Develop Bugs

[Q] Converting PC game to Xperia Play

Hello everyone. I was wondering if there is any way to convert the popular game, "I wanna be the guy" to the Xperia Play. Or for that matter, any Multimedia Fusion game. Since the game was made in Multimedia Fusion 2, and the source code was released, AND there is an option to export the game into android, it should be possible, right? If anyone knows how to do this, and will be willing to work on it with me, then please reply to this thread. Thank you.

The android export is only a placeholder-text at this point, it's still being worked on

Hmmm, well there is a java export. Maybe we could somehow import that into eclipse and then edit the buttons.

bballchace said:
Hmmm, well there is a java export. Maybe we could somehow import that into eclipse and then edit the buttons.
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Its nowhere near that simple. While Android programs are programmed in "Java" theres way more behind the scenes with libraries involved and other parts of the Android SDK.
It could be done, but it is a staggering amount of work.

Rogue Leader said:
Its nowhere near that simple. While Android programs are programmed in "Java" theres way more behind the scenes with libraries involved and other parts of the Android SDK.
It could be done, but it is a staggering amount of work.
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Click to collapse
well, since thats basically out of the question, what if i got an html5 source code of a similar game that was made in gamemaker? would that be possible to port onto the Xperia Play? Sorry about me being such a noob, I am not familiar with the Android SDK, and only know C++

bballchace said:
well, since thats basically out of the question, what if i got an android export of a similar game that was made in gamemaker? would that be possible to port onto the Xperia Play? Sorry about me being such a newbie, I am not familiar with the Android SDK, and only know C++
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Click to collapse
Creating a game using game maker will only give you the binaries not the source, you cant just use it to make an android or iOS game.
Honestly the easiest way to make a game for android would be to create it in flash and then put in in some kind of wrapper to make it launch natively. The proper way to make a game would be to learn how to create one using C++ which will probably take a good few months before you could even create something basic. It depends how fast you are at learning new things.
However if you are going to learn programming I highly recommend starting somewhere easier like VB or Java to at least understand the general concept of programming. (preferably VB is you are a total newbie)

bballchace said:
well, since thats basically out of the question, what if i got an html5 source code of a similar game that was made in gamemaker? would that be possible to port onto the Xperia Play? Sorry about me being such a noob, I am not familiar with the Android SDK, and only know C++
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be even more work than converting the Java program. There is no simple way to "Port" games from one platform to another unless there is an emulator (and they don't make PC emulators for Android, and even if they did it would probably run like ****).
Android games are programmed in Java, however the Android SDK has libraries to make it work for every possible function of an Android Phone. If you don't know Java, you won't get very far in making anything work on Android. There are also special libraries for the Xperia Play you will need to download and then program the code into the game to recognize the gamepad controls.
If you really want to do this I would go ahead and learn Java, make a few programs and then tackle the game. Its going to be quite the project, but you'll definitely learn a lot.

Phonegap discussion/Q&A

I've just started using Phonegap to develop Android apps and found it ridiculously easy (for simple stuff). I've got a background in Windows development for many years, and also a long-standing history of web development, both client and server-side, so for me Phonegap is an answer to many prayers.
I thought this would be an ideal place to share ideas and thrash out problems for anyone that's developing using Phonegap.
If you're not familiar with it but you have web development skills then you really need to look into it...
http://phonegap.com/
I also currently use adobe builder at to build my apps...
https://build.phonegap.com/
That will change when I start integrating my own plugins, using Java and Eclipse, but for now it's awesome as it builds my app for 6 different platforms, including Android, iOS and WP.
I'm new to this so I'm hoping this will be a good place for us to learn together and pick up any tips from each other. There's also the most awesome stack overflow where help can be garnered, as they have a phonegap tag for asking questions. Between there and here we should be covered

I may also use phonegap for my next project. It's either that or Xamarin/Mono. I'd be more comfortable out of the box with the latter, but it's probably more "useful" for me to start prodding HTML5.
Have you taken a look at VSNomad? Lets you work in Visual Studio if you're already familiar with that.

jmbillings said:
I may also use phonegap for my next project. It's either that or Xamarin/Mono. I'd be more comfortable out of the box with the latter, but it's probably more "useful" for me to start prodding HTML5.
Have you taken a look at VSNomad? Lets you work in Visual Studio if you're already familiar with that.
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Click to collapse
I just had a look at VSNomad and it does look very interesting, but it's damn pricey! I'm certainly not used to paying subscription costs to develop software.

