Buildbox 2.x Game Development: Develop & Distribute video games with Buildbox, no coding necessary!

Buildbox is pretty amazing in that it can export games for several platforms. As each platform has its own unique intricacies, you can see just how exciting it is that a developer may create one project that exports to several different distribution channels for several platforms. Let's take a quick look:

The preceding image shows the various platforms Buildbox 2 is designed to support. Again, with Buildbox, you won't be making the next PlayStation or XBOX FPS. But you can make the next Flappy Bird or Mario Bros.

The actual process for getting the games onto the various platforms is a bit more complex than the previous image implies. We'll get into the nuts and bolts of the various workflows for export in a later chapter. Suffice it to say, though, that the ability to use one project is definitely a big check mark in the pros column for Buildbox.

You'll notice that there is some duplication of platforms among the various distribution channels (Windows EXE and Steam, or Amazon and Google Play). This is because exporting and some parameters differ between those distribution channels. Confused? Don't worry, we'll clear up the differences between distribution channels and platforms in just a bit.

Granted, this greatly exceeds the minimum needed for game development with Buildbox. However, this should give you a good idea of the capabilities necessary, and it's nice to have for game development.

Developing a game is only half the picture. Yes, it's cool to be able to play your own games, but wouldn't it be better to have the world play them? Better yet...wouldn't it be better to make a profit? That's where distribution channels come in.

Distribution channels, such as iTunes, Steam, and Google Play, are places where platform owners go to shop for new apps and games. But for each device, there are unique distribution channels, and in some cases multiple ones (such as Google Play and Amazon Apps for Android devices).

In order to develop for Apple devices, you're going to need a subscription to the Apple Developer Program. It is an annual fee, and can be expensive (when compared to Android). Speaking of which, you'll also need a membership to the Google Play developer program, and Amazon developer program.

For Windows games, you will need a Steam account, and to authorize it, to submit programs to Steam Greenlight. You will also need a Windows Dev Center account.

As you can see, if you sign up for all of the various services as a developer, the costs can run up. So, it's probably going to be important to make up your mind on the target for your games before you begin developing. The bonus is that if your game does well on one platform, it's very easy to port it to another (because one Buildbox project can generate the same game across multiple platforms).

When you first open Buildbox, you're greeted with the Welcome screen. The following screenshot shows this screen. Buildbox has taken a page straight out of Adobe's UIX design team with this. If this is the first time you've opened the Welcome screen, you should immediately uncheck Open Buildbox at startup:

Unless your computer's sole purpose is for Buildbox development, we suggest unchecking this immediately to minimize your frustration upon startup of your computer. For some reason, the Buildbox team believes that everyone would want Buildbox to start every time they restart their computer by default.

Let's take this interface from the bottom up (since we started with the Open Buildbox at startup option).

The area near the bottom with the Latest News heading is just that. It's the area where you can see what the latest patches and updates are. This is also where you can see how other games made with Buildbox are doing. Clicking these links takes you to the web page(s) where the related stories are.

Just above Latest News on the left side of the screen is the Open Recent window. It's pretty self-explanatory, but this is where you can easily click on recent Buildbox projects you've been working on to open them.

Now, looking to the right, we see the Tutorials section. This is where you can check out some examples and videos on how to use Buildbox. Let's take a look at these one by one:

Finally, there is the Create New button on the top-left of the screen. This is exactly what it sounds like. It will enable you to create a new project by launching the Creator screen. This brings us to...

Welcome to the Creator screen (shown in the following screenshot). This is where you'll set up your basic parameters for a new game. Let's take a look at these parameters one by one.

In the Name field, you can type in a plain English name for your project. This actually has no bearing on the final game, it's really just a name for your project.

The image below shows the world editor. As a Buildbox developer, this is where you'll spend most of your time. It also happens to be the most fun screen in Buildbox. A world consists of many scenes in Buildbox. They all share the same backgrounds and characters. Let's start with the scene editor:

The scene editor

In the following , you can see that we have a start scene, as well as an additional five scenes. Editing is easy: just click the scene you'd like to edit, and work with it:

On the right side of the scene editor, you'll notice the + Add button, and the ^ button. The + Add button allows you to add a blank scene to your world (although you can also duplicate the currently selected scene with the keyboard shortcut of D for duplicate.) The ^ button opens the timeline editor:

As you can see in the image above, this timeline plays each scene sequentially. However, you could overlap scenes, or even have them all run in parallel. This type of layout enables the scenes to be played in random order, giving the player a unique experience every time they play. The parallel layout is optimal for endless games, while the sequential layout is best for goal-oriented games.

