directx= doing games for microsoft products (windows8).

Opengl=Doing games with high compatibility in PC / MAC / LINUX / ""XBOX LIVE / PS LIVE""

why do you think construct2 is only on windows? Its using directx <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing">

There is so much irony in the way you are misinformed, it blows my mind.

Industry is dropping directx for opengl atm. Thanks to Valve and steamOs. And partly microsoft, for screwing game developers and themselves up.

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/17901 ... ead-opengl

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/17827 ... inux-games

[quote:3b3kc4a9]Basically, almost every Windows game has a graphics engine — and that engine uses specific APIs (functions) provided by Direct3D. Direct3D, which interfaces between the game and the GPU, is only available on Microsoft platforms (Windows, Xbox). ToGL intercepts the calls to Direct3D, replacing them with the OpenGL equivalent. There’s a performance hit, of course, but it’s small. (I’ve played Dota 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 on OS X, and it runs just fine.)

Steam LinuxNow, considering this only supports Direct3D 9.0c, ToGL isn’t going to suddenly allow newer Direct3D 11 games to be brought over to Linux/OS X (unless they have DX9 legacy support, of course). What it will do, though, is allow big studios to re-release older titles on OS X and Linux/SteamOS — and if there are any indie developers out there who develop games in DirectX, they obviously stand to gain as well. Let’s not forget that Valve rather famously said back in 2012 that OpenGL is faster than DirectX, even on Windows, too

they did that and suddenly cry engine and unreal decided to get ported to linux

http://time.com/22043/crytek-adding-lin ... -steam-os/

http://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/u ... ign=buffer

Gamedevelop's main programmer Florian has started an indiegogo funding campaign to improve the linux version and make an OSX version.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/game ... /x/6848183

The money from the funding will also be used to improve gamedevelop's tablet support and even add monetization features.

Gamedevelop is very similar in design approach to construct2 and construct (with some pros and cons). It is a younger engine.

However Gamedevelop is multiplatform and the development environment runs on Linux as well as windows - soon also on OSX. Natively! it is not bound by the directx libraries like construct2. The engine is completely free.

If you like construct2, but you are a Linux or OSX user, please consider donating to the campaign. Florian has also expressed interest in open sourcing it if this campaign is successful!! <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy">

[quote:3nziubqm]

First goal: Bring GD to MacOS and make Ubuntu a first class citizen for Game Develop

Ubuntu and MacOS are both great platforms, but they currently lack such a nice game creation tool! Linux or MacOS enthusiats often complain about the lack of games for their platform: Game Develop will allow to build and play games on Ubuntu and MacOS.

When the goal of this campaign is reached, we'll be able to spend more time on Game Develop (alas, we can't live on love alone, we need funds to work on GD!) and get a MacBook. This is required for porting GD to MacOS: with your help, MacOS users will have access to the first free and complete game creation tool for this system!

We'll extensively develop and test GD on Ubuntu so that it will be fully cross platform and working flawlessly on Ubuntu, MacOS and Windows. With your donations, we will make MacOS and Ubuntu great platforms for creating 2D games!

Note that contributors choosing a perk with a value of €20 (or more) will have access to beta versions, so that you'll be able to test the new MacOS version or the improvements made to the Ubuntu version very soon!

First OS X beta versions should be delivered about two or three months after the fundraising goal is reached, and Ubuntu version will be improved even before.

Second goal: Export games to iOS and Android

Having a game that can be played on iOS and Android is a must for any game developer. The second goal of this campaign is to add a real export option allowing Game Develop to build games for these platforms!

Reaching €3000 will allow us to do intensive tests on an iPad and spend extra time on Game Develop to make some much needed improvements to the game engine and add an export option so that games run smoothly on iPhones, Android smartphones and tablets.

These platforms are growing at a fast pace, and specific features like games monetization will be created for them!

With your help, Game Develop will be the first free software on MacOS, Windows and Ubuntu allowing anyone to create games for iOS and Android! Again, contributors will have access to beta versions and will be able to get better support for smartphones sooner!

