Universal applications

The8BitMan

Hi everyone. I've recently migrated to Gamesalad from Stencyl mainly due to the stability of the Android publishing and I've picked it up really fast. My question is about universal apps. I know that is against forum policies to ask multiple questions in one one discussion but my questions' validity are dependent on each other so it is simpler this way.

1) Is Gamesalad cable of producing universal apps or do I need to made one version for each device

2) iPhone 5's odd side ratio. How can that be dealt with so that the app can still be submitted to the app store?
You are not allowed black space (letterboxing) and cropping causes blurring and pixelation.

3) If universal apps are possible, how can I set it up so that both devices are neither cropped nor letterboxed? Something like having a background larger than the screen and using that for screen ratios

Sorry for the long question but once I know this, I won't be asking again in a while so I hope it's okay.

-Tim

Thunder_Child

Tim, check out this discussion. I bet you will find it useful. UB is a big discussion here right now


http://forums.gamesalad.com/vanilla/discussion/bookmark/53670/BOKWFIEDAYCE

Thunder_Child

Also...

http://gshelper.com/product-category/free-templates-and-tutorials/universal-binaries/

The8BitMan

That kind of skims around my point but I appreciate the answer.
Looking around in the Gamesalad game/scene attributes, what's to stop me just setting the camera size to the device size and then either using a static or percentage based layout to setup the scene without pixelation or letterboxing?

Adrenaline

That kind of skims around my point but I appreciate the answer.
Looking around in the Gamesalad game/scene attributes, what's to stop me just setting the camera size to the device size and then either using a static or percentage based layout to setup the scene without pixelation or letterboxing?

Nothing, do that! That's what I did

The8BitMan

I gave it a test:

• I've outputted my scene size variables and device size variables.
• The devices sizes changes as expected as I switch between devices/OSs.
• I have a constrain attribute behaviour that is set to update the camera size:

  game.Display Size.Width = game.Screen.Size.Width

Yet the camera size never changes. Have you overcome this?

Adrenaline

I didn't do it with a constrain attribute behavior. I simply had a rule that checks for the size and then sets one of 3 booleans to true. Either iPad, iPhone5, or Legacy. Then, in each of the actors that I want to adjust, I have a rule that checks for which of those is true. Put the necessary actions into that rule and they will respond to the size.

But like I said, I didn't use a contain attribute. My way of doing it requires that the check be done in the first scene, and if you want to see other sizes you must change the device size in the GameSalad preview window and then reset the game. This works fine for when the app is actually delivered because the screen size won't be changing on any devices that run your app.

The8BitMan

I didn't do it with a constrain attribute behavior. I simply had a rule that checks for the size and then sets one of 3 booleans to true. Either iPad, iPhone5, or Legacy. Then, in each of the actors that I want to adjust, I have a rule that checks for which of those is true. Put the necessary actions into that rule and they will respond to the size.

But like I said, I didn't use a contain attribute. My way of doing it requires that the check be done in the first scene, and if you want to see other sizes you must change the device size in the GameSalad preview window and then reset the game. This works fine for when the app is actually delivered because the screen size won't be changing on any devices that run your app.

So just to check, your method is for resizing the scene as well as the actors, not just the latter?

Adrenaline

Ah, I see your problem now (I think!). No, I only used my method to adjust the actors. My particular game was unique in that it made more sense to have separate scenes depending on which device was running it. Therefore, all I had to do was determine which version of the scene is called upon when each button is pressed.

I don't see why this can't be used to adjust the scene but I suppose that's why you're here, right? Sorry, I hope I helped at least a little bit.

The8BitMan

Nah, I appreciate it.
I've tried what I said and it just leaves the black bars on the side despite the scene size being larger than the displayed portion.

Adrenaline

Are you testing this inside GameSalad Preview or on an actual ad hoc build? I've noticed that the GS Preview doesn't always perform 100% correctly. Sometimes it requires a refresh of the app (in the preview window), and other times you just need to run an ad hoc build, period.

The8BitMan

Tried refreshing, but I've never been a user of Ad Hoc since I am solely a php/flash coder. I'm only using gamesalad for universal mobile games which is quite ironic right now.

The8BitMan

How exactly do I run an Ad Hoc build with Gamesalad?

Adrenaline

Ahh okay, so you can do one of two things.

Easier one first: download the GameSalad Viewer (at the footer of GS's homepage). Install that on your device, make sure that device is physically connected to the computer you are working on, AND it's on the same wifi network. Then, you open that app on your device and a new preview option should become available in the GameSalad Creator that will let you run the app on your device.

The second way requires you to go pretty deep into the process of certification with Apple. You can publish your game through GameSalad as if it's complete and ready for submission, and then just use Xcode to put it on your device directly. You will need certificates and provision profiles, things that I stumbled through with many instances of trial and error before succeeding.

jamie_c

Technically an AdHoc build is the second option outlined above by @Adrenaline. This is the actual game running on the device, just like it will run when downloaded from the App Store.

The first option will run the game using a form of emulation so there could still be differences once it's published.