Let's make Cookbook incredible!

entersimon

Hey all,

I decided to put this in the working with GameSalad section because the end goal here is to make the experience of working with GameSalad even better, especially for new users.

I've been checking out Cookbook yesterday and today, and I've come to the conclusion (an obvious one, I know) that the potential is huge for amassing a giant resource for everyone, new and experienced. I've been adding some questions that I ran into when I was starting to work with GameSalad and answering them with pictures and text.

What I would like to see is a consorted effort to add to the question database by experienced users. Get as specific or as general as you'd like with what you're teaching, because the search ability is so much better than the forums and the voting system will get the right answers to the question asker much faster.

If you answer a question on the forum, check the cookbook to see if it's been asked yet, and if it hasn't, add it in yourself.

If you come across a post on the forum that has an answer to an interesting, or basic, or advanced question, check to see if it's on Cookbook, and if it isn't then give credit to the user that answered the question and add it to the database. Don't forget to add relevant tags to your answers.

If we all make an effort to make Cookbook grow, it'll be an incredible resource and will free up the forum from some questions that are asked frequently just because the question asker hasn't been able to find a relevant topic on the forum search.

I would personally love seeing extremely advanced methods inside cookbook.

We are all still learning, but we all have something to teach.

:^)

quantumsheep

Totally agree

tenrdrmer

I agree too. I wish GameSalad had given us more than one day to add questions before going live with that. I got one whole question added and answered. LOL

SlickZero

I see potential for things getting messy. There's going to be confusion between "How do you do this"/"This is how you do this" and "I got it working, but I'm having a problem with this part"

If every question is requested to be posted in the cookbook, then there is no more need for these forums except for the Marketplace and a "Not related to GameSalad" section.

tenrdrmer

SlickZero said:
I see potential for things getting messy. There's going to be confusion between "How do you do this"/"This is how you do this" and "I got it working, but I'm having a problem with this part"

If every question is requested to be posted in the cookbook, then there is no more need for these forums.

I have noticed that with a few posts over there already. Also one of the head chefs was telling people to go post their questions there when really they shouldn't have been. I'm gonna try to get some clarity on the cook from GameSalad the next time we speak. Also it look like Sous-chefs have no moderating power over there so it will likely get messy for sure.

cmw333

I couldn't agree more with entersimon. By the way thanks for helping me out. I also think if those that answer questions use screenshots, it is far less confusing and easier for new users to understand. In the past I had problems not understanding what was written down because I was a complete novice and missed out was was not obvious to me. Lets make this a great community and together learn more and ultimately make better games.

Chris

entersimon

Any time, Chris! I agree about the screenshots. They can be super helpful in clearing up confusing text.

As far as worrying about things getting messy, look at the forums currently. They are great and serve as a hub for the community, but it is incredibly messy without a proper search feature.

Cookbook's search seems to be working quite nicely so long as the tags placed in the questions are accurate. That, plus the way the questions filter as you type a question make it pretty easy to find exactly what you're looking for, so long as it's there.

The forums will always be a great place for the community to come together to share ideas and help with problems, I just think it would be nice if the problems presented were more often than not something that hasn't been asked a hundred times. I think a lot of us get a kick out of being able to help our fellow GameSalad developers, and I don't think that will change once the Cookbook grows into what it will. It will be less frustrating for new users as well because they won't always have to rely on someone being online that's willing or knowledgeable on their specific issue.

The goal is to have users be able to gain skills faster so that their games will be better. That's good for everyone because it'll help the community grow and become more fruitful.

:^)