Finally Game / App Editor Started

Note to self, update my blog more often. These days my blog seems to have turned into an AppEasy update feed, well I want to change that and start blogging about other things (besides AppEasy).

Well, this blog post is not completely devoid of AppEasy news as the game editor will target AppEasy to begin with.

Today I want to blog about a new game editor that I have started work on (its a bit of a pet project because I’m getting fed up of writing game or app specific editors). The editor is tentatively called Groove Game Editor which will have the following features when finished:

  • Completely customisable – You can define all of the types of objects that can be edited along with all of the properties for those objects using an input XML file
  • Placement, scaling, rotation of game objects on a large virtual canvas
  • General layout, tile and zone maps
  • Automatic atlas generation
  • Resource management
  • Music and sound effects
  • Physics
  • Actions, events and triggers
  • Key frame animation editor
  • Lua scripting
  • Support for all XOML types out of the box
  • Support for HTML5, Marmalade Quick, Cocos2d-x, Corona, Gideros and other game / app development SDK’s and systems
  • Binary, xml and JSON export

Thus far I have implemented the customisation system which enables developers to create a single XML file that describes the following elements to the editor:
Enumerations – You can use these to define sets of possibilities, e.g.

Here’s an example that shows an enum for the Joint Type used by XOML joints:

[sourcecode language=”xml”]
<Enum Name="JointTypeEnum" Info="Physics joint type">
<Property Name="weld" />
<Property Name="distance" />
<Property Name="revolute" />
<Property Name="prismatic" />
<Property Name="pulley" />
<Property Name="wheel" />
</Enum>
[/sourcecode]

You can later use this as a type for object properties

Object Types – These represent specific types of objects that can be edited, for example Actors, Scenes, Images, Programs, Actions etc are each single types, e.g.*

Heres an example of a Box2D material:
[sourcecode language=”xml”]
<Type Name="Box2dMaterial" Base="Common" Info="Box2D material resource" Colour="#ffe4ff00">
<Property Name="Type" Type="Box2dMaterialTypeEnum" Category="General" Value="" Info="Type of material" />
<Property Name="Density" Type="double" Category="General" Value="1" Info="Material density" />
<Property Name="Friction" Type="double" Category="General" Value="1" Info="Materials coefficient of friction" />
<Property Name="Restitution" Type="double" Category="General" Value="0.1" Info="Materials coefficient of restitution / bounciness" />
<Property Name="IsBullet" Type="bool" Category="General" Value="" Info="Treat object as moving at high speed" />
<Property Name="FixedRotation" Type="bool" Category="General" Value="" Info="Prevent rotation of body" />
<Property Name="GravityScale" Type="double" Category="General" Value="1" Info="Amount to scale gravity" />
</Type>
[/sourcecode]

As you can see you can define the name of the type, the base, which is kind of like a base class in C++, the type inherits all properties of the base. Info is used for tool tips and the colour is the colour that will be used to display objects of this type in the resource view. There are other properties but I wont go into them right now. Within the TYpe tag is the properties, thee define the properties that can be edited along with their types, the category they appear under and the tool tip

Type Groups – Type groups are used to group together types that share similar function, e.g.

[sourcecode language=”xml”]
<Group Name="Basic Actors">
<Type Name="ActorImage" />
<Type Name="ActorConnector" />
<Type Name="ActorText" />
<Type Name="ActorParticles" />
</Group>
[/sourcecode]

Here we group together four different types into a group called Basic Actors. We can later use these to set up menu groups and other interesting stuff

Menu Groups – Finally we have Menu Groups. These are used to define how the user can create hierarchical data. Each menu group defines a list of types that can be creayed when the user attempts to create a child object within its hierarchy, e.g.:

[sourcecode language=”xml”]
<MenuGroup Name="NewAnimationChild" Context="Animation">
<Section Name="">
<Type Name="Frame" />
<Type Name="Atlas" />
</Section>
</MenuGroup>
[/sourcecode]

Here we create a Menu Group called NewAnimationChild that contains two possible types (Frame and Atlas), these are the only two possible types of objects that an Animation object can contain. The Context attribute specifies what type of object will use this menu for creating new child objects in its hierarchy. The Section tag specifies the name of the sub-menu that the type should appear under. In this case the section name is blank so Frame and Atlas will appear in the root.

Most other items and other parts of the editor will be defined in this customisable editor file.

The editor is not currently in a usable state and only has the following functionality:
* Allows editing using all custom types, enumerations and menu groups that are specified in the editors definition XML file
* Loads files that are based on the editors definition XML file
* SUpports all AppEasy XOML types and enumerations using colour coding

Next on the list is export to XML. However, before I do that I need to get objects that are specified inside templates working. The problem I face is that the editor creates UI that allows you to edit specific types. For example, a bool type will use a check box and an enumeration will use a drop down list. Problem with this is that objects that are defined inside a XOML template can have parameters that are template parameters (strings), so the UI needs to change for all objects that are sat inside a template to allow these parameters to be modified. Problem is that Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF the technology that I am using to create the editor) uses data binding to specific types. I need to figure a way around this. I have a few ideas that I can try.

Once I have export working I will release a version for those that are interested in taking a look to play around with. For now I will leave this screen shot that shows my porgress so far:

Groove game editor
Groove game editor

AppEasy 1.4.7 – The Easy Cross Platform Development System for Mobile now Available for Download

AppEasy Version 1.4.7 is Now Available

AppEasy the cross platform mobile game and app development system for iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows that is aimed at all levels of experience releases latest update

AppEasy version 1.4.7 is now available for download from here.

Please upgrade to the latest version. Note that before updating, close down your current version of AppEasy, rename c:\AppEasy to c:\AppEasy2, install and run AppEasy 1.4.7 then copy any changes / certificates from c:\AppEasy2 to c:\AppEasy. Note that if you install the update before renaming c:\AppEasy then simply exit the AppEasy project manager, rename the folder and run AppEasy again.

