Your Journey as a Programmer

Hi guys & gals!

I'd like to open up a discussion on your journey as a programmer. Here are some questions to start off with. Pick whichever you'd like.

  • Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
  • Are you self-taught?
  • Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
  • Did you go because you wanted to make games?
  • Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
  • Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
  • How has GameMaker influenced your career path?

As for myself, I started using GameMaker when I was 10 or 11 (around when GM5 was out) and stuck with it on and off throughout my life. I was self-taught for many years. I went to UNLV to get a Music Composition degree but switched after 2 years to Computer Science. I just got my Bachelor's degree. Many of the things I have been taught in school have come a lot easier because of my background in GameMaker. On the other side, my education has helped me become a better programmer in GameMaker. Making games is a hobby for me, but I have made some money from doing contract work (some educational games for a website). It just feels good to solve problems and create something in the process.

I want to hear your stories!
Thank you!
-Aaron
 
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JackTurbo

Member
Interesting topic.

I trained as a graphic designer originally, ended up teaching myself web design along the way with the help of operas curriculum on the topic. This was mainly because of how laughable webdesign modules are on graphic design courses here in the UK.

Worked as a digital designer (basically a combination of graphic designer responsibilities and front end dev stuff) fo a number of years.

This point I had strong html, css and ok JavaScript knowledge.

Started game dev-ing as a hobby a couple of years ago and fell into gms almost immediately.
Self taught using a few different resources with occasional additional guidance from some software dev friends and (more recently) a huge amount help from Nystrom's "Game Programming Patterns" book.

Did some game jams along the way, which were super helpful. Global gam jame was probably the most helpful as it's done in person so I got to meet a bunch of local devs.

Currently about halfway through developing my first commercial project: A Day In Valhalla.
 
Nice topic, let's keep this going.

I started game development in 7th grade with Gamemaker 8.1 on my school computers. My middle school was fortunate enough to have a game programming class, which I took in 8th grade the year after. I started because I loved playing games, and I found that making games was really satisfying because I could apply problem solving and my skills (like math) to something that actually produced something cool. Eventually I got my own laptop at home and GMS1 and made a lot of games, mostly inspired by Legend of Zelda, Secret of Mana, or Minecraft.

I had always used the GMC as a resource for learning, but a few years ago I actually made an account because I realized that someone had asked a question I actually knew the answer to. (Here's the thread: https://forum.yoyogames.com/index.php?threads/minimap.1442/#post-12006). That's when I got properly involved in the community and actually started game development. I joined some jams shortly after, I think I've done 4-5 by now I can't remember. Those are always really fun and good practice (looking forward to the next one). I also started working on longer form projects, like Valley of Charon (A survival game), which was sadly cancelled as the project got beyond my scope to maintain. My current project is The Last Librarian which I've worked on for many many hours over the past year. I attempted a Kickstarter a few months ago for that project, which sadly failed, but I'm still developing it and will have it released by the end of next year.

Currently I am attending university to get a degree in computer science. I'm still in my first quarter. I've been self-taught all the way to literally a few weeks ago, so taking programming classes finally is quite awesome. My long term plan is to get at least two large projects on my portfolio (The Last Librarian and at least one other) and I'll have a research project of some kind related to game design/the game industry (A project like that required for the program I'm enrolled in, may as well be related to game design). I want to become a game designer or developer as a career, but just a programmer would be fine too so I have a solid backup plan. In a few years I'll update and tell ya'll how that went.
 

The-any-Key

Member
Started to code basic on a vic64 when I was around 10 years old. I got hooked. Created some small programs that i saved on 5.25 discs and casset tape. I continue to code through the years and jumped language to language ex: quick basic, html, java, java-script, lingo, asp, Pascal, Delphi, assembler, c++ (dos), php, vb5... and finally game maker 1.4.

Mostly self-taught but got some stuff from high-school. I went a computer-elecronics for 3 years.

I never had the "artistic gene". When I try imagine an image, everything just goes black. So I rely on artists and image packs when I develop games.

I have a part time job and the rest I work with others on projects for per hour work or on commission. But the plan is to only work with coding.

When I first created a multiplayer game (a TI-83 calculator tic-tac-toe game using a data cable between 2 devices). I found that it was super fun. Worked with multiplayer for many years and loved the challanges and the "4D thinking".

Prepping for a 3D game and gathering equipment like mocap and hiring artists and designers and hopefully create a nice little multiplayer game.
 
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I actually got Game Maker 5 off a friend in High School. I had always been interested in games ever since getting my Sega Master System as a kid. By primary school I was already pretty fascinated with games and how they worked. I had a few hand-me-down computers back then, but it wasn't until I got my old 486 that I found QBASIC and eventually figured out how to make simple number guessing games.
I already knew I wanted to make games by this point but it wasn't until I got my first copy of GM that I even thought ot may be possible. A friend and I would stumble through trying to make whatever we could with absolutely no idea what we were doing(We didn't have the internet to help us out...)
I've been in and out of coding classes since then but I eventually began to realise I don't really like coding when it's not for a game. I have also dabbled a little in art and animation over the years, and later into high school I got into guitar and creating music. So I like creating all aspects of the game, a bit of a jack of all trades.
I gave up on GM for a few years and came back around GM 8.1 and started making so much more headway, gave up again for a little while until I got a free copy of GM Studio Pro, and that reignited the spark for me. The last couple of years have been my most motivated, especially since the GMC reboot and participating in all the new jams here.

