[Android Apps and Games] drkow19:
[Update 3/17/11 #2]

Finally ready to let this one loose! I've been changing the graphics of Sean McNulty Skateboarding from java to OpenGL, and the results are great, if you ask me. Now you can pinch-to-zoom, just like Angry Birds. Also this runs on phones from the HTC Touch (old 320x240 phone) to the Atrix 4G (big screen, my buddy just got one, 70 fps!).

Try it out now, the controls are the same as before, you can press menu to hide the controls or HUD.

Has 3 levels: street, big air, and bowls.

UPDATE: Supports Android 1.6 and up. It should work on all phones, hopefully. Found out how to remove extra images, so the file is smaller again!

BIG UPDATE: "Recycle" textures once they are loaded. This removes them from hogging up your phone's memory. This also cuts the loading time from 12 seconds to 4 on my Droid 1, and the amount of memory used in the game from around 30 mb to 10 mb! The game runs a few f.p.s. quicker too.

Download the apk from MediaFire:

Link taken down, you can find the beta on the Android Market now.

Here's a new YouTube video showing the new graphics off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq8WYlD6v84

I wrote this entire game using basic Java and some xml and Android knowledge. There aren't many good skateboarding games out for Android, so I decided to make my own! It took a long time to get started and make it actually look and play like a skateboarding game, but now it's running smoothly and the development is really speeding up.

So for all of you that will be giving my game a test, here are the controls:

Movement:

Begin a push by touching in front of the skateboard in the direction you want to travel. Then swipe horizontally across the screen and you will accelerate in the direction where the screen press began.

Brake by pressing behind the skateboard, on the bottom of the screen. If it is not working, release your finger and try again to press the brake button.

Tricks:

Begin a trick by pressing on the tail or the nose buttons near the skateboard. Perform a trick by moving your finger upwards in any direction and release above the board. You can ollie, kickflip, or shove-it. If you begin your flick in one direction and reverse the direction before you release your flick, you can do a 360 flip. Think of it as drawing a half-circle upwards from the nose or tail. Once you are in the air you can press anywhere on or below the board to grab. When you are in the air, tilting the phone will change the tilt angle of your skateboard. The farther you tilt, the faster the rotation is. Try to do a double backflip in the pipe!

Menu:

Clicking menu on your phone will bring up 4 options and pause the game. You can toggle the red control buttons, turn music on or off, toggle the heads-up-display, or choose between the 4 camera options. All your settings are saved for the next time you play the game.

Zoom:

This game can be pinch-to-zoom'ed. Using two fingers on the upper portion of the screen you can zoom out, or zoom in and the skateboarder slowly disappears, allowing you to get your skate on with only the board.

Have fun and post any feedback here!

Thanks,

Matt (MMK Programming)

http://mmkprogramming.blogspot.com