DevLog Devlog MikeHart 2212/12/31

[MikeHart]

Wow, this year is almost over. Somehow it feels like nothing much got done. In my main job at an energy company (Inhouse consultant, software engineer) it is just crazy. German energy laws need to implemented and it keeps me so much on my toes that it is becoming unhealthy.

In my side job, where we use this tool here, it was also very busy. My contract is running out in March there and as I am only part-time, they try to get me fulltime. Which is not an option as imho these jobs are not safe. You could get fired easily and very quickly. So I think it will be ending then. Which led me finally to work on a bigger game myself, which I had always on my mind for years. If I am not doing it now, I will never do it.

We all know, that the feature set of CX is not that big. So I had a look a GDevelop the last 1-2 weeks. Watched a lot of YT videos and studied the docs. Great product but it lacks an essential feature. Sprite sheets!!! Before that I looked at Godot and Tilemaps there are a mess in V4 or not functional in 3.5.2. At least I couldn't get it to work in 3.5.2. I have a GMS2 license but no, somehow is is not appealing. The big thing there is the easy targeting of lots of platforms.

I think for my personal project I will stick with Cerberus X and fantomCX as am targeting mainly Desktop anyway.
This combination supports Tilemaps, Physics, Collision detection and more. I would like to have bone animation ala Spine and or Spriter but might get away without it. Plus I can't get my Spriter license to work anymore and their website is a pure mess.

Faking lights easily (via blendmodes and textures) is something I will try to implement into fantomCX next. I think Mojo2's light implementation via shaders is to expensive and limited.

 

[ddabrahim]

Yes, I had many discussions with the developer of GDevelop about the importance of sprite sheets especially in browser games but he was keep brushing it off. He asked for a study on the benefits and disadvantages of using sprite sheets vs individual images.

With Godot the developers has announced not to expect a polished product for the first release of v4 but expect lots of bugs and broken functionality that is going to be fixed gradually in 2023
I honestly want to love this engine so much but how can you trust it with this mentality. I understand limited resources, time but why don't they scale back, why they keep adding new features if they don't have the resources to maintain it and release a finished, stable product.

Anyway I'm glad you are considering to stick with fantomCX and continue improving. I wish you good luck with your project and maybe consider doing a dev blog with some playable demos as soon as you have anything playable up and running. I am excellent at finding bugs because my brain is wired backward, I am 100% try something you have never imagined anyone would do. If you need a tester let me know.

 

[MikeHart]

Thanks, I will let you know.

 

[dawlane]

He asked for a study on the benefits and disadvantages of using sprite sheets vs individual images.

Guess he's never read Render Hell then. It still applies today as it did back then. Especially with mobile devices.

 

[ddabrahim]

Guess he's never read Render Hell then. It still applies today as it did back then. Especially with mobile devices.

I think the developer is well aware of the theory but he prefer to see practical examples that would benefit from certain features before he is implementing them to make sure it is worth the time and effort. At the time he was not convinced it is worth it for the type of projects people was developing in GDevelop and his philosophy was "not to copy features just because other engines has it". It was a few years ago, a lot has changed since. Not sure if he still holding it back for the same reason or else.

 

[Wingnut]

Guess he's never read Render Hell then. It still applies today as it did back then. Especially with mobile devices.

On newer mobiles things have changed a lot they are almost up to pair to cheap notebooks now but there are so many old models that are still active and out there on the secondhand market so I think it's important to respect those, so I would agree that these rules still applies to a significant number of devices.

Newer mobile devices seem to remap code to effective underlaying mechansims that makes even previously bad code into good code.
On 10+ years old mobile devices you need to know these rules though to get great performance and this is what I am exploring now so it was interesting to watch these videos to understand why it works so well!

On older systems where these rules applies the most you would also need to follow some other hidden rules so you will work WITH the OS instead of AGAINST it.

 

[Snader]

Wow, this year is almost over. Somehow it feels like nothing much got done. In my main job at an energy company (Inhouse consultant, software engineer) it is just crazy. German energy laws need to implemented and it keeps me so much on my toes that it is becoming unhealthy.

In my side job, where we use this tool here, it was also very busy. My contract is running out in March there and as I am only part-time, they try to get me fulltime. Which is not an option as imho these jobs are not safe. You could get fired easily and very quickly. So I think it will be ending then. Which led me finally to work on a bigger game myself, which I had always on my mind for years. If I am not doing it now, I will never do it.

We all know, that the feature set of CX is not that big. So I had a look a GDevelop the last 1-2 weeks. Watched a lot of YT videos and studied the docs. Great product but it lacks an essential feature. Sprite sheets!!! Before that I looked at Godot and Tilemaps there are a mess in V4 or not functional in 3.5.2. At least I couldn't get it to work in 3.5.2. I have a GMS2 license but no, somehow is is not appealing. The big thing there is the easy targeting of lots of platforms.