Third goal: New and improved features by hiring one or more developers

When reaching more than €4000, we'll be able to hire full time developers to put more working hours in improving an extension or a specific feature, while we keep working on GD. Check the list of features that could be done below! Note that if you choose the "Ask for a specific feature" perk, you'll be able to pick which feature gets the most priority!

Each additional €1000 will allow us to hire developers again for a new feature or to improve an existing one. This will accelerate a lot the development of Game Develop and ease the work of developers using Game Develop!

Here are the features that will be developed:

A new particle engine, for HTML5 games. For now, native games created with GD can use a particle engine to create visual effects, but games exported to the web can't. The new particle engine will be available for HTML5 games so that gamers will enjoy seeing realistic fires, explosions and other nice visual effects.

Dynamic lights, for HTML5 games. Create and play to games with realistic shadows and lights! Also perfect to create dark ambiances, fog or games with limited line of sight.

Port the extension to draw shapes on screen to HTML5 games. This feature is perfect for creating advanced effects like a laser gun.

Sound object for HTML5 games. This object help adding sound effects on a scene. It will be adapted so that games exported for the web and mobile can use it!

Editor improvement: dropdown lists and autocompletion to quickly fulfill parameters of conditions or actions

New tutorials. We'll use our time to create new tutorials that will enable developers to master every aspect of Game Develop!

New templates. There are already a lot of examples bundled with GD, but still we can create new one! They are a must have when creating a new game.

New features being developed thanks to the funds raised during the campaign will be announced on the forum, the facebook page and twitter so that you'll be able to follow their development.

And remember that you can choose to offer to some of these features a higher priority by choosing the "Ask for a feature" perk!

And as a bonus! Registering Game Develop on Steam Greenlight

Steam Greenlight is a nice way for the community to help promote which games or software should be added to the service.

Alas, as a developer, there is a €99 fee required to register an application on Steam. €99 will be reserved to pay these fees and the community will then be able to see Game Develop on Steam Greenlight and vote for it so that it get permanently listed on the Steam store!

This is an exciting way to make GD even more visible! The steam community will have access to a 100% free and complete game development tool. When GD is registered on Steam and when we reach €6000, we will also work on integration with Steam Workshop. Developers will be able to share their creations and custom content, such as sprites, sounds... in Steam Workshop and their projects to help the community with examples.

Download gamedevelop and give it a spin , it runs on windows too.

http://www.compilgames.net/

We need your feedback!

cheers! <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy">

It's pretty neat!

Today a new version came out for windows and linux:

http://www.compilgames.net/

Game Develop 3.3 is available! Download it as usual from the website.

Entirely new icons for the interface, specifically designed for Game Develop. Many thanks to Constantine Shvetsov !
Spanish translation available: Thanks to Franco Maciel !
Pathfinding automatism is now available for HTML5 games.
The pathfinding automatism has been rewritten and enhanced: You have to update your game if you're using it.
Added condition “Trigger once”.
Custom collision mask are now supported by HTML5 games.
The maximum angle for a slope is now customizable for objects on platforms.
Added “lerp” function.
Fixed crashs
Fixed velocity of objects not maintained after an object was resized.
Fixed renamed automatisms not taken into account.
Fixed ToDeg/ToRad for native games.
Minors bug fixes.
[/code:e4cnyy2r]
There is now also a twitter feed!
[url]https://twitter.com/Game_Develop[/url]

and there is the fb page
[url]https://www.facebook.com/GameDevelop[/url]

I wish this had more tutorials

More advantages over construct2:

• The debugger allows you to pause the game, and even frame by frame it! Plus many other nice features. <img src="smileys/smiley4.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

Gamedevelop has a much nicer debugger.

• very basic support for 3d (available only for native builds)
• Dynamic 2d lights out of the box - officially supported
• You can edit a part of a condition or execution without opening a new window
• The platforming "automatism" has a LADDER type. No need to code ladder logic.