Also, Aaron is a pretty good name in my opinion.
 

Pfap

Member
Oh gosh, I am a failed mechanical engineer (what does failed even mean). Anyways, they wouldn't let me around tractor parts, but games... what's the worst he can do?

I honestly just stumbled into it. My younger brother downloaded Gamemaker and I just kind of jumped in on a project, because it was something to do. I never really had any serious ambitions in the world of computers or programming and it kind of scares me to get attached to the idea of making games for living. Like, as soon as I decide I want something it will run as far away from me as possible...

So, my current journey in programming is currently at the "if it works cool"... Otherwise, I guess there are always decent jobs working under engineers and handling problems on factory floors, but that is kind of a negative view. Simply because it seems as there is no shortage of programming jobs, even if not game related.

I have worked on farms and feel there is a lot of unfulfilled potential in the programming sector when it comes to agriculture. And the game market is wild, who knows what people will download or give there time to.
 
B

Binary Orange Studios

Guest
Neat idea for a topic!

Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
Yes, I have been programming since I was 15 (12 years ago!), using DarkBASIC, though I never got too far with it. I've experimented with so many engines over the years and always came back to Game Maker. In fact I just bought GMS 2 today! Previously, I had bought GMS 1 back in 2013, and used it fairly heavily but never released anything with it.

Are you self-taught?
Yes, I have watched many YouTube tutorials and also found some classes on udemy (general programming and such), as well as read the documentation.

Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
I, in fact, did not go to college, but if I had I definitely would have enrolled in every programming course I could have, as well as any game design course. I have been fascinated with developing my own games for at least 12 years.

Did you go because you wanted to make games?

See above!

Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
Currently as a hobby, though I do wish to sell games in the nearish future to supplement my income, and perhaps even be my sole income eventually!

Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
Nope, nor have I made any applications in any other engine/language. I did once try to code my own GUI library inside of DarkBASIC but it was a nightmare, quickly gave up on it due to how silly that language was!

How has GameMaker influenced your career path?

It hasn't influenced my current career, I would argue my current career has influenced my desire to make games again as I eventually want out of it and to pursue my dreams of being a game developer.
 

Rob

Member
I did 2 years of Pascal in college about.... 21-22 years ago? I tried to make my own games but I wasn't very good. I managed to make a text-based adventure with the usual N/S/E/W directions and some monsters to fight along the way. I also made a few sprites for a Chaos clone but didn't get very far with the programming (selecting different creatures and making them move wasn't working lol).

Since then I was pretty aimless in life, worked in soul-draining jobs that I put everything I had into but got next to nothing out (because they were brainless jobs). I discovered GameMaker about 3 - 3 1/2 years ago and I haven't looked back since then.

I just enjoy making stuff and being productive. Thinking over problems and solving them. I used to make cardboard games when I was a kid because there were games I wanted to play but I didn't own them. Games like Space Hulk and Hero Quest. I also used to spend hours writing my own RPG pen + paper games that nobody ever played lol...

If I'd of been the same person then than I am now I would have really tried to get into some kind of career making games when I was younger. I know I've always wanted to make games but I haven't always had the willpower to look into it. I used to drain myself at work, come home and not want to think about anything.

I'm trying to make money from GameMaker and I've been lucky enough to land a few small jobs, but I'm nowhere near making a living doing it... yet!

I've wondered about using GameMaker for something other than games but I don't think I'd find it as much fun. I just love diving into projects and building the systems. When the game starts to come to life and the AI starts moving around and doing what it's supposed to it always makes me happy ;)
 
I started programming when I was about 8 or 9 years old with QBasic in DOS. Back in the 80s. I taught myself by looking at the examples in the help files. It was extremely difficult because I didn't even speak a single word of English. There was no Internet or other resources at that time. I made small adventure games and demos. I was catapulted into a whole new world when I found out that you could also use inline assembler. Especially Mode 13h.

I remember buying my first Borland C++ compiler when I was about 14. There was a tiny computer shop near my school and it took all of my money. At that time I thought I had to use C++ because all good games were made in it. But it was a nightmare! Coming from a BASIC background and going OOP was completely overwhelming.

And then came life. Suddenly I got here and there. I had nothing to do with programming or computers anymore. But I still had the dream to release my own game one day. Until I started developing again about 5 or 6 years ago. I created my own game engine with C++ and SDL. However, I quickly realized that an engine doesn't make a game and that I had very limited resources. So I looked around for alternatives. Since then I've been using Gamemaker and I'm actually pretty satisfied.

However, working on my game is exhausting because I can only work late at night and early in the morning. The rest of the day is reserved for my everyday job. But somehow I have to do it.
 
