GameSalad & Popular Mechanics Present Be the Spark

By laurensalad on 12/13/2011

Created in collaboration with GameSalad’s own Game Team One, Popular Mechanics has just released “Be The Spark”. Be the Spark, is a simple mechanics game that challenges the player to keep an engine running by triggering the spark plug at the right moment during the four-stroke cycle. The free app is available for download on the iTunes App Store.

The “delightfully geeky” app first appeared within the monthly iPad subscription of Popular Mechanics. The app was initially conceptualized as a partnership between GameSalad and Popular Mechanics to showcase the prospects of DIY game creation, specifically with GameSalad software. Stating that, “anyone with creativity and some doggedness can use GameSalad’s software to build a game without doing any programming.”

Popular Mechanics also featured GameSalad in a previous article on game creation by John Herrman. Herrman stated that, “using GameSalad feels more like editing a PowerPoint presentation than developing a mobile application. Two hours after opening the program, I had my own side-scrolling space shooter in the can. It wasn’t quite ready for the App Store—my “spaceship” was a crude cutout of my head, and my “laser battles” took place against a photo background of my living room—but nonetheless, it was a game. A few more days of practice could have netted something presentable. It’s easy to let your imagination run away with GameSalad, which is probably the point.”

GameSalad is proud to announce that in the coming week we will be releasing a free game template and art asset pack from the Be the Spark game. The items will be available for free download on GameSalad Marketplace. We encourage aspiring game makers to use these materials and explore the world of DIY game development for yourself.

Source: Popular Mechanics

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GameSalad to Integrate Kiip Reward System

By GameSalad Blog on 11/29/2011

Hi everyone,

Today we’re excited to announce a partnership that will bring a brand new monetization option to GameSalad Professional developers. In the coming weeks, we will launch integration of the Kiip achievement-based rewards system inside GameSalad Creator.

For developers looking for an alternative to simple banner ads, Kiip offers a unique and engaging approach to mobile in-game advertising. Based on “achievement moments,” Kiip provides gamers with real world rewards from established brands in return for their virtual gaming achievements. These achievements can range anywhere from reaching a high score, to completing a level, or winning a boss battle.

Kiip seamlessly presents advertisements in a meaningful way by offering tangible rewards that are far more compelling than the typical static banner ads you see in many free-to-play games. By attaching the reward to an in-game accomplishment, developers can put more emphasis on designing achievements and control where and when the advertisements are shown, eliminating the negative association players have traditionally felt with in-game ads. Kiip is a cool alternative form of advertisement designed specifically for the mobile gaming experience.

Kiip brings a number of top brands to GameSalad’s community of Professional developers, including Kodak, Best Buy, Popchips™, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM and vitaminwater, among others.

Kiip integration is currently undergoing final testing and is slated for launch to all Professional GameSalad members in mid-December. We’re excited to offer this new monetization opportunity to our Pro developers and hope you all are able to reap the rewards.

Cheers,

Steve

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GameSalad Users in the News: Quantum Sheep

By laurensalad on 11/10/2011

We are proud to announce that GameSalad developer Quantum Sheep, was featured today on 148Apps.com.

In the article, 148Apps’ Jennifer Allen reviews Quantum Sheep’s newest release, Sunshine- Here Comes The Sun. This is a cheerful shooter game featuring eight worlds of game play. Sunshine- Here Comes the Sun is available for iPhone and iPad for 99 cents and $1.99, respectively.

“What better way than to boost a mood than by shooting clouds with sun rays? That’s precisely what Sunshine – Here comes the Sun aims to provide and it does so with pretty enjoyable results.”

“Minor niggles aside and Sunshine – Here comes the Sun is a very pleasant game to play. Everything seems like it’s been designed to invoke a smile, right down to the collection of hats that can be found and then worn by the Sun. They don’t affect anything but they’re cute. It’s those subtle touches that make Sunshine – Here comes the Sun a cut above the rest and an ideal game for all the family.”

Read more: http://www.148apps.com/reviews/sunshine-sun-review/#ixzz1dLNn4jcr

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Android Publishing: Testing on an Android device

By Yodapollo on 11/10/2011

To help introduce our community to the world of Android publishing, we’ve prepared a series of Tutorials and Reference Guides for the Android Market. What follows is a part of that series, focusing on setting up your Android test device and installing the GameSalad Android Viewer.

Preparing the Device

On your Phone

  1. Settings > Manage Applications and check the box next to Unknown sources option
  2. After that go to Settings > SD Card > Phone Storage and uncheck the box next to USB storage.
  3. Finally you will need to go to Settings > Manage Applications > Development and check the box for USB Debugging

    4. Installing the Viewer on Device

    There are 2 ways to get the Viewer.apk on your device.

