Next Release, the Web Side.
adent42
Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PRO Posts: 3,067
How goes?
Taking a break from my furious coding schedule, I wanted to give ya'll some insight into the next version of GameSalad from the web perspective.
One of the most worst pain points that you guys have (that I can do something about as the web guy) is not being able to create apps while the server is down for maintenance (or even for content updates). While progress sometimes seem slow to you, our days are often running at a breakneck pace with the number of hats we juggle. One of the results is the rather wonky server system you are experience today. Right now, everything on gamesalad.com runs on a single web server as a single large app.
With this coming release we'll be splitting the services into multiple apps to give us more flexibility. We're also updating to the latest version of our web framework of choice (Groovy on Grails).
What does this mean for you?
Well, first off, it means less down time. Even if gamesalad.com is down for content updates, you'll still be able to publish games. We're also making a few changes to our packaging/publishing process that will translate into faster app generation, the ability for YOU to enter data for "/ontheappstore" pages and proper archival of your apps, should you need a backup.
Unfortunately, I don't think all of the website's current functionality will make if over in time, but that will come rather quickly as the re-architecture is stabilized. This also means (unless someone invents a time dilator), that publishing with 0.8.9 and previous versions will no longer work.
You probably wouldn't want to use 0.8.9 anyway, with all the engine improvements we've made with 0.9.0. We did a test on a rather complex game a partner studio is working on and it ran well on a iPod Touch 1st gen. Load times have also improved in many cases.
Back to the web site, this will also mean a rather solid block of down time as I migrate data from one server to another. I think you'll agree that once things are done, the down time will be well worth it. So if you see the site go down for a while, start holding your breath for our new release! (Unless you see the whole domain disappear again... that just means there's another storm killing our data center).
Rest assured, the development staff is hunched over our keyboards, furiously typing away to bring you this new release. We're taking a bit longer than we expected. Last week's announcement has cause a bit of gear shifting and our QA staff is getting much bolder about bringing important bugs to our attention (I guess that's what happens when you feed them).
Let me know if you enjoy these insights, and I'll try to make a habit of writing these once in a while. If you have anything you want to know about our web operations, let me know here and I'll either get back to you, or make it a topic for next time.
Until then keep the faith, your nose to the grindstone, your mice at ready, and a good supply of canned foods for the coming zombie apocalypse.
Taking a break from my furious coding schedule, I wanted to give ya'll some insight into the next version of GameSalad from the web perspective.
One of the most worst pain points that you guys have (that I can do something about as the web guy) is not being able to create apps while the server is down for maintenance (or even for content updates). While progress sometimes seem slow to you, our days are often running at a breakneck pace with the number of hats we juggle. One of the results is the rather wonky server system you are experience today. Right now, everything on gamesalad.com runs on a single web server as a single large app.
With this coming release we'll be splitting the services into multiple apps to give us more flexibility. We're also updating to the latest version of our web framework of choice (Groovy on Grails).
What does this mean for you?
Well, first off, it means less down time. Even if gamesalad.com is down for content updates, you'll still be able to publish games. We're also making a few changes to our packaging/publishing process that will translate into faster app generation, the ability for YOU to enter data for "/ontheappstore" pages and proper archival of your apps, should you need a backup.
Unfortunately, I don't think all of the website's current functionality will make if over in time, but that will come rather quickly as the re-architecture is stabilized. This also means (unless someone invents a time dilator), that publishing with 0.8.9 and previous versions will no longer work.
You probably wouldn't want to use 0.8.9 anyway, with all the engine improvements we've made with 0.9.0. We did a test on a rather complex game a partner studio is working on and it ran well on a iPod Touch 1st gen. Load times have also improved in many cases.
Back to the web site, this will also mean a rather solid block of down time as I migrate data from one server to another. I think you'll agree that once things are done, the down time will be well worth it. So if you see the site go down for a while, start holding your breath for our new release! (Unless you see the whole domain disappear again... that just means there's another storm killing our data center).
Rest assured, the development staff is hunched over our keyboards, furiously typing away to bring you this new release. We're taking a bit longer than we expected. Last week's announcement has cause a bit of gear shifting and our QA staff is getting much bolder about bringing important bugs to our attention (I guess that's what happens when you feed them).
Let me know if you enjoy these insights, and I'll try to make a habit of writing these once in a while. If you have anything you want to know about our web operations, let me know here and I'll either get back to you, or make it a topic for next time.
