@Hoodloc said:
What about the screen missalignment bug on android after standby? The one where your game becomes unplayable if you don't use the workaround by @izam (LINK) which still results in an ugly unprofessional screen twitch when you return to the game after standby. Is that going to be fixed? This has been reported over a year ago.
If this is what I think it is (I've not seen it on non-Kindle Android) it's even worse on Kindles.
Here is what I'm talking about. Instead of looking like this after waking the device up:
It looks like this:
The misalignment happens to varying degrees. Sometimes it's less than the shown one, sometimes it's even more. This happens on every (4) Android device I've tested my game on.
@Hopscotch said:
This is what I see when running landscape apps (all settings in scenes and publishing are correct) . . .
I guess this is related to the GameSalad Viewer bug, when you preview (or open a previously previewed project from the Recent Games list) the orientation is wrong, the project is often distorted, it's difficult (sometimes impossible) to correctly orient it by rotating your device, and sometimes if you do manage to orient the project correctly it distorts (and so on).
I've said this before, I think the instant viewing on a device is one of the best things about GameSalad, it was one of the things that really drew me to GS, it's always been rock solid in the past, but broken for most of the last year, which is a pity.
Anyhow, like I say, I guess this is also related to the various misalignment / orientation issues with published apps ?
@Socks, yes, the above is an actual adhoc build, not the viewer. The orientation problem manifests itself different, depending on the speed of the device. As you can see in my comments, faster devices start off correct, only to display the rotation problem AFTER the loading screen.
@Hopscotch said: @Socks, yes, the above is an actual adhoc build, not the viewer.
Yes, I just thought the issues may be related, the viewer's orientation / aspect ratio went screwy (technical term) around the same time adhoc/published games started to experience a similar issue.
I've noticed a similar bug happening in multiple non-GameSalad games I've got installed on my device (one example being Lux). Perhaps there was a change in iOS 10 that affected GameSalad too?
And the bug @Hoodloc is talking about definitely happens on Kindle Fires, too, and even worse.
@Armelline I noticed this bug before iOS 10, so I am not sure it has anything to do with that. @ForumNinja any idea of what this issue can be? Any testing done internally?
I did some tests today myself and the only way I can avoid the loading screen rotating back and forth during loading the way @Hopscotch showed in his video (which is exactly what I am experiencing as well..) is to publish the game as a portrait game only. If I chose portrait and nothing else in the orientation section before publishing, the loading screen stays put and everything is great! (Except for one thing...) My game is made for landscape mode so, it is unplayable in portrait mode
Some of us work so hard to make high quality games only to be brought down by these type of long standing Gamesalad bugs.
Resulting in amateur UX experience and 1 star ratings.
1 Make GS open source (so we can nurture it)
2 Make the publishing non proprietary (to attract pros, which in turn will create exposure and bring more GS customers)
This will allow this brave community (the crazy ones at least) to fix and grow GS exponentially ...
3 Make money on extra modules. like Prestashop does (the Ecommerce platform) for example...
Selling $8 dollars modules to an expanding crowd, growing a software platform and brand, is better than losing customers and going endlessly downhill.
Then, once GS is a bigger name, with cashflow and a huge following, you could aim for a series C investment round and introduce Graphene ( the next gen platform ) for a monthly premium.
Your education angle is not enough and shortsighted, word of mouth is very real and teachers and students alike will wish and move towards more capable tools.
Your man power is too limited, therefore your current system can not keep up with customers' demands, competition and OS updates etc...This, in business, is equivalent to running full speed into a wall.
@bdusing has only ever made 1 post on the forums, so I'm not sure there's much point trying to tag him, in his one post he responded to @Armelline's question . . .
@Armelline"Will communication between some staff members and the community improve?"
. . . to which he responded . . .
"Yes. I’ve tasked @ForumNinja with being the main point of contact for the forums"
. . .while it's clear that communication has not improved (in fact I'd say it's gone further downhill) @ForumNinja does occasionally respond, so he's your best chance, maybe try the blue circle thing in the lower right of the forum ?
ForumNinjaKey Master, Head Chef, Member, PROPosts: 554
We are aware of the rotation issues you guys mentioned, though we don't have the resources to fix them as of yet.
The loading image rotating during the launch of landscape iOS app has been around since the release of iOS 9, though I don't recall how long the one Hoodloc mentioned has been around.
For those of you having issues with the rotating loading image, you can try working around the issue by using no loading image, and instead turning the first scene of your project into a loading image / logo animation.
@blob I personally like the idea of making the codebase open source (it was something I was thinking about just recently), though I'm not sure the others would go for it. I'll offer the idea up and see what they say.
Side note:
@adent42 Has been playing around with trying to add Google Play services, and from what I've heard, it sounds like something he may be able to do.
