Universal builds in future versions?

GreenfroggGames

Any chance of integrated Universal builds feature in future versions of Gamesalad?

Braydon_SFX

We already have the ability to do universal builds. If you plan for it as you build your app, GameSalad takes care of the hard part.

GreenfroggGames

Ok

Braydon_SFX

There are a lot of tutorials and free demos covering Universal Builds. Do a Google search to find some of the tutorials and demos.

GreenfroggGames

Yeah I've seen them around, was just wondering if it will be implemented in GS in the future. Thanks:)

Gnarly

There is universal builds for iOS. Will work on all devices. You have to consider your game design to make it look good on all devices.

It took me a awhile to get my head around this too.........

The_Gamesalad_Guru

There is no magic bullet for dealing with different aspect ratios. There are many methods to deal with it. You just need to put in the learning work and plan. I know nobody wants to do any planning...

Armelline

Even though there are ways of dealing with universal builds by planning carefully and adding the right logic for the job, I'd still love to see it as a feature of GameSalad. This is something that causes a lot of problems for a lot of people, and anything to ease the job would be much appreciated!

GreenfroggGames

@Armelline Agreed

The_Gamesalad_Guru

@Armelline said:
Even though there are ways of dealing with universal builds by planning carefully and adding the right logic for the job, I'd still love to see it as a feature of GameSalad. This is something that causes a lot of problems for a lot of people, and anything to ease the job would be much appreciated!

Maybe on day it will just make the game too...

GreenfroggGames

These things takes a lot of time for some people ( like myself ). And while working shifts plus being a father of 2 small ones, time for making games is hard to fit in. That's why I would like features like this. Just my opinion...

Moik

What kinds of planning needs to be done to have a de-facto/effective universal build? Is Resolution Independence not effective?

The_Gamesalad_Guru

They are talking about the aspect ratio issues. Since ipad is 4:3 and iphone is 16:9 things need to be adjusted to display properly full screen. Since letterbox is not an option that is desirable. That leaves stretch and crop. Stretch can distort images out of shape so the most effective method is crop. Which is fine as long as you plan your layout. Crop cuts out about 50 pixels around the edges. In video and film we would eliminate this issue by leaving a safe zone around the edge of our shots. The same method can work for a game. When starting with ipad you need to do your layout understanding that 50 pixels will be cropped. This isn't hard to do at all. It just takes a bit of planning.

Moik

Stretch images? So, like, right now I'm working in iPad Portrait with resolution independence. If the game were to be viewed on an iPhone, actors I had created to be square would be tall rectangles? It doesn't simply shift their positions? Hmmm... Complicates things... will have to re-plan my UI into something flatter with less graphics...

colander

@Armelline said:
Even though there are ways of dealing with universal builds by planning carefully and adding the right logic for the job, I'd still love to see it as a feature of GameSalad. This is something that causes a lot of problems for a lot of people, and anything to ease the job would be much appreciated!

I agree. Have a paid template with a rule which goes in any actor that needs to move and or be resized. I don't think it wouldn't be hard to make it a behaviour.

@GreenfroggGames @Moik read the abbreviated instructions in my signature to find out about planing for a universal build. Once you understand the issues you can buy my template or write your own rules or choose one of the free options just do a search for universal builds their are a few to choose from.

colander

@GreenfroggGames @Moik I just submitted a feature request for a universal build behaviour Number 1471 if you want it go and vote for it.

GreenfroggGames

@colander Great!