A lot has changed since I started this website in May 2013. From a humble blog it grew into a website with hundreds of readers daily. Kulíš Android now features blog entries, game reviews, Android game development tutorials and other resources for indie devs. I also created a Facebook page and Twitter account. Since Google+ was kind of forced on us (users in general), the blog has been partly migrated there as well.

I'd like to thank everyone for their support in 2013. Here is what you can expect in the year 2014.

Book reviews and giveaways

If I get my hands on any Android books that could help the game devs, I am going to review them. I  have also made a deal with Packt Publishing and you will see more of the e-book giveaways during this year (one is in progress right now). Packt published a range od Android books, including but not limited to these:

• Unity Android Game Development by Example Beginner's Guide
• Learning Android Canvas
• Voice Application Development for Android
• Mobile Game Design Essentials
• Practical Game Design with Unity and Playmaker 

If you are developing Android games in AndEngine and you already have some experience under your belt, this book can help you master your skill and create even better games. Thanks to the book's publisher Packt, I got my hands on three free e-books and one of the copies including the MagneTank source code can be yours. If you are interested, read on!

As I said, the cookbook would serve you better if you have already tried making a game in AndEngine. It can be used by beginners, too. However it expects you to grasp the basic concepts quickly without much explaining. On the other hand the book is packed with extremely useful recipes and patterns that you should be using in your games.

Sony rolled out the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for Xperia ZR and other models. Especially the flagship and high-end ones. When you see the little icon in the notification bar letting you know that the new software version 10.4.B.0.569 (or something like that) is ready for your phone, you might not know what to expect. So here it is.

First you should note that this is not a huge upgrade from 4.1. Actually from user's perspective it's just cosmetic. Everything feels a little bit faster, camera app looks different and menus are white.

From a talented game developer Flavien who publishes under the name JUST4FUN comes another addition to the endless runner game genre. In this game you drive a little race kart that can fly as well, which makes A-Kart Paperboy a two-and-a-little-bit dimensional game.

The game purpose is quite simple - get as far as you can! The race track is endless and there are no other racers. Your enemies are different obstacles, rocks, cliffs and ... cats. While trying to avoid all of them, you are supposed to deliver newspaper to designated targets. To make the game more interesting, you can gather coins to buy upgrades that make you go further. There are also different missions to fulfill.

Every upgrade changes the visuals of the kart or the driver. Flavien is a real enthusiast who also makes his own graphics assets and publishes tutorials about AndEngine and drawing cartoon graphics. The graphics are very detailed and the game includes several different worlds with different themes.


The game also includes couple of clever new ideas. A system of warning stickers will help you on the way to avoid falling into the water, hitting a wall or running over a cat. You can use coins not only to buy upgrades, but also to buy boosters that will help you with missions or if you can't accomplish the mission but you were trying really hard, you can buy your way out and skip it. I wish I had this option in Temple Run 2!

The game is fun and has that "one more try" kind of effect. Even if you get frustrated, you will come back and try again, just to see what else the game has to offer. Controlling the game is very easy - it needs just a few swipe gestures. It feels more relaxing than other endless runners while keeping a good pace.

Conclusion

Flavien did a great job as usual and made a well polished game. It's hard to believe that he made the game and all the graphics himself. The game is free - supported with ads and exists in a no-add paid version, too.

Get the free version from Google Play store, or support the developer by purchasing the paid version.

If you are interested in how to draw cartoon graphics like this, check Flavien's tutorial Graphics Made Simple.

This might sound like an obvious thing to do but...

I have created a slightly modified production APK as hundreds time before. But this time I did not install the APK. I was happy enough with the debug version and the change was really small. However I have changed some libraries and it caused the DEX builder to mess up something. The production APK was crashing with java.lang.ClassNotFoundException in dalvik.system.BaseDexClassLoader.findClass. Awesome - I just wasted great opportunity to get some new players during Christmas and probably lost some of the regular players too.

Moral of the story: Always unistall the debug APK, clean your project, build it from scratch and install the production APK before uploading it to the play store using adb -install myapp.apk.

By a coincidence, two very similar games were submitted for review before Christmas - almost at the same time. Both are 3D parking games: Kings of Parking 3D by Tiltgames and Total Parking by TeaPOT Games.

They are free to play and offer similar cars and experience and both use the Unity 3D engine. So which one is better and which one should you get? I played both and here are my thoughts.

Kings of Parking starts by giving you a bus. It has two modes of camera, but both of them can make it hard to see where you are sometimes. The controls here are a tad easier because you have a "reverse gas" pedal instead of a gear stick. In most of the levels you have a couple of checkpoints to reach before you can park your vehicle. The game is lenient to scratches here and there and you should have no problems reaching your destination in one piece. After the bus you get to drive a limo and a sports car. There's also a bonus car - an Android truck. That one feels most like an arcade car and is quite fun to drive around.

Christmas. It's an economic phenomenon more than anything else now. A bookstore near my home used to make about 10 times more money during December than it did any other month. The owner said that it's the only reason he keeps the store. 

The game industry is definitely influenced by Christmas as well. Just think how many people are going to find a new Android phone under the Christmas tree.

And here we are. Game developers who can make a use of it. As I have announced on Facebook, Google+ and both AndEngine and Libgdx forums, I was offering a Christmas promotion for all games that feature at least something Christmasy to see the Christmas effect. It even included a free 125x125 button ad on this page.

But nobody wanted to use this promo so I had to update my own game for Christmas. Mr. Dandelion is actually ideal for this, because it has flatlined. The installs and uninstalls are the same. Let's see how Christmas in Google Play Store change it.

Stay tuned for the results and Merry Christmas to you all from Mr. Dandelion!

Warning: You won't actually find a list of fun, challenging, quality, addictive, unique and nice games here. This article is about the games submitted to me for review. And about how they fail to make a good first impression. Which is important to get the attention of potential gamers.

It's been three months since the first game submission for review. 28 games were submitted through the form and many other were submitted through email. I've asked everyone to answer these two questions:

• What makes your game special?   
• Why should people play it?

I look at the answers and if something gets my attention, I download and play the game. But more often then not, the answers are dull and not interesting at all. Especially those answers that can fit both questions. Few examples:

• It's fun and interesting.
• Challenging and unique gameplay.
• Fun and challenging. 

I've picked six most frequently used adjectives in the answers and compared them to reality. The adjectives are: Fun, Challenging, Quality, Addictive, Unique and Nice.

Many good games never get a chance to shine because nobody finds them. There are simply too many games in the Google Play store already. So how do you make your game visible?

I can recommend you thousands of links of mobile marketing companies and all of them will have some important information and interesting tips. But in fact it's not that hard. The most important way of discovery of games is searching the Play store.

First start by asking yourself a question: 

How would I search for my game if I'd like to play it?

So let's say you created a tower defense game with a fantasy theme. Obviously you are targeting tower defense games fans and people who like fantasy genre. So if I was searching for this game, I'd type: "Fantasy Tower Defense" or "Tower Defense Fantasy". And because people with Android phones prefer free games, I might also add "Free". Go ahead and do the search. Do you see any pattern?

First I have to warn you, the articles in the Advanced AndEngine Examples series are not step-by-step tutorials for beginners. These articles are meant for more advanced AndEngine users who already know how to use AndEngine.

AndEngine has a lot of advanced features. The more advanced something gets, the less tutorials there are and even less practical examples. Today I am going to show you two features that not many people know about and even less people use: rendering to a texture and fragment shaders.