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.

Table of Contents:
Introduction. I. GETTING STARTED WITH MOBILE GAME PROGRAMMING. 1. Games on the Go.     Essentials of Mobile Gaming       The First Mobile Phone Game       The Market for Mobile Games       The Culture of Mobile Games       The Bleeding Edge of Mobile Gaming     Getting to Know Mobile Platforms       Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME)       Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW)       Symbian       Windows Mobile Smartphone     Java As a Mobile Game Platform       What Is Java?       Why Java?       Java and Mobile Game Programming     A Quick J2ME Primer       Configurations and the Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC)       Profiles and the MIDP     Summary     Field Trip 2. Mobile Java Game Development Basics.     Game Design Basics       Coming Up with the Basic Idea       Developing the Storyline       Establishing the Play Modes     A J2ME Game Development Primer     Getting to Know the J2ME Wireless Toolkit       Using KToolbar       Managing MIDlet Game Projects       Building a Game MIDlet       Testing a Game MIDlet     The J2ME Emulator and Physical Devices     Summary     Field Trip 3. Constructing a Mobile Game Skeleton.     Exploring the J2ME APIs       The CLDC API       The MIDP API     Understanding MIDlets       Inside a MIDlet       The Basics of MIDlet Development     Building the Skeleton Example Program       Writing the Program Code       Preparing the MIDlet for Distribution       Building and Testing the Finished Product     Summary     Extreme Game Makeover II. MOBILE GAME PROGRAMMING ESSENTIALS. 4. Mobile Game Graphics 101.     Mobile Graphics Basics       Understanding the Graphics Coordinate System       Learning the Basics of Color     Working with Graphics in J2ME       Drawing Graphics Primitives       Drawing Text       Drawing Images     Building the Olympics Example Program       Writing the Program Code       Testing the Finished Product     Building the Slideshow Example Program       Writing the Program Code       Testing the Finished Product     Summary     Extreme Game Makeover 5. Using Sprite Animation.     Understanding Animation       Animation and Frame Rate       Making the Move to Computer Animation       2D Versus 3D Animation     Analyzing 2D Sprite Animation       Frame-Based Animation       Cast-Based Animation     Applying Sprite Animation to Mobile Games     Working with the Layer and Sprite Classes     Achieving Smooth Animation with the GameCanvas Class     Building the UFO Example Program       Writing the Program Code       Testing the Finished Product     Summary     Extreme Game Makeover 6. Handling Mobile User Input.     Assessing Mobile Game Input     Handling Key Input with the GameCanvas Class     Revisiting the Sprite Class       Detecting Sprite Collisions       Working with Frame-Animated Sprites     Building the UFO 2 Example       Writing the Program Code       Testing the Finished Product     Summary     Extreme Game Makeover 7. Henway: Paying Tribute to Frogger.     The Scoop on Henway     Designing the Game     Developing the Game       Writing the Game Code     Testing the Game     Summary     Extreme Game Makeover 8. Making Noise with Tones.     Sound and Mobile Games     A Tonal Sound and Music Primer     Querying a Phone for Its Audio Capabilities     Playing Tones in Mobile Games       Playing Individual Tones       Playing a Tone Sequence     Building the UFO 3 Example Program       Writing the Program Code       Testing the Finished Product     Summary     Field Trip 9. Playing Digitized Sound and Music.     A Digitized Sound Primer     Getting to Know Wave Sounds     Creating and Editing Wave Sounds     Revisiting the Player Interface     Playing Wave Sounds in Mobile Games       Playing a Wave from a JAR File       Playing a Wave from a URL     Feeling the Music with MIDI     Playing MIDI Music in Mobile Games       Playing a MIDI Song from a JAR File       Playing a MIDI Song from a URL     Building the Henway 2 Example Game       Writing the Game Code       Testing the Finished Product     Summary     Field Trip III. VIRTUAL WORLDS AND MOBILE GAME INTELLIGENCE. 10. Creating Tiled Game Layers.     What Is a Tiled Layer?     Creating Maps for Tiled Layers       Using the Mappy Map Editor       Using the Tile Studio Map Editor       Formatting Map Information for Games     Working with the TiledLayer Class       Creating a Tiled Layer       Moving and Drawing a Tiled Layer     Building the Wanderer Example Program       Writing the Program Code       Testing the Finished Product     Summary     Field Trip 11. Managing Multiple Game Layers.     Dealing with Multiple Game Layers     Working with the LayerManager Class     Animating Tiled Layers     Building the Wanderer 2 Example Program       Designing the Tiled Layer Maps       Writing the Program Code       Testing the Finished Product     Summary     Extreme Game Makeover 12. High Seas: A Game for the Pirate in You.     