I'm not a gamer - but at the same time, I want to develop a game primarily for android & iphone.

Therefore, I'm left wondering a bunch of questions that only people who frequently play any sort of games might be able to answer:

Is there a game that you play often on your phone?

If so, how did you hear about it? (tv ad? a friend? browsing google play?)

Do you think that most games from Google Play Store and/or The App Store are mostly just pure garbage and are probably a waste of battery power?

Thanks for any input on this. I'm ready to start a new hobby project and so far this seems to be what I want to do. I'm gonna do it with php, js, & java, so
it will be accessible by computer too, but my concern is the possibility that people don't really play games on their phones/mobile devices much. Am I right?

I know that obviously I can google this stuff, but one of the best things about BBSs is getting a humans point of view. So thanks for any input!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Compufuck | Binghamton, NY | compufuck.xyz:2323 (77:1/142)

Re: Games from where?
By: Shitty to All on Tue Nov 24 2020 10:05 pm

I'm not a gamer - but at the same time, I want to develop a game primarily f android & iphone.

Real gamers don't use a mobile as a gaming platform, so your declaration makes a great deal of a lot of sense.

Most comercial mobile games suck because their business model interferes with the fun. Specifically: most comercial mobile games are free to get in, but reuire you to pay so they are fun at all. This manifest as either:

* You have to pay in order to have a meaningful amount of power - ie you can play Howrse for free, but your horses will never be able to win anything but entry level competitions unless you buff your barn with paywares.
* You have to pay in order to access the content that matters - ie you can actually win a special exclusive horse in Howrse playing the game, but it takes years to do unless you pay enough to improve your probabilities of winning it in-game to a sane level.

Now, to your actual questions:

The only game I play with some regularity (and not much) on the phone is Hyper Rogue. It is a multiplatform, FOSS, graphical roguelike which takes place in
a really non-euclidean world (so it happens to be an educative tool too).

I learnt from the game in Linux Magazine, specially in the FOSS Gems section by Graham Morrison. I installed it on my Slackware computer and had some fun. Then I discovered the gamewas on FDRoid and installed it on my Android so I could play something on the go if I felt bored.

The phone experiece is <<<<<< the desktop experience, but it is serviceable.

Hyper Rogue is a comercial product, despite being FOSS. You can buy it via comon game distribution platforms. Games purchased via these channels have access to non-essential goodies (such as access to the global leaderboards, achievements etc) but the game experiece is nearly the same you get taking the source and compiling from it.

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (77:1/114)

Real gamers don't use a mobile as a gaming platform, so your declaration makesa great deal of a lot of sense.

I understand. So probably most people have come to expect crap games for their mobile devices. They're either gonna be solicited with more crap
(in-app purchases) or there's gonna be ads, or something.

I'd be lucky if someone downloaded my "piece of crap" and then they liked it. But the crap on Google Play and the App Store sorta ruined it for people who aren't so hungry for money.

The kids love some of that crap though. If I make a game then I guess it better be a kids' game.

I learnt from the game in Linux Magazine, specially in the FOSS Gems section byGraham Morrison. I installed it on my Slackware computer and

Thanks for all this information. With this in mind, I'll either do a kids' game for mobile, or a game for adults that's cross-platform. (I'll at least support both android & pc.)

had some fun. ThenI discovered the gamewas on FDRoid and installed it on my Android so I couldplay something on the go if I felt bored.

You've brought up another area that I could use input on: What about these alternative repositories for Android? Aren't most people scared of "This type of file may harm your device - go to settings if you want to allow it?"

Do you have much experience with these 3rd party app repositories? I have an app I want to try releasing on them, but I'm concerned about someone hijacking my app - I don't know if my source code will be public or not.

--- Mystic BBS/QWK Gate v1.12 A47 2020/11/23 (Linux/64)
* Origin: % disksh0p!bbs % bbs.diskshop.ca % SciNet ftn hq % (77:1/100)

Re: Re: Games from where?
By: Metalhead to Arelor on Fri Nov 27 2020 05:34 pm

You've brought up another area that I could use input on: What about these alternative repositories for Android? Aren't most people scared of "This typ of file may harm your device - go to settings if you want to allow it?"

Do you have much experience with these 3rd party app repositories? I have an app I want to try releasing on them, but I'm concerned about someone hijacki my app - I don't know if my source code will be public or not.

3rd party repositories are not mainstream, that is for sure. I don't think being there will harm your project, but don't expect a lot of reach from them.

You don't have much control of some of them either. You can bet somebody will grab your APK without asking and include it in some repository of theirs. Installing from a 3rd party source requires the user to go through a lot of warnings and settings so I think you are safe there: it is very clear for the user that what they are doing is installing unofficial unescreened stuff that may blow their device to pieces. He who goes through, knows what he is doing.

I think Hyper Rogue's approach is the most user friendly one that also allows for making a profit, imo. Source code is public, but you need a registered copy in order to access goodies. Also, if you want the precompiled binaries, they are for pay from the official distribution platforms. Sure, you can download the sources and compile it, but most gamers are not going to do that.


--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (77:1/114)

3rd party repositories are not mainstream, that is for sure. I don't
think being there will harm your project, but don't expect a lot of
reach from them.

I'm just hoping to reach a small audience. All I really want out of this is constructive criticism. I was trying to keep a marketing strategy in the back of my mind in case it caught on, but it's just going to be freeware.

