MAMBA BLACK V2 released

[smogthemog]

I just can't believe it - all this waiting for MB 2.0 to come out and it's still got the same old crappy live player it had before! No music to laser sync?
What a let down. I think 120 Euro's will be better spent towards another Moncha lite DAC to be honest and that's the route I think I will be taking.

Where is the Demo?

[OldGrumpy]

Guys (and gals!), I'm a bit disappointed. I've put quite a lot of effort into Mamba 2.0 and it's been quite a while that I mentioned that the first version won't have all the features on the todo list, simple because that list is like five miles long by now. I've spent a lot of time with rewriting code instead of just adding another feature that would only make things worse (you just can't build a stable house on quicksand). The skinning didn't take a lot of time (like some folks suggested) because I'm not silly But it looks just much better in a dark room if Mamba doesn't light up half the room from the display. That was just one of the reasons for skinning. And you should take into consideration that 2.0 is just starting now. I wanted to have a rather early release so that it's possible to see the software grow up and mature, adding feature after feature, with direct feedback from the community. And now? On one hand I hear "good work, well done" and on the other side, there are the real grumpies, complaining all day that Mamba is even worse than "your mother". Well, to all of you (you know who you are): There is no way to please people like you, you'll always be nit-picking, and I'm not wasting my energy on you. I'm investing into Mamba because I see a lot of potential in it, and I have a lot of feature requests from the community. Mamba 1.x didn't change its GUI for more than five years, and some elements were even looking like Win 3.1. Mamba 2.0 starts with a fresh makeover, and it's not even done yet. But I think it's time for release. If I hadn't noticed some glitches today, the first dozen of upgrades would already be out. I'm just ironing out the last ones of those, and I've already a new todo list for the rest of the week. Sources say, Mamba 2.0 will get frequent updates with new features, and that's straight from the horse's mouth.

Enough ranting for today, from my side at least.

[stanwax]

Hi Andre
Well I for one applaude your hard graft on this - I know how hard you worked on 1.x so im sure you will have put the same effort & comittment into 2.0. Keep it up and when we get our hands on it we will start to give you more jobs for the todo list

All the best

Rob

[smogthemog]

Hmm - here it is from my point of view as a customer and user of MB - been waiting a long time for something decent to happen to MB
software and today I thought it was going to happen. Well for me, it didn't.
I understand a lot of effort has gone into this but I put effort into my job every hour of every day that I am there and I get paid for it accordingly. Do you get paid as a software developer?
No one is saying, well I am not anyway, that what you have done is not appreciated,
MB2 is not what I was expecting. It 'looks' just like the old MB. It may be different but personally I was looking for something that
Was visually going to blow socks off. My first ever look at live pro got my pulse rate up - it was bliss!! MB2, to me, 'looks' no different to the old program I have here and that's not what I was expecting.
Jim

[stanwax]

Jim

I appreciate your point of view but you have to remember that OG has to do what ML ask him to do - they pay the wages. I know OG did have lots of neat ideas for the UI on this version but maybe they will have to wait maybe ML have asked (or told) him to stick with the layout we are all familiar with. I like the simple and intuitive layout and I do get frustrated when new versions of software come out that seem to move things around and hide things for the sake of it (like Microsoft do!!). So from that point of view I like the fact that its not changed radically - im mor einterested in the added power and functionality thet will come with time. As for the Live player - I have never had a problem with it the way it is but its down to personal preference - I was hammering the Mamba live player long before I knew what Live Pro was let alone what it looked like. Yes pretty pictures make it easier to see whats gonna happen when you hit a cue but when I got used to using LP off a midi keyboard I could work it like a musical instument - that does not have clues to tell you what note it will be - and I cant play any instrument to save my life!
It will be very interesting to watch how this app develops over the coming months as to fight alongside the FB3 with its suite of apps plus the ability to upgrade to livepro (as well as the likes of Moncha) it has got a task on
Rob

[OldGrumpy]

Yay, it sounds as if smogthemog believes that eyecandy and changing the GUI is THE thing that makes new software "worthy". I've put a handful of that into Mamba 2.0 but I've always preferred functionality over visual impression. The live player isn't quite finished yet but already delivers quite more than the old one. People started nagging "when is it done?" quite a while ago, and I think I've mentioned numerous times that I wish I could implement the whole wishlist at once but I'm just a mere mortal

Wow, that smiley somehow reminds me of The Happy Eater

[smogthemog]

You are perhaps right there Andre. I possibly don't use MB to it's full potential but what use I do get out of it I like, apart from when it crashes and the orrible live player
As I said, as a customer, I was 'expecting' more from all the previous build up and hype and to 'ME' visually it wasn't there. There was talk of the new MB being a total re-write of the old MB and not being a SW developer I was expecting a big difference not only to the internals but to the externals as well which is the bit that I see and use.
When it gets, if it gets!, a GUI for the Live player then you can gladly have your 120 Euros because that is mainly what I personally want out of laser show software

Am I not allowed an opinion?

[OldGrumpy]

Of course you got the right to have an opinioin, just remember: one cross each

I'll make sure to send you notifications about the next few updates by messenger and make sure to give him a sledgehammer, also. Just in case you still complain it doesn't look fancy enough


P.S. I hope you know me well enough to not mistake the lines above

[smogthemog]

Has MB2 been fully Beta tested at all?
Does it perform better or as well as the previous versions forgetting the fact of any additions?

[OldGrumpy]

No, I absolutely believe in bananaware. And I spared no pains to make Mamba 2.0 as slow as possible, with a reduction of the feature set at the same time.


Allergy warning: Post may contain sarcasm.