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GM examples - GM web site links - GM resources

Note: This article has been translated into the Serbo-Croatian language by the WHG Team

Gamer Maker Information.

If are wondering what Game Maker is, I will give a brief outline of what it is and what it can do.

Game Maker as its name suggests is for game creation, you may have thought from time to time that it would be nice to create your own game or utility program, but having looked at programming languages such as C++ and Visual Basic, you probably decided it looked too difficult, when all you wanted was a bit of light entertainment.

That is where Game Maker comes in, whereas C++ and similar languages can take months to gain even a basic working knowledge, with Game Maker you can begin to program within a few hours.

That is not to say that Game Maker is simple, in fact it has many advanced features and its own language GML.
But Game Maker is ideally suited to newcomers because you can start to program using simple drag and drop icons and then progress gradually to GML ( Often called code.). Both systems are completely interchangeable and most people use a mixture of both, as the drag and drop is so easy to use, even when experienced in GML.

The GM program, you use the menu to the left to choose objects
and then position them in your room with the mouse.

So what kind of game can you create with Game Maker?

Well pretty much any kind you want, there have been puzzles, shooters and platforms of all sorts, even real time strategy games ( Purper on the official GM site.).
A few people have even attempted 3D games and the registered version of Game Maker 8 now has systems designed just for that, it is even possible to produce simple utilities, such as notepad programs, Game Maker isn't really intended for that type of use, but it is possible within limits.

It you wish to try some games made with Game Maker, I have several games on my programs page, including Square Puzzle, a sort of cross between a jigsaw and a click and slide puzzle and Cavern Defender a good old fashioned scrolling shooter.

Also if you check out the GM links section you will find several sites with excellent games on them, showing just what Game Maker can do.

My game Square Puzzle.

How much does Game Maker cost?

You can download and use the lite version 8.1 of Game Maker for free, its a fully working program, you can create games, turn them into stand alone games (.exe's), even sell them if you wish.

You can if you wish, buy the full version of Game Maker for $39.99 at the time of writing, this gives you a lot of extra features such as particles, DLL ( Don't ask what they are!) support and 3D functions, and the GameMaker watermark is removed from executables.
But buying the full version is by no means compulsory and you can produce excellent games with the lite version. Myself I still use version 5.0 which was produced before the registered features were introduced, because I prefer the sprite editors colour chart and the programs greater reliability over the newer versions.

Game Maker comes with everything you need to start making games, sprites, which are the pictures of aliens, spaceships etc, which you use as characters in your games, sounds, music, and backgrounds.
But you are not limited to the resources included with Game Maker and many users create their own sprites etc.
Game Maker also comes with a very good help file, available in several formats on the official site and worth printing out for reference, as it is far easier to learn that way.
There are also lots of tutorials posted on the forum and many, many examples on hundreds of Game Maker fan sites, on my own site you will find lots of helpful examples and tutorials, or links to them.

One final word, although Game Maker is an excellent Game creation tool, ( In fact probably the best one.) it still requires a considerable amount of time and effort to produce a nice game, ( My own game Square Puzzle took me several months. ) and the creation of a game like Halo or Command and Conquer is not really possible, these games have large teams of experts working on them and budgets of millions of pounds. But if you start small, in time you may even surprise yourself.

Additional: If your computer is an older model I would recommend using one of the version 5 series of Game Maker, as the graphic requirements of version 6.0 onwards are rather high. My own computer struggles to run some version 6 games and its specifications are:

800Mhz Intel Processor
128Mb Ram
Win 98 Second Edition
Graphics: Rage Fury/Xpert Pro 2000 16Mb
Direct X 8.1

So if your computer is of a lower specification, particularly in the graphics department, I would recommend using one of version 5 series. If you do not intend to register, version 5.0 is the best choice, having greater functionality than the later versions.
Please note: the older versions are no longer available on the official site and I have been unable to find a trustworthy link, I may consider hosting version 5 on my site.

The Official Game Maker site: http://www.yoyogames.com/
The download size of version 8.1 is about 12.1Mb.

The Official Game Maker forum: http://gmc.yoyogames.com/

Note: This article has been translated into the Serbo-Croatian language by the WHG Team

Game Maker Site Links.

This is a collection of Game Maker sites, these are sites that have a reasonable amount of high quality GM related content and are stable, ie not here one day gone the next.
( They are listed alphabetically, apart from the official sites.)

