Apr
24

ReQognise Updates + More coming

As you may have noticed, I have released ReQognise 2.3 on App World for Playbook devices. The reason why this hasn’t appeared on other devices is, well, because other devices don’t need the update.
The update provides:

  • Update to Qt 4.8.1
  • Update to NDK 2.0
  • Fixes ‘Browse’ button automatically re-opening when cancelling dialog
  • Screen issues when opening from portrait mode
  • Bug fixes with file opening.
  • Dialog improvements (UI).

One of the side-effects of all these changes is that the application is much slower now! I was hesitant to provide this update for a while because of the slow down. I have identified the issue to be caused from the updated version of Qt. In particular, they have enabled too many samples, anti-aliasing or something similar upstream.

So, I aim to fix this speed issue in 2.4 which I will be submitting to App World today.
The next update will provide:

  • Even newer version of Qt 4.8.1
  • Faster rotation / running
  • Improved image ordering. No longer pure random. Image rotation is decided PRIOR to running and cycles through a fixed order so that you never see the same image until you have cycled through all others first. This is especially significant in the new trial versions.

Again, the Symbian and Meego versions are unaffected by this. Weaker hardware they may have but this app runs very fast on them.

On a side note, I have released several free versions of ReQognise on Playbook (Animals, Flowers, Landscapes, ..). This will allow people to trial the game before purchase. Each game comes with 15 pre-set images. To choose your own images you would then upgrade to the full version.

Nov
04

ReQognise 2.1.2 now on App World

Well, in record time — just two days from submission to approval and listing — ReQognise has appeared on App World. I believe this may be the first Qt app listed on Playbook (but can’t be sure). Was a very good experience submitting an app to RIM and I think I will submit a few more shortly.

Find Reqognise listed here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/63684 <

I also have some free opensource apps planned such as ‘BubbleKid’ by Marcelo. Missing some graphics at the moment but I’ll try to get it set up after the weekend.

No news on the Harmattan/N9 release yet.

Nov
02

ReQognise 2.1.2 submitted to Nokia Store/App World for N9 and Playbook

Well today was a progressive one.

There were some bugs in the N9 version that required UI changes. I have moved the tiles off the edge so it doesn’t interfere with swiping. While I am able to prevent swiping, I felt it was better to keep the N9′s natural gestures. As on other platforms, there is still an exit button in the top corner should you prefer it.

Another glitch in the N9 version was with the vibrate function. Apparently this does not work with QtQuick yet, so it will have to wait.

After my bug fixing spree, I submitted the latest version to the Nokia Store for Harmattan and to the App World for BBX (Playbook).

I hope you enjoy the game.

As always, if you have an issue on your platform, feel free to comment on here or email me to quickly resolve the issue. I check these every day and have plenty of free time to fix what ails you.

Nov
01

Video Demonstration: ReQognise

I created a video demonstration of the app (and will add it to this site).

Here it is on youtube.

Sep
19

ReQognise 2.1.0 (Update)

New version of ReQognise for Symbian^1 [NEW], Symbian^3 and Playbook [NEW].

Submitted to Ovi Store.

Although the Playbook version is complete and possibly final — I am currently unable to submit this application to AppWorld. Waiting on permission.

Changelog:

General

  • Easier movement of pieces from left side list.
  • Improved info/about dialogs.

Playbook

  • Dragging can no longer freeze Playbook.
  • Accelerometer works on Playbook.
  • No big grey fullscreen boxes on Playbook.

Symbian^3

  • Avkon removed entirely (now uses QML notifications).
  • Fixed a rotation bug on E6
As always, feel free to come forward with suggestions or issues.
Cheers
Sep
15

ReQognise ported to Playbook

I now have ReQognise working perfectly on Playbook (without having to modify its cross-platform Qt code!).

In fact, I now have all my applications working on Playbook thanks to the successful port of Qt to the Playbook platform (thanks octorian).

Reqognise (Playbook/Qt)

ReQognise for Playbook Beta available here (no longer representative of the game).

Known bug: Holding down touch to pick up objects doesn’t work, just swipe it across quickly.

 

Sky is the limit for the Playbook. If you have any favourite opensource Qt applications you want me to port to the platform, just leave a comment here.

ReQognise (and my other apps) will appear on Playbook’s AppWorld when the NDK (and Qt) becomes official.

Aug
13

ReQognise 2.0 submitted to Ovi Store

The new ReQognise 2.0 has been submitted.

As explained earlier, the UI has been revitalised with Qt Quick which improves speed and adds animations.

This initial version is a huge leap from ReQognise 1.04. Even so, I intend to further improve the UI by further optimising and simplifying the UI code and making use of the more advanced features of Qt Quick and Symbian^3 (such as GPU acceleration, online interaction, particles, physics and so on).