I already submitted a rough draft of another app on Google Play console only to have to have the app permanently suspended. I failed to read google's policies and they seemed quite pissed. They said I have a "strike against me." That
app needs to be completely rebranded with a new name & adherence to google policy.

So now I want to experiment with the "black market of android apps" for
a while until I get a feel for some of these policies. Who reads policies? I'm gonna have to from now on. It would be a shame if I got myself banned for life just for being a lamer.

I think Hyper Rogue's approach is the most user friendly one that also allows for making a profit, imo. Source code is public, but you need a

Public source code actually sounds ok. I was over-estimating the value of my code. I'm a total rookie and I was getting ahead of myself worrying about people copying my stuff. It's really no big deal.

You don't have much control of some of them either. You can bet somebody will grab your APK without asking and include it in some repository of theirs. Installing from a 3rd party source requires the user to go

That sounds like a great thing for my situation. I'll feel honored if that happened with one of my apps.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Compufuck | Binghamton, NY | compufuck.xyz:2323 (77:1/142)

Re: Re: Games from where?
By: Shitty to Arelor on Sat Nov 28 2020 05:09 pm

3rd party repositories are not mainstream, that is for sure. I don't think being there will harm your project, but don't expect a lot of reach from them.

I'm just hoping to reach a small audience. All I really want out of this is constructive criticism. I was trying to keep a marketing strategy in the bac of my mind in case it caught on, but it's just going to be freeware.

I already submitted a rough draft of another app on Google Play console only have to have the app permanently suspended. I failed to read google's polici and they seemed quite pissed. They said I have a "strike against me." That app needs to be completely rebranded with a new name & adherence to google policy.

So now I want to experiment with the "black market of android apps" for
a while until I get a feel for some of these policies. Who reads policies? I gonna have to from now on. It would be a shame if I got myself banned for li just for being a lamer.

I think Hyper Rogue's approach is the most user friendly one that also allows for making a profit, imo. Source code is public, but you need a

Public source code actually sounds ok. I was over-estimating the value of my code. I'm a total rookie and I was getting ahead of myself worrying about people copying my stuff. It's really no big deal.

You don't have much control of some of them either. You can bet somebod will grab your APK without asking and include it in some repository of theirs. Installing from a 3rd party source requires the user to go

That sounds like a great thing for my situation. I'll feel honored if that happened with one of my apps.

If the small audience you are targetting is technical people who can offer advice, then a 3rd party repository will be fine.

I wonder what was the problem that got you blocked from Google's App Store. I am aware that both Apple's and Google's 1st party repositories have sucky policies. Apple will bill you just for the right to upload applications, for starters. Google does not allow for applications that interfere with advertisements, which is something VERY necessary in this day and age.

BTW: Go to FDROID and download Netguard from there and enable advertiosement filtering it in. It works like a charm. App Store's Netguard does not have addblocking but FDROID's one does.

Oh, a little catch with 3rd party repositories that package your application from source is that they are often not using the same tools and platform you are using yourself. If your project is big and complex, this means their version and your version may behave differently. ie: they may be using different versions of libraries for the compiling and cause users to go to your website with bug reports. This is why certain orgs don't allow you
to use their trademarks if you are building packages on your own, instead of ussing official binaries, even if the source code is available.
--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (77:1/114)

I wonder what was the problem that got you blocked from Google's App Store. I am aware that both Apple's and Google's 1st party repositories have sucky policies. Apple will bill you just for the right to upload

The app I submitted to Google was a companion app for a social networking site, so they were concerned about UGC (user generated content.) Members could
upload avatars (porn potential), there's a chat room (foul language potential,) links to my blog which contained plenty of foul language, and on top of that, they said there were even more reasons that my app didn't comply.

So that's why (now) I'm just going to make a game or something, and I'll be interested to see if Google has blacklisted me entirely or not.

they may be using different versions of libraries for the compiling and cause users to go to your website with bug reports. This is why certain orgs don't allow you to use their trademarks if you are building
packages on your own, instead of ussing official binaries, even if the source code is available. --

Something is going over my head here: Why would they want to recompile it? To add their own branding to it or something? Or add some ads? I guess this will depend on which one of these "crackhouses" I sign up with :)

Fdroid looks pretty friendly. I'll get the ball rolling with them today.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Compufuck | Binghamton, NY | compufuck.xyz:2323 (77:1/142)

Re: Re: Games from where?
By: Shitty to Arelor on Sat Dec 05 2020 11:13 am

Something is going over my head here: Why would they want to recompile it? T add their own branding to it or something? Or add some ads? I guess this wil depend on which one of these "crackhouses" I sign up with :)

It is just policy for many distributors.

The standard way a piece of software makes it into OpenBSD's repository is going into the ports system. By definition, the port system grabs the official source code, compiles it automatically and turns it into a nice package. When this sort of thing happens, sometimes the package is built in conditions the developed had not considered so they don't want to take the blame for issues created by somebody else's build.

Another reason to recompile instead of going with an official binary is that official binaries are often gelded in order to conform with Google's Store policies. Netguard is the prime example. Official Netguard has no adblocking capabilities in android. Fdroid has a recompiled version with adblocking capabilities because they donñ t enforce that sort of policy.
--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (77:1/114)