The book is best suited for existing Android or Java programmers who want to adapt their skills to make exciting Android games.
The book is also for determined readers who might have no Android, game programming or even Java experience, but a reasonable understanding of object oriented programming knowledge is assumed.
What you will learn
Build simple to advanced game engines for different types of game, with cool features such as sprite sheet character animation and scrolling parallax backgrounds
Design and implement genuinely challenging and playable levels
Implement the critical main game loop
Implement basic and advanced collision detection mechanics
Bring to life a challenging enemy AI
Make the math behind 2D rotation, velocity, and collisions simple
Run your game designs at 60 frames per second or better
Process multitouch screen input effectively and efficiently
Implement a multitude of other game features such as pickups, firing weapons, HUDs, generating and playing sound FX, scenery, level transition, high scores, and more
Implement a flexible and advanced game engine that uses OpenGL ES 2 for fast, smooth frame rates
John Horton describes exactly how to write for Android and Java without throwing masses of unintelligible buzzwords at you. Each stage is carefully and easily explained and each new concept and word is explained in plain english. This does not mean that he doesn't teach in depth but only that he introduces the ideas as you need them to understand what you are doing. I have read and tried to follow many books and videos on android and John Hortons books have taught me more than any of the others.
Amazon Verified review
Guillermo RodriguezJul 17, 2015
5
This book is excellent! It has a fresh, fun style, but at the same time it covers the topics of Android Game Development with technical depth and correctness It is a wonderful tool for every Android programmer.
Amazon Verified review
HugoOct 14, 2015
5
I think the title is wrong, this isn't just a programming book, this is a complete game development course, the author starts by talking about what you will have at the end, them he introduces every game talking about the foundations not just code and result, you are introduced to good practices to achieve your game complete, it is fundamental in my opinion to have a project complete, the programming part is really good as he is presenting the critical points of the game structure in natural basis, you understand what he does because you understand the need of that code part. I think that the difficult of this book is between intermediate to advanced, but he made a book that everyone who wants to make a mobile game can start with solid basis. All the projects has its own focus and difficult level, I think they shown almost every feature you need to make a good 2d mobile game.
Amazon Verified review
jamieJul 30, 2015
5
Fantastic book and i would give 10 stars if possible! i have to disagree with another review i have seen about the book not being useful to developers at beginner level, although the book intro does assume you have some development knowledge it all depends on what you are looking to take from this book! i am practically new to android game development and needed to know more on game loops and sprites and i got this know how by reading this book and putting it to practice with the games made in this book so even from a beginners point of view i have to say that what i have took from this book has been a massive help towards my understanding of what it takes to get games built and running! java code in any book anywhere can seem daunting to all of us but by using examples i find it is the best method and by example is exactly what this book shows, if you still do not get whats happening in code then simply go over it again as with everything in life, things become clearer the more you practice.Before i read and used the examples in this book i was at a stand still with my games development and was annoyed with my self as was trying to take so much information in from a number of different sources it was really taking a toll on me but when i came accross this book it ticked all the right boxes and i am glad i gave my time to read this as all this time it was one source i really needed to focus on with the right information and it happend to be the best choice i made investing my time into this because it gave me everything i needed to know and more! i am now confident with my own looping and sprites, and much better ways of the headach i was having with fps, this book is not just good to give a once over! for me it is also an ideal reference book.The way the book has been written is very straight forward and informative this makes it easy to follow, you can copy and paste the code or download the code if you have a paperback copy however if your new to development and really keen to learn i find that by writing the code myself gives me that bit extra of my learning progress and comes across clearer then copy and pasting chunks of code.I hope this book helps you all as much as it has helped me, if your really serious about android games development then you can never have enough learning books, i do highly recommend to add this to your front collection.thank you to John Horton and also to Packt for this book being here today! i had almost given up so for this i am truly thankful and will look out for more books from you in the future should there be any.Jamie LoweGames Developer in the making.
