I'm interested in picking it up, I've played several great platforming games on it (mostly Mega Man fangames), and I've always wanted to make a Mega Man game of my own.
Don't worry, BYOND is still the man for my puzzle gaming needs :)
ID:278334
 Jun 2 2010, 11:28 am
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If you read the About Section in Game Maker 8, you'll see:
"A basic project includes sprites, sounds, background, paths, scripts, data files, time lines, objects, and room features, as well as game information and options, all of which you can configure freely. You don't have to be able to program to be able to make games with Game Maker, though it does have a built in programming language to give you full control of your game if you want." Basically, the program is all set up for you to click'n'build a game easily. But, there is the possibility of you going beyond that and adjusting the game's "core" or "source" for more advanced things. At least, this is what the Game Maker 8 website tells it's users. | |
Choosing not to pay for it removes what features? I know games will have that loading time before they run, for instance.
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Game Maker Pro has the following additional functionality:
* No Game Maker logo is shown when running a game. * No regular popups to remind you of upgrading. * Use rotated, color blended and translucent sprites. * Additional options in the sprite and image editors. * More actions e.g. CD music, rotated text, and colorized shapes. * Special sound effects and positional sound. * Create splash screens with movies, images, web pages, text, etc. * A particle system to create explosions, fireworks, flames, rain, and other effects. * Advanced drawing functions including example colorized text and textured polygons. * Create 3D games. * Multiplayer functions allowing you to create network games. * Define your own room transitions. * Create, load, and modify resources whilst the game is running. * Create and use data structures. * Functions for motion planning. * Include additional files in the game executables. * Use extension packages. * Define your own trigger events. * Game collaboration tools. "To obtain the Pro Edition, simply download Game Maker 8 and install it. When you start the program you can indicate that you want to upgrade to the Pro Edition online. Current price is $25" http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker/buy | |
GML is a step back from DM, in my opinion. That language is a POS >:(
The way they handle objects and instances (especially the 'self' and 'other' special classes) seems simple on the surface, but can cause no end of trouble for more complicated designs. Oh, and you can't access functions directly--the dot operator can access variables only. You have to use the with() construction to call another instance's function, which just screws scope up to no end. And then there's the IDE... windows everywhere... *cringes* Although, it wasn't all bad. I did like the precise collision system. That was nice. I guess if you just plan to use the Drag and Drop interface, you should be fine. But if you plan to use the language (and you'll need to, to make a proper platformer) you're in for a <font style="font-size: 8px">(And in case you're wondering, I did spend enough time interacting with Game Maker to learn to loath it. But then again, BYOND has spoiled me :P) | |
There's also the other alternative Novashell for 2D game creation.
Haven't looked into it, just know about it from working with ClanLib SDK. | |
I'm a big fan of PyGame for simple platforming games. It is simple to work with but very powerful. It is all Python based, so if you learn Python you will be learning PyGame, because it is simply a library set for Python.
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"Using easy to learn drag-and-drop actions, you can create professional looking games within very little time. You can make games with backgrounds, animated graphics, music and sound effects, and even 3D games! And when you've become more experienced, there is a built-in programming language, which gives you the full flexibility of creating games with Game Maker. What is best, is the fact that Game Maker can be used free of charge."
There's no required programming on your end.
;)
http://wiki.yoyogames.com/index.php/Gamemaker:About