Possibility of a tutorial book on Construct

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  • Hi All,

    Given that there are so many users of Construct and the forum activity, would it be a good idea to develop a book on Using Construct?

    Would anybody be willing to work on this and dedicate time to this project? This could be an opportunity to give something back to the community and also create a legacy for yourself.

    Do get in touch wit me and I would be happy to discuss this further.

    Cheers

  • Sure, I think something for Construct 1 would be possible now that it's fairly stable. Plus, the tutorial would probably help alot with Construct 2 since the basic concepts remain the same.

    I'd love to help come up with some tutorials and documentation over the summer once I'm done my exams

  • Hey Jayjay,

    Sounds encouraging. Could you let me know when you would be free to commit to this project? Would you know anyone else who could assist you in this project? As they say many hands make work lighter and can give a deeper insight into Construct.

  • I would love to help.I got all the time in the world to help create tutorials for Construct 1.

  • Good idea but well not much else to say, little tutorial booklet with just tutorials would probably be the best solution but oh well

  • Sounds encouraging. Could you let me know when you would be free to commit to this project? Would you know anyone else who could assist you in this project? As they say many hands make work lighter and can give a deeper insight into Construct.

    Well, I think I should be able to start fully helping in August, and maybe but they're pretty busy with exams/school at the moment too However, if you PM me with things you'd like to have tutorials for, I might be able to get some early work/ideas together whenever I have free time for it.

  • There is currently a book on Construct put out by HobbyPress, but I haven't read it, and I do have some doubts about how comprehensive it is.

    I'd love to be a "user feedback" editor of sorts for you, and lend you a hand on some of the most important aspects of a tutorial that even the best tutorial writers completely miss on a regular basis:

    1. Having clear step-by-step instructions--with screenshots for critical aspects--that don't assume the reader already knows or understands what to do. This one missing piece pretty much destroys every tutorial for the beginner, and unfortunately most tutorials on the internet are like this.

    2. Staying away from speaking in an overly technical manner in a way you'd expect from a person who is highly experienced with the program and/or has many years of programming experience in general. Why? Because like #1 it assumes that the person reading is going to know what you're talking about, though the reality is that they won't 9 times out of 10 which makes the tutorial practically useless for them.

    3. Explaining what a specific action means, what it does, and why you're using it, and only from the perspective of what it means to Construct, not the broader idea of programming in general since it will only confuse the reader with a lot of non-Construct specific information that won't help them build anything in Construct. Let me make an example:

    Say I'm a total beginner and I ask you what a Global Variable is, and you then explain it in it's deepest technical terms. You've just wasted the reader's time, because what the reader wants/needs to know is A. What is a Global Variable in the context of Construct, B. Why does he need to use it in Construct, and in what situations does he need to use it? C. What are the clear steps to creating one, step-by step?

    Without A, B, and C, the tutorial is incomplete, and of course for the beginner without a step-by-step it's entirely useless.

    I find that those 3 missing components make even the most content-heavy tutorials unhelpful. Tutorials are too often written without regard to the way a beginner is thinking and how a beginner will likely interpret information they've never seen before, so it winds up just being incomplete or lacking thorough enough explanations.

    As one last piece of advice, I'd say that the book should be accompanied by two things: 1. Any tutorial in which a specifc type of feature is created (i.e. Mode 7, Game timer clock, etc.) it should be accompanied by A. The information on the version of Construct in which the feature was created and B. A .cap file (with the information present telling the reader what version it was created in), because example .caps always enhance a text explanation.

  • I'm too busy to help with writing anything for the book, but I might be able to help with proofreading it a bit to make sure the info is accurate.

  • This is great!

    We have a few who are interested and a few who would like to help out with the reviewing aspect.

    Is it this silent otherwise? Can we nudge things up a bit and get some more views on this topic?

  • : I agree. The basic concepts will remain the same. It might require a little of figuring out but I dont think it will be too much of a problem.

    It remains to see how the book turns out. So far we have got an encouraging response and I am sure a lot of new users will gain from the stable release and the tutorial book. Of course the forums are always there to learn and ask questions.

    Follow me on Twitter

  • Just a reminder we recently renamed Construct to Construct Classic, so to avoid confusion the book should probably have "Construct Classic" in the title.

    We only renamed a few days ago so the terms haven't been updated everywhere on the site yet, but they will be.

  • I don't have much time either to write things up but I'm interested in making the french translation in order to widen the book's market.

  • I wonder what the cover will look like?.

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  • Hate to be the troll here... eh who am I kidding, but any way you might want to be real careful to see what your actually contributing to.

    From the Scirra Twitter page:

    [quote:n2v5tyqp]@Scirra Any Construct pros who would like to contribute their skill by writing a book on construct? Contact:

    http://www.packtpub.com/

  • Hate to be the troll here... eh who am I kidding, but any way you might want to be real careful to see what your actually contributing to.

    From the Scirra Twitter page:

    [quote:3sf5883x]@Scirra Any Construct pros who would like to contribute their skill by writing a book on construct? Contact:

    http://www.packtpub.com/

    -------------------------------------

    Interesting...????

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