Teach Yourself Game Programming for Android and Windows [AGK eBook release]

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 21st Feb 2013 14:02 Edited at: 21st Feb 2013 14:52

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Teach Yourself Game Programming for Android and Windows

Teach Yourself Game Programming for Android and Windows is the cheapest eBook for App Game Kit you are ever likely to see at just £4.99 GBP/ €5.99 Euro / $7.99 USD it provides over 750 kindle pages of content. At a cost of just 0.007p a page turn you won't beat it's value anywhere else.

Not only that, but this eBook has been read, tested and commented on by over 30 members of this community. Forum members have had an active say in it's development, pointing out mistakes and area's that required additional explanation. You can read the community development thread HERE.

Furthermore this has been released exclusively in digital format, this means the eBook can be updated at any time to move with the latest AppGameKit developments. By purchasing this eBook you ensure it will be updated in the future to reflect the latest changes in App Game Kit.

You can find this eBook on all major Amazon stores, from the UK to USA, to France and Japan.

UK Amazon Kindle store
US Amazon Kindle store
French Amazon Kindle store
Italian Amazon Kindle store
Spanish Amazon Kindle store
German Amazon Kindle store
Japanese Amazon Kindle Store

This book is ideal for anyone starting out or struggling with the basics of the App Game Kit language, it teaches you everything you need to make a fully working game, including how to make the game itself. It is split into two sections, Phase I and Phase II. Phase I grounds you in a simple 99 line example, discussing logic and decision making, Identifiers, loops, sprites, and everything else you absolutely have to know in order to make App Game Kit do anything useful.

Phase II expands upon that game with a 1100 line version which adds menus, options, file saving, high score tables, particles, sound effects, music, tablet input systems, and much more. By the time you finish Phase II you'll be able to produce any classic game you set your mind too.

The following includes the books table of contents.

