Brand new to Game Salad and very confused

nezzy86 · January 2013

Hello,

I have been searching around the web for a gaming app to which i can create my own personnel app on, without the site owning the app once completed.

After downloading the app and opening it up, I have looked at trying to make an app but dont understand how it works at all.

I have a couple of (what i think) brilliant game ideas, that i would love to create and put in the app store.

Can anyone give me some help on getting started, this will be extremely appreciated.

Thank you very much in advance.

Chris

jamie_c · January 2013

Follow through the entire cookbook located here:

That will likely answer a lot of questions.

And welcome to Gamesalad!

SlickZero · January 2013

Take a look at all of the videos on youtube, these will help you get a great understanding how easy it is to start with GameSalad.

There is also gshelper.com with more videos, and free templates as well as some fabulous paid templates.

And there is also Gleeson Group Media

And Deep Blue has some amazing 3rd party programs that work with GameSalad, and a plethora of templates as well.

And then of course there are these forums, where people are more than willing to help you if you get stuck with something and can't figure it out on your own.

UtopianGames · January 2013

Welcome to GS, it is a little hard when you open something new and get completely lost but don't give up.

We have a ton of free templates that will help (click on link in sig) and if you download our free resource centre you will also see loads of tutorial videos.

Darren.

nezzy86 · January 2013

thank you very much for all your help, i will make my way through all your advice and hopefully start creating my app shortly.

I'm sure i will have more questions very shortly

Thanks again

sparkania · January 2013

I watched a few videos when I started, but what really helped me was purchasing an inexpensive template from the Marketplace which was something like what I wanted to make, and then I dissected it to see exactly how stuff worked.

Many videos start out with the understanding that you already know how some stuff works.. but if you are Brand New.. then you might start out a bit behind the curve..

jamie_c · January 2013

I've posted a few beginner tutorials at my site:

These are using the Macintosh version of Gamesalad however. If you are using Windows the screens and menus will be different but the concepts are still the same.

RexCarsalot · January 2013

I'm also new to Gamesalad, having just spent the better part of a year doing exactly what you have been doing, tearing my eyeballs out looking for a means to bring my art to life. Those of us non-programmers have been chomping at the bit for an easy to use application that will allow us to build a game, without spending years and untold expenses learning a programming language.

Then I stumbled upon GameSalad. I've personally used every resource mentioned in the comments above, the GS Cookbook, templates from DeepBlueApps, Jamie_C's website, and tons of others, and I can tell you they are great.

However, don't expect a quick and easy fix. Gamesalad, from what I can tell, does have a steep learning curve, but not nearly as steep as the alternative. Luckily there's lots of free resources and forum assistance to get you there. I've been reading them for a while now, trying to pick up what I can here and there. From my experience, limited as it is, I can give a brief heads up at what you can expect in the weeks and months to come.

First, be prepared to roll up your sleeves and start training. There is plenty to learn and as much as you'd like to do so, you probably won't be diving into to your award winning app on the first day. As you go scanning through the tutorials provided in the GS cookbook and those you'll find scattered around the net, decide which lesson you would like to dive into first and then be sure to take each tutorial step-by-step. Attempt to recreate what the instructors are showing. I personally recommend starting with the Gamesalad Cookbook Youtube Channel, as they have tons of variety in their lesson plans. Also, anything by TshirtBooth is an excellent place to start. Understand that most of the tutorials are geared toward MAC users, but Tshirtbooth has an excellent video on the differences between MAC and Windows Gamesalad applications if you are on Windows like me.

Second, don't be discouraged by the fact that you'll creating "mini" games you don't intend to publish or use for any other purpose than training. It sucks not being able to dive right into your app, but that's not how you really want to do it anyway if you intend on shaping your ideas into a professional product. Even pro developers with tons of experience rarely just dive right in without a solid road map sitting next to them to help steer them there.

That brings me to my final point. While you're training, use the time you're not developing your personal game to -- well, "developing" your personal game. Start drafting detailed notes on level design, hero character design (if any), enemy design, what elements you expect to use in the game and how each of these elements react to one another in the game. Start developing a control scheme and a user interface, all on paper. The general rule I've been able to pick up from most pros is that "if it works on paper, it'll probably work in Gamesalad."

Assuming you haven't already started creating your art, you can also start sketching ideas for your actors and backgrounds while you go through the tutorials.

Ideally, once you feel comfortable using the software in a few weeks/months (determined by how much time you put into training) you should have a good outline prepared to start working from as you put your new knowledge to use for your own game.

As for me, I've created tons of resources for games which I'll probably never produce because I'm a lazy hypocrite and have not personally taken most of the advice I've just given you.

I've watched the videos, read the books, but I haven't done any the exercises.

I've created level and character art without giving much thought into how they act, react or are manipulated on screen when it comes to create my game.

In fact, in the weeks since I've discovered Gamesalad, I haven't done a lot of the things I should be doing ... but I have created ART, and that's an important part of the process too! And it's fun.

I know this post was WAY longer than it should have been, but I wanted to cover my bases on what you can expect in the coming days, assuming you stick with Gamesalad as an option. I know where you are coming from as a beginner, and it can all seem a little overwhelming at first, but if you want to bring your ideas to life, it's worth effort.

Good luck!

tatiang · January 2013

@RexCarsalot, well said.

I probably put in 200 hours of coding before I felt like I had a handle on what I was doing. The first 60 hours were to build my first app, which I was so proud of and excited about, but the reality is that much of the coding was done inefficiently. Knowing what I know now, I could do it in a third of the time. But it was a great learning experience!

People who download GameSalad and expect to have a game completed and published within a week and are only willing to put in five to ten hours of work are quickly disappointed by what they see as an inferior tool. The fact is, it's an amazing tool if you have the patience and/or skill (skill = patience + resources). And there are plenty of resources and plenty of help available right here.

Elfizm · January 2013

Well story of my life, I thought I could make a game, I had one designed before bought my Mac and then started using GameSalad. But it was harder then I though, I spent countless hours trying to do something beyond my skill.

So I stopped, found GShelper and watched and practice simple stuff. A few months later I started to clone games that were on the app store, not releasing them but just for my own motivation. I then started learning bigger things and finally after 12 months I began work on my first project. It's now been four months and I am still going abs still learning. I have two projects up and going in which I switch between the two.

It's taken me that long because I don't do it full time. I spend an hour a day and sometimes up to three if I feel up to it. Of course others could do it quicker then me but I stuck to it and I look back and think wow, I never thought I would have cone this far.

So don't rush your self just to get an app out there

All the best
Elfizm

Brand new to Game Salad and very confused

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