Future of GE?

[MiToVo]

Hello everyone,

So, I was reading this thread, and - along with seeing the general inactivity around here, it got me wondering what the health/future of GE is?

I'm asking because, while I'd like to dive into learning the engine, I'd like to also know that I'm not going to be pouring my time into an abandoned project, or one that's on indefinite hold.

I'm also wondering about absolute basic beginner tutorials that do a bit more to explain what's going on - especially where coding is concerned (since coding is so prevalent with this engine). I've seen the beginner tutorials, and some others, but they seem to be a mix of very "just do as I do" style (without really explaining why you're doing what they're doing), or are based on specific tasks or tricks. Are there any good "Okay, so you're an absolute beginner to using and programming with GE, so here's the basics to get you started right; something like a series of "Hello World" style projects? They may well exist, but I've not been able to find any...

I think with some more active/aggressive development, some good, solid tutorials and a bit of promotion, y'all could at least successfully ask a moderate fee to purchase a license. Perhaps offer a limited version of the engine/tools, which allows you to export to PC-based OSs (Windows, Apple, etc), but then with a license, you can export to the handhelds as well... Or something like that.

If not a fee for a full license of GE, perhaps do like other game engine creators do.. create robust templates for certain game or project types.. Sell them at reasonable cost; the time saved in getting a project up and running without having to lay all that ground-work is pretty attractive to people looking to create something. Perhaps an asset shop, where code bits or something can be bought and sold by users. Things like that have worked really well for other engines I've noticed; it builds something of a community around the engine, and keeps people coming back, etc.

Just some thoughts of someone new to GE, but interested in learning it... for what it's worth

So, any feedback on either or both of those questions would be appreciated Thanks!

[knucklecrunchgames]

Hello everyone,

Hello MiToVo

I'd like to also know that I'm not going to be pouring my time into an abandoned project

Trust me. It may look dead, but their is always a new post or two every week.

If not a fee for a full license of GE, perhaps do like other game engine creators do.. create robust templates for certain game or project types.. Sell them at reasonable cost; the time saved in getting a project up and running without having to lay all that ground-work is pretty attractive to people looking to create something. Perhaps an asset shop, where code bits or something can be bought and sold by users. Things like that have worked really well for other engines I've noticed; it builds something of a community around the engine, and keeps people coming back, etc.

Yes! Someone else who thinks templates are good! I thing it would be an excellent idea and I might make a few templates to download. A GE no code needed for newbies.
I don't agree with selling the templates but for free. Then yes.

You have inspired me to create a topic on templates and I will do soon.

[MiToVo]

Trust me. It may look dead, but their is always a new post or two every week.

Well, it's good there's some activity.. but a post or two a week isn't really what I'd call an active community. At least several new posts a day - ideally not from the same 2 or 3 people - would be the absolute minimum I'd consider an active community.

It's do-able, but there has to be more to talk about, I guess. It seems from what I've read (and I since saw another thread discussing reviving the engine, etc), that most of the attention seems to be going toward how to get things rolling again. It seems there's a lot of uncertainty in that area right now.

Templates would be a great idea... but first there has to be a population of people to use them, which requires more eyeballs on the engine. So, I dunno... but personally, what gets me excited about an engine - even one that's been "mostly dormant" - is to see a lot of new activity.. additions, some major news about development resuming in a serious way, etc. News items posted to DevMaster, Moddb, etc. And then when people come to check it out, there has to be more for them to see.

Also, this might be a 'sensitive topic', but I'd also maybe consider coming up with a different logo or mascot? The whole PacMan thing is recognizable, but I dunno.. to me, I think GE should have its own identity. Even if it's a character, something original. Maybe someone with some creative artistic talent can come up with a new mascot or something for it... Build a game out of it, etc?

This is just me, as someone who's not very familiar with and still pretty new to GE throwing out ideas and thoughts based on my own experiences and perception of it. Maybe that kind of 'insight' is helpful.. Maybe it isn't. I'm just putting it out there.

[NightOfHorror]

There is at least 2 posts a day, but it is kind of dead at the moment, not going to lie. Some are inactive, but still here, others just left.

