playMaker

Author Topic: Crazy idea... But i would be willing to pay a decent dollar for:  (Read 3817 times)

Red

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Being able to use Playmaker to make Unity editor extensions (and if not Playmaker itself, using the same workflow and process that we use with Playmaker.)

I understand that that would probably mean that it'd have to be a separate package in a sense but can you imagine taking what we know with Playmaker and being able to apply it to making our own custom editor extensions with a similar workflow?

If Hutong was able to make something like that, you can count on me to sign up for something like that. (though i have absolutely no idea if that's even do-able.)

Red

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Re: Crazy idea... But i would be willing to pay a decent dollar for:
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2013, 07:04:11 PM »
I can understand that using an editor extension to make editor extensions would be pretty meta when you think about it... But can you imagine it? being able to have PlayMaker and ExtensionMaker (yeah, silly name i guess but it would fit) and threading them together? i'm sure that there'd be a different publishing thing associated but say you had a playmaker made set of level tiles... you wanted to put together an in-editor extension to give you the tools to make them much like a program like tidy tile mapper or something to that effect... or to generate random dungeons that you can set up the parameters for... or even to make a squeezie-ball as a virtual stress-relieving toy that sits in the corner of the screen.

the possibilities are endless.

Though i'm sure for reasons of rights management and legality it'd have to be limited to only being able to edit extensions made with it... so, you couldn't crack open Strumpy or Mecanim or Tidy-Tile-mapper and mod that... but, imagine it? being able to make your own extensions using a workflow similar to what we're all used to with playmaker?

IT'd be like the editor extension to end all editor extensions.

Red

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Re: Crazy idea... But i would be willing to pay a decent dollar for:
« Reply #2 on: March 20, 2013, 02:54:55 PM »
Seriously, Hutong... If you can do this and it isn't priced super-duper-high (like $500) then i will purchase this.

I would think that $200 would be the upper limit of what i'd be willing to pay for this... mainly because at this point that's all that my finances would allow.

but yeah... if y'all over at Hutong could make something like this and it's priced fairly, you have a buyer.

Lane

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Re: Crazy idea... But i would be willing to pay a decent dollar for:
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2013, 03:13:13 PM »
I thought about this a few weeks ago but figured it would be too complex/inefficient to really work. I mean.. A plugin that makes making plugins easier to make. Support would probably get pretty hairy too.

Would it really even work the same way? Playmaker runs actions by using the code in the unity engine. What access and flexibility is there before runtime to really make an interface? I guess all of the plugins do it that way, but it just seems especially complex.
« Last Edit: March 20, 2013, 03:17:43 PM by Lane »
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jeanfabre

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Re: Crazy idea... But i would be willing to pay a decent dollar for:
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2013, 01:07:19 AM »
Hi,

 I think it will come in time, but yes, I would be more worried about the support aspect of providing such system then the technical aspect :)

the thing is, that when it comes down to editor plugins, you are always looking for very complex data handling, not necessarly a process driven feature. that's where probably playmaker would not necessarly be an advantage. Sure you could create simply plugins, but that's just never enough isn't it...

bye,

 Jean

Red

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Re: Crazy idea... But i would be willing to pay a decent dollar for:
« Reply #5 on: March 21, 2013, 12:18:42 PM »
Yeah, like i said, i have no idea how something like that would even be possible.

But still, Editor extensions are still a hot item on the asset store but the thing that's kinda stopped me from getting a good many of them is that i'm not sure if it would be just what i'm looking for and i might have to settle for something that isn't as ideal as i would want it to be... and since i can't code worth a darn there's no real way for me to be able to make my own. That's where this kind of idea would probably fill a need very, very well...

I think it'd probably have to have two components though... first would be to design the UI to be used to drive the system and the back-end stuff to make it work. in this respect, i'm reminded of my old attempts at learning visual basic (which weren't a success, clearly :P)

and if it was made by the Hutong people, i imagine that working on a bridge between PlayMaker and ExtensionMaker (i'm only going to call it that because it would fit with the whole naming convention and also because it's easier to say than "custom extension making package.") so, say you're making a game with PlayMaker and you need to make a sort of editor extension that can easily work with assets you've made, if ExtensionMaker were a real thing, i would imagine that it'd be easier for the end-user.

so, say i wanted to make a sort of "room making extension" to make prefabs of rooms to use with a random generation system made in playmaker, i could set something like that up... (yes, i know that room-making extensions do exist, but again, i've not been convinced well enough that they are what i'm looking for because the videos and web-players haven't really shown me enough to make that decision.)

I also think that something like this would really help us also be sure to set up scenes in our games a lot easier for the systems we've made. so, say i was working on a pathfinding system for AI, using this ExtensionMaker could also give me the option of adding in a way of ensuring that the various networks were properly hooked up when the system generates the level.

and although i do understand that $200 is low-balling the estimated price but there is a certain sweet-spot for pricing that can satisfy the people's work that's gone into it as well as ensuring a good amount of sales... and i would imagine that i'm not the only one using Playmaker (or haven't purchased it) that would drool at the chance to have something like this.

and of course there is the potential for revenue generation... so, say that ExtensionMaker were a thing, Hutong could easily position itself to profit from royalties if it were to arrange to have extensions made with ExtensionMaker hosted on the asset store or the (hopefully coming) PlayMaker Market. Especially so if the usual profit-split was the 70/30% that is pretty much standard for these kinds of services.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2013, 12:25:52 PM by Red »