One issue that I've run into is that users use controls in unexpected ways. I wrote my first game expecting quick taps next to the player's character. When various people tried out the game, however, they didn't all do that. Some tapped the bottom corners, some held their finger down and moved it around, some drew lines from the player to where they wanted the player to go, some fiddled with the keys before the game even loaded, etc..
This is partially my fault. The instructions are buried in a menu option. I'm looking into maybe putting a hint or two re the controls on a title screen, or having a tutorial stage, or maybe some flashing indicators on where the best spots to touch are when the game first starts, like I've seen other games do. Even with those, I'm sure some users will still try to use the game differently, however. In some cases is is pretty easy to support the other input strategies at least. So anyway, if you haven't already, consider getting some people to try out the game while you watch. Different people think differently, may use their phones differently, and no one else has the creator's perfect knowledge of the game. On Mar 13, 10:44 pm, markusn82 <markus...@gmail.com> wrote: > I developed and published a game about two months ago. Since then, > I've received several negative comments about input lag in the game. > Before releasing the game, I already took several measures to > hopefully prevent lag from occurring: > > 1) Game is almost entirely written in native code > 2) After initialization, my process never invokes the GC during > gameplay (no GC executions from my process show up in the log) > 3) Average FPS is generally > 30 fps > 4) I tested the game on both a Motorola Milestone and an HTC Magic and > I don't experience any noticeable input lag (except perhaps when the > GC is executed by other processes) > > My guess is that the lag that users are experiencing is a result of > the GC being invoked by another process. Has anyone been able to > address this issue? Specifically, have any game developers been able > to achieve a completely lag-free game and thus avoid negative ratings > that drag down your app? > > The only other suspicious thing I've noticed is the following lines > showing up in my log any time a SoundPool clip is played: > > D/AudioHardwareMot( 1054): AudioMgr:AudioStreamOutMot::standby called > D/AudioHardwareMot( 1054): AudioMgr:Output 0xb538 entering standby > D/AudioHardwareMot( 1054): AudioMgr:Closing stereo device > D/AudioHardwareMot( 1054): AudioMgr:Output 0xb538 exiting standby > > Any ideas or suggestions? > > Thanks -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
