Next Parts of the Guide and Future Topics

I have a lot of stuff coming up right now so I might not be able to make the next part of the tutorials. The good thing though is that I was playing around with a couple of applications and found some designs that would work better than what I made. I would probably redesign the ugly mockup I made.

**Next Tutorials: **Database

For the next of tutorials on the application, I plan to write the database and a script. From an XML file, it will get the questions and insert it (if it's new) into the database. This would be great in the sense that I could just play around with a string array in the XML file to easily modify the contents of the question database. It's probably not the best solution for bigger projects but this isn't exactly one. Big projects or games such as scrabble would probably have a dictionary (db) already set and ready to use. Anyway, the parts of the tutorial would include the connection to the database and the script for transforming the array into database entries. The transformation from array to database entry should include some ways to save data. Some ways to save data would be to use an integer or byte for who what when how but that will be discussed and thought out better when I write it.

Running a Thread

Normally, a simple project like this wouldn't need one but for the purposes of the "timing" mechanism it's best to run a thread. In the thread, it would check how much time is remaining. If a question is answered then the question checking is applied, points are given and time restarts in the next question.

Other ideas for the application

I haven't had the time to think some of these ideas through but as the screenshot shows I would like to add an avatar. This would use the Camera API and also cover writing data. I don't know if I've written this before but it would be a cool mechanic to have some "abilities" you could use in the game. Things like stopping time, removing one of the wrong answers (think who wants to be a millionaire type) would be nice to have and some of it wouldn't be too hard to implement once you design it well.

Topics: Downloadable Content (DLC) is it Worth the Money as a Customer

DLC has now been around for 5 years (for consoles). DLC is content that expands games by adding levels, costumes, weapons, etc. There was a huge backlash when it first arrived but the issue has died down a bit until the recent release of the big blockbuster game Mass Effect 3. There are questions as to whether DLC is a good thing as a consumer because some companies are not "expanding" the game but rather planning it even in the initial stages. As a customer, it's great to be able to invest in something you like more but there's a line between "hiding" parts of the games through a payment and expanding content. Anyway. I want to research about the history of DLC, where it came from (expansion packs from the 90s?) and see if it's successful.

Emergence of new Genres, Ideas, Community and Business from Mobile

It's no secret that both Android and Apple have seen tremendous growth. The biggest reason for the explosion is applications. Because interaction and use cases with mobile devices is vastly different from desktop environments, it has spawned a lot of interesting things. Instagram is a very good example. Dropbox became even more useful because of mobile devices. In games, new genres such as "running" games have emerged. I would also like to research about this and find out all the new things mobile has brought.