True Story!

[Turon]

well good luck gamemakerdude... I'm somewhat rattled by this because I'm sure gamemakerdude was a better programmer than I am... Does game editor still have a future in this world? Skydereign hasn't said a word for about the next version in recent months... I'm not giving up just yet but if something doesn't happen soon...

Easier than gE? You must be just really really bad in game development to say gE isn't easy to use enough.

I don't feel like that is what is meant by easy. There are many reasons why gE makes game development harder than most engines. Yeah gE is easy to start making simple games, but to overcome certain problems takes more work than it is worth. I also stopped using gE because writing my own engine to make games was easier to do the things I wanted. Other engines like Unity make a lot of things much easier than gE ever did. If the goal is to make an awesome game, why reinvent the wheel? There is little reason to spend more time implementing features that other engines have by default.

???!!!! ???!!!!!

[koala]

It seems to me GE is in a crisis, but it doesn't have to last for much longer. I share opinion with some users here that creating more games with GE will attract more people.
Considering my elementary knowledge of C, modest knowledge of GE and especially GE Script and modest experience in GE I might not be the best person to judge the GE. However, my opinion is that some things in GE could be better, but also that GE is very interesting and what is more important, when you start learning how to use it, GE becomes very powerful tool. If you have will and idea, you can make anything you want.
Honestly, I would like more people on GE forum, GE chat and more GE game developers. And I hope it'll come true.

[Turon]

I am hoping for GE 1.4.1b...

[Zivouhr]

An update of GE would be nice, yes. I can imagine it won't happen any time soon without more forum members joining and talking about GE games.

It seems to me GE is in a crisis, but it doesn't have to last for much longer. I share opinion with some users here that creating more games with GE will attract more people.
Considering my elementary knowledge of C, modest knowledge of GE and especially GE Script and modest experience in GE I might not be the best person to judge the GE. However, my opinion is that some things in GE could be better, but also that GE is very interesting and what is more important, when you start learning how to use it, GE becomes very powerful tool. If you have will and idea, you can make anything you want.
Honestly, I would like more people on GE forum, GE chat and more GE game developers. And I hope it'll come true.

Well said.
Once I got the hang of GE, it's actually pretty fun to work within. It's a challenging game creator, but the tips on this forum made all the difference in the world for me. Without the help of the posts and tips on this forum, I would have given up for lack of time to figure the coding out, so much thanks to the forum experts here who post their tips and general suggestions for all kinds of games and features.

[koala]

An update of GE would be nice, yes. I can imagine it won't happen any time soon without more forum members joining and talking about GE games.

It seems to me GE is in a crisis, but it doesn't have to last for much longer. I share opinion with some users here that creating more games with GE will attract more people.
Considering my elementary knowledge of C, modest knowledge of GE and especially GE Script and modest experience in GE I might not be the best person to judge the GE. However, my opinion is that some things in GE could be better, but also that GE is very interesting and what is more important, when you start learning how to use it, GE becomes very powerful tool. If you have will and idea, you can make anything you want.
Honestly, I would like more people on GE forum, GE chat and more GE game developers. And I hope it'll come true.

Well said.
Once I got the hang of GE, it's actually pretty fun to work within. It's a challenging game creator, but the tips on this forum made all the difference in the world for me. Without the help of the posts and tips on this forum, I would have given up for lack of time to figure the coding out, so much thanks to the forum experts here who post their tips and general suggestions for all kinds of games and features.

I totally agree with you. Tips from other users help very much. Some things I read in GE Documentation, but the biggest help comes from other users.

[gamemakerdude]

Hey everyone, hope the GE community is doing well. Well... there's some really good news and some news that will probably disappoint some people. First, the bad news. True Story is officially on hiatus for the time being. This is not due to any technical challenges or anything, in that regard I am doing very well adjusting to Unity actually. There are a lot of things I really enjoy about it (as well as some other things I don't enjoy so much too) and I have probably made more progress in Unity in the last few months, than I ever did in the last two years in GE really. Though, that is mostly because A.) I know what I'm doing now for the most part and B.) I studied and continue to study Unity all the time, but especially when I first switched over. That being said, I really do miss the GE community, it felt much more... well, like a community.

As for making games in GE, I still believe that GE is a very powerful and lightweight tool that is capable of making some great games. Just because I decided to move to Unity doesn't mean GE is bad, but because of the artistic style I am using and way I want the game to "feel" when it is played, it was difficult to achieve some of the things I wanted to do in GE. The technical issues I was referring to had to do with generating objects such as trees and houses in the game world which require fairly complex collision areas and also require a dynamic zdepth that is based on where the object’s y coordinates lie, so that characters can appear as if they are behind these objects when the character is higher on the screen and in front of these objects when they are lower on the screen and that objects at the bottom of the screen are rendered in front of objects rendered at the top. As I have said, I COULD have resolved these issues in GE, but I felt the solutions required much more effort in GE than in Unity and that I could have more control over objects in general in Unity. That being said, the map editor I was designing in GE to generate the maps for True Story is mostly functional, though missing many of the elements I was planning to incorporate. It could even be used to make platformer games, or even top down games that required less precise, grid based collision with a little bit of work. The code for it is a bit sloppy and would require some touching up for sure, but it would definitely be better than starting from scratch and could also be a valuable learning tool for new users. And if you are concerned about whether or not GE is the right tool for you, don't be. GE is great, because I learned how to program(somewhat) thru GE, making the switch to Unity was relatively simple. You can always play around with multiple tools and try to learn as much about any that you might think are relevant or useful to your project.

