There was a time when making a game as simple as the Atari 2600 classic Combat required 6 months of constant work not simply by professionals, but by the people who developed the hardware that the game was running on. We could not have come further from that point today, and right now anybody with a computer, a little bit of time and enough dedication can make a fully playable game that far surpasses the complexity of anything made before 1983. Even better, they can often do it in less than a day<\/i>. In this post, and a few after, I want to give you the tools to do so.<\/p>Before I get into it, I want to be clear that I HATE math and will do anything to avoid it. I am also not a computer science student: I\u2019m in the fourth year of a Philosophy degree, which is as liberal arts as you can get. Until early last year, the only programming that I had any experience with was a very poor Java class in high school. Fortunately a designer from Telltale encouraged me to become familiar with Gamemaker, and on my own time, with a minimum of math, I was able to learn these skills and start experimenting with game ideas that had lived in my head for years. I just want to make it clear that anybody can do this, and many rumours about the skills needed are greatly exaggerated.<\/p>So where do I start?<\/u><\/b><\/p>Well, there are lots of ways that you could start. You could start by making mods for other games, or just make new levels and models for them. Those things are completely valid ways to start, but I\u2019m going to assume that you, like me, want to focus on developing actual game mechanics. This means learning a game development toolset. There are many options out there, and depending on your prior experience with code you might want to go somewhere else. What I\u2019m going to talk about here is the free 2D development software Gamemaker<\/a>.<\/p>What is that?<\/u><\/b><\/p>GM is a shareware level editor, code editor, art editor, and 2D engine (it has 3D in the paid versions, but that\u2019s not really its forte and we won\u2019t talk about it here). It is powerful, flexible, and the recently released (and rather expensive) studio version supports development for many mobile platforms along with Windows and Mac. It has its own proprietary programming language called GML that is conceptually similar to, but not easily translated into, Java and C#.<\/p>Why are we using GM if its language is proprietary?<\/u><\/b><\/p>It certainly has many things to recommend it, but most important for our purpose is that it is a fantastic learning tool. This is because you can make a complete game for it without writing a single line of code. It features a drag and drop (D&D) system that allows you to give things in the world (objects) behaviours using an entirely graphical interface. This allows you to quickly build a reasonably complex game of your own design without having to worry about code structure or anything.<\/p>That\u2019s all well and good, but there\u2019s a second part to the learning process. At some point you\u2019ll be working on your creation and realize that there is no simple way to do something using D&D. Since you love this idea to death and it would kill you not to have it, you will steel yourself and add an \u201cattach code box\u201d to one of your objects. It is likely that your first code will be full of bugs, and that you\u2019ll have your eyes on the Gamemaker code reference site<\/a> most of the time, but that\u2019s ok. You\u2019re learning. This is what learning feels like...<\/p>Well anyway, that\u2019s what happened to me. Basically, this is a way to learn the theory behind programming without having to learn an actual language first, and to do it in an environment where the really complex work (such as collision detection) is already done. If you stay on with game making you will eventually want to learn something like C# so that you can use a more robust engine like Unity, but doing this first will give you the basics. And hey, Spelunky was originally developed for Gamemaker. In fact, the code for that game is freely available so if you want to see what is possible with these relatively straightforward tools, you can take a look at that.<\/p>That\u2019s great, but I don\u2019t even know where to start with this program. SO MANY BUTTONS!<\/u><\/b><\/h3>Unlike most guides, I\u2019m not going to tell you exactly where to click and what to type. I\u2019m assuming that you are smart enough to figure out or Google that stuff. I find that I get frustrated by tutorials that explain in too much detail and start to miss things. This may not work for you, in which case there are many other very good guides out there and I certainly recommend that you check them out.<\/i><\/p>To begin with, you\u2019re going to want to start a new project instead of using the example one that comes up when you do a fresh install of GM. Once you\u2019ve done that, you\u2019ll also need to create a new room. Every game must have a room (read: level) in it to run. In fact, if you press the green triangle on the toolbar you will be able to run this game! Of course it won\u2019t do anything because it\u2019s missing, you know, stuff.<\/p>The next thing that you\u2019ll want (in 99% of cases) is an object for the player to control, so make a new object and call it \u201cplayerObject\u201d. Almost everything that happens in the game will be done by and to objects. This is analogous to the way that we think about real physical space, and this type of programming is called \u201cObject Oriented Programming,\u201d or OOP.<\/p>Now that you\u2019ve created an object, you\u2019ll need to give it a sprite. You can use any image you like, and GM will adjust its in-built collision detection to transparencies so feel free to use a shaped image. Now go back to your room and (using the room editor\u2019s objects tab) place an \u201cinstance\u201d of playerObject into it. At this point we should note that \u201cobjects\u201d and \u201cinstances of objects\u201d are different from each other. I should hope that difference is intuitive, but if it isn\u2019t you can think about the object as being the blueprint for a car, while an instance is the car itself. You can have many cars built from the same blueprint, and if you have an accident in one car it won\u2019t have any effect on the others.