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o3de / o3de.org

The O3DE website
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Facilitate setup process #1161

Open makemefeelgr8 opened 2 years ago

makemefeelgr8 commented 2 years ago

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. This is how setup process looks like right now:

  1. Watch a youtube video where they mention o3de
  2. Be like: "Oh man, now this engine looks cool. Let me try it out"
  3. Try to download the engine... Huh, no binaries? I bet we've lost like 70% of users at this point.
  4. Try to build the engine from source code.
  5. Wait, there are 2 manuals in github! "Quick start engine setup" and "Setting up new projects and building the engine". Which one do I even need? Do I need to perform both?
  6. Try to start with "Quick start engine setup".
  7. Setting up engine requires executing multiple commands with multiple parameters each! After using cmake gui, it generated solution that does not even build properly (it's missing all the references to external libraries, though I did specify all the parameters).
  8. Try to create a project. Wait, more commands? No gui? your project build path, your new project source path- what even are these? Those look like exact same things to the average user.
  9. Try to find more info. It turns out, there is a gui for creating projects... which did not compile.
  10. Continue looking into how to create a project. Find out there are multiple videos you have to watch to set up the engine and create the project. "If in previous video you have built the engine with INSTALL parameter, do this, otherwise..." really? Why do commands in videos and in git differ? Do I just remove all the stuff and try again by following videos?
  11. Give up and download Unreal Engine 5 instead (by pressing 1 button). Or build it from source code (by running a bat file).
  12. Be like "nah, I'll never use o3de again".

Describe the solution you'd like An easy way for an average user to set up stuff. A launcher would be perfect. One can just launch an executable, and it will run all those commands and whatnot.

Describe alternatives you've considered Unity, Cryengine, Unreal engine, gamebryo, renpy, even godot and Stride. Do you know what they have in common? They're easy to setup! Even a person who have never written a single line of code can download an engine, create a project, explore a few samples and drag around some cubes. Without having to spend hours watching educational material and running commands.

Additional context Why would one use an engine that requires such a complicated setup process (compared to alternatives)? It might be cool and all, but lets face it- 90% of potential users will never know, cause they'll never get through the setup process. These days, they value ease of use over performance and graphics.

Ulrick28 commented 2 years ago

Hi makemefeelgr8! Apologies for your current issues installing. We have worked to improve this experience considerably and are releasing an installer (binaries!) and an improved project setup experience. We are also improving and simplifying the installation experience. You can check out the installer here, these are nightly builds for the game jam participants and subject to some instability as the installer is still experimental. https://itch.io/jam/o3de-jam-1

sptramer commented 2 years ago

Possible actionable items coming from this request:

Wait, there are 2 manuals in github! "Quick start engine setup" and "Setting up new projects and building the engine". Which one do I even need? Do I need to perform both?

Try to create a project. Wait, more commands? No gui? your project build path, your new project source path- what even are these? Those look like exact same things to the average user.

Continue looking into how to create a project. Find out there are multiple videos you have to watch to set up the engine and create the project. "If in previous video you have built the engine with INSTALL parameter, do this, otherwise..." really? Why do commands in videos and in git differ? Do I just remove all the stuff and try again by following videos?

OldFlak commented 2 years ago

Just installed using the new installer - can't even build a project, it just bombs out with some stuff about command lines. Can we not just build a project, or do we really have to go the command line route?

Ulrick28 commented 2 years ago

Hi! Are you are using Windows 10 or 11? Have you installed visual studio 2019? VS 2019 is a requirement to be able to build projects in Windows. The installer download page has a list of the requirements and installation instructions. Can you post your log file, or provide more detail, for the errors you are seeing?

OldFlak commented 2 years ago

@Ulrick28 thanks for reply. All good now - reinstalled the CMake and it built the project fine. Looking very nice so far....