Open source visual game development tool written in Xojo (needs a lot of polishing)

General
1

It needs polishing (bug fixes and features like undo and redo are missing) but its a game development tool that uses diagrams. I decided I might open source it because realistically I doubt with my experience I could release it as a successful commercial program.

Anybody interested in contributing or using the code?

Its 2D game development and you use diagrams and connect blocks to build logic.
It been in the works for like 5 years.

It’s not uploaded and ignore the price. I do not update the newsletter.

http://powermodegames.com

I actually added some beginner lessons for creating pong. I’m not sure yet. It was my dream as a kid to make this but its really hard for me to stay motivated working on my own.

http://powermodegames.com/apprentice/beginner/

2

I might have to move on to making music as my new passion but it’s been fun.

3

Did you get it smoothly building to phaser.io browser games? If you got the build process working smoothly I might be interested in taking over and poking at it from time to time.

4

Ye it compiles Javascript fine on top of Phaser. But I’ve barely tested on other systems.

5

Feel free to shoot me an email or iMessage, I’m happy to take a look and see if it’s something I can take over.
timi@timi.me
:slight_smile:

6

[quote=352980:@Tim Parnell]Feel free to shoot me an email or iMessage, I’m happy to take a look and see if it’s something I can take over.
timi@timi.me
:)[/quote]
Ok

7

Dear Oliver Scott-Brown,

Visited the PowerMode website a few times now, also tried downloading the 64 bit version which tells me it is not available. Those forums are empty and your licence agreement page, sounds a little harsh.

There are already many excellent game engines available on the market. When I read about PowerMode, it looks like a clone of Fusion, Construct 2/3 which already are established game development tools. Besides of those two, there are Unreal, Infinity, GameMaker, Unity and more.

From the content of the PowerMode website, I fail to see what the PowerMode tool has more to offer than the others. Where it stands out and shines above the others. Myself I am using Scirra Construct 3 for game development for our small daughter of 8.

I installed the 32 bit version and looked at it for… 3 minutes then I closed and de-installed. This is what is wrong with your free version :

1 During the installation process I already received a warning.
2. When I selected the suggested directory for a new project, I could not choose the directory in a visual way. However when I clicked on “OK” then I open dialog showed up.
3. I do understand the reason for deactivating the “build” option, but what I do not understand is why the “Run” function is not working. In this way it is impossible to test the game created in PowerMode.
4. The User Interface looks obsolete and very clumsy. For example, when i want to watch th tutorial “Pong” only 1/4 th of the upper left section is visible.
5. When I want to restart the game again, I got the error that I first have to reconfigure the server.
6. When a promotion ends, just don’t view it any longer. The way I was forwarded it sounds like you want to punish those which where not fast enough.

And lastly your promotional message “Fully visual game development tool with learning concepts found in no other tools”. Here you are claiming to be superior above the other already established tools. Where Oliver, where does your tool stands above the others? Maybe my thinking is too limited and narrow, but I cannot see where the learning concepts are a match for the others. There are already thousands of tutorials for Construct. Where are the PowerMode tutorials? There are more features missing than Undo and redo alone.

There is really nothing which let me switch from Construct ot PowerMode. Construct 3 while still in beta (PowerMode is alpha when I understand correctly;, so you are charging for your users to be alpha testers) is already fully working. It works by using events and behaviour and is completely visual.

When PowerMode is so easy to learn and the website claim, will our small one succeed in creating her first game in PowerMode? While she can with guidance make very simple things in Construct, she will surely fail in PowerMode. The whole PowerMode interface is completely not intuitive. Lastly, using Xojo for creating a game development tool is a bad idea and PowerMode exactly reflects the Xojo weakness in this area. While Xojo is an excellent tool for creating applications, it is not suitable as game development tool because of its RAD nature. The other tools are written in C++ for the simple reason of speed and way of coding.

You can disagree with me but then I ask you; how many paid users do you have? Why is there nobody on your forums?

