Android Android Games by Jayenkai

[Jayenkai]

\me waves
Hello gang!
You might remember me from such DS Homebrew titles as JNKPlatDS08, Platdude's Retro Collection, Arcade Slots, Sheep Goes Left, and many many more!

Recently, I purchased a new programming language called Monkey (yeay! Munky!) and it does something awesome! It allows me to write games, and have them work on Android devices super-yeay!

I took a month to build up a nice neat framework, battled a dozen or so quirks, and fought my way through the bad stuff. I finally got things near-enough a couple of weeks ago, and have started releasing the good stuff!

From here onwards, any game that I write for AGameAWeek should* also be released for Android devices.
That's a LOT of games!
And with a back catalogue as fun and adventurous as mine, it'll make sense to keep an eye on what comes out.

Bring on the awesome!!

I'll keep adding to this topic as long as I can remember that I've made it!

(* should.. But not always. Sometimes games just won't make sense without a keyboard and mouse!!)

-=-=-=-

2013
Jan 29 - Cardagain (Again!) : Remember the Layout, Remember the Order, Select the Cards Again
Feb 05 - C3ntipong : Smash the Pods and Bounce the Balls
Feb 12 - Platdude Goes Golfing - Lame "arcade" golfing thing
Feb 19 - The Heist - A Bank Robbing Adventure
Feb 26 - Blockman Gets Hungry - A very hungry face in a maze!
Mar 05 - SpikeDislike2 - Extreme Avoidance of Spikes
Mar 12 - Arcade Slots (AGAW Edition) - Copyright Safe edition of the Slot Machine Arcade Mashup
Mar 26 - Karl's Tiny Adventure - A retro styled platformer.
April - All New Stringy Things - A Failed Collection of Word Games built up over the course of April.
Apr 23 - JNKAtoms - A simple, but effective replacement for the failed collection of word games!!
Apr 30 - Bean Bag Tanks - Tactical Warfare, with Bean Bags
May 07 - Smash Lines - A Combo based, Fast paced, Match-3 game.
May 14 - Idigidragon Returns - Can YOU defeat the evil Idigidragon?
May 21 - One Of These Will Kill You - Don't click the Bomb!!
May 28 - MLG : Microscopic Lifeform Genocide - Destroy the ever evolving batches of Microbes.
Jun 04 - Kee, Bo and Ard Makes Three - A nice maze based puzzler.
Jun 11 - Hoppy Bobby - Colourful Rainbow-based Platform Hopping!
Jun 18 - Vertical Shooter - An experimental little shoot-em-up.
Jun 25 - NeonPlat Raw - The Wonderful World of NeonPlat
July 02 - NOT FREE
July 09 - DangerBots - Destroy the World!!
July 16 - Spiders Vs Toothpicks - Shoot the Spiders
July 23 - ALSO NOT FREE
July 30 - Puzzobomb Endless - Match the Blocks
Aug 06 - OneDee - A game in one dimension.
Aug 13 - Blockaid - A Snake/Maze sort of thing.
Aug 20 - Variasaurs - Costumes with Dragons
Aug 27 - Best Game EVER!!! - Also not free

 

[IBNobody]

Thanks.

Would you consider adding QR codes to your archive pages for Android games?

EDIT: Tried C3ntipong. It was fun, and I thought the cascading multi-ball action added new depth to the genre.

Con's? It plays way too fast on a mobile screen. You also can't disable the tilt controls. And... No annoying spider...

 

[Jayenkai]

Sorry, I'm new to Android, and have little/no knowledge of the usual ways of doing things.
QR Codes, eh? Hmm..ok, I'll look into that!
I also have to look into getting my stuff onto GooglePlay. Haven't even begun to read up on it.
Tackling AGameAWeek doesn't leave a lot of time, inbetween, for all these fiddly bits!!

C3ntipong's always been a fast game.. In fact ALL my games are fast paced, and hard, and evil!! The way I see it, if you want to actually play all my games, one a week, and they all start off with a dull 10 minute tutorial, then.. Well., that's going to bore the pants off you. Instead, my games start at around about Level 6, and carry on from there.
It might cause folk to shy away from them, but .. Well.. I'm sure someone out there will eventually clone my games, and make "people friendly" editions!!

You can't disable the tilt, no, but touching the screen stops the tilt mechanism from controlling the game, so as long as you're holding on, the tilt shouldn't matter. Unless its being a tit? Is it?? Is it misbehaving?!

Spider on the original Centipong was a powerups, and this version doesn't actually have any powerups. I might add them in the future, but for now it's not got! I wanted a simpler, raw version for now. Powerups can wait!

Surprisingly, you haven't mentioned the lack of music, so I'm going to jump for joy and pretend it doesn't actually matter that I haven't bothered to add music into my new framework, yet!

