Wiley.Games.on.Symbian.OS.A.Handbook.for.Mobile.Development.Apr.2008 (779888), страница 59
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Payment by major credit card is always available. Thisstep gives the user the opportunity to select the payment option andto enter their details, if necessary.3.Purchase Confirmation: Before the transaction is processed, the useris asked to accept the terms and conditions, provide an email addressfor obtaining purchase receipt, and confirm the purchase details.4.Receive Activation Code and Retrieve License: The transaction isconfirmed and the user receives an N-Gage activation code, whichprovides proof of purchase. The user connects the phone to the licenseserver by going online, and enters the activation code received. Thisenables the phone to retrieve a valid DRM license for the game.The game is now activated and ready to play!8.4.3 My GamesThe My Games module is a collection of the games, trials and demos theuser has installed, and provides quick access to start a game, rate andreview it, or uninstall it.4In some countries, users will be able to get game trials and purchase N-Gage activationcodes directly from physical retailers.
Once they’ve bought the code at a store, they can skipthe first three steps and input the purchased N-Gage activation code directly, as describedin step 4.THE N-GAGE APPLICATION259A user can get ratings and reviews from other players before makingthe decision to download a game. In the My Games module, the usercan rate a game with 1 to 5 stars and submit review comments for it.The ratings and comments are uploaded online and made available tothe other players in the N-Gage community. Users must create N-Gageaccounts in order to submit their ratings and reviews.N-Gage users can also suggest favorite and recently discovered gamesto their friends using game recommendations.
Game recommendationsare sent from the My Games module, and allow users to send a messageabout a particular game to one or many friends.Figure 8.8 The My Games moduleFigure 8.8 shows the My Games display. The games are shown differently according to their current status, as listed below. By default, gamesare sorted by last-played date (most recent first).Owned Games: Owned games are those for which the user has purchasedsome type of license. The license may be time- or content-limited, butas long as the license is valid, full games appear with no restrictionsand with full visibility of the N-Gage Points gradient bars.Trial Games: Full games packaged with a limited license (time or contentwise), designated with a pink ‘TRIAL’ banner, shown on the right handside of the display.Demo Games: Demos are smaller sections of the game (available priorto game release) that show only a very limited feature and level set ofthe game.
They are designated with a purple ‘DEMO’ banner, shownon the right hand side of the display.Expired Games: Expired games are those for which the purchased licenseshave expired.260THE N-GAGE PLATFORMNot Installed Games: Games that were once installed but later uninstalled,or games which have been downloaded or have been embedded inmemory cards, but have not yet been installed.
A game that is installedon a memory card is shown as ‘not available’ when the memory cardhas been removed, by being grayed-out.Whenever a new game is downloaded or transferred over USB, theN-Gage application guides the user through installation, offering thedifferent drives available, where they have sufficient memory, and givingthe user the opportunity to choose which one is used for installation.8.4.4 My ProfileThe My Profile module, shown in Figure 8.9, tracks and stores keydetails about the user’s N-Gage game history.
Users can customize theirprofile, set their availability to play, and view game rankings and in-gameaccomplishments, including detailed N-Gage Points earned in gameplayand for community activities.Figure 8.9 The My Profile moduleAll N-Gage games award N-Gage Points for completing certain ingame goals, called Point Pickups, as defined by the game. Games canaward up to 1000 N-Gage Points total. The user’s points earned, anddetails on each Point Pickup achieved, are recorded in the N-Gage Profileand can be used to compare with friends and other players in the N-Gagecommunity.There are three different types of N-Gage Points:• Solo Points: obtained by playing through the game as a single player.THE N-GAGE APPLICATION261• Multiplayer Points: obtained when using the online features of thegame and playing with others.• Arena Points: obtained by participating in many of the communityonline activities, such as tournaments, events, and more.Gradient bars on the right side of each game icon in the My Gamesmodule express the percentage of N-Gage points collected by the user,reflecting in an approximate way the user’s progress in the game.8.4.5 My FriendsThe My Friends module, shown in Figure 8.10, is a player’s link to friendsin the N-Gage experience.
