Is this for me

[bellybot1]

Hi there

I'm bellybot1 and i have just registered. I just have a few questions about gamemaker to see whether or not i should spend $20 on the full version. First is what is gamemaker capable of doing, like is it able to make platform games or even 3d games, what is its extent of game making capabilities. Second is how hard is it to write script for games. Last of all is this the right program for me to start off on as i have had no past experience in game making, also is there any good tutorials i should read first of all on the basic of script writing.

Thats all for now. Thanks

[Gnome]

Hello!
GameMakers Possiblities seem limited to the naked eye, but they are great. Although they can't do 3D, they can go into many genres, such as shooters, RPGs, Point & Click, Defense, and even Making Helpful Applications for everyday use. If you haven't I suggest downloading Games, a Good one is Quest of Magic by Silverwind, thats one of the more advanced RPGs, and he didn't even use many other engines he developed  . The Scripting Language is very easy, in 2 months, I went from simple Point and Click to Making My own Genre! (See Gnome Defender) It also Gives you a Basic Understanding of Programming, many of our old members went on to make our own software companies, (one made the famous charlie the unicorn).

I highly suggest it.

[bellybot1]

thanks for that

i will probably buy it but does anyone have any good tutorials to get me started on scripting because i downloaded the demo and i am quite confused.

[WarHampster]

Hi and welcome to the GMG ... I can answer a few of your questions.

GameMaker is incapable of making an advanced 3d game (with models, ect.) although it can make classic fake-3d dungeon crawlers. For examples of what is possible to make, just look at entries for the previous GMG contests. Silverwind's Quest of Magic is a good example of a rpg style game that you could make with GameMaker.

I can't answer your other questions as I don't actually own GM myself .

EDIT - for tutorials just head to the Articles and Tutorials section of this site.

[Gnome]

There is the Wiki (incomplete) at
http://manual.gamemakersgarage.com/index.php?title=GameMaker:Command_Documentation

There are also examples on here:

http://gamemakersgarage.com/index.php?page=articles

Please Try the games, thats what convinced me!

[bellybot1]

Thanks for the replys

I've downloaded a few rpg's and have made with my limited 15 line script a figure move right and left when you click the right arrow and left arrow. Its heaps of fun so hopefully when i get the full version i will be able to make an rpg. One more question on rpg's how do you get the person to move from tile to tile.

thanks

[Tireas Dragon]

is it able to make platform games or even 3d games

GameMakers Possiblities seem limited to the naked eye, but they are great. Although they can't do 3D

Well I made a 3d game sort of.
You can download it Here.

EDIT: Oh Moving from place to place is easy

Code: [Select]

ON KEYDOWN
IF keydown$ = "UPARROW" THEN
'    if you are not at the top of the board you move up
 Â IF manV <> 1 THEN
 Â   manV = manV - 1
 Â ELSE
 Â   GOTOCARD cardabovethisone
 Â END IF
END IF
IF keydown$ = "DOWNARROW"
'   if you are not at the bottom of the board you move down our board is 7x7
 Â IF manV <> 7 THEN
 Â   manV = manV + 1
 Â ELSE
 Â   GOTOCARD cardbelowthisone
 Â END IF
END IF
IF keydown$ = "LEFTARROW" THEN
 Â IF manH <> 1 THEN
 Â   manH = manH - 1
 Â ELSE
 Â   GOTOCARD cardleftofthisone
 Â END IF
END IF
IF keydown$ = "RIGHTARROW"
 Â IF manH <> 7 THEN
 Â   manH = manH + 1
 Â ELSE
 Â   GOTOCARD cardrightofthisone
 Â END IF
END IF
'now incorporating the Silverwind's AWESOME v6 engine "with my upgrade"
temp = manV * 7
temp = temp - 7
temp = temp + manH
'gridlayout$ is the variable which indicates where the obstacles on the board are
spot$ = MID$ gridlayout$ temp 1
'on the board we usually use 1 to indicate an obstacle and 0 to indicate open
' terrain
IF spot$ = "1" THEN
 Â ' Now to undo the move you just did into the wall
 Â IF keydown$ = "UPARROW" THEN manV = manV + 1
 Â IF keydown$ = "DOWNARROW" THEN manV = manV - 1
 Â IF keydown$ = "RIGHTARROW" THEN manH = manH - 1
 Â IF keydown$ = "LEFTARROW" THEN manH = manH + 1
 Â ' Now to show where you are
' if we are using Silverwind's 44x44 graphics
manX = manH * 44
manY = manV * 44
manX = manX + 5
manY = manY + 5
SPRITE 1 manX manY man.gif
END IF

hmmmm maybe its not so easy seems easy to me but i am very familiar with the code.

