Introducing Graphene SDK...

CodeWizardCodeWizard Inactive, Chef Emeritus Posts: 1,143

Hi everyone!

As you may know, we’ve been hard at work on our new product (cleverly codenamed “Cross Platform Creator”) for some time. We’ve talked about it in hushed tones and whispers for months and months now. We’re still not ready to spill all the beans about the product just yet, but I’m happy to announce some initial details today. And to invite you to sign up for our invite-only beta starting early next year.

This new product is called Graphene SDK. You can sign up for the beta here: http://graphenesdk.com

What is it?

Graphene is like GameSalad on steroids. We took everything we learned building GameSalad Creator and blended it with over 60 years of professional game development experience to create a fantastic tool for building games. It’s got a new engine, new interface, powerful coding features, native plugin support, and more! The new engine is the same one used to build games like Draw Something, Udder Destruction, and Jangle. It’s fast, flexible, and battle-tested.

What does this mean for GameSalad Creator?

Graphene SDK and GameSalad Creator are two different products serving different needs. GameSalad Creator will continue to exist as a separate product line -- we’ll continue to add new features, maintain OS compatibility, provide support, etc.

When can I get access to Graphene?

We’re currently in closed alpha testing with a small group of power users from the GameSalad community. We’ll keep letting more folks into the test group as the product matures. To be considered for an early access slot, you’ll need to register at http://graphenesdk.com. Once you sign up, you’ll notice that you can improve your priority slot by successfully inviting others to join the beta group. Depending on how the testing goes, we plan on opening up the beta group to an increasingly wider audience over the coming months.

I’ve got a whole bunch of questions you haven’t answer yet, when are you going to provide more info?

We’ll continue to release more info about Graphene to folks that register for the beta. So head on over to http://graphenesdk.com to sign up for beta access and we’ll keep you apprised of all the developments!

Have a safe holiday and a Happy New Year!

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Comments

  • LovejoyLovejoy Member Posts: 2,078

    Sweetness!

    Fortuna Infortuna Forti Una

  • BBEnkBBEnk Member Posts: 1,764
    edited December 2014

    Sweetness! +1 and signed up,lol.

  • ReverbLabsReverbLabs London ukMember, PRO Posts: 16

    Awesome, this looks great!

  • robertkdalerobertkdale USAMember Posts: 912

    I just signed up :)

    Big Smile Games Play Happy!
    Check out our other GameSalad exclusives.

  • neomanneoman Member, BASIC Posts: 826
    edited December 2014

    What they said! Bring it on ... Did I read "powerful coding features" ??? I did ... so does
    that mean it will have the benefit of both worlds drag and drop and the ability to add custom code ??? Wow! Amazing stuff ... Can't wait to see it ... :wink:

  • Braydon_SFXBraydon_SFX Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Bowlboy Sidekick Posts: 9,271

  • colandercolander Member Posts: 1,610
    edited December 2014

    Cool, I've signed up. @CodeWizard what language/s will we be able to use to write our own code?

  • LovejoyLovejoy Member Posts: 2,078

    Now hopefully my publisher can wait a few months for this to come out and not give me the boot before then...

    Fortuna Infortuna Forti Una

  • gingagaminggingagaming FREELANCE GS DEV Member Posts: 1,685

    Sign me up and blow me away!

  • unbeatenpixelunbeatenpixel Game Developer Member, PRO Posts: 568

    Amazing stuff. I can't wait to see it! :#

    Check out my games on the App Store!

    Wordgraphy / Polycolor / 20 Seconds / Minimal Maze

  • Nabbo (ReflectiveByte)Nabbo (ReflectiveByte) Member Posts: 278
    edited December 2014

    @CodeWizard, Can we export / import projects with this new sdk with GS???

  • hybridhybrid Member Posts: 183
    edited December 2014

    sounds and looks awesome!

  • PhilipCCPhilipCC Encounter Bay, South AustraliaMember Posts: 1,390

    Santa certainly came early. Off to sign up with the other elves. :)

  • Braydon_SFXBraydon_SFX Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Bowlboy Sidekick Posts: 9,271

    @PhilipCC said:
    Santa certainly came early. Off to sign up with the other elves. :)

    I finally get to change my pants now!

  • imjustmikeimjustmike Member Posts: 450

    So will people who have paid for GS Pro have to pay again to use this new software (or pro features of it)?

  • NimbleBugNimbleBug Member Posts: 483

    signed up :)

  • MantoManto Member Posts: 796

    Signed up.
    Does the engine happen to be Marmalade SDK?

  • ChunkypixelsChunkypixels Member Posts: 1,114
    edited December 2014

    Hmmmm... Ok... So I might as well be the one to break the euphoria...

    So if GameSalad already struggles to maintain and update just one engine in a timely fashion, hows it going to be when they have 2 to support?

    I was all for, and really looking forward to a much needed update of the GameSalad creator, but I'm not sure this sounds like the great idea everyone else seems to think. I just don't know... Seems like it could be another of GameSalads wild goose chases that ends up having an overall negative impact.

    So does that mean there is no cross platform creator/interface update for the current engine?

    Has the development of a second engine been the reason for slow/buggy updates to the current engine?

