Ok, so I don't post here often, I'm not sure if I ever have. I am an owner of Construct 2 and I basically just messed around with it years ago while teaching grade 10 to 12 computer programming to see if it was an option for the classroom. After the subscription was put in, I basically just didn't bother signing up as it wasn't a primary tool and I wasn't going to pay monthly or yearly just to have access to the full program. Recently I've been contracted to run an after school class (and potentially a summer session) for up to 20 students, teaching programming through game design. The age range is 15 to 18, inner city, potentially wildly varying ability levels. My thought was that I want a system that offers a visual programming interface along with the ability to program in a traditional language, which is what the course is more about. The visual programming would be both a lead in to concepts, and a fall back for accessibility.
Scratch is too simplistic and some kids will have had exposure to that in grade school, so I've ruled that out. The three contenders that came to mind are Construct, Gdevelop, and Gamemaker.
My question is, what is the compelling argument to be made for paying $20 to $30 per seat for a Construct 3 license when I can use Gdevelop for free, and now, as of a few days ago, Gamemaker? I realize that Construct has the advantage of using a standard language like Javascript (or Typescript) rather than GML in Gamemaker, but Gdevelop also has Javascript support...
Since I haven't used Construct 3 in 6 years or more, I can't really speak to or decipher what I'd be getting here, that I can't get somewhere else. Seems like the business model has been outdated/usurped by a combination of both FOSS and proprietary competition. That's not to say I don't like Construct or think it's bad software, and I'm sure it's fine for some who have a familiarity/comfort with the details of how it works, performance, what it can export to and how, plugins, etc., but for more general use where familiarity or business considerations are not a factor...I don't see it.
No flame war, just a genuine question. I need to make a decision in the next month and a half. All answers appreciated.