State of GameSalad on 2-19-2014

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Comments

  • sladaksladak Member Posts: 119
    Also looking elsewhere (Corona) and doubt will renew…..is anyone at the top reading this!!!!!????
  • UtopianGamesUtopianGames Member Posts: 5,692
    edited February 2014
    @sladak They still have a long way to go and imo should stop jumping onboard everything and concentrate on getting just 1 to a good standard before implementing others.

    This said GS is wonderful i love it and you won't find an easier engine to work with.

    I'm even going to leave the Powered by GameSalad splash in my next release instead of the custom splash because I'm proud to be part of this community and love promoting GS…If one person see's my game and the powered by GS logo and then comes here and makes there dream come true by making a game I'm happy.

    Darren.
  • neomanneoman Member, BASIC Posts: 826
    Bring on 0.11 with more fixes and less bugs then everyone can be happy ... Can't wait ...
    ;-)
  • pinkio75pinkio75 Member, PRO Posts: 1,213
    edited February 2014
    Yes Darren you've right, and i think the same thing about GS, i've invest 3years in GS, and in your templates :) but now i really need to use adv on Android.
  • sladaksladak Member Posts: 119
    @DeepBlueApps I do like the ease-of-use in GS. Its just a shame that they are so behind the competition. I spent a day playing with Corona yesterday and was able to build the backbone of my game - the difference being I will have a tonne of features/ad networks at my disposal.

    Right better stop moaning and get back to my day job…...
  • PhoticsPhotics Member Posts: 4,172
    edited February 2014
    Things are going to get better, but they need to fix years of past mistakes first. Any coder can tell you, it only takes a few seconds to hack a workaround when under a crunch. when you go to actually fix that hack it can take days or weeks to touch everything that relied on that hack.
    I don't think GameSalad's main problem is coding. I think it's respecting the needs of Pro developers. Don't try to leverage my games to make money. It doesn't take long to add AdMob support. I did it in a few hours for my own custom made apps.

    (It's funny, I've been waiting for AdMob in GameSalad apps for so long that I don't even want it now. I don't like advertisements in games.)

    What's my biggest complaint with GameSalad right now? It's METRICS GATHERING. That's not something they have to build. It's something they should turn off. That's not technical, it's political.

    I like the optimism though. Maybe things will get better for GameSalad. It's why I check on these weekly updates. A few small changes to GameSalad could make the software more competitive.
  • ArmellineArmelline Member, PRO Posts: 5,334
    edited February 2014
    A few small changes to GameSalad could make the software more competitive.
    It may be armchair CEOing, but this is so very true. GameSalad count pacify/resolve about 90% of the issues users have with a few honest statements to the community and a few very minor shifts in policy.

    (On a side note, I thought I'd check out if Corona looked worthwhile, and ended up watching a video from 2012 about creating a game that is very similar to Flappy Bird. If Flappy Bird was created in Corona I doubt it's a co-incidence.)

    (On a side side note, they spend 14 videos making a game that would take 15 minutes in GS.)
  • codybeanscodybeans Member, PRO Posts: 74
    edited February 2014
    Well I just 300 points of encouragement GS' way to work on that :)>-
  • sladaksladak Member Posts: 119
    @Armeline Yep - Corona definitely takes longer to master and there is more to do in order to get a game working. GS wins on that one.
  • WbokoWboko Tennessee, USAMember, PRO Posts: 621
    @Armeline Yep - Corona definitely takes longer to master and there is more to do in order to get a game working. GS wins on that one.
    And that is why I am using GS to protype, and then will be moving on to something else so I can use the tools that should be part of GS but are not... Small things like custom loading wheels, one size fits all, ads of my choice not GS Management... etc...

    We should not be limited to using a company for ads just because GS Management wants to get some small kick back.

    Some of the other tools out there do seem a little longer to build with then GS, but you do not have to keep going back and updating something small because of a change with GS didn't make or forgot to tell us about. If you use another tool your games are more solid, less lag and seem to be more polished then with GS...

    I would just like GS to support what they promised and what every Pro member paid for before another year runs out.... 0.11.0 has been in the works since June of 2013... way to long!
  • Braydon_SFXBraydon_SFX Member, Sous Chef, Bowlboy Sidekick Posts: 9,273
    edited February 2014
    Hey guys,

    I agree with you: I want new features too, but my goodness, we all kept asking and asking for multiplayer. We got it just a few weeks ago and now we're asking for something else, which isn't bad, but we're dissing gamesalad for giving us multiplayer first....which is something we begged for.... Kinda boggles my mind. Granted, the service they chose for multiplayer is giving hiccups, but they're working on it because we asked for it.

    Like I said, I see where you're coming from and I agree with you. Like others have said, I have a feeling that one 0.11 arrives, updates will be pushed out much faster. Just hold on.

