47 replies to this topic

[gnysek]

Touching screen is like clicking with left mouse button, that's all. And back button from phones is backspace button. Rest - is same.

[thescotster19]

Touching screen is like clicking with left mouse button, that's all. And back button from phones is backspace button. Rest - is same.

Awesome!

[Kouri]

For those wondering about how Android would work, the beta period was really the time to find out.

Either way, from the Beta I figured out a few things.

1) The trouble with getting your old project supported isn't so much with Android, it's with Studio itself. Plenty of things changed between GM8/HTML5 and Studio that make old projects unplayable. Once you've fixed your project to run fine in Studio Windows, you can rest assured that it will work just as well in Android/iOS. Almost every function is cross-compatible.

2) User interface must be kept simple. Generally, interface should be limited to a virtual gamepad with few buttons or a mouse-only input..

2a) I had an old project that used keyboard keys to move and the mouse to aim and shoot. While it worked fine on PC, the interface wound up too convoluted for a small touchscreen. Also, it's difficult to precisely position a mouse pointer with your finger on a small screen. I had to adjust controls and gameplay to work off of direction keys/analog nub and three action buttons for jump, fire, and reload. Virtual gamepads work decently on touchscreens.

2b) For RPG enthusiasts, a click-to-move interface with menu buttons on-screen might be the way to go. Divide the play area into 32x32 cells so positioning doesn't have to be dead-accurate. Make sure all interface options are decently sized, as small buttons and lines of text are difficult to hit precisely with a finger. Keyboard shortcuts are fine for PC and slide/flip Android devices, but make them added benefits for those users, not something the touchscreen-only user is going to regret not having.

Obviously those aren't hard-set rules for designing a touch-screen interface, and other schemes -can- be made to work, but planning ahead in such a manner prevents headaches in the process of trying to add another platform.

As for getting touchscreen input to work, if you only need one input at a time, the left mouse button will work fine. If you require multi-touch, as in the case of a virtual gamepad, Studio offers two options.

1) Virtual Keys - These are square buttons that appear on screen that can be mapped to any keyboard key. They are multi-touch enabled.

2) Multi-touch Functions - These behave very similarly to GM's left mouse button events, except you are able to specify the detection of up to five separate inputs at once.

[thescotster19]

Thanks Pabloco!

[Mike.Dailly]

1) Virtual Keys - These are square buttons that appear on screen that can be mapped to any keyboard key. They are multi-touch enabled.

Just a quick correction here.... the "display" feature is supposed to be for debug only. You should draw a "nice" looking sprite where the key is positioned. Input still works when it's not displayed, and using the "box" for display is just horrible.

[Kouri]

Just a quick correction here.... the "display" feature is supposed to be for debug only. You should draw a "nice" looking sprite where the key is positioned. Input still works when it's not displayed, and using the "box" for display is just horrible.

Ah, I wasn't actually referring to the debug display. I simply meant that, as far as I'm aware, the virtual key shapes are always square/rectangular, regardless of the image placed over top. Still, I've not had issue using round graphics over the square buttons.

Also, I apparently skipped over Scotster's question about testing Android games. It -does- currently require an Android device on-hand. Simplified directions are as follows:

1) Install Android & Java SDKs.
2) Enable Debugging on Android device and install Debugging drivers on PC.
3) Configure GM's Android Settings
4) Plug the Android Device into the PC (after initial setup, it's possible to debug wirelessly)
5) Hit play in GM, game shows up on Android screen.

[thescotster19]

Thanks for all the info Pabloco and Mike, it is much appreciated.

[David Batty]

I dont think modules should be given away for free with a watermark, the hackers would be on the job in no time trying to remove the watermark to save someone paying for the module. Studio is very reasonably priced, anyone that REALLY wants it will save up for it, the rest are possibly bedroom coding "tyre kickers" who would probably not buy the full version anyway.