Funny Topic.
Through all the reply, I can see the programmer side :
"What? a template code? Noway we will see all kind of bad clones!
But yeah Sprite packs are neat I can't draw sh*t! I'm like a penguin with a pencil."
And... The more or less artistic side :
"Yeah I don't want to bother with c2 programming, just give me a platformer/tower defense/rpg template and let me put my design on it. I will make that code shine!"
Well... That's trully the same. You will either make gameplay clones or graphical clones (anyone ever played robot unicorn attack and compared the basic version and the metal one?...). And in all that nobody ever mentionned this obscur but crucial new Art form that is Game Design.
Thinking about player experience, what emotion you want to create, what kind of challenge I want to put the player into? what will be the rewards? How will I make the difficulty evolve? and what will be the background of my game? The atmosphere? How Gameplay and Background story can mix to create a new neat piece?
Game design is neither a programming nor a graphic/sound design subject. It's BOTH! And that's why serious project should be made in a team. (or if you are as skillfull as konjak or nifflas... Well... you can be a living exception :D ). But seriously, making game is a team effort and that's the beauty of it.
Now I hear some comming with a "yeah but a team... it's hard to work with people" "I want to make my own thang" "if I need someone to programm I will take a C++ guy and won't need c2 anymore?" etc etc etc.
Well, as a matter of fact, you would be right. But my point is that only the end product matters. And I strongly believe that using either template or sprite pack you will definitely end up with a sh*tty game.
HOWEVER, you are talking money. Want to make money doing games. Selling packs can bring money to scirra.
Yeah right.
There are many ways to make money.
There are many wrong ways to make money.
Let's imagine, Scirra sells template pack and sprite packs.
So if I could make a prediction, I would say, you will begin to see many tower defense with the battlefield pack, same with the space pack, and some with the battelfield AND the space pack. And then you will see the same exact tower defense with some neat graphism, and yeah the tower defense with just some square 'cause don't want to bother with art.
And quickly c2 will be associated to a type of gamePLAY and graphism. "Yeah with c2 you can make... You know, tower defense"
Well My point is The image of a tool is important.
When you think unreal development kit, you see in your head "good damn good graphism" and yeah "fps"... for long udk was associated with fps. Hard to do something else with it. But now they managed to show that you could do all type of game with it (even a tower defense)
UDK didn't suffer from that "with udk you can only make fps" 'cause they well... Epic's tool and games sell well.
I said, there are many ways to make money, and in my opinion template and sprite pack aren't really a good way because of the image games made with them could give to c2.
The other way I'm thinking about, since many month ago, is more or less that scirra actually could make a real game to show off C2.
Not now, but in a near future, when HTML5 will be ripe, C2 could collaborate with some users to make a serious HTML5 game and improve their tool in the process. The end result should show the true power of C2 as long as sell well.
In a nutshell, that's more or less how udk became that good. Improving an engine by using it.
I think that would be way more powerfull than some sh*tty pack. And well... How many 2D game makers already did that? :D