'The Big Picture' - June Update: iPhone 4
Yodapollo
Inactive, Chef Emeritus Posts: 447
Hey, everybody!
So, this is getting out much later than I, or anyone else, expected. While I certainly anticipated internet issues during my time at E3, I definitely under-estimated how large those issues would be. So, here I am, at a small coffee shop on Mid-Wilshire, having breakfast and writing this post out in longhand, hoping to find some trace of internet somewhere and get you the news I've been wanting to tell you for the last few days. I've also still got one more day at E3 to get to and, let's be honest, I really want a go at the new Zelda game. So let's get to it.
We've got a lot of stuff to talk about, so here we are with The Big Picture for June 2010:
iPHONE OS 4
Like the song says about George Washington, it's coming. It's coming. iPhone's new OS is chock full of new features we can't wait to sink our teeth into. That being said, here's an idea of what we're really focusing on and what you should expect to see in future releases (Please NOTE: i did NOT say the NEXT release):
These things are on the way. We're still playing around with all of them and trying to figure out the best way to implement them within GameSalad. But, like I said, they're coming. I don't know about you, but that makes me excited.
STABILITY
Just because this was the main focus of the last couple of months, doesn't mean it's going away. As a company, we're always trying to make GameSalad better, faster, and more reliable.
I think you'll agree that the last couple of GameSalad releases have improved the creation tool's stability by leaps and bounds. It's good, but we still want it to be better. So, over the next few development cycles, we're going to be delving into further improvements on GS stability. In particular, we're going to be addressing tool's issue regarding usage slowdown. Recently, we've made major improvements, but we think we can make some more.
IMPROVED WEBSITE & PUBLISHING SYSTEM
Another focus of ours over the next few months is going to be in streamlining and improving the UI of both our website and publishing system. We've noticed that some community members have had issues navigating the site and figuring out the process of submitting projects for transition into apps.
So, we'll be making regular changes to the website and to the publishing system over the next couple of months in order to further improve your GameSalad experience.
And there it is: The Big Picture, straight from E3! Or, at least, about a mile down the road. But it's still pretty close - I mean, in terms of planet-size. I hope this gets you guys excited, and I can't wait for next month's update. Keep doing the incredible!
Mahalo.
So, this is getting out much later than I, or anyone else, expected. While I certainly anticipated internet issues during my time at E3, I definitely under-estimated how large those issues would be. So, here I am, at a small coffee shop on Mid-Wilshire, having breakfast and writing this post out in longhand, hoping to find some trace of internet somewhere and get you the news I've been wanting to tell you for the last few days. I've also still got one more day at E3 to get to and, let's be honest, I really want a go at the new Zelda game. So let's get to it.
We've got a lot of stuff to talk about, so here we are with The Big Picture for June 2010:
iPHONE OS 4
Like the song says about George Washington, it's coming. It's coming. iPhone's new OS is chock full of new features we can't wait to sink our teeth into. That being said, here's an idea of what we're really focusing on and what you should expect to see in future releases (Please NOTE: i did NOT say the NEXT release):
- New 960 x 640 iPhone Resolution Support
- iAd
- Multitasking
These things are on the way. We're still playing around with all of them and trying to figure out the best way to implement them within GameSalad. But, like I said, they're coming. I don't know about you, but that makes me excited.
STABILITY
Just because this was the main focus of the last couple of months, doesn't mean it's going away. As a company, we're always trying to make GameSalad better, faster, and more reliable.
I think you'll agree that the last couple of GameSalad releases have improved the creation tool's stability by leaps and bounds. It's good, but we still want it to be better. So, over the next few development cycles, we're going to be delving into further improvements on GS stability. In particular, we're going to be addressing tool's issue regarding usage slowdown. Recently, we've made major improvements, but we think we can make some more.
IMPROVED WEBSITE & PUBLISHING SYSTEM
Another focus of ours over the next few months is going to be in streamlining and improving the UI of both our website and publishing system. We've noticed that some community members have had issues navigating the site and figuring out the process of submitting projects for transition into apps.
So, we'll be making regular changes to the website and to the publishing system over the next couple of months in order to further improve your GameSalad experience.
And there it is: The Big Picture, straight from E3! Or, at least, about a mile down the road. But it's still pretty close - I mean, in terms of planet-size. I hope this gets you guys excited, and I can't wait for next month's update. Keep doing the incredible!