Some of the tools and tech I use to develop phonegap app
APTANA 3
GIT GUI
bootstrap.js
ADT
Dreamweaver CS 6
AppLaud - Mobile Developer Solutions
Best of all and universal tools to develop.

some other useful tools with phonegap
I usually develop applications with PhoneGap using the following tools:
Eclipse
ant scripts for packaging and javascript compression
jasmine for javascript module testing
karma for test in real time
I found very useful to use the last tool for testing on multiple browsers and mobile emulators because it allows to detect possible errors in real-time.

salamanred said:
I usually develop applications with PhoneGap using the following tools:
Eclipse
ant scripts for packaging and javascript compression
jasmine for javascript module testing
karma for test in real time
I found very useful to use the last tool for testing on multiple browsers and mobile emulators because it allows to detect possible errors in real-time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Karma sounds great for compatibility and debugging. I searched online and there are tons of results. Could you share more info so I can find it?
I currently use Eclipse with the Phonegap plugin and Firefox for basic debugging until I near final production.

[Lib][Java/JAR] RegIOLib - Java/Registry In/Out Communications Lib

Hey there,
I thought it was time to release something new
A bit of background storyline:
My last projects were all VB/.Net programs, and they were somewhat great, sure. But I was missing the Linux portability and the programs aren't available on all Windows version - Which bugged me a lot. So I finally started coding in Java again! I'm also porting Universal Android Toolkit to Java, so I can easily create a Linux version of that as well.
(If you want to make that happen faster, please donate to me. I managed to fix my laptop, but I've only got a 60GB HDD and I need that much space alone for Windows and I have no income, I'm only 16 )
Anyways, now that you know where I'm coming from, as I'm porting Universal Android Toolkit to Java, I need access to the registry to save the application's settings and easily access them. But unlike .Net languages, Java doesn't have built-in support for this kind of operation, so I looked around and grabbed bits and pieces of code and stuck them together into a Java Class Library.
Thus, RegIOLib was born.
It's licensed under the GPL 3.0 (License info included in the source).
Downloads
Sourceforge
Source Code
http://github.com/Beatsleigher/RegIOLib
EDIT:
I forgot to mention the following: To get access to the Windows registry, the application needs to be started with administrative rights!
You can either achieve this by starting the app via a launcher (Which is what I tempt to do) or by right-clicking the file and allowing it to run as admin.

Beatsleigher said:
It's licensed under the GPL 3.0 (License info included in the source).
Click to expand...
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So closed source applications may not use it?

nikwen said:
So closed source applications may not use it?
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Of course they can use it
Just add a link to this thread and my website, done.
But if you're coming from some major company or something, then I would like something more

Beatsleigher said:
Of course they can use it
Just add a link to this thread and my website, done.
But if you're coming from some major company or something, then I would like something more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to the GPL they can't because it requires the source code of derivative work to be published. That's the "problem" with that license if you use it for libraries.
Due to that the LGPL exists.

