Im new, and have a couple questions please.

osakamitsu

Hello, I have been searching around and looking at a few game creators and I am very interested in this one. I love painting and drawing in photoshop and illustrator.

My first question is, I really would like to experiment with a 2D side scrolling game with a sword wielding character. Would it be possible to paint most of my textures in photoshop and illustrator/flash but then import them into game salad? I would really like to experiment with a hand drawn look that mixes photorealistic textures. Maybe a hybrid effect achieved my painting with paint and photos.

My second question is how does the environment art work? What I mean is, if the game is strictly a 2D side scroller can I create the background image behind a long side scrolling level, then have various layers that the character can pass in front of and behind? To give the effect of illusion of depth?

My last question is, can I import animations from flash? If, not I was considering animating my character and using the tweens and frames to determine which animation I would need to animate my characters in flash. If Flash is not available to import from is there a way I save images of each frame and trace them into game salad? And use them as image planes for reference?

Or I guess I could end up tracing or importing the frames in Illustrator and photoshop and just use flash to perfect the animation... right?


Thank you for your info. I am excited to hear what you all have to say.

Edit:

1 more question. I JUST got my mac and love it. I was mainly a windows pc user. I know that I could use my 360 controller with my pc but can I use it with my mac? And if I am able to use it with my mac, since I will be using it to create games, could I set the games controls up to use the 360 controller? I really hate using the keyboard.

jonmulcahy

As long S you can export your images and animations into single pngs you can use them in GS. There is an animation function where you just select the frames and in what order you want to use.

There are multiple layers you can create, I have a game with over 15 for various objects. The onlly thing is you can't switch layers during gameplay.

gyroscope

Hi @osakamitsu and welcome to GameSalad and the Forums! :-)

1) Yes, it's the way most people work anyway to create their images, in Photoshop, Illustrator, etc, then bring them in to GSC. Ideally you'll want to export the final images as pngs via the Save for Web & Devices choice.

2) You can use images for what's called parallax scrolling to achieve the effects you're after; there are a few templates around to give you an idea of how to achieve this.

3) As @jonmulcahy wrote, you can use animation in GSC but can't actually bring a finished animation into it (nor video); you have to bring in the individual frames and use the Animate Behavior.

4) I don't think there's any support for a 360 controller; besides, the majority of your app users will be using a keyboard on their Mac anyway, or touch/virtual keyboard on their iDevices; best to stick with the keyboard...

Check out the Cookbook and the GameSalad tutorials on YouTube, @website of @tshirtbooth, etc; and hopefully it'll all come together fast for you.

PS THere's a side-scroller template via the GSC dialog that appears when you open the program; this could help you a lot...

gyroscope

For your magic spells, perhaps check out the Particles Behaviour in GSC to see if that'll achieve the effects you're after. :-)

osakamitsu

Thanks for the info. Ok also is there an ideal way to create magic spells for characters? Would the best way be to do it in flash then export the frames like said above? Or is there a better or preferred way to do something like that?

osakamitsu

Wonderful info. Thanks guys! Hoping to dig deep into this later today.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Just be aware it can take months of practice and studying to get a real handle on gamesalad. It's best to do some demo projects first as you learn and increase the difficulty on each project. Many new users make the mistake of rushing into a big project and then have lots of problems.

osakamitsu

Thanks guys! Im getting the new book being released for game salad called, "Learn GameSalad for iOS: Game Development for iPhone, iPad, and HTML5", so hopefully it will do me some good.

Braydon_SFX

Welcome!

osakamitsu

Thanks! I don't use Skype much but I'll add you once I am more familiar with game salad.