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I agree Xaron, but I would add documentation to the list and a more limited scope. But since he started on 3d already, I can guarantee that this will be the focus for the remainder of the year. Everything else will be delayed accordingly. While this will please a limited number of 3d programmers, it will do little to attract the many new customers that are needed.
On a side note, one reason I think that Monkey 2 isn’t catching on is that it is no longer a Basic language like Blitz Basic, Max, and such. It has a steeper learning curve and turns off the weekend warrior programmer. I like the added language features, but I come from a C/C++ background. Many do not.
gasmonso
The reality of it this is pretty simple. The future is Monkey 2. It’s not Monkey, nor Blitzmax, or anything else. Mark has gone done the MK2 road so that is what needs to work. And I support him on that choice. Rehashing Blitzmax and days gone by aren’t going to help solidify the future which is MK2.
What I want to see is more transparency from Mark on his development and a set of milestones so we know where this is all going. He needs to know where this is all going. Mark has some serious programming chops and he is technically capable of pulling this off but only if he stays focused and doesn’t get distracted on things like moving to 3d before we had a solid and well documented 2d engine to promote the language.
I remember on a blog post from January 3rd, where he made an attempt to clarify the 2017 agenda:
- Publicize mx2 better (and to users ‘beyond the blitz’ – that’s where the future really is…). I have been a bit pathetic here really and will try harder!
- Produce some demo/tutorial vids for youtube.
- Monetize the monetization stuff (ie: charge for admob, iap etc addons)
- Write/sell a simple game in mx2 both to raise funds AND to have a decent ‘this was written in mx2’ demo.
Barely a dent was made into this and now we’re on to 3d. I know 3d was what many supporters on Patreon wanted so I might be in the minority. But leaving so many things unfinished is just irritating and leaves MK2 appealing to a small niche of people. It will never go mainstream if changes aren’t made. That’s just reality.
If only we could clone Mark…
gasmonso
I’ve been checking back here for months in hopes of some miracle occurring, but the reality of it is that there isn’t. It’s impossible for one man to create a language that supports the number of platforms that Monkey 2 does in both 2D and 3D as well as maintain the docs, marketing, demos, etc. It’s an impossible task. The Greek god of Sisyphus comes to mind.
Worrying about silly things like the name and such are irrelevant, when the lack of documentation, community, examples, and a decent road-map are more pressing. And moving on to 3d before many of these essentials were completed is just poor management. Like many developers, myself included, Mark enjoys the coding over polishing and finishing a product. Documenting and creating examples is not fun. But you do it because it has to be done. It has to be done in order to attract new users which is what is desperately needed here.
Monkey 2 has more of a hobby feel to it, than a business. The main reason there’s any money coming in at all is due to many small small donations from people who have used his products from back in the day. I had Blitz Basic for my Amiga 500
But I can’t imagine too many new people donating when there is so much uncertainty and lack of direction. Rare blog posts and random tweets aren’t enough.Mark has more serious programming skills, but I’m afraid that isn’t enough nowadays for such an ambitious project like Monkey 2.
gasmonso
That would be awesome! I would greatly appreciate it as I’m sure would many others!
Hey Mark!
Glad to hear you got an office. I was working at home for a several years and it almost drove me insane
I finally moved out to a co-working space and haven’t looked back. Productivity went way up!I like the sound of your road map for the most part. From what I’ve observed, many people really want to understand the language and there are three ways to do that. Complete docs, tutorials, a great coding example(s) that would showcase all the features (like the game you want to make). Anyone remember Super Skidmarks
Accomplishing these things would clear the way for 3D development. But I can’t stress the importance of great docs, examples, and a solid friendly IDE. Just encourage the existing user base to help out with docs, provide a means, and I’m sure many will lead the charge. The work that nerobot has done with the IDE is awesome!
Take care Mark and ride this momentum! Monkey 2 can be as successful as you want it to be. It’s great stuff!
Thanks for this! I’ve been using Notepad++ for ages
Works just fine on Windows 10 using Chrome.
That was it Mark! Everything is up and running.
Oh, the new lighting demos are pretty cool!
Great work as usual!
gasmonso
Yes I have minigw installed in \devtools\i686-5.3.0-posix-dwarf-rt_v4-rev0 and I have not touched bin/env_windows.txt
Here’s the first snippet of errors:
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334C:\Users\Sam\Desktop\monkey2-new\scripts>rebuildall.batC:\Users\Sam\Desktop\monkey2-new\scripts>echo off***** Rebuilding modules *****mx2cc version 1.0.7***** Making module 'monkey' *****Parsing...Semanting...Translating...Compiling...Build error: System command 'g++ -std=c++11 -m32 -O3 -DNDEBUG -I"C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/monkey/native" -I"C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/" -c -o "C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/monkey/monkey.buildv1.0.7/windows_release/build/_1_1_1native_2bbtypes.cpp.o" "C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/monkey/native/bbtypes.cpp"' failed.g++ -std=c++11 -m32 -O3 -DNDEBUG -I"C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/monkey/native" -I"C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/" -c -o "C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/monkey/monkey.buildv1.0.7/windows_release/build/_1_1_1native_2bbtypes.cpp.o" "C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/monkey/native/bbtypes.cpp"***** Fatal mx2cc error *****Internal mx2cc build errormx2cc version 1.0.7***** Making module 'monkey' *****Parsing...Semanting...Translating...Compiling...Build error: System command 'g++ -std=c++11 -m32 -I"C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/monkey/native" -I"C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/" -c -o "C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/monkey/monkey.buildv1.0.7/windows_debug/build/_1_1_1native_2bbtypes.cpp.o" "C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/monkey/native/bbtypes.cpp"' failed.g++ -std=c++11 -m32 -I"C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/monkey/native" -I"C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/" -c -o "C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/monkey/monkey.buildv1.0.7/windows_debug/build/_1_1_1native_2bbtypes.cpp.o" "C:/Users/Sam/Desktop/monkey2-new/modules/monkey/native/bbtypes.cpp"Looks perfect on Windows 10 in Chrome 52.0.2743.116 m (64-bit)