Tutorials > Archive > Android > Creating C++ OpenGL apps for OUYA with Visual Studio

Creating C++ OpenGL apps for OUYA with Visual Studio

This tutorial shows how to build and debug a simply OpenGL application for the OUYA game console using VIsual Studio. We will create a project based on the San-Angeles sample that is included with Android NDK.

Before you begin, please install VisualGDB 4.0 or later (ensure that “Android Edition” is checked in the installer).

  1. Connect your OUYA console to your development machine over USB:ouya500
  2. Download, unpack and start UsbDriverTool. Select “OUYA” in the device list, right-click, and select “Install Android ADB Driver”:usbdrivertool
  3. When asked whether you want to update adb_usb.ini, select “yes”:adbiniIf you encounter problems with finding your device, try installing the driver manually according to the official OUYA USB driver instructions for Windows if you have not already.
  4. Start Visual Studio. Select File->New project->VisualGDB->Android Project Wizard. Select a name and location for the project, click on ‘OK’.01-newproject
  5. If this is your first time making an Android project with VisualGDB, you are asked to configure the locations for the Android tools beforehand. Click on ‘Configure NDK/SDK locations’.02-notools
  6. As you already installed the Android SDK when installing the USB driver, detect or browse to the Android SDK and Java installation directories. Specify the Android NDK and ant installation directories or install them. Press ‘OK’ when done.03-androidtools
  7. Choose ‘Clone a sample from NDK’ and press on ‘Next’.04-clonesample
  8. Choose ‘san-angeles’ and press on ‘Next’.05-sanangeles
  9. Choose ‘Android 4.1’ and press on ‘Finish’.06-androidplatform
  10. Now the project has been created. Next we make some fixes to be able to build the project. Right-click on both app-linux.c and app-win32.c and choose ‘Exclude from Project’.08-exclude
  11. Build the project Build->Build Solution.09-build
  12. Now make sure the OUYA is started and connected to the development computer via USB and that a screen is connected to OUYA.
  13. Start debugging. You will see the san-angeles example running on the sceen connected to OUYA:o01-sanangeles
  14. Set a breakpoint in the _getTime function in app-android.c to test that breakpoints are working.10-debug
  15. The breakpoint will hit, however after 5 seconds the app will be terminate.. This happens because OUYA  detects
    the ‘activity not responding’ condition and believes the app
    has frozen. We will now fix it by telling OUYA that the
    current app is being debugged. In the main OUYA menu select
    “manage”:o02-manage
  16. In the “manage” menu select “Notifications”:o03-notifications
  17. On the next screen select “USB debugging connected”:o04-usbdebug
  18. Scroll down until you see “select debug app” and select this item:o05-select
  19. Select the activity you are intending to debug. Note that the activity name is not equal to the application name:o06-activity
  20. Once the debugged activity is selected, start debugging again and let VisualGDB stop on a breakpoint. You will notice that OUYA will not terminate you app and you will be able to debug it reliably.