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 IDE Feedback

LunaticEdit

Member
While the IDE is great in general, I have a few issues that either affect my productivity using it, or makes certain aspects almost useless. I've also put in a few minor annoyances for completion sake:

  1. When scrolling in the workspace view, the view stops scrolling when the mouse hits the edge of the window. If this is an infinite scrolling workspace, I'd expect middle button scroll to hide my mouse and allow continuous scrolling. As a trackball user this is exceptionally annoying.
  2. We need the ability to restore zoom to 100% (or do a modal style popup) when clicking on a code window while zoomed out on the workspace. The font rendering is terrible when it is resampled and I can see no practical use case for coding in a 75% zoom window.
  3. Tabs need to have better captions when working on events. It's common for me to have 3 tabs called "Create" and 4 more called "Step" all side by side in the code editor tab. It'd make more sense for it to say "Create [objName]" or similar.
  4. The syntax error warnings are useless. When my project fails to build, I have to comb through the build output to find the one line out of a hundred that starts with "Error: ". It's cool if it is in the log like this, but could we at least color it red and make it clickable to open the offending file at the offending line (ala VS)?
  5. Map component box. So I use objects for things other than sprites/rendering. These objects have no visual icons. Currently I just place them on the top left corner of the map above the actual map area, but it'd be nice if there was a component box somewhere where you can place objects that are FOR the map, but not ON the map. They can have an x/y of 0/0 or whatever.
  6. Are you guys using libFreeType? The font rendering (kerning/cleartext) is pretty terrible, even with aliasing turned on.
  7. Block cursor pls? (as apposed to the thin blinking |)
  8. Can we have the option to set default collision mask style for new sprites? It's annoying when I'm creating 50 of them, and every single one I have to change. Likewise with things like grid size defaults and such.
  9. Can we have a more 'professional' skin? It looks neat and all, but the white theme is pretty terrible. I wish there was a Windows 10 style theme that was clear with straight lines and no distractions or frilly UI accents.
  10. Why does it count the time a project is open? How does this even work when multiple people are working on the same project? I keep my project open 24 hours a day so it makes absolutely no sense on my project files.
Again this is a great product and I've convinced my friend to purchase two licenses as well so don't take my list the wrong way, just giving feedback!
 
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Guest

Guest
Tabs need to have better captions when working on events. It's common for me to have 3 tabs called "Create" and 4 more called "Step" all side by side in the code editor tab. It'd make more sense for it to say "Create [objName]" or similar.
In one of the GMS:2 reviews I read, the author said that the new IDE was cool but he expected that, after the novelty wore off, he'd just maximize everything and work that way. And that is right on point. It just seems to be easiest to have all the scripts and events you're working with maximized.

I'd also request to including each object's events as an expandable list for each object in the resource tree. "Open all events" is a good start, but then you get all those identical tabs.
 

LunaticEdit

Member
I've also included a font comparison:



This is an absolute mess and I'm pretty sure most people will agree.
I've also noticed you cannot copy/paste to and from the IDE's code editor.
 

DesArts

Member
I agree with a few of these but I want to offer some comments on some:

1: Doesn't happen for me
2: You can reset the workspace zoom with the main toolbar. It may be useful for code but I mean it's there and it's easy
6: Font rendering is a bit different yeah, but you mentioned no copy/pasting also, I just tried and I can do that.
9: There are user-created skins available if you search
 

LunaticEdit

Member
I agree with a few of these but I want to offer some comments on some:

1: Doesn't happen for me
2: You can reset the workspace zoom with the main toolbar, maybe useful for code but I mean it's there
6: Font rendering is a bit different yeah, but you mentioned no copy/pasting also, I just tried and I can do that.
9: There are user-created skins available if you search
For number 1 and 6, I wonder if maybe it is a compatibility issue with my particular configuration then? I also have the annoying issue where if GMS2 is my active window, and i try to left click on my start bar, the cursor jumps to a different location -- only happens with GMS2 active. I have a slightly upgraded Alienware R6 with a GTX1060, so I'm not sure what would cause this.
 

DesArts

Member
For number 1 and 6, I wonder if maybe it is a compatibility issue with my particular configuration then? I also have the annoying issue where if GMS2 is my active window, and i try to left click on my start bar, the cursor jumps to a different location -- only happens with GMS2 active. I have a slightly upgraded Alienware R6 with a GTX1060, so I'm not sure what would cause this.
Yeah that is strange, none of that sort of thing happening here.
The actual font rendering is new though, that's not just you.
 

LunaticEdit

Member

Proof that i'm not crazy. Notice I cannot scroll once my cursor hits the screen edge. When i click my start bar, i don't move my mouse. I have a trackball and my thumb is nowhere near the ball when I click it.
 
I

iluvfuz

Guest
#1 is deliberate, to my understanding. Not sure why other people say they have it differently. The middle mouse behavior is the same Space+Drag gesture in GMS2 and other applications to navigate. The infinite scrolling you refer to is usually disorienting, unintuitive, and easy to get lost for a lot of users, including me. It could be worth being an option, certainly, or providing better wheel/trackball support for navigating the workspace.

#6 is absolutely an issue and very obvious at smaller font sizes, or even normal sized Consolas as in your picture. I think improved font rendering is coming, but I don't have much hopes if the current state made it through.

#9 is something I railed against pre-release, the garish design used in what I assume was an effort to appeal to inexperienced users. I ended up setting up a customizable flat theme if you'd like to try it. I just released a light theme alongside the dark versions: https://forum.yoyogames.com/index.p...kin-for-gms2-light-dark-updated-may-27.22123/
 

LunaticEdit

Member
#1 is deliberate, to my understanding. Not sure why other people say they have it differently. The middle mouse behavior is the same Space+Drag gesture in GMS2 and other applications to navigate. The infinite scrolling you refer to is usually disorienting, unintuitive, and easy to get lost for a lot of users, including me. It could be worth being an option, certainly, or providing better wheel/trackball support for navigating the workspace.

#6 is absolutely an issue and very obvious at smaller font sizes, or even normal sized Consolas as in your picture. I think improved font rendering is coming, but I don't have much hopes if the current state made it through.

#9 is something I railed against pre-release, the garish design used in what I assume was an effort to appeal to inexperienced users. I ended up setting up a customizable flat theme if you'd like to try it. I just released a light theme alongside the dark versions: https://forum.yoyogames.com/index.p...kin-for-gms2-light-dark-updated-may-27.22123/
Thank you VERY much! The dark blue theme makes my autism much less problematic when staring at the UI! There's a reason why microsoft and mac got away from the bubbly frilly lines and accents on their GUIs.
 
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Guest

Guest
#9 is something I railed against pre-release, the garish design used in what I assume was an effort to appeal to inexperienced users.
On that subject, I wish they'd nix the rad catchphrases on the loadscreen. "Eatsleepmakegamesrepeat"? That's just sad. It's so, so sad, the catchphrase equivalent of a needy stare from your emotionally starved secretary. It'd be nice if it presented a more confident, professional image. Unity's not trying to be anything other than a powerful, focused software tool, why can't YYG follow suit?

Edit: And, yeah, YYG's in an awkward spot. I imagine a huge chunk of their revenue comes fromthe extreme young hobbyist crowd, which is why D&D still exists, but they also seem to be trying to become the go-to 2D develop tool for professional devs by leveraging the success of the breakout indies that've used GMS .
 
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