Stencyl

By: Derek Yu

On: May 31st, 2011

Stencyl is a newly-released, free game creation tool that comes with a suite of drag n’ drop editors to simplify the development and publishing of Flash games. There’s a big emphasis on collaboration – StencylForge and StencylTalk let you easily share resources and chat with other developers while you work on your project. For designers who are not so fond of drag n’ drop interfaces, there is a “code mode” for Stencyl’s game logic editor that can be used in conjunction with its simplified “design mode”.

The engine is based on Adam Saltsman’s Flixel library and it uses Box2d for physics. The logic editor is based off of the educational programming language Scratch.

Posted in Casual, Developers, Freeware, Tools

http://twitter.com/K1rkpad Dylan Kirkpatrick

Just from the screenshot, I'm instantly reminded of Scratch. I guess that's a good thing.
http://madebyluke.com madebyluke

Scratch meets GameMaker. I'm looking forward to trying this out, will be good for my students who want to make flash games but are both too young and not advanced enough to tackle ActionScript 3 yet.

Software like this is a great introduction to logical thinking and a huge confidence boost for young game designers wanting to start learning but who are put off by huge ammounts of scary code.
http://twitter.com/pandafresh Christian J. Ruiz

i wanna make the games but i dunno the code so i willa give this a try.
http://www.derekyu.com Derek Yu

The editor is actually based off Scratch – I'll add that to my description.
Accountless

Why do I need an account to download it? I guess it's not as free as it suggests if they want your info… Too bad. Next.
http://twitter.com/_Aquin Aquin

Yeah, it's a bit weird you gotta sign up for it. The funny thing is they don't ask for *any* info whatsoever. It's easier to sign up for Stencyl than it is for the tig forum.

I'm not sure what the deal is.
Rob

i understand you can download it without an account. You just don't get the StencylForge part which is sharing of code and resources between you and the community. If you can get everything done by yourself, you don't need to sign up. Makes a lot of sense.
http://twitter.com/Wareya Alexander N

Just a heads up: you misspelled StencylWorks, which also refers to the whole program itself, not just the logic editor.
http://twitter.com/j_younger deadeye

As a dedicated Construct guy, I gotta give Stencyl props. I saw some of their early demo stuff and I wasn't too hopeful for their success. But the proof is in what it can do, and from what I can see it makes pretty good games. Good job, guys :)

Still have yet to try out the IDE though.
http://www.derekyu.com Derek Yu

Dammit, thanks! And what is Stencyl relative to StencylWorks?
almyki

I belieeeve Stencyl is the name of the brand and the whole package in general. So, it covers StencylWorks, StencylForge, the Stencyl.com website, and the company, Stencyl, LLC. All together. The logic editor is called Design Mode.
SupWhats

StencylForge looks interesting. As long as everyone has GOOD BEHAVIORS that is.
Snow

I've been beta testing. But not enough :( Anyway, it is a fantastic engine and you will be able to rapidly create games. Check it out.
Vania

ArgumentError: Error #2015: Invalid BitmapData.
at flash.display::BitmapData/ctor()
at flash.display::BitmapData()
at org.flixel::FlxG$/createBitmap()[/Users/jon/Desktop/stencyl/plaf/flash/flixel/org/flixel/FlxG.as:526]
etc…

I get this when trying to compile the crash course. I think it's a missing bitmap for the preloader.
Guest

a pretty nice game made in Stencyl – Balls in Space
http://www.newgrounds.com/port…
Guess it was made during the beta period? or smthn
guest

and START EARNING CASH!!..

great way to foster creativity..
Vania

Well unless you live in a socialist country you need to make money to keep making games…
Or you can do it in your free time and release a new game every decade.
Guest

Crashed seriously my workstation twice.