Not interested. I am more focused on pc now.
I won’t use the build service for Android, but new users might love it. I’m afraid of 4ian designing the build service and becoming sad if very few people use it.
4ian, are you willing to charge a one-time fee like ddabrahim mentioned? Were you saddened by that suggestion, or are you considering it? I would pay a single fee for every major version, like 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, but not a subscription. You could give free updates for at least one year, and then release a major version that requires another payment.
I won’t buy Construct 3 because it asks for a subscription of $100 USD per year and I cannot own it forever. You could charge $50 as a one-time payment for each major version, and release a new major version every year, but people would always fully own the version they buy, even if they never buy the newer ones. You should only add bug fixes during the second year, and then abandon it.
Example of the idea:
Version 5.0:
2018 - full support
2019 - only bug fixes
2020 - abandoned, but previous buyers still own it and can still sell games they make with it.
Version 6.0:
2019 - full support
2020 - only bug fixes
2021 - abandoned, but previous buyers still own it and can still sell games they make with it.
You could also try creating a Patreon page. The Godot engine is fully open-source with the MIT license, but they have one full-time developer and one part-time developer because they receive over 5,000 USD per month from Patreon. That would allow you to fulfill your vision of an open-source masterpiece while still receiving money.
I tried Godot and it was very difficult! My plans that are easily achieved with GDevelop are much harder with Godot!
I have this piece of advice:
Completely stop supporting the native platform, and use that extra time to make the best HTML5/JavaScript 2D engine. I hope people are not angered by that suggestion. Our developer probably has college classes and a job to focus on, so splitting time between HTML5 and Native might not be wise.
Thanks for your feedback and your ideas 
I’m still trying to find a good way to have a business model around GD, while keeping it open-source. As you mentioned, a one time payment is a solution, but currently a good advantage of GD is that it’s free. Another is to build services around GD, for example a build service for Android and maybe Windows/macOS/Linux (advanced users could still do it manually so you’re not locked in).
This could also be specific new features like for example a Debugger for games, accessible from a one-time fee that would unlock all the advanced features.
Also one time fee vs subscription is an interesting debate, but both can be done : you could either subscribe to pay every month or pay one-time for an unlimited use.
Still thinking! My goal is to keep the whole software open-source but find a sustainable model for developing GD.
The native platform is very useful in my opinion. And also about the fees, the whole reason behind I using gdevelop is because it has all the features i need and doesn’t require fees like other engines. It would be a huge disappointment if you implement charge to it. I know it might sound selfish but i as a new indie dev , do not have any income to start with and i need a free good engine like gdevelop to really get started. If you need money, you could setup donation sites for us to donate to you.
This is exactly why I think my suggestion extended with the idea of wild master to pay for every major release could work.
Have a think about it.
It would be open-source but people need to pay for convenience. On the desktop it is IDE and later export options.
You could charge a one time fee for every major desktop release as wild master suggested.
If people don’t want to pay, that is fine but then they need to compile from source for them selves or use the web version which you can take advantage of through subscriptions like a build service, game hosting, assets, additional features or even ads. And if you can introduce an easy plugin system which would allow us to really easily add features using JS, and sell these plugins people would more likely contribute in my opinion in the hope of making money.
You made GD free and open-source with the hope people going to contribute with code and features. Some may did, but in my opinion it is failed if we are looking at the big picture. It time to try a business model and I truly believe my suggestion could work simply because it works for everybody. Offline users, online users, free users, contributors and developers. Everybody wins.
GD could evolve faster with a business model imo rather than waiting for free contribution.
I thought of an idea for a compromise and I want to know what all of you think.
We all want GDevelop to continue as an open-source project because we don’t want the source to be lost after 4ian dies. Will Construct 3 have a legal plan to pick new owners when the current owners die? Will the new owners care about the customers as much as the old owners? Does Clickteam Fusion have a legal plan? Does GameMaker have one? Some of us are worried about our games not fully being ours if we use closed-source engines.
BUT, we also know that 4ian only has a few moments each week to work on GDevelop because we’re not paying him.
So, as a compromise, I have an idea that might mostly satisfy all sides. He could release one major version every one or two years, and its source code will not be released. After a new major version is released, he could release the source code of the previous major version.
It would happen like this:
- Version 7 is released and costs 50 dollars. The source code is not released.
- Since version 7 is being sold, the source code of version 6 is released for free.
- People will still be allowed to use version 6 to sell games, but it won’t receive updates.
- People who cannot afford to pay will always have a free version to use.
- Without funding, new versions of GDevelop might never even be created, so people who cannot pay shouldn’t be upset. The older version will still be great!
- If 4ian decides to leave the project, he could release the final source code when he says goodbye. If he dies, his legal documents will say that the source code of the final version must be released to the public. Even if he decides to give ownership of the final source to his son, and his son becomes so diabolical that he ruins the product, we will still have the source of the previous version to fork and improve. Hahahahaha!
