Modding android port?

Started by ROOKMAGE, Wed 23/04/2014 18:25:57

Previous topic - Next topic

ROOKMAGE

Would it be possible to create a stand-alone app with a modded AGS android port? All you would have to do is change the namespace and icon, then have it automatically open up a file path, right? Is there anything else you would need to do?

(Also, sorry if this should've gone into the port thread, I don't know what these forum's rules on necrobumping are)

Mehrdad

An another question : Can we make commercial games with this JJS Android port? My mean is google store accept it for sale? 
My official site: http://www.pershaland.com/

Joseph DiPerla

I am working on this. The Android packaging and expansion programming is the issue. I am almost there. I'm just going slow because of real life stuff, but I am close.
Joseph DiPerla--- http://www.adventurestockpile.com
Play my Star Wars MMORPG: http://sw-bfs.com
See my Fiverr page for translation and other services: https://www.fiverr.com/josephdiperla
Google Plus Adventure Community: https://plus.google.com/communities/116504865864458899575

monkey0506

Quote from: Joseph DiPerla on Thu 24/04/2014 20:42:30The Android packaging and expansion programming is the issue.

It really isn't.

The issue is that the Android port doesn't work.

Joseph DiPerla

That's the other issue. There is more than one issue to tackle. Obb packaging is one thing, getting it to be a streamlined process for a user to compile can be another if they don't have android development experience. And of course someone needs to really look at android code itself to make AGS work better.
Joseph DiPerla--- http://www.adventurestockpile.com
Play my Star Wars MMORPG: http://sw-bfs.com
See my Fiverr page for translation and other services: https://www.fiverr.com/josephdiperla
Google Plus Adventure Community: https://plus.google.com/communities/116504865864458899575

monkey0506

Commercial releases aren't going to be viable until someone can determine why it is silently and randomly crashing. I have personally been unable to replicate this on any of my Android devices, but it's been reported by dozens of people.

Using OBB files (despite your weird complaints) is a total non-issue. It's perfectly easy to use them (assuming the total game size doesn't exceed 2 GB).

Mehrdad

How do we can make .obb file with JJS Android port files? Is it possible?
My official site: http://www.pershaland.com/

monkey0506

#7
An OBB file is an Opaque Binary Blob file which can be whatever type of file you want it to be.

As a case in point, I have published a beta build of a standalone app that uses an OBB file for the game, and it works just as well as using the launcher app. The problem is that the engine itself is bugged. I've tried quite ferociously to track down the offending code, but debugging an issue which has never manifested on any device I've tested has proven to be practically impossible.

If you're interested in the reported cases of crashing I'm referring to, send a message over to Chris at Himalaya Studios and inquire as to why Al Emmo hasn't been released to the Play Store yet. Because honestly both of us would have loved to seen that squared away months ago.

ROOKMAGE

Is there any reason why it's not possible to have the app just skip the launcher screen and open up a specified filepath?

monkey0506

No, there's not any reason. And I never said that you have to show the launcher screen. You don't. The Android port of the engine is bugged.

ROOKMAGE

Ah, I haven't noticed that. It's working just fine for me?

monkey0506

Quote from: monkey_05_06 on Fri 25/04/2014 05:50:48[the engine] is silently and randomly crashing...it's been reported by dozens of people.

Joseph DiPerla

Quote from: monkey_05_06 on Fri 25/04/2014 07:37:46
An OBB file is an Opaque Binary Blob file which can be whatever type of file you want it to be.

As a case in point, I have published a beta build of a standalone app that uses an OBB file for the game, and it works just as well as using the launcher app. The problem is that the engine itself is bugged. I've tried quite ferociously to track down the offending code, but debugging an issue which has never manifested on any device I've tested has proven to be practically impossible.

I remember you had mentioned that you had done this. If I am not mistaken, you can make a zip file and rename it with the .obb extension. My question is: Did you simply create the obb files, point the base directory to the default OBB directory and let it run? Or do you do the whole Salt Hash thing, downloader service packaging, etc...? The compiling the downloader service is what is giving most of the trouble.

Quote from: monkey_05_06 on Fri 25/04/2014 07:37:46
If you're interested in the reported cases of crashing I'm referring to, send a message over to Chris at Himalaya Studios and inquire as to why Al Emmo hasn't been released to the Play Store yet. Because honestly both of us would have loved to seen that squared away months ago.

I remember one case that had mentioned this, maybe two. I didn't realize it was so widespread which really is a little concerning and I would love to know, just out of curiosity, if the same thing is happening on the iphone builds. Anyone have any reports on that?
Joseph DiPerla--- http://www.adventurestockpile.com
Play my Star Wars MMORPG: http://sw-bfs.com
See my Fiverr page for translation and other services: https://www.fiverr.com/josephdiperla
Google Plus Adventure Community: https://plus.google.com/communities/116504865864458899575

monkey0506

Quote from: Joseph DiPerla on Sun 27/04/2014 20:38:52Or do you do the whole Salt Hash thing, downloader service packaging, etc...? The compiling the downloader service is what is giving most of the trouble.

