What Features do you want? (Attention Gamesalad Upper Management!)
Hello Gamesalad Upper Management. We really appreciate you taking the time to read through this thread and see what your customers feel are the main priorities as you develop your next Roadmap.
Thanks for making an awesome tool and we're looking forward to the future of making games with Gamesalad.
Kind Regards,
Your GameSalad Customers
*******************************************
For Gameslad users posting in this thread, the goal of this thread is to give Gamesalad the information about what it's customers want, in a very easy to read format while they are discussing the priorities of their upcoming Roadmap.
If it turns into arguments, useless posting and quoting then nobody is going to want to read it. So lets give GS the information they need
Rules:
* Only post once
* Only post your top features that are most important to you, in order of importance. Try and keep the number of features to less than 5, don't go posting 50 features because that is not helpful.
* Please, please, please and I beg you, do not reply to other peoples posts, do not quote other people's posts with "+1", only post once, and only post the features that are most important to you. - This is so this thread does not get cluttered up. Gamesalad are busy, they don't want to be reading through pages of useless information.
* Feel free to give reasons why you want the feature you've requested.
******************************************
For the sous chefs, I know some of you will probably want to close or delete this thread, because this had been covered ad nauseum, however in this format we can get the most important information in a very easy to read format direct to GameSalad Upper management. I know there have been surveys, and a lot of discussion on this forum, so lets keep this simple and focussed and the end result being everyone is communicating much better with each other.
EDIT by Sheepy: Title changed at request of OP. Also stickied for now so the GS crew can find it ok.
Thanks for making an awesome tool and we're looking forward to the future of making games with Gamesalad.
Kind Regards,
Your GameSalad Customers
*******************************************
For Gameslad users posting in this thread, the goal of this thread is to give Gamesalad the information about what it's customers want, in a very easy to read format while they are discussing the priorities of their upcoming Roadmap.
If it turns into arguments, useless posting and quoting then nobody is going to want to read it. So lets give GS the information they need
Rules:
* Only post once
* Only post your top features that are most important to you, in order of importance. Try and keep the number of features to less than 5, don't go posting 50 features because that is not helpful.
* Please, please, please and I beg you, do not reply to other peoples posts, do not quote other people's posts with "+1", only post once, and only post the features that are most important to you. - This is so this thread does not get cluttered up. Gamesalad are busy, they don't want to be reading through pages of useless information.
* Feel free to give reasons why you want the feature you've requested.
******************************************
For the sous chefs, I know some of you will probably want to close or delete this thread, because this had been covered ad nauseum, however in this format we can get the most important information in a very easy to read format direct to GameSalad Upper management. I know there have been surveys, and a lot of discussion on this forum, so lets keep this simple and focussed and the end result being everyone is communicating much better with each other.
EDIT by Sheepy: Title changed at request of OP. Also stickied for now so the GS crew can find it ok.
Comments
1. In App purchases
2. Social media interaction - Facebook, Twitter
3. Custom Size Collision boxes
4. Improved loading time and memory management - gives us the ability to do a lot more in our games.
5. More resources on finding and fixing bugs, so things like the music not playing bug from 0.9.6 don't happen again.
a) Just being able to see/edit the X/Y of an actor without having to open it up and look/change them would save me literally HOURS during the dev cycle of a game.
b) Group selection. Not being able to select more than one actor/object at a time in the scene editor is very limiting
c) Snap and zoom functions in the editor
d) pleeeeeeease fix the bug(?) when objects shift a pixel or half a pixel from where you placed them to where they are when you hit preview/test on device...Makes doing any kind of precision stuff onscreen pointless.
2. Pixel collisions and/or custom polygon collisions < Already supported in Box2D
3. Improved loading/mem management background shenanigans
4. IAP
5. Different gfx modes for resizing ingame. I.E pixel resize as opposed to whatever it is at the mo with the blurring and stuff.
2-custome collision shape , and a possibility to make the collision shape not related to the actor size.
3- spawners need to have a parameter which is number of preloaded objects that will be reused (so the spawned objects can be respawned without being destroyed/created every time which is bad for performance) this could be related to memory anagement
4-better tiling in the editor , a grid and multiple selection in the editor.
5-achievements in gamecenter
2). A preset behaviour for an inertia
3). Better random functions
4). Extended control of particles, and with less overhead.
5). When selecting the scene layers in the scene editor it would be nice not to have to return back through the menu every time you want to tweek an instance. This makes multi instance scene very time consuming to edit. Currently the view switches back to the default every time you drop out of it.
