Thinking of switching from stencyl to construct.

Hello everyone. I am currently using stencyl but have done some research and have heard a lot of good things about construct. Though it may be hard I'm looking for non biased opinions on which would be better for me to use. I know most of you will choose this hence why you're in these forums but I figured I'd ask anyway.

I'm just a 23 year old who's trying to throw together a group of people and make some games. None of us have prior coding experience which is why we came to construct. My biggest question is how hard is it to learn this language? I've spent about a week using stencyl and while some of the basic stuff is easy other things I find annoying and the tutorials are very brief and just overall bad. Are the tutorials any better for this program? Is this program something I could get the basics down rather quick and learn the move in depth features later on? Also out of the two which is something that has more to offer in the long run?

Another thing is over at stencyl the forums just seem dead, I'm looking for a more active community and wasn't sure if this is any better. Im aware of the pricing for the two and all of the things you can find on the home page but was looking for some opinions from people that have used both. I greatly appreciate any answers!

You could spend a week trying the free version of Construct 2, and then you'll be able to compare it to Stencyl. That way you'd have hands on experience rather than just listening to what people say. Free version has some limitations, but you'll be able to get a feel for things at least. I haven't used Stencyl, so I can't really provide any comparisons for you.

Well that sure was fast lol. Appreciate it and I do in fact plan on downloading it once I'm done work still just looking for some opinions

Sure, maybe someone who has used stencyl will chime in with their thoughts.

Also, after you try Construct 2, it might be helpful for others if you post what you found good/bad about it in relation to Stencyl in-case others are interested as well.

I haven't used Stencyl much. However when I did it's UI felt terrible. Construct 2 does a way better job there. Also, programming with the event system is easier than Stencyl's block system.

I don't want to tell you that Construct 2 is great. The best ways is to experience it yourself and see whether it is good for you, your team and your projects. As it was suggested before, try the free edition out and see how it goes. Only one thing you must keep in mind: Construct 2 relies on 3rd party wrappers for various platforms, and it's a HTML5 game engine. So don't expect native export.

If you're interested in my personal opinion about the software: I use Construct 2 for various projects. I make games, educational software and even webpage modules with it. I love it, because it's fast and easy and you can do almost anything with it.

Also, after you try Construct 2, it might be helpful for others if you post what you found good/bad about it in relation to Stencyl in-case others are interested as well.

+1

Well after doing some research I've found a consistent problem when It comes to construct and exporting to mobile devices the performance is terrible which is the main platform I want to develop for. In that aspect I've found users saying stencyl is better but for pc construct dominates that realm. Is the mobile performance really that bad still?

Have you even tried Construct 2 yet? There is no language to learn, it's a event driven program. The problems with mobile devices depend on you and what exporter your using. Cocoon will have the best performance because of Canvas+ but comes with its compatibility issues. Intel XDK has worse performance but is a smooth exportation option. Give it a try. Performance issues will mostly dissolve due to increase in better hardware for phones as time goes on.

Well after doing some research I've found a consistent problem when It comes to construct and exporting to mobile devices the performance is terrible which is the main platform I want to develop for. In that aspect I've found users saying stencyl is better but for pc construct dominates that realm. Is the mobile performance really that bad still?

Saddly the answer is yes !

construct 2 is fast for develop and you can do a job as 10 man by yourself

but when you want to export to mobile then you need to do optimize and it take so much time

and I guess you can not test this in free version !

Our best option for android is intel xdk + crosswalk

and this add +150 mg ram and 30+ mb apk size!

but if you even try c2 you will love it and always come back to it!

The best, but longest way is to start with Construct 2 and then compare between these two. The shortest way, is to compare projects made by these two.

P.S I don't know about Stencyl, but around Construct 2 you can find a great community and A LOT of tutorials. And yes the export to mobile is a weakest point.

Heh, ironically i'm actually thinking of trying out Stencyl again when I found out that its now built on the HaxeFlixel framework (last time i checked a couple years ago it was still on Flash). That there is enough to get my attention. However, i'm not sure the development workflow is any better than it was before.

Yes, mobile performance can be a problem. I saw projects that run well on mobile and was made with Construct 2. It depends on your game and how well you can optimize it.

One of the major advantages to C2 is this very forum. If it can be done in C2 then someone here will be able to tell you how. Plus, as you may have gathered by now it's a very active forum

These forums are great, with great helpful people. But c2 does have a lot of annoyances too, so you wont escape spending some more time with it before you guys do what you went out for.

It's a bit like picking an office chair.

You can read tons of books about what makes a great office chair, you can read reviews and all.. but to pick one you have to sit your ass down in it. Because the reviewer might have had one bony, skinny butt whereas your behind resembles that of an elephant or vice versa

The C2 community is active, the devs are active (regarding updates, forum posts and pushing the boundaries of the tech), overall it's buzzing like a beehive.

But it won't help you if you don't need a HTML5 engine but something else. Insofar Stencyl and C2 are not really comparable.

So take advantage of the free edition and test it mercilessly.