1 Introduction
     1.1 Minimum System Requirements
     1.2 How to use this book
     1.3 What is The Space Fighter Project / The Space Fighter Project Alpha?
     1.4 Your rights to this program
     2 Phase I
     3 Primer: What is programming and how does it work?
     3.1 Primer Introduction
     3.2 Programming languages
     3.3 Human beings are the opposite of a computer
     3.4 Basic Program Structure
     3.5 App Game Kit commands
     3.6 Program indentations
     4 Primer: Installation and IDE
     4.1 Before we begin
     4.2 Installation: Trial
     4.3 Installation:€ Purchased
     4.4 Launching App Game Kit for the first time with      Administrator privileges
     4.5 Running App Game Kit for the first time
     4.6 Restoring the default layout
     4.7 Project file structure
     4.8 Creating your first project
     4.9 Using the Toolbar, menu and shortcut keys
     4.10 Projects Panel
     4.11 Using Help
     5 Primer: Core Language
     5.1 Introduction
     5.2 Creating your new project
     5.3 Hello World
     5.3.1 REM
     5.3.2 DO
     5.3.3 PRINT()
     5.3.4 Sync()
     5.3.5 Loop
     5.4 Working with Identifiers
     5.4.1 Legal names for identifiers
     5.5 Symbolically defining an Identifiers nature
     5.5.1 Identifier as Integer
     5.6 Identifier as Float
     5.7 Identifier as String
     5.8 Mathematics
     5.8.1 Legal mathematical operators
     5.9 Logic and decision making
     5.10 Loops
     5.10.1 Do and Loop
     5.10.2 For and Next
     5.10.3 Repeat, Until
     5.11 Getting Input from the Keyboard
     5.11.1 Final code in full
     6 Primer: Working with graphics
     6.1 Introduction
     6.2 Setting up your Visual Environment
     6.3 Keeping your program under control
     6.4 Understanding your virtual canvas
     6.5 Creating your sprites
     6.6 Working with Images
     6.7 Assigning Images to sprites
     6.8 Setting sprite data
     6.9 Let's Animate!
     6.10 Getting sprite data
     6.11 Getting the pointer
     6.12 Answers
     7 Program Course I The Space Fighter Project
     7.1 Introduction
     7.2 What you will need for this course
     7.3 Game Design
     7.4 Game Design Document
     7.4.1 Game title
     7.4.2 Game author
     7.4.3 Game company
     7.4.4 The game in one sentence.
     7.4.5 Game Rules
     7.4.6 Requirements
     7.5 The Space Fighter Project, getting started.
     7.6 Section One: game settings and identifiers.
     7.6.1 Current code after section one
     7.6.2 Section two: Setting up your environment.
     7.6.3 Current code after section two
     7.6.4 Section three: Pre-game setup
     7.7 Complete Code after section three
     7.7.1 Section four: Main game loop
     7.7.2
     7.7.3 Displaying the score
     7.7.4 Player movement
     7.7.5 Fire control
     7.7.6 Enemy movement
     7.7.7 Collision detection
     7.8 Section Five: Ending the program.
     7.9 Full source code
     8 Phase II
     8.1 Introduction
     9 Primer II: Identifiers and beyond.
     9.1 Letter identification
     9.2 #Constant values
     9.3 Creating Types
     9.4 Creating Arrays
     9.5 Multidimensional arrays
     9.6 Arrays and Types
     9.7 Global vs Local
     10 Primer II: Dividing and modularising your program.
     10.1 Introduction
     10.2 Multiple files
     10.3 Subroutines
     10.4 Functions
     10.5 Multiple files
     11 Primer II: Permanent data storage.
     11.1 Introduction
     11.2 Saving and loading Identifiers
     11.3 Creating a file
     11.4 The files created on Windows
     11.5 Loading data
     11.6 Adding redundancy
     11.7 line-by-line
     11.8 Other advanced commands
     12 Primer II: Text objects
     12.1 Introduction
     12.2 Creating Text
     12.3 Using Font maps
     13 Primer II: Decision making extended
     13.1 Introduction
     13.2 IF statements with multiple factors
     13.2.1 AND
     13.3 OR
     13.4 XOR
     13.5 NOT
     13.5.1 The SELECT and CASE statement
     14 Primer II: Playing sound and music files.
     14.1 Introduction
     14.2 File formats
     14.3 Re-encoding sound and music files
     14.3.1 Installing Audacity
     14.3.2 WAV to MP3
     14.3.3 MP3 to different MP3 bit rate
     14.3.4 MP3 to WAV
     14.4 Files not playing or loading
     14.5 Loading and playing music files
     14.6 Loading and playing sound files
     15 Primer II: Particles
     15.1 Introduction
     15.2 Creating an emitter
     16 Primer II: AGK Player
     16.1 Introduction
     16.2 Installing AGK Player on PC
     16.3 Installing AGK Player on Android
     16.4 Installing AGK Player on Android
     17 Primer II: Mobile and tablet input
     17.1 Introduction
     17.2 Exiting with the program
     17.3 Single touch
     17.4 Text Input
     17.5 Virtual Buttons
     17.6 Virtual Joystick
     17.7 Accelerometer
     17.7.1 Complete source code
     17.8 Multi-touch
     18 Program Course II
     18.1 Introduction
     18.2 main.agc
     18.3 media.agc
     18.4 menu.agc
     18.5 game.agc
     18.6 files and score keeping.agc
     18.7 Full source code
     18.7.1 Main.agc
     18.7.2 media.agc
     18.7.3 menu.agc
     18.7.4 game.agc
     18.7.5 files and score keeping.agc
     19 Reference Section
     19.1 Introduction
     20 Scan Code Cheat Sheet
     21 Building a Tier 1 Android App with Windows, 1.065
     21.1 Introduction
     21.2 How to use this document
     21.3 Some common questions
     21.3.1 What is an App?
     21.3.2 What is an App Store?
     21.3.2.1 Free versus paid
     21.3.2.2 Promoting a better product
     21.3.2.3 Supported by adverts
     21.3.2.4 Lite and Adverts
     21.3.2.5 Paid for
     21.3.2.6 Paid for and adverts
     21.3.3 Customer comments and other issues
     21.3.3.1 Is my app ready?
     21.3.3.2 Have I used 3rd party content?
     21.3.3.3 Have I priced my app fairly?
     21.3.3.4 What's my competition?
     21.3.4 What do I need to make an App?
     21.4 Overview
     21.4.1 Requirements
     21.4.2 The software used
     21.4.2.1 AGK 1.065
     21.4.2.2 Eclipse Classic 3.7 or higher
     21.4.2.3 Android SDK
     21.4.2.4 Android NDK
     21.4.2.5 Cygwin
     21.4.2.6 Java JDK 6
     21.4.2.7 ADT plugin
     21.4.2.8 C/C++ plugin
     21.4.3 An overview of the process
     21.5 Software installation and setup
     21.5.1 Installing Eclipse Classic 3.7.2
     21.5.2 Installing JDK 6
     21.5.3 Install Android SDK
     21.5.4 Install ADT Plugin
     21.5.5 Installing C/C++ into Eclipse
     21.5.6 Install Android NDK 6
     21.5.7 Install Cygwin
     21.5.8 Copying the Interpreter
     21.5.9 Compiling the Interpreter
     21.5.10 Compiling AGK Player for the first time
     21.6 Making your own App
     21.6.1 Creating your own app project
     21.6.2 Adding your game content to the project
     21.6.3 Changing your programs icons
     21.6.4 Updating the interpreter.cpp file
     21.6.5 Building your APK file
     21.7 Testing your game
     21.7.1 Setting up your Android device
     21.7.2 Transferring an APK to your Android phone
     21.7.3 Using USB and your handset
     21.7.4 Setting up the Android simulator
     21.8 Optional Extra's
     21.8.1 Setting the game's orientation to landscape only
     21.8.2 Adjusting version numbers
     21.8.3 Some useful rules
     21.9 Submitting your App to Google Play
     21.9.1 Exporting an APK with a certificate
     21.9.2 Creating a google play account
     21.10 Other guides and resources
     22 Phone and tablet resolutions
     22.1 Apple Tablets
     22.2 Tablet Resolutions (Android)
     22.3 Phone Resolutions (Android)
     22.4 Blackberry tablet

