ID:2399603
 
Applies to:Website
Status: Open

Issue hasn't been assigned a status value.
Rebrand BYOND by registering a webplayer-centric version of BYOND.com (byond.io perhaps?) where the hubs are for webplayer only and no need to download or register an account (automatic guest) so that new visitors can try out a game with no roadblocks quickly. They don't even need to know byond.com exists they can find out later.

But you would have to make the webplayer "just work" and be presented how modern html5 webplayers are presented (get rid of the Account UI on the webplayer and other nasty looking elements (Playwire, no sound by default))

2 step process to resurrect the byond platform. You do a lot of engine updates but it's the platform that's the problem. The engine is good enough. Most of the engine updates you do now are fringe obscure dev-stuff that players will never see or benefit from.

Thanks. Bye.
also byond.io is owned by someone else
Muhuhu wrote:
Most of the engine updates you do now are fringe obscure dev-stuff that players will never see or benefit from.

Wow. It's almost like the engine doesn't service the players, it services the devs who service the players. And it's almost like when you fix bugs in the engine or add quality of life features, devs can do more ambitious things with their games.

So to say that "fringe, obscure dev stuff" is something players never see is a very uneducated comment. Maybe players don't directly care about movement features or the like, but they do care about walking smoothly in games.
Sounds to me like you're better off on another engine.
In response to GreatPirateEra
GreatPirateEra wrote:
Sounds to me like you're better off on another engine.

He'd probably complain about the 'fringe obscure dev-stuff' other engines do as well..

Because engines are all about the players and not about the devs right? Fuck all that shady development shit players can't use!
The comments about developer centric features are silly, agreed, but there's no sense putting your fingers in your ears and pretending that his points about the web client aren't valid.

The biggest criticism with the web client is that it isn't plug and play with old projects. Which means that developers have to build their projects expressly for web if they want any hope of it working on par with DreamSeeker. This isn't an attractive avenue for a lot of devs for reasons that should be pretty obvious. It should just work. That's a reasonable thing to expect from an alternative deployment method.

This being said, Lummox isn't magic. He can't fix what he doesn't know about. If you run into issues, the onus is on you to report them if you want to see it fixed.
Compile 2 Exe #513
BYOND is an engine and a platform isn't it? The platform part is suffering greatly. Having a separate webplayer-centric platform is a solution with a great effort/reward ratio.
It's been moving away from being a platform for years now. Hence the emphasis on engine work.
Rebrand BYOND by registering a webplayer-centric version of BYOND.com (byond.io perhaps?) where the hubs are for webplayer only

If anything, BYOND should be moving away from the web client - since most developers (that I know of) don't even use it.

Most of the engine updates you do now are fringe obscure dev-stuff that players will never see or benefit from.

Lummox makes engine --> Developers use engine to make games --> Players play games.

So yes, players will see benefits from engine improvements
You do a lot of engine updates but it's the platform that's the problem.

I could agree with you on this. To a point.

I do think sprucing up the website could attract more web traffic and help promote the engine in the long term. It would also be a good way to indicate that the engine has improved.

However, at the end of the day - it's a piece of software ; The software should take priority. It just shouldn't be the only thing that's worked on.
How I see BYOND is, it's a game engine that traps you onto the platform. Because the webplayer is essentially unusable and the exe is not given out anymore and last I heard doesn't work anymore anyway. (webplayer is way more important than the exe though imo, I don't care about exe).

So if it's not a platform, why does it trap you on it? I would be fine being trapped on it if it wasn't so neglected.
The exe stuff is absolutely still given out, and works perfectly fine. Quite a few games have been using it for years without any issues.
and the exe is not given out anymore

There are installer frameworks that can grab content from a url, and the byond download url never changes for a given version.

All the byond installer does is create a file handler for dmbs (not needed), a byond url handler (not needed unless your game is online, but easy to do in most installer frameworks) as well as an uninstall handler and desktop/start menu shortcuts (something the installer framework already handles).

Anybody could make a installer, that grabs the .zip of the proper byond version for the game release from the byond website (since you can't redistribute it) extracts it to some program files folder for the game, extracts the dmb/rsc/other files for the game to that same program files folder, runs the included directx installer in the byond folder, and finally creates a shortcut to run the dmb in dream seeker on the desktop and start menu.

All of that are installer configuration options away. Google "Installer framework" and download support and pick one and get banging.

This obsession with getting some tool from lummox is weird, the tool includes a whole bunch of extra things, including no ads, redistribution rights to the byond binaries, etc. Of course you would have to pay for that, and not be blatantly copyright infringing, but that doesn't mean you can't exe'ify your game. You're a programmer, when you encounter problems you don't whine about them, you solve them. You have the power to if you stop letting tiny roadblocks stop you.
In response to MrStonedOne
I wish it was as easy as you make it out to be, maybe with your in-depth knowledge of things outside of BYOND.

Perhaps create a walk-through for others to handle single-player and multiplayer exes.
In response to Kozuma3
Kozuma3 wrote:
I wish it was as easy as you make it out to be, maybe with your in-depth knowledge of things outside of BYOND.

Perhaps create a walk-through for others to handle single-player and multiplayer exes.

Really, I could teach my 5 year old sister how to make a .exe/installer, in both CMD and using on of the MANY (free) programs designed to do just that.

In essence you just place the damn files where they need to be and make a shortcut to it, it shouldn't get more easy than this and 3 seconds of googling would get you the same walk-throughs for a slightly different use :P
As long as you distribute it with the entirety of BYOND, unmodified, you're not doing anything wrong.