Questions before purchase

Hello everyone.

I bought Gamemaker pro in the recent humble bundle as I'd love to make some games (for myself) based on the old classics from the late 70's to the early 1980's. Anyway the software is fine but with me being old (53), never done programming and being rather dumb I'm finding the software very hard to use. The drag and drop is okay but too limiting and the GML code is just beyond me.

Construct 2 was recommended to me but I'd like more info before I plonk down such a large amount of money (to me anyway!) for software I might not be able to use.

How easy is it to learn construct 2?

Is it good for an oldie who totally failed all his maths classes way back when?

Any unbiased feedback would be helpful, thank you.

(I'm looking really to create games such as:- Jetpac, Sabre Wulf, Mazogs, Space Invaders, Robotron, Berzerk, Hero, Moon Cresta, Scramble and possibly much later on, 2d role playing games like Ultima IV and rogue clones)

I highly recommend you download the current version - r214 from the footer - and have a good long play. This is a limited free version, but should be more than enough to give you a feel for the software.

Being of a comparable age I can confidently say that as long as you try a few of the excellent tutorials, and try out the built-in examples/templates, you will see that your age should not be a limiting factor.

At all times feel free to ask questions in the 'How Do I' section, as there are quite a few helpful users willing to assist.

Cool nickname

As zenox98 said, go trough demos and tutorials, and you'll be fine. Thought keep in mind that reproducing certain elements, like looping map in defender require trickery to pull off... cause construct is 50% about hacks. But most of the simple stuff is easily doable.

too many questions, too many answers.

oh yeah, bought it like 5mins ago Ashley

yeeeeeeey!

Thanks for your help, I've downloaded the demo and I'm having a look at it now.

I have one concern though. from what I've read (I could possibly have this wrong) Construct 2 cannot create standalone windows exe files? is that right?

Thats quite a let down if true, I don't want to be forced to run all games via my browser, no offence intended.

Thanks for your help, I've downloaded the demo and I'm having a look at it now.

I have one concern though. from what I've read (I could possibly have this wrong) Construct 2 cannot create standalone windows exe files? is that right?

Thats quite a let down if true, I don't want to be forced to run all games via my browser, no offence intended.

There is a wrapper called NodeWebkit which we use as stand alone exe.

One more suggestion I could give you, is to download original Construct Classic, which is free,dx9 and desktop only, and have some fun with that first

Thanks for your help, I've downloaded the demo and I'm having a look at it now.

I have one concern though. from what I've read (I could possibly have this wrong) Construct 2 cannot create standalone windows exe files? is that right?

Thats quite a let down if true, I don't want to be forced to run all games via my browser, no offence intended.

NW.js (formerly named NodeWebkit) is a built in wrapper, so you can export your game to Windows, Linux and MAC. It works by packing the Chromium browser with your game, so you can run it just as any other .exe files.

Welcome to the Community! <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile"> I'd suggest what others said before me: try the free version of Construct 2 and don't hesitate to ask more questions. Also if you want to give Construct Classic a go (you may run into some bugs, that version is no longer developed), here's a link: http://sourceforge.net/projects/construct/

Edit: If you're not into beta versions, don't use the r214 version, but the latest stable: https://www.scirra.com/construct2/releases/r212.2

Thanks for the info.

I've been playing with the free version and I'm really Impressed, it seems most excellent indeed!

am still concerned about the exe's though, after reading what you posted I've been reading up on it and it creates an installer for the PC and not a standalone exe which is really what I'd prefer (btw Gamemaker does output an standalone exe.. Although that said, I think I have more chances of learning to use construct 2)

Node-webkit does create a stand-alone exe, with a some supplementary files.

An export produces the following (64bit Windows):

newproject.exe - the main executable

nw.pak

package.nw

d3dcompiler_47.dll

dxwebsetup.exe

ffmpegsumo.dll

icudtl.dat

libEGL.dll

libGLESv2.dll

Thank you for putting me right, that's good news!

am still concerned about the exe's though, after reading what you posted I've been reading up on it and it creates an installer for the PC and not a standalone exe which is really what I'd prefer (btw Gamemaker does output an standalone exe.. Although that said, I think I have more chances of learning to use construct 2)

Just as zenox98 said: it creates a standalone .exe. No installer. It packs your game with Chromium, yes, but it runs out of the box, without the need to install anything. Sorry if I confused you with my previous post.

Having said that, many do use one of the free installer products to create an installer, so that only one file needs to be downloaded, so maybe that is where the slight confusion arises.

I'm quite enjoying the free version and I think I'll be buying it next month when I have the funds

One dumb question for you experts.. Why am I having a hell of a job trying to change the grid size?

I have snap to grid on and Its defaulting at 32x32 and I would like it at 30x20 but it's not changing for me. I've tried over and over.

It that one thing locked in the free version? ..or am I being a bit thick?