Introduction
The NVIDIA SHIELD Portable is a high-performance Android device that includes an integrated gamepad controller (note this gamepad is in slot #1 not #0). Mostly development is same as on other Android devices, but here are a couple tips for getting going.
Setting Up The Development PC
On your development PC, you need the NVIDIA USB ADB driver which you can download by searching for it on NVIDIA’s developer site. Note that you do not need to download the entire Tegra Android Development Package (TADP), you can just download the ADB driver.
After connecting the USB cable, you need to go into Device Manager to see it is recognized as an ADB device or you can run "adb devices" from a command prompt. If not, you need to find it (probably under Portable Devices) and right-click and Update Drivers -- choose the have disk options and then select the inf you downloaded.
If you need help with driver installation, there is some troubleshooting info here.
Setting Up The SHIELD Device
Make sure the device has the latest updates.
- Enable the developer mode by going to Settings > About SHIELD, scroll to the bottom and tap "Build Number" more than 7 times (it gives a countdown).
- Enable USB debugging under Settings -> Developer Options and select "OK" to confirm.
- Go back to settings and now go to security settings and turn the allow “unknown sources” option on.
- It is also recommended that you go to Settings > Display and change the Sleep time to 30 minutes.
- Go to Settings > Developer Options and enable Stay awake in order to avoid the devkit turning itself off after some period of inactivity.
Setting Up GameMaker
You'll need a version of the license that supports the Android target. If you have that, then just make sure "Android" is selected in the drop-down target field.
Testing A Game On The SHIELD
Make sure you have the SHIELD connected via USB to your development PC, and make sure the SHIELD is powered on. Check the Device Manager to ensure that the SHIELD is recognized as an ADB device.
If you have game code ready and you hit the run button, you should see that a console window comes up as well as the compile window (sometimes this is minimized so make sure it is visible). The console window should show the progress in pushing the runner and code to the ADB connected device.
Publishing APK To The SHIELD
In GameMaker you can export the actual APK. Once you do that, you can manually install it by connecting SHIELD to PC and then transferring the file over USB. Then, using some file management app you can find the APK and select it. Android should recognize the file as an app and give you the option to install it. After that you will not need the SHIELD connected to the PC to run the game, rather you can just run it like any other app.
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