1) How and where did you first hear about Gamemaker?
It was a dark and windy night, mid-2007. The first iPhone had yet to be released. The world seemed simpler then. Early evening. Location: Glasgow, Scotland, inside a large bookshop.
Checking the Programming Books aisle. Found The GameMaker's Apprentice, by Jacob Habgood.
Purchased book. Flicked through it but left it for another day.
I was stuck in a dead-end I.T. job at the time. This is important because I had always dreamed of making my own games. Love of games was even the reason I had gone to university to study computer science, but had fallen into the I.T. role almost by accident and fell into a rut.
Fast forward to early 2008. Vietnam. Teaching English. Hated it (at the time - ironically?, I now teach English at my kindergarten in China). Quit my job. Had 3 weeks before I flew back to New Zealand. Spent my time going through the book and making all the example games as I had nothing else to do.
Went back to NZ. Had been accepted for another I.T. job when I came across an ad for a game programming course in the same city.
Having had re-ignited my passion for game making via the aforementioned book, visited the school. Fell in love. Joined the course even though it would mean living off noodles for a couple of years. Loved it.
The point of the story is, if it wasn't for GameMaker, I may not taken the chance on the game school, and I then ended working in the game industry, something that felt right and made me feel like my life was back on track.
2) What was your first version of Gamemaker?
I believe it was version 7.0 of GameMaker that came with the book.
3) Why do you use it over other engines?
I wouldn't say I use it *over* other engines. I just choose the right tool for the job. I think for 2D games its one of the best. Other engines are improving on their 2d features, but for pixel-perfect graphics, speed of implementing gameplay mechanics, and intuitiveness of the interface, it's great.
Plus, if you want to dig in and get down closer to the metal, GMS / GML allows that.
It's not perfect by any means, but it does everything I need it to do at the moment.