Construct 2 or Classic? Retro metroidvania game

Hey guys! I'v been wanting to realize my quirky game ideas for quite some time now and I've only recently stumbled upon construct which seems to be a more frequently maintained and overall more diverse tool than game-maker.

I've been reading the forums some and I've got to say that you guys seem like a really nice bunch! It instills me with confidence to see ambitious projects like Iconclasts and Minitroid emerge from the primordial soup that is construct.

Anyways, the game I want to make is an old school pc action metroidvania game not unlike Cavestory. I've studied Pixel's tiles and sprites from the original game and I've settled for dimensions similar to the one he used in his masterpiece. But I can't really make up my mind if we should use Construct classic or Construct 2. I can't really seem to blow up my sprites to x2 resolution without Construct 2 blurring their pixelated goodness into a smudged mess. Maybe I've just missed that function but I read some topics here about it and it seems to be an problem , or at least was.

So what would you choose for my type of game, classic or 2?

Hey Andy,

Before you decide on which tool to make the game - I would decide on the method of getting the game to the player. If you want an exe then you only have 1 option. If your preffering a web based game you have another great answer, C2.

This should make the decision much easier.

I'd have to recommend Classic. For a Metroidvania type game you'll want to build your own tile-based level editor and load rooms/areas externally, and implement some sort of portal rendering...all of which I'm fairly positive you can't do in C2..yet..or maybe ever?

Cave Story isn't really a Metroidvania though. It's level-based yet at the same time it's not. Maybe something similar might not be such a hassle in C2, but there's still the tile issue.

If you don't like the fact that your game will be windows-only, then you might want to try C2. Good luck though ;)

If you go to the project properties in Construct 2 by going through the project pane, there will be an option called "Sampling" - setting this to "Point" will prevent scaled/rotated objects from blurring.

Now that's out of the way, I would recommend Construct 2 for something like what you're shooting for, or most projects, really. Compared to Classic it's more stable, gets updated far more often, and is very nearly as capable so long as you're not interested in more advanced graphical functions like mesh deformation and pixel shaders.

The fact that C2 utilizes HTML5 is really the icing on the cake, allowing you to distribute your games to a much wider audience. Classic requires the user to have DirectX updates that do not ship with Windows, and this is a point of confusion that just poses another barrier to entry.

But really, if you want a shorter answer, Construct 2 is continuing to evolve while Classic is essentially dead -- not trying to discredit Classic, but it has some issues.

Of course, Classic is the only version with my MagiCam plugin that you might find useful...

Linkman, tsk tsk CC is not dead... Lucid, r0j0, and others still work on it. The latest compile should be out very soon, if not already (I haven't checked in the last 48 hours).

Both platforms are good though, for different reasons. It mainly boils down to your target audience and how you want to distribute your project. Linkman is right about stability of C2 though, it's much nicer and doesn't do "weird stuff" anywhere near as much as CC.

I still *heart* CC though. I am in a team that is using CC for a major game release, so it still has some viability if you like the EXE based release platform.

Now, all that being said this tpoic is not really a tool or resource, rather a question. I will move it to Open Topic now :)

Also, welcome to the boards Andy. :D

~Sol

Thanks a lot for the answers, and yeah I kind of misused the term Metroidvania, what I meant was something graphically like Cavestory but, perhaps it would be a bit less non-linear. I haven't decided yet. If the point sampling works as you say linkman I'll probably shoot for a C2 game, since that would allow more people to play it. It would have to be shorter I guess but for early projects maybe thats a positive thing. Anyways , Tokinson, could you elaborate on the building you own level-editor and loading things externally thing, so does that mean that you won't be using the layouts that come with CC instead making your own program for that? I'm confused , a link something explanatory would be greatly appreciated! So right now I'm leaning more towards C2.

By the way , does not supporting magicam mean that you can't control the camera in a exciting ways , or just that you have to come up with a clever solution for it? As you phrased it linkman it seems like it either isn't possible in C2 or that it's a real hassle.

Sorry for spelling , I'm way to used with auto-correct!

In CC like in C2 you have to manage your camera by yourself (in events).

In CC you can use the plugin magiccam to help you with this task, but such a plugin does not exist in C2 at the moment.

Nevertheless you can handle the camera by yourself. The task is not daunting (there are several examples already in the "How do I FAQ" section "Scrolling/Camera", it just needs a bit more events to adapt to your needs.