<\/p>Now if you run the program (the green triangle again) an instance of your object will show up wherever you put it in the room. Of course it won\u2019t do anything, because it needs some \u201cbehaviours\u201d attached to \u201cevents.\u201d<\/p>Close the game and go back to playerObject. See that \u201cadd event\u201d button? Press it and create a keyboard event for whatever button you want to use to move the object up. Now add one of the \u201cmove fixed\u201d boxes from the menu on the right (it\u2019s the red one with all the arrows in it). It will ask you for a direction and some values. We\u2019ve already decided that\u2019s it\u2019s moving up, and you can pick a speed. I\u2019d recommend something small like 2 or 5, because if it\u2019s too big your object will just run off the screen.<\/p>Now if you run your program, you can make your instance of playerObject go up. Woooo! Now, what exactly did we just do?<\/p>Time in GM is measured in frames. By default it runs games at 30 frames per second, so your object is checking the keyboard 30 times and performing its behaviour every time it find that you are pressing you\u2019re up key. Learning what order code is being run at will be very important later, but for now this basic understanding of framerate is all that you need.<\/p>Ok, what now?<\/u><\/b><\/p>You\u2019ve probably seen many exciting buttons and functions while doing this, so my suggestion is that you think of a type of game that you want to make (something relatively simple) and start experimenting with what kinds of events should trigger what kinds of behaviours. You\u2019ll probably want object collision events, and you may want to mess with the room settings like size or resolution. Or not, the sky is the limit!<\/p>Wait, don\u2019t leave me!<\/u><\/b><\/p>Relax; I\u2019ll happily answer anybody\u2019s questions in the comments or by PM. At some point soon I plan to write a guide exploring some more advanced features and concepts that I didn\u2019t discover till later, and then after that I want to look at some ways to stay organized and write code (yes, code!) in ways that would have made my life much easier if somebody had shown them to me when I started out.<\/p>Go forth and make games!<\/p>(To inspire you, here is a prototype that I made from scratch for my \u201cgame design and development\u201d class<\/a> over the weekend. While there is certainly much that needs to be done with this particular project, it shows you how quickly you can build a game if you take a small amount of time to learn some tools!)<\/i><\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>vonFlampanker<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>352<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>10<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 4<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By vonFlampanker<\/a><\/div><\/div>Very nice post! I've been looking into these non-programmer focused game making programs ever since I heard Patrick talking about them during the MolyJam coverage. I got into GameSalad instead of GameMaker, but they're both quite a bit more powerful than I thought they'd be. I may go back and, based on what you've written here, try to see if GameMaker offers an easier time for implementing some of the bits of my game.<\/p>Do you find that GM has a decent amount of reference available online in the form of forums, faqs and documentation? GS' is growing and friendly but I find it's still somewhat lacking for specific problems.<\/p>Many thanks for the introduction to GM. Good luck!<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>nintendoeats<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>6234<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>828<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 4<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 9<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By nintendoeats<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span>@vonFlampanker<\/strong>: Your welcome!<\/p>There is a ton of reference material out there for GM, and the forums are very active so you can always get help with a problem. There are also large repositories of scripts and extensions for GM, that are often very useful. GM has been around for 17 years, so it's had a long time to develop a community support base. I should say that I have had experiences with some rather unfriendly people in the forums, but that's not a universal rule.<\/p>I tried to install Gamesalad to offer a comparison, but it refused to install. Am I correct in saying that it doesn't have any programming language at all? Based on a quick scan of the internet, it seems like the D&D functions of GS are a lot more powerful (and user-friendly) than GM. However, if it doesn't have theoption to use a programming language it might not be as powerful overall or nearly as effective as a learning tool. I might try to install it later and see if I can't do a more in-depth comparison.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>vonFlampanker<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>352<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>10<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 4<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By vonFlampanker<\/a><\/div><\/div>GameSalad has no proper programming language, correct. There's an expression editor, which seems useful but also seems to be lacking a proper guide\/introduction for the math-averse like us. It also handles tables without the need to code, which I've found pretty useful.