@ForumNinja said:
We are aware of the rotation issues you guys mentioned, though we don't have the resources to fix them as of yet.
Considering how long this bug has been around, this statement of no resources plus no indication of when it will be fixed is hard to swallow when you also mention you're looking to ADD something new.
Your workaround means a really long wait for the app to open if we want to show players a loading intro screen like PROFESSIONAL apps do.
@ForumNinja said:
we don't have the resources to fix them as of yet.
@blob I personally like the idea of making the codebase open source (it was something I was thinking about just recently), though I'm not sure the others would go for it. I'll offer the idea up and see what they say.
Yes @ForumNinja, @adent42 ! The fact that you guys don't have the resources should be a major argument towards making the code base open source.
As you know, this would be equivalent to getting free coders, saving resources, time and money.
Making GS more competitive, attractive, feature rich and more singular for being open sources.
Such move would also:
1 Reinvigorate the user base, who frankly feels like doomsday is creeping around the corner on our beloved GS.
2 Strengthen the community.
3 Bring an whole new type of customers and retain the ones who are leaving.
To me, this seems like a no brainer, a do or die decision.
Granted that, yes, I do not have all the parameters to assess the inner workings of GameSalad inc.
One just needs to observe a little and pay attention to see telltale signs, that this depiction is, in fact, in line with your present or near future situation.
Adaptation, flexibility and reevaluation of convictions is hard for many but it's the difference between keeping the lights on, barely coming up with the electric bill and installing solar panels on your roof.
(In your case, this would be equivalent to free solar panels i might add).
@blob said:
3 Bring an whole new type of customers and retain the ones who are leaving.
I don't know a whole lot about open source software, but I assume any extensions to the source code would be written in Lua (or something else that is then compiled / converted to Lua) ?
If that's the case then is there not also an argument that making GameSalad open source would mesh with their push towards the educational market, GameSalad would not only be a near perfect starting point for an introduction to programming, logic, handling assets, variables, publishing (and so on), but would also open up a pathway to those pupils looking to advance past drag-and-drop to actual coding ?
This would broaden the age range GameSalad can be aimed at in the educational market, the same cannot be said to be true of - for example - Unity, Unity doesn't have an easy point of entry like GameSalad, it's-code-or-be-killed, but with GameSalad pupils could progress from basic logic and game construction to actual coding all without having to jump from one SDK to another.
?
Anyhow, my main point / question is could making GameSalad open source also have the advantage of extending its application in the educational market (as well as all the other advantages you list) ?
PhilipCCEncounter Bay, South AustraliaMemberPosts: 1,390
As you know, this would be equivalent to getting free coders, saving resources, time and money.
Making GS more competitive, attractive, feature rich and more singular for being open source.
Such move would also:
1 Reinvigorate the user base, who frankly feels like doomsday is creeping around the corner on > our beloved GS._ (Once again.)_
2 Strengthen the community.
3 Bring an whole new type of customer and retain the ones who are leaving._ ( Almost daily.)_
To me, this seems like a no brainer, a do or die decision.
Hear, here!
Somethings got to change soon because like many others I'm starting to look elsewhere.
You need more than one string to your bow...
...tie, that is.
I don't have any experience with open source software. Who here is proficient enough in LUA to fix or add anything? Even if they did have the skills why would they spend the time?
Who tests it? People trying to program and it's broken and useless in a short time?
Any examples of open source software that's successful?
@Toque said:
I don't have any experience with open source software. Who here is proficient enough in LUA to fix or add anything?
LUA is a mature language with plenty of users, users needn't be from this forum, if GS was open source I expect LUA users would be attracted to GameSalad, and GameSalad users looking to get further into coding would be attracted to LUA.
@Toque said:
Even if they did have the skills why would they spend the time?
$$$$$ + fame + fun + hobby + game development . . . etc etc.
You could make the same argument for GameSalad, if someone has the skills to use GameSalad why would they spend the time ?
@Toque said:
I don't have any experience with open source software. Who here is proficient enough in LUA to fix or add anything?
LUA is a mature language with plenty of users, users needn't be from this forum, if GS was open source I expect LUA users would be attracted to GameSalad, and GameSalad users looking to get further into coding would be attracted to LUA.
@Toque said:
Even if they did have the skills why would they spend the time?
$$$$$ + fame + fun + hobby + game development . . . etc etc.
You could make the same argument for GameSalad, if someone has the skills to use GameSalad why would they spend the time ?
Imagine if someone wrote an extension / plugin (or whatever it would be called) that simulated water or allowed Spine animation files to be imported or generated a light source and shadows . . . . and these plugins sold for $19.99 each (? I'd probably buy all of them ! ) Sell just two or three hundred of a popular plugin over a year and that's $6,000, make an indispensable plugin and sell a couple of thousand over a year or two to the GS user base, and that's $40k, that's a pretty decent motivation for all the coders out there, especially in a new untapped market with users starved of basic features, heck I'd pay someone $50 for a plugin if they could give us folders for assets or snap to grid.