    I'm not sure... But this doesn't sound like the cross platform solution to GameSalad that we've been promised for over a year now... I guess I'll have to wait and see... But it's popping up red flags for me... :(

    So it's not actually an update/overhaul to the current engine... It's an entirely new one? Are GameSalad files going to be compatible with it? If not, then like I said, it means double the upkeep to keep the two engines existing... And if that's not the case, and GS files can be used, or converted, then why even bother keeping both engines... Why not just phase out the old engine if the new one is much better?

    Don't get me wrong... If the new engine is much better, then I'll definately look at using it... but it just doesn't seem like there's been complete honesty on what the Cross Platform Creator was going to be... and it seems a strange decision to have 2 engines to support. It's giving me slight jitters in the vein of GS Direct, GS Accelerator and the GS LUA Free.

    Hopefully this isn't one of those...

    Also, weren't screenshots of the Cross Platform Creator promised for before the end of the year? I'm not sure a banner of the logo really counts :)

  • RondoRocketRondoRocket Member Posts: 411

    @CodeWizard I just have one question... does the new engine have a draw order feature?! Layers in GS is fine, but I've always wanted a way to sort multiple actors in real time. Probably not the most important feature for a lot of people, but I've been wanting this in GS forever.

    Also signed up for beta!

  • ChakkuChakku Member Posts: 1,513
    edited December 2014

    @CodeWizard‌

    How will price factor into all of this? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a more powerful Creator, but whenever a company creates a separate product that could easily be an update to an existing product, it gives me the feeling they're just trying to charge me twice :/.

    Now I really do love GameSalad, but quite frankly, with all due respect, as a GS Pro member I'm disappointed by the pace and quality of updates to GameSalad creator. Now that same team is going to split their resources over two product lines? Honestly it seems GS is in need of capital, and getting their core Pro audience to pay for an additional subscription seemed like the best way to get it. Now I totally understand the need for more money to expand the capabilities of GS creator, but having the already-overworked team attempt to support two separate product lines is not the way to go.

    I would not mind paying more for a Pro subscription if it meant access to this sweet new engine. I imagine there is a solid population of shadow users that would upgrade to Pro if this were to happen. But please, don't follow through with this multi-product setup. It seems very inefficient; update the current Creator with the new one.

    Again, I love GameSalad, but as a Pro member I don't like where this is going...

    --

    Thanks for reading

    Chakku

  • Tiny_IdeasTiny_Ideas Member Posts: 326
    edited December 2014

    Lost for words. Although would have been nice to know that all the bugs that were reported was a wasted effort

  • ChakkuChakku Member Posts: 1,513

    @Tiny_Ideas said:

    This is a real kick in the face. Unbelievable. You tell us to buy pro, we are working hard on getting you features. No. You weren't were you. You were working on the whole new game engine. No respect now.
    You burnt me before with the new lua free engine.

    Good luck with it all, maybe I come back in a year and see the name of the new engine you built. Nothing but a scam.

    @Tiny_Ideas‌
    Please don't sound too confrontational.

    Now don't get me wrong. I too as a Pro member am outraged they were working on this separate product thing while delivering sparse and subpar updates to GS Creator. But with that being said, the only way to change this is to voice our complaints in a calm yet firm, diplomatic manner.

    Chakku

  • ChunkypixelsChunkypixels Member Posts: 1,114

    The fact that your putting Alpha/Beta access to the new engine, as a priority to sign ups that generate the most additional sign ups is a little bit of a concern too. Shouldn't priority access be to the Pro accounts, that currently use Gamesalad?

  • ChakkuChakku Member Posts: 1,513
    edited December 2014

    @Chunkypixels said:
    Shouldn't priority access be to the Pro accounts, that currently use Gamesalad?

    @Chunkypixels‌

    Agreed. And Pro users should be compensated well considering they have been working on this separate product during our membership periods while bragging about it and building hype as though it was going to be a massive long overdue feature-packed update to GameSalad creators.

    Chakku

  • neomanneoman Member, BASIC Posts: 826
    edited December 2014

    @colander said:
    what language/s will we be able to use to write our own code?

    My guess is that would be LUA.

    @Chunkypixels

    I agree with what you said. I am guessing they will be keep the old Creator to support the old project files if this new engine is completely different that is the only reason GS would have two products as people would be really pissed off if they had to rework all their old projects.

    It would be sweet if older Creator projects could be converted but my guess is that won't be the case ... Emphasis on my guess ...

  • BBEnkBBEnk Member Posts: 1,764

    You guys act like this is a secret they've been talking about the new cross platform creator for awhile now.

    They also said that they would continue supporting the current creator even after this one is released in the last online meet up, because People/We are paying them too.

    Anyway I'm looking forward to it.

  • ChakkuChakku Member Posts: 1,513
    edited December 2014

    @BBEnk said:
    You guys act like this is a secret they've been talking about the new cross platform creator for awhile now.

    @BBEnk‌

    Agreed, but why should it be a separate product line? Basically we'll have to pay again for another subscription (I know it's supposed to serve a separate purpose, but many people have already invested in Pro memberships!)

    But hey, if they'll allow current Pro memberships to carry over and maybe even offer a one-time discount for current Pros once our memberships expire, I would not have a problem with the financial aspect of things (although an overworked team now having to focus on maintaining 2 product lines is still concerning to me).

    Chakku

  • iamcarteziamcartez Houston, TexasMember Posts: 648
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