So looking around for inspiration for my students and one of the questions that keeps coming up: “I can’t make real games with MakeCode Arcade”. I started to wonder why that was and also in wandering about I’ve seen very VERY little mentions of this great game engine when there are lists of “easy game engines” or whatnot.
I hate “lists” pages but these are often used to discover new engines, techniques and generally bring in more eyes to learn something new. These list pages have brought me to things like TIC-80, Pico8, Gdevelop, GBStudio, Godot, Unity, Phaser etc… but I never see MakeCode Arcade listed. Why is that?
Even lists that have Scratch listed don’t have MakeCode Arcade. And I’d say without a doubt that Scratch is not able to make “real” games.
MakeCode Arcade CAN make “real” games, but what is the feeling you get when you see one? When I say “hey you can advertise your game on itch.io” there’s often “it doesn’t fit in” kind of feeling. (also itch.io is a very scary place… many of the games I see in this forum surpass what I’ve seen there).
For other engines like Stencyl etc that are very “block code” even (granted that one really pushes the “make money” aspect so maybe that’s just a matter of marketing)
What would it take to make MakeCode Arcade be listed and known? What would it take to have people think “hey MakeCode Arcade, that’s a great game engine that you can build a real game in”?
MakeCode Arcade CAN:
Export to HTML5 game, bonus it even comes with built in on-screen controls!
Land on mobile phones either via a hosted page or wrapping
Become a “desktop” app using Tauri or Electron (this may cheapen the “feel” of a real game but still possible, search these forums there was some advancement in the Tauri version)
Be used on actual arcade machines
Can have gamepads connected
Be built with Javascript/Python (if you consider block code to be something real games can’t be made with)
Has an active forum (albit slow due to moderation which isn’t all bad given the target audience)
Has regular (weekly?) live feeds from the actual developers using their platform and teaching!
Is free!
Some guesses as to why:
Maybe it’s a matter of marketing?
Maybe being attached to Microsoft?
Maybe it’s the branding on the hosted HTML pages?
Maybe it’s because exporting to desktop isn’t as obvious?
Maybe because it’s a web page and not a “desktop IDE”?
Maybe it’s something to do with “everything is global” (use classes [JS] if needed) instead of “I’ve opened up this sprite and now here’s the code associated with that” (scratch and others help break code apart easier this way)
I feel like I’m missing something obvious as to why MakeCode Arcade isn’t the hottest “easiest way to make a real video game”. Does anyone have a clue at to why? And would it be horrible if it became the next hottest thing?
That’s mostly probably it, probably because Microsoft’s consumer angering antics distract them from MakeCode.
Heck, maybe because of competition with Scratch and other beginner friendly programming languages, even a youtuber (not saying names) called MakeCode a Scratch Ripoff.
Makecode has had hardly any Marketing, I got here because this was easier to learn then scratch.
Makecode is Like scratch but with a Better-Made Learning curve
If Microsoft actually Marketed Makecode for once, I think it’d be At least A Bit More popular
It feels more like making a game then scratch (for me). Scratch is like starting from nothing or in A computers terminal, Makecode Feels like your on something Designed to make games and Has A Engine Built in.
All the limitations do not help, for sure. I think it also has something to do the built-in handheld emulator, which, while useful, seems unprofessional.
It seems that all engines are on a spectrum of easy to learn to professional. Unity/Unreal Engine are great tools for making games, but they are also extremely complex and difficult to learn. Engines like that prioritize making games over letting other people make games. Makecode is definitely closer to scratch than one of those two, and I can’t tell if that’s a bad thing or not. Gamemaker seems to run more of a middle line but I don’t know much about that one.
As much as I love new forum members and invite people to join this community, I believe that if this was as popular as scratch we would need something more than a forum. I already have trouble finding certain topics/games, and it wouldn’t help if that was multiplied by 100.
Honestly i prefer it that way (even tho you probably should be able to split code into different workspaces).
I never got the hang of scratch’s code being attached to each sprite (yes i have previously used scratch. put the pitchforks down.).
As for makecode not being as popular, i think its mostly just competing for the same “block coding” niche with Scratch, which needs to explanation on how big it’s community is.
Also the marketing for makecode… exists i guess? I genuinely had never heard of it before being introduced to it in school, and even after using it for a while i still didn’t know about the forums.
But we do have something scratch will NEVER HAVE! Little devices to port games onto! Muahahahahahhajh
I guess there isn’t as much advertisement. I didn’t even learn about this until one of my teachers shared it with the class. I would love to get more people to know about this. But they may block it in some other schools. I built this in middle school a few years ago if you want to try https://arcade.makecode.com/S48198-02539-37426-92183
Makecode isn’t really as known as Scratch because of its popularity. I stopped using scratch because of this website and how it works. I do recommend this over scratch though.
Been wondering the same thing since I stumbled upon MakeCode myself some years ago, which was a kind of love at first sight for me!