One of the most glaring omissions in this initial version is the lack of a messaging system. I still make use of Qt/C++’s message dialogs for displaying errors, notifications and opening files. As such, the Avkon system is still relied upon and this can look ugly, slow and does not respect rotations. I envisage to replace these messages with Qt Quick in the next iteration of this game.

 

E6 Reqognise Quick

I hope you all find my use of Qt Quick exciting and refreshing. For those that are yet to try it, I will be uploading a youtube video to demonstrate ReQognise 2.01 when it is released. The improvements can’t really be seen in a static image.

As a side note: I am looking in to translating the application in to the languages of those who have downloaded it (from Ovi Store statistics).

Further: If you have any queries, bugs or wishes for the application, please comment on here or send me an email!

Thank you all for your support.

Aug
05

Announcing reQognise 2.0

It will come as no surprise that I have been working on a Qt Quick version of ReQognise.

The advantages of such a change were immediately visible when testing out my base code. I hit a few road blocks along the way including some bugs that will need to wait for Qt 4.8 for a true fix (I’ve worked around them).

The result is purely amazing. If I was to show a picture, it would look the same as older versions. This really needs a video to show it off — and so, I will release a video once it has been submitted to Ovi Store. The app is still undergoing testing before I submit it to the Ovi Store.

Changelog

  • UI made in Qt Quick instead of Qt/C++.
  • UI allows rotating device 360 degrees with instant, responsive animations.
  • Many animations added.
  • Better graphics.
  • Better messaging system.
  • Removal of Avkon (source of all lagg).
  • Fluent scrolling and drag&drop actions within game.
  • More expansion possibilities.
  • Easier future coding.
Known Bugs
  • Although very unlikely, it is possible to get old images due to a caching bug in Qt4.7 (Fixed in Qt4.8). This can also lead to memory leaking.
  • Images are still square ratio (UI design). May be improved in future version.
Jul
27

Working on reQognise Quick

Hello everyone.

Just a little development update. I have postponed development of PoliceLog until the application speed can be enhanced. The application, written in Qt Quick, is lightning fast but slows to a crawl as soon as over 40 log events are made. As I believe this will be the primary use case of any PoliceLog user, I cannot publish it in its current state. In the meantime, I have cast my attention to reQognise.

I’ve noticed that reQognise is quite slow for rotating the screen (unless you use Symbian Anna), slow drag and drops and isn’t that nice visually. Always looking to improve, I have decided to rewrite the program in Qt Quick.

Based on my previous Qt Quick apps, I can tell you that this improved version will have:

  • Instant rotation in any direction. That is, as soon as a rotate is triggered, the UI will have updated. No screen flashing and UI shuffling. Also, you will be able to rotate with your phone upside down or however you like. Four views instead of two.
  • Animations. Qt Quick has very nice animation support and I will be making use of this — especially for the loading screen.
  • Modern UI. The update will allow a nicer looking UI, although my first attempt will be at replicating the current UI (which I think works quite well).
  • Much better, intuitive and beautiful drag and drop support. Qt drag and drop is woeful on Symbian (but beautiful on Windows and everything else). Hence, I will be rewriting my own custom drag and drop in Qt Quick.
Although it will be a completely new application, current reQognise users will be able to update to it directly from the Ovi Store.
Update:
For some reason, my development system got hosed half-way through developing the app. I’m trying to sort out the issue. It seems my Ovi Suite no longer works, my phones can no longer recharge from this computer and CODA (wireless debugger) is giving me error code 69 from this system.
In the meantime, I will probably release a proof of concept reQognise Quick on here soon. Just so you can see what it will look like.
Jul
22

ReQognise available on Ovi Store

My first Ovi Store published app is now available. It has taken a long time but I think I finally have the process perfected and hopefully the next few apps won’t be as difficult.

If you want to check out reQognise 1.0.3, click the image link below. Also, be sure to comment here if you’ve tried my game and have any opinions/thoughts. It’s always good to get another persons views and inputs. It’s very possible I will implement your changes!

Just a general development update:

I am currently working on two other applications that may require a newer version of Qt (and hence Symbian Belle) before they can be published. However, I will try my best to keep this blog updated with all my development activities and even produce beta builds of my next apps for viewers to test out.

My current challenge is multitouch in QtQuick. There is a buggy implementation that has been deprecated and was never allowed in Ovi Store anyway. This will be replaced in a future Qt with a new touch API. I’m currently using Qt C++ backend to do multitouch but I am finding it laggy and it only supports two inputs. If you share these gripes or have a solution, feel free to comment in here.