Some feedback on GS version 1.25.96

sinbot

Having used GS for a few years now, I thought I would mention some areas where fixes would vastly improve GS UX. Let me preface this with mentioning that I love this program, which is why I am taking the time to mention this in hope that it will be improved upon. Off the top of my head, these are some of the issues I’m having with version 1.25.96

Allow images to import true to size when they are within current device resolutions (drives me mad having to constantly resize every image I import to 1242x2688)

The preview resolution options leave out some very important current resolutions. Not a big deal since you can enter custom resolution to display but it does not save! Having to re-enter the resolution every time I want to accurately preview my work drives me mad.

Screenshots do not save for scene thumbnails. All I can see are a bunch of white rectangles and can only identify scenes by their names. Mildly annoying.

If I open an actor within a scene layout then click back out of that actor I am sent to the game menu. Maddening.

The dark view offers a welcome relief from eye strain (and I personally prefer this look) but there are times when you cannot see actor names and/or + and - symbols. Mildly annoying.

Select options are severely limited. No shift select or mass highlighting ability to select multiple actors/layers. Severely annoying.

No grid. I have to align my layer whenever possible to the center point, then +shift and slide to location. If this is not an option then I have to create a duplicate of the image with everything in it’s place, set it into the scene, then place all the actors in their proper locations Obviously this only applies to when exact placement is necessary. When it is.. massive headache.

Publishing nightmare. I understand everyone has their own requirements for this process and when they implement changes, it puts the GS team through the ringer… but this process is quite a wreck in some ways. An update on the GS Cookbook is desperately needed and would help +99. Lack of an .exe option is also a bummer. It’s ok if it’s not possible to publish .exe natively within the game engine but some kind of a tutorial on how to do it on the user end would be +10.

I don’t want to sound negative. Just some critical feedback.

If these issues were resolved it would reduce my production time significantly and would greatly enhance GameSalad’s UX!

adent42

Thanks for the feedback. Some (like multi-select) we've addressed in the HTML5 version. We also have an option for image size in that version as well. There's an option that will automatically resize images to half size when yo drag them into a scene or create an actor. If the option is off, you can get the same effect by hold down shift when you drop the image.

The reason I mention this is I'm hoping to get the HTML5 version up to snuff to replace the native version by the end of the year. Basically we need to make some performance enhancements, add a "pro" mode to have more compact behavior forms, and make it so the app can work offline as a stand alone system outside the browser.

If something is easy to fix, I'll see about adding it to 1.25.97, but I want to put our team's resources into getting HTML5 up to snuff so we can proceed with building new features and behaviors on one code base and have it available to everyone (web, mac, windows, linux, etc).

Screenshots: I think is a Catalina artifact, as they have a new permission system for writing files. We need to address that elsewhere, so we'll be fixing that before the final 1.25.96 release.

Dark view should be mostly fixed in the latest. If there are places where you find it hard to use, please share a screenshot or PM me (I don't use dark mode, so I miss some thing).

We're looking into updating documentation for signing in publishing. If we can find a secure way to store certificates, we're even thinking of doing on-server signing.

Feedback is always welcome, especially if it's constructive, as yours is, and we'll keep all of that in mind!

UltraLionBlu

@adent42 said:

The reason I mention this is I'm hoping to get the HTML5 version up to snuff to replace the native version by the end of the year.

I don't know if I understand correctly, the intention is to have Gamesalad only on the browser and not to have the program installed anymore?
I would be very sorry, this because I tried Gamesalad on the browser and found it very complicated, the exact opposite of how it is on the program, very intuitive and comfortable.
With the browser, I couldn't make even the simplest things: /

RedRobo

"Having to re-enter the resolution every time I want to accurately preview my work drives me mad."

Please @adent42 can we get a fix for this. I imagine it's not such a biggie to sort out and would be a massive time-saver for me.

pinkio75

@UltraLionBlu said:

@adent42 said:

The reason I mention this is I'm hoping to get the HTML5 version up to snuff to replace the native version by the end of the year.

