At first I didn't plan to add the photo cropping functionality to this widget because I wanted to keep it simple. I thought the photo editing such as cropping was other photo editing app's job. But then I found that a number of users really want that cropping feature in my app for convenience, so I added it. :)
I have also added two sub-minute slideshow photo update intervals to the widget. (10/30 seconds) Please note that if you really want to switch photos that fast in the slideshow, more system resources would naturally be used. I would give you the choice tho, as this is also requested by some of you.
Enjoy and have a great 2013!
Version 1.1.0:
- New feature: Added built-in photo crop/rotate editing functions
- New feature: Added sub-minute slideshow photo update intervals (every 30 seconds and every 10 seconds)
- Redesigned and improved the built-in simple file browser
- Now the images are rotated in a fixed alphabetical order in the slideshow
- Fixed a few potential errors in photo file selection
- Fixed an error which occurred when the available memory of the Android device is too low
- Made some internal changes
I recently discovered that Openfeint, the online leaderboard/achievement service I use in Ninja Dodge and Melody Squares, had been shut down. Openfeint has been bought by GREE on November 16, 2012. Without any email notice that I am aware of, the original Openfeint service has been shut down in less than 1 month. In my opinion it is a very poor and irresponsible act of Openfeint / GREE. Even if they did send out notices properly, many developers would definitely be happier if they can have more time to react.
Although my games are not very popular, I really wish I could backup the online leaderboard data of them. It may sound silly, but they are proofs that my games were once played/enjoyed by those top players. I feel sad that I am not able to do so now.
I am thinking to host my own server for making my own online leaderboard system. It would cost me time and money so I have to think really carefully before going for that.
Ninja Dodge! is my first Android creation and I learned a lot in its development. It uses Openfeint for both of its online leaderboard and achievement system. As a result, these two parts are currently broken when Openfeint is gone.
Also, there are many things that I want to redesign/rewrite in Ninja Dodge!, therefore, I decided to unpublish it in the official Android Market for now.
Maybe, in the future, there would be Ninja Dodge! 2. :)
StyleNote 1.6.0 is a major update with lots of new features including the addition of note date/time display and individual note collapsing/expanding on the note list. On top of these, there are setup/info screen redesign, a new convenient memo widget option, and many more!
The long full changelog is as follows.
Version 1.6.0
- New feature: "Last Modified Date/Time Display" for setting whether and how to show each note's last modified date/time in the note list (under "Notebook Preferences" in the "Setup/Info" screen)
- New feature: "Initial Cursor Position" option for setting the initial editing cursor position in the note editor (under "Editor Preferences" in the "Setup/Info" screen)
- New feature: "Menu Widget Tap Action" option which allows the users to directly launch the note editor from the widget with a single tap (in the "Setup/Info" screen)
- New feature: Individual notes can now collapse / expand on the note list by double-clicking the note title headers
- Now the text in the note editor can be scrolled more smoothly (with auto-scrolling)
- Now launching StyleNote from the recent app list will always launch the main StyleNote app
- Now the extra whitespaces and empty newlines at the end of the note title or body are automatically removed in the note editor
- Redesigned the "Setup/Info" screen: now options are organized into groups
- Fixed an error occurred when trying to send a note via possibly problematic external programs
- Fixed an error occurred when loading an exceptionally large note
- Fixed a potential error when styles are being applied in the note editor
- Attempted to fix an issue where the pop-up context menu of the note editor may not show via long-pressing on some devices
- Updated the instruction text
- Made some internal changes
IsoPix, a Pixel Art editor/maker/creator for Android, is released! :D
I am not an artist but I love certain kinds of art. I have been trying to learn and create some. It is the Pixel Art that fascinates me so much. Some beautiful examples can be found here.
Among the many types of Pixel Art, I like the Isometric Pixel Art the most. They look almost 3D but they are not. I like how 3D objects are presented in low-resolution pixel art images in cartoon-ish ways. They are like Legos to me and I love Legos. :)
There aren't many Pixel Art creation tools out there. I mean, there are a lot of drawing apps but most of them are not really for Pixel Art specifically. Also, I was not aware of any of them being made specially for isometric Pixel Art when I began to develop my own Pixel Art creation app. Actually, I found one recently, but it lacks some of the important features I want anyway.
Isometric lines and cubes, illustrated in the following picture, are difficult to draw in traditional drawing apps.
The difficult part is that isometric lines must be drawn in a very specific way. For diagonal lines, the ratio of number of up/down pixels and right/left pixels must be 2-to-1 or 1-to-2. This ratio is what makes isometric Pixel Art what it is. With traditional drawing app, you either have to be trying to make a perfect isometric line very carefully through numerous trails and errors, or you have to plot the line pixel by pixel. I know that many pixel art artists just use basic painting programs to create breathtaking pixel art but it is always good if there are easier and more time-saving ways to do it.
IsoPix allows you create perfect isometric lines with its built-in isometric line drawing tool. Just drag and drop on your image and you are done. You can even move the added lines around freely to preciously position them after creation. A similar tool for isometric rectangles is also available. These are the features I have always wanted when I used other drawing apps for isometric Pixel Art.
The following are some screenshots of IsoPix, the official app description, and a demonstration video. Have fun making Pixel Art! :D
IsoPix - Pixel Art Editor:
- Intuitive image pan/zoom using 2-fingers gesture (pinch to zoom, drag to pan)
- Easy select, copy, cut, and paste (supports rotation and flipping)
- Isometric tools for drawing isometric lines and rectangles easily
- Ability to precisely position individual lines and shapes
- Ability to save/load colors
- Loading from PNG/BMP/JPG/GIF files; Saving to PNG files
- Basic shapes, different pen/eraser sizes, flood filling, undo/redo
