FAQ.txt

GOOGLE PLAY GAMES - ANDROID SAMPLES
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS


[0] Why should I use BaseGameActivity/GameHelper instead of the regular API?

    BaseGameActivity and GameHelper are not a substitute for the regular
    Google Play Games API. Rather, they are sample helper classes intended to
    implement the boilerplate code that typical games use to implement the
    sign-in and connection management process. You are not required to use
    these sample helpers, but doing so might save you some work.


[1] How should I compile BaseGameUtils into my project?

    Include BaseGameUtils as a library project. Consult your build system's
    documentation as to how to accomplish this, since this varies by IDE.
    If you are using Gradle, you can add the BaseGameUtils directory to
    your project and adjust your project's build.gradle files to reflect
    a dependency on BaseGameUtils. For an example, see the build.gradle
    files in the sample. Particularly, the BasicSamples is set up as
    a gradle multi-project where several different apps (the samples)
    depend on the BaseGameUtils library.

    You should NOT compile the BaseGameUtils classes as stand-alone JAR files
    into your project. Doing so will cause them not to be able to find their
    resources, and might cause problems.

    If you want more simplicity and don't want to deal with build system
    red tape, you can adopt the less organized approach of dropping in
    the BaseGameUtil java files into your project; if you do, remember to
    also copy the BaseGameUtil resources into your project's res/
    directory.


[2] I already have an Activity base class! Can I use BaseGameActivity?

    No (but read on). Java does not support multiple inheritance, so you can't
    simultaneously derive from BaseGameActivity and another Activity class.
    However, you will notice that BaseGameActivity is actually a thin shell
    over the piece that does the real work, which is GameHelper. If you can't
    subclass BaseGameActivity, all you have to do is use the GameHelper
    in your code and call its lifecycle methods when your Activity gets
    the corresponding lifecycle events.


[3] If I'm using other Google APIs, should I still use BaseGameActivity
and/or GameHelper?

    Yes. If you are using other Google APIs in addition to games, you can
    integrate those into the same client


[4] Why is GameHelper/BaseGameActivity attempting to sign in on 
application startup?

    The default behavior of BaseGameActivity and GameHelper is to show the user
    the sign-in flow (consent dialogs, etc) as soon as your application starts.
    Naturally, once the user signs in for the first time, they won't see the
    consent flow again, so it will be a seamless experience. It is important
    for the user to sign in as early as possible so your application can take
    advantage of the Google Play Games API right away (for example, saving the
    user's progress using Cloud Save, unlocking achievements, etc). If the user
    cancels the sign-in flow, BaseGameAcitivity/GameHelper will remember that
    cancellation. If the total number of cancellations reaches a predefined
    maximum (by default, 3), the user will no longer be prompted to sign in on
    application startup. If that happens, they can still sign in by clicking
    your application's Sign In button, if you provide one.


[5] I don't like the new "auto sign in" feature of GameHelper. How can
I disable it?

    To disable this feature and return to the old behavior, you can edit
    GameHelper.java and set the DEFAULT_MAX_SIGN_IN_ATTEMPTS constant to 0, or
    call GameHelper.setMaxAutoSignInAttempts(0) at runtime, before calling
    GameHelper.setup() (or, correspondingly, from your Activity's onCreate
    method).


[6] I think the default error dialogs are ugly. I want to make my own.
How can I do this?

    For convenience, BaseGameActivity and GameHelper show error dialogs
    with appropriate error messages for each kind of error. If you want
    to disable that behavior and make your own dialog boxes, you can
    call GameHelper.setShowErrorDialogs(false) to inhibit the default
    dialog boxes, then show your own when you get an onSignInFailed().
    To retrieve details about the failure, you can call 
    GameHelper.getSignInError().


[7] I need to localize the sign-in failure message (and other error messages
shown by BaseGameActivity and GameHelper). How can I do that?

    Simply translate the string resources found in 
    res/values/gamehelper_strings.xml into the corresponding locale folders,
    as you would any other string resouce in Android.