SyntaxBomb - Indie Coders

Languages & Coding => AppGameKit ( AGK ) => Topic started by: Qube on October 11, 2018, 20:26:52

Title: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Qube on October 11, 2018, 20:26:52
TGC are doing a AppGameKit FREE for the weekend (https://www.thegamecreators.com/post/appgamekit-free-for-weekend). This is handy if you want to try the full version of AGK.

If you like it or indeed want to buy it at 70% off the usual price then you can grab it via Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/325180/AppGameKit_Easy_Game_Development/) for a whopping £18.29 - Bargain!
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Pakz on October 13, 2018, 19:52:37
Trying.

I had been following the minecraft thread and noticed agk not having the power of for instance monkey2. Needing the minor docced and difficult to use memblocks for meshes. Progress with the minecraft project is not fast there either.

Not sure if agk will get interesting this weekend and if I am going to purchase.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Qube on October 13, 2018, 23:20:50
On the face of it the biggest downside to AGK ( Tier 1 ) is that the language is interpreted. That's not to say it's a slouch as it's pretty nippy for an interpreted language. This shows up if you have any heavy game logic that needs doing every frame. You have to code efficiently ( which isn't a bad thing ) and also take a multi pass approach for heavy logic like A* pathfinding for multiple objects in a large map as doing it in one go would result in a few frames pause in your game.

Personally I've not had any speed issues with AGK as in AGK I've always split heavy logic over frames rather than brute force it in one go. All my previous game comp entries on here were done with AGK and run constantly at 60fps on modest hardware.

If you know C++ then AGK has what they call Tier 2 whereby you can access all the features of AGK but you code in C++. Or MikeHart created a superb plugin for CerberusX which allows you to use all the features of AGK but with CX.

QuoteI had been following the minecraft thread and noticed agk not having the power of for instance monkey2.
Monkey2 being compiled is faster in code execution but I'd say the features and ability of AGK outdo Monkey2.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Steve Elliott on October 13, 2018, 23:34:11
But monkey 2 is a dead language, AGK is not.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Qube on October 13, 2018, 23:46:28
Quote from: Steve Elliott on October 13, 2018, 23:34:11
But monkey 2 is a dead language, AGK is not.
filter = 0 :P
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Steve Elliott on October 13, 2018, 23:56:35
Always lol.  I'm so surprised people support someone that has screwed them so many times.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Qube on October 14, 2018, 00:10:48
Quote from: Steve Elliott on October 13, 2018, 23:56:35
Always lol.  I'm so surprised people support someone that has screwed them so many times.
I just feel sorry for iWasAdam.. There's a guy hammering away creating stuff and getting his bug reports ignored so much it resulted in fixing things himself. Crazy, pure crazy. Priority should be finishing off features and fixing bugs, especially from those that are using the product to create decent stuff.

You know my feelings on the whole thing though ;D
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Steve Elliott on October 14, 2018, 01:03:41
Quote
You know my feelings on the whole thing though ;D

Yep, filter = 0  :P
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Qube on October 14, 2018, 04:09:39
Quote from: Steve Elliott on October 14, 2018, 01:03:41
Quote
You know my feelings on the whole thing though ;D

Yep, filter = 0  :P
:o :P
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Naughty Alien on October 14, 2018, 06:42:31
..so Monkey 2 is also officially dead, or did i missed something??
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Holzchopf on October 14, 2018, 07:20:17
Mark wrote he will still work on Monkey 2 despite his daytime job. So yeah, it's basically dead.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Pakz on October 14, 2018, 09:13:42
I am a little bit worried on the future of Monkey 2. I am not sure what else I can get going with if Mark decides to pull the plug. Compared to agk - Godot looks like it might be the best thing on the market right now(slant) It can be installed and kept updated through steam.

But for the time beeing I am a little bit distracted. My stepfather got ill a while ago and died last monday(cancer) I knew him for like 20 years or so and been at their place for like every day since 2011. I do not really feel like doing anything. I was thinking of installing a pull up/squad station and spend more time exercising to get my mind of things. This requires no real brain power.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: MikeHart on October 14, 2018, 09:41:09
Quote from: Pakz on October 14, 2018, 09:13:42
I am a little bit worried on the future of Monkey 2. I am not sure what else I can get going with if Mark decides to pull the plug. Compared to agk - Godot looks like it might be the best thing on the market right now(slant) It can be installed and kept updated through steam.

But for the time beeing I am a little bit distracted. My stepfather got ill a while ago and died last monday(cancer) I knew him for like 20 years or so and been at their place for like every day since 2011. I do not really feel like doing anything. I was thinking of installing a pull up/squad station and spend more time exercising to get my mind of things. This requires no real brain power.


