I was just wondering what you all thought of GameSalad games so far? - Do you automatically get turned off from a game simply because it was made with a pre-built cocoas2D-based game engine which requires little to no prior programming knowledge? - Do you think that there is a great deal of potential in the GS engine? (Due to FireMaples games(Danger Cats! and Stunt Squirrels) thus far, I'd have to say a very deinitive 'YES!') - Do you have more respect for those who code their games from the ground-up? I'm honestly just curious about how you all(the TA regulars) feel about the engine. I myself am currently using it to develop. Please keep in mind though that GS seems to be getting progressively more streamlined monthly, if not weekly as well as becoming much more feature rich. Thanks! - danrel
How you doin' In all honesty though, please give your opinions on the game engine itself. I'd rather this thread not turn into 'do you prefer jam or chocolate syrup' discussion.
I've used it. To me, it's fantastic since I don't have the time to code and I actually see my ideas on my iPod in a matter of hours instead of months of endless toil trying to get a game working. On the downside, you got to find loads of workarounds when essential functions aren't built into the software. For example, it doesn't allow you to bring in Apple's default keyboard, or allow OpenFeint integration, which are pretty much debilitating considering it's the current standard. I can't release what I consider a "full" app yet, so I'll hold off, but I definitely think it's something useful. It may make entry into the AppStore easier, but it still requires a lot of work to make a really polished game.
Well now that we know what 'Squirt' Reynolds prefers in his off-time from TA, can we get back on topic please?
I hear ya Kamazar, but please do keep in mind that GS is still in it's beta so more features such as OF seem to be on the top 'to-do' list for the GS devs. So far, I'm very impressed as to what the GS devs have offered to us non-coding folk. I too have a few games in flux that are waiting for a few key features before I can release anything that I'd consider a full app. BTW - thank you for the one honest answer and not some joke about 'brown-diving'
I think GS has fairly limited potential. As with any "construction set" type of app, you are limited by its tools, and its tools are pretty limited. I'm sure that given enough time it may be able to properly integrate important functions, but it's the sort of thing that's going to take a long time before I would consider it robust enough to create complex games. I've had trouble sussing out Objective C, so I've actually been spending time with GLBasic myself, and I must say, it's quite impressive. It still doesn't support a lot of APIs, but it does feature an OpenFeint API as of late, does OpenGL-ES 3D, and does allow inline C/C++ code. But even knowing almost nothing about the language, peeking at a few example sources got me putting some sprites up on the screen and moving them around within an exceedingly short period of time. I'll be doing at least my first two games in GLB.
Understandably so I'm the same way, usually. You could always incorporate you feelings about GS with a hint of ass-play on the side
Interesting. I've never heard of GLBasic myself, but I'll have to look into it. It sounds quite promising. Thanks for mentioning that! BTW - If any serious( and you're than welcome to be a beginner in the coding field) programmers would like to start a small dev team, please shoot me a PM. I've got years of experience in digital Illustration/pixel art, etc. We could work something out on a small scale and go from there. As mentioned previously, I've got a lot of game ideas rolling around and I have a few half finished games as well. It's just the coding part that brings my projects to a halt, at times.