[Gnome]

Gridcode is easy once you have someone explain it bit by bit  

[EqwanoX]

gm is good but sc is better in my opinion, i think its easier to program and the syntax will better prepare you for more advanced languages. silvercreator is free, has more features like methods, is more stable and has a ton of open sourse examples and code samples:

http://www.silvercreator.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=sccode

[WarHampster]

... but is dead. GameMaker is still being worked on and updated.

I also like SC better, but the lack of updates is something to think about.

[bellybot1]

yeah i looked into silvercreator but could someone point me to a tutorial for it about inserting sprites and grids

thanks

[EqwanoX]

theres not much more to update in sc, it has so many advantages to begin with.


its all pretty easy, first import a sprite in the sprites tab of the gamesetup

to create it (load into memory):
createsprite 1, "sprite name"     //1 is the sprites number, can be 1 to 50

then place it on screen:
movesprite 1, 5, 10     //the 5 and 10 are the x and y pixels

to move it around:
pushsprite 1, 10, 0     //this will push it 10 pixels to the right

[Silverwind]

Greetings and salutations Bellybot! Welcome to the forums, and let me start by congratulating you on getting this far. Many people aspire to make video games, but most give up before they even try. You however have taken the first great step towards making your awesome game idea a reality, and you couldn't have picked a better platform to start learning on than Mac GameMaker.

Mac GameMaker (or GM) boasts the most user-friendly interface and built-in programming language available on the Machintosh. Combine this with an extremely helpful online community and you've got an amazing learning environment. The Game Maker's Garage has tones of articles, tutorials and tools to help you along every step of the way, and once you've got the hang of making games you can even enter them in the annual GMG Game Making Contest for fame and glory!

So, where should you start? I recommend reading Silver's RPG Making Guide: http://www.gamemakersgarage.com/index.php?cat=articles&id=5

It's a little outdated, as I wrote it when I hadn't even been programming six months, but it's still very helpful. Undoubtedly though, the best way to learn how to program is to ask specific questions on the GMG forum, such as "How do I make text print on the screen?" for example. (that was one of the first questions I asked when starting off )

In short; GM is a great programming language to learn, (especially if you have no prior knowledge of programming) it doesn't take very long to learn how to make cool games with it, and best of all it's only $20, Hurray!

Happy learning Bellybot, and don't hesitate to ask further questions!

EDIT:

Oh, and in answer to your question: Yes, I can give you step by step instructions on how to program just about anything, just post a topic.

[Silverwind]

EDIT: Oh Moving from place to place is easy

Code: [Select]

ON KEYDOWN
IF keydown$ = "UPARROW" THEN
'    if you are not at the top of the board you move up
 Â IF manV <> 1 THEN
 Â   manV = manV - 1
 Â ELSE
 Â   GOTOCARD cardabovethisone
 Â END IF
END IF
IF keydown$ = "DOWNARROW"
'   if you are not at the bottom of the board you move down our board is 7x7
 Â IF manV <> 7 THEN
 Â   manV = manV + 1
 Â ELSE
 Â   GOTOCARD cardbelowthisone
 Â END IF
END IF
IF keydown$ = "LEFTARROW" THEN
 Â IF manH <> 1 THEN
 Â   manH = manH - 1
 Â ELSE
 Â   GOTOCARD cardleftofthisone
 Â END IF
END IF
IF keydown$ = "RIGHTARROW"
 Â IF manH <> 7 THEN
 Â   manH = manH + 1
 Â ELSE
 Â   GOTOCARD cardrightofthisone
 Â END IF
END IF
'now incorporating the Silverwind's AWESOME v6 engine "with my upgrade"
temp = manV * 7
temp = temp - 7
temp = temp + manH
'gridlayout$ is the variable which indicates where the obstacles on the board are
spot$ = MID$ gridlayout$ temp 1
'on the board we usually use 1 to indicate an obstacle and 0 to indicate open
' terrain
IF spot$ = "1" THEN
 Â ' Now to undo the move you just did into the wall
 Â IF keydown$ = "UPARROW" THEN manV = manV + 1
 Â IF keydown$ = "DOWNARROW" THEN manV = manV - 1
 Â IF keydown$ = "RIGHTARROW" THEN manH = manH - 1
 Â IF keydown$ = "LEFTARROW" THEN manH = manH + 1
 Â ' Now to show where you are
' if we are using Silverwind's 44x44 graphics
manX = manH * 44
manY = manV * 44
manX = manX + 5
manY = manY + 5
SPRITE 1 manX manY man.gif
END IF

hmmmm maybe its not so easy seems easy to me but i am very familiar with the code.

Woh! Impressive... you don't by any chance eat nails with your Corn Flakes do you?

[WarHampster]

You are hereby promoted to the GMG's Minister of Propaganda.

Seriously, you should copy that and advertise it on gaming forums... it would get anyone to buy GameMaker