@adent42 iResign will work but its a very cumbersome process. My colleague in the office receives the same error and it seems to be any GS file so i don't believe its a system issue IE not my computer. Any help (although you and others at GS have been extremely helpful already) is appreciated as there is the danger that GS may become unusable.
I know another highly requested feature has been the ability to reference sound files from a table. very helpful when creating phonics games and the like.
@Jeffm2 said:
I know another highly requested feature has been the ability to reference sound files from a table. very helpful when creating phonics games and the like.
Making an app right now wher this ability would allow me to remove literally 90% of the logic from the project. Spawning actors via table/expression would be amazing, too!
I tell you right now, the one thing (that ain't gonna happen soon I know) that would remove a LOT of pointless re-inventing of the wheel, and MASSES of clunky editing, would be to have common 'GROUPS' of behaviours in your project, that you can drag into your actors, and just have the one 'prototype' style block, where editing THAT, is reflected in your other actors containing it, because it's simply the same block of code in all of them?
As an example, I have 'sound' or scoring behaviours in masses of my actors. I recently added a multiplier to the game, so for every single unique event, I had to manually make changes to that block of behaviours (each one writes to a separate table entry, and each actor can have dozens of combination events, so simply using an actor attribute to make it a standard paste-able block won't work without really complicating things). It's probably not the best example, but ie. enemy A.I., targeting, etc, all these things that use identical code for different actors, instead of having to clone an actor at the point we find we need a new, slightly different one, and have to change umpteen identical code sections...
So yeah, using 'prototype' behaviour blocks, very standard behaviours, common to lots of actors could be updated/fixed with a single change, or added to just once!
(Obviously, when compiling/running the code, the 'prototype' / shared behaviour blocks can be expanded to the actual code, so no different to how it is currently, build-wise, just infinitely more maintainable!)
...and another VERY useful thing - if dragging code blocks (as we already can) into an actor, why not have GS automatically see if the same custom attribute name actually exists in the target actor? - if not, simply create or copy the expected attribute name and type from the source - then substitute those references in the code block being pasted, with the target actor's unique attribute ID? MASSIVE time-saver, even that.... Instead of currently trying to remember/track down the now-blank holes in the behaviour blocks, and re-create then re-select every custom attribute... :frowning:
@Japster said:
I tell you right now, the one thing (that ain't gonna happen soon I know) that would remove a LOT of pointless re-inventing of the wheel, and MASSES of clunky editing, would be to have common 'GROUPS' of behaviours in your project, that you can drag into your actors, and just have the one 'prototype' style block, where editing THAT, is reflected in your other actors containing it, because it's simply the same block of code in all of them?
Some kind of functions implementation would indeed be amazing!
Curious if there's a published road map for GameSalad updates and feature requests? If not, that seems like a great way to keep the community involved in short- and long-term goals. I realize you can't always hit every milestone or deadline but often it feels like these requests go into the void and it's not clear what's being done to address them. Seeing a road map would give people insight into the hard work that is being done on your end.
And to respond to your earlier comment about "people complained when we said there was no news" ... while I empathize with the reality that a few people will complain no matter what you say, I would argue it's ALWAYS better to communicate than to be silent. So every month having a State of GameSalad post even if it says "Still working on actor folders" would help people feel connected to the process. And frankly, having a few of you pop into forum conversations more frequently would do the same. I know you make efforts but sometimes it feels like a ghost town around here. An example: @ForumNinja, your last comment before today was back in April. I thought you were brought in to replace @StraightSaladShooter's role... he was a frequent moderator and general provider of information. I might be wrong about that assumption, though. I do see that @adent42 has been posting fairly frequently so that's a plus.
@ForumNinja said: @Japster I'd give you more than one agree if I could. Some sort of system for behaviors like that (isn't impossible) and would be infinitely useful.
Thanks @ForumNinja - that means a lot to me that you agree and are on-board in principle (along with my fellow community members!) - Dare I feel a bit more optimistic that this may indeed happen at some point given your response?...