    On the other hand, I'm glad I found gamesalad because without the tool I'd probably be looking for a job. So even though I want new features, I can wait and in the meantime make awesome games that will bring in some money and continue to live my dream.

    *puts bowlboy helmet on in case of raining hellstones*
  • StormyStudioStormyStudio United KingdomMember Posts: 3,989
    edited February 2014
    Thought I'd join in the discussion...

    For those that are annoyed because they bought Pro for the Android advertising. That seems like a legitimate issue and worth contacting support to see what resolutions may be offered (or not offered).

    Considering other platforms? give it a go there's definitely a lot to be gained from learning to code even if you still stick with GameSalad. Though I think that the speed that games can be made with GameSalad out shines everyone else and the community here is 2nd to none.

    I don't think you can assume that if you make a game with another engine it will always be more solid e.g. you may have to fix old code when Apple or Android update their OS. The grass isn't necessarily greener, it might be but there will also be a damn steep learning curve hill to climb the other side....

    I stepped away from using GS at the end of last year for around 3 months, as the game I'm trying to make suits multiplayer so well. At the time updates for GS seemed non existent, multiplayer was stuck in endless contract negotiation and the ending of the Lua Free engine production annoyed me (as it sounded cool and looked fast) though they've explained this and have made speed improvements so that's fine.

    I went to Unity... I did hours and hours of Unity tutorials, even bought myself a physical paper book on Unity Javascript scripting (it was a terribly written book), I learnt a lot about scripting and made some small working prototypes. But in the end I know Unity is cool and crazily powerful but it's too big a ship for me to enjoy taking on and I really want to enjoy making games first and make some money 2nd.

    Don't get me wrong though I do want to get rich with a smash hit indie title. But I have limited time and often lose focus on a project when the work starts to grind.

    Then over Christmas 2013 GameSalad added the asynchronous multiplayer stuff in the nightly builds. Other nightly extras heading to 0.11 like Looping, stronger control of rules, send/receive URLs, a lot of good bug fixes, much better more powerful text string control. So I came back and paid for Pro and for the first time in a good year I am really enjoying using GameSalad and making games. I realized my new basic knowledge of javascript was enough to let me write (adapt) some PHP code and do the async stuff I've been tinkering with. So the time had'nt been wasted. Hopefully it will be useful too when 3rd party extensions can be written for the Creator too...

    It sounds like there is progress with the new Creator interface so hopefully we'll see that in the next year which should (could) speed up development and make building games even more fun and less of a chore (I'm looking at you 'multiselect', 'snap to grid' , 'layer lock', 'zoom' and 'folders').

    They're hiring more staff, Tizen support is up and running so they can do other things and it is hopefully set up to be a good year with more improvements coming more regularly.

    I'm hoping to make my game free and have in app purchases as I now kinda despise ads in games, though I know ads have their place and not just in my daughters terrible princess/mermaid games. Android ads need to work and another advert option other than iads for iOS would be well received.

    Anyway... hopefully GS will read every ones complaints and can answer and help as soon as possible.

    @DeepBlueApps ... I love the fact your gonna leave the 'Powered By GameSalad' on your next game. I'll happily do the same, once its done.

    Sorry for the lengthy post... and probably unnecessary back story... just in a chatty mood I guess.
  • LuckyLurcherLuckyLurcher Member Posts: 343
    I'm happy with Gamesalad :) Just gave them $299 earlier this month.
  • SingleSparqSingleSparq Member Posts: 1,339
    Thought I'd join in the discussion...

    For those that are annoyed because they bought Pro for the Android advertising. That seems like a legitimate issue and worth contacting support to see what resolutions may be offered (or not offered).

    Considering other platforms? give it a go there's definitely a lot to be gained from learning to code even if you still stick with GameSalad. Though I think that the speed that games can be made with GameSalad out shines everyone else and the community here is 2nd to none.

    I don't think you can assume that if you make a game with another engine it will always be more solid e.g. you may have to fix old code when Apple or Android update their OS. The grass isn't necessarily greener, it might be but there will also be a damn steep learning curve hill to climb the other side....

    I stepped away from using GS at the end of last year for around 3 months, as the game I'm trying to make suits multiplayer so well. At the time updates for GS seemed non existent, multiplayer was stuck in endless contract negotiation and the ending of the Lua Free engine production annoyed me (as it sounded cool and looked fast) though they've explained this and have made speed improvements so that's fine.

    I went to Unity... I did hours and hours of Unity tutorials, even bought myself a physical paper book on Unity Javascript scripting (it was a terribly written book), I learnt a lot about scripting and made some small working prototypes. But in the end I know Unity is cool and crazily powerful but it's too big a ship for me to enjoy taking on and I really want to enjoy making games first and make some money 2nd.

