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      • Unit 1: Beginning Java>
        • Before you begin...
        • Day 1: Setting Up
        • Day 2: Java Basics
        • Day 3: More Basics
        • Day 4: Java Math
        • Day 5: More Math
        • Day 6: If... else...
        • Day 7: More Control Flow
        • Day 8: Looping
        • Day 9: More on Looping
        • Day 10: Inheritance, Interface
        • Day 11: Threads and Graphics
      • Unit 2: Creating a Game I>
        • Day 1: Foundations
        • Day 2: Basic Framework
        • Day 3: Taking User Input
        • Day 4: Enter the Robot
        • Day 5: Background and Sprites
        • Day 6: Adding Enemies
        • Day 7: Shooting Bullets
        • Day 8: Animations
        • Day 9: 2D-Arrays
        • Day 10: Painting the Tilemap
      • Unit 3: Creating a Game II>
        • Day 1: Level Creation - Part 1
        • Day 2: Level Creation - Part 2
        • Day 3: Level Creation - Part 3
        • Collision Detection Basics
        • Day 4: Collision Detection Part 1
        • Day 5: Collision Detection Part 2
        • Day 6: Collision Detection Part 3
        • Day 7: Health System & Death
        • Day 8: Basic AI & Final Touches
      • Unit 4: Android Game Development>
        • Day 1: Introduction to Android
        • Day 2: Setting up for Development
        • Day 3: Creating our First Android Application
        • Day 4: Parts of an Android Application
        • Day 5: The Android Game Framework: Part I
        • Day 6: The Android Game Framework: Part II
        • Create an Android Game From Scratch (or port your existing game)
        • Day 7: Creating an Android Game (From Start to Finish)
      • Reference Sheet
    • Zombie Bird Tutorial (Flappy Bird Remake)>
      • Unit 1: Building the Game>
        • Introduction
        • Day 1: Flappy Bird - An In-depth Analysis
        • Day 2: Setting up libGDX
        • Day 3: Understanding the libGDX Framework
        • Day 4: GameWorld and GameRenderer and the Orthographic Camera
        • Day 5: The Flight of the Dead - Adding the Bird
        • Day 6: Adding Graphics - Welcome to the Necropolis
        • Day 7: The Grass, the Bird and the Skull Pipe
        • Day 8: Collision Detection and Sound Effects
        • Day 9: Finishing Gameplay and Basic UI
        • Day 10: GameStates and High Score
        • Day 11: Supporting iOS/Android + SplashScreen, Menus and Tweening
        • Day 12: Completed UI & Source Code
    • Android Application Development Tutorial>
      • Unit 1: Writing Basic Android Apps>
        • Before you begin...
        • Day 1: Android 101
        • Day 2: Getting to Know the Android Project
        • Day 3: The Development Machine
        • Day 4: Building a Music App - Part 1: Building Blocks
        • Day 5: Building a Music App - Part 2: Intents
        • Day 6: Building a Music App - Part 3: Activity Lifecycles
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      GAME DEVELOPMENT TUTORIAL: DAY 4-1: Introduction to Android

Welcome to Unit 4! This is the final unit of our Android Game Development series, and here we will create a full Android game that can be published onto the Play Store. 

With the framework developed here, you will learn how to port Java games to Android, and even learn how to create your own games using the techniques we learned in Unit 2 and Unit 3.

This lesson, Day 1, will be an overview of Android and Android App/Game Development. There is much information here that will prove useful in the next lessons, so read carefully!

Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you, Android.
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What is Android?

Android is the most popular mobile platform in the world. This open source platform is being propelled by more than 1 million device activations a day and by Google's huge online infrastructure. In November 2012, Android tied the iOS app count by hitting 700 thousand apps.
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June 2012, Android hits 400 million activations
Because of this huge market size, Android development is becoming an increasingly popular field. For developers who want to target a huge, diverse audience, Android is growingly becoming the perfect platform.

Developing for Android

As we have in the past three Units, much of Android development can be done on Eclipse. 

We will be downloading a special plugin called the Android Development Tools (ADT) that will add several functions that we need to develop our apps and games.

These include:
  • A full Android device emulator
  • Android libraries to be used in your project
  • Integration tools
  • and much more.

ADT will let us do everything from creating an Android project to exporting it as an APK that can be uploaded onto Play Store or your personal device.

PUBLISHING ON ANDROID

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Android's official app distribution channel is the Google Play Store, and Google makes it very easy to begin publishing your apps.

The initial registration fee is $25 USD. There are no additional fees (as of now). Instead, Google draws revenue from taking 30% of your cut from your app sales. In addition, Google does not actively approve/deny app submissions; you are expected to follow Google's terms of conditions to keep your account in good standing.

As this is a relatively small barrier of entry, many developers choose Android over other competing platforms, such as the iOS.

Of course, if you want to get your application into the hands of as many people as possible, you would want to target other distribution channels, such as the Samsung Apps market and the Amazon App Store. 

The fact that these channels have fewer apps than the Play Store means that your app may have increased visibility, more exposure, and hence more downloads.

Android Game Development

There are various ways to approach Android Game Development. 

In this Unit, we will be creating our own framework and game engine. Using these, we will improve and recreate the 2D platform game we created in Unit 3.

You will see that much of the materials we have previously covered will translate extremely well to our new platform. This will ensure a much more manageable learning curve, as you will be able to better understand the new concepts that we introduce in the next lessons.

I hope you enjoyed that small introduction, and see you in Day 2, where we will setup for workspace for development!
Feel free to email me questions at jamescho7@kilobolt.com

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No source code is available for this lesson.
Go to Unit 4: Day 2
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