experience. Using the Eclipse plug in to do a complex layout makes going to the dentist seem fun. I'd even settle for hand-coding CSS pixel coordinates over the current model. Is the solution found here: http://andrdev.blogspot.com/2010/01/gui-designer.html the best, or have one of you ninjas found something else? If there is an actively developed project that isn't ready for show yet, I'd like to know that as well.
I don't see why you'd want something like this (especially the tool you posted a link to). That would mean learning a whole new language just to use that tool. Why not learn the XML definitions directly? Yes, it's a relatively steep learning curve but once you're up to speed you'll see it's great. Also, doing XML by hand will allow you to optimize your layouts a lot (there are a few articles out there on how to do that).
As to the Eclipse plugin, I find it quite awesome, although I never use it directly. I don't add/remove/edit elements with it. I write my XML code and then test it with the plugin so I don't have to recompile the app > upload it on the emulator > run the app > go through all the activities to get to the one I'm editing right now, just to see that I need to add a little more padding.
Also, in general, it's best to use the tools you are given. Third party tools are very likely to become outdated, discontinued, deprecated, ...
In conclusion: do it the right way. Write your XML by hand. Use the Eclipse plugin as a convenience tool.