Online since 1998
Annoyed Tomatoes Back Online
It took a while, but now I’m starting to master Stencyl. After nearly two years of working on many unfinished Stencyl projects, I finally finished a full game. Today, Annoyed Tomatoes returns as an online Flash game. Annoyed Tomatoes originated as an iOS app, which was meant to be an Angry Birds clone. But somehow, it morphed into a shooter. Yeah, it’s a little goofy, but it’s part of Photics history. It was also a great learning experience. Now I’m better prepared for completing my Stencyl book.
Bringing Back Bot
I have great plans for this website — like launching another book and creating an online arcade — but I’ll have to grind through some tedious work first. I’m thinking about bringing back BOT. This could be the first complete game in the new Photics Arcade. But to do that, I’ll have to port the project from GameSalad to Stencyl. It’s quite mundane work, but I’m making great progress. I’ll be posting comments in this post about my progress, so you can follow along.
ROUND 2: GameSalad vs Stencyl
A little over three months ago, I posted an assessment of two powerful game creation applications. Which one would win in a fight? I didn’t really declare a winner, as choosing between Stencyl or GameSalad is essentially a matter of preference. Yet, things did not stand still. During the last three months, one of the competitors dramatically improved. That competitor is GameSalad. Is there a clear winner in the game development battle now?
Stencyl Officially Upgraded to 2.0
Production level — what does that mean to you? When is software ready to leave beta or be labeled with a new integer? When should software hit the point-0 mark… 1.0, 2.0, 3.0? If you’re GameSalad, three years is not enough time. If you’re running Firefox or Chrome, it seems like every other Monday. But with Stencyl, I think that they’ve got a good pace going. The numbers are ticking by quickly, but so are the new features. Version 2.0 is a significant change from the previous 1.4 version.
GameSalad vs Stencyl
OK, it seems a lot of you are hitting my website because you searched for “GameSalad vs. Stencyl” or “iStencyl vs. GameSalad”. As the author of The Unofficial GameSalad Textbook, it seems that my answer to that challenge might be highly biased. Yet, an honest answer can be determined by my actions — or inaction. My GameSalad subscription has expired. I haven’t renewed. That’s because iStencyl gives me more development power at a cheaper price. Yet, what if you prefer simplicity over power? What works for me might not work for you. That’s why I decided to write a guide, to help you decide which drag-and-drop editor is best for you.