Is this a bad plan? I’m not joking when I say I am afraid of the owners of engines dying. I own many engines, and I feel fear when I think about creating a beautiful game and being unable to preserve it for the future when the owners of the engines die, so I constantly come back to GDevelop. But I also want 4ian to become rich because he deserves to be recognized for his tremendous gift to us, so people who want the newest features should buy the major versions! I will gladly pay for this business model! It would be the best 2D engine that is also a public resource for future generations, and the newest portion of its source code will be only temporarily private to financially maintain the developer’s life!
I’m not 100% sure it a good idea to release the source code only to the previous version because this way people can not contribute to the current version. The point of my suggestion would be that the web version of GDevelop would take over the “spirit” of being a free and open software that is open to contribution and free to use because it is important to 4ian after all GDevelop is made using free and open frameworks and libraries. Holding the source code back would be against everything an open and free software stands for.
But, because it would be the web version that is free to all and hosted by 4ian he can still offer additional features for a small subscription fee that would cover the cost of the hosting such as a build service, royalty free assets, remote preview to mention a few possibilities that could be web version only. I think it would be more friendly than the subscription only plan of C3 but it would be still sort of carry on being a free and open software.
But, the idea of make the source of the previous version available remind me what 3DRad was doing. What they did was, every time a new major version released, you had to buy it and the old version become available free for everyone.
So, you sort of paid for getting the latest updates and features 6-12 months earlier. That could be a solution too but it would require to offer ground breaking updates and features to motivate people to buy the new version. This is what 3DRad failed to do very well and I’m not too sure 4ian could do it in part time. But I think it would be nice addition if all major releases require a one time payment and the old version become free to all. So in this case, GD5 would require a one time payment and GD4 would be the free version. When GD6 release, GD5 become free to all. But, the web version carry on being up to date all the time completely for free and offer services that may even make the desktop users to subscribe and use the web version instead of purchasing the next desktop version. Such thing could be the build service, remote preview, royalty free assets, Facebook API integration to mention a few.
But I think, the source code need to be shared otherwise GD can’t be a true open software and this way I believe even your concerns regarding the ownership in case of death would be solved as the new owner could not take away the version already shared for free only the one that is about to become free. And because the most recent source code is shared at all times, in case there is no new owner, someone might be able to take it over and continue it development but most importantly as long 4ian is alive GD can receive contributions and be a free and open software while also offer paid options.
As a side note, GDevelop 5 beta 12 is available compilgames.net
As a Christmas gift, you can find a Preferences menu where you can choose the new Dark theme: twitter.com/Game_Develop/status … 4362702854 
If you’re programming a bit, you can create new themes: github.com/4ian/GD/tree/master/newIDE#theming
Merry Christmas to everyone! 
Thanks for your thoughts about GD business model!
Yes indeed! It’s important I guess to keep games working on a game engine that is open-source (to keep being open to contributions, improvements, maintainability in case I don’t have time etc…).
Having a free web version with additional features for a small subscription fee looks like something that is not going to disrupt users but can still work. I’d like to try this. Not sure how to handle the desktop version. For now it’s the full “featured version” as web does not handle export nor custom resources (but this could evolve). Could have the same export options as now + the paid build service like the web version.
The dark theme looks great, thanks a lot for that
The problem is that if both version share the same features there would be little reason to use the web version. There need to be something that set the web version and the desktop version apart. My idea was that to make the web version the free option and the desktop the paid option exactly because the desktop version is the fully featured version and you can more easily offer paid features to the web version and have a business model on both while GD can be still considered a free and open software after all.
But If you would like to offer both version for free and offer only a build service for a small fee, an other option could be is to make both version completely free for making/exporting HTML5 games and add a build service to the web version to export to Android, iOS, FireOS and a build service to the desktop version to export to Windows, Linux, Mac which would require a one time fee or monthly/annual subscription. So the desktop would be targeting desktop, and the web version targeting mobile with remote preview I think it would be very important to offer remote preview for mobile in the web version and both of them can be used to target HTML5 completely for free. I know there is no reason to make the web version do not export to desktop and make the desktop version do not export to mobile, but the way I see it in case you want both version to be equally fully featured and exist next to each other there must be something that set them apart from each other. Desktop → Desktop and Web → Mobile could be used as an excuse for having both exist.
An other option could be just popped out of my head as I’m writing this, probably it is not what you want but I just leave it here for you.
The web version could be a sort educational version with lots of templates and free assets like 3D Gamemaker was:
youtube.com/watch?v=1_sy7D3HmZ4
There would be no option to use custom assets but using only the ones included and you can charge a monthly fee for more assets and templates to choose from. This way both the desktop and the web version could target the same platforms using the same build service and both have it place in the world while nothing stop you from evolving the web version to become a fully featured version one day to replace the desktop version if/when it is become reasonable step to take.
You probably want both the web and desktop equal but in my opinion it is just not possible, this is why Scirra decided do not offer a desktop version for C3. It would ruin the web version instead they turned the web version in to a hybrid that also works offline but still require an annual fee to access all the features. It is something that you can also consider except you would offer a truly free plan not just a limited trial like C3 does.
new version keeps crashing when I try adding new scenes and associating external events with scenes. adding and associating external layouts works just fine.
Strange, nothing should have changed on this part.
Can you send me a screenshot/video/GIF of the crash? Can you send me the game that you’re using and the steps to reproduce the issue? Thanks!
