**Info about Graphene (Gr) gleaned from monthly meetup video: **
(answers to questions with a caveat that anything can change and I may have misheard recording and this all seemed unofficial)
Will playstogether work with Gr?
*Assume yes. Functionalities in GS should all be included in Gr.
Can you port GS games to Gr and vice versa?
*No current plan to support porting to Gr from GS, it may be possible, we may develop a converter.
General statements:
*You can develop complete games with drag and drop and edit code where necessary.
*Gr will support 2 and 2.5 dimensional games with 3D to come later (it was stated at first that 2.5 was a potential feature request but corrected later in recording).
*Active (long term) GS users are working daily with Gr dev team.
*It will be easier to collaborate in Gr than in GS (whatever that means exactly).
*Two separate teams work on GS and Gr with people switching between teams as required.
@lycettebros Im not sure that I got the same understanding with regards to 2.5 and 3D games
From what they said, I think Graphene is still 2D... 2.5D is just 2D with additional logic required for faking depth, and they said they could maybe add to the engine to help with the faking for 2.5D. I don't remember them saying the engine would possibly be 3D.
I think the question came about, due to the screenshot on the Graphene sign up portal... as it shows an isometric view game, and it confused some people into thinking the engine does 3D.
Isometric games can be built completely in 2D... the code and assets are all 2D... its just that the artist provides all the assets pre-drawn from a specific angle.
When asked..the guys at the meeting confirmed that the game used as the sample was a 2D one, and that they just had a good artist providing them the isometric style assets.
Thanks @Chunkypixels - from my understanding I heard the 2d issue discussed at two points. Once when they were talking about the interface design and another when talking about dimension as a feature. One GS member definitely says that 3d will be a feature at a later stage. Everything said was very indefinite and open to interpretation somewhat but I tried to write what I heard from the recording.
I agree about the 2/2.5 situation it sounded flaky in terms of real 2.5 support inbuilt....almost as if doing it in GS now.
We're focusing on 2D with Graphene for now. 2.5D is also supported... not by fakery either. The engine has support for tile maps that are mapped into proper 3D space. It also supports sorting objects such that they appear in front / behind properly on those kinds of maps.
Here's a screenshot from an unreleased game built with the same engine:
The ground tiles are built from this sprite sheet:
3D? Oh, we're not ruling that out. But it's not soon.
Now that's the best bit of released Graphene info so far @CodeWizard
Is the 2.5D tile mapping restricted to specific isometric style angles... or can it be used for Nintendo style Mode7 like in the original Mario Kart, Pilot Wings and F Zero?
*It will be easier to collaborate in Gr than in GS (whatever that means exactly).
I think this means developers can collaborate on a project together, say you and I, both adding to the same .project file. Similar to using "check-in check-out" in Adobe Dreamweaver.
PhilipCCEncounter Bay, South AustraliaMemberPosts: 1,390
@PhilipCC said:
I think this means developers can collaborate on a project together, say you and I, both adding to the same .project file. Similar to using "check-in check-out" in Adobe Dreamweaver.
Yep that makes sense @PhilipCC it might be a more advanced use of the portfolio concept perhaps. Production files can be shared from the portfolio or synchronised from the portfolio with a local file?
Considering I only check in about twice a year now of course just to get my hopes up and then have them crash again. Seems like nothing has really changed and from the sounds of the new creator / graphene it'll probably be by September if you're lucky. While gamesalad has been a great asset to many It's focused on games while my app goals aren't game oriented so In the meanwhile I've been learning Xcode/swift. My hope would be that graphene draws me back. We'll see!
@Chunkypixels said:
Is the 2.5D tile mapping restricted to specific isometric style angles... or can it be used for Nintendo style Mode7 like in the original Mario Kart, Pilot Wings and F Zero?
@CodeWizard said:
Chunkypixels The tile map can be rotated all around as you see fit.
You can do that right now in GameSalad, rotate an isometric world 360°, with 3D objects honouring their positions, it's surprisingly straightforward.
Next Week??? I want this out tommorrow.!!!!! Out of Beta and on shelves for the public to know about. I want a news segment made about this new software called Graphene that is hitting the internet by storm.
I don't doubt you can manage to rotate an isometric world, with a set field of view/perspective, and I have a possible inkling I how you might do it....
But its not quite the same as rotating and moving a texture mapped plane in 3D.... with an "into the screen" view angle...which is what it sounds like Graphene is capable of...
I'd love to see you do a fully working mode7 style effect with GameSalad though, if your wanting to give it a go
@Chunkypixels said:
Socks might be pretty straightforward for you
I don't doubt you can manage to rotate an isometric world, with a set field of view/perspective, and I have a possible inkling I how you might do it....
But its not quite the same as rotating and moving a texture mapped plane in 3D.... with an "into the screen" view angle...which is what it sounds like Graphene is capable of...
Maybe I'm misunderstanding what is being said (nothing new there!), but you can move around a GS isometric world, rotate it and move closer and further away - and the objects and surfaces can be texture mapped if you need them to be.
@Chunkypixels said:
I'd love to see you do a fully working mode7 style effect with GameSalad though, if your wanting to give it a go
I'm not 100% familiar with mode7, is it just that faked perspective sort of thing ?
Comments
Gracias GS team!!!
**Info about Graphene (Gr) gleaned from monthly meetup video: **
(answers to questions with a caveat that anything can change and I may have misheard recording and this all seemed unofficial)
Will playstogether work with Gr?
*Assume yes. Functionalities in GS should all be included in Gr.