@ForumNinja said: @Japster I'd give you more than one agree if I could. Some sort of system for behaviors like that (isn't impossible) and would be infinitely useful.
agreeing is great but we'd appreciate more enacting.
@ForumNinja said: @Japster I'd give you more than one agree if I could. Some sort of system for behaviors like that (isn't impossible) and would be infinitely useful.
agreeing is great but we'd appreciate more enacting.
My understanding is he said it "isn't possible".
But at least you know. Better than dreaming of things that will never come. Even possible but unlikely I would be happy with. At least I know.
@ForumNinja said: @Japster I'd give you more than one agree if I could. Some sort of system for behaviors like that (isn't impossible) and would be infinitely useful.
agreeing is great but we'd appreciate more enacting.
My understanding is he said it "isn't possible".
But at least you know. Better than dreaming of things that will never come. Even possible but unlikely I would be happy with. At least I know.
@ForumNinja said: @Japster I'd give you more than one agree if I could. Some sort of system for behaviors like that (isn't impossible) and would be infinitely useful.
@Toque - no, it's good mate, as @mhedges mentioned - it's a slightly confusing (but reassuring!) case of a double negative - "isn't impossible" = "possible" - I'm therefore still optimistic....
@ForumNinja said: @Japster I'd give you more than one agree if I could. Some sort of system for behaviors like that (isn't impossible) and would be infinitely useful.
@Toque - no, it's good mate, as @mhedges mentioned - it's a slightly confusing (but reassuring!) case of a double negative - "isn't impossible" = "possible" - I'm therefore still optimistic....
Ha ha YOU are correct. My bad.
tatiangMember, Sous Chef, PRO, Senior Sous-ChefPosts: 11,949
@avg games This subforum is for announcements by GameSalad Staff. Please post game announcements and other comments/questions in a separate thread. Also, I recommend removing the space from your username because it makes it harder for people to notify you like this: @tatiang.
Regarding new tool. It would be great if 'how to build a universal app' just wasn't a thing and it came with built-in rules and guides that sorted it all out for you from the off.
Also, any chance of a more in-depth particle system??
adent42Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PROPosts: 3,159
@barleyesq particle system, less likely as that will require an engine change. Universal app helpers, depends on what kind, as I'm guessing there's some stuff we can do in the tool to help without the engine. I'll need to mull over that one.
adent42Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PROPosts: 3,159
@Braydon_SFX I wouldn't kill methods and functions, but I'd probably work really hard for them
adent42Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PROPosts: 3,159
@Armelline reusable behavior groups is likely a tool only feature, which is a good thing. The bad thing is that it's a complicated tool only feature because of how our ID and attribute referencing system works. I've had ideas on how to do it for a while, and I'll share more once I get out from finishing up the work to get this beta out the door (so close...)
adent42Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PROPosts: 3,159
And before everyone goes crazy, my message to @Braydon_SFX doesn't mean we're working on it now. But I do have some ideas on how it should work and I've been working through potential problems in the back of my mind on how to get that feature running. Again... nothing definitive planned beyond getting this current tool out and then putting all features in missing from this first pass.
@adent42 said:
particle system, less likely as that will require an engine change.
One thing that would make the particle system orders-of-magnitude more useful would be the ability to emit particles on a regular basis rather than randomly.
I haven't got a clue if this sort of thing is an engine change thing or something that could be done relatively easily, but I thought it's worth a shot to mention it . . .
There are so many situations where it would be great to be able to emit a regular line of particles, but because the particle system is random, you need to spawn individual actors instead . . .
. . . for example imagine a top down car racing game, if you want to leave a solid trail behind the player's car you can either spawn actors or use the particle system, but because the particle system emits randomly you need to ramp the number of particles up to massive numbers to ensure there is enough overlap so there are no gaps, whereas if you could emit the particles regularly you might need only 20 or so a second, instead you need to emit hundreds or even thousands to get a solid line . . .
Same deal with a dotted line tracing out a path, or any regular pattern you might need, can't be done with the particle system, so individual actors are needed.
adent42Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PROPosts: 3,159
@Socks Good point! I'd make sure there's a bugs.gamesalad.com feature request, but I'll keep that in mind. I would say that while it's annoying to ramp up particles, on the plus side they're WAY cheaper (resource wise) than actors, so your app should take less of a hit if the particle image is smallish.
