Next drop of iTGB

#21 So I purchased iTGB after developing my first app-store application from scratch using xcode and I'm very pleased with iTGB, but I am experiencing difficulties when running on the simulator. For some reason, chunks of script related to schedule and moveTo simply don't work. My game is pretty lightweight and it works perfectly running from the editor, but when I compile in xcode anything using schedule or moveTo fails. It doesn't bomb or anything, but my sprites won't move! Any suggestions?

Update: did a make clean/build and the schedule calls are working now, but sprites still don't move using moveTo(). :-(

#22 It's been more than a month since this post.

Ssooooooooooooooo what has been done and 100% working on 1.2? Will it be released the next month?

A little update would be nice, even if it is "We don't have a target date yet."

Or better yet release 1.11 and just fix the minor annoying bugs in the current iteration of iTGB, that would be awesome.

#23 So after digging through the forums with bloodshot eyes I found the problem with moveTo:

%this.setUsesPhysics(true);

This must be set for each object you want to move. The editor ignores this, but the iPhone doesn't! Hopefully this will be my last hurdle before publishing to the app-store.

Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack the thread with a technical difficulty. On topic, I have to say that for the most part, developing with iTGB has been a pleasure. Especially when you compare to wrestling Objective-C, OpenGL/ES, OpenAL into a workable app. I'm not happy with the lack of well-organized docs, but there are a lot of tutorials and such to learn from so it's not that bad to figure things out. GG needs to take a serious look at the splash-screen requirement though. Splash screens are a no-no with Apple and their developer guides specifically ask that iPhone apps don't include these time wasters. GG should consider dropping this requirement. Besides, the typical casual gamer doesn't give a rat's *ss what engine is used to make a game.

#24 @Dan
True that it's better than starting your engine from scratch, but the fact that features promised more than half a year ago hasn't been fulfilled yet is something to think about.

To their credit and your comments on the splash screen; they did drop the per license fee, so a few seconds of exposure wouldn't hurt. That few seconds might allow some aspiring app store buyer to google the engine and generate income for GG which will be good for them and maybe hire more devs for iTGB, which in turn will be good for us, I'm just saying.

#25 Good timing for this thread to receive a new post:

I just got my hands on the latest build of iTGB. I already started working with it yesterday and will continue to put it through its paces today (and likely tomorrow) checking for crashes, usability, improvements, and what docs I could write.

I'm checking the build for suggestions we (GG) made and what feedback from the community has been implemented.

#26 @Marc - When you say PVR from the editor, can you provide a little more detail? Maybe a step by step example of what you think?

1. Game is running in editor and saved, all assets ready.
2. User goes to a File Menu
3. Select option to generate PVRs
4. System automatically converts all images to PVR

That is *just an example*, and does not reflect what is actually going to happen, especially since you probably do not want all your images compressed.

I need your example.

#27 Actually, I'll bet GG loses more sales *because* of the splash screen requirement than it generates for them in marketing exposure. Developers interested in game engines will find GG without the splash screens. I personally think the splash screen requirement for iPhone apps is a mistake and I have actually seen negative feedback on the app store because of it. The engine shouldn't force something that potentially will cause an app to have negative feedback. (look at the feedbakc for the enigma machine app. the only negative feedback is largely due to the splash screen)

GG, is there a fee I can pay to lose the splash screen? I'll be happy to credit GG everywhere else, but forcing me to go against Apple's guidelines on their own platform is pretty lame.

#28
Michael,

I'm 90% done with a game using the last version of iTGB. Here's what I noticed in terms of editor bugs:

1. When you set the screen resolution it won't stick. For example, I have to set it to 480*320 every time I start iTGB. It's a pain, but not a show-stopper.

2. The entire project has to be reloaded to use new behaviors. This may not be a bug, but is also a pain.

3. The "Load Project at Startup" check box on the splash screen doesn't seem to work. I have to manually find my project each time I open iTGB.

4. One time, early in my project I ran my game and there were no behaviors. I went to the behaviors folder and there were no behaviors!! Good thing I have time machine running on my mac! This hasn't happened again, but I'm sweating every time I run my game.

Other than these minor issues, the setUsesPhysics issue, and the "worse than MSDN" documentation, developing with iTGB has been a pleasure and cut my development time about 75%!! I'll live with the problems with that kind of gain in productivity. Still I would like to see an update sometime soon, and if there is anything I can do to help I would gladly do so. GG provides an excellent opportunity to indies and the pricing is fair. If a feature has been promised and not delivered that's unfortunate, but it's not the end of the world and certainly doesn't invalidate the great products they have. I've used many game engines and GG still provides the best value to indies in my opinion even if they aren't perfect out of the box.

#29 1. Fixed

2. As in you write a behavior, save it, then have to reload the TGB project? Or are you talking about the Xcode project?

3. Looking into this

4. Let me know if you can replicate this consistently so we can figure that out

Documentation: Still working on it, but will have a new set ready for 1.2

#30 No, not the xCode project.

If I write a behavior I have to reload the project in iTGB before I will see the behavior in the drop down list. It's no big deal, but it is a pain considering when I reload I also have to reset my resolution settings. It's a 30-second piece of workflow so it's nothing more than a nuisance.

Thanks,
Dan