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immortalx

Guest
I started programming in Sinclair basic on my first computer, a ZX Spectrum +2.
I cannot describe the magic of knowing the manual inside-out, no internet, no YouTube tutorials, just some monthly magazines with type-in programmes and while tons of books existed, there were very difficult to get a hold of. I'd give an arm and a leg just to get that feeling back for a brief moment. Seriously.
I then realized I needed to learn assembly if I were to write anything remotely serious. And learn I did. I managed to grab a book about the Spectrum machine language and followed along. To this day I still can't believe I actually managed to do it. Nowadays everything looks complicated and hard to me. I don't know, it must have been the age.
I then got my first Amiga, but for some reason didn't do anything useful apart from messing with AMOS basic.
I recall loosing interest in programming, something which I deeply regret.
I was late to transition to the PC world, mainly due to my stubbornness and fanboy-ism to the Amiga platform. Thus I lost many a chapter from the then new computer revolution and anything related (including programming) with it.
When I finally got my first PC, I discovered Visual Basic which despite all the bad-mouthing it got, was actually the best thing for a hobbyist. I wrote my first programme in the form of a mod tool for the Tomb Raider game.
From then on, I messed with various game engines and programming languages on and off, but nothing too serious. My interest greatly revived when my then early-teen son started showing interest in programming. He is now a second year CSD student in uni and I'm actively watching the "programming world" just because of the priceless quality of sharing the same interest with my own boy and, in some sense, living my own dream of being a programmer without ever trying to be one.
 

Rob

Member
I started programming in Sinclair basic on my first computer, a ZX Spectrum +2.
I cannot describe the magic of knowing the manual inside-out, no internet, no YouTube tutorials, just some monthly magazines with type-in programmes and while tons of books existed, there were very difficult to get a hold of. I'd give an arm and a leg just to get that feeling back for a brief moment. Seriously.
I then realized I needed to learn assembly if I were to write anything remotely serious. And learn I did. I managed to grab a book about the Spectrum machine language and followed along. To this day I still can't believe I actually managed to do it. Nowadays everything looks complicated and hard to me. I don't know, it must have been the age.
I then got my first Amiga, but for some reason didn't do anything useful apart from messing with AMOS basic.
I recall loosing interest in programming, something which I deeply regret.
I was late to transition to the PC world, mainly due to my stubbornness and fanboy-ism to the Amiga platform. Thus I lost many a chapter from the then new computer revolution and anything related (including programming) with it.
When I finally got my first PC, I discovered Visual Basic which despite all the bad-mouthing it got, was actually the best thing for a hobbyist. I wrote my first programme in the form of a mod tool for the Tomb Raider game.
From then on, I messed with various game engines and programming languages on and off, but nothing too serious. My interest greatly revived when my then early-teen son started showing interest in programming. He is now a second year CSD student in uni and I'm actively watching the "programming world" just because of the priceless quality of sharing the same interest with my own boy and, in some sense, living my own dream of being a programmer without ever trying to be one.
Haha you reminded me of when I was a kid and me and my dad decided to type in some code that was in one of the spectrum game magazines.
It took us hours. He would read out the lines and I would type it.
Once we were done we excitedly loaded up the game... it was so bad haha. We played it for all of 10 seconds before we gave up and never played it again.
 
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Hello! :) Here is my answers :)

  • Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
I have started Game Making with GM 8 when It was newly released, I was in 8th standard so I didn't had any programming knowledge that time, I had knowledge of HTML anAutoRunun maker 12! Done LOGO in B/w computer (I don't know if you guys know that program, an arrow with the command to move arrow, rotate etc)
  • Are you self-taught?
Yes, Completely In and Out, No Youtube, no Books, all based on experience and reading other peoples problem, understanding and implementing the things from the discussion in the respective topic! (gmc.yoyogames.com was my knowledge base)
  • Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
After 4-5 Years of game Development!, I have done Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering LOLOLO, Currently, I'm doing a 3 months C++, Java, testing J2EE course to have a backup but I'm totally focused in game development field!
  • Did you go because you wanted to make games?
Yes but also no! Basically, when I was a kid I started to play Video games before I started Speaking! I usually play Contra and Super Mario, After that, I played a lot of games, but then I thought let's try to make my own game! And the journey started from playing to making, So I think Playing games influenced me!
  • Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
I'm a Freelance Game developer! It's part-time work! I do it for my expenses and not to depend on my parents and do the things I wanted to do! But I do create my own games also!
  • Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
Currently not made any game! But I Have started to work in Unity Cuz in future I want to work on VR/AR and 3d games!
  • How has GameMaker influenced your career path?
After My Graduation In M.E, I prepare for an exam for M.E based Job! But after that, I took a big step and change my career path from M.E to Software Development then I think better to go into the game industry! So yes Game maker has changed my Life totally and I'm proud that I have invested my time and money on this software which in return gave me a name, fame, money but most imp Self Satisfaction and clarity in life what I have to achieve and do which most of the people don't have!
Thanks for reading :)
 
S

Silvervale

Guest
In 7th grade my parents bought me "How to program BASIC." Using that as my basis I moved into LibertyBASIC, programming my own game engine and first games, using the manual as my guide. I didn't have internet until I was almost done with high school, so I had no idea what was out there and was just making tools and scripts the way that seemed logical (As LibertyBASIC was more of UI focused language). I remember searching for "a game maker" when I got internet, (because I didn't know people called them "game engines"), and I was so excited because Game Maker was exactly what I was looking for. GameMaker brought me out of the "dark ages," but eventually I wanted to make 3D games, so i left for other engines for 6 years or so. I learned a lot while I was away, but came back last year to good old GameMaker.

Making games and programming has always just been a hobby of mine. I got my degree in mechanical engineering, as design and the manufacturing process is my main passion, but programming knowledge has come in handy along the way. It actually came into play getting me my current job, as I occasionally program some PLCs, VFDs, and do some automation. I also made some small utility apps to help in my specific field work, and presently I'm overseeing the development of proprietary software for my employer.

