Make Your Own Game

How to make your own game

In this easy 11 step guide, we'll show you how to make your own game from scratch and publish it to the online arcade. Don't worry, we'll provide you with everything you need start to finish - no downloads or registration required. Construct 3 works right inside your browser like magic!

• Step 1

  Launch Construct 3

  Construct 3 is the worlds leading game engine that allows you to make games, no coding required. It's capable of making any type of 2D game, and even now includes 3D elements.

  Launch Construct 3
• Step 2

  Download Free Game Assets

  Download the Abstract Platformer asset pack from Kenney.nl. Kenney's assets are Creative Commons Zero licensed which means they are public domain so you're completely free to use them in your first game!

  Download Now
• Step 3

  Create a new project

  Click the "New Project" button, give your game a name and press "Create". You now have your first empty game project!

  

  The main view in the middle of the screen is the layout view. This is the design view where you create and position objects. Think of a layout like a game level or menu screen. In other tools, this might have been called a room, scene or frame.

• Step 4

  Resize the Layout

  We need to make the layout (your first level) to be bigger than the default. Left click a space in the layout, and the properties bar will show the properties for the layout. Change the size of the layout to 4000x2048.

  
• Step 5

  Add Some 3D Platforms

  Right click the layout, select "Add New Object" and double click "3D Shape" (under "General"). The cursor will change to a crosshair, click somewhere on your layout and you should see this screen:

  

  Open the assets you've downloaded, and navigate to the "PNG/Other" folder. In here, you'll see some square block shapes. First, select on of the PNG images and drag and drop it directly on top of the image editor. Then, select each of the other faces in the bottom of the image editor and do the same. You should end up with something that looks like this:

  

  Close the image editor by clicking the x on the top right.

• Step 6

  Add your player

  Open the asset pack, and navigate to "PNG/Players/Player Red". Click and drag on of the players on the layout above the 3D block you've just added.

  

  We now need to add a behaviour to the player. Behaviours dictate how objects in your game behave! Select your player, and in the properties bar is a link to "Add/edit behaviours". Click this link, press "Add behaviour" and then scroll down to "Movements" and double click "Platform".

• Step 7

  Make the platforms solid

  Now select your 3D block, and add the "Solid" behaviour. This means that the platform is solid, so the player will be able to walk on top of it!

• Step 8

  Preview your game

  At the top of the screen above the layout is a "Play" button that's a right facing triangle. Click this button, and your player should drop on to your 3D cube! Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the player left and right and to jump up and down.

  
• Step 9

  Add more platforms

  Select your 3D platform cube, right click on it and press "copy". Right click somewhere else and press "paste". Feel free to resize the cubes into flatter shapes, and add as many as you want! Press play again, and jump around the blocks. You will notice however that the camera doesn't follow the player.

• Step 10

  Setup the camera

  Select your player character, and add a new behaviour from the list called "Scroll to". This will keep the camera on the player. Preview your game again, and the player will now move with the camera!

  
• Step 11

  Add your first rule

  Now we'll add a rule to reset the game if your player falls off the platforms and outside the layout. To do this, select "Event sheet 1" which is a tab above the layout view.

  The event sheet is where you build the rules for your game. Let's add our first event, click "Add event".

  We first need to add a condition, double click your player from the pane that just opened. Then scroll down to the "Size & Position" category and double click "Is outside layout".

  A new event has appeared, and to the right are the actions. This is what you want the game to do when the condition is met. Click on "Add action".

  The add actions pane has opened, double click "System" and under the "Layout" category is a "Restart layout" action. Double click on this.

  Now preview your game again, if your character falls off the screen the game will reset!