It happens even starting a new project, here’s what the console reads:
- Loading builtin extensions… BuiltinObject, Sprite, BuiltinCommonInstructions, BuiltinCommonConversions, BuiltinVariables, BuiltinMouse, BuiltinKeyboard, BuiltinJoystick, BuiltinScene, BuiltinTime, BuiltinMathematicalTools, BuiltinCamera, BuiltinAudio, BuiltinFile, BuiltinNetwork, BuiltinWindow, BuiltinStringInstructions, BuiltinAdvanced, BuiltinExternalLayouts, done.
main.f6af7bbf.js:1 * Loading other extensions… PlatformBehavior, DestroyOutsideBehavior, TiledSpriteObject, DraggableBehavior, TopDownMovementBehavior, TextObject, AdMobObject, PanelSpriteObject, AnchorBehavior, PrimitiveDrawing, TextEntryObject, Inventory, LinkedObjects, SystemInfo, Shopify, done.
main.f6af7bbf.js:1
Pixi.js VERSION - ✰ WebGL ✰ pixijs.com/
main.f6af7bbf.js:1 TypeError: Cannot read property ‘wrappedInstance’ of undefined
at t. (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at wt (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at commitLifeCycles (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at t (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at _ (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at x (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at batchedUpdates (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at Q (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at je (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at HTMLDocument.r (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
e.(anonymous function) @ main.f6af7bbf.js:1
main.f6af7bbf.js:1 Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property ‘wrappedInstance’ of undefined
at t. (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at wt (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at commitLifeCycles (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at t (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at _ (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at x (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at batchedUpdates (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at Q (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at je (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
at HTMLDocument.r (main.f6af7bbf.js:1)
Indeed! Will fix that soon! Thanks for the details
That’s fixed in beta13, you can download it from the website.
I’ve added a better error handling that will prevent an editor to crash the whole app in case something goes wrong. Also the error will be automatically reported to me using an online Bug reporting service (called Sentry).
It works! Thank you and happy holidays
Just Have to say…bug fix on Christmas!! I’m impressed. Sorry for the off-topic, loving the Beta by the way. Is the middle mouse button scrolling in the editor making a return? If it’s on Trello, didn’t notice.
Thanks.
Edit: Happy New Years!
WELL, I found a way to just use the position and screen window size to ‘code’ it in the editor.
Original:
I’m having some new trouble with the anchor behavior. Errors in preview when using bottom or right anchor. Left and top anchor are always inverted no matter what the choice.
pixi.js:7
Pixi.js 3.0.8 - ✰ WebGL ✰ pixijs.com/
20:58:51.917 bunny.png Failed to load resource: net::ERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND
20:58:51.975 anchorruntimebehavior.js:156 Uncaught TypeError: this.owner.setHeight is not a function
at gdjs.AnchorRuntimeBehavior.doStepPostEvents (anchorruntimebehavior.js:156)
at gdjs.AnchorRuntimeBehavior.gdjs.RuntimeBehavior.stepPostEvents (runtimebehavior.js:59)
at gdjs.TextRuntimeObject.gdjs.RuntimeObject.stepBehaviorsPostEvents (runtimeobject.js:839)
at gdjs.RuntimeScene._updateObjects (runtimescene.js:380)
at gdjs.RuntimeScene.renderAndStep (runtimescene.js:207)
at gdjs.SceneStack.step (scenestack.js:20)
at runtimegame.js:290
at gameLoop (runtimegame-pixi-renderer.js:332)
Update incoming! I’ve spent the last few weeks working on a integrated export to do a one-click packaging for Android.
By default, users will be able to package for Android two times maximum a day - for free! You will be able to subscribe to paid plans (something not expensive at all) to unlock more packagings Paid plans are here to cover the expense of the build service that I’ve created and to support GDevelop development
Also open-source contributors helping (or that have helped in the past) to create GDevelop will likely get a free indie subscription.
The online services that I’ve developed are based on serverless services hosted by Amazon Web Services and Google Firebase, so they should be pretty robust/scalable.
I’m still experimenting, it’s likely that the service will change/improve later, with new one-click exports (windows, macOS, Linux and iOS), one year subscription, etc…
Also for now I kept Stripe.com (as on GDevApp) for the payment processing. It’s robust, secured, well designed and easy to integrate. I may add Paypal (or even cryptocurrency ) later.
Right now it’s 2 euros/month for 10 Android packaging, 7 euros for 70 Android packaging (these numbers could also evolve later according to user needs - maybe with a last plan with unlimited packagings for all platforms).
So as said it’s still highly experimental but this should ease the creation of Android app for newcomers. Still waiting to see how it will be used
I’ll be back then on working on improving GDevelop 5 with features that are still missing from GD4
1 Like
Sounds great
I know you are busy and eventually it will come but do you have any estimate on when pathfinding coming to GD5? 
Thanks.
Hi,
on beta 17 for Mac (Yosemite) when I start preview on many projects I’m working on, the preview stucks at 99% of the progress charging number.
HTML output and Android output have the same problem too.
Previous version I used (beta 13) works fine.
How can I solve?