New Features In Construct 3

Additional features and improvements in Construct 3 that you won't find in Construct 2.

  1. Backwards-compatible

    You can import your Construct 2 .capx files directly in to Construct 3 and carry on working with all the new features and improvements. Just drag-and-drop your .capx file in to Construct 3 to open it. See Importing Construct 2 projects in the manual for more details.

  2. An all-new runtime with massive performance improvements

    The runtime is the game engine that powers your games. Construct 3 has a new, modernised and much improved runtime rewritten from the ground up. It has massive performance improvements including wide-ranging general engine optimisations, optimised effects rendering, far faster tilemap rendering, faster startup loading and layout switching, reduced memory usage (as well as new memory management features), faster Physics and Pathfinding behaviors, and even uses advanced technologies like compiling expressions directly to JavaScript for maximum performance. And we continue to increase performance over time.

    The new runtime is also backwards compatible with Construct 2 games, so all your existing games can benefit! See the manual entry on The C3 runtime for more details.

  1. JavaScript coding

    In one of the biggest updates to Construct ever, you can now code in JavaScript in Construct. Use convenient snippets of JavaScript code embedded directly in event sheets - or write entire JavaScript files. See the blog post JavaScript coding now available for more information.

  1. Mobile app build service

    Build your Android APKs directly from the editor, ready for publishing. You can also download Xcode projects for iOS ready for testing and publishing to the Apple App Store. There are also new exporters for publishing Facebook Instant Games or Playable Ads.

  2. Timeline animations

    Switch from game design to animation with the new Timeline Bar. Create sequences of movements and events to orchestrate cut-scenes. Integrate timelines with event sheets or JavaScript code for interactive animations. Craft precise movements with custom ease curves. Animate any kind of property from positions to effect parameters.

  3. New plugins and behaviors

    The new runtime also provides a range of brand-new plugins and behaviors:

    • Tween behavior for dynamically animating objects over time
    • Tile movement, ideal for grid-based movements over tilemaps
    • Advanced Random for advanced random number generation
    • Binary Data for advanced handling of raw data and files
    • Bluetooth to communicate with nearby devices
    • Date for managing dates and times
    • Drawing Canvas providing a surface you can draw your own content on to
    • Game Recorder for a built-in way to record videos of the game or your screen
    • iframe for showing web content, including embedded YouTube videos
    • Move To behavior for moving an object to a position or along a path
    • Orbit behavior to make objects move in circles or ellipses
    • JSON for reading and writing JSON data
    • Share to bring up the device’s built-in share feature
    • SVG Picture for displaying an SVG image in your game
    • Timeline plugin to control timeline playback
    • Platform Info providing detailed information about the browser and device
    • A new Mobile IAP plugin for in-app purchases
    • A new Mobile advert plugin for in-app advertising
    • Instant Games for publishing Facebook Instant Games

  4. New Text and SpriteFont styling

    Use BBcode markup to style text in your game. Styles include bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, changing font face and size, custom background, text and outline colors, and position offsets. Combine all of these for exciting animated text effects! See the blog post New text features in the C3 runtime for more.

    Oh yes, and you can also import Web Fonts in to your project and use them directly in the editor - even using multiple custom web fonts in the same text with BBcode!

  1. Mesh distortion

    Add exciting new visual effects to your games by deforming the appearance of objects. You can split up objects in to a grid of points and move the points around to distort them. Use it in the editor to enhance your level designs, or alter meshes dynamically at runtime for impressive new animated effects. Learn more in the blog post Have you heard about meshes?

  1. 3D features

    Add elements of 3D to your projects. Use Z elevation to move any 2D objects or layers up and down on the Z axis. Add the new 3D shape plugin to your project for a further 3D appearance. Go even further with 3D mesh distortion. Learn more in the tutorial Using 3D in Construct.

  1. Scene graph

    Use the new scene graph feature to build complex hierarchies of objects that move, scale and rotate as one. Conveniently design hierarchies in the editor. Create entire hierarchies at runtime with the new Create hierarchy option. Assign and change hierarchies at runtime as a new alternative to the Pin behavior. Learn more in the blog post Let's talk about the scene graph!

