FrankenCiv: a hypothetical

[Aeson]

I think if the goal is maximum modability is the goal, it would be better to use something free and open source (or build from the ground up). I don't know what GameMaker would do as far as licencing and accessability of the end result even if built to HTML5?

HTML5 could allow the game to run on basically any platform and be edited with a huge range of freely available editors for game logic and assets. Paint (or equivalent) and Notepad (or equivalent) would be the minimum necessary tools for editing anything in the game. There are lots of free and open source libraries that can be used to build HTML5 games.

An example of an HTML5 tile based game (RTS):

http://littlewargame.com/play/

The graphics of course can look like anything...

[Felch]

So does the master version allow other team members to use it, or does every member need their own license?

Key features

Windows and Mac OS X Export
Unlimited resources
Team features
Developer services
Mobile testing
YoYo Compiler
Android Export
HTML5 Export
iOS Export
Ubuntu Export
Windows Phone 8 export
Includes all future export modules

I'm not certain what kind of team features I have, I guess that's my homework for tonight.

[Aeson]

This is just a stupid example, but I think it's important to let people use some scripting to create things we can't imagine.

Definitely. This would be one of the benefits of HTML5, since all game logic/engine would be in javascript. Javascript is a scripting language ... and everything would be readily accessible to anyone who had a text editor and a browser. (And of course knew javascript!)

[Felch]

I think if the goal is maximum modability is the goal, it would be better to use something free and open source (or build from the ground up). I don't know what GameMaker would do as far as licencing and accessability of the end result even if built to HTML5?

This is what they say

No, your game is your property and YoYo Games does not take a cut from your profits.

I didn't actually read the licensing agreement, but I'm pretty sure that if we make something it's ours.

[Felch]

Definitely. This would be one of the benefits of HTML5, since all game logic/engine would be in javascript. Javascript is a scripting language ... and everything would be readily accessible to anyone who had a text editor and a browser. (And of course knew javascript!)

This feels like a crash course in object oriented programming.

[Aeson]

The drawback of HTML5 is performance. If you scroll out very far in that game for instance, the game gets really sluggish (at least on an i3). With a TBS it wouldn't be as big a deal as with other game types though, since very few moves are happening at once.

[Elok]

Yeah, I'm used to the old Civ2/SMAC paradigm, where there's a row for every unit that goes:

Unitname, domain, range, cost, attack, defense, prereq, obsolete, special flags (or something like that)

and you need to enter a value for every one of those. Come to think of it, my brief glimpses into Civ4's XML writeups show something substantially different. It does seem a better system; I'll have to get used to it. Just so we're on the same page here, we're looking at something like Civ4's power and versatility, but with 2D graphics, on a web-based platform. No?

[Aeson]

This is what they say

No, your game is your property and YoYo Games does not take a cut from your profits.

I didn't actually read the licensing agreement, but I'm pretty sure that if we make something it's ours.

I was more wondering about the code itself. It may be that when exporting to HTML5 for instance, that YoYo would have some sort of license on the javascript files (basically, the game engine) that would preclude it being picked up by someone else (modder) and modified for a "new" game if they didn't also have a license to GameMaker for HTML5 output. If so (and I have no idea if that's the case) that would undermine the intent of the project.

[Felch]

Yeah, easily edited Civ2 style graphics, with modern scripting.

[Aeson]

This feels like a crash course in object oriented programming.

Javascript is sorta OOP if you make it. But it may not be a true OOP language depending on who you ask.

It would be nice to see what some of the other CS types on the board think as far as basic technologies to use or more advanced concepts.

[Felch]

I was more wondering about the code itself. It may be that when exporting to HTML5 for instance, that YoYo would have some sort of license on the javascript files (basically, the game engine) that would preclude it being picked up by someone else (modder) and modified for a "new" game if they didn't also have a license to GameMaker for HTML5 output. If so (and I have no idea if that's the case) that would undermine the intent of the project.

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[Felch]

There's a worrisome bit: "Neither you nor any third party may modify, adapt, decompile or reverse engineer the Stand-alone Applications created using the Software. "

But I think it'd be okay if the modding were accepted as a part of the Stand-alone Application.

[Felch]

Is there a better way of making an HTML5 game?

[Aeson]

The part you quoted is the kicker. It would mean any benefit we gained from using GameMaker would have to be in a portion of the game engine which wasn't modable.

I think there are better ways.

[onodera]

I'm checking Love2D, Moai and Gideros out, in that order.