Mark Wilcox's Forum Nokia Blog

Multi-language Programming, Python, Flash Lite, C++, Java, Widgets

2008-12-16T17:03:33+02:00

I've been working with some other Forum Nokia Champions and expert developers in the last few months to create some resources for Multi-language programming (mixing your favourite runtimes). The result is a series of papers for the Symbian Developer Network.

In them you can find out about:

1) The architecture for applications mixing languages

2) The strengths and weaknesses of various combinations of languages

3) How to combine Flash Lite with C++ or Java (with examples from KuneriLite and Jarpa)

4) How to combine Python with Flash Lite or C++ (with examples from Flyer and a tutorial on writing PyS60 extensions)

5) How to extend WRT widgets

One of the suggestions I made on my blog here before and also in the papers has already been done. One of the authors of the paper covering Python, Jussi Toivola (aka GameDude) has ported pygame to PyS60 Community Edition. Now you can write games with sound effects in Python, taking advantage of the native performance provided by the SDL.

Please read and enjoy! Many thanks are due to Bernd Wiegmann, Felipe Andrade, Ugur Kaner, Jukka Hamalainen, Mikko Ohtamaa & Jussi Toivola, as well as the wonderful folks at the SDN.

Mark

Code Camps - a great way to learn a new environment

2008-09-15T23:46:17+03:00

I was in Berlin last week at MDD08. Some of it was good, some not so. However, one bit that I really enjoyed was the chance to learn some more about Flash Lite and write my first Flash Lite application with some experts on hand to smooth the learning curve.

I got this chance at the Forum Nokia code camp. Here's FN's own Riku Salminen evangelising about Flash Lite.

So, having never written anything in Flash before, and not having hacked a bit of JavaScript (which is very like the ActionScript language used in Flash Lite) for many years, I opened up Adobe Creative Suite 3 and set to work.

I had some good advice from fellow FNC Chall3ng3r (aka Faisal Iqbal) and he helped me fix my first bug - so thanks for that. He's recently released a new version of his tool for Flash Lite developers - SWF2Go.

In one afternoon I created a simple breakout clone where the blocks advance down the screen every 5 seconds. It isn't finished - it doesn't actually keep track of the score yet or tell you when you run out of lives and give you the chance to start again for instance - but it's fairly playable already. Of course the graphics are very basic but that's not the point - they can easily be replaced later. I'd never be able to acheive that much with native Symbian C++ coding in an afternoon, particularly if I'd never written anything before. I don't think it would have been possible if I hadn't been at the code camp with some experts on hand to help either.

Simple_game.swf

Simple_game.fla - use "save target as" on these links if you want to mess with my simple creation, the keys aren't enabled if you play the above link in the desktop Flash Player in your browser.

That said, ActionScript debugging is a nightmare - the run-time doesn't produce any errors, it just carries on as best it can if there's a problem. I found what seems like an obscure bug with where you can and can't access movie clips from using the global this[] array syntax but it took about an hour out of my afternoon tracking it down (Riku & Faisal couldn't even help with that one!) otherwise I might have finished. I don't think I'm a converted Flash Lite enthusiast after this experience but I'll definitely be having another look at it.

If there's a code camp near you, give it a try! You never know what you might create.

Mark

Python for Series 60 Community Edition!

2008-09-04T13:36:53+03:00

Ever wanted to add modules to the core PyS60 distribution rather than having to find them from all over the place?

Ever wanted to build a single executable for your Python application that didn't need the interpreter installed separately or as an embedded SIS file AND have no clashes with other interpreter versions or problems with uninstallation and dependencies?

Ever wanted to try out a new build system for Symbian OS, where the build scripts are written in Python (SCons for Symbian anyone)?

If you had these things what would you do with them? You could:

Write commercial PyS60 applications!
Port/Intergrate new modules more easily.
Fix bugs in PyS60 core or modules that affect your apps rather than work around them.
Much, much more...

Thankfully the fantastic folks at Red Innovation have brought us Python for Series 60 Community Edition that provides all of this. I can take no credit here, I've only tested that the build system works. At the moment it's still really only for enthusiasts and early adopters as the installation and setup is a bit complex to start working on it, but there are plans to simplify things in the future.

The project is hosted at Launchpad so that's the place to go with your questions and bug reports.

Personally, I'd love to see what people could do if we add Pygame support, since the main dependency, SDL, is already ported to S60. Unfortunately I have no idea when I'll have time to work on this. If anyone else wants to get started I'll be happy to support/mentor them if they need it though - just comment this blog or drop me an email via the discussion boards. I've already added a "blueprint" for this to Launchpad, but there's no detail yet.

Perhaps one day Nokia will be able to take patches and extensions from the community release back to the official release...

Anyway, enjoy this great new resource.

Mark

N-Gage - first impressions

2008-04-29T18:31:55+03:00

For anyone interested in seeing just how far their favourite platform can be pushed, games are the place to look.

In case you've missed it Nokia's N-Gage service has been on a limited release for a little while now. It's limited in terms of supported devices at the moment but I've been able to try it out on my N95 (after upgrading the firmware of course).

I can see why there hasn't been a lot of fanfare and publicity yet. The client software in my phone has had a few of the developers old favourite "Kern-Exec 3" errors and also networking errors using my home WLAN that I could only fix by exiting the application and loading it again (plus when I held END to stop it using my GPRS connection before I'd selected WLAN the whole thing locked up and I had to take the battery off).

However, teething probelms aside, these are the best games I've ever seen on a phone and they are generally very playable and they all have a free trial. FIFA 2008 suffers from the classic problem of football games with very simple controls - there are a number of very repeatable ways to score, after a few games you've discovered some and then most of the challenge is gone. Not enough longevity there to tempt me to pay for the full version. The Tetris and breakout versions are classics but the trials are so short you barely get started (mind you, if you don't know these games already you've probably been living in a cave for the last 20 years, plus you can try other versions out for free on the web). Space Impact Kappa Base looks like a good 2D scrolling shooter it's just not to my taste. I might be tempted to pay for Asphalt 3 Street Rules (again the trial could be a bit longer to help decide, only 1 lap) certainly in preference to System Rush Evolution (although that's not bad either). My favourite so far, with extremely simple gameplay and great for 5-15 minutes on the train (not sure about longevity beyond that though - further playtesting required) is Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep - a very enjoyable mostly one button fishing game.

If I could provide one major piece of feedback it would be that the platform needs to allow the game developers (if it doesn't already, and if it does the games need to take advantage) to over-ride the system keys (e.g. for application switching and music player - send, end, copy/paste and cancel would be good to use for controlling the games too when customising the keys). These keys are placed around the directional pad on my N95 (many other phones too) and in the heat of a gaming session it's very easy to accidentally press one. This generally results in your game being paused while something else opens - not the best experience. I expect that app switching and the music key are captured before they even get to the game in the current architecture but this needs fixing. When the phone is being used for gaming, gaming needs to take over as the primary function. You only need one button or action to break out of the in game controls and return to normal control. This could of course be customisable for those that don't want it.

Overall I'd say not quite ready for the mass market yet but a very promising start.

Mark