What game should I make first? I'm a beginner

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Braden Baldassero

Guest
I'm new to game maker and was just wondering what basic games I should make to learn how the program works. I already did all the built in tutorials
 
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Braden Baldassero

Guest
Something simple so look to the old classics. Try Pong with a basic 45 degree direction change when it hits a border or bat. Should warm you up for then trying Space Invaders :)
Thanks man I'll try it out!
 
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maratae

Guest
I'm new to game maker and was just wondering what basic games I should make to learn how the program works. I already did all the built in tutorials
Why did you get game maker? What kinds of games did you want to make, which made you decide to get game maker?
My suggestion is you do that, step by step, one element at a time.
Exemple: Wanted to make a metroidvania? Start small. Learn basic platforming. Move left, move right. Then learn state machines for your character. Learn how to use ds_grids to organize your rooms and ds_maps to save games, etc, one step at a time.
 
After Pong and Space Invaders, try making Asteroids and Robotron style games as well. Basically any early 80s arcade games that spark your interest are good candidates.
 

TheouAegis

Member
Hey, some of those 80s games were pretty complex.

https://www.google.com/search?q=80s...&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&inm=vs#tts=0

I consider Gyruss complex enough.

While Tetris is technically a simple game, it's very difficult for a lot of beginners in gamemaker to make a working version. Mostly because they try to go about it differently than most other people do in other languages.

Double Dragon is a good learning experience in 2.5D.

Then there's Pole Position...
 
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Silver_Mantis

Guest
A point-and-click type game was my very first game.
I actually made it in flash which is much harder than making it in Game Maker.

Point-and-clicks are good because they teach you a lot of logical principles. The basics are just clicking objects with your mouse so that part's easy, but the rest can be a good challenge to help you understand how code works.
Just look up something like Pajama Sam or the Putt Putt Adventure games. You'll get what I mean. :cool:
 
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trentallain

Guest
I'm new to game maker and was just wondering what basic games I should make to learn how the program works. I already did all the built in tutorials
I recommend attempting to re-create a simple game that you enjoy(ed) playing. That way you will find motivation to keep trying. For example, I think my first game was a very basic Zelda, but while it was honestly garbage, at least I learnt a lot and enjoyed making it!
 

Micah_DS

Member
Oh man, Chip's Challenge is definitely not a simple game. Sokoban would probably be a better suggestion. (I love Chip's Challenge though!)

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I agree with just making what you want to. You'll probably make it somewhat simple by nature, because of limited knowledge of GameMaker. At least, that's how it worked with me. My first game in GameMaker was either a very terrible Pac-Man sort of thing, or it was a terribly clunky platformer. Been a long time, so I'm not sure exactly.
 
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Hyperball

Guest
I'm new to game maker and was just wondering what basic games I should make to learn how the program works. I already did all the built in tutorials
i would reccomend to begin making a simple platformer, in a pixelart kind of style, i begun using game maker about a hlf year ago, and this is by far the most fun and easy way to get used to things.
 
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ForesterPL

Guest
My first game, was something like "World Hardest Game". I made it when I was 10. When I was making that game, I learned a lot of basics, and then I started to make a retro games like: pong (1 player and 2 players version), space invaders, Super Mario Bros etc... In my opinion: it's better to start with classic, simple games, so you don't need to have a special graphic talent. You can also take a look in net for tutorials for beginners. Good luck!
 

Gamebot

Member
You could just start with a text oriented game. This would give you the basics of simpler things like drawing stuff to a screen. You can use arrays to hold all your text, then use the draw event to draw. While in the draw event you can also learn to use

draw_set_font
draw_set_color
draw_set_halign
draw_set_valign

draw_text
draw_text_ext

draw_rectangle and/or draw_rectangle_color

Just a thought.
 
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Lonewolff

Guest
Something simple so look to the old classics. Try Pong with a basic 45 degree direction change when it hits a border or bat. Should warm you up for then trying Space Invaders :)
Actually, Space Invaders would be a fun one to replicate. Should be relatively easy for the most part. Busting up the four shield bunkers might need a bit of thought though.
 
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TeddyBear

Guest
A point-and-click type game was my very first game.
I actually made it in flash which is much harder than making it in Game Maker.

Point-and-clicks are good because they teach you a lot of logical principles. The basics are just clicking objects with your mouse so that part's easy, but the rest can be a good challenge to help you understand how code works.
Just look up something like Pajama Sam or the Putt Putt Adventure games. You'll get what I mean. :cool:
Hi, I am new to Gamemaker as well and interested in learning how to make some simple point and click game. May I know if you have any tutorial which I can refer to and explore on my own?
 

Hyomoto

Member
Great advice here, even experienced coders can learn from recreating old games but for a beginner there are some distinct advantages:
-the graphics and sounds are typically easy to source and use
-you already know what the end result should look like
-it will give you perspective on the complexity of a project

As a basic complexity scale, RPG is at the top, puzzle games in the middle, and arcade shooter is at the bottom. Side scrolling is less complex than overhead. Jetpack, Defender or Choplifter are good starting points.
 

jackquake

Member
After following Shaun's Asteroids tutorial for GMS1, I got a bad fever to recreate Space Wars. The star gravity was probably the hardest point for me to overcome at the time. However I loved every minute of making it. after that I made the Space Invaders game as well which I believe all of us probably did some point in time. Again the hardest part there was blowing up the bunkers bit by bit. that part forced me to get to know surfaces quite well.

Absolute excellent advice on this topic. And when you hit a hurdle, don't stop until you overcome it. That is when you really learn.
 

Joe Ellis

Member
I would practice doing collisions, they're in every game and it can be a hard thing to get used to at first, maybe cus theres so many different ways to do them in gml, but reading the manual about each one is useful, I look them up sometimes and iv been doing it for ages,
but place_meeting is good, for collisions with the ground, walls and slopes
 
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