itch.io

I’m a donor, so a reminder to people who want to keep this project active to also donate.

Unable to use the Mac OS version, launched from the itch.io app

I disagree with running a database not being a hassle once you figure it out. Running a server for a database is not a small task, it takes time away from development, you have to constantly save backups, not counting leaving the server running all the time. To put it in perspective, small to mid-size enterprises wouldn't bother with it and simply hire a third party to do it, or as I do, pay a monthly fee to one of those live data services, like Notion.

The solution of creating a text-based format to share the project in git has plenty of benefits, you can run a git server -if you want- but 99.9% of the cases you would simply put your project in Github, Bitbucket or Gitlab, which have some free tiers for teams (plus their own project management/bug tracking tools). The additional advantage of git is that you can keep track of every single change made, so I am not clear why "conflicts" have to be such a big problem. One of the reasons my team went crazy over the Godot engine was that they created a text-based format, .tscn, that is perfect for git.

As a user of this application to manage a project I am working on, I would like to give you some constructive criticism, this application has lots of potential, but ultimately falls short. After a few attempts, unfortunately I went back to using Notion for managing the project. I would like to start with the strengths:

1. The dialog editor and the kanban board, by far, the most useful features. The visual scripting part of the dialog has lots of potential.
2. Exporting to json and other friendly formats to game engines, and programming languages.
3. The converter of the dialog into screenplay format, this has potential beyond videogame developing.

Now, here are the features that could use some work, or scrap them altogether:

1. The database-centric collaboration. This feature is virtually useless to most because installing a server to keep the project stored in a database is too much hassle for the indie developers that are likely going to use this app. I think you should scrap or abandon this feature and simply let users create a folder for each project, that ultimately can be converted into a git repository. A file format easy to keep track of in git (json, per example), could be the file that stores all the project's data. Collaboration in git is easy, you can run a git server yourself, but most likely, users will upload the project in many of the git sites available out there.
2. There are sections that are in the app, Quests, Items, Misc, that serve no purpose but text data entry, they are not different between one another, and if they are not going to be fleshed out further, they should be reduced to one single category. That will clean up the UI. Scripts and Dialogues could also benefit by being combined.
3. The UI is not particularly intuitive. To start working on a dialog, per example, you create the dialog, click on it, unlock it (the switch button to save/unlock the file isn't very intuitive), create a new dialog entry in the visual scripting board, and only then you can start writing. Streamlining the workflow will save you a lot of time having to write it down in the documentation.
4. Now, the documentation, to put it kindly, it needs work. Right now there are a couple of broken links to videos, and incomplete entries. For an app sold commercially, this does not give a good impression.

And finally, here's a feature suggestion, I think you will hit the jackpot if you consider:

• You know which is the most-used videogame project management tool, but wasn't meant for that? Excel (or Google Sheets, etc.). This is because game localization have been standardized in spreadsheets for decades. If you implement a spreadsheet meant exclusively for localization, you will spare game developers of another tool to juggle with.

I hope this critique can steer you into some solutions, but most importantly, I want you to continue working on this tool. Please don't stop development, you have something special in your hands.

This is amazing! The ability to divide animations into loop sections is available, or that is something that could be released in the future?

I saw them fiddling with GameMaker Studio on the stream.