<\/p>I think GS is having some trouble with the Windows version of their client. Similar to your experience, it'll install but it won't launch. The Mac client, however, is pretty elegant from a UI standpoint (though there are areas where they could improve), and allowed me to get surprisingly far into my project before hitting any sort of wall (I'd say my project is as complex as an average NES game).<\/p>It's a good time to be doing projects like these, and I'm looking forward to these tools getting even better.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>nintendoeats<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>6234<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>828<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 4<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 9<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By nintendoeats<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span>@vonFlampanker<\/strong>: What exactly is the \"wall\" that you have hit? I'd be very interested to to see what you're doing. If you are that far along, I wouldn't bother trying to move over to a new toolset until you are working on a new project, unless you are lacking some really core functionality.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>vonFlampanker<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>352<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>10<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 4<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By vonFlampanker<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span>@nintendoeats<\/strong>: I've run into a couple of seemingly simple problems that turned out to be complex. For instance getting an object instance to pivot on a point other than its midpoint (to, say, open a door in a top-down view). My forays into AI behaviors haven't been very encouraging, either.<\/p>I also realized at a certain point that I was putting too many unique behaviors for each instance. That is there were too many custom, hard-coded instances when they should have been inheriting a common set of behaviors from the Prototype (GS lingo for \"Object\"). Going back and trying to do it \"properly\" so to speak has created some weird anomalies that I can't pin down. When I get some time I'll post some pictures\/video of what I'm talking about. There's also the possibility that my understanding of structuring things \"properly\" - based on my half-ass research into OOP - is just bound to cause more problems and I'm better off just barreling forward doing things the way I know how.<\/p>Meant to mention: a nice thing about Gamesalad is its ability to target devices for export. It gives you a lot of options for iOS publishing alongside more generic desktop resolutions.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>NickyDubz<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>380<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>8<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 5<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By NickyDubz<\/a><\/div><\/div>It's cool your doing this always nice to see people at least explore development makes you appreciate the games and software you have ten fold<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>Sin4profit<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>3505<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>1621<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 37<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 2<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By Sin4profit<\/a><\/div>
Very nice post! I've been looking into these non-programmer focused game making programs ever since I heard Patrick talking about them during the MolyJam coverage. I got into GameSalad instead of GameMaker, but they're both quite a bit more powerful than I thought they'd be. I may go back and, based on what you've written here, try to see if GameMaker offers an easier time for implementing some of the bits of my game.<\/p>Do you find that GM has a decent amount of reference available online in the form of forums, faqs and documentation? GS' is growing and friendly but I find it's still somewhat lacking for specific problems.<\/p>Many thanks for the introduction to GM. Good luck!<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>nintendoeats<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>6234<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>828<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 4<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 9<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By nintendoeats<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span>@vonFlampanker<\/strong>: Your welcome!<\/p>There is a ton of reference material out there for GM, and the forums are very active so you can always get help with a problem. There are also large repositories of scripts and extensions for GM, that are often very useful. GM has been around for 17 years, so it's had a long time to develop a community support base. I should say that I have had experiences with some rather unfriendly people in the forums, but that's not a universal rule.<\/p>I tried to install Gamesalad to offer a comparison, but it refused to install. Am I correct in saying that it doesn't have any programming language at all? Based on a quick scan of the internet, it seems like the D&D functions of GS are a lot more powerful (and user-friendly) than GM. However, if it doesn't have theoption to use a programming language it might not be as powerful overall or nearly as effective as a learning tool. I might try to install it later and see if I can't do a more in-depth comparison.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>vonFlampanker<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>352<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>10<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 4<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By vonFlampanker<\/a><\/div><\/div>GameSalad has no proper programming language, correct. There's an expression editor, which seems useful but also seems to be lacking a proper guide\/introduction for the math-averse like us. It also handles tables without the need to code, which I've found pretty useful.