6). Folders in the image and sound menus
1. More resources on finding and fixing bugs, so things like the music not playing bug from 0.9.6 don't happen again.
2. Improved loading time and memory management - gives us the ability to do a lot more in our games.
3. A more fully featured scene editor :
a) Just being able to see/edit the X/Y of an actor without having to open it up and look/change them would save me literally HOURS during the dev cycle of a game.
b) Group selection. Not being able to select more than one actor/object at a time in the scene editor is very limiting
c) Snap and zoom functions in the editor
d) pleeeeeeease fix the bug(?) when objects shift a pixel or half a pixel from where you placed them to where they are when you hit preview/test on device...Makes doing any kind of precision stuff onscreen pointless.
4. IAP
5. Video
Shadows Peak is an atmospheric psychological horror that explores the dark side of a player.
2.) In App Purchases
3.) Keyboard Text Input
4.) Inside the Collide rule, being able to select a tag and THEN, optionally go INTO the tag so you can set it to collide with a certain object faster than just scrolling through everything.
5.) Easier Swiping. Tshirtbooth may have a tutorial, but it is a very roundabout way of what could be a much simpler process: Set the Swipe direction: Up, down, left, right, diagonal, MOVE in that direction.
2. Being able to deploy your HTML 5 game by uploading it to your website and not the game salad arcade
3. Grid
4. Tables and arrays
5. Joints
6. Video
7. Facebook/twiiter integration
I understand how hard it is to make an engine. But we really need in app purchases.
2. Some basic additions to the creator, such as grid overlays, x and y co-ordinates in a corner somewhere for whatever you have selected and zoom.
3. Easier implementation of Apple quality swiping. (360 directional control, pinch to zoom, velocity based movement).
4. I would like in-app purchases, mainly so I can release an app for free that can be unlocked. I also understand that this feature is probably going to be a pro feature only so I will likely never be able to afford it. (When I can afford to pay $500 a year to making apps I should have the skills to making something straight into Xcode, but I wouldn't mind paying a lifetime membership that perhaps unlocks features but not support?)
Happy to see people are sticking to the rules in the original post! Well done, everyone!
As to my want list:
1. GameCenter Achievements: We got the leaderboards, which was lovely - thanks GS Team!
However, I was expecting achievements a month later to be honest. Three months on and we *still* don't have them and I'm at a loss to understand why!
It just makes me look stupid in front of my customers - there's no good reason I can give as to why the achievements in my game are not GameCenter based when I have GC leaderboards!
Additionally, it'll cut down on the size of the games due to one less screen needed (pressing an 'achievements' button will go to GameCenter) and less graphics put directly into your game (as I'm assuming you upload them on Apple's end?)
2. Facebook/Twitter integration: Seriously, I was promised this back in February. It's now almost September. It's a more 'organic' way of marketing our games, and allowing our players to market the game for us!
FB/Twitter, along with GC achievements, will make our games 'fully featured' when compared to other games not made with GS. These two features will make our games appear 'normal'
3. Arrays: Will allow us to make different game types more easily (e.g. card games and adventure games longer than 10 minutes). Will also allow us to more easily add more variety to a game.
4. Memory management/load times: Not terribly pressing in my opinion, but any improvement in these areas can only be a plus!
5. Universal Builds: I don't like charging my players twice for the same game if they have an iPhone and an iPad. Universal builds would remove another barrier to people buying our games if players know they only need to buy the game once and then can play it on either device!
It also means that, if easy to implement (I'm thinking tick a box!) then you've effectively doubled our market with no extra work on our end!
6. GameCenter Achievements: As Above.
7. Facebook/Twitter integration: As above.
Love using this software, but if I'm honest, the 'feature lag' is getting frustrating as holy hell!
Cheers!
QS
Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io
EDITED by Sheepy: You had to go spoil it didn't you!
edited by me: LOL
My tops are Arrays, memory managment, and collision shapes.
2.better loading times(that should apply to above)
2.1 Fix for the life of me the random function,the work around is ridicules
3. Custom Size Collision boxes,for sure(if i want a guy to walk along grass i have to make the grass a separate layer which means more actors,more ram usage.
4. Tables and arrays
5. Joints
6. Video
7. Facebook/twiiter integration
8. Snap to Grid
9. Grid
10. Publish to Android Market
11.Just what old kipper said. When selecting the scene layers in the scene editor it would be nice not to have to return back through the menu every time you want to tweek an instance. This makes multi instance scene very time consuming to edit. Currently the view switches back to the default every time you drop out of it.
ok so i should expect them in the next week.
I'm guessing it's quite tricky with the optimisation because you're making GS for any type of game? Maybe some more manual control or customisation options might make it easier for us to make different kinds of games work smoothly?
2) Features that other developers have been able to use for a long time!
--- In App Purchases
--- Multiplayer (Through Server)
--- All Box 2D Physics Including Curved Lines
--- Open Feint
2. in app purchasing
3. x-y co-ordinates of actors (and being able to change them with a simple inspector - this one is driving me mad)
4. snap & grid
5. Android (yes I know, stating the bleedin' obvious again, but it would be cool!)
thanks
Rick
We are currently working on an updated Roadmap to make available to the public. Once we get the new estimates on upcoming features from engineering, we'll be able to give a proper update (taking into account your suggestions) that will reflect what features we are adding and what's being pushed on the timeline.