It's all fun. Eventually, I would like to make some money with my games. I just need to gather up enough courage to ask for that $0.99.
 

Elodman

Member
greets.

- Are you self-taught?
No, IT Engineering studies forced me, in the beginning. Nowadays no enforcement is needed - at least for GMS.

- Did you go because you wanted to make games?
In the 90-ies, hmm yes I wanted to, but had not much hope, as then (Watcom) C with embedded low-level asm code ruled. Not what a typical college degree is suitable for.

- Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
Hobby. How much percentage can earn a living from it, 5?

- Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
No. Will be happy if my creations can be called games by others.

- How has GameMaker influenced your career path?
Not in any way yet, only my leisure time spending.

***
Once upon a time owned my first magical atmosphere establishing computer, a Commodore-116. Coding in BASIC didn't catch my attention, perhaps due to lack of good books or insufficient cognitive brain - & disciplined ass cells, so anyone could call me by right: Player 1.
Soon watched a Sinclair 48 at a friend with envy, as it had so kewl GFX, liked it sometimes better then that of my 2nd machine, a C-64 II. That was followed by an Amiga 500, but still no programming I committed, as had been charmed by ready-made Demos & games too much in spare time.

Then as being forced to study IT came the standard languages from Pascal & C to Visual Basic, Delphi, Clipper, DBase, SQL, CA-Visual Objects and assembly x86. Wrote a Pascal to C translator proggy at the end.

In working time I had been quite unlucky to find one of the most 'misanthrope', perverse language of all: RPG. (Yeah, that is not only a genre so gentle to many folks, but rather the Rocket Propelled Grenade hitting my IT career & ever Homo Ludens soul right in bull's eye.) If anyone wanted to create a game on AS400, hitting F5 (the Screen Refresh button) would have been necessary at 30-60 FPS...

Then, after some unnecessary details for this thread, rose interest again in me for Python, and 1-2 other tools before finding my way to this current platform we all worship or somehow being addicted to...
 
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Glyph

Guest
  • Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2? Yes
  • Are you self-taught? Yes
  • Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design? No
  • Did you go because you wanted to make games? N/A
  • Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both? Hobby
  • Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker? Yes
  • How has GameMaker influenced your career path? No
 

Lukan

Gay Wizard Freak
  • Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
Yes, but it was GameMaker 8.
  • Are you self-taught?
Yes
  • Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
Nope
  • Did you go because you wanted to make games?
Nope
  • Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
Both-ish(see signature)
  • Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
I have made a few development tools for my current project in GM, and may release them for modding later on.
  • How has GameMaker influenced your career path?
Well, I have a game coming out on Steam! That's how!
 
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WallyLC

Guest
Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
I do not.

Are you self-taught?
Yes.

Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
I attended school for game development but my program was focused on animation. It was a waste of time because I no longer want to be an animator.

Did you go because you wanted to make games?
Yes, I've wanted to make games for a long time but I had no idea how hard it was to actually make one. I wasn't ready at the time.

Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
I'm currently making my first game because I love making art. I also hope to make some money off it. I'd love to make games for a living.

Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
No.

How has GameMaker influenced your career path?
It hasn't. I just want to make art using video games as the platform of choice. I actually haven't really used game maker to be honest. I used Game Maker 2 for like 1 or 2 months, just learning how to use it and made something really small. I was already using another engine at the time to make my first game. I want to finish my first project before I move onto game maker 2.
 
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PlayerOne

Member
I started game development in 7th grade with Gamemaker 8.1 on my school computers. My middle school was fortunate enough to have a game programming class, which I took in 8th grade the year after. I started because I loved playing games, and I found that making games was really satisfying because I could apply problem solving and my skills (like math) to something that actually produced something cool.
What a parallel set of events; thats how I got into game maker myself. Difference is I didn't like math at all. Oh, the irony. :confused: :rolleyes:

Got introduced to Game Maker when I took a class in middle school hosted by a YoYoGames rep. and I got a free trial copy of GM6 lite burned to a disc after the course. Something I still own to this day oddly enough. My windows 98 computer couldn't complile my project due to my graphics card being outdated. So in that time I just used drag and drop to "program" without any understanding as to what the functions would do despite the fact I couldn't test my games. I know how weird that sounds, really I do.

Got a laptop sometime after that and was able to progam with D&D and started truly testing my games for the first time. Made 3 or so games that all involve zombies with one of the games being a "sequel" to my first game.

In high school I took things a bit more seriously and programed 2 fan games as I truly got accustomed to the program over the years when 7.0 and later 8.0. Only in college did I start taking things to the next level when I bought GMS2 almost 2 years ago. I've self taught myself GML since buying pro and started on an indie game I can call my own. Safe to say I've made a steadfast improvements in that time and joining the community only improved my GML abilities.
 
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Joe Ellis

Member
I'm completely seft taught and I'm just about to release a 3d version of gamemaker,
I never learnt about programming in school and never read about anything online
I started learning when I was 12, with visual basic, but i was just interested then, I only started professionally about 2 years ago.

