In learning more about Java I'm discovering that I've forgotten most of the mathematics and general algebraic/geometric principles that I learned at school. Given that I'm intending to create a fairly graphics-heavy game I've also realised that I need to re-learn a bit more about maths to make my life that little bit easier to achieve my goal. So....as well as learning Java/Android from scratch I'm also trying to pick up the basic/intermediate levels of maths in the hope that it might make my life easier.
More updates to come soon.
Sunday, 23 September 2012
Sunday, 16 September 2012
Learning Java - Resources I'm currently using
Just a couple of links to sites/resources I'm using to help me to learn Java - they all seem to have useful information in them:-
http://introcs.cs.princeton.edu/java/home/
http://see.stanford.edu/see/courseinfo.aspx?coll=824a47e1-135f-4508-a5aa-866adcae1111
http://www.oopweb.com/Java/Documents/JavaNotes/VolumeFrames.html
http://chortle.ccsu.edu/CS151/cs151java.html
And, of course: -
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/index.html
Some really helpful stuff here. I'll hopefully be able to report on the best of these as I progress.
http://introcs.cs.princeton.edu/java/home/
http://see.stanford.edu/see/courseinfo.aspx?coll=824a47e1-135f-4508-a5aa-866adcae1111
http://www.oopweb.com/Java/Documents/JavaNotes/VolumeFrames.html
http://chortle.ccsu.edu/CS151/cs151java.html
And, of course: -
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/index.html
Some really helpful stuff here. I'll hopefully be able to report on the best of these as I progress.
How to add a JAR to Eclipse
As part of my learning Java I needed to add the acm package so I could follow along with some of the sample projects. It's a bit fiddly, but easy enough to do, so I thought I'd post a quick step-by-step tutorial on how to do this in Eclipse:-
1) Download the JAR you need. In my case it was the acm package (which you can find here).
2) Open Eclipse and add a folder to your project called 'lib' by right clicking the root folder of your project and selecting New>Folder. Name it 'lib'
3) Find the location of your downloaded JAR file and right-click>copy.
4) Right-click and paste the file into your project's lib folder in Eclipse.
Note: You can also drag and drop the jar file into the lib folder. You will be asked whether you want to copy or link files. I chose copy but I can see the benefits of linking.
5) Now, right-click the jar file you've just pasted into the lib folder and select Build Path>Add To Build Path
6) Your file will now show in a new folder called 'Referenced Libraries' and you can now import classes from the imported package.
Pretty easy, isn't it?
1) Download the JAR you need. In my case it was the acm package (which you can find here).
2) Open Eclipse and add a folder to your project called 'lib' by right clicking the root folder of your project and selecting New>Folder. Name it 'lib'
3) Find the location of your downloaded JAR file and right-click>copy.
4) Right-click and paste the file into your project's lib folder in Eclipse.
Note: You can also drag and drop the jar file into the lib folder. You will be asked whether you want to copy or link files. I chose copy but I can see the benefits of linking.
5) Now, right-click the jar file you've just pasted into the lib folder and select Build Path>Add To Build Path
6) Your file will now show in a new folder called 'Referenced Libraries' and you can now import classes from the imported package.
Pretty easy, isn't it?
Game changing
Ok, so it's been a couple of weeks since blog post #1, and things have changed somewhat..
In the first incarnation of my idea to make a game I was going to get the kids to come up with concept and work with that, but the whole process more or less fell flat on its face as kids will be kids, and arguments ensued. Within a few hours I'd more or less given up on the idea.
A couple of days later, Mrs Mat started talking to me about mobile games and how she figured, with a good idea, one could make a hell of a lot of money. The conversation went on and within a few hours I'd decided I wanted to have a go at it - not so much for the money aspect (although that would be nice), but because it would be a bit of a fresh challenge. I'd even developed a very simple web game a few days before that we were both impressed with and, with a bit more discussion actually seemed like the basis of something that could work very well on mobile. I can't discuss the game or general idea yet, because we both think it's such a good concept we don't want it stolen!
Anyway, the blog is back up and running but, this time, instead of focusing on a web-based game it's going to be focusing on trying to develop one for Android.
I decided to develop on Android mainly because of the low cost of setup. To develop on Apple devices I'd first of all need a Mac (lots of cash), and then there's a pretty steep $99 or so per year just to have the privilege to do it in the first place. For Android the tools are free (yes, free) and can be installed on a Windows PC (which I already have), and it is only a one-off fee of around £15 to have a Google developer account to deploy apps/games. For me, it's a bit of a no-brainer, if I'm being honest, especially given that I'm prone to getting bored/frustrated very easily - at least if I decide at some point in the future to walk away from the project I don't have to worry about the expense it has cost to get this far. So, last week I set up a developer account, paid my pennies and set up a Google checkout account (just in case we do finally develop something and decide to sell it - might as well have it all ready before I start, I figured).
