To buy or not to buy, that's the question...

Hi everyone, I am a digital artist, been working on AAA games for almost 10 years now, but now I want to start doing my own things, and what better way than to make a super polished pixel art platformer inspired by the game that made me want to join a career in video games.

The dilemma being that I have a very artistic brain and no matter how much you explain coding and scripting to me, I will never get it, so I decided to use a simple ready editor. I gave a shot at first with fusion 2.5, but I could not get very far, so a colleague suggested construct 2 and I am finding it a lot easier but I have reached the limit on what the free version can offer in terms of events and later numbers.

Before I commit to a purchase i want to check your honest opinions on a few things.

1. I noticed most of the stuff runs in web browser, likewise can only export to web, which worries me because it limits my future publishing options. Can project be easily exported as PC executables or compatible for hand held or consoles?

2. If the engine code is written in Java, a language even I know as a non-coder to be horribly sluggish and full of issues, doesn't that mean any game I make will have serious performance issues? Especially because I love to do massive levels and lots of parallax, like 10+ layers or so.

3. I am trying to create a metroidvania, so think of all the stuff a game like that needs, like save States, huge maps, rpg features and the likes, so can all this be achieved with c2?

4. If you could suggest another engine for someone like me with my game needs, what should it be?

Thanks a lot!

Hi -

1. You export a project as HTML5, which actually is (HTML 5 + CSS + Javascript) ; publishing to web sites is trivial, but it's also a very portable technology, so with a few additional exporting steps, plugins and wrappers you can get your HTML5 game to work "as" a desktop application (wrapped in "simplified" browser/renderer that presents itself as a normal window to the user) or mobile application.

As long as your target platform can process HTML5 content, it's all good ; this includes Windows/MacOS/Android/iOS/WiiU. Note that depending on the platform, the export process might not be trivial, and sometimes you have to fiddle with 3rd party development tools.

2. Java is not Javascript. Javascript is light weight and browsers are very efficient at processing it. The language will not be a limiting factor ; knowing the platform, understanding performance and dealing with restrictions (resources sizes, etc.) will be essential though ; it's very easy to create very inefficient content even with very efficient technology.

Also, big companies are investing massively on Javascript these days ; Google are going with native compilers and javascript subsets focused on performance, while Microsoft is going with TypeScript, a superset that compiles to javascript to facilitate the job of programmers. All in all, while that won't affect you directly, it means in the long run it's a pretty safe bet.

3. Yes

4. Nothing comes to mind ; other interesting technologies are either lower level (frameworks for programmers), more complex (e.g. Unity, with a much steeper learning curve), or slightly dated. C2 is the right balance in terms of functionalities/accessibility and has incredible productivity. Just be aware that "events" are very similar to "programming" in terms of logic ; it removes a lot of the complexity but you'll still need to understand how to create your gameplay logic. For "big" projects, a "programmer mind" can help to structure the events in a maintainable way.

Hope that helps

Hi everyone, I am a digital artist, been working on AAA games for almost 10 years now, but now I want to start doing my own things, and what better way than to make a super polished pixel art platformer inspired by the game that made me want to join a career in video games.

The dilemma being that I have a very artistic brain and no matter how much you explain coding and scripting to me, I will never get it, so I decided to use a simple ready editor. I gave a shot at first with fusion 2.5, but I could not get very far, so a colleague suggested construct 2 and I am finding it a lot easier but I have reached the limit on what the free version can offer in terms of events and later numbers.

Before I commit to a purchase i want to check your honest opinions on a few things.

1. I noticed most of the stuff runs in web browser, likewise can only export to web, which worries me because it limits my future publishing options. Can project be easily exported as PC executables or compatible for hand held or consoles?

2. If the engine code is written in Java, a language even I know as a non-coder to be horribly sluggish and full of issues, doesn't that mean any game I make will have serious performance issues? Especially because I love to do massive levels and lots of parallax, like 10+ layers or so.

3. I am trying to create a metroidvania, so think of all the stuff a game like that needs, like save States, huge maps, rpg features and the likes, so can all this be achieved with c2?

4. If you could suggest another engine for someone like me with my game needs, what should it be?

Thanks a lot!

Think Refeuh answered your questions quite good. Just want to add, that since you say you are an artist and have problems understanding programming and you have already reached the limits in the free edition. You should by now have an ok understanding on how C2 works and how to make it do different things. So if you find that to be easy enough to understand, my guess is that C2 is probably a good program for you to use. Because even though its as Refeuh say you still have to understand the logic of programming, the way of coding is a lot more visual than one where you have to type everything in as text.

