Jayme Schroeder - AndEngine for Android Game Development Cookbook

Jayme Schroeder was introduced to computers at a very young age. By 11, he had started creating modifications and level packs for his favorite game. By age 16, he had found his true passion in game development and network programming in C++ and OpenGL. In early 2011, Jayme had received an Android smartphone and immediately fell in love with the development experience. Since then, he has been researching and developing for the Android platform on a daily basis.

There are many people I would like to thank for the opportunity to write this book and also thank those who helped me out every step of the way.

First and foremost, I would like to thank Packt Publishing for the acceptance of AndEngine for Android Game Development Cookbook and Amber D'souza for first approaching me with the opportunity to write this book. I would also like to thank Kartikey Pandey, Michelle Quadros, Sweny Sukumaran, Priya Sharma from Packt Publishing who all played a large part in making the writing process much easier than anticipated and comfortable for me. I would also like to thank Dominic Pereira and Sharvari Baet for the effort they've put in throughout the production stage and the suggestions they've made.

I would like to thank Nicolas Gramlich for creating AndEngine. Not only has he created an amazing engine for novice and advanced developers alike, but he's created a great community for Android developers to both learn and strengthen their development skills relating to game development.

I would like to also thank my co-author, Brian Broyles, for his contributions and commitment to the book. It's been an honor to share the experience with him.

Finally, I would like to thank all of my family and friends who showed their support and provided feedback during this experience. More specifically, I would like to thank Kent and Judy Schroeder; my parents, Shannon, Hollie, Taylor, and Brittanie; my brothers and sisters and my girlfriend, Krystal Guevremont. Of my friends, I would like to specifically thank Leo Wandersleb and Jordi Puigdellvol, with whom I've spent many days discussing the finer details of AndEngine which greatly helped to improve my knowledge.

Brian Broyles is a freelance programmer and 2D/3D graphic designer with over 12 years of experience. Before entering the mobile development industry in 2010 as the lead programmer of IFL Game Studio, he designed advanced artificial intelligence systems and graphical effects for interactive PC applications. In addition to his vast programming and design experience, he is also a commercial pilot, instrument flight instructor, and advanced instrument ground instructor.

I'd like to thank my amazing, beautiful wife, Bethany, for her support and enthusiasm as well as my family for encouraging me in all of my endeavors.

Mateusz Mysliwiec was born 1993 in Tarnow, Poland, graduating from high school in 2012. He currently lives in England. During his last year of high school, he decided that he would like to study Software Engineering or a different subject connected with math, programming, and engineering. He is also an independent game developer. In his free time, he develops professional mobile games focusing especially on the Android platform. His goal is to permanently impact the global mobile gaming industry in the near future. He is active in a variety of projects, including open source. His passions away from game development are sports and recreation such as football, skydiving, and jogging. His family and friends are the important aspects of his life.

Sergio Viudes is a 30 years old software developer from Elche (Spain). He works developing commercial web apps, and develops video games for Android in his free time.

He likes to play video games since childhood. He started playing with his brother's Spectrum when he was 5 years old. When he bought his first PC (well, his parents did), he was 14 years old, and started learning computer programming, computer drawing, and music composing (using the famous "FastTracker 2"). When he finished high school, he studied Computer Science at the University of Alicante.

His interest in mobile devices started with his first smart phone, ten years ago (2002), when he bought the first Symbian device from Nokia, the Nokia 7650. He really liked the idea that he could develop software that could run everywhere. So, along with his studies and his job, Sergio started creating simple mobile apps for his phone. About two years ago he decided to create his first video game for mobile devices. He really enjoys developing for mobile devices, he likes to compose music, he likes to draw, and, of course, he likes to play video games. So he decided to put all his hobbies together and develop his first video game for his favorite mobile platformAndroid.

So far Sergio has released 3 games and he continues developing apps and games for Android as a hobby. He wishes that someday it will be his job, not just a hobby.

Jafar Abdulrasoul a graduate from the Kuwait Universityis a Computer Engineer and an Android game enthusiast who wrote a couple of excellent tutorials on his blog about creating games using AndEngine. He is known online by the name Jimmar.

My gratitude goes to my mother who tries to support me in everything I do, so thank you mama!