When I was growing up (14- 19) I kind of forgot about programming, too busy getting drunk and smoking weed,
but my mate always used to say, I should do something with programming, cus he saw a few things how i was good at it,
and it turned out he was right!
But at the same time he was saying that, I was also coping with being bipolar, which started when I was 14,
and alot of đź’©đź’©đź’©đź’©ed up things happened, I stopped going to school in year 9,
went to a "special" school and ended up with 1 gcse,
maths: I got a B
I did the test for english but got a U cus I had a mental block.

Then straight after that I joined a college for Hairdressing, :D
at first I thought it'd be good, but I was the complete wrong person for that job.. everyone was so neat and tidy. and i was just effed up
i was the outcast, they all looked down on me cus i was so disorganized

so I quit that

The next year I joined college for art,
but I quit that after 3 months, ended up falling out with the tutor about perspective, cus she didn't know how to draw a spray can when your really close to it and the top is more visible than the bottom.

Then I got a job at Alton Towers, the theme park,
I worked on the hotdog stall, and the chocolate fountain,
I smoked alot of weed, got very hooked on weed smoking it every night after working
then the next morning was zoning out looking at the slush puppy machines whirling round

Then I had a complete break down and stopped working, and I couldn't get a job, then went on for about 4 years just existing pretty much,
then I discovered a drug called M-Cat,

This solved all my problems (temporarily) but after about 2 months of "partying" (mainly hanging around the gay bar on my own and talking to random people) It got serious, I was nailing 4 grams per night, then I decided this was it! I needed to sort myself out!

I moved back into my mum's house, got clean, started drinking tea, started thinking about what I'm actually gonna do with my life,
In that time I excepted that I have aspergers, which I always denied before,
and my bipolar also went crazy!
it was basically 4 days of feeling amazing, then 4 days of feeling like a piece of human feces, that had crawled out of a sewer hatch, then rolled in dog poo!
Then at the worst point I became suicidal,
For someone who's never been suicidal its probably hard to understand, but my explanation is:
You want to live and be happy, but you have this overwhelming urge to KILL yourself, end your own life,
and thats all you want to do at that moment or point in time.

But, I went to a psychiatrist and got medication, (anti-psychotics) and as soon as they started working, I was fine, and then! I started thinking about REAL programming, like what I can REALLY achieve if I work hard,
A few months later I came up with Warp3D and I've been working on it ever since!

So yeah! that's my journey as a programmer
 
What a parallel set of events; thats how I got into game maker myself. Difference is I didn't like math at all. Oh, the irony.
I think that's an avocation for a way of teaching math that is a lot more fun. I feel like if we had classes where the math we were learning was directly applied to real world problems, especially cool things like making video games, then a lot more people would grow up liking math like I did. It turns out, math is really useful, and can even be fun if you do it in the right circumstances. For example, one of my friends who doesn't like math plays a lot of DnD. He just recently mentioned how his recent class, Statistics, is way less confusing to him, because the example in his own life of DnD means he is much more familiar with the concepts behind stats.

Even just re-contextualizing our homework assignments to more than buying watermelons at a super-market could possibly make the exact same curriculum more interesting. Such as algebra graphs referring to leveling systems in a game... That makes better programmers and game designers too. But IDK, haven't tried it. Also, gaming is not something everyone is interested in either, so you'd need to connect it to more than just video games.
 

PlayerOne

Member
I think that's an avocation for a way of teaching math that is a lot more fun. I feel like if we had classes where the math we were learning was directly applied to real world problems, especially cool things like making video games, then a lot more people would grow up liking math like I did. It turns out, math is really useful, and can even be fun if you do it in the right circumstances. For example, one of my friends who doesn't like math plays a lot of DnD. He just recently mentioned how his recent class, Statistics, is way less confusing to him, because the example in his own life of DnD means he is much more familiar with the concepts behind stats.

Even just re-contextualizing our homework assignments to more than buying watermelons at a super-market could possibly make the exact same curriculum more interesting. Such as algebra graphs referring to leveling systems in a game... That makes better programmers and game designers too. But IDK, haven't tried it. Also, gaming is not something everyone is interested in either, so you'd need to connect it to more than just video games.
Maybe I should take a math class to test that idea. :p:D
 
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willthetarget

Guest
Well, when I started programming I was about 13 years old, 10 or so years ago. I didn't (and haven't) done much with it yet, but I stumbled across Game Maker again and this forum and I'm excited to get back into it. I started work on my first little game in a long time today!

My programming is all self-taught. I also make music, I took one digital music course in college along with music theory and appreciation, but I'm self-taught past that. I would love to be able to make music and games for a living, but I'm content with it being a hobby and something to do on the weekends :)
 

Eyas

Member
As it happens, I'm visiting home for the holidays and came across many Game Maker notes from way back when.

I also started using Game Maker around the 5.0 era, so I was around ~12-13 years old at the time. It wasn't my first attempt at learning to program, but it was definitely the first time I actually managed to learn anything.

Within a few years, my interest shifted from making games to writing code, and spent more time using Game Maker to write utilities (I recently found some cringeworthy posts by me releasing an "Installer" utility in the old GMC). Eventually I took up writing about code -- ended up working with a few folks on starting and publishing a bunch of issues of GM magazine called MarkUp, which went on for a year or so. I started moving on to other things soon after that, but in the next 10 years I still download most new major versions of GM and GM:S and try it out and see what's new and what ergonomics changed.

