Search icon CANCEL
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Conferences
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
GameMaker Programming By Example
GameMaker Programming By Example

GameMaker Programming By Example: Master the development of 2D games by learning to use the powerful GameMaker Language and tools provided by the GameMaker: Studio workspace and engine!

Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Christian Profile Icon Isaacs
Arrow right icon
R$50 per month
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 3 (2 Ratings)
Paperback Dec 2015 212 pages 1st Edition
eBook
R$80 R$218.99
Paperback
R$272.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at R$50p/m
Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Christian Profile Icon Isaacs
Arrow right icon
R$50 per month
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 3 (2 Ratings)
Paperback Dec 2015 212 pages 1st Edition
eBook
R$80 R$218.99
Paperback
R$272.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at R$50p/m
eBook
R$80 R$218.99
Paperback
R$272.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at R$50p/m

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!
Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
Subscribe now
View plans & pricing
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

GameMaker Programming By Example

Chapter 2. Your First Game – Escape the Dungeon

In this chapter, you will start to really learn about creating games in the GameMaker: Studio IDE. The last game you made was rather simple and did not have much to it. However, in this chapter, you will be creating a basic dungeon escape game. You will be guided through a step-by-step process and then have an opportunity to expand upon your game and make it your own. This type of game will teach you many skills that will apply to many other games and serves as a solid foundation with regard to the basic use of GameMaker. You'll learn about player input, collision, health, movement, resources, variables, and a variety of other topics. This Escape the Dungeon example will provide a good experience in the use of the GameMaker IDE and its drag and drop coding interface. It also serves to segue into the GML, which you will begin to utilize in the next chapter.

Creating your Escape the Dungeon game

Your Escape the Dungeon game is going to be a simple 2D maze-like game where the player dodges enemies and escapes a labyrinth of sorts to proceed through the levels. Your player will be able to shoot at these enemies and the enemies in turn will shoot randomly. In addition, the player will need to collect keys to unlock doors to the next level. This will introduce the use of variables in the game. The game is fairly simple, but teaches many skills in terms of using GameMaker: Studio.

First, create a new game project called EscapeTheDungeon by selecting the New tab at the very start screen of GameMaker: Studio. Choose your directory and project name. The GameMaker IDE should then open in a new workspace.

The playable character

The playable character is something that has a few components that make it up. It is an object that the user of the game will control via keyboard input that can allow it to move in four directions and shoot. The player consists...

Summary

That was one hefty chapter. You learned a lot about GameMaker for just one chapter. Just to review, you learned about movement, collision, timing, sounds, backgrounds, variables, and much more. Did you understand everything? If you were confused about anything, go back and review the content. You can also re-read what you put in your game project or search in the documentation for subjects related to your question. The Using GameMaker section of the documentation is helpful for drag and drop programming, which we have used in this chapter. Make sure that you understand everything we did too, at least to a good extent, as we will continue to use the aspects of this chapter and build upon them. This does provide practice, but it is also important to at least understand the basics so you can further advance your knowledge of them. Once you think you've got everything down, tackle these review questions, then the drills.

Review questions

  1. What is the difference between the Keyboard...
Left arrow icon Right arrow icon

Key benefits

  • Rapidly develop games using the powerful yet easy easy-to to-use GameMaker: Studio engine
  • Comprehensive: This is a comprehensive guide to help you learn and implement GameMaker’s features.
  • Go through step-by-step tutorials to design and develop unique games

Description

This book is excellent resource for developers with any level of experience of GameMaker. At the start, we’ll provide an overview of the basic use of GameMaker: Studio, and show you how to set up a basic game where you handle input and collisions in a top-down perspective game. We continue on to showcase its more advanced features via six different example projects. The first example game demonstrates platforming with file I/O, followed by animation, views, and multiplayer networking. The next game illustrates AI and particle systems, while the final one will get you started with the built-in Box2D physics engine. By the end of this book, you have mastered lots of powerful techniques that can be utilized in various 2D games.

Who is this book for?

If you have at least some basic programming experience of JavaScript or any other C-like languages, then this book will be great for you. No experience beyond that is assumed. If you have no game development experience and are looking for a hobby, are an experienced game developer looking to master some advanced features, or fit anywhere in that spectrum, then you will find GameMaker: Studio and this book to be very useful in helping you create exciting games.

What you will learn

  • Understand the GameMaker: Studio interface and tools to quickly create the various assets used in your games
  • Translate some of the GameMaker: Studio drag and drop functions to the GameMaker language
  • Create games with random elements for exciting gameplay
  • Use the basic GameMaker file I/O and encryption systems
  • Utilize the GameMaker networking functions to create multiplayer games
  • Give AI routines to your enemies to make challenging gameplay
  • Create particle systems to give your game exciting graphics
  • Understand the various debugging techniques available in GameMaker: Studio

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Dec 28, 2015
Length: 212 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785887963
Tools :

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!
Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
Subscribe now
View plans & pricing

Product Details

Publication date : Dec 28, 2015
Length: 212 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785887963
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
R$50 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
R$500 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just R$25 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
R$800 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just R$25 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total R$ 696.97
GameMaker Cookbook
R$272.99
Gamemaker Essentials
R$150.99
GameMaker Programming By Example
R$272.99
Total R$ 696.97 Stars icon