http://www.tldrlegal.com/license/gnu-general-public-license-v3-(gpl-3)
Limited commercial use. Must include source code. So no, GPL libraries and closed source applications do not mix.
An inelegant solution (which is the one I have always used actually) is to save settings in a file in %APPDATA%, no admin rights are required to edit files in there, or roll your own registry library for the application. Or Beatsleigher could LGPL it, but its his project, his license, I think he has full right to stick it under GPL if he wants to.
Although I dont think saving into a registry key is really cross platform Neither is %APPDATA% but using the %APPDATA% method is simple file read/write so on a cross platform application you can simply change the filepath dependent on the current execution environment.
System.getenv("APPDATA") will return the filepath for the current users APPDATA folder on windows. System.getProperty("user.home") works on linux and I think OSX to get the home directory. I dont think user.home works properly on windows. But it should be easy to switch between the 2 methods, add on an extra bit for where your settings file is and detect which to use at runtime.
Disadvantage (and to some advantage, depends on what the application is doing and whether the author likes it or not) is that saving configuration files as actual files means the user can play around with them. APPDATA is by default a hidden folder. But chances are most users dont even know what the registry is so in a way your settings might be more secure left in there.
Even possible to have an application load settings from the registry on windows and files on everything else.

SixSixSevenSeven said:
Or Beatsleigher could LGPL it, but its his project, his license, I think he has full right to stick it under GPL if he wants to.
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Click to collapse
Of course, he has that right. It's his code. The GNU even collected some reasons for sticking with the GPL.
Just wanted to point out that the GPL says that all derivative work (which includes programs that use libraries licenced under the GPL) must be GPL'ed (and therefore open source'd), too.

SixSixSevenSeven said:
http://www.tldrlegal.com/license/gnu-general-public-license-v3-(gpl-3)
Limited commercial use. Must include source code. So no, GPL libraries and closed source applications do not mix.
An inelegant solution (which is the one I have always used actually) is to save settings in a file in %APPDATA%, no admin rights are required to edit files in there, or roll your own registry library for the application. Or Beatsleigher could LGPL it, but its his project, his license, I think he has full right to stick it under GPL if he wants to.
Although I dont think saving into a registry key is really cross platform Neither is %APPDATA% but using the %APPDATA% method is simple file read/write so on a cross platform application you can simply change the filepath dependent on the current execution environment.
System.getenv("APPDATA") will return the filepath for the current users APPDATA folder on windows. System.getProperty("user.home") works on linux and I think OSX to get the home directory. I dont think user.home works properly on windows. But it should be easy to switch between the 2 methods, add on an extra bit for where your settings file is and detect which to use at runtime.
Disadvantage (and to some advantage, depends on what the application is doing and whether the author likes it or not) is that saving configuration files as actual files means the user can play around with them. APPDATA is by default a hidden folder. But chances are most users dont even know what the registry is so in a way your settings might be more secure left in there.
Even possible to have an application load settings from the registry on windows and files on everything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, as far as I'm aware, only Windows has a registry. I could be wrong though. In the past 5-6 years that I've been developing, I was only developing in VB.Net - A decision that I highly regret nowadays
But I'm so used to being able to save my settings in the registry where no 'normal' user can modify them and cause the program to misbehave, that I'd like my java programs to do so as well.
And seeming as Universal Android Toolkit is a big, big project (I've been developing it for over a year now and I'm constantly adding new features and now I'm porting it to Java making it really hard to release, but I'll get there eventually.
As soon as I've got the major stuff sorted out, I think I'm ready to release a Pre-Release candidate for testing and bug-fixing, but like I said, I'm still having some trouble and then I need to figure out a way to get those settings saved on Mac OS and Linux machines, for which I've already written some classes, but only to install ADB and stuff... And I'm getting side-tracked again, aren't I?
Anywhosers, I think I'm going to leave it under the GPL, even though you're right and that that means that closed-source programs can't use it, but I'll think of something. Even if it's a commercial license, say someone pays 2$ per program. I don't know.
But for the thing you said with %AppData%, what you can do on Linux machines, is (in Java)
Code:
private final String userProf = System.getenv("user.home");
final File tempDir = new File(userProf + "/Temp/(.)<Program>/temp.file");
private void setupTempDir() {
Path tmp = tempDir.getParentFile().getPath();
if (!tmp.exists()) {
tempDir.createNewFile();
}
}
That should solve that problem, then you COULD create some sort of settings file, but then it's just a pain to get and save the settings when you're using multiple GUIs, like me.
And then there's another way of doing that in Android apps, which I haven't figured out yet, mainly because I haven't even started with Android apps and I don't have the hard drive space to do so :/