I am sorry Pakz for your loss. Concentrate on things that make you happy.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: TomToad on October 14, 2018, 10:50:52
I have a love/hate relationship with AGK2.  The pluses are a very efficient engine,  The ability to port to multiple platforms (desktop/mobile/web) right out of the box, no need for installing additional tools, versatile command set, for example the tweening commands make movement a breeze.  Just set up the sprite to move from point A to point B and the time needed to get there, AGK engine does the rest.  Also AGK has a thriving community of developers wanting to help and is still supported and being developed.  Reminds me of BlitzBasic.com back in its heyday.

I find the biggest negative of AGK is its lack of some basic OOP functions in the language.  I find development much slower and more difficult without them.  There is Tier 2 which allows you to use C++ and many third party development which allows you to use AGK with Python, Java, C#, and Cerberus.  But when you go to Tier 2, you lose the biggest advantage of AGK which is ease of portability to multiple platforms. Most only will work with desktop, and the couple that do work with mobile/web require you to install multiple additional tools such as Android Studio and Emscriptem.  This will give you no more advantage than using something like Monkey, Unity, or one of the many C++ engines already available.  Another disadvantage is lack of ability to directly manipulate your assets, such as the vertices in your 3D objects or pixels in your images.  It can be done, but requires copying everything over to memblocks and trying to understand the format of the data.

I'm not abandoning AGK just yet.  The developers have done an excellent job with it and honestly I think it is one of the best choices out there for indie developers.  The language is not much different than early Blitz products such as Blitz3D and B+, so if you prefer to use one of those, you might feel right at home with AGK.  My last project I decided to try Monkey2, I've messed with it a bit in the past, but never really made a full program in it before.  I find Monkey2 a really nice language, but since Mark got a new job, support for it has dropped to almost nothing, and the forums are near a ghost town.  I think AGK is going to be one of those languages i "keep coming back to."  I'll dabble with others until I find one that I truly like, ideally I'd like to see AGK Tier 1 get some basic OOP functionality.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Qube on October 14, 2018, 13:01:47
@Pakz - Sorry to hear about your loss.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Naughty Alien on October 14, 2018, 13:40:13
..my condolences Pakz..i hope you will recover as soon as its possible..

..as for AGK..i would love to see it with functions within types...that will be fantastic...
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: plenatus on October 14, 2018, 14:00:29
@Pakz: I wish you lots of strengh in the next time.

AGK: yes functions inside types would great...but...i don´t understand why the most updates in the last month are for android specially.(it feels so)
Especially because google no longer allows all programs to come into the playstore.

There is a thread with feature wishes in the tgc forum but it seems the devs don´t take a look on this.
But threads dev-side like "we need your help/games/translations" are updated from time to time.

Don´t understand me wrong, i like AGK very much, but i think the tgc devs should more read what are the wishes from the users.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: 3DzForMe on October 20, 2018, 23:36:18
@Pakz, sorry for your loss.

I tried AGK briefly, but I still code (sporadically at best...) In Blitz3D. I'm still impressed with what was achievable in MonkeyX, although I was as unimpressed as all with the disappearance of its forums. Monkey2 still there, long may it continue.

Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Qube on October 21, 2018, 04:19:06
Quote from: 3DzForMe on October 20, 2018, 23:36:18I tried AGK briefly
It's worth spending time with it. It's a little wordy syntax wise but it's pretty powerful and great fun once you get into it.

Quote from: 3DzForMe on October 20, 2018, 23:36:18although I was as unimpressed as all with the disappearance of its forums. Monkey2 still there, long may it continue.
Mark should have given the BB site(s) to someone who was willing to continue on the community. There was no real need to close them down at all. I'm sure there were many people able to host, maintain and keep those forums going for all the supporters. I'll be open about it and say I think it was a complete slap in the face to all the loyal Blitz community to do that.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: plenatus on October 21, 2018, 11:01:50
I think also that a Blitz3D V2 with dx11/12 or maybe opengl 3/4 was the wish of the most.
The easy syntax holds the whole bb community.

And i think monkey2 is dead nearly like the rest of bb.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: round157 on October 24, 2018, 01:14:04
Quote from: c0d3r9 on October 21, 2018, 11:01:50


And i think monkey2 is dead nearly like the rest of bb.