+ Code Snippet

     1 Introduction
     1.1 Minimum System Requirements
     1.2 How to use this book
     1.3 What is The Space Fighter Project / The Space Fighter Project Alpha?
     1.4 Your rights to this program
     2 Phase I
     3 Primer: What is programming and how does it work?
     3.1 Primer Introduction
     3.2 Programming languages
     3.3 Human beings are the opposite of a computer
     3.4 Basic Program Structure
     3.5 App Game Kit commands
     3.6 Program indentations
     4 Primer: Installation and IDE
     4.1 Before we begin
     4.2 Installation: Trial
     4.3 Installation:€ Purchased
     4.4 Launching App Game Kit for the first time with      Administrator privileges
     4.5 Running App Game Kit for the first time
     4.6 Restoring the default layout
     4.7 Project file structure
     4.8 Creating your first project
     4.9 Using the Toolbar, menu and shortcut keys
     4.10 Projects Panel
     4.11 Using Help
     5 Primer: Core Language
     5.1 Introduction
     5.2 Creating your new project
     5.3 Hello World
     5.3.1 REM
     5.3.2 DO
     5.3.3 PRINT()
     5.3.4 Sync()
     5.3.5 Loop
     5.4 Working with Identifiers
     5.4.1 Legal names for identifiers
     5.5 Symbolically defining an Identifiers nature
     5.5.1 Identifier as Integer
     5.6 Identifier as Float
     5.7 Identifier as String
     5.8 Mathematics
     5.8.1 Legal mathematical operators
     5.9 Logic and decision making
     5.10 Loops
     5.10.1 Do and Loop
     5.10.2 For and Next
     5.10.3 Repeat, Until
     5.11 Getting Input from the Keyboard
     5.11.1 Final code in full
     6 Primer: Working with graphics
     6.1 Introduction
     6.2 Setting up your Visual Environment
     6.3 Keeping your program under control
     6.4 Understanding your virtual canvas
     6.5 Creating your sprites
     6.6 Working with Images
     6.7 Assigning Images to sprites
     6.8 Setting sprite data
     6.9 Let's Animate!
     6.10 Getting sprite data
     6.11 Getting the pointer
     6.12 Answers
     7 Program Course I The Space Fighter Project
     7.1 Introduction
     7.2 What you will need for this course
     7.3 Game Design
     7.4 Game Design Document
     7.4.1 Game title
     7.4.2 Game author
     7.4.3 Game company
     7.4.4 The game in one sentence.
     7.4.5 Game Rules
     7.4.6 Requirements
     7.5 The Space Fighter Project, getting started.
     7.6 Section One: game settings and identifiers.
     7.6.1 Current code after section one
     7.6.2 Section two: Setting up your environment.
     7.6.3 Current code after section two
     7.6.4 Section three: Pre-game setup
     7.7 Complete Code after section three
     7.7.1 Section four: Main game loop
     7.7.2
     7.7.3 Displaying the score
     7.7.4 Player movement
     7.7.5 Fire control
     7.7.6 Enemy movement
     7.7.7 Collision detection
     7.8 Section Five: Ending the program.
     7.9 Full source code
     8 Phase II
     8.1 Introduction
     9 Primer II: Identifiers and beyond.
     9.1 Letter identification
     9.2 #Constant values
     9.3 Creating Types
     9.4 Creating Arrays
     9.5 Multidimensional arrays
     9.6 Arrays and Types
     9.7 Global vs Local
     10 Primer II: Dividing and modularising your program.
     10.1 Introduction
     10.2 Multiple files
     10.3 Subroutines
     10.4 Functions
     10.5 Multiple files
     11 Primer II: Permanent data storage.
     11.1 Introduction
     11.2 Saving and loading Identifiers
     11.3 Creating a file
     11.4 The files created on Windows
     11.5 Loading data
     11.6 Adding redundancy
     11.7 line-by-line
     11.8 Other advanced commands
     12 Primer II: Text objects
     12.1 Introduction
     12.2 Creating Text
     12.3 Using Font maps
     13 Primer II: Decision making extended
     13.1 Introduction
     13.2 IF statements with multiple factors
     13.2.1 AND
     13.3 OR
     13.4 XOR
     13.5 NOT
     13.5.1 The SELECT and CASE statement
     14 Primer II: Playing sound and music files.
     14.1 Introduction
     14.2 File formats
     14.3 Re-encoding sound and music files
     14.3.1 Installing Audacity
     14.3.2 WAV to MP3
     14.3.3 MP3 to different MP3 bit rate
     14.3.4 MP3 to WAV
     14.4 Files not playing or loading
     14.5 Loading and playing music files
     14.6 Loading and playing sound files
     15 Primer II: Particles
     15.1 Introduction
     15.2 Creating an emitter
     16 Primer II: AGK Player
     16.1 Introduction
     16.2 Installing AGK Player on PC
     16.3 Installing AGK Player on Android
     16.4 Installing AGK Player on Android
     17 Primer II: Mobile and tablet input
     17.1 Introduction
     17.2 Exiting with the program
     17.3 Single touch
     17.4 Text Input
     17.5 Virtual Buttons
     17.6 Virtual Joystick
     17.7 Accelerometer
     17.7.1 Complete source code
     17.8 Multi-touch
     18 Program Course II
     18.1 Introduction
     18.2 main.agc
     18.3 media.agc
     18.4 menu.agc
     18.5 game.agc
     18.6 files and score keeping.agc
     18.7 Full source code
     18.7.1 Main.agc
     18.7.2 media.agc
     18.7.3 menu.agc
     18.7.4 game.agc
     18.7.5 files and score keeping.agc
     19 Reference Section
     19.1 Introduction
     20 Scan Code Cheat Sheet
     21 Building a Tier 1 Android App with Windows, 1.065
     21.1 Introduction
     21.2 How to use this document
     21.3 Some common questions
     21.3.1 What is an App?
     21.3.2 What is an App Store?
     21.3.2.1 Free versus paid
     21.3.2.2 Promoting a better product
     21.3.2.3 Supported by adverts
     21.3.2.4 Lite and Adverts
     21.3.2.5 Paid for
     21.3.2.6 Paid for and adverts
     21.3.3 Customer comments and other issues
     21.3.3.1 Is my app ready?
     21.3.3.2 Have I used 3rd party content?
     21.3.3.3 Have I priced my app fairly?
     21.3.3.4 What's my competition?
     21.3.4 What do I need to make an App?
     21.4 Overview
     21.4.1 Requirements
     21.4.2 The software used
     21.4.2.1 AGK 1.065
     21.4.2.2 Eclipse Classic 3.7 or higher
     21.4.2.3 Android SDK
     21.4.2.4 Android NDK
     21.4.2.5 Cygwin
     21.4.2.6 Java JDK 6
     21.4.2.7 ADT plugin
     21.4.2.8 C/C++ plugin
     21.4.3 An overview of the process
     21.5 Software installation and setup
     21.5.1 Installing Eclipse Classic 3.7.2
     21.5.2 Installing JDK 6
     21.5.3 Install Android SDK
     21.5.4 Install ADT Plugin
     21.5.5 Installing C/C++ into Eclipse
     21.5.6 Install Android NDK 6
     21.5.7 Install Cygwin
     21.5.8 Copying the Interpreter
     21.5.9 Compiling the Interpreter
     21.5.10 Compiling AGK Player for the first time
     21.6 Making your own App
     21.6.1 Creating your own app project
     21.6.2 Adding your game content to the project
     21.6.3 Changing your programs icons
     21.6.4 Updating the interpreter.cpp file
     21.6.5 Building your APK file
     21.7 Testing your game
     21.7.1 Setting up your Android device
     21.7.2 Transferring an APK to your Android phone
     21.7.3 Using USB and your handset
     21.7.4 Setting up the Android simulator
     21.8 Optional Extra's
     21.8.1 Setting the game's orientation to landscape only
     21.8.2 Adjusting version numbers
     21.8.3 Some useful rules
     21.9 Submitting your App to Google Play
     21.9.1 Exporting an APK with a certificate
     21.9.2 Creating a google play account
     21.10 Other guides and resources
     22 Phone and tablet resolutions
     22.1 Apple Tablets
     22.2 Tablet Resolutions (Android)
     22.3 Phone Resolutions (Android)
     22.4 Blackberry tablet

