The Future

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  • Hello folks,

    I am currently looking into buying C2 but would love to get some more solid ideas about it's future. I have spent the last 6 years working solid with flash and am either looking for a new toolset or to stay where I am.

    I have played around with Unity quite a lot, which I enjoy but I really would like to focus more on design, narrative and art instead of coding, which is why C2 appeals to me.

    The thing is though, I need to make money out of this. I will be doing it full time, aiming for as many platforms as possible.

    I would love to work on console games in the future, such as WiiU, xboxone, PS, Ouya (and any other android console). So I am wondering if C2 is heading in this direction? Do you think the dev team will target these platforms eventually? It seems to be getting a lot of solid updates but I have yet to read any concrete info on plans for the future. The next gen consoles are gearing up for indies, so I need a tool set which will allow me to sell on them.

    On another note, is it possible to make a living with C2 if you're full time, producing quality games? I know this is a broad question but are people making good money yet or is this just a toy for hobbyists?

    Thanks guys!

  • WiiU, yes.. it's pretty near to us from what I've read.

    Xboxone, well Microsoft don't seem that keen on indie games anyway so C2 or not, unlikely.

    Ps4, Sony are indie keen.. suppose something like the WiiU interactions would need to happen (Eg scirra approach Sony, would certainly be cool.)

    Ouya, I'm not entirely sure.. I've seen things talking about it coming soon and already being here?? Just make another post or search the forum.

  • It's mostly a toy for hobbyists.

    While HTML5's platform compatibility gives you the ability to export to any platform, it never really excels at any of the platforms it works on.

    It's a jack of all trades, master of none.

    While you can make Android/iOS games from the same HTML5 project, both their performance and functionality are very limited. You have to work with really large limitations, both performance-wise and in terms of what you can implement in your games.

    You can export a project to PC as an .exe file, but you have very little control of the file system, and you're never running "native" - it works through a bare-boned version of Chrome called Chromium. While it's compatible with any PC out there, Chrome/Chromium tends to give different results on different PCs. For example, after applying a coloring-effect, a cloud appears Green on my PC and Red on friend's.

    WiiU is something that is in the works of being implemented, but really, who has a WiiU anyway?

    Ouya - Look at android section.

    PS and XBOX have we no news or info about.

    All that said, it's still a hobbyist tool. I don't think i've heard of anyone earning more than a few hundred bucks a month with Construct 2 Games/Apps. And there's less than a handful of people doing that.

    If you have amazing ideas, and are ready to work around the software's limitations, sure you can make anything and earn millions with it. A game's profitability has rarely anything to do with the way it's made. It's all about a great idea with great gameplay and the limits of your own imagination and dedication to it!

  • If you have amazing ideas, and are ready to work around the software's limitations, sure you can make anything and earn millions with it. A game's profitability has rarely anything to do with the way it's made. It's all about a great idea with great gameplay and the limits of your own imagination and dedication to it!

    You should have limited your message to this positive part. ;)

    Even RPG Maker can lead your game to Steam, so nothing is impossible.

    And in comparison with C2, RPG Maker is the "toy"... (I don't like this word and C2 definitely doesn't deserve it, even RPG MAKER VX ACE used with RGSS3 doesn't deserve to be called "toy" if the guy behind it is a serious worker)

  • It's mostly a toy for hobbyists.

    No, it's not. Just because not many have managed to make a living with it yet, doesn't mean it's the fault of the tool.

    While HTML5's platform compatibility gives you the ability to export to any platform, it never really excels at any of the platforms it works on.

    It's a jack of all trades, master of none.

    Most games don't need more than c2 provides. Even CC, which is native, doesn't have that much more capability than c2. Also, don't underestimate the value of the ease of porting. I'd take that over using a framework that's a 'master' of one platform any day, since it doesn't give that much more capability anyway.

    While you can make Android/iOS games from the same HTML5 project, both their performance and functionality are very limited. You have to work with really large limitations, both performance-wise and in terms of what you can implement in your games.

