CT's plans for sub-apps?

[MJK]

Is Clickteam planning to continue supporting sub-applications in Fusion across different runtimes? Or will sub-apps perhaps be a less of a priority going forward (which I have somehow sensed recently with my 6th sense..)?

I'm planning for a major project that as a concept relies on sub-applications quite heavily. But if there are stormy clouds ahead for sub-apps on the CT roadmap, I will have to re-think the concept. I understand if no one can make any exact promises for future support, but some guidance/views would be appreciated.

[lh37]

I hear that Clickteam Fusion 2.5 (MMF 2.5) will be running a relatively similar code base to MMF2 now, so all our MFA projects will be compatible that's for sure, and its due for release "soon".

For that reason, I can't see sub-apps going anywhere anytime soon, especially for the PC runtime. And even so, when newer versions of MMF are released, I can't see support for older versions to be dropped entirely. A few tips & tricks around the forums today will rely on sub-apps to get the job done (eg. pause menus). If sub-apps was to be removed in future, that sounds like a bad idea!

Nothing should stop you now if you are to start in MMF2 today and convert over to "MMF3's" format in months/years time since there has been plans to have a 'converter' between the old and new format for backwards compatibility. To play safe though, I would advise thinking of alternate methods for your concept in case sub-apps was to vanish completely in the future (that would be like taking the 'Counter' object out)

In reality, I couldn't imagine an Android/iOS device running an app with 10 sub-app processes when they could be running all under one frame, I wouldn't see it as memory efficient. Similarly, if a future cross-platform PC runtime was to shape between Windows, Mac and Linux: Running MDI sub-apps for an MDI program in Windows wouldn't necessarily make sense for Mac or Linux, since MDI is Microsoft's type of interface.

Having said that, this is just my view on the subject. Good luck with your project!

[Simon]

My advice is to create your project with MMF2/F2.5 (which does support sub-apps) only. Whether or not F3 will be able to work with your project, MMF2/F2.5 will still function and you will be able to continue development with it.

I hope this helps.

[MJK]

Thanks, it did help (a bit).

[Danny]

FYI: CT would never drop support for Sub-Apps in 2.0 or 2.5. Sub-Apps should always (if possible) be supported across existing and new platforms.

[Jeff]

I can't see any reason sub-apps would ever go away.

[MJK]

Good to know, thanks!

[DaveC]

well will sub-apps ever be implemented correctly to actually work across different run times? the object behaves differently depending on the export type (exe, iOS, Android)