A Few Questions

[BraveSirRobin]

Hello, Game Maker Community.
Im 27, College Grad, Working in a Factory, 50 plus hours a week not doing what i love.
I want to Design, I want to Create, I practice these things every day.

Is it possible to learn GameMaker, in small burst, over time, and get to the ability to perform at an admirable lvl
Is, this software, actually used in making money, meaning does it have any success story's, Im unsure if the Showcases, used this software 100% or used this to just prototype
Is being 27, and just starting this..leave me at a disadvantage? I mean..Is it to late for me to see this dream anyone feels?

Maybe this post seems wierd to some of you, But these are questions im seeking answers to
Im looking in this post for Clarification, Hope or the Truth, or all of the Above

 

[JDSTIGER]

Your questions are messy.. maybe organize it?

 

[Dreambig]

Hello, Game Maker Community.
Im 27, College Grad, Working in a Factory, 50 plus hours a week not doing what i love.
I want to Design, I want to Create, I practice these things every day.

Is it possible to learn GameMaker, in small burst, over time, and get to the ability to perform at an admirable lvl
Is, this software, actually used in making money, meaning does it have any success story's, Im unsure if the Showcases, used this software 100% or used this to just prototype
Is being 27, and just starting this..leave me at a disadvantage? I mean..Is it to late for me to see this dream anyone feels?

Maybe this post seems wierd to some of you, But these are questions im seeking answers to
Im looking in this post for Clarification, Hope or the Truth, or all of the Above

I don't know the answer to question 1, but it is possible to make money off it(Undertale for example, not sure how accurate the data is) I don't think it's ever to late to follow that dream, as long as you put yourself to it and don't give up.

 

[BranTheBuilder]

There are definitely people who have made money from gamemaker games, i am very new to the community and have come across a few, Tom Francis is one, check out his 'make a game with no experience' series on you tube.

I am 36 and i bought gamemaker in the humble bundle and have learned a fair bit so far, you are never too old to do anything until you cant physically or mentally do it imho. At 27 you are still a spring Chicken.

Whether you can learn it in bits and take it to a decent level depends on you, i have already hit a few walls, i have limited time too (stressful full time job + family) but i am determined to keep going and get past them.

 

[NazGhuL]

Hi @BraveSirRobin .
I started the learn C Autumn 2011 at the age of 32.(with a base in Basic and Qbasic and Rpg Maker)
I found Game maker 8.1 at the very start of 2012. I learn a lot and start working on my very first game in september 2012. I released it May the first 2013.
Here it is: http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=579468
It's not perfect, didn't make any money with it (it's free and complete!!!).
I then buy Game maker studio and push foward. I learned to work with more 'complex' things and started a bigger project. Procedural generation, data structure, read/write file, custom save/load, etc.
I release Runelock May 2013: http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=620753&hl=runelock
Still imcomplete because it was so messy. But after 1 year of hardwork I came in a state that learning wasn't 'painful'. (2014)
Need to do something, try it, not working..erase it and restart...not working press F1 and search...not working Post a topic in the GMC.
That leads me to:
(February and Arpil 2015) Inventory DB and Rogue-Lock : https://marketplace.yoyogames.com/publishers/217/jonathan-moreau
I'm very proud of these assets and I had (and still have) good feedback emails. (These are the only revenue I made)
Then I tried to play around with a database. Sending and receiveing highscore. Then HTML5 module. (Very different approach than a windows game)
I'm now returning at my first passion, doing a game first for fun then I'll check to publish it on....Steam? I don't know.
But the reality of $$$ is different at 17 than 25-30++
I have a wife, 2 kids, I work 48h/week as a cook.

Each 100$ I earn.
Yoyo takes 30$
Then I put 30$ aside for taxes.
Same thing when I will have to sell a game. (Will I?)
Passion is the key! Do it with passion. If you only want to make money, you better have to learn very, very fast and have a pretty amazing game idea.
Otherwise, you'll eat plain macaroni and live in a cardboard apartment.
Don't quit your job!

Is, this software, actually used in making money, meaning does it have any success story's, Im unsure if the Showcases, used this software 100% or used this to just prototype

It's made for creating game. How you make money is another thing called Buisness (in combo with marketing)
You can sell everything, whatever the media it was made of. People made money selling website created with notepad you know. (I know that in 2016 there is now better tools!)
So...I hope it gives you an idea.

Is being 27, and just starting this..leave me at a disadvantage?

No.

 

[Llama_Code]

Well there is a thread right below yours that shows age is not an issue.

http://forum.yoyogames.com/index.php?threads/well-darn-i-did-it.9306/#post-64542

As for if you can learn it, that depends on you. Every person learns differently and some can learn better than others with restrictions. It's entirely possible to learn while having a family life and working a full time job, it's just a question of whether you personally can do it.

And yes you can make money, just don't expect to make a full time living with it unless you can produce and sell some amazing stuff quickly. I make a decent income with it, but not enough to quit my day job to be sure. I also have a wife and kids to think about, and my day job pays, my benefits and retirement, it will always be there. Game Making may not be, which is why I didn't pursue it as a career to begin with even though its what I originally went to school for.

 

[Drewster]

Hello, Game Maker Community.
Im 27, College Grad, Working in a Factory, 50 plus hours a week not doing what i love.
I want to Design, I want to Create, I practice these things every day.

Is it possible to learn GameMaker, in small burst, over time, and get to the ability to perform at an admirable lvl
Is, this software, actually used in making money, meaning does it have any success story's, Im unsure if the Showcases, used this software 100% or used this to just prototype
Is being 27, and just starting this..leave me at a disadvantage? I mean..Is it to late for me to see this dream anyone feels?

Maybe this post seems wierd to some of you, But these are questions im seeking answers to
Im looking in this post for Clarification, Hope or the Truth, or all of the Above

Yes you can make real games and make real money on them. Many have. Many more haven't. The tool is good. The rest is up to you.