Cool, thanks, my main concern is hitting a wall with something I cannot implement because of lack of understanding.

If anything at least I would be able to make a good demo to use as example.

If anyone else has more to add, please do!

Cool, thanks, my main concern is hitting a wall with something I cannot implement because of lack of understanding.

If anything at least I would be able to make a good demo to use as example.

If anyone else has more to add, please do!

You will most likely hit a wall, think everyone does at some point, but people on the forum is pretty good at helping out with stuff like that, so probably someone will be able to explain it to you or show you how to do it, so wouldn't worry to much about that.

My two cents and welcome aboard.

Like every tool, there are limitations, of course. That's expected.

You need to carefully evaluate all of its do's and don'ts before buying.

I wouldn't count on a single tool for every project.

I say these things because I'm a software developer and DBA for living

and could be using HTML5, Javascript or C++ directly. Still there

are some projects which require me to do it that way or because of the challenge.

But I'm also a musician and game designer in my limited free time.

Since time is a valuable resource for hobbyists like me, I value tools that help

me implement my game designing ideas in a quick pace.

So for me, after working with many game makers and programming languages

Construct 2 is one of the best. I can easily prototype my idea while it's fresh (very important for me)

You can make a professional game with it provided you know how to deal with memory, sprite size, cache and

how the event editor works (don't put all your heavy stuff in the "every tick" action, for instance).

Some people give up or blame the engine for their lack of understanding on how optimization works.

Construct 2 is easily one of my best acquisitions.

But if I need to develop a database application I'll use Java. See what I mean?

Good luck and I wish you success on your projects.

4. If you could suggest another engine for someone like me with my game needs, what should it be?

Thanks a lot!

Maybe Unreal Engine 4 with blueprints. But as it was said before me, the other engines are either more complex (like Unreal Engine 4), more limited, or outdated.

Construct 2 is easily one of my best acquisitions.

I can't agree more. I've also tried several other engines, but for me, C2 is the best. I can use other programming languages (even if not on senior level), but the effectiveness and easy use of the event system makes Construct 2 my primary engine for my projects.

But please note before purchasing: Construct 2 is a HTML5 engine, and so will be Construct 3 in the far future. Currently you can target browsers, Windows, Linux, MAC, WiiU and all major mobile platforms (however great optimization is required for the latter ones). Also, be preapared to run into problems you can't solve (this comes with every programming method, even with visual programming) and don't hesitate to ask this community for help Welcome here.

C2

Major in 2d game programing.

Minor in publication.

That pretty much sums it up.

Black Rabbit

Mine expiriences are like this:

working in C2 is awesome and support from community is excellent but publishing is total mess.

C2 dont suply their own publishing solution but it relys on others, 3rd party services, wich means a whole lot of problems and non compatibility issues that you will encounter.

BR

Black Rabbit

Mine expiriences are like this:

working in C2 is awesome and support from community is excellent but publishing is total mess.

C2 dont suply their own publishing solution but it relys on others, 3rd party services, wich means a whole lot of problems and non compatibility issues that you will encounter.

BR

Thanks, I have been a bit worried about stuff like that, because obviously I would never be able to solve those if they happen (unlike other issues which happens in-engine).

Some friends also suggested Unity Playmaker, but with being a 3D camera I wonder if the pixels gets approximated/bled and if working in general on a pixel art based platformer is a lot more complicated than here.

Nowadays 2D applications are handled as a special case and subset of 3D to benefit from hardware acceleration (using pre-transformed vertices, etc.) ; sprites are textured quads, and so on.

This makes handling 2D, 2.5D and 3D games very similar, in terms of internal resources (vertex buffers, textures, etc.).

As with any application, it's up to the user to set the rendering settings correctly to achieve the desired style (filtering, scaling, sampling, etc.). Pixel art (e.g. sharp blocky style) is not "more" difficult in any tool, it just requires the appropriate settings.

It's like cell shading in 3D ; the scene is the same as a traditional 3D scene, but the samplers and shaders are different.

Some friends also suggested Unity Playmaker, but with being a 3D camera I wonder if the pixels gets approximated/bled and if working in general on a pixel art based platformer is a lot more complicated than here.

If you're interested in node-based programming, try (as I suggested before) Unreal Engine 4 with blueprints (it's free). Only if it fits your needs and you prefer Unity, go buy Playmaker. But in my opinion it's a bit harder to use than C2.

>

> Some friends also suggested Unity Playmaker, but with being a 3D camera I wonder if the pixels gets approximated/bled and if working in general on a pixel art based platformer is a lot more complicated than here.

