Serion18

So I have always loved the art of Bonsai but had to gwt rid of all my trees because I couldn't afford them anymore. But I've always wanted an App that has a virtual bonsai tree, a choice of different types of bonsai trees. The tree should have to be taken care of like a regular bonsai tree would, watered everyday and trimmed regularly, music to soothe it, bonsai food to feed it, anything else (use Imagination, do research) and can die if not taken care of, and would also be cool to have a meter or some kind of statistics to how your tree is doing and what it needs. THIS WOULD BE AWESOME AND SO GREATLY APPRECIATED.
Thank you,
Serion18

infraspace

I'd like an app like this too. Back when I used a Palm TX I had a little freeware app called ZenBonsai that did something like this. It was primitive but fun.

llatch

I love this idea! Here is a link to my other game.

I'm on this one. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST! Got the growth algorithm and cell structure almost done and the gameplay mapped out.

You will grow your tree from a seed and care for it and shape it to your whim using real(virtually) bonsai techniques. Watering and feeding schedules will be determined based on seasons and whether or not the tree is in training(stress) and health, etc

The growth algorithm and display can be changed to simulate different species, but I'm going to start with just one for now.

Here is a menacing vine I grew with my algorithm:

Last edited by llatch; October 9th, 2012 at 10:32 AM.

llatch

BUMP. Ok, it has progressed a bit since the vine- here is a tree grown by a phone:

I drew the leaves in Microsoft Paint, but the bark is real bark from a picture edited in Gimp for the shadow, seamlessness, and color. Note the draw function knows when to 180 the shadow in the right direction so shadows aren't on the top of the branches.

Not all of the trees look this good. Many are scraggly or unbalanced. Meh, it's a work in progress!

llatch

BUMP again. Here I changed the foliage to a conifer and added some shading and a pot.

Last edited by llatch; October 22nd, 2012 at 03:54 PM.

llatch

The beginnings of a UI:

Last edited by scary alien; February 26th, 2013 at 06:11 PM. Reason: no blog links please

llatch

You can see the app grow a few trees here.

hardya

Looks cool! I am new to android dev (though not dev in general) Is this drawing all in the vanilla android sdk or did you use some TP API?

llatch

All of it is canvas drawing pngs with alpha. My other game(FlaTank) is all canvas also. I started converting that game to open gl to increase performance on the Blackberry Playbook, but noted not enough change to rewrite the whole engine. Really that kind of decision should be made in the beginning of coding. The sequel to FlaTank will be written from the ground up for open gl.

hardya

canvas I know, png I know, what's alpha?

opengl I know. What is blackberry playbook platform like how do you develope on that?

my background is low level advanced C++. I have done C# a bit and just started looking at android, but didn't like the book style

you recommend a free online book?

Just curious any way

llatch

The alpha channel is for transparency.

RIM has an online converter that changes an apk to a bar that the PlayBook can run.

I don't use books for learning coding so I can't recommend them. I will use books for reference occasionally but mostly I find tutorials and code snippets and learn off of that. Code snippets are the best way to see commands in action with proper syntax.

llatch

Whew! The trimming algorithm was difficult!

...well not the trimming part but rearranging the database after removing tree cells from it to make room for more to grow. My phone starts to lag when the database has more than 5000 cells so I made that the limit on which the total allowed biomass is calculated.

Watch for a demo video in the next few days.

llatch

I had to release the unfinished game on BlackBerry on Friday so if any of you have a BB10 device you can see it there.

llatch

Ok updated video here:

Tree App 2 - YouTube

llatch

Here is the before/after of the deathscene:

llatch

I got my leaderboard working! You can see it here! Had to learn php for that. It was the last major hurdle. A few more things on my todo list and it will be ready for launch.

llatch

Here's another:
Tree App 3 - YouTube

..with a death scene.

Mehta23

That looks so goood!!

llatch

Thank you! Today, I have been coding the achievements and I'm getting excited. If you can keep your tree alive for x amount of years, something really great happens! Weeeee! Probably will have to be a separate leader board for those who have that achievement.

This game is almost release worthy!
Be sure to follow me on twitter @flatankprime

llatch

I'm setting the release date at Friday January 18th, 2013.

Just a few more things to do and some testing. PM if you are interesting in beta testing- I think I will open that up this weekend.

llatch

Got a bunch of 'secret' codes put in the game. Very exciting!

llatch

Release pushed back to Monday- Sorry!

Coding for Blackberry this weekend..

llatch

I caved and published it under Bonsai Bliss.

Download it here!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=virtual.bonsai#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDIxMiwid mlydHVhbC5ib25zYWkiXQ..

Last edited by llatch; January 19th, 2013 at 10:41 AM.

Mehta23

YAAYYYY



DLing now.

llatch

Indeed!
Help file is here:

Bonsai Bliss Instructions

Mehta23

Like it. Especially the changes I suggested :P

The code to quick kill your tree is good, and I can see it being useful.

The ads aren't overly bad.... is there an ad-free version?

llatch

There are a lot more codes than those. You can get all of them in this 'game':

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tomago.bonsai

Check that out of you can tolerate something like that

As far as the ads go, I'm gonna hook you up because you helped me!

Last edited by llatch; January 19th, 2013 at 03:31 PM.

Mehta23

Thanks so much!

Expect an article about this on Android Waypoint shortly.

If tapping the egg thing 250K+ times is worth it, I'll do it

Last edited by Mehta23; January 19th, 2013 at 07:16 PM.

llatch

It's worth it but prepare to be frustrated.. as that app has another surprise.

Mehta23

I'm not sure if I like the sound of that :-P

llatch

See your name immortalized on the hall of fame page!

Mehta23

I need to do 36K taps everyday for a week... Havent even got close to that. Done 7K so far.

llatch

I made several flavours of Tomago and this one is the most accurate precursor or foretelling of my next game:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tomago.robot

There are at least 4 requests for the type of game I'm making next, but none of them out there are like what I'm working on! Weeeeee!

Drywowd

Thanks for the information. I didn't even know that there is Bonsai applicaitons.

llatch

There wasn't until I read this thread and the future was set in motion!

Here's the long awaited tutorial!
vBonsai Tutorial - YouTube

Mehta23

I'll add it to the AW article!

llatch

vBonsai was also reviewed on this page: Unknown Android Apps