The game field (the stage)

The game field (shown in the following screenshot) is where you'll actually build your scenes. Here, you can add objects, text, background graphics, decorations, and all kinds of effects and logic elements. On the left side of the game field, you'll see the layer editor (Outliner), which enables you to bring objects forward or back, select objects easily, hide, or even lock them. This area greatly helps keep your scene organized:

On the upper-right you have various display options for the game field,viz:

• Show Game Field: This shows where your character can travel and sets boundaries (barriers and lethal barriers) for it:

  

• Lock Backgrounds: Locking backgrounds prevents you from accidentally shifting them when moving other objects around on your stage:

  

• Snap Movement: This lets objects snap to a grid or other objects as you move them around on your stage:

  

• Activate Connection Mode: By activating connection mode, you can connect (parent) objects to other objects (for example, if you apply physics, this will help you make swinging laps):

  

• Apply Debug Mode: In Debug mode, you can see collision shapes. This will allow you to make sure objects have proper shapes, and ensure that your game is playable:

  

Object parameters

On the right side of the screen, you'll find the parameters area. This will show (and enable you to edit) parameters for any selected object. Currently, the start scene is selected, so what is showing right now are the parameters for the start scene in our example (as shown in the following screenshot):

The library

On the far left you'll notice the library window. Here is where all of your objects are kept for you to use. They are grouped by type. The following screenshot shows the library window:

Once you import an object once, you only need to find it into the library. Importing an object twice is not advisable (as it creates a duplicate of the same asset, and can use up more resources than necessary). Instead, come to the library and find it. Here are the categories and what they mean:

• Characters: Objects that the user controls. This is like Mario in Super Mario Bros.
• Objects: These are any non-character, and non-action objects such as platforms, obstacles, decorations, and enemies.
• Actions: Action objects are things such as coin and point pickups.
• Effects: These come in very handy. Effects include particle emitters, flags, and trails. They can add a bit more punch to your look. Be careful, though. They can be resource intensive.
• Logic: Here is where you'll find tools to make your game more interesting. Hidden level teleports, portals, even character multipliers (cloning your character) can be found here.
• Labels: Labels are merely text objects you can throw onto your stage. They can be quite useful to help with instruction during a training world, or to add statements such as Start or WATCH OUT! to your game.

Additional buttons

At the upper-right of your screen, you'll see four buttons that are very useful. Let's take them from left to right:

• Preview: This button allows you to try out your game using the game preview screen. We'll show you this screen at the end of this chapter.
• Preview Current Scene: By previewing only the current scene, you can skip to what is relevant to what you're working on.
• Font Editor: Fonts in Buildbox must be packaged with your final compiled game. This will allow you to add fonts from your computer to the game. We'll save this screen for a later chapter.
• Game Settings: This screen allows you to set up your game for export by adjusting parameters such as the game's icon, build ID, and various advertising and monetization settings. We'll save this screen for a later chapter.

Finally, at the upper-left of the screen, you'll notice this button. This button will close your world and bring you to the Game Mind Map.

The image below shows the Game Mind Map of our basic game. This screen is where you can edit the structure of your game. As you'll also notice, as our world is selected, you can edit the parameters of the world in the parameter window:

This is how you change the gravity settings for individual worlds to give a wider spectrum of user experience to your players. This is a simple game (and is aptly titled). Let's take a look at what Ramblin' Rover will look like when it's near completion:

Here, you can see why a node-based editor for the structure of a game is important. This is Ramblin' Rover with the first two of the three worlds we'll create completed. Don't feel overwhelmed. By the end of this book, this screen will look extremely simple to you. I invite you to come back and look at it once you've completed the book to see just how far you've come!

All graphics assets in Buildbox are handled as sprites via an atlas. Confused? Don't worry, we will get deeper into the atlas editor in a later chapter. For now, we just wanted to make you aware that this editor exists. This is considered an advanced screen, so be patient. We will cover this later:

This is the most gratifying interface in Buildbox. The following image shows the Game Preview interface:

This is where you can actually play and test your game. You may recognize the Debug Mode button on the upper-left of the interface. This will let you actually play the game while viewing all your connections and collision shapes. Very useful indeed.

Also on the screen is a screenshot button, which will let you save screenshots of your game for later (quite useful for when you go to put your game on a distribution channel). You can also emulate the resolutions on various devices using the drop-down menu (currently at 1920x1080 Full HD) and another drop-down menu allows you to scale the percentage to blow up the image or shrink it.

If you have multiple monitors, or a monitor with a high enough resolution, you can always leave this window open, and when you want to play your game with any changes you made, just hit the Refresh button (upper-right).