    That's true for all mobile games in comparison to desktops. Even though JavaScript isn't as fast as native code, putting an extra performance hit for the game logic on top of mobile devices's reduced power, if you design with it in mind and optimize you can still make fine games.

    You can export a project to PC as an .exe file, but you have very little control of the file system, and you're never running "native" - it works through a bare-boned version of Chrome called Chromium. While it's compatible with any PC out there, Chrome/Chromium tends to give different results on different PCs. For example, after applying a coloring-effect, a cloud appears Green on my PC and Red on friend's.

    You can read, write, execute, append, move, list, rename and delete files to disk via node webkit, as well as create folders. Most games won't need more file access than this, and if you do anyway, the SDK can be used to ake a plugin for it via the SDK. There are still issues with some webgl effects, true, but they can be reported and a lot of people are working to get them fixed. Also keep in mind that even tools used by AAA game studios have bugs in them. Writing a cross platform game framework is quite difficult when it's expected to run on tons of different hardware configurations and software drivers.

    WiiU is something that is in the works of being implemented, but really, who has a WiiU anyway?

    Something like 4 million people who are starved for games on the system. It might not be enough to develop exclusively for, but it certainly wouldn't hurt with how easy it is to port to other platforms.

    Ouya - Look at android section.

    I read that cocoonjs has plans to support ouya.

    PS and XBOX have we no news or info about.

    Microsoft has stated win 8 apps should be able to run on Xbox one, so it's likely that will work with c2.

    All that said, it's still a hobbyist tool. I don't think i've heard of anyone earning more than a few hundred bucks a month with Construct 2 Games/Apps. And there's less than a handful of people doing that.

    There are people making a living using it. Also keep in mind games take a long time to make, even with a tool like c2 that does a lot of the work for you.

    Anyway, the point is that html5 is still pretty new, and is improving. There are a lot of people at a lot of different companies working hard to improve it. It may have some issues now, but they should be ironed out relatively soon.

  • Arima

    Xionor

    I think one thing to note is that there has been some success for indie developers using C2, such as the creator for Mortar Melon and the developer for Super Ubie Land who have reach the thousands in funding. However, I do agree that C2 is limited but, it has constants updates and it really bares down the programming portions for non-programmers. AND don't forget the price which is really cheap for a tool of this caliber. In my opinion it's a great tool to use when starting to enter the gaming industry.

    Maybe after you make a popular title in C2 you could move onto something more expensive and more powerful like unity.

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  • "No, it's not. Just because not many have managed to make a living with it yet, doesn't mean it's the fault of the tool"

    C2 is great tool, that helps easily unleash creativity, but... what are the real monetization methods for C2?

    on AppStore you can sell apps but it needs investment (dev account + Mac + some test iPod/iPad/iPhone);

    but what about Google? it has lots of users that are not willing to pay for anything - so you can put small AdMob banner via MoPub via CocoonJS. And that's all - what about native support for ads? Full screen? Interstititals? High eCPM stuff... (and adding other SDK via Eclipse to slow PhoneGap is not any solution, bc it's slow).

    So from perspective of serious monetization methods - for now C2 is hobbyist tool. You can say that a few developers earns hundreds of $$$, but hey - look at download counter: over 639,000 C2 downloads... Over 639,000 downloads and no mobile ad network is treating C2 serious (= make plugin)? [I know that it is not the same league, but almost every ad network supports Unity and none supports C2, so Unity is seen as a professional tool and C2 is seen as a toy for kids?]

    also issue of compilation: on Android you can use slow PhoneGap or put Ludei logo everywhere...

  • Hey Fizz,

    C2 is an awesome tool, its easy enough for beginners to pick up and (once familiar with it) powerful enough to let you make any kind of 2d game you like.

    If the question is : "Are people currently using C2 full-time with the intent to making a living?" the answer is yes.

    "Can I make a living with this program making my own quality games?". Definitely.

    A quick look at the exporters and you will see a lot of possibilities for monetisation. Of course coming up with a game that everyone wants to play (and/or pay for) is another story :)

    Don't forget about freelance work either. I don't mind taking on extra jobs while working on my own, sure it prolongs your release but gives you a bit of a safety net.

