0.8.4 Update Information

CodeMonkeyCodeMonkey Head Chef, Member, PRO Posts: 1,803
edited November -1 in News from the Dev Team
What's in this new build:

iPad Publishing: Yes, it is out. You can choose landscape and portrait modes.

iPad Viewer: If you have a GameSalad paid membership and Snow Leopard OS (which is required for the iPhone SDK beta that is used for iPad development), you can test your game in the iPad Viewer on the Simulator.

Interpolate behavior: This is a much better use of logic if you want to do something like fade an actor out/in. You select an attribute, give it its final value, the duration it takes to get to that value, and how it gets to that value. Other good uses for it: A reliable method to go to a particular point or rotation without needing Timers, Constrain behaviors, Move-To behavior, Rotate To behavior, etc.

Devices->Screen attributes: (Device Orientation and Interface Orientation) For Device Orientation you can use it to detect if the device is (Landscape Left, Landscape Right, Portrait, Portrait Upside Down, Face Up, Face Down, or Unknown). These values are selectable in Rule conditions so you can make rules like:
Rule 1: When Any:
Attribute game.Screen.Device Orientation is Landscape Left
Attribute game.Screen.Device Orientation is Landscape Right
(Set HUD elements' positions for Landscape Mode)

Rule 2 When Any:
Attribute game.Screen.Device Orientation is Portrait
Attribute game.Screen.Device Orientation is Portrait Upside Down
(Set HUD elements' positions for Portrait Mode)

For the Interface Orientation it should show the rotation of the game itself. You will need to set the autorotation on a scene by scene basis. See next section.

Scene Attribute Type, Autorotate: You can allow a scene to rotate to Landscape Right, Landscape Left, Portrait, and/or Portrait Upside Down, by checking or unchecking the boolean boxes for each of these attributes.

Rule condition, auto-rotation: You can check when the auto-rotation event is happening. The event when it has 'started' or 'finished' can be used to determine when you start repositioning things, or making things fade out(see Interpolate behavior above).

Change Scene behavior options: You can now select Previous Scene or Next Scene as options for which scene to go to. This will help cut down on the amount of behaviors you might have used to decide what scene comes next. So now, depending on how you order your scenes in the Project Editor, you can actually use one actor prototype to go from one scene to the next. It loops around so if you are on your last scene and change to the Next Scene, it goes back to the first scene in your list, and vice versa.
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Comments

  • design219design219 Member Posts: 2,273
    This is all good. Not to knock on a good thing, but is there any improvement in load screen time?
  • GamexcbGamexcb Member Posts: 179
    Wait Pro's Only?!?!
  • a.grajirenaa.grajirena Member Posts: 21
    whoa is ipad publishing going to always be a pro only feature?
  • JamesZeppelinJamesZeppelin Member Posts: 1,927
    lol... Well everyone said there wasnt a good enough reason to upgrade to pro
    Guess that would be it

    Next scene feature is awesome!!
    That is the one thing i had left to do was make the changer for all the levels.... NOT ANYMORE!!!
  • a.grajirenaa.grajirena Member Posts: 21
    ugh but that definitely isn't for "the rest of us" :(((
  • GamexcbGamexcb Member Posts: 179
    Okay never mind...On the info page it says that iPad publishing is listed for both!
    That is a great relief I would be so disappointed if it were pro only!
    That GS Team!
    And another thanks for making it for Pro and Express!
    -Gamexcb
  • giacomopoppigiacomopoppi Member, PRO Posts: 914
    So is it only pros or not?
  • CodeMonkeyCodeMonkey Head Chef, Member, PRO Posts: 1,803
    Ooooooops. Pro and Express members only.
  • CobraCobra Member Posts: 160
    CodeMonkey's "Sorry, Pros only" line seems to have exploded.

    Looks like iPad publishing is now open to Express users too! ;)
  • GamexcbGamexcb Member Posts: 179
    Codemonkey could have made a grammatical error and meant that auto rotation, etc. were pro only for iPad.
  • GamexcbGamexcb Member Posts: 179
    Whew!!
    YEAH!!!
  • giacomopoppigiacomopoppi Member, PRO Posts: 914
    GS I SERIOUSLY LOVE U! THX SO MUCH TO HAVE MADE IT EXPRESS TOO!
  • design219design219 Member Posts: 2,273
    Soooo, any improvement on load time?
  • StormyStudioStormyStudio United KingdomMember Posts: 3,989
    great...installing update now....(fingers crossed for bug free :-)

    happy days.
  • giacomopoppigiacomopoppi Member, PRO Posts: 914
    Sorry GS, is the iPad icon meant to be 72x72?
    apple gives me an error whilst uploading the app:
    The binary you uploaded was invalid. An extraneous icon was included. Any included icon files must be exactly 57x57 pixels, in .png format.

