Actual, real world applications & games using Processing

edited March 2016 in Android Mode

Hello

I am looking at what can be done in terms of actual, real world applications & games using Processing.

This includes both application coming out of the Processing Android IDE and application made with other IDE and using android-core.zip

I have the feeling that there is some kind of a glass door between the artist/designer world of Processing and the Android app / Game Developer world out there

I don't know if this is just a feeling or if it really exists and if yes, if this is based on technical limitations of Processing or on Cultural frontier between the 2 worlds.

And another thing: Can someone show me a Processing based **paid **app or game available on Google play ?

I'd love to have your thoughts on that, and Google play links are very welcome

Answers

  • Hi I began with Processing a couple of years back to see if I could learn to code. I had tried going straight into using Eclpise and Visual Studio and struggled. Processing made it very easy to get started with the easy IDE and the superb getting started book... and I still use it exclusively. Most proper developers will probably already be using something else other than processing but for me, having a very simple setup process and a very easy to use graphics library I can't think of any reason to change. Anything that Processing doesn't provide I just import from standard android library (file handling and audio etc) and I use Ketai for gestures.

    I have one app on Google Play .. limited number downloads but hey it's really only just for a bit of fun for me, but does, I think show that apps can be made and published from Processing. Search for "Session Shed" if you want to have a look..

  • :D thank you for answering hudson. I just tried the free version, it works good. Yet, to me, it lacks some kind of pro veneer that would make it on par with the "competion". You see what I mean ? And I am wondering how much of a slick, high end finish software product can be achieved with Processing. Is it because, no doing this as a job you cannot put the time and efforts a pro studio does, or it is that no Processing is limited somehow ?

    thx again

  • @pheobus

    Time is the biggest issue. I am a joiner/decorator by trade and am always busy, so coding really is very part-time!

    The version on Google is, I suppose, my initial test of concept and the focus was functionality over visuals and some of the features are definitely pro level - quatization for example. I have a several users who provided great feedback for me about it's use in practise and I think I am close in terms of having a usable app for musicians to quickly sketch complex patterns and beats.

    It has been my intention to improve the graphics and Processing will be ideal for this once I get round to it. In the meantime I have been adding features like synths, and a nice gui based 4-band EQ that does give a more professional feel - hope to update at Google sometime soon.

    I don't see any reason that Processing can't be used for everything. In fact, as a graphics library, it should be possible to create a really nice gui, but that is probably more about my creative skills than any limitations of Processing!

    I think if a pro company started using Processing, they could easily turn out apps with it, but they are probably unlikely to because they already have software in place and processes etc that work fine for them. For us amateur creatives though Processing is definitely an ideal option.

  • edited March 2016 Answer ✓

    The glassdoor you mentioned is indeed real. But it is not one that anyone is pretending not to exist. Every framework/library has its own purpose and Processing is no exception. Use Processing if you want to learn coding and see results pretty quickly easily, if you want to create interactive media projects, visualizations etc. Use Unity, libgdx etc. if you want to create games, it's as simple as that. If there was one library that served all purposes, then there would be just one library in the world.

    Creating very big projects in Processing is tricky. As the project grows bigger you will discover bugs and limitations that will be hard to overcome and you will be for the greatest part alone since most of the questions/answers here pertain to how to make a ball bounce back when it reaches the border of the screen. That is fair game though, since it is clearly stated on the github page that there is no guarantee everything will work out well. It's a risk you need to embrace.

    That being said, there exist quite a few games/apps that I think match your description that have been created using Processing. Just go to 'Share your work' subforum and filter android apps/games through the search bar or manually (as in, with your eyes). Shouldn't take you more than 10 minutes to actually go through all of them.

  • An honorable mention is http://OpenFrameworks.cc.
    A Processing inspired framework for those who're not afraid to dive in C++. :>

  • I might take a look at that

  • Thank you very much wit221 !

    I cannot find the button to clic on "this is the answer", but it is :) I will now go to the part of the forum you told me

    :)

    • can someone point the "usual suspects" in the limits of processing when it comes to make an android game ?
  • Just for the record. I released my first app today. It's an app mainly for drummer or other musicians for practicing polyrhythms and n-tuplets. https://goo.gl/pufQkc

  • I tried it I'm not a musician but I found it really cool. it worked great, only thing though, it crashed when I switched out of it (I tried on a nvidia k1 shield runnning nougat)

    beside that tiny glitch, it runs like a charm

    congrats !

  • Thanks a lot for your reply. What do you mean by crashed? For now the app should just quit when you switch out. In an earlier version the app kept playing the sounds also when in background. Some of my testers criticized this behaviour and so I changed that. Maybe I'll change that again and keep the app running in the background but stop playing the sounds when another app is in the foreground.

  • I mean I was using the app and, when I was done, I touched the menu button to switch to something else. At this moment the little windows saying "Polymetronome has stopped" and "Close app" or "Send Feedback" showed up. It might be a problem with my machine, I don't know. I thought it is better to tell you because, if you receive this feedback many times, you'll know there is a bug to fix. If not, then "cooool" ;)

    For the record, I just tried again and I got reproductability - play with the app - push the menu button -> "... has stopped"

    Nvidia Shield K1 + latest Nougat

  • Alright, thanks for the information. I'll check that.

  • Interesting thread. I would really love to know a way to access the normal android UI elements - App bar, menu etc - these would make processing android apps look a lot more professional and familiar to users.

  • I guess that, using the processing library from android studio, you can do that, at least for some menus and panels "around" your canvas

  • I've been trying from both angles - I've tried putting processing fragments into android studio and adding in menus, but it takes away a lot of that "instant" fun of processing android, you lose the "all-in-one" convenience. I am also experimenting with native android menus in processing here - it's nearly working, just need a bit of help: https://forum.processing.org/two/discussion/18606/creating-native-android-menus-in-processing-android-mode#latest

  • looks interesting :) what help is needed ?

  • edited May 2017

    In the thread linked above, I have listed an example of how to create an android native menu completely within processing - but it's from 2011 - I think the android platform has changed so much since then that the example no longer brings up a menu. I'm hoping to update that example to work with current Processing android mode - if you have any ideas feel free to post them.

  • Hi everyone, just a brief heads up: we are putting together a gallery of apps made with Processing for Android here, and will update it as we find more projects. Please write to android@processing.org if you have any suggestions.

  • WOW !! I'm in :D

    thank you

Sign In or Register to comment.