I partly faded thanks to GM-- starting my formal Computer Science education at university. These days I'm a Software Engineer. The whole thing has been a ton of fun since day 1.
 
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Exabella

Guest
I know this is an old thread, but do you ever feel compelled to jump to a more standard industry engine like Unity? Gamemaker is amazing and it has done so much for me already but I can never see myself using this ultra long term. Or maybe that's just me.
 
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Misu

Guest
I know this is an old thread, but do you ever feel compelled to jump to a more standard industry engine like Unity? Gamemaker is amazing and it has done so much for me already but I can never see myself using this ultra long term. Or maybe that's just me.
I can still see myself using Game Maker for the next 50 years from now (pathetic as it may sound). If its for the 3D then it is quite understandable although UE is the supreme lord for that. I tried Unity before, never liked how confusing the IDE was and how making 2D games in it was an extreme hassle. My point for using Game Maker was to do simple and easy 2D games in quicker timing. Faster productivity helps easily gain more profit within an annual basis as well. Of course I only use GM for hobby since its too easy to use and helps me create my ideas sooner than having to spend a year trying to fulfill 10% of my idea when 50% can be done using game maker. My point is, if you love 2D and want your ideas done easily and quick, Game Maker for life (its capable of doing the most advance features for 2D anyway). Otherwise, 3D development can be easily achieved with other IDE like Unity and UE.
 
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Exabella

Guest
Thanks for your reply! Could you extrapolate a little bit on the "too easy to use" thing?
 
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Misu

Guest
Thanks for your reply! Could you extrapolate a little bit on the "too easy to use" thing?
Well from my experience (perspective) Game Maker's IDE is easy to understand and really straight forward. Plus GM can handle most of the syntax (less syntax errors) for you; which means more flexibility on writing your code the way you want it. And to top it off, gm's wide list functions help create the most tedious mechanics in very easy step by step.
 
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Exabella

Guest
Well from my experience (perspective) Game Maker's IDE is easy to understand and really straight forward. Plus GM can handle most of the syntax (less syntax errors) for you; which means more flexibility on writing your code the way you want it. And to top it off, gm's wide list functions help create the most tedious mechanics in very easy step by step.
I meant how you used "too" implying that it was overly simplistic or something
 

Niels

Member
  • Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
Not really, think I made some small things in basic when I was a kid, and made 1 or 2 websites, but for me coding was something I couldn't understand(or even tried to understand).

  • Are you self-taught?
Yes, I picked on gamemaker one day, because I read on reddit that gamemaker was for designers and unity for programmers (total nonsense) and because I have a degree in graphic design it seemed like the right choice.
From there I learned the basics from heartbeast and Shaun Spalding.

  • Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
Nope, I did graphic design and I got a degree as aircraft maintenance engineer at the airforce. (I was always considered the "computer guy" when I worked on those fields)
  • Did you go because you wanted to make games?
-
  • Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
Hobby, and made some money on the side with it.
  • Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
No
  • How has GameMaker influenced your career path?
Yes, I wanted to start learning software development this year.
 
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GM029

Guest
Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
Yes, I taught myself BASIC when I was a kid on an Atari 800 back in the 80s, that was my first exposure to programming. I've programmed in BASIC, Pascal, C++, JAVA, Javascript, Classic ASP, C#, Objective C, Kotlin, PHP, Python, SQL and others (GML of course).

Are you self-taught?
Yes

Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
No

Did you go because you wanted to make games?
N/A

Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
Hobby, I'm a full-time programmer so it can be difficult to maintain motivation to complete a full game, not to mention I already have another fairly successful side-gig that eats up a good amount of my free time.

Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
In GameMaker, just games. In my full-time job all web applications and an occasional mobile app.

How has GameMaker influenced your career path?
It hasn't but I do have a goal of getting a game in the marketplace this year. I have one game engine built enough to just focus on building levels for a while. But, I am finding level building to be the hard part.
 
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GM029

Guest
I know this is an old thread, but do you ever feel compelled to jump to a more standard industry engine like Unity? Gamemaker is amazing and it has done so much for me already but I can never see myself using this ultra long term. Or maybe that's just me.
I've tried Unity and I don't know why but I just love GameMaker. If I wanted to develop a 3d game I'd probably head over to Unity but IMO for 2d GameMaker is hard to beat.
 
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3Darts

Guest
I was in my early teens fascinated by video games and by chance I stumbled on a book in the school's library about BASIC and even by knowing nothing about programming I was able to follow that simple cartoony book to write the code on it and play those games and learned to program
then I stopped after college for a while until I searched online for a game making software and game maker popped up so I basically started from scratch on it again.
 
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Cow

Guest
Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?

No, I picked up Game Maker when I was 11 or 12. I think version 4 or earlier? I had dabbled in RPG Maker and some niche tools (OHRRPGCE, Pie in the Sky 3d), because back then the freeware games sites all had sections for game making software. Around this time I had an interest in computers generally, and dabbled in BASIC and programming my graphing calculator, which continued for a few years.

Are you self-taught?

Yes, though I've been immeasurably supported by people and online resources throughout the years.

Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?

I went to business school, but it was there that I amplified my learning and focus on technical topics to make up for the fact that business school teaches you very few technical skills. I also picked up an interest in math through finance classes and some of the higher-level economics courses. I realised that to be employable or entrepreneurial I would need skills to create things of value and took that to heart. I already had somewhat of a basis of skill that I decided to make my primary focus. I've only taken one CS class in my life, and one game development course in university. The former taught Turtles and in the latter we used Game Maker for our final project.

Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?

Hobby. Games are art and expression for me, in addition to my other artistic pursuits. Though if I had something I believed would be commercially viable I would probably pursue that.

Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?

I dabbled with this when I was younger, but now I have the skills to use other languages and tools better suited to each purpose. Similarly I use other game engines like PICO-8 when I want to do something different. I appreciate Game Maker for its limitations and for making me feel like a tinkerer rather than a mediocre AAA/AA dev.

How has GameMaker influenced your career path?

I'm a professional web developer now, so there's that. It definitely spurred my interest in technology when I was younger and directly impacted where I am today. Game Maker was definitely a leader in democratizing game development and encouraging tons of people to get into technology, I feel.
 
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Guitarmike

Guest
What a great topic! It's so interesting to hear about everyone's "journey." I'm also kind of amazed at how many old farts like me who started in the DOS, Atari, and Commodore days are in here!

I wrote my first game on a school-owned Commodore PET probably around 1980. I wrote a number of games on my own Apple II+ in BASIC and assembly, many of them using a package called "Graphics Magician" (Anyone remember THAT?). I've always been a hobbyist programmer although occasionally that knowledge has transferred into writing some simple stuff in my roles as a Technology Director in schools. I'm mostly self-taught although I took a couple of PASCAL courses in college.

Most of my work over the last few years has been on web programming - Python, Ruby on Rails, and Javascript, etc. But I had an idea for a game last year and started to search for a simple engine to see if I could make it. Thus I found Gamemaker. I abandoned that idea when I realized it was too ambitious for a first go but have been enjoying working on a simpler project for the last few months and having a great time with it.



just some monthly magazines with type-in programmes
Those were the days!
 
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iBlackpen

Guest
Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
None at all.

Are you self-taught?
Yes.

Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design? Did you go because you wanted to make games?
Nope.

Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
Hobby.

Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
No, but I've had ideas regarding this.

How has GameMaker influenced your career path?
It has led me to learn the Ren'Py engine and to the releasing of a couple titles on Steam. I am recently coming back to GameMaker to make mobile games while I work a full-time job in a nonrelated industry.
 
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Shiroo16

Guest
Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
No, GMS is completely new for me.

Are you self-taught?
So far i learn by watching from youtube, is that self-taught?

Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
Yes, im now at university taking Computer Science, my third year now.

Did you go because you wanted to make games?
i don't really think that i wanted to make games before, i just good at programming when i was in highschool.

Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
Im still new and learning now, maybe as a hobby, would be good i can make games for a living.

Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
No, never try that before.

How has GameMaker influenced your career path?
Before i knew GameMaker, i was thinking after graduate to work at some software company. Now i wanted to work at game company or maybe just making games at home if i really good at it.
 

pixeltroid

Member
Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
Absolutely not.

Are you self-taught?
Nope. Plenty of people have taught me.

Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
No.

Did you go because you wanted to make games?
N/A


Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
Its a hobby for me right now. Hopefully I learn how to make a living out of it.

Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
nope.

How has GameMaker influenced your career path?
well, I work as a graphic designer. In my experience, when I tell people that game design is a hobby of mine, they seem somewhat impressed. Besides "game design" as a hobby looks great on a CV.
 
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Sabnock

Member
Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
Loads, 80's coder, learned on the zx81 then the spectrum, BBC, C64, AMIGA and then took a massive break until about 3 years ago when a caught the bug again. weirdly i am better at coding now than i ever was then lol i have completed 4 or 5 projects that i have used to learn GMS / GML and am currently working on another. they have mainly been clones of old games that i love and i have tried to match them as exactly as i can. so far i have had very good success with them. GMS has been great for me. not so much the wife :D i know clones are looked down upon but they have really helped me hone my coding skills.

Are you self-taught?
100% self taught. apart from all the books i read, the tutorials of others that i watched and the help i asked from the forums and friends but apart from that 100% self taught :)

Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
No

Did you go because you wanted to make games?
NA

Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
Hobby only - have been offered a couple of paid projects that i didn't take up apart from maybe 1. shhh..

Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
No

How has GameMaker influenced your career path?
No
 
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kraifpatrik

(edited)
GameMaker Dev.
Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
Are you self-taught?
Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
Did you go because you wanted to make games?
Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
How has GameMaker influenced your career path?


Yes
 

Fanatrick

Member
Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
- Yes, vbasic and terrapin Logo back in midschool :banana:

Are you self-taught?
- Almost exclusively

Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
- Computer Science

Did you go because you wanted to make games?

- No, just had no other clear interests apart from programming

Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?

- For a living

Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?

- I used to haha, but not recently

How has GameMaker influenced your career path?

- It didn't, it's just a tool of the trade
 
T

the_flow

Guest
  • Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
I did take a coding course in High School where we made stuff in Python, but other than that, I'm a newbro when it comes to code. Luckily, GML is very similar to what I used.

  • Are you self-taught?
Other than the limited stuff I learned, yeah.

  • Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
I ain't got that kinda money, but I'd love to :p

  • Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
Right now it's just a hobby. Another medium to tell a story, like writing or music.

  • Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
No, but I can see how it could be used in that manner.

  • How has GameMaker influenced your career path?
Zilch, lol.
 