In this review, I expressed my personal views as a game creator on PowerMode. Nevertheless, you created PowerMode as a kid which is a hugh accomplishment for which you receive my highest admiration and respect. I am sure everybody here will agree with me that you are already very skilled and talented. I am sure when you continue developing your programming skills, we will not have seen the last from you! From me PowerMode will receive 3 stars out of 5.

To conclude, I suggest to work together in a small team. This will make it easier for you to stay focused and motivated. Within the team the workload will be shared and everybody can concentrate on each individual task of the project. It is something to consider because nowadays and especially in game development, people are working in teams.

I wish you every success with your new passion for music. Don’t give up your dreams, stay motivated, focused, believe in your talents and most importantly go to the finish.

Chris

8

[quote=353330:@Chris Verberne]Dear Oliver Scott-Brown,

Visited the PowerMode website a few times now, also tried downloading the 64 bit version which tells me it is not available. Those forums are empty and your licence agreement page, sounds a little harsh.

There are already many excellent game engines available on the market. When I read about PowerMode, it looks like a clone of Fusion, Construct 2/3 which already are established game development tools. Besides of those two, there are Unreal, Infinity, GameMaker, Unity and more.

From the content of the PowerMode website, I fail to see what the PowerMode tool has more to offer than the others. Where it stands out and shines above the others. Myself I am using Scirra Construct 3 for game development for our small daughter of 8.

I installed the 32 bit version and looked at it for… 3 minutes then I closed and de-installed. This is what is wrong with your free version :

1 During the installation process I already received a warning.
2. When I selected the suggested directory for a new project, I could not choose the directory in a visual way. However when I clicked on “OK” then I open dialog showed up.
3. I do understand the reason for deactivating the “build” option, but what I do not understand is why the “Run” function is not working. In this way it is impossible to test the game created in PowerMode.
4. The User Interface looks obsolete and very clumsy. For example, when i want to watch th tutorial “Pong” only 1/4 th of the upper left section is visible.
5. When I want to restart the game again, I got the error that I first have to reconfigure the server.
6. When a promotion ends, just don’t view it any longer. The way I was forwarded it sounds like you want to punish those which where not fast enough.

And lastly your promotional message “Fully visual game development tool with learning concepts found in no other tools”. Here you are claiming to be superior above the other already established tools. Where Oliver, where does your tool stands above the others? Maybe my thinking is too limited and narrow, but I cannot see where the learning concepts are a match for the others. There are already thousands of tutorials for Construct. Where are the PowerMode tutorials? There are more features missing than Undo and redo alone.

There is really nothing which let me switch from Construct ot PowerMode. Construct 3 while still in beta (PowerMode is alpha when I understand correctly;, so you are charging for your users to be alpha testers) is already fully working. It works by using events and behaviour and is completely visual.

When PowerMode is so easy to learn and the website claim, will our small one succeed in creating her first game in PowerMode? While she can with guidance make very simple things in Construct, she will surely fail in PowerMode. The whole PowerMode interface is completely not intuitive. Lastly, using Xojo for creating a game development tool is a bad idea and PowerMode exactly reflects the Xojo weakness in this area. While Xojo is an excellent tool for creating applications, it is not suitable as game development tool because of its RAD nature. The other tools are written in C++ for the simple reason of speed and way of coding.

You can disagree with me but then I ask you; how many paid users do you have? Why is there nobody on your forums?

In this review, I expressed my personal views as a game creator on PowerMode. Nevertheless, you created PowerMode as a kid which is a hugh accomplishment for which you receive my highest admiration and respect. I am sure everybody here will agree with me that you are already very skilled and talented. I am sure when you continue developing your programming skills, we will not have seen the last from you! From me PowerMode will receive 3 stars out of 5.

To conclude, I suggest to work together in a small team. This will make it easier for you to stay focused and motivated. Within the team the workload will be shared and everybody can concentrate on each individual task of the project. It is something to consider because nowadays and especially in game development, people are working in teams.

I wish you every success with your new passion for music. Don’t give up your dreams, stay motivated, focused, believe in your talents and most importantly go to the finish.