Thanks for the comments, though. They Are taken on board, as much as it appears that I might be ignoring them, that's more of a lack-of-time issue than a "I'm blatantly ignoring complaints" one!! Every comment counts, and everything gets considered as AGameAWeek continues. I rarely go back to fix old games, but tweaks will be made to future ones, based on your suggestions.
.. And I'll look into that QR code thing.

 

[Zerousen]

I loved SpikeDislike when I had my iPhone, I think it'd be great on Android, too

 

[Jayenkai]

It sure would!!

 

[IBNobody]

Sorry, I'm new to Android, and have little/no knowledge of the usual ways of doing things.
QR Codes, eh? Hmm..ok, I'll look into that!
I also have to look into getting my stuff onto GooglePlay. Haven't even begun to read up on it.
Tackling AGameAWeek doesn't leave a lot of time, inbetween, for all these fiddly bits!!

C3ntipong's always been a fast game.. In fact ALL my games are fast paced, and hard, and evil!! The way I see it, if you want to actually play all my games, one a week, and they all start off with a dull 10 minute tutorial, then.. Well., that's going to bore the pants off you. Instead, my games start at around about Level 6, and carry on from there.
It might cause folk to shy away from them, but .. Well.. I'm sure someone out there will eventually clone my games, and make "people friendly" editions!!

You can't disable the tilt, no, but touching the screen stops the tilt mechanism from controlling the game, so as long as you're holding on, the tilt shouldn't matter. Unless its being a tit? Is it?? Is it misbehaving?!

Spider on the original Centipong was a powerups, and this version doesn't actually have any powerups. I might add them in the future, but for now it's not got! I wanted a simpler, raw version for now. Powerups can wait!

Surprisingly, you haven't mentioned the lack of music, so I'm going to jump for joy and pretend it doesn't actually matter that I haven't bothered to add music into my new framework, yet!

Thanks for the comments, though. They Are taken on board, as much as it appears that I might be ignoring them, that's more of a lack-of-time issue than a "I'm blatantly ignoring complaints" one!! Every comment counts, and everything gets considered as AGameAWeek continues. I rarely go back to fix old games, but tweaks will be made to future ones, based on your suggestions.
.. And I'll look into that QR code thing.

I would re-balance the touch sensor, but I would always accidentally jar the phone.

Music? I always turn it off.

QR Codes just make downloading the APK to the phone easier. I have a QR code generator plug-in for Chrome, but it's nice when I have a direct QR code to the APK.

Finally, one additional comment: I couldn't tell the difference between easy and normal.

 

[Jayenkai]

I would re-balance the touch sensor, but I would always accidentally jar the phone.

Alright, I'll see about making some sort of switch for that. Tricky to decide where to put it, though. Maybe on the pause screen??

Music? I always turn it off.

Hurray! Me too! Good to know!

QR Codes just make downloading the APK to the phone easier. I have a QR code generator plug-in for Chrome, but it's nice when I have a direct QR code to the APK.

I still haven't got around to doing this, yet. Been too busy with other stuff. sorry!!

Finally, one additional comment: I couldn't tell the difference between easy and normal.

I placed an Easy/Normal/Hard menu system in my framework. For the most-part, that'll be appearing in EVERY game I create.
It's simplistic, and it does what it's supposed to, but occasionally I get myself into tricky spots, trying to decide exactly what constitutes an easier/harder mode.

C3ntipong is one of these.. Easy Normal and Hard are distinguished only by the number of Pedes per level. Easy 1 = 1 Pede, Normal 1 = 2, Hard 1 = 4. Then the number of Pedes increases with each level. It's not much of a difference. It's definitely not "easier" by any stretch of the imagination, and in all honesty, I probably would've been better off simply having a one-for-all Start Button, instead of three difficulties.
But, hey, it's AGameAWeek, and it's all about trying out new things. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't.
But you're getting free games, and highscores, and fun stuffs, so who's complaining

Speaking of complaining, this week's games a bit of a lame duck.
It started off well enough, but got stuck in a rut, so is mostly an unfinished play-thing, more than an actual game.
Not sure if folk'll like it.
It's up, anyway, so you can at least give it a whirl.
Platdude Goes Golfing : It's a bit pants!

 

[Another World]

Platdude's Android Adventures?

-another world

 

[Jayenkai]

Two big issues..

1) Touchscreen buttons vs Me. Nnnngh.. To be fair, I have actually integrated a Dpad/Button combo into my framework, so basic stuff should be do-able, but JNKPlat usually needs a wee bit more tactile feedback than is doable on a touchscreen.

2) Level editor.. Monkey has a slight issue, in that it can only save a very limited amount, and everything (EVERYTHING) has to be stored in a single string. This string is already storing all the ingame settings, which badges you've earned, as well as all the highscore tables. Saving level data isn't hard, but figuring out how to store so many levels is .. well, it's tricky to say the least!

