Tom. Seriously. Thank you for everything. :)
EDIT:
Also, Unity has this thing where when you create a project you can pick the environment to be either 2D or 3D. I was wondering if BYOND could have something like this but for platformers. So like you could pick "overworld-2D", "platformer-2D" or "Isometric". Picking the platformer-2D would create a 2D environment with a physics engine. BYOND should be capable of creating platformers far more easily than it is at the moment.
Yes there are libraries, yes forum_account did one but again, I'm sure if BYOND had it own pre-made physics engine and platformers could be created more easily, it would be a great +
Kidpaddle45 wrote:
Tom. Seriously. Thank you for everything. :) Yes there are libraries, yes forum_account did one but again, I'm sure if BYOND had it own pre-made physics engine and platformers could be created more easily, it would be a great + Both these + | |
Lummox JR wrote:
I've heard good things about lynda.com; I'll have to check it out sometime. Of course that's OpenGL, and BYOND doesn't use OpenGL. (Not for lack of trying--it turned out to have some really nasty issues I couldn't figure out, but I might revisit it eventually.) I'd need to know how to put shaders to work in DirectX, although as I understand it the shader language itself should be the same. Web GL is based on Open GL Some more stuff for you to check out. The Section: Overview of Web GL- http://www.lynda.com/Flash-Professional-tutorials/ Overview-WebGL/97148/107051-4.html And this Guy- https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=aw6Vi-_hwy0&list=PLW3Zl3wyJwWMpFSRpeMmSBGDShbkiV1Cq I'm sure since Open GL is well documented you can learn and experiment with Open GL to understand shaders better. | |
I know I've grown distant from Byond, and i'm sorry about that, but that's all you should do as well Tom, keep checking on the good folk of Byond :) It's always nice to look at the updates and new things.
Congratulations for this burden lummy (prize and pleasure!), and to Tom, what a valiant effort and triumph getting Byond this far, I never regret coming here and meeting you guys and having Byond as a place and community to dwell in, "just regret not having a css on my page any more" couldn't help myself lol :) Good luck to both your futures, you may see my donation hit a nice round number soon :) | |
Without reading past the first page, this pleases me. Honestly, Tom never had a very good business sense. Hopefully having Lummox in charge bids well. Never had any issues with Tom(actually preferred interactions with Tom over Lummox), but I hardly felt any of the business decisions he talked about were good(except open sourcing, but that may not be a bad thing if Lummox can turn things around).
| |
Heh, you can't argue with the results! I am no businessman for sure. I did try several things that never came to fruition such as applying for educational grants and contacting universities (i do believe BYOND could have a niche as an educational tool). I also had several interactions with investors (and we actually had one a long time ago but it ended up falling through), but without a reliable model it was hard to go far with them. There is definitely a skill to business but we also crippled ourselves by not thinking about it before moving forward with the project. I posted more about this here.
In the end, just asking for contributions seems to be as good a model as anything, although the ad stuff we put in scales better (and if the system grows big enough, it could possibly be used to revenue share with developers). I don't think Lee has much mind or desire to deal with the money stuff but he shouldn't have to as long as people keep chipping in. As better games come to the system and it gets more mainstream exposure through the webclient, more people will come to BYOND and that should equate to more income through ads, subs, and donations. I feel like there is a reasonable-- albeit not game changing-- model in place but the userbase is at about the bare minimum to keep it going right now. The one major semi-business-related thing I would like to see changed (and I've discussed this at length with Lee) is to have the option to disentangle the hub from the software so that users could optionally treat BYOND exclusively as an engine and that one day it could even be open sourced. Since this would provide no direct income for BYOND, it is important that the hub provide enough value (through the key system, banning, subs, scores, hub pages, etc) that most people would still use it by default. But the purist in me hates that currently people are somewhat tied ti the hub/ads and i think that is unappealing to prospective devs. Know that we have always been willing to work with users that have ever has problems with the way things work (think NEStalgia, Eternia, and other standalone games) and that Lee will do this down the line. But IMO something better should be builtin. | |
I think with a wider audience, patreon could work for BYOND. It seems to be where things are going. Subscription based pledges seem to have a longer term benefit for projects so far.
| |
Any modification to the current "model" defiantly needs to include more education and training. If we really want performance from our developers...