Core Engine Changes:

  • ActorParticles has new property called VelocityAll which sets the velocity of all particles in the particle system
  • actor lua lib has new closest(actor, type) and furthest(actor, type) which return the closest and furthest actors from the specified actor
  • CallGlobalScript action now works the same way as CallScript
  • All lua functions now report file and line number errors
  • All command and actions now report error files and line numbers, although line number reported is the actions list or program that contains the problem action or command and not the actual problem action or command
  • ActorParticles has new attribute called AutoDelete, when set to true (default) actor is deleted when it finishes otherwise it is left in an inactive and invisible state
  • BodyAwake attribute added to actors which returns true if the physics body is awake
  • Destroyed attribute added to actors which returns true if actor has been marked as destroyed by the system
  • actions.call() can take a scene or actor. If neither are supplied then the containing actor or scene will be used as the target
  • sys.loadXoml() function added to load XOML files from Lua
  • Scene now has new OnPan event that gets called when the scene is panned
  • New actor.findOfType(type, scene) added that returns a table of all actors of the specified type
  • Bindings now support index variables
  • Adding to Position, PositionX and PositionY are no longer applied using the original position
  • PositionOrg, PositionOrgX and PositionOrgY added that do reference the original position (write only and cannot be set, only used for adding)
  • Added new particles lua library that can be used to interact with the particles within an ActorParticles based actor
  • ActorParticles Gravity changed from float to vec2
  • ActorParticles has new ParticleCount property
  • BUG FIX: Calling global script from actions in actor container was not passing in container actor
  • BUG FIX: Memory leak when adding a tag other than particle inside ActorParticle definition
  • BUG FIX: Particles depth broken in ActorParticles
  • BUG FIX: Some events were not being over written when set via properties
  • BUG FIX: actor.add() fixed
  • BUG FIX: Setting opacity property did not work as intended
  • BUG FIX: When setting variable to a whole number from lua, trailing zeros are now removed
  • BUG FIX: Box2dMaterial was not being applied when set as a property
  • BUG FIX: OnCollisionStart / OnCollisionEnd was being called for each actor that the target actor collided with

Error Reporting

We have done more work on the error reporting system, you will now find more meaningful error reports in debug.txt, including file names and line numbers.

Programmable Particle Systems

Particle actors have been made more versatile, including providing a new lua API (particles) that provides direct access to individual particles.

Other stuff

Scenes now support the OnPan event, which is called when a user pans the camera in a scene. The sys lua library also now allows loading of XOML files from lua.

AppEasy 1.4.5 now available – In-app Purchasing

AppEasy Version 1.4.5 is Now Available

AppEasy the cross platform mobile game and app development system for iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows that is aimed at all levels of experience releases latest update

AppEasy version 1.4.5 is now available for download from here.

Please upgrade to the latest version. Note that before updating, close down your current version of AppEasy, rename c:\AppEasy to c:\AppEasy2, install and run AppEasy 1.4 then copy any changes / certificates from c:\AppEasy2 to c:\AppEasy. Note that if you install the update before renaming c:\AppEasy then simply exit the AppEasy project manager, rename the folder and run AppEasy again.

Changes include:

Core Engine

  • If child actor layer not set then it will be assigned its parents layer
  • Added new Market XOML tag. This provides access to the Market which can be used to define products that can be purchased via in-app purchasing (Android, iOS, Windows (simulated on Windows))
  • Added new system array index (10) – This represents the ID of the last purchase attempt using Market
  • Added new action called Purchase which allows you to purchase an item defined in the market
  • BUG FIX: SetKeyFocus not working when supplying actor for P1
  • BUG FIX: DebugText action output nothing when no parameter 2 specified
  • BUG FIX: Camera permission added to AndroidManifest

Market

The new Market enables in-app purchasing for iOS and Android devices as well as simulated in-app purchasing under Windows simulation. The market and its products are declared in XOML. ere is an example:

[sourcecode language=”xml”]
<Market Name="Market1" ………….. >
<Product Name="Coins1" Id="1" iOSId="com.pocketeers.coins1" AndroidId="coins1" Consumable="true" Price="0.99" />
<Product Name="Coins2" Id="2" iOSId="com.pocketeers.coins2" AndroidId="coins2" Consumable="true" Price="1.99"/>
<Product Name="Coins3" Id="3" iOSId="com.pocketeers.coins3" AndroidId="coins3" Consumable="true" Price="2.99"/>
<Product Name="Coins4" Id="4" iOSId="com.pocketeers.coins4" AndroidId="coins4" Consumable="true" Price="3.99"/>
<Product Name="Levels1to10" Id="5" iOSId="com.pocketeers.levels1to10" AndroidId="levels1to10" Consumable="false" Price="0.99" />
<Product Name="Levels11to20" Id="6" iOSId="com.pocketeers.levels11to20" AndroidId="levels11to20" Consumable="false" Price="0.99" />
</Market>
[/sourcecode]

Purchasing can be done via actions or script, e.g.:

[sourcecode language=”xml”]
<Actions Name="MakePurchase">
<Action Method="Purchase" P1="Coins1" />
</Actions>
[/sourcecode]

function PurchaseCallback(status, product_id)
    print("Purchased - " .. product_id .. " - " .. status);
end
function MakePurchase(_scene)
    local product = market.find("Levels1to10");
    market.purchase(product, PurchaseCallback);
end

Note that the Market is currently an alpha component and is still undergoing testing. If you try it out then please let us know if you have any problems.