The Scoop on High Seas     Designing the Game       Putting Together the Water Map       Putting Together the Land Map     Developing the Game       Creating a Drift Sprite       Declaring the Member Variables       Assembling the start() Method       Piecing Together the update() Method       Drawing the Game Screen       Starting a New Game       Safely Placing Sprites     Testing the Game     Summary     Extreme Game Makeover 13. Teaching Games to Think.     The Least You Need to Know About AI     Exploring Types of Game AI       Roaming AI       Behavioral AI       Strategic AI     Developing an AI Strategy     Teaching Sprites to Think...Sort Of       Designing the Chase Sprite       Coding the Chase Sprite     Building the High Seas 2 Example Game       Writing the Program Code       Testing the Finished Product     Summary     Extreme Game Makeover IV. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE WIRELESS NETWORK. 14. Mobile Game Networking Essentials.     Multiplayer Game Basics       Turn-Based Games       Event-Based Games     Network Game Problems and Solutions       State Synchronization       Input Synchronization       A Hybrid Solution     Communicating over a Network with Sockets       Stream Sockets       Datagram Sockets     Network Programming and J2ME       Creating Datagram Packets       Sending Datagram Packets       Receiving Datagram Packets     Building the Lighthouse Example       Designing the Client and Server       Writing the Program Code       Testing the Finished Product     Summary     Field Trip 15. Connect 4: A Classic Game Goes Wireless.     The Scoop on Connect 4     Designing the Game       Graphics and User Interface       Game Logic       Networking     Developing the Game       The Connect 4 Client and Server       The Connect 4 Game Canvas       The Connect 4 Game State     Testing the Game     Summary     Field Trip 16. Debugging and Deploying Mobile Games.     Game Debugging Basics       Single-Stepping Code        Watching Variables        Using Breakpoints     Game Debugging Strategies       Bug Prevention       Bug Detection     Choosing a Debugger     Deploying Mobile Games       Understanding Over-the-Air Provisioning       Preparing Your Game for Deployment       Tweaking Your Web Server     Testing OTA Provisioning with KToolbar     Summary     Field Trip V. SPRUCING UP YOUR GAMES. 17. Optimizing Mobile Java Games.     Understanding Mobile Game Optimization       Optimizing for Maintainability       Optimizing for Portability       Optimizing for Size       Optimizing for Speed     General Mobile Game Optimization Tips       Reducing Memory Usage       Minimizing Network Data       Eliminating Unnecessary Graphics     Java Code Optimization Tricks       Compiling Without Debug Information       Eliminating Unnecessary Evaluations       Eliminating Common Subexpressions       Taking Advantage of Local Variables       Expanding Loops       Code Shrinking and Obfuscation     Profiling Your Mobile Game Code     Monitoring Mobile Game Memory Usage     Putting Mobile Game Optimization into Perspective     Summary     Extreme Game Makeover 18. Space Out: Paying Tribute to Space Invaders.     The Scoop on Space Out     Designing the Game     Developing the Game       Creating a Moving Sprite       Declaring the Member Variables       Assembling the start() Method       Piecing Together the update() Method       Drawing the Game Screen       Starting a New Game       Adding Aliens, Missiles, and Explosions     Testing the Game     Summary     Extreme Game Makeover 19. Keeping Track of High Scores.     The Importance of Logging Your Achievements     Getting to Know the Java RMS       Understanding Records and Record Stores       Exploring the RecordStore Class     Preparing High Score Data for Storage     Building the Space Out 2 Example Game       Designing the Game Enhancements       Writing the Game Code       Testing the Finished Product     Summary     Field Trip VI. APPENDIXES. Appendix A. Java Game API Reference.     The GameCanvas Class       Member Constants       Constructor       Methods     The Layer Class       Methods     The Sprite Class       Member Constants       Constructors       Methods     The TiledLayer Class       Constructor       Methods     The LayerManager Class       Constructor       Methods Appendix B. Mobile Game Programming Resources.     Micro Dev Net     J2ME Gamer     J2ME.org     Forum Nokia's Mobile Games Community     Wireless Developer Network     GameDev.net     Gamasutra     Game Developer Magazine     Gamelan     JavaWorld     The Official Java Website Appendix C. Creating Graphics for Mobile Games.     Assessing Game Graphics       Determining the Game Screen Size       Reaching the Target Audience       Establishing a Game Setting and Mood       Adhering to a Graphics Style     Exploring Graphics Tools       Image Alchemy       Paint Shop Pro       Graphic Workshop     Creating and Editing Graphics       Line-Art Graphics       3D Rendered Graphics       Scanned Photography and Video-Captured Graphics       Background Graphics and Textures       Animated Graphics     Finding Graphics Bonus: Java Programming Primer - CD-ROM. Index.