Beatsleigher said:
Anywhosers, I think I'm going to leave it under the GPL, even though you're right and that that means that closed-source programs can't use it, but I'll think of something. Even if it's a commercial license, say someone pays 2$ per program. I don't know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, no problem. The GPL, however, says that you may not relicense it. :/
(All of my comments I've posted yet sound as if the GPL is a bad license. To clarify that: I don't think so. I prefer it for applications, but use the LGPL or Apache v2 license for libraries.)

Beatsleigher said:
(If you want to make that happen faster, please donate to me. I managed to fix my laptop, but I've only got a 60GB HDD and I need that much space alone for Windows and I have no income, I'm only 16 )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm 17 and I have a 64GB SSD. C#, C++ works great.
Anyway 700 lines of license make no sense. The same about the portable registry library for linux. Could you tell the purpose of it?

Useless guy said:
I'm 17 and I have a 64GB SSD. C#, C++ works great.
Anyway 700 lines of license make no sense. The same about the portable registry library for linux. Could you tell the purpose of it?
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Click to collapse
GPL isn't 700 lines last time I checked, also I left a link to a simple description of it above (I do love tldrlegal).
There is no registry for linux, no one mentioned a portable registry for linux.

SixSixSevenSeven said:
GPL isn't 700 lines last time I checked, also I left a link to a simple description of it above (I do love tldrlegal).
There is no registry for linux, no one mentioned a portable registry for linux.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did
Anyways, now that you know where I'm coming from, as I'm porting Universal Android Toolkit to Java, I need access to the registry to save the application's settings and easily access them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

nikwen said:
OK, no problem. The GPL, however, says that you may not relicense it. :/
(All of my comments I've posted yet sound as if the GPL is a bad license. To clarify that: I don't think so. I prefer it for applications, but use the LGPL or Apache v2 license for libraries.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm working on a license for it and any other such things. So I'll release it again for commercial and closed-source programs when it's done.
And yes, it does sound like you think it's a bad license. But meh. Everyone has their own opinion, I guess.

Useless guy said:
I'm 17 and I have a 64GB SSD. C#, C++ works great.
Anyway 700 lines of license make no sense. The same about the portable registry library for linux. Could you tell the purpose of it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPL isn' 700 lines.
That's cool for you, that you've got that stuff. I don't. Anyways, I'm getting away from .Net languages, and C# is easy for anyone to learn. Especially if they're coming from VB, like me.
C++ isn#'t my kinda thing, as you can't natively create GUIs in it. You always need some kind of library for that sort of stuff.
And I didn't intend this for use with Linux. Everyone that has basic knowledge of these operating systems knows that Linux, BSD, Mac OS etc. don't have registries. And I never even noted that I'm attempting to use registry stuff in Linux. I said I'm porting Universal Android Toolkit to JAVA, and that I need access to the WINDOWS registry to save the application's settings in the reg, so that users can actively change the settings if the program starts misbehaving.

Useless guy said:
I did
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I said JAVA, not Linux. What I probably did say, however, is that I'm porting my program to Java so that it can easily be ported to said OSs. But never that I'm attempting to save my settings in the registry in all OSs.

Beatsleigher said:
C++ isn#'t my kinda thing, as you can't natively create GUIs in it. You always need some kind of library for that sort of stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lolwhat?

Beatsleigher said:
C++ isn#'t my kinda thing, as you can't natively create GUIs in it. You always need some kind of library for that sort of stuff..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Errm, those libraries are written in C or C++... native code such as C and C++ are the only languages which can create GUI's. VB.net/C#/anything else .NET use libraries too which in the case of WinForms and WPF are just wrappers around win32 functionality implemented in C.

Beatsleigher said:
And yes, it does sound like you think it's a bad license. But meh. Everyone has their own opinion, I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love the GPL. I use it for everything (except libraries).
But I'll stop the off-topic now.

