Well, I thought I'd start a thread that asks what do you love about Game Guru rather than what you don't. There's many people who have been around as long as me, it must be doing something right after all.

For me I really like the basic interface for building your map. It's not too far off perfect for me, bar a few niggles. I find the options for changing sky types, ambience levels and colour etc really quick and easy to instantly transform a maps look from average to great. I also love how easy it is to integrate Lua code for things, much easier than other engines coding languages in general. It's really quick to get an idea up and running in no time.

For instance I started a little Xmas demo on, lol, Xmas Eve, perhaps a tad too late. Even so, despite it transforming from the simple premise I started with (I just can't help myself), after only a week of intermittent work (Xmas after all), I have a working game that just needs a little polish and a little more "fun bits" added. Perhaps next Xmas it will be a Steam candidate, you never know. I have plenty of time to get it just so.

I'm always amazed at the speed a game can come together with Game Guru, even after all these years of using it. The fact I could practically put a game straight on Steam, with no real fuss is always nice, although, I wouldn't unless I was at least 90% happy with it, which is always an issue for me Perfectionist to the extreme.

Anyway, there's a few things I like, nay love, I could probably add a couple more things, but I'll leave that to you guys

I love the way I can write my scripts and test them almost instantly, and usually the error info it gives me points straight to the problem when they don't work (the one big exception here is when the error is sprite related!).

Simple to use,i am no coder so i love the way you can just jump in and get dirty.And see results strait away,not always good (but that is down to me )

Dave

Easy to use, well I like the map editor.
Not to overloaded hahahaha

I like the simple interface and because I'm a man of code and not 3D modeled I love the amount of models.
I can work on a project of 250,000 lines of code but I can not do a simple model that will looks good.

The ease of use and the community behind GameGuru.
I'm also fairly certain that when the EBE is done and the AI has been overhauled, there will be many new users due to the ease of use of this game engine.

I like the way all the shaders are open and available to change.

Cheers.

Its a powerful and friendly tool for story telling. Its like a dream comes true. You spend time in learning Modeling, texturing, Rigging, Muscle, Animation, Dynamic, video and sound editing...... and then there is scripting... Its a nightmare that if you dont know scripting you cant make a game... Here Game guru play's its important role... First i thought its a small program... But once your friendship becomes stronger with game guru... You realize that its actually a complex software... you can do alot things with this software according to your knowledge... Any one who want to jump in Gaming industry... Game Guru should be your first step... Then you will know your limit, problem, production pipeline and etc... So before investing a huge amount of money in gaming industry... why not give a try "Game Guru". I recommend this software....

you can create easy nice scenes....

Great topic DVader, you beat me to it!

I actually love this product. When I joined as a bronze pledge backer, it was a little disappointing that it went live when it did because I really wanted to pledge again as a Gold backer, not because of the extra keys and DLC that were on offer but because I just wanted (still do) to give the devs more cash to get this cool engine off the ground and into orbit.

Before Game Guru I had zero experience with any 3D software of any kind. Now I can't remember how but I came across another engine that was similar at least as far as creating the terrain, like hills and water, and adding models and stuff to your level. It also had some really nice test levels and I just thought I really want to get into this! But the problem was that at least on my machine it was so unstable that I couldn't dig a whole and create water without it crashing.

But that sent me looking for other similar software which is when I found Game Guru (FPSC Reloaded at the time). the first thing that impressed me was its stability.

So with all that spill out of the way here are some of the things I love about Lees handiwork:
1) Stabiliy - I can run it for hours and it never crashes
2) The map editor - not three or four little windows to fluff around with, just one full screen (well almost) view of what you are building.
3) The map editor - no clutter just the few tools you need to create awesome worlds
4) F9 editor - at first perhaps a little hard to get used to, but now, it is the only way I edit my terrain. in fact I have been working on some models that require the terrain to be raised or lowered to a fairly precise height, and I find it actually really easy to get Game Guru to comply.
5)Fun Facter - i just find it fun to work (Play) with
6) Game Guru Community - few forums out in cyber world allow to be a complete noob in a respectful and non judgmental way and are just so willing to pass on information and help you out the way this forum does - I really think that this forum community is a huge asset to Game Guru
7) The devs - How many people do you know that take all the criticism and mud slinging that Lee does, and still keep plugging on

OK, ok, so i guess I am a fanboy!

