Oh...hi guys...it's been a minute

[CGM]

Oh my, how do I begin this re-introduction?
Well, first I wanna say that I'm sorry for dropping out like I did. I won't go into any details, but let's just say I had to step back for a minute, and completely disconnect for awhile. It was for personal reasons I won't get into, but the point is that I'm back, with a new goal and purpose to make 3D art.

I'm not leaving the Platform Builder community, I'll still be around. But I won't be as invested in Platform Builder like I used to be anymore, and ASM hasn't been worked on much since 2020. It's on indefinite hiatus. So, you can consider it cancelled for now, the project is dead. I'll explain why.

I went back to it not too long ago to re-evaluate the project to really see if I knew what I was doing, and if the project had enough substance to really continue work. I came to a conclusion. I'd need to completely re-build the game from scratch in something that isn't Platform Builder (scripts, sprites, everything) because the quality I always wanted ASM to be just wouldn't work with the PB. I did some research, and decided that were the project to continue, it would be developed in Godot.

The biggest reason I've decided to cancel ASM is because I don't have the will, desire, or ability to finish it. As I compared ASM to other successful games, I came to the conclusion that there was nothing truly unique about ASM to separate it from any other platformer that's out there. While I coded a lot of mechanics and functions, a lot of them were buggy and just weren't designed that well. The game was very unbalanced. I would beat my head over the level design, as I knew that was key to a successful game. I never could come up with good levels that complimented my game mechanics.
I realized that ASM was a hodgepodge of a ton of different ideas that didn't connect, and every level was going to be a completely new learning experience for the player, which is bad design.
As I did more research, played more games and things, I realized that there's a flaw in Platform Builder. The character controller sucks. I'm sorry, but it just does. I'm not saying it's bad, it could just use a serious overhaul. I've played games with far better controls. TBH, when developing ASM, I spent almost no time actually playing games to see what was out there to compare it so. That's not to say I didn't play games at all, I just spent very little time doing it, which really warped my perspective of what a respectable videogame is. (I was out of touch with videogames I suppose you could say, especially indie games)

ASM just simply had no direction, and I didn't even have the plot figured out. Looking back, the plot for the game was just...really dumb and cringe. I would want to completely revamp the plot, and pretty much start from ground zero.

As you all know, I am a Christian just like the developer of Platform Builder, and I want to share my faith whenever I can and do it respectfully. But I've realized that nobody wants to play a game that almost forcefeeds you what I believe, and why I believe it. (I don't want to just tell you what I believe, I want it to be clear why I believe it as well, because if you don't know the why, you won't except the what)

If ASM was to be finished, it would be a paid product. I wanted the game to be free originally because I knew people would be upset if they paid for a religious game that they were offended by. Yes, ASM was supposed to be a game that would share my beliefs in a way that I would hope people weren't turned off by. While I still want to do this, I don't want to be as forward as I planned on being. Where the gospel is still a central theme, but it's just not in your face. Why on earth would I have wanted to/want to do that? As I've said before, I believe with all my heart that people are in danger of being judged by our creator for our actions. We cannot be saved from the wrath of God by works, it's only by what Jesus did on the cross. It means a lot if people will just listen to what I have to say, but they don't have to believe it. I don't want to force my beliefs on anyone.

Even before I knew about Platform Builder, I always wanted to pursue my life long dream of being an animator/artist. My 3D art is my #1 priority RN, and I'm currently open to doing free commissions. I'm now going to be known as Computer Graphics Maker. (CG is a common acronym for Computer Generated, or Computer Graphics) I know it sounds dumb, (honestly Christian Game Maker sounds really dumb as well, but that's what you get for coming up with the name on the fly with no intention other than to create a bug report on a forum) but I've gone by the alias CGM for years now, and I just couldn't give it up. So, yeah. I'm still going by CGM, it just stands for something different, now.

If you want me to make a logo or animation for your YouTube channel or whatever it might be, just contact me. I will not accept any projects that I deem to be inappropriate. Also since I'm not being paid, I'm not usually going to be in too much of a hurry to get a project done, though I'll do my best to get whatever it is finished in as soon as I can. If you have a deadline, I can do my best to meet that deadline.

I can do modelling, animating, rigging, (I try to avoid rigging if I can, it's just a boring time consuming process that I don't particularly enjoy,) characters (those take quite a bit of time to make, though) and environments.

I'm not a professional yet, I'd say I'm intermediate in this field right now.

Anyway, it's good to be back and I hope this community grows and more people end up using Platform Builder. But I recommend switching to Godot if you've mastered Platform Builder and are serious about actually making something that's serious. Platform Builder is an excellent learning tool, but it's not much more than that in my view. I'm not at all saying you can't make something awesome in it, it's just that if you wanna broaden your horizons and unlock freedom to create whatever you want without relying on the next Platform Builder update and not pay anything, Godot is the way to go. It's free and open source, works great, and many people who switch from Unity and Unreal Engine to Godot end up loving Godot more. Also, Godot is currently developing a game changer update that will severely improve it especially when it comes to 3D games. Yes, you heard right. It's capable of creating fully 3D games, or, if you want, 2D and 3D hybrid games. I found this to be a great resource for getting started with learning it's own language, GD Script. https://gdquest.github.io/learn-gdscript/ It supports other programming languages, but the one it comes with isn't that hard to learn if you're comfortable with Platform Builder's command prompt.

