The television screen presents a number of considerations that may be new to mobile-game -developers. These areas include its large size, its control scheme, and the fact that all -players are viewing it simultaneously.
- - -The two main things to keep in mind when developing games for the TV screen are its nature as a -shared display and the need to design your game for a landscape orientation.
-A living-room TV poses design challenges for multiplayer games, in that all players can see -everything. This issue is especially relevant to games (such as card games or strategy games) that -rely on each player’s possession of hidden information.
-Some mechanisms you can implement to address the problem of one player’s eavesdropping -on another’s information are:
-A TV is always sideways: You can’t turn it, and there is no -portrait orientation. Always design your TV games to be displayed in landscape -mode.
- -TVs don't have touch interfaces, so it's even more important to get your controls right and make - sure that players find them intuitive and fun to use. The separation of controller from device also -introduces some other issues to pay attention to, like keeping track of multiple players' -controllers, and handling disconnects gracefully.
-Plan your control scheme around a directional pad (D-pad) control, since this control set is the -default for Android TV devices. The player needs to be able to use a D-Pad in all aspects of the -game–not just controlling core -gameplay, but also navigating menus and ads. For this reason, you should also ensure that your -Android TV game does not refer to a touch interface: for example, an Android TV game cannot tell a -player to Tap to skip.
-How you shape the player's interaction with the controller can be key to achieving a great user -experience: -
Accept, and the B button to
-Cancel. You can also offer flexibility in the form of remappability. For more
-information on button mapping, see Handling
-Controller Actions.
- The Back button should never act as a toggle. For example, do not use it to both open and close -a menu. It should only navigate backward, breadcrumb-style, through the previous screens the player has -been on. For example: Game play > Game pause screen > Game -main screen > Android home screen.
-Since the Back button should only perform linear (backward) navigation, you may use the -back button to leave an in-game menu (opened by a different button) and return to gameplay. For -more information about design for navigation, see Navigation with Back and -Up. To learn about implementation, refer to Providing Proper -Back Navigation.
-When multiple players are playing a game, each with his or her own controller, it is important -to map each player-controller pair. For information on how to implement controller-number -identification, see Input Devices) on the Android developer site.
-When a controller is disconnected in the middle of gameplay, the game should pause, and a dialog -should appear prompting the disconnected player to reconnect his or her controller.
-The dialog should also offer troubleshooting tips (for example, a pop-up dialog telling the player to -"Check your Bluetooth connection"). For more information on implementing input-device support, see Supporting Game -Controllers". Specific information about Bluetooth connections is at Bluetooth.
- -
- Games are displayed in a separate row from regular apps in the launcher. Android TV uses the
- android:isGame attribute to differentiate games from non-game apps. Set this value
- to true in your game's app manifest, as shown in the following code example:
-
-<application> - ... - < meta-data android:name="isGame" android:value="true" > - ... -</application> -- - -
- Games controllers may not be available or active for users of a TV device. In order to properly - inform users that your game requires (or just supports) a game controller, you must include - entries in the app manifest. If your game requires a game controller, you must include the - following entry in your app manifest: -
- -- <uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.gamepad"/> -- -
- If your game uses, but does not require, a game controller, include the following feature - entry in your app manifest: -
- -- <uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.gamepad" android:required="false"/> -- -
For more information about manifest entries, see - App Manifest. -
- - -If your game integrates Google Play Game Services, you should keep in mind a number of -considerations pertaining to achievements, sign-on, saving games, and multiplayer play.
-Your game should include at least five (earnable) achievements. Only a user controlling gameplay -from a supported input device should be able to earn achievements. For more information on -Achievements and how to implement them, see Achievements in -Android.
-Your game should attempt to sign the user in on launch. If the player declines sign-in several -times in a row, your game should stop asking. Learn more about sign-in at Implementing Sign-in on -Android.
-We highly recommend using Play Services Cloud Save to -store your game save. Your game should bind game saves to a specific Google account, so as to be -uniquely identifiable even across devices: Whether the player is using a handset or a TV, the game -should be able to pull the same game-save information from his or her account.
-You should also provide an option in your game's UI to allow the player to delete locally and
-cloud-stored data. You might put the option in the game's Settings screen. For
-specifics on implementing Cloud Save, see Cloud Save in Android.
A game offering a multiplayer experience must allow at least two players to enter a room. For -further information on multiplayer games in Android, see the Real-time -Multiplayer and Turn-based Multiplayer documentation on the Android developer -site.
- -We discourage including web browsing in games for Android TV. The television set is not well-suited for browsing, either in terms of display or control scheme.
-Note: You can use the {@link android.webkit.WebView} class for logins to services like Google+ and -Facebook.
