Err... probably best to grab a coffee, guys...
Did you have any experience or education prior to using GameMaker: Studio or GameMaker Studio 2?
As you might spot from my Avatar, I started coding on the 8-bit computers (ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64) back in the 80's, first in BASIC, then 6510 assembler. My best mate and I worked for 6-8 months on our first commercial C64 game, but realised that the market for full-price games had pretty much died by then...
I then used QBasic/QuickBasic on PC, then PDS (pro / business verision of QuickBasic in my then day job) - even made a commercial/shareware fruit machine in it too!
I then got sick of coding (day jobs in it, for investment firms, etc)....
...until I got the urge to create games again 6-7 years ago. I've since tried GameSalad for a few years, which I managed to release a few apps using (Courier Chaos was my latest quirky game), and felt that I definitely pushed the limits on that one. Also, check on YouTube for Gravity Star Rescue Racer - I started making that in GS, and will be remaking it in GameMaker. It was honestly a really easy to prototype product, and taught me a LOT about modern game design methods, etc, but was VERY buggy and clunky to get stuff done - no Windows EXE output either, no cut 'n' paste, merging/importing, access to the core code you were creating, frequently broken, online publishing/building ONLY (so if the publishing server is down, tough luck), etc etc. Sadly, massive support and reliability issues, constant changes to the company's focus, and a generally very poor attitude to their paying users (other than one awesome member of staff), made me move from that, despite years of work and some unfinished, promising projects...
...Which made me try Unity. A good friend of mine, the same guy I used to write C64 games with, tried helping me get into it. Like a poster mentioned above, I found it WAY too fiddly to just work on my preferred 2D games - I tried Playmaker, and various other tools, but no joy. I gave it months of my time, but it just wasn't for me. Sure, I could create a 3D landscape, with water, and have a controllable ball rolling around it, in a matter of minutes, but beyond that? - coding, and lots of it, plus, fudging it for 2D, and having the target machine have to do way too much to run a seemingly simple 2D game in the engine.
...Which brings me to the last year or so!
GameMaker... ...Why, oh why, did I look at this a few years ago and dismiss it as being a simple toy?... I've now made the move to GMS2, and MAN... it is EVERYTHING I was looking for to make ambitious 2D games! - yes, there are criticisms leveled at it for some stuff, but coming from a couple of those other engines, I am honestly blown away at what's achievable, both in DnD, and GML (which I'm really getting into / loving, especially given the IDE, with autocomplete, is a dream compared!). My first STEAM game is live, which is a great milestone for me, and I can easily see that GMS2 will be capable of creating all of my projects I have in my 'ideas' folder.
I simply cannot see myself using anything else at this point, especially given the easy Steam integration, Marketplace with some AWESOME assets, etc, etc.. all combining to make development easier, faster and more fun than anything I've used prior, by a huge margin....
Are you self-taught?
I used to be about 80% self-taught on the 8-bits, and nowadays it's a very blurred line - books, example, articles, online webpage and video tutorials and forums for getting help / queries answered by kind souls, have made it a very different world to the one I grew up with back in the day - a fantastic new environment for learning stuff and making progress...
Did you go to school for Computer Science or Game Design?
Not really. Just coding at home, and before that, standard school education with RM 480Z's (about 4 lessons in my entire school years!), followed by a City & Guilds iTec course, which was actually massively helpful in learning to code and access PC's, when no-one had one. I'm forever thankful for that particular government initiative back then.
Did you go because you wanted to make games?
I always enjoyed making games (and did so in my time there, to be honest), but initially it was just exciting to be able to get access to the tech back in the day, and learn structured programming. I ended up (with the tutors' blessings), creating a quiz game, a dice poker game, etc etc... I also remembered once having great fun at the expense of my (excellent!) tutor, Mark Zychon, when I found my routine for a sound effect for my game in BASIC, sounded JUST like the phones in the large classroom. Ran it on some of the machines, set to fire off at random intervals, and drove him mad running around looking for the ringing phone(s) one lunchtime.... Luckily he saw the funny side afterwards! - Ahh... happy days!
Do you make games for a living, a hobby, or both?
At the moment, kind of a hobby, in terms of the fact that until TetraLogical was released, all of my efforts creating games didn't pay a penny. I'm working in IT Support for my day job (after ditching business-software development roles), but I'm hoping to supplement/change all that with GMS2 - I literally received my first ever bank payment from Valve/Steam a few days ago - it wasn't huge, but it's a GREAT feeling, knowing that others are enjoying, appreciating, rooting for and actually BUYING my hard worked-on game...
Do you make non-game software in with GameMaker?
Not yet, but I'm imagining I easily can, and will do, although probably initially utilities and separate level editors etc, but given the file handling can be 'un-sandboxed', I know it's possible to do standard utils in it!
How has GameMaker influenced your career path?
Not really influenced it as yet, other than reinforcing my desire to create games for a living, so moving forwards, I'm optimistic that it will help me to earn an income and do it full time - although the market itself is very fickle / hard to gauge, the tool is amazing, and I know I'm happy to keep trying to create using it.