Where are the veterans?

Been few years thought I'd come back see how gs is doing? @tshirtbooth @UtopianGames @BazookaTime @quantumsheep @Socks @DeadlySeriousMedia @tatiang and a bunch of others. Where they all gone?

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Comments

  • pHghostpHghost London, UKMember Posts: 2,342

    We've migrated to PlayMaker and Unity, mostly.

  • UltraLionBluUltraLionBlu Member Posts: 157

    I have read several conversations over the past few years, to see if I can learn more.

    I must say that I have learned to love Socks, I think he was a little genius, always a solution, but above all always the funniest answers, too bad there is no more!

  • VeiraXVeiraX Member Posts: 5

    Dead

  • tatiangtatiang Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 11,949

    I've been using Thunkable. It's very similar to GameSalad but the data integration is included instead of a total guessing game. GameSalad has Thunkable beat by a few hundred miles when it comes to layout and sprite physics, though. My heart's still here but I've been let down too many times so I've kinda moved on.

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  • Braydon_SFXBraydon_SFX Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Bowlboy Sidekick Posts: 9,271
    edited September 2020

    I’m still here! Just not quite as active! Full time I’m now a full stack developer with specialization on front end, and still develop iOS apps in SwiftUI.

    I still have a few GS games in the works, but I only put a few hours in here and there when I’m not working or spending time with the wife.


    Hope things are well with you!

  • pHghostpHghost London, UKMember Posts: 2,342

    @tatiang said:

    I've been let down too many times so I've kinda moved on.

    Yeah, same here. This will be no surprise to anyone who has been using GS for a while, but progress on it is glacially slow, often even fixes to game breaking bugs.

    Personally I've moved over to Unity and haven't really looked back. Yes, even Unity has its own annoyances and bugs, but they usually get addressed in weeks, longest months and new features are added regularly too. And almost no crashes (though perhaps GS ironed that out as well in the years since).

    Surprisingly, since GS is supposed to be the no-code drag-drop simple approach, I actually find development in Unity with C# much faster as well, even while having to look up how to do stuff on Google all the time.

    The one thing I do miss is the old GS community, but that's sadly a thing of the past, no matter what game engine you use.


    @Braydon_SFX said:

    I still have a few GS games in the works

    Me as well. Some I'm fairly proud of. I'll end up re-coding them in Unity though, most likely -- maybe even make a "how to" video about the process, that could be fun.

  • tatiangtatiang Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 11,949

    @pHghost I'm a very patient person and so I've weathered the slow update cycle okay for years. It's frustrating to not have basic features like a background grid or window size/position memory. But what I couldn't really deal with was the lack of communication for years on the forums. As you said, it was a vibrant community full of some brilliant people but without staff input, it really couldn't survive. I don't know if it was more due to a lack of interest in relating to the customers or a lack of personnel (it's a very small company) but I'm going to be generous and chalk it up to not having enough people to do all of the tasks required. It's a shame because it's my favorite program to use and clearly there are some talented programmers behind the scenes. Brent or whoever is running the show just forgot that there needs to be a @SaladStraightShooter managing the forums or things wither and die.

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  • CasualEvolutionCasualEvolution Member, PRO Posts: 521

    Hi, same around here ... it's a shame that they stop turning off this platform, which has so much potential, because there are not many things needed to be up to date ... and then with a minimum maintenance and some additional features from time to time, It could go back to what it was and more.

    I also have a couple of ongoing projects, which I would like to be able to finish before moving on to another platform, something that makes me lazy and a bit angry ... I would like them to wake up before that.

  • VeiraXVeiraX Member Posts: 5

    In other words gs gone from bad to worse. I remember all the excitement around here, forums were proper lively.

  • CasualEvolutionCasualEvolution Member, PRO Posts: 521

    Actually, if all of us, although with less assiduity, are still on the lap, it is because we have some hope, in which they put the batteries and take this engine to the next level. Because clearly the proposal is good and has a lot of potential, it differs a lot from other solutions and for the better, and its potential has been more than proven ... BUT, it clearly needs a new push :)

  • solnikasolnika Member Posts: 132

    While I agree with most of this Thread, If we are not part of the solution we are part of the problem.

    I mention it in this thread:


    Maybe we can form a discord group and try to bring this community to the good days.

  • adriangomezadriangomez Member, PRO Posts: 436

    Meh. I have been for a while and I still enjoy GameSalad. I work on more engines than I ever thought possible. Unity, Native iOS, Native Android, Buildbox, Solar2d, React, Angular to name a few. I still love GameSalad. It is splash of fresh air when I get to work on it. And with the new exposed api in the HTML export there is really nothing that GameSalad can't do. Just as proof there is somebody in these forums that has a Skillz game.

