Database Info

[APP] Geo Wars - A location based game for the HD2

[PORTED TO 3D]
Major tasks done:
3D view, world, perspective
3D primitives
Textures
Lighting
Materials
accelerometer mapped to camera
Major tasks to be done:
- Ray tracing (for picking)
- BoundingBox collision
- Rework game logic (pratically done, just need to add Z axis to the game logic)
- Include soldiers
- Include boats
- Improve performance
- Enhance graphics.
- Use compass to rotate the camera/player's position
Hi
I'm a master degree student, whose final project is to develop a location based mobile game prototype. Although the development is nearly complete, there is some tweaking and adjustments still to be done. As such, and being a member of this community for some time now, I thought i should not only seek your help, but also share this creation of mine. I will describe what it is, how does it work, what bugs does it have (still some unfortunatly) and finally, what i need from you guys.
Description
The game is basically a Tower Wars kind of game. You are a general who was given the task to hold you sector from the invading enemy forces until backup arrives. You're only hope is the experimental technology the government gave you that allows you to instantly deploy machine guns and artillery nests, completly unmaned and automatic. Although these do cost a lot of money, so you have to prove your worth by holding your position and defeating enemy forces.
Game Mechanics
The battlefield is your very own map (yes, from google maps static api xD). Enemies will come from sea air and land, but all of them with some restrictions to their movement, firepower, range, etc. For an instance, while an airplane may move around firing at anything from anywhere, a soldier or a tank must move around the streets, attempting to close in on their target. Boats will only appear if there is water on the map (kinda makes sense). Each enemy unit will try to prioritize its targets, and they have somewhat different AIs. For an instance, a Tank will keep attacking towers while moving in closer to the player's position. Once he gets there it will start blasting the player away. A soldier, however, will always try to attack towers first and only after there are no towers left will he attack the player.
The player can do some actions as well. He earns money for each second he remains alive, for each money filled bag he gets (by moving over them), and for each unit destroyed (each unit provides different bonus money). With this money he can build towers which will do their best to fend of the enemy forces. Each tower works differently, and has different projectily speeds, fire rates, life, costs, damage per hit and projectile type (for an instance, the rocket tower fires homming missiles that never miss its target, unless something gets in the way) The player can (and should also) move around the map (by walking), attempting to draw enemies (such as tanks) into sittuations where those units might get caught in cross fire (be aware that friendly fire works both ways).
So, the player can build towers by clicking on those lettered buttons (each creates a different tower, who'd have guessed?) and by clicking again on an clear area (this area must not have roads or any type of game units in it).
Oh, and in "Settings" you can select the quick game's difficulty, and if you want weather or not to influence the game. Clear weather provides bonus speed and range for all units and projectiles, while rainny or cloudy weather provide penalties to the same.
Know Issues
Since this IS a WIP, there are some (if not ALOT) of issues, them being:
Common issues:
- Weather takes a long time to load, up to a minute (the weather webservice isn't the most accurate or fast around i guess). ALL LOCATION, MAP, AND WEATHER DATA ARE DOWNLOADED IN THE MAIN MENU. YOU CANNOT START THE GAME WHILE THIS DATA HASN'T BEEN DOWNLOADED YET. Just press "Quick Game" from time to time. The button will only work when this data is ready.
- You cannot restart a game. Actually, you have to quit the application (and sometimes even reset your device) in order to start a new "Quick Game".
- Load Game is working, but not for you guys yet. The idea behind of it is to play the game in locations where you physically cant. Basically you'd have to register an account in a site i've created for this purpose (the site was a requirement for this thesis), create the game's there, and then login in the "load game" section and select one of the game's you had created. Works for me in the lab here, but i haven't deployed the website, the DB nor the webservice for this yet.
- Aircrafts can be buggy. And by buggy i mean that sometimes their own rockets blow themselves up. Yes it is funny when you read it down here, but it's not intended.
- Sometimes a ground unit may get out of the road. Completly. Not sure why though.
- The game may be somewhat unplayable in one place, and to easy in another. That's location based games for ya.
- (Feel free to report some extra ones, i'll be sure to add them)
3D
- Soldiers not present yet due to them slowing down the game a lot (geometry too complex, gotta dumb it up a bit)
- Tanks WILL most certainly move away from the streets. This is due to the different coordinate systems used by dx3D and dx sprites.
- Game will run poorly, not due to the complex AI, but due to the poor graphic driver support. Will try to improve.
- You can only position towers when viewing from the top view. Otherwise it is really difficult as ray tracing wasn't implemented yet.
- Player's position may also be erratic due to the different coordinate system.
Requests
Well, this is the part where you guys can help. By now you should notice that while the game works it does so barely. The graphics are cheesy (i'm the one to blame) and the gameplay is IMBA sometimes. So, here's what i need from you fellas.
TRY IT.
No seriously, please do try it.And submit your oppinions about how the game should be tweaked to be more challenging, and what do you think are the issues of Location Based Games themselves. To sum it up i need:
Opinions - on the game, and on location games
Tweak suggestions - the game should be balanced and should make the player move around, but not to tire him or actually force him to be playable. However, players that move around should be rewarded somehow.
Graphic Enhancements - Yeah, game sucks. I need decent sprites. If you got some nice ones that may replace what i've got, go ahead show them ^^. You will be credited. I was thinking of turning the game more GTX like (the main menus are ugly cause i just made them in a rush)
Requirements
You need to have either Chainfire graphics patch or ATI 3D drivers. Why? Because HTC didn't include Direct3D mobile drivers d-_-b'...
If you are reaaaaaally lazy and don't want to get outta the couch, please download FakeGPS, so you can play the game ^^. You can test it easily that way.
Gameplay Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crnOVldfBgM -- A bit (like, a lot) outdated, but shows off a bit of the mechanics.
Here's a screenshot for you fellas:
2D game:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
3D game version:
Download Zip
2D version
http://feupload.fe.up.pt/get/bBLS4QIrwzz0gRW
3D version
http://feupload.fe.up.pt/get/yukIzyB9JM76cdc
--You can extract and place this anywhere on the phone. Just be sure the *.exe and the Textures and Sound folders are in the same folder.
Suggestions
- Multiplayer mode (possibly a 1 on 1 kind of game) (this, if it is meant to be implemented, will take a while. Prolly will only look at it during summer)
- Put the price on the buttons for the bunkers. (done)
- When building a bunker, move around the bunker that is to be build while the finger is on the screen. Deploy tower on mouse up. (done, i guess)
- Optionally choose where to play a quick game (giving it google map like addresses, such as 1242 Imaginary Av, Portugal) (done)
- Change the zoom for the map (in order to solve the tower placement issue and the rythm of how fast the player moves on the map) (done, but perhaps it could be done more elegantly)
- Nice looking menus (comming up ^^)
Suggestions and possible improvements will be placed here.
Oh, and can a mod put the links in this post correctly, just to make it easier for those that wish to see/download it?
Everybody, feel free to post screenshots as well.

