Any good starting tutorials for beginners?

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luuckyyu

Guest
Hello!! I'm a fresh, brand new egg to the GameMaker community and the software itself. This may be a long-winded introduction but I hope you'll bear with me haha.

I've had a game idea in my head for a good few years now that I've been putting off because I have zero experience in coding (though I messed with ren'py, I don't really count it...) and GameMaker always seemed... daunting.
This year I decided to go for it and am now currently searching for good tutorials that can get me started. My endgame vision is a puzzle horror game kind of like Ib, Witch's House, Ao Oni, Undertale (minus the battle sequences) etc. So far, I found a recommendation on reddit to watch Tom Francis's videos on Youtube. Would anyone happen to have any other ideas or videos that might pertain to what I'm going for? Of course, all around basics will be necessary too so I'd love your recommendations!

I'm worried this question may seem redundant to experienced users, but lurking and searching on my own has gotten me no where in my previous, sad attempts at trying to create a game. I want to be more proactive in trying to reach this goal, so I'm stepping out of my comfort zone to ask for help.

Thanks for taking the time to read this block of text, and I'm looking forward to participating more, learning, and--hopefully--creating the game I've been wanting to for years :')
 

samspade

Member
It depends on what you're looking for.

If you want to get a basic understanding of GameMaker in general, then I highly recommend these. It's very similar to the first tutorial I ever watched in GameMaker Studio:

If you want to know more about programming in GameMaker then I recommend my own series as well:

Neither of these are exactly what you're looking for, but I'm not really aware of any tutorial series exactly on that point.


There are (a lot, perhaps too many) resources here:

And I keep a slightly smaller list here:
 

HayManMarc

Member
Welcome to GameMaker and the GMC!

Best thing to do is work through the official GameMaker tutorials to get a good handle on GML code (for beginners).

Reference the manual often! The manual is a huge help.

@samspade has some great tutorial videos on basics to watch, also.

(EDIT: lol - ninja'd by the sam himself!)

Once you get to know the language, the syntax, and other fundamentals, then try to make a tiny little game on your own. (And I mean TINY.)

Many times, beginners try to make their dream project right away. Many times, they run into a lot of problems that can lead to burnout. I'm not saying that will happen with you, just something you might want to be aware of.

Good luck, and don't be afraid to ask questions! That's why we're all here. :)
 
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luuckyyu

Guest
It depends on what you're looking for.

If you want to get a basic understanding of GameMaker in general, then I highly recommend these. It's very similar to the first tutorial I ever watched in GameMaker Studio:

If you want to know more about programming in GameMaker then I recommend my own series as well:

Neither of these are exactly what you're looking for, but I'm not really aware of any tutorial series exactly on that point.


There are (a lot, perhaps too many) resources here:

And I keep a slightly smaller list here:
oh wow thank you so much!! I'll be sure to check all of these out! Searching around, I did have a feeling that there wouldn't be any tutorials with exactly what I was looking for, but that just makes me all the more grateful for your recommendations. ^^ Once I've got the basics down, I'm sure (I hope!!!) I'll be able to achieve what I'm striving for!
 
L

luuckyyu

Guest
Welcome to GameMaker and the GMC!

Best thing to do is work through the official GameMaker tutorials to get a good handle on GML code (for beginners).

Reference the manual often! The manual is a huge help.

@samspade has some great tutorial videos on basics to watch, also.

(EDIT: lol - ninja'd by the sam himself!)

Once you get to know the language, the syntax, and other fundamentals, then try to make a tiny little game on your own. (And I mean TINY.)

Many times, beginners try to make their dream project right away. Many times, they run into a lot of problems that can lead to burnout. I'm not saying that will happen with you, just something you might want to be aware of.

Good luck, and don't be afraid to ask questions! That's why we're all here. :)
Hate to admit it, but a burnout definitely did happen to me once... but I'm back and here's to hoping it won't happen again.
Thank you so much for the friendly response and advice! My biggest fear was being shunned for being an absolute newb and asking silly questions x'( You and samspade really helped me get over that hurdle haha cheers!!!
 

Cameron

Member
Hate to admit it, but a burnout definitely did happen to me once... but I'm back and here's to hoping it won't happen again.
Thank you so much for the friendly response and advice! My biggest fear was being shunned for being an absolute newb and asking silly questions x'( You and samspade really helped me get over that hurdle haha cheers!!!
People here won't shun you as long as you show a willingness to learn and work hard.

As far as getting stuck and/or burning out, it's always going to be tough and overwhelming at the beginning of a learning curve. If you do get stuck then just back up, build up some momentum, and come right back at it. As long as you're persistent you'll grow your programming brain/muscle and eventually all problems will be mere hurdles.

Most of all, just have fun :)
 
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woods

Member
biggest fear was being shunned for being an absolute newb and asking silly questions
the only stupid question is the one you were afraid to ask..
...ofc you should back that up with some reasearch first. and if you still need some help.. then by all means ask those stupid questions.. i havnt gotten flogged for it yet ;o)
 
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