Haptic on Android - al_install_haptic() returns 0.

no-reply@allegro.cc (Ian Lewis) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 20:38:51 +0000

Hello All,

I'm trying to add haptic effects to my Android game.

al_install_haptic() always returns zero, and so I can't go any further :-(

I have already (successfully) called al_create_display(), and I have added to my manifest.

Have I missed anything?

Anyone have any ideas what might be causing this?

Follow up questions:
Should I expect the display, or the touch input to be haptic capable? (i.e. should I be using al_get_haptic_from_display() or al_get_haptic_from_touch_input()? )

I know I can check with al_is_display_haptic() & al_is_touch_input_haptic(), but all the touch input functions need a parameter of type ALLEGRO_TOUCH_INPUT, and I can't see where I get that from..... Any clues?

Cheers

Ian.

no-reply@allegro.cc (beoran) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 23:51:50 +0000

I wrote most of the haptics a few years ago, but it is still somewhat half baked and untested on Android and IOS. This is due to a lack of actual users of the API , so your feedback is appreciated.

On mobile platforms, the display should be haptic capable, other inputs are likely not so.

It is possible that you have hit a bug. Could you post some example code that exhibits the problem, then I will look into it.

no-reply@allegro.cc (Ian Lewis) — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 02:34:33 +0000

Thanks beoran.

Here's a stripped-down section of the start of my code which seems to show the problem.

#SelectExpand
  1#include 
  2#include 
  3#include 
  4
  5#define ALLEGRO_UNSTABLE 1  //needed for haptics.
  6
  7#include "allegro5/allegro.h"
  8#include "allegro5/allegro_image.h"
  9#include "allegro5/allegro_primitives.h"
 10#include "allegro5/allegro_font.h"
 11#include "allegro5/allegro_ttf.h"
 12#include "allegro5/allegro_audio.h"
 13#include "allegro5/allegro_acodec.h"
 14#include 
 15
 16
 17ALLEGRO_DISPLAY *display;
 18ALLEGRO_HAPTIC *hap;
 19ALLEGRO_HAPTIC_EFFECT_ID *hapID;
 20
 21int game(int argc, char **argv )
 22{
 23    /* Init Allegro 5 + addons. */
 24    al_init();
 25
 26    //init other bits of allegro
 27    al_init_image_addon();
 28    al_init_primitives_addon();
 29    al_init_font_addon();
 30    al_init_ttf_addon();
 31    al_install_mouse();
 32    al_install_keyboard();
 33    al_install_audio();
 34    al_init_acodec_addon();
 35    al_android_set_apk_fs_interface();
 36
 37    al_set_new_display_option(ALLEGRO_SUPPORTED_ORIENTATIONS,ALLEGRO_DISPLAY_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE,ALLEGRO_REQUIRE);
 38
 39    display = al_create_display(960, 540);  //Moto E resolution
 40
 41    ALLEGRO_TOUCH_INPUT *touch;
 42    int temp = al_install_haptic();  //returns 0
 43    if (al_is_haptic_installed())
 44    {
 45        if (al_is_display_haptic(display))  //never get to here
 46            hap = al_get_haptic_from_display(display);
 47    }
 48
 49    while(1); //ends up here
 50
 51}

and here's the AndroidManifest.xml

#SelectExpand
  1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  2<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  package="com.tootiredgames.gravstorm" >
  4
  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.VIBRATE" />
  8
  <application
      android:allowBackup="true"
      android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
      android:label="@string/app_name"
      android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
      android:supportsRtl="true"
      android:theme="@style/AppTheme"
      android:windowSoftInputMode="stateVisible">
      <activity android:name=".MainActivity"
          android:configChanges="orientation|screenSize"
          android:screenOrientation="landscape" >
          <intent-filter>
              <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
              <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
          </intent-filter>
      </activity>
  </application>
 26
 27</manifest>

no-reply@allegro.cc (beoran) — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 03:26:50 +0000

It seems i forgot that I didn't implement haptics for Android and iOS at all. It only works on Linux and Windows for now. How silly of me!

Seeing my current situation I can't say when I will get to implemening the Android haptics driver for Allegro5. It's not that hard, though, so you could try it yourself if you need this urgently. I will try to assist you as I can.

Edit: on second thought, it doesn't seem right to leave you up shit creek without a paddle. I will write the driver myself asap. I would appreciate your help to test it though.

no-reply@allegro.cc (Ian Lewis) — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 14:13:20 +0000

Ah, well that would explain it :-)

Thanks very much for the offer. I appreciate it, but don't let it get in the way of anything more important in your life :-)

Yes, I'm happy to test it. Let me know when you have something to test. I'll PM you my email address, in case that's useful.

Cheers,

Ian.