Game Mechanics How come there's no tutorials like this on the marketplace?

F

Falconsoft-Industries

Guest
marble shooter example like the following
For $8 or $10 I would happily buy it.
 
Its pretty niche and specific. I think the key to this game would be a timeline (edit path is what its called) as the marbles never deviate from the line. It wouldn't be that difficult to do.
 
Last edited:

Yal

🐧 *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
I think the key to this game would be a timeline as the marbles never deviate from the line.
Nah, I'd say a path, since you can destroy marbles. Have a list of marbles that are attached to the thing pushing them forward, add 0.001 to their path position each step... collision logic is a bit more complicated, you need to
  • ...have loose marbles on the path get assimilated when the snake of marbles run into them
  • ...have shot marbles get into the path between the two marbles it hits
  • ...have marbles at the 'snake head' get detached from the path if you cut off a bit of the path using a chain reaction
Not sure how to handle that, but there's probably a way that's not too hard using a mix of looping through the list and point_distance.
 

YellowAfterlife

ᴏɴʟɪɴᴇ ᴍᴜʟᴛɪᴘʟᴀʏᴇʀ
Forum Staff
Moderator
Isn't that game just a Zuma clone? Entering "GameMaker Zuma tutorial" reveals at least a couple of those on YouTube alone.
 
Nah, I'd say a path, since you can destroy marbles. Have a list of marbles that are attached to the thing pushing them forward, add 0.001 to their path position each step... collision logic is a bit more complicated, you need to
  • ...have loose marbles on the path get assimilated when the snake of marbles run into them
  • ...have shot marbles get into the path between the two marbles it hits
  • ...have marbles at the 'snake head' get detached from the path if you cut off a bit of the path using a chain reaction
Not sure how to handle that, but there's probably a way that's not too hard using a mix of looping through the list and point_distance.
Yeah paths that's it. I always forget what its called.
 
F

Falconsoft-Industries

Guest
I was also thinking Luxor but YouTube searching "game maker zuma tutorial" only gets a Spanish tutorial in game maker 8.1 showing how to make a cannon object and a bullet and a room and then that's the end of the tutorial.
This is why we need a finished tutorial also in English so everyone can understand the tutorial. :) Please take note that I did not mean to offend anyone or Spanish people or the creator of the tutorial.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
M

MishMash

Guest
Generally speaking, pure and specific tutorials are far from the best way of learning. One thing that most developers do when they need to learn how to do something new is start by breaking the game down into a number of steps, essentially as Yal did. Once you have done this, you can tackle smaller problems and come up with solutions for those first. Often times, it is easier to find more generic tutorials, or code snippets for individual sub-systems within a larger game.

In a way, specific tutorials aren't all that helpful, because the tutorial will be over-engineered to a very specific style of game, and thus if your intention is to go in and edit/change it to suit your needs, it'll become incredibly messy very quickly.

For you, what I would start by doing is having a look more objectively at the type of game you want to make, split it into all the sub components such as:
"I need a cannon which can shoot a ball in a given direction",
" I need a track along which marbles will move",
"I need a way of detecting collisions between marbles",
"I need to have a way of tracking groups of marbles"

Once you get into a habit of doing this, you can more easily ask questions on the forum for any particular section you are stuck with, or perhaps even find a marketplace asset that solves one of those issues. If you do this, you will both learn faster and become a more proficient programmer, as a programmers most valuable skill is their ability to learn (No matter how experienced you are, learning is always something that is going to be necessary).

I'd also strongly recommend against "copy and paste" programming (which is the process of basically micro-editing/copying an existing code-base without taking time to understand what the code does), as you wont effectively learn what the code is actually doing. Putting active effort and constant thought into what you are doing can be challenging, but it is also equally rewarding :)

On another note, for most people, creating an in-depth tutorial for a specific game like this would likely take the person 10 or so hours, so even having a small financial incentive still doesn't really make it worth their time, especially as it isn't likely to help a huge range of people.
 
F

Falconsoft-Industries

Guest
I can cover the basics it's just tracking groups of marbles that troubles me.
 
P

Psyklon

Guest
I made a Zuma engine in Game Maker years ago, take a look at ti. You'll find download link in the comments here:

It's unfinshed, buggy, and 6 years old, but I think you'll find your answers in the source :)
 
Top