About my contribution
Here I am as I promised ... what it goes on the fact is that I do not like a great deal of plays and even I forget that the HD2 has a folder with two or three but ... I was seeing the movie in the Youtube and also because I read here seem to me a very interesting project but for whom it interest him for plays ... what is not my case. Anyway I ask that they help you in this project and that you could present in your theory a final and deserving product of being in the podium of the best plays and ... with a stamp 'tuga' =Português
Regards and good luck

Thanks for comming
Thanks for comming ^^.
I understand that not everybody is crazy about videogames. And i also understand that many people aren't into Location Based Gaming. Nevertheless i thank you for taking the time to read and see my project. I hope others will find it as interesting as you !
I am now finishing the writing of my thesis! In a month or so it should be done, although i wish to carry on with the development of this project.
Kudos, and once again, thanks for showing up

First of all: I LOVE THIS CONCEPT!
Second: I will definitely test this game as soon as I get around to it and provide you with some feedback.
Third: Do you have any plans to implement a multiplayer version? It would be too cool if you could work together with others building defenses, supporting each other...

Looks interesting, will test it when i finish work

I love the idea behind this game and I am currently transferring it to my phone to try it out I will edit this post when/if I got something constructive to say
EDIT: apparently I preffered to make a whole new post?
my excuse must be that this post was not visible when I created the other...

Here are my observations after a couple of games:
First of all as you kind of mentioned, if you press the exit button in the main menu, you will not be able to start the game itself until a softreset have been made.
Secondly the game crashes for me, and gives me an error after about half a minute of playtime.
Third, in the place where i live it is hard to place bunkers as they are too big (even though the form of the bunker would fit fine ).
I would recommend you to make the bunkers a bit smaller.
Recommendations:
Put a price on the buttons for the bunkers so that i know how much they cost.
When i have to place the towers let is be so that when i press a button and then press somewhere on the map, and i keep it pressed, i will be able to more precisely plant the tower, by moving my finger around the screen, and let go when i want to place the tower.
It would be much appreciated if you made it so that you could choose where to play directly from the game And maybe also how zoomed out it should be, as i myself would love to play in for example famous places

MAMeingast said:
First of all: I LOVE THIS CONCEPT!
Second: I will definitely test this game as soon as I get around to it and provide you with some feedback.
Third: Do you have any plans to implement a multiplayer version? It would be too cool if you could work together with others building defenses, supporting each other...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Greetings ^^
Re First: Glad you love it ^^. Really. This concept is somewhat new and not many people like location based games. I would like to know what is your oppinion about location based games in general and why aren't they that much played/developed.
Re Sec : Take your time, i am open to all your doubts and suggestions ^^.
Re Third: You know, you aren't the first to make that suggestion? I'm really considering looking into it, although i thought it would be easier to create a multiplayer where you could opt to spend money buying defensive structures or buying offensive units to attack your foe. That way you could play against anybody anywhere. What do you think?

Shum97 said:
Looks interesting, will test it when i finish work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hoping to hear from you mate ! Glad it caught your interest. Will probably post another video (showing the website and the load game feature). I need to film the game working as well, when the player is moving and the likes.

Hojlind said:
Here are my observations after a couple of games:
First of all as you kind of mentioned, if you press the exit button in the main menu, you will not be able to start the game itself until a softreset have been made.
Secondly the game crashes for me, and gives me an error after about half a minute of playtime.
Third, in the place where i live it is hard to place bunkers as they are too big (even though the form of the bunker would fit fine ).
I would recommend you to make the bunkers a bit smaller.
Recommendations:
Put a price on the buttons for the bunkers so that i know how much they cost.
When i have to place the towers let is be so that when i press a button and then press somewhere on the map, and i keep it pressed, i will be able to more precisely plant the tower, by moving my finger around the screen, and let go when i want to place the tower.
It would be much appreciated if you made it so that you could choose where to play directly from the game And maybe also how zoomed out it should be, as i myself would love to play in for example famous places
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers!
Really enjoyed your analysis. Exactly the kind of feedback i expected!
First : Yes, i kinda am in the process of finding why the heck that is happening. Since i use a different thread to load location data while the game is loading that probably is the culprit. I will check that out as it is a real deal breaker.
Second: When the game crashes do you see any pattern of why it crashes? It used to have a mem leak but it should be corrected some iterations ago. I will try to further test and debug the app as well!
Third: Unfortunatly this is a known issue. Most location based games have a serious issue with some locations. The solution to this is, either we scale down the size of the towers, or we add the option to zoom the map (in the settings for an instance). The default zoom is 18 (used to be 17) because in some situation more than that proved to be excessive.
On with the suggestions
First: True, i didn't include the price on the button. Honestly i haven't done it yet cause the graphics aren't final. But it's true that i should consider something like that in the following versions.
Second: Tower placement is still an issue, yes it is. Your solution seems to be great! The tower will follow your finger while it moves and is only placed when you lift it. That does solve the tower placement issue.
Third: Well, this is supposedly where the load game feature comes in. It allows you to play any game you previously created. It also allows you to keep track of your scores of each of those created games. It is a finished feature and i'm only looking for a place to host the DB the webservice server and the website. Of course i only created the load game feature because it was kinda required. I agree that specifying the place where you'd like to play your game (via text box or so) is probably the way to go! I will definetly try to add that
Well, that about covers it! Glad you took time to play it and to come up with some neat ideas! Will definetly add them to the main post! I will try to add if not all, some ideas and correct some bugs you pointed out

