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AppGameKit Studio Chat / [suggestion] AGK Studio Launcher

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Zigi
14
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Joined: 5th Jul 2009
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Posted: 31st Mar 2019 13:44
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I think it would be nice for those who choose to purchase the non-Steam version and download AGKS directly from TGC to have a launcher similar to Unity, Unreal, Xenko, GameMaker Studio..etc where we can manage what version(s) of AGKS we have installed and we can choose to have multiple versions installed and launch any version we have, take care of updates, manage and download DLC's and maybe even template projects in case TGC would ever decide to offer templates for download separately.

The main thing I do like about Steam, is that I can manage my downloads, updates and DLC's without me need to go and download, install and update anything manually. Most game engines that is not available through Steam, do have it own Launcher like the ones I mentioned before. I think it would be nice to offer something similar to those who get their product and DLC's directly from TGC.

Thanks.
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RobbSnow
8
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Joined: 14th Oct 2015
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Posted: 31st Mar 2019 15:31
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Personally, I really dislike the whole launcher thing for my development environment. Especially how it is done in Unity. It is more a nuisance than helpful. The way that Yoyo does it with GameMaker is less so.

I would rather just have some sort of indicator that an update is available. Something that doesn't get in the way or is distracting. I generally don't want to upgrade during a project anyways. This is something that Visual Studio actually does pretty well. There is a simple flag along the top of the IDE and it changes color if an update or other important information is available. I don't really like sticking a layer between me and doing something productive.

I think time spent on something like a launcher would be better spent on the IDE itself.
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Zigi
14
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Joined: 5th Jul 2009
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Posted: 31st Mar 2019 16:06 Edited at: 31st Mar 2019 16:10
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I didn't meant to copy the Launcher of any of that 1:1, only make something similar with the ability to:
-get a notification if a new version is available along with the release notes that you can read
-decide to either upgrade the current version to new or install it separately also be able to select which version you want to install
-be able to choose which version you want to launch
-manage projects which project uses which version
-manage DLC's, which DLC you want to be installed and get updates through the launcher
-install and manage templates if TGC ever decide to offer anything like that

The whole version thing may be not necessary if TGC be able to maintain backward compatibility but in case need to break compatibility, it can be useful to be able to install and manage multiple versions of AGKS and able to manage which projects uses which version...
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Ranietz
AGK Gold Backer
19
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Joined: 2nd Sep 2004
Location: Norway
Posted: 31st Mar 2019 16:48
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I like the idea of being able to check for updates and install updates from the ide. No need for a launcher though...
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Takis76
19
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Joined: 9th Apr 2005
Location: Greece
Posted: 4th Apr 2019 13:27
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I like the manual updates too.
Unity force you to upgrade like the windows force you to download the updates.
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Zigi
14
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Posted: 4th Apr 2019 19:52 Edited at: 4th Apr 2019 19:54
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It doesn't need to force you just because Unity does it. Xenko for example only display a symbol if new version available and you can choose if you want to upgrade or not...etc So it is manual in a way but you can skip the steps of login to TGC, download, Unzip, Install. You can just click a button to install or don't....
Same goes for DLC's. Don't tell me you don't like that on Steam you can just check some boxes which DLC's you want to install.
Same goes for templates if TGC would introduce the option to install and share templates, we have codebase here at TGC, imagine you could select and install templates from codebase with a click of a button skipping the download/unpack/copy steps..

Honestly surprise me people are against this and prefer downloading .zip files each time there is a new release especially now when we supposed to get alpha versions more frequently. LOL
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