Beginning Mobile Phone Game Programming

Book excerpt: Build several fully functional games as well as a game engine to use for programming cell phone and mobile games with Beginning Mobile Phone Game Programming! The included CD provides the tool, code and graphics necessary to complete all exercises covered in the chapters. Beginning Cell Phone Game Programming demystifies wireless game programming by providing clear, practical lessons using the J2ME Game API. You will learn how to use the most popular mobile programming language, Java, to build compact games that can run on any Java-enabled device, including mobile phones, pagers and handheld computers. You will also learn to add a splash screen, create a demo mode, keep track of high scores, and test, debug, and deploy your games. Topics covered include: How to construct a game engine to drive mobile games. How to use Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) and the Java Game API to get the most performance out of your mobile games. How to implement sprite animation and control interactions among moving sprites. How to play sound effects and music in mobile games. How to take advantage of wireless networks to build mobile multiplayer games. How to design and develop a variety of different games spanning several video games genres.