Promising product

[thomashaaks]

Hi Pete,
TimelineFX looks really promising! The price is too much for me right now but on the other hand it looks very much worth it 🙄
I think it depends on how much additional content (emitters, attractors, deflectors, particle images, helpful library code, etc.) you’ll provide and if that goes away to customers for free or not.
Have you thought about offering the bundle of editor and library a little bit cheaper compared to the separate packages like say 25 pounds? 😉

I also wanted to compliment you on the TimelineFX website. I like the sample videos and especially the tutorials for the editor including a sample game and the Vaders game too! Absolutely helpful and a huge sales argument!

It would be great to know what classes/types are contained in the library. I learned about the Tweener type and the fixed time step logic routines inside the lib.
But there’s also the tlEntity stuff, functions like “loadsprite()” and maybe more that might evolve in something like a little game framework. Would you mind telling us what stuff mentionable is also part of the library?

Thanks,
Thomas

[imported_peterigz]

Hi thomas, thanks for the interest, it’s great to hear feedback! 🙂

At the moment, I’m still not 100% certain how I’m going to sell the module. I think I’m either going to do it the way I have it laid out now, or I’m going to release the module as open source and just sell the editor on it’s own for maybe 19.95 instead. That appeals to me also.

Thanks for the comments about the web site. If you’re interested it was made using the CMS called Joomla! which made things a little easier.

As for more details about the module classes, primarily it’s for throwing particles about but all the classes are extensions of a base class called tlEntity which is a bog standard entity class for storing position, rotation scale etc., so that kind of lends itself to more generic uses on top of just particles. That’s why I make use of it in vaders, after all, why rewrite an entity class if you already have one!

Loadsprite is actually from something on the Blitzmax forums written by a guy called indiepath, link is here: http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=51647#576571

Actually looking at that, loadsprite must be something I added myself. But basically it loads an image and makes a tAnimImage out of it as per that post. I should add my changes to the code archives I suppose!

I’ve already got a note on the to do list to write a tutorial or overview of the Entity class in more detail. The tutorial here on the site called Making a game from start to finish will give a little more insight also.

[thomashaaks]

@peterigz wrote:

At the moment, I’m still not 100% certain how I’m going to sell the module. I think I’m either going to do it the way I have it laid out now, or I’m going to release the module as open source and just sell the editor on it’s own for maybe 19.95 instead. That appeals to me also.

That would be very cool and at that price I wouldn’t resist 😀
And indeed the module is only interesting for BlitzMax users/owners but the editor and its capability of saving image strips of the effects is very interesting for every game developer!
You can increase the value of the editor by adding as many presets for effects as possible. Your current examples are already great but the more the better 😉

Open sourcing the library could also allow other coders to create a version of the library in their preferred language (like C++, Python, Java or C# or whatever).

Thanks for the comments about the web site. If you’re interested it was made using the CMS called Joomla! which made things a little easier.

I know. Enter “timelinefx” in Google and it will tell you…
@Google wrote:

TimelineFX
Joomla! – the dynamic portal engine and content management system.
http://www.rigzsoft.co.uk/

Thanks for the info about the library content!

Cheers,
Thomas

[imported_peterigz]

Thanks, just fixed that meta data 🙂

I just uploaded the docmods of the module if you’re interested in knowing more about the internal workings: http://www.rigzsoft.co.uk/files/commands.html

Needs some fleshing out still, but may help you find out about some of the other things in there.

To be honest, the main thing you need to worry about when using the module is the particle manager and a few of the other things I’ve gone over in the tutorials but it could well be worth expanding on the Entity type to make it a general framework for other things, but I don’t want to move too far away from its main purpose – that of a particle engine.

[thomashaaks]

Your “Purchase” page now only offers the TimelineFX editor so I guess you plan to give away the module for free?

Any time frame when the stuff can be bought/downloaded? I feel some urge to buy it 😉

[imported_peterigz]

Yeh, it will be open source 🙂 Its very nearly there just 2 or 3 more things on the immediate to do list and we’re there I think.

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