Bob Thulfram's Forum Posts

  • The Wii U runs HTML5 games very fast. I haven't seen any problems with these two games, but the HTML5 is generated by Construct 2 and exported to the Wii U format. Essentially the Wii U has a special SDK called the Nintendo Web Framework. Construct 2 makes the HTML5 code efficient and fast. I've run some tests myself just using the Wii U browser and it seems pretty good. I don't know the inner workings, but it seems as fast as any other browser. The extra secret sauce is that you can use the Wii U game pad controls to play your game!

  • I just saw a second game (that I know of) in the Nintendo Wii U eShop that was made by Construct 2! The game is called Internal Invasion and the developer is Andy Ford. You can read about it at http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/03/internal_invasion_blasting_onto_the_wii_u_eshop. It is a fun little trip inside the human body with a unique way of passing a creature from one tank to another so you can shoot evil pills. This video at

    shows it off well. Very nice vehicle to feature Construct 2's physics.

    The game was submitted in February but didn't appear until June, but I don't know what the delay was about. But it is for sale. The other known Construct 2 game that has appeared on the Wii U is called Blok Drop U and is a combination of Jenga and Angry Birds (maybe).

    Does anyone know of any other Construct 2 games on the Wii U? Every week new indie games are appearing (it's not all Zelda and Mario) but I only know of these two right now.

    The Wii U is a great place to sell your game. There aren't many games and you'll get featured. In case you didn't notice, you can export Construct 2 games to the Wii U format. And that the Wii U has a special SDK just for HTML5 games called the Nintendo Web Framework. Of course you have to apply and your game has to go through lots of checking before it is released, but I would think that aside from issues of art and theme, the Construct 2 export is probably pretty bullet-proof.

    The Wii U seems to be getting a lot of attention. For a very recent article on why the Wii U is cool, see this Kotaku article at http://kotaku.com/wii-u-review-update-20-months-later-1601718713.

    PS: I got mixed up and listed another game that was not done in Construct 2. My mistake. I'm traveling and got the two mixed up. There are too many cool games coming out on the Wii U. The one I listed was a Unity game called GEOM. But there are now at least two Construct 2 games out for Wii U now! Thank you, Ashley, for letting us edit our posts!

  • I'm traveling right now but I wanted to do a quick reply. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Aphrodite's comments. In fact, they are very useful. Very useful. I don't need praise, I need to know if I'm doing something wrong. I'll update my tutorial when I get back from vacation.

    I don't exactly understand what seams are, and I admit I haven't figured out tiles and tilemaps yet. But I want to learn.

    Yes, the controls are weird. I'm experimenting with using touch only. But touch=click for me because I haven't figured out real touch. I'll try some true touch controls and see if I can figure out a better way to do platformers without buttons or pseudo-buttons.

    Honestly, Aphrodite's comments weren't rude, they were extremely useful. Bang, bang, bang, things to fix, so I'll fix 'em. This encourages me to do more tutorials and make sure that I post them here as well to catch things that aren't obvious.

    Again, Aphrodite did nothing wrong and in fact did a great service by pointing out some of the optimization issues I hadn't stumbled across. I'd pay big bucks for a book or class on optimizing Construct 2, but I'll take it anywhere I can find it.

    After all, he wasn't insulting me, calling me names, telling me to get out, don't quit my day job, or anything else except pointing out where my mistakes are. And if he hadn't, I wouldn't know!

    So, thank you, Aphrodite!

    Your name reminds me of an old song about "Aphrodite, with your stain-glass nightie."

  • I wrote another blog post showing how to make a simple platform game using Construct 2 but tailoring it for a Firefox OS phone (the new ZTE Open C) and for touch. I tried a different approach to controls for a platformer and I think it is wacky but it works!

    Check it out at http://firefoxosgaming.blogspot.com/2014/06/platform-game-using-construct-2-game.html.

    And thanks to — for the really fabulous public domain art. This guy is really cool. Check him out at http://www.kenney.nl/.

  • Awesome idea. I usually base games around medieval fantasy themes, so this should help push me out of my comfort zone.

    Are there limitations to keep in mind for the Newgrounds network? I'd love to make a game that runs fullscreen 1920x1080, but all the games I see over there are in tiny windowed displays. Is there a specific resolution we need to work to (useful to know for UI scaling, etc)?

    I'd like to know that too, and anything else Newgrounds wants. I assume we can put our games in other marketplaces and that we retain all copyright. I'm the opposite of Silver. I want my games to be best on little phones. And I'm starting to eye the Pebble 2.0 SDK for really small games!

  • Gotcha,

    Let me know what you find out, I'd be happy to test, write tutorials, etc.

    The answer seems to be yes, but I will dig deeper. In theory because Firefox OS is just HTML5, you can use anything that would be HTML5 based. For example, Google AdSense should work, though you may need to put those in an IFrame and ask Google to enable a new window as a target.

    There's a Mozilla Hacks post on using Inneractive with Firefox OS here: https://hacks.mozilla.org/2013/10/monetization-with-inneractive-on-firefox-os/ but I'm not sure how good they are.

    On the other hand, anything that works with Construct 2 ads for, say, HTML5 platforms such as Chrome and Tizen should also work, maybe even Cocoon.js. I don't know what Construct 2 target platforms accept for ads.