-Full freedom with open source on everything except the simulator, therefore endless extension opportunities and grounds for exciting side, extension and crossover projects. Focusing, if you wish, either inside of the editors, on extensions and other things related to the editors, or underneath, on the editors or the underlying systems themselves. Endless things to start studying and which inspire for programming projects, where inspiration/what to program, personally at least, is one of the greatest challenges. An amazing forum (despite the long reply times which makes it almost impossible to collaborate on projects via the forums, but the connection to GitHub is relatively open and a natural development either way if you like programming) with both beginners and amazingly advanced programmers side-by-side and helpful staff. Etc., etc. good things.
Why it hasn’t gotten bigger(though it IS pretty big/known!), I might also add some of my additional thoughts:
The old 8-bit interface is off-putting/an anachronism for many, despite periodic retro fads. Though I agree that this has many advantages for focusing on basic programming concepts and stretching the limits of the constraints etc., which has been discussed countless times earlier, it could have been solved maybe by having another optional overlay or editor with another branding - many things identical, but with upgraded graphics and sound.
There’s probably a lack of identified direct commercial opportunities in the organization, which suffocates the MakeCode team with presumed small/no marketing budgets and enough people, so that they have to prioritize heavily on what to focus on. But I believe they have not, generally outside the MakeCode team, recognized the enormous indirect commercial value of MakeCode for selling for instance equipment and licenses in the education sector etc. Somewhat swamped by working on web/every system, but which is also one of the main reasons for MakeCode’s success.
I believe other parts of Microsoft could have capitalized a lot more on MakeCode. I was surprised when I talked to the education sales department in both my country several times, and a couple of times in the US, and they had barely heard of MakeCode except for one or two reps, and wanted to talk about everything else; Azure, CoPilot, Office 365 and what not which was totally uninteresting for me as someone interested in educational tech/programming. -A vicious cycle, and whatever marketing budget exists, is probably equally well spent inside of Microsoft as outside.
Both good and bad, there are many attempted new projects (editors and labs) based on MakeCode, but often, for probably the same lack of budget/recognized value, they are terminated abruptly, leaving behind many dead ends, broken/half-not working “promises” and systems, and disappointments, just as or before they were starting to get traction. Honorable mentions among others are MakeCode Minecraft inside Bedrock(!!!), Mindstorms, Maker and ArCadia. Though, much is still open and is driven on by the community.
Further on missed opportunities, I believe it was a mistake (probably again due to limited resources) not to make own competing editors for the Lego products and not solving the strange strife (strife has been denied, let’s call it lack of active cooperation) on one or both sides of the Raspberry Pi community. Speaking of which, there is probably potential in opening up to the broader programming environment, to allow for compilation natively of games and other stuff on various systems, which currently is a big issue on the forum. Would have been perfect for VS Code, Visual Studio and a pathway for the older/more advanced. But nobody can be everywhere, and it’s hard to focus on the right things and not spread out too thinly, no matter the resources. So, much needs to be community/related business driven.
As with the Arcade editor, which probably doesn’t reach too far outside the retro segment, MakeCode’s focus and “ideal” community, as MS can be seem to define it itself, is probably too monotonously on education and kids and the well trodden square and safe path, loosing many of the rebels, the youth, the misfits, “on-the-spectrums”, disruptors and others who don’t enjoy confinement on the way. How to have both without the one ruining for the other, or achieving unwanted fragmentation, I can’t tell you. But surely (with enough resources again, it should be possible to insulate and keep this positive community and forum here alive and thriving, while simultaneously feeding other communities. We see the same thing in organized leisure activities, sports, First Lego League, music etc. “Everybody” “loves” official competitive/corporate arenas. The other half just wants to do their thing, and suddenly, in spite, we got snow-/skateboard, Linux/MineCraft and the greatest bands of all time… -With fruitful interaction between the two even better!
Again the forum is both an enabler for all the good stuff it already is today, but also a restriction for growth and collaboration. The strict restrictions against linking to external sites OR the lack of other communities that cater to other people etc. contributes to this. One example is the demo community, which is literally begging for fantasy-console-like contributions from MakeCode. But - no, no - some guy there might light some form of “fantasy” cigarette (I am of course writing about electronic cigarettes, which are programmable and since tobacco is illegal inside public buildings in Norway) or enjoy a beer while watching the demo. (It’s actually not that strict here on the forum, the example was just to illustrate my point. There are probably some (former?) rebels in the team who are suffocating under corporate culture as well. It’s more of how you present/package things).
There is also this strange anxious vibe and focus going around that everyone else is responsible for the death of the forum, for one feeling uncomfortable or not having one’s needs or aspirations fulfilled or what not self-centric stuff which has caught hold of society. I see it in the schools here as well, it’s always the majority/the extrovert which is the problem or who has to cater to some special needing or feeling individual/the introvert, with no requirements for mutual personal introspection on the offended party/individual. -Total cognitive overload and unproductive minefield. Maybe we should look just a little bit to JFK’s famous words. Stop asking what the forum/community/MakeCode team can do for you/us and start asking what you/we can do for the community. Contribute, explore, learn, have fun, make friends and just ignore the rest! Live (fully) and let live.
Personal conclusion: Although not known everywhere, MakeCode is still the best!
-With fruitful interaction between the two even better!