Ideas for Start Page

[Pumaman]

Most of you will by now recognise the AGS Start Page:



The information it contains has been quite useful at helping out people who are upgrading from previous versions of AGS.

But with the next release of AGS, 3.1, most people will probably be upgrading from 3.0.x versions and therefore this will no longer be relevant.

Therefore, I thought I'd throw the question out there -- what should be on this page?
Some possibilities could be:
* have a list of changes in the newest version
* have some sort of RSS reader pre-configured to look at AGS-related blogs such as SSH's
* a feed from the AGS Games Most Recent Games page

The question to you guys is -- as people who use the AGS Editor, is there anything that you think would be handy to have on that page when the editor starts up?

[Dualnames]

When I started from 2.72 to 3.0 I liked the fact that it contained a list of what's changed. So you can go and say what changed from 3.0x to 3.1

[Lt. Smash]

RSS feeds would be really informative. Or something like an information webpage.
It could contain links to tutorials, informations about the new editor, tips for beginners,...

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It doesn't really belong into this thread but I have this idea and want to tell it.
It would be nice to be able to open a realtime help as a new frame window in the editor. It would be on the opposite site of the tree and would automatically open the page with the informations you would need at the moment.
example: You open the view editor and the help opens the page 'views'. Or when you click on a function, property in the script editor, the help would open the proper page.
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ps: an option to open the information page(start page) somewhere in the tree to the right/left would be great.

[TwinMoon]

I'd say a link to the changelog and then an RSS feed from SSH's ags blog.

What's new in AGS 2.8?

[Privateer Puddin']

What's new in AGS 2.8?

3.0 was originally going to be 2.8

[SSH]

* have some sort of RSS reader pre-configured to look at AGS-related blogs such as SSH's

Yay! Free advertising! I must start putting pay-per-impression ads in my feed;)

[Makeout Patrol]

Those three things you list in the OP sound pretty great, actually. Maybe list a randomly-determined property or method - I know I haven't read the manual cover-to-cover (so to speak), and from time to time I'm looking through the documentation and find a method or property and think "man, that's useful as hell!" If there was something on the front page listing something I may never have been aware of every time I start AGS, I'd find out about them more often.

[skuttleman]

Those three things you list in the OP sound pretty great, actually. Maybe list a randomly-determined property or method - I know I haven't read the manual cover-to-cover (so to speak), and from time to time I'm looking through the documentation and find a method or property and think "man, that's useful as hell!" If there was something on the front page listing something I may never have been aware of every time I start AGS, I'd find out about them more often.

Like a "hints and tips" pop-up screen.

[Baro]

What about a short list of the last 5~7 modifications that were made to the game you're actually editing?

[Mazoliin]

* a feed from the AGS Games Most Recent Games page

That would be lovely

[JpSoft]

I understand that this is maybe not the right thread to post this, but what about if ags adds a little TXT page, where the scripter can takes notes of the game progress? Then, an option to open this when you open a game (i really found unusefull open the general settings or the welcome window once you get familiar with the current version). At last, i prefer get the global script open when AGS starts.

At any case, i believe is very important the list with the last updates and maybe a link to the begginer forums could be very usefull for beggineers.

Jp

[Alarconte]

1. Last AGS games uploads in Games page
2. Links for active AGS news webs/Blogs
3. As JpSoft said, blank Txt with developer notes for our game

Good thread!

[G]

Another option is that it could display the statistics of the currently open game. This needs not much space, so ther could be place for news abput games or info about AGS version changes.

I find quite useful to know how far I am from the resource limits.

[olafmoriarty]

Though I really like SSH's blog, I must admit that I'm not sure if I would want it on the start page of AGS, simply because I find it confusing and in some cases annoying when there are RSS feeds in programs originally intended for offline use. Links are okay (provided that they open in an external browser and not in the AGS interface), but please don't make the program check the web for new updates on every start and every so-and-so minutes and eventually give me a huge error message if I'm offline.

(Another aspect is the distraction factor; when opening AGS, I want to really focus all my attention on making a game. That attention is gone if I suddenly start reading about things going on in the rest of the world; interesting forum threads I have to reply to, new games I have to test, and suddenly the day is gone.)

I have both SSH's blog, VinceTwelve's blog and the New Games feed in my RSS reader, and they're all interesting reads, but their place is not inside the studio. If you choose to integrate them anyway, please make them optional information disabled by default.

[SSH]

More to the point, having my blog inside AGS may distract people from MY BLOG! 

[Ishmael]

Changes from last version, links to open the manual at crucial pages, a link to the AGS page, maybe direct links to the beginners tech and here.

I personally think the editor should stay within the scope of the editor and provide quick access to technical resources, such as the tutorials. The all around general AGS scene is well enough laid out on the forum and website already.

Another nice detail would be some info on the game currently loaded, like it's total folder size, estimate or latest known size of the compiled exe, amounts of whatever used in the game, or something. It's fun to see your game grow

[subspark]

Don't know about the start page, perhaps a link to the most recent royalty free AGS downloadable content: aka sprites/audio/scripts/interfaces including links to official AGS logos/press-kits/product stamps/etc.

As for the AGS splash screen, can we please at last have a build number displayed in the top right corner or something!!! I'm sick of trying to upgrade or hold off upgrading to an unknown version of AGS on multiple computers.

Many cheers,
Paul.

[SSH]

As for the AGS splash screen, can we please at last have a build number displayed in the top right corner or something!!! I'm sick of trying to upgrade or hold off upgrading to an unknown version of AGS on multiple computers.

Press Alt-H-A to get the About dialog (in every 3.0+ version of AGS at least)

[subspark]

Thanks mate but it would be nice to have the build number displayed on the splash screen under the version number.
Does this make sense to anyone else?

Cheers,
Paul.

[Ishmael]

Atleast XP shows the build number if you hover over the AGSEditor.exe, as well as in it's properties under the Version tab.