Amazon Verified review
Thomas MöllerAug 15, 2019
5
Der Autor erläutert die Spieleprogrammierung auf Android-Geräten anhand von drei 2D-Spielen. Diese Rezension bezieht sich nur auf die ersten beiden Spiele. Das dritte Spiel (Asteroids mit Nutzung von OpenGL ES 2) habe ich bisher noch nicht durchgearbeitet.John Horton nutzt für die Spieleprogrammierung keine UI-Elemente des Android Betriebssystem (wie z.B. Button, Layout, Textfields usw.) und benötigt daher keinen Rückgriff auf die mit den Activities assozierten XML-Dateien. Daher braucht man keine weiteren Kenntnisse über die Android-UI-Bibliotheken, was recht entspannend ist.Alles wird im Android-Canvas (eine Art Leinwand, die später im Spiel die Displayanzeige darstellt) direkt in Java programmiert.Der Autor entwickelt im ersten Spiel eine Game-Engine, die gut funktioniert und sich auch leicht auf eigene Spielideen übertragen lässt.Im zweiten Spiel (Run & Jump) wird die Game-Engine dann erweitert und verwaltet zahlreiche Grafikobjekte, mit denen der Spieler auf verschiedene Weise interagiert. Dazu kommt noch ein mehrstufig scollender Hintergrund, der dadurch sogar eine räumliche Tiefe des Hintergrunds erzielt. Das Spiel wird von Anfang an so programmiert, dass es einen Level-Editor enthält, mit dem ohne größere Eingriffe in das Javaprogramm eigene Levels erstellt und beliebig geändert werden können. Dazu reicht ein einfacher Texteditor aus. Die neuen oder geänderten Level müssen lediglich in das Programm eingebunden werden, was aber mit wenigen Programmzeilen möglich ist.John Horton erklärt recht kleinschrittig die einzelnen Programmschritte. Ich fand sie dadurch gut nachvollziehbar. Ein Spiel erstreckt sich über mehrere Buchkapitel. Mindestens am Ende jedes Kapitels, häufig aber auch zwischendurch, werden Teilabschnitte der Programmierung fertiggestellt, die ein Testen des Spiels zulassen. So bleibt die Motivation hoch und man kann schnell die Wirkung der Programmteile erkunden.Pro: - Gut verständlich, sofern man Javakenntnisse besitzt. - Motivierende und grafisch schon recht anspruchsvolle Spiele (zumindest das 2. Spiel). - Gut strukturierte Programmierung durch Nutzung von Vererbung, MVC-Architektur (zumindest soweit sinnvoll) und Datenkapselung. - Der Autor erläutert meistens recht genau, wo jeweils die neuen Codezeilen in den Klassen programmiert werden müssen, so dass man auch ohne Downloads der Source-Dateien das Programm nach und nach selbst eintippen kann. - Am Ende jedes Spiels zeigt der Autor noch einige Ideen auf, wie das Spiel ohne großen Programmieraufwand erweitert und verbessert werden kann. Dazu können in der Regel die bisher geschaffenen Programmelemente genutzt werden oder müssen nur geringfügig erweitert werden.Contra: - Das Layout der Codezeilen ist teilweise schlecht formatiert. Es sind z.T. Einrückungen vorhanden, wo keine hingehören und umgekehrt. Das erschwert das Lesen und Verstehen des Codes etwas. - Im zweiten (und schon recht komplexen Spiel) wollte der Autor wohl mit den letzten Programmteilen schnell (oder endlich) fertig werden. Leider enthalten dort zwei Klassen bzw. umfangreichere Methoden Fehler (keine bloßen Flüchtigkeitsfehler). Sie fallen bei einem Kurztest möglicherweise nicht aber bei etwas längeren Tests oder geändertem Level schon. Sofern man aber bis dahin den Erklärungen folgen konnte, ist man auch in der Lage, die Programme entsprechend zu ändern, obwohl die notwendigen Änderungen jeweils recht umfangreich waren.Trotz dieser eher kleinen Abstriche steckt das Buch aber so voller Ideen und hilfreicher Konzepte, dass es für mich sehr wertvoll ist und 5 Sterne verdient. Ich freue mich schon auf die Erläuterungen für das dritte und letzte Spiel (welches w.o. erwähnt sogar OpenGL ES 2 nutzt).Für den Leser sind moderate Java-Kenntnisse erforderlich, Android-Kenntnisse dagegen kaum.
