"Free Camera" in Android 3D Games via OpenGL ES Interception-based Shader Replacement
Hi everyone,
Wanted to let the community know that we have just released v1.2 of the MantaMod OpenGL ES interception driver for Android devices. This new release features dynamic run-time gpu shader replacement, allowing you to unlock the game view camera and freely move it around in the 3D game scene, all without needing to modify the original game APK at all.
See some screenshots of the free camera feature in the DeadTrigger zombie shooter game on our Facebook and Twitter pages, or our website www_mantamod_com
Thanks for all your feedback from our earlier post last month announcing our first release with the dynamic texture modding capability. As usual, any feedback on this new release, or 'wishlist' for desired features / supported games is much appreciated! Do drop us a note at [email protected], we'll be glad to hear from you.
Cheers
The MantaMod Team
i dont get it. whats this app supposed to do?
Hi,
It's an opengl driver for Android that allows you to 'mod' various games.
Do take a look at our website, it may give you a better idea - we have some screenshots there of what some folks in the community have done changing the graphics textures in games.
Our new release allows for custom gpu shader replacement, and the "free camera view" is one example use of this shader replacement feature. So if you play a game like DeadTrigger, which is a first-person-shooter type game, without moving the character around you can move the on-screen viewpoint anywhere in the game world you like - eg view the gameplay from high up, a different angle, etc.
Cheers
omaral said:
i dont get it. whats this app supposed to do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mantamod said:
Hi,
It's an opengl driver for Android that allows you to 'mod' various games.
Do take a look at our website, it may give you a better idea - we have some screenshots there of what some folks in the community have done changing the graphics textures in games.
Our new release allows for custom gpu shader replacement, and the "free camera view" is one example use of this shader replacement feature. So if you play a game like DeadTrigger, which is a first-person-shooter type game, without moving the character around you can move the on-screen viewpoint anywhere in the game world you like - eg view the gameplay from high up, a different angle, etc.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do i need to be rooted to install it?
Hi,
Yes you need a rooted device to be able to place the MantaMod gl-interceptor files into /system/lib/egl, where the Android OpenGL ES drivers reside.
Once installed, subsequent usage doesn't need root access - you can run your games as usual and the MantaMod drivers will be loaded by the Android OS.
Cheers
omaral said:
do i need to be rooted to install it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
aight i will check it out
Related
Hi Everyone!
I would like to introduce you useful Android app - uFlowers!
Description:
Take care of your flowers and plants!
Help yourself to remember all necessary activities using uFlowers app!
Thanks
The new version - uFlowers v.1.2 is already available in the market!
What’s new:
1. added support for 2.2
2. fixes a bug with memory
3. reduced the size of the application
over 9 megs is still big! Good that Froyo supports app2SD now...
But, it's very handy, thanks! Now I can keep track of my plants to keep them alive.
Would it possible to add trimming dates and type of standingplace? (sunny, shade, etc)
And maybe get the info from an online library instead of local, because it would make the app huge and the info on the plants is very limited.
NeoS2007 said:
And maybe get the info from an online library instead of local, because it would make the app huge and the info on the plants is very limited.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Very interesting idea. We think and probably realize in the next versions
I've been looking at an opensource HTML5 game engine that can compile into a native app. It's made by GameClosure and they recently made it publicly available so I thought I'd share for anyone who's interested.
What struck me was that they don't use a "web view", but use Google's V8 JS engine and compile that with Android NDK. This means that you don't have a DOM to work with and everything is done through a HTML5 Canvas, which they've accelerated with OpenGL. They claim that this gives them near native performance.
I also like that you can run it on a real device and use remote debugging.
So, for what it's worth... Enjoy
Thanks for the share! I'll have to check this out for sure. I wanted to get in to HTML5 and JS development.
bra1nDeaD said:
I've been looking at an opensource HTML5 game engine that can compile into a native app. It's made by GameClosure and they recently made it publicly available so I thought I'd share for anyone who's interested.
What struck me was that they don't use a "web view", but use Google's V8 JS engine and compile that with Android NDK. This means that you don't have a DOM to work with and everything is done through a HTML5 Canvas, which they've accelerated with OpenGL. They claim that this gives them near native performance.
I also like that you can run it on a real device and use remote debugging.
