Ms Gold's Computer Science Classes at Marshfield High School

Game Maker Central

• Game Maker Tutorials

  • all tutorials thanks to Margaret Meijers at ICT Mindtools - to find out more about Margaret go to: http://www.mindtools.tased.edu.au/author.htm
  • Link to Scoring and Lives Game Maker Tutorial

    Link how to Create Tiled Backgrounds for Platform Games - Game Maker Tutorial

    Link to Platform Games - Game Maker Tutorial

    Link to Laser Games

    Link to Monsters (how to make a monster beam a laser in the right direction)

    Link to Lesson on How X and Y Coordinates Work

 

Where to go for more help...

* Try the official Game Maker Community Forums

Where to find more sprites for your games:

* Download Resources from YoYo Games
* Try Sprites from gsarchives.net

Where to find sound effects and music for your games:

*http://www.a1freesoundeffects.com/
*http://www.freeplaymusic.com
*http://www.flashkit.com/loops/
*http://freesoundfiles.tintagel.net/Audio/


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Game Maker Resources

• Sprites - Are pictures/images used to represent objects in a game. For example the picture of a Pac-Man is called a Sprite . Animated Sprites can be created by including a number of different images into one named Sprite.
• Objects - Are your basic operating units in Game Maker. They are what controls your game. Objects can be visible if a Sprite is associated with an Object or invisible with no associated Sprite.

 

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Designing a Game

Things to think about when designing a game

Create a document containing the following

1. Write a sentence or two that describes the overall premise of you game.
2. Write down the goal of the game. For example, is it for the palyer to go on an adventure and find a lost treasure or to race through a series of challenging levels and to overcome an ultimate foe at the game's final level?
3. Write down sub-goals - these are goals that the player must fulfill in each level to advance to the next level.
4. Describe the characters (objects) of the game
   1. their major characteristics (friend or foe) and features (how will they move -etc)
   2. Sounds they make
   3. How the object is controlled - i.e. keyboard or mouse
   4. How the object interacts with other objects - does it collide
5. Describe each room
   1. Which characters are associated with each room
   2. Special music associated with the room

As you design your levels, levels should progress from easy to increasingly difficult. The game play needs to balanced. You want to avoid making your game play too easy so that the player becomes bored with the game, but not too hard so the player becomes frustrated and gives up. This balance is achieved by pre-planning, practice, and user testing. Your goal should be to keep players of all skill levels challenged and entertained.

(From Getting Started with Game Maker by Jerry Lee Ford, Jr. Course Technology, Cengage Learning -taken from Chapter 5)

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Assessments for Game Maker Projects

• Create a Folder on the H named H:/Basic/GameMaker/YourGameName
  • The Folder will contain
    • Two Game Maker files called yourFirstNameGameName.gmk and yourFirstNameGameName.exe
• No spaces in File Names.
• In code must have meaningful sprite and object Names
• Games MUST not include inappropriate violence or language. Points will be deducted for any violation of this rule. A zero will be given for any game that has been altered from its original conception to contain school inappropriate material.
• more coming..