Well, it would be a relatively marginal effort to implement a basic visual guide system in Construct - and potentially simplify our lives tremendously for all sorts of work.

I have had real issues aligning objects in levels and for GUI work in Construct. It took unnecessarily lost minutes of effort to get ground object to align exactly, GUI elements to be aligned, and so on.

Expanding on this, Construct is also missing basic object alignment commands, and object snapping (snapping an object to other objects).

There is definitely room for improvement in the general workflow in the editor which would benefit every Construct user.

We can activate and align to a grid in Construct, which is great.

However, one limitation I keep hitting while working on screens, GUIs, and level designs, is a very simple visual method to assist in aligning objects: guides.

Every design application I am aware of, both for traditional print as well as for (mobile) screen design, offers some simple method to add visual guides to the layout view. Guides are almost essential for GUI work, and Construct does not offer these. This has been quite frustrating so far in my work done with Construct, and I cannot believe no-one would have thought of adding visual guides to Construct before.

So, opinions, thoughts? Ashley, have guides ever made it to the to-do list, or even entered your thoughts while developing a visual tool for game development? It seems like such a basic fundamental requirement.

Don't change your workflow if you are happy with it - and Adobe software is great. Especially the interoperability like you say.

It's merely a personal decision on my part to avoid Adobe software. If Adobe had kept full licenses along with subscriptions I would probably still have been in Adobe's court.

And every application has its advantages and disadvantages. Work with the software that works best for you!

That is very true - especially about the time one has to spend on learning new applications. And the situation is not helped by the fact that 99% of tutorials and books are written for Adobe's software, because whether we like it or not, PH, AI, and InD are the industry standards.

Photoline is great, but there is almost no mention of it on the web. No tutorials either. And it is a complicated image editor comparable to Photoshop (minus the video and 3d stuff) - not something for beginners. Nor is Photoshop, which is also very complex - but at least for PH a multitude of books and tutorials are available to help. I was able to make the switch quickly, but only because I used Photoshop at an advanced level, so the concepts and skills were easily transferred.

Having said that, the workflow is a bit different. Not worse, not better, just different.

Someone in the forum asked for an animated 2d planet technique in Construct, which might be of interest to others as well, so I am posting it here as an example.

Here is the live version:

http://estructor.altervista.org/animated_2d_planet_concept/

The trick is very simple: mask out the cloud and planet textures with a circle using the blend effects. Please check the capx file how I achieved it. It's pretty much one big fake.

I created all the effect maps in Photoline.

The planet resides on its own layer which I rotate and zoom out - but you could also use the pin behaviour to control the planet's position, for example.

You also need the Lite Tween behaviour installed for this example to work (although I could have applied the bullet behaviour as well).

behavior-litetween_t70700

Capx:

http://estructor.altervista.org/animated_2d_planet_concept/planet.capx

The current version does not seamlessly repeat either the clouds or the planet texture, so after a while the illusion is shattered <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_wink.gif" alt=";-)" title="Wink"> It should take relatively small effort to have those repeat. This effect is imperfect: it would be nice if we had access to a filter that would bulge the planet as a sphere.

If others here know additional tricks and techniques to improve upon my simple version, feel free to add your own approach to this thread. Maybe we can create the "perfect planet" in Construct <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy">

To create and render your own custom planet maps, check out the following links:

Planet creator that outputs all the maps you need:

http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/pos ... opic=97336

Good solar system planet maps:

http://planetpixelemporium.com/planets.html

For the new adobe cc you don't need a consistent connection through the net. Being online once a month is enough.

It's not about CC requiring an online connection or not - it's about renting your software. And a number other things related to CC subscriptions.

Ohh and i would never ever use something else than Illustrator & photoshop anymore. Can't imagine a workflow without smart objects anymore. That saves hundreds of hours.

Photoline supports similar workflows: for one, PL offers virtual clones of existing layers, layer groups, layer masks, vector/text objects, and so on. They function very much like smart objects, with the ADDED two advantages that they update in real-time when changes are made to the original one, and that the original object can be edited in context. Both are impossible with SOs in Photoshop. A smart object in Photoshop does not update in real time (must be saved, which is awkward) and cannot be edited in situ (requiring a separate document window, which is even more inconvenient). And Photoshop does not support multiple page documents, which Photoline does - making the virtual layer concept even more powerful.