  1. Editor improvements

    • Construct 3 runs in the browser. There’s nothing to install! Use Construct 3 from any device and just log in to your account to get started. You can also install it as an app from Chrome for a more native-like feel.
    • Cloud Save lets you also take your work with you when you move between devices.
    • Use Construct 3 on Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS, and even use it on mobile with Android and iOS.
    • Remote Preview lets you run your game on mobile by scanning a QR code. Alternatively share it with anyone on the Internet with a link. Watch real-time gameplay videos and performance information.
    • Live Previews allow real-time previews of effects like Particles, behaviors, shadow casting and more directly in the Layout View with instant feedback.
    • Use the editor in a range of different languages, including French, Russian, Czech, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and Italian.
    • Full support for high-DPI displays
    • A new Dark theme for the editor
    • Improved search including an essential new precise Find All References feature, as well as improved text search across all event sheets in the project
    • Improved Layout View with smoother scrolling, zoom-to-mouse, a greater zoom range, and an easier way to rotate objects. Use new container features to treat containers as if they were a single object. Enjoy faster performance with WebGL 2 based rendering based on OpenGL ES 3, a significant upgrade from Construct 2’s OpenGL 1.1 based renderer.
    • Improved Properties Bar with new controls like dropdowns, checkboxes and spinners. Type calculations in properties. Smoothly drag values up and down. Edit long text properties in a separate dialog. Resize objects by their percentage scale.
    • Improved Project Bar with a new search field. Multiple selection is supported. Cut, copy and paste resources between projects. Use in-editor audio, video, webfont and SVG previews. Organise families in to folders.
    • Improved Tilemap Bar with support for auto-tiling, making it much quicker to design tilemaps. Further customise collisions by disabling collisions for individual tiles that don't need them.
    • In-editor spritesheeting to help your games scale even larger and more efficiently. The new graphics pipeline assembles your graphics on to spritesheets right in the editor as you edit your project.
    • New data editors allowing visual editing of Arrays, Dictionaries and text-based file formats.
    • An improved debugger including GPU profiling, an improved CPU profiler, better breakpoints support, and more.
    • New Addon Manager to conveniently manage installing and uninstalling addons.
    • Project Statistics show the vitals of your project.
    • Simplified user interface mode ideal for classrooms and teaching. Cut the clutter and focus on what’s important.
    • Bundle addons with your project, so you don’t need to install third-party addons on other devices.
    • Simplified tooling, including new support for WebM Opus audio, and no need for Java to be installed for minifying.

  2. Event sheet improvements

    • Improve your event sheets with a new and much improved completely redesigned functions feature.
    • Use comments in actions
    • Personalise the event sheet with custom comment and group colors and BBcode formatted text in comments.
    • Workflow improvements including highlighted conditions/actions, more varied icons, improved dialog navigation, better search, and more flexible layout.
    • Write expressions more easily with improved syntax highlighting, auto-complete and expression tips.
    • Use boolean type global and local variables.
    • Copy a selection of events, conditions or actions in a simple new text format.
    • New asynchronous actions support with the ‘Wait for previous actions to complete’ system action. See this video on async actions to learn more.

  3. Animations editor improvements

    • A new and much simpler interface.
    • Onion skinning to display previous or next animation frames.
    • New tools including ellipse, a new color palette, better drag-and-drop support, improved undo, a grid view, and more export options.

  4. Other improvements

    • Raycasting with the Line-of-Sight behavior. Get the exact position of intersection along a line.
    • New built-in color filter property to efficiently recolor objects
    • A new bullet stepping mode for high-resolution collision testing
    • Use objects as particles for more advanced particles effects
    • Offset, scale and rotate the image in Tiled Backgrounds
    • 9-patch objects are now rotatable
    • Load stylesheets to help get the appearance of your game right
    • SpriteFont spacing data providing accurate in-editor previews
    • Create objects by a string of their name
    • Solid collision filtering with a tag system
    • Fade volume over time with Audio
    • New audio latency setting
    • New project settings for GPU preference, compositing mode, max spritesheet size and more
    • Use Prismatic joints with the Physics behavior
    • New wrap modes for Tiled Background


Ready to get Going?

You've found the right tool — Now start making games!

Try now Buy now