-Reminding that it is the ONLY option for linux users who want to have a native construct2 look a like. I don't see construct being ported any time soon. I'd pay for it's license instead of donations, if the developer was willing to offer professional support like scirra does. I guess his strategy is somewhat different.

• If he ported it to linux, that means that he is getting closer to porting it to mac. The engine is using platform independent libraries. Not sure if Construct2 can boast with that too.

More disadvantages:

• Has a bunch of starter tutorials, but no community created tutorials like construct2's. Nowhere near the number of tutorials scirra has gathered from its users.
• Cant seem to uncomment multiple rows of code or a group. There are no groups, but you can still parent blocks to other blocks, but uncommenting a parent doesn't affect the children.
• global and instance variables are generally harder to find in the ui.
• less stable (the build on linux is fairly new though- give it some time)
• The interface is good at hiding things from the user in the start. At first I though many of which are missing.
• The sprite sheet editor has no painting tools

A lot of things that are very similar:

-there are too many to list. It will take me an entire day :D

how do you search and replace in the event sheet then?

it has much less behaviors than construct at this point.

They SDK is open sourced:

github.com/4ian/GD-Extensions and github.com/4ian/GDJS

but not many people are contributing. Their community is humble compared to this.

More cons to add:

-smaller community

-less documentation

On the bright side- the main developer seems to be very active.

It does have a tiled background plugin and a platforming one as well.

The interface is somewhat different when you actually start using it- so some things look like missing at first- but are available.

Check out the demoes that it comes with to see them.

Ok it is not completely open source, but it's plugin SDK is open source!!!

The editor is free.

Advantages over construct2:

• The editor runs natively on both Ubuntu and windows
• It has Search and Replace
• The expression editor seems to be more advanced
• Object Families (called groups here) for free
• It has a built in sprite converter (gif to sprite, rmxp sheet to sprite)

Disadvantages:

• Can't lock layers
• Can't ctrl/shift-select multiple code blocks on linux yet
• no fancy Shaders

-It seems that naming is not dynamic like construct. If you rename an object it wont update in the event sheet. Havent tested it properly though. The game still runs fine after renaming it though- when it should be broken.

EDIT- this naming bug seems to be only in the linux version and happens inconsistently .

I would be interested to hear pros and cons discovered by other construct2 users.

It's interesting that the creator's family name is "rival". He's a french guy too. <img src="smileys/smiley3.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

It's called Gamedevelop and can export to html5.

Runs on both windows and linux and has a very similar design to construct.

<img src="http://www.compilgames.net/img/content/big_events.jpg" border="0">

It is completely free and available for download for ubuntu users.

If you would like to support their development, please consider donating.

http://www.compilgames.net/

So in fact Scirra Construct has a free clone on linux and real competition too- because right now it is the only option for linux users. <img src="smileys/smiley36.gif" border="0" align="middle">

Did I mention that it is open source and completely free too?

Maybe not on par in terms of features, but definitely worth a try.

It would be interesting to see how many users it will gather. If I was Ashley, I would keep a close eye on it's userbase. Linux is turning into a very mainstream OS, with china making their own OS based on ubuntu, Valve adopting it for SteamOS and many other factors that are coming together.

it's pretty broken in wine. Check out this native clone :

compilgames.net

It's pretty decent and completely free :)

This is the closest you can get to construct2 on linux

compilgames.net

if you would like to see it get closer in features, they have a donate page :D

Is it possible to have the dialogue text of npcs in a spreadsheet (csv) and to just load it in NPC instances with a variable.

There was something mentioned about it at this forum, but no example files anywhere.

It's really really hard to do the simplest npc dialogue box. This same thing is extremely easy to do in rpg maker engines for example.

It's an often requested feature and rarely have i seen it implemented well with construct.

Wouldnt it be great if someone wrote a behavior for construct that mimics the way NPC dialogue is handled in rpg maker?

is there no way to just use a bunch of text variables (rows) then?

I want something that will later be super easy to change on each instance.

This whole array business sounds like hardcoding dialogue inside the event sheet rather than on the instances.

My goal is to keep all the dialogue text outside of the event sheet