I guess GS would take a slice of the revenue (?) with the rest going to the plugin's maker.
Comments
Here is what I'm talking about. Instead of looking like this after waking the device up:
It looks like this:
The misalignment happens to varying degrees. Sometimes it's less than the shown one, sometimes it's even more. This happens on every (4) Android device I've tested my game on.
Yeah that bug is extreme bad , please fix it @ForumNinja
Homepage: freneticgamez.eu/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=FreneticGamez
@Hoodloc let us know which Android device you're using.
All my games on Google Play
I guess this is related to the GameSalad Viewer bug, when you preview (or open a previously previewed project from the Recent Games list) the orientation is wrong, the project is often distorted, it's difficult (sometimes impossible) to correctly orient it by rotating your device, and sometimes if you do manage to orient the project correctly it distorts (and so on).
I've said this before, I think the instant viewing on a device is one of the best things about GameSalad, it was one of the things that really drew me to GS, it's always been rock solid in the past, but broken for most of the last year, which is a pity.
Anyhow, like I say, I guess this is also related to the various misalignment / orientation issues with published apps ?
@Socks, yes, the above is an actual adhoc build, not the viewer. The orientation problem manifests itself different, depending on the speed of the device. As you can see in my comments, faster devices start off correct, only to display the rotation problem AFTER the loading screen.
MESSAGING, X-PLATFORM LEADERBOARDS, OFFLINE-TIMER, ANALYTICS and BACK-END CONTROL for your GameSalad projects
www.APPFORMATIVE.com
Yes, I just thought the issues may be related, the viewer's orientation / aspect ratio went screwy (technical term) around the same time adhoc/published games started to experience a similar issue.
Galaxy S3, S3 mini, Oneplus3, Honor 5x. I have access to a Galaxy Tab S, I will try this one out soon.
It's independent from power. The Oneplus3 is insanely fast but shows misalignments up to half the screens width and height.
I've noticed a similar bug happening in multiple non-GameSalad games I've got installed on my device (one example being Lux). Perhaps there was a change in iOS 10 that affected GameSalad too?
And the bug @Hoodloc is talking about definitely happens on Kindle Fires, too, and even worse.
Contact me for custom work - Expert GS developer with 15 years of GS experience - Skype: armelline.support
@Armelline I noticed this bug before iOS 10, so I am not sure it has anything to do with that. @ForumNinja any idea of what this issue can be? Any testing done internally?
I did some tests today myself and the only way I can avoid the loading screen rotating back and forth during loading the way @Hopscotch showed in his video (which is exactly what I am experiencing as well..) is to publish the game as a portrait game only. If I chose portrait and nothing else in the orientation section before publishing, the loading screen stays put and everything is great! (Except for one thing...) My game is made for landscape mode so, it is unplayable in portrait mode
These misalignment issues are such No Nos!
Some of us work so hard to make high quality games only to be brought down by these type of long standing Gamesalad bugs.
Resulting in amateur UX experience and 1 star ratings.
Thank you GS.
Juuup please fix this bad bug, dont learn people that gs sux
Homepage: freneticgamez.eu/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=FreneticGamez
Sigh
Guru Video Channel | Lost Oasis Games | FRYING BACON STUDIOS
@bdusing @ForumNinja @CodeWizard ...
1 Make GS open source (so we can nurture it)
2 Make the publishing non proprietary (to attract pros, which in turn will create exposure and bring more GS customers)
This will allow this brave community (the crazy ones at least) to fix and grow GS exponentially ...
3 Make money on extra modules. like Prestashop does (the Ecommerce platform) for example...
Selling $8 dollars modules to an expanding crowd, growing a software platform and brand, is better than losing customers and going endlessly downhill.
Then, once GS is a bigger name, with cashflow and a huge following, you could aim for a series C investment round and introduce Graphene ( the next gen platform ) for a monthly premium.
Your education angle is not enough and shortsighted, word of mouth is very real and teachers and students alike will wish and move towards more capable tools.
Your man power is too limited, therefore your current system can not keep up with customers' demands, competition and OS updates etc...This, in business, is equivalent to running full speed into a wall.
One has the right to dream!
Custom plugin support would be nice. We would be able to use heyzapp then.
& the gods once again remained quiet...
Some info would be great.... @ForumNinja
Homepage: freneticgamez.eu/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=FreneticGamez
@bdusing has only ever made 1 post on the forums, so I'm not sure there's much point trying to tag him, in his one post he responded to @Armelline's question . . .
@Armelline "Will communication between some staff members and the community improve?"
. . . to which he responded . . .