Until then keep the faith, your nose to the grindstone, your mice at ready, and a good supply of canned foods for the coming zombie apocalypse.
Comments
I LoVE Gamesalad!
Cheers, Weswog
Twitter:rondorocket
Web: rondorocket.com
You said you ran a rather complex game on a 1st gen device. I'm in the middle of an interesting project at the moment, making a game aimed at the 3rd and 4th gen. I was stress testing GameSalad on a vmware image of snow leopard (I know I'm evil, but I do own macs). I need to be able to have 300 to 600 instances of an actor that only changes color when touched by the main actor. I tested 300 instances at 32x32 each and then at 8x8 each (on vm) and it ran smoothly much to my surprise. Each one changed color and though the fps must have been around 12 to 15, it didn't crash and ran smoothly otherwise. There were no collision actors yet though - I imagine I could have up to 100 collidable objects within a scene. How possible is this within 0.9.0? I know I'm really pushing the limits, but if I can get this to work, I've got something good for you all, since after that game is published, I would like to either release the game project or make tutorials.
Yellow - it's my new obsession
Yellow - it's not even a question,
Yellow - on the lips of your lover
(oh)
'Cause Yellow is the love you discover
Yellow - as the bing on your cherry
Yellow - 'cause you are so very
Yellow - it's the color of passion
Ah, 'cause today it just goes with the fashion
Yellow - it was love at first sight
Yeah, Yellow - when I turn out the light
And Yellow gets me high as a kite
And I think everything is going to be all right
No matter what we do tonight
You could be my flamingo
'Cause Yellow - it's the new kinda of lingo
Yellow - like a deco umbrella (!@#$%)
It's kink that you don't ever tell her
Yellow - it was love at first sight
And Yellow when I turn out the light
Yellow gets me high as a kite
And I think everything is going to be all right
No matter what we do tonight
Yeah!
I want to be your lover
I, I wanna wrap you in rubber
As Yellow as the sheets that we lay on
'Cause Yellow - it's my favorite crayon
Yeah!
Yellow - it was love at first sight (yeah)
Yellow - when I turn out the light
Yellow - it's like red but not quite
And I think, everything is going to be all right
No matter what we do tonight
...when it will be avaiable? It hasn't to be exact date, but when? Next week? Next month? Next year?
Because my game is finished and I don't know if I should wait or not. But I wouldn't like to wait too long.
MH
thanks for the interesting info. Good to know there are going to be changes going on that don't just relate to the actual tool itself, but some nice back end improvements.
Fairly pointless poll, as everyone is bound to say "yes" though.
Thought you guys might at least have announced what the new subscription tiers/costs were going to be
As someone else has already asked, even a ROUGH eta would be nice.
Most of us have games in the works, and many seem to have stuff nearing completion. Do we live with the performance as it is now and go ahead and release.....or is the update close enough that we wait for this seemingly massive exciting performance boost you have just told us about?
Days???weeks????months???
It would be extremely beneficial to know if they should push ahead and submit under .8.9 or wait for .9.
I know you guys have been slaving since early september, but it'd be nice to have some idea of what's going on.
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It's the info we need, more than the actual update!
It would appear GS is working 6-7 days 'crunch' schedule as well to get it done. Which is really hard on a dev team. So I believe its best to classify this update as a 'when it's done' update. Despite all our hopes and dreams, there's little to no use having them rush it out any time before then, because I'm sure each and every one of us would rather have the engine working fast, and bug free, than 'out right now'. Which is difficult for me to say as I really hoped to have my game submitted next week.. but if I have to wait until after the holiday, then so be it.
Keep fighting the good fight GS, it's appreciated.
Mike
Great to hear from you! I have a concern though: Traditionally you've given us a week's leeway to publish under the old version of GS, for those of us wrapping up a game with the old version once the new version has been released.
I get that you don't think we'll want to use the old version, but again, traditionally, most people's games are affected in an adverse manner due to bugs with the new version.
Bugs are to be expected of course, and we point them out and you fix them! Hurrah!
What concerns me is that my game will be finished in the next couple of days (hurrah again!) and I'd like to publish under the current system as I *know* that works.
I don't want to be delayed and have to potentially go through 100 levels trying to find a bug that crops up due to the new system!
From the bits I've quoted, it seems we can't publish under the old system once the new one goes live.
Is this the case?
Cheers, and good luck with the release!
QS
Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io
By the way, I would agree with the guy that posted the Aerosmith song. :-)