John Horton is a programming and gaming enthusiast based in the UK. He has a passion for writing apps, games, books, and blog articles. He is the founder of Game Code School.
A subscription provides you with full access to view all Packt and licnesed content online, this includes exclusive access to Early Access titles. Depending on the tier chosen you can also earn credits and discounts to use for owning content
How can I cancel my subscription?
To cancel your subscription with us simply go to the account page - found in the top right of the page or at https://subscription.packtpub.com/my-account/subscription - From here you will see the ‘cancel subscription’ button in the grey box with your subscription information in.
What are credits?
Credits can be earned from reading 40 section of any title within the payment cycle - a month starting from the day of subscription payment. You also earn a Credit every month if you subscribe to our annual or 18 month plans. Credits can be used to buy books DRM free, the same way that you would pay for a book. Your credits can be found in the subscription homepage - subscription.packtpub.com - clicking on ‘the my’ library dropdown and selecting ‘credits’.
What happens if an Early Access Course is cancelled?
Projects are rarely cancelled, but sometimes it's unavoidable. If an Early Access course is cancelled or excessively delayed, you can exchange your purchase for another course. For further details, please contact us here.
Where can I send feedback about an Early Access title?
If you have any feedback about the product you're reading, or Early Access in general, then please fill out a contact form here and we'll make sure the feedback gets to the right team.
Can I download the code files for Early Access titles?
We try to ensure that all books in Early Access have code available to use, download, and fork on GitHub. This helps us be more agile in the development of the book, and helps keep the often changing code base of new versions and new technologies as up to date as possible. Unfortunately, however, there will be rare cases when it is not possible for us to have downloadable code samples available until publication.
When we publish the book, the code files will also be available to download from the Packt website.
How accurate is the publication date?
The publication date is as accurate as we can be at any point in the project. Unfortunately, delays can happen. Often those delays are out of our control, such as changes to the technology code base or delays in the tech release. We do our best to give you an accurate estimate of the publication date at any given time, and as more chapters are delivered, the more accurate the delivery date will become.
How will I know when new chapters are ready?
We'll let you know every time there has been an update to a course that you've bought in Early Access. You'll get an email to let you know there has been a new chapter, or a change to a previous chapter. The new chapters are automatically added to your account, so you can also check back there any time you're ready and download or read them online.
I am a Packt subscriber, do I get Early Access?
Yes, all Early Access content is fully available through your subscription. You will need to have a paid for or active trial subscription in order to access all titles.
How is Early Access delivered?
Early Access is currently only available as a PDF or through our online reader. As we make changes or add new chapters, the files in your Packt account will be updated so you can download them again or view them online immediately.
How do I buy Early Access content?
Early Access is a way of us getting our content to you quicker, but the method of buying the Early Access course is still the same. Just find the course you want to buy, go through the check-out steps, and you’ll get a confirmation email from us with information and a link to the relevant Early Access courses.
What is Early Access?
Keeping up to date with the latest technology is difficult; new versions, new frameworks, new techniques. This feature gives you a head-start to our content, as it's being created. With Early Access you'll receive each chapter as it's written, and get regular updates throughout the product's development, as well as the final course as soon as it's ready.We created Early Access as a means of giving you the information you need, as soon as it's available. As we go through the process of developing a course, 99% of it can be ready but we can't publish until that last 1% falls in to place. Early Access helps to unlock the potential of our content early, to help you start your learning when you need it most. You not only get access to every chapter as it's delivered, edited, and updated, but you'll also get the finalized, DRM-free product to download in any format you want when it's published. As a member of Packt, you'll also be eligible for our exclusive offers, including a free course every day, and discounts on new and popular titles.