Where did you first hear about Gamemaker? Why do you still use GMS?

-First hear in 2004 year from my brother
-I used GM version 5
-last point I am using it because it was my first start to 3D games I am learned more things about 3D gaming and shaders from game maker studio
This nice topic thank you.
 
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woodsmoke

Member
I was playing GTA1 around 2013 thinking how good of a game it still is. But if only the frame rate was higher because its very low (20fps?) and is hard on the eyes. Of course as someone who never coded anything I thought it can't be that hard to make a better version so I googled "game making program" and guess where I landed. I quickly realized that the GTA game was too ambitious for a noob and started making a brick-breaking game and put the GTA game on ice.

First GM version was GMS 1.something, still using it today.

3D games are too much work for a hobby dev like me, so Gamemakers focus on 2D is perfect. I found it easy to learn with the drag and drop and also all the answers you find when googling. Also youtube videos played a huge role getting started.
 
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Kenshiro

Member
How and where did you first hear about Gamemaker?
I accidentally found a tutorial for making a game with Game Maker 4.3 and loved the tool.
What was your first version of Gamemaker?
The first one was 6.1, but it didn't run well on my PC so at the time I used 5.3 more.
Why do you use it over other engines?
I grew too used to it. That's the only reason I stick with GMS1.4. I still like the workflow and how fast it is for prototyping but that's about it.
 
1) How and where did you first hear about Gamemaker?

It was a dark and windy night, mid-2007. The first iPhone had yet to be released. The world seemed simpler then. Early evening. Location: Glasgow, Scotland, inside a large bookshop.

Checking the Programming Books aisle. Found The GameMaker's Apprentice, by Jacob Habgood.

Purchased book. Flicked through it but left it for another day.

I was stuck in a dead-end I.T. job at the time. This is important because I had always dreamed of making my own games. Love of games was even the reason I had gone to university to study computer science, but had fallen into the I.T. role almost by accident and fell into a rut.

Fast forward to early 2008. Vietnam. Teaching English. Hated it (at the time - ironically?, I now teach English at my kindergarten in China). Quit my job. Had 3 weeks before I flew back to New Zealand. Spent my time going through the book and making all the example games as I had nothing else to do.

Went back to NZ. Had been accepted for another I.T. job when I came across an ad for a game programming course in the same city.

Having had re-ignited my passion for game making via the aforementioned book, visited the school. Fell in love. Joined the course even though it would mean living off noodles for a couple of years. Loved it.

The point of the story is, if it wasn't for GameMaker, I may not taken the chance on the game school, and I then ended working in the game industry, something that felt right and made me feel like my life was back on track.

2) What was your first version of Gamemaker?
I believe it was version 7.0 of GameMaker that came with the book.

3) Why do you use it over other engines?
I wouldn't say I use it *over* other engines. I just choose the right tool for the job. I think for 2D games its one of the best. Other engines are improving on their 2d features, but for pixel-perfect graphics, speed of implementing gameplay mechanics, and intuitiveness of the interface, it's great.

Plus, if you want to dig in and get down closer to the metal, GMS / GML allows that.

It's not perfect by any means, but it does everything I need it to do at the moment.
 

pixeltroid

Member
"How and where did you first hear about Gamemaker? "

I was out of work in mid 2016. I was bored and thought "hey why dont I make a game?". I googled "game making software" and I found the Gamemaker 1.4 demo.
 

GarlicGuy

Member
First heard of game maker after randomly searching...Game Maker program in the early 2000’s

I guess you can say I downloaded the first version of it. Right when it changed names to Game Maker from Animo.

I’ve been using it for years in my spare time and I’m comfortable with it’s simplicity. It’s become so advanced over the years I don’t really see a reason to use anything else.
 

Bluetail7

Member
I searched on how to make games: after browsing some sites I found that game maker was my choice. I got the version 7, but I didn't took the time to understand and use it, until I found GM8. I had no idea on how to code, statements, conditions, loops, etc.

I remember I wanted to make a MegaMan X fangame or at least the character with the same mechanics, so I could make my own levels. Turns out I was not skilled enough to do all that. So I started making my own platformer games in practice, until I felt ready to aim for such complex game.

At this point I think I got better than my past self would have expected, perhaps the dream didn't come to be true, but I'm sure I'll be proud to see my own thing working with more than I could imagine.
 

popley303

Member
I started off using rpg maker on the ps2, i played around with that for a couple years. Then I stopped for a long time, then a year or two ago it peaked my interested again, but i did not have my ps2 anymore. So i decided to one day to see what was available to make on the PC and thats when I found gamemaker 1 trial. I messed around with it for a few months and then it kinda dropped off again. Recently i have been looking to get back into it, and tonight I bought the mobile package. I hope this time I will place more effort on creating a game.
 

