I am a GameMaker user, I think that...

Hello,

I am a GameMaker user. I have read the news about Construct 2 on GameMaker Blog:

gamemakerblog.com/2011/08/23/construct-2-licence-prices-revealed-free-255

I have downloaded the Construct 2 free version and tried it. I think that Construct 2 is a good game making software...SURE!!! Many people think that GM HTML5 version is too expensive: (I agree.)

forums.tigsource.com/index.php

I believe that many GM users will start to consider to user Construct 2 for making HTML5 games. Why? There is a free version of Construct 2. In addition, many amateur indie game developers can afford USD65 for the indie version.

Now I have two suggestions:

1. The demand of HTML5 exporter is actually not so high. I believe that the demand of EXE exporter is much much higher. Moreover, a lot of indie game developers also want Android exporter and IOS exporter. Yes.....they want to get rich in these two markets. The successful story of Angry Birds make many many indie game developers develop games for these two markets. Actually, the demand of SWF exporter is also high. There are so many flash game websites and many indie game developers are making money with flash games from these websites. In conclusion, I really hope that SWF, IOS, Android and EXE exports will be released in the near future. Thanks.

2. If Construct 2 wants to compete with GameMaker, detailed official tutorials for different types of games in PDF format are really necessary. Many beginners really need them. Please download GM's official tutorials and you will know what I mean:

sandbox.yoyogames.com/make/tutorials

GM's official tutorials also show people that GM is a suitable tool for making many types of games. These tutorials show the capability of GameMaker.

I also hope that a single PDF file for things of Construct 2 will be provided for Construct 2 users. It will really help beginners because all things about Construct 2 can be searched in this PDF file. This is GM's documentation PDF file:

sandbox.yoyogames.com/downloads/docs/gmaker80.pdf

Finally, I hope that Construct 2 will be a very popular and successful game making software for different platforms in the future...yes..!

<img src="smileys/smiley2.gif" border="0" align="middle" /> ..... <img src="smileys/smiley4.gif" border="0" align="middle" /> .....<img src="smileys/smiley12.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

Hey, thanks for stopping by :)

In addition, many amateur indie game developers can afford USD65 for the indie version.

Don't forget right now it's only $32! We're doing 50% off for the early adopter period, which should last at least a couple of months.

. The demand of HTML5 exporter is actually not so high. I believe that the demand of EXE exporter is much much higher.

When we only had an EXE exporter with Construct Classic, everyone wanted their games to run on the web. Now Construct 2 exports to HTML5, everyone wants their games to run in EXEs. (Well, not literally everyone, but you see my point.) There's demand for both. We started with HTML5 because it runs everywhere, it's new, and it's going to replace Flash. We are planning other exporters in future - Construct 2 exporters can be written as plugins, so it can be extended forever, even by third parties.

ctually, the demand of SWF exporter is also high.

Given we think HTML5 is going to replace Flash, I don't want to make a SWF exporter, because it's only a matter of time before it will be ignored in favour of the HTML5 exporter.

f Construct 2 wants to compete with GameMaker, detailed official tutorials for different types of games in PDF format are really necessary.

We realise the high importance of tutorials and documentation and we're hoping to get all that written up and documented ASAP. Have you also seen the Beginner's Guide? It's not in PDF format, but is the format of the tutorial that important? I guess I could make a PDF if there's some advantage to it.

Thanks for the comments, let me know if you have any more questions :)

I expect having both a flash and executable exporter (not to mention the others you suggested) would result in attracting two very different user groups, both with their own demands, which could get difficult to maintain.

I think Flash better than HTML5, flash is faster, more powerful, more common, and supports 3D. But HTML are very slow and not powerful. And I think that the idea of ??HTML5 was a failure, flash is much better! And so we should not forget about Ekse, because it is the fastest exporter at the moment.

Vicu, have you tried Space Blaster in IE9? It runs a pretty solid 60fps. So I disagree, HTML5 is fast and powerful.   It's getting more common, and WebGL supports 3D.

I think Flash better than HTML5, flash is faster, more powerful, more common, and supports 3D. But HTML are very slow and not powerful. And I think that the idea of ??HTML5 was a failure, flash is much better! And so we should not forget about Ekse, because it is the fastest exporter at the moment.

You also have to remember that HTML5 is still, currently... very new. Flash has been around for over 10 years, and has had that much time to improve. Simply stating that "Flash is better" is very narrow sighted in my opinion.

