What do you suggest to help getting started?

[ThomasLund]

I just wondered what you suggest could help you getting started with SFS2X.

Do you need an even more advanced tutorial than the FPS one?
A very basic transform sending using boxes on a plane?
More detailed "step by step" explanation kind of tutorial?
...?

Shoot away with suggestions on what you think is needed

/Thomas

[lastowl]

a simple square transformation is always good
or
a simple user variables demo like send a string for example the players mood so it could change from happy,sad,confused ect

or a basic mmo since its what most people fail to achieve

[rjgtav]

maybe some of the most helpful flash tutorials in sfs1x like an avatar chat (like the one with the boxes but add them chat), and other simple tutorials that explain some of the sfs2x features.

[Sichuan]

Personally, I think a block-to-plane transformation is the best example possible for the unity engine. This will allow users to see what 1 network exchange looks like instead of having to deal with a dozen of variables like health ammo score etc at the same time.

[Sichuan]

Also if I look at this thread: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/69753- ... martfox-2X.
I think I vouch for a lot of people by saying that a block-to-plane transformation would be grand.

Several quotes from the thread listed above:

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I have already viewed the "Tris" tutorial included in the pack....but does not give an idea on how to smartfox.
I'm (and all developer i think) looking for is a VERY simple tutorial "hello world" to understand how Smartfox <<--->> Unity works. For example, a plane with a cube above, how do I receive and transmit the location via the network?

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If Smartfox took the time to make very simple examples such as a higher/lower number game and a simple move two cubes in network space tutorials this thread wouldn't even exist. Instead, learners are essentially provided undocumented programs.

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Yes it will, because Unity doesn't work in some organised manor, it's scripts go all over the place rather than just 1 location with reference's and inheritance. Which isn't always a bad thing, it makes it very easy for new people to drop code on objects, but it does make it hard to learn purely from code given to you in a full project.

From personal experience I can say that I have fully read any piece of smartfox documentation and I am not capable of setting up a basic transform demo. I hope someone finds the time to create a simple demo like this, which will surely flatten out alot of users learning curves.

[ThomasLund]

The primary problem here is, that a transform sync program is not hello world level programming. That might not be very obvious - but its "FPS example light", since you need interpolation, extensions etc

On the other hand it wont take me long to strip down FPS example to use cubes on a plane and remove ammo etc.etc.

So will definitely propose this to the SFS guys and lets see!

/Thomas

[Sichuan]

Yes, I understand what you mean. Although that hello world comment was a quote.

The FPS example light will really do the deal though. I myself have been trying to strip the FPS example of all the unnecessary features like ammo, score and guns. But I do not have the knowledge to understand the 20 scripts that are inside of the demo and dissect them properly.

I hope I can start learning from a good template project soon,

Thanks

[appels]

I hope I can start learning from a good template project soon

The FPS demo is a realy good demo if you take the time to learn from it.
Sure it's not a walk in the park if your not a programmer but it wouldn't be much fun it it was.
Also stripping the FPS demo to a minimum will still give you about 10+ java files you will need to figure out.

[ThomasLund]

Another approach would be to actually write a real tutorial text for e.g. the FPS example.

Taking you through it all, explain how/what works which way etc.

(Just throwing up ideas in the air at the moment)

Then again most people most likely didnt even read the vertical slice walkthrough of the code that I wrote in the FPS PDF.

[Sichuan]

In response to appels:

Im sure the FPS demo is a good demo, but like you say it is not a walk in the park to learn it. This is exactly what dozens of users are struggling with.
From the Lobby Example to a FPS demo is such a big step that most of us who are not familiar with SFS are not able to make it.

And ofcourse if someone spends a month researching the demo, maybe he will get what goes where and does what. However, the point in these programs is not to make the learning curve as steep as possible, but to help new users gradually get into the spot where they can start figuring stuff out themselves.

There is no user-friendly way as far as I have seen, to get to know how the transmission between server and client works. From a lobby demo that does not include any reception and transmission we get told to dissect an FPS demo which includes a whole lot of these. We do not even know what a single transmission reception script combination looks like.

This is why, I think a demo with just a single transformation being passed around between server and client would help everyone get into how that works, before they get to face multiple of these combined.

In response to Thomas:

If I look at the FPS demo and see its 20 page white paper, which doesnt teach us much about how the demo is actually built up. I can't help but think that a tutorial would be absolutely enormous when you need to explain everything from the ground up.

I think a single transform demo with a slight explanation will teach us what we need to know to understand a big part of the actual FPS demo.
What we learn about transmission is, in one way or another, applicable to all those variables that are in the FPS demo.