  • pinkio75pinkio75 Member, PRO Posts: 1,211
    edited September 2020

    The perfect software doesn't exist...

    for example:

    i tried bbox and with much disappointment I saw that the exported 3d Apk games for android are absolutely unplayable!

    Finger crossed and we hope to have a better future for GS.

  • ArmellineArmelline Member, PRO Posts: 5,327

    FWIW we've been getting more involvement on the forums from @adent42 than we've seen in years and years.

    GameSalad's in a better, more optimistic state now than it's been in years and years too. And Creator 2.0 needs only a few changes and updates (most notable being a compact pro theme that more closely matches what we're used to) to be really viable as an alternative to the Mac/Windows Creators. If they got to drop the baggage of those apps progress would no doubt be even faster.

    I've been here since day 1 and I'm not ready to give up yet.

  • adriangomezadriangomez Member, PRO Posts: 436
    edited September 2020

    @pinkio75 Yes 3d on Android and BBox is hardly usable. It has been that way since it came out (about a year). And Unity is losing millions of dollars every quarter and now that it is public at some point it has to turn a profit. It means that some hard and probably unpopular choices are coming up soon for Unity.

  • CasualEvolutionCasualEvolution Member, PRO Posts: 521

    The positive view is that as I said, there is still time ... and they can count on the support of many of us (who still pay the pro service month after month) to help you envision what things are required and how to prioritize these.

    That way, the engine could be updated and more powerfull

    But ALSO it is necessary to increase the user base, which ultimately becomes the main driving force and success of the company as well.

    I remember when not long ago, someone here commented on a new engine called build box and we all looked at it with suspicion, because it was also very expensive ... much of what was achieved by that engine, which today is mentioned in many places (in which GS is a stranger), it is a marketing issue, a permanent activity in the networks, video tutorials, and periodic game jams, etc ...

    Will and commitment are required ... but it can be done! :)

  • IceboxIcebox Member Posts: 1,485

    While I was never a veteran, I was really dedicated to using Gamesalad, and thought it was the best 2d drag and drop engine out there. I reached a point were I got pretty good with the engine and thought I coulr make any 2d game I can think of. I was in the middle of a game project when they announced that their priorities have shifted and gamesalad is going to become an education tool. I was frustrated back then cause I always thought it would be risky to complete my project using gamesalad.When I read the post that gs users should graduate from using the engine I knew at that point that I should start looking for something else. Lacking any knowledge in using any other engine I started experimenting. Moved to gamemaker for couple of months then unity. Iv never looked back. In fact im so happy that i chose to learn C# and unity since its much more productive and the workflow is much more intuitive. Its easier to code especially when an engine provides all the necessary functions needed without trying to come up with workarounds.

    I can see that I made the right choice, 2 years later and the update is still not good enough and the engine lacks alot of key features that are needed to actually become a decent engine, I realise their goal is not to compete and the engine can make any 2d game, but some features are just available in every other game engine out there except for GS. I love GS and I recommend it to new game developers to learn the basics of game logic. But wouldnt recommend dedicating the time and effort when many other engines can make your development much faster and easier.

  • HypnorabbitHypnorabbit SingaporeMember, PRO Posts: 263

    GameSalad is cool.

  • pHghostpHghost London, UKMember Posts: 2,342
    edited September 2020

    @adriangomez said:

     some hard and probably unpopular choices are coming up soon for Unity

    What exactly do you mean by that? Sounds like very general conjecture.


    @Icebox said:

     im so happy that i chose to learn C# and unity since its much more productive and the workflow is much more intuitive. Its easier to code especially when an engine provides all the necessary functions needed without trying to come up with workarounds.

    My experience exactly. Unity provides you with 1000x more flexibility. Then there's 3D, lighting, networking, all the plugins... and the list could continue.

    There will always be a place for GameSalad no doubt, especially for those dipping their toes into game dev for the very first time, or those who simply never want to code (it's easier than it seems, though, really, and worth every minute of it). But having moved past GameSalad myself, I simply cannot see any good reasons to come back -- even if I were doing a pure 2D project. It's great that GS 2.0 is coming along, but at the end of the day, even that is just a rewrite of the old GS, nothing more.


    @Hypnorabbit said:

    GameSalad is cool.

    When it works and doesn't crash, it can be. But you can't really become a game dev just on the cool factor of the software you use. You need actual functionality, flexibility, performance, support and so much more.

  • pinkio75pinkio75 Member, PRO Posts: 1,211

    Yes i've disappointed when in see my first bbox 3D game in my android device! The game resulted absolutely unplayable!!!

