APP at Google Play( first impressions )

How do I...?
#1

Hi folks!

I am writting this post to share with all of you this new experiment that I am headed to, and report … of course.
Well, I’ve published the Android Versions, generated from Intel XDK( latest update ), and latest Gdevelop update. So, the results are( up to now ):

Number of installs( I am considering from google play and friends installing from APK without google play ): 36 Installs.

All of then from Android 4.1 to 5.0
One tablet( Android 4.1 )
Results are: 20 runs well and 16 had a kind of “crash”, or “black screen”.
I would like to create an update, but I do not know what to do about that. I have read all forums, and I do not know what to change. Reading about opengl, pixie(rendering engine),and other rendering engines, maybe is the main problem( please, I do not know exactly what is happening).

So, just for a test, I have instaled here in an old Android( droid 2 ), with cyanogen mod( android 4.0), and first I have a screen error, than, in a second time, a black screen( I know, I know… old phone ), but it runs Angry birds and fruit ninja.
The second test was to publish a gdevelop template( platformer game ), and use first: Inel XDK, and second: cocoon js. I have the same issue here. So, I can understand that is not the game itselve, but maybe a kind of “rendering engine”?

One thing that is common in all installed phones are : the fps is not the same that when we play the game from website( it’s always a bit slower). So… what can we do about that? ( when I say “we”, I am talking about all of us ); how can we improve this? How can I help about that?

Well, to finish… the web version runs ok, and at game jolt I have about 13.8 k plays, and … it runs well from Linux, MacOs and Windows. Here is the link:http://gamejolt.com/games/key-to-nowhere/59974

From Google play is here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=knt.chapter.I
The APK, without google play: https://www.mediafire.com/?15zy1e26fx8b5eu
The compiled Linux Version is fine too, no problems to run it( tested in 4 different machines ).

#2

Hi,

I think it’s more related to Intel XDK than to GDevelop. By the way, Scirra Construct 2 users seem to have the same problems with Intel XDK.

#3

Hi ricardo(btw, i’m ricardo too)
The problem is Intel XDK, but I have a few suggestions on what we can do:

Android has a development kit called NDK that can package apps made with C / C ++. The performance is usually better than a game made in html5, because there are fewer layers between the game and the system. It may be possible to transform a native game GDevelop in an APK using this kit. Apparently the SFML (the library that GDevelop uses) supports it.

Another way of GDevelop generate games with good performance would be if it were written runtime using the Haxe Toolkit rather than HTML5 or SFML. Haxe is a toolkit that compile applications for various different platforms with the same codebase and very good performance. It is used by Stencyl game engine for example.
Website: haxe.org

Another information that could help you:
Android 5+, iOS and Windows 10 (both desktop and mobile) do not have this low FPS problem. These two systems support the Apache Cordova very well. In the case of Android 5+, the package is much smaller than a package compiled by Intel XDK using Crosswalk, because is not necessary to put the chromium engine with your game in the same apk.

#4

Thanks Victor and Ricardo( are you portuguese, or brazilian like me?)

So, at first, I’ll try to release a new version(1.0.1) with cocoon JS ( because it’s the fastest way ). After that I’ll try Haxe( cause it is the second fastest way… I think ), and … at the end of the line, I’ll try the Android kit. Thanks a lot for those suggestions.

I’ll report you all again about that. The good thing about publishing it there is that we can have these feedbacks and try to improve the way to export to mobile.

#5

I’m Brazilian.
I guess you should put the Haxe as last attempt. Different from the others I mentioned, the Haxe is also a programming language, then you would have to rewrite your game from scratch using the Haxe language.
Have you taken a look at cocoon.io (it is a website) ? They created a new engine that seems to be faster than Intel XDK.
If you do not get a nice performance with cocoon (very likely), maybe you should consider rewriting your game using some more native tool such as Haxe. I had a game (btw, you can play it here: https://www.scirra.com/arcade/shooting-games/protect-me-125 ) and compiled with the cocoon, it got a really bad performance. Then I rewrote the game using a framework called LÖVE. The performance is much better.

#6

Hey! Nice to know you are brazilian, maybe we can chat in portuguese via hangout or another tool.
Yes, I am compiling with cocoon.io right now! let’s see what we get with that.

I know the existence of LOVE 2D, but never tried before.

Entering your game page… it did not work in chromium here( xubuntu on this machine ), but COOL in firefox. Score 19( first play).

Nice game, graphics and simplicity.

#7

so… keep us tuned :wink:
the major problem about develop games with html5 is the performance on mobile. Any kind of improvement is really welcome :smiley:

my email: desk467(at)gmail.com

#8

Meu ingles é uma bosta então vou falar portuga mesmo rapidex. Já ouvi falar do Haxe, como ele pode nos auxiliar? Não sou programador, sou só curioso entendo pouco. É possível pegarmos o código fonte do Gdevelop e implementar o haxe para exportar em mais plataforma e com saúde? Ou teria que implementar isso no código fonte de cada jogo?

The implementation of a way to compile in many platforms will elevate this software. Many people uses Unity because it export to so much platforms alone. And play it very well.

#9

Hi Guilherme! I think you need to rewrite the game in haxe.

With cocoonjs.io I got a nice performance(FPS) and tested on that old smart phone. Well… the problem was the artifacts created when a text object is over an transparent png( the buttons). To make it work, I’ll need to build all the buttons of the game as image files, and not text over images. Doing that, cocoonjs is a better solution than intel xdk(for now).

I am not going to update the game at google play now, cause I’ll need to make these changes(sadly) :frowning:

#10

:cry: How can i do it? Imake at gdevelop, expor to web, and open all of files read and rewrite to haxe? In case of cocoon.js i dont will need to rewrite, he is a crosscompile

#11

sorry, i didn’t get what are you trying to say :neutral_face:

Just clarifying:
Haxe is a Toolkit + Programming Language. It has nothing to do with GDevelop.
If you want to make your game(made using GDevelop) better in terms of performance, try to use cocoon.io
If you know how to code (Object-Oriented Programming, Problem Solving…) , maybe you can try another tool, like LÖVE or Haxe.

#12

You doesn’t get but, resolved my question. thanks desk

#13

Well, using the new uptade of Intel XDK( that uses crosswalk runtime 15 )Intel xdk 2496… somethings are a little different; so I had some build errors when using project exported from Gdevelop( app option export ).

The solution was : from Gdevelop export to website( not to android, ios option ), than, inside Intel XDK, use NEW PROJETC > import HTML 5. Game engine = pixijs(this one worked fine).

You need to enable PLUGINS : InAppBrowser, Device, Splashscreen, Network Information

In Cordova CLI Version = 5.1.1
Crosswalk runtime = 15( this is the new version ). Faster and more stable.

I got a faster APP(FPS) and no crashes( tested on tablet genesis 7, Galaxy 2, galaxy 2 mini ). Now, updating on google play this release.