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 21st Feb 2013 14:05 Edited at: 21st Feb 2013 14:09

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Teach Yourself App Game Kit Phase I

This eBook contains the first 6 chapters of Teach Yourself Game Programming for Android and Windows.

This is the whole of Phase I, it includes primers covering installation, the IDE, core language and graphics. I then include Program Course I, the chapter that teaches you the 99 line example.

By the end of this ebook you will have generated your first working game.

On top of that it's free! To download this eBook just login to your TGC Profile and download the ePub, Mobi, or PDF file directly to your e-reader or desktop.

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Crystal Noir

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Posted: 26th Feb 2013 11:15

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Awesome works !

Bought it. I work on it, read, and try your codes.

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MrValentine

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Playing: FFVII

Posted: 26th Feb 2013 12:28

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The different covers had me there for a minute...

Any collated list of your works Dan? might be useful to show that

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 26th Feb 2013 15:47

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There's only two ebooks available at the moment, the free version which users can download from their TGC Profile (Phase I) and the full edition which users can purchase from Amazon.

I'll produce a list when the ebook / video collection grows.

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tasmanian guy

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Posted: 4th Mar 2013 01:48

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Little bit disappointed I had to purchase almost the same book again, just to get an update when you said that the best thing about electronic books is when an update comes out you can just delete it and download the new update....anyway.

DBPro is the new Amos (I hope)

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 4th Mar 2013 16:43 Edited at: 4th Mar 2013 16:49

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I'm sorry you had to do that was well, Freedom Engines frozen development came as a surprise for me as well, otherwise I would have based the first eBook on App Game Kit instead of freedom engine.