IwGame Engine 0.4 has Landed – Massive Update, Lua, Camera and more


New here? What’s IwGame? IwGame is an open source free to use cross platform game and app engine for iPhone, iPad, Android, Bada, Playbook, Symbian, Windows Mobile, LG-TV, Windows and Mac, built on top of the Marmalade SDK. You can find out more and download the SDK from our IwGame Engine page.

Its been a long while since we did a major update of the IwGame Engine, but we have one heck of an update for you today. We have a huge number of new features, changes and bug fixes for you.

We’ve also got a slight license update. Basically the new license says that if you use IwGame then you MUST credit the IwGame either in the app / game or on the apps support web site. A VERY small price to pay for such a huge and useful engine that has taken many man months to create, test and maintain. If you cannot live with the license terms then we are willing to forego the terms for a small fee or hire one of our teams to create your project (get in touch to discuss)

Lets take a look at the complete change log:

IwGame 0.4 Changes:

  • AppEasy for Marmalade Project Manager and Apple Wizard tool added, easy wizard to help guide developers through the Apple iOS sign-up, certificate generation, provisioning etc..
  • Over 60 XOML / Lua examples added showing how to use the many parts of the IwGame engine core
  • New XOML documentation added, outlining the complete XOML and Lua API’s in depth
  • Lua API added which enables apps to be developed without C++ or a combination
  • New Script resource type added which enables scripts to be included via XOML. Globally declared scripts will exist in the global script space, whilst scene local scripts will be local to the scene
  • Support for Video Camera streaming added (IWGameCam)
  • New XOML resource type added that enables declaration of Video cam in XOML and streaming to a image (CIwGameVideoCam)
  • Sound effects have been moved into the XOML system. You can now define and play back music and sound effects from XOML
  • New RemoteReq XOML type added that enables you to make POST and GET requests declaratively
  • New XOML actions added / old ones removed
  • FromTemplate – Instantiate a XOML template from an action
  • PauseTimeline – Pauses a a timeline
  • CallGlobalScript – Calls a script in the global script space
  • ChangevideoCam – Modifies a VideoCam instance (start / stop)
  • Activate / Deactive scene removed
  • CallScript – Calls a script
  • Inline – Executes script inline
  • RemoteReq – Executes a remote request
  • Action / command parameters now support 5 parameters instead of 4
  • CIwGameActionsManager now supports removal of actions with removeActions
  • Actors / Sprites now support Orphan feature which enables them to be displayed outside their normal parent-chld hierarchy. This enables them to be layer sorted with other actors
  • Actors now support percentage positioning using the new PercPos actor property. When PercPos is set to true the actors Position property is classed as a percentage of the devices screen size
  • Actors / Sprites now have a new property called IgnoreCamera. Actors with this property set to true will ignore the scenes camera transform
  • Actors now have getProperty() method that can be used to retrieve actor properties
  • Actors now have an OnTick event that can call an actions list each time the actor is updated (each frame)
  • Actors have other new methods including CheckCollisionRect(), getDistanceBetween() and getAngleBetween()
  • Actors have many more properties that can now be set from XOML
  • Actors can now handle up to 5 simultaneous Begin / End touch and Tapped events in XONL
  • IwGameAds now sends correct user-agent for iOS and Android
  • CIwGameAnimTimelinesManager now allows removal of timelines
  • Image Brushes now support setting of UV coordinates directly using new UV property
  • XML parser pooling system changed from global to per XML parser instance, pools are auto calculated. This eliminates the need to set up XML pools.
  • Files can now transfer their data into a script when loaded
  • CIwGameImage has been extended to support CIwTexture instead of CIw2DImage, also now supports dynamic images that can be modified
  • CIwGameImage now has SaveBmp(), SaveTga(), SavePng() and SaveJpg() methods
  • New CIwGameModScript modifier added to enable actors / scenes to call scripts
  • Commands can now be conditionally executed using conditions
  • New Commands added to program system – add_var, get_var, if_var, call_script, call_global_script, inline, from_template, music, sound, wait, debug_text, remote_req
  • ChangeProgram action now supports restart command
  • Scenes now support new ScriptEngine tag which defines which script engine the scene should use
  • Scenes now support setProperty() and getProperty()
  • Scenes now have an OnTick event that can call an actions list each time the scene is updated (each frame)
  • Scene allos setting of physics time step with new PhysicsTimestep property
  • Most sprite, actor and scene parameters that were fixed point based and now floating point based
  • CIwGameSprite now has new methods SimpleTestOverlap() and TestOverlap()
  • CIwGameBitmapSprite now supports direct setting of its Uv coordinates
  • WebView (CIwGameUIWebView) completely reworked. Now uses device coordinates and can now show dynamic html / javascript
  • XOML variables can now be made persistent so that their values are saved and restored between sessions
  • XOML array variables can now be populated from comma delimited data, elements will be split at commas
  • Variables can now be removed from CIwGameXomlVariableManager
  • New CIwGameSettings class added that is used to save and restore engine settings. Currently controls debug trace output level and enable / disable device power saving
  • Many new error checks and error / warning messages added throughout
  • Slider, Imageview and TextView now support binding to integer variables
  • Labels and TextViews now have a new property TextUseParentOpacity. When set to true the labels text will scale its opacity by the label images opacity, default is not to scale
  • ActivateScene and DeactivateScene actions removed, activation / deactivation rolled into resume / suspend
  • Actors with no size or SrcRect defined will default to 100% proportional sizing
  • SetVar action now supports the generation of a random number in the same way that set_var command does
  • SetVar action and set_var command when called on an array will now fill the whole array, including the random version
  • SetVar action and set_var command now support generation of random characers with randchar
  • P1, P2, P3, P4, P5 can now be used instead of Param1, Param2, Param3, Param4, Param5 for command and actions parameters
  • All commands can now accept variable substitutions for parameters
  • Conditions can now be used on arrays for string searches, number comparisons etc..
  • Added new system variable array called touches. This array of integers represents the x, y, touched status of 5 simultaneous touches
  • Variables passed as action and command parameters now cached to speed up access
  • Raw script can now be executed inline using the new “Inline” action and “inline” command. P2 specifies scene in which to run the script (omit to run in global script space)
  • Actors that have Draggable set to true will also set Hittest to true unless you override it
  • All files are now Preload and Blocking by default
  • If you now try to add a resource that already exists in the scope it is loaded then a warning will be displayed and the resource will be overwritten
  • WebView now supports new Html attribute which can be used to pass html to the web view to be displayed
  • WebView now works in screen coordinates and not virtual canvas coordinates
  • Actors now have new UserData property that can be use to store a single integer, can be used to store index into script table / array for additional data
  • Html Ads are now integrated via the web view (see section 20 of XOML User Guide)
  • WebView now has OnError event handler which is called if the web view is not available
  • VideoCam now has OnError event handler which is called if camera fails to start
  • TTF local font loading reworked to use memory buffers
  • String class optimised to minimise memory allocations and data copying
  • String class now supports Occurrences() and Split() methods
  • Internal slot array optimised to reduce memory allocations
  • TTF local font loading reworked to use memory buffers
  • Particles defined within a Particle Actor have a new property called Attached. When set to true the particles will follow the emitter, if false then they do not.
  • Image brushes now have a new Tiled property that allows you to enable / disable tiling of the brush
  • BUG FIX: Sprites no longer appear at origin on first frame
  • BUG FIX: Fixed problems with CIwGameAnimInstance
  • BUG FIX: Scene layering fixed and optimised
  • BUG FIX: Crash when deleting or adding scenes at the same time as removing them
  • BUG FIX: Scene layers now taken into account when processing touches
  • BUG FIX: Patch9 based actor clipping bug fixed
  • BUG FIX: Text margin for labels now fixed
  • BUG FIX: Crash when assigning invalid timeline to scene
  • BUG FIX: Template parameter case issue fixed
  • BUG FIX: Nop command now returns immediately
  • BUG FIX: Crash when not assigning brush a type. Defaults to Image with a warning
  • BUG FIX: WebView was not positioned correctly when scene origin was set to something other than centre
  • BUG FIX: Web view now works on iOS and Android (does not work on Windows)
  • BUG FIX: AspectLock fixed
  • BUG FIX: None batched sprites now render correctly at edges
  • BUG FIX: Deleting particle actor that was child of another actor crashed when removing particle actor
  • BUG FIX: Particle actor placed inside parent actor didn’t scale by parents opacity when UseParentOpacity set
  • BUG FIX: Particle angvelmode, scalevelmode, depthvelmode names corrected
  • BUG FIX: Empty Param2 in FromTenplate action / commands crash
  • BUG FIX: Fixed changing orientation resizing
  • BUG FIX: Touch panning glitch fixed
  • BUG FIX: Crash fixes in CIwGameDataFile
  • BUG FIX: Compass fix
  • BUG FIX: Actors OnCreate event was not working
  • BUG FIX: Deleting scene crash
  • BUG FIX: Crash when invalid animations added to a timeline
  • Many other small additions and bug fixes that we forgot to note 🙂