ei05035 said:
Second: When the game crashes do you see any pattern of why it crashes? It used to have a mem leak but it should be corrected some iterations ago. I will try to further test and debug the app as well!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have chosen to actually read the errors I get and since I do not get much knowledge out of them I though that you might would I have attached the errors I have had so far (3 different errors in total) and hope that this is usable to you
A little wordlist so you know what it says regarding the words:
"ved" = "by" or "at"
"undtagelseskode" = "exception code"
"undtagelsesadresse" = "exception adress"
"læser" = "reader"

Hojlind said:
I have chosen to actually read the errors I get and since I do not get much knowledge out of them I though that you might would I have attached the errors I have had so far (3 different errors in total) and hope that this is usable to you
A little wordlist so you know what it says regarding the words:
"ved" = "by" or "at"
"undtagelseskode" = "exception code"
"undtagelsesadresse" = "exception adress"
"læser" = "reader"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, seems that the mem leaks are back. Although i am pretty sure were i messed up. The thing is that i tested a mem leak free version of the game and then i changed some stuff that i thought wouldn't affect the game. Guess i was wrong xD. Will look into it. By sunday or monday i will have a new version, with some bugs corrected and hopefully some new features. I am still writting the thesis and its due to the end of this month, so time isn't really on my side for it. But this project will be continued after that ^^. Thanks for the heads up mate!

Looking forward to it and no problem

Well, just finnished correcting some bugs on the fly. They were kinda obvious ones. Mem leak is corrected, although you might notice some slow downs. Mem management is still due to be optimized but you shouldnt experience Out of Memory exceptions anymore.
Aditionally you can now exit and reenter the game. At least as far as i can tell. If you get a Direct3D exception you will prolly have to reboot the device to run again. But this should not appear.
Oh, and you can now say where you'd you like to play the game. This is still a bit buggy but i will improve it soon. This is in the settings part. Also you can now especify the level of zoom in the map .
Some bugs regarding the positioning of the player in the map are expected (especially when using the "Customized location" option... ) but they will be looked at ^^.
I'm now uploading the new version, and will update the first post.
Kudos everybody!

There, updated the first post. Also took the liberty of correcting the links. The game should be more stable now, although i expect quite a few bugs when using custom game location setting and moving around the map. Also, please give some feedback regarding the GPS positioning precision on different zoom levels.
Next iteration i will try to improve the tower placement procedure, and a few other things.

Finishing thesis
Sorry for being this absent for so long guys. Anyways, i'm now in the process of finishing up my thesis. Hopefully even during this week, I will be able to produce a new version of the game with added features. Stay tuned!

Looking forward

Well, sorry for the lack of news, but the new version is up. It should be a little bit more stable (hopefully). I am considering ditching the Direct3D API and going for Opengl ES. Well, anyways, here are the changes:
- You can now play the game without using the GPS module (you just need to un check the "General moves" option, and fill in the address bar with a valid google maps address)
- Now allows for drag and drop towers. You tap what tower you want to add and then tap and drag around to place it accuratly.
For the future version (hopefully comming in a few days) i was considering:
- Abitily to use neither the GPS nor Data connections! Playing an already downloaded map (for starters this will only allow you to play your latest game. In the future i'm thinking about giving players the ability of playing any played game again).
- Reworked in game graphics. Lets face it, the graphism isn't bad. It just plainly sucks. Will aim for a more coherent design...
- DirectX made menus. Yeah, the .net menus get the job done but they do fell very '90ish. A background image and some custom drawn controls would look nice, don't ya think ^^.
Well, the latest is available in the first post. As always, provide feedback fellas ^^. Kudos from me!

Well guys, seems like i'm on a streak. A newer version is out. It is similar to the previous one with a few visual tweaks:
- All images were kind "Cartoonified" now. Looks cool, i'm thinking of doing something like that to the google map image. Whaddya think?
- Also, as sugested, the buttons now contain a previews of the tower's price as well as a miniature preview of them.
The next major version will have all the menus reworked hopefully. After that, (which will take me a lot of time definetly, since i have to create the textures and alter the game itself) i will consider going to OpenGL ES. It should only require me to change the renderer part of my engine (since OpenGL doesnt use sprites, but planes with textures) as well as the picking procedures for integrating the tapping on the screen with the game logic ( Direct3D does this smoothly, OpenGL requires me to use a projection for doing so -_-'. An orthographic one should do the trick ). Will keep u guys updated, and keep those suggestions commin ^^.

thank you i have been tryin to find a game like this . the g1 has a similar game but with zombies chasing u round the streets i think.
tryin it now . and well done .

