Wait, what's GameSalad Viewer for?

BeyondtheTechBeyondtheTech Member Posts: 809
edited November -1 in Working with GS (Mac)
Ok, I've only had the Express Membership for about 2 weeks and pumped out a title (Sci-Fi Prop) to the App Store, and am in the process of finishing up two games, one of which will be able to make it in time for the Macworld Challenge. I've been testing everything out on my iPhone by publishing a developer build, then copying it over via Xcode's Organizer utility. I'm all over the boards here learning and helping, so I'm sorta-n00b and sorta-experienced in game development, however...

I read a couple threads that people are using a GS Viewer. What is it exactly, and why would I need it if I'm able to test compiled builds on my iPhone already? Is the GS Viewer an easier process or utility to work with, and how exactly does it work in conjunction with whatever project I'm working on?

I saw it in my Manage section but never bothered to use it since I've been able so far to do everything I need on the GameSalad Creator, and also test it out on my 3GS.

I'm at work on a PC (yuck), so I don't have the luxury to test this out, but I'm quite curious.

Comments

  • SparkyidrSparkyidr Member Posts: 2,033
    you can send your project direct from gamesalad to the viewer on your phone over wifi.
    Just means you can test a change within a matter of seconds, rather than compiling a build.
  • firemaplegamesfiremaplegames Member Posts: 3,211
    The GS Viewer is amazing! I can't believe you haven't been using it!

    You build GS Viewer onto you device using XCode.
    Then, You open your game in GameSalad Creator on your Desktop and open GS Viewer on you device.

    A new button will automagically appear next to the green arrow preview button in GameSalad Creator that says "Preview on iPhone" with a list of the devices you have set up.

    It then wirelessly sends the game over to the phone for testing.
    Truly awesome.
  • BeyondtheTechBeyondtheTech Member Posts: 809
    In a word...

    `DOH!`

    And all this time I've been compiling builds like I did in Torque 2D. Old habits die hard. Thanks, this will save me a lot of time and effort.
  • sparkersparker Member Posts: 47
    Sorry to tack onto your thread with another newbie question, but why wouldn't you just use the preview browser in the app? Does it behave differently on the iPhone?

    Sam
  • BeyondtheTechBeyondtheTech Member Posts: 809
    I always like to test under the most real-world conditions. The iPhone will show true speed and performance, and I also use the accelerometer.
  • JamesZeppelinJamesZeppelin Member Posts: 1,927
    Never used the viewer

    Im with Beyond on that.

    I find it really quick to just hit save > uplaod > sync with itunes

    From save to actual phone play is maybe 45 s to 1m
  • JamesZeppelinJamesZeppelin Member Posts: 1,927
    To answer sparker, yes

    For example games run diff on the 3gs and newer touch than they do the older touch and 3g

    Even thogh i have a 3gs i test everything on my old touch. The assumption if its fine there its fine on anything
  • CoIinCoIin Member Posts: 197
    Something else to know, the GS Viewer sends back performance data to the Mac, so you can see how the frame rates and memory are doing. I made a video to show people how fast and useful it is working this way, and how you can have more than one iPhone available to test. Only one thing can be testing (one iPhone, or the Mac, never two at once), but the switching is very fast. Also, GS Viewer has a Recent Games list, so once you have tested the game you don't have to send it over again, you just run the game from within GS Viewer.

    Here's that video:

    http://www.youtube.com/user/gilantc#p/a/u/0/5Zohg_wMeJM
  • CoIinCoIin Member Posts: 197
    Strange, I just posted a message and it didn't arrive. Trying again, sorry if two end up getting there:

    Something else to know, the GS Viewer sends back performance data to the Mac, so you can see how the frame rates and memory are doing. I made a video to show people how fast and useful it is working this way, and how you can have more than one iPhone available to test. Only one thing can be testing (one iPhone, or the Mac, never two at once), but the switching is very fast. Also, GS Viewer has a Recent Games list, so once you have tested the game you don't have to send it over again, you just run the game from within GS Viewer.

    Here's that video:

    http://www.youtube.com/user/gilantc#p/a/u/0/5Zohg_wMeJM
  • BeyondtheTechBeyondtheTech Member Posts: 809
    Wow, I just tried it for the first time. This is awesome! And I thought I had to connect to GameSalad's servers every time to build out in order to test on my iPhone!
  • rebumprebump Member Posts: 1,058
    I'm glad I read this thread since I haven't officially started to try my creations out on a device yet. I kept hearing of the GS viewer and sort of knew what it was about but this thread certainly solidified it for me and is now out there for all newbies to stumble upon.
  • rebumprebump Member Posts: 1,058
    Just bumping so I can add some thread tags (not that search or Google search for that matter don't work but I sometimes find myself browsing the tag cloud at work).
  • CoIinCoIin Member Posts: 197
    Been having trouble posting to this thread. Just trying a short message, in case my longer message has problems with it.
  • CoIinCoIin Member Posts: 197
    Ok, that worked! I'll try my long message again:

    Something else to know, the GS Viewer sends back performance data to the Mac, so you can see how the frame rates and memory are doing. I made a video to show people how fast and useful it is working this way, and how you can have more than one iPhone available to test. Only one thing can be testing (one iPhone, or the Mac, never two at once), but the switching is very fast. Also, GS Viewer has a Recent Games list, so once you have tested the game you don't have to send it over again, you just run the game from within GS Viewer.

    Here's that video:

    http://www.youtube.com/user/gilantc#p/a/u/0/5Zohg_wMeJM
  • CoIinCoIin Member Posts: 197
    The message failed again. Going to try it in smaller chunks:

    Something else to know, the GS Viewer sends back performance data to the Mac, so you can see how the frame rates and memory are doing. I made a video to show people how fast and useful it is working this way, and how you can have more than one iPhone available to test. Only one thing can be testing (one iPhone, or the Mac, never two at once), but the switching is very fast. Also, GS Viewer has a Recent Games list, so once you have tested the game you don't have to send it over again, you just run the game from within GS Viewer.
  • CoIinCoIin Member Posts: 197
    It could be that it's the link to the video that fails to get through. To see the video I made, put a slash where the spaces is in this:

    www.youtube.com watch?v=5Zohg_wMeJM
  • JamesBoucherJamesBoucher Member Posts: 433
    I only use the viewer if I have a problem and need performance data. I use it with instruments the tool the comes with your xcode.
  • butterbeanbutterbean Member Posts: 4,315
    Like your icon JamesBoucher, is that a new game in the works? Bumper cars? :)
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