  1. Via email
  2. Via USB

Via Email:

You will need to have Gmail setup on the device you wish to install the Viewer on.

  1. Download the Viewer APK on your machine
  2. Email the APK to yourself through Gmail
  3. On your Android Phone, open the Gmail application
  4. When you view your mail message, there should be a link for you to install the APK
  5. Click the install button

Via USB:

  1. Connect your Android Phone to your system
  2. Open a Terminal
  3. To Verify if your device is registered with the Android Debug Bridge (ADB)
    • a. adb devices
  4. To install the viewer to the device
    • a. dab install path/file.apk
    • b. Where path is the full path from ~ to your apk and file.apk is the actual filename of the viewer apk

If you have problems running these commands the most likely issue is that they were not properly registered with your path variables (see steps above).

If they continue to not function you may wish to execute these commands via the Terminal directly from the Android SDK/platform-tools folder, ~/sdk/[android sdk folder]/platform-tools/ , if you chose the recommended folder setup from above. You will also need to preface each command with ./ in order to tell your system that the commands you wish to execute are in the current folder.

Previewing the Project from Creator on Device

Viewer for Android can communicate with your device both by USB and Wi-Fi.

Via USB:

  1. Plug in your device
    • a. Make sure that the device is set to charge only and does not mount the SD Card
  2. Launch Creator and open your Project
  3. Go to GameSalad > Preferences
  4. For the Android Device Bridge choose Select and browse to the [sdk]/platform-tools folder find the dab binary and accept
  5. Click on the Preview on Android
  6. Select your device from the dropdown
  7. ENJOY!!

Via Wi-Fi:

  1. Start GameSalad Creator on your system
  2. Ensure that your Android device and system are on the same wireless network
  3. Start GameSalad Viewer
  4. A Preview on Android icon will appear in GameSalad.
  5. Click it and select the name of your Android Device
  6. ENJOY!!

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Android Publishing: Targeting Android Devices

By Yodapollo on 11/10/2011

To help introduce our community to the world of Android publishing, we’ve prepared a series of Tutorials and Reference Guides for the Android Market. What follows is part of that series, focusing on the publishing flow for Android targets within GameSalad Creator.

Publishing

Select Android as the target platform after clicking on Publish
Choose either Create New Game or Update

Overview

  • Set Category
  • Select “Choose File” and browse for a 512×512 .png image to use as your icon on Device
  • Enter in a Title for the Project
  • Enter in a Description
  • Enter in Keywords
  • Select Next

Platform

  • Enter in a Display Name for the Project
  • Enter in a Publicly Visible Version for the Project that will be displayed on the stores as the version for your application
  • Enter in an Android Version – This is a whole number that will be used in the background for determining updates to your application
  • Example: When you launch your original the Android Version will be 1. If you choose later to update, then during publish you will change this number to 2, so that once it is uploaded to the store anyone with the application will be notified of the update and the application will update over the older version as opposed to requiring the user to uninstall and install the new version.
  • Select Configure for Android Settings

    • Android Settings

    • Enter in an Android Package Name – This is a name that will be used on the backend to identify your application.
    • Enable Accelerometer, if your game makes use of this Feature
    • If you have a Keystore:
    • Under Application Signing, Select Keystore
    • In the newly visible Password Field, enter in the password for the Keystore
    • In the newly visible Alias dropdown, select the desired Alias for signing
    • In the newly visible password field under Alias, enter in the password for the Alias
  • If you do not have a Keystore
    • Under Application signing, select Generate Keystore
    • See the appendix for how to generate a Keystore or follow the instructions on the Android Developer Website
  • Verify the Keytool Location is valid – If the location is not showing as valid then browse to the proper location
  • Verify the Jarsigner Location is valid – If the location is not showing as valid then browse to the proper location
  • Verify the Zipalign Location is valid – If the location is not showing as valid then browse to the proper location
  • Select Done to return to the Platform page
  • Select Next to progress to the Video Page

    • Video

    • Enter in a URL to the desired YouTube video
    • Select Enter
    • Select Next to progress to the Review Page

    Screenshots

    • Drag and Drop the desired images from the bottom Pane into the Screenshots panels
    • Select Next to progress to the Review Page

    Review

    • Verify that all of the data is correct based on the previous choices
    • Select Publish
    • Read the GameSalad Terms and Agreements and then select Agree and Upload to start the final publish

    Publish and Save

    You will be presented with the following screens during the upload process:

    • Uploading Game Project
    • Upload complete, receiving app
    • Signing app package

    If everything was configured correctly during the previous setup screens you will be shown a save successful screen that will have an unsigned and signed version of your package. (See the appendix for the differences between a signed and unsigned apk)

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