But I want to do it!! I really really (really!!) do want to make a nice new proper Platdude game.
I just need to figure out what the best way to do it is.. tricky!!

 

[SifJar]

So when will the Android version of SuperSpikeDislike be released? Or is it already? I always really liked the PC version of that game, and would love to have it on my phone.

EDIT: From that video it looks like it's working well enough...

 

[Jayenkai]

It's working wonderfully well, and is fantastically playable.
Rather than having a multitude of crazily insane play options, I've whittled things down a little, to a more manageable simple selection menu.
It's allowed for, not only a simpler, quicker to start, menu system, but also the ability to fiddle about with game modes as well as just themes. I'm trying my best to come up with differences for each of the gamemodes.. There's currently 9, with things ranging from "Classic" through to the above video's "Super", which has a weapon! There's a whole bunch of fun tweaks along the way, and it's all working great!

.. but it's not ready yet!
SpikeDislike2 has been in the works for about 2 weeks, now, and will probably take another couple of weeks to finish everything off.
It's also likely to be my first pay-for Android game, mostly because it's so awesomely awesome. There'll be a free version, and a pay-for advanced awesomely awesome edition, with all the new modes, and things.
Mmmmm.. SpikeDislike!

The iOS one should (with any luck) also be available on the same day as everything else. I've hardly tackled that side of things, though. Lots more stuff to do.

 

[SifJar]

Well, you can be sure I will be purchasing a copy of the advanced awesomely awesome version

 

[Jayenkai]

awesome!

 

[Jayenkai]

This week's game is a remake of a game I made in August 2008! A nice simple (perhaps a little short) minigame filled bank-robbing adventure. Tap your way through the various scenes, and try to escape with the loot.
It's short, but it's free, so who could possibly complain!?
The Heist (*again!)

 

[Jayenkai]

This week's game is a cracking remake of a fan favourite!
What do you get if you take Pacman, and rip out the ghosts?
Surely that'd be a dull, uninteresting game? Why on earth would anyone want to play a Pacman game without the ghosts?

The trick is in the puzzle!
Blockman Gets Hungry is a wonderful puzzle game! Guide Blockman through the maze, ensuring he's always got something to eat. Eat enough pellets to make it to the next level, without getting yourself trapped in a corner.
Simple, but really really effective!

 

[Jayenkai]

Today's the day for Disliking Spikes!!
SpikeDislike2 brings back your favourite themes from the original, and mixes things up into a nice new bundle.

You can Grab SpikeDislike2 here for your Android doohickey, where you can play the FREE version, then spam all your iOS owning friends about how good it is, so that they buy the FULL version!

 

[Zerousen]

Today's the day for Disliking Spikes!!
SpikeDislike2 brings back your favourite themes from the original, and mixes things up into a nice new bundle.

You can Grab SpikeDislike2 here for your Android doohickey, where you can play the FREE version, then spam all your iOS owning friends about how good it is, so that they buy the FULL version!

I love you

 

[SifJar]

Today's the day for Disliking Spikes!!
SpikeDislike2 brings back your favourite themes from the original, and mixes things up into a nice new bundle.

You can Grab SpikeDislike2 here for your Android doohickey, where you can play the FREE version, then spam all your iOS owning friends about how good it is, so that they buy the FULL version!

I took the liberty of converting this app for the BlackBerry PlayBook, and it works brilliantly. Which means it would probably also work very well on BB10 phones. If you want, I can send you the converted application file (I haven't posted it online anywhere for the time being). This also probably means that any of the rest of your Android releases should work on the PB/BB10 as well, for what it's worth.

[In case you don't know, the BlackBerry PlayBook can run some Android apps when they are converted using special tools published by BlackBerry. These tools are free and reasonably simple to use once set up correctly. The converted apps can then be manually installed by users (a less convenient process than it is on Android) or else submitted to BlackBerry App World, which is completely free if you don't charge for your app, and works on a commission basis if you do charge; i.e. no up-front charge AFAIK.]

 

[Jayenkai]

Awesome news! Great to hear there's one more subset of people who can play my games!

I'll have to look into all that.
Hmm.. Maybe I should take a week off from AGameAWeek. My list of things I need to get organised is getting rather big!!

 

[SifJar]

This might be handy if you do look into it: https://developer.blackberry.com/android/

(Alternatively, there is the "easy" option of using this site: http://apk2bar.unker.net However, using that site means the resulting application is signed with the keys belonging to the author of that site, and I'm not sure how that works in terms of uploading to App World if you were ever to pursue that. Also, once you get through the initial set up, doing it the "proper" way is pretty simple and straight forward.)