Second, Photoline can also, like the newest PS CC, place external content with the link remaining live. So I can edit an object in an external application (for example a pdf, an svg, or a psd file), and the placed external layer with that content automatically updates when I save the changes. Or manage my Photoline elements as separate individual elements with all the functionality of Photoline.

All in all, Photoline's workflow "outsmarts" Photoshop smart objects in several ways. Another boon is that layer masks in Photoline are treated like regular layers, so one layer mask can serve as a master for all the other masks applied in a Photoline layer stack - update the one mask, and all the others update as well. Photoshop cannot do this with layer masks, because they are limited to the one layer. (To be fair, this could be solved with clipping layers in Photoshop, although clipping layers are somewhat inflexible.)

Of course, SOs in Photoshop do have certain advantages not available in Photoline: only Adobe software can open AI and PSD files with the full complement of supported features.

Anyway, Photoshop is not the only application that offers such a workflow. Honestly, I feel Photoline's workflow in this regard is arguably superior to Photoshop.

Btw, two more advantage of PL over Photoshop SO model: 1) there is no need to convert layers to SO for non-destructive tranformation of a layer - that's a given in PL. so it saves time. No need for silly SOs to retain bitmap layers quality.

and 2) there is also no need to convert layers to SOs to add non-destructive filters/effects in Photoline. Again saves time.

Combined with the other caveats related to smart objects in Photoshop that I already mentioned above, I can work much quicker in Photoline than in Photoshop.

I may have been a bit harsh sounding (it was late). Flash is a good tool, although I never got along with its bone tools, and the severely handicapped motion graph editor: I like having full motion graph control as an animator. The motion graph and bone implementation in Flash was rather half-hearted at best, unworkable at worst.

And Adobe's ridiculous treatment of Flash has caused it to become a shadow of what it could have been in the animation market. Really, such a shame. They pretty much left the animation market open for Toonboom and other competitors.

I can't remember having seen the jerky effect in AS - although I only really begun to animate with it two years ago.

But the great thing is that we do not have to limit ourselves to only one or two applications! Use whatever works best in your situation and for your project. I use C4D, Blender, Lightwave, InkScape, Photoline, Anime Studio, Sketchup, Xara Designer Pro, a bit of GIMP (as a plugin to Photoline), and so on.

For more complex vector work I use Xara, while for most other vector work a combination of Photoline and InkScape works just fine (Photoline has a nice app link that allows me to do round-trip editing between the two).

I have used all Adobe software professionally since Photoshop 3.5(!). I still own a license of CS6, but I removed Adobe software for the most part out of my workflow in the last two years. Good riddance, I say. It's a personal choice: I just do not like Adobe as a company anymore. Subscription only is a no-go for me.

Yes, Illustrator is nice and all (although it has a lot of idiosyncrasies as well), but I just do not wish to deal with that company anymore.

The current version of Flash is a disaster: no motion graph, no IK bones, the object level undo removed, And the drawing tools have not been touched in ages by the devs - instead we LOST drawing tools like the deco tool.

For game asset creation and animation a bone tool and a proper motion graph are crucial. Without these I would not even touch Flash.

Spriter and Anime Studio are the way to go.

I've made a quick 2d animated planet proof of concept. Here is the live version:

http://estructor.altervista.org/animated_2d_planet_concept/

The current version does not seamlessly repeat either the cloud or the planet texture, so after a while the illusion is shattered <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_wink.gif" alt=";-)" title="Wink"> It should take relatively small effort to have those repeat.

The trick is very simple: mask out the cloud and planet textures with a circle using the blend effects. Please check the capx file how I achieved it. This effect is imperfect: it would be nice if we had access to a filter that would bulge the planet as a sphere. Perhaps someone here knows another trick to improve my simple version. It's pretty much one big fake.

I created all the effect maps in Photoline.

The planet resides on its own layer which I rotate and zoom out - but you could also use the pin behaviour to control the planet's position, for example.