JasonTomLee

Member
Oh snap I forgot to post as well Lol
  • How and where did you first hear about Gamemaker?
    -I was reading Indie Dev post mortems back in 2014 because I wondered if it was possible to make games for a living. Stumbled upon David Galindo's blog about his experiences with his first release & Cook, Serve, Delicious! He mentioned 'Gamemaker" and after a few Shawn + Heartbeast tutorials, Gamemaker got me hooked!

  • What was your first version of Gamemaker?
    - Gamemaker Studio 1.4 (not sure which version of 1.4)


  • Why do you use it over other engines?
    - 3D is waayyyyyyyy too time consuming if you want to create a decent title from scratch! Plus Unity is overrated- Gamemaker is underrated. Another obvious one is that you can prototype quickly!
 

JasonTomLee

Member
-First hear in 2004 year from my brother
-I used GM version 5
-last point I am using it because it was my first start to 3D games I am learned more things about 3D gaming and shaders from game maker studio
This nice topic thank you.
Oh my gosh GM version 5! Ive seen a few old videos of version 8- I wonder how janky version 5 was haha

And learning 3D w/gamemaker does teach you alot because you gotta code it from the ground up :D #respect
 

rIKmAN

Member
How and where did you first hear about Gamemaker?
I knew about / heard of GM back when Mark Overmars was the sole developer, but having a coding background and looking at screenshots of it I considered it a toy rather than a serious tool for making games and never paid it any more attention.

Years later it was announced the language I was using at the time (Monkey-X, used to make New Star Soccer and Crypt of the Necrodancer) was being discontinued and it's succesor (Monkey 2) was being worked on but was way too early in development to be used for anything serious.

A short time later and with almost perfect timing as if by fate, I recieved an email from Humble Bundle advertising the GMS 1.4 Bundle with all the exporters for $15, and after checking out what GMS had been upto since the "kids toy" days when I last looked at it and seeing it now supported Spine, shaders etc and had been revamped in terms of the IDE and GML etc, I thought "Why not?" and purchased the bundle.

Wasn't a fan of the 1.4 IDE at all, felt it was clunky as hell and spent most of my time knowing what I wanted to do if I was hand coding it, but having to learn and find out how GMS wanted me to do it in the IDE environment - thankfully there were a lot of tutorials which helped me learn how things worked.

Whilst doing this on and off over the next few months when I had time, the GMS2 news hit and the beta was released so I got straight in on it and never looked back.
Really enjoyed the new IDE and what the future was looking like for GMS2 and went all in and got Desktop, Web and Mobile licences and never looked back.

I think the fact that I didn't like the 1.4 IDE from the outset, paired with the fact that I didn't have to use it for a long time before 2.x came out like many other users is why I don't have any issues with the workspaces that those long term 1.4 users have.

I mean sure there are improvements to be made, but not much that can't be worked around to some degree using preferences and I feel it's so far ahead of the 1.4 IDE that I was glad to not have to use 1.4 anymore.

What was your first version of Gamemaker?
First version I actually used was GMS 1.4.

Why do you use it over other engines?
I don't really have any interest in making 3D games, although I do recognise the advantages it offers even when doing 2D in 3D.
I can and have used Unity and like C# but the lack of interest in 3D is probably because I'm older than the average GMS user and as such have a real soft spot for 2D as that's what I grew up with.

GMS2 fills this gap perfectly and treads the line between being simple enough to allow quick prototyping as well as having some powerful features and supporting things like Spine (which has been finally updated!) to allow more serious users feel at home and use it for more professional and / or ambitious projects - although again improvements can be made in this area.

The 2.2.3 / Q4 update will only add more power features and are something I'm pretty excited about, so as long as things keep going the way they are and it continues to be supported and updated as it has since YYG pulled their finger out since that big thread a while back, then I don't feel the need for me to be going anywhere else and GMS2 allows me to do what I need.
 