Hello, if the author of Monkey2 really abandon Monkey2 finally, perhaps some enthusiastic and talented Monkey2 users will take

over this Monkey2 project to continue to develop. The future of this project will still be good. This situation is similar to the

situation of Monkey1. Some talented users took over the Monkey1 project. At last, Monkey1 became Cerberus X. Actually, the

current status of Cerberus X looks very nice. Right?
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Naughty Alien on October 24, 2018, 02:03:28
Quote from: round157 on October 24, 2018, 01:14:04
Quote from: c0d3r9 on October 21, 2018, 11:01:50


And i think monkey2 is dead nearly like the rest of bb.


Hello, if the author of Monkey2 really abandon Monkey2 finally, perhaps some enthusiastic and talented Monkey2 users will take

over this Monkey2 project to continue to develop. The future of this project will still be good. This situation is similar to the

situation of Monkey1. Some talented users took over the Monkey1 project. At last, Monkey1 became Cerberus X. Actually, the

current status of Cerberus X looks very nice. Right?

..i think that was not what he mean by saying that m2 is dead..
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: Qube on October 24, 2018, 05:43:47
Quote from: round157 on October 24, 2018, 01:14:04
Hello, if the author of Monkey2 really abandon Monkey2 finally, perhaps some enthusiastic and talented Monkey2 users will take

over this Monkey2 project to continue to develop. The future of this project will still be good. This situation is similar to the

situation of Monkey1. Some talented users took over the Monkey1 project. At last, Monkey1 became Cerberus X. Actually, the

current status of Cerberus X looks very nice. Right?
Monkey2 has not been abandoned. Some say it is dead because Mark Sibly now has a full time job and of course development of Monkey2 will be much slower than usual. Slow does not equal dead or abandoned. I'd say the future of M2 is in flux and it's too early to say if it's abandoned or not. The downside to this is of course Mark also decided to shut down the entire dedicated Blitz forum community so abandoning things is a real possibility should he just decide to become bored or loose interest.

Regarding Monkey 1, the guys who have taken it over and created Cerberus X have done an amazing job. If I were to choose between the two then I'd pick Cerberus X as it has a lot of dedication behind it.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: round157 on October 24, 2018, 15:26:47
Quote from: Qube on October 24, 2018, 05:43:47
Quote from: round157 on October 24, 2018, 01:14:04
Hello, if the author of Monkey2 really abandon Monkey2 finally, perhaps some enthusiastic and talented Monkey2 users will take

over this Monkey2 project to continue to develop. The future of this project will still be good. This situation is similar to the

situation of Monkey1. Some talented users took over the Monkey1 project. At last, Monkey1 became Cerberus X. Actually, the

current status of Cerberus X looks very nice. Right?
Monkey2 has not been abandoned. Some say it is dead because Mark Sibly now has a full time job and of course development of Monkey2 will be much slower than usual. Slow does not equal dead or abandoned. I'd say the future of M2 is in flux and it's too early to say if it's abandoned or not. The downside to this is of course Mark also decided to shut down the entire dedicated Blitz forum community so abandoning things is a real possibility should he just decide to become bored or loose interest.

Regarding Monkey 1, the guys who have taken it over and created Cerberus X have done an amazing job. If I were to choose between the two then I'd pick Cerberus X as it has a lot of dedication behind it.



Hi, thanks for your detailed explanation. I fully understand now.

Cerberus X is a quite successful software.

Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: round157 on October 24, 2018, 15:27:51
Quote from: Naughty Alien on October 24, 2018, 02:03:28
Quote from: round157 on October 24, 2018, 01:14:04
Quote from: c0d3r9 on October 21, 2018, 11:01:50


And i think monkey2 is dead nearly like the rest of bb.


Hello, if the author of Monkey2 really abandon Monkey2 finally, perhaps some enthusiastic and talented Monkey2 users will take

over this Monkey2 project to continue to develop. The future of this project will still be good. This situation is similar to the

situation of Monkey1. Some talented users took over the Monkey1 project. At last, Monkey1 became Cerberus X. Actually, the

current status of Cerberus X looks very nice. Right?

..i think that was not what he mean by saying that m2 is dead..


Hi,

Ok, sorry, I misunderstood.

Thank you.
Title: Re: AppGameKit 70% off until October 15th 2018
Post by: 3DzForMe on October 24, 2018, 16:13:44
Monkey2 has some intriguing 3D Ness evolving within it. I agree, BB.com being shut down was a slap in the face, however as an indie developer I can see how moving on sometimes and cutting ties with flamey stuff can appeal.

Not sure I've the mojo to get my suede around another coding language, I've done a few in my time and whilst AGK does appeal, B3D still has legs in it for my purposes. Of course, it's free for all to use now, which was generous of Mr Sibly.

Long may Monkey2 continue, and well done to the CerberusX crew, I just need a 64 bit computer to run it.....