So, for what it's worth... Enjoy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice share but gaming enfines like these are not successful simply because Html 5 and js being great for web drvelopment are not used in mobile gaming as the set of functions they offer are verylimited in comparison to open gl so for a beginer who wants to dev android games i d prefer open gl
sak-venom1997 said:
Nice share but gaming enfines like these are not successful simply because Html 5 and js being great for web drvelopment are not used in mobile gaming as the set of functions they offer are verylimited in comparison to open gl so for a beginer who wants to dev android games i d prefer open gl
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like to use OpenGL directly myself too, it gives me more control over what I'm doing. Though, on the other side, this engine can give me a game that runs on Android, in the browser (without DOM for performance and they also have an optional DOM rendering mode for older browsers), as a Facebook app and iOS. Not to mention any other platform/device that can render HTML5. They're already looking into compiling it into a desktop executable.
Again, it's a 2D engine only; so if you want to do some fancy 3D rendering this won't do that. I also personally think that having a reduced set of functions only makes it easier to comprehend, and thus easier for a beginner to start out with. OpenGL in itself can already be daunting enough, not to mention Java and the whole Android SDK. But in the end it's all about weather it suits your needs I guess.
bra1nDeaD said:
I like to use OpenGL directly myself too, it gives me more control over what I'm doing. Though, on the other side, this engine can give me a game that runs on Android, in the browser (without DOM for performance and they also have an optional DOM rendering mode for older browsers), as a Facebook app and iOS. Not to mention any other platform/device that can render HTML5. They're already looking into compiling it into a desktop executable.
Again, it's a 2D engine only; so if you want to do some fancy 3D rendering this won't do that. I also personally think that having a reduced set of functions only makes it easier to comprehend, and thus easier for a beginner to start out with. OpenGL in itself can already be daunting enough, not to mention Java and the whole Android SDK. But in the end it's all about weather it suits your needs I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely true!
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This looks interesting. Both the apps they demo need things doing to them, but they've both got between 100,000 and 500,000 downloads, so they're doing something right, and they do run very smoothly.
Archer said:
This looks interesting. Both the apps they demo need things doing to them, but they've both got between 100,000 and 500,000 downloads, so they're doing something right, and they do run very smoothly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What things do they need doing to them? If I remember correctly I could install them from the Play Store and play it instantly.
Their video shows some kind of tower defence game (bit like plants vs zombies) which looks really cool. I think it's not released yet as I'd searched for it and like to play it. I guess I'd just have to wait....
bra1nDeaD said:
What things do they need doing to them? If I remember correctly I could install them from the Play Store and play it instantly.
Their video shows some kind of tower defence game (bit like plants vs zombies) which looks really cool. I think it's not released yet as I'd searched for it and like to play it. I guess I'd just have to wait....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the op definitely did not intended to share games
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sak-venom1997 said:
the op definitely did not intended to share games
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an indication of what's capable with this SDK.
Archer said:
This looks interesting. Both the apps they demo need things doing to them, but they've both got between 100,000 and 500,000 downloads, so they're doing something right, and they do run very smoothly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just realised that you might mean that the apps need something doing to them from a "product" point of view, rather than a technical one?!?
bra1nDeaD said:
I just realised that you might mean that the apps need something doing to them from a "product" point of view, rather than a technical one?!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, that's exactly what I meant. For example, the back button doesn't close the game, but there's not quit button. They could do with some settings for audio etc.. But other than that they're a perfect example of how the framework can run nice and smooth - as the say, it's like a native app.
I was looking for something like that. I've been working with Andengine converting one game but this will make things easier.
I have to admit that it sounds pretty cool and tempting... But a few doubts came to my mind:
1) how much support would you get from a very small community.
2) the framework is very minimalistic, which may sound cool for small games but for bigger ones I don't think so.
3) javascript performance... I know they are using an optimized v8 engine and all that, but js has some serious problems by design and they tend to show themselves when working in memory exhaustive apps (such as games) and in memory contained environment (such as android)... For a more detailed explanation check out this : https://speakerdeck.com/keyboardsurfer/crouton-devfest-berlin-2012
4) I know they have a working prototype but does anybody knows how much it took them to develop, even with direct support from the engine developers.
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lglossman said:
I have to admit that it sounds pretty cool and tempting... But a few doubts came to my mind:
1) how much support would you get from a very small community.
2) the framework is very minimalistic, which may sound cool for small games but for bigger ones I don't think so.
