Pfaber1 wrote: "I just drag the whole AppGameKit folder onto the desktop"
That's interesting, I was not aware it could be done that easily. Definitely good to know. Steam is an overall good system but it is certainly a benefit to be able to run AppGameKit Studio independently of steam, and without an online requirement as some software is designed to have that requirement.
Pfaber1 wrote: "After 5 years of programming about 3 with AppGameKit C/S I find AppGameKit to be the best language I have tried and feel competent I could put most projects together Games or Other programs. I now find using AppGameKit studio not easy as it can be hard work at times but I'm way faster than I used to be and as a result of this less pressure less feeling jared off after being stuck on something for days and really enjoying what I'm doing. This is a recent thing and there have been many times I felt like giving up but I never quit but just kept looking for the answer and moving onto the next problem."
Thanks for sharing those insights! I have been experiencing something similar, and it is satisfying to work through programming challenges and gain experience. The more I use and learn AppGameKit, the more confidence I gain at programming using this system and gradually the more skilled I become. I am looking forward especially to using tier2 (C++ AGK) in the future as well, but I find tier 1 and AppGameKit Studio to be just great as a development environment for creating games in a highly iterative fashion, one small step or one small feature at a time. It actually really reminds me of Garry Kitchen's Gamemaker (circa 1980s) and STOS/AMOS (circa 1980s/90s). C++ has its own strengths as well which these do not have, but there's a unique balance between prototyping, playtesting and designing which AppGameKit tier 1 seems to capture or utilize nicely.
Pfaber1 wrote: "I tried 5 programming languages in total and the one I choose to use is AppGameKit Studio so I hope it will be useable for some years to come."
Have you tried programming AppGameKit in tier 2 (C++)? If so, how do you find it compared to tier 1? (Maybe this should be the topic of a new thread). I think AppGameKit Studio will be usable for a long, long time because, if for no other reason, it targets HTML5, Linux and Windows which should remain relatively static platforms in the long term, maybe even for decades. With a bit of tuning, software that is 10-20 years old can be run on more modern hardware for which that software was not originally designed, such as HTML5 Apps or Windows XP Apps under Windows 11 using either backward compatibility layers or even if need be emulators or virtual machines that emulate older dated hardware.
Which brings it back full circle to the Steam client App: I am delighted to hear that AppGameKit Studio and other components of AppGameKit can be executed independently of the Steam App, even if purchased through Steam. That capability helps to "future proof" AppGameKit from potentially arbitrary changes which Valve / Steam might decide to implement at any given time (for example, the recent removal of the Steam client App's ability to function on the Windows 7 OS).
In part due to AGK's feature of running outside of the Steam client App, I don't anticipate AppGameKit becoming outdated or irrelevant or unusable for a long, long time. And therefore, skills learned using AppGameKit (besides also highly transferable general programming skills) I believe will likewise be valuable skills to learn for a long, long time, whether in tier 1 or tier 2 or both tiers.
Pfaber1 wrote: "My creation I'm working on now is gonna be my best game yet. "
I wish you success in your current and any future programming project(s)!