Ashley's Forum Posts

  • Maybe Construct 2 already does it but will "effects" include "set color filter"? I pretty much use that more than I do any pixel shader.

    Canvas doesn't seem to support it natively yet. However, it's possible to do it basically by a bunch of setpixels and then caching the result. The problem with this is if you change the filter every tick it will be incredibly slow (probably unusable, since creating a new tinted image will take a long time), and if you have lots of different instances all with different tints, it will use a lot of memory from caching a separate image for each instance.

    I'd prefer not to do it that way because it's grossly inefficient if you haven't heard of that limitation, assume it works like 0.x, and then wonder why your game is crawling slow or using tonnes of memory. I think it's best to wait for native support for this type of thing (WebGL would also allow this, since it is equivalent in functionality to the 0.x DirectX runtime).

    What do you use tints for? Do you tend to only have one or two different colour filters?

    Firefox 4 beta 12 drops to around 31 fps.

    Holds a steady 60fps for me - but if it's slow, it should be easy for browser makers to speed it up. Most graphics cards support additive as easily and as efficiently as ordinary alpha blending.

  • Construct's code doesn't survive 'advanced optimisations' in the closure compiler, only 'simple optimisations' which has much less of an obfuscating effect. It might be something we can fix though, it's on my todo list to figure out at some point (but it's low priority right now since it doesn't actually affect any functionality).

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  • Download Construct 2 public preview 30

    Link to release 29

    Autocomplete and tips in the parameters dialog, and some basic canvas effects, notably 'additive', which is great for explosions, lasers, lighting etc., as well as opacity.

    The autocomplete works a bit better than the 0.x one, including listing instance variables, and with better keyboard shortcuts:

    <img src="http://www.scirra.com/labs/autocomplete.png">

    Parameter tips (only for system expressions right now, there aren't any object expressions with parameters yet anyway) help show you how to use different system expressions. The implementation is a little naive at the moment, it doesn't support nesting and so on. However, it's still handy when used in simple cases, or as a reminder if you've hidden the object panel.

    <img src="http://www.scirra.com/labs/paramtips.png">

    The additive effect, and the new opacity property, are great for games! This should spruce up the visual appearance of lots of games, and is all hardware accelerated in the latest browsers (IE9, FFox4, Chrome). You can also try a live demo of the additive effect (here's the .capx file). Canvas does support one or two other effects (XOR, some basic overlap effects), but they're not as useful as additive. It looks like this on supporting browsers:

    Changelog

    • [Add] Sprite & Text: 'Opacity' property, and set, get and compare opacity ACEs.
    • [Add] Sprite: 'Effect' property and 'Set Effect' action. This isn't a substitute for the full shader support in 0.x, but allows a quick way to access a couple of the simple effects that HTML5 Canvas has. Effects don't currently preview in the layout.
    • [Add] Parameters dialog: simple expression autocomplete. E.g. type 'Sprite.' and you get a popup of all expressions and instance variables in Sprite to choose from. Seems to work a bit nicer than the old 0.x autocomplete.
    • [Add] Parameters dialog: parameter tips for system expressions with parameters, e.g. typing 'distance(' pops up 'distance(x1, y1, x2, y2) - X position of first point.' These only work with system expressions (there are no object expressions with parameters yet anyway). It also doesn't handle nesting or editing after it's all typed, but is handy in simple situations.
    • [Add] Object panel: F4 toggles visible. This state is remembered. (You might want to hide it and just go by autocomplete.)
    • [Change] Object panel: instance variables are no longer listed in alphabetical order - they're ordered the same way you specify them in the Instance Variables dialog.
    • [Performance] Fixed some known inefficiencies in the javascript runtime that were a result of writing it as quickly as possible. Looping conditions and subevent performance should be improved.
    • [Fix] Fixed issues with string escaping (backslashes disappearing, error using newlines)
    • [Remove] Got rid of pay-what-you-want UI.

  • I think inkBot is right: this discussion has gone as far as it is usefully going to.

    Rest assured: we've read every post of feedback. We hear you. However, now I think is the time where we take this in to our hands. Thanks for all you posts, but I'm locking this now. If you really have a burning issue to take up, feel free to email/PM me.

  • HTML5 canvas doesn't have shaders, anyway.

  • (& is the correct syntax for string concatenation)

    That's a bug in the HTML5 exporter, it's fixed in the next build.

  • No, that code doesn't really make sense...! Looks like you pasted a random part of the runtime engine in to a condition routine!

  • There are no easy answers to those questions. We're proposing a startup business. Startups always involve an element of risk for everybody.

    All I can say is I think we have the capacity to build something really great. Sure, 0.x was a bit of a disaster - but we know our mistakes, and know how to avoid them. You can support us through what will probably be a crazy few months where we try to build something resembling a business from the ground up out of nothing. Or you can just sit back and wait and see. If you asked me I'd say we need all the help we can get, but it's your choice! Jump in, or take a back seat and see what happens.

  • Let's not turn this in to a GM vs. Construct debate, it's besides the point and those arguments never go anywhere anyway.

    how else will they get ?599 from businesses?

    We won't actually be offering that license at first, only the early adopter licenses. I'm not expecting to sell any of them until we've proven C2's worth as a mature and well-established tool.

    [quote:184b68g9]However, it would nice to feel more certain C2 will not be C1 all over again

    It ultimately is a promise, but I think by trying C2 you should be able to find it's already a lot more reliable. It's up to us to build a rock-solid program to prove that, and we think we can really deliver. We've taken significant steps to improve it, some of which were detailed in the new features thread, such as checked builds (which are already making a big difference).

  • You can't remove from the ACE table without breaking caps - this is a design flaw in 0.x that's been corrected in C2 (your ACE table can be in any order and you can mark obsolete ACEs as deprecated, so they still work in old projects but can't be chosen through the UI). R0J0's workaround is the best you can do. You shouldn't change it though, 0.x uses the ACE table indexes to reference everything.

  • Thanks, fixed that in the next build. (We'll get something better for tracking bugs up soon)

  • The Construct 2 SourceForge page has been shut down at our request. We'll be open-sourcing components (like the HTML5 exporter) in the near future.

  • We aim to open early adopter licenses ASAP.

    If you think Game Maker is better than Construct, I don't really have anything to say. You're welcome to use it. We think Construct 2 is better, that's all. Each to their own. GM also appears to be primarily a scripting tool, it doesn't appear many people use the event system. Construct 2 is entirely an event based system.

  • Yep, that's all.

  • buddy40 - I think Gullanian made a post about that - it's something we'll try to work out, it's not something we immediately need to worry about (at least 2 years away before any second purchases). It's a good idea though.