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Builds & Ports / OpenXcom for Android - new official thread

« on: June 25, 2014, 12:59:08 am »

(Because we totally don't have two threads already!)

Link to the latest version?
Here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,2428.msg50242.html#msg50242 (OMG TFTD)

Welcome!

Following in page's footsteps, I'm trying to bring OpenXcom to your Android devices. I'll be trying to catch up with the current git version of OpenXcom, with all new fixes and added features. Still, this port is not yet stable and crashes, glitches and generally weird behavior is to be expected.

Installation instructions

• Grab your X-com/OpenXcom data files and copy them to /sdcard/OpenXcom/data folder. If done right, you should (at least) have folders GEODATA, GEOGRAPH, MAPS, MISSDAT, ROUTES, SOUND, TERRAIN, UFOGRAPH, UFOINTRO and UNITS in your /sdcard/OpenXcom/data folder. If you're copying data from your OpenXcom installation, don't worry about other folders being copied over.
  N.B.! Check where your /sdcard symlink points at with your favorite Android file manager! On some devices it might point to an actual SD card, on others it might be internal memory storage. Check twice where you're putting your data!
• Install the .apk (it should only ask you for storage access permissions, don't trust it if it asks for anything apart from that!).
• Run the .apk. On the first run you'll see a preloader screen. The preloader is non-interactive, all it does is checks if your files have the same version as the build, and if not, it overwrites them.
• If the preloader screen doesn't appear and you have a black DOS-like screen that tells you you're missing something, you've probably copied the data files to a wrong location. Check and re-check your paths! Note that /sdcard should point to the contents of your "external storage" and not be a subfolder on your memory card!

Features

• Pinch-to-zoom in geoscape mode
• Weapons are highlighted when aiming in battlescape mode
• ...probably something else that I'm forgetting about

Controls - MUST READ!
Since most Android devices are somewhat limited in terms of input, there are some differences in the main and Android versions.

• Turning can be accomplished by either swiping from your soldier in the direction you want or long-pressing on a tile you want to turn to.
• Currently there's no way to force-fire or use alternative movement modes.
• Tap on the weapon frame to get out of aiming mode.

Known problems

• On some devices (notably Samsungs) the screen will be tinted purpleish-red. The fix is to disable hardware overlay in the device's developer options (look up the instructions if you can't find the menu)
• OpenGL screen filters don't work for now. Only SDL2's linear (blurry) filter is available.
• Closing the game by hitting "Quit game" and then reopening it results in intro being played too fast and advanced options menu being overpopulated. You should completely unload OpenXcom from memory (Android 4.0+ users can swipe the app from the recents).
• For now it appears that the app doesn't really "sleep" when the device's screen is locked/turned off. This will result in a higher battery consumption.

Downloads
The downloads will be available on the official mod portal: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/openxcom-android-nightly.
The source code is githubbed at https://github.com/sfalexrog/OpenXcom (branch "experimental"). You're advised to not look directly at the code