Construct and Windows 8

I think it is fabulous that Construct will be helping us to create apps in Windows 8. In case anyone missed it, this was just announced a day or two ago as part of r81 of Construct 2.

http://www.scirra.com/construct2/releases/r81

I just installed Windows 8 Consumer Preview last week without any problems (except for a big download). I decided to do a dual boot with a current copy of Windows 7, but I backed up everything first.

Here's what I did:

1. Download the .iso file.

2. Get the USB download tool Lifehacker How to Install Win 8 Article.

3. Use the tool to make a bootable USB Win 8 drive.

4. Shrink one of the partitions using Win 7 Disk Management tool.

5. Install and follow the instructions.

The store is there and you can install apps from it, but you can't pay and you can't sell either. You must have a machine that will have a 1024x768 screen minimum. You can install it on a netbook (1024x600) but Metro won't work.

Does anyone know if you can run Metro apps created by Construct 2 without putting them in the store? I would think you could test it by using Visual Studio (a separate download) to build an app.

This is seriously cool. Whether you love or hate Metro, it is a way to sell your HTML5 apps. I think you have to pay Microsoft a minimum fee of $100 but even if Metro is a flop, it is a market. Add this to the Chrome Web Store, Facebook, and probably other things in the wings, and Construct is a winner.

Way cool, guys!!!

Did you see the link how to make a Windows 8 Metro app? It covers launching the app with a test certificate from Visual Studio.

Did you see the link how to make a Windows 8 Metro app? It covers launching the app with a test certificate from Visual Studio.

Yes, I did and it was very helpful.

If I create a Construct App and export it to a VS project and build the project and do all the stuff with certificates and manifests, can I then run the app and see how it works as a Metro app?

Anyway, I was really shocked and awed to see this when I logged in today! HTML5 really will take over the world!

Yeah, if you run it from Visual Studio it runs as a Metro app! I think if you press Alt+F4 you return to the Start menu with the program icon there as well.

I'm still worried about performance if the game runs only off IE 10, with no webGl.

I'm still worried about performance if the game runs only off IE 10, with no webGl.

Reports indicate that IE10 is better than IE9, but still no WebGL.

Whether WebGL makes a difference probably depends on the amount and style of graphics ... or maybe not. I think you can turn off the WebGL. It would be interesting to see how much difference it makes if you turn off WebGL for Chrome or Firefox.

I seem to remember that IE10 won't allow plugins, so maybe there won't be one. Seems like something that Chrome should provide. <img src="smileys/smiley4.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

IE10 isn't bad - it's got a good javascript engine and at least the canvas is hardware accelerated. Most games will probably run fine in it, it's only seriously intense stuff or heavy particle effects that drag desktop renderers down.

IE10 isn't bad - it's got a good javascript engine and at least the canvas is hardware accelerated. Most games will probably run fine in it, it's only seriously intense stuff or heavy particle effects that drag desktop renderers down.

Hardware acceleration of Canvas is good. Who else hardware accelerates Canvas? Firefox? Chrome? Opera? Safari? Songbird? (Just kidding about Songbird.)

Bob Thulfram: all major browsers hardware accelerate their canvas, but only Firefox and Chrome support WebGL right now.

Bob Thulfram: all major browsers hardware accelerate their canvas, but only Firefox and Chrome support WebGL right now.

Good to know. Since IE, Safari, and Opera are still around, is there a way to check the browser and turn off WebGL, or does that happen automatically?