I'm taking an Intro to Game Design class as part of my degree program, and for our final exam we're meant to make a game using GameMaker.
My biggest issue so far is that the way it handles collisions doesn't make any sense at all.
Actually most of GML doesn't make sense either, but that's become a minor annoyance in comparison to the collision system. Getting the simplest of tasks to work properly in this program is nigh on impossible. The editor is specifically designed to showcase (and almost enforce) the drag-n-drop system, but testing for collisions using that is essentially saying that you don't want your game to work.
I'm honestly beginning to wonder if the people who designed this program had video game developers in mind. I don't think it was created for making video games.
just port ags to compile a gamemakerlike .exe and you're set. If the teacher assigning you this won't let you pass afterwards you are allowed to skin his dog.
Silly question, but still:
It is mandatory for you to use collisions? (Probably it is, being it a Game Design class where you may be supposed to make use of everything you've learned so far).
I'm asking because my only experience with GameMaker had no collisions (nor physics) at all and, while I had a bad time with GML as well, I managed to get something (http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=39571) up and running in a very short time (Ludum Dare is a 48h game jam).
Well considering I'm designing a platformer, it's pretty essential to know when things are colliding with each other.
I've never used GameMaker, but I wonder how the designers could have integrated some collision functions without making them work properly.
I've been using Game Maker for many years and I love it.
I never use the drag and drop functions, I have to disagree with it "almost enforcing" drag and drop. From my experience with the GM community I've seen that DnD hasn't had any new blocks in years, there's been a huge focus on new GML functions and inprovements in the engine.
Every drag and drop "block" has a corresponding GML function, with tons of variations, there's hundreds more functions than there are drag n drop blocks.
Personally I never use the collision "event" use the collision funtions in the step event. So I get more control.
If you don't like the existing collision functions you can always code your own. On a few projects I've made collision maps in arrays.
Good luck with your course! :)
I made a couple of Barn Runner games and an Oceanspirit Dennis game in Game Maker. The GM language is a little clunky the first few times you use it, but once you play around with a while, it's pretty versatile. I made the OSD game using just the drag and drop interface and that was kind of a pain. But for first time newbies, it would be a nice way to make a game quickly. Personally, I was sad when AGS 3.x dropped the old interactions editor. I made my first AGS game using that thing and I'm not sure I would have stuck with the engine if that option was available for newbies. :undecided:
I don't know why but I'm getting a strong urge to create a thread, titled: "AGS is terrible and I hate it"... (roll)
Bad Adeel! GO STAND IN THE CORNER!(laugh)
Yeah, I've used AGS, and even made a small platform game with it. And while I did get used to its UI and the GML, my collisions system never worked reliably. I even scoured around looking for a well made collision system in an open demo to learn from, but the better examples always got into some unexplained bitwise sort of math that was way, way over my head. Floor and ceiling corners were the worst, not to mention when trying to collisions to work with a thrown object. It obviously can be done, but not without some complicated programming (relative to my skills, anyway).
The book Game Maker's Companion (http://www.amazon.com/Game-Makers-Companion-Technology-Action/dp/1430228261) might have a good solution, but unfortunately it's not commonly available without buying the book. Here's the result (youtube video). (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x23Sa_7GS6U)
Good luck.
I've played a few decent GameMaker games, so it can't be that bad.
It has just a huge price tag, especially for mobile development.
So apparently GameMaker does not support compound bitwise operators (specifically, '&='), but it doesn't complain about them either. It just sends you on a wild debugging goose chase trying to figure out why nothing is working. Of course, this is only after being bullied into selling out on my own code and defaulting to a prebuilt tile-based demo system, but I at least had to try and clean up the horrific code they're distributing as "proper". >:( Oh GameMaker, how do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways...
Slightly concerned that a degree program has you using Gamemaker tbh. Make sure you have stuff made in a more robust engine before you graduate. Hope you find a solution to your collision woes.
Well I am just starting on the degree program. I mean, I'm taking this at the same time as I'm taking an intro to programming course. The latter of which I completed all the coursework for nearly a month ago and just have to take the final (because they wouldn't let me test out of it). :P
Most of my classmates have no experience whatsoever with programming or game design. The program does also include classes in Java and C++ (and I think C# too), and I know a lot of students further along in the program are using Unity or Unreal, so I'm sure one of the courses covers using those as well.
Today I realized that in the tile-based platformer demo code, the comments actually indicate the exact logical inverse of what the code is doing. This aside from the bugs I've had to fix in the code (allowing the player to fly irreversibly off the top of the screen, and a rounding error resulting in negative zero) really just strengthens my distaste for the program. Inconsistent indentation styles, inconsistent use of operators, inconsistent and occasionally incorrect code documentation, obfuscating a simple operation like rounding a number by using bitwise operators and not explaining why... With this kind of "quality" demo, it's easy to see why people love GameMaker so much.
Some famous platformers including Iji and Eternal Daughter have been made in Game Maker, though... so it has to be possible somehow?
Quote from: Radiant on Sat 22/11/2014 11:12:31
Some famous platformers including Iji and Eternal Daughter have been made in Game Maker, though... so it has to be possible somehow?
It's always possible to do anything with anything, really.
It all depends on how accustomed the programmer is to the environment (and because of human nature, they can get accustomed even to the worst tools, and even start defending their flaws) or how smart the developer is (some genius guys don't even care that the tool is all broken, they see the issues instantly and quickly produce great demos no matter what).
Quote from: Radiant on Sat 22/11/2014 11:12:31
Some famous platformers including Iji and Eternal Daughter have been made in Game Maker, though... so it has to be possible somehow?
Heh, on a few occasions I had a chance to examine a source code of some well-known and popular games of the past. I was astonished by all the mess I saw there.
This also struck me, though, how lucky these guys are not having "perfectionism" complex and not bothering about such details. They just do what they can and get results people like (not seeing insides of the program is sometimes a good thing) :).
Quote from: monkey_05_06 on Sat 22/11/2014 07:32:04
Today I realized that in the tile-based platformer demo code, the comments actually indicate the exact logical inverse of what the code is doing. This aside from the bugs I've had to fix in the code (allowing the player to fly irreversibly off the top of the screen, and a rounding error resulting in negative zero) really just strengthens my distaste for the program. Inconsistent indentation styles, inconsistent use of operators, inconsistent and occasionally incorrect code documentation, obfuscating a simple operation like rounding a number by using bitwise operators and not explaining why... With this kind of "quality" demo, it's easy to see why people love GameMaker so much.
Ok that's good then, I know a few people who graduated entire courses and were still using it :-X