Given AGK's lack of HTML5 and WebGL support, and that I don't have Mac hardware to document iOS and Mac development I couldn't really convert a book called:

Teach Yourself Game Programming for HTML5, WebGL, Android, iPad, iPhone, Windows and Mac all in one go!

Over to App Game Kit.

Rest assured though, the newest book has a lot more going for it. The previous book didn't cover menus, high score tables, multiple drones, and many of the other features included. The previous ebook was about 219 pages long if I recall correctly the newest is 753 pages. So I feel confident in saying that while the beginning is similar, it completely diverges from the original after the Phase I chapters.

At just over a fiver I don't think it's bad value, even if you did have to buy the previous one for around £3

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 6th Mar 2013 14:53

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I am pleased to announce that Teach Yourself Game Programming for Android and Windows has been approved for sale on The Game Creators website.

This is a DRM free copy provided in ePub and PDF format.

Click here to buy the book directly from The Game Creators

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Caps On!

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Posted: 3rd May 2013 16:31

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Daniel, just purchased a copy from TGC. Thanx for your hard work.

Truth, Justice, and the Programmer's Way!

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 9th May 2013 23:22

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Thank you for your purchase. You can expect an update to this book June or July. I'll be updating the reference section to include a text copy of the smack it tutorial series running on my youtube channel. Once you're done with the first example, you can follow these videos as well.

Smack It Tutorial playlist

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cryptojoe

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Posted: 14th May 2013 22:21 Edited at: 14th May 2013 22:24

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I have your book and I have found that this link dose not work!
[href]http:// files.teachyourselfstuff.com/ AGK/ ebook/ vol1/ spacefighter_media_pack.zip[/href]

But I really do like the book

Edit; and when I say dose not work. its not just from the kindle book... I tried it in my browser as well...

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xCept

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Posted: 14th May 2013 22:23

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@cryptojoe, if you remove the spaces then it seems to work fine.

http://files.teachyourselfstuff.com/AGK/ebook/vol1/spacefighter_media_pack.zip

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cryptojoe

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Posted: 14th May 2013 22:24 Edited at: 14th May 2013 22:28

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ok... I see thanks...

when I copied and pasted it it added spaces... I just didn't see it...

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cryptojoe

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Posted: 21st May 2013 04:17 Edited at: 21st May 2013 04:20

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I have ben working from the book and have a app typed as printed in the book that compiles but only shows a black screen...

its from part 3.3.3 Subroutines

+ Code Snippet

rem
rem AGK Application
rem

rem Landscape App
SetDisplayAspect( 4.0/3.0 )

#Constant red 255,0,0
Incra as Integer
Angle as Integer
Dim MySprites[2] as Integer

Gosub MakeSprite : Gosub MakeSprite : Gosub MakeSprite

Do

    Gosub RotateSprite : Gosub RotateSprite : Gosub RotateSprite
    Sync()
Loop

MakeSprite:
    MySprites[Incra] = CreateSprite(0)
    SetSpriteSize(MySprites[Incra],100,100)
    SetSpritePosition(MySprites[Incra],274 * Incra + 200,250)
    SetSpriteColor(MySprites[Incra],red,255)
    Incra = Incra + 1
Return

RotateSprite:
    If Incra > 2 then Incra = 0
    If Angle > 359 then Angle = 0
    SetSpriteAngle(MySprites[Incra],Angle)
    Incra = Incra + 1
    Angle = Angle + 1
Return

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Hodgey

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Posted: 21st May 2013 04:36

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@cryptojoe: The reason you see only a black screen is because the sprites have been positioned off the screen. At the top of the code SetDisplayAspect() is used which means you're using AGK's percentage system. Consequently, only sprites with coordinates (0,0) to (100,100) are seen on the screen.

A quick solution would be to switch to virtual resoution. Instead of SetDisplayAspect try
setVirtualResolution(1024, 768)

If you want to use the percentage system then you'll have to make a few changes.
In this line:
SetSpritePosition(MySprites[Incra],274 * Incra + 200,250)
You're position way off on the x-axis and on the y-axis. Try something like:
SetSpritePosition(MySprites[Incra],20 * Incra +5 ,50)

You'll also have to adjust the sprites sizes:
SetSpriteSize(MySprites[Incra],10,10) - changes them to 10% by 10%

Hope that helps!

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cryptojoe

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Posted: 21st May 2013 04:48 Edited at: 21st May 2013 04:50

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ok... I see and with setVirtualResolution(1024, 768) in place of SetDisplayAspect( 4.0/3.0 ) it works...

there was nothing in the book about changing that so I used the default...

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 21st May 2013 23:40

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Ok, I'll make a note of this and include it in my list of updates. Please note that the whole book is written using Virtual Resolution as it's basis. I'll try to explain that better in the update.

There's some potential good news, there's a good chance that I'll be getting my hands on a Mac soon, this means iOS instructions for all sooner than I had hoped for.

