playMaker

Author Topic: Playmakers learning curve.  (Read 7162 times)

coffeeANDsoda

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Playmakers learning curve.
« on: June 06, 2013, 03:49:36 AM »
Hello,

I've previously used the non commercial version of uscript, but I felt the visual scripting tool didn't have enough documentation to program what I wanted to develop.  I previously did a little c# in unity, as well as moving a object around in java script. But whenever I tried to make a game I had difficulties programming it.

I see that theirs playmaker, but I'm not sure if I should invest the money into this tool.

What should I do. Would I be better off finding a pre made kit on the asset store?
« Last Edit: June 06, 2013, 03:51:35 AM by coffeeANDsoda »

escpodgames

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Re: Playmakers learning curve.
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2013, 04:07:59 AM »
I bought uscript and found it very weird so I then bought Playmaker after seeing the tutorials and it has been the best decision I have made in AGES! I would not be able to make a game in 48hrs let alone 6 months!

Check out the video tutorials and see what you think, it does take a little getting use to but all software does.

jeanfabre

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Re: Playmakers learning curve.
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2013, 05:13:09 AM »
Hi,

I recently glanced through the latest comments on the asset Store for PlayMaker, I think it says it all :)

 It's a tool you *must* have in your bag whether you are a beginner or an advanced c# coder, it's still valuable! that's what's incredible with PlayMaker!

bye,

 Jean

Lane

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Re: Playmakers learning curve.
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2013, 07:32:31 AM »
The skill floor is low and the skill ceiling is high, learning curve is very easy, you can use it for any application, the price:value ratio is seriously great, documentation is great, support is amazing, the list can go on.

For a tool that you can use to build your whole game system priced at $45 you'll be hard pressed to find any significant downsides to it.
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coffeeANDsoda

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Re: Playmakers learning curve.
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2013, 04:55:24 PM »
Hi,

I recently glanced through the latest comments on the asset Store for PlayMaker, I think it says it all :)

 It's a tool you *must* have in your bag whether you are a beginner or an advanced c# coder, it's still valuable! that's what's incredible with PlayMaker!

bye,

 Jean

Then what I will do is look into the tutorial videos. However, one issue I have is money, if I want to buy it, I don't have the money at this time. I do have unity3d indie though. And I do graphics work as well.

jeanfabre

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Re: Playmakers learning curve.
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2013, 01:21:14 AM »
Hi,

 Advertize yourself ( like putting a link to your online portfolio in your member profile and such), you may get some contracts if someone here likes your art. Also do the same on Unity community.

bye

Jean

Red

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Re: Playmakers learning curve.
« Reply #6 on: June 10, 2013, 05:35:53 PM »
Sure, it is definately a great tool to invest in and the price is borderline criminal when it's on sale (I paid the full 95 though... but hey, early-adoption comes with it it's own price.)

That said... to be fair most of us here are PM users so it's likely we're going to sing it's praise... though, there are some crits but most of that that i've encountered is that it's often difficult to know what you can do to make it do what you want (and the list of available actions is, admittedly, intimidating...)

So, if you want tutorials, go for it! there's a ton of them linked on the wiki page both in video format and some text and they can give you a good idea of what you can do and what you can adapt them to.

coffeeANDsoda

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Re: Playmakers learning curve.
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2013, 02:50:03 AM »


So, if you want tutorials, go for it! there's a ton of them linked on the wiki page both in video format and some text and they can give you a good idea of what you can do and what you can adapt them to.

What about for a topdown shmup, or 2d style of game?  Or a game where theres effects or textures that are applied to objects?

Lane

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Re: Playmakers learning curve.
« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2013, 10:30:17 AM »
http://hutonggames.com/playmakerforum/index.php?topic=4025.0

Angry Ships is a Top Down Shmup sort of game. Its still being developed but is basically intended an example game for the community to learn from.
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coffeeANDsoda

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Re: Playmakers learning curve.
« Reply #9 on: June 29, 2013, 02:29:56 PM »
http://hutonggames.com/playmakerforum/index.php?topic=4025.0

Angry Ships is a Top Down Shmup sort of game. Its still being developed but is basically intended an example game for the community to learn from.

What about a main menu though.

Red

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Re: Playmakers learning curve.
« Reply #10 on: June 30, 2013, 08:47:37 AM »
What about a main menu though.

There's the thing... I think if you are having a difficult time figuring out what you can do and how to do it, try and parcel it up into chunks. I've been doing that as best i can and so far that approach does help... and once you've got the bigger chunks, parcel THEM up into even smaller bits. a modular approach can help alleviate some of the concerns and the intimidation.

Case in point, when i was first figuring out my own game, i had a solid idea what i wanted to do but no idea how to actually do it... so, i tried laying all the stuff down and trying stuff out. given that this game has been in development for a while, that says that i've encountered issues and hitches and spots where new knowledge has made me go back and adapt and adjust the already existing systems (I'm not a pro in the sense that i know everything about anything, i'm fully admitting that i am learning as i go.)

So, i realized that i would need FSMs to handle things like the movement, managing the weapons, managing the states of the weapons, managing the aggro, managing the animation, etc... and with the GUI or main menu, yeah, that's going to be it's own system in and of itself. sure, the GUI actions that come stock with PM are just the basic GUI things like buttons, areas and such... but with a little planning and researching you can cobble something together by trying stuff out. that said, if you are going to invest in a gui system like NGUI or something like that, go that route...

so, you need a main menu? okay... what is the first screen that the player is going to see? is this a purely GUI system or will there be elements and cameras and stuff? what buttons will there be? what screens will these buttons link to?

a good way that i've used was the following structure (it's not meant to be a "how to" more than anything else though.)

Main menu:
-New Game
-Load Game
-Options
-Quit

Once i've got those figured out, i flesh it out further.

-New Game
--Choose Character Class
--Back
-Load Game
--Choose Profile slot
-Options
-Quit
--"are you certain?"

then

-New Game
--Choose Character Class
---Enter Profile name
---Choose Save Slot
---Back
--Back

and so on and so on... if you break it all down into smaller steps, you're going to find that it's going to be simpler to approach.