133 replies to this topic

[Manuel777]

I gave a + (plus) to the suggestions i liked the most in the first pages, but...

So I'd definitely be in favor of trimming out mplay, especially if it meant replacing it with a built-in version of something a lot more robust; something along the lines of 39dll, for example.

Yeah, 39Dll is open source and i guess it can be included with no problems in GM (i think everyone will loooove that) but if you guys dont do it, i have no problem to keep using the DLL. But please just remove mplay, it's like quicksand for newbies.


Also, i would like to see triggers removes asap.. i've never used them, and when i was learning how to use them i ended up replacing the whole deal with a script. i wasted like two hours on that hehe

[ragarnak]

If you don't put sleep statements in while loops, the program can become unresponsive or take too much processing time for itself.

Wrong "Sleep" command I'm afraid.

The GM kind really freezes the game. It does not release thread-time so other threads can use it (by the way: GM is a one-thread program. Hence the freezing).

Using GMs Sleep in loops will make your game become sluggish, responding badly to keyboard (or other input) commands

[Dangerous_Dave]

This may be kind of a feature request, but in response to the countless posts (much) earlier on about better error messages being the answer:

Why not have suggested fixes? Ask any above average GM user what to do about a specific error, they will tell would a few common reasons for that error. Why not include these in the error message? Include a few possible reasons for each error, and you could make errors much easier for users to interpret.

[GPro]

Also, i would like to see triggers removes asap.. i've never used them, and when i was learning how to use them i ended up replacing the whole deal with a script. i wasted like two hours on that hehe

If you don't use them that doesnt mean somebody else doesnt, i love them, they are useful in some games

[Rani_sputnik]

@ Slayer

you mean something more technical, i would like to place LOTS of instances in a room without lag, how about removing the built in update for direction, hspeed, vspeed and all that? then i could create instances just to use as containers for varibales.

I believe Mike was thinking at one stage of possibly adding structures eventually (EEEEEE!!! So keen!)

As for my list
-> Timelines should STAY! They are insanely useful especially for fighting games (although it doesn't sound like Mike wants to remove them sooo ha!)
-> I think someone mentioned ini_files being reworked, I know this isn't a request topic but PLEASE! Can't we put them somewhere other than the working directory? Oh and I bet this has something to do with the way GM allocates memory for strings but the ds_grid/list/map_read/write functions don't work if your list/grid/map is too big. It runs out of string space, there should AT LEAST be a warning about that.
-> I'm glad to hear the registry **** is going. Never liked that stuff.
-> d3d/mplay/highscore/message dialouge all should go (for now) they're all too dated (as many have said before me).

In terms of language features, I don't think it's wise to have a seperate modes for different language styles (ie. the option to change in preference which language style you prefer to type in, delphi/C/pascall etc) otherwise it will cause mayhem with examples. Ít's one of those things that beginners will overlook and not understand when they come to add their own code. I do think that && || and other bitwise operators should be removed. Yes they are the only way to make comparrisons in other languages but it's not like they're easier to type than 'and.' And using real english is much more intuitive for beginners. An interesting point worth noting is that adding more ways to do something is often more of a hinderance rather than a help. Imagine you are just beginning and you master a few code elements

if fish_caught = cod and fish_age >= 5 and fishing = true then 
{
  success = true
  play_sound(snd_yay)
}
for (i=0; i<fish_total; i+=1)
{
etc.

But then you see code like this

if (fish_caught == cod && fish_age >= 5 && (fishing))
begin
  success = true;
  play_sound(snd_yay);
end
var i;
for (i=0; i<fish_total; i++)
begin
etc.

Now you and I can see that's the same but unfortunately that may confuse some younger folk. I am a strong advocate of less is more. If there is only one way to do something there is only one way to learn yes? I know it's tough because it sacrifises a lot of flexibility but although GML can be seen as a step on the way to other languages, why not give it's own stamp instead of trying to impersonate so many other things? I know it's a long post but one last thing...

MIKE DO WE REALLY NEED THE INCREMENT OPERATOR? (i++ I've heard there are plans to impliment it) it's just gonna confudle beginners and really how hard is it to type i+=1?

