So I have been talking for a while about the next planned update being advanced data types, but recent events (crashes, lost work, and many update requests) have made me consider that updating the sprite editor might be a higher priority. I’ve decided to poll the community to see which of these features should be done first. One of these two will be the next major editor update:
Option A: Data Types - this adds new types of data to manipulate in the behavior editor. Most notably a new “Text” datatype for managing text data, and probably additional types such as lists, tables, etc. These are a must have for managing and manipulating complex data for more sophisticated games, building complex dialogs, etc
Option B: Sprite Editor Update - this fixes many of the long-standing annoyances with the sprite editor. Add animated GIF exports, animation interface improvements (no more crashes and ui problems from animation frame overflow), smarter import resizing, additional error handling to make sprite editing safer, and a few missing tools like image rotate/flip.
Option A - Advanced Data Types
Option B - Sprite Editor Update
0voters
Feel free to comment if you want to share your thinking about why one option is preferable, or if I missed and obvious advantage to one over the other. Also, these are not mutually exclusive, we’re just talking about relative priority of one over the other.
I chose option two, because I feel that the sprite editor is very outdated and broken, and has been a pain for me to work with for a very long time. I would rather wait for text boxes than lose an entire sprite from a single crash.
I would like some “modest” usability upgrades to the f’lab editor easier import, a simple flip and rotate, a slider in frame count and and decent copy paste. Elsewise I would use Piskel or if I wanted to get fancy, photoshop or illustrator. But Piskel does most of what I need for my jank-ass graphics.
Regarding sprite editing, there are always ‘external’ options.
Regarding data types, nope. And we so need them to raise possible game options to a new level.
So my vote is A
Ay @PixelPizza - I’m lost for option A. What exactly does the data points really achieve in making a game? It seems it makes much better dialog systems, but HOW much better is more what I’m trying to figure out. My next game will most definitely have a sort of “narrator” during the entire game, so having a new, smooth system will make me hold off on making the dialogue system until the update’s out.
Now in general, not specifically for Pixel - even though I’d like a sprite editor update, especially for the people who don’t use the forums and don’t know many alternatives, by the looks of it, data types win. My main complaint really for the Flowlab sprite editor is that it is in desperate need of a slider bar for all of the frames, something with opacity, etc. But I look forward to whenever the sprite editor update may come out.
I was being vague because I don’t want to over-promise what will be in the final release. I have a long wishlist of what I want to be in it, but I’ll probably have to settle for some subset in order to get out a decent update in a reasonable amount of time.
@rcreger - “DataTypes” is kind of vague because I don’t want to overpromise a feature and then under-deliver on what you guys expect.
It will definitely have a text type of some sort, and a way to manage text in a reasonable way to get rid of the current “stack of a million labels” approach to dealing with text in the game. I’d also like to have some sort of Container type(s) to store and manage lists of information. Beyond that, I don’t want to commit to anything too specific, since the feature is not yet completely designed.
Vote A for custom text, decimals in math, new behavior options, and open tons of new never before possible game mechanics for advanced and growing flowlab users.
If your excuse is “School blocks websites.” you can use any number of free VPN programs to bypass school firewalls. Just put them on your flash drive, or use your own computer, phone, or tablet. Also, in that case, most programs can run the exe off of a flash drive, if you just download the art program at home and use it at school. Trust me. I used to watch YouTube and play GTA, Midnight Club, and host my own website with a constantly changing web address, so people could play all kinds of flash games and bypass school blockers. Your school probably isn’t that smart, but don’t blame me if they are spying on your screen.
MS Paint alone is a very viable alternative to flowlab’s current editor. There’s not really any good reason for grazer to build a $500 art studio program in a free web game engine when there are countless other alternatives out there.
@grazer if you add the new sprite editor update which according to the pie chart is combing after the other on what ever it’s suppose to do I did not understand it any way can you add more tools like a toggle which it would basically toggle the sprite and shape tools to create shapes like circles and triangles. Please this would be amazing and definitely complete the sprite editor.
Both are great ideas. As for me, I voted A. The only reason to vote B would be importing GIFs which would be a huge time saver, granted, but the rest can be compensated for.
outside sprite editors do the job well, and though the sprite editor is a bit outdated, this new stuff sounds fun. I really can’t decide, how long do we have to make a desicion?
Is it “just” text or something more? 