<\/p>I think GS is having some trouble with the Windows version of their client. Similar to your experience, it'll install but it won't launch. The Mac client, however, is pretty elegant from a UI standpoint (though there are areas where they could improve), and allowed me to get surprisingly far into my project before hitting any sort of wall (I'd say my project is as complex as an average NES game).<\/p>It's a good time to be doing projects like these, and I'm looking forward to these tools getting even better.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>nintendoeats<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>6234<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>828<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 4<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 9<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By nintendoeats<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span>@vonFlampanker<\/strong>: What exactly is the \"wall\" that you have hit? I'd be very interested to to see what you're doing. If you are that far along, I wouldn't bother trying to move over to a new toolset until you are working on a new project, unless you are lacking some really core functionality.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>vonFlampanker<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>352<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>10<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 4<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By vonFlampanker<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span>@nintendoeats<\/strong>: I've run into a couple of seemingly simple problems that turned out to be complex. For instance getting an object instance to pivot on a point other than its midpoint (to, say, open a door in a top-down view). My forays into AI behaviors haven't been very encouraging, either.<\/p>I also realized at a certain point that I was putting too many unique behaviors for each instance. That is there were too many custom, hard-coded instances when they should have been inheriting a common set of behaviors from the Prototype (GS lingo for \"Object\"). Going back and trying to do it \"properly\" so to speak has created some weird anomalies that I can't pin down. When I get some time I'll post some pictures\/video of what I'm talking about. There's also the possibility that my understanding of structuring things \"properly\" - based on my half-ass research into OOP - is just bound to cause more problems and I'm better off just barreling forward doing things the way I know how.<\/p>Meant to mention: a nice thing about Gamesalad is its ability to target devices for export. It gives you a lot of options for iOS publishing alongside more generic desktop resolutions.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>NickyDubz<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>380<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>8<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 5<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By NickyDubz<\/a><\/div><\/div>It's cool your doing this always nice to see people at least explore development makes you appreciate the games and software you have ten fold<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>Sin4profit<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>3505<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>1621<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 37<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 2<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By Sin4profit<\/a><\/div>
<\/span>@vonFlampanker<\/strong>: Your welcome!<\/p>There is a ton of reference material out there for GM, and the forums are very active so you can always get help with a problem. There are also large repositories of scripts and extensions for GM, that are often very useful. GM has been around for 17 years, so it's had a long time to develop a community support base. I should say that I have had experiences with some rather unfriendly people in the forums, but that's not a universal rule.<\/p>I tried to install Gamesalad to offer a comparison, but it refused to install. Am I correct in saying that it doesn't have any programming language at all? Based on a quick scan of the internet, it seems like the D&D functions of GS are a lot more powerful (and user-friendly) than GM. However, if it doesn't have theoption to use a programming language it might not be as powerful overall or nearly as effective as a learning tool. I might try to install it later and see if I can't do a more in-depth comparison.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>vonFlampanker<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>352<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>10<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 4<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By vonFlampanker<\/a><\/div><\/div>GameSalad has no proper programming language, correct. There's an expression editor, which seems useful but also seems to be lacking a proper guide\/introduction for the math-averse like us. It also handles tables without the need to code, which I've found pretty useful.<\/p>I think GS is having some trouble with the Windows version of their client. Similar to your experience, it'll install but it won't launch. The Mac client, however, is pretty elegant from a UI standpoint (though there are areas where they could improve), and allowed me to get surprisingly far into my project before hitting any sort of wall (I'd say my project is as complex as an average NES game).<\/p>It's a good time to be doing projects like these, and I'm looking forward to these tools getting even better.