3) javascript performance... I know they are using an optimized v8 engine and all that, but js has some serious problems by design and they tend to show themselves when working in memory exhaustive apps (such as games) and in memory contained environment (such as android)... For a more detailed explanation check out this : https://speakerdeck.com/keyboardsurfer/crouton-devfest-berlin-2012
4) I know they have a working prototype but does anybody knows how much it took them to develop, even with direct support from the engine developers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you do have to keep in mind that this engine is young. But saying that, it's evolving as we speak.
1) The community is indeed small (at this point in time), but I've been following their newsgroup and support page and GameClosure is quite quick in replying to queries themselves. Though I admit it would be better if there's a huge community around it. But who knows, in the near future this might happen.
2) They've recently released a plugin system that allows you to extend the framework easily. This can help when you need something that's not out of the box. Though currently their engine is only focussed on 3D games (tile engine) but they are extending it on an ongoing basis. They've just released an isometric tile engine as well. Wondering what's next
3) As for performance, it's only using the V8 engine. This in itself is a highly optimised JS interpretor. I think the performance issues you are thinking of are more web related. The slowness on the web comes from the DOM (rendering etc). Because this is not used (except when you select to use the DOM in a desktop version for older browsers) you don't have this overhead. Also remember that Java is also an interpreted language on Android, so interpreting JavaScript should not be far off. As for memory, no DOM means no DOM memory overhead either.
You still have to be aware of how many objects you create and when, but this is the case as well with Java for Android and Objective C for iOS as this is a Mobile issue (not a language one).
4) We could ask them? Not sure how valid this would be as I suspect that the games they've produced we're in development at the same time as they were developing the framework. So if they would write this again, it might take them a lot less time?!?
I think there are certainly things to consider here. I think you need to outweigh the pro's and con's and see what matters to you.
a) If you want the most out of the hardware I suggest writing native is the best as you can utilise how Google/Apple intended it to be used.
b) If you want your game to be written once and be able to run on multiple mobile platforms, browser and desktop. Then GC might be better.
c) If you want a lot of support and a big community, then you could look for an alternative and do a detailed comparison on features, performance and ease of running it on different platforms (if someone does, post it here as this is quite interesting to know.)
Just a minor question, can I use this to make a facebook canvas game? (are they html5?) Sorry for my ignorance I'm not so good with web stuff..
Thanks for the share! Really nice DevKit with lots of possibillities.
Thanks for the share
Interesting
We've been looking for a new framework, and will check this out, thanks.
Hello!
Within my Bachelor thesis I developed Android library for easy creation of geolocation games.
The resulting game is composed of three parts:
This library
User interface of application
Game scenario
Game scenario (= the definition of game objects and logic) is stored in *.xml file which is separed from the user interface and its code. Theoretically, it is possible that author of the game is not programming in Java / Android - if he use already existing GUI (or if there will be two guys where one prepare GUI and second create game scenario - it could be similar to programmer and coder for websites). Simply one application (and its GUI) can use multiple different game scenarios.
Library currently allows single player games without moving objects (= without enemies and artificial intelligence). It should be applicable to various puzzle, logic or for other types of games - it's more about idea and creativity. In the future I would like to add new features and capabilities according to the feedback I receive. So I will be glad if someone could try it and let me know what is missing or what needs to be changed/improved to fit needs of your game.
The library is released under the Apache License Version 2.0, so without no restrictions even for commercial products.
You can find it on GitHub: github.com/robyer/gamework
If you want to know how to practically use the library, what could be set in game scenario or you have any other question, just ask
I will answer directly or eventuallyl update second post here.
If anyone will be interested in this, let me know
...
Example Scenario file with commented all possible elements you can find at
github.com/Robyer/Gamework/blob/master/ExampleGame/assets/example.xml
I also created an example/testing application, few screenshots:
i40.tinypic.com/23wus7t.png
i43.tinypic.com/2bp0xv.png
i40.tinypic.com/igaf5i.png
APK file to download: robyer.cz/stahni/GameworkApp.apk
Very interesting
I don't know if I will ever actually get around to making my little "game," but what you are talking about is one of the things I wanted to incorporate. There will be no AI in my app, just user input/logic solving and I wanted GeoLocation to be an active part of the users options.
I am extremely knew to it all, so I can not provide you any real feedback. I just think it is great that you have this and hopefully I will be able to reference it if/when I ever get fully motivated!
Again, very interesting. Thank you.