Settlers of Catan

Hey there,
There is a Settlers of Catan game for the iPhone. I'm wondering if anyone knew of that game being ported to Android any time soon? All I can find for Android is the 'Better Settlers' which helps with setting up the board.
Thanks in advance for any info!
Jeremy

shameless "bump!"
I would guess there would be copyright issues or some such :S

well you could try developing your own game..

I'd like to see settlers of catan on this platform too!

Me too, if someone is interested in doing the gameplay, maybe graphics, or whatever else. I would be happy to do the development.
Doesn't neccessarily have to be clone as such, it can have similar gameplay. Try playing something like Travian, it's similar but not exact.

It's a game I'd love to have on my phone . . . don't know it well enough to have a go at dev, but I'd be happy to alpha/beta/gamma test if someone gave it a crack . . .

there was a flash game i found a while ago - never got it working on my mogul though. Also I could help with graphics if a new game was designed

I'd love a SoC game for my Evo. Any new info on this?
Sent from my HTC Evo using Tapatalk + Swype

This would really be great. Id like a version where you could play with others on different phones via wifi/3g. It would be a lot of fun to play with friends and coworkers through out the day (or week as needed)
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

mesasone said:
This would really be great. Id like a version where you could play with others on different phones via wifi/3g. It would be a lot of fun to play with friends and coworkers through out the day (or week as needed)
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. This would be an awesome
Multi-player app especially if you could save and resume a game. You'd almost have to have one person host the game so the data is all housed on one SD card.
Other thoughts are the ability to change the rules before starting, built in chat and or push to talk functionality, bartering alerts, next turn alerts, review of score and previous actions, the list goes on.
If someone is serious about developing this then I am totally willing to help think it through and create graphics. Send me a PM.
Sent from my HTC Vogue FroYo using XDA App

Settlers of Catan Android game in the works
I've been having a dabble with android development and have been working on a Settlers of Catan game as it is such a great game and it's a good way to learn android dev.
I'm ready to admit that someone might beat me to it, whether by making the iphone version available to android or whatever, but still if anyone is interested in a) helping out on the project b) doing some testing or c) pimping the game, let me know! You can contact me on cettlersofsatan at gmail dot com.
It's currently in SVN online in a single user repository. But I would happily move it to Google Code or something if others were interested.

I'm as eager as everyone else to see this project pull through. And stone do NOT lose faith. It is always better to have an option then only one option for a game/app.
I have assembled a list of people who expressed interest in helping:
stoneskin - work in progress
niknah - dev
Willuknight - graphics
ii Candor ii - graphics/thinktank
DJGibbon - test
You guys should really get together especially with stone and get cracking! Heard some good ideas and plenty of offers to help. The XDA community NEEDS A SETTLERS!
Thanks guys!

I'd love to help too. I don't think can commit the time to help with development though. Real life is just too hectic lately. However, I'd love to help testing.
If the time opens up, I'm interested in helping with development.
As to graphics, just no skills to bring to the table. Although, I did have a thought last night on this subject. The game might be more playable with simpler graphics. Instead of trying to have an understandable picture of sheep/ore/... on the hexes, just use colors. Light green for wool/sheep, dark green or brown for lumber, goldenrod/yellow for wheat, dark grey for ore and dark red for brick.

Work in progress!
Gino, Latenk, thanks for the feedback. Here's the deal.
I agree, simple graphics to start with, I've uploaded a screenshot, but before anyone analyses it too much , let me state what I want from the project initially.
1) The basic game (i.e. no expansions) in full.
2) Multi-player (up to 4 initially) or single-player (with AI) on one phone.
3) Basic graphics, but a clean separation in implementation so that the graphics, special effects, zoom, board rotation, whatever the monkey-magic one wants, can be added ON TOP OF the rest of the app.
4) Game is free (shouldn't be any copyright issues right?) and would be great if it could get onto Android Market or equivalent.
5) Open source?
I hate graphics, hate the tweaking, fiddling, pixel-adjusting and so on, so I've knocked up the simplest GUI imaginable. I've slapped on a handful of buttons which as you can see, have rubbish little text labels - RD = Roll Dice (in one of the screenshots it's displaying the number rolled), BR/BS/BC are build road/settlement/city, MR = Move Robber, C=Cancel, D=Done, X=exit.
In these shots I'm not even playing a game, I'm in a test mode where I'm just free-building. My colour is white. So a hex-side is painted white for a road, the small circles are settlements, the large circle is a city. The large red circle is me selecting a vertices. As you can see, the current player (Bob) has no resources (free-building) but resources are laid out with shoddy little cards.
So the graphics are v. poor. But I'm not too concerned right about it right now.
Where have I got to?
I've got the basic 'model' in place. That is the game model that maintains hexes, vertices, hex-sides and their roads/settlements/cities.
I haven't even touched on AI, ports, trading.
I'm trying to build the app cleanly, so the views have no concrete knowledge of the game model, and any calls to it are interfaced out.
But this is my first Android app, so I'm learning from scratch, possibly comitting all sorts of Android crimes.
I'm a full-time .Net developer, so I'm kinda fitting this in around job/family and so on, so progress is slow.
Here are my thoughts. I'll aim to get this to a clean/stable state within the next week or so, then if others want to get involved in dev I'll create a Google Code project (or equivalent) and sort it out from there.
I'm currently building against 1.6 because I have an X10 mini. It would be great to support up to the latest API versions.
Ok, uploading the images now. Graphics ARE AWFUL but I'm focussing on the game at the moment.

