i set Config.glTransparencyMul to a low value (0.001) for finer control over transparency. but then some of my objects became invisible. seems as Loader.load3DS(InputStream, scale); sets transparency to 100 and in my case this makes my objects almost invisible.

it may make sense if Loader sets transparency to -1.

after GL context is lost and recreated (for example after pressing home button and returning back to activity), textures are re-uploaded to gpu automatically when they are needed. this is great but has a side effect, we got a delay.

in my game, i use android widgets for in game gui (not for the overlays and in-game buttons but for paused menu etc). when user returns the activity, paused menu instantly appears (since it's android gui) with a black background, this lasts a few seconds (most textures are re-uploaded), then game is rendered in background, when user presses resume button, then another delay happens (this time overlay textures are re-uploaded, they werent rendered in paused state). not a nice experience for user. i'm not sure how to cope with this

* leave it as it's
* adding a method to TextureManager to manually force all textures re-upload may help.

this sometimes happes when i press home button. not sure what is null here?

java.lang.NullPointerException
  at com.threed.jpct.GLRenderer.blit(GLRenderer.java:1252)
  at com.threed.jpct.GLRenderer.execute(GLRenderer.java:1668)
  at com.threed.jpct.FrameBuffer.blit(FrameBuffer.java:594)
  at raft.glgui.android.TexturePack.blit(TexturePack.java:259)
 ..

this is a bit annoying: according to my tests, the less objects you create, the less frequently dalvik garbage collects. but when it does, it collects many objects at once and hence the delay gets larger. kind of dilemma my gl thread's priority was 8, i left as default (5) but that didnt help.

anyway, inspecting memory allocations i've spot some methods. it may be worth improving them:
* Camera.lookAt creates a new Matrix all the time. instead using an instance field may help
* Camera.getPosition() is used frequently, so it may be worth adding a Camera.getPosition(SimpleVector) method

as in game graphics are almost complete, it's time to go public

this is a simple ball control game, purpose is to reach exit tile. controlled by touching screen and requires multi touch. seems as an N1 or higher device will be necessary. i've found no direct way of forcing this, so i assume forcing high resolution will practically result in such devices.

this game is a port (with minor modifications) of a flash game with author's permission.

here are some shots, all taken from stock N1 running Android 2.1.

simple start level. background image and possibly clock will change. the debug string w:5 means there are 5 objects in the world


another level with simple turns. by collecting diamonds extra points can be earned


a jump high level. this kind of levels are most fun IMHO


a big level and demonstration of breakable tiles.


my test level. red tiles are lava, the downward moving circles represent magnet tile is on, on upper right teleport tile is visible:


same test level with a different angle. lava particles can be seen. i've cut down the number of lava particles for performance


cheers
r a f t

edit: corrected the title

I have a merged object which is serialized with desktop jPCT. i change textures of some polygons during the course of the game. this works fine in desktop jPCT. but in AE I got some strange behaviour:

* with one subobject to change texture this works fine
* with a couple subobjects, i only get a result by setting texture of first one and this operation sets textures of other subobjects too. setting texture on other subobjects has no effect

i suspect this thing requires, build(false) method. if this is the case, there is no such method in AE, how can i serialize such an object from desktop jPCT?

i've also tried calling compile(true) before serialization but didnt help.

seems as it has no effect merging objects with transparency. in the final merged object all transparency has gone. is this intentional ?

i've also tried setting one of object's transparency via PolygonManager, but in that case merging objects throws a NPE. ie. following code:

Object3D one = Primitives.getBox(1, 1);
//one.setTransparency(0);
for (int p = 0; p < one.getPolygonManager().getMaxPolygonID(); p++) {
one.getPolygonManager().setVertexAlpha(p, 0, 0f);
one.getPolygonManager().setVertexAlpha(p, 1, 0f);
one.getPolygonManager().setVertexAlpha(p, 2, 0f);
}

Object3D two = Primitives.getBox(1, 1);
two.translate(0, 3f, 0);
two.translateMesh();
two.getTranslationMatrix().setIdentity();

Object3D merged = Object3D.mergeObjects(one, two);

throws:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.threed.jpct.Object3D.appendToObject(Unknown Source)
at com.threed.jpct.Object3D.mergeObjects(Unknown Source)
at tmp.MergeTransparent.main(MergeTransparent.java:34)

btw, i'm a bit unclear what PolygonManager().setVertexAlpha(..) does. in my tries i saw no effect of it.
we set alpha values of vertices not the polygon. how exactly does it work ?

how would you implement these effects ? i've also written my ideas but maybe there are better ways

* gravity tile which makes things heavier then they are. i planned to use a billboarded transparent plane over the tile with a texture with small downward arrows on it. then change the UV coordinates in time such that arrows move downwards.
* lava (or similar) tile which kills the player. some particles maybe spawn over it but this may be a performace killer if number of lava tiles increase
* teleport or portal tile: billboarded plane with a texture like the shield in robombs. uv coordinates can be changed to provide some motion
* exit tile: with glow effect