Building for Android¶

Doriax can target Android for your exported game projects. The runtime supports Android with an OpenGL ES 3.1 backend through the Android Native Activity path.

Requirements¶

• Android Studio with the Android SDK and NDK
• Java 17 or newer for Gradle builds
• A configured Android device or emulator for testing

Workflow¶

1. Install Android Studio and ensure the SDK and NDK are installed via the SDK Manager.
2. Make sure the ANDROID_HOME (SDK) and NDK paths are available to your environment.
3. Fill in Project Settings → Platforms → Android — package name, version, SDK levels, orientation, architectures, permissions, launcher icons, and the AdMob and Play Billing services. See Android settings.
4. Optional: enable Project Settings → Directories → Native Resource Pack to ship assets and Lua files in one resources.pak instead of as loose files.
5. Export your project from the Doriax editor as Source Code, with the Android preset selected in the Export Window's graphic backends.
6. Open the generated Android workspace in Android Studio, then build and run on a device or emulator.

Project configuration¶

A Source Code export writes the Android settings into the generated workspace, so the manifest and Gradle files do not have to be edited by hand:

An export with no architecture selected fails rather than producing an APK that cannot run, so keep at least one ABI ticked.

Ads and in-app purchases¶

The AdMob and InAppPurchase classes run on Google's Android libraries, which the workspace template compiles in with their Java wrappers:

A Source Code export removes the libraries and the wrapper of each service left off in the Android settings, so a game without ads ships without Google's ad SDK. For each service left on, it raises minSdkVersion to what the library needs (24 for AdMob, 23 for Play Billing) and compileSdk to at least 35. With AdMob on, it also writes the AdMob App ID into the manifest. See Monetization for using them.

Resource packaging¶

The native resource pack is experimental and disabled by default. When enabled, a Source Code export writes project/assets/resources.pak, removes the loose asset and Lua contents, and the Android build ships the pack at the APK asset root. Normal engine loaders, Lua modules, and Data continue to resolve asset-relative, asset://, and lua:// paths.

A direct File handle cannot open packed entries, the full pack must remain below 2 GiB, and its bytes are obfuscated rather than encrypted. See Export Window — Native resource pack for the complete restrictions.

Command-line build¶

The engine repository contains an Android Studio workspace template under engine/workspaces/androidstudio/. Exported projects use the same runtime path. The template builds both optional services in, so its minSdkVersion is 24.

cd engine/workspaces/androidstudio
./gradlew assembleDebug

Android builds link the Android log, EGL/OpenGL ES, OpenSL ES, Game Activity, and Game Frame Pacing libraries.