Mahalo.
Comments
iAd's = Amazing
Multitasking = Amazing
Stability = Amazing (At least I think so!)
Gendai = Beautiful
I find that rather concerning.... as its still where GameSalad sorely lacks behind other engines/tools.
Without better tools and features, that make it easier to create and modify gameplay, were working with one hand tied behind our backs. Theres still a huge range of gameplay types that we're simply closed off to due to a lot of basic features that the tool doesnt, but should have.
This is what, at least the 2nd or 3rd update in a row where nothing has been added to the beating heart of the tool.
Multiple copy/move/paste of actors, hiding actor layers, snapping to grids, better functionality of menus so that they flow better, some sort of database funtionality.... the list could go on and on.... are these even on the Gendai radar?
I find it very disappointing.....
I think your concentrating too much on one aspect of GameSalad and completely ignoring where it really needs improving and adding to in order to become a truly professional package...
Thanks or the update, though.
Online leaderboards are a must too, you can have a perfect game like Star Daze HD that Tshirtbooth did, but without online leaderboards, you lose customers.
I hope you guys take it up a notch and plug away at these, they are very much needed!
Thats exactly how I feel! I thought GameSalad was amazing until for the past few months the updates have been: stability, stability, stability. I would love to see GS do something huge for June or July! Just spring it on us; put in all of those "upcoming features" at once or something or I will probably not be continuing my subscription to GS next year. Its a major dissapointment because this means there will probably not be multitasking until at least Oct. or Nov.! GameSalad quit messing around with the stability stuff, who cares if I have to restart GS every 15 minutes because it gets slow!
QUIT MESSING AROUND WITH US AND PUT IN SOME REAL UPDATES!!! UPDATES THAT I AM PAYING 100 BUCKS A YEAR FOR! I THINK TSHIRTBOOTH, ME, AND PROBABLY A TON OF OTHER GS USERS THINK THE SAME!
everyone screaming out for iAds etc, as the saviour to them making money off their apps.
I think theres features and tool improvements that people have been asking for, for a long time, that should have been addressed with far more importance than the ones Gendai has mentioned.
I was hoping that the tool/engine would improve more than this, and that i could look at seriously using it to develop games that might at some point have a realistic chance of breaking the top 10.
With the way things are going, Im looking at finishing my current GS project, then probably going to have to seriously consider switching my efforts over to a different engine.
Like i said.... I feel disappointed....
Im glad I havent progressed further than an express membership....
I'd quit complaining, it's still in beta, yes the communication is pretty shoddy and assuming Gendai deliver and improve performance in the coming months it could become great in my opinion.
And actually "GameSalad quit messing around with the stability stuff, who cares if I have to restart GS every 15 minutes because it gets slow!" I care a lot about that. It's unbelievably frustrating and often leads to lost work, time and effort.
From my experience, Beta normally means a feature complete product.... with some last minute bugfixing/tweaking left to do.
Somewhere along the lines, Beta seems to have morphed into meaning an early version of the software.....
If theyre advertising and selling a pro membership, then surely the product should be of a level that it is actually professional... with all the features a pro would expect.
I think the product has fantastic possibliites.... but i think theyre starting to fall way short of them, and looking like its going to take forever to actually get there.
If we are to compete with all these other companies, and other programs like Unity, Corona, etc. we need something to show for it.
We need answers on these features.
Why is it taking so long to add them?
It should also be taken into consideration that everyone is going to want Gendai to prioritise different things. Some might want iAds and a free app as a sales strategy whereas others might want GameCentre in the hope that it makes your app more appealable to consumers and boosts sales that way.
Meh, as I said, I'm happy enough for now, but come this time next week... but I agree that GS should step it up a gear.
I can speak for myself, Tshirt and many others whom have been with Gamesalad since the very beginning. Waiting patiently and patiently for features to be added.
It just gets frustrating when really major features like iAd, Game Center are getting delayed, when it seems that those should be a real priority.
At any rate, back to work, and hope that they really hear us on this.
Learn Objective-C? Corona?
For example, iAds implementation has potential downfalls and hoops that they have to jump through to get them working not to mention the possible pitfalls of a 3rd party implementing it for you. If they are mentioning it, I'm guessing they are pretty close to getting it done since any number of technical or legal problems could keep it from happening.
