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How can you test an Android project if you don't own an Android?

Discussion in 'Android' started by glom1envisage0, Apr 7, 2012.

  1. glom1envisage0

    glom1envisage0

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2011
    Posts:
    167
    I was going to help someone develop a space-shooter game but the platform they had in mind was the Android and I don't have an Android.
     
  2. Eric5h5

    Eric5h5

    Volunteer Moderator Moderator

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2006
    Posts:
    32,401
    Well, you have to get one then. It's not possible to test without one.

    --Eric
     
  3. Starsman Games

    Starsman Games

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2011
    Posts:
    2,152
    Borrow one.

    If you want to buy one, I found that the cheapest route is via getting a Samsung Galaxy Player from Amazon, a used one may be even cheaper.
     
  4. paulygons

    paulygons

    Joined:
    May 6, 2010
    Posts:
    164
    There is an Android emulator available in the android developers SDK. It is extremely slow, but might be better than nothing... Maybe. personaly i found it to be one step above worthless, but then im not terribly brilliant, and I already have hardware to test on so it didnt matter much to me.
     
  5. TeotiGraphix

    TeotiGraphix

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2011
    Posts:
    145
    I wouldn't suggest this for Unity development. For straight Android dev you might get away with it for some cases but it's better to spend a little money and get a device that can be mounted USB to the Android Debugger Bridge.

    If you read on this forum, developers that try the emulator just run into errors and waste their time.

    Mike
     
  6. Tseng

    Tseng

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2010
    Posts:
    1,217
    @Op: What's your task there? Are you main programmer? 3D Artist? Sound-Artist? Tech/Effects Artist?
    If you are the main programmer/developer, then you need an Android, there is no way around it. 3D and Sound Artist works w/o an Android device, though hearing the sound on the real device can quite help or know some stuff about limitations and performance for mobile devices may help.

    Nope, the emulator is worse than nothing. You can't test performance under real conditions, which is important especially in early development. You also can't test the handling with it.
    Much of the game design may need to be redone to fit and work fluently on mobile devices (both iOS/Android). And this can only happen in early development. There is no replacement for multitouch testing, as most games will need more than 1 finger.
     
  7. CharlieSamways

    CharlieSamways

    Joined:
    Feb 1, 2011
    Posts:
    3,424
    Buy one, think of it as a well thought out investment.
     
  8. THE-JAMK

    THE-JAMK

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2011
    Posts:
    8
    install bluestacks http://bluestacks.com/ works for me
    here is an example, only build an apk in unity then right click on it and open whit bluestacks, too easy
    I'm not a programmer, I am an artist. but I make some attempts, these are part of a graphic that I'm developing for a project and as I have not a android, and the Mac on which to build for ios not in my house so as to prove what I would see i using this method.

    sorry the bad english
    PD: I also used to play games of android on the pc
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2012
  9. keithsoulasa

    keithsoulasa

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2012
    Posts:
    2,126
    +1
     
  10. kolchaud

    kolchaud

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2012
    Posts:
    28
    Hi everyone,

    I discovered Blue Stacks recently. It is a good emulator, allthought quite slow compare to my Acer A510 tablet.
    But when you build your project, it is faster to quick test it through Blue Stacks than on the tablet via usb bridge.

    I try to debug my game (written in JS), with Mono debugger attached to BlueStacks, and I failed. My game crash directly without any trace du to emulation.
    Have you a way to debug an android application ? (set breakpiont for sample or even a print stack trace...)

    Thanks in advance.
     
  11. Tseng

    Tseng

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2010
    Posts:
    1,217
    Hit the play button in the editor. 98% of all script related stuff can be tested in the editor.

    What can't be tested in Editor is
    a) Java plugins (*.jar files)
    b) Touch input, because a monitor usually doesn't have touch capabilities
    c) playability/handling, because you can't hold a monitor in a way you can hold the real device and never can experience if you your control works on a real device or if they are just to hard to handle
    d) Performance different hardware (especially GPUs)

    For all 4 of them you need a real Android device to test it on.
     
  12. kolchaud

    kolchaud

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2012
    Posts:
    28
    b) point is definitly what I'm looking for. I want to test my pathfinding function by touching some objects so,
    with the editor I can't use touch
    with the emulator I can't debug crash (yeah ok, I'm not perfect).

    I may listen mouse event as touch event in some cases, just for debug

    I see Unity Remote on Play, on the paper, it could be my solution. But, it doesn't seem to work : I start play in Unity, with my tablet plugged and URemote started, nothing appear. I'm going to investigate on that.

    Thanks for the reply :)
     
  13. kolchaud

    kolchaud

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2012
    Posts:
    28
    Ok, a little feedback. I close all Blue Stacks instances and restart Unity Editor, then Unity Remote works !
    And I finaly see my errors stack trace !
    When I stress the application by touching/slicing, Unity Remote prints "artefacts" and I need to restart it. But for my needs it is enought.
    Thanks to the Unity Remote team !
     
  14. Tseng

    Tseng

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2010
    Posts:
    1,217
    Well, there are few requirements
    a) Android SDK (which you probably have, since you built the APK)
    b) Unity Remote of course
    c) Enable USB Debugging in your Android Phone (Settings > Applications > Development > USB-Debugging)
    d) You must install your devices USB Drivers. Some drivers work with the USB Drivers shipped with the Android SDK (android sdk folder/extras/google/ubs_driver) other devices (like HTC Desire for example) require their own USB drivers, which can be found on the manufacturers website.
    e) some manufacturer software (like HTC Sync) needs to be stopped as they interfere with Unity3D
    f) some times it's necessary to restart unity3d after you have enabled usb debugging and started the remote. At least it was like this back in Unity 3.3/3.4