I'm new to Game Maker and Need some Advice!

[Echo Magnum]

I'm new to Game Maker:

I have a game I want to design and make in mind and realize it would be difficult to make on rpg maker than on game maker as its more of an action adventure game with platform elements not really rpg elements. So far I have Game Maker 8.0 and I have a few questions:

> What are all the features in Game Maker 8.0, I think I've read a few but I heard a rumor you can make games
for PSP and Ipod/Ipad e.t.c and it supports 3d graphics and C+ or C++.

I have Game Maker Pro not Lite so I'm hopping that I have these features.

I can't find a site with just a straight out list of all the features not just upgrades but everything
game maker is capable in the 8.0 or 8.1 version.

> Is Game Maker 8.1 any better e.g is their a significant improvement or is it just a minor upgrade from 8.0? should I try upgrade the 8.0 version and if so how?

> Is it easier to learn GML or RGSS1 or 2? ( Which is easier the game maker programming language or rpg maker one )
and/or which programming language is better in terms of usefulness if I want to persue a career in Game Development.
I read somewhere online that the game maker language has a similar syntax to C+ or C++. This is what professional game programmers use so if this is true it might be more helpful later on than RGSS.

> What is more powerful RPG Maker X.P or Game Maker 8.0? I know one is specifically for rpg's and game maker for more free-based adventure/platform games not exactly one specific game type but I mean what is more powerful in terms of graphics,
scripting ( programming ), system limitations ( e.g which has the least limitations ).

Thank you.

 

[Echo Magnum]

bump

um...I'm starting to think either no one uses game maker here or this site is kinda dead :

 

[Jason]

Be patient, it's been one day, besides, you have to go 2-3 days before you can bump if I'm not mistaken...

You'd have better luck asking most of these questions on the Game Maker forums by the way, and some of them can't be given a straight answer, for example, I think RGSS is easier to learn than GML but that's because I've been using it for longer, it varies by person and how fast they learn.

Although I can give you one straight answer, Game Maker is, and more than likely always will be more powerful than the RPG Makers. Game Maker can display fully 3D graphics (And not this Psuedo 3D stuff that few people have achieved with RPG Maker), and in terms of scripting, there are tons of things you can add using Game Maker, even simple newbies can do it, like adding physics and making full platformer games just by using the drag and drop utilities... if you were to get into the scripting, you'll see just how much can be done with it.

The only problem with Game Maker is that if you want to be all serious and get into it properly, it has a rather large learning curve...

 

[bacon]

Not only that, the interface is so terrible that it makes you want to pull your hair out. x:

 

[Jason]

... That too.

 

[Mr_Smith]

To adress the mobile platform question, I don't believe you can release games for the iOS systems with Game Maker. You need a development kit for that, which costs $99/yr. For that, more information over here.

 

[Echo Magnum]

It's too bad you cant release for the iOs systems but I guess theirs Momins if I really want to design app games for at least mobile phones. For now I'm willing but don't have the time or money to enroll in the iOs developer program but thanks Mr_Smith for the link. I'm guessing Game Maker has no PSP capabilities ( can't work on PSP's ) but I think it works on Xbox, not sure if this was GM or Indie Game Maker.

Speaking of Indie Game Maker, is it by any chance better or as good as Game Maker?

I agree though I have tried out Game Maker before but ages ago ( I think it was Game Maker 6, I used it in 2007 or something )
but I remember looking at the interface and going yuck... back to RPG maker!. Its only now that I've gotten more into it mainly because I'm sick and tired of the limited capabilities in RPG Maker and also GM8 has diagonal tile capabilities as unlimited frames for animated sprites and to seal the ideal I was impressed with the in-built sprite editor that puts even RPG Maker X.P to shame and that's just the basics ( in brief I was impressed with its features ).

I'm willing to learn and master the system and interface as Game Maker looks a lot more promising. Making an rpg game would be a lot harder and challenging but I can already tell it would let me explore some new game ideas and implement them rather than relying on rpg maker's built in functions and ready-made scripts. no offence but it seems rpg maker to me now feels like a crutch but I still think it has the best interface and built-in functions for designing typical rpg games however it becomes difficult to make e.g a platform-shooter rpg or to truly implement your ideas.

I'll check out Yo Yo Games and see what I can learn. Thanks guys. Sorry for being impatient I'm used to very active forum sites.

 

[game_guy]

There is one way to have game maker publish for the iOS. Your game would have to be pretty fantastic. It needs to be good enough for the YoYoGames staff to notice it. If they think its good enough, they'll download the game, decrypt it and use their tools to publish it. I do believe they split any profit with you too.

