It’s never too late to brag about your accomplishments; therefore I am bragging here about what I have done. I successfully ported Whacksy Taxi (iPhone) to Whacksy Taxi HD (iPad) and Whacksy Taxi (Android) for Mindstorm Studios.
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Last year, Mindstorm Studios released their first game “Cricket Revolution” which won recognition for Pakistan and brought fame to the company too. But that was not enough, Mindstorm Studios has taken a leap forward and has successfully managed to launch Cricket Power – an official cricket game for ICC World Cup 2011.
“We are extremely excited about creating the official title for ICC’s Cricket World Cup 2011” said Babar Ahmed, CEO Mindstorm Studios. “Cricket has long been a subject closely linked to our organisation and we are thrilled to take it to the next level, which is a source of pride for our nation on the digital front.”
I can only wish good luck to these guys for their future endeavors and hope they continue to make our country proud. I am sharing here the links where News and Media have proudly presented Mindstorm Studios to the world.
- www.cricketpower.com
- www.worldcup-2011.tk
- iccworldcupliveupdates.blogspot.com
- AllVoices
- jehanara.wordpress.com
- propakistani.pk
- telecomnewspk.com
- webtrickz.com
- thefriendsfm.com
- news10.net
- qatarliving.com
- greenwhite.org
- tech2.in.com
- pakspectator.com
- telecomandit.com
- webstudio.ciopakistan.com
I have officially started Android Game/Application Development. To maintain a simple guide for newbies I am updating this post in parallel to what I am doing for starting development on Android.
First of all, I am developing on MacOS, since I was doing iPhone/iPad application development till yesterday (and hopefully will continue it after couple of days). Following are the steps to get started with Android Development on MacOS:
- Android Setup in MacOS:
- First step was quite simple and I knew what I have to do i.e. install an IDE for android development. I came across developer.android.com/sdk and it guided me fully in installing Eclipse and Android SDK. It has about 5 steps and once you are through with those steps, you will have android running on your MacOS device. Cheers!
- Creating First Project:
- Creating an android project in Eclipse is a little confusing. I had an experience in creating sample projects in other IDEs and those were very simple (maybe because they all had C++ or variant of C/C++ language). But this time I need to be clear about JAVA application architecture. Therefore need to follow some steps.
- I started creating a project but got stuck in Package name. The wizard did not move further. So I googled, and came across a nice post at devX titled “Getting Started with Android Development Using Eclipse”. There are steps in creating and running first application in Eclipse. [After 10 minutes] Viola! I got my first application up and running in Android Simulator.
- Hahahahahaha, some might find this funny. I kept watching at the Android Simulator for about 10 minutes and then clicked on Menu button and then realized that the screen of simulator was locked and is now unlocked; and then I can see the Hello World Application Name on screen. By clicking the return button closes the application. If anyone encounter similar situation, don’t feel ashamed … you are not alone
- Adding Coco2D in Android project:
- My main goal is to develop an environment for game development so that I can start porting my iPhone/Cocos2D game in Android/Cocos2D. This is first step for my game development since this seems logically the quickest way to start Android Game Development. Now again, I used my lethal development weapon (i.e. googled for tutorial
) and found a blog post titled “Cocos2D Android Hello World Tutorial”. - [After 35 minutes] I have successfully created Cocos2D scene and layer in Android. Here is a snapshot of the application.
- Now, I will start with my actual development.
- My main goal is to develop an environment for game development so that I can start porting my iPhone/Cocos2D game in Android/Cocos2D. This is first step for my game development since this seems logically the quickest way to start Android Game Development. Now again, I used my lethal development weapon (i.e. googled for tutorial
- Other useful links:
- While searching for required materials/guides I came across couple of useful posts and thought to share them too:
Happy Android Game/Application Development
More Exploration!