    Don't get me wrong though I do want to get rich with a smash hit indie title. But I have limited time and often lose focus on a project when the work starts to grind.

    Then over Christmas 2013 GameSalad added the asynchronous multiplayer stuff in the nightly builds. Other nightly extras heading to 0.11 like Looping, stronger control of rules, send/receive URLs, a lot of good bug fixes, much better more powerful text string control. So I came back and paid for Pro and for the first time in a good year I am really enjoying using GameSalad and making games. I realized my new basic knowledge of javascript was enough to let me write (adapt) some PHP code and do the async stuff I've been tinkering with. So the time had'nt been wasted. Hopefully it will be useful too when 3rd party extensions can be written for the Creator too...

    It sounds like there is progress with the new Creator interface so hopefully we'll see that in the next year which should (could) speed up development and make building games even more fun and less of a chore (I'm looking at you 'multiselect', 'snap to grid' , 'layer lock', 'zoom' and 'folders').

    They're hiring more staff, Tizen support is up and running so they can do other things and it is hopefully set up to be a good year with more improvements coming more regularly.

    I'm hoping to make my game free and have in app purchases as I now kinda despise ads in games, though I know ads have their place and not just in my daughters terrible princess/mermaid games. Android ads need to work and another advert option other than iads for iOS would be well received.

    Anyway... hopefully GS will read every ones complaints and can answer and help as soon as possible.

    @DeepBlueApps ... I love the fact your gonna leave the 'Powered By GameSalad' on your next game. I'll happily do the same, once its done.

    Sorry for the lengthy post... and probably unnecessary back story... just in a chatty mood I guess.
    Awesome post Stormy!
  • SingleSparqSingleSparq Member Posts: 1,339
    As the greatest karaoke song goes;
    "Don't stop believing, hold on to that fee-ee-ling!"
  • BitvorkBitvork Member, PRO Posts: 119
    I also would like to post some thoughs...

    I have released (actually I am still releasing) the Tram Tycoon game (it is not my first game). It is prepared for all platforms...

    iOS: It is now in review... for 2 days!! Looks scary. Maybe they are want to promote my game, dont know at this moment. It is multilanguage, with GameCenter, with IAP, with everything. OK for now.

    Google Play: The game is out. FREE downloads are OK. PAID revenue is also OK. Actually OK means that 50 items has been sold for the last month. However, it could be better. There are absurd permissions (looks scary for the users!!), the device turns off after while (undesirable and I have reported this issue 6 months ago!) - when you unlock the device the graphics are broken (doesnt matter if any graphic is preloaded or not). The most funny thing is GS always tells the Developer Console that my game is available for 2.x.x. version. This is not true, it crashes on old devices after loading!! These things are destroing my rating!!! FAIL!

    Samsung: I have been chosen to join the 100% indie. I know, it is only marketing campaign however, I have been rejected many times because of broken GS graphics. And Open URL does not work. FAIL!

    Tizen: Nothing to talk about. I have exported my game for Tizen. Review man has not been able to open the vehicle store... lol... FAIL! And I am not talking about other bugs.

    Windows: If there is any really critical problem GS always act! That is why I love GS team! However, my best new game generates 1.000 downloads a week but zero paid downloads. My old games generates 2% conversion to paid, my brand new game nothing. I suspect Open URL (full game) does not work after engine has been reworked. I cant test that because Windows 8.1 store doesnt work after update... lol... :))

    Mac: My game looks REALLY UGLY! Some textures are not retina however, is that the reason for REALLY UGLY appearance? FAIL! I also report this issue 6 months ago. And there is also problems with Open URL (full version). People send me few emails that they cannot open the browser - they are not able to find the paid version!!

    I am using my own server redirectors for all platforms. I see some progress on iOS and Android platforms. But there are 0 approaches through the Windows and Mac platform now.

    iOS (IAP and iAds) and Android (FREE and PAID version) together make sense but nothing else! :(

    I am developing games for 10 years, I have quit my day job and developing games via GS for the last 10 months. However, some issues and promises are actually DESTROYING MY LIFE! :(

    As I wrote before, CHANGE YOUR PRIORITIES, please! :(
  • Ij10281Ij10281 Member Posts: 35
    As the greatest karaoke song goes;
    "Don't stop believing, hold on to that fee-ee-ling!"
    Well put!
  • GameLabs222GameLabs222 Member Posts: 197
    edited February 2014
    The fact that GS is a business means they probably want you to be able to have monetizing options in Android as much if not more than you do.

    We all have self interests. This is what drives consumers to purchase and businesses to create better products. The beauty of incentives and self interest is it works without you having to tell GS about it every 5 minutes.

