State of the Salad 2018-09
adent42
Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PRO Posts: 3,170
It's that time again! Here's the latest from the GameSalad team!
Creator 1.25.95
For a good while now we've been stuck in a weird split state for GameSalad Creator for Mac where you needed to use 1.25.88 for working and 1.25.94 for signing. The image library would ‘disappear’ seemingly randomly. With 1.25.95 we’ve replaced the underlying widget and fixed the issue, so we finally just say “use 1.25.95”.
If you’re curious, I can get into more detail about what was happening in another post in this thread (if anyone ask), but to keep things moving along…
GameSalad Engine
The RC engine from 2018-09-14 is now the "stable" engine. This means that you won't need to use the "Build RC" button. In fact, until we release the next RC, Build RC and Generate will use the same app packages.
What’s changed since the last “stable” release?
Android
Upgraded OpenAL to version 1.17.1
- Stops the app from holding a PARTIAL_WAKE_LOCK when backgrounded. This was causing apps to hold a thread open and suck up battery life when they were backgrounded.
- Uses OpenSL ES instead of android AudioTrack directly, which is the recommended way to access the sound API.
Removed Amazon GameCircle support. Amazon is retiring Amazon GameCircle, so we are removing support for it. Find out more here: https://developer.amazon.com/docs/gamecircle/faq-gamecircle.html
- Built with the latest NDK tools.
iOS
- Admob SDK updated to 7.33.1
- Admob banner ads should adjust their position on the iPhone Xr and Xs Max
Sometime next week there will be a release to remove Revmob support (they are shutting down). I’m still deciding so some feedback will be appreciated, but next will either be support for Google Play Game Services or reducing all ad networks into one mediated ad network service (the current front runner is Tapdaq, but if you know of another service we’d be happy to take a look and compare).
I’m leaning toward Google Play Game Services first, mostly because work will be more localized (android only), which means I can finish it up faster.
You can always get the latest information here: https://forums.gamesalad.com/discussion/96619/gamesalad-publishing-binaries-rc-current/p1
Creator 2.x
We’ve just about finished with copy/paste of actors in Creator 2. This functionality will allow copy/paste of actors instances and prototypes. You will be able to use this functionality to duplicate actors in existing projects or paste actors (along with accompanying prototypes and images) into other projects! As with current Behavior copy / paste in Creator 2, the system will prompt you to create any new attributes required or use existing attributes that have the same name and type.
Education
The GameSalad for Education platform launched its latest update this August. Lesson tutorials and quizzes were embedded in our online creator and a new dashboard and class management tools were added for teachers.
You can see more here:
Roadmap
As usual, this isn’t set in stone, but it will give you some insight on how we’re prioritizing stuff:
- Removal of Revmob (results in smaller app packages).
- HTML5 Creator Scene Copy/Paste
- Google Play Game Services
- HTML5 Creator Expression Editor Optimizations
- Admob Banners + Interstitials
- Ad mediation
Comments
Sounds good @adent42 , although I'd personally say that given the volatile changes in the ad providers market at the moment, Ad Mediation is probably the better of the two things to sort first - at the moment I've given up trying to generate any revenue, as Chartboost seems problematic, RevMob dead, and Admob is the only one that was working to any extent the last time I checked.
As such, the main motivating factor for me (recouping some of the money I've laid out over the years), is pretty much dead in the water at present - given the long-standing issues with ads in general, both from a GS and from external issues, I'd imagine a lot of GS'ers would probably want Ad Mediation incorporating first if possible? - I certainly do...
Thanks as always for your hard work though!
All sounding great @adent42!
Two quick questions:
1 - Has Creator been tested on Mojave? I haven't dared update yet.
2 - Any chance we can get dragging and dropping enabled in the new image view widget in Creator? Images don't vanish any more, but I'm unable to drag images onto the image window to add them now.
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Hi @adent42 two things!
I just sent you a PM with this subject, because the feature of my game would be depending on this aspect, but it will happen to others the GS developers.
Thanks!
Will it be okay to update apps and select Tapdaq now and start testing. Both of my recent app(3-5 days) do not ad interstitial ads from Chartboost in one or AdMob in the other.
I am so pulling for the GS team to be successful, and it’s probably me, but I am having zero success and have made recommended alterations to see if I could get to change the outcome.
Sorry, did not fully understand this. Did you mean use the "Generate Button" for both iOS and Google Play publishing? or use the "RC Build" for both...?
Or does RC on it's own mean "Generate Button"?
Thanks for the heads-up @adent42
Personally, I'm looking forward to Admob Interstitials so good to see it in the pipeline
Hi @adent42 I have the info, my colleagues use as mediator of ADs: https://www.ironsrc.com/mediation/
If you look at bottom, the developers who use this service speak for themselves
Great thanks for the update @adent42. Finally that niggly image bug has been fixed. You are a legend among mere mortals. Onward to Google Play Services!
And what @Armelline mentioned - are we kosher with Mojave? I also daren't update for fear of eternal death.
Mojave. The real answer is - we think so? We did a few basic tests on the beta and no major issues stood out, so we think we're good. If something comes out from longer usage, please be sure to let us know!
@CasualEvolution Thanks! I'll take a look at IronSrc.
@Simple Gamer Arts Generate and RC are currently using the same engine. Once there is a new update to RC, I'll post it in the RC thread.
@hzapps go for it. We haven't done any updates to Tapdaq since the GDPR release a few months back.
@CasualEvolution Target SDK version is 26 by default, that can't be changed as that's what we compile against. We just let you adjust the minimum version to account for performance (e.g. your game runs slow on older devices, so you can cut them off by changing the minimum version higher). If testing goes well, I'm hoping to update the next RC to SDK version 27.
@Armelline Let me look into the drag and drop thing.
