COWCAT
Member
Even though I've been using GMS 2.0 for a while (for Nintendo Switch ports especially), I've only recently fully switched to it.
While there are many aspects I love (tabs and bookmarks for scripts <3, CTRL+T to search on resource names...), there's also some inconvenient stuff.
- The sprite origin indicator is WAY too small. I guess most people must work on pixel art games as it's a decent size for lower res, but with high res graphics I strain my eyes trying to find where it could be located. Why isn't this indicator sized relatively to the picture dimension?
Seriously, where IS the sprite origin here?!
Now compare to GMS 1.4 :
It was way more noticeable in GMS 1 (though could be improved)
- I've already said it prior but... Why don't sprites, font etc open in tabs like the scripts?
Having to scroll up and down is very cumbersome - and where's the scrolling bar? Why don't page up/page down or arrow keys work?
The only way to scroll seems to be with mouse wheel scroll / wheel button and that makes it unusable. I can't remember any software doing that kind of thing.
So I prefer opening them directly from resources tree or CTRL+T which makes the whole thing pointless. (yes I know there's right click context menu but it requires too much clicks and precise mouse movements to make it worthwhile)
If you're going to open windows instead of tabs, at least open them one onto another on the same screen like it did in GMS 1 and like most software. Don't put each new one waaaaay below the first one making it difficult to navigate from one to another...
Or even better, just open one sprite at a time (maximized) and close the previous one. We're not going to work on several at the same time anyway. Just make navigation easier.
This is the weirdest aspect of the UI of GMS 2.0 to me.
- Why can't I at least maximize the sprite window? All this wasted space around... I can resize it but it has to be done everytime I open a new sprite. Could it be possible to implement double click on a window to maximize? This is a serious step back from GMS 1 which had that maximize button.
- How do I import a single picture into a sprite frame? It seems the "Import" button erases ALL frames in the animation so the only way is to have all the sprite file s available in one directory to (re)import them all... but sometimes it's not the case. So I have to re-export all frames from my base files. This isn't convenient. GMS 1.4 did not have this annoying behavior, you could import a single file. Or did I miss something?
- Reorder texture groups. OK, this wasn't a possibility in GMS 1.4 either and it's probably minor to most people but I have about 50 texture groups (I'm making a huge adventure game) and I've created them progressively. Now it's a mess and I can't sort them alphabetically to make choosing them easier. Don't say it's not possible - because it ALREADY does a full reorder/reassigning when you delete a group! (I've checked and the indices get changed everywhere) Well, even without changing indices I believe *displaying* them in alphabetical order shouldn't be too difficult?
- Scripts : when doing CTRL+F a small box appears in the corner. Is there any "next/previous" keyboard shortcuts? If not, it'd be great to at least use ENTER to go to the next entry. And why can't we do CTRL + F again to close it, or via another shortcut? Requiring to click on a tiny cross or the buttons all the time is cumbersome. I'd prefer being able to do everything with the keyboard only.
- I cannot use PIX anymore. (a very convenient tool to check how much VRAM a game actually use and which textures are loaded)
I'm guessing it's due to DirectX11. I've tried to download a newer version and... It won't work because apparently, PIX only supports 64 bits processes now...
So I figured, let's use the debugger! After all, it's supposed to display the surfaces and textures. Right?...
Wrong. I put the game in "pause" and this is what I get.
The graphics tab is "empty", both textures and surfaces. There's only a list - no size, no thumbnail. Am I missing something?... Tested with several projects, all the same.
To be totally fair it has always been wonky in GMS 1.4 too, it never was clear which textures were actually loaded in VRAM and most surfaces didn't display. But at least it worked a little...
Let me know if you have suggestions on those things that could make my life easier
While there are many aspects I love (tabs and bookmarks for scripts <3, CTRL+T to search on resource names...), there's also some inconvenient stuff.
- The sprite origin indicator is WAY too small. I guess most people must work on pixel art games as it's a decent size for lower res, but with high res graphics I strain my eyes trying to find where it could be located. Why isn't this indicator sized relatively to the picture dimension?
Seriously, where IS the sprite origin here?!
Now compare to GMS 1.4 :
It was way more noticeable in GMS 1 (though could be improved)
- I've already said it prior but... Why don't sprites, font etc open in tabs like the scripts?
Having to scroll up and down is very cumbersome - and where's the scrolling bar? Why don't page up/page down or arrow keys work?
The only way to scroll seems to be with mouse wheel scroll / wheel button and that makes it unusable. I can't remember any software doing that kind of thing.
So I prefer opening them directly from resources tree or CTRL+T which makes the whole thing pointless. (yes I know there's right click context menu but it requires too much clicks and precise mouse movements to make it worthwhile)
If you're going to open windows instead of tabs, at least open them one onto another on the same screen like it did in GMS 1 and like most software. Don't put each new one waaaaay below the first one making it difficult to navigate from one to another...
Or even better, just open one sprite at a time (maximized) and close the previous one. We're not going to work on several at the same time anyway. Just make navigation easier.
This is the weirdest aspect of the UI of GMS 2.0 to me.
- Why can't I at least maximize the sprite window? All this wasted space around... I can resize it but it has to be done everytime I open a new sprite. Could it be possible to implement double click on a window to maximize? This is a serious step back from GMS 1 which had that maximize button.
- How do I import a single picture into a sprite frame? It seems the "Import" button erases ALL frames in the animation so the only way is to have all the sprite file s available in one directory to (re)import them all... but sometimes it's not the case. So I have to re-export all frames from my base files. This isn't convenient. GMS 1.4 did not have this annoying behavior, you could import a single file. Or did I miss something?
- Reorder texture groups. OK, this wasn't a possibility in GMS 1.4 either and it's probably minor to most people but I have about 50 texture groups (I'm making a huge adventure game) and I've created them progressively. Now it's a mess and I can't sort them alphabetically to make choosing them easier. Don't say it's not possible - because it ALREADY does a full reorder/reassigning when you delete a group! (I've checked and the indices get changed everywhere) Well, even without changing indices I believe *displaying* them in alphabetical order shouldn't be too difficult?
- Scripts : when doing CTRL+F a small box appears in the corner. Is there any "next/previous" keyboard shortcuts? If not, it'd be great to at least use ENTER to go to the next entry. And why can't we do CTRL + F again to close it, or via another shortcut? Requiring to click on a tiny cross or the buttons all the time is cumbersome. I'd prefer being able to do everything with the keyboard only.
- I cannot use PIX anymore. (a very convenient tool to check how much VRAM a game actually use and which textures are loaded)
I'm guessing it's due to DirectX11. I've tried to download a newer version and... It won't work because apparently, PIX only supports 64 bits processes now...
So I figured, let's use the debugger! After all, it's supposed to display the surfaces and textures. Right?...
Wrong. I put the game in "pause" and this is what I get.
The graphics tab is "empty", both textures and surfaces. There's only a list - no size, no thumbnail. Am I missing something?... Tested with several projects, all the same.
To be totally fair it has always been wonky in GMS 1.4 too, it never was clear which textures were actually loaded in VRAM and most surfaces didn't display. But at least it worked a little...
Let me know if you have suggestions on those things that could make my life easier