Construct 3 NW.js desktop app [Deprecated]

You'd need to file a new issue following all the guidelines if you want that to be investigated, because the previous issue was fixed.

very cool

A huge issue has just arisen a few hours ago regarding c3 Desktop.

It automatically updated everyone to r255 without letting you make a choice. Happened not only to me, but for other members of the team.

This wouldn't be a problem on the web version, I could just revert by changing the url, but here it just autoupdates even after reinstalling everything.

We need to use r218 exclusively so we can ship with Steam integration, and we need the desktop version to work because we're using Github for version control, which is the only reasonable way to do it afaik.

I can't develop anything in this state, so I'd like to at least know that this will be eventually looked into.

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate your software!

gustavoChico Try this launcher, you can run any version you want.

construct.net/en/forum/construct-3/general-discussion-7/construct-desktop-launcher-139502

gustavoChico Try this launcher, you can run any version you want.

https://www.construct.net/en/forum/construct-3/general-discussion-7/construct-desktop-launcher-139502

I tried both launchers before posting any of this, same result.

A workaround Andre gave me was "I flipped through custom again, chose beta and launched and now it did launch me into the correct version. The "do you want to update to latest version" prompt came up but I chose "not now" and it didn't update."

That works, but I'm not a fan of third party stuff, and I think this is a legitimate issue. I'd like to know the reasoning behind forcing an update on a random date, that's all. Another user reported this isn't the first time this has happened. I woke up this morning to find my plugin list empty, and an update I legitimately didn't want and scared the crap out of me.

I hope I'm not sounding too harsh here, Construct 3 is absolutely amazing, and this is the first time I've ever come across something to complain about. The devs do an absolutely incredible work.

I completely understand your point!

But updates did give me headaches more often than not.

This might be specific for the desktop app, but when I've experienced consistent crashes, corruptions, and many other shenanigans while switching versions, specially while working with other people, just sending files over and back.

But most of all, Github. I can't stress enough how badly it behaves when you add different versions and plugins into the mix. I'm glad I decided to go with 100% vanilla r218 C3 for a big commercial project, because on other cases I've had to deal with surprises weekly, sometimes daily.

You can discard the rest of this post if you want, but Github alone is a great reason to remove obligatory updates, and I think we can agree on that. It works BEAUTIFULLY when it all stays as it is during development, and I'd love for it to keep it that way if it's not too much to ask :) Just a button that lets me skip updates or a checkbox in advanced settings would be enough.

Thank you so much for replying, Ashley, your software is incredilbly powerful, and I've only discovered it's full potential after finishing a few projects with other people over Github.

I don't understand what you mean. Construct doesn't have any direct integration with GitHub. I guess by that you mean the folder based projects? But those are still supported in r225 just as they are in r218. (You just have to be on the latest version of NW.js, and the editor prompts you to update if you're on an older version of NW.js.) There's also been no change at all to Steam support between r218 and r225. So there shouldn't be any material change between these two releases. I don't know what you're doing or seeing that's behind this apparent claim that Construct has removed or changed these features - it should all still be there.

As I said, staying on old versions generally causes more problems than it solves. We fix dozens of bugs and make loads of improvements between stable releases. If you don't update, sooner or later you run in to difficult problems that we already solved. People already routinely file issues and contact support about issues we've already solved, and it turns out they kept using an old version of the software, and updating fixes it. It's certainly not a panacea for all software problems!

Yeah, I was talking about using Github with project folders. It’s a must have on a team project, and having different versions and other variables is an absolute nightmare of crashes, conflicts and corruptions. And I mean in general, even with simple projects. And I know Github integration isn’t your concern at all, but I’m just asking to have the ability to stop the software I pay for and use daily from breaking my workflow.

I completely agree with your last point, a “skip update” button is 100% out of the table, but an advanced and hidden option that would let you opt out of obligatory updates should be a must-have specially for those that know what they’re doing and just want everyone to stay in the same version to have some control until we’re all ready to update. Working with branches, different plugins and modular parts of a project makes this super hard. I hope I got my point across, because this is a deal breaker for me in the future, and I LOVE this software!

dop2000

Yes, it still autoupdates. It's an internal issue. As I said before, the only solution I've found is through the unofficial launcher.

An advanced option would solve this completely.

gustavoChico - I'm afraid I'm still mystified as to what the actual problem in r225 is that you're talking about. It still supports everything you've mentioned, including folder-based projects for use with source control like GitHub.

That feature is still there, and so you can update to r225 just fine.

It isn't Construct's fault by itself, the issue arises when I have a project with different people, and each of them turn out to have a different version, because for some reason it got updated to some, but not to all.

As long as we stayed in the same version, absolutely nothing bad happened, but as soon as different versions got involved, which happened in an older project of mine, everything became a mess. Different branches that when merged got the project corrupted, and I had to edit .json files everyday to make it work. I frequently use custom plugins I've written or modified, which get broken as well. That's why for the next big project I made sure to stay on the same version, no external third party stuff (which includes not using an unofficial desktop launcher), and this makes it impossible.

Lots have given up from using Github, and it's not Construct's fault AT ALL! If you know what you're doing, and solve conflicts correctly, all of the issues can be solved, always. But forcing updates into my team is absolutely unnecesary.

The only thing that was keeping me in was having a workflow where I could control in which version everyone is, until I'm ready to upgrade if it's necessary. I'm not going to abuse this in any way, as I love every feature you all add, and I've never reported a bug without making sure I was on the latest version. I'm not asking for a "skip version" button on start that would lead to people reporting the same bugs again and again, but an advanced option for cases like these. I hope it's more clear now, I'm trying my best to explain this.