Bb3 Limit On Type Of Mobile Devices?

Discussion in 'Buildbox General Discussion' started by tonymartz2, Jun 7, 2019.

  1. tonymartz2

    tonymartz2 Avid Boxer

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    hello everyone, I'm 100% iPhone person alway on the last model, however when it comes publishing an app it can't be published to all phone models because correct me if i'm wrong but the cheap phones will not handle BB3, the lagging is crazy slow.
    yes I did go buy a cheap $35 dollar android from walmart.
    ran the app and it runs on slow motion.
    if I download this app on this phone I would give it a 1 star review cause im not going to blame the phone but rather the app.

    so my question is how and to what models do we restrict out BB3 games to avoid bad reviews from users with slow phones. ???
     
  2. tonymartz2

    tonymartz2 Avid Boxer

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    for the record, this is not just an issue w BB, same with other engines.
     
  3. Sean Buildbox

    Sean Buildbox Serious Boxer

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    Android is certainly more finicky than it's iOS countertypes on average when it comes to optimization. We're working on some updates in this area and a beginners optimization guide in general for Buildbox as we speak that should help, but overall Android in particular it's best to cater to the better/more recent Android devices in general
     
  4. spicedbeangames

    spicedbeangames Miniboss Boxer

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    Normally something like Google Play won't let users install the app if their phone isnt supported. Support is based on the SDKs you install. As for Apple, they just shut support off for anything older than 5-6 years. The iPhone 6/Plus is next for the chop. That's 220m customers lost once iOS13 arrives.
     
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  5. thatguyminib

    thatguyminib Serious Boxer

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    Hopefully, you guys can fix the lag issue quickly. A release with laggy builds onto the phone doesn't give off a good vibe.
     
  6. TreySmith

    TreySmith Moderator

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    We are expanding the team into Android as well. You guys will see a lot of changes fast over the next few weeks/months.
     
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  7. Aitor Balda Jurado

    Aitor Balda Jurado Boxer

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    Hello all! I am having these same issues on a Xiaomi Mi A1, I do not think this is normal. It is not a top gama phone, but surely it has the minimum requirements to run this kind of apps smoothly... and it is running on 10 fps at most.

    Have you done any improvements with this lately? Thanks!!
     
  8. tonymartz2

    tonymartz2 Avid Boxer

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    I don't think so, it looks like BB3 is for higher end devices, BB2 works perfect on my test $30 android phone but BB3 apps are not playable at all they, its on slow motion...

    my issue is how to limit you app to only certain devices to avoid bad reviews, already had to remove an app from google play for bad reviews on really slow issues... smh also unable to get admob on android to me is a killer
     
  9. Aitor Balda Jurado

    Aitor Balda Jurado Boxer

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    Can't you limit the devices which will be able to download and see your app in the store? That is made through the Google Play Dev Account, or even if you write the xml manifest directly (which should be in the files BB3 export) you could limit by screen size, aspect ratio, etc.
     
  10. tonymartz2

    tonymartz2 Avid Boxer

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    I did a quick google search and it says "Over 24,000 different devices run on Android"
    so how do u know what to limit lol
     
  11. Aitor Balda Jurado

    Aitor Balda Jurado Boxer

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    If you want to cut off the old devices because of it's more likely performance issues, you could for example limit the Android version they need to install your app. Or you can even restrict based on the RAM available of the device. This can be done through the Google Play Console.

    I recommend to you to read this thread: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/7353455?hl=en , in special the point "Manage excluded devices by performance indicators".
     
  12. tonymartz2

    tonymartz2 Avid Boxer

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    awesome, thanks
     
  13. AppNasty

    AppNasty Miniboss Boxer

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    Think of it like PC gaming. You cant play GTA V on a machine that doesn't meet its requirements. Phones are the same way which is why BB games wont work with old iphones. iphone 1,2,3 etc. With BB 2 you can at least utilize the CLONE function and speed up your game on older devices. Also making less objects on screen like instead of 50 green blocks to make the ground in one screens scene, use one bigger green rectangle. Stuff like that to optimize. With BB3, take advantage of the FOG and features that affect view distance. In the levels settings as well as the floating cameras settings.

    Ultimately with both BB 1, 2 and 3 you can make little tweaks that will allow your game to run as smooth as it can on older devices. In the end tho, i wouldn't worry about that. People with super old or super slow devices are minimum vs those who have a device that meets your games requirements. This is getting even better as phones get faster and cheaper to own as well. So focus on making your game as super gfx and epic as you can. As most that will be playing it, will be able to.

    Also you can make a HIGH GFX option and LOW GFX option in your game. For example, Build your game as you want it, loaded with gfx, When done, clone your levels and menus and label them LOW [name here], then link them all to main menu LOW GFX option. Now in your low gfx levels...optimize. Change out the gfx with lower rez files or at least minimize how many show on screen. Less objects to make up scenery, less enemies appearing on screen at once etc. This way if they hit play on normal and its too slow, they can jump to settings and hit LOW GFX mode and run it fine. Default mode is high end, low mode for low end. Now you can satisfy nearly all players devices.
     
  14. Aitor Balda Jurado

    Aitor Balda Jurado Boxer

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    I don't think that is the problem. Xiaomi Mi A1 is not a 30 € phone, it costs 150. It is not the best mobile to play games, obviously, but I have test many other hyper casual games and it is capable of running them very stable and fluently. I have also tried to delete many aspects of my game that could have an impact on the performance, and nothing worked. In the game, there are never more than 6 o 7 objects in screen (square objects with no more than 10 polys), no animations or complicated physics, just a couple of cars running on a flat surface.

    So, again, I do not think that is a "targeting better devices" issue. For me, currently BB3 is far behind other game engines like Unity, and in my opinion this is an important issue due to the MAIN focus of BB3 in hyper casual games, which primordly should run playable in almost any device out there with less than 3 years old in the market.

    I am pretty sure the problem is not something deep of the BB3 engine core, and they will be able to fix it with some optimizations. Maybe the problem is not related with the device specifications, but with the model or the manufacturer's architecture.
     
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