Game development - Beginners guide to game creation using Scirra Construct

Table of Contents

Chapter 1, Our First Look at Construct, covers the basics of the Construct Classic editor.
Chapter 2, Hello World! Construct Style, covers the making our first game, a classic platformer.
Chapter 3, Adding the Challenge, covers creating enemies and a goal for our platform game.
Chapter 4, Making Noise, covers playing music and sound files in Construct Classic.
Chapter 5, Practical Physics, covers making our second game with the built-in physics engine.
Chapter 6, Custom Levels, covers making a level editor to save and load external level files.
Chapter 7, Platformer Revisited, a 2D Shooter, covers learning to make a platform shooter.
Chapter 8, I'm Throwing a Grenade, involves learning to use pixel shader effects in our games.
Chapter 9, Our Final Moments, covers a summary of what we've learned and some extra tips.

 

   What you need for this ? 

   With screenshots and step-by-step instructions, this beginner's guide requires only an interest in making video games, and basic experience with the Windows operating system.

   Our First Look at Construct
   In this book, we will be learning to use Construct Classic, a free open source 2D
game creator. However, before we start making games, we'll need to know how
to use the tool itself.
In this chapter, we shall:
‹‹ Download and install the latest version of Construct Classic
‹‹ Create a new game project
‹‹ Learn to navigate around the interface of Construct Classic
‹‹ Learn to work with objects
So let's get on with it.
   The first step: downloading and installing
Construct Classic
Before we start using Construct, we need to get it running. In this part of the chapter, we'll
be visiting the Scirra website to download a copy of Construct Classic, and then we'll go
through the steps for installing it. If you already have Construct Classic installed, you can
skip this step.

Time for action – getting Construct Classic up and running
Following these steps will lead to an installation of Construct Classic ready to go. To do this,
you'll need access to the Internet and the Microsoft Windows operating system on the
computer you're installing Construct on.
1. First, navigate your web browser to www.scirra.com. This is the home page of
Construct Classic and Construct 2.
2. Click on the Make Games tab, and choose the subtab Construct Classic.
3. Next, scroll down and click on Download Construct Classic R1.2. This may change to
newer versions of Construct Classic in future, but the link position will be the same.
Click on the link to start your download.
4. After downloading the installer, double-click to start the installation process.
5. Click through the installer pages until finally presented with the option to begin
installation.
6. After the installation, the Visual Studio runtime will be installed along with the latest
version of DirectX (downloaded automatically).
7. The installation should now be complete, and Construct Classic is ready to load!

   Step two: creating a game project
Now that Construct is installed, we will learn how to make a game (Direct-X) project after
we first launch it.
Creating a project is the first step in making any game in Construct, but for now, we will
create one to set us up for learning to navigate the interface.
Time for action – starting a game project
We are going to make a blank game project to allow us to navigate all areas of Construct.
1. Open up Construct and click File | New | New Direct-X game.

2. We now have a project. Click on the Application 1 node in the Project window.

3. For this chapter, we're just going to change the Creator and the Name boxes. Go
ahead and type your name into the Creator box and My Game into the Name box.

4. Now, we're going to test if the project works. Click on the Project ribbon button, and then click on the Run All button underneath it to start your game.

5. We now have the pop-up window, which looks similar to the following screenshot.
It doesn't look like much, but this is the starting point we will use to find our way
around the interface of Construct Classic. Click the x button to close the window.

   What just happened?
We've just learned how to create a blank game project file in Construct, give it a name, and
run our entire game. These steps will be used again each time we start a blank game project.
   Creating the project
While we were creating the project from the menu, you may have noticed the other two
types of projects. We won't be requiring them to make our games, but it is worth knowing a
little about them.
The first option is New Application, which creates a program that does not rely on Direct-X,
and rather uses the built-in rendering used by Windows. This project type greatly restricts
the plugins that can be used, and is not intended for creating games. As such, we will not use
this application project type in this book.
The third option, New Template/Example, is a collection of starter projects and tutorials that
can make creating games of certain genres easier. The most playable template included is the
Ghost Shooter tutorial, which includes a fully-working top-down shooter to start with. In our
case, however, we will be creating all of our games from scratch, so we can make all kinds of
games from the ground up.
   Changing the project details
Although our interaction in this step was basic, we caught a glance of all the options
available for defining the project. For now, all we needed to know was how to change the
name and the creator of the game, but later on, we'll be revisiting many of the properties
shown in that list.
   Running the project
In this final step, we learned how to start our game up. This step is fairly straightforward, but
it is worth noting that another way to click on Run All is to click the small monitor icon next
to the save icon.
   Have a go hero – try again from memory
Now that we've learned how to create blank projects, try it again to see if you can remember
how to do it.

