GameMaker Essentials - Sample Chapter
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GameMaker: Studio is a great game engine that can be
used to publish games to a variety of platforms. It is one of
the most versatile game creation tools for professional and
beginner game developers alike.
Starting with the basics of learning how to install
GameMaker, this book will take you all the way through
to publishing your games online. Compiled with detailed
instructions and images, this book starts by showing you
how the GameMaker: Studio interface looks and works.
After this, you'll move on to learning about resources
such as sprites, paths, sounds, and more available in
GameMaker, and what each resource is used for. We
then move into the GameMaker Language (GML) and
learn programing techniques including how variables are
set up and what functions are and how they work. You'll
understand how to manipulate GameMaker resources
using GML. Following this, you will then make your very
first GameMaker game using a combination of resources
and programing techniques, and learn how to advertise
your game and generate revenue and publicity for it.
You can then export and publish your games across
desktop and mobile platforms.
Who this book is written for
Get to grips with the GameMaker: Studio
interface
Discover resources such as sprites, shaders,
scripts, and many more in GameMaker and
what each one is used for
Design your own game using GameMaker
Language programing
P U B L I S H I N G
C o m m u n i t y
E x p e r i e n c e
D i s t i l l e d
Create objects and program them to use
in your games
GameMaker Essentials
Set up monetization and analytics in your
games
Deploy and publish your games online across
platforms such as Android, iOS, and Windows
$ 24.99 US
16.99 UK
community experience distilled
pl
Create and animate sprites using the
GameMaker sprite editor
Nathan Auckett
This book is for users experienced with game development
who now want to learn how to develop games in
GameMaker: Studio in a fast-paced way.
What you will learn from this book
GameMaker Essentials
GameMaker Essentials
Sa
m
Learn all the essential skills of GameMaker: Studio and start
making your own impressive games with ease
Prices do not include
local sales tax or VAT
where applicable
Visit www.PacktPub.com for books, eBooks,
code, downloads, and PacktLib.
Nathan Auckett
In this package, you will find:
The author biography
A preview chapter from the book, Chapter 1 'Introducing GameMaker'
A synopsis of the books content
More information on GameMaker Essentials
About the Author
Nathan Auckett is an advanced GameMaker user and has been using the software for
over 7 years now. He started using GameMaker during its seventh version and has been
using the built-in programming language ever since to create his own games. In 2012, he
began creating small tutorials on various topics in GameMaker and has since then created
over 50 tutorials helping people achieve a variety of different tasks in GameMaker.
GameMaker Essentials
Welcome to GameMaker Essentials. This book will teach you how to use GameMaker:
Studio to create your very own games from start to finish. You will learn the very basics,
such as how to use the GameMaker: Studio interface, as well as the more advanced
features such as programming, monetizing your game, and finally exporting your game
for publishing.
If you have ever wanted to create your own games for operating systems, such as
Windows, Android, iOS, Linux, and more, then this book is the perfect place to start.
What This Book Covers
Chapter 1, Introducing GameMaker, introduces GameMaker: Studio by telling us exactly
what it is and the basic idea behind it. The chapter also looks into some of GameMaker's
history as well as showing how to install it onto your computer.
Chapter 2, Getting Started, walks you through the GameMaker: Studio interface,
teaching you what each button does and introducing you to some of the core aspects of
the interface.
Chapter 3, Resource Management, teaches you how to manage resources. In this chapter,
you will learn what each resource is and also the best practices in organizing resources.
Chapter 4, Objects, introduces you to one of the core resources in GameMaker, objects.
You will learn about the object interface and also how they function.
Chapter 5, The GameMaker Language, teaches you how to program using GameMaker's
very own programming language. By the end of this chapter, you will be ready to
program your own game.
Chapter 6, Sprites, takes a detailed look at the sprite resource in GameMaker. You will
learn how to create sprites, edit sprites, the good sizing techniques, and finally, how to
change the way sprites act through programming.
Chapter 7, Making a Game, walks you through the process of making your very own
game using GameMaker Language (GML). You will learn more about rooms, objects,
programming, and common practices in this chapter.
Chapter 8, Debugging, teaches you about debugging in GameMaker. You will learn how
to read an error report, how to draw information to the screen, how to enable simple
toggles, and finally, how to use the GameMaker debugger.
Chapter 9, Game Settings and Exporting, covers the settings available for each game in
GameMaker. You will also learn how to implement ads, analytics, how to export your
game, and also how to publish your final game.