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cryptojoe

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Posted: 22nd May 2013 01:41

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its ben a really good book Daniel... I have only run into the one issue...

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leo877

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Posted: 29th May 2013 11:05

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@DAN i bought this book and reading while doing the examples, also very good reading to learn AGK. Great work on this book and great work on your youtube smack it. I been following that also.

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 29th May 2013 21:50

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Thank you Leo877 it's nice to hear positive feedback.

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basjak

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Posted: 18th Jun 2013 10:20

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The book is good but I only bought it to keep reference on how to install android SDK(s). so please that need to be updated.
for anything else, it well worth and information are explained in details.

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 18th Jun 2013 12:24

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iOS and updated android instructions are on the planning board right now. I'm waiting for v1.08 to exit beta. iOS instructions will arrive when I have access to a mac which I'm hoping will be sometime this month.

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Lost Dragon

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Posted: 23rd Jun 2013 09:11

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I'd like to see SetSpriteAnimation and loadsubimage covered.

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 23rd Jun 2013 14:36 Edited at: 23rd Jun 2013 14:38

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The existing project doesn't need to load subimages, the sprites are designed for simple looping animations. Because the sprites don't change size setting animations based on frame widths is overkill.

I will be writing another book sometime next year, if I can think of a situation that requires these features I'll add them.

I am considering adding extra program exercises to the original book free of charge when I do the MacOS and iOS updates. However these will be on the 3 classics level. Pong, Orbit, and Space Invaders. I don't think these games will need these commands at all.

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 25th Jun 2013 19:10 Edited at: 25th Jun 2013 19:11

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Thank you to everyone who donated to get iOS and MacOS instructions into this book.

The money was just withdrawn and combined with this ebook's royalties and a brand new Mac Mini and iPad Mini combination is on it's way. I sincerely hope to have iOS and Mac OS instructions sometime in August 2013.

I am also considering adding a new game example.

Thank you for your patience.

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Ancient Lady

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Posted: 25th Jun 2013 19:14

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Daniel, if you need any help with the Mac/iOS stuff, just let me know. I've had a lot of experience with AppGameKit and Mac/iOS in all versions and am happy to share.

Cheers,
Ancient Lady
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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 25th Jun 2013 22:07

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I might just take you up on that! First I need to learn the basics of Mac OS X.

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Posted: 25th Jun 2013 23:34

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It's a bit different from Windows. I was actually surprised at how easy some stuff was, but also how hard it was to do some under the hood things (the directory paths are amazing).

But, i quite like my Mac Mini (I have dual 21" monitors on it, as I do on my Windows boxes and Linux box).

Cheers,
Ancient Lady
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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 26th Jun 2013 09:34

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I'm hoping my linux knowledge will fill in some of the blanks, from what I understand it's based on unix. Having said that so's windows at the core.

I've bought a copy of parallels to avoid boot camping which should be fun, it will be interesting to see if their graphics hardware support is any better than virtual box. I'm hoping AppGameKit will run fairly well on it.

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Ancient Lady

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Posted: 26th Jun 2013 16:57

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I've been seeing a lot of people using some sort of Windows virtualization on their Macs to actually run the AppGameKit IDE.

I don't bother.

Since you need to ultimately copy your files to a pure Mac environment to do the Xcode builds, I just do all my Tier 1 work on my Windows machines.

Having said that, my Mac Mini is doing a great job with my displays and handling anything I've thrown at it so far.

Cheers,
Ancient Lady
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cryptojoe

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Posted: 26th Jun 2013 17:17

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problem with a Function in the book, I was working with the Brawler.png font and following the book, but keep getting this error message "could not determine parameter type of 'visible ' at line 20"

14 Function MakeText(Text$,Font,Size,Alignment,x#,y#,visible)
15 id = CreateText( Text$ )
16 SetTextFontImage( id, Font )
17 SetTextSize( id, Size )
18 SetTextPosition( id, x#, y# )
19 SetTextAlignment( id, Alignment )
20 SetTextVisible( id, visible )
21 EndFunction id

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 26th Jun 2013 17:17

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I've just installed Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac, shoved on my spare copy of Windows 7 and it's running great in PC mode. All I've done so far is compile a few DBPro programs and the Smack It game from AppGameKit but it's running smoothly without any problems.

The great thing is that Parallels also includes ubuntu, google chrome OS, and Android. I've yet to test the AppGameKit Player app with them but it's all looking hopeful so far.

Of course, one of the first things I quickly discovered the need for as a DVD drive! Which this mac doesn't have so wasted about an hour trying to get the remote drive feature to work. It won't communicate with windows at all, so I'm sitting here ripping the discs to ISO's then throwing them over the network.

So far on day 1 I'm finding the Mac way of doing things somewhat annoying. I like double clicking on window bars to maximise, Mac OS doesn't seem to have maximise option, but instead sticks windows onto a new desktop. I kept losing things because Alt-Tab doesn't work and I'm an Alt+tab junkie! But I've found the Alt + Arrow key that lets you slide between workspaces. I don't like it, but I guess I'll have to get used to it being spread out iOS style.

