I am going to agree with the spawn lag. I tried out corona last weekend and was impressed how it would spawn a 100 block grid instantly (for loop). In gamesalad that just doesn't happen. In my current game I spawn a grid that is 16-100 blocks total. Its setup so that spawns are first priority so that the level will load until they are all spawned. This takes 3 seconds for 16 block grid, and 6-8 seconds for the 100 block grid (on android, kindle first gen, 10.2. iPhone 5 was showing similar times) I simply do not understand why it takes so long to spawn in gamesalad compared to corona. Just to note in corona it was also doing about 60 other lines of code for each iteration including creating the sprite and putting it into an array with listeners.
The times listed are for the case where I do not use a loop, but instead have 16-100 spawn behaviors, with loop its even slower.
- Option for Load bar instead of load wheel (people keep pressing the screen while they wait) - Color coding of functions in the creator - Re-ordering variables in the creator
*The spawn memory leak seems to be that whenever you spawn an actor, the actor is still stored in memory after it has been destroyed so that little by little, all the memory gets eaten up. I know a lot of people tend to recycle actors due to that issue.
On a side note, I really appreciate this thread. It is very exciting to watch this discussion on improvements!
*The spawn memory leak seems to be that whenever you spawn an actor, the actor is still stored in memory after it has been destroyed so that little by little, all the memory gets eaten up. I know a lot of people tend to recycle actors due to that issue.
Do you have an example file showing this problem, it comes up from time it time, but no one has ever been able to follow it up with an actual project that displays the issue ?
Personally I've run tests that have spawned (and destroyed) hundreds of thousands of actors with no issues at all.
Have you got anything you might be working on, or perhaps an old project or test file, that suffers from this issue that I could take a look at ?
@Socks : I actually have a project that was looked at by GS and they told me that they weren't sure why it was happening and said it could fall on either my side or theirs... I am working pretty heavily on a new project, which I don't think has the issue, but let me see when I get a break if I can dirge up an old version of that particular project for you to check out.
*Edit: I am running a heavier project and put some extra beef on it to see and I still seem to be having the issue, but I am not sure exactly how to test it. I am assuming you aren't using timers, correct?
@BBEnk - Do you mean the bug where once you place an actor and nudge it, the size becomes unlocked from the original? I hate that one. - Thomas
@CodeWizard - Do you think you could give us some insight on what causes this problem? My guess is that it is some sort of bug and is not intentional? - Thomas
Yeah, agreed, a simple loop with a counter would be insanely useful . . . also in a similar vein: on 'Spawn' it would be really useful to have a count, so you set your Spawn parameters and then specify how many actors you want spawning, imagine you are building a randomised landscape and want to place a couple of dozen trees, it would be great to enter the X and Y positions (in this case random), the actor you want to spawn, the direction, layer position and all that stuff . . . . and then how many of these you want spawning.
@CodeWizard - i don't know if this counts as optimization but id like a version of GS creator that doesn't keep crashing on me. Especially when your on a roll and you dont think to save. Perhaps there could be an option to auto save? Anyway if this doesn't count as optimization then i would say Load times .
I would also love a feature where we can see the code being written that way whenever i add behaviours and attributes i can go behind the scenes and see the code and learn it. That would be awesome.
Just another bug to add to the list is the pause behavior. We were just talking about it in another thread. It screws up the camera and multitouch among other things after you un pause.
Hi guys, i absolutely love GS.. i've tried Stencyl, Construct 2, Gamemaker.. and all of them can't seem to match the simplicity and ease of use of GS.. but..
When is GS going to get a new User Interface? If it had simple things like a;
1. A Grid 2. Snap to function 3. Zoom in/out 4. A way to organize actors (groups or folders) 5. Copy and paste actors 6. More default behaviors
these are just a few things i think could make GS better than it already is and much more accessible to the average indie game developer.. Can't we do a petition or Kickstarter campaign to get more features implemented and more updates regularly added..
anybody agree or have any thoughts?
regards,
Simon Playback Apps
SlickZeroHouston, TexasMember, Sous ChefPosts: 2,870
edited April 2013
@playbackapps - Merged your post into this thread. It was created for this kind of input.
SlickZeroHouston, TexasMember, Sous ChefPosts: 2,870
My pleasure!
Sorry it seemed your posts were disappearing, I tagged you in this thread hoping you would see it, but it's hard to tell when a moderator moves one of your posts.
thought I'd bump this thread to add something that would make my life (and the job I just completed) much easier.
it would be nice to be able to move multiple objects in the Scene -> Layers tab. I just had to move 20 objects from one layer to another, and had to do it one at a time. big pain
Comments
The times listed are for the case where I do not use a loop, but instead have 16-100 spawn behaviors, with loop its even slower.
- Thomas
- Thomas
---
Benjamin
- Option for Load bar instead of load wheel (people keep pressing the screen while they wait)
- Color coding of functions in the creator
- Re-ordering variables in the creator
"more important" improvements:
- load times
- spawn "memory leak" *
- timer functionality
*The spawn memory leak seems to be that whenever you spawn an actor, the actor is still stored in memory after it has been destroyed so that little by little, all the memory gets eaten up. I know a lot of people tend to recycle actors due to that issue.
On a side note, I really appreciate this thread. It is very exciting to watch this discussion on improvements!
Thanks,
-Charlie
Do you have an example file showing this problem, it comes up from time it time, but no one has ever been able to follow it up with an actual project that displays the issue ?
Personally I've run tests that have spawned (and destroyed) hundreds of thousands of actors with no issues at all.
Have you got anything you might be working on, or perhaps an old project or test file, that suffers from this issue that I could take a look at ?
*Edit: I am running a heavier project and put some extra beef on it to see and I still seem to be having the issue, but I am not sure exactly how to test it. I am assuming you aren't using timers, correct?
Cheers, if you do get the chance to send it, it'd good to check it out.
- Thomas
I haven't looked into this problem yet. I'll add it to my list of stuff to check it out. It's likely a bug or oversight.
http://forums.gamesalad.com/discussion/44707/timers-are-for-chumps-gs-optimization-tips/p1
Thanks.
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At the moment you can use an 'every 0 seconds' timer but that seems to process things very slowly.
I would also love a feature where we can see the code being written that way whenever i add behaviours and attributes i can go behind the scenes and see the code and learn it. That would be awesome.
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Chakku
- Thomas
When is GS going to get a new User Interface? If it had simple things like a;
1. A Grid
2. Snap to function
3. Zoom in/out
4. A way to organize actors (groups or folders)
5. Copy and paste actors
6. More default behaviors
these are just a few things i think could make GS better than it already is and much more accessible to the average indie game developer..
Can't we do a petition or Kickstarter campaign to get more features implemented and more updates regularly added..
anybody agree or have any thoughts?
regards,
Simon
Playback Apps
And also check out this post from @CodeWizard - http://forums.gamesalad.com/discussion/56063/state-of-gamesalad-on-4-17-2013#latest
Sorry it seemed your posts were disappearing, I tagged you in this thread hoping you would see it, but it's hard to tell when a moderator moves one of your posts.
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Guru Video Channel | Lost Oasis Games | FRYING BACON STUDIOS
it would be nice to be able to move multiple objects in the Scene -> Layers tab. I just had to move 20 objects from one layer to another, and had to do it one at a time. big pain
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