Stencyl Book available now!

Bought the book today. Very comprehensive...can't wait to get the hard copy. Congratulations on the release.

Regards, Phil

Just a quick thanks for all your comments, and special thanks to those who have already purchased  / ordered the book.

I'm pretty-much offline at the moment as I'm moving home this week, hence the scarcity of my posts.

Hey all,

The physical arrived today and it's great. If anyone has a hard time learning through online tutorials and youtube videos then it comes highly recommended. I am in my 30's though so it may just be me.

Thanks again, Phil.

I bought the book. Now, in order to use it you have to pay (USD 79) for stencyl beta version 3.0, otherwise the book is useless - because you can only download version 2.2 which this book does not apply to 100%. Well, such a policy styncyl.com so switched to gamesalad , maybe even go back to the platform - I wish we could inform that buying associated with additional costs.

It's not Innes's or Jon's (Stencyl CEO) fault that you bought a book intended for a version that isn't public yet.

Hi siri,


Thanks for buying the book.


If you visit the book's forum (link below), you'll find that I have started to make the tutorial assets available for 2.2 users.


http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,23219.0.html


Thanks again,
Innes

I imagine the plan was to have Stencyl 3.0 out before the book, huh? ^_^;

I imagine the plan was to have Stencyl 3.0 out before the book, huh? ^_^;

I was rather hoping that 3.0 would be released before the book!

However, the vast majority of the book is valid for 2.2 and the tutorials are working just fine. I've now uploaded most of the assets to StencylForge 2.2.

I hope to have all 2.2 uploads completed this week, along with a document noting any differences. I'm more than half way through this process and have so far noted about 10 trivial issues.

Innes,

I just stumbled on your book by accident and it made me feel proud to be a part of a community that has dedicated members such as yourself. Of course we also have many amazing volunteers (you know who you are) who patrol these boards looking for hitchhikers who need help. But Innes, you just wrote a map that will help countless beginners not just to discover Stencyl but also to budding programmers curious about adopting a hobby or even supplementing their income.

I'm sure this project took longer and required more effort than most of us can appreciate. It's obvious you didn't rush it and the end result is like a piece of art. Well, maybe that's exaggerating. But it's certainly something that Stencyl users would be proud to have on your shelf. Even better, buy the book as a present for a nephew or niece whom you think would benefit from the intellectual stimulation that is Stencyl.

For those interested in buying the ebook I would suggest you go to the Packtpub site to buy the standard PDF (unless you like reading textbooks on Kindles). Of course you can always buy the print version. To put on that shelf.

Blacksmith, thanks for your kind comments; I really do appreciate feedback like this (I've sent you a PM).

The book really did turn out to be exactly what I wanted and, yes, it took a lot of hard work (not forgetting the hard work put in by the Technical Reviewers and production team). It took me the equivalent of about 4 months full-time writing.

There's a lot of information about the book (including a complete, free chapter) at www.StencylBook.com, where you can also find links to the various on-line retailers of the book. It's also available on Kindle for those who prefer a downloadable version.

Can I remind Stencyl 2.2 users that there is a free 'conversion' document (PDF format) at http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,23398.0.html that clearly identifies the few differences between versions 2.2 and 3.0 that are found in the book. If anyone's unsure about using Stencyl 2.2 with the book, download this document and have a look - there really are only a few minor differences.

One of my main worries was the introduction of errors, either by me, or during the production process - I'm pleased to say that I am only aware of one (quite small) error introduced during production, and that's just a table of information that is not related to development (owners of the book should view the book's 'Support' page on the Packt Publishing website for errata information).

It's not Innes's or Jon's (Stencyl CEO) fault that you bought a book intended for a version that isn't public yet.

So i don't want to sound stupid but eventual 3.0 will be free and i can pick this book up ahead of time?

Yes, 3.0 will eventually move out of closed beta.

So i don't want to sound stupid but eventual 3.0 will be free and i can pick this book up ahead of time?

The tutorials in the book work with the current, free version of Stencyl (2.2). I have created a downloadable reference that clearly explains the few minor differences that you'll find between versions.

http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,23398.0.html

The chapter on mobile development is not relevant to 2.2, but everything else is valid.

Greetings,

This book has been an enormous help to me while I learn the language of Stencyl, so to speak.  There are many tutorials out there, but it is nice to have an all-in-one source for people like me to refer to. 

I have a career that is very demanding of my time and no prior programming experience.  Game design is a hobby that I have wanted to get into for years, and now with tools like Stencyl and this book I can finally do it.

Thank you for doing this!

Am I having a comprehension failure or is this line sort of confusing to everyone else as well:

Instead of the statues dropping at a location that is always 320 pixels from the left-hand edge of the scene, they will now always drop at a location 320 pixels from the left-hand edge of the screen.

Borkwood, Innes (2013-05-24). Learning Stencyl 3.x Game Development: Beginner's Guide (p. 106). PACKT PUBLISHING. Kindle Edition.