- diff --git a/docs/html/training/training_toc.cs b/docs/html/training/training_toc.cs index 44e31d73314c5..12685ba39143e 100644 --- a/docs/html/training/training_toc.cs +++ b/docs/html/training/training_toc.cs @@ -913,6 +913,12 @@ include the action bar on devices running Android 2.1 or higher." ++ The television screen presents a number of considerations that may be new to mobile game + developers. These areas include its large size, its control scheme, and the fact that all players + are viewing it simultaneously. +
+ + ++ The two main things to keep in mind when developing games for the TV screen are its nature as a + shared display and the need to design your game for a landscape orientation. +
+ + ++ A living-room TV poses design challenges for multiplayer games, in that all players can see + everything. This issue is especially relevant to games (such as card games or strategy games) + that rely on each player’s possession of hidden information. +
+ ++ Some mechanisms you can implement to address the problem of one player’s eavesdropping on + another’s information are: +
+ ++ A TV is always sideways: You can’t turn it, and there is no portrait orientation. Always design + your TV games to be displayed in landscape mode. +
+ + ++ TVs don't have touch interfaces, so it's even more important to get your controls right and make + sure that players find them intuitive and fun to use. The separation of controller from device + also introduces some other issues to pay attention to, like keeping track of multiple players' + controllers, and handling disconnects gracefully. +
+ ++ Plan your control scheme around a directional pad (D-pad) control, since this control set is the + default for Android TV devices. The player needs to be able to use a D-Pad in all aspects of the + game–not just controlling core gameplay, but also navigating menus and ads. For this reason, you + should also ensure that your Android TV game does not refer to a touch interface: For example, an + Android TV game should not tell a player to Tap here to skip. +
+ ++ How you shape the player's interaction with the controller can be key to achieving a great user + experience: +
+ +Accept, and the B button to Cancel. You can also offer flexibility
+ in the form of remappability. For more information on button mapping, see Handling
+ Controller Actions.
+ + The Back button should never act as a toggle. For example, do not use it to both open and close a + menu. It should only navigate backward, breadcrumb-style, through the previous screens the player + has been on, for example: Game play > Game pause screen > Game main screen > Android + home screen. +
+ ++ Since the Back button should only perform linear (backward) navigation, you may use the back + button to leave an in-game menu (opened by a different button) and return to gameplay. For more + information about design for navigation, see Navigation with Back and Up. + To learn about implementation, refer to Providing Proper + Back Navigation. +
+ + ++ When multiple players are playing a game, each with his or her own controller, it is important to + map each player-controller pair. For information on how to implement controller-number + identification, see Input + Devices. +
+ + ++ When a controller is disconnected in the middle of gameplay, the game should pause, and a dialog + should appear prompting the disconnected player to reconnect his or her controller. +
+ ++ The dialog should also offer troubleshooting tips (for example, a pop-up dialog telling the + player to "Check your Bluetooth connection"). For more information on implementing input-device + support, see Handling Controller + Actions. Specific information about Bluetooth connections is at Bluetooth. +
+ + +
+ The Android TV launcher home screen displays games in a separate row from regular apps. The TV
+ framework uses the android:isGame manifest attribute to differentiate games from
+ non-game apps. Set this value to true in your game's app manifest, as shown in the
+ following code example:
+
+<application> + ... + < meta-data android:name="isGame" android:value="true" > + ... +</application> ++ + +
+ Games controllers may not be available or active for users of a TV device. In order to properly + inform users that your game requires (or just supports) a game controller, you must include + entries in the app manifest. If your game requires a game controller, you must include the + following entry in your app manifest: +
+ ++ <uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.gamepad"/> ++ +
+ If your game uses, but does not require, a game controller, include the following feature + entry in your app manifest: +
+ ++ <uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.gamepad" android:required="false"/> ++ +
For more information about manifest entries, see + App Manifest. +
+ + ++ If your game integrates Google Play Game Services, you should keep in mind a number of + considerations pertaining to achievements, sign-in, saving games, and multiplayer play. +
+ + ++ Your game should include at least five (earnable) achievements. Only a user controlling gameplay + from a supported input device should be able to earn achievements. For more information on + achievements and how to implement them, see Achievements in Android. +
+ + ++ Your game should attempt to sign the user in on launch. If the player declines sign-in several + times in a row, your game should stop asking. Learn more about sign-in at Implementing Sign-in on + Android. +
+ + ++ We highly recommend using Play Services Saved Games to store + your game save. Your game should bind game saves to a specific Google account, so as to be + uniquely identifiable even across devices: Whether the player is using a handset or a TV, the + game should be able to pull the game-save information from the same user account. +
+ +
+ You should also provide an option in your game's UI to allow the player to delete locally and
+ cloud-stored data. You might put the option in the game's Settings screen. For
+ specifics on implementing saved games using Play Services, see Saved Games in Android.
+
+ A game offering a multiplayer experience must allow at least two players to enter a room. For + further information on multiplayer games in Android, see the Real-time + Multiplayer and Turn-based Multiplayer documentation on the Android developer + site. +
+ + ++ We discourage enabling web browsing in games for Android TV. The television set is not + well-suited for browsing, either in terms of display or control scheme. +
+ ++ Note: You can use the {@link android.webkit.WebView} class for logins to + services like Google+ and Facebook. +