I did say there were a lot of changes 🙂

Lets separate some of the changes and take a look at what they mean to IwGame Engine users:

Moving Towards a Portable Engine

We have decided to make IwGame portable as we no longer see the iwGame engine as a Marmalade learning tool. With this in mind we have started abstracting Marmalade specific code out of the main code and into its own platform section (see Marm sub folders). Over time all Marmalade types, classes, functions and constants will be moved out and replaced with a universal system that can be easily ported. We will then be porting IwGame to each individual native platform, These platforms include:

* Windows XP/Vista/7/8
* Mac OS
* Android
* Apple iOS
* Windows Phone 8
* BlackBerry OS 10
* PlayStation Vita
* Marmalade SDK

With this in mind you will have a couple of changes to make to get your existnig projects to work with IwGame. Here are the changes you will need to make:

1) Add #include “Marm\IwGamePlatformMarm.h” to your main.cpp file
2) Call IwGamePlatformMarm_Create(); at the start of main() before you do anything related to dynamic memory allocation or IwGame / Marmalade
3) Call IwGamePlatformMarm_Destroy();; right before you exit main() after you have done freeing memory and shutting down IwGame / Marmalade

Lua API

By far the most interesting addition to IwGame is the Lua API. The IwGame Lua API enables you to develop games and apps without any need to fall back to C++. Just about anything you can do in C++ you can do in Lua + XOML. We want to move IwGame towards a none compiler based system where you can create great games and apps without the need for professional level knowledge of C++ or compilers or IDE’s. In fact, we have a new service for Marmalade and none Marmalade developers called AppEasy that is built upon the IwGame core that does just that and is available at http://www.appeasymobile.com

Actors can call scripts and scripts can create and modify actors, scenes and all sorts of other stuff. You can even execute inline script in XOML!

AppEasy for Marmalade

AppEasy for Marmalade has been included in this distribution of the IwGame engine. AppEasy for Marmalade is a cool little project manager that lets you organise assets, scripts, icons, splash screens, set app info and generate a fully working MKB project for you that you can build and deploy. We have provided this awesome tool to enable you to easily check out all of the new examples, as well as give you a taste of C++ free development.

