Sandbox Tutorials Project

[DaruthTheHuman]

Is there anyone that has been tasked to compile the instructions for VoxEdit and Game Maker into User Friendly Tutorials? The “Tutorials” on YouTube are less than an HOUR long COMBINED and don’t scratch the surface.

This is woefully inadequate for the average person. It is inadequate for me and I am not average (not below either lol). It is extremely challenging figuring out what is possible to do with these programs. Simple animation tasks like making a characters eyes blink don’t work the same as other programs.

Other than scrolling through hours and hours of barely organized written instructions there should be a series where a game is developed start to finish (not in real time like they do on live streams I’m not trying to spend my life figuring out these things.)

A set of Logic Tutorials definitely need to be developed. A systematic explanation of what can be done with each item and how they can be used in combination. CyberDragon is working hard but i would die of old age before I could learn enough watching his live streams. Plus interrupting live streams with my questions in not ideal.

For example I want to make a poker game. I did ask on a live stream if that was possible I was told it is. Ok… where do I start? No clue. Read read read and maybe i might come across it?

If it is on the books to do and you don’t have anyone to do it, Powers That Be, I volunteer to take on that monumental task. Ideally a team would do this task so if anyone with more experience than I were on it it would decrease production time. I don’t mind saying that even though I am less experienced (in these systems) I would want to lead the team. Mainly because if there is anyone out there that is more qualified then I they don’t seem to be very motivated.

I honestly don’t know if I will ever be able to make an experience I can be proud of if I have to go at this pace. Plus the time it would take to parse these programs doesn’t seem worth it knowing that there likely is no way to monetize it that is reliable. It has not been shown that artists can thrive by improving the Sandbox.

If I were tasked with that JOB I would make a Curriculum like a college course and I would start with small spaces (the land is too big for anyone but a Pro) and build simple games.

For example I have a game I am trying to develop now that is basically a zombie game. It has 5 levels 5 mobs that mutate into 5 other MOBS Two Avatars and a Final Boss. The design and animation of the MOBS and Avatars in VoxEdit. The design and animation of the Props/Assets in VoxEdit, The design of the Swamp Landscape in Game maker. The Logic… I would have to have access to someone to help with that but I am a fast learner with the right tools. Go step by step through the process Live, and then Edit the content down with Voice overs and any additional graphics.

Here is a link to me painfully doing it wrong. https://www.youtube.com/live/QN2UYU08LN0?si=HqVUDMdiytWYeiPk

In addition to being a resource for Creative investors, this could be used in schools to teach young game enthusiasts.

I’m writing this because I am questioning if the devotion of the time will be worth the effort to make the Game but if I can Create this Content officially it would be worth it. Two Birds one stone.

I already applied as an Ambassador. I’m pretty sure I’m not suited for other tasks other than designing but I see a huge void for this content. Even though I am disappointed that The Sandbox isn’t all that I had hoped I still see it as a very innovative tool set that would be fun and useful to use if you could figure out how. I would want it to be accessible to all skill levels and I know I could, in the process of learning, package it in a User Friendly manner.

Oftentimes when I am attempting to work on my experience I spend many hours attempting things that may or may not work but then later discover that is not correct and usually (especially with blocks) there is not a quick remedy. So I have to repeat the same work over and over in new ways. Much of this kind of needless frustration would be avoided by ALL INVESTORS with some Content Creation on the part of The Sandbox.

If it is something that The Sandbox Team or SandboxDAO team is interested in let me know. I am willing to write a detailed SIP for it but I don’t want to waste my time doing that if its not seen as needed.

This would be an ideal arrangement for the Contract method you have clarified with Ambassadors since it would be easy to measure my productivity. I would also be willing to do the work in advance (like I do in real life) and only get paid if the Product is satisfactory.

[SANDcultivator]

Hi @DaruthTheHuman!