[skydereign]

Hello everyone,

So, I was reading this thread, and - along with seeing the general inactivity around here, it got me wondering what the health/future of GE is?

gE will continue to progress over the coming months. I am still working on the code, and will be pushing 1.4.1 out of beta within a month or two. I am hoping/planning to do a general overhaul of the documentation to address a few of the issues you mention. But I am by no means working full time on gE so progress will be quite slow at times.

I'm also wondering about absolute basic beginner tutorials that do a bit more to explain what's going on - especially where coding is concerned (since coding is so prevalent with this engine). I've seen the beginner tutorials, and some others, but they seem to be a mix of very "just do as I do" style (without really explaining why you're doing what they're doing), or are based on specific tasks or tricks. Are there any good "Okay, so you're an absolute beginner to using and programming with GE, so here's the basics to get you started right; something like a series of "Hello World" style projects? They may well exist, but I've not been able to find any...

I would say no, there aren't any really good tutorials at the level you are asking. This is one of the major things a lot of new users mention, but I haven't had the time to create said tutorials.

I think with some more active/aggressive development, some good, solid tutorials and a bit of promotion, y'all could at least successfully ask a moderate fee to purchase a license. Perhaps offer a limited version of the engine/tools, which allows you to export to PC-based OSs (Windows, Apple, etc), but then with a license, you can export to the handhelds as well... Or something like that.

gE used to have license fees but it stopped being successful enough to support makslane full time. And while I will continue to work on gE, I do not aim to pursue gE development to that degree.

Perhaps an asset shop, where code bits or something can be bought and sold by users. Things like that have worked really well for other engines I've noticed; it builds something of a community around the engine, and keeps people coming back, etc.

Just some thoughts of someone new to GE, but interested in learning it... for what it's worth

It's definitely doing very well for Unity. It's a cool idea, and if gE is ever far enough along it will be definitely worth pursuing.

Well, it's good there's some activity.. but a post or two a week isn't really what I'd call an active community. At least several new posts a day - ideally not from the same 2 or 3 people - would be the absolute minimum I'd consider an active community.

Yeah, gE is far from an active community by most peoples' standards. After I fix up some of gE's larger issues and add a few essential features, I'd like to begin pushing to expand gE's community. That won't happen for a while though.

Also, this might be a 'sensitive topic', but I'd also maybe consider coming up with a different logo or mascot? The whole PacMan thing is recognizable, but I dunno.. to me, I think GE should have its own identity. Even if it's a character, something original. Maybe someone with some creative artistic talent can come up with a new mascot or something for it... Build a game out of it, etc?

At one point it was almost a unanimous vote to change gE's logo. The only person that disagreed was makslane, which is the one vote that counts. makslane still is the only one with access to the website, so a change like that is a bit out of my hands at the moment. It is though one of those things that I still feel like should happen.

Maybe that kind of 'insight' is helpful.. Maybe it isn't. I'm just putting it out there.

It's always good to hear the inputs of newer users. There isn't enough development power behind gE to do a lot of the things people ask for, but it is being worked on.

[Zivouhr]

Good information to hear about, thanks.

I have been using Game Editor since April 2014, and I have to say it's a great program despite a few flaws which every program tends to have to some degree. The good things outweigh the negative by a large margin if your goal is to make a side scrolling platformer. As with any program, your imagination is the limit, though the help of this forum was essential.


GAME EDITOR PLATFORMER SIDE SCROLLER TEMPLATE: With game play, graphics and coding included:
Here is a great link to a template that helped out big time: It's for platform games like Kirby, Super Mario Bros as two examples. The style here reminds me of Kirby, though the intent here is to learn from the coding of how things work, then use original graphics.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=12506&hilit=template

One thing I would change? For the character death and respawing location, instead of using x, y to move him back to an origin point, use the MOVE TO scripting, which is much more accurate. With the x, y, in big games, your character won't always warp back to the right coords, and end up getting stuck where you don't want him to. Move to, with a fast speed of 999999... will warp him there instantly while "Avoid None" will prevent any obstacles getting there.