Over 60 Examples

IwGame 0.4 comes with nearly 70 examples that show off the various parts of the SDK. Here’s a complete list of examples:

Accelerometer – Shows how to use the accelerometer
• ActorChildren – Shows how actor hierarchies work
• ActorCollisionFlags – Shows how to use collision flags to mask collisions between actors
• ActorConnector – Shows how to use the connector actor to visually connect actors
• ActorDocking – Shows how actors can be docked to arrange them effectively on different sized screens
• ActorLayers – Shows how actors can be layered to add depth sorting
• ActorModifier – Shows how to use actor modifiers to add additional functionality to actors
• ActorParticles – An example that shows how to use the particles system. This example builds up to 1000 animating particles at different depths over a short period of time.
• ActorPhysics – Shows how to apply physics to actors
• AdvancedCollision – Shows how to query and interact with an actors list of start / end collision contacts
• BasicActions – Shows how to use basic actions to play and pause an animation
• BasicAnimation – Shows how to create basic animation and attach it to an actor
• BasicDataBindings – Shows how to basic data bindings. This example binds properties of an actor to different variables
• BitmapAnimation – Shows how to create a bitmap animation from a sprite atlas and attach it to an actor
• ComplexProgram – Shows how to create a slightly complex program using commands that are executed in sequence or in parallel
• ConditionalActions – Shows how to execute actions based on certain conditions being met
• ConditionalImages – Shows how to load different image sets based on conditions such as the screen size
• DataGrid – Shows how to create a grid user interface component and bind XML data to it
• Demos/Happy Birthday – Shows image loading and basic animation
• Demos/SpaceGame – Shows a basic demo of an object flying through space that can shoot bullets. Lua is used to provide the game logic
• DynamicWebView – This example shows how to write html directly to a web view using actions creating dynamic web content. It also shows how to use actions to navigate web pages / sites.
• Files – Shows how to load files and bind the loaded data to a label
• Games/GameOf10 – A game written completely in XOML, including logic
• Games/HangMan – A hang man game written in XOML and Lua
• Games/RockPaperScissors – A rock paper scissors written completely in XOML
• HelloWorld – Basic hello world XOML example
• Joints – Demo that shows how to use a variety of different Box2D joints to connect actors together
• Music – Shows how to play and stop music using actions
• OverlapTest – A simple example that shows how to use script to test for overlapping actors
• PersistentVariables – An example that shows how variables can be made persistent across different app sessions
• ProgramLoops – Shows how to create and use loops in programs
• RemoveResources – Shows how to remove resources from the global resource manager
• SceneAnimation – Shows how to animate a scene
• SceneAugmentation – Shows how to add functionality to a scene after it has already been declared
• SceneClipping – Shows how to change the clipping extents of a scene
• SceneEvents – Shows how to use and handle scene events
• SceneExtents – Shows how to change a scenes extents
• SceneLayers – Shows how to layer scenes
• ScenePanning – Shows how to use touch camere panning within a scene
• ScenePhysics – Shows how to set up basic physics in a scene
• SceneSwitch – Shows how to load and switch between different scenes
• SimpleCollision – Shows how to use collision modifiers to add collision detection to actors
• SimpleProgram – Shows how to create a simple XOML program
• SimpleScript – Shows how to add a simple script
• SoundEffects – Shows how to play sound effects
• Styles – Shows how to use styles to style a group of actors
• Templates – Shows how to use templates to create multiple actors at the same time
• Templates2 – Shows how to create actors from templates from actions
• TiledBrushes – Demo that shows how to use tiled brushes to create effects
• UI_Canvas – Shows how to use the Canvas UI container control
• UI_Complex – A more complex UI example that shows a large complex virtual user interface
• UI_Grid – Shows how to use the Grid UI container control to host pre-set UI elements
• UI_Grid2 – Shows how to create a UI Grid component automatically from data
• UI_ImageView – Shows how to create an ImageView container UI control. The ImageView container supports pinch zoom / pan
• UI_Listbox – Shows how to use the Listbox container UI control to host preset UI
• UI_Listbox2 – Shows how to use the Listbox container UI control to host dynamic UI
• UI_Slider – Shows how to use the slider UI component
• UI_StackPanel – Shows how to use the StackPanel UI container control
• UI_TabBar – Shows how to use the TabBar UI container control to host different views of information
• UI_Textbox – Shows how to use the Textbox UI component to allow the user to enter information
• UI_TextView – Shows how to use a Textview UI control
• UI_WebView – Shows how to use a web view UI control to show web content
• UI_WrapPanel – Shows how to use the WrapPanel container UI component
• Variables – Shows how to use XOML variables
• Video – Shows how to display video
• VideoCam – Shows how to stream the video cam to an image and then map that image to actors
• XMLVariables – Shows how to use XML variables in XOML to pull specific information from XML files

New XOML / Lua API Documentation

The XOML and Lua API have been fully documented in an over 200 page manual that accompanies the SDK. The latest version of this manual is also available at AppEasy XOML User / Programming Guide PDF. The C++ documentation has not yet been updated with all of the latest changes so will not be available for some time.

Apple iOS Wizard

You will find that a new tool has been added to the IwGame Engine called the Apple Wizard. This handy little tool is ideal for beginners or event veterans who sometimes forget the long winded and overly complex procedures involved in generating signing certificates requests, creating developer / distribution certificates, provisioning devices, creating App ID’s etc.. Well this little tool will walk you through the whole process so it can be done in minutes.

Support for Video Camera Streaming

You can now declare a new VideoCam tag in XOML which enables you to stream the users front / rear camera to an image then display that image as an actor. Check out the VideoCam example for a cool demo.

Audio Integration

We’ve moved sound effects into the XOML system properly so you can now include compressed wav files into your apps without the need to put them through the Marmalade resource manager. You can even host them on a web server and download them as and when required, just like any other resource.

Remote Requests

We’ve made it possible to construct POST and GET requests in XOML and send and receive responses from XOML / Lua. This is a very interesting new feature that enables communication with web based services declaratively.

