Build Clearer and Easier-to-Maintain Projects

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solid-principle.c3p

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Published on 13 Sep, 2025.

Goal:

Improve the readability, reusability, and maintainability of your Construct 3 projects by following best practices inspired by software development.

Example project:

.C3P

solid-principle.c3p

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This project includes a few simple examples of organization and optimization.

What is the SOLID principle?

The term SOLID comes from object-oriented programming (OOP).

It groups 5 key principles that help to write cleaner and more robust code:

  • S → Single Responsibility: one responsibility per module.
  • O → Open/Closed: open for extension, closed for modification.
  • L → Liskov Substitution: replace an object with another without breaking the code.
  • I → Interface Segregation: prefer many small interfaces rather than one huge one.
  • D → Dependency Inversion: depend on abstractions, not details.

Note: Construct 3 is not object-oriented (no classes, no inheritance).

But its organization philosophy can take direct inspiration from SOLID to make your projects clearer, modular, and maintainable.

1. One responsibility only

One sheet, one folder, or one object = one responsibility. Avoid mixing everything together. Mess comes very quickly, and fixing it later takes much more effort.

Example:

[i]ePlayer[/i] → player only
[i]eEnemies[/i] → enemies only
[i]eUI[/i] → interface only
[i]eFunctions[/i] → utility functions

Then, in your Layout’s event sheet, include only the event sheets you really need.

Naming convention: always start your sheets with a lowercase e (e.g., eControls, eSounds, eInventory) so they are easy to spot.

2. Open for extension, closed for modification

Do not duplicate code! Avoid copy-pasting blocks of events.

Instead, prepare your events to be reusable.

Use generic functions: TakeDamage(target, value), SaveProgress(), playSound(), etc.

Take advantage of families: adding an enemy to Family_Enemies automatically gives it the same variables and rules.

3. Use families and groups smartly

For example, all of your enemies belong to Family_Enemies.

The player handles collisions with this family without worrying about the exact type (Zombie, Alien, Robot...). It’s the variables assigned to the family that manage the differences:

Damage, health points, speed, etc.

Event groups also allow you to enable/disable certain behaviors (stunned, boosted, menu open, etc.).

4. Organize and name your files properly

Recommended structure:

├── Object type/
│ ├── Debug/ (All debug tools, always good to have some text displayed on screen)
│ ├── Sprites/
│ │ ├── Background/
│ │ └── Enemies/
│ │ └── Land/
│ │ └── Player/
│ │ └── Props/
│ │ └── UI/
│ ├── System/ (keyboard, mouse, etc. go here)
│ └── Dictionaries & Array/
├── Sounds/
├── EventSheets/
│ ├── ePlayer
│ ├── eEnemies
│ ├── eUI
│ ├── eFunctions
│ └── eMain

Naming convention for sprites:

Always keep a common root (family) then specify:

[i]PlayerSprite, PlayerCollision, PlayerWeapon[/i]
[i]EnemyZombieSprite, EnemyAlienSprite[/i]
[i]UIHealthBar, UIScoreText[/i]

Result: more consistency and super-fast navigation with search and filters.

5. Optimize your sprites

If you have many similar sprites (like trees), prefer creating multiple animations inside a single sprite instead of multiplying separate sprites.

Conclusion

Even though Construct 3 cannot apply SOLID in the strict sense, you can still adopt its philosophy:

Clear organization (event sheets, folders, naming conventions)

Reusable code (families, generic functions)

Optimized and scalable project (sprites, groups, folder structure)

The result: your Construct projects become more professional, modular, and maintainable.

And remember: there’s never just one way to do things. :)

If you found this tutorial useful, feel free to leave a comment or a star — it’s always appreciated!

I can also share my expertise on your Construct 3 projects: helping you optimize, organize, and fix your files. It’s free, with optional voluntary financial support if you wish.

Don’t hesitate to contact me directly by email (available in the .c3p).

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