Mudlet: Make Mudlet work on mobile devices

[Kebap]

Description of requested feature:

Release Mudlet for mobile users

Reasons for adding feature:

Mudlet prides itself on being a cross-platform client. 10 years ago, being cross-platform meant being available for Windows, macOS and Linux. These days, mobile computing is much more important. Despite this, there aren't many good options to play text games on mobile devices. For example phones or tablets with operating systems like iOS or Android.

Expected result of feature

Mobile users can download Mudlet (possibly from their usual stores) and run it as well.
Maybe not all advanced functionality is available and most probably not displayed like on desktop devices.
Still, the speed and ease of use and adaptability of Mudlet prevails for a great gaming experience.

Extra information, such as Mudlet version, operating system and ideas for how to solve / implement:

Lots of work, probably not started before Mudlet 5.0 release
Future developments and tests will need to reach the mobile platforms as well as possible.

[cipherxu]

I would love to have mudlet on my mobile :)

[vadi2]

Someone floated the idea of a mobile Mudlet being a stripped down version - that is, you'd make all your scripts on desktop and then run on Mudlet mobile that can do the scripts - and maybe buttons on screen. That's an idea that could work for a start.

[Kebap]

I like that proposal much. Then again, we'd need to think hard on where to draw the lines. Can you expect every mobile gamer to also have a desktop available somewhere, to power up their mobile play? If not, which part of functionality would not be available to them at all or only partially? Which other parts would need a thorough redesign to actually even work on mobile, etc.

[vadi2]

If we make a mobile Mudlet version for 6.0, then it would be a full-blown version... I am thinking this stripped down one could be a stopgap before that

[Kebap]

So with Mudlet having lots functionality, and mobile devices low resolution, how to even fit all on the tiny screen?
Probably UI needs huge redesign. Github issues is probably not the best vehicle for this brainstorming. Where else?

:bulb: Need to take inventory of which functionality will be ported to mobile, and how to access it differently there.
:bulb: Maybe good idea in general to split UI from internal logic, so both mobile and PC can have the same internals.
:bulb: Probably need to design differently for mobile phones as opposed to tablets with a bit bigger resolution still.

[SynecticLabs]

I have it running in a chrooted Debian environment. It's painful to deal with and would definitely second the whole minimal UI proposition. I toyed with the idea of creating a bunch of clickable labels and using a mouse (OTG).

[SynecticLabs]

Also seconding for a brainstorming medium for this. I do a lot of Android dev and this interests me.

[vadi2]

Aha great, we could use your input here.

Have you ever tried playing with Qt on Android? This is what we would be using.

[SynecticLabs]

Just reading over that right now. No, I have not, but honestly see little issue. Qt is Qt, right? That said, this is going to be a lot of work, making this work on Android, and all. Has anybody given any thought to API level this could potentially support back to?

[SynecticLabs]

Just for the record, I'm a ROM developer with an interest in accessibility.

[SynecticLabs]

This most definitely needs to be available from the Play Store.

[SynecticLabs]

Having an app that will require external sources will harm Mudlet and we most certainly want to avoid that.

[SynecticLabs]

And again, can we move this discussion to a more suitable medium?

[SynecticLabs]

I will happily setup GIT and Redmine for this, if required.

[vadi2]

This is a suitable medium, or if you'd like we have forums where we can make a subsection: https://forums.mudlet.org/viewforum.php?f=7&sid=65d6e70f9fa87abb54d81a7ab6745694

[vadi2]

API level this could potentially support back to?

It would be down to whatever Qt supports.

Yep, it would be a ton of work - since the desktop Qt widgets-based GUI would be no good. We'd need a second, QML-based one for mobile devices.

The current UI embeds a lot of logic though - so it'll need to be split out into a layer. This will also help Mudlet eventually run headless.

[SynecticLabs]

Yep, this is something I could certainly invest some time in. We can continue on the forums thread at this point.

[Kebap]

Hey, any news on this?

[ravenousprimate]

I would gladly throw cash at a crowdfunded mudlet campaign! Presently my options are MUDRammer and pocketmud, both of which overcook my grits on a regular basis lol!

As I understand it mobile device App Store rules make it difficult to run scripts within apps. It would be most unfortunate if that were the deal breaker for we mud players.

I would still pay money for an easy to use client that allows me to create a complex timer/trigger at a minimum.

Consider me down for $25-50 for the convenience alone lol

[SynecticLabs]

As I understand it mobile device App Store rules make it difficult to run scripts within apps.

Good call, but other clients accomplish this. We'd have to do some investigating here.

Again, I'm happy to invest some time into this, but a project this size definitely needs multiple people on the team.

[PhoenixCodes]

I've been using BlowTorch on Android, and while I can do a lot... I really, really need more than it can offer. I would be all for Mudlet on Android, but in order to be really feasible to program, would need to be able to "copy" the display size and such so I could see -my- mobile on the Laptop, so when I program where something will go, etc, I know how it'll actually look.