I’m TSB’s Education Program Manager. I’ve been an edu leader at TSB for 2.5 years and prior to that I worked for 1 year at a TSB partner writing and teaching our original bootcamp program (before we had complete docs for GM and VE). I wrote the curriculum for our recent global Advanced Builders Bootcamp program and I maintain our public documentation for the ecosystem (docs.sandbox.game and docs.sandbox.game/v/creators). I agree we have a long way to go with our resources, and we’ve been working hard to remedy that.

The Past 12 Months

• Re-organized and re-launched our documentation in more user friendly format (combined 5 resource spaces into 2, reduced text by 33% for easier reading, filled gaps in content, fixed outdated information, etc).
• Added a Player Guide and Creator Basics guide for our docs re-launch.
• Game Maker releases went from annual to quarterly, and we’ve kept up with the pace. We’ve even been able to support our web and marketing teams to ensure their communications are technically accurate with clearer implications and use cases for new or enhanced features.
• Launched new templates (created by CyberDragon) leveraging the Game Rules system for new game types with supporting documentation (combined effort between me and my colleague Thomas). As part of this, the Experience Guide (resources by game genre) got quite a glow up.
• Launched a Game Production Guide to support creators for GMF Builder’s Challenge 1 and beyond. This includes a large amount of supportive resources with guidelines from our internal production team and the agile workflow they use to produce content for events and seasons.
• Wrote the global Advanced Builders Bootcamp curriculum to teach more users how to leverage the Game Rules system to create new game types and build more engaging gameplay, while also learning about monetization options with NTF Sensor.
• Evolved documentation about Building Singleplayer and Multiplayer Logic to help builders adapt to the [SP] / [MP] split introduced with 0.8 while also integrating Game Rules with different variable types.
• YouTube videos have been organized into playlists by game genre, and we’ve cleaned up titles and thumbnails to make game jam awards videos easier to find so you can learn from past winners. We also provided feedback to get our marketing team to reorganize our main YouTube page so it’s more user friendly.
• I’ve also been offering support to teams around the world working hard to localize our documentation into many other languages.
• Our Content Team also strives to find great UGC and feature it so others can play it and learn from each other’s creative examples.
• We’ve also launched the forum for the community to support each other in a much more organized format compared to using Discord. It includes areas for users to provide feedback and suggestions, share resources they’ve created or official TSB resources, seek technical support, etc.
• I’ve helped draw an internal resource on using Message on Equip in the Collectable component into a public learning series (Medium articles and docs), and its use cases can easily be adapted to use with NFT Sensor for equipment based narratives.
• I’ve been supporting staff who manage and document GM VFX internally to eventually benefit public VFX docs with more details, new use cases, and hopefully improved UI/UX for creators.
• Behind the scenes, I’ve been working with an edu leader in TSB community to produce content I’m writing for public self-education to learn the basic concepts of GM and VE. This directly fills some voids you’ve pointed out. We’re aiming to complete and release this soon!

A lot of things you’d like to see are improving gradually, but I’m with you that we need to grow a lot more. We’ve been producing a lot of new content while playing catch up to raise the standard for our resources. Once the core content is in good shape, from there it’s easier to build secondary resources like tutorials for creators to make something specific. I’m motivated to keep this momentum going and potentially open up tutorial submissions from the community once the framework I’m working on is ready.

However, we’ve tried to drive community tutorial production via secondary prizes in GJs, social posts, forum structure, etc, and it just hasn’t led to much engagement or action. We have a few people who are dedicated to creating and sharing resources, and many of them have been ambassadors or independent content creators. We need targeted content production, for which I’d be the point person, but my plate is very full keeping the current momentum going.

I’ve proposed a lot of potential ideas and plans for edu since I joined TSB community in 2020 (both as a community member and a staff member). My ideas aren’t always in alignment with TSB leadership, who have their own vision for the project that supersedes my vision. The reason I reached out to Seb to work here rather than continue employment under a TSB partner is the benefit of internal information for resource development. It changes what you prioritize significantly, and it helps you have a clearer vision for what creators need to know and when. Internally, I’ve gained insights from TSB professionals who have developed best practices as the product evolves, before features are public. Our global bootcamps are an example of how we’ve caught up to teach the most up to date GM education in alignment with a new release and integrated as much internal knowledge as possible (I literally wrote the bootcamp curriculum and docs at the same time).