The dock and menu don't respond quite as quickly as I'd like windows side bars and things appear at the drop of a hat, but Mac OS required my mouse pointer to linger. I suspect a proper Apple keyboard would help, but I'm officially out of cash now so my PC keyboard will have to do.

Also there was an annoying bug where it didn't detect my keyboard correctly, I set it to british layout but it didn't detect it as a 101 102 keyboard and so the " was @ and @ was " and I use them a lot.

Still I'm doing all the major stuff, downloading, installing software, adjusting settings. The fact that the wheel mouse was reversed annoyed me but I've fixed the "natural" setting lol.

One thing I do love about this Mac Mini is that it's totally silent. I can't hear a peep from it. This will make it great for podcasting and other vocal recording.

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Posted: 26th Jun 2013 17:18

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cyptojoe, the parameters in the function are either being called incorrectly or have been setup incorrectly.

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Ancient Lady

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Posted: 26th Jun 2013 17:35

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The tiny green bead in the upper left corner of an app will maximize it. And then take it back to windowed if maximized.

I haven't been in need of a DVD drive, yet.

I use my Microsoft winged keyboard (typist friendly) and a Microsoft mouse on my Mac Mini without an issue. But I have the keyboard set to whatever it defaulted to when I set up Mac Mini. And I have gotten used to using the Windows symbol button for the Apple splat button.

haliop posted a link to installing Wine on a Mac for sort of natively running Windows apps alongside Apple ones. I might give that a try.

I love the small footprint of the Mac Mini. And it doesn't have a chance in h**l of being heard over all the the other devices in the room.

I have fun going between the three computers in my office (Mac, Windows and Linux). The fun part is remembering the right key combinations for the machine I am on and not expecting the mouse to move if I use the wrong one. I haven't found a good Mouse/Keyboard switch to work with all three devices, yet.

Cheers,
Ancient Lady
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cryptojoe

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Posted: 26th Jun 2013 17:42

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I have everything as it is in the book... everything seems to be there as fare as I can tell. don't understand why the parameter is not being passed

+ Code Snippet

SetVirtualResolution(1024,600)

FontMap = LoadImage("Brawler.png")

Text = MakeText("This is the Brawler Font!",FontMap,48,0,10,10,1)
Text2 = MakeText("This is the default system font!",0,32,0,10,10 + GetTextTotalHeight(Text),1)

Do
    Sync()
Loop
end


Function MakeText(Text$,Font,Size,Alignment,x#,y#,visible)
    id = CreateText( Text$ )
    SetTextFontImage( id, Font )
    SetTextSize( id, Size )
    SetTextPosition( id, x#, y# )
    SetTextAlignment( id, Alignment )
    SetTextVisible( id, visible )  
EndFunction id

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 26th Jun 2013 19:30

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I just compiled that code without any problems cyptojoe.

Try looking at previous code, sometimes errors like this happen when you forget to add an Endfunction to a previous function, or close a loop. If this is literally all the code you are running however it works on my AppGameKit flawlessly.

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 26th Jun 2013 19:38

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The green orb in the top left hand corner makes the window as tall as the desktop but not as wide as the desktop, which seems fairly pointless to me!

I'm using a logitech keyboard and the gigabyte gaming mouse. The mouse is a fantastic, because the speed of mouse movement is different between windows and Mac OS, but it's got a DPI button on it that swaps between 800 dpi and 1600 dpi, I could probably just adjust the settings but the button saves me the effort.

I'm using a bog standard KVM switch I got from amazon a few months ago. It's just got a simple button with PC1, PC2, PC3, and PC4 on it. It's not automatic but I don't mind that. It allows me to swap between My Raspberry Pi, Desktop and Mac Mini with another port for my laptop if I ever need it.

I find KVM switches for video horrible, this one is VGA and the signal is very noisy. The last HDMI one I tried was so bad it went straight back to the vendor. But then I won't spend more than £20 so the more expensive ones might be better. I'm using a TV with 3 HDMI ports so swapping displays can be done at the flick of a remote.

The windows key does nothing in my Mac Mini! Don't know why that is.

I've just purchased splashtop 2 for Mac, it gives me remote access of my desktop and laptop and the click of a button. It's the best remote desktop solution I've ever come across, it streams video, lets you play games, maintains colour and resolution, it's the next best thing to being plugged directly into your PC. I use it with my Asus Transformer Pad all the time, meaning I have the full power of my quad core PC and windows, and the virtual portability of a Macbook air. Of course that advantage goes when I leave the range of my LAN. Still over the internet and 3G it's still not bad though the performance is reduced.

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cryptojoe

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Posted: 26th Jun 2013 22:47 Edited at: 26th Jun 2013 22:49

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I think its my AGK... I'm running Build: 107

I had something like this happen before I just can't remember how I fixed it...

thanks for your time

EDIT; I'm just going to keep working throe the book...

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 8th Jul 2013 14:56

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Hi guys, the iOS instructions have been devised.

