Apps Installing AndEngine

[kodiak211]

I'm wanting to install AndEngine... I've came across Some videos that show you how to install it. But these videos were done last year, and since then, the method of installing it has changed. At lest the way they were doing it in these videos... Dose any one know the new extensions or some new tutorials I can follow... Preferably GLES1... I'm wanting to use a emulator to test, Also wanting this to build live wallpapers...

 

[GeorgeN]

Hi,

Sorry I don't know anything about AndEngine, but I wrote my game using GLES1 and I regret it. Performance is terrible on Tegra devices because GLES1 is basically emulated. Also, there is also no way of doing multisampling (a fast anti-aliasing technique) on Tegra if you are using GLES1.

The newest ICS emulator supports GLES2. Its a good idea to use it instead.

There are some Android GLES tutorials here: Learn OpenGL ES

-George

 

[kodiak211]

Holy sh*t I need to go back to school...lol Yea this is going to be sick burn... Thanks tho...

 

[jonbonazza]

Lot's of misinformation here.

1) GLES1 is NOT emulated. It is implemented natively and wrapped in java classes using the JNI (Java Native Interface). Note that there is some MAJOR overhead in each JNI call, so using the wrapper classes is completely unadvised, even by Google themselves. If you are planning to use OpenGL in any form, I strongly advise to go with a completely native approach, or at least handle all of your rendering natively and minimize the number of JNI calls as much as possible.

2) GLES, whether version 1 or 2, IS emulated in the emulators, so testing any kind of hardware accelerated game on an emulator is ill advised.

3) AndEngine makes use of the wrapper methods I shunned earlier, so of course, it's going to be relatively slow. How well this is optimized, I am not sure as I haven't looked at the code in detail, so it might be implemented in a way that makes it fast enough for you.

With that said, AndEngine is just a jar file that you add to the classpath of your game project in eclipse (or w/e IDE you are using). You might need to compile the AndEngine jar yourself, I am not sure.

 

[kodiak211]

Thanks for the help! At this moment OpenGL might be to advanced for me. I'm not fully sure what the differences are between OpenGL and AndEngine. Looking things up, I'm seeing ones 2D the others 3D. AndEngine was modified from OpenGL. I'm sure you know more about this then me. I seen that u can use AndEngine to build live wallpapers, witch is what I'm really trying to do at this point in my early development of building apps. Really all I'm trying to do is build a frame by frame live wallpaper, using a list of PNG images... I know this ant the best method of building live wallpapers. But like I said, I'm just learning... And I can't find any other way of doing it. There's really not much information on building live wallpapers out there... But thanks again for your help!!!

 

[GeorgeN]

1) GLES1 is NOT emulated. It is implemented natively and wrapped in java classes using the JNI (Java Native Interface). Note that there is some MAJOR overhead in each JNI call, so using the wrapper classes is completely unadvised, even by Google themselves. If you are planning to use OpenGL in any form, I strongly advise to go with a completely native approach, or at least handle all of your rendering natively and minimize the number of JNI calls as much as possible.

I think you misunderstand me. I don't know anything about AndEngine. I was just pointing out that Tegra GPU's are built from the ground up to support GLES2. GLES1 runs in a compatibility mode and the performance is pretty awful.

2) GLES, whether version 1 or 2, IS emulated in the emulators, so testing any kind of hardware accelerated game on an emulator is ill advised.

As of a about a month ago the emulator is GPU accelerated:
Android SDK emulator update brings GPU support - The H Open Source: News and Features

For most things performance isn't too bad now (especially if you run the "Intel x86 Atom System Image" rather than the ARM image). But I agree it is best to use real hardware.

Edit:
I just re-read my original post and when I said:

The newest ICS emulator supports GLES2. Its a good idea to use it instead.

I meant it is a good idea to use GLES2 instead, not necessarily the emulator! All new GPU's being built are being optimised for GLES2. There is no good reason to use GLES1 for new code.