Orphan Actors and Sprites

A number of users have made comment regarding not being able to depth sort child sprites, well we’ve found a workable solution for you that doesn’t break our API. You can now set actors as “Orphans” by adding Orphan=”true” to their declaration. An actor that is orphaned will be taken out of the normal sprite parent / child hierarchy allowing it to be depth sorted with parent regular actors

Percentage Based Positioning

It became apparent to us that as we had a percentage based sizing system in IwGame that we also needed a percentage based positioning system too, allowing truly device screen independent layouts. Actors can now be marked as percentage based by adding PercPos=”true”. When set, the actors position will be taken as a percentage instead of an absolute coordinate.

Multi-touch Actors

Actors can now handle up to 5 simultaneous Begin / End touch and Tapped events in XOML. This enables you to create some very interesting styles of app and game play as you can monitor and react to 5 touches at the same time.

Proper User-Agent

IwGameAds now gets a proper browser user-agent from the system for Android and iOS using the new UserAgent EDK extension. This should help increase ad fill rates substantially.

XML Pools have Gone, Woopeee!

I was never keen on the global XML pool system so we destroyed it, well not completely, we wanted to keep XML memory pooling but make it an automated process. The XML parser will now pre-scan an XML file and calculate how many tags / attributes are present then allocate just the right amount of pool memory.

Cool Brushes

Image brushes can now use clamping or tiling. Also, you can now set the UV’s of an image brush directly using the new UV attribute which accepts 8 numbers (topleft-uv, topright-uv, bottomright-uv, bottomleft-uv)

Web View Reworked

The Web View control has been reworked and can now display dynamic html content that can be set via XOML, Lua and C++.

Actions and Command

Actions and commands now accept XOML variables as parameters. Many new actions and commands have also been added, expanding the functionality of XOML substantially.

XOML Variables

XOML variables have had many changes including:
* Variables can now be made persistent so theri values are saved and restored between game sessions
* XOML array variables can now be populated from comma delimited data, elements will be split at commas
* Conditions can now be used on arrays for string searches, number comparisons etc..
* Added new system variable array called touches. This array of integers represents the x, y, touched status of 5 simultaneous touches

As you can see there’s been a huge number of changes, good luck with the update and happy coding.

Oh, please direct all XOML / Lua questions to our AppEasy forum at http://www.appeasymobile.com/forum

AppEasy Open Beta!

AppEasy the cross platform mobile game and app development system for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows and the Marmalade SDK is now open beta!

We are happy to announce that AppEasy is now in open beta, so anyone can noe join and use AppEasy for free.

We’ve been in closed beta for over 2 months now and we feel its time to move to open beta to increase the size of the user base. Whilst some of the closed beta developers have provided some great feedback (many thanks for that), many have not. We will remain in open beta for the next 6-12 months (maybe less). During that time the licensing system will be added and the top 100 beta developers will receive a one year free indie license. This license will be upgraded to pro for the top 4 beta developers.

NOTE: When the licensing system is added the free version of AppEasy will display ads in any new apps that you create.

You can find out more about AppEasy and sign up for a free account now at http://www.appeasymobile.com/

AppEasy for Marmalade Now Available

AppEasy for the Marmalade SDK Has Arrived

We have made a special version of AppEasy that allows Marmalade SDK developers to develop AppEasy mobile games and apps using a combination of AppEasy and the Marmalade SDK.

What is AppEasy for Marmalade?

AppEasy for Marmalade is a software development tool and set of libraries that are designed to bring cross platform native mobile game and application development to people from all walks of life. Our goal is to enable anyone (regardless of expertise) to develop their own apps using AppEasy and the Marmalade SDK for fun or for sale on a variety of app stores, including the Apple App Store, Google Play, Amazon Market and beyond.

How do we plan to accomplish this? AppEasy uses an easy to learn mark-up language similar to HTML but designed specifically for producing game and application content. For example, it is possible to create game characters complete with physics
and collision in only a few lines of mark-up. Its also equally possible to create complex user interface controls that are bound to remote data. We also cater for the more experienced developer that would like more control over their app. Our rich mark-up language (XOML) has support for a wide range of tasks including working with variables, events, actions, commands, programs, calling Lua scripts and much more.

IwGame Engine Libraries and headers are also provided that enable Marmalade developers to access the power of AppEasy from C/C++.

AppEasy is compatible with all Marmalade compatible platforms. AppEasy Project Manager is currently compatible with Windows XP / Vista and Windows 7

Who is it for?

AppEasy for Marmalade is designed to enable anyone that has basic knowledge of Microsoft Visual Studio to develop and deploy their own games and apps onto mobile phones and onto mobile app stores.

How Much Does It Cost?

At the moment AppEasy for Marmalade is currently free to use for all Marmalade SDK developers.

Where Can I Get It?

You can download the latest build of AppEasy for Marmalade from http://www.drmop.com/AppEasyMarmalade.zip. This beta release is locked to the root of the C drive so ensure that you unzip the file to C: or AppEasy may NOT work.

Where can I get Support?

Our web site provides lots of information to help get you started. AppEasy is also fully documented (see the docs folder in the AppEasy installation) as well as over 60 examples located in the examples folder. We also provide a support forum for all AppEasy users at http://www.appeasymobile.com/forum

AppEasy Version 1.4.1 is Now Available

AppEasy Version 1.4.1 is Now Available

AppEasy the cross platform mobile game and app development system for iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows that is aimed at all levels of experience releases latest update

AppEasy version 1.4.1 is now available for download from here.

Please upgrade to the latest version. Note that before updating, close down your current version of AppEasy, rename c:\AppEasy to c:\AppEasy2, install and run AppEasy 1.4 then copy any changes / certificates from c:\AppEasy2 to c:\AppEasy. Note that if you install the update before renaming c:\AppEasy then simply exit the AppEasy project manager, rename the folder and run AppEasy again.