Today I tried to scroll sprites in screen and encountered a lot of issues. I googled a lot and found a couple of different game engines for Android. I shared my RnD as comments to this post. But, I have (kind of) decided to stick with Cocos2D for my first game. Lets see how it turns out.
Besides, I came across a series of Android Development Tutorials by CornboyzAndroid. Their tutorials can be viewed at youtube channel. I am also sharing their videos in my post too.
2011
Following is the list of some movies meant to release in 2011. This list contains those films, for which I was able to find the trailers. For more information on 2011 films, one can check out the list at Wikipedia or any other website. Have fun
Ars Technica recently published a three part series on “Why Writing In Games Matters”. It’s an interesting read and certainly makes one think about how their game design can be improved by putting more thought and effort into the story as well as the purty graphics and rendering engine.
Why Writing in Games Matters – Part 1
Why Writing in Games Matters – Part 2
Why Writing in Games Matters – Part 3
[links via InsideMacGames]
Thor (2011)
Real Steel (2011)
I Am Number Four (2011)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
First trailer of the upcoming film ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon‘ is released. The movie is the third installment of Transformers Trilogy franchise by Michael Bay.
I googled about writing a film review and came across a post at Buzzle, which explains about all important points to keep in mind while writing a review of a film. This hyperlink will take you to the original post. Following are the steps mentioned in the post.
How to Write a Film Review Paper
Research Work: Before you watch the movie, it is very essential to do some research work. Try to understand the context of the film i.e. what is the basic plot, when and where is the story set, the principal characters, director, script writer, etc. Try to know whether the story is original, a true life story, adaptation of a novel, or a sequel of some other movie. You should also research about the earlier works of the director and actors. This helps in knowing what to expect from the movie.
Watching the Movie: The next obvious step is watching the film. To make a proper judgment, it would always be recommended to watch the movie more than once. This would help you understand certain nuances of the film well. While watching the movie, take down some important points that you would like to mention in your review. After watching the film, it is important to form a specific opinion of the film, as this is what people look for in the film review. You should also analyze the film for basic facts like whether it is a comedy, tragedy, historical, action, etc.
Beginning to Write: It is very important to grab the attention of the reader from the word ‘GO’. For this you would have to find an appropriate lead that is interesting and catchy. One great idea would be to start with certain significant lines taken directly from the movie, or else you can talk about the trailers of the film and whether the film is as good as the hype that was created. Having a good start would surely help in attracting the interest of your readers. You can also compare this film with some other film or from the novel from which it was taken.
Synopsis of the Movie: The lead of your film review must be followed by the synopsis of the story. Here, you have to be very careful, as you should not give up the whole story to the audience, especially the end. You must describe the basic storyline, however avoid mentioning the important scenes and twists that form the crux of the film.
Writing the Review: Once you finish with the brief synopsis, start analyzing the movie. Here, you have to talk about the positive and negative points of the film. Mention areas that were good and those that were bad and also explain the reasons for it. However, you need not stick to the main story, rather you have to comment about the acting, script, plot, direction, background score and technical factors like the special effects, cinematography, costumes, etc.
Make Your Review Interesting: We have already discussed that the start of the film review should be interesting, however it is also important to write the rest of the article in the same way. You can use your creativity with the help of adjectives, metaphors, analogies, adverbs, etc. to keep the reader interested in your review.
Honesty: Honesty is a very important quality one should have while writing a movie review. Your article should reflect what you felt about the movie. One should avoid reading reviews written about the movie by other film critics, as there are chances that you may get influenced by them. You must remember that every human being can have different opinions about the same thing and your only duty is to write your point of view. You can end your write up by stating your opinion about the movie in a single sentence.
This article must have given you an idea about how to write a film review. You should remember that though it is important to be honest about your attitude towards the movie, you should never discourage the readers from watching the movie. A good film review would be that which tempts the reader in going to see the film.
Now I will be writing reviews. I hope my blog readers appreciate my effort.
Happy Film Reviewing