And THANK YOU to @Micksolo for organizing such a organized, helpful, and civil thread. Awesome job.
2- Better memory management/better load times
3- Gamecenter Achievements
4- Polygon Collisions
5- Multiplayer
6- Joints
IN GAME APP PURCHASING
Especially since, up to 70% of App store revenue is now In Game App purchasing. There are many ways this business model has worked with publishers and can be very beneficial to us.
Thanks!
2. White label html5 publishing for pros
3. Improved loading times
4. Automatic rounding image size to the nearest even number of pixels when turning on resolution independence.
5. Enable the expression editor on URL link attribute for pros
6. x,y coordinates displayed on screen in the editor
7. Make GS cost $99 again to improve the quality of the neighborhood.
8. Real Facebook integration and GC achievements.
2. Release memory
3. custom collission shapes (including curves and ability to draw collision area around actor)
4. Actors referencing each other
5. in game web/URL popup windows
6. Make basic $99 to publish to iOS (but not for ad hoc and viewer testing)
1. Transitions - and to be made in a behavior similar to Particles, where speed, and other parameters can be set. Simple fade to black and back again, fade to white and back again surely, but steering clear of some of the "naff" transitions that there are! (Barn door and it's variations aren't too bad...) A timer built into the Transitions Behaviour eventually? (I'm guessing that, at first, a Transitions Behavior would be used in conjunction with the existing Timer Behavior).
2. Proper polygon/pixel collision including touch ignoring actor transparency (then proper hidden object game here we come!) ;-)
3. Collision detection while dragging - the collision overrides the drag and not the other way around; I've at least 2 puzzle-type games bubbling somewhere where this would be a pre-requisite.
4. Snap-to grid (adjustable)
5. Joints
6. In-app purchasing
7. Text to be much better anti-aliasing when displayed in-game, with perhaps the ability to choose Sharp, Crisp, Strong, Smooth like in Photoshop.
8. Ability to turn Moveable on and off in the Rules.
9. Some sort of snap-to pixel system - so that any actor placed on-screen automatically goes to the nearest pixel; to save having to adjust a position from 79.57 for instance ;-)
:-)
""You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike." - Zork temp domain http://spidergriffin.wix.com/alphaghostapps
Twitter:rondorocket
Web: rondorocket.com
1) In-App Purchase
2) Game Center Achievements
I will upgrade to pro once these are available. Other things I'd like to see:
3) Better Memory Management/Load Times (perhaps with auto and manual control settings)
4) Social Network Integration
5) Access to Other iOS Functions (keyboards, camera, system date/time, Bluetooth, video playback, etc.)
6) Pixel Collisions
Thanks for all your hard work, GS team!
- Jeff
"Sprite sheets and strips help reduce memory for games. An image’s size is not the same as the size stored on your computer. When hard disk and memory make room for your files, they do it in clusters. Or just think of it as blocks and each block can store 4kb. To store a file, you have to have enough blocks to store it even though it’s more then what the file size is. So grouping multiple images together into a single image reduces this effect. Therefor giving better memory optimization!"
Then you also need a feature to be able to release memory from sprite that are no longer being used. And only load when needed. I don't know if GameSalad does this or not as I don't use it for development.
These would be the features I would ask for. Better optimization before more features.
1. In app purchases.
2. Custom colision
3. Joints
New physics additions will greatly increase the games possible with GS.
Also, I don't know if this is possible but it would make creating mac utilities much easier:
4. Open and run applescript files through GS.
I have been learning AppleScript recently and it's incredibly easy. I doubt this would be hard to add and it would really improve mac utilities with very little work from the GS team.
IAP
Gc ach
Convert to Xcode
Universal build
Although me 4th one seems harder then the others
2. GC achievements.
3. IAP
4. Grid Layout and Zoom features
I'm planning on going PRO sometime in October so hopefully
1. Snap to grid. A huge, huge, huge, huge time saving. Did I mention it would save time?
2. In app purchase. A bit of a must have, assuming we don't all get sued!
3. Facebook and Twitter integration. Good for the Arcade and GS in general.
4. Ability to have inspector in separate window from the viewer and other windows (e.g. Image viewer). For those of us with multi monitor set ups.
5. Repeatable layers for controls, HUDs, etc, so I don't have to update that layer on every single level. Another time saver.
6. Attribute viewer. Help us see what is going on and debug.
2. GC Achievements
3. universal apps
4. better collision detection
5. easier swiping
6. keyboard, mic, camera, FB, Twitter, Android support.
7. grid, snapping etc
8. less crashing
I do love GS tho, its pretty damn awesome! Thank You GS Dev team!