Thanks for the reply Ashley,

What about inbetween Layouts MUSIC:

Music that continues from: Layout 1 to Layout 2, Layout 3 etc.. is this possible?

Hey All,

As I'm still working on the design of my first official game, I'm still learning Construct 3 and have much more to learn and understand.

Since my question is specific for my game I'll give some information so you can understand and share your opinion and suggestions.

1 - My game is based on half-HD resolution = 640x360 using full screen by default.

Means it's not so heavy for most modern PCs compare to heavier resolutions.

2 - Each level will be placed on 1 room, which is based on 640x360, no scrollable stages.

3 - Each room is random generate some elements first, then the game starts. (pre-load is a must here)

4 - My basic idea is: Every Level is built from X rooms, every level = different environment.

Every room is individual, not connected to other room!

5 - Pixel Art is mostly 32x32 but I will have other sizes for the backgrounds, bigger creatures, etc..

6 - I'm building and testing my game on NW.js

GAME DESIGN + LOADING:

Just like the title, I'm wondering what should I choose for the best of the game and the player's experience of course.

1. I'm curious if it will be too heavy, too slow to load all X levels (rooms) ahead in 1 big layout.

or

2. Should I go for each level room will have it's own layout?

By default I would choose each stage (room) on it's own layout, but the problem that I'm "afraid" of is... no smooth pass from stage to stage: if it's graphics transitions and MUSIC that goes on while moving to the next layout.

I'm not even sure if it's possible in Construct 3 or not, is it?

Current TESTS and RESULTS:

So far from my tests I have 1 random generated room (testing room), no main menu, or other layout before that yet (I'll work on it soon) and it's loading SUPER fast, I can't even see the loading bar.

I'm not sure if it's because of my current PC Specs, my computer isn't a super computer it's from 2013 after all but it is decent, my guess is because the game is still very light on content even that it looks reacher every time I update it.

My Main PC SPECS:

CPU: Intel i7-4770K 3.50 GHz

RAM: 32 GB

SSD: 512

GPU: Nvidia GeFoce 980 4GB

OS: Windows 10 64bit

Of course, once the game will get closer to a DEMO, I will make sure to test it on other PC's but the specs above are what I'm using as I'm working on my game.

SO... based on all the details, specific for my game:

What would you suggest me to choose and why?

Please consider the 2 options and tell me why should I choose the other, not just "CHOOSE THIS done" the reason is because I would love to understand.

* Dear Ashley, if possible I would love to read your opinions since you know C3 best.

Thanks ahead to anyone who can help in this, it will help me makes the game much better!

WIP: 1 Room is still considered empty, more creatures, platforms and graphics will be added.

Pro Motion is super ultra complicated and you end up wasting more time than saving from using something with less features like pyxel edit or aseprite, it's made for old people who used old software that isn't available anymore

I must agree: if you want to get into creating fast just start play with Pyxel-Edit or Aseprite.

Pro Motion NG isn't for old people. it's inspired by Amiga work flow and it's out there for a while and works on Windows 10 and still updates and new extra features are still coming on every update and it's used by "old people" or should I say talented artists such as Yacht Club Games team, the makers of "Shovel Knight" and others.

Pixel-Art isn't a new digital art style invented yesterday and still kicking to these days, it's not a time machine... yet. ;)

In my opinion Pyxel-Edit is very confusing with it's spread-sheet-like layout frames all over the place, you can see that on the video above it's very confusing and harder to follow compare to working with 1 screen, 1 frame on the timeline + onion skin options like in Aseprite which is much simple UI again, this is my opinion.

Maybe you'll like Pyxel Edit, maybe Aseprite or Pro Motion NG?

only you can tell.

* Sorry about my bad English

I use photoshop almost everyday (not for pixel art, it is too slow for an animation workflow).

I have Pyxel Edit on my PC, I even used it for some tiles but for animation I don't know, it's not simple as in Aseprite where I do both: Animation and Tiles.

The newest software I purchased is Pro Motion NG which is the most advance of all of these, it have so many features of almost any professional 2D Animation software I used but it's dedicated for pixel-art.

I should give it a try, the Tileset in Pro Motion NG is the most amazing one I've seen for designing and tweaking full levels in a super simple way based on their UI, but still... I need to give it a try as it's already installed and waiting for me to try it.

For now... Aseprite is my best friend as it's a lite software and I already got used to it's workflow.

I do recommend you to try other tools.

All these pixel-art softwares are wonderful and mostly lite especially Pyxel Edit and Aseprite, not so hard to learn them compare to Photoshop or Pro Motion NG which are much more complex and rich with many extra features that not everybody needs.

On my daily job (Animator at the Studio) I'm using Toon Boom Harmony and it's a none-pixel art animation software, it works on Vectors and Rasters (Yes, even combined!) so I believe it will have a dedicated work flow pixel-art environment in the future but, consider it's price it is not for everyone.

My best tip for you:

1 Software that does many tasks will provide you a much faster workflow than few softwares together for example Pyxel Edit + Photoshop I do all in Aseprite, and probably it will be easier in Pro Motion NG.

I hope this helps

I'm a professional Animator for many years, Pixel-Art is VERY new to me but animation isn't.

Since pixel-art workflow is very different than what I'm used to (frame by frame animation, vectors, post production effects, etc..) I had to try something new.

I started with a software called Aseprite, it is very easy to use in my opinion, you can make animated pixel art, you can animate, you even have dynamic onion skin so you can see any number of back/forward frames.

I still have much more to learn about pixel art, but as I'm working on my first official game I'm learning the art... of pixel art. I believe that the secret is to practice like in anything else.

There are many softwares out there for pixel art, just choose one you feel isn't too complex or scary for you and start creating simple things, after that you will forget about the UI of the software and as you'll get used to it you will focus on the CREATION progress which is the most important thing.

I hope that some of my tips helped you or at least encourage you to give it a try.

I wish you good luck with your creation journey! :)

* Sorry about my bad English

Example of a simple character IDLE Animation I made in Aseprite:

Hello All,

For my very first game I'm using Construct 3 as I'm learning it on the way.

So far my game starting to take a shape and I'm enjoying using C3, also this community is very helpful and I'm thankful for that.

Since I'm just an animator and music producer and not a traditional programmer (or programmer at all),

I don't understand many technical things for example new improvements on the new C3 Runtime.

I start working on my game using C2 Runtime as it was and still is default for the current stable version.

I'm trying to use ONLY stable versions on my game as it is a long official project of mine so I don't want to take any risks.

I just tested my current game state using the C3 Runtime, I didn't see / feel any difference from C2 consider speedup or fps changes, it is acting exactly the same based on the debug data I looked at as well.

Of course my game isn't "HEAVY" yet, but it will have more and more interactions, objects, particle systems and many events as I still developing it and I see it grows a lot everytime I add something.

It's GREAT! that the game isn't slowing down or anything like that but I would LOVE if someone can explain in SIMPLISTIC words to me:

1 - What are the BIGGEST differences between C2 Runtime to C3 Runtime?

2 - Is C3 Runtime much more POWERFUL compare to C2 Runtime or there are only minor changes?

3 - How can I Test/Feel some differences right now on my game using the current C3 Runtime stable release? (R111)

4 - Should I keep working with C2 Runtime for now on my official game project? or not? and why?

5 - Will C3 Runtime be complete and default soon? and is it already safe to use it on official project?

I tried following the C3 Runtime blogs but as I said, I can't follow all the technical stuff as I'm just a visual artist, that's why I would love to hear about it in a more simplistic way if possible.

If not all, at least the major differences.

To be honest, I'm very curious about C3 Runtime's POWER... so thanks ahead!