Lose The Screenshots
Photics
Member Posts: 4,172
If I'm right, this is a HUGE mistake... HUGE... HUMONGOUS... ENORMOUS!
Why is GameSalad including screenshots in the final package?
Follow the steps and you can see this issue...
1) Right-Click the .app file that you get from GameSalad
2) Show package contents
3) Right-Click the .gameproj file
4) Show package contents
5) Open Screenshot folder
6) Behold, the extraneous files.
I think these files should be removed automatically. They should not be included in the file that is sent to Apple. Basically, those files sit on iOS devices all over the world... UNUSED! If your app is just over the 20MB mark, it seems that you're risking the loss of potential customers —— FOR NOTHING!
Can these files be deleted manually, without breaking the game?
Why is GameSalad including screenshots in the final package?
Follow the steps and you can see this issue...
1) Right-Click the .app file that you get from GameSalad
2) Show package contents
3) Right-Click the .gameproj file
4) Show package contents
5) Open Screenshot folder
6) Behold, the extraneous files.
I think these files should be removed automatically. They should not be included in the file that is sent to Apple. Basically, those files sit on iOS devices all over the world... UNUSED! If your app is just over the 20MB mark, it seems that you're risking the loss of potential customers —— FOR NOTHING!
Can these files be deleted manually, without breaking the game?
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
After you do that you can publish your app/game without screenshots included (remember not to preview the game before publishing or the screens will be created again).
Now Ive gone and looked in that folder you mentioned, and its listing 106 screenshot .PNG files, each of which averages 160kb, but when I try to view them are all showing as blank files.... WTF?
My Mole in a Hole build I submitted on saturday has just gone into review, so it looks like my 1.0 version is going to include those files...
Holy crap.... thats listed as 16mb for the screenshots folder...and my app is 40mb... I'd opted for not trying to get it down to under 20mb, but without that folder, it wouldnt have actually been too unreasonable to achieve.
Looks like I'll be working on my first update sooner than I'd planned...
So while were at it...can GS fix that bloody loading movie too. Instead of holding it on a blank white screen for so long, hold it whilst its showing the logo instead if you have to...so at least that way it doesnt make the apps look like theyve crashed....
I also wonder if the "assets" should be emptied before submitting the final build?
What I mean by that is the images we drag into GS before they are assigned to actors. If there are unused ones, will GS automatically purge those or is everything being included?
just wondering ....
I know that each app varies in size, but both those are 16mb and 10mb respectively, and Mole in a Hole is currently 24mb if I delete all the screenshots from that screenshot directory.
So anyway...what this is making me wonder is, did the other devs already delete their screenshots folders in their published app knowing about the issue, or, do they just contain a lot smaller screenshot folders than I seem to have gained on Mole in a Hole.
I mean 106 screenshots in there.... where the hell did they come from? At what point are they being generated...and why?
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But yes, they should not be included!
Although thats still twice as many screenshots as scenes... so it must be saving ones from deleted scenes too.
I guess at least its gonna look good when my 1.1 version of the game shrinks considerably in filesize compared to 1.0.
I did a new adhoc build... I dont know, I guess I was expecting that the issue would have been resolved already server side, as lets face it, how hard can it be to modify a couple of lines of code to tell the build to not include the screenshots.... but alas, its still including the directory and 106 or so PNG screenshot images.
So ok... Im a little annoyed, but figure I can just delete the screenshots out of the folder, like suggested above... but alas, that doesnt look like it works, as when I try and install the app, it now tells me "The app was not installed because its resources have been modified".
So deleting the screenshots screws up my adhoc build. Im assuming the same would happen with a published build.... so I guess Im just stuck with the bloated app build for now until GS get their arses in gear?
Anyone got any suggestions?... I really dont want to be deleting the images, only for it to make my submission builds no longer work..
I'll be honest, im really losing patience with GS... I think this is probably my last game Im making with the tools.
You can still drag and drop images to the image wells in the screenshots section when publishing, and that won't affect memory, and I haven't had any trouble at all. It decreases the file size immensely, and there are a TON of screenshots that get saved, even old ones from deleted scenes.
Not sure on the ad hoc build though.... I would suggest leaving it alone when testing via ad hoc, but I would think you could remove the screenshots out of the gamesalad project file, and still do an ad hoc build that way?
so remove the screenshots from the project file, then load it back in, and publish the game..?
Like I say... Im just concerned that Im going to remove the screenshots and its going to render my build unusable, and waste time waiting for an automatic rejection.
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There are probably at least another 5MB of other images you could clear out from there also! If you're like me you probably add images, remove them, change the file used for that actor, etc. You would think that GS would clean up these unused (and duplicate) images right? Alas, it does not. There are probably tons in there that can be removed! Do this clean up before you publish, and you'll be all set. I actually do clean up everyday, otherwise the task becomes too large after a while.
@ Josh ....So is it just the screenshots folder people clean up, or do you need to check for unused items in the sounds, images and scenes folders of the project file?
Not done it once on my current project.
Plus I'm guessing even if GameSalad do fix this, it won't back track and remove old ones. And only work on any images removed from the point of fixing it. So we'll still need to go in and tidy up ourselves.
Just wanted to reiterate what dmcowell said. This issue has been logged and has been made a top priority for our developers. Until the issue is resolved, you can continue to manage the screenshots in your project folder just as described above.
- Yodapollo
Hope ya get it sorted asap but from now on i will delete them myself, just wish i had read this topic before i submitted RW.
Darren.
I am just too disappointed for words... so I'll leave you with those of W.B. Yeats:
"But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet ; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."
Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io
Darren.
Dam how i struggled....and all i had to do was delete the pics :P
Btw Gravonaut looks ace and is a sure purchase from me
Darren.
Thanks