How familiar are you with GML?

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tecnologgamer

Guest
Good night

I'm new in forum and new user of Game Maker, I choose the engine after see who GML is based on C and starting collegue I begin to see C and my doubt is since I'm studing C I can familiarize with GML more easily.
 
2) Comments/Notes will be your best friend. Seriously, do it even with simple self explanatory syntax like "room_restart();" Just throwing in a simple comment explaining what you're doing, will further ingrain into your head what is happening, and how the logic/syntax works. And if you are going at a slow pace, or have forgotten what you were working on before, leaving many comments are super helpful for jogging your memory.
Most important to comment code that took a while to figure out, anywhere there's a trick, or something not obvious, so that your future self doesn't have to figure out why you did something one way as opposed to another. So many times i've looked back at code I wrote ages ago, saw some kind of "improvement" I could make to the code, only to realize there was a good reason why I didn't do it that way in the first place. If only I had recorded the reason why the first time around, I could have avoided wasting my time.
 
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PogoP

Guest
This thread is really inspiring! It's great to know that even GMS 'experts' still have to do lots of googling :p
 

Rob

Member
So being a noob to GMS, getting a grip on GML so far has been really hard. I'm not going to give up learning it, but it's hard to really retain all of the information that I'm getting from the manual and I honestly don't see myself just coding off the top when I get to making more advanced games.

So my questions are how familiar do you consider yourself with GML? How long did it take you to get where you are, or did you have prior experience with coding? Do you ever find yourself going back to the manual to refresh yourself on certain things? What was the hardest part of learning it for you?

Any help is appreciated.
Honestly, man, I wouldn't retain a lot of information just by reading the manual either.

When I come across problems, I look for ways around it. I'll search the internet and watch youtube videos. That's often how I discover to use functions I've never used before or had a vague knowledge of.

I learn best by constant and repeated use of them, though.
 
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Andy

Guest
I would rate myself intermediate.
I feel confident that I basically can get what I want done. Coming from a background with little programming or math skills, and being largely self taught, I sometimes use non-optimal or unconventional tactics. :p
 
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Facetious

Guest
It's like any language - whether code or a spoken language. You have to learn the basics first . In Game Maker (if you can find a copy) start using the old GM 5, 6, 7 or 8 drag and drop "building blocks" and see what the code is for those basic events - then as you progress you may refer to the manual to extend your knowledge. Personally, when I needed to find something I found it in the manual, eventually. It is a good idea to read through it just to see what functions etc there are and what they do.
That's what I did but haven't used Game Maker in over 10 years thus, I have forgotten all the code. I have just looked at some old games I was trying to write over 10 years ago and, to be honest, I haven't a clue how I managed to write it. I got lost trying to understand everything. So, it is also very useful to have comments in your code reminding you exactly where the code is activated and what the results of the code do or go to.
 
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Frankfield

Guest
if 1 is 'day 1 newbie to coding" and 10 is "gml expert"

After 7-8 months I am currently at 1.4 :(
 
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