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>nintendoeats<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>6234<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>828<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 4<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 9<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By nintendoeats<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span>@vonFlampanker<\/strong>: What exactly is the \"wall\" that you have hit? I'd be very interested to to see what you're doing. If you are that far along, I wouldn't bother trying to move over to a new toolset until you are working on a new project, unless you are lacking some really core functionality.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>vonFlampanker<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>352<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>10<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 4<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By vonFlampanker<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span>@nintendoeats<\/strong>: I've run into a couple of seemingly simple problems that turned out to be complex. For instance getting an object instance to pivot on a point other than its midpoint (to, say, open a door in a top-down view). My forays into AI behaviors haven't been very encouraging, either.<\/p>I also realized at a certain point that I was putting too many unique behaviors for each instance. That is there were too many custom, hard-coded instances when they should have been inheriting a common set of behaviors from the Prototype (GS lingo for \"Object\"). Going back and trying to do it \"properly\" so to speak has created some weird anomalies that I can't pin down. When I get some time I'll post some pictures\/video of what I'm talking about. There's also the possibility that my understanding of structuring things \"properly\" - based on my half-ass research into OOP - is just bound to cause more problems and I'm better off just barreling forward doing things the way I know how.<\/p>Meant to mention: a nice thing about Gamesalad is its ability to target devices for export. It gives you a lot of options for iOS publishing alongside more generic desktop resolutions.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>NickyDubz<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>380<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>8<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 5<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By NickyDubz<\/a><\/div><\/div>It's cool your doing this always nice to see people at least explore development makes you appreciate the games and software you have ten fold<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>Sin4profit<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>3505<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>1621<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 37<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 2<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By Sin4profit<\/a><\/div>
GameSalad has no proper programming language, correct. There's an expression editor, which seems useful but also seems to be lacking a proper guide\/introduction for the math-averse like us. It also handles tables without the need to code, which I've found pretty useful.<\/p>I think GS is having some trouble with the Windows version of their client. Similar to your experience, it'll install but it won't launch. The Mac client, however, is pretty elegant from a UI standpoint (though there are areas where they could improve), and allowed me to get surprisingly far into my project before hitting any sort of wall (I'd say my project is as complex as an average NES game).<\/p>It's a good time to be doing projects like these, and I'm looking forward to these tools getting even better.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>nintendoeats<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>6234<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>828<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 4<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 9<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By nintendoeats<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span>@vonFlampanker<\/strong>: What exactly is the \"wall\" that you have hit? I'd be very interested to to see what you're doing. If you are that far along, I wouldn't bother trying to move over to a new toolset until you are working on a new project, unless you are lacking some really core functionality.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>vonFlampanker<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>352<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>10<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 4<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By vonFlampanker<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span>@nintendoeats<\/strong>: I've run into a couple of seemingly simple problems that turned out to be complex. For instance getting an object instance to pivot on a point other than its midpoint (to, say, open a door in a top-down view). My forays into AI behaviors haven't been very encouraging, either.<\/p>I also realized at a certain point that I was putting too many unique behaviors for each instance. That is there were too many custom, hard-coded instances when they should have been inheriting a common set of behaviors from the Prototype (GS lingo for \"Object\"). Going back and trying to do it \"properly\" so to speak has created some weird anomalies that I can't pin down. When I get some time I'll post some pictures\/video of what I'm talking about. There's also the possibility that my understanding of structuring things \"properly\" - based on my half-ass research into OOP - is just bound to cause more problems and I'm better off just barreling forward doing things the way I know how.<\/p>Meant to mention: a nice thing about Gamesalad is its ability to target devices for export. It gives you a lot of options for iOS publishing alongside more generic desktop resolutions.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>NickyDubz<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>380<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>8<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 5<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By NickyDubz<\/a><\/div><\/div>It's cool your doing this always nice to see people at least explore development makes you appreciate the games and software you have ten fold<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>Sin4profit<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>3505<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>1621<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 37<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 2<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By Sin4profit<\/a><\/div>
