Why I've Decided To Stop Using Buildbox

Discussion in 'Buildbox General Discussion' started by doylepat, Feb 17, 2017.

  1. doylepat

    doylepat Boxer

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    Unfortunately I'm at my wits end with Buildbox. Every single time I try to use Buildbox, it crashes, I find a new bug, or something else happens which sets me back. I've contacted support in the past and have been told "We are looking into it" or "Not sure why that's happening". Never have ANY of my issues been resolved. Yes, they have been responded to, but no real issues are being solved.

    It's very demotivating to be working on a game and having the software crash out of no where and lose hours of hard work.

    The worst part is Buildbox is an amazing software with a ton of potential that has allowed me to create games that I would have never been able to create. But there are far too many downsides for me to keep using this software. I have felt like a beta tester from the moment I started paying $100 a month. I know there are other users out there who feel the same way I do and there are probably some users who strongly disagree with me. That's fine.

    I'm not writing this to hate on Buildbox or anyone involved with Buildbox but I just want to put my opinion out there so that others can take it into consideration before buying Buildbox.
     
    Christoph likes this.
  2. AppNasty

    AppNasty Miniboss Boxer

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    Hmmm....i dont ever have any issues. Occasional random crash...but it doesnt ruin my games.
     
  3. doylepat

    doylepat Boxer

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    I wouldn't post this if it was an occasional crash. It's pretty much every time I open the software.
     
  4. trudnai

    trudnai Miniboss Boxer

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    Yeah man, I use an AppleScript I wrote to do regular file saves to a DropBox folder which syncs to the cloud with file versioning. DropBox uploads the changes faster than BuildBox can save it and if something horrible happens I can go back in time to an earlier version. This way I have never lost anything yet (oh, need to touch a wood but I have a glass table...)

    @heathclose and some others use an external tool to do similar things. Without these it would have been too risky I agree.
     
  5. MattGamer

    MattGamer Boxer

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    I think the addition of version control to BB3 would be a good idea
     
  6. runrollgames

    runrollgames Boxer

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    Haha, its damn true.
     
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  7. VectologyGames

    VectologyGames Serious Boxer

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    Runs fine for me.
     
  8. AppNasty

    AppNasty Miniboss Boxer

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    Runs great for me. Only crashes i get is when i run the auto cleaners. Image, etc. and optimize assets. then after f i try to go to mind map area, crash. But i just save now before that, exit, reload. It can be YOUR computer as well. Especially if its a PC. What i would do is backup everything to a flash drive, Contact bb support and ask them to reset your serial code. FORMAT your pc with fresh windows. Update etc....Then install fresh copy of BB. It will run smooooottthhh
     
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  9. doylepat

    doylepat Boxer

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    I've done that before and also tried on multiple computers. I would contact support but that never seems to get me anywhere. But thanks for trying to help, I really appreciate it. Wish you the best with your games and publishing company.
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2017
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  10. doylepat

    doylepat Boxer

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    .

    Wish I could say the same
     
  11. SuperVudu

    SuperVudu Boxer

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    I'm new to BB (Joined Jan 1) and I've noticed the crashes are pretty regular. I've definitely lost a couple hours here and there. It makes a person feel like headbutting a steak knife, for sure, but I just take a quick moment, scream into a pillow and remember to save my bbdoc like my life depends on it. Crashes do happen, but as long as I remain dutiful, I don't have problems. As far as technical problems, the support team has helped me out with all my issues. You've been here a lot longer than I have though. Let's see how I feel once I've been here as long as you have. So far, so good. I have read some of your threads and found them very useful, so thank you for that and I'm sad to see you go. Best of luck to you.:)
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2017
  12. playsgames6666

    playsgames6666 Miniboss Boxer

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    Head butting a steak knife , hahahahaha, i like that one...
    Yea i always save every couple of minutes lol. don't waste that much time though.
    But i have found that i don't get the crashes i used too.
    My thinking was at the start i was just doing stuff wrong and that was why it was crashing.
    Now the only time it will crash is when I'm trying to do something different that BB is not capable of then it has a fit and crashes.
    But otherwise no crashes.
     
  13. Dawnjoanz

    Dawnjoanz Boxer

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    Im on a mac the only time it crashes is when I try to play.
     
  14. SuperVudu

    SuperVudu Boxer

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    lol thanks. ;)
    Yeah, I really have gotten a lot better at saving regularly.
    I thought the same thing at first as well and I have noticed that the better I get with BB(optimizing atlases, adding correctly sized images and not rescaling in BB, converting to clones, remove unused this and that,...) , the fewer crashes I have.
    All in all, it's still only an annoyance for me, not a deal breaker.
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2017
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  15. Trudeau

    Trudeau Boxer

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    Run pretty good for me. I can almost predict the occasional crash at this point. I've gotten into a habit of saving every time I switch between UI screens or World Screens and before running the optimising atlases, removing images, etc, - like others have mentioned.
     
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  16. doylepat

    doylepat Boxer

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    Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated. I wish you the best of luck with your games.
     
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  17. doylepat

    doylepat Boxer

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    I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea, I think overall Buildbox is great. There is nothing else out there as easy to use as Buildbox and the active community on the forum is one of a kind.

    But after a year using Buildbox, I still experience the same issues I've experienced from day one. It's just really frustrating and I hit my breaking point. I had my biggest project to date crash last week and 60% of my progress was erased. Some days I couldn't even work because it would just crash every time I opened the software. (It's not my computers fault)

    I'm not going to complain anymore or say anything else about it because no one wants to hear it and I probably sound like a wuss BUT I had to share my experience. Maybe someone from Buildbox will see this and fix these issues for anyone experiencing it. We shouldn't have to create AppleScripts and use DropBox servers to save our projects.

    Thanks for reading.
     
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  18. AppNasty

    AppNasty Miniboss Boxer

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    To be honest....even if BB crashed every 60 seconds, i would still use it. lol. Beats learning GameSalad or Clickteam Fusion etc.
     
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  19. 1024Bits

    1024Bits Boxer

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  20. trudnai

    trudnai Miniboss Boxer

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    Sure, here is the thread about it:

    https://www.buildbox.com/forum/index.php?threads/auto-save-on-mac.6873/
     

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