@adent42 - Just had an absolute NIGHTMARE trying to keep track of table values in a really complex selection routine, even trying Stormy's util, so I have to say, some kind of debug window which shows a real-time view/window into the contents of a table or tables, would be seriously helpful guys - I'm using more and more complex table behaviour as my projects have become more ambitious, and I've spent literally hours tonight trying to figure out a bug, that again would have take minutes had I had some kind of real-time or snapshotting table functionality, even say, pausing the game and saving the table out for loading or perusing in other apps, would be beneficial...
Honestly, with the reliance upon table-based logic and data arrays in GS, this is a feature that I feel would save me WEEKS of frustration on larger project debugging.... :frowning:
So yeah, I would say that this kind of debugging aid/functionality is becoming really essential, so a big vote for that...
tatiangMember, Sous Chef, PRO, Senior Sous-ChefPosts: 11,949
@Japster said:
Just had an absolute NIGHTMARE trying to keep track of table values in a really complex selection routine, even trying Stormy's util, so I have to say, some kind of debug window which shows a real-time view/window into the contents of a table or tables, would be seriously helpful guys
+1
I'm surprised this hasn't been added already. It would also be helpful to be able to copy portions of a table to a new table.
@Japster said: @adent42 - Just had an absolute NIGHTMARE trying to keep track of table values in a really complex selection routine, even trying Stormy's util, so I have to say, some kind of debug window which shows a real-time view/window into the contents of a table or tables, would be seriously helpful guys -
+1 this would simplify a lot of things for a lot of people.
@Japster said: @adent42 - Just had an absolute NIGHTMARE trying to keep track of table values in a really complex selection routine, even trying Stormy's util, so I have to say, some kind of debug window which shows a real-time view/window into the contents of a table or tables, would be seriously helpful guys - I'm using more and more complex table behaviour as my projects have become more ambitious, and I've spent literally hours tonight trying to figure out a bug, that again would have take minutes had I had some kind of real-time or snapshotting table functionality, even say, pausing the game and saving the table out for loading or perusing in other apps, would be beneficial...
I made a project ages ago that allows you to preview tables in real-time with minimal fuss. I thought I'd released it to the community but perhaps I never got around to doing so. I'll PM you a copy and when I get a chance I'll revist it and see if it's tidy/relialbe enough for general release.
@Japster said: @adent42 - Just had an absolute NIGHTMARE trying to keep track of table values in a really complex selection routine, even trying Stormy's util, so I have to say, some kind of debug window which shows a real-time view/window into the contents of a table or tables, would be seriously helpful guys - I'm using more and more complex table behaviour as my projects have become more ambitious, and I've spent literally hours tonight trying to figure out a bug, that again would have take minutes had I had some kind of real-time or snapshotting table functionality, even say, pausing the game and saving the table out for loading or perusing in other apps, would be beneficial...
I made a project ages ago that allows you to preview tables in real-time with minimal fuss. I thought I'd released it to the community but perhaps I never got around to doing so. I'll PM you a copy and when I get a chance I'll revist it and see if it's tidy/relialbe enough for general release.
@Armelline - That sounds fantastic mate, yes please!
If you need a cool goody load-out selection screen, maybe I can reciprocate with that.... (although the code probably looks horrendous compared to what you'd create!)
Comments
@adent42 iResign will work but its a very cumbersome process. My colleague in the office receives the same error and it seems to be any GS file so i don't believe its a system issue IE not my computer. Any help (although you and others at GS have been extremely helpful already) is appreciated as there is the danger that GS may become unusable.
I know another highly requested feature has been the ability to reference sound files from a table. very helpful when creating phonics games and the like.
Making an app right now wher this ability would allow me to remove literally 90% of the logic from the project. Spawning actors via table/expression would be amazing, too!