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immortalx

Guest
Here's the story of the power of a single word and why I got late to the party:

I've been having some minor interest in programming (and by extension game programming) since the 8-bit days, but was never serious about it. In fact I almost forgot whatever I learned in my youth, in the 2+ decades that followed it. However, I never stopped getting informed about what game engines/mod tools were out there, and dare say I've tried most if not all of them. You know, the "try everything-do nothing with it" type of person.
Naturally, I've stumbled upon GameMaker since its early days. I remember using one of the many Click products at the time and wanted to move on to something with a proper programming language. But there was one thing that bugged me when I saw a tutorial for GM: Rooms. Rooms? Seriously? What about levels, maps, stages? Rooms felt so wrong of a word, so claustrophobic I still can't grow out of it...
And so being the typical hobbyist that can't really program and blames the tools, I went past GM. It wasn't until my son (now a 2nd year CS undergraduate, and my sole excuse of having something to brag about :p) revived my interest and, armed with about half a century's worth of wisdom, I finally turned a blind eye to "rooms" and got GMS2.

I couldn't be happier and stupid-er, because I've managed to make a full 50 level game in less than 2 months (with job, a beloved family and an aching back), all while learning the IDE and language. That may seem much to the seasoned guys but not to the majority. And that tells enough about GM's ability to transform an idea to an actual finished game and not a myriad "project_test_xxxx". So YYG, can't thank you enough, but rooms? :D
 
Oh my gosh GM version 5! Ive seen a few old videos of version 8- I wonder how janky version 5 was haha

And learning 3D w/gamemaker does teach you alot because you gotta code it from the ground up :D #respect
yes thats correct and I remembered since game maker start support 3D games in version 6.1
 
When I was just a young lass...

Most houses had a single computer, and only the grown-ups had cellphones. I was waiting my turn to use the computer, and asked my older brother what he was doing. He told me that he was making a video game forever shattering the grand illusion that I needed a college degree.

I was 10 years old, at the time. (GM was 5 versions old.)

Fifteen years later, I still use Game Maker because making games has been my dream job for as long as I can remember.

I choose Game Maker Studio over other engines, because:
  1. I already know how to use Game Maker
  2. YYG has done a remarkable job of keeping up with the Joneses
    • The number of export options are crazy!
 
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I have no real idea how I found GM. It was way back sometime between 2001-2003. The first version I properly remember using was GM 5 (if I started earlier than 2003 then I would've used an earlier version but I don't remember it). But GM 6 was when I really started getting into making games properly. I released a bunch of demos (Vampire Bat, Hand of God and Room For Improvement were my biggest hits, under the monikers of XedasKbrea and, later, Colourblind), spent a few years working with it and then I just...stopped. I came back again early last year I think? Maybe a bit before that.

I use GMS because it's what I know. I've learnt enough in the past year or two where I could probably branch out and start working with other engines (or, god forbid, 'real' languages), but I don't see the point right now. Nothing I want to make really breaks the scope of 2D and GMS is fast, I intuitively understand the way it works and I'm literally mid-project, so changing to something else would erase at least half a year of work, hahaha.

Also, I spent my formative teenage years messing around with GM and being a part of the early GM community (WAAAY before the idea of making money off indie games was even a real thing to think), giving help and encouragement to those I could and getting help and encouragement back in return. There's a certain nostalgia to it that time only makes stronger.
 
I've been avoiding tools like GMS for many years, I always had the mind set of "if I dont type eveything, then it's cheating", so I went from "AMOS > BlizBasic2 > BlitzBasic (PC) > BlitzMAX > Monkey\X > AGK" but had to move on and make the choice between GMS2 or Unity and I went with GMS2 as its more 2D orentated. And so far I am enjoying it. :)
 
Friend of mine at a LAN party had GM5 on his shared folder and I borrowed it. Failed miserably at using it and gave up after a few weeks. Got a copy of GM8 a few years later and had an easier time getting the hang of it.
There was some promotion for GMS1 where I got it a free version and then they changed things and I eventually got the Pro version via Humble Bundle. Been using that ever since.

Still using it because it's become comfortable. I started a project in GM8 and ported it to GMS1 and I just enjoy how easy it is to get something working. Tried other engines and languages and they are just so tiresome.
 

Llama_Code

Member
Starting making a game using RPG Toolkit. Decent engine geared towards making only RPG's so a lot of the heavy lifting was done by the engine. This lead to some limitations I was not able to overcome so I started looking elsewhere.

I came across Game Maker 4. Downloaded it and started using it. Meet some cool people on the forums, Freegadgets and Carl Gustaffson to name a couple that really helped me learn the engine quick. Carl's beginners guide was a godsend at the time.

I still use it because I have been using it so long I know it inside and out. It's not the only engine I use anymore but I still use it a lot.
 