Edit: stupid tab button made me post before I was ready

Edited by Rani_sputnik, 28 January 2011 - 10:44 AM.

[~Dannyboy~]

I do think that && || and other bitwise operators should be removed.

&& and || are logical operators. I agree that there should be only one way of doing this, I too prefer "and", "or" and "not" (I'm unsure whether it's better to keep "xor" or just teach people that "!=" is the same thing for boolean values). The "bitwise operators" are "|", "&", "^" and "~", and they definitely should be kept as they perform a different operation to the logical ones.

EDIT: While we're on the subject of operators, I'd like to suggest that "div" be replaced with "//"(EDIT AGAIN: oops that would be a comment, I stole it from python which uses # for comments, a symbol would be nice though , EDIT AGAIN AGAIN: VBScript uses "\" perhaps that would be suitable) and "mod" be replaced with "%" to be more consistent with other languages. And as many other people have suggested please make "==" the only equality comparison operator and "=" the only assignment operator. These are two different operations and as they can be mixed in the same expression they need to be distinguishable.

Edited by ~Dannyboy~, 28 January 2011 - 11:02 AM.

[Rusty]

The most annoying thing on Game Maker? The single most annoying feature on Game Maker is that stupid little tick box when you open a room to edit that says "Delete Underlying". Why the hell would I want that on? And every single time I forget to turn it off.

If I wanted to "delete underlying", I'd delete the stuff underneath before I put the new bloody object down! Why the hell would I ever use that feature? All it does is mess up the bloody rooms when I'm trying to work on them!

Also, why does Game Maker still class invisible parts of an object as that object? My room size was 300x400 when this happened. I placed a 300x400 object down that consisted of a boarder of 5 pixels that had a big empty middle. Yet I couldn't edit anything because it was classing everything as part of that object. (I know I can turn the Depth up and down but it just confused me as to why it did that)

Ignoring all the code and stuff, these are the two features that I run into almost everytime I run Game Maker. Not because I want them on, not because I turn them on, but because they turn themselves on and they're always there!

[~Dannyboy~]

The most annoying thing on Game Maker? The single most annoying feature on Game Maker is that stupid little tick box when you open a room to edit that says "Delete Underlying". Why the hell would I want that on? And every single time I forget to turn it off.

If I wanted to "delete underlying", I'd delete the stuff underneath before I put the new bloody object down! Why the hell would I ever use that feature? All it does is mess up the bloody rooms when I'm trying to work on them!

While placing lots of wall objects in a room I like to hold down shift and drag the mouse, without "delete underlying" ticked (AFAIK) this creates several wall objects in each space, these extra objects can be a performance hit. That's why I use "delete underlying".

[Rusty]

Why not just improve the shift+mouse so that it only puts one of the object in each square?

[Nocturne]

I completely agree with DannyBoy...

Why not just improve the shift+mouse so that it only puts one of the object in each square?

because maybe sometimes you want more than one object on the same square? That´s why you have the option... ANd with the current room editor it´s just too easy to place two objects in the same place and not notice when that option is off. Personally I find it very useful...

[Tsn]

3d or multiplayer , using either of these in game maker means you might as well do that in another more suited program.

[Rusty]

Why would you possibly want two of the same objects, doing the same job, in the same square?

[paul23]

Why would you possibly want two of the same objects, doing the same job, in the same square?

Why shouldn't this be possible? - Maybe I have an algorithm that "places" objects correctly when I put them initial at the same position in the room (and hence placing at the same position is much easier).. Maybe there is some other interaction (ie a "slow" tile, 2 times slowing would slow you down more). Maybe.....

Really (and that counts for many suggestions, such as removal of the global variables): when asking to remove something consider that you aren't the sole user. Somewhere someone would've found a use for it. Now you first and foremost should question yourself: does this feature actually HURT me? - Does it greatly reduce the effectiveness of gamemaker for me? Only if it does, and only if you think the hurting is important enough to break someone else's work you should consider removing.

As for the "delete underlying" box: this feature doesn't actually hurt anyone.. What might hurt is the fact that it is ticked on by default! (and changing that might be usefull!)