Whenever I have tested something out, I have learned something new.
Remember how I shared that I am using NoMachine to connect from one laptop to another on my desk? The first benefit is that I can use the better keyboard of the ThinkPad versus the MSI keyboard which is non standard.
Well the other day when I was playing Marvel Strike Force, part of the game is searching for your characters in a big list and typing in the name you want. On the MSI computer this was awkward and didn’t always seem to register that I typed something. However using the NoMachine to that Mumu emulator, now the typing is immediate and it works better.
It sounds strange that something that isn’t direct works something that is direct, but it is faster and more accurate. If I had to guess it would be that the MSI keyboard isn’t properly recognized but the emulated keyboard from NoMachine is recognized. Emulators can be funny in how they recognize devices.
Does this mean that the Mumu emulator is bad and that I should try to find a different one? Yes, I could take that approach. It served me well moving from BlueStacks, to LDPlayer to Mumu. However right now the functionally is acceptable to me. Does it do everything perfectly? Almost. There is still a problem with Marvel Strike Force not allowing me to chat but this happened with LDPlayer, BlueStacks and now Mumu. I doubt it is the emulator, but again if I get bored I might try other emulators to see if this can be fixed. I must admit that Mumu is faster than those others and looks great, so it is a hard sell for me to test other ones.
Now one interesting option is that I could create a VM environment on the Linux computer and run android OS directly. Then I could play that game from Linux rather than from Windows. Its a possibility, but again I prefer off the shelf software when possible and that allows me to share with my clients something that is easy and reliable for them to do. I doubt non IT people would install a VM with android to play a mobile game. They might install Mumu however which is easily done. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean it is a good use of your time.
One of the downsides of being curious is that sometimes you waste time figuring out the solution to a problem that no one but you will use. That is a waste of time. As 7 habits said, “Begin with the end in mind.” Think about how people will want to use it, and then figure out a way to give it to them.