"Yes. I’ve tasked @ForumNinja with being the main point of contact for the forums"
. . .while it's clear that communication has not improved (in fact I'd say it's gone further downhill) @ForumNinja does occasionally respond, so he's your best chance, maybe try the blue circle thing in the lower right of the forum ?
Or you could try this . . .
@ForumNinja
We are aware of the rotation issues you guys mentioned, though we don't have the resources to fix them as of yet.
The loading image rotating during the launch of landscape iOS app has been around since the release of iOS 9, though I don't recall how long the one Hoodloc mentioned has been around.
For those of you having issues with the rotating loading image, you can try working around the issue by using no loading image, and instead turning the first scene of your project into a loading image / logo animation.
@blob I personally like the idea of making the codebase open source (it was something I was thinking about just recently), though I'm not sure the others would go for it. I'll offer the idea up and see what they say.
Side note:
@adent42 Has been playing around with trying to add Google Play services, and from what I've heard, it sounds like something he may be able to do.
I knew the big type would work.
@Socks
Considering how long this bug has been around, this statement of no resources plus no indication of when it will be fixed is hard to swallow when you also mention you're looking to ADD something new.
Your workaround means a really long wait for the app to open if we want to show players a loading intro screen like PROFESSIONAL apps do.
Fed up...
Yes @ForumNinja, @adent42 ! The fact that you guys don't have the resources should be a major argument towards making the code base open source.
As you know, this would be equivalent to getting free coders, saving resources, time and money.
Making GS more competitive, attractive, feature rich and more singular for being open sources.
Such move would also:
1 Reinvigorate the user base, who frankly feels like doomsday is creeping around the corner on our beloved GS.
2 Strengthen the community.
3 Bring an whole new type of customers and retain the ones who are leaving.
To me, this seems like a no brainer, a do or die decision.
Granted that, yes, I do not have all the parameters to assess the inner workings of GameSalad inc.
One just needs to observe a little and pay attention to see telltale signs, that this depiction is, in fact, in line with your present or near future situation.
Adaptation, flexibility and reevaluation of convictions is hard for many but it's the difference between keeping the lights on, barely coming up with the electric bill and installing solar panels on your roof.
(In your case, this would be equivalent to free solar panels i might add).
WHEN YOU CAN'T RESOURCE, YOU OPEN-SOURCE
I don't know a whole lot about open source software, but I assume any extensions to the source code would be written in Lua (or something else that is then compiled / converted to Lua) ?
If that's the case then is there not also an argument that making GameSalad open source would mesh with their push towards the educational market, GameSalad would not only be a near perfect starting point for an introduction to programming, logic, handling assets, variables, publishing (and so on), but would also open up a pathway to those pupils looking to advance past drag-and-drop to actual coding ?
This would broaden the age range GameSalad can be aimed at in the educational market, the same cannot be said to be true of - for example - Unity, Unity doesn't have an easy point of entry like GameSalad, it's-code-or-be-killed, but with GameSalad pupils could progress from basic logic and game construction to actual coding all without having to jump from one SDK to another.
?
Anyhow, my main point / question is could making GameSalad open source also have the advantage of extending its application in the educational market (as well as all the other advantages you list) ?
@Socks said:
Now I see how to make best use of the new Display Text!
@blob said:
Hear, here!
Somethings got to change soon because like many others I'm starting to look elsewhere.
You need more than one string to your bow...
...tie, that is.
I don't have any experience with open source software. Who here is proficient enough in LUA to fix or add anything? Even if they did have the skills why would they spend the time?
Who tests it? People trying to program and it's broken and useless in a short time?
Any examples of open source software that's successful?
LUA is a mature language with plenty of users, users needn't be from this forum, if GS was open source I expect LUA users would be attracted to GameSalad, and GameSalad users looking to get further into coding would be attracted to LUA.
$$$$$ + fame + fun + hobby + game development . . . etc etc.
You could make the same argument for GameSalad, if someone has the skills to use GameSalad why would they spend the time ?
Them, you, anyone who wants to.
Not sure what this one means ?
Firefox, WordPress, Linux, Blender, BitCoin, Audacity, GIMP, VLC, HandBrake . . . etc etc (and hundreds more).
Ok. Thanks
Imagine if someone wrote an extension / plugin (or whatever it would be called) that simulated water or allowed Spine animation files to be imported or generated a light source and shadows . . . . and these plugins sold for $19.99 each (? I'd probably buy all of them !
) Sell just two or three hundred of a popular plugin over a year and that's $6,000, make an indispensable plugin and sell a couple of thousand over a year or two to the GS user base, and that's $40k, that's a pretty decent motivation for all the coders out there, especially in a new untapped market with users starved of basic features, heck I'd pay someone $50 for a plugin if they could give us folders for assets or snap to grid.
I guess GS would take a slice of the revenue (?) with the rest going to the plugin's maker.
Open source. Just program GS out of the loop and keep the money for yourself?