I think for my personal project I will stick with Cerberus X and fantomCX as am targeting mainly Desktop anyway.
This combination supports Tilemaps, Physics, Collision detection and more. I would like to have bone animation ala Spine and or Spriter but might get away without it. Plus I can't get my Spriter license to work anymore and their website is a pure mess.

Faking lights easily (via blendmodes and textures) is something I will try to implement into fantomCX next. I think Mojo2's light implementation via shaders is to expensive and limited.

Hopefully the new year started good for you?

I watched a lot of Youtube videos also. Tried Defold, Godot.. but in the end I started using RayLib with C. Soon after that I switched to the Go language together with RayLib. Go suited me better than plain C. Somehow I always want to create my own engine specifically for the game I am making. Most of the time that's what I like most... finishing the game is on a whole other level. For now I am porting my 'Where's my Egg' game to Go/Raylib as a learning process, if I can find the time..

 

[MikeHart]

Oh my year got even worse regarding my day job. We got no external consultants or even tools to help fulfilling the tasks needed. So it’s pure up to me to create some information.

 

[MikeHart]

I am glad you found something that pleases you. Good luck.

 

[Dabz]

Hello peoples, a belated Happy New Year to you all, I do hope 2023 is going to be a better year because the 20's havent been great so far really have they, but, godda march on!

I havent done anything major on my game for a bit, it has hit that "make the game, a game" stage, which is always the most boring aspect, and a killer point, but, one has been busy at work, and, doing my house up, it doesnt leave much time, but... I'm pretty much finished inside the house, now I can enjoy it instead of living in a cross between Screwfix and a builders merchant!

Still got heaps to do outside, but, that's not getting started until warming weather comes to the UK... I'm pretty much a right soft shite now when it's cold!

But I'm still excited about my game, and feel now time should open up for me to even spend the odd hour here and there grinding the corn so to speak!

Anyway, nice to see everyone is doing okay and still marching on! \o/ yay hehehe

Dabz

 

[MikeHart]

@Dabz Sounds like a lot of work you have up your sleave. But better to much, then nothing at all, or?

 

[dawlane]

@Dabz Glad to see you're still breathing.

 

[Dabz]

Hiya Mike, well, it's that age old conundrum... Where does the time go?

I mean, once over, I used to go to work, come home, washed, fed and watered and maybe pop to the pub for a couple of beers and a chinwag, and still get some tinkering done on the old computer... Now... I'm in bed during the week for 8.30pm!!!

@Dabz Glad to see you're still breathing.

Hey up Dawlane, yeah, still ticking over fella, middle age creeping in nicely! *Though I think I'm starting to turn into Victor Meldrew mind* hehehe

Dabz

EDIT: Oh, bloody hell... I thought we were in the what you up to 2023 thread, sorry about that peeps!

 

[MikeHart]

All good. Any interaction here is nice.

 

[Wingnut]

Dabz, I agree the last year have not been easy and where does time go, lets make this a good one!

Me I'm trying desperatly to find a job right now, Cerberus-X is actually part of why I might have a chance now but well see how it goes. I'm too tired to have high hopes. I'm dreaming of a situation where all the current stress has dissapeared and I can go back and ust have fun in life. Hope everyone are doing good, hang in there!

 

[SLotman]

(...)
Me I'm trying desperatly to find a job right now, (...)

Same here. I'm doing the best I can, but nothing yet so far.

Meanwhile, I keep making stuff. I'm now making a "samurai simulator" of sorts (more like a management game) and its coming along nicely. I've been posting about it on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ICONGames/status/1620195989348024321

This game will 'tie along' nicely with that rewarded ads module I've posted some time ago. I want to have small banners ads in the bottom of the screen all the time - but you can see 1 rewarded ad and remove them for 24 hours. Don't know how well that will work, though

 

[Wingnut]

Same here. I'm doing the best I can, but nothing yet so far.

Meanwhile, I keep making stuff. I'm now making a "samurai simulator" of sorts (more like a management game) and its coming along nicely. I've been posting about it on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ICONGames/status/1620195989348024321

This game will 'tie along' nicely with that rewarded ads module I've posted some time ago. I want to have small banners ads in the bottom of the screen all the time - but you can see 1 rewarded ad and remove them for 24 hours. Don't know how well that will work, though

That sounds like a fresh idea for a game! If I have time over I want to make release an Android game using CX and your Ad update will vertinaly be most useful in that case. But right now I am up to here in work,