GameSalad Impressions

Kozax

Hello,

I’ve used quite a few game engines in the past, but I decided to stick with GameSalad for now. I've been using GameSalad for the past 15 days and I decided to write my impressions so far.

GameSalad has lots of features that I really like but it also lacks some major features:

1. The interface sometimes gets stuck and I need to restart the software every now and then.(Using Mac Editor)
2. There isn’t a visual option to change the pivot (origin) of a sprite.
3. Custom collisions requires third-party software, one free that is really hard to run on a modern mac (requires old java version) and one paid.
4. Scene Editor: Cannot hide layers, select multiple actors and zoom in/out
5. No nearest neighbour filtering option for pixel art
6. There is no ability to export for Windows(Not Win 8), Mac and Linux - Maybe we can bypass this with HTML5(NodeWebKit)
7. Since it is mostly a mobile game engine, major mobile features are missing such as: Video Ads and Google Play Game Services(Leaderboards, etc.)

As I said before, I am a new user and I might have missed some of the features.
I know some of the features that I wrote are already mentioned before and I believe the devs are aware of them.
I bought the PRO subscription today as I believe the engine will grow and more features will be added in the future.

Thank you

Armelline

These are fair impressions.

1. This is increasingly an issue. For a while there was glorious speed to the Creator, but it is stuck in tar again.

2. I personally wouldn't prioritise adding this, but it would be a nice addition.

3. This is hard. Right now, custom collisions are pretty easy to add using either app. And there are other things I'd rather the team work on than putting this directly into the UI.

4. This is probably my most desired feature now.

5. I've never personally needed this, but it's a frequent request. Make sure there's a feature request in for it, and if there is be sure to vote!

6. Exporting for Mac is possible. Exporting for Linux isn't something I'd personally prioritise but again would be great to see.

7. These are two of the most voted features right now so fingers crossed they come soon!

Really glad you've decided to stick with GameSalad, though. You'll have lots of fun!

owen_dennis

I agree about nearest neighbor. That's a big one for me as well and it would cause an explosion of low memory intensive games (assuming things looking pixelated is an aesthetic you're looking for).

I've thought about moving to something other than gamesalad, but it's environment that's pretty friendly and I enjoy working in it, so I stick with it. I also like that custom fonts are coming soon and it's incredibly easy to just prototype something real quick. It's basically like as fast as I can think of something to make, it can be made.

jonmulcahy

@Kozax said:

7. There is no ability to export for Windows(Not Win 8), Mac and Linux - Maybe we can bypass this with HTML5(NodeWebKit)

this works, i've done it. works pretty well too.

they are working on a native .exe export, but i know 1.24 tripped them up a bit, but it was close.

tmann

@owen_dennis said:
It's basically like as fast as I can think of something to make, it can be made.

Absolutely - ultra rapid development and iteration has to be Gamesalad's market leading feature which is why it is so infuriating to be still asking for ultra basic layout and editing features five years down the road.

AlchimiaStudios

Number 6 (native OS support) is my biggest.

owen_dennis

Also going to point out that you can vote up the nearest neighbor interpolation option in the bug list: http://bugs.gamesalad.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1095

The_Gamesalad_Guru

They are working on Windows export as they got steam green lighted. Many issues are being addressed and fixed in 1.25. They are fixing the issues in 1.25 as the beta team finds them. Debuging is not easy. Some things may need complete rewriting to fix the issue.