[Q] Giving applications ARM support for Winodws RT

I'm simply inquiring about how to make a x86 application into an ARM compatible application. I've acquired the source code of an old game, Lugaru, just to practice this. What would I need to start off with doing? I'm having trouble uploading, so you can download the source here: "https://code.google.com/p/lugaru/downloads/list". I have no experience in C or C++, only Java.

Just compiling for ARM doesn't mean it will run in the WinRT environment. Theoretically, getting it to compile on ARM and run in desktop mode on a jailbroken RT device would be trivial. On mobile here so I can't view the source easily, bit depending on how it's written, it will likely require porting from Java to C++ or C# and rewriting the graphics in DirectX. You're better off taking a few Windows 8 Dev tutorials first, honestly.

OK. First of all: there's already a thread about this. In fact, I think there's a couple. They've been inactive for a while, so you'll need to find them with search, but check the RT Dev&Hacking sub-forum for "porting apps" and you should get multiple hits.
Second: I think Lugaru was looked at before. It's possible, but it won't be easy. The build system it uses (CMake) does not, so far as I know, target Win32/ARM yet, so that will either require some manual building or some tweaking of the configuration. It *should* compile under MSVC, though; in fact, I think CMake can produce Visual Studio project files. Using one of those project files, just change the target platform from x86 (Win32) to ARM (you'll probably have to add it).
Lugaru has a lot of dependencies. We've already ported some of them, like the SDL and OGG/Vorbis. Others may need to be ported.
One problem often encountered with porting games is that Windows RT lacks an OpenGL driver. Games written against DirectX will probably work, although the compatibility layer code for older DX versions is missing. There is an OGL->DX conversion/wrapper library which can support many OGL programs (at some performance cost) but I don't know how practical it is to compile against it; never tried. Links to ported libraries are in the "ported apps" thread in my signature.

GoodDayToDie said:
I think Lugaru was looked at before. It's possible, but it won't be easy. The build system it uses (CMake) does not, so far as I know, target Win32/ARM yet, so that will either require some manual building or some tweaking of the configuration. It *should* compile under MSVC, though; in fact, I think CMake can produce Visual Studio project files. Using one of those project files, just change the target platform from x86 (Win32) to ARM (you'll probably have to add it).
Lugaru has a lot of dependencies. We've already ported some of them, like the SDL and OGG/Vorbis. Others may need to be ported.
One problem often encountered with porting games is that Windows RT lacks an OpenGL driver. Games written against DirectX will probably work, although the compatibility layer code for older DX versions is missing. There is an OGL->DX conversion/wrapper library which can support many OGL programs (at some performance cost) but I don't know how practical it is to compile against it; never tried. Links to ported libraries are in the "ported apps" thread in my signature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't thinking it would be easy, I was wondering if it was possible. Thank you for the information, it was very helpful. I was not aware that CMake could produce Visual Studio project files. That may make this a little easier. CMake does not target Win32/ARM at all like you thought, so I may ask another couple of questions while playing around with the config. Will I have to port it to DX11?

I think anything DX9 or later actually works. If the code already target OGL (instead of just targeting SDL and using whatever SDL's preferred back-end on that platform is) then you could try re-writing it in D3D/D2D, or using the OGL-to-DX wrapper I mentioned.

GoodDayToDie said:
OK. First of all: there's already a thread about this. In fact, I think there's a couple. They've been inactive for a while, so you'll need to find them with search, but check the RT Dev&Hacking sub-forum for "porting apps" and you should get multiple hits.
Second: I think Lugaru was looked at before. It's possible, but it won't be easy. The build system it uses (CMake) does not, so far as I know, target Win32/ARM yet, so that will either require some manual building or some tweaking of the configuration. It *should* compile under MSVC, though; in fact, I think CMake can produce Visual Studio project files. Using one of those project files, just change the target platform from x86 (Win32) to ARM (you'll probably have to add it).
Lugaru has a lot of dependencies. We've already ported some of them, like the SDL and OGG/Vorbis. Others may need to be ported.
One problem often encountered with porting games is that Windows RT lacks an OpenGL driver. Games written against DirectX will probably work, although the compatibility layer code for older DX versions is missing. There is an OGL->DX conversion/wrapper library which can support many OGL programs (at some performance cost) but I don't know how practical it is to compile against it; never tried. Links to ported libraries are in the "ported apps" thread in my signature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually CMake can target MSVC/ARM. Please check ReactOS's source code. I tried to build an ARM version before so I know that will work.