My Thoughts on Edu Content and Format

• Written tutorials can be a lot better than videos, but ONLY IF they’re organized and simple with strong text features (i.e., titles and graphics to make it easier to scan, no long paragraphs, supporting graphics and icons to make sense of things quickly, etc).
• Videos become outdated quickly and are hard to track versioning for, but they’re easier to make fast if you’re not doing post production and don’t mind extra time for correcting mistakes, loading, etc. Some things should be videos, but not much. Docs are more searchable and easier to organize.
• Live streams are great because they allow for Q&A while something is demonstrated, but a lot of livestreams would be better as short form videos or as a tutorial document that’s super fast to read and replicate at a glance. We can anticipate most questions and integrate them into written tutorials that are much more user friendly for creators. We should still have livestreams to connect with the community as creators, play together, and explore new ideas, but written tutorials with clear visuals can be so much easier to learn from faster.
• Gitbook works well for docs, but it’s not great tutorials. Neither is the forum. I’ve tried many times and many formats. We need a better framework to grow a collection of tutorials. I’ve been prototyping something for this, but there’s no ETA since the top priority right now is preparing GM 0.11 docs. However, collaborating with our VFX staff had a happy side-effect of evolving what I’ve been cooking for logic tutorials. Stay tuned!

Is a DAO SIP the Best Solution?
I don’t think a SIP is the best way to drive high quality tutorial production in the format needed or where we need it right now. Maybe in the future this could be a good approach. However, right now I’m developing TSB’s format/standard after a lot of trial and error in different locations/formats, so the timing isn’t best for an influx of content without that framework in place and a standard format being finalized. I’m trying to structure a new pipeline for scalability, maximum learning value, and ease of maintenance so we can invite submissions internally and externally while adding our own directly from the Content Team.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and listening. I’m interested to hear more from the community on how we can improve edu, and I’m intrigued by the thought of going through the DAO to make the changes we want to see become a reality. Let’s keep talking and brainstorming to see what might work!

Becky Lattof,
TSB Edu PgM

[DaruthTheHuman]

Wow, lol, this reply is as difficult to parse as the tutorials. I don’t doubt you had a hand.

Sounds like you are defending how bad it is. Whatever your reasons are, as a new user, I am here to tell you its bad.

Long form text online, live stream, Gitbook. Are you serious?

Videos are NOT the best way to teach the public because you have to update them… ?

Well that answers one question: you have never personally tried to learn how to use these programs. I would personally like to watch you try.

It looks like you listed all the stuff to get it to the point where it is right now, inadequate.

At least it sounds like you are also saying they wouldn’t let you make anything good so… its not your fault I understand.

The Offer still stands. I wasn’t suggesting a SIP I was asking to be contracted… Not by you of course.

[DaruthTheHuman]

Welcome to our community First time User.

[SANDcultivator]

Yes, I signed up on the DAO Forum to give you a thoughtful response (couldn’t get someone to adjust my status on a Friday night). I’m an admin on TSB Creators forum. You’re welcome to continue this conversation with me there if you need proof of identity in the short term.

Regarding your deleted post, my Twitter username has been STEAMcultivator since I was a STEAM lab teacher. I also use SANDcultivator on TSB.

Cultivator

1. a mechanical implement for breaking up soil and uprooting weeds.
2. a person who cultivates

Cultivate

1. prepare and use (land) for crops or gardening
2. try to acquire or develop (a quality, sentiment, or skill)

Your feedback about the current amount and quality of tutorials is valid, and I agree with you. You want solutions now, so my evidence of what has improved isn’t a satisfactory response. However, there’s an order of doing things. We needed our resource location cleaned up significantly and base materials updated and simplified before creating tutorials that combine that base knowledge. I’ve been cultivating our resources to be better than what I inherited.