By the way, if anyone knows what licensing/copyright issues there are with something like this please let me know. I've currently called the project 'Cettlers of Satan' 'cos that made me smile. If rights issues meant it can't go through market places then so be it, but would be great if someone could research this.

Haha, you know that is a basic layout but gets the job done! What you could do is have the game map be at least twice as large as say the resolution of a N1 screen. Enable finger scrolling and/or pinch to zoom (comlpex perhaps but a thought) and let people move around the game map as needed. That'd allow for better graphics, larger maps, and a larger feel to the game. The HUD could possibly go up either side of the game map. In fact I'd say make landscape mode MANDATORY so you have the extra real estate.
Check this out: http://games.asobrain.com/
That is what I envision this game like. That game is everything this game COULD be and he even found ways around copyright. Check that game out, play a round or two and it will give you plenty to think about/use as inspiration. Obviously no need to copy, but you can use it for ideas.
Lastly, the previous statement someone made about notifications is pure gold. Allow people to play their turns then pass to the next with a notification appearing. Great ideas.

I've been there before, but a while ago and he's closed all unactive accounts and stopped registration unfortunately.
If you are a member maybe you could upload a couple of screenshots or explain to me how the GUI works in more detail.
I love the idea of finger scrolling/pinch/zoom etc. I'm gonna give some of that a go tomorrow. But like I say, what I'm initially trying to achieve is
GUI
Model
in a clean separation. So any visual representation would be possible. I'll try and knock out some basic zoom/finger scroll effects just to convince myself that my rudimentary framework will hold together.
Thanks for the quick feedback mate.

This shows the basic layout, how it all works, the HUD and such. Again this would have to be adjusted for the handheld, but in general it looks and works great!
In the top left is a pane for the players in the game. It shows Player Name, Player Color, a count of the cards in the players hand, any held and/or played D cards. This pane can be hidden if the player wishes.
The pane on the bottom left shows all things the plyer can buy and what it takes for the player to buy them. (in the android version I imagine this being a tab you can bring up to buy/see what you need and have.
Below that pane is Played Cards, and Table cards which speak for themselves.
Of course along the bottom you see your hand.
On the bottom right you have 3 buttons, claim victory, trade, and end turn.
And of course you see the dice.
Top right is the chat box.
All of this again is simply for inspiration and not for copying. This gives you a great idea of a fleshed out game and how it could look on a handset.
This is a trade window.
Two things of note here. First notice the top left. WHen a player gets cards on a roll, they show up face up for a brief moment. GREAT idea if possible to implement something similar.
Secondly, bottom right is what appears to be a chart. That shows how many times a number has been rolled. This is more advanced than what we'd need, but an interesting idea and prob easy to implement.
Now on this one a couple things to point out. Look at how they do cities and roads. Similar to what you've suggested. I was thinking maybe circles with symbols on the top (kind of like tokens or markers). Of course maybe more intricate and detailed models could be added later.
Also, that speech bubble that popped up shows where the person played their road or city or settlement. This is ESSENTIAL in some form or another on this game. Plan to include SOMETHING like it.
And lastly, this picture shows what it looks like when a person trades succesfully. Again not necessary but certainly handy.
I must repeat again that I DO NOT CONDONE OUTRIGHT PLAGIARISM with anything Asobrain has done. This is purely for inspiration and research. This should give you PLENTY of ideas!
I've got tons!

This is a beautiful start. Couple thoughts.
- The desert color isn't clearly distinct from wheat.
- The name will have to be something other than "Settlers of Catan". I'd avoid the current name for two reasons. One, a lot of us will take some degree of exception to the Satan reference. Two, it's not really different enough to dodge trademark concerns.
- I despise needing to scroll around in a game to see everything. This is my main complaint with "Pirates & Traders".
- On such a small screen, keep the UI as simple as possible. AsoBrain is wonderful. But, it is designed for a largish screen. (BTW, I hate that he killed old accounts when closing registration. I was away for just about the exact period to get locked-out).
- As we proceed, I'd like to plan for a multi-device/network play. This game would be awesome in a peer-to-peer, networked model.
Thanks for getting this started.
P.S. I *REALLY* like how you did the board. The buttons: meh. The board: Wow!

GinoAMelone said:
This is a beautiful start. Couple thoughts.
- The desert color isn't clearly distinct from wheat.
- The name will have to be something other than "Settlers of Catan". I'd avoid the current name for two reasons. One, a lot of us will take some degree of exception to the Satan reference. Two, it's not really different enough to dodge trademark concerns.
- I despise needing to scroll around in a game to see everything. This is my main complaint with "Pirates & Traders".
- On such a small screen, keep the UI as simple as possible. AsoBrain is wonderful. But, it is designed for a largish screen. (BTW, I hate that he killed old accounts when closing registration. I was away for just about the exact period to get locked-out).
- As we proceed, I'd like to plan for a multi-device/network play. This game would be awesome in a peer-to-peer, networked model.
Thanks for getting this started.
P.S. I *REALLY* like how you did the board. The buttons: meh. The board: Wow!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Agreed, the desert should be a tan, and wheat clearly a gold.
2. Also agree. It cannot even closely resemble Settlers. We can worry about the name when we have a game worth naming (I was thinking something like Travista, or something resembling travelers).
3. That is why it'd also be prudent to include a pinch to zoom or zoom controls. Let the player get in close if they wish, or let them sit way back and view it all from a distance.
4. Agreed. Simple yet elegant/complex in its design is what I'd like to see. Again give the player the option of getting as complicated as they wish. This can be easily accomplished with tabs that the player can pull out as needed. The only thing that should remain on the screen is the players hand, and a few essential buttons. Look at a game called PocketEmpires, use that idea for assembling tabs. I do feel that certain tabs should be entirely devoted to one type of action (like a building tab).
5. Once you have a basic game framework laid, you can work on making it work across the board and with all devices. The dev should focus on getting it to work native first, then move onward. As for a p2p network GREAT IDEA! If there is a way we can link this either by device or via a server that'd be the best way. Allow players to run through an entire game, or let players take their turns and move on to another player (IE pass it back and forth via notifications, similar to how Scrabble works on the iPhone).
I only wish I knew any code/dev tools to help with. All these ideas and nothing to do about it!