Contact me for custom work - Expert GS developer with 15 years of GS experience - Skype: armelline.support
I tell you right now, the one thing (that ain't gonna happen soon I know) that would remove a LOT of pointless re-inventing of the wheel, and MASSES of clunky editing, would be to have common 'GROUPS' of behaviours in your project, that you can drag into your actors, and just have the one 'prototype' style block, where editing THAT, is reflected in your other actors containing it, because it's simply the same block of code in all of them?
As an example, I have 'sound' or scoring behaviours in masses of my actors. I recently added a multiplier to the game, so for every single unique event, I had to manually make changes to that block of behaviours (each one writes to a separate table entry, and each actor can have dozens of combination events, so simply using an actor attribute to make it a standard paste-able block won't work without really complicating things). It's probably not the best example, but ie. enemy A.I., targeting, etc, all these things that use identical code for different actors, instead of having to clone an actor at the point we find we need a new, slightly different one, and have to change umpteen identical code sections...
So yeah, using 'prototype' behaviour blocks, very standard behaviours, common to lots of actors could be updated/fixed with a single change, or added to just once!
(Obviously, when compiling/running the code, the 'prototype' / shared behaviour blocks can be expanded to the actual code, so no different to how it is currently, build-wise, just infinitely more maintainable!)
...and another VERY useful thing - if dragging code blocks (as we already can) into an actor, why not have GS automatically see if the same custom attribute name actually exists in the target actor? - if not, simply create or copy the expected attribute name and type from the source - then substitute those references in the code block being pasted, with the target actor's unique attribute ID? MASSIVE time-saver, even that.... Instead of currently trying to remember/track down the now-blank holes in the behaviour blocks, and re-create then re-select every custom attribute... :frowning:
Just my four'penn'eth...
Some kind of functions implementation would indeed be amazing!
Contact me for custom work - Expert GS developer with 15 years of GS experience - Skype: armelline.support
@Japster I'd give you more than one agree if I could. Some sort of system for behaviors like that (isn't impossible) and would be infinitely useful.
I'd kill for methods/functions in GameSalad.
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@ForumNinja @adent42
Curious if there's a published road map for GameSalad updates and feature requests? If not, that seems like a great way to keep the community involved in short- and long-term goals. I realize you can't always hit every milestone or deadline but often it feels like these requests go into the void and it's not clear what's being done to address them. Seeing a road map would give people insight into the hard work that is being done on your end.
And to respond to your earlier comment about "people complained when we said there was no news" ... while I empathize with the reality that a few people will complain no matter what you say, I would argue it's ALWAYS better to communicate than to be silent. So every month having a State of GameSalad post even if it says "Still working on actor folders" would help people feel connected to the process. And frankly, having a few of you pop into forum conversations more frequently would do the same. I know you make efforts but sometimes it feels like a ghost town around here. An example: @ForumNinja, your last comment before today was back in April. I thought you were brought in to replace @StraightSaladShooter's role... he was a frequent moderator and general provider of information. I might be wrong about that assumption, though. I do see that @adent42 has been posting fairly frequently so that's a plus.
New to GameSalad? (FAQs) | Tutorials | Templates | Greenleaf Games | Educator & Certified GameSalad User
@tatiang dont you mean @adent42?
Oops, thanks.
New to GameSalad? (FAQs) | Tutorials | Templates | Greenleaf Games | Educator & Certified GameSalad User
Thanks @ForumNinja - that means a lot to me that you agree and are on-board in principle
(along with my fellow community members!) - Dare I feel a bit more optimistic that this may indeed happen at some point given your response?... 
Cheers!
agreeing is great but we'd appreciate more enacting.
My understanding is he said it "isn't possible".
But at least you know. Better than dreaming of things that will never come. Even possible but unlikely I would be happy with. At least I know.
It says "isn't impossible".
My Blog / App Store / Google Play
@Toque - no, it's good mate, as @mhedges mentioned - it's a slightly confusing (but reassuring!) case of a double negative - "isn't impossible" = "possible" - I'm therefore still optimistic....
Ha ha YOU are correct. My bad.
@avg games This subforum is for announcements by GameSalad Staff. Please post game announcements and other comments/questions in a separate thread. Also, I recommend removing the space from your username because it makes it harder for people to notify you like this: @tatiang.
