I would like to propose an idea that I had a while ago:
Instead of keeping the default plugins that come with Construct 2 to the bare minimum, why not set up a repo for these plugins and allow other developers to expand the official release through things like pull requests?
Allow me to explain my issues with the current situation:
- Some plugins provide the bare minimum needed, but for a lot of projects they fall short.
- There isn't an easy way of keeping up with all the plugins, and installing them can be a hassle.
- The official plugins are open source, or at least, they are readable .js files
- Not everyone knows how to program javascript, and Construct 2 is all about bringing game development to non-programmers.
- Duplicating the official plugins is advised against due to the fact that they do not get the updates that the Scirra teams apply (they aren't maintained).
I would like to leave you with the next example:
ScrollTo is the only camera plugin. It does one thing, keep all the object that have this behavior within the view.
I was watching "the art of screenshake" by Jan-Willem from Vlambeer, and he made some good points about the impact of the camera on "game feel". For a few projects I had to edit the ScrollTo with the very basic function of having an offset. For a project like Luftrausers where they have a super dynamic camera. It makes sure you can see what's in front of you, as well as move slightly in the direction of bullets that may hit you. Only programmers would be able to have this feature. Now I know the Scirra crew works very hard and they are probably too busy to work on details like that, so why not let me do it?
If this would be too much of a hassle for Scirra or they simply disagree, than I will create a package manager of sorts so people can submit, search, install and update plugins, like node or sublime text.