Table of Contents

10 Chapters
1. Introduction to GameMaker: Studio Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Your First Game – Escape the Dungeon Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Introducing the GameMaker Language Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Fun with Infinity and Gravity – An Endless Platformer Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Saving and Loading Data Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. A Multiplayer Sidescrolling Platformer Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Programming a Scrolling Shooter Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Introducing the GameMaker: Studio Physics Engine Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Wrapping Up Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 3
(2 Ratings)
5 star 0%
4 star 50%
3 star 0%
2 star 50%
1 star 0%
Seth Brady Feb 18, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
It's a good book with somewhat straight forward explanations for the beginning GML programmer. I say "somewhat", because there are a couple of incidents early on that aren't explained clearly and made continuing a little hard. I'm saying this as a someone who already has experience with C++, Java, and a little GML. Thankfully, examples for all the code is available on the publishers website. Overall, I think the book is worth the price and would recommend it to anyone looking to learn GML and Game Maker.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Alyssa Apr 06, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 2
Difficult to read very choppy and bland writing.This is the 7th book on GML that I'm reading and so far it has been the least enjoyable to read. It is almost as if the writer just listed a bunch of facts and crammed them into long paragraphs then moves on...kind of confusing, hard to explain.Only because I already set a goal to read 10 GML books by the end of this month, will I continue reading this book it is that difficult to follow.There are better books if you only want to read a couple to learn GM:S. Pretty munch any other one except the apprentice/companion books because they are too obsolete.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is included in a Packt subscription? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

A subscription provides you with full access to view all Packt and licnesed content online, this includes exclusive access to Early Access titles. Depending on the tier chosen you can also earn credits and discounts to use for owning content

How can I cancel my subscription? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

To cancel your subscription with us simply go to the account page - found in the top right of the page or at https://subscription.packtpub.com/my-account/subscription - From here you will see the ‘cancel subscription’ button in the grey box with your subscription information in.

What are credits? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Credits can be earned from reading 40 section of any title within the payment cycle - a month starting from the day of subscription payment. You also earn a Credit every month if you subscribe to our annual or 18 month plans. Credits can be used to buy books DRM free, the same way that you would pay for a book. Your credits can be found in the subscription homepage - subscription.packtpub.com - clicking on ‘the my’ library dropdown and selecting ‘credits’.

What happens if an Early Access Course is cancelled? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Projects are rarely cancelled, but sometimes it's unavoidable. If an Early Access course is cancelled or excessively delayed, you can exchange your purchase for another course. For further details, please contact us here.

Where can I send feedback about an Early Access title? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

If you have any feedback about the product you're reading, or Early Access in general, then please fill out a contact form here and we'll make sure the feedback gets to the right team. 

Can I download the code files for Early Access titles? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We try to ensure that all books in Early Access have code available to use, download, and fork on GitHub. This helps us be more agile in the development of the book, and helps keep the often changing code base of new versions and new technologies as up to date as possible. Unfortunately, however, there will be rare cases when it is not possible for us to have downloadable code samples available until publication.

When we publish the book, the code files will also be available to download from the Packt website.

How accurate is the publication date? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The publication date is as accurate as we can be at any point in the project. Unfortunately, delays can happen. Often those delays are out of our control, such as changes to the technology code base or delays in the tech release. We do our best to give you an accurate estimate of the publication date at any given time, and as more chapters are delivered, the more accurate the delivery date will become.

How will I know when new chapters are ready? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We'll let you know every time there has been an update to a course that you've bought in Early Access. You'll get an email to let you know there has been a new chapter, or a change to a previous chapter. The new chapters are automatically added to your account, so you can also check back there any time you're ready and download or read them online.

I am a Packt subscriber, do I get Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Yes, all Early Access content is fully available through your subscription. You will need to have a paid for or active trial subscription in order to access all titles.

How is Early Access delivered? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is currently only available as a PDF or through our online reader. As we make changes or add new chapters, the files in your Packt account will be updated so you can download them again or view them online immediately.

How do I buy Early Access content? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is a way of us getting our content to you quicker, but the method of buying the Early Access course is still the same. Just find the course you want to buy, go through the check-out steps, and you’ll get a confirmation email from us with information and a link to the relevant Early Access courses.

What is Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Keeping up to date with the latest technology is difficult; new versions, new frameworks, new techniques. This feature gives you a head-start to our content, as it's being created. With Early Access you'll receive each chapter as it's written, and get regular updates throughout the product's development, as well as the final course as soon as it's ready.We created Early Access as a means of giving you the information you need, as soon as it's available. As we go through the process of developing a course, 99% of it can be ready but we can't publish until that last 1% falls in to place. Early Access helps to unlock the potential of our content early, to help you start your learning when you need it most. You not only get access to every chapter as it's delivered, edited, and updated, but you'll also get the finalized, DRM-free product to download in any format you want when it's published. As a member of Packt, you'll also be eligible for our exclusive offers, including a free course every day, and discounts on new and popular titles.