And so, here I am. I've got the idea and I've got the tools. There's just two things in between me and getting my Android game out there on the Google Play Store:-
In the first incarnation of my idea to make a game I was going to get the kids to come up with concept and work with that, but the whole process more or less fell flat on its face as kids will be kids, and arguments ensued. Within a few hours I'd more or less given up on the idea.
A couple of days later, Mrs Mat started talking to me about mobile games and how she figured, with a good idea, one could make a hell of a lot of money. The conversation went on and within a few hours I'd decided I wanted to have a go at it - not so much for the money aspect (although that would be nice), but because it would be a bit of a fresh challenge. I'd even developed a very simple web game a few days before that we were both impressed with and, with a bit more discussion actually seemed like the basis of something that could work very well on mobile. I can't discuss the game or general idea yet, because we both think it's such a good concept we don't want it stolen!
Anyway, the blog is back up and running but, this time, instead of focusing on a web-based game it's going to be focusing on trying to develop one for Android.
I decided to develop on Android mainly because of the low cost of setup. To develop on Apple devices I'd first of all need a Mac (lots of cash), and then there's a pretty steep $99 or so per year just to have the privilege to do it in the first place. For Android the tools are free (yes, free) and can be installed on a Windows PC (which I already have), and it is only a one-off fee of around £15 to have a Google developer account to deploy apps/games. For me, it's a bit of a no-brainer, if I'm being honest, especially given that I'm prone to getting bored/frustrated very easily - at least if I decide at some point in the future to walk away from the project I don't have to worry about the expense it has cost to get this far. So, last week I set up a developer account, paid my pennies and set up a Google checkout account (just in case we do finally develop something and decide to sell it - might as well have it all ready before I start, I figured).
And so, here I am. I've got the idea and I've got the tools. There's just two things in between me and getting my Android game out there on the Google Play Store:-
- I need to learn Java from scratch.
- I need to learn how to develop for Android.
Turns out these two things are pretty big obstacles to get over however. I'm about a week into trying to learn the basics of Java. Having never really dealt with pure Object Oriented languages before (I come from a VB classic/VBA background originally, with a bit of HTML/CSS/Javascript thrown into the mix), things definitely are taking some time to sink in, but for now I'm not giving up.
This blog is now going to cover not only the ongoing discussion about the development of our game, but the hurdles and challenges involved in learning how to do it in the first place. Things are about to get interesting, so please keep on coming back to read more about how I get on. I'm aiming to have some kind of concept idea working on my Android phone by the end of the year. Is that overly optimistic? I don't think so...we'll see how things go.
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
We're making a game!!
Our kids are suckers for online games. Club penguin, Moshi Monsters and the like.
Today, on a rainy day in the UK, whilst tidying around the house I dreamed up a little project. "Why don't I make a game?", I mused...I'm just in the process of learning about web development, HTML5, CSS and Javascript but need something meaty to get my teeth into. "Why not do something really meaty?", I thought. I'm not artist or graphic designer, but I reckon I could come up with something.
So, there it was, and there, in the kitchen were the kids (3 of them), with their laptops and iPad, playing Moshi Monsters. The thing is, with those games, the attention span always seems a little short-lived, especially when they're not fully paid members of the game. I wondered what kind of game they would choose to play if they were given the choice.
And so, about two hours ago I set them the task of brainstorming up a basic concept for a game they might like to play online, and once they've come up with the idea I'm going to start trying to put something together. I think it might be a difficult uphill struggle, and I'm sure I'll mess it up in places, but you've got to have a try, haven't you.
This blog is my development diary of whatever game it is we come up with. Feel free to comment or even offer to help (if you're that way inclined). My initial thoughts for what the game will be is as follows:-
Today, on a rainy day in the UK, whilst tidying around the house I dreamed up a little project. "Why don't I make a game?", I mused...I'm just in the process of learning about web development, HTML5, CSS and Javascript but need something meaty to get my teeth into. "Why not do something really meaty?", I thought. I'm not artist or graphic designer, but I reckon I could come up with something.
So, there it was, and there, in the kitchen were the kids (3 of them), with their laptops and iPad, playing Moshi Monsters. The thing is, with those games, the attention span always seems a little short-lived, especially when they're not fully paid members of the game. I wondered what kind of game they would choose to play if they were given the choice.
And so, about two hours ago I set them the task of brainstorming up a basic concept for a game they might like to play online, and once they've come up with the idea I'm going to start trying to put something together. I think it might be a difficult uphill struggle, and I'm sure I'll mess it up in places, but you've got to have a try, haven't you.
This blog is my development diary of whatever game it is we come up with. Feel free to comment or even offer to help (if you're that way inclined). My initial thoughts for what the game will be is as follows:-
- Free (initially)
- Open-source. I plan to have everything on Github or the like once I've figured it all out.
- Web-based. No flash or other technologies used but those already in the browser.
- Fun! (the most important aspect, I'd say!!)
So, please keep on coming back. I intend to keep updating as we come up with ideas and I start to flesh this thing out. It's going to be an interesting journey.
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