You may ask why I decided to put True Story on hiatus, and there are a few reasons but before I go into them, I want to assure you that this is only a temporary setback and that True Story will happen sooner or later. It is my dream to make this game. Yet, at the same time, I realize the scope of the project is truly epic. Much too large for me to ever hope of completing on my own, especially without any money, all the while having to work, go to school and take care of many other responsibilities. While all this may sound pretty bleak, that’s where the good news comes in.

About a month ago, shortly after I started feeling pretty comfortable working with Unity, a friend of mine approached me with a game idea he had developing. It was an idea I really liked, the concept was solid and I could tell the scope would be more manageable than my own project, so I decided to team up with him and we started working on it with a couple of other friends of ours. The project doesn’t have a name yet, but things are going amazing so far, I truly can’t believe we have made so much progress in such a short time. At the rate we are going, I imagine it will be close to release around September really. The people I am working with are all talented artists and musicians, though admittedly are a bit green when it comes to the game development process. The idea is for us to gain experience and perhaps some presence/ credibility in the gaming community (possibly even some income as well) by releasing the project we are currently working on before then moving on to True Story which is much larger and will most likely require financial support thru crowd sourcing in order to be feasible.

Anyway, here is a small sample image of the art style we are using for the current project we are now working on…


... and I started an official True Story dev blog, you can check here http://truestorythegame.blogspot.com/ for any updates, news, etc.,

In a few days, I will try to remember to release the GED files for the Map Editor I was working on here in the forums, I hope someone will get some use out of them.

[Jagmaster]

That screenshot is nice. I love the design of that tree.

[bat78]

It looks to me like you are convincing gE users to use your Unity, because you found it for easier in some aspects.
What are we supposed to do with that information otherwise?

I am a multi-coder, with years of experience. Have been studying Qt and GTK+ (that also supports Cairo) as well as WinAPI Graphics and VGA programming.
With all the knowledge I have.. I still prefer to use gE as long as it is possible. Exactly because of the performance restrictions.
If you want to be a good programmer you must learn how to solve things with abstraction. Because your problem solving is basically moving to a brand new engine that has nothing to do with the restricted one i.e you didn't solve your problems rather than choosing another tool that can solve them for you. "Spoon Feeding".

Turon and perhaps OP.
Also do you know how drivers work, how memory works, system programming? Do you know of any LLPL? No? Can you program something without using language?
Then "programming" is a rough self-assessment. Let me define it for you.
Coder is someone that writes interpreted code and let the compiler do the rest for him and the OS decides how will it behave.
Programmer is someone that knows how system works not just how the language works.
Why classifying programmer and coder as two separate things? Because Programmer is a common notion. Just like the IT.
And people can get you wrong. I've been into several cases of both - underestimation and overestimation.

Real life examples?
- Hey I am a programmer!
- This is exactly what we are looking for!
- Now I want you to embed a code parser to this android
- What, what is that.. I can only code in C# ..
- Which makes you a coder not a programmer -_- you're fired!

That because C# FOR EXAMPLE.. relies completely on .NET and is less flexible and ....and works only on "Windows". (in case it relies on .NET and is not mono)
It is easy.. and people don't even know how is their code actually working. They just know the syntax and how to imply it. Not a big deal everyone can learn it.
So anyway, assuming you call yourself a programmer (literally).. keep in mind that this is a dangerous classification as I said so pay attention to it. Many people can actually rely on you being a real programmer. This is not going to end well for both sides.

[Turon]

Bad Terminology, it happens bat78... I am not a good coder I meant... I'm far from being a "programmer"...

[bat78]

Bad Terminology, it happens bat78... I am not a good coder I meant... I'm far from being a "programmer"...

Is it important? I think our programming specialty here is more like "Game Development".
There are some very good game developers between us and I am not one of them. I don't consider myself as a good game developer..
Which is why my most recent project is not a game, but it could be used for game creation.

I think Pyrometal, Camper1995, Bee-ant, LcL, DST, Game-A-Gogo they are/were all good Game Developers. At least that I know.
Their games are HQ and enjoyable. Games could be even more enjoyable than programs and other kinds of software.

On a side point, Turon, I just have read your latest post and my answer is - yes. gE is cross-platform unlike many others.
But I think people must stop fighting in this strange competition about the diversity of game engines. If you prefer Unity then just leave
and don't bother others and throw hidden/direct attempts to make them follow you, because you'd like to see your friends there and so to have
common topics to talk with and receive a confirmation of opinion's primary. If you think Game Maker is better, sure! It is better for you indeed.
Everyone has different requirements, preferences and skills. We live with the resources we have (we don't choose the best, we choose what we think is currently best for us). Everything aside this is based on envy, bias, mockery and selfishness.