I made edu content before TSB even had completed docs, and I’ve advocated for this community within TSB the whole time working here. The motivated person you’re saying we need is already here. I need the right conditions to accomplish my vision, just as learners need the right conditions to learn. I also have the professional background to make effective learning content. What I don’t have enough of is time and staff, and yes, part of that is how my employer prioritizes my work. That’s a given with any job.

Your posts have been quite negative and generalize what you dislike. Rather than assume the problem is my skillset as an educator, please provide links to specific content you’d like us to improve in the TSB Creators Forum so I can get it in our pipeline of improvements to make.

As for format, I proposed a more powerful option for docs and tutorials and was told to stay with Gitbook. I’ve done my best with that platform’s limitations. Now they have evidence that it’s ok, but not enough for what we really need. That’s why I’m working on something better.

You proposed writing a SIP, but now you’re saying you want to be contracted (through a SIP?). My point is, if someone wants to create edu content for TSB, they’d get assignments from me, the Edu PgM. If they want contracted work through a DAO initiative, that’s separate. I shared info in my original response that might help you navigate the DAO SIP direction if that’s what you want to do as a community member.

[DaruthTheHuman]

Thanks for the response!

I’m sure you are doing your best under the circumstances whatever they are.

Good luck!

[dankoyy]

@DaruthTheHuman and @SANDcultivator, We have many creators in the community who are interested in the challenge of teaching Game Maker, and many of them are waiting for TSB to take more interest in the education development and support those UGC educators and what they’ve been doing over the years.

For example, my work as a TSB Game Maker educator.

I have developed comprehensive lessons on creating interactive game mechanics using GM. These lessons focus on implementing logic to enhance the interactivity of in-game assets, such as doors and chests, from basic to more complex mechanics.
I believe these lessons could be valuable to both new and experienced creators within our community.

Please find attached two images and their corresponding YouTube gameplay videos below, which illustrate the detailed game logic and mechanics behind these lessons:

1. Creating an Interactive Chest with Delayed Reward
   [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrdHMV_5ugI]
   

   

2. Creating an Interactive Door
   [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ElFvrVbNZU]
   

   

The CEPASA GAME STUDIO (CGS) was a GMF initiative that offered in-person classes on game development. The CGS successfully launched its pilot project in the second half of 2023, running from August to December. During this period, students had remote access to high-performance computers on AWS servers.

The pilot included two classes of 14 high school students each. Over the course of 24 two-hour sessions per class, the students learned to use and navigate two game creation software programs: VoxEdit and TSB-GameMaker.

CEPASA
Project Final Video x.com
Devlog 01 x.com
Devlog 02 x.com
Devlog 03 x.com
Devlog 04 x.com
Devlog 05 x.com
Devlog 06 x.com
Devlog 07 x.com
Devlog 08 x.com
Devlog 09 x.com

Teaching GM is a big challenge, and over the years, I’ve also made many videos developing completely different approaches, with the goal of finding the best models for teaching—balancing quality, time, cost, maintenance, and target audience.

TSBedu
Fish Behavior x.com
Key Inputs x.com
Pickable Interact messages x.com
Key Inputs x.com
Multi-Interaction Display x.com
Rules are JSON objects x.com
Polishing Logic x.com
Toggle Behavior Component x.com
Pickable Bomb x.com
Interact Bomb x.com
TSB Display with Gifs x.com
GM 0.10 Behaviors and Compoents x.com
Game Maker Lesson from GM 6.14 x.com
Scalable Dialogues and Events x.com
HTML-like text formatting x.com
Text Variables for GM 9.11 x.com
SPIKE TRAPS x.com
Raining Visual FX x.com
Shop System x.com
Cooking Simulator template x.com
Random Number x.com
Cooperative Quests x.com
Door Message simulation shows x.com
THE SANDBOX 2023 x.com
TSB Game Maker Explosive Barrel x.com
QUEST INDICATORS x.com
We are not special! YOU ARE! x.com
Show Assets inside GM x.com
Transform OBJ into Voxedit files x.com
Display NFT x.com

Thank you for the interest in education @DaruthTheHuman.