@adent42 I think I have the same issue as @Armelline with the drag and drop. I used to be able to drag png files from my desktop into the image window (on Macintosh) to import images. That no longer works, I have to use the + button to open the standard open dialog box to import images now. I just updated to 1.25.95 so it seems like an issue with that version specifically.
http://jamie-cross.net/posts/ ✮ Udemy: Introduction to Mobile Games Development ✮ Learn Mobile Game Development in One Day Using Gamesalad ✮ My Patreon Page
+1 to ad mediation first.
Is the ability to search the image field by typing the name of the image still missing from this version? I want to update, but have so many images this is pretty much a must.
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@jamie_c yes, it's due to the replacement of that widget. we have to manually reproduce all the functionality the original widget gave us
@AlchimiaStudios still missing.
How is it about IAP on Amazon now when GameCircle closing
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@adent42, got it. Will that functionality be returning in the future? It's obviously not a huge deal but it was very nice to be able to just drag and drop a large selection of images right into the window.
http://jamie-cross.net/posts/ ✮ Udemy: Introduction to Mobile Games Development ✮ Learn Mobile Game Development in One Day Using Gamesalad ✮ My Patreon Page
@freneticz I think Amazon is keeping IAP, just not the game stuff (leaderboards / achievements).
@jamie_c Most likely. I don't say definitely because we're getting closer to getting the HTML5 tool up to par as a replacement. It's going to be down to an evaluation of which will take less work. I suspect a update to Mac Creator will be more likely since the creator replacement isn't even slated to be in beta until the end of the year.
Also, random cool news, I just finished a round of features and optimization for the HTML5 tool table editor. It can now performantly scroll through a table with over 9.5k rows, has the ability to resize directly via input boxes again, and we've implemented CSV import with a slightly better import dialog.
First of all thank you for your efforts to develop game salads.
I was wondering if you wanted to reduce all your ad networks to mediated ad networks,
I am wondering if I can choose my favorite sdk and save it myself.
In addition, I would like to know if there is a way to manually install sdk to help analyze your app, such as "firebase".
@adent42, thanks for the update. I'll have to take a look at the online tool again, it's been awhile since I played with it. Sounds like it's coming along nicely.
http://jamie-cross.net/posts/ ✮ Udemy: Introduction to Mobile Games Development ✮ Learn Mobile Game Development in One Day Using Gamesalad ✮ My Patreon Page
@tosiroo sorry, we currently don't have the ability to compile in your own SDKs. We are looking into mediated ads and while doing other work, I'm researching which one to use.
We currently have Tapdaq, so that would be a natural choice. IronSource and Appodeal also look interesting as they have more adoption. Appodeal seems to cover the most, but I have read about some stability problems in the past, so I'll have to do more research.
I know there's one vote for IronSource ( thanks @CasualEvolution ). If anyone has more info or experience with these networks to consider, please PM me!
+2 IronSource
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@adent42 +3 IronSource for sure, I’ve used them natively and they’re sweet. Look forward to Google Play Game Services support before then though! It’s much needed for Android please.
I'll add a +1 for Ironsource too please guys - may be worth a re-build of my Courier Chaos if it gets implemented...
@adent42 is it possible to add a feature to the next gs update that shows us the x and y of the cursor while on the scene stage in edit mode? (say at the bottom of the gs window), and/or an extra column in the scene>layers panel for each actor showing the x/y of each instance?
it would make life a hell of a lot easier in determining x/y values that need to be used in attributes instead of having to continually move actors, clicking into them to check and often repeating that process, also would help in lining up actor instances when they are half a pixel out.
+1 simple and useful !
Thank you for your quick reply.
As much as you strive for the development of the engine, I am affectionately working on game salads. I would like to know if you plan to add features that you can compile into SDK files someday.
Personally, I think that if this feature is added someday, there will be a better chance for developers.
If this feature is added, I think the game salad engine is rumored to be the most powerful engine in the hyper-casual genre.
Could we get rid of this loading wheel? or put it on the lower right corner of the screen. @adent42 Worked 1.25.80, published with 1.25.95.
Check out my games on the App Store!
Wordgraphy / Polycolor / 20 Seconds / Minimal Maze
Hi @unbeatenpixel for me this happen only on viewer, but then when export it’s ok
There were a few post from a user asking about improvements to GameSalad the the slow progress improving the engine.
Unfortunately, I had deleted one post by accident (I was trying to make an edit and it turns out this forum software shows a post twice after an edit. Trying to delete the "duplicate" deletes the original too).
I decided to delete the whole thread because the user was using their email address as their username and I don't think they intended to release their email address to the world.
Unfortunately I didn't save the post, so if anyone wants to reiterate their points, please feel free.
The general idea was: "the engine hasn't seen improvement in a while, why aren't you more like another engine. we need faster loading times, ad mediation, etc."
There were some fair points there and I didn't intend to delete the message. There is, of course, a lot we can do to improve and I'm hoping that by laying out our teams road map and updating it periodically, we can build trust in our product again for those who have lost it.
Again, sorry for the appearance of censorship, it was unintended.
@adent42 Still some of us old'un around with plenty of suggestions for quality-of-life changes! Feel free to hit us up for lists of requests when you find the time for some of the smaller engine stuff. I'm betting there are a lot of little things that you guys have little idea of. Just one example, but better handling of errors would be lovely. If you try to reference a non-existant table cell, the whole preview breaks in seemingly random ways. Very confusing for newcomers (and most others too!).
Contact me for custom work - Expert GS developer with 15 years of GS experience - Skype: armelline.support
@adent42 > @adent42 said:
Yeah, yeah, I know.
You deleted it because he mentioned " somethingbox" , maybe "Treybox" , oops I remember now, but I won't say it or you'll delete me.