  • The future - Xbox, Playstation, apple tv, TV's in general will (some can already) support html 5 games / apps - that is the future. And C2 is super duper efficient at html 5. Phone browsers suck at html 5 so that has some way to go, but ipads can sync with tv's etc etc etc. I see html 5 games on tv's as huge opportunity that is a couple of months away - it is already able now, but I'm talking larger scale.

    My thoughts.

  • "but what about Google? it has lots of users that are not willing to pay for anything"

    Alot of the reasons stated szymek are problematic for any developer, regardless of platform. There is a certain playing population that will never pay.

    Perhaps we as developers are partly to blame. The current trend to make people pay to remove adverts as seen on alot of iPad games, is actually insulting to our customers. Basically we are saying, I have put an annoyance in your game, so that you can pay me to remove it. Perhaps we need to look at our ethics, and try engage our paying public on a slightly higher level. ie make a great game that people are willing to pay for.

  • AngelEyes

    there are no free meals in this world [unless someone live in North Korea concentration camp] and making games (or apps) is about making money. Of course it is nice to be 15 years old and make first app for family&friends, that will have 10-50 installs, but that's not enough for real life. 100% of Java developers do apps for money so why Construct 2 should be worse? So as I said many times: Scirra should make deal with some mobile ad network and make possible real monetization methods. Because now real money is in mobiles.

  • AngelEyes

    there are no free meals in this world [unless someone live in North Korea concentration camp] and making games (or apps) is about making money. Of course it is nice to be 15 years old and make first app for family&friends, that will have 10-50 installs, but that's not enough for real life. 100% of Java developers do apps for money so why Construct 2 should be worse? So as I said many times: Scirra should make deal with some mobile ad network and make possible real monetization methods. Because now real money is in mobiles.

    Money is in mobiles only for a select few top-developers. Combined with the massive piracy rate of mobile games it's hardly profitable unless you're one of the mentioned top-developers.

  • Money is in mobiles only for a select few top-developers. Combined with the massive piracy rate of mobile games it's hardly profitable unless you're one of the mentioned top-developers.

    my friend (Java developer) does 3-4000 USD on free apps, monthly,

    his friend do the same,

    another his friend - 15,000 USD monthly

    another: 10,000 USD monthly

    all on free apps with banners, full screen ads, interstitials

    and so on

  • IMHO, less mature, young technologies may equal smaller market, but also more opportunities. More chances for innovative projects.

    Wait 5 more years, and you'll see HTML5 app creation tools at a new level. You'll see Adobe try to dominate the market with a super-duper app-making application, to replace Flash. They saw it coming a couple of years ago, after all, when they declared no more mobile flash ;-)

    It seems to me that what Java tried to become some 15 years ago, now HTML5 can really be ;-) Java started purely as a client-side thing, after all.

    You're not seeing huge productions in C2, because it is currently not easy to design in C2 a workflow in a project involving 10 programmers, a couple of audio engineers, and a bunch of designers/animators. C2 lacks a good team-based workflow. The per-layout project separation already has great roots for a nice asset-based pipeline. Give Scirra some time, and it's coming for sure :-)

    Cheers,

    Greg

  • Re: future platform support - we haven't made any concrete announcements, because we don't have concrete guarantees about which platforms we can support yet. However I'd say it's likely we can support the Wii U, likely we can support the Ouya (via CocoonJS - they are working on support currently I believe), and I think there's a good chance we can support the XBox One as well, since MS have said it will be able to run Windows 8 apps which we already support. Sony have made nice sounding announcements about the PS4 but we haven't heard anything that involves HTML5/web technology, so it's hard for us to predict how that will pan out.

    Monetisation is a different topic really, but we are aware we could be doing more in this area and plan to do something about it soon. Our understanding is that it's easier to make money through IAP than through advertising, so that's what we'd be looking at first.

    It should be possible for teams to work on C2 projects - see how to collaborate on projects with SVN.

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