Reliquia....

Thought we could do with a positive start to the new year rather than the normal what does GG need threads we always get. GG has many positives as well as it's bad points, just that the issues are the main focus generally.

I'll also add the massive amount of media is awesome as well, it gives you a great way to get started and get something together quickly. You can then purchase or create more suitable media down the line (if you feel you need to). I've seen quite a few games out there that while not made in GG, the media is without doubt from it or the store. It's never really given any Kudos for this, and often criticised as being old. While I agree to a point, I also realise this is free media and as such really hard to complain about. Really, compared to any other engine I have used, the amount of default media included is huge, which should really help when first getting it I should imagine.

I love Game Guru for the following reasons:

1 - It delivers on what the makers openly said about it... (1) The learning curve isn't too steep, and (2) The price isn't to steep...

I have tried other game editing software packages (at least a dozen) and some cost a lot more and I couldn't get the stuff to work. I've tried stuff that was free, others that cost in the hundreds of dollars, and I have tried the free trials of other stuff that the full versions cost $5,000, $20,000, or more, and some of the other popular big names (who I will refrain from naming) and I couldn't get any of those systems to do what I wanted.

2 - I also loved GG because the makers of the software said they would keep working on developing the software and would give updates to take care of some issues, and they actually did what they said they would do. Thank you for the honesty and dedication. I have seen some complaints on some websites from 1 or 2 years ago, and nearly all of those issues with GG, that were listed, have been fixed. I also like it when the features list has things checked off because they were fixed.

3 - I also love that the GG forum has nice people that are respectful and kind to others.

When I used other types of game editing software and I asked for some help, I either got no answer at all, or I got some arrogant snide remarks that basically insinuated that I was too stupid to use their software because I wasn't an expert programmer like they were.

4 - I also love the great help you can find on the GG forum. I have had some difficulty figuring some things out and when I post my questions, in a short period of time, people give comments that are very helpful.

Thanks one and all.

5 - I love that GG helped my dream come true... I have wanted to build my own games since I saw some games in the 1990's that had their own game editors, but until GG came out, I couldn't find good software that would allow me to do what I wanted, and that would allow me to sell my games royalty free.

6 - I Like that I have even had some good correspondence with the maker(s) of GG.

7 – I like that a lot of models and scripts are either free or low costing in the GG store.

8 – It is rare that I like a company, their employees, and their product so much that I would be willing to beg them to keep up the good work, but I do like the folks at TGC and GG that much.

Please keep up the great work, because I feel that if you made this software for only 1 person in the whole world, it was me, and I'm getting treated like a king.

Thanks one and all at TGC.

- Thanks for this thread DVader. It's a good idea.

The Community : This is the friendliest and most likeable game development community and its the primary reason why I just don't feel like getting all too deep in another engine. I've spoken about this a lot and don't want to drag this thread down with too much negativity.
The differences in attitude here compared to the unity or ue4 boards are so severe that they cripple the other engines for me.

Speed: I don't have open afternoons the way I did in my teens anymore and in game guru you can have a visually appealing game up and running in a few evenings of work. People assure me that you can do this in unity, but when I check the time span that eroded between conception and release of one-man games...its usually significant.

Ease of use and familiarity: Its easy and similar to FPSCreator which I used before.

True Non Coder: LUA scripts are easy to mix and match and the community is here to help. Its a true non-coder. I'm dyscalculic and thus am certainly not going to program game code. My brain is just not wired that way. In GG I don't have to.

