Are their terms if C3 reaches end of life?

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  • 2d is a niche market. It's never going to see the traffic the like of Unity, or Unreal.

    This also means the likelihood of someone picking up the pieces if something goes wrong is pretty slim.

    So Scirra dies?

    Hold a wake.

    Asked and answered.

  • I've checked game dev comparison websites and such, and I can't find a comparable product to C3, one that ticks the three boxes that caused my concern when combined:

    • Is subscription based only
    • Is Web based only
    • Creates a file format that is designed to run in one application (yes its a zip file technically, no you cannot easily view or edit it by extracting it if C3 was closed, minus assets)

    Dropping in to give my two cents:

    Subscription means it can keep getting maintained for years to come as long as the company doesn't explode.

    Web based means that the tool is easier to develop. HTML and JS are by far the most productive languages. A lot of other languages are moving towards what web has had for years in terms of productivity.

    Web also means cross platform so it will work anywhere as long as you have V8 (or any future version for that matter) which is maintained by a company that is litterally stronger than half the countries on this earth.

    Web also means it will NEVER stop working because of an OS/Web engine update. The whole reason you can still look at 1980s websites on the wayback machine is because JS tries to never ever break anything.

    Zip is standard on every OS known to man. Any data that isn't asset is JSON which is also now standard on pretty much any modern language known to man. JSON is arguably the most efficient way to store data by being both efficient, and human readable. Also parsing JSON is B R A I N D E A D easy, ESPECIALLY in JS. In MOST languages it's a single line of code to go from JSON to usable variables in code.

    All of your points actually prove that C3 is way less likely to randomly stop working than C2.

    C2 can break from any windows OS. Heck it's already falling apart for no reason on windows 10. C2 is only compatible on Windows. C2 is pretty much impossible to maintain as a community member because it has proprietary code, and needs really technical skills to be able to decompile. And even if you do, you'll have to deal with whatever the code you get actually looks like. Ashley, with full access to the source code and who wrote it all finds it difficult to work with, I doubt anyone will be able to make any meaningful step towards maintaining C2 if it fails to work.

    And while capx are also zip files, most data is stored in XML, which is still very used but not as easy to use and widespread as JSON.

    C2 ticks all the boxes of "I will become abandonware in 4 years time", C3 doesn't. The only amazing thing C2 has that C3 hasn't is a completely open source, unminified runtime, and the best stab at maintaining C2 would be to completely rewrite an editor for it and use its runtime. Doesn't that ring a bell? Yeah it's C3.

  • The only amazing thing C2 has that C3 hasn't is a completely open source, unminified runtime

    I have to emphasise: the C2 runtime is not open source. The license does not permit anybody to fork/modify/redistribute it, like you can with open source projects. Also the fact you can view the code is a source of great regret to me, since it resulted in appalling compatibility problems, leaving us with nightmare support problems with angry users who came to us when things stopped working. I'm glad we've largely managed to avoid the same result in C3.

  • Yeah I didn't mean open source as in you can use it, but open source as in it's there and you can read it. Tbh the fact that I was able to read the code helped me understand the engine a lot more and make weird tests with what I understood from it.

    But yeah, this meant that the door was open for addons entirely based on hacks, or on copies of vanilla addons that cause users to ask for support when they should seek the 3rd party dev.

    It really is a shame but it did bring a ton of really cool addons as long as you knew their use cases and their limits.

  • For the fourth time in a row, since the release of C3, I will renew my C3 license. I do not see any reason to cancel my subscription.

    I am not concerned about the future of Scirra. C3 is also moving towards the educational markets which in my opinion, is a very good move.

    I trust if Scirra decides to end development on C3, they will inform us and give us time enough to find another solution. However, I do not see any reason for concern now.

    Instead of feeding such concerns, just feed your creativity and create nice interesting games with C3. That is your best guarantee for a bright game development future.

    Be creative!

    Chris

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  • We also have no plans for "Construct 4" at this time.

    That's all I needed to know for a purchasing decision. I am kind of curious to know if there is a published roadmap somewhere though.

  • I am sure you safely can buy a C3 subscription. A subscription means that there is a regular flow of cash to the company, which is a better guarantee for the future than a lifetime license like C2.

    When I was using C2 which I also like very much, I taught about the lifetime license much often. I find the subscription system Scirra chose, very reliable. Even when I have no internet connection, I can use C3.

    I hope at the end of this year to go back home to Botswana. When I am here in Europe, I am too busy and have too much work. However, at the end of the year, when everything goes according to plan, I will write my own adventure game which I dreamed of doing since my C2 license.

    It is more important to be persistent in the goals you pursue than worrying about the tool you use to accomplish that goal. There is also a complete offline version of C3, which is installed as an exe on your local hard disk. You only need to login once a week. I am sure whatever happens, Scirra will make sure at least you can remain using that.

    Last week I received an email from Scirra about the end of life for C2. Still, there are people using it and it is still on this laptop too. We can regret this but we have to move forward. C2 was nice but C3 is nicer.

    Chris

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