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Hi there,

It's nice to see a product like AppGameKit coming along and going into V2. Coming from a background of BASIC programming, back in the old, old, old days of TRS-80 Color Computer, they used to call it Coco Computer, or Tandy Color Computer, it brings me some childhood memories of coding in Basic. Anyways, I've been looking at the product, code, which by the way it's human friendly, well, it's Basic, unlike other languages, that I feel like I'm in spaghetti land...... I have some questions regarding AppGameKit V2, and hopefully I can get them answered, cause I'm really interested in the product for game making. I'm already using a Game Engine, however, it still doesn't have export to exe and other features just take toooooooooo long to implement, and it's a yearly subscription. I would rather pay for a product that works right out of the box, even if it means, getting back into programming. Although, there are some open source game engines out there, I somewhat starting to feel connected again with Basic. So below are my questions, and would really appreciate any feedback from developers / community.....

1) For Native Export to APK, IPA you would need to code in C++? If so, does the Beginners Guide offer these tutorials, or just BASIC. If I'm not mistaken, you can still code in BASIC, but a user would need to AGK player for IOS, and Android in order for the game to run successfully? For exporting to .app or .exe the player is not needed? The editor can only be used for BASIC and not C++, for C++, I would need XCODE or Eclipse?

2) If I code a game in BASIC, can the compiler, compile it to C++? Is there a plug in or module that does such thing?

3) How long is the Trial Period? Would it allow to export to ipa or apk, or just Desktop for testing purposes?

4) Where can I find a roadmap for AppGameKit?

I would really appreciate any feedback regarding the above questions, thanks for your time and God Bless....

Sincerely,

Sunday

No, you can code in Basic. the player gets built into the final build, and it runs like any other app.
The standalone player is just for your own testing (and it is fantastic! Click broadcast and it appears on your device )
For iOS export, you need to do it via an Apple machine, just because it's Apple. At least I think this is still the case.


No, but Lee Bamber has recently started video tutorials on making the move from Basic (Tier 1) to C++ (Tier 2)


It is always in development, but there is no specific roadmap. All of the Kickstarter goals are now reached. The last update added Raspberry Pi as a platform (amazing, I have real arcade buttons!!!) and the next one will add HTML5.

Hi BatVink,

Thanks for the quick response, really appreciated it......

You mentioned

So they player is added to the final build, do you know how much MB is the player? Also, has there been any issues with Apple or Android Stores ( Google Play, Amazon ) regarding the addition of the player to the final apk or ipa? The player is not added in the exporting of exe or .app, correct?

How long is the Trial Period and does it use the recent version of AppGameKit? Are there any known issues with Mac OS X, and with El Capitan ?

Thanks again for quick response....God Bless....

Sincerely,

Sunday

The current size is 4.6MB

My description is a little misleading. You actually deploy the player as the main executable. When this starts up, it looks for a file called bytecode.byc in the application media folder, interprets and runs it. So there is no issue with any of the stores.

I don't know how long the trial period is.

Hi,



Oh...I see, so in other words, the game is called HelloWorld.ipa, in essence this is the player, which in turns runs the actual game.agc hidden within the package? So for TIER 1 BASIC it needs the player which comes bundled within the package, and this calls the game. And for TIER 2, does it still needs the player? Or this is more Native? The reason I ask, is because it would be - 4 MB in the final package.......

I think it would be really good, if Tier 1 or Tier 2 wouldn't need the dependency of the player for future releases of AGK.....Do you think maybe in the future, there could be a Kickstarter campaign to create like a plug - in or module, that would compile AppGameKit Basic into C++ automatically, instead of going into Xcode and doing it manually? I know it sounds like a dream, but hey, dreams come true, if you put hearts and mind into it...... Thanks again for the info, and God Bless....

Sincerely,

Sunday

Tier 2 pulls the relevant AppGameKit libraries into your final binary just as any other library you import into a C++ application. So it will be truly stand-alone as it were. In tier 2 you're not dependent upon the player.

As for tier 1 it is fast enough for most peoples uses - and much easier to get into and get stuff done. Despite the 'bundling' of the player. For most uses this is quite opaque - it won't be noticed. Four tiny MB is nothing in this day and age - not even the size of a good quality mp3 file. Or just compare to the Java VM that weighs in at 100mb and change. As far as resources go, I find even tier 1 AppGameKit is quite economical.

Hi Dybing,

Thanks for the quick and simple explanation, yes, It's very economical, I just upgraded my Mac OS X to El Capitan, along with Xcode update as well..... Do you know of any issues for AppGameKit with Mac OS X and El Capitan? Also, how long is the Trial Period? And where can I find Road Map concerning the future of AppGameKit? If I'm going to invest in a product, I would like to know that it's build on solid foundation, with constant updates, etc....May I ask how many programmers are actively working on the program, where I can find a bug release page, found, working on, squash, etc......I'm sorry for asking these questions, but I'm coming from another game engine, and been paying yearly subscriptions, and I'm frankly tired of it, I would like something that works, is pro active as per community and updates, and takes feedback from the community in general, and at least post the feedback on the boards ( ex: surveys, etc.... ). Thanks again for your courtesy and help....God Bless....

Sincerely,

Sunday

I believe the trial does not not expire. I think so you have plenty of time to experiment.


According to the website. It creates watermarked Windows executables only.