Why Gamesalad?
AlexGreeneApps
Member Posts: 16
So I'm 14 years old and I've recently gotten into making iPhone apps. I have made 3 apps so far in the app store (just type in Alex Greene) all of which were made without GameSalad and just Xcode. But now I want to make games for the iPhone and I am contemplating whether I should learn to make them with a game engine such as Cocos2D or just stick to Gamesalad.
Gamesalad:
If I go with Gamesalad, I could make all of my game ideas a reality, and I have a couple of great ideas. On the other hand, I am hoping to make career something with programming/ design/ computers, etc, so if I went with Gamesalad I really wouldn't be learning any coding or game-making skills.
Xcode, Cocos2D, etc:
If I went with just using Xcode and a more advanced game engine, I would be learning many skills, but I would have to do a lot of work, and It would take a long time to learn, in addition, I can't seem to install Cocos2D on my Mac. The downside to this though is that it would take a long time till I could bring my ideas to life.
I guess I could do both, but do you guys have any suggestions?
Gamesalad:
If I go with Gamesalad, I could make all of my game ideas a reality, and I have a couple of great ideas. On the other hand, I am hoping to make career something with programming/ design/ computers, etc, so if I went with Gamesalad I really wouldn't be learning any coding or game-making skills.
Xcode, Cocos2D, etc:
If I went with just using Xcode and a more advanced game engine, I would be learning many skills, but I would have to do a lot of work, and It would take a long time to learn, in addition, I can't seem to install Cocos2D on my Mac. The downside to this though is that it would take a long time till I could bring my ideas to life.
I guess I could do both, but do you guys have any suggestions?
Comments
GameSalad, on the other hand, allows you to get stuff done very quickly.
Basically, if I had the brains for coding, I'd probably go with Unity (although that's 3D). In fact, I did go with Unity... but I found JavaScript (even though easier than Objective C) too difficult for my tiny brain...
Nice work on having made 3 apps already at 14 years of age!!!!
GameSalad is great for people that dont want to, or cant get their head around coding, and gives us a way of creating things that we otherwise wouldnt be able to do.... but it does lack a lot of the capabilities that you would be able to achieve through coding.
If i could code, I'd stick to that, maybe consider using a middleware engine like Unity that gives you a lot more flexibility and control over what your creating.
Like you said, GameSalad doesnt really give you any future adaptabilty or re-use for the skillset you'd learn outside of the GameSalad environment, whereas hard-coding apps has a lot more crossover potential for you.
Your still young, so its worth taking the time investment to learn and improve the skills that will be of more benefit to you later down the line, rather than taking the easy option.
You sound like you already have a good groundwork established, so I'd suggest that in your case, you'd be better off staying the coding route... I think it'll give you far more options and opportunites later in life.
..dont get us wrong. GameSalad is a great tool. And you'd probably enjoy using it, and get lots of games created. But, it will also frustrate the heck out of you too.... especially if you can code, and want it to do things that it simply doesnt do (yet?)
With your background, and experience that you already have, you'll just gain a lot more by doing things the traditional code way....
Im pretty sure that the coders at Gendai would probably give you the same advice if it were purely from a career based point of view.
Do both.
My applications were simple ones to make, and still each consists of a couple thousand lines of code. I started to tap into the game aspect of xcode and cocos, and let me tell you, there is so much to learn and understand, it will take me ages to gain any concrete knowledge. I know how to program quite well in C++ and Objective C, but game programing is a completely different story.
Gamesalad may lack many capabilities available through programming, but it shines in one of the most important aspects of game creation, which is game logic. Anyone can say they know how to program, but you have to understand the important concepts behind logic in order to properly use the programming skills. Gamesalad is an amazing introduction into the world of game programming, and can teach you MANY lessons on how to come to a logical solution.
So, start building your games right now and get your ideas going! Have fun with it! Gamesalad can let you do that anytime at any skill level! You will learn quite a bit more than you might think about OVERALL game design.
While your having fun and bringing these idea's to life, slowly (but surely) learn as much as you can/want/need about actual programming as well.