New to GameSalad? (FAQs) | Tutorials | Templates | Greenleaf Games | Educator & Certified GameSalad User
Once every quarter, like Apple's financials, even if there is nothing much new to say.
(Okay, okay. @adent42 was kind enough to give us a heap of news in response to my last wisecrack... but I can't help myself. >:) )
Regarding new tool. It would be great if 'how to build a universal app' just wasn't a thing and it came with built-in rules and guides that sorted it all out for you from the off.
Also, any chance of a more in-depth particle system??
@barleyesq particle system, less likely as that will require an engine change. Universal app helpers, depends on what kind, as I'm guessing there's some stuff we can do in the tool to help without the engine. I'll need to mull over that one.
@Braydon_SFX I wouldn't kill methods and functions, but I'd probably work really hard for them
@Armelline reusable behavior groups is likely a tool only feature, which is a good thing. The bad thing is that it's a complicated tool only feature because of how our ID and attribute referencing system works. I've had ideas on how to do it for a while, and I'll share more once I get out from finishing up the work to get this beta out the door (so close...)
And before everyone goes crazy, my message to @Braydon_SFX doesn't mean we're working on it now. But I do have some ideas on how it should work and I've been working through potential problems in the back of my mind on how to get that feature running. Again... nothing definitive planned beyond getting this current tool out and then putting all features in missing from this first pass.
One thing that would make the particle system orders-of-magnitude more useful would be the ability to emit particles on a regular basis rather than randomly.
I haven't got a clue if this sort of thing is an engine change thing or something that could be done relatively easily, but I thought it's worth a shot to mention it . . .
There are so many situations where it would be great to be able to emit a regular line of particles, but because the particle system is random, you need to spawn individual actors instead . . .
. . . for example imagine a top down car racing game, if you want to leave a solid trail behind the player's car you can either spawn actors or use the particle system, but because the particle system emits randomly you need to ramp the number of particles up to massive numbers to ensure there is enough overlap so there are no gaps, whereas if you could emit the particles regularly you might need only 20 or so a second, instead you need to emit hundreds or even thousands to get a solid line . . .
Same deal with a dotted line tracing out a path, or any regular pattern you might need, can't be done with the particle system, so individual actors are needed.
@Socks Good point! I'd make sure there's a bugs.gamesalad.com feature request, but I'll keep that in mind. I would say that while it's annoying to ramp up particles, on the plus side they're WAY cheaper (resource wise) than actors, so your app should take less of a hit if the particle image is smallish.
@adent42 - Just had an absolute NIGHTMARE trying to keep track of table values in a really complex selection routine, even trying Stormy's util, so I have to say, some kind of debug window which shows a real-time view/window into the contents of a table or tables, would be seriously helpful guys - I'm using more and more complex table behaviour as my projects have become more ambitious, and I've spent literally hours tonight trying to figure out a bug, that again would have take minutes had I had some kind of real-time or snapshotting table functionality, even say, pausing the game and saving the table out for loading or perusing in other apps, would be beneficial...
Honestly, with the reliance upon table-based logic and data arrays in GS, this is a feature that I feel would save me WEEKS of frustration on larger project debugging.... :frowning:
So yeah, I would say that this kind of debugging aid/functionality is becoming really essential, so a big vote for that...
+1
I'm surprised this hasn't been added already. It would also be helpful to be able to copy portions of a table to a new table.
New to GameSalad? (FAQs) | Tutorials | Templates | Greenleaf Games | Educator & Certified GameSalad User
+1 this would simplify a lot of things for a lot of people.
I made a project ages ago that allows you to preview tables in real-time with minimal fuss. I thought I'd released it to the community but perhaps I never got around to doing so. I'll PM you a copy and when I get a chance I'll revist it and see if it's tidy/relialbe enough for general release.
Contact me for custom work - Expert GS developer with 15 years of GS experience - Skype: armelline.support
@Armelline - That sounds fantastic mate, yes please!
If you need a cool goody load-out selection screen, maybe I can reciprocate with that....
(although the code probably looks horrendous compared to what you'd create!) 