Shimeji for Android

Get the Shimeji app here

Hey guys,

So... after eyeballing a few of the live-wallpaper type Shimejis in the Play Store, I decided Shimeji deserves better than that. After all, the point is to have a random mascot on screen wherever you go, right? This is exactly that. The app is free with in-app purchases. In app purchases include unlocking more slots for users to save more Shimeji and run a different variety of Shimeji on their screen at once. Otherwise, you get one free slot to download/import/customize whatever Shimeji you want. I might up this number later.

Features:
1. I find one of the best things about Shimeji is the plug and play aspect. You insert the shime#.png frames into the right directory, and run. This app is meant to be in the same spirit. It's an engine that lets you import your own Shimeji img directory and runs it.
2. Alternatively, if you're lazy, there's a download page to some Shimeji whose artists I have permission from to provide. There are also links to their Shimeji pages and credits.
3. Importing and downloading does its best with arranging where frames go, but if you ever feel like altering frame order or adding and deleting frames, you can edit all action states. Be warned though- if you are missing crucial frames, they'll be replaced by the app's resident mascot Lancrab.
4. Screen real estate isn't as large as it is on a computer monitor, and during development and testing, I found Shimeji do not hesitate to fling themselves into your fingers as you try to type, scroll, etc. Yeah. They really don't hesitate to defy their creator. So I included a few features under Settings that let your touches pass through the Shimeji so you can get on with your normal business. That means no more interacting with the Shimeji though, and it'll just run around on its own. Alternatively, there's a ceiling mode that when enabled, makes all of your active Shimeji prioritize getting to the top of your phone and staying put. If you don't have pass-through mode on, you can still play with them, throw them around a bit, and they'll make their way back up eventually, but hopefully, out of the way.

There are a few things I decided to remove, behavior wise, for the Android app.
1. Shimeji do not multiply. For now. Sorry. I just don't know how wise it is to have them multiplying on a tiny screen. If there's a popular demand to have this feature implemented, I can probably throw it in as a settings-controlled feature so you can turn it on and off.
2. Speaking of screen sizes, only 5 Shimeji can be active on the screen at any time. Like multiplication, if people want there to be more, or a setting to let you change the max number available, I could probably release this feature as long as they all continue running smoothly.
3. Shimeji can't randomly close/minimize apps. I get they can throw windows out on the desktop version, but that's just plain unwise to do when you only ever have one app screen going on at a time, right...?
4. I know. It'd be awesome if they could interact with layout UI elements going on beneath them, like chill on a text view or button, or hang off of app icons. But in order to get them to appear over every other app, they had to be overlays that don't have any interaction ability or knowledge of what's going on beneath them. That'd be kind of dangerous for security reasons, I think.
5. Right now the app's import feature utilizes around... 22 image frames that I deemed crucial to have to animate all of the necessary states (Walk, Jump, Climb, Drop, etc...). Most of the missing ones are the for fun frames, which go under the Idle state. I'll go back soon and expand on importing more frames to flesh out the Idle animations.


This app is a work in progress, and I'm quite excited to continue adding additional features to it. If you have any bug report/crash issues/Shimeji art submission, please contact me at xerophi@gmail.com