I need a couple of forum users to test them out and point out any holes, or anything i might not have explained properly

Please e-mail me at daniel@dcforeman.co.uk if you meet the following requirements.

1) You must have an iOS developer account.
2) You must have a Mac.
3) You need to have an app you'd like to submit to the apple store.
4) You need to be able to test it and reply early this week.
5) You need to have an iOS device to test on.

This documentation is designed to take you from XCODE to a full app submission.

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Ancient Lady

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Posted: 8th Jul 2013 18:03

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Quote: "Hi guys, the iOS instructions have been devised."

"devised", interesting word. Typos get us all.

Is it necessary that I actually submit my app this week?

I can test all of the other bits fairly soon (once I have v10815 on my Mac Mini).

Cheers,
Ancient Lady
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World Class Multimedia

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Posted: 11th Jul 2013 18:25

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I just bought the book for my iPad. I cannot wait to get started!

Mike

YOU DREAM IT - WE CREATE IT!
www.world-class-multimedia.com
For world-class virtual instruments - www.supersynths.com

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Posted: 12th Jul 2013 01:19 Edited at: 12th Jul 2013 01:23

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lol, I think if anything falls under the "Plan or invent (a complex procedure, system, or mechanism) by careful thought." it's definitely an 24 page document for submitting iOS apps.

Basically the sooner it's tested, the sooner I can get it into the ebook update. So no it doesn't have to be this week.

Paul just skimmed it and said he couldn't find any issues so hopefully the testers can as well.

@World Class

Ohh you're one of my iBook customers, yay. There should be some exciting things in future for you. I'm currently investigating iBooks author, I'm hoping to completely revamp this ebook, and even embed some video into it. Hopefully sometime around Christmas. All the other platforms will have to remain PDF and ePub however which isn't nearly as advanced, but they need to remain compatible with e-ink displays.

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Ancient Lady

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Posted: 12th Jul 2013 01:26

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Daniel, where can I see the instructions that you want us to test?

I am willing to work through them as far as I can without actually publishing.

Cheers,
Ancient Lady
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World Class Multimedia

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Posted: 12th Jul 2013 05:14

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I bought it using Amazon Kindle, so I can read it on my iPad and my Windows 8 Laptop.

So far, very well written and easy to understand.

Mike

YOU DREAM IT - WE CREATE IT!
www.world-class-multimedia.com
For world-class virtual instruments - www.supersynths.com

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Posted: 12th Jul 2013 11:37

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Ancient Lady if you e-mail me at daniel@dcforeman.co.uk I'll send over the instructions.

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kbrad1

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Posted: 17th Jul 2013 06:32

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I might be missing something but why does the book purchased from TGC website seem to differ from the one offered on Amazon? One issue: you mention that there are 753 pages but the version I have is only 610 (PDF - epub is 621). Even the chapter numbering system seems to differ.

Thanks in advance.

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Daniel TGC

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Posted: 18th Jul 2013 01:42

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There's three competing systems, kindle mobi, PDF and ePub. Each of these readers put different numbers of words on a page depending on the software, font size, font used, screen resolution etc.

But the content is the same across all three.

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kbrad1

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Posted: 18th Jul 2013 02:41

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Thanks for the reply and figured there were differences with the readers. I was concerned that 100+ page difference might be too big of a difference.

I have also noticed how the tables show differently as well.

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Posted: 19th Jul 2013 12:40

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Yeah, the only way to solve that is to shove PDF's on all of them. But that prevents dynamic text adjustment, text reading, increases the size of the download etc etc. Giving the devices layout control makes for a better experience.

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Posted: 7th Aug 2013 15:33

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I don't know a great deal about AppGameKit v2 other than what was announced in the kickstarter. I expect that the eBooks source code examples won't be greatly affected. So it's entirely possible I can just write a new eBook covering the features of v2, while leaving the first book as the introduction to programming it's supposed to be. It may simply be that this eBook doesn't require any source code changes. But until I get AppGameKit v2 in my hands I won't be able to check this.

IDE changes don't worry me. The reason question I'm waiting to find the answer to is will V1 AppGameKit become the new DarkBASIC Classic while V2 becomes the new DarkBASIC Professional (figuratively speaking) if the v1 product provides an entry level product then the eBook remains valid, and a new eBook for v2 needs to be produced. If v1 is replaced with v2 and v1 is taken down from sale, then updating the existing book to match v2 would be better. If it did come down to two books however, at the prices I charge I don't think it will be any great hardship for people.

In regards to your second point, this book was never intended to cover C++ that is a separate book entirely. I am in the process of writing an eBook on C (not C++) because it's possible to master that in a few months. However C++ can be developed with for years, and never mastered in the same way. I will eventually move on to write about C++ but that's going to be a long project.

My primary goal after AppGameKit is web technologies. The one common thing Firefox OS, Chrome OS, Ubuntu OS, Tizen, and other emerging operating systems are web apps. So I want to write about HTML5, CSS3 before I finish the book on C.

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AppGameKit Classic Chat / Teach Yourself Game Programming for Android and Windows [AGK eBook release]

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