MOBILE COMPUTING
(WITH A LITTLE CASUAL THROWN IN)
CGDD 4003
GROWTH
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Phone is always with you
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Predicted to exceed $16B by 2016
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Reaches a (much) wider demographic
• 50% of those under 40 play mobile games
• 20% of those over 40
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In-app purchases are exploding
• Currently 1/3 of mobile revenue (1/2 by 2016)
THE MARKET
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Apple’s App Store: 300,000+ apps
• Has passed on $1B to developers
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Android Marketplace: 100,000+ apps
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Nokia’s Oki: 28,000+ apps
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Typically keep 70% of revenue
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Must we offer games for free?
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How do we get discovered?
http://www.mobileapptesting.com/power-up-massive-growth-in-mobile-gaming-ahead/2010/12/
THE MARKET*
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57% of AT&T Wireless customers play games
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Why they play:
• 52% - distraction from daily life
• 40% - relaxation and stress relief
• 12% - improve mood
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Time:
• 91% of mobile sessions are < 30 minutes
• 62% are less than 15 minutes
• Women play for longer periods of time
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Most popular games
• Puzzle (66%), Card/Casino (51%), Board games (15%), Action/Adventure(11%)
* http://wirelessandmobilenews.com/2009/05/57-of-atters-play-mobile-games-tetris-most-popular.html?wpmp_switcher=mobile
SPEAKING OF WHICH…
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What IS the most popular mobile game of all time?
SPEAKING OF WHICH…
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What IS the most popular mobile game of all time?
100 million downloads…
FARMVILLE OF THE FUTURE?
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EA is investing in mobile and casual
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“Anyone who fails to recognize that shift will be left behind” – John Riccitiello (CEO)
http://www.mobileapptesting.com/power-up-massive-growth-in-mobile-gaming-ahead/2010/12/
HABITS
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Average “user” has 27 apps on their phone
• Up from 22 in 2009
• Games are most popular
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May listen or watch other media
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Casual gamers want:
• Quick
• Simple
• Non-committal
• No deep thought
BASIC MOBILE GAME DESIGN
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Small in scope (no MMORPG)
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Easy to learn (simple mechanics)
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Simple UI (prone to errors)
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Mobile context:
• Interruptible – user is a multi-tasker
• Can be played anywhere, any time
• Rely on mobile technology
(especially input)
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Non-explicit content
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Trend – evolving from 2D to 3D
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Respect user privacy!
Good site: http://www.developer.nokia.com/Resources/Library/Design_and_UX/index.html
BASIC MOBILE GAME DESIGN
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User should be able to start a new session (frequently) and reach goals quickly
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Design considerations for visuals
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Basic problem: small screen, yet need to convey information
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Characters 10-15% of screen
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6 pieces of HUD or less!
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Touching the screen “blocks” it!
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Justify each visual element
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Keep the backlight on if possible
General no-nos
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Chatting
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Complex input (multi-touch)
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It’s ok to be slow, but don’t give slow feedback
BASIC PHONE CAPABILITIES
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Usually need to query for these (vary wildly)
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Input:
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no physical mouse/keyboard
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no joystick?
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Buttons?
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GPS
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Accelerometers/Gyroscopes
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Restricted memory
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Network
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server or peer-to-peer?
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Bluetooth?
Limited CPU – GPU?
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AI?
GETTING STARTED: ANDROID
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_vC0RLryuo
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An IDE: typically Eclipse
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Java
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The Android SDK
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The Android NDK?
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An Android phone?
• Normally no…
• If doing OpenGL ES, yes!
GETTING STARTED: WIN 7
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Visual Studio (2010)
• Must have SP1 installed
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Win 7 SDK – it’s large
• http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=27570
• Comes with an emulator
GETTING STARTED: IOS
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You need a Mac! Or do you?
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Xcode
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Learn Objective-C and C++
• Good primer on Apple’s site
• Uses different kind of “messaging”
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Website
• http://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/index.action
• You’ll want to register… and probably buy an account
BASIC STRUCTURE OF PHONE APPS
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Use the concept of call back functions
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Event-driven:
• Initialization
• Destruction
• Drawing
• Input events
• GPS
• Touch
• Normal widgets (mouse, textfields, etc…)
EXAMPLE: ANDROID PROJECT
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We have several different
versions of Android
• Not all phones have latest
SDK
• 2.2 is fairly safe
EXAMPLE: ANDROID PROJECT
EXAMPLE: WIN 7
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It’s exactly the same skeleton as XNA!
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Multiple touch events
TouchPanelCapabilities tc = TouchPanel.GetCapabilities();
if(tc.IsConnected) {
return tc.MaximumTouchCount;
}
TouchCollection fingers = TouchPanel.GetState();
foreach (TouchLocation finger in fingers) {
if ((finger.State == TouchLocationState.Pressed) ||
(finger.State == TouchLocationState.Moved)) {
// Do what we gonna do!
}
}
EXAMPLE: WIN 7
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Gyroscope
if (Gyroscope.IsSupported) {
//get current rotation rate, display happens in Draw()
GyroscopeReading gr = new GyroscopeReading();
Vector3 gyroReading = gr.RotationRate;
}
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For Accelerometer, see the documentation
YOUR TASK
Design the worst mobile game EVER