I disagree, I'd say most GUI elements should use native elements. The only exception I would say is character dialogs. Although you could probably skin some native UI elements to look just as nice. Even for simple things like information messages, game settings, top scores, equipment, etc I'd prefer either its own activity/screen than something with tiny buttons and feel cluttered. Or even a dialog with native controls that behave well with touch, move up automatically when I activate the on screen keyboard. Just something that feels like the dev/company took some time to actually make the game for Android and not just some game that feels like it's running in an emulator.
Anyway, I guess it's a matter of taste. Games are so different I'm probably am thinking of only RPGs which is what I focus on. On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 9:34 PM, Tim Mensch <[email protected]> wrote: > Most games don't need a native UI for common game interfaces, and frankly > when I see a native menu pop up in an otherwise attractive game, it breaks > the consistency of the look and feel. > > The most common exception is if you need to enter text -- a good text entry > field is worth its weight in gold, and for that I can forgive using the > native UI, if only because that's the only way you'll end up with something > halfway decent. This is what happens when, for example, you click the > "Facebook" button in my game -- it takes you to a Facebook login, and then > from there to a native dialog for you to enter what you'd like to post to > your Facebook page. More complicated UIs (tree views, long menus, etc.) > don't generally belong in games, or at least not the ones I've been writing. > > Tim > > P.S. Hi Brian -- didn't recognize your name before. Small world. :) > > > > On 6/6/2011 3:44 PM, Miguel Morales wrote: > > Well, I try for the best of both worlds. Have the drawing code using > common code. Then use the android sdk widgets to build a native experience > and make the other UI elements much faster than if I was drawing them > myself. (However, this effort is multiplied for each platform, but at least > it uses the native widgets.) > I think this also stems from years of using ugly java or qt apps that don't > look native to the OS. > > On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 2:37 PM, Brian Conrad <[email protected]>wrote: > >> That's the reality of the marketplace. Publishers don't want to spend the >> extra money to "customize" for each platform. And frankly the majority of >> users won't notice it. The smart developer is the one who makes his >> software easy to convert among platforms. >> >> >> On 06/06/2011 02:32 PM, Miguel Morales wrote: >> >>> Although I agree that saving time by using the same base game code for >>> different platforms is a good thing. As a user, I don't like it when >>> games >>> don't use the native dialogs/ui whenever possible. >>> A lot of games use their own baked-in widgets that don't function nearly >>> as >>> well as the Android SDK ones. >>> Furthermore, I don't like it when games don't even support rotating the >>> phone. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 2:15 PM, Fred Howe<[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> LOL! >>>> >>>> On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 12:17 PM, Brian Conrad<[email protected] >>>> >wrote: >>>> >>>> On 06/06/2011 07:31 AM, Tim Mensch wrote: >>>>> >>>>> On 6/6/2011 7:32 AM, Fred Howe wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Hey Aaron - do you know of any good android developers who also >>>>>>> have >>>>>>> at least 3 yrs of java? I know of a start-up company doing some cool >>>>>>> gaming projects. Pay is good. Let me know. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> It looks like you didn't mean to send this to the list, but I can't >>>>>> help >>>>>> myself -- why would they be looking at three years of Java for an >>>>>> Android developer? Most game developers I know have years of C/C++ >>>>>> experience, and I would be far more confident hiring an experienced >>>>>> game >>>>>> developer than hiring an experienced Java developer. >>>>>> >>>>>> Frankly, making the C/C++ to Java transition is pretty easy -- a few >>>>>> weeks at most to get to 95%. But making the transition from non-game >>>>>> programmer to game programmer can take months or years. And some >>>>>> programmers never really figure out game development (I've encountered >>>>>> several in that category with years of experience). >>>>>> >>>>>> Tim >>>>>> >>>>>> Back during the 1990s it was hard to find people who could do game >>>>> programming or more particularly deal with hard deadlines that execs >>>>> cook up >>>>> to tell the analysts. DOD programmers were particularly difficult to >>>>> get >>>>> make something come in on schedule. Tim did some good contract work >>>>> for my >>>>> company too. I tend to agree that Java is fairly easy for a >>>>> experienced >>>>> C/C++ programmer. I am often moving code back and forth between those >>>>> two >>>>> languages and often it is just changing the function call or how a >>>>> pointer >>>>> works. Inside the function it may be the exact same code. >>>>> >>>>> We also hired some young programmers who weren't happy because we >>>>> didn't >>>>> immediately let the become a game designer. So we started a little >>>>> program >>>>> where anyone in the company could submit a game proposal. What people >>>>> learned from that was they weren't game designers. :-D >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups >>>>> "Android Discuss" group. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>> [email protected]. >>>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups >>>> "Android Discuss" group. >>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>> [email protected]. >>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>> http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en. >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Android Discuss" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en. >> >> > > > -- > ~ Jeremiah:9:23-24 > Android 2D MMORPG: http://solrpg.com/, > http://www.youtube.com/user/revoltingx > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Android Discuss" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Android Discuss" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en. > -- ~ Jeremiah:9:23-24 Android 2D MMORPG: http://solrpg.com/, http://www.youtube.com/user/revoltingx -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en.
