This is a thread dedicated to coordinating the overhaul of GMC Jam Player. This includes:
I suppose if things go well, it may be easily expanded into a general-purpose Jam Player (not only for GMC Jams specifically) so that it can be used for other game jams, too.
Expanding into a general-purpose Jam Player has the added advantage of attracting more potential contributors.
Technology
In other words, which framework/engine/codebase should be used for Jam Player application (and potential other applications).
So far it seems like .NET + C# + WPF would be the best choice, but it's because it's my preferred UI codebase, so of course it's easier for me to point out its advantages. The biggest potential problem is having not enough contributors (though there's already one person willing to help there).
If someone has remarks about other technologies they're familiar with (whether the ones listed or not mentioned here), feel free to share.
Whichever technology we choose, I assume there'd be a public GitHub repository with all the codebase. That'd make it easier for people to contribute as well.
Functionality
The list of functionality of Jam Player and possibly other related apps.
To be included...
- Making development decisions regarding the player (possibly other tools, too)
- Gathering people who could help develop the Jam Player
- Gathering planned features list and giving them concrete shape (designing the UX, underlying structures etc.)
- Posting builds for testing and playing around with
I suppose if things go well, it may be easily expanded into a general-purpose Jam Player (not only for GMC Jams specifically) so that it can be used for other game jams, too.
Expanding into a general-purpose Jam Player has the added advantage of attracting more potential contributors.
Technology
In other words, which framework/engine/codebase should be used for Jam Player application (and potential other applications).
Right now, I would consider one of these three, on the ground that I'm completely unfamiliar with anything else:
- .NET + C#
Within .NET, I'd use Windows Presentation Foundation frontend. An alternative within .NET codebase would be UWP, but it's not supported on Windows before 10.
+ I am very familiar with it, so I can setup the foundation
++ In fact, I might have some foundation already from my earlier work on Jam Entry Packager
+ It has conventional controls out of the box (textboxes, dropdowns and such)
+ Tried and tested on previous Jam Player (but I don't have the old player codebase)
? There might or might not be many people willing and able to help using .NET + C# - Electron
I think it's somewhat popular recently? It's this sort of browser-in-a-desktop-app technology, based on HTML/CSS/JS if I'm not mistaken.
+ It has conventional controls out of the box
+ More cross-platform, I think (though it's more of an advantage for general-purpose Jam Player, rather than GMC Jam Player specifically)
? Based on HTML/CSS/JS which should be well-known, but I don't know how well-liked (again, how easy would it be to find contributors)
? Has additional design decision related to which set of frameworks/libraries to use, if at all (for example Angular)
- Not familiar with it, so I wouldn't be able to easily setup the foundation - GameMaker
I think I don't need to explain this one.
+ Many people here are familiar with it, so it's easier to find someone who can contribute
? There would be some work involved with exploring, loading and running the files, maybe?
- Has no conventional controls out of the box, we'd either need to code them ourselves or find good and free Marketplace assets
If someone has remarks about other technologies they're familiar with (whether the ones listed or not mentioned here), feel free to share.
Whichever technology we choose, I assume there'd be a public GitHub repository with all the codebase. That'd make it easier for people to contribute as well.
Functionality
The list of functionality of Jam Player and possibly other related apps.
To be included...