    Deep breaths.
  • FallacyStudiosFallacyStudios Member Posts: 970
    @Brenton222

    If that were the case, they would have released the ad networks months ago when we requested its release prior to the holidays. Seeing as they didn't do that, I doubt it is of much importance to them.
  • ArmellineArmelline Member, PRO Posts: 5,334
    @Brenton222

    If that were the case, they would have released the ad networks months ago when we requested its release prior to the holidays. Seeing as they didn't do that, I doubt it is of much importance to them.
    I wouldn't underestimate the legal legwork needed in striking any of the deals needed. I'd be shocked if the holdups are technical.
  • FallacyStudiosFallacyStudios Member Posts: 970
    @Brenton222

    If that were the case, they would have released the ad networks months ago when we requested its release prior to the holidays. Seeing as they didn't do that, I doubt it is of much importance to them.
    I wouldn't underestimate the legal legwork needed in striking any of the deals needed. I'd be shocked if the holdups are technical.
    For ad networks? They haven't mentioned anything of the sort. They keep mentioning their issues with getting a deal with multiplayer, but I haven't heard anything about ad integration deal delays.

  • Team6LabsTeam6Labs Member Posts: 541
    I can't imagine a ton of legal issues for GameSalad unless they are trying the same bs as they did with PlayHaven.
  • FallacyStudiosFallacyStudios Member Posts: 970
    @Team6Labs I really hope that isn't the case.

    @CodeWizard
    We are supposed to have access to our Revmob analytics through their dashboard and they pay us directly right?
  • pinkio75pinkio75 Member, PRO Posts: 1,213
    edited February 2014
    Yes, With RevMob and ChartBoost we have the direct access to the dashboard and we can setting the payment method to receive the money.
  • CodeWizardCodeWizard Inactive, Chef Emeritus Posts: 1,143
    I understand everyone's frustration on this stuff. Really. I'll do what I can to shed more light on what's causing delays here.

    We still have some bugs to resolve before we can push out 0.11.0. And we're running into issues with how we manage engine binaries on our publishing server. This is causing nightly builds to stall again.

    Here's a more precise list of the bugs we're squishing in 0.11.0 as of now:
    • WPUB-176 Nightly: 0.11.0 RC: Web Publishing site does not auto-update after adding RevMob/Chartboost App IDs
    • WPUB-176 RevMob: Chartboost: Android: Kindle: "Powered By GameSalad" or Custom Loading Screen appears before every ad that plays.
    • WPUB-176 Chartboost: Android: Kindle: Holding the device Portrait in a Landscape game while an ad loads causes game scene to distort
    • MAC-224 Nightly 231: Android Viewer: Viewer text becomes corrupted after backing out of a Landscape project preview in Android 4.4 and 4.3
    • MAC-224 0.11.0 RC: Nightly Build: Add Android SDK support for 4.3 and 4.4
    • MAC-224 Nightly Build: User receives error message when PlayHaven attempts to display
    • MAC-224 Nightly Build: Taking multiple screenshots will eventually crash Creator
    • MAC-224 Nightly Build: Seeing issues displaying images using alpha/transparency
    • MAC-224 Nightly Build: iOS 6 Universal Binary app always receives glossy icon
    • iAd: Nightly Build: Triggering iAd banner several times in a row causes app to crash
    • Mac Creator: Play Music dropdown not updating when a music file is added
    • 0.11.0-RC2: Creator: Save format needs to be updated for the release candidate
    • Audio: Crash when previewing a corrupted sound file in Creator
    • Screen shot taking does not work in dirty
    • MAC-224 Scene Editor Preview causes actors to disappear when you hit Play
    • No Ads: Can't generate App successfully, no ads error
    • iPad: Some images are ghosting after changing scene
    We're churning through these as fast as we can. We hope to have nightly builds unblocked again tomorrow so you can check up on our progress.

    Have patience, please. Here's a recent video from the GameSalad offices:

  • FallacyStudiosFallacyStudios Member Posts: 970
    Row faster damnit. Where is the whips???
  • BBEnkBBEnk Member Posts: 1,764
    Going on a cruise is not working!
  • quantumsheepquantumsheep Member Posts: 8,188
    Screen shot taking does not work in dirty
    Kinky! :O

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

  • Braydon_SFXBraydon_SFX Member, Sous Chef, Bowlboy Sidekick Posts: 9,273
    edited February 2014
    @CodeWizard - Ramming Speed!
  • WbokoWboko Tennessee, USAMember, PRO Posts: 621
    Not sure who all I speak for with this, but when I paid for GS again it was on the understanding that I would be able to use certain features that had been promised... I am half way through another $299 and still cannot do what I paid for. You should not be able to charge people if you cannot deliver on the goods...

    And to all others just remember...

    "Nodding the head does not row the boat"


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