Firstly, of course all purchasers of V1.xx, I am sure were upset when TGC announced V2! Of course investors in V2 will be unhappy that not only are deadlines not met, but those deadlines that have been met have issues! This is a natural progression of the software release cycle.
Of course, in an ideal world, we would get what we expect when it is promised!
I feel we must keep in mind that, unfortunately, the TGC AppGameKit 'team' is.....small! This is due to several things, first being financial restrictions and the second being other project focus. Now before you all say, 'so stop work on FPSC R and focus on AGK', would you put all your eggs in one basket? Will you only release one game? Will you employ (paid) one or more other people to help you? Probably not!
Also, as said above, being annoyed is an understandable feeling, venting that in the forum is not useful. At best it will be ignored, at worst, you may put others off buying into V2! The more people that BUY AppGameKit V2, theoretically the more funds are available for development in the future.
Of course TGC would, IMHO, do well to release MONTHLY reports on what, in AppGameKit, is being worked on, why it is not easy, what is the next item they will work on. This would, as a minimum, confirm work is being actively undertaken. Other cross platform engines do this and it works.
As you may be aware, AppGameKit pascal is now at v1.088, which gives another, probably more robust development option. I am not pushing AppGameKit pascal here as I will do that elsewhere, but what I am pointing out is that the more *stable* development options available, the wider the audience.
Another thing those that are frustrated should ask themselves is "why did I buy Agk over another product?", outside of 'I have stuck with TGC since 19xx', I would think that the cost was low compared to other options, the one off payment rather than yearly subscriptions, the option of BASIC providing those with little coding skill to write games on different platforms, other Tiers providing those with more experience to have more control whilst giving the option of adding to AppGameKit, that the forums provide a good response to coding problems you may have....
Of course TGC MUST play their part, they must focus on development and not see it as a 'thorn in their side' rather the possibility of creating a leading product which will provide a great legacy! They SHOULD provide monthly updates of AppGameKit, maybe even a development blog as we have with FPSCr...this will go a long way...,they SHOULD be more visibly active...this puts people at ease!
I would state that as far as AppGameKit pascal is concerned, Rick Vanner was very helpful in creating a forum fork for it and allowing the latest version to be uploaded etc.! For that I am grateful.
We ALL want a final product, in which we can do everything we want on all the platforms we want. In reality, what software really offers this.....homestly?
www.bitmanip.com
All the juicy you could ever dream of!
