Rate GameSalad: Do they supply enough information to the community on ongoing creator development?

ericzingeler

creativeapps

I dont think so 8-|

SnapFireStudios

I'm going to have to agree... not so great.
The 'Cooking in the Kitchen' was a step in the right direction, but it'd be nice if we could have more info more often. For example, I would love to have some advance release notes for the upcoming version and some more responsiveness for clarification on other topics.
- Thomas

LeonardDeveloper

Not great.. Not terrible
It's not the best, but certainly better than a lot of other developer community interaction out there...

LowPriceMarketplace.com

Ummm… Not Great, Not Bad, Whatever

Chakku

I'm going to have to agree... not so great.
The 'Cooking in the Kitchen' was a step in the right direction, but it'd be nice if we could have more info more often. For example, I would love to have some advance release notes for the upcoming version and some more responsiveness for clarification on other topics.
- Thomas

Agreed. Sometimes @SaladStraightShooter mentions a feature in the upcoming release, but does not put it in that thread. If revealing the feature on a random post is ok, then I would think that it's also ok to put that feature in the highlighted Cooking thread

Chakku

DepressedPanda

With all due respect I don't know how many of you have been involved in large-scale software release. You gotta cut these guys a break.... It's hard to be 100% transparent with your consumers over what's baking in the kitchen because things can change so quickly.

Let's say they make mention of this awesome idea they have for a new feature of GameSalad. They then find out it won't work on the platform. Now they have to not only disappoint us saying it's not possible, but you guys also hound them like hungry vultures about the feature for the next 2 years. Want proof? The new engine. A new post every day including some pretty ignorant ones complaining about how we still don't have the LUA-free engine.

It's really hard to keep the community in the loop when it causes more problems and headaches than it does good.

Just think, every moment they waste time responding YET AGAIN about the LUA-free engine is 5 more minutes they're NOT working on it.

Chakku

With all due respect I don't know how many of you have been involved in large-scale software release. You gotta cut these guys a break.... It's hard to be 100% transparent with your consumers over what's baking in the kitchen because things can change so quickly.

Let's say they make mention of this awesome idea they have for a new feature of GameSalad. They then find out it won't work on the platform. Now they have to not only disappoint us saying it's not possible, but you guys also hound them like hungry vultures about the feature for the next 2 years. Want proof? The new engine. A new post every day including some pretty ignorant ones complaining about how we still don't have the LUA-free engine.

It's really hard to keep the community in the loop when it causes more problems and headaches than it does good.

Just think, every moment they waste time responding YET AGAIN about the LUA-free engine is 5 more minutes they're NOT working on it.

Yeah, I see what you're saying...I take back back what I said earlier! :P
Although SSS confirmed that MobClix, which was meant to come this week, will come next week. I think that could be in the Kitchen. However, little things that they're unsure about shouldn't.

Chakku

BBEnk

I look forward to any release but I just hate the repeated next week thing. I think for the last 2 weeks its been next week and looks like its going to be next week again.

tatiang

I have to agree with DepressedPanda here. If they don't say anything, people get frustrated for lack of news. If they give a vague deadline ("in a few months") people get frustrated after three months. If they give a specific deadline ("next week") and then don't meet it, people are upset.

I'm not saying there aren't reasons to be frustrated -- everyone has their own wants and expectations for GameSalad -- but it's kind of a lose-lose proposition when they tell us how long it's going to be.

SnapFireStudios

@tatiang / @DepressedPanda - I understand where you're coming from. However, I'd rather they set a realistic goal, and then meet it, as opposed to setting the best case scenario goal and then missing it. But I'll admit that you're both correct on those points.

However, I have to slighty disagree with "Every minute they're responding to us, they're not working on the engine." First, SSS does almost all of the updating (which is perfectly fine), and he doesn't work on the engine. Plus, it's not like the people working actively on the engine or UI are taking a break every 15 minutes to see the latest rant on the forum.

Now, I don't think that people should ask or whine excessively about not having a promised feature. This is pointless, because we'll get it when we get it. However, it is not like a few posts asking that are going to delay the release of anything.

Just my opinions.
- Thomas

basil81

Yelling at the pot on the stove won't make the water boil faster.

DepressedPanda

@SnapFireStudios If you've ever worked on a large software project (I'm not saying you have or have not) you know it's impossible to give a realistic goal sometimes. The ole saying is "@#$% happens". One bug can add a month of time to an implemented feature.

Think about it, how many AAA games get delayed for months at a time, and they have 60 programmers, 30 artists, 20 sound guys, and tons of management. Team GameSalad is tiny in comparison.

SnapFireStudios

@DepressedPanda - Well right, I agreed with you. But all I was saying was that

I'd rather they set a realistic goal, and then meet it, as opposed to setting the best case scenario goal and then missing it.

That'd be the way that I'd like it. That way we know when updates are going to be out, and we know that they will be good. Better late than never.

But yes, >:) happens. @-)
- Thomas

DanDaMan123

I think it's pretty good but I guess that's just cause I've been here a while and have gotten used to it. And by that I don't only mean that I've gotten used to how often and how well they inform us, but also I know gamesalad to know what it's capable of and what to expect.
However, I do think that they definitely jumped a gun when showing us the LUA free preview last year. Now that I think about it, I bet that a lot of the people who commented on that original thread saying how excited they were are now gone from GS.
Anyway I think they do a good enough job most of the time...

3itg

If the updates and timeliness of creator updates is of a large importance to you, I propose a 2 step solution.
1: Learn to Code.
2: Get a job @ Gamesalad and help make it better.

That way everyone wins! Gamesalad has more engineers working to make Gamesalad great and you get to work on something that is really important to you...

kinzua

its way better than other s/w guys.. atleast there is a roadmap.. compared to other developments where u r just moving ahead in a hope of something good.
Plus they LISTEN to the community and REPLY. i guess the community should be thankful of these health debates.

3itg

I don't think I could ever honestly answer the question "when will it be done?"
Ive been done a few times just to realize how much better it will be if I keep on going, adjusting and refining everything.

ericzingeler

Hey, everyone's a critic. But, theres nothing wrong with constructive criticism. If GameSalad gets better because of the community voicing their opinion, then great!

I've been overall happy with the progress of GameSalad, however there are some long standing issues with the current version of creator which I'm sure the GS team is fully aware of. I think the only thing I'm personally looking for on the communication side is whether those issues are being addressed or not. Some like:

- asset sorts not saved
- batch import of assets is not sorted by alpha-numeric
- layer view state doesn't save which requires users to expand layers each time when navigating rom actor to actor
- creator crashes often
- deleting attributes from a copied scene also removes them from the original (isn't a copy supposed to be a copy?)

The issues listed above may not seem like a big deal, but when you're working with GS all day all week, the productivity loss adds up.

I'm aware of the new UI for mac, so what's the story with it? Is it coming out the Lua-free creator? Maybe 10.2? If the new UI isn't coming soon, can we get an update for the current creator to fix some of the issues?

In the end, GameSalad is an awesome product. Because of it, I get to make games for living!

quantumsheep

Yelling at the pot on the stove won't make the water boil faster.

This.

Unfortunately the Lua drop thing was announced a little prematurely it seems, though there have already been definite improvements in the engine.

When I used to talk to the guys at GS I used to compare their 'service' to that of an MMO. As to the sharing of information, as others have pointed out, they're doomed if they do, doomed if the don't!

So I'm not surprised they play things close to their chest.

QS