Codelabs for new Android game technologies
Integrating a new technology into your game can be a daunting task. Google Developer Codelabs are guided, hands-on tutorials that walk you through the nuts and bolts of adding new features to your code. We’re excited to announce new game developer Codelabs for Play Asset Delivery and the Android Performance Tuner. There are two versions of the Codelab for each technology: one for games using the Unity game engine, and another for games working with native C++ code.
Play Asset Delivery
Game content can be big and many games have too much data to fit within application bundle size limits. In the past, you had to use APK expansion files (OBBs) within Google Play, or download data from their own content delivery network to support larger games. Play Asset Delivery is a new system that hosts and serves data on Google Play more flexibly than the legacy APK expansion method — often removing the need to use an external content delivery network.
If you’re using Unity, Google has developed a plug-in that’s compatible with Unity 2018.3 and later. The “Using Play Asset Delivery in Unity games” Codelab adds this plug-in to a sample project, walks through the steps required to generate asset packs, and modifies the project to support downloading and using asset pack content.
If you’re using a native C++ engine, Google has developed the Play Core Native SDK. The “Using Play Asset Delivery in native games” Codelab demonstrates integrating this SDK into a sample project. After integration, the Codelab shows you how to generate asset packs using Android Studio and use the Asset Pack Manager API in the Play Core Native SDK to download and access asset pack data.
Android Performance Tuner
Making sure your game performs well is critical to engaging and satisfying your users. Capturing performance data across many Android devices at scale is a big task. Android Performance Tuner makes that task a manageable one, giving you the ability to get key performance metrics from your install base. Details about how your game is performing across device model and device spec levels provide the information you need to help target optimizations, tune settings, and ensure an optimal experience for your users.
If you’re using Unity, Google has developed a plug-in that’s compatible with Unity 2017.4 (LTS) or later. The “Integrating Android Performance Tuner into your Unity game” Codelab walks you through integrating the plug-in into the Boat Attack Unity sample project. You’ll learn how to configure the Android Performance Tuner, test locally with a monitoring app, and visualize results and insights on data collected by builds uploaded to Google Play.
If you’re using a native C++ engine, the Android Performance Tuner is included as part of the Android Game SDK. The “Integrating Android Performance Tuner into your native Android game” Codelab guides you through integration of the Android Game SDK into a sample project. You’ll learn how to configure the Android Performance Tuner, test locally with a monitoring app, and visualize results and insights on data collected by builds uploaded to Google Play.
We’re excited about the possibilities Play Asset Delivery and the Android Performance Tuner open up for game developers. These Codelabs demonstrate just how easy it is to start taking advantage of them in your own games.
Check out d.android.com/games to learn about these tools and more, and stay up to date by signing up for the games quarterly newsletter.