[APP] TubeRun: the all-inclusive London transport app

Hi all,
I just finished writing the first version of TubeRun for Android. TubeRun is a London transport app that aims to present the most important data that TfL offers in a single app. My motivation for writing it was the low quality of similar apps found in the market. Typically they offer only a single important feature (eg a journey planner, a good map, bus departures) but they omit the others forcing you to install multiple apps which seldom work in a straightforward manner. In TubeRun, expect to find everything that matters so that you won't have to have 4 different similar apps installed. Features include:
-A Journey Planner that uses the TfL API for up-to-date travel plans
-Live Bus, Underground, Overground, DLR and Rail Departures
-Nearby Tube lines, Bus routes, Cycle Hire stations (with live bike/dock availability data), Rail stations, Oyster ticket shops
-Oyster Balance
-Underground Refund Claims
-The real Tube Map
-Favorites
-Current and Weekend Status Updates
-Fast ICS-inspired interface that doesn't rediscover the wheel
New: The source code of the app is available on GitHub.
I plan to add more features, and I am posting this to request your feedback on what I should add/improve next.
TubeRun is by no means perfect, however I think that it works really well already. Please, let me know your thoughts on it so that I am able to effectively improve it. My current list of TODOs for the future is as follows:
Improve the UI of the main screen (icons are the way to go). (v1.2)
Add a station chooser that uses auto complete and the current user location to void scrolling. (v1.2)
Add the ability to deactivate the backgrounds (my photography skills are not up to the task) (v1.2)
Suggest National Rail stations in the Journey Planner. (v1.2.2)
Add support for oyster accounts with multiple cards enabled. (v1.2.2)
Add tube stations status. (v.1.2.4)
In the nearby tube stations map, add the ability to show departures when clicking a station.(v.1.2.6)
Show nearby oyster ticket shops.(v.1.2.6)
Show nearby rail stations(v.1.2.6)
Fix the title for manually-entered bus stops in departures.(v.1.2.7)
Migrate to the official TfL API for tube departures.(v.1.2.7)
Add national rail departure data.(v.1.2.7)
Overhaul the departures station selector(v.1.2.7)
Add the option to download the tube map that also depicts rail services.(v.1.2.8)
Migrate to the new Google Maps v2 API.(v.1.3.0)
Make favourites sorted by current distance.(v.1.3.1)
Add nearest bus stop in favorites
Show tube/bus departure times directly inside the journey planner
Integrate data about maximum journey time (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14872.aspx)
Support push notifications for travel disruptions
Support advanced journey planner options
Add widgets.
You may lobby for your favorite feature here and I will do my best to implement it. If you are willing to contribute with code, just PM me.
PS. If you like the app don't forget to rate it. The more people that use it, the better the chances of keeping me motivated.
Download link: Android Market
Video presentation (it's old, the app looks more Holo-ish now):

ChangeLog:
---v.1.3.2---
*Journey planner suggestions improvements.
*Minor sliding menu UI updates.
*Better support for the Galaxy S4.
---v.1.3.1---
*Favorites are now sorted automatically by distance
*Bug fixes
---v.1.3.0---
*New, hi-resolution, application icon.
*Migrated to the Google Maps v2 API. Significant performance improvements in Map views.
---v.1.2.8---
Added: added a tube map with rail lines.
New: you can delete the stored tube map by a long press in the Map section button.
Fixes: bus stop selection bug in departures.
---v.1.2.7---
Added: Overground and Rail departures
Added: Departures section overhaul
Added: Official TfL Tube departures API
---v.1.2.6---
Added: Overground support in the Journey Planner
Added: Nearby rail stations
Added: Nearby oyster ticket shops
---v.1.2.5---
Added: New sliding menu implementation
Added: Android 4.2 support
Fixes: Oyster functionality
---v.1.2.4---
Added: service messages appear on (tube/bus) departures
Added: favorites now expand on click (for seeing more than the next 3 departures)
Fixes: bus departures are now sorted by time
---v.1.2.3---
Added: JellyBean support
Fixes: Accepts postcodes without spaces
---v.1.2.2---
Added: Support for oyster accounts with multiple cards
Added: National Rail stations in the Journey Planner
---v.1.2.1---
Fixes: Journey planner suggestions background in Gingerbread
---v.1.2----
Improved: UI
Added: Content Provider (type in the Google search box for quick access to departures and to the journey planner).
Added: Autocomplete textboxes.
Added: Official TfL bus departures API.
Fixes: countless small fixes here and there.
---v.1.1.0----
Added: Nearby Bus lines
Added: Nearby Tube/Bus/Cycle Hire data on a map
Fixes: Claim submission, favorites ordering
---v.1.0.0----
First version.

wow love u work matey just awsome and tyvm just keep going with ur work and ty again

Good job bro! If I'm ever going to London again I'll take this with me ^^

Great app, shame I just moved out of London though! Would have used this otherwise.

referring this app to all of my friends. you need more downloads. App is fantastic, you just need to improve the main menu layout and give it a more ICS style feel.
Well done mate, I use it everyday

fantastic app, will pass it on to all my mates. love it when someone sets themselves a challenge and sails over the bar.
keep it up