    ??
  • a.grajirenaa.grajirena Member Posts: 21
    oh jeez, i hadn't really considered the level of heartbreak i started to feel when it seemed ipad was out of reach. thank you for including express users!!!
  • CrazybreadmanCrazybreadman Member Posts: 674
    @giacomopoppi- This is what it says in the submission guidelines "include small icons in your binary that are 72 x 72 and 48 x 48" so if that's not in the package that GS sends it could be a prob.
  • HunnenkoenigHunnenkoenig Member Posts: 1,173
    This is all nice and all, but what about improving loading time and shortening the logo?

    As I said in my deleted(!) topic, for my 3MB game I have a 35 second(!) GS logo and a 15 second loading time on the first (and only one) scene, which is unacceptable.

    I don't need shitty ipad screen and fricken auto rotation. I need a game, which will be not deleted before the first start due to loading times.
  • giacomopoppigiacomopoppi Member, PRO Posts: 914
    Please GS im waiting for your reply... why isn't apple accepting the binary? i mean... have i done something wrong or do u have to still edit GS?
  • jweaver911jweaver911 Member Posts: 439
    These updates sound great!
  • MarkOnTheIronMarkOnTheIron Member Posts: 1,447
    Is it possible to do games for both the iPad and iPhone that at the start check which device are you using and go to the corresponding sized scene?

    @HK: Your loading time is probably due to bad rules and wrong images and sounds. In my 17 MB, heavy ruled game with scenes with up to 250 actors I have 15/20 seconds startup time and 1/2 seconds for first scene
  • a.grajirenaa.grajirena Member Posts: 21
    @hunnenkoenig

    i understand there is a frustration with load times and performance and I will admit that I am working on my first project and have yet to experience a lot of the difficulties some of you are dealing with. but, i do believe they are working on these things and overall gamesalad will only improve with time...

    my initial concern with the ipad dealt with the fact that at $2000 i would not be able to maintain hope for my projects that involve the ipad. it's just simply out of reach. i can and will maintain hope that performance will improve.
  • CobraCobra Member Posts: 160
    @Hunnenkoenig,
    Performance improvements are very much on our radar, but for this update we chose to focus on iPad functionality. Despite your personal feelings about the iPad, I think most of our users are thrilled to be able to develop games for a new device launch.

    @skittishbloom,
    There was some confusion about this earlier -- CodeMonkey inadvertently said "for Pros" when he meant "for paid members." Both Pro members ($2000/year) and Express members ($99/year) have access to iPad publishing.
  • JackBQuickJackBQuick Member Posts: 524
    Thank you, people at GameSalad -- this is really great! Can't wait to try out all the shiny new features. I appreciate your efforts. This rocks!
  • synthesissynthesis Member Posts: 1,693
    Thank you for the acknowledgement that you all are paying attention to the performance issues. This is the first time I have ever heard or read any sort of statement in any recent time...which I think is the seed of some of our frustrations...the lack of such statements/validations.

    Please Cobra,
    If you would...please keep us apprised as to what sort of "KNOWN ISSUES" are out there (that either you are focused on currently or tabling for later resolution)...so that we can start to understand and make more calculated decisions as to what sort of "LIMBS" we should be cutting off of our babies...rather than just hacking away with a meat cleaver haphazardly at anything that moves.

    Thank you.
  • a.grajirenaa.grajirena Member Posts: 21
    @cobra
    thanks! i pieced that together already and am very excited. i was trying to explain to hunnenkoenig why i personally was so concerned with the ipad.
  • PhoticsPhotics Member Posts: 4,172
    @synthesis
    It's your baby... don't cut off limbs :)
    A haircut... maybe... toenails... a trim... fingernails... when necessary.

    @Cobra
    I think that was a good decision. I noticed that performance didn't seem to be a priority with this update. That's cool. This whole iPad thing is enough to keep me busy right now.
  • NexusGameStudioNexusGameStudio Member Posts: 265
    Glad to see the iPad support out the door finally, a nifty new update. As others have stated, would love to see a sooner than later update on other requested "features" such as performance. Regardless, thanks for the update.
  • synthesissynthesis Member Posts: 1,693
    @TSB.
    Some understanding on "Known Issues" has been what I have been posting about for the last few days...it would be quite who of them to assist us with something like that.

    @Photics...
    My baby has had so many haircuts...its bald. Only thing left is amputations.
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