As to the subject of online leaderboards, I would love to see it but I think that leaderboards could be an easy fix if there was an ability for a GameSalad app to post and get data from a website. Not only would this make creating an online leaderboard simple, but would open a whole world possibilities to you. Think about changing some parts of your game on the fly without having to push out a new release through the app store. What about collecting statistics about how many times someone played your game? I look at this as my personal #1 priority.
We need these features and like tshirtbooth said I wouldn't care for another update after these features above are done.
Cheers, Weswog
I was just thinking about the time aspect. I guess I have more patience as I haven't been here too long so I haven't really been frustrated before with the lack of updates that were promised. And I agree with Tshirt that a big update would surely satisfy many for a while and give Gendai some time to 'work on stability'.
One creates an alternative way of making money. The other helps developers build a community... which translates into more money. They shouldn't be in some later update. They should be available immediately.
Apple has already done much of the work. Gendai Games just has to add what Apple created. This pretty much sums up the situation.
how much would iads cost us? i thought it was only meant for big developer companies... wasnt it 2$ a click???
As simple as that.
I've been using it for a week and I found out that learning Lua isn't so hard as I've expected.
I'm enjoying the feeling of having control over all the code that I create.
I really need URL fowarding or In App Purchase, and after this "great" yellow post, I'm not willing to spend $ 2,000 in Pro version.
-iAds
-Gamecenter or openfeint, etc
And I would definitley pay the money without a question if they added the ability to alter the Xcode project so that in app email could be added and other stuff Gamesalad does not offer. I would even pay $150 a year granted I had access to the Xcode files
i really hope GS gets iads as soon as possible.
come on! its been ages since the last great update...
Please GS!!!
what you should do maybe is add a donation bar at the side of the gs page and say that when you get ***$ you have to provide us with an extra update?? id be willing to donate!!!
(as an extra to the monthly update)
I'm not saying I'd completely leave GS, but I wouldn't invest the time in so many question marks when I could be spending it learning a simple language.
On the subject of Corona's roadmap:
It is a great idea, sure, but have you read their roadmap? They promise basically every feature anybody could ever want. I doubt they'll be able to deliver anywhere close to that, at least not anywhere near the projected timeline. I think there is a system that could be worked out that is a balance between the "Big Picture" we have here and the "List of Features Anybody could ever want" that Corona has going on.
Gendai, I don't know if you guys will even read this, but I think the community as a whole gets the feeling that you guys don't really work on the engine very much. Stability fixes are great and all, but that isn't going to please anybody. And working on the publishing system? At this time when iAds, GameCenter, iPhone 4, and a slew of other necessities haven't been introduced? It's like you guys haven't heard a word we've been screaming.
From the looks of it, the longer members stick around, the more discontent they become. But maybe that's your business plan?
As for me, I'll be checking into Corona. Although, I'm fortunate enough to have some understanding of coding. And I'm not using this to apply pressure on you guys, because ultimately, I doubt you care. I'll still use GS to prototype and even still to create quick games, but I won't expect to see much return.
Maybe y'all need a little motivation. Maybe you should take a small percentage of our games' sales, just so you'll have a reason to give us the tools to make our games competitive.
When I first started using GS, the biggest concern was a lack of a save feature - but they added that two weeks later.
The only major feature that I could really use would be an Array object. The ability to use concatenation would also be really nice.
What I would like to see is updates to the editor. Right now, when I use the back button, nothing is remembered, so I have to keep resizing my window panes and scrolling back down to where I was. I would LOVE to stop doing that.
And things like locking layers, and other little tweaks to the interface would be welcome.
Most of the things people keep asking for, iAds, in-app purchasing, game center, etc. mostly are add-ons to the game itself. They are all certainly welcome additions to gamesalad, but i personally don't care about them. I dont enjoy games with ads in them, i find them a bit distracting.
At any rate, as far as I can tell, Gamesalad keeps getting better and better every few weeks. The omproved loading times from the last update were awesome. I hope they keep making a great tool even better!
I agree though, it's good software to use. Though I do get the feeling that because GS is the ONLY dev kit around that offers the ability to make games with no coding, Gendai have gotten a little complacent. That's not a good idea... someone else WILL step in... probably not in the too distant future.