Yes, that. I recall I had a bit of trouble getting everything working quite as I wanted it to (which is great since I've lost that source in a HDD crash), but for the most part I just followed the documentation on Google's API sites.

Quote from: Joseph DiPerla on Sun 27/04/2014 20:38:52
Quote from: monkey_05_06 on Fri 25/04/2014 07:37:46
If you're interested in the reported cases of crashing I'm referring to, send a message over to Chris at Himalaya Studios and inquire as to why Al Emmo hasn't been released to the Play Store yet. Because honestly both of us would have loved to seen that squared away months ago.

I remember one case that had mentioned this, maybe two. I didn't realize it was so widespread which really is a little concerning and I would love to know, just out of curiosity, if the same thing is happening on the iphone builds. Anyone have any reports on that?

Okay, so "dozens" might be a bit of an embellishment, but it was more than just a few sporadic cases. It was enough to deter the release of Al Emmo on Android (Chris himself was one of those reporting it). I haven't heard of any issues with the iPhone, which I assume would be the case if there were similar problems -- seeing as Gemini Rue has been available for iOS for quite some time.

I'm trying to get a working build of the latest master branch (as I'm aware you're also doing) to see if improvements that have been made in the past several months have had any impact. The current master's auto filter selection code isn't working on Android (at all) though, so I'm narrowing that down to a specific point where it stopped being able to load games.

As to the root cause, I'm skeptical of the multithreaded audio, but haven't been able to confirm or deny. If you check the issue tracker, there's some reports by rofl0r about some major issues in that code anyway.

Joseph DiPerla

Well some good news. I managed to get a good compilation  for my APK with OBB's, I may post a tutorial either tomorrow night or the next night. Thanks to M.M.'s version of the APK he used to package "Only the Good die Young", I was able to modify it slightly and use Google's documentation to fix whatever errors were being caused as I was having a bit of trouble compiling it due to Library name changes on Google's part which is not documented on their developer site. Thank goodness for StackOverFlow.com. Anyway... I need to recompile the latest 3.3.1 build on Git and upload the Sources for all of you to try and package your own APK.

I will mention right now that you will need Eclipse and you will also need to download the Android SDK. When you download the SDK, be sure to download (from the SDK Manager) the Zip File SDK, The downloader library, the Google Play Licensing Library(Formerly the Marketing License SDK), and the Sample Downloader Activity project. When the SDK Asks you to install to a directory (Against much advice that is mentioned on the web) install it to the default directory. Take note of that directory as we will be going to it often. As for the rest... You will have to wait for me to post the instructions. I may need to make some screenshots for you. I tried to make the process as simple as possible for everyone. If enough people can easily take care of compiling an APK, I may write up a cross-platform APK Packager via B4J.

Please be advised in Advance, this is not a final method of packagint the APK. This is just a preliminary test. Once I know my instructions and the small mods I made to the Android Source work for a good number of people, I will make some other changes so that you can have a more customizable app for android.
Joseph DiPerla--- http://www.adventurestockpile.com
Play my Star Wars MMORPG: http://sw-bfs.com
See my Fiverr page for translation and other services: https://www.fiverr.com/josephdiperla
Google Plus Adventure Community: https://plus.google.com/communities/116504865864458899575

StillInThe90s

@DiPerla: Is this method using the same (unstable?) port that monkey was talking about?
Good job anyhow.

Joseph DiPerla

No. I believe the instability was fixed in the latest commits to the git.
Joseph DiPerla--- http://www.adventurestockpile.com
Play my Star Wars MMORPG: http://sw-bfs.com
See my Fiverr page for translation and other services: https://www.fiverr.com/josephdiperla
Google Plus Adventure Community: https://plus.google.com/communities/116504865864458899575

Crimson Wizard

Quote from: Joseph DiPerla on Mon 05/05/2014 13:24:36
No. I believe the instability was fixed in the latest commits to the git.
No. It was fatal error, which prevented game from starting up, that was fixed.

StillInThe90s

Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Mon 05/05/2014 13:34:48
Quote from: Joseph DiPerla on Mon 05/05/2014 13:24:36
No. I believe the instability was fixed in the latest commits to the git.
No. It was fatal error, which prevented game from starting up, that was fixed.
...which means that it's still pretty much the same unstable port that monkey was talking about...?

monkey0506

#19
I haven't been looking into it too much lately, but to be clear I never encountered the problem anyway. I'm not sure how much I can really say, but once Al Emmo is released on Steam, then I'll have a better chance to look into this once again. Quite a few reports came in from Himalaya Studios, but their focus is on Steam for now.

Edit: But please, don't let that stop you from trying out the latest APK and sharing your experiences. ;)

SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk