State of GameSalad on 7-3-2013

CodeWizardCodeWizard Inactive, Chef Emeritus Posts: 1,143
edited July 2013 in GameSalad Kitchen
Hello! It's that time again... time for another weekly state of GameSalad post. It's a short week this week due to the 4th of July holiday. Don't be alarmed!

Estimated Stable Build Schedule

We’re still holding off on releasing any new stable builds. More bug fixes and optimizations are in progress in the nightly builds. Head over to the “PRO - Working With GameSalad” forum for more info.

What’s New This Week?

1. The senior software tester / game designer we made an offer to last week started this week. He's starting to ramp up on the tools and whatnot.

2. We’re continuing to look for some new hires to help cover some weaknesses in our current staffing. Will keep you abreast of the developments on this front.

3. Two of our engineers are reworking how we manage building GameSalad Creator and various flavors of the engine and viewer. It turns out that our build configuration simply has gotten out of control and needs some serious taming. Whip and chair are out!

4. We've finished whipping our Android development environment into shape. This means we can now debug native and Java code on Android. Now we can start digging into some of the Android-specific bugs and optimization issues. It's a good feeling to not be debugging like a caveman.

5. The Lua reorganization for supporting async multiplayer is done. The engineer working on this is back on implementation. He's finished up the Connect, Disconnect and Create Game behaviors. Progress!

6. It looks like the loading wheel changes that @BlackCloakGS have been working on are nearly upon you. Release to nightly builds is waiting on some build server issues being resolved in #3 to be handled first.

7. Our test team is starting to dig in on the nightly builds and helping us decide how best to roll those changes out for stable builds. Slow progress, but sure! I know you're all chomping at the bit to get some of these awesome changes we've been putting into the nightly builds. More info soon.

8. A new C++ / Lua profiler has been integrated into the code. Super handy for us to pinpoint performance bottlenecks.

9. A new image processing library (FreeImage) has been integrated into the code. This will vastly expand the kinds of images we can support and help speed up image processing in general.

10. We're about to start executing on our new sprite sheet and draw batching systems. More news soon!
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Comments

  • Braydon_SFXBraydon_SFX Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Bowlboy Sidekick Posts: 9,271
    I like #6! :D

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  • FajlajpFajlajp Member Posts: 666
    I like 5 and 6 :D
    Great to hear the progress on async :)
    If it's finished in next build I will just put my arms in the air and screen ;)
    Do you think it will be realeased in the next build @codewizard?(you don't have to know. Just what you think)
    And finally!!! Hope we get custom loading wheels.
  • Braydon_SFXBraydon_SFX Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Bowlboy Sidekick Posts: 9,271
    Next build? I highly doubt it...It's a large feature and requires a lot of attention to perfect. We don't want them to throw it out to us with bugs, do we? ;)

    My GameSalad Academy Courses! ◦ Check out my quality templates! ◦ Add me on Skype: braydon_sfx

  • CodeWizardCodeWizard Inactive, Chef Emeritus Posts: 1,143
    Next build? Nope. It's quite a few weeks out still.
  • RPRP Member Posts: 1,990
    Sprite sheets eh? Hmmm... I'm looking forward to seeing this.
  • Bad wolf GuyBad wolf Guy Member Posts: 206
    edited July 2013
    Great work, seems like a lot is happening in nightly builds, guess its time to go PRO to join in. Exciting times for me in coming days :)
  • games4fungames4fun Member Posts: 185
    Number 9 sounds great. Does it reduce the the amount of image memory being used in a project so we can add more images?

    I notice its very difficult to make a decent app that requires images now. Especially for universal builds since we now have to create rentia iPad graphics and one 2048 by 1536 image takes 8 mb. Doesn't really work when trying to make a 1 scene game.
  • beefy_clyrobeefy_clyro Member Posts: 5,390
    Sweet
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  • iamcarteziamcartez Houston, TexasMember Posts: 648
    Loving these updates and the async and custom loading wheel news.

    www.appdore.com || appdore twitter || appdore facebook

  • zzap64zzap64 Member Posts: 405
    @games4fun
    I released a Universal Binary, using only 1 scene and contains nearly 200 512x512 images & works fine :) Reset scene helped me out.
  • games4fungames4fun Member Posts: 185
    @games4fun
    I released a Universal Binary, using only 1 scene and contains nearly 200 512x512 images & works fine :) Reset scene helped me out.
    Each of those images would be 1mb so that's 200mb just in images. Do they all load at the same time and also have you tested it on a iPod touch 4 or iPhone 4.
  • joe_williamsjoe_williams Member, PRO Posts: 50
    Excited for sprite sheets and multiplayer!
  • GOG_GamesGOG_Games Member Posts: 130
    Great! Looks like a lot of good changes are on their way! :D
  • SnapFireStudiosSnapFireStudios Member Posts: 1,603
    #1-10! ;)
    - Thomas
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  • WbokoWboko Tennessee, USAMember, PRO Posts: 621
    This is some sweet news, however I just want to start seeing these great updates we are hearing about in the builds....