Kind of annoyed.. you know. This is like you are in some kind of a museum.. and people are constantly talking about different places offering the most recent htc technology, while people are trying to enjoy the environment they especially came for.

[koala]

Anyway, here is a small sample image of the art style we are using for the current project we are now working on…

It's like Miyazaki draw that picture.

[gamemakerdude]

YES! ^ That is actually kind of the style we were going for, so it feels good to know that someone else made that connection! Thank you koala and Jagmaster for the support, soon we will have a blog to document the development progress of our project in addition to the True Story dev blog. I will be sure to post a link to it when it is up here on the forums.

As for bat78...

It looks to me like you are convincing gE users to use your Unity, because you found it for easier in some aspects.
What are we supposed to do with that information otherwise?

That was not my intention and if it appeared that way, I apologize to the GE community. Really all I wanted was to update the current status of the project for those who care to know. Though, again GE will never, or not anytime soon, port to PS4 / Xbox One/ WiiU/ 3DS/ so, you can badmouth me or my project all you want if it makes you feel better, but I as I have said, this is what I felt was right for me. I agree that switching to a new game engine is generally not the solution when it comes to making games, but to be brutally honest it has worked out in my favor if you must know. I love GE, I really do. This was really a hard choice and not one I made lightly. I'm not trying to "convert" anyone. The good part about being human is that we all have our own ideas, opinions and ways of doing things, you have the right to yours and I have the right to mine. In the end I will create an awesome game regardless, and that's all I'm worried about.

I don't consider myself as a good game developer..

...

Well, I'd have to agree with you there. In fact, you always seem to have something (usually negative) to say about everything, and you sure talk a big game, but yet I don't think I have ever seen anything you've ever actually produced in the forums? And in a sense, you're right, I'm not a programmer. I don't see myself as an expert programmer, I'm a game developer first and foremost, and if I see something that will help me accomplish my goals faster without compromising or affecting the vision of the project, then I will most likely at least examine it to determine whether it could be useful for me. Would it be better if I spent the first four years studying advanced fundamental principles of computer science before I even started working on my game? No, I don' think so... Not for me anyway, but if that is the way you approach game design, more power to you.

I have only been learning about computer science/ programming for a couple of years, while you on the other hand have probably been at it much longer than that.

...I am a multi-coder, with years of experience.

We all had to start from somewhere and when I first started, I didn't even know what a programming language was.

...Can you program something without using language?

Do I know machine language or assembly code? No, not yet, but I think I could (and probably will at some point) learn it if I wanted to and while I do agree it is important, again my first and foremost priority is to make a game that is fun to play (I thought that was kind of why we were all here?), but that is something (despite your apparent intellectual superiority) you obviously don't understand. What I make my games with, or how I do it, is of less importance to me than the end result which is always, the game because I am at heart a game developer, and that is what I love to do, not write assembly or machine code. If I wanted to develop hardware, or write binary (which I actually DO know a bit btw), perhaps I would have taken another route than the one I have. And while I do intend to learn about these kind of things along the way, it is not something I am necessarily concerned with for the time being.

Do I have more to learn? Of course, I feel I have made a lot of progress in the time I have been learning and you are free to disagree if you wish, but again, you talk a lot about this and that, but never share much of anything (besides insults and abusive remarks that is). Maybe you should work on creating something of actual worth for the community so we can all see what a brilliant programmer you are and bask in the awe of your obvious genius.

[Turon]

I sure hope I'm not getting myself entangled into an unesessary conflict... Gamemakerdude didn't formally quit GE he just moved one project over. Another thing bat I'm not going anywhere without leaving at least 2 great games behind for the GE community, bat I was rattled by this yes, but could you do what he was trying to do?

Note:
I am Learning just like everyone else, Please don't go Phsycho on me if some thing I said was incorrect,
you must remember nobody is perfect...

[bat78]

Guys guys stop it.
I appreciate your additional motivation attempt but I don't really need it. It is too late for that. Why? Because my project has been completed today.

Do you know why it is still not uploaded?
Because it is the largest project ever been developed in gE imo (along Noah's exclusively large (but not very well-coded (yet very nice for its time))) graphic library.
And I have to write a huuuge reference for these who want to use it.

My project will also probably solve tons of your problems and concerns with gE, since I was aiming to make from the impossible - possible.
Why don't you both show some support instead of accusing me for inactivity ;3 ?
Also you can read both the newspapers of mine.. since they contain useful information about what everyone (in that count - me) are doing.
___
I am that kind of person that will whether share the best of himself or nothing. Probably a dignity issue as you might guess.
One thing is sure. It has nothing to do with ..what did you call it? "Always being negative". Well this is just not true.
I am rarely negative. It seems like you have a short time exploring my most recent posts.

[Turon]

That's intriguing bat... A lot of things are going to change forever I see... I really wonder where Skydereign is and what he might say If he comes back.... Bat it may just be me but I think it may just be too early to assume Sky is dead...