Book Image

Mastering AndEngine Game Development

By : Maya Posch
Book Image

Mastering AndEngine Game Development

By: Maya Posch

Overview of this book

AndEngine is a popular and easy-to-use game framework, best suited for Android game development. After learning the basics of creating an Android game using AndEngine it's time you move beyond the basics to explore further. For this you need to understand the theory behind many of the technologies AndEngine uses. This book aims to provide all the skills and tools you need to learn more about Android game development using AndEngine. With this book you will get a quick overview of the basics of AndEngine and Android application development. From there, you will learn how to use 3D models in a 2D scene, render a visual representation of a scene's objects, and create interaction between these objects. You will explore frame-based animations and learn to use skeletal animations. As the book progresses, you will be guided through exploring all the relevant aspects of rendering graphics with OpenGL ES, generating audio using OpenSL ES and OpenAL, making the best use of Android's network API, implementing anti-aliasing algorithms, shaders, dynamic lighting and much more. With all this, you will be ready to enhance the look and feel of your game with its user interface, sound effects and background music. After an in-depth study of 2D and 3D worlds and multi-player implementations, you will be a master in AndEngine and Android game development.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Mastering AndEngine Game Development
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

OpenSL ES


OpenSL ES is a relatively new addition to the Android ecosystem. It was first added with the release of Android 2.3.3 (version 1.0.1) and has seen a relatively slow uptake since that time. What it offers is a similar feature set as the more well-known and wider supported OpenAL: full 3D audio capabilities with the ability to mix and otherwise manipulate audio using a system of sources and sinks.

An interesting feature of OpenSL ES is that it also includes microphone input support, allowing you to add such a feature to a game without having to integrate yet another API.

A disadvantage of OpenSL ES is that it's fairly complex to get started with, involving a fairly significant learning curve. On the other hand, it is a native API on Android, so it will be available if the the Android version is 2.3.3 or higher. This is a distinct benefit over OpenAL, which is neither supported by nor easy to integrate with, Android.

There's also the issue that OpenSL ES has no Java API on Android. In...