I don't know if I understand correctly, the intention is to have Gamesalad only on the browser and not to have the program installed anymore?
I would be very sorry, this because I tried Gamesalad on the browser and found it very complicated, the exact opposite of how it is on the program, very intuitive and comfortable.
With the browser, I couldn't make even the simplest things: /

I tried the web version and for me it is absolutely unusable...and it doesn't import my exist projects so if the team moves everything on the web i need to change software for sure.

Anyway here there are unresolved problems for a long time the .exe would be a beautiful thing and I could publish all my games for the Win market but it's a dream...

GS unfortunately seems to be a little late on these and many other points... anyway we hope for the best in the future

And please don't erase the installed version...

UltraLionBlu

I am very sorry to hear this, after trying the 2 versions there is no comparison for me.
I certainly would not have continued if there had been only the browser version.
In the short time that I was able to work with Gamesalad I fell in love with it, I don't know how long it will take to have a good finished game, but I think it's only a matter of time.
I'm probably the last person who will be heard about the company's future plans but I still hope that my feedback will be taken into consideration, and that if gamesalad is no longer updated in the future, I hope you can still continue to use the old version installed

Armelline

I try the web version briefly, every so often. It's much faster with big actors full of logic. There's a lot to like about it. But the huge behaviours and rules and the inability to preview with anything but HTML5 are absolute roadblocks for me. Glad to see both are on the roadmap and look forward to giving it a proper go when those things have been tackled.

The harsh edges on the behaviours etc. are also hard for me to get used to after years of lovely rounded Mac Creator corners, but not a dealbreaker.

pinkio75

It could be similar like other engines like C3 but i think that GS can not abandon the installed version... by the way when the web version is ready i will evaluate my pro subscription.
Finger crossed

smurfted

Would love some feedback here @adent42

adent42

I need to find and stickie the thread for this, as I tend to answer this a few times a year.

1) HTML5 version will not just run on the browser. Before we retire the desktop versions, we will wrap the HTML5 version so it runs like a desktop app with online access only required to activate and publish, just like now.

2) We have an updated UI mockup that rounds out the edges, so that will help with that.

3) We are also working on scaling up the interface so it looks more like the current native ones when the browser window is big enough. I'll share more as we lock that design down.

4) As to UI size, it's currently using a widget set that's designed for touch. Even if it wasn't, we'd make make it a bit bigger to support younger hands (as it's currently primarily targeted towards education). The nice thing about being web based tech is that adjusting the size of items is simply a matter of tweaking the CSS. There will be a "pro" skin with more compact behavior forms as well as a more compact UI overall.

5) There are some problems with import, but you can import many projects into the current version. You just need to publish your app and the Creator 2 can pull the app from your publishing library. If it's not working past that, please PM me, as I've love to see more projects that are breaking so I can fix those issues.

6) One of the hardest to do but most important milestones before moving everything to the new codebase is to enable native preview.

Hope that helps!

pinkio75

Finger crossed.
but if the creator's old games no longer work in the new html version GS probably will lost users.

bob loblaw

one thing i’d very much like added, if possible, on a future version, is an extra tab for instance properties in the actors/attributes window that lets you see the attributes and settings for a particular instance when you select it, instead of needing to open an instance to make adjustments like we need to do now.

adent42

@bob loblaw the web creator already has that! While building games, I hated swapping in and out of the actor editor to adjust or add attributes. So the game attributes are available in the actor editor and the instance attributes are available if a single actor is selected on the scene editor.

pinkio75

He doesn't know about instance properties because he doesn't use the web version like everyone else here.

I think it would be better to not remove the classic version and users can choose what to use between web and installed.

Thanks in advance.

traceur93

Hi @adent42!

I developed some videogames with GS and I love the way it works. Bugs aside
I would like to create a visual novel/Adventure game with it and it will take a while to be completed. I would like to understand if there's a possibility in a short-mid term future to have a native Windows, Mac and Linux version or if we don't have any chance!

Thank you in advance,
MoonMonky Studio

pinkio75

Yes please all community wants Windows native .exe