    Just for curiosity i tryed to find a solution in the forum i read many post about games optimization bla bla etc... but the really is that bbox 3D is just for Apple device.

    Therefore i decided to not invest any more time in that engine ...

  • adriangomezadriangomez Member, PRO Posts: 436

    @pHghost Not conjecture. Not even my opinion. The have lost money every quarter for as far as they have reported and growth for games is stagnant (part of the SEC reporting). It is a nature of the beast for a public company. Public companies have to show growth and profit over anything else. There are intense pressure to do so at the CEO and at the board level. Unity has over 50% of the game development market so growth over that is going to be hard. Already they are trying to expand into film and manufacturing. The flip side of that coin is cutting cost and that is where the pain will come. Probably not initially but over time they will have to.

  • muusimuusi Member, PRO Posts: 111
    edited September 2020

    I agree with @adriangomez that with html5 one can basically do anything with GameSalad. Of course this means that all the bugs in html5 are fixed, but when they are the sky is the limit. For instance I have just started to build a health app with GS and Cordova: with Bluetooth connection, heart rate monitoring, step count, push notifications, etc. the whole shebang.

  • RedRoboRedRobo Member, PRO Posts: 680

    GameSalad has a lot of faults for sure and seems like bug fixing is taking up all the developers time mostly, yet...I still love it and keep returning as there is nothing as quick and efficient in my eyes.

  • tatiangtatiang Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 11,949
    edited September 2020

    @Armelline I respect your voice. And I can see that @adent42 has been much more active than other staff over the past year+. It's just not enough. There was a time when a dozen of us would have given our time and energy to greatly improve GameSalad... sometimes even without compensation... but it didn't seem to be of interest to the company to use our expertise. Anyway, the past is the past, right? I honestly haven't tried the online Creator for a long time. So it's possible it's greatly improved and I'm still stuck in the older desktop version of the software. It would give me great joy to see this company succeed even as I'm critical of it!

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  • pHghostpHghost London, UKMember Posts: 2,342

    That's only more conjecture really. You are mentioning very general observations about public companies. Yet -- some thrive some don't. Cost cutting can be terrible, but it can also consolidate focus, depending on the management. So, to say that just because Unity is now publicly traded means things are going to go downhill is pure conjecture. It also doesn't change the fact that currently Unity is leagues ahead of GS in terms of both usability and features, so going forward I still feel a lot more stability as a Unity dev than I ever did with GS.

  • pHghostpHghost London, UKMember Posts: 2,342

    Well said, I agree completely.

    I remember the old GS days fondly and wish the company all the best. It would be great if GameSalad could thrive and grow to be a graphene amazing product, but seeing how much has (not) changed in the time that I've been gone is a very sad view.

  • pHghostpHghost London, UKMember Posts: 2,342

    Unity is more efficient and quicker, once you get familiar with it. I wouldn't have believed it myself years ago (which is why it took me a long time to switch), but alas, here we are.

  • adriangomezadriangomez Member, PRO Posts: 436
    edited September 2020

    @pHghost I didn't say it was going to go down hill. You are reading between the lines. I did not say anything that is not true. They lose money every quarter so far and need to make a profit and grow. The pain that I mention is that it might not be "free" for ever.

    Not only in these forums but in the others that I am active in people that don't use the said product come back to the forums for products that they don't use to extol the virtuous of the product they are now using. Let me break the news. Everybody knows what Unity is. People who choose GameSalad aren't using GameSalad because they don't know what Unity is. This is a GameSalad forum.

    I had 2 games on Unity that I removed from the store but might bring them back. I support multiple non-game business applications on C# and I have done this for over 15 year. I don't like Unity and I love C#. It is actually my least favorite game environment. But you don't see me going to the unity forums and mentioning all the perceived shortcomings I see or extolling the virtuous of Lumberjack or Defold. Really because nobody cares. People in the GameSalad forum see a value in GameSalad. People in the Defold forum see a value in Defold. People in the Unity forum see a value in Unity.

    You found g#d in Unity. Good for you. Delete your account here. Enjoy your life. Stop visiting your old girlfriends to tell them how nice your new girlfriend is.

  • HypnorabbitHypnorabbit SingaporeMember, PRO Posts: 263

    Well said @adriangomez. 100% agree.

    11 years strong on GS now and well aware of it's strengths/weaknesses. Every platform has them. But it's still the quickest prototyping solution for me and that's why I stick around.

    @adent42 has been doing a pretty great job recently and I can respect that. Keep up the great work, through thick and thin!

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