Can it now? Well, that's handy. Thanks for the tip! Can't test this for a while, but if anybody wants to give it a shot before I have time let us all know how it goes!

'Ending' RT Port

Hello.
I was came across a charming little game and I was wondering if anyone would be able to port it to RT?
The game is, of course called Ending. I would have posted this in the RT Development thread but I haven't done enough posts for me to be able to do that so... sorry? Anyway, if anyone can port this then, well, thanks!
The source code, windows version, OSX version and Ubuntu version are all available here:
Oh, hang on, I don't seem to be able to post links either. just search 'robotacid ending' on google and it should be the first result. It'll be a page with the flash game and links to source code and the other stuff I said.

As it is flash there is little we can do for a native port. RT does include flashplayer in internet explorer so if there is a way to run Ending in browser then that should be an option, I'm not a flash dev so I'll let someone with more experience than I report on that one.

I'm a newbie to all of this and I've got to say, I'm pretty annoyed how little we can actually port. Is that due to the RT system or is it just how much Microsoft Visual Studio supports? Also does anyone know how to run flash games on RT if that's what I have to do.

Ruffa-Duffa said:
I'm a newbie to all of this and I've got to say, I'm pretty annoyed how little we can actually port. Is that due to the RT system or is it just how much Microsoft Visual Studio supports? Also does anyone know how to run flash games on RT if that's what I have to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't port a flash game to any os without its source anyways, thats not an RT limitation. To run flash just open the link or swf in the desktop version of internet explorer, I believe you need to modify some registry values to open them in the metro one.

I can play it in both desktop and metro IE 11. For a fullscreen experience just go to the URL + game.swf. I'm not sure what you want in a port. If you want me to put a that swf in a webpage and wrap it in a windows app and submit it to the store, I could do that, I have a dev license. If you want it ported to DirectX or JavaScript, sure it's doable, but a bit more work. Might be fun for a beginning project.

drearyworlds said:
I can play it in both desktop and metro IE 11. For a fullscreen experience just go to the URL + game.swf. I'm not sure what you want in a port. If you want me to put a that swf in a webpage and wrap it in a windows app and submit it to the store, I could do that, I have a dev license. If you want it ported to DirectX or JavaScript, sure it's doable, but a bit more work. Might be fun for a beginning project.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Erm... I'm not really fussy. I actually have this game on my iPod anyway so I don't really need or want it that much on my RT. I just figured it was a neat little game that had the source code available and it looked pretty simple so I assumed it might be able to ported which would hopefully benefit someone. But if you want to take a crack at it feel free.

Ruffa-Duffa said:
I'm a newbie to all of this and I've got to say, I'm pretty annoyed how little we can actually port. Is that due to the RT system or is it just how much Microsoft Visual Studio supports?(...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Current porting desktop applications to run natively in Windows RT basically requires the following:
1. It has to be open-source.
2. It has to be compilable in Visual Studio. (No GCC or other fancy compilers)
1 is absolutely mandatory and this requirement will go nowhere (interestingly, this is what most people ignore when they come asking for a port)
2 can possibly be circumvented in the near future if the porting work goes more advanced. The VLC team has been working on a GCC port for Windows RT (ARM) as far as I remember, and you can also run Python & Perl code directly in Windows RT without going through Visual Studio.
While some applications are compilable in VS, they might require other components that might not compile there and bummer. But the main limitations are the two lines above.