Fun: Its funsies!











Examples of what I can do without really knowing what I'm doing

Last but not least:

Limitations: This might seem contradictory but I like the slight restrictions.
In other engines: The sky is the limit nowadays. And I'd get lost in the possibilities and dream too big. Resulting in ideas and projects I could never complete. In GG I have to work with the restrictions, design something managable and eventually release a finished game!!



-Wolf

Gameguru is a school for me.
I have learned many things about game development, 3d design, scripts, etc.
It is absolutely easy to build a fantasy world, and lose yourself in it.
And the community is simply wonderful.

@ Wolf
Hey mate, about those 2 extra polys i the last shot, perhaps you has to revise the normals.

3com

Lol, strange for wolf to overlook something like that!

I new the wife was out that night .

Dave

Oh, Great Game Guru, how do I love thee? Reminded me of a poem

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height (y, x, and z)
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight (I have a smartphone)
For the ends of being and ideal grace. (Lee takes criticism like a pro)
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. (I can create in the dark, I have a screen and my keyboard is back-lit)
I love thee freely, as men strive for right. (EBE. 'nuff said)
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. (I'm not even sure what that means, so I really can't say anything, it's a poem for cryin' out loud!)
I love thee with the passion put to use (Anyone who has used GG should be able to relate)
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith. (I've wanted to make a decent game since Pong. I've tried almost all the other engines. Grief is a mild description)
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose (The community brings me back; there's always something new going in the forums!)
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death. (<--this one I doubt because I'll be dead, but until then, you got me!)

I've mentioned, you can make nice environments, with just few rocks and stones?



Hey Jerry, nice poem here.

3com

I can agree with pretty much every positive note listed already. In a word, Simplicity. I'm a very busy guy with a large family dealing with international life and I work on 95% of my project issues by myself, from initial late night ideas to finished models, audio, and playable apps. With the many other aspects of design that I also deal with, GameGuru is the one and only 3D engine that shows me results as fast and usually as painlessly as I need to see them whether it's a quick test or the final rendition of something.

It's easy to see what you're doing. Simple icons, low clutter. Coding of any kind is kept to an absolute minimum. As Wolf said, my brain doesn't work that way. With GG, I can avoid it almost entirely or find help from a 3rd party when I really can't go any farther by myself.

The community is undoubtedly the best. The "good dude/know it all" ratio is so much better than I have been a part of with any other development community. It's rare that humble, friendly, and informative come together so well between a group of users, even when they truly are 100 times better at something than most of the people they are talking with.

It's hard to beat. For what it is, maybe impossible to beat.

Looking forward to a VR experience with one or two of Wolf's characters.

Sorry about the "extra polygons" folks, family friendly forums and all!

I see we are all listing very similar points What is also wonderful about the community is the amount of free stuff being shared. I think that makes it easy for the newbies!



-Wolf

I tried the demo games "The great escape" and "Morning moutain stroll", trying to finish them, i could not imagine levels was so big , they looked like coming from a commercial game despite repetitive or lack of better level design.

About GG editing when you want to use your own assets, there is definitively areas to improve indeed.
This could be some interfaces to import models and textures to add stuff for the character editor, another panel to easy customize weapons and their effects. Make it easy to import terrain textures on the fly with automatic DDS conversion.
Also some integrated FPE text editor without having to open some explorer and Notepad.
If these improvments would happen , it could also become an easy FPS modding kit anyone could mod without having to bother about folders, files or textures conversion.

On the other side for beginners, there is no other software like GG when it says it's "Easy game maker".
Weapons are ready to use like characters with AI , you have a big library of assets that can also be used to make your game or prototype. You just drop these on the level and your game is already running. There is also the character editor is a great feature that you won't find in some other software.
The software is amazing because it has a complete game framework ready to use, for beginners it is better than having to deal with a complex game engine.

I only hope it will get proper modern light rendering, and some improvments.