Hi everyone!
This is TingThing, developer of Platform Builder. This suggestions page is an opportunity for you to voice your ideas for future versions of Platform Builder. You can suggest features, items, enemies, usability, or anything else that comes to mind.
I would love to include everyone's requests in Platform Builder. Of course, the reality is that this is not possible. But as you think of possible suggestions, it might help you to know the kinds of things I think about when making decisions...
- How much desire is there in the PB community for this to be added?
- How much time would this take to incorporate into Platform Builder, and what other things would I have to leave out for lack of time if I did this?
- Am I able to do this with the programming skills that I have?
- Am I able to do this with the way that PB is already put together?
- Would adding this feature be volatile to the structural integrity of PB's code?
- Am I able to do this in a way that is true to PB's unique niche and direction in the game-design industry?
- Would I be able to do this in a way that it feels complete and not a half-baked job? In other words, would this feature make PB feel more whole, or more lacking?
- Is this the proper time to add the feature, or are there more pressing issues at hand?
- Would this be used by many in the community, or would it be used mostly by the person requesting it?
- How versatile would this feature be for the overall needs of making games in PB?
- Does this feature favor only people who like advanced controls in PB, or would it help beginners as well?
- Would this make Platform Builder more enticing for people interested in using the program?
- Is this something I would enjoy doing? (Call me selfish, but making PB is something I do as a side hobby, not as a job.)
- Is there a workaround already, and if so, how easy is the workaround?
- Would this feature help me collect better screenshots and video clips to help promote Platform Builder and leave good first impressions?
As you can see, there are a lot of things going on here, much more than simply how much a feature is desired within the community. Many of these factors are things which only I am able to know because of my unique position as the developer. Because of this, my general policy with requests is to not tell people why I have chosen to include or not to include certain features. There are so many requests that if I started all of these back-and-forth conversations behind my rationale for everything, I would be overwhelmed by the amount of explaining I have to do and nothing would ever get done with Platform Builder. I also want to leave the door open in case I ever change my mind, and that is much harder after a long and hard conversation telling someone that I won't do it. There are some exceptions to my policy, but not many.
Even though I hardly interact with requests on here, I read every single one of them. I really value requests and if you look back at the update logs, you will see that the vast majority of updates in recent times have been fulfilling requests or doing things which were necessary because of fulfilled requests (or squashing bugs, of course).
So here's the guidelines and rules for the suggestions page (Updated 9/2/2020):- Please, request away!
- Feel free to include reasons why you think your suggestion is good or helpful or necessary.
- If you like what someone else has requested, respond to the request and say so. Again, there is a lot more to my decision-making process than just community desire, but community desire is definitely a part.
- If you don't like what someone else requested, then kindly state your thoughts on the matter or ask for more reasoning behind the request or don't say anything at all. Insulting a request or the person asking the request is NOT allowed and may result in you getting banned from the forums.
- Do not send personal messages to me with requests for changes in Platform Builder. I want to be able to look through these things in the most unbiased way possible, and it helps to have them all in the same place displayed side by side. Personal requests might actually make your suggestion less likely to become selected. But if the suggestion is something other than changes in Platform Builder, you may message me personally.
One final note: When I set out to make Platform Builder back in 2013, my goal was to make something which could be used to create games from start to finish. This has been possible since version 1. Since then, Platform Builder never "needed" anything more, but everything I have done has been to improve upon its features and make it a more enjoyable experience for all of you. A lot has happened since then! If you are relatively new to this community, I encourage you to take a tour through some of the old
update logs of Platform Builder to discover how much has changed since it was first released.
Thank you.
TingThing
