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What is WAP?Wireless Application ProtocolWAP Microbrowsers in Every Phonedisplays WAP “decks”
Equivalent to Primitive Web BrowsersAllows: Text Images (b&w bitmaps) Hyperlinks Text entry
Why Develop WAP Games?Better environment than SMS Links & Lists make for better UI Not limited to 160 characters Can rely on image-display capability Latency issues not as brutal
Main Format for Games in North Americaand acceptable in Europe
Functional business model
How Does it Work?
a. User requests URL; phone connects to towerb. Tower passes request to WAP gateway (WTP)c. Gateway decodes, passes request to server @ URL (HTTP)d. Server acts on request, returns data to gateway (HTTP)e. Gateway encodes, passes data to phone (WTP)f. Phone decodes, displays WAP deck to user.
Think COLS, not InternetEntering URLs is a Pain in the AssPeople stick with the carrier’s navigational hierarchy
People Pay—the Carriers, Not You
Like the old Commercial Online Services Need a deal to gain access to customers… Customers funnelled to you Share revenue with the carrier
WAP Is Inconsistently ImplementedInconsistent Browser Behavior Test for Nokia, Ericsson, OpenWave Use URL Links, not Select Lists Avoid Soft Buttons & Tables
Cookies Not Always AvailableUse URL Encoding
User Timers, Not Push
Forget about WTAI & WMLScript
Game Session Should Take< 10 Minutes
If They’ve Got More Time, They’ll Find a Real Game Machine
Can Mean: Short Game Saved Gamestate Playable in 5 Minute Chunks
Latency of 1-2 Seconds
Unlike SMS (can be 1 min +)
Multiple Interactions Within a Session Each can be of modest importanceForget Twitch Games
Network Not ReliableHandle Drops Gracefully
Design so Player Disappearance Doesn’t Matter AI Take-Over Allow Player Re-Entry Stand-bys?
Allow Reentry Without Data InconsistencyTime-Outs on Decks
Decks Must be < 1.4k
Unlike HTTP, Text & Images Sent as aSingle Request
Well, it’s better than SMS
HTTP > WTP Encoding Includes Compression
Dealing with 1.4k Limit Write Tersely
Use Graphics Sparely
Make Animations Separate Deckwith timer to autoload next deck
Can Make Long Documents Multiple Decks Consider “Terse” Mode for Experienced Players
Making the Most of Graphics
Make Every Pixel Count
“Updating” image means another server requestNo imagemaps
Still best to avoid “board” layouts
Keep the UI TransparentSelect Lists (avoid)
Soft Buttons (avoid)
Text Entry (keep to a minimum)
URL-link Menus (exploit to the max)
What Game Styles Work?Head-to-head Games
Gameshows
Text Adventures
Boardless Strategy (e.g., Nuclear War)
Evolution of WAPNear-Term:WMLScriptWTAI (Wireless Telephony Application Interface)
WAP 2.0:Supports HTTP & TCP/IPXHTML (Mobile Profile)Cascading StylesheetsLocal persistent storageMMS Integration
WAP likely to no longer be the main event
http://www.ungames.com/tmpl.php/games/vr/
http://www.jamdatgames.com/html/games_gladiator.html
http://www.dataclash.com/main.html
http://web.wirelessgames.com/lifestyles/pets/over.html
Yes, Good WAP Games Are Possible, Virginia
Multiplayer
Persistent
Fantasy that appeals to the Hard CoreMedia licenses (sigh)
URLs
WAP Forum: www.wapforum.orgOpenWave SDK (includes emulator): http://developer.openwave.com/download/Nokia WAP emulator: http://www.forum.nokia.com/wapforum/nokiasim_new.htmlEricsson WAP emulator: http://www.ericsson.com/mobilityworld/sub/open/technologies/wap/tools.html