Introducing GameMaker
In this chapter, you will learn what GameMaker is all about, who made it, what it
is used for, and more. You will then also be learning how to install GameMaker on
your computer that is ready for use.
In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
Understanding GameMaker
Installing GameMaker: Studio
What is this book about?
Understanding GameMaker
Before getting started with GameMaker, it is best to know exactly what it is and
what it's designed to do.
GameMaker is a 2D game creation software by YoYo Games. It was designed to allow
anyone to easily develop games without having to learn complex programming
languages such as C++ through the use of its drag and drop functionality.
The drag and drop functionality allows the user to create games by visually
organizing icons on screen, which represent actions and statements that will occur
during the game.
GameMaker also has a built-in programming language called GameMaker
Language, or GML for short. GML allows users to type out code to be run during
their game. All drag and drop actions are actually made up of this GML code.
GameMaker is primarily designed for 2D games, and most of its features and
functions are designed for 2D game creation. However, GameMaker does have
the ability to create 3D games and has a number of functions dedicated to this.
[1]
Introducing GameMaker
GameMaker: Studio
There are a number of different versions of GameMaker available, most of which
are unsupported because they are outdated; however, support can still be found
in the GameMaker Community Forums. GameMaker: Studio is the first version of
GameMaker after GameMaker HTML5 to allow users to create games and export
them for use on multiple devices and operating systems including PC, Mac, Linux,
and Android, on both mobile and desktop versions.
GameMaker: Studio is designed to allow one code base (GML) to run on any device
with minimal changes to the base code. Users are able to export their games to run
on any supported device or system such as HTML5 without changing any code to
make things work.
GameMaker: Studio was also the first version available for download and use
through the Steam marketplace. YoYo Games took advantage of the Steam workshop
and allowed Steam-based users to post and share their creations through the service.
GameMaker: Studio is sold in a number of different versions, which include several
enhanced features and capabilities as the price gets higher.
The standard version is free to download and use. However, it lacks some
advanced features included in higher versions and only allows for exporting
to the Windows desktop.
The professional version is the second cheapest from the standard version. It
includes all features, but only has the Windows desktop and Windows app exports.
Other exports can be purchased at an extra cost ranging from $99.99 to $300.
The master version is the most expensive of all the options. It comes with every
feature and every export, including all future export modules in version 1.x. If you
already own exports in the professional version, you can get the prices of those
exports taken off the price of the master version.
Installing GameMaker: Studio
Installing GameMaker is performed much like any other program. In this case,
we will be installing GameMaker: Studio as this is the most up-to-date version
at this point.
You can find the download at the YoYo Games website, https://www.yoyogames.
com/.
From the site, you can pick the free version or purchase one of the others. All the
installations are basically the same.
[2]
Chapter 1
Once the installer is downloaded, we are ready to install GameMaker: Studio. This is
just like installing any other program. Just run the file, and then follow the on-screen
instructions to accept the license agreement, choose an install location, and install
the software.
On the first run, you may see a progress bar appear at the top left of your screen.
This is just GameMaker running its first time setup. It will also do this during the
update process as YoYo Games releases new features.
Once it is done, you should see a welcome screen and will be prompted to enter
your registration code. The key should be e-mailed to you when you make an
account during the purchase/download process. Enter this key and your copy
of GameMaker: Studio should be registered. You may be prompted to restart
GameMaker at this time. Close GameMaker and re-open it and you should see
the welcome screen and be able to choose from a number of options on it:
[3]
Introducing GameMaker
What is this book about?
We now have GameMaker: Studio installed and are ready to get started with it.
In this book, we will be covering the essential things to know about GameMaker:
Studio. This includes everything from drag and drop actions to programming in
GameMaker using GameMaker Language (GML). You will learn about how things
in GameMaker are structured, and how to organize resources to keep things as clean
as possible. By the end of the book, we would have made a simple functioning game
and will be ready to get going with game development using GameMaker: Studio.
Summary
In this chapter, we looked into what GameMaker actually is and learned that there
are different versions available. We also looked at the different types of GameMaker:
Studio available for download and purchase. We then learned how to install
GameMaker: Studio, which is the final step in getting ready to learn the essential
skills and starting to make our very own games.
In the next chapter, we will look into creating a new project and the main interfaces
of GameMaker: Studio.
[4]
Get more information GameMaker Essentials
Where to buy this book
You can buy GameMaker Essentials from the Packt Publishing website.
Alternatively, you can buy the book from Amazon, BN.com, Computer Manuals and most internet
book retailers.
Click here for ordering and shipping details.
www.PacktPub.com
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