Build a game collection

Combine a class's projects into one Android APK and a browser library. The native Android menu adapts its columns to the screen and text size. The web menu adapts to phones, tablets and desktop screens. Games keep their original presentation and their own mobile controls. Android's Find a game field filters titles as you type and keeps the query when you return from playing.

Try the student arcade

From the repository checkout:

lcom-ng web collections/arcade
lcom-ng export web collections/arcade --output dist/lcom-arcade-web
lcom-ng export android collections/arcade --output dist/lcom-arcade-android

The web output is a static folder. Serve it over HTTP or HTTPS. The Android output contains collection.apk and its relocatable Gradle project. Android prerequisites and architecture switches are the same as single-game exports. The included arcade has pinned student games under examples/community/. Their catalog records upstream URLs, revisions, control choices and verification.

Make your own collection

Create a folder with an lcom.collection.json file:

{
  "version": 1,
  "name": "Our class arcade",
  "icon": "icon.png",
  "projects": [
    "../../students/alice/proj",
    "../../students/bob/src"
  ]
}

Paths are relative to the collection folder and point to each game's build folder, usually the folder containing its Makefile and lcom.json. name and icon are optional. When supplied, the icon must be a square PNG of at least 48 pixels. Folders must be unique; nested collections are rejected. Moving the collection and games together preserves the folder list and game identities.

Configure each game's name, icon, description, preview screenshot, source/assets and controls in its own lcom.json. Both exporters reuse that profile. Collection-wide --name and --icon override the launcher identity. Source, asset, argument and orientation switches belong in the individual game profiles.

Re-exporting to the same web output removes generated bundles for games you took out of the list. Files you added yourself are preserved.

The web library uses wide screenshot tiles with names over the artwork. Search opens from the magnifying glass. Games without a preview use their icon. A loading screen shows the game's description and download progress; failed downloads offer a retry or a return to the library.

Playing and returning

The mobile launcher fills the screen. On the web, tapping a game requests fullscreen when the browser supports it; the player also fills the viewport without that API. A Games button returns to the library. It occupies unused letterboxing when space permits and avoids the game's input controls. Browser history works too. Escape remains game input.

Android runs each game in a separate native process. Games, Android Back, normal game exit and a game crash return to the existing launcher. Launching again starts fresh game globals. Files written in that game's private storage survive relaunch. Backgrounding pauses the embedded runtime.

Choose each game's touch behavior, movement pads and named action buttons in its lcom.json. Board games can use a separate control panel to keep every square touchable; local two-player games can give each player their own pad and actions.

Third-party projects

The repository's MIT license does not grant rights to the imported students' source or artwork. Each game's UPSTREAM.json records its provenance and license status; original notices are retained. Many public student repositories have no explicit license. Obtain the authors' permission before redistributing those projects or publishing a class APK or website.

Original student C and headers stay unchanged except recorded corrections for reproduced defects. Each correction has a SOURCE_PATCH.diff and original and patched hashes in UPSTREAM.json. Runtime adaptations live in the shared compatibility SDK.