MacOS bug - broken Visuals/Sprites feature

[Milion]

Hi guys,
great job on creating Pixel FX Designer! Big particle systems are often overkill for lo-res stuff, it is good to have streamlined alternative.

However, I'm a little bit concerned. Two months passed since last update and Visuals panel on MacOS is still broken. I know from itch.io forum that you worked out a solution, but nothing materialized. Please comment on the issue.

[Meego]

^ I too would like an update especially as the workaround makes the software crash for me.

[Meego]

So on itch there's a windows update, but no news on the mac update? Could we get a (dev) response on an ETA for the fix?

[Milion]

Yes, can we get any comment from devs?

[CodeManu]

Hi,

I'm Manu, the programmer behind Pixel FX Designer, sorry for the late reply, I don't usually read forums, not here nor itchio ones, but I'll start doing it from now on.

We've been trying to get the OSX version fixed since the last update without success. Pixel FX Designer was developed with GameMakerStudio 2 which has a lot of its functions bugged for OSX (for years now), functions as basic as the ones to open external files, given this, I had to use external dlls and workarounds in order to get a working OSX build. The problema is that as further as we get into development new issues arise and some of them are actually impossible to fix until the engine gets fixed (or goes open source, which will never happen).

So our only options are to stop giving support for OSX build or keep waiting for the functions to be fixed (unlikely, as I said it's being years since they were reported and addressed.) and we've waiting for a long time.

We'll be talking with steam to see if there is any chance we can offer refunds to mac users even if they have more than 2 hours of use, as we more than likely will stop the OSX support.

[Milion]

" sorry for the late reply, I don't usually read forums, not here nor itchio ones, but I'll start doing it from now on."
Some quicker responce would save a lot of frustration, but I'm sure You know that.
After all, I'm glad that You explained what is happening with PFXD development and what is cause for those MacOS bugs. This puts all those months of silence into totally different perspective.

"We'll be talking with steam to see if there is any chance we can offer refunds to mac users even if they have more than 2 hours of use, as we more than likely will stop the OSX support."
Refund for Mac Steam users - that is appriciated, a right thing to do.

It's a pitty, that bugs & limitations of GameMaker Studio 2 stop PFXD from happening on MacOS in a future.

[CodeManu]

I know and I'm really sorry, I'm also a consumer of other applications and I know the frustration of the wait.

It's really a pitty that we can give proper support to OSX users, neither to Linux users which we were planning to give support. We'll gladly give support to this platforms in the future if broken functions get fixed, but we can't keep using third party libraries that break on every update and take almost 2/3 of the development time.

[Meego]

Thanks for the info, sad to see that you'll stop supporting OS X for now.

[Milion]

So, 8 months have passed since last update on Steam. Not only you stopped supporting MacOS, you also stopped supporting this program at all!

Originally posted by CodeManu:

We'll be talking with steam to see if there is any chance we can offer refunds to mac users even if they have more than 2 hours of use, as we more than likely will stop the OSX support.

So, what this about refund? Are you waiting until I forget about my money?
There is no communication from you here and you also avoid answering any questions that doesn't suit you on Itch.io. Last time I believed in your good intentions, but now it is quite clear what kind of business you are running.

[CodeManu]

Hi there,

Pixel FX Designer has not been updated since December 18th, as I'm working towards fixing a bug that affects image opacity in both Pixel FX Designer and Juice FX. An update will come when this major bug gets fixed, along with other small bug fixes that have been reported over this 4 months.

About the refund, if you originally bought this program on Itch.io, I'll suggest you to message them over there and they will handle the refund. If you bought it here I'd get in contact with Steam support to see what can be done, as I'm aware they are reluctant to give refunds after 2 hours of use. And if neither of this ways work, send me an email to revampedpro(at)gmail(dot)com and we'll see what we can do.

[Milion]

There was no communication for months (again!) and contrary to your comment, PFXD from Steam is one version behind the one from Itch.io (Mac version). Yes, I looked in upper right corner. It seemed like Pixel FX Designer became abandonware, especially with "radio silence" on your part.
I hope this whole situation will be resolved in positive way and we both can leave it behind. I just want to get my money back and forget it.

I already got in touch with Steam support asking for refund and will get in touch with you if they deny it.

Thanks for contact.

[Milion]

UPDATE ON SITUATION: Developer contacted me & solved issue in very classy way. I take back my accusations of ill will & lack of professionalism and sorry for them. Developer is honest person.

[Cheap!]

It's 2022. The tool runs on OSX but the visuals section is not working. I'm glad to be able to use what works on OSX but in retrospect don't think it's worth $20 for OSX. On the positive side, I'm able to switch between systems and plan to run it on windows. Decent tool, it would be better if it provided parity of functionality or had a disclaimer on the visuals section for OSX so users know that the section won't be usable (and it's not user error). WIth that said, I think it's better to have some OSX version than NO OSX version.