Stencyl Pro - Splash-free Flash games, publish to desktop and more

Don't forget that making Flash games is still free (with splash screens) and you and develop and test with iOS for free.

For iOS is it possible to test the features like iAds, IAP or Gamecenter before buying the paid subscription version?

When I paid $99 to get the splash screen stuff removed a while back, I was told it was a one-time fee.

I have not received any information on what this new pricing model means for me (am I running a perpetual license or an annual one, and if it's the latter did that kick in retroactively from the moment I paid for it? There's a $50 one-off fee now for what I thought I purchased? But I only see that being mentioned in this thread and nowhere else. There's an introductory price of $79 a year, so is it fair for me to feel like I'm being punished for being an early early adopter?) and I can't help but feel slightly annoyed by the lack of communication.

That said though, I don't think the new pricing models are off at all. The pro licenses are geared towards people who make money off of their games, and that tends to come with an investment.     

When I paid $99 to get the splash screen stuff removed a while back, I was told it was a one-time fee. 

Your license continues to be perpetual and is unaffected by this change. I did communicate this at the time of purchase and planned to send an e-mail out once I had set all early adopters up in the database (once 2.0 goes out - nobody has been set up yet in the actual plans system).

GameMaker Studio, which is currently under development, is tentatively priced at $99 and will publish to Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and HTML5.

This is inaccurate. Studio is $99 to publish to desktop, and $200 per additional platform, unless that has changed in the past month.

As for future pricing, the one reason why I'm not announcing the pricing today is simply because I don't want to set expectations and back out on it later - that I think everyone here can understand. If you're expecting the "full house" to break past $300, I can say that much - it's not going to pass that mark. I think that you can conjecture what the few possible price points would be based on that.

One thing to bear in mind is that Stencyl, for all intents and purposes, is a personal business and has been funded entirely out of my personal savings and done on personal time. Although the overheads of that are lower, at the same time, we dont have millions in the bank like a venture-funded company does. When you do, you have a lot more leverage to keep the prices low, and heck, if I were in that spot, I would too. I'd love to say more about this, but it would be totally inappropriate in a public forum - you're free to e-mail me, and I can talk about it further.

So If I purchase a bundle package, will it carry over once 2.5 is released? I am getting ready to pay for stencyl pro and the iOS as a bundle, but honestly, If I am going to have to pay again for a pro android and HTML5 pro account, I don't see the point in paying right now. I honestly have no desire to publish anything for iOS, unless working with another developer that has their sights set on it. (one could say I loosely boycot apple and its store)

Seems like a bundle package is the way to go, for my intents, but I am aprehensive until I know whether or not my bases will be covered when android support is in full public effect.

The said "discount" will be offered as a reset-the-clock-and-upgrade deal. This benefits those who buy early.

To be clear, it would be pay X, and you get the upgrade AND your subscription across all the platforms is reset to another full year from that date.

I haven't decided on what X will be, but it could range from simply the difference between the new price and old price to something slightly more.

The deal would be time-limited, but there would be no catches beyond just that.

When I paid $99 to get the splash screen stuff removed a while back, I was told it was a one-time fee. 

Your license continues to be perpetual and is unaffected by this change. I did communicate this at the time of purchase and planned to send an e-mail out once I had set all early adopters up in the database (once 2.0 goes out - nobody has been set up yet in the actual plans system).

I know you communicated that at the time of the purchase, I went back and checked that just to make sure I wasn't wrong in making that claim now. But it was a Stencyl Pro license that I bought, so if there are changes made to what that license entails, I can't help but wonder if that affects my purchase. I'm glad to hear you're honoring the original agreement, and if you were planning on emailing early adopters about it anyway, I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever.

hello!
my question:
I have the iOS (149,00)
to get the Studio I will have to pay 79,00 or 50,00? (149+50 ->total=199) ?

I don't consider the price too steep, although it'd be nice to have some way to be able test some of the Stencyl Pro features without paying (like you offer with iOS Pro). An example would be to allow non-Pro users to publish to a standalone executable but with a watermark in one of the corners. This because I assume a seperate executable (especially with 2.5's hardware acceleration) will be able to perform much better than an online swf. If you want to make a complicated game but you can't test it on its intended platform and it performs poorly (because it's not on that platform but uses Flash) than some people might be discouraged to develop it using Stencyl.

Question about the Standalone Desktop App option, would the game have its own icon or would it still be the flash logo?

For reference:
Torque
Torque2D (Windows/Mac applications only): $128 once
iTorque2D (iOS only): $149 once

Corona
iOS: $199/year
Andoird: $199/year
Pro (iOS and Android): $349/year

GameMaker
Windows/Mac applications: $99 once
Additional platforms (iOS, Android, HTML5, Symbian): $200/each once, after purchasing the previous $99 plan

GameSalad
Pro (iOS, Android, HTML5): $299/year

Note that none of these deploy to Flash, either in their "lite" or "pro" packages.

So I can't access any ios specific features unless I lay down $200 upfront ?  or $300 if I want to be be able to test on my device and not virtually through the xcode sim.

This will remain the same. You can still use the "lite" version to develop and test your iOS application. You only have to purchase a subscription to publish and use the advanced features (iAds, Game Center, IAP).

So I can't access any ios specific features unless I lay down $200 upfront ?  or $300 if I want to be be able to test on my device and not virtually through the xcode sim.

No, iOS features are still available for free.
Testing on the iOS Simulator is still free (but requires a Mac).
Testing on iOS Device is still free (but requieres a Mac and a Apple Developer license).
Only to publish to the App Store you need to by iOS Pro for Stencyl.
Ninja'd.

An example would be to allow non-Pro users to publish to a standalone executable but with a watermark in one of the corners.

I agree, this is not really big feature, I don`t want to pay a lot for bunch of options that I will probably never use (really), personally I need only standalone execs from pro package.

"The said "discount" will be offered as a reset-the-clock-and-upgrade deal. This benefits those who buy early.

To be clear, it would be pay X, and you get the upgrade AND your subscription across all the platforms is reset to another full year from that date."

That completely answers my question. Thank you Jon!!!

This is inaccurate. Studio is $99 to publish to desktop, and $200 per additional platform, unless that has changed in the past month.

It's possible that I got that wrong. As with many still-to-come products, the information isn't always clear or consistent. I am fairly certain the fee is a purchase price, as with their other products.

I'd love to say more about this, but it would be totally inappropriate in a public forum - you're free to e-mail me, and I can talk about it further.

Thank you, but that's not necessary. You obviously do not have to justify your decisions to me. I did not expect my post to change anything, I just wanted to state my position and explain why my next dev tool purchase would probably be one of Stencyl's competitors. I don't think I am alone in my reasoning, but it does look like I am in the minority.