WOW what a potential app. I would like to make a few suggestions
1. UI, this needs a rehaul? Im currently using Tube Chaser https://play.google.com/store/apps/...wxLDEsImNvbS5hbmR5Ym90dGluZy50dWJlY2hhc2VyIl0.
and it looks very well polished. You can also set it up so that it takes you to a certain menu when you launch the app. So it could take you straight to Favourites or near by stations
2. Widgets. This is what Tube chaser was missing. The first Tube app I had was London Tube Status https://play.google.com/store/apps/...s#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDIxMiwicHRjLnRmbHN0YXR1cyJd
The widgets worked very well.
But I have to say this is a very comprehensive app but needs a cleaner look, ease of use and widgets.
Well done

Hi guys,
Thanks a lot for your kind words. I did put a lot of my spare time into this, and seeing it lagging in the area of 50-100 downloads is indeed demotivational.
ermacwins said:
WOW what a potential app. I would like to make a few suggestions
1. UI, this needs a rehaul? Im currently using Tube Chaser https://play.google.com/store/apps/...wxLDEsImNvbS5hbmR5Ym90dGluZy50dWJlY2hhc2VyIl0.
and it looks very well polished. You can also set it up so that it takes you to a certain menu when you launch the app. So it could take you straight to Favourites or near by stations
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Tube Chaser had by far the cleanest UI. I went for the ICS+background images layout which I personally like a lot (and it required quite a lot of effort to make it 'work'). What I do lack are some nice icons for the main screen, which I guess is what turns a lot of people off on the first look. As I am not a designer (I more or less suck at photoshop), I didn't want to use some 'not quite right' icons. So I went with labeled buttons. If any of you has a suggestion for a good (+free) ICS icon pack let me know.
What I want to implement for the next version is a quick picker for stations that relies on autocomplete/location and use it thoughout the app. The current version requires quite a lot of scrolling.
As for the "take me to a specific screen", it's indeed nice. However, I think this workflow (quick information peeks) is better satisfied with widgets (see below)
ermacwins said:
2. Widgets. This is what Tube chaser was missing. The first Tube app I had was London Tube Status https://play.google.com/store/apps/...s#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDIxMiwicHRjLnRmbHN0YXR1cyJd
The widgets worked very well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you ellaborate a bit more on the wigdets that you need? I personally dislike widgets that require me to 'interact' with them in order to se what's new. For example, I don't think that "departures" widgets is a good idea as they will require me to always hit "refresh" to see what's new. If that's the case, I pretty much prefer to launch the app, hit favorites and stay in the clean interface of the app. I thought about doing it for oyster balance, yet I prefer the current implementation that just requires me to launch the main app. Quering servers on the background periodically or getting your location (thus depleting your battery) is something I want to avoid.

Hey,
I have just downloaded your app and I must say! I really like it. I spend a lot of time in london for meetings etc... and so this will come in very useful!

I didn't want to use some 'not quite right' icons. So I went with labeled buttons. If any of you has a suggestion for a good (+free) ICS icon pack let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do they have to be ICS icons? You know you can find nice icons on loads of icon sites
What I want to implement for the next version is a quick picker for stations that relies on autocomplete/location and use it thoughout the app. The current version requires quite a lot of scrolling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good idea
As for the "take me to a specific screen", it's indeed nice. However, I think this workflow (quick information peeks) is better satisfied with widgets (see below)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take me to specific screen would be handy as when I use it on tubechaser, where ever I am, I would like to see nearest stations first. Its worth having I think
Can you ellaborate a bit more on the wigdets that you need? I personally dislike widgets that require me to 'interact' with them in order to se what's new. For example, I don't think that "departures" widgets is a good idea as they will require me to always hit "refresh" to see what's new. If that's the case, I pretty much prefer to launch the app, hit favorites and stay in the clean interface of the app. I thought about doing it for oyster balance, yet I prefer the current implementation that just requires me to launch the main app. Quering servers on the background periodically or getting your location (thus depleting your battery) is something I want to avoid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing I dont like about tubechaser is that it doesnt have departure widgets. Isnt this one of the benefits of Android, having widgets?
When I use Train Times UK for C2C times https://play.google.com/store/apps/...EsImNvbS5jcm93b3JjLm5hdGlvbmFscmFpbC5saXZlIl0.
I only use the widgets and never the app. All I need to do is hit refresh on my homescreen and that is it. Im sure you can have that the widget doesnt always update unless manually done on the screen?

I've just downloaded this and love its features. On first impressions, it looks like it's going to become my new main Tube app! The only criticisms I have with it are:
1. To reiterate what others have said about the UI on the front page - I think that some nicer looking buttons wouldn't go amiss;
2. I have two Oyster cards linked to my online account, the first of which was lost a long time ago and has a zero balance. Until there's the option to choose which card to show in the app (or TfL let you delete old cards off of their online service), the Oyster balance feature could be useless to a lot of people.
Great work though, really nice app overall.