I always like to consider the future myself, even though I do agree that currently HTML5 is a bit of a let-down in comparison to other avenues. I am confident it will improve vastly as more time is spent with it by the professional industry.

~Sol

Flash isn't great. HTML5 performance is rapidly improving, and runs in browsers without a plugin. It won't be long before HTML5 is faster than flash in every way.

Making C2 flash based from the start would be a failure. Just look at Stencyl; the runtime is garbage slow.

In my PC: celeron 3.6 ghz,geforce 9800gt 1 gb, 2 gb ram construct hatml5 show ~5-19 fps.

Not the fact that HTML5 will repeat history of flash. So it is better to live for today, than to hope for the future.

I was hoping about HTML5 may support with webcams and augmented reality, also increase performance than today

Vicu, today the browser you use has a much bigger effect on performance than your computer. If you're using IE9, FF6 or Chrome 14+, it should be really fast. Browsers before those don't use your hardware! Which browser did you test on?

Plus BoyHK, there is a free tool to convert HTML5 games into native iOS and Android apps, this even includes developing for iOS from a windows machine. The tool is called AppMobi, you should check it out.

f Construct 2 wants to compete with GameMaker, detailed official tutorials for different types of games in PDF format are really necessary.

We realise the high importance of tutorials and documentation and we're hoping to get all that written up and documented ASAP. Have you also seen the Beginner's Guide? It's not in PDF format, but is the format of the tutorial that important? I guess I could make a PDF if there's some advantage to it.

I'm already working on a couple of those.

Plus BoyHK, there is a free tool to convert HTML5 games into native iOS and Android apps, this even includes developing for iOS from a windows machine. The tool is called AppMobi, you should check it out.

Alternatively, appcelerator.com it's open source version.

I tried to convert html5 to exe using Titanium Studio... the C2 game won't run, it's weird.

To put some perspective on the Flash/HTML5 thing (mostly for Vicu, but some of you might might enough this), Flash and HTML5 are not equivalent platforms. HTML5 isn't a 'thing' or discrete entity like Flash is. HTML5 standards for browsers just bring together a combination of features (Canvas element, faster javascript) that allow for flash like features.

To say HTML5 can go down the same dark path flash did in the realm of performance and bloat is sorta a silly misunderstanding. It would be like someone saying "Oh well C++ has gotten so bloated over the years". Adobe makes a product and authoring tools for that product. They expand it and they add new features to their authoring tool that makes the fast majority of Flash content.

HTML5 is just a bunch of tools. No one is controlling javascript. You have unlimited potential there, you just need implementation. Flash's advantage currently is it has a well developed authoring tool. HTML5, just being a collection of standards and a real programming language is something that is, at this point, potential Construct has the benefit of being one of the first tools help make HTML5 content, especially for games. That's both big for Scirra and great for developers. Flash WILL die. Even adobe knows this, which is why Adobe Flash Professional has HTML5 export abilities (or at least some sort of converter, I don't remember). Even if their platform dies, they can still monetize their tool. It's hard to compete with an open standard that has many advantages and very few drawbacks, it's just a matter of time. When enough folks in the content creation market are skiled in HTML5 and it's deployment and when things become more cost effective, things will change. HTML5 will only improve as content creation tools are made to support it and as browsers improve performance.

Flash still has some advantages now. They come in discrete, independent files which can be used as standalone executables, for example. You know things will behave the same on any platform. But since html5 is a very open standard, as soon as someone comes up with a good way to package something made in html5 as a single, easily embedded, clean entity, it'll happen. People will want this to make it easier to upload games to places like kongregate easily and more securely. But if I were to guess, I'd say there are probably ways to do it right now. The question is more about which implementations will end up being the most popular and well supported.

So while Flash and HTML5 cover a lot of similar functionality they are very much NOT analogous platforms and there is little reason to expect them to share similar histories. HTML5 is a specification, flash is NOT. Flash has a single vendor, HTML5 either has no vendor or many vendors depending on how you look at it. It would be like saying HTML4 and PDF are similar "Things" with similar histories.

But anyways, I hate webgames! So whats the vague timeline for exe-export? If it's anywhere within the next year I'll be thrilled.

AFAIK, HTML5 doesn't allow you to choose point or linear sampling for your game, it depends on browser. It's may be a critical factor for game developers who working with pixel art style. In fact, most of 2D games are made with pixel art, even if they doesn't look pixeleted, and so, no one wants to get blured graphics in their game