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ktiix

Guest
I first got GM1.4 in the crazy humble bundle deal in 2015 where it was like $15. When GMS2 came out, I upgraded and got the Android/iOS exporter.

I use it still because it is familiar and I am learning. I have higher ambitions to work in VR development, but first things first.
 
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Storyteller

Guest
started on 4.3
Ive never finished a full game, much less a good one.
I still keep it around because of the name. some nostalgia.
 
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Sam (Deleted User)

Guest
Started with 4.3 which was the last freeware version but first version I bought was 8.1. I use mostly Studio 1.4, but occasionally I'll import the project into Studio 2 for creating executables.
 

Druid_UK

Member
I was researching game engines and found gamemaker mentioned. Looked into it some and then, with perfect timing, the humble bundle package hit so I bought it (1.4), then got GMS2 Pro with the discount. Not actually done anything with it yet, other than a tiny prototype just to test some animation frames on a background.
 
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Lonewolff

Guest
Where did you first hear about Gamemaker?
Same place I am sitting right now in fact.


Why do you still use GMS?
I use a bunch of different things actually. But, I ususally find myself tying it back in to GMS in some form because of my fondness for it (one of those love/hate relationships :D) and its ease of use.

My mind is geared for coding, so the Un* engines, that shall not be named, leave a bit to be desired for me due to their workflows.

But with GM's extension system, this opens up a huge world of fun (literally) for me. I can integrate the language of my choosing with it and make it do things that most people can't. I love a challenge (We love a challenge, hey @Samuel Venable ? I know same is like minded and sure that he would agree wholeheartedly).
 
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Sam (Deleted User)

Guest
GM is only as powerful as you want it to be.

If you have no limits. GM has no limits. :)
Except for the iOS broken splash screens, which can still be fixed, but need to be done manually every time and you need suppress build first to mess with it in Xcode, other than painful things like this, I would have to agree with you.
 
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Lonewolff

Guest
Except for the iOS broken splash screens, which can still be fixed, but need to be done manually every time and you need suppress build first to mess with it in Xcode, other than painful things like this, I would have to agree with you.
Ha! True. Not saying it doesn't have its quirks that makes you want to tear your hair out and scream 'why did YYG do this???'.
 

Lukan

Gay Wizard Freak
I literally googled how to make games.
I went through RPG Maker and Unity before I found it, I stuck with it because it was easy.
I still use it because it's easy and I'm lazy.
 
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Obj_Neil

Guest
I think I heard of it from a Youtube video. I like it because it has a lot of built in functions that saves a lot of time.
 
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Menik

Guest
How and where did you first hear about Gamemaker?

Nothing special, really. I was a young pixel artist, interested in the process of game development. I looked up game development, and found Game Maker, thought I'd give it a try.

What was your first version of Gamemaker?

As far back as I can remember, I started with version 6, but I really didn't get the hang of it until version 8. I remember 8 is where I made anything substantial.

Why do you use it over other engines?

Became too familiarized with it, and in all honesty a lot of the time I kept GM around for its sprite editor. It was powerful to me at the time, and still is in GMS. It had everything I needed in one place and it was simple enough to align with paint.
 
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sofaspartan

Guest
I learned about Gamemaker eight years ago. I had always wanted to make video games but lacked the know-how to do any coding. The drag and drop interface was very appealing to me, so I went for it.
 
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Zefyrinus

Guest
We used GameMaker 6 when I studied game design. That's still my only version of GM. I should buy the newest version and look into how to use that... I have all these old projects that I'm stuck with because I've run into a bug or programming problem that I just couldn't solve. I want to finish those projects first...
 
Sometime in 2013 September I stumbled across game maker when I was searching for a way to make games on the computer. I wanted to make classic Mega Man because at the time classic Mega Man was one and still is one of my favorite franchises. I looked at mostly RealTutsGml's Tutorials to pick up the language. My first version of game maker was GM8 and I use it over every other engine mainly because I've logged thousands of hours into it. It'd be folly of me to swap engines now especially since I paid for the software. I did try Godot but my love for the software, as well as logicial ramifications are too great. Besides, my dream of becoming an indie game dev started in GM8 and it's still continuing in GMS 2.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and have a wonderful day.
 

Toque

Member
Five years ago I wanted to make a game so I looked at my options. I don’t think GM had a Mac version so I used a different engine.

My previous engine was sinking so I had another look at GM about a year ago. Happy it had a Mac version. Glad I made the switch.
 
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