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Ludo Design

Guest
My journey isn't much. Before college, it was pretty well understood that there were no affordable opportunities for game development near me, so I went into computer engineering. A lack of finances resulted in a dropout. From there, I looked into IT for a career path (realized it was far too much anxiety) before coming back to the idea of video games. I'm still trying to throw myself into it, but again, poverty is making it challenging.
 
Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
GameMaker was my first real game making program. I played around with a few other programs years ago, but they seemed to be more difficult to understand compared to GameMaker.

Are you self-taught?
Yes. I've self-taught myself how to code by trying things out on my own and searching the forums and google for help when I needed it to program a particular problem. I'm a do-it-yourself type of person if I can be, but sometimes we all have to ask for help in one thing or another.

Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
Yes. I got just graduated with an Associate Degree in Computer Programming, thanks in large part to my early interest in programming as a hobby for about 10 years using GameMaker.

Did you go because you wanted to make games?
No, but it's a side hobby of mine. I was more interested in programming from a "business perspective" as there is more opportunity to get a job doing that than there is for making games.

Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
For a hobby, but it would be nice to make enough money that I could make it a career at some point. We will see.

Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
I haven't yet, there is quite a lot of programs that you could make that are non-game related using GameMaker and I've thought of it.

How has GameMaker influenced your career path?
I've been using GameMaker since version 6 off and on throughout the years (10+ I think). I've started several games over that time, but I've never finished anything or come close to it, until now. I'm working on completing my first game and it will be for Android. I, like a lot of people, got into programming by using the drag-n-drop features of GameMaker and then I learned how to code. I quickly learned the million benefits of coding over the drag-n-drop system. I have loved coding ever since I got into it and thanks to my experience with GameMaker, I went to school for programming and landed an amazing IT job. This program was a huge stepping stone in starting the career path that I'm on now.
 
I had looked into Gamemaker before, around 2009 when I mainly did modding and level design with the Cube 2 engine. Became active on the ModDB community and learned to 3D model over the years.
I've played around with a few engines but when I wanted to write some interactive exploration focused narrative I realized my lack of programming skills was going to make this impossible, however I looked into the now Gamemaker Studio 2 and found the GML language quite easy to pick up and I've been developing my game for almost six months now, hoping for a release by the end of this year.

I've really come to like Gamemaker over the months I've spent with it and will probably continue using it for quite some time.
 

tuegg

Member
I've been using Game Maker on and off for about 11 years now, never having really released anything. I've never gotten fully into programming outside of it, only learning a bit of basic HTML/CSS. But for the first time I've been working on something promising and am hoping to release a full game later this year - in the hopes to continue my programming career!
 
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Dan_Bardan

Guest
I'm not much found in programing yet. But the language that I am more familiar is C/CPP, but still is very litle, this help me with Game Maker scrits. And a course of Programing Logic eases to type a line o code in an established system, my weak point is to take a scritp in full matematics and none of the code was comentaded.

In GML I can make smal modifications and make small things, never a complet system in full arithmetic or outher matematical concept.

Sometimes I have an outbreak of software designer and I go out collecting source codes, manuals, and other things that I put aside later, until I get in the way of it again.
 
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K

ktiix

Guest
Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
Yea, I started coding in grade 11 with Java. I know I made a game for my final project that year, but I have no further recollection than that. I have also done courses in Pascal, and C since then.

Are you self-taught?
As far as GML and GM:S2 goes, yes. Completely.

Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?

I studied physics, and had a few courses in computer science computational physics.

Did you go because you wanted to make games?

I didn't want to make games until after I'd finished university.

Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?

It's a hobby. I hope to release some games/apps this year, but not with the intent of making any income.

Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?

Yes! It's a really versatile engine, so I am also working on a Custom Timer app for android.

How has GameMaker influenced your career path?

I hope one day I can have the freedom to spend as much time as I want making games, but I want to make my games, so I don't think I'll pursue game dev as a career.
 
S

SoftwenOP

Guest
I first started using Game Maker: Studio back in 2014 when I was a dumb 14-year-old. Before I started using Game Maker: Studio I learned how to program in Python with the help of my friend, my middle-school computer lab teacher, and a college-level mentor he set us up with. Once I found out about Game Maker I stopped using Python as I found Game Maker to be quicker and more enjoyable for me personally. Unfortunately, I'd end up letting my inner turmoil and low self-esteem get the better of me after a little under a year of using Game Maker and I stopped trying to make games altogether. I stopped for quite some time, up until recently. I tried to get back into Game Maker a few times during this "break" but my low confidence in my ability always got the better of me. Luckily now I realized how foolish I was and have gotten back into making video games! I've always wanted to make video games ever since I was kid, my dreams have altered before as I grew older, though the feeling and idea of making games always stuck. Now that I'm back into Game Maker it's a bit frustrating to have to relearn many things, though I'm enjoying myself a lot more! Being able to make money off of games would be incredible, but I'm currently just a hobbyist who is learning to code in their free time. While getting paid for it would be awesome, I could probably be content just being a hobbyist for quite a while. At this point I'm more focused on learning how to make games slowly. I don't make any non-games with Game Maker, as I'm really only interested in making games. As I learn to create games I'm also studying to get some certifications in IT just to find myself I decent job I could be content with. Programming and working with computers at a younger age did plant the idea of IT into my head, so Game Maker has played a role in my current career choices.
 
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