| |
I just hope Lee doesnt mess things up and abuse his position. since i dont think I know him well or at all
| |
Ss4gogeta0 wrote:
I just hope Lee doesnt mess things up and abuse his position. since i dont think I know him well or at all The former is more likely, but hopefully I can keep messing up to a minimum. :) | |
Ss4gogeta0 wrote:
I just hope Lee doesnt mess things up and abuse his position. since i dont think I know him well or at all C'mon now, we're not talking about Nadrew here. | |
Lummox JR wrote:
Ss4gogeta0 wrote: yep hopefully. and with all the byond games getting greenlighted on steam, hopefully BYOND can get more exposure and we can have another influx of noobs sometime soon :) Nadrew wrote: Ss4gogeta0 wrote: nah, your fine. oh, what ever happened to that Final Fantasy game you were working on years back? | |
Well, the bright side is that in the event Lummox fails to deliver, I'm next in line to become the hokage of BYOND.
Then everything will be fine. Believe it! | |
but... what was the rule about anime based games?
  so we can now list DBZ Zeta rips like in the past? if so then I will get my game re-listed ;) | |
They're 100% allowed. Just can't call it that on the hub. It's the most idiotic thing ever, but I don't care enough to complain
| |
What is your opinion on this community  Butt seriously, Empirez is our community's friendly troll. You can assume that everything that he says is a joke. I really don't think building a community is Lummox's goal. He's always been more focused on the software. | |
NullQuery wrote:
1. Are you open to the idea of sharing a time line for BYOND software development? What bugs me [about being a developer that uses BYOND] is that you rarely get updates on developments. You only get to know something has been done, not that it's going to be done, there's no clear release cycle... without being in direct contact it's impossible to know what's in store ahead of time. I've mentioned what some of my near-term and future plans are, but an exact timeline isn't something I can commit to. However, I do want to be a little more regular about discussing the development process and what's going on, so people are in the loop as to pending updates and whatnot. 2. On that note, when will 508.1287 be released? I love the idea of exception handling & it's the main thing holding me back right now (experience shows I should not write code that I can't control or end up with an unsustainable codebase) 508.1287 will be out very soon, but I've held back because I'm trying to squeeze a few more features into it--features that really need to be done when the major version is bumped, because they impact world compatibility. For instance, I just got MouseWheel in, and Ter13 has impressed upon me the benefit of having maptext_x/y so I'm going to get those in as well. (I have some plans for icon management involving new datums, but those will have to wait for 509.) I'm also waiting to get a BSD setup from Tom so that I can do a BSD build (that's very close but he's still working on it), and would rather get that done for 507.1286 before checking in code for 508 so no wires get crossed. Hence another reason I'm willing to get more features in that involve new vars or keywords. My hope is that I can get 508.1287 out tomorrow, but if not then we'll be probably looking at Monday. I don't really want to push it past that, as I have a lot of webclient work to do that will be part of the later 508 builds, and I know people are anxious to start playing with the new features. 3. What is your opinion on this community and can you tell us how your viewpoint may differ from Tom's? I see posts like these which are intended as a tongue-in-cheek, but people coming into this community for the first time may not see it that way (especially if they're skimming the forum). I take it as a joke too, and I think newbies are likely to see it the same way. He's just being funny, and I appreciate his sense of humor. Livens things up a little without being mean. | |
I want to assure you guys that the system is in a much better place than it has ever been from both at technical and business perspective, and I believe Lee is fully capable of taking over without disruption to his normal work. I wouldn't have done this if I didn't feel this way and that was the real reason this didn't happen earlier.
I have worked very hard to make everything as automated as possible (it was my goal, after all, to have this be able to run seamlessly in the background while I skirted off to Vegas!). Although the business part isn't so great right now, it does bring in regular income and a few of the things we've instilled (ads & commissions) have shown real scaling potential. This is a big step up from where we were when I made my first foray into "BYOND the business" many years ago. This is important because, so long as the project can bring in a reasonable wage for Lee, he can focus on improving the software, which is what people really want. The last thing you want is for him to start worrying about how to pay the bills, because that's what got us in this mess in the first place!
I want to be clear that I'm not leaving BYOND because I don't believe in it. To the contrary, I think this is going to do very well. There may be a bit of a lull as we are wont to have from time to time, but once a few of the webclient games take off, I think you'll see a great new age of BYOND. No, I am leaving for the opposite reason: I believe the project is on the cusp of a real breakthrough, and if this happens, it will require a great deal more work and responsibility than I am able to invest. Better have someone at the top who is eager for this success. I wish him and you all the best!
And with that...