I'm glad to see that this community is still about as active as it pretty much has always been, and it's good to see these new faces.
Anyway, thanks to everyone for the support for my projects and the help you all have been. I hope you all are doing well, and God bless. This is a pretty great community, and I want to thank all those that I've gotten to know a little bit on here.

Oh, and one last thing. What do you think of my logos? I literally threw it all together in about 2 and a half hours just last night. ...also, let's have my 3D avatar be a thing of the past...I don't plan on resurrecting that. It's really rather pointless, and not the most professional thing. Maybe in the future, but not now.

 

[War]

[Gizgord]

 :'( Long time no see.

Pursuing 3D, right? I'm happy that you do. I was happy about it way back when you first started sharing your models and renders.

Considering Godot? Fair enough. You'll be better off when you get good at it. As for me, PB is just a side-hobby, I'm not actually interested in game development.
I just want you to know that you canceling ASM is not a big deal. Really, PB is a side hustle to everyone of us. Don't beat yourself up about it, use it as a learning experience: in how to manage the scope of a project. Consume other media as to not skew/limit your viewpoints and find more inspiration. Manage expectations to your ability and available time... and so on.
You've grown to dislike your old stuff, calling them cringy. I'm not saying they weren't  , that's your call to make. But... would you be in this position, still doing 3D, if it wasn't for them?

My favourite logo variant is the second last.

[CGM]

Thank you all for your kind words and support!

To be clear I won't be actively pursuing developing games in any engine for now. That chapter is pretty much closed right now. 3D artwork is my #1 priority and probably will be for the long term.

My biggest problem with cancelling ASM was that I was very invested in the project, and I didn't want to end up like many other people who have plans to finish a game, then it never gets finished. But alas, that is what has happened.

Good advice, and that's exactly what I've been doing.

Yeah, in my years of logo making I've learned that it's a good idea to have both detailed and non/detailed versions of logos.

[Alley]

Oh my, how do I begin this re-introduction?
Well, first I wanna say that I'm sorry for dropping out like I did. I won't go into any details, but let's just say I had to step back for a minute, and completely disconnect for awhile. It was for personal reasons I won't get into, but the point is that I'm back, with a new goal and purpose to make 3D art.

...

Hi, Christian Game Maker!

Yeah, I agree, that the tools may not be the final solutions for not-that-successful developers to move on and I feel I even may have a similar reason why I have not done anything with PB for long already although I would not be called Invasion: Going Personal canceled but rather less prioritized right now. Too bad I have made so little progress it can be considered equal to being canceled.

I am really glad you finally realized it is really pointless to turn someone into something you are because you really can't turn someone into something else if people you are trying to turn something into are probably at least the same confidence in their own view like you are and so I don't think it is very understanding to think everyone else for sure is wrong and you are right. Of course, I think you are still a very nice person and you wish everyone the best and this is what I think you deserve to be remembered at most.
Also, your game ASM was not that bad... Maybe not the best but for sure not the worse. Rather one of the best ones made and the system you all made was definitely over most of the projects made for Explore section. I think, just some graphics improvements and bug fixes could make this project that good I would enjoy it even next to lots of commercial games because I really like retro. Your religion ruins nothing when you just can give some intense and fun experience into your game and you even don't need any rude language like Invasion has here and there. Because those games have just different plots and characters, these can be different fantasies but not better or worse than others. 

[CGM]

Hey, @Alley ! It's nice to see you again. It'd be nice if we could chat on steam or discord sometime soon, maybe. 
I'd rather not get into religious discussion here on the forums, I'd prefer to do that in a private conversation. I do have one comment to make on something you said, but we don't have to have a long argument about it.
I agree that by Platform Builder standards, ASM is an amazing game. But by indie game standards, ASM is just a cheap, horrible ripoff. Games like Spark the Electric Jester and Freedom Planet are hte kinds of games I'd want ASM to be as good as. But the thing is, ASM doesn't have anything that makes it truly unique or worth playing compared to those games, which I highly recommend you look into playing if you haven't. If ASM was to be finished, I'd want it to meet those standards. Spark and Freedom Planet both are high-quality retro games that are lots of fun and aren't buggy with amazing graphics and fun game mechanics, and ASM was the opposite of all of that.
I looked at a braindump I made of ideas of things to put into the game, and the one game mechanic that sounded pretty fun would be to have a paint machine that works like F.L.U.D.D from Super Mario Sunshine and have similar mechanics from Paper Mario Color Splash. It sounds like a fun idea, but I haven't been able to think of anything original and fun that could work. ASM was a very colorful game, I mean, just look at the logo. I even was going to have different things behave different based on color, but the system never was fully realized and it was a bit complicated. To me it being based on colors of paint could be a fun idea if I was to ever continue the game. If I had a solid idea of what the game mechanics were to be, and if it was fun, and I had a team of creative people to design levels and do some coding, I would make the game happen. But I don't have any of that, so ASM is cancelled for now. But that doesn't mean I'm not interested in continuing the project. Also, I'd probably change the  project's name as The Adventures of Super Mike is a really dumb name.

I hope you have a good day, Allar.  God bless!