    Firefox OS is still sorting out things, but for all other payment issues, the main article for payments, IAP, etc., is here: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Marketplace/Monetization.

    I'll dig deeper because I hope to make a real game instead of the demo games I've been doing and do it for the Construct 2 contest about the future!

  • can we add ads ???

    I am sure you can add ads! I see them in many of the games I play on my Firefox OS phone. I will get back to you soon!

  • This is a great tutorial, very easy to follow.

    Thanks! I've been getting a lot of practice doing tutorials for my blog on Firefox OS games. I like doing them!

  • I have part two of this tutorial on my blog. I take the bouncing ball, add a paddle, and some collision to make a racquetball variation named PaddleFox. http://firefoxosgaming.blogspot.com/2014/05/paddlefox-for-firefox-os-in-construct-2.html. I'll be doing more!

  • Hey Bob,

    What is the best way to monetize on the Firefox marketplace?

    I don't know, but I'm going to find out soon. I know there are ways to do it, but I've been more focuses on just getting things to work.

    I do know you can just put your app up for sale and I also know that many apps have ads in them, but I haven't looked in to it. I have a friend making Windows Phone apps and it sounds like they don't have good monetizing at all.

    I'm retired and while I wouldn't turn away money, I'm not eagerly seeking it. Having fun is the most important thing to me right now.

  • Try Construct 3

    Develop games in your browser. Powerful, performant & highly capable.

    Try Now Construct 3 users don't see these ads

  • >

    > > Firefox OS mobile devices are notoriously crap, really weak obsolete hardware, made to fit in a very small $ budget. If so many people are complaining about poor performance on Android and iOS, they will have a nightmare on Firefox phones.

    > >

    > > The browser for desktop however is great.

    > >

    >

    > That's old news, Mozilla evangelist recommended me to update Firefox 1.3 introduces WebGL support, I decided to update my keon (Firefox OS Developer device) and I tried to run my medium game that couldn't run my iPod touch 4, then on Fireox OS, it runs like... wow awesome, it blew my mind how it runs with smooth fps.

    >

    You mean the Geeksphone Keon with its Snapdragon S1 and 512mb of ram? Wow, if it runs your game awesome then Firefox OS must be pretty damn good/efficient. That's ultra low-end specs on Android.

    Don't compare Firefox OS to Android. FxOS is a very fast light-weight system. I've been using two FxOS phones every day (ZTE Open and Geeksphone Peak) and they are faster than half of the half-dozen Androids I've had, the two iPhones, and the dozen Windows/WinCE phones.

    The difference is that FxOS cuts out all that middle part of an OS. There's just a tiny kernel at the bottom, a very fast and efficient version of the Firefox browser on top, only a small bit of glue in between. HTML5 is very lightweight and if you use smart techniques, you'd be amazed. It is important to make it clear that FxOS is not the Firefox browser. Things have been cut out and slimmed down and made fast. Everything for Firefox OS is still in a developer mode, so I won't say go out and buy one (and you can't just go to the mall), but I'm having fun and I'm really thrilled because Construct 2 has made it easier for Firefox OS game making if you don't want to code. I'm a hard-core coder myself, but I think it would help Mozilla's mission if more people were using Construct 2 to make cool games for the Marketplace.

    What is cool right now is that Construct 2 is equally fast and efficient (I'm in awe at some of the stuff Ashley does) and it works well with Firefox OS. I'll be testing and posting, but if you want a sense of what kinds of games it runs, check out my blog. I've done 95 posts in the last six months, and about half of them are game reviews of games from the Firefox OS Marketplace.

    Even my ZTE Open ($79 new no contract) works for games and playing music and phone calls. The Geeksphone Peak is better because it has more memory, but both are useable. I had to upgrade both to 1.2 but they ARE developer phones.

    What is exciting is that Mozilla is working on a $25 phone. Their mission is to bring the web to the world, not just the United States. I'm continuously fascinated by the people who are contributing to FxOS from all over the world, literally!

  • I think a lot of the robots are revolting already! This is a job for Mega Man!

  • It would have been cooler if it had been set in 20XX.

  • Just bought it. I already am liking the screen sizing ideas! I already have your 3 other courses and like those too!

    It looks like you're focusing on iOS products. Anyone know anything about monetization for Windows Phone 8.1 or Firefox OS ?

  • I'm definitely in for this one and I'll be busy thinking of the future!

    I participated in the infamous Flappy Jam http://itch.io/jam/flappyjam and I'm also keeping up with the One Game A Month http://www.onegameamonth.com/ game jam.

    I also wrote about game jams at http://firefoxosgaming.blogspot.com/2014/02/game-jams-game-programming.html and (near the end) at http://firefoxosgaming.blogspot.com/2013/12/adding-music-to-your-game-game.html.

    In particular, if you want to know everything about game jams, there's a great eBook on Amazon by Christer Kaitila called Game Jam Survival Guide and you can get it at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007R0NTF4?ie=UTF8&camp=213733&creative=393177&creativeASIN=B007R0NTF4&linkCode=shr&tag=animonan-20. Christer knows of what he speaks!