Can you port GS games to Gr and vice versa?
*No current plan to support porting to Gr from GS, it may be possible, we may develop a converter.
General statements:
*You can develop complete games with drag and drop and edit code where necessary.
*Gr will support 2 and 2.5 dimensional games with 3D to come later (it was stated at first that 2.5 was a potential feature request but corrected later in recording).
*Active (long term) GS users are working daily with Gr dev team.
*It will be easier to collaborate in Gr than in GS (whatever that means exactly).
*Two separate teams work on GS and Gr with people switching between teams as required.
@lycettebros Im not sure that I got the same understanding with regards to 2.5 and 3D games
From what they said, I think Graphene is still 2D... 2.5D is just 2D with additional logic required for faking depth, and they said they could maybe add to the engine to help with the faking for 2.5D. I don't remember them saying the engine would possibly be 3D.
I think the question came about, due to the screenshot on the Graphene sign up portal... as it shows an isometric view game, and it confused some people into thinking the engine does 3D.
Isometric games can be built completely in 2D... the code and assets are all 2D... its just that the artist provides all the assets pre-drawn from a specific angle.
When asked..the guys at the meeting confirmed that the game used as the sample was a 2D one, and that they just had a good artist providing them the isometric style assets.
Thanks @Chunkypixels - from my understanding I heard the 2d issue discussed at two points. Once when they were talking about the interface design and another when talking about dimension as a feature. One GS member definitely says that 3d will be a feature at a later stage. Everything said was very indefinite and open to interpretation somewhat but I tried to write what I heard from the recording.
I agree about the 2/2.5 situation it sounded flaky in terms of real 2.5 support inbuilt....almost as if doing it in GS now.
We're focusing on 2D with Graphene for now. 2.5D is also supported... not by fakery either. The engine has support for tile maps that are mapped into proper 3D space. It also supports sorting objects such that they appear in front / behind properly on those kinds of maps.
Here's a screenshot from an unreleased game built with the same engine:
The ground tiles are built from this sprite sheet:
3D? Oh, we're not ruling that out. But it's not soon.
Ooh sprite sheet too!
Slowly, slowly milk the monkey! (Or in this case milk the wizard)
My GameSalad Academy Courses! ◦ Check out my quality templates! ◦ Add me on Skype: braydon_sfx
Excellent, @CodeWizard !
Sweet!
Now that's the best bit of released Graphene info so far @CodeWizard
Is the 2.5D tile mapping restricted to specific isometric style angles... or can it be used for Nintendo style Mode7 like in the original Mario Kart, Pilot Wings and F Zero?
@Chunkypixels The tile map can be rotated all around as you see fit.
Forgive me if I'm wrong.... But that character in that screenshot looks suspiciously like its built using skeletal animation... !?!
Wow... Mode 7... Ok... I'm coming round to Graphene more now....
See... Giving us info, rather than trying to be cryptic wins the audience over much more quickly!!
I think this means developers can collaborate on a project together, say you and I, both adding to the same .project file. Similar to using "check-in check-out" in Adobe Dreamweaver.
What kind of Gogi Juice are you on.... and is he wearing your pants?
Yep that makes sense @PhilipCC it might be a more advanced use of the portfolio concept perhaps. Production files can be shared from the portfolio or synchronised from the portfolio with a local file?
Is this project something that will be released soon or are we talking weeks or months away?
Most likely months.
My GameSalad Academy Courses! ◦ Check out my quality templates! ◦ Add me on Skype: braydon_sfx
There is no trickery or cryptic here. Graphene is in production. They release some info to get people excited and a heads up.
I am sure they are trying to add features and remove as they go along.
People are expecting a finished brochure for this thing way before it's close to release.
They will release info as things come along. Better than over promising and not delivering in Beta.
If they don't answer an direct question it's because they don't know for sure. Or it will be a surprise feature for the release.
Good fun.
Glad to see much more positive reactions! Graphene is currently in Alpha testing. I believe in a few months Beta testing will begin. It's a process.
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Exciting stuff @CodeWizard
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Considering I only check in about twice a year now of course just to get my hopes up and then have them crash again. Seems like nothing has really changed and from the sounds of the new creator / graphene it'll probably be by September if you're lucky. While gamesalad has been a great asset to many It's focused on games while my app goals aren't game oriented so In the meanwhile I've been learning Xcode/swift. My hope would be that graphene draws me back. We'll see!
@Codewizard PM'd me to say that Graphene would be out by the end of next week*
*in a dream I had last night
You can do that right now in GameSalad, rotate an isometric world 360°, with 3D objects honouring their positions, it's surprisingly straightforward.
Next Week??? I want this out tommorrow.!!!!! Out of Beta and on shelves for the public to know about. I want a news segment made about this new software called Graphene that is hitting the internet by storm.
...
@Socks might be pretty straightforward for you
I don't doubt you can manage to rotate an isometric world, with a set field of view/perspective, and I have a possible inkling I how you might do it....
But its not quite the same as rotating and moving a texture mapped plane in 3D.... with an "into the screen" view angle...which is what it sounds like Graphene is capable of...
I'd love to see you do a fully working mode7 style effect with GameSalad though, if your wanting to give it a go
If you have a Pro account, you can get access to a beta version of Windows Creator that has feature parity with the current release of Mac Creator.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding what is being said (nothing new there!), but you can move around a GS isometric world, rotate it and move closer and further away - and the objects and surfaces can be texture mapped if you need them to be.
I'm not 100% familiar with mode7, is it just that faked perspective sort of thing ?