Chris[/quote]
Wow thanks for this feedback. And I agree with a lot of your criticism which is my reason for open sourcing it. There are bugs and yes I should definatly have a team but this is a lot of work for one person who has never worked in a team before. It is now officially open source. I do not charge for this tool.
https://bitbucket.org/oliversb/powermode

9

There is a button for browsing for files if you didn’t know.

10

I would not say its a clone of the other game development tools. I would say its unique however the workflow for the software has not been polished.

There possibly needs to be changes to the code to make it so that it is licensed for everybody right away. This is possibly a project which people can learn from but a lot of support would be needed to make it into something.

11

I was going to set this up so that the offer is for a limited period. This was simply to get people to grab the software as a promotion because I wanted to give it away for free. This has been a dream since a young kid but not so much my dream now. My dream was to become self-employed and I was very confident in making this tool but as a youngin, I was a bit unrealistic but at the same time I didn’t have expectation that I would be able to create a successful business model from this.

12

As for 64-bit I couldn’t get the Xojo compiler to work and I programmed a Wordpress plugin that lays out this table and automatically tells you when the file is unavailable.

13

Website is updated to say it’s free and open source. I hope someone out there enjoys my the source code. Some of it might be a bit confusing as I was younger when I wrote most of this tool.

14

If the ‘Run’ button doesn’t work then that is possibly a glitch. It works fine on my system. Did you follow the instructions on the email. I will now be taking down the mailing list though. But here is a sample of what it says:
'Hello #YOUR_NAME#

To get started with PowerMode, follow these steps:
Move this email to the inbox (if it is in the junk mailbox)
Read the Terms & Conditions by clicking here!
Download and install PowerMode from this link (if you haven’t downloaded the software already): Latest Version Of PowerMode.
Open the email attachment provided (make sure it opens with PowerMode).
Install Wamp (this application is used to emulate a web server on your computer and test how games will function on the web). It is really easy to operate with PowerMode! Download link: Wamp Download Page.
Click ‘New Project’
Type a project name
Click ‘OK’
From the default tab ‘App Preferences’, configure PowerMode.
You should now be good to go! PowerMode will remember your configuration for next time. Please do not forget to use the forums for help. We also host a documentation section of the website.
Restart PowerMode for configuration to take affect
Please archive this email for reference!
For reference, an exact copy of this email will be sent to the owner of PowerMode. If you have any problems setting up PowerMode, view our troubleshooting guide or email support@powermodegames.com through the same email your license is addressed to.

Thanks,
PowerMode’

I might need to change the terms and conditions but your free to look at the code and make any tweaks.

15

I would say this is a pretty amazing effort to what amounts to a HUGE project for any team by a young budding developer.

You handled the criticism well.

I think you have a future in software development and possibly as a self employed one should you choose to pursue it.

What is your dream now?

16

[quote=353707:@Phillip Zedalis]I would say this is a pretty amazing effort to what amounts to a HUGE project for any team by a young budding developer.

You handled the criticism well.

I think you have a future in software development and possibly as a self employed one should you choose to pursue it.

What is your dream now?[/quote]
Thanks! I might come back to coding. I was maybe thinking of coding games though.

And yes this was under the works for like 4 or 5 years so since i was about 14. I even re-did the project after first trying to make it in Multimedia Fusion and maybe even VB.Net.

It doesn’t hurt my ego if people critic this. They can critic it as harshly as they wish, I really don’t mind.

17

Thanks to the people on this forum that have helped me along the way. I wouldn’t have been able to make this without this forum.

18

Hello Oliver Scott-Brown,

Thank you for your replies and I agree with Zedalis, you handle the review very well. You are learning fast and I am sure we do not see the last of your creations.

I want to express that I admire the efforts and your knowledge with which you made this project work. I did in no way wanted to break your creation off or write a bad review.

Maybe you can combine your passion for music together with your development skills? You should consider this very seriously. Maybe following a course or training how to stay focussed to reach the goals you set for yourself?

Keep up the good work Oliver, I like to see more creations from your hand.

Chris