Report broken links Contact Me

The Game Maker Community.
This is the place to go for discussions, information, help, and announcements concerning Game Maker, if asking for help in the forums please remember to give as much information as possible about your problem and please be patient.
http://gmc.yoyogames.com/

Bouncing Fox Productions.
A large collection of excellent games, although if on a dialup connection, you may find some of the downloads a bit big. The site is also greatly improved at its new location.
http://www2.bouncingfox.co.uk/

Chronic667.
Some GM games, examples and tutorials, plus quite a few interesting non-GM items, I particulary liked the tank made out of two match boxes and the problem solving flowsheet.
http://www.chronic667.com/

Claret Games.
By Nikolia Ivanov has a large collection of Game Maker games and examples, it also has a page of Flash games and some useful links. One of my favorite sites.
http://claret.atspace.com/

GameMaker Knowledge base.
By Andy Nicholas. A reference manual aiming to have detailed explanations of each and every GML function, as well as examples and the use of combined functions. It will also answer questions that many a game maker has asked time and time again. This reference file is laid out like the GML section of the original manual so you should be familiar as to where particular things are.
http://www.gmkb.madladdesigns.co.uk/

H3 Creation.
A collection of unusual and original games made with Game Maker. Choose to fly a space plane to the moon, play 2 player Pacman, or play table tennis in space.
http://www.h3creation.co.nr/

Hanoka Games.
Probably the most successful GM site for selling games, though all the games have free demos to try and there are a couple of free games on site. The games are usually of a graphical adventure/puzzle type.
http://www.hanakogames.com/

Pug Fugly Games.
A nice selection of games and some useful hints and tips for making better games.
http://www.pugfuglygames.com

Random Dragon.
An excellent site, with Game Maker games, Flash movies/games, various (difficult) puzzles, music and more. Well worth a visit.
http://randomdragoon.com/

Shawn's Creations.
Probably the best collection of top quality GM games by one individual ever, nineteen at the last count, also reviews of the games, wallpaper a forum and more.
http://www.shawn64.com

Simon Donkers.
Simon has two sites, the first has a wealth of scripts, examples, tutorials, articles and tips, plus all the latest GM news.
http://gamemaker.simondonkers.com/index.php

Simons Donkers.
Simons second site is a showcase for his large selection of games.
http://games.simondonkers.com/portal/

Game Maker Resources.

This section contains items related to Game Maker that may be useful or interesting, they are often created by GM users.


Graphics.
A collection of thirty freeware gif and ico files made by me for my games, mainly buttons, but a few other bits and pieces as well, don't expect too high a standard as graphics are not my thing.
Gif and Icon collection. 12K.

Game Maker Examples.

These examples made by me, will run on Game Maker version 5.x and version 6.x, although some of the functions may not operate perfectly with v6.x.
Note: If using v6.x you will need to change the file type to Old Game Maker files, to open the examples.

Joystick using code. Three different ways of controlling objects with a joystick using GML code.

Joystick drag and drop. Controlling an object with a joystick, using drag and drop actions.

Alarm Clock. A clock with an alarm.

Bounce. How to create a breakout style bat and ball, with a realistic bounce.

Countdown Timer. A timer that counts down from three minutes.

Depth. Shows how the depth can be set for objects and tiles.

Falling Blocks 1. How to make blocks fall down the screen, until they meet the floor, or another block.

Falling Blocks 2. A slightly more advanced falling blocks system.

Game Structure. Shows the how to create the basic structure of a game, with a title screen, game rooms, game over screen and highscore.

Image Cycle. How to stop and start a sprite animation.

Image Speed. How to alter the speed of an animated sprite.

Mouse Over Button. How to change a buttons appearance when the mouse cursor moves over it.

Mouse Writing. Allows you to write using the cursor.

Move Towards. How to make an object follow the cursor, or another object.

Moving Healthbars. Have a health bar that moves with an object.

Multiple Healthbars. How to have as many healthbars as you want.

Random Block. Creates random blocks on screen, always 32 pixels apart.

Direction Shooting. How to shoot in the direction you are facing.

Snap To Grid. How to make an object move correctly in a maze type game.

Two Healthbars. How to have two objects with a healthbar each.

Two Scores. How to have two objects each with their own score.

All the examples can be downloaded together here: All Examples

I also have some simple example games, each zip contains both a v5.x and v6.x version of the game.

Breakout. A simple one level breakout game, 34k.

Tornado Defence. A basic scrolling shooter, with all the main elements of a game, 237k.

Tornado Force. A slightly more advanced scrolling shooter, with more features, 240k.

Rob Goldfish Web Site