>

If you're interested in node-based programming, try (as I suggested before) Unreal Engine 4 with blueprints (it's free). Only if it fits your needs and you prefer Unity, go buy Playmaker. But in my opinion it's a bit harder to use than C2.

I really love how C2 handles the coding aspect, it is the closest thing as verbally telling to a program what you want to do, and I doubt there is anything easier (from an artist point of view).

But I hear the node system of Unity is pretty easy too, especially with playmaker, but there is a rendering issue with pixels which can be corrected by buying another cheap $10 module called Pixel Perfect which rectify the rendering issues. The problem is that there is no free version of playmaker, so I would be committing to something I do not even know it will work.

1. I noticed most of the stuff runs in web browser, likewise can only export to web, which worries me because it limits my future publishing options. Can project be easily exported as PC executables or compatible for hand held or consoles?

2. If the engine code is written in Java, a language even I know as a non-coder to be horribly sluggish and full of issues, doesn't that mean any game I make will have serious performance issues? Especially because I love to do massive levels and lots of parallax, like 10+ layers or so.

3. I am trying to create a metroidvania, so think of all the stuff a game like that needs, like save States, huge maps, rpg features and the likes, so can all this be achieved with c2?

4. If you could suggest another engine for someone like me with my game needs, what should it be?

Thanks a lot!

Hy there, first i want to say that as simplicity, and graphical editing and assembly you wont find no engine out there to compete, with Construct2 from my point of view, i tried a few FROM GM8 to stencyl, to fusion to what ever is out there, however, as performances, Construct2 has its limitations, you will face a lot of problems, but all can be solved in time, by working around things, and if you can use the plugins that people offer around Construct2 community it will solve most of them, but having a friend that has some JavaScript Knowledge, being able to do some custom work for specific effects, or library's that you may want to implement in future, will help, but you can still develop pretty fast performance Games and with a "Glamour" look to it without any of those things, just by using Default Construct2 but that will need you to understand how C2 engine works.

When i say glamour i mean, you can stuff the game with as many effects and images you may want, the issue will be later as in any game engine, more you add more resources youl need, so the minimum specification for your game, wont be from a point on a dual core processor of 2ghz and 1 gb ram, but more a newer generation of computers.

as for your points,

1 : yes most of the games are made by hobbyists and the only easy way to market a day is by using the online environment, by that meaning exporting to html5 websites and pray for players to play, but if you want, you can export to any platforms there is in C2, as a licensed user youl get more exporting power, steam/PlayStation/Xbox(windows10 support type)/ and many others, for a .exe thing i dont really know , since most of the Computer games made in Construct2 require Nodewebkit.js which is free to download, but not many players have it installed since the most common computer games dont require it, maybe someone can cover that part up, but all i want to say you are not limited to the WebBrowser only.

2: the engine is written in java, but you dont need to modify none of that, unless you want to create your own plugins or use some custom script.js, but what you ask doesn't require any of those things, you wold be for sure making a demo up and running in a few days if you have the graphics ready.

3: most of games can be made in C2 especially the old ones, even if they are in 3d, you can use Plugins to turn the 2d frame into a 3d frame, which is much faster for some reason in Construct2 but its limited by the amount of effects and objects you can add, but then you will need to learn those plugins functions and have a basic understanding of the 3d axes and 3d frames, however Castlevania, metroidvania etc can be accomplished with C2 by using the default functions with no custom plugins.

4: if you have the time to learn, and you can learn, then try Unity(has a few visual plugins, that can turn the hard core programming into a more simplistic programming similar to C2 but you have to pay an extra 300 bucks for it i think),Blender(for windows games only requires python knowledge but also can be used by visual coding drag and link things), Valve Engine, CryEngine, C## etc... what ever can help you, but since you mentioned you cant understand it no matter how hard you try, i wold say Stick to C2 for a while will grow on you, but you can play around also with GameMaker8 and other stuff, but they all have their specific issues.

My opinion in a few words, Stick to C2 play with it for a while, test it, see the problems for yourself, see if you can work around it, if not, if you have enough income to support an indie programmer, id say pay some programmers to do the coding part, and you keep doing what you like, being an artist.

P.S dont quit your day job, to make this happen, youl face many problems, and is possible youl get into the C2 loop, where you want to do all this cool projects, and you want to start all of them, since C2 is easy to use, but you will never finish one of it.

it happens to most of the users here..

Hope it helped you!

if im wrong on some points do rectify me, if not.. then well.. have a great day.

[quote:ytlc7qaf]2: the engine is written in java

Can we please NOT mix up Java and Javascript?

To the original poster:

Buy.