Just as an example, I tried to program a "game" that functioned like my game demo of the balls bouncing off the walls, and after 1 week of frustration and endless code, I gave up. This same game on gamesalad took me about 5 min. Trust me, its a gigantic leap!
brought a good perspective to the discussion....
Some of the best advice I've seen on these boards. Kudos to you, sir!
QS
Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io
What you said too (paradox maybe? haha)
@Chunkypixels
I actually agree with you about being young and taking advantage of the time he has! I say do both, and based on priority, focus on one more than the other! If only I started programming when I was 4 years old.....
@quantumsheep
Thanks alot! If only I could match your humor and cunning wit, I could rule the world! Until then...
::Bows in respect::
Suggestions are still welcome though
Why not focus your programming tasks on stuff that GameSalad *can't* do right now?
i.e. use the camera, use personal info (like contacts), use gps info, use the microphone somehow.
Just an idea. Good luck!
QS
Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io
I just want to say Kudos to Alex. You sound like a very sharp kid. At 14 even, planning ahead!
*Lolled at the thought*
Make a game that incorporates features not available in GameSalad.
Good luck!
QS
Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io
Coding isnt the only thing to learn.
The mechanics of a good game can be learned in any platform including GS.
I would hate to spend 3 months coding an "ok" game i could have done in GS in two weeks
Once i feel i have mastered or at least gotten pretty solid with gameplay then i would have no problem spending 3 months coding something. I guess what i am saying is unless you feel you have something just amazing why take the long road.
If you are gonna code i dont think cocos2d is the way to go. Since it uses box2d you get almost the same end result as a GS game with the more work. Unless I am missing something i don't see how ios4 will kill any platform.
If you are referring the user terms, those have took effect in april.
GS is a very cool tool to use, but I'm always looking at other tools like ShiVa. I would think you would do both depending on what type of game your making.
Good Luck.
I love Flash for the same reason.
Pretty much every other programming environment has a real distinct break between the art and the code. You have a bunch of text files and you have a folder of .png images. To test your app on a device, you need to make a build, drag it into iTunes, and then launch it. Those extra minutes really start adding up.
The disadvantage of using gamesalad or any of the other code libraries is that you have to wait for the developers to implement features you might want.
The beauty of learning ANY environment is that the programming concepts and logic is universal. Learning Gamesalad will help you learn Xcode, and learning Xcode will make you better at Gamesalad.
I love Flash for the same reason.
Pretty much every other programming environment has a real distinct break between the art and the code. You have a bunch of text files and you have a folder of .png images. To test your app on a device, you need to make a build, drag it into iTunes, and then launch it. Those extra minutes really start adding up.
The disadvantage of using gamesalad or any of the other code libraries is that you have to wait for the developers to implement features you might want.
The beauty of learning ANY environment is that the programming concepts and logic is universal. Learning Gamesalad will help you learn Xcode, and learning Xcode will make you better at Gamesalad.
That's probably why I like Flash and GameSalad. I don't just think about one piece of game development. I'm a developer and a designer, so I like having the option of working on both at the same time. This is especially true with Particles. It's nice to visualize a change, then enter the numbers to make it happen. Poof... special effects!
I prefer 2D engine but Shiva have a PLE if i learn how to wirk with it i'll buy it!
PS: you know some engine like Shiva but 2D?
I use GameSalad because of it's RAPID prototyping abilities.
I can make stuff faster and with fewer bugs in GameSalad than with any other platform...
HOWEVER, until they iron out all their internal bugs, it is beta software and has glitches. Be warned. You have to work within the realm of what GS can do. Try to push outside of it and you are in for a world of hurt.
No arrays, pointers, functions, loops (well sorta), variable passing, scope, well basically anything CompSci.
On the plus side, I don't need to set up frame buffers, sound buffers, encoders / decoders, animation stacks, asset pipelines, physics, learn numerous APIs, etc.
As a programmer, who's used many languages, I wanted to take a break from the coding aspect of development and just build visually. Building a physics sandbox in 30 seconds using only my mouse is quite powerful.
I do wish we had arrays though.