They publish for the PSP and Android as well.

 

[Echo Magnum]

By fantastic I'm guessing it really needs to be something extra-ordinarily great, the kind of games that are a mainstream success right? Wow, well Its probably going to be tough competition but I'll try see if I can one day get a game of mine published but the problem is right now I'm a beginner with game maker so I't would take a while before I get something professional and fantastic. So far I'll start with simple interesting games but I hope for the YoYo publishers its not all about the game with the most features or most advanced mechanics e.t.c some simple games are actually alot more fun than very complex and detailed ones...maybe I'm just a relatively casual gamer.

 

[R.J.]

Personally I think GML is easier to learn then RGSS. It's the most basic of scripting language, purely designed for easy use and yet it's very capable. It uses normal variables and if statements, arrays and whatnot like most other languages but in the simplest way possible. I found there's also handy tutorials for GML, because most RGSS tutorials I found had nothing to do with RMXP and thus was harder to implement in RMXP.

Game Maker is also capable of a lot more when it comes to sprites and animation. You can literally make any animation you want with as many frames as you want in any format you want.

Ofcourse it also has its downsides, the level editor for example is horrible, as well as the file handling. In the end you have one huge stack of unorganized files to the left of your screen. Personally I don't like the program very much. And if you're going to make a 3D game, then Unity3D is a much, much better program to use.

 

[Mr_Smith]

By fantastic I'm guessing it really needs to be something extra-ordinarily great, the kind of games that are a mainstream success right? Wow, well Its probably going to be tough competition but I'll try see if I can one day get a game of mine published but the problem is right now I'm a beginner with game maker so I't would take a while before I get something professional and fantastic. So far I'll start with simple interesting games but I hope for the YoYo publishers its not all about the game with the most features or most advanced mechanics e.t.c some simple games are actually alot more fun than very complex and detailed ones...maybe I'm just a relatively casual gamer.

I don't want to crush your hopes, but I think the chance of getting them notice your game and publish it is very low. If you have an iPhone or Andriod-based phone, I think you would have more chance of succes if you try to develop for that right away. I know that the iOS SDK will cost you $99/yr but I believe that Andriod developing is free.
Of course it's alot more difficult, but the payoff will also be greater so definitely worth it.

 

[game_guy]

Android developing is free, but to publish yours apps to the store requires a one time price of 25 USD I believe. Unless you plan on making money from your Android apps, you don't need to do this. All you do is build an unsigned APK, use keytool from the JDK to make a key, then use jarsigner to sign the key to the apk. Then upload your app somewhere and have all android users go to the url. I know this didn't make a whole lot of sense to anyone but it might be useful.

 

[Mr_Smith]

Android developing is free, but to publish yours apps to the store requires a one time price of 25 USD I believe. Unless you plan on making money from your Android apps, you don't need to do this. All you do is build an unsigned APK, use keytool from the JDK to make a key, then use jarsigner to sign the key to the apk. Then upload your app somewhere and have all android users go to the url. I know this didn't make a whole lot of sense to anyone but it might be useful.

And even then, if you make a fun little game and ask for $1, $25 isn't alot as you will probably sell some.

 

[R.J.]

That's only if the game is fun and addicting. It needs to stand out and it needs to be popular. Android games are popular indie-games target, everyone thinks they can whop something up for a quick buck.

 

[Luthur]

As far as I'm aware, the only game maker made games on the andriod and itunes stores are those made by yoyo games themself, not just published by them. However, and dont get your hopes up, but yoyo games plans to start publishing games some time in thw future, because, in their own words, they want to be known for 'publishing a variety of great games'. Then youve got the matter of game maker studios which is yoyos current project that will alow for cross platform development (Google it). However, that will all be an extra cost, and probably along the lines of that of unity's costs because of the contracts required.

 

[game_guy]

They have published games that they have not made. Read their blogs carefully. They have contacted the creators of those fun addicting games to make a deal.

 

[Echo Magnum]

But those games are a handful out of hundreds of imo better games on their sites, their was this one game that was sort of a loco-roco fan game that was sort of cool I admit but I've played about 3 games which I thought where better. It would be a lot better to use something like MoMinis that has a ready-supporting website that actually encourage publishing or take time to get into Android developing for apple than to rely on YoYo Games.

I agree, the level editor on game maker is an eye-sore and very user-unfriendly and messy if you don't read the help manual carefully. I've played some rpg's made with both engines and I can say the rumors are true when it comes to rpg games rpg maker is by far better. any other kind of games game maker has the advantage. I might use it for a platformer/shooter or something.

Thanks for your help.