In game ads...

Monkey Archive Forums/Monkey Discussion/In game ads...

marksibly(Posted 2011) [#1]
Hi,

Ok, as much as I hate the idea, I assume that in game ads are gonna become more important over time, esp. of course for free games.

I don't know much about how these systems work, but I assume iOS/Android provide OS level support for this - correct?

With that in mind how do some simple EnableAds and DisableAds commands sound? Is there perhaps extra config info needed, such as placement/size of ads?


FlameDuck(Posted 2011) [#2]
I assume iOS/Android provide OS level support for this - correct?
Depends on what you mean by "OS level support". As I read it the answer is no. While you could technically write your own from scratch, most developers I know prefer using a 3rd party "complete solution" like AdMob, which is one of the more popular ones, and the one pushed by Google.

Is there perhaps extra config info needed, such as placement/size of ads?
It depends on the solution you choose. AdMob for instance is rather flexible in that regard, and a little more flexibility could definitely be desired. Corona SDK for example only gives you very limited control over Ads (basically just hide/show) and that is one of the reasons (the other being their "compilation process" and that Lua sucks for anything that isn't scripting in the most basic sense of the word) we decided not to go with them.


Dabz(Posted 2011) [#3]
I wouldnt bother with adding in official support for them (Unless your bored), we can get them working fine(ish) now... Just concentrate on something else, like:-

http://www.monkeycoder.co.nz/Community/post.php?topic=1324&post=14953

;)

Dabz


MikeHart(Posted 2011) [#4]
There are so many ad providers. I prefer MobFox over AdMob at any time. Or MobFox with AdMob as a backup filler. But one supported out of the box raises the value for the people big time. Same goes for stuff like OpenFeint. Bring it in, people will love and use it.


Raz(Posted 2011) [#5]
I would very much appreciate some Monkey supported ad commands.

Being able to enable and disable them during the game will be useful.
Being able to set the position of them during the game will also be useful.

That said as a general rule, the less I have to change in the code monkey generates, the better :)


Tibit(Posted 2011) [#6]
Since so many here already have support, would it not be more handy if the some of the awesome monkeycoders here that have written the code already added commands for their favorite ad-system that everyone can use?

Perhaps a new "community" module called monkeyads or something :)

My personal opinion, as seen from articles from Gamasutra and other sources are that paid-apps and ads are going down in popularity and return on investment.


Playniax(Posted 2011) [#7]
Although I have planned to dive into it myself, maybe it’s more interesting for the community to add network support. Not that ad support is not appreciated (it is very much) but streaming data over the network is also a nice feature to have if possible.

Actually talking for myself, some form of pixmap (pixel read/write of a bitmap) would be highly appreciated.

I can dream can I?


Tibit(Posted 2011) [#8]
I agree on networking, all targets has sockets (except Xbox) right? And it would be soo neat to have. It is actually very useful for a lot of different games. Social games almost always require a network connection for you to play - and there are reasons why.


TeaBoy(Posted 2011) [#9]
I think this could work really well, although I can see problems in the future if the ad providers change their API's, but I would like to see this in monkey, perhaps bluetooth / wifi support would be more appreciated :o)


FlameDuck(Posted 2011) [#10]
The problem is, as Tibit pointed out, not all XNA platofroms (XBox 360 and WMP 7 for instance) have normal BSD socket support (thanks Microsoft for creating an intentionally crippled API). Basically that means the you would have to do one of two things:

1) Create an abstraction layer which only exposes an "XBox Live-like" functionality to the monkey language (and would require some pretty heavy support infrastructure for non-live targets).
2) Start offering functionality on a target-by-target basis.

Personally I feel that 1 would be pointless as it seems most people want the networking mainly for webservice type calls, which XNA in its current form, as far as I'm aware simply does not let you do. Period. It seems to be Microsofts opinion that you should become a proper XBox 360 developer if you want the grown-up networking.

Option 2 on the other hand is a little premature, not to mention that it completely breaks the whole point of using something like Monkey in the first place. But is there really nothing you find lacking about Monkey in its current state? Nothing at all, you miss that could conceivably work on all platforms? I find that rather hard to believe. I'll start the ball rolling with "Proper Documentation" for 500 Alex. For inspiration, read Guido van Rossum's Python tutorial. You'll notice they talk about things like "Numbers", "Strings" and Lists in their introductory chapters, not "Types", "Expressions" and "Identifiers".


dmaz(Posted 2011) [#11]
With that in mind how do some simple EnableAds and DisableAds commands sound? Is there perhaps extra config info needed, such as placement/size of ads?
This would be awesome. As others pointed out though, it would be cool have other providers supported as well. maybe you can create a class interface and plugin the vendors default services. then let the rest of us add the 3rd party options...


silentshark(Posted 2012) [#12]
Hey Mark, did this idea go anywhere? Sounds useful :-)


pantson(Posted 2012) [#13]
My Admob module (currently for Android) can be used as a starter.
http://www.monkeycoder.co.nz/Community/posts.php?topic=2185

In it you can define
- which Ad to connect to
- You can show the Ad
- Hide the Ad
- Position it top or bottom
- Refresh the Ad (be careful with that command)

Obviously it would need expanding out to the other targets


silentshark(Posted 2012) [#14]
Thanks, Rich, I've looked at your module, and very good it is, too.

As you say, getting it working with other targets would be fantabulous!


Paul - Taiphoz(Posted 2012) [#15]
I would love support for this out of the box, if at all possible pick a system that supports the three main platforms win7,iphone,android and xbox if possible and then box it in.

Not only will this then be one less thing for some of us to worry about but it will add value to monkey itself, people will be less put off when considering add's if they know they can get support for it.

All that aside I would also second the creation of a community driven mod to do the job.


Xaron(Posted 2012) [#16]
I've Admob running for iPhone without any problems but I doubt that a module makes sense because you have to add references to the XCode project and alter the target code.

It's not possible to make Admob running with WP7 for now because Admob works for Silverlight only but Monkey uses XNA. For WP7 I use the Microsoft Ad network which works pretty good. :)


benmc(Posted 2012) [#17]
Yeah, adding AdMob ads to your iOS game in XCode is REALLY easy fortunately.

https://developers.google.com/mobile-ads-sdk/docs/ios/fundamentals


NoOdle(Posted 2012) [#18]
very handy link benmc thanks!


wmaass(Posted 2012) [#19]
Can the ads tie to game play? For example if a player clicks on an ad they get extra lives or some power up?