[knucklecrunchgames]

Good information to hear about, thanks.

I have been using Game Editor since April 2014, and I have to say it's a great program despite a few flaws which every program tends to have to some degree. The good things outweigh the negative by a large margin if your goal is to make a side scrolling platformer. As with any program, your imagination is the limit, though the help of this forum was essential.


GAME EDITOR PLATFORMER SIDE SCROLLER TEMPLATE: With game play, graphics and coding included:
Here is a great link to a template that helped out big time: It's for platform games like Kirby, Super Mario Bros as two examples. The style here reminds me of Kirby, though the intent here is to learn from the coding of how things work, then use original graphics.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=12506&hilit=template

One thing I would change? For the character death and respawing location, instead of using x, y to move him back to an origin point, use the MOVE TO scripting, which is much more accurate. With the x, y, in big games, your character won't always warp back to the right coords, and end up getting stuck where you don't want him to. Move to, with a fast speed of 999999... will warp him there instantly while "Avoid None" will prevent any obstacles getting there.

I will be uploading my fighting demo soon that will be in my new game

[gamemakerdude]

MiTovo wrote:I'm asking because, while I'd like to dive into learning the engine, I'd like to also know that I'm not going to be pouring my time into an abandoned project, or one that's on indefinite hold.

I don't feel that the community is dead, take me for example. I work on my .ged project about 3-5 days a week when time permits, yet I rarely post in the forums even though I am always checking on it here and there when I have a spare moment. There are some good things going on here, and I hope that my project can do it's part to contribute in raising awareness of gE''s existence and expand our community here.

MiToVo wrote:I'm also wondering about absolute basic beginner tutorials that do a bit more to explain what's going on - especially where coding is concerned (since coding is so prevalent with this engine). I've seen the beginner tutorials, and some others, but they seem to be a mix of very "just do as I do" style (without really explaining why you're doing what they're doing), or are based on specific tasks or tricks. Are there any good "Okay, so you're an absolute beginner to using and programming with GE, so here's the basics to get you started right; something like a series of "Hello World" style projects? They may well exist, but I've not been able to find any...

Skydereign wrote: I would say no, there aren't any really good tutorials at the level you are asking. This is one of the major things a lot of new users mention, but I haven't had the time to create said tutorials.

This is something I also plan to help with in the next couple of months, I will do what I can but if you have any specific questions, I would be glad to help however I could as would many other forum members if you're having problems I'm sure.

[lcl]

Also, this might be a 'sensitive topic', but I'd also maybe consider coming up with a different logo or mascot? The whole PacMan thing is recognizable, but I dunno.. to me, I think GE should have its own identity. Even if it's a character, something original. Maybe someone with some creative artistic talent can come up with a new mascot or something for it... Build a game out of it, etc?

At one point it was almost a unanimous vote to change gE's logo. The only person that disagreed was makslane, which is the one vote that counts. makslane still is the only one with access to the website, so a change like that is a bit out of my hands at the moment. It is though one of those things that I still feel like should happen.

Yeah, I think the logo and the website would really need some work. A more professional logo and a less shady website would mean a lot when concerning the first impressions people get of Game Editor.

I'd be happy to try my hand at designing a logo for Game Editor, I've used Inkscape and I know I'm capable of making a nice logo with it if I just get a good idea. If I was to start making a logo for Game Editor, some ideas would be nice. Perhaps I should start a new topic for that?

Sorry for going kinda far from the topic, I didn't read the whole discussion..

[Zivouhr]

Some ideas:
The Pac Man styled logo is really nicely drawn, and Pac Man makes many think "side scrolling maze game", giving programmers an idea that this is a 2D game creation software. If they really had to create a new logo, maybe have two blocks with a character jumping inbetween, or something simple, like the letter "C" with a face on it, relating to the fact that the C language scripting is a big part of the software advantage. Which brings us right back to Pac Man's "C" shaped design.

A lot more exposure for Game Editor on as many game programming websites as possible will help more people find this very useful game creation program.