    I have been working on two games right now, but they seem to be on hold as I really don't want to roll them out and then the coolness gets pushed out in a new build and miss it or need to rebuild again... SOON PLEASE!!!
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  • TokuharaTokuhara Member Posts: 94
    Sweet news for Android development too... it has serious lack of performance if compared to iOS.
  • PBEmpirePBEmpire Member Posts: 676
    Woot! Awesome!!!! Any rough ideas when the next stable build is going to be? It has been like that for 2 months! Anyways keep up the good work! Loving #5 and 6!!
  • zzap64zzap64 Member Posts: 405
    @games4fun
    Not all at the same time else it would crash :). The scene reset reduces the RAM accumulation. If I remember correctly I also had some SFX play as music so as not to use RAM.
  • kinzuakinzua Member Posts: 554
    Jar full of candies... but none to eat... yet >:P

    Jokes apart.. its the boldest and most aggressive GS ever witnessed.
    Keep it up guys.. eager to see a stable build
  • BoomshackBarryBoomshackBarry Member Posts: 712
    It seems like you guys have got some solid plans in the works! For the first time since I started using GS about 4 years ago it really feels like things are all moving in the same direction :)
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  • The_Gamesalad_GuruThe_Gamesalad_Guru Member Posts: 9,922
    Ah, patience folks. I see the need structure and debugging systems are in place! This heavy lifting is essential for having a solid structure moving forward. Just keep in mind guys the old GS would have taken two years to get this far. Be thankful the software is finally on the road to stability. Let's not fill this thread with complaints about an update. It will come when it's ready. As GS is going to be constantly in flux with codewizard's plan you shouldn't stop your game development. I've tested my stuff in all the nightly builds and they work fine. If your game runs well in 10.3 it will run fine in future updates. The reason why there were major issues with the 10.1 to 10.3 jump was because the switched from a LUA to LUA JT now that that major leap is over you'll be fine.

    Guru Video Channel   | Lost Oasis Games | FRYING BACON STUDIOS  

  • quantumsheepquantumsheep Member Posts: 8,188
    Sounds good!

    Wondering how the custom font stuff is coming along, if at all!

    Cheers!

    QS =D

    Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
    Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io

  • PimanPiman Member, PRO Posts: 165
    Where are the MAC Creator interface improvements?

    I am happy with your work, but one thing I am truly annoyed with is how sloppy the interface is of GameSalad. After *years*. I change the width of the actors, or scroll down, go into an actor to change some things and as soon as I switch back the interface is back at default. This stops being remotely tolerable when you have a big game.

    In my opinion you guys need to spend a few days fixing this sort of low hanging fruit and push a release for it. Totally low hanging fruit, while major improvements for workflow.
  • quantumsheepquantumsheep Member Posts: 8,188
    Also: Any news on an easier Universal build thingy?

    Ta!

    QS =D

    Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
    Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io

  • SnapFireStudiosSnapFireStudios Member Posts: 1,603
    Good to see you sheepy!
    - Thomas
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  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    . . . one thing I am truly annoyed with is how sloppy the interface is of GameSalad. After *years*. I change the width of the actors, or scroll down, go into an actor to change some things and as soon as I switch back the interface is back at default. This stops being remotely tolerable when you have a big game.
    @Piman

    Lol :) It's so true, it's a real pain and you never really get used to it . . . in fact putting aside the fact that windows and layouts change if you open something else, the very fact that you have to navigate between so many windows in the first place to make basic changes is, itself, insanely counterproductive.

    There must be an evil mastermind up at GS HQ planning an epidemic of RSI amongst GS users. If I were to hazard a guess I'd say GS has a sizeable investment in RSI specialists and/or anti inflammatory drug manufacturers.
  • The_Gamesalad_GuruThe_Gamesalad_Guru Member Posts: 9,922
    Or it could just be limited resources. I'm sure all of you with big company management experence already know about that. :-/

    Guru Video Channel   | Lost Oasis Games | FRYING BACON STUDIOS  

  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    :-@
  • The_Gamesalad_GuruThe_Gamesalad_Guru Member Posts: 9,922
    @socks ah there is an old saying, "fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me." Isn't gonna happen brotha. =))

    Guru Video Channel   | Lost Oasis Games | FRYING BACON STUDIOS  

  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    edited July 2013
    So that's how it works is it ? I responsd to Piman - and you interject with a sarcastic remark, but if I dare respond (even with an emoticon) I am somehow baiting you ?

    Chill out, you'll give yourself a hernia. :)
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