Sams Teach Yourself Android Game Programming in 24 Hours

In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, Sams Teach Yourself Android Game Programming in 24 Hours will help you master mobile game development for Android 4. Using a straightforward, step-by-step approach, you’ll gain hands-on expertise with the entire process: from getting access to the hardware via the Android SDK to finishing a complete example game. You’ll learn to use the Android SDK and open source software to design and build fast, highly playable games for the newest Android smartphones and tablets. Every lesson builds on what you’ve already learned, giving you a rock-solid foundation for real-world success!   Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common Android game programming tasks. Quizzes and exercises at the end of each chapter help you test your knowledge. By the Way notes present interesting information related to the discussion. Did You Know? tips offer advice or show you easier ways to perform tasks. Watch Out! cautions alert you to possible problems and give you advice on how to avoid them.   Jonathan Harbour is a writer and instructor whose love for computers and video games dates back to the Commodore PET and Atari 2600 era. He has a Master’s in Information Systems Management. His portfolio site at http://www.jharbour.com includes a discussion forum. He also authored Sams Teach Yourself Windows Phone 7 Game Programming in 24 Hours. His love of science fiction led to the remake of a beloved classic video game with some friends, resulting in Starflight—The Lost Colony (http://www.starflightgame.com).   Learn how to… Install and configure the free development tools, including the Android 4 SDK, Java Development Kit, and Eclipse (or NetBeans) Use the Android graphics system to bring your game characters to life Load and manage bitmaps, and use double buffering for better performance Incorporate timing and animation with threaded game loops Tap into the touch screen for user input Learn to use Android sensors such as the accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, light detector, and thermometer Integrate audio into your games using the media player Build your own game engine library to simplify gameplay code in your projects Animate games with sprites using atlas images and fast matrix transforms Employ object-oriented programming techniques using inheritance and data hiding Create an advanced animation system to add interesting behaviors to game objects Detect collisions and simulate realistic movement with trigonometry Experiment with an evolving engine coding technique that more naturally reflects how games are written

Table of Contents:
Introduction    xvii Part I: Introduction HOUR 1: Introducing Android 4   3 Hello, Android 4   3 About the Android SDK   7 About the Android NDK   8 Android Dev System Requirements   8 History of the Platform   9 Android Hardware Specifications   11 Summary   13 Q&A   13 Workshop   14 HOUR 2: Installing the Development Tools   15 Installing the JDK   16 Downloading the NetBeans Package   17 Installing the Package   17 Installing the Android SDK   19 Downloading the SDK   20 Installing the SDK   20 Running the Android SDK Manager   23 Installing the ADT Plug-in for Eclipse   25 Summary   28 Q&A   29 Workshop   29 HOUR 3: Configuring NetBeans and Eclipse with the Android SDK   31 Creating an Android Emulator Device   31 Plugging Android SDK into NetBeans   35 Adding Android SDK Support to Eclipse   40 Summary   45 Q&A   46 Workshop   46 Hour 4: Creating Your First Android Program   47 Creating a New Android Project   47 Building the New Project  52 Editing the “Hello, Android!” Program   60 Comparing the Emulator to an Android Device   63 Summary   72 Q&A   72 Workshop   72 Part II: Android Hardware HOUR 5: Getting Started with Graphics   77 Understanding the Activity Class   77 Testing the Activity States   79 World’s Simplest Android Graphics Demo   86 Summary   90 Q&A   91 Workshop   91 HOUR 6: Drawing Basic Shapes and Text   93 Drawing Basic Vector Shapes   93 Drawing Text   99 Writing Code for Javadoc   103 Android Screen Densities and Resolutions   104 Summary   109 Q&A   110 Workshop   110 HOUR 7: Loading and Drawing Images   111 Double-Buffered Drawing   111 Loading a Bitmap File   115 Drawing a Bitmap   120 Summary   126 Q&A   126 Workshop   127 HOUR 8: Bringing Your Game to Life with Looping   129 Creating a Threaded Game Loop   129 Drawing Without onDraw()   132 The Runnable Animation Demo   134 Summary   140 Q&A   141 Workshop.   141 HOUR 9: Multi-Touch User Input   143 Single-Touch Input   143 Multi-Touch Input    148 Summary   155 Q&A   155 Workshop   156 HOUR 10: Using the Accelerometer   157 Android Sensors   157 Summary   168 Q&A   168 Workshop   168 HOUR 11: Using the Linear Acceleration and Proximity Sensors   169 Accessing the Linear Acceleration Sensor   169 Accessing the Proximity Sensor   177 Summary   178 Q&A   178 Workshop   178 HOUR 12: Using the Gravity and Pressure Sensors   181 Using the Gravity Sensor   181 Using the Pressure Sensor   188 Summary   189 Q&A   190 Workshop   190 HOUR 13: Creating Your Own “Tricorder”   191 Encapsulating the Android Sensors   191 Creating the Tricorder Project   195 Summary   211 Q&A   211 Workshop.   211 HOUR 14: Playing with the Audio System   213 Playing Audio Using MediaPlayer   213 Playing Audio Using SoundPool   218 Summary   221 Q&A   221 Workshop   221 Part III: Android Gameplay HOUR 15: Building an Android Game Engine   225 Designing an Android Game Engine   226 Creating an Android Library Project   229 Writing the Core Engine Classes   234 Engine Test Demo Project   247 Summary   253 Q&A   253 Workshop   254 HOUR 16: Creating a Sprite/Actor Class   255 Static Sprite as a “Prop”  255 Dynamic Sprite as an “Actor”   257 Encapsulating Basic Sprite Functionality   258 Testing the Sprite Class   261 Summary   266 Q&A   266 Workshop   267 HOUR 17: Frame Animation Using a Sprite Sheet/Atlas   269 Animating with a Single Strip   269 Animating with a Sprite Sheet (Texture Atlas)   272 The Animation Demo   273 Summary   278 Q&A   279 Workshop   279 HOUR 18: Advanced Multi-Animation Techniques   281 Creating an Animation System   281 Animation System Demo   293 Summary   297 Q&A   297 Workshop   298 HOUR 19: Manipulating Sprites with Matrix Transforms   299 Matrix Translation   299 Matrix Rotation   305 Matrix Scaling   306 Matrix Transforms Demo   307 Summary   319 Q&A   320 Workshop   320 HOUR 20: Entity Grouping   321 Entity Grouping   321 Summary   332 Q&A   332 Workshop   332 HOUR 21: Collision Detection   333 Collision Detection Techniques   333 Demonstrating Collisions   337 Summary   347 Q&A   348 Workshop   348 HOUR 22: Using Linear Velocity for Realistic Movement   349 Calculating Velocity from a Direction   349 “Pointing” a Sprite in the Direction of Movement   352 Enhancing the Engine   355 Summary   368 Q&A   369 Workshop   369 HOUR 23: Scrolling the Background   371 Background Scrolling Overview   371 The Shoot-’Em-Up Game   374 Summary   382 Q&A   382 Workshop.   382 HOUR 24: Ball and Paddle Game   385 Creating the Ball and Paddle Game   385 Summary   394 Q&A   395 Workshop   395 Index   397  

About the Author :
Jonathan Harbour is a writer and instructor whose love for computers and video games dates back to the Commodore PET and Atari 2600 era. He has a Master’s in Information Systems Management. His portfolio site at www.jharbour.com includes a discussion forum. He also authored Sams Teach Yourself Windows Phone 7 Game Programming in 24 Hours. His love of science fiction led to the remake of a beloved classic video game with some friends, resulting in Starflight–The Lost Colony (www.starflightgame.com).