<\/span>@vonFlampanker<\/strong>: What exactly is the \"wall\" that you have hit? I'd be very interested to to see what you're doing. If you are that far along, I wouldn't bother trying to move over to a new toolset until you are working on a new project, unless you are lacking some really core functionality.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>vonFlampanker<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>352<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>10<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 4<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By vonFlampanker<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span>@nintendoeats<\/strong>: I've run into a couple of seemingly simple problems that turned out to be complex. For instance getting an object instance to pivot on a point other than its midpoint (to, say, open a door in a top-down view). My forays into AI behaviors haven't been very encouraging, either.<\/p>I also realized at a certain point that I was putting too many unique behaviors for each instance. That is there were too many custom, hard-coded instances when they should have been inheriting a common set of behaviors from the Prototype (GS lingo for \"Object\"). Going back and trying to do it \"properly\" so to speak has created some weird anomalies that I can't pin down. When I get some time I'll post some pictures\/video of what I'm talking about. There's also the possibility that my understanding of structuring things \"properly\" - based on my half-ass research into OOP - is just bound to cause more problems and I'm better off just barreling forward doing things the way I know how.<\/p>Meant to mention: a nice thing about Gamesalad is its ability to target devices for export. It gives you a lot of options for iOS publishing alongside more generic desktop resolutions.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>NickyDubz<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>380<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>8<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 5<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By NickyDubz<\/a><\/div><\/div>It's cool your doing this always nice to see people at least explore development makes you appreciate the games and software you have ten fold<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>Sin4profit<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>3505<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>1621<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 37<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 2<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By Sin4profit<\/a><\/div>
<\/span>@nintendoeats<\/strong>: I've run into a couple of seemingly simple problems that turned out to be complex. For instance getting an object instance to pivot on a point other than its midpoint (to, say, open a door in a top-down view). My forays into AI behaviors haven't been very encouraging, either.<\/p>I also realized at a certain point that I was putting too many unique behaviors for each instance. That is there were too many custom, hard-coded instances when they should have been inheriting a common set of behaviors from the Prototype (GS lingo for \"Object\"). Going back and trying to do it \"properly\" so to speak has created some weird anomalies that I can't pin down. When I get some time I'll post some pictures\/video of what I'm talking about. There's also the possibility that my understanding of structuring things \"properly\" - based on my half-ass research into OOP - is just bound to cause more problems and I'm better off just barreling forward doing things the way I know how.<\/p>Meant to mention: a nice thing about Gamesalad is its ability to target devices for export. It gives you a lot of options for iOS publishing alongside more generic desktop resolutions.<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>NickyDubz<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>380<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>8<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 0<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 5<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By NickyDubz<\/a><\/div><\/div>It's cool your doing this always nice to see people at least explore development makes you appreciate the games and software you have ten fold<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>Sin4profit<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>3505<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>1621<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 37<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 2<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By Sin4profit<\/a><\/div>
It's cool your doing this always nice to see people at least explore development makes you appreciate the games and software you have ten fold<\/p><\/article>11 years ago<\/time><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a>Sin4profit<\/a><\/svg><\/i> Follow\n <\/a><\/div><\/header>3505<\/p>Forum Posts<\/p><\/div>1621<\/p>Wiki Points<\/p><\/div>0<\/p>Followers<\/p><\/div><\/section>Reviews:<\/span> 37<\/p>User Lists:<\/span> 2<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n Edited By Sin4profit<\/a><\/div>
19 Comments<\/h4>