Game Maker is a program of the brand Yoyo Games for creating a simple game in 2D or 3D without any programming skills. Those who want to follow the steps in this tutorial should download and install the free version of the software can be found on the website of www.yoyogames.com. This imposes some restrictions on us, so our game will be very basic, but you can export the file. Gmx if you interested in a future purchase premium service. But first things first.

Game Maker

Game Maker interface contains a number of essential elements that we must learn to handle. You can easily identify the top toolbar and folders on the left . We explain one by one what they are:

Rooms: are the levels or rooms in which the game is played, ie the screen where your character comes out. On it you will place objects.

Sprites: is the most basic unit of the game. Usually they are moving or still images, you need to create the objects. The minimum you need is a character, a villain, coins or lives and walls.

: are the sounds that you will add to the game and you can join with each action (win, lose, find a coin, etc..).

Objects: is the most important unit and that will take longer to develop. You must create sprites events to link actions and define certain movements.

Backgrounds: is the ground on which the game will be developed. Above this range the objects. Normally the background is a purely decorative element, does not influence the action.

Timelines: will serve to define actions in steps. For example, if we want the villain act in a planned way, do that first shoot, then go back and shoot again march back again.

Other more complex elements such as scripts or included files, but we will not stop it.

Steps to create a game with Game Maker

Now we will explain the basic steps to create a simple game with Game Maker. Obviously The possibilities of this program are enormous, although it requires considerable effort and patience if you want to do something more professional, with own designs and multitude of movements. But let’s say that at least these 7 steps are required to create a simple game.

1. Design or download the necessary sprites

If you do not want to get to design one by one all the elements and animations of your game, you can download some test some websites like Spriters Resource. Normally they are archives. Png,. Gif, but you also will be worth still images in jpg.

Once you have them, bring them into the folder “config” project, you’ll find “My Documents / GameMaker.”

2. Create sprites and arrange them in folders

Choose the elements that go to work. Create a sprite, squeeze in “load” and upload the image or animation. For example: main character walking up, down, right, left, up to the “sprites” you believe or you could find. Besides the main character, to create a minimally normal game you must choose at least a “ghost” or “monster” and some incentive as “life”, “coins” or “hearts”.

sprites that can not be crossed (walls, platforms, etc.) must mark them as “visible” and “solid”.

3. Defines objects

Once you’ve created all the sprites, you create objects (the button is flattened circle shaped glitter that is in the toolbar). Create an object for each “sprite” you’ve done putting the same name. Then press “Create” to define what will each of the sprites at the very beginning of the game (for example, the villain moves, because as they say, is handled by the machine, while your character, that driving with the keys , begins still).

In this step you assign the characters movements they can do. Drag the “move” is in the right sidebar to share box and you will see a dialog box. Defines the direction (move up, right, left, down …) and speed.

part of “create”, there is another very important event that is “collision”. You define what happens when the character hits Wall , the villain or a coin. The options under the “main1″ will be very useful. You can use such action “jump to the start position” If you want to return to the beginning to hit the bad and “destroy the instance” to remove the coins while fucking go.

To define the movements of the characters, you must use the “key press” to program what will happen to pacman when you press a certain key and “key released” for when you stop pressing it (tighten stop to stand still).

4. Use the “room” to create levels

Here you define

itself how it will see the game . The first thing is to make sure the appropriate dimensions in X and Y. Then use the different objects that you created to be drawing on the screen. It is usual to put walls around the box and draw a maze, though all this depends on your creativity and. Make as many rooms as you consider levels must have your game.

5. Loads a background to give personality to your game

The logic is that each room has an original background so you can distinguish the levels Game . But Game Maker also gives you the opportunity of putting on just a current background color. You can also leave it in gray, which is the default background.

6. Throw in the game sounds or music

sounds can upload using the “sound”. You can also add different kinds of effects to sound different. Most typically put a music to play , but of course you can create hundreds of sounds for each type of situation.

7. Squeeze in the “run” to see the outcome of the game

opens a screen with the game as you did. When you have a role you have not checked, you may leave an error box (which is quite likely the first few times) and you should check it. But if all goes well, you should only use the keys to move the pacman, eat the dots and make sure that ghosts do not get you.

Make a game can be a complicated task, because you have to control many details. But once you learn to do it, and just depend on our creativity and imagination to create increasingly sophisticated works.