   Step three: navigating the interface of Construct Classic
   Now that we have Construct Classic and a game project set up, we can explore all the areas
of the Construct editor that we need to learn, to make games. For now, we are going to have
a glance around the editor.
   Time for action – clicking our way around Construct Classic
Using the game project from the previous exercise, we are now going to click through and
look at various windows we'll be revisiting many times throughout the book.
1. Start a new blank game project as we learned earlier. We start the project in the
Layout editor tab. By clicking the pin button on the Properties and Project boxes,
they will minimize to the sides of the screen to provide more viewing area. It is
also possible to resize these panels by holding the cursor over the edges of the
boxes and clicking to drag their width. The following screenshot shows these
buttons with arrows.

2. Now click on the Event Sheet Editor tab to reach the view shown in the following
screenshot. Notice that the ribbon bar automatically switches to the Events tab to
provide some quick options.

3. Now that we've visited both the event editor and layout editor, we can look
at the boxes on the right side of the editor. We've already met the Properties
box on the left-hand side, so now if the right box is minimized, click on the pin button again to display it.

4. Clicking on the Animator tab will show the animation box. It will be blank, as shown
in the following screenshot, as we do not have an animated object to select yet.

5. Finally, we can take a look at the Layers tab to see the different layers of our layout.
Once again, there isn't much to see as we only have a blank game project right now.

   What just happened?
We've now learned to switch between the different views of the editor. Now, we can look
more closely at what options are available for them.
   The layout editor
This is the area that is used to create and modify the objects that make our games. Most
changes made here are directly visible when the game is run.
   The properties box
This box is used to modify the settings and values for most selectable items in Construct
Classic. We will be using it frequently to make games throughout the book.
   The event editor
In this area, we can create the rules for our games through conditions that trigger actions.
An example of a condition is when a player touches a harmful substance (such as lava), we
can make an event that checks for this condition and then triggers an action that removes
a life from the player's lives variable.
   The animator box
This box is used to create graphics and animations for our game objects the player will be
interacting with.
   The layers box
The layers box allows the organization of objects into different layers. This is useful for
creating objects that scroll at different speeds to create a parallax effect, as well as a
separate foreground and background objects. Layers can be hidden by clicking the eye icon,
and locked by clicking the lock icon, as shown in the following screenshot. They can also be
named in the Properties box.

   The final step: an introduction to objects
   To finish the chapter, we are going to look at what objects are and what some of them do.
Objects are the most important part of making a game in Construct as they usually interact
directly with the player.

Time for action – creating some objects
We are now going to place some objects in the layout and modify their properties.
1. Open your blank game project from last time, or if you feel like getting some more
practice, create a new one.
2. Right-click inside the layout editor, and click the Insert an object option. This can also be done by double-clicking on a blank space of the layout.

3. We now have the following object creation box where we can see all the types of
objects we can insert into the layout. These are pre-programmed objects created
in C++. Select the Sprite object and click on Insert. This can also be performed by
double-clicking the Sprite object. Now, we can click inside the layout to place the
sprite object.

4. We are then shown an image editor for our sprite. For now, we will make a simple
square graphic. To do this, click the paint bucket, choose a color, and then click an empty space in the graphic space.

5. Now, click the x button to return to the layout editor. Click on Yes when asked to save, and we will now have a sprite in our layout.

6. We can use the white box in the middle to change the angle of our sprite
and the boxes on the edge of the sprite to change its size. Try matching the
following shape.

7. Now, open the Properties box on the left side, and scroll down to the option Make
1:1 in the Properties group. Clicking on this will make our sprite return to normal
size again.