Robyer said:
Hello!
Within my Bachelor thesis I developed Android library for easy creation of geolocation games.
The resulting game is composed of three parts:
This library
User interface of application
Game scenario
Game scenario (= the definition of game objects and logic) is stored in *.xml file which is separed from the user interface and its code. Theoretically, it is possible that author of the game is not programming in Java / Android - if he use already existing GUI (or if there will be two guys where one prepare GUI and second create game scenario - it could be similar to programmer and coder for websites). Simply one application (and its GUI) can use multiple different game scenarios.
Library currently allows single player games without moving objects (= without enemies and artificial intelligence). It should be applicable to various puzzle, logic or for other types of games - it's more about idea and creativity. In the future I would like to add new features and capabilities according to the feedback I receive. So I will be glad if someone could try it and let me know what is missing or what needs to be changed/improved to fit needs of your game.
The library is released under the Apache License Version 2.0, so without no restrictions even for commercial products.
You can find it on GitHub: github.com/robyer/gamework
If you want to know how to practically use the library, what could be set in game scenario or you have any other question, just ask
I will answer directly or eventuallyl update second post here.
If anyone will be interested in this, let me know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why you dont make it into .apk file?
pnprp said:
Why you dont make it into .apk file?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a library. A set of tools for developers to create games (more) easily. There is a sample game on github, though, but you will need to "compile" the apk yourself.
Hi, thanks for your responses.
pnprp: as Fitoma already said, this is only library. I may put APK with my testing app here, but it would be useless for you as it does basically nothing.
(Also I found some bug with FC right after start, I'll fix that asap.) - done.
EDIT: I uploaded APK of testing app here: robyer.cz/stahni/GameworkApp.apk (+ added also to second post)
Hello,
I'm a designer, so I've got little to no programming experience, but I'm tired of waiting for a game that I like so I'd want to make it myself.
I'm looking for a simple way to develop android games, such as very simple text based RPG or a simple tower defense ( example: robot defense ).
I am now testing the waters with processing.org and I like it, but it's uses a trial and error process for the interface where I code and then test my changes on the phone after about 2 minutes while it builds and uploads.
What I am looking for
a free solution
powerful enough to do compicated stuff later on ( example: dweller beta rpg )
an assets centric interface ( way to drag an drop & manage a list of assets )
wysiwyg window where you drag and position buttons around and see changes as you do them with no need to build out what you have to preview the interface
rather well documented and supported by a community, popular ( ways to find books or youtube videos on making games )
(nice to have) export apk or even better a signed apk with my .keystore file
(optional) cross platform to ios with the same code
offline tool for windows so that I can develop anywhere with no internet
What I want do avoid
stupid limitations such as enforced splash screens stating it's using a free version, max number of assets, etc
Close but no cigar
http://explore.appinventor.mit.edu - unfortunately it's online and I don't know how powerful is it
unity - like it but it has some big limitations in the free version and it feels like a sluggish environment
http://coronalabs.com/pricing/ - like it but even the basic version asks for money and it has some limitations
http://www.spritebuilder.com/getting-started/ - free has no in-app purchases or social media & analytics modules
That being said, I'm open to suggestions. Thank you in advance.
Any pointers are welcomed.
nemuro said:
Hello,
I'm a designer, so I've got little to no programming experience, but I'm tired of waiting for a game that I like so I'd want to make it myself.
I'm looking for a simple way to develop android games, such as very simple text based RPG or a simple tower defense ( example: robot defense ).
I am now testing the waters with processing.org and I like it, but it's uses a trial and error process for the interface where I code and then test my changes on the phone after about 2 minutes while it builds and uploads.
What I am looking for
a free solution
powerful enough to do compicated stuff later on ( example: dweller beta rpg )
an assets centric interface ( way to drag an drop & manage a list of assets )
wysiwyg window where you drag and position buttons around and see changes as you do them with no need to build out what you have to preview the interface
rather well documented and supported by a community, popular ( ways to find books or youtube videos on making games )
(nice to have) export apk or even better a signed apk with my .keystore file
(optional) cross platform to ios with the same code
offline tool for windows so that I can develop anywhere with no internet
What I want do avoid
stupid limitations such as enforced splash screens stating it's using a free version, max number of assets, etc
Close but no cigar
http://explore.appinventor.mit.edu - unfortunately it's online and I don't know how powerful is it
unity - like it but it has some big limitations in the free version and it feels like a sluggish environment
http://coronalabs.com/pricing/ - like it but even the basic version asks for money and it has some limitations
http://www.spritebuilder.com/getting-started/ - free has no in-app purchases or social media & analytics modules
That being said, I'm open to suggestions. Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would recommend unity 3d, its free but the paid version (expensive...) is pretty great too, check out android studio as well, it might come in handy building the ui.
