Game Maker

leeroyjenkins · Post by **leeroyjenkins** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:49 pm

I'm just curious-has anyone else here ever used Game Maker? It's not only a 2D and 3D game making tool, it is free (well, there's also a paid version) and has its own programming language. That's how I learned to program.

Anyone else use it?

http://www.gamemaker.nl <-Link.

Again, just curious.

Nodtveidt · Post by **Nodtveidt** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:57 pm

Never used it but I find it funny that they say that you don't need to spend countless hours learning a computer language...yet you're going to spend countless hours learning their scripting language anyways. Isn't that somewhat of a moot marketing point?

leeroyjenkins · Post by **leeroyjenkins** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 11:17 pm

xD, I guess. You can make a game in about half an hour, its just it won't LOOK good. Good point.

Anteater · Post by **Anteater** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 11:28 pm

I used it for a good two years It's also how I learned to program. After a while, I learned:
A)C++ is just as easy as any scripting language (GML, in this case)
B)An IDE with Intellisense allows for just as much rapid developent as D&D does.
C)Not much can be done with the free version. In fact, standard GM4 is more powerful than the free GM7!
D)It's not worth 20 dollars to be able to render 3D stuff.
E)When making anything even remotely complex, it's all going to be done in GML anyway; so much for an easy D&D interface.
F)Because of E, a beginner would be better-off using Panda3D, which is free. And that's assuming they think Python is easier than C++. I like C++ better myself.
G)Because the community is mostly newbies trying to make their own Sonic or Mario game, very little stuff is ever made that isn't full of ripped (illegal) resources, stolen code, and bugs aplenty.
H)To make anything truely nifty, you have to program a dll for your game to use. Did I mention that dlls are made with computer languages?
I) Irrlicht > all :D
Still, for absolute beginners, it is a decent program. I wouldn't reccomend it for anyone who is already a good coder, though.

leeroyjenkins · Post by **leeroyjenkins** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 12:42 am

Yes, but C++ is harder, and frankly it sucks to set up (Irrlicht + Code::Blocks=a big headache). That is why I am moving towards C++.

liger13 · Post by **liger13** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 1:29 am

hmmm, ive never used gameMaker because it looks rather corney. i guess it could be a good start but...

lostclimategames · Post by **lostclimategames** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 3:28 am

actually you can do quite a bit with it, of course as mentioned before, it obviously doesnt have anything incredibly advanced, but its fun to mess with, like I remember about 3 or 4 months ago i downloaded gm4 (so i could use the multiplayer) and made a quick multiplayer tank game in a few hours, me and my friends had a blast playing the game against eachother, and since its so quick and simple it never really gets tedious. I probably would never pay for it, but the earlier free ones are what really got me into game programming.

leeroyjenkins · Post by **leeroyjenkins** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:06 am

Same here. I still use it to make small puzzle games for my family, or top down shooters for my friends. But I am really looking forward to learning C++. Now, if only there were tutorials that went past the basics...

liger13 · Post by **liger13** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:42 am

books go past the basics

, just check out the library

andrei25ni · Post by **andrei25ni** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 12:41 pm

I used it (and still use it).
I even made a commercial game with it!

It's a good starting point for beginners, and it can became very powerful in the hands of an experienced programmer.

It is true that the community it's made out of n00bs, but I always found an answer to my questions.

I highly recommend it ( that is if you don't want to make something like HL2

)

leeroyjenkins · Post by **leeroyjenkins** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 3:52 pm

Thanks Liger!

Yeah (@Andrei), I used it for a game or two.

BlindSide · Post by **BlindSide** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:13 pm

leeroyjenkins wrote:Same here. I still use it to make small puzzle games for my family, or top down shooters for my friends. But I am really looking forward to learning C++. Now, if only there were tutorials that went past the basics...

Who needs tutorials and books? Just program yourself a game and you'll get it eventually

BlindSide · Post by **BlindSide** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:14 pm

leeroyjenkins wrote:Same here. I still use it to make small puzzle games for my family, or top down shooters for my friends. But I am really looking forward to learning C++. Now, if only there were tutorials that went past the basics...

Who needs tutorials and books? Just program yourself a game and you'll get it eventually

EDIT: OH yeah before you say thats too vague I forgot to mention to have the Irrlicht API documentation on hand and use that frequently when your a beginner.

leeroyjenkins · Post by **leeroyjenkins** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 5:32 pm

Thanks!

liger13 · Post by **liger13** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 5:55 pm

BlindSide wrote:
leeroyjenkins wrote:Same here. I still use it to make small puzzle games for my family, or top down shooters for my friends. But I am really looking forward to learning C++. Now, if only there were tutorials that went past the basics...
Who needs tutorials and books? Just program yourself a game and you'll get it eventually

if u only know the basics its hard to program a game... especially OOP