You also need the Lite Tween behaviour installed for this example to work (although I could have applied the bullet behaviour as well).

behavior-litetween_t70700

Capx:

http://estructor.altervista.org/animated_2d_planet_concept/planet.capx

PS To create and render your own custom planet maps, check out the following links:

Planet creator that outputs all the maps you need:

http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/pos ... opic=97336

Good solar system planet maps:

http://planetpixelemporium.com/planets.html

Interesting webgl experiment:

http://planetmaker.wthr.us/

http://wwwtyro.github.io/procedural.js/planet1/

Using Construct is a CHOICE. You have a choice to use the free version (with its limitations) or purchase the full version, which is very affordable - there are no update fees either! If the license is too costly for you, or you do not wish to pay a dime, then there are many alternative options out there.

Most javascript based game frameworks are free to download and use. Learning to code games in JS is not that hard - just takes some time and practice. Even building your own games in pure javascript is fun to learn:

http://codeincomplete.com/games/

Aside from learning to code, there are many free game engines, creators, and frameworks out there:

http://www.en.compilgames.net/

http://gamesalad.com/

Unity has a free version.

http://www.3drad.com/

A list of JS frameworks for games (Construct is included <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_wink.gif" alt=";-)" title="Wink"> ) http://html5gameengine.com/

Just a couple of examples! So, in the end it's a choice you make - it's not as if Construct has a monopoly on game creating. A Unity Pro license is too expensive for me - so I use other 3d game creation tools, both free and/or less expensive.

And compared to the software, the hardware to run Construct on is (much) more expensive. So I can't see how the "I do not have enough money to buy the full version of construct" holds true. You need a reasonable rig to run Construct on in my experience.

In the end you make your choice to save money for a license, or not. Save up by not drinking that can of soda pop each day for a couple of months, and drink water instead - presto, you lead a much healthier life style, and gain a Construct license in the process as a gift to yourself!

Up till a short time ago Flash was a standard method to build websites. One could argue that Construct (with the canvas element and javascript-->"html5") is quite similar.

And currently many websites out there use the canvas element in combination with javascript to drive parts of their website (or the complete page), replacing Flash based elements. Nothing new under the sun here.

So, yes, you could make a complete website experience in Construct (I believe having read on this forum that some users already did btw) - it even supports responsive elements that automatically adjust to the screen size. In that sense it actually outsmarts Flash. The only real issue would be SEO, because a Construct built web page would be quite opaque to search engines: there is no regular html structure.

Again a comparable situation compared to Flash (which has dreadful SEO)!

It would also be harder to update its content. Much harder - although the Ajax behaviour could be a great help here, and mitigate this issue somewhat. And for a static highly interactive web experience, where SEO is not that important, Construct is a good alternative to pure html and css or Flash.

Version 18.51 is now officially out! Many workflow enhancements in this version: for example, layer groups are now cached, so non-destructive complex documents are much, much faster to process. This is a free update for registered users.

Other new features:

• New Filter "Polar Coordinates"
• new Boolean vector cut function
• New Alignment Functions "Distribute Layers Equally Hor.“ and "Distribute Layers Equally Vert."
• Paint Tools with Smooth stroke options
• new vector editing options

What's more, the external app link option now includes PDF as an intermediate file format. This means the user can send vector layers to (for example) InkScape or CorelDraw, and edit the vector elements in those, and send them back to Photoline which updates the externally edited layers automatically. Very handy, and works like a charm.

And most importantly: selection of objects has been vastly improved:

• elements can be selected and moved in one action. (before we had to select first, then move - very awkward)
• elements inside groups and outside groups can now be multiple selected. Before only elements on the same level in the layer stack hierarchy could be selected, and this was quite inconvenient and a potential workflow killer - especially with mockups and documents with complex arrangements.

These last two improvements really make a huge difference in workflow speed.

Full list of improvements / release notes: http://www.pl32.com/pages/rnote.php

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Photoline is an image editor that offers a 32-bit linear workflow, imports and exports layered EXR files, true vector layers, Lab, RGB, CMYK and greyscale at 8/16/32bit per channel, and a predominantly non-destructive workflow. Multiple page documents are also supported. SVG support is great.