Game Engines 4 Retards
2026/01/22
Some software I used to make games that I can and can't recommend.
Construct Classic
Free
Intuitive
Runs on older and newer systems alike
Lots of powerful plugins, effects
Supports python scripting |
Crashes all the time
DirectX9 Applications only
Poor error handling
Abandoned |
The absolute king (or queen?), CC lets you make fun games fast, thanks to the available plugins, effects, behaviors and whatnot. With mere surface-level knowledge I was able to have lots and lots of fun and if making massive commercial games or web games is not your thing, this program can entertain you forever. It does have serious issues though, it is as likely to crash 5 minutes in as it is 5 hours in, that is to say, it crashes all the fucking time. It has a useless debugger that crashes with the game if there's an exception, you will never know what went wrong unless you're experienced enough to know that, for example, plasma or sine+custom movement sometimes give you the classic "we don't know what happened, the game is shutting down!!!" error. It also doesn't have its own handling of midi files like gamemaker does, so on windows 10 and above midis sounds miserable. A good tool to start with.
Raycasting Game Maker v4/v5
Free
Intuitive
No scripting/coding required |
Absolutely barebones
Horrible midi playback
Poor raycasting
Too many limitations
Abandoned |
It's crazy that wolfenstein 3d, the game that the engine was based off, allows for much much more than RGM. Exit doors are always locked behind a key, and so each level must have one no matter what. You're only allowed 5 enemies, static objects, etc., guns all share the same ammo but not the same variable for ammo, and so forth. It won't play midis above 140kb or so (WTF?) and even those that it claims it will, it mangles beyond any comprehension. You can, however, chain game paks (compiled games) together, overcoming these limitations in a way, though enemies/guns/etc of one pak can't be used in another. Check my games Cybertechno 3D Genius or, better yet, Mr.Bean VS Scatman to see how it all works.
Overall, it's fun to mess with for a bit, but it's not gonna keep you long-term.
Klik 'n Play / The Games Factory
Intuitive
Runs on older and newer systems alike
Great sfx/midi/sprite library |
Too many limitations
Buggy sound playback
Terrible level editor |
Oldie but goldie. The two are very similar, but klik has fewer features and can't run on Win 7 or above. To fix the stuttering sound bug, you have to limit CPU affinity to only one core every time you start the game. Aside from the great sounds and objects it comes with, it's almost certainly obsolete, though it's easy to acquire if you really want to try it out just once. Still, if you really like these, it's better to either use Construct Classic or move on to TGF2/MMF2 (skipping the embarrasing Click 'n Create and MMF1.5), or to modern CF2.5.
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