Roadmap - Clarifications (Gideros Team)

Mells

Hi Gideros team,
@atilim, @deniz, @gorkem, @ar2rsawseen,

here are some questions that appeared on the forum, and that need your feedback.
I put it in the same discussion so you can scan and reply.

You can reply in a new comment (and even expand) below and I will update this message.

Forum members,
unless a discussion has been unanswered for a long time + you would like to put it here -copy the formatting- + it belongs to that topic, please don't clutter this discussion with other feature requests. That's not the place for it.
I have created this one to get answers, straight to the point, not to make it more confusing.

Thank you -

AirPlay
support in Gideros

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I saw it on my news feed (well, that's why I wanted to bet on Airplay 6 month ago) :

New in Unity 4.1
iOS: full multi-screen support (AirPlay). Look for added Display class for an array of connected displays (only iOS is properly implemented now - all other platforms will have only one display in there).

As you said :

While moving to OpenGL ES 2.0, I'll definitely consider implementing multiple render targets.

I was wondering if that was still on your list, or maybe you have already made some progress on it?

Answer from the team

While developing OpenGL ES 2.0 port, I'm considering of using multiple OpenGL contexts and multiple framebuffers. With the release of OpenGL ES 2.0 port, multiple stages will be available.

Rough estimation

• [ ] less than 3 months
• [ ] 3 to 6 months
• [ ] 6 to 12 months
• [ ] +12 months

Will next major version support mask?

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When OpenGL ES 2.0 is released, will it be possible to implement something like customized scrollable view in a popup dialog?

Answer from the team

About masking, currently I haven't decided on the masking API yet. But with shaders + render to texture, you'll be able to mimic masking also.

Rough estimation

• [ ] less than 3 months
• [ ] 3 to 6 months
• [ ] 6 to 12 months
• [ ] +12 months

atilim

Hi @Mells,

While developing OpenGL ES 2.0 port, I'm considering of using multiple OpenGL contexts and multiple framebuffers. With the release of OpenGL ES 2.0 port, multiple stages will be available.

And about masking, currently I haven't decided on the masking API yet. But with shaders + render to texture, you'll be able to mimic masking also.

And about rough time estimations, I cannot say anything. I'll release when it's finished.

Mells

Hi @atilim,

thank you for leaving a comment.

And about rough time estimations, I cannot say anything. I'll release when it's finished.

As a Gideros supporter, I understand well. You don't want people to be constantly reminding you about delays and ETA.
Also, you don't want to rush, and want to focus on making it "right".
Which is why Gideros is well thought, fast, and such a great framework.

However as any project and investment needs some planning, I think some people would need more informations about the future of Gideros.
Say if I really want Airplay support in all my apps before summer 2013, should I wait or use another solution?
We need to see in the future to prepare our projects accordingly (even if nothing is set in stone).

I believe that you are following a plan in the development of Gideros, so without making any kind of promises that people would constantly bug with, can you tell us at least if your "plan" is to release Open GL 2.0 <6 months or >6months?

People reading those lines would understand that those estimations are subject to any kind of change.

ar2rsawseen

Really sorry, for barging in, but...

I think it is now obvious that we need a new word as Mellsing or have been Mellsed as in lawyered for the feature implementation by the common logic and everything you say will be used against you in next Mellsing session.

Just to make sure if it didn't sound like it, but it was meant as a compliment, see how organized and structured you are @Mells. You should be a feature lawyer.

But in the same time, see how you hold @atilim back for every word he said before, and now you are asking him to tell you even more (even if nothing is set in stone), so that his same words maybe be quoted in next Mellsing session.

Not that I'm taking sides :-\" but I can see how @atilim may want not to answer with any specific time ranges

Mells

Hey @ar2rsawseen

Not that I'm taking sides but I can see how @atilim may want not to answer with any specific time ranges

Well as I said the Gideros supporter in me really understands (and I almost deleted my message before posting).
On the other hand I believe a middle ground exists between giving a specific time range and "can't answer".

Will OpenGL 2.0 be made available tomorrow in Gideros? No. Later.
Will OpenGL 2.0 be made available in Gideros in 2016? No. Before.
See? There is a way to give a range that would make an answer for us, without putting @atilim in a position that he is not comfortable with (which is not what I want).

I thought that <6 months and >6 months was a reasonable start.

How you hold @atilim back for every word he said before

That is not true, I think my tone showed that this is not my intention, it's an open discussion to get an update ("The update will be delayed 2 months" could be an update, doesn't mean I will reply "But you said so yourself!!!" at all ).

I think talking about a roadmap is not taboo, I don't see it as "users vs the team".
I think that's a discussion opened for the community that we compose.

ar2rsawseen

You see, now I have been Mellsed )
speechless

moopf

@ar2rsawseen There's an interesting change in dynamics that should happen now you're actually an employee of the company in my opinion. I think the days where you can create words based on customers of the company to draw attention to some aspect of them are gone now - like it or not your interactions with the customers now reflect on the company itself. If they see an employee basically using them for comedy value it's possible that this won't sit well with them. In addition I really think it's important that Gideros Mobile identify who is responsible for giving opinions that relate to what's going on with the company as having several people, all giving their opinion, could lead to further confusion. In the past you've been very helpful with giving your opinion from the outside - however you're now not on the outside and so those opinions will inevitably carry more weight with people. Finally I also feel that it's important that employees of the company are now highlighted in some way on the board, mainly for new people coming in, so they know the position of the person answering them - as the community grows that's something that's incredibly helpful for new users of the forum. A different colour for their name, or a different badge - just something.

I don't want a situation where you can't have a laugh on the forum, I wouldn't suggest that for any of the Gideros employees, but I do feel that things do need to change a little because of the change in dynamics between yourself and the users here. The thing is as the team grows these are the kind of things that have to happen - it goes with the territory.

On the roadmap, not really much to say. I kind of expected a little more transparency and openness in terms of bringing development information into one place so at least we had a rough idea of what was being worked on and a rough idea of when that would likely be in place. That's certainly the impression I got from the post last September. That obviously hasn't happened and I really no longer have much of an opinion on it - it just is what it is.

ar2rsawseen

I did not expect any other reply from you @moopf

I fully realize that I can't comment on any feature or timespan now without consulting with @atilim so I'm not doing it. Most probably not even express any opinion or do it with real caution.

But, you can't stop me from having a laugh and fun on the forum even on important threads

Scouser

@ar2rsawseen: What does it feel like to have been Mellsed & Moopfed in the same thread )

techdojo

How about "SoreSeen" - the perfect hindsight that comes whilst reflecting on how painful it was to try and open your mouth in the first place

ar2rsawseen

@Scouser exactly as @techdojo described
@techdojo love the word )

hgvyas123

sooner gideros forum is going to part of grinich book for inventing lot of new words