Thanks for all the feedback guys! I am now able to start filling up my list of ToDos. Here are my current priorities:
Improve the UI of the main screen (icons are the way to go).
Add a station chooser that uses auto complete and the current user location to void scrolling.
Add support for oyster accounts with multiple cards enabled.
Add widgets.
I will add this to the first post and try to keep it updated. If your favorite feature is not quite high up, maybe I will change my mind if more people ask for it.
I have two Oyster cards linked to my online account, the first of which was lost a long time ago and has a zero balance. Until there's the option to choose which card to show in the app (or TfL let you delete old cards off of their online service), the Oyster balance feature could be useless to a lot of people.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I am aware of this and I added it to my todos. For the time being, I am pretty sure that you can erase cards from your online profile. The option may be burried somewhere but I remember doing it a couple of months ago and then fixing a relevant bug in the app.

papajohn said:
For the time being, I am pretty sure that you can erase cards from your online profile. The option may be burried somewhere but I remember doing it a couple of months ago and then fixing a relevant bug in the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the heads up, I'll have another look on the Oyster site. Now if only there were an app to stop me losing cards altogether...

simick said:
Now if only there were an app to stop me losing cards altogether...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pocket.apk or wallet.apk

i mostly use buses and not all bus stops are available yet (app's saying so). on the bus time table not only how many minutes left but also an arrival time information would be nice. and to be honest background photos distract me. i'm telling this to you as a user, who has tried many these kind of apps and to help you to understand what a user wants from a bus tracking app.

‬1‬ said:
i mostly use buses and not all bus stops are available yet (app's saying so).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using the 'Bus stop locations' dataset released by TfL here. It may be slightly out of date (eg released last year) but I wasn't aware of any stops/lines missing. Thanks for bringing this up. I will update the description to mention this. Are these missing stops available in other apps?
‬1‬ said:
on the bus time table not only how many minutes left but also an arrival time information would be nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure that I understand you here. Do you mean "the next bus arrives in 13.49" instead of "in three minutes"? Or maybe "buses on route 49 arrive normally every 12 minutes"? As for the second dataset (sceduled bus frequency), I do not know if it is available somewhere (and I do not think it is particullarly useful given that live information is available).
[/QUOTE]
‬1‬ said:
and to be honest background photos distract me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, others have told me that one before (while others quite like them). If more people feel strong against them I will deactivate them. For the time being, I think that they give a unique touch to the app.

Maybe adding a background configuration in the settings to allow users to chose either blank or image background. On/Off toggle basically. I'm about to try this app, judging by the video it seems packed with features so I'm looking forward to having it. The oyster card thing looks good, I don't want to waste time checking at the station all the time or hoping I have enough.
The buses section doesn't work very well. Maybe a compass would help to understand which way is which. I guess we can use the journey planner if we are stuck somewhere. On my road the local bus is only shown as one direction. The tube part is good though, haven't tried the oyster card thing yet.
I use BusCount for bus information, it's pretty good, maybe you would want to look at that to see how they get all the information. Just a suggestion since it's spot on.

RED_ said:
Maybe adding a background configuration in the settings to allow users to chose either blank or image background. On/Off toggle basically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's update my todos.
RED_ said:
On my road the local bus is only shown as one direction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you give me the route number so that I check what goes wrong?

papajohn said:
Let's update my todos.
Can you give me the route number so that I check what goes wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bus number is 462. It shows two buttons but both say "Departures not available. This is Tfl service so be patient". I presume that means it's a problem on their system. It works for other bus routes.

[GAME][2.3+] What City 1.2.1

I am proud to present my very first App release:
What City - The Travelers Quiz is a quiz game with Google Street View panoramas. You have to guess a city from a random Street View panorama. You get to choose the cities you want to play with. Any city with Street View can be added.
It's free and for now also ad-free, since this is mostly a hobby project and learning endeavour.
Since there is no Android native Street View Api yet, the gamescreen consists of mainly a browser window with JavaScript running inside. It works, though it is not a very smooth solution. On older devices animations and can be quite slow, but most notably on larger screens panning and zooming the Street View causes a lot of lag. The main hurdle I had to tackle was the communication between Java and Javascript and getting a correctly layouted WebView independent of pixel densities and Android Versions.
Being new to Android, working my way around different behaviors of different API versions was something I did not anticipate. I would have expected more general convenience (think Visual Studio, or QT Designer), that hopefully will be delivered with Android Studio.
I'd be happy, if you'd give it a try and I would love to hear your comments on what could be improved about my game.
Thank you!

nice game, bit tricky to us

[APP][4.1+][FREE]Top Picks: Betting Tips

Top Picks: Betting Tips
The app provides the best betting tips and preview predictions for sports. The main focus is on soccer picks but occasionally there are also picks for tennis games, basketball and ice hockey matches.
Our selection of betting picks is based on experts research and analysis of statistics.
We also use a little bit of help from artificial intelligence and machine learning.
However apart from the complicated algorithms and calculations there are many different things that could have big impact on the match and completely change the game scenario. Therefore we take into account other bits and pieces such as:
previous games from historical data
current form and fitness
general motivation to win within the team
missing players and injuries
weather conditions
Key Features of the App
betting tips are provided on a daily basis, depending on the market availability
each pick include date, discipline, theoretical odds and sometimes name of the competition or league
configurable odds format where you can choose from American, Decimal or Fractional odds
automatic push notifications whenever sport picks are available, you can disable it in the settings
monthly statistics where you can check how successful are our predictions by tracking things such as yield, average odds and profit
you can share sport picks with friends via different communication channels
Download Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.toppicks

Hi,
Please feel free to provide any feedback. Any ideas, changes you would like to see in the app? I guess this is mostly for people interested in sports. Any reviews on the Play Store would be great :fingers-crossed:
Cheers!

Hi there!
It's been a while since introducing the app on this forum. Since then there have been few versions updates including the latest one last night. Please see bellow for the current summary:
Version: 1.0.8
Rating: 4.6 (going up
Installs: 50,000+
Size: 4.4M
What's New?
App name slightly changed from Top Picks: Betting Tips to Betting Tips: Football Predictions
Few bug fixes
UX improvments
Added ability to share betting tips via popular communication channels
New feature for Betting "Streak" Challenge
Thanks again for using the app and feel free to post any questions you might have.