From here, players can engage in one-on-oneIM chat, send private messages, view each others’ presence status andrate other players. For each friend in the Friends List, the user can see:• presence (logged off/online, and available to play/online, and unavailable)• number of N-Gage Points• last played games.Figure 8.10 The My Friends moduleUsers can easily invite other players from the N-Gage community tobecome their N-Gage friends by sending them a Friend Invitation, shown262THE N-GAGE PLATFORMFigure 8.11Friend Invitation, rating, and chat in the My Friends modulein Figure 8.11, which can be customized to give a more personal touchto the invitation.Users can set their own availability from any module in the application(available under the Options menu).
Availability is defined by presencestate, which the user can complement with a customized presencemessage to explain his or her current context.Once online, the user can send private messages to other friendsonline, as well as to those who are offline. The messages will be storedon the server until the friend retrieves them. If online, users will receivenotification of incoming messages while playing the games, to knowwhen their friends are trying to reach them.8.5 Becoming an N-Gage DeveloperThe previous section will almost certainly have excited you to the newpossibilities for playing great mobile games on S60. The N-Gage platformmakes it easy to find, purchase, share, and install games; a combinationof distribution methods that makes it easier than ever for the consumer toacquire new games.By this point in the chapter, if you are a game developer, you areprobably also interested in the possibilities the N-Gage platform opensup.
Nokia is making it possible to create high-quality native games usingstandard C/C++ idioms, and guarantees to eliminate device fragmentationand ensure game compatibility across a range of S60 smartphones. Italso provides an end-to-end distribution mechanism; a dedicated gamercommunity for sharing game recommendations, chatting, and building aplayer profile; and multiplayer game support through the N-Gage Arena.So who is working on N-Gage games? What is it like to work withN-Gage? Can anyone develop games for the platform?If you are a professional game developer, and work with a publisherthat has a relationship with Nokia, you may already be working onBECOMING AN N-GAGE DEVELOPER263an N-Gage game.
At the time of writing, Nokia has revealed that thefollowing publishers are creating games, and that new partnerships willbe announced on an ongoing basis:• Capcom• Digital Chocolate• EA• Gameloft• Glu Mobile• Indiagames• I-play• THQ Wireless• Vivendi Games Mobile.Nokia will itself continue to publish game titles for the N-Gageplatform.
Some of the first generation N-Gage titles announced, such asMile High Pinball, Pro Series Golf and System Rush: Evolution, havebeen created by developers working with the game publishing team thatworked on the original N-Gage game deck titles.Game developers working on N-Gage games sign a non-disclosureagreement with Nokia. Once their project has been authorized, theyreceive software (such as the N-Gage SDK) and hardware (includingS60 smartphones) for reference testing. Registered N-Gage developersare also supplied with accounts to allow them to access the N-GageZone on Forum Nokia PRO.
This site is primarily a developer resourcemaintained by the N-Gage developer support team. It provides up-todate documentation specific to the creation of N-Gage games, from gamedesign through to coding. There is also a set of documentation availableto describe how to submit the completed game for certification; thedetailed standard game requirements (SGRs) against which the game iscertified are also published on the Zone, so that developers can familiarizethemselves early on, and pre-test the game in advance of certification byNokia.The N-Gage Zone also gives developers access to the online supporttool for requesting technical support, and a set of discussion boardswhere N-Gage developers can discuss technical issues with peer gamedevelopers in other companies, working on other titles.N-Gage developer companies are assigned an account manager inNokia, who assists them throughout the process of creating a title.They also receive support from a technical consultancy group withinN-Gage developer support.
Technical consultants visit the developer264THE N-GAGE PLATFORMsites to provide training and answer questions about the N-Gage SDK.The technical consultant assists the team from the beginning of the projectthrough to the final stages when the game is certified.Currently, if you are not already working in a professional developmentteam to create an N-Gage game for Nokia or one of the publishers listedabove, you will not be able to get access to the N-Gage SDK. This wasalso the case for the original N-Gage game decks, as we described insection 8.1.3.
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