:laugh: MOCR is a brand new and different video editor compared to existing ones.
There is a Canvas, very similar to the one on OBS broadcaster for PC and Mac, you can put any number of layers on it.
A layer can be video, image, GIF or text.
:highfive: You can resize, rotate or move the layer freely on the Canvas.
:fingers-crossed: MOCR has some built in filters which can be applied on all kinds of layers, video, image GIF and text. More and better filters will be available soon.
:cyclops: Background music is also available, and many more things
I have attached the apk, and it's also in alpha testing on Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.shou.mocr
It's free and without ads.
Nice! I'm gonna give it a try as I don't really like editing videos on my PC.
I've been looking for something like this for a long time! Good bye andro vid!! Halo MOCR :good:
Well its not quite better than kinemaster or powerdirector :/
Is this/will this be FOSS? It would be really nice to have a good video editor on F-Droid...
Thank you all for the feedback. I just updated the app which fixes some bugs.
The app only support ARM cpu and OpenGL ES 3.0+，some devices may crash if OpenGL ES 3.0+ not availabel.
Dearminder said:
Well its not quite better than kinemaster or powerdirector :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you give me more feedback on the pros and cons?
In MOCR, you can add more video layers at the same time, place them freely. There are much more features hidden under the simple interface.
QwertyChouskie said:
Is this/will this be FOSS? It would be really nice to have a good video editor on F-Droid...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MOCR won't be open source, but it will always be free.
Always wanted some cool video app for Android and here I got it. ?? thanks @vecio
anuraganasane said:
Always wanted some cool video app for Android and here I got it. ? thanks @vecio
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! MOCR is still new and my first video editor project, any suggestions are welcomed
vecio said:
Thank you! MOCR is still new and my first video editor project, any suggestions are welcomed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can add frame rate, rewind, looping options. Also a cinemagraph option.
anuraganasane said:
You can add frame rate, rewind, looping options. Also a cinemagraph option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This helps a lot.
Looping can be accomplished either by repeating a clip or render multiple times
vecio said:
This helps a lot.
Looping can be accomplished either by repeating a clip or render multiple times
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Repeating should be less expensive operation for lower-end devices. Puts more strain on memory, but in the end all memories are way too fast nowadays.
Can you somehow implement that video processing use NEON instructions? Should be something config related, not something that should be coded in Java
NEON and/or using GPU for parallel instruction computing should make app up to 10x faster. For matrix operations and image streams it should be GPU. Haven't had enough time to dive into Android programming to see if OS does this automatically or dev needs to inplement it.
Will be testing and will give feedback.
vecio said:
MOCR won't be open source, but it will always be free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there any particular reason, since it will "always be free"?
vecio said:
MOCR won't be open source, but it will always be free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely love the app. Would like to see further improvisations in terms of the user-interface.
By free, do you mean that it won't incorporate any ads even in the future, right?
Yes it's a good one and I guess will be a better one.
I would love, the use of different types of fonts when writing and that you can change the transparency of each layer.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 using XDA Labs
DJBhardwaj said:
Absolutely love the app. Would like to see further improvisations in terms of the user-interface.
By free, do you mean that it won't incorporate any ads even in the future, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I hate ads and don't want the user-interface messed with those things
duki994 said:
Repeating should be less expensive operation for lower-end devices. Puts more strain on memory, but in the end all memories are way too fast nowadays.
Can you somehow implement that video processing use NEON instructions? Should be something config related, not something that should be coded in Java
NEON and/or using GPU for parallel instruction computing should make app up to 10x faster. For matrix operations and image streams it should be GPU. Haven't had enough time to dive into Android programming to see if OS does this automatically or dev needs to inplement it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MOCR is built with NEON and ARM64 support, and most operations are accelerated by OpenGL. All the operations on the Canvas and layers are done with OpenGL ES 3.0
QwertyChouskie said:
Is there any particular reason, since it will "always be free"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work for a company where we allow users to post game videos, so a free and better video editor will help a lot on the business.