8. We now know how to resize and rotate the sprite object. We can also do this by
modifying the values in the Common group. Open this group and try changing the
X, Y, Width, Height, Angle, and Opacity fields to see what they change. It is worth
noting that a lower opacity value makes the sprite object more transparent, and
recently changed values will be shown in bold.

9. We can also give our sprite object a name just by changing the Name box.
This is useful, as later we will be using many different sprite objects to create
our games. For now, scroll down in the Properties box to view another group
called Appearance; toying around with the values Skew X and Skew Y produces
distortions. Notice that the selection box for the sprite does not skew with the sprite itself.

10. We can also tick the Invisible on start checkbox. This lets the graphic be shown in
the editor, but hidden when the game is run. This is good for making invisible walls
and other such objects.

   What just happened?
We have now just learned to create objects such as sprites, move them around, and
modify their appearance using the editor. Let's look at the different subtasks we went
through to do this.
   Creating an object
We learned how to bring up the object creation box and then insert a sprite into our layout.
Every object we put into a layout is available in this dialog box.
   Drawing the sprite
Although we only had a quick interaction with the graphic editor, we saw where our graphic
files are drawn and modified. If we wanted, we could even copy-and-paste graphics from
other drawing programs into the editor. It's worth noting that some painting programs may
copy images differently than Construct Classic expects. Should this happen, pasting into
Microsoft Paint first and then transferring that image to Construct will avoid these problems,
but will not keep alpha levels.
Each drawing tool that we can use in Construct Classic has a brief informative message in the
bottom-left corner of the graphic editor to explain its purpose. However, let's take a look at
some of the other controls used to draw graphics in Construct:

‹‹ The Rectangle select tool, is used to drag-and-select rectangular chunks of our graphics to move, rotate, scale, cut/delete, copy, paste, change the color of, and flip.
‹‹ The Wand tooll, is used to automatically select parts of the graphic that touch and have similar colors. Holding Shift and clicking will select all parts of the graphic with similar colors regardless of whether or not they are touching.
‹‹ The Pen Tool, lets us draw on our graphic as if we were using a pencil.

‹‹ The Brush tool, is similar to the Pen tool, except it has a much larger amount of options that can be changed using the sliders.
‹‹ The Erasor Tool, is used to erase and has the same options as the Brush Tool.

‹‹ The Mirror tool, found at the top of the window, as shown in the previous
screenshot, is used to flip an image or selection horizontally.
‹‹ The Flip tool is used to vertically flip the image or selection.
‹‹ The Rotate tool, provides a choice of angles for the image or selection to be rotated.
‹‹ The Crop tool is used to shrink the editable region of the graphic (the canvas) to fit
the graphic. Use this if you draw something smaller than the boundaries.
‹‹ The Resize Canvas tool, is used to increase or decrease the size of the canvas by showing a pop-up box that lets you input a new height and width for the canvas. The drawing itself is not resized, however.

   Changing the appearance of the sprite
We then learned how to modify our sprite using stretches, skews, and rotations. Changes we
made here are shown when we run the game.
Have a go hero – make a picture of sprites
Now that we have gone through the process to create a sprite, try adding some more to
form a picture from them. If you are stuck thinking of ideas, then try some of these:
‹‹ A house made up of separate sprites for the roof, base, windows, and door
‹‹ A magician with additional sprites for a staff and a wizard hat
‹‹ A car with sprites for the tires and a body sprite
If you wish to draw the images using another paint program that does not
support transparent backgrounds, use the RGB color (255,0,255) as your
background color. In Microsoft Paint, this color is the brightest shade of
pink in the default palette.
   Summary
This chapter taught us a lot about navigating around Construct Classic as well as creating
objects that we'll be using to make games.
Specifically, we went through the steps to install a fresh copy of Construct Classic on our
computer that we retrieved from the Scirra website. We then went on to create a new game
project and looked around the various interface views of the editor. After that, we learned
how to make, position, angle, and size Sprites, a key object in any games we make. To finish
the chapter, we took a quick look at some of the tools we will be coming across in making
our game.
We also discussed the different tools we'll be using to create images for sprites using
Construct's graphic editor.
Now that we've learned about the basics of navigating and using Construct Classic, we're
ready to move on to starting our first game!

You like this article ? Stay tuned and visit us often because there will be more !