Construct is an HTML-5 based 2D gaming engine developed by Scirra Ltd. Written in C++ and JavaScript language-focused fundamentally for non-programmers. It allows visual programming making it easier for artists to give life to their imagination into the game.
Construct is not a template engine; it has a complete set of tools to create something unique and genuinely your creation. Construct excels more than the majority of the gaming engines as runtime powering the game is blazingly fast. In a couple of simple snaps, you can export your games to Steam, iOS, Android and a large group of other platforms.
The Construct Game Engine supports Windows, Linux, Mac OS operating systems. Over 100,000 developers use this engine to make games and export to various platforms. This engine runs in the browser, making it a more accessible and powerful tool to create games.
Supported by six languages gives flexibility for users to use the tools. Over 50% of HTML games are made in this engine. Make stunning games by using the special effects and gorgeous graphics capability of the engine.
Construct Game Engine Features
- The basic technique for programming games and applications in Construct is through ‘event sheets’, which are like source files used in programming languages. Event sheets comprises of conditional statements and triggers which are used to carry out actions and functions in the game. It also provides the feature to organize and to enable, disable the multiple events at once.
- Unlike many game engines, Construct engine avoids adding instances when selecting a specific event. When events are added in the scene, the editor provides the ability to specify conditions or checks fulfilled by each object instance. Events can also be grouped using sub-events for complex behavior for the game.
- Construct allows scripting in JavaScript, satisfying the needs of developers due to its popularity in the modern world.
Games Developed using Construct
Bee Escape
Bee Escape is developed by an independent developer using Construct engine. A honey bee flees from different bugs, and you as a player need to survive for just 180 seconds. It’s a completely free and very addictive simple game.
Space Shooter
Another independent developer using this engine features created the Space shooter game. In this game player is a rocket with shooting ability to hit the space junk to increase the score to win the game.
Useful Resources
- Game Engine Homepage: https://www.scirra.com/
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construct_(game_engine)
- Construct 3 – Homepage: https://www.construct.net/
- Free Online Games: https://www.construct.net/en/free-online-games
- YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/Construct
Here's our list of top five game programming books you should read.
Game Engine Black Book: DOOM: v1.1
The book Game Engine Black Book: DOOM: v1.1 is just a masterpiece from Fabien Sanglard as it describes not only the details of how the code works, but also some interesting history and trivia. The description of hardware capabilities, audio/video interfaces, and design decisions behind them is quite interesting.
If you're not a programmer the book is still interesting - it explains lots of neat tricks, plenty of photos, quotes, and backstory about how the game was developed.
Game Programming Patterns
With over 85% 5-start reviews on Amazon, readers agree that Robert Nystrom's Game Programming Patterns is a must have for any software developer. It has a crystal clear look at how to be the benevolent architect of a very complicated software/game without getting lost.
The author presents the architecture of a game in an easy to understand matter not from an academic perspective but from experience. The book contains code examples written in C++, well organised and written so cleanly that it feels like pseudo-code.
Beginning C++ Through Game Programming
With Beginning C++ Through Game Programming, Michael Dawson builds your knowledge from the ground up. This book not only is easy to understand and teaches well, but it is focused on the very subject to learn C++ for game programming.
When it comes to game programming, C++ is the name of the game.
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made
This is highly recommend book for anyone who likes history of videos games, or just likes good stories. Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made captures the complexity of game development that anyone can pick up and enjoy.
If you have even a passing interest in gaming be sure to pick this one up. (reader's comment)
Foundations of Game Engine Development - Volumes 1, 2
The volume 1 of the book discusses the mathematics needed by engineers who work on games or other virtual simulations. The volume 2 explores the vast subject of real-time rendering in modern game engines.
The book is packed with great C++ code snippets and examples. You have tried-and-true methods that can be incorporated into any game engine and source code is not specific to any API or framework.