Changes include:

Project Manager

  • XML pool settings have been removed as there is now need for them now

Core Engine

  • Removed the need for setting up the XML pool system. AppEasy now pre-scans files to count the tags and attributes and allocates its own pools on a per file basis
  • VideoCam now has direction property which specifies which camera to use (front or rear)
  • actor.children() added that returns a list of child actors
  • If a File resources target Variable is an array and the files contents contains comma delimited data then the data is split at commas and added to the array
  • New SceneSwitch example added that shows how to switch between different scenes
  • BUG FIX: XML system was trashing small areas of memory

AppEasy 1.4 available – New Lua API, Web View, Ad Support, Video Cam Streaming

AppEasy Version 1.4 is Now Available

AppEasy the cross platform mobile game and app development system for iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows that is aimed at all levels of experience releases latest update

AppEasy version 1.4 is now available for download from here.

Please upgrade to the latest version. Note that before updating, close down your current version of AppEasy, rename c:\AppEasy to c:\AppEasy2, install and run AppEasy 1.4 then copy any changes / certificates from c:\AppEasy2 to c:\AppEasy. Note that if you install the update before renaming c:\AppEasy then simply exit the AppEasy project manager, rename the folder and run AppEasy again.

Lua API has had a major overhaul

We felt that the Lua API was not going in the right direction and was starting to look messy so we rewrote it. Functions have now been split up into libraries to make the API more organised and easier to use. Heres a full list of the libraries we have planned:

  • actions – Deals with XOML actions
  • actor – Deals with actors
  • brush – Deals with brushes (coming soon)
  • camera – Deals with virtual scene cameras (coming soon)
  • facebook – Deals with facebook interaction (coming soon)
  • font – Deals with fonts (coming soon)
  • sys – Deals with general system interaction
  • http – Deals with HTTP communications (coming soon)
  • image – Deals with images (coming soon)
  • input – Deals with device input
  • market – Deals with in-app purchasing (coming soon)
  • media – Deals with audio and video playback
  • physics – Deals with physics (coming soon)
  • program – Deals with XOML programs
  • resource – Deals with generic resources
  • scene – Deals with scenes
  • shape – Deals with shapes (coming soon)
  • template – Deals with templates
  • timeline – Deals with timelines
  • variable – Deals with XOML variables

Over time new functions and even new libraries will appear

New Lua functionality has been added such as querying collision contacts, creating scenes, appending XOML arrays, controlling device vibration, disabling device power saving etc..

Web View

The Web View now works on iOS and Android. You can create web views of any size modal or none modal and either navigate them to a URL or write html / javascript content to them from actions, commands and scripts.

Video Cam Streaming

A new resource type called VideoCam has been added which enables streaming of the devices video camera to an Image, which can in turn be displayed via actors.

New Actor Properties

Actors have been given some new properties, including:

  • IgnoreCamera – Forces actor to ignore camera transform
  • Orphan – Allows child actors to sort via normal actor layers
  • UserData – A simple integer that can be used to store user data such as an index into a script table

Brush UV coordinates

Brushes got a new property called UV, which allows you to set the UV coordinates of the brush directly instead of using SrcRect. Currently only works with image brushes.

Ad Support Added

We decided to add support for HTML ads to AppEasy as they offer a wide range of features compared to basic text or banner ads. For example using HTML ads you have access to the following types of ads:

  • Animating banner and text ads of any size
  • Video ads
  • Interstitial ads
  • Interactive ads
  • Forms based ads
  • Offer walls

We have added information about ad integration to section 20 of the XOML User Guide. We have also added information showing how to get set up and integrated with Leadbolt. We will include additional integrations on the next release.

Complete list of changed in 1.4 include:

Changes to AppEasy Project Manager

  • If project is saved with no location then the location is set to the folder where the project is saved
  • You can now set the size of the XML pools used by AppEasy. Format is (max-tags,max-attributes). Note that these are preallocated data pools so they will eat into your applications memory, so you may need to increase the amount of memory available to your app. Each tag consumes 104 bytes and each attribute consumes 60 bytes plus additional space for parsed strings

Changes to AppEasy Core Engine

  • Lua API has been replaced with a more intuitive Lua API
  • If you now try to add a resource that already exists in the scope it is loaded then a warning will be displayed and the resource will be overwritten
  • WebView now supports new Html attribute which can be used to pass html to the web view to be displayed
  • WebView now works in screen coordinates and not virtual canvas coordinates
  • Actors now have new UserData property that can be use to store a single integer, can be used to store index into script table / array for additional data
  • Actors now have new IgnoreCamera property that allows them to ignore the scenes camera transform
  • All examples now have schema set
  • All examples have been updated to use new Lua API
  • Actors have new property called Orphan. When set to true, actor is taken out of the usual sprite parent / child hierarchy and moves into the normal layer system. This enables child sprites to sort using layers, however actor to actor clipping may be affected
  • New scene.create() method added to allow creation of scenes from lua
  • New actor.getStartContacts() and actor.getEndContacts() functions added to give access to actors that a particular actor has started or ended collisions with
  • New VideoCam resource added that allows you to stream the devices video cam to an image
  • New ChangeVideoCam action added
  • New Lua functions added to change video cam media.changeVideoCam(), can be used to stop and start feed
  • New Lua variable.add() function added to add a value to a XOML variable
  • New Lua variable.append() function added that enables you to append additional elements onto the end of a XOML array
  • New Lua functions sys.vibrate() and sys.stopVibrate() added to control vibration
  • New Lua function sys.changePowerSaving() added to prevent back-light from switching off
  • New Lua function input.touchInfo() which returns information about touches
  • Image brush now supports setting of UV coordinates directly
  • Ads are now integrated via the web view (see section 20 of XOML User Guide)
  • BUG FIX: Some Lua functions were displaying incorrect errors and warnings
  • BUG FIX: Web view now works on iOS and Android (does not work on Windows)
  • BUG FIX: AspectLock fixed
  • BUG FIX: None batched sprites now render correctly at edges
  • BUG FIX: Some examples were broken
  • BUG FIX: Deleting particle actor that was child of another actor crashed when removing particle actor
  • BUG FIX: Particle actor placed inside parent actor didn’t scale by parents opacity when UseParentOpacity set
  • BUG FIX: Empty Param2 in FromTenplate action / commands crash
  • BUG FIX: Fixed changing orientation resizing
  • BUG FIX: Touch panning glitch fixed

Example Changes

  • Added New VideoCam example
  • Added new AdvancedCollision example
  • Added new DynamicWebView example

AppEasy 1.3 Now Available

AppEasy Version 1.3 is Now Available

AppEasy the cross platform mobile game and app development system for iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows that is aimed at all levels of experience releases latest update

AppEasy version 1.3 is now available for download from here.

