by Jon (Updated on 2015-10-08)
This is a general FAQ for those who have general questions about Stencyl. For the most part, it doesn't cover any common troubleshooting topics.
If Stencylpedia and Stencyl TV aren't meeting your needs, your best bet would be to ask your question on our forums.
In rare cases, Stencyl may not launch at all. Often, this is due to the absence of or an unsupported version of Java.
If Java is installed and up to date, we recommend seeking help on the Stencyl forums. Be as specific as possible when seeking help!
You need to sign up for a free account to sign in to Stencyl and gain access to our forums, StencylForge and other services. You can do this from within Stencyl (most do this) or from our site.
Mac, Windows and most flavors of Linux (like Ubuntu and its derivatives).
Yes, we support exporting of iOS and Android games.
Creating Flash games is free. If you want to create mobile games or standalone games, or if you want to remove the splash screen, those will cost money.
There's just one version of Stencyl. When you purchase a license, the toolset automatically unlocks that functionality. To be clear, you are always able to test your games on all platforms - you just can't publish or export until you purchase a license.
Stencylpedia covers all aspects of game publication in the Publishing chapter.
You're free to publish your game anywhere you'd like, including other portals or a personal website. Games are not locked to a single site.
Absolutely not. You can use code (Haxe, Java, Objective-C), but the vast majority of our users prefer to use our visual tools to build their game's behaviors.
You can use Haxe via a built-in code editor or an external editor.
Yes. Through StencylForge, our "marketplace for game resources", you can browse an extensive collection of royalty-free game graphics and sounds for your games.
Any raster format will do - PNG, JPG, and GIF. We even support animated GIF's. We don't support vector art to a satisfactory degree. It will import, but it will be converted to raster form.
MP3s for Flash and OGGs for everything else.. It's best if these are at a 44.1kHz sampling rate with a 16-bit resolution. You can use Audacity or a similar program to change the sampling rate, if need be.
Not built in. Some clever users have figured this out on a limited basis, though.
Stencyl does not officially support 3D games, although pseudo-3D and isometric games have been built.
Stencyl does not officially support isometric games. Clever users have figured out how to make them.
There are no limits (e.g. file size) or restrictions on what you can create with Stencyl. Your only limit is your imagination!