Workshop conducted by

(Wednesday 12th March 2014)

App42 Student Lab – Android Game Dev Series V 0.2

V 0.1 Walkthrough

Key Takeaways -

Basic Steps of Developing any App/Game

Configuring Java for your System

Android SDK Setup

Developing a sample Tic-Tac-Toe Game

Creating a basic Leaderboard

V 0.2 Agenda

Engaging users to your Game

App42 Social Engagement Mechanics

Integrating Facebook to your Game and creating a Social

Leaderboard

Publishing Guidelines for Google Play Store

Simple and Effective techniques of Marketing

App42 Package for Students and Indies

Q & A Session

Attend V 0.3 (19th

March 2014) for

Converting your Single-player Game to a Multiplayer Game

Monetization Techniques

Engaging users

How?

Add ‘Challenge’ to your game

• Create levels with increasing difficulty

• Allow users to unlock levels based on performance

Rate performance

• Show scores

• Rank users based on performance

Satisfy the ‘Social’ Need

• Allow users to compete with their friends

• Allow users to flaunt their performance on Social Media

Acquire more and more

users

Keep acquired users stuck to

your Game

Making your Game successful -

App42 Social Engagement Mechanics

App42 provides you with multiple user engagement features to keep users stuck to your game

Customizable Leaderboards- Create global leaderboard, buddy-based leaderboard, Facebook leaderboard

Push Notification- Send out Push Notifications to users as a reminder to your game

- Create turn-based games using Push

Social Media Integration- Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin integration with your game

- Acquire more users by letting them know that their friends are playing your game

- Allow users to invite and challenge their friends

Rewards- Create a Reward Point System

- Allow users to accumulate points for good performance or for certain activities (Sharing

about your game on Facebook, etc.)

- Users to redeem points for unlocking levels and getting power boosts, gems, lives etc.

Achievements- Create achievements like trophies, badges (top scorer of the week etc.) to be won by

high performers in the game

- Let users flaunt their achievements on Social Media

Buddy Management- Allow users to have their own buddy circles

- Buddies be able to share messages amongst each other

Avatar Management- Create custom Avatars for users

- Allow them to choose avatars that reflect their personality

Contd..

Now you will learn how to integrate Facebook in your game

• Facebook Login and Authentication

You will also learn how to create a Facebook-based Leaderboard for users to compete

with their friends and strive to beat each others’ scores

Integrating Facebook to your Gameand creating a Social Leaderboard

Follow the link for a complete Video Tutorial

Steps to Publish on the Play Store

Creating APK File

1. Right Click on the project in Eclipse and click on Export

2. In the ‘Export’ dialog box, double-click the folder tree titled ‘Android’, and select ‘Export

Android Application’

3. Enter name of project or browse and show the project path

4. Use existing Keystore or create a new Keystore

(Keystore is the location for you .apk file and a password(key) for the file)

5. Enter all details for creating the Key

Your APK (Android Package) File is ready!

Uploading APK File on the Play Store

1. Go to Google Play Developer Console

2. Create an account (here you will need to pay a one-time developer fee of $25)

3. Add a new application specify default language and ‘App Title’ Upload .apk file

4. Click on “Upload your first .apk to Production” Browse your .apk file and select open

File Uploaded!

Prepare your App Profile

Go to Store Listing Write App Description Add screenshots Add App icon and other

graphics upload video (optional) Fill remaining details click ‘Save’

Contd..

Alpha and Beta Testing (Optional)

After you have uploaded your APK, you can set up groups of users for alpha testing

and beta testing the App

You can make a group of users who can access your App's store listing and install the

app

User feedback will come directly to you and will not be posted as public reviews

The feedback can be used to adjust your UI, translations, and store listing to ensure

a great experience for users

Contd..

Final Steps

Specify Pricing – Free or Paid

Specify Country Distribution

Specify Maturity Rating for your App (Low, Medium, High)

Click on Publish

You App will be live in a few hours

Contd..

Make sure the App does not violate Google Play’s Content Policy Guidelines

Your App should not contain any unwanted or spam content, or content unrelated to your App

You must not violate the IP property rights or take proper permission to use someone else’s copyright

Make sure that the Ads to be displayed in your App are as per the Content Policy

Test App Quality according to targeted devices

Make sure that the App is running properly on the targeted Android versions and device screen sizes

The APK File Size should not exceed 50MB

For a larger App, you can use two APK Expansion Files each up to 2 GB in size

Points to be taken care of

8 simple ways to increase visibility of your App and acquire more users

Social Media Hype

• Start sharing interesting facts, tweets, Pinterest posts etc. related to the App way before the

launch

• Create groups related to your App audience/target market

• Contact Admins of popular Facebook Pages related to your App to mention about it

Cross-Promoting to users of your other Apps

• Send Push Notifications to users of your other Apps to inform them about your newly

launched App in the market

Social Media Integration

• Integrate Social Media (Fb, Tw, Lin, etc.) in your App so that friends of your users get to

know that they are using this App and also think of trying it out

Simple and Effective techniquesof Marketing

Press

• It is still the best way to reach out to people if you have some money or if you can make

yourself news-worthy

Pitch App Review websites and bloggers

• If they write about your App, it will be great!

Collect potential customers

• Start collecting Email Id’s right from the beginning, way before the release

• Even manually look for potential customers on different groups and other places

Microwebsite/Blog

• Create a microwebsite or blog on your App beforehand

• Collect visitor data, email id’s etc. to inform them later on the launch

Contd..

App Store Optimization

• A very important aspect

• Enhance your visibility across the Play Store by focusing on the following factors:

App Name

Keywords

App Icon

Screenshots

Review/Rating

App profile page

• Spend money on advertising, co-promotional partnerships, etc.

Contd..

ShepHertz for Students and Indies

ShepHertz Indie Plan

ShepHertz has recently made it’s Starter Package FREE for Students and Indie Developers

Why?

We being the largest Backend-as-a-Service provider in India, understand it to be our duty to

support the burgeoning Indie culture in India

Key Benefits –

Use App42 Backend APIs, App42 Social Features and AppWarp Multiplayer Engine FREE till your

game does well in the market (i.e. upto a cap of 1mn API Hits/App/month for App42 and

2mn/messages/game/month for AppWarp)

Develop as many Apps/Games as you want and use as many APIs as you like

WE JUST WANT YOU TO BE SUCCESSFUL ON THE CLOUD!

(5th March – 2nd April)

Category of games:

• Casual single-player

• 2 – player turn-based

• Multiplayer (will be taught in V 0.3)

Rules:

Use atleast two App42 Backend APIs or AppWarp Multiplayer Engine

Submission of Entries (.apk) by 26th March 2014

(Send us your entries at team.shephertz@shephertz.com)

Results – 2nd April ’14

Register now

National Hackathon for Students

Links for Reference :http://www.shephertz.com

http://api.shephertz.com

http://appwarp.shephertz.com

http://app42paas.shephertz.com

Follow us on:

Contact: sales@shephertz.com

Skype: ShepHertz