Please upgrade to the latest version. Note that before updating, close down your current version of AppEasy, rename c:\AppEasy to c:\AppEasy2, install and run AppEasy 1.3 then copy any changes / certificates from c:\AppEasy2 to c:\AppEasy.

iOS App Store Signing

You can now sign your apps for distribution using a valid distribution certificate and distribution profile. If you have an app ready for App store submission then please let us know how you get on.

Windows Platform Added

You will notice that the AppEasy project manager has got a few new options, including a new deployment platform (Windows). You can now deploy a native Windows application which you can commercialise or use for demo purposes. There is also an option for Apple Mac but that is not currently enabled. We are looking to offer Mac support by 1.5.

AppEasy Wizard

We have added a new feature called the Easy Wizard. This wizard is an app that provides a step by step process for new iOS developers. It walks the developer through 9 steps including creating a developer account, creating a signing certificate request (on Windows), getting certificates, adding test devices, getting provisioning profiles and more, all steps are explained with additional available help built into the program. We will be adding steps for app store submissions and an Android version of the wizard for 1.5.

Inline Scripting

Its now possible to execute raw script from actions and commands. The script can be included within the action / command parameter or provided from a XOML variable, allowing dynamic scripting. This also saves having to call script functions when not needed, embedding logic into templates etc..

Rendering Engine Upgrade

We have upgraded the rendering engine to use floating point, so you should notice an improvement in rendering quality.

Complete list of changed in 1.3 include:

Changes to AppEasy Project Manager

  • iOS App Store signing now implemented, you can now sign your apps and submit them to the Apple App Store
  • Deployment to Windows platform added. You can now build commercial PC apps and games using AppEasy
  • Advanced options have been moved up to the top of the options panel
  • Simulator screen size moved up to top of the options panel
  • New debug info selector which can be used to change how much debug info is shown in builds (does not affect simulator test as this always shows max debug info)
  • New Windows deployment options section added
  • Support for more video cards added to the simulator
  • Apple Wizard tool added
  • BUG FIX: Fixed screen size label misplacement
  • BUG FIX: Deployment of app with space in location filename fails
  • BUG FIX: Drop down screen size settings now applied immediately
  • BUG FIX: Can no longer deploy an Android / iOS app store app without the proper key store / provisioning profile information

Changes to AppEasy Core Engine

  • Rendering engine has been upgraded from fixed point to floating point
  • Raw script can now be executed inline using the new “Inline” action and “inline” command. P2 specifies scene in which to run the script (omit to run in global script space)
  • Actors that have Draggable set to true will also set Hittest to true unless you override it
  • Lua Change Program now has new restart, next, priority and goto commands. Also takes optional 3rd parameter which is used as name of command to goto
  • New getDistanceBetween() Lua function added which returns the distance between two parent actors (does not take into account transforms)
  • New getAngleBetween() Lua function added which returns the angle (in degrees) between two parent actors (does not take into account transforms)
  • New Lua getFreeMem() function added to get total free memory available
  • New Lua functions ScreenToScene() and SceneToScreen() which convert between screen and scene coordinates
  • If a script function does not exist in the scenes script space then the system will attempt to call the same named function in the global script space. This allows you to call global functions in the global script space from any scenes script engine.
  • Lua getVariable(), getProgram(), getActor() and getResource() now look to the script engines container scene if the scene is not supplied. If no scene is available (the script is declared globally) then the global script space will be used. if no valid scene is found for getActor() then an error will occur as actors can only exist inside a scene.
  • All files are now Preload and Blocking by default
  • BUG FIX: Template parameter case issue fixed
  • BUG FIX: Nop command now returns immediately
  • BUG FIX: Lua crash when garbage collector kicks in crash fixed
  • BUG FIX: Crash when not assigning brush a type. Defaults to Image with a warning
  • BUG FIX: When actor is created via Lua createActor() and parent is an actor then depth of child is set to 0
  • BUG FIX: WebView was not positioned correctly when scene origin was set to something other than centre

Example Changes

  • Added Complex UI example

AppEasy Sponsors Uni Jam 2012


Uni Jam 2012

AppEasy the cross platform mobile development system sponsors Uni Jam 2012

We are excited to announce that Nottingham Trent Development Society (DevSoc) at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) are hosting a 24 hour games programming contest between NTU and a number of other universities. 100 people, in teams of 3-5 members, will be invited to take part. It is hoped that this event will bring about a sense of friendly competition between universities, and create opportunities for further corroborative and competitive events in the future. The competition takes place at the NTU city campus in the Newton building

When the 24 hours are up the judges will choose a winning game for each of the following criteria:

  • Innovation
  • Gameplay
  • Accessibility
  • Graphics
  • Best Overall Game
  • AppEasy have donated 5 licenses and reserved spots in their closed beta for the winners of the most innovative game category.

    For more information about joining the competition or donating prizes please visit the Devsoc website

    To find out more about the AppEasy project please see http://www.appeasymobile.com