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welcome
Smell the fresh air? No, dont go running outside yet. Im talking about the fresh air given off our improved magazine design for issue 11. We hope its given you a break from the old same looking layout that we have had for the last 5 issues. The best part of the new design is that its a lot cleaner and feels that little more full. You would have also noticed our new clean issue cover design. In addition, the reviews section has been re-designed to provide bigger reviews. Previously it was suggested bookmarks should be added to the magazine to make navigation easier. Starting from this issue we have introduced a new interactive contents menu. The contents list (on the right) allows you to click on any subject in the list and it will take you to that page. It works in the same way bookmarks do, however we decided to provide something a bit different instead of the plain-old PDF bookmarks. So what is in this issue? Well I guess you are going to have to read it to find out. Im sure you will find the articles and reviews in this issue to be another juicy read. But a few of my favourite picks for this issue would be: Violent Games - Why So Popular?, Writing a Good Help File, U3D v2.0 Exclusive Interview and the Love Up! Preview. So be sure to check those out. Also check out the Visit Snow Moon article to receive a special offer only available through Game Maker Technology Magazine. The Game Maker Technology Wiki has also been going through many changes. Recent updates have brought the comments and rating system for all the pieces of content present in the wiki. There have also been quite a lot of new pieces of content that have been put online, so be sure to check out the Latest Changes area on the wiki. While reading through the magazine you may see a note at the end of the article asking you to read the full or extended version on the wiki. This is a bonus for people who want to read a little more on some of the articles. Enough about us, whats happening in the Game Maker World? Well not a lot so far. YoYo Games has celebrated its first year running and 100,00 registered users. The next big news to come out will be the release of the Mac version of Game Maker. Then you can expect news about the C++ rebuild of Game Maker and when the next The Game Maker Race competition will be. Other than that, there have been some cool new games created recently and posted on the GMC and YoYo Games Website. Gmjab Editor
contents
NEWS
03 03 WHATS GOING ON STAFF SAY
ARTICLES
04 05 06 07 09 10 10 11 12 14 GMTV FOLLOW UP WHAT MAKES GENRES FUN? SWEARING & INTERNET SPEECH IN GAMES WRITING A GOOD HELP FILE HOW NOT TO BE A N00B ON THE GMC THE WIKI CRAZE VIOLENT GAMES - WHY SO POPULAR? SNOW MOON VS 64 DIGITS YOYO GAMES, A YEAR IN POWER USER OPINION: WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO GM?
GM DEV
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 21 ESAS MUSIC DEV RECOMMENDATIONS SIMPLIFYING A LEVEL EDITOR SIMPLE GAME CALCULATIONS ATTACHING OBJECTS TO OTHER OBJECTS MANIPULATING A STRING TUTORIAL: SELECT INSTANCES TUTORIAL: STRAFING TUTORIAL: MIRROR A ROOM
EXCLUSIVES
22 24 24 25 25 26 INTERVIEW WITH: DR. BEST - U3D 2.0 INSIGHT INTO: FLAIL INSIGHT INTO: VORTEC MADHOUSE ON DS INSIGHT INTO: LOVE UP! EXCLUSIVE: LOVE UP DEMO
REVIEWS
27 28 29 30 31 32 33 L4NIMATION STUDIO BATTLE OF THE WHITE EAGLE CELL BURST 3D RACER WINTER COMP 1ST: FROZZD WINTER COMP 2ND: GARDEN GNOME CARNAGE WINTER COMP 3RD: GRANNY AND SNOWMEN
EXTRAS
34 35 36 38 39 40 VISIT SNOW MOON INTERVIEW WITH: KAIROS GMT OUTLOOK COMIC CHECK OUT CLOSING
CONTENTS
online
Website:............................................www.gamemakertech.info Forum:..................................www.gamemakertech.info/forum/ Wiki:............................................www.gmtechwiki.wikidot.com Email:..........................................support@gamemakertech.info
whats going on
GMT: Forum and Staff Updates Lately the GMTM forum has had a few updates. The forum now includes these new sections: GMT Discussion, Game Maker Discussion, GMT Wiki Discussion and the Lounge. These updates will help sort the different discussions into their own categories. Hopefully, you will enjoy these new forums. Also over the last two months there have been staff changes. The Game Maker Technology Magazine now totals 19 staff members, which includes our new 8 members: ESA, Rixeno, tomrussell, Aertcz, Timoi, RoboBOT, RedChu and Xantheil. However we did say good-bye to many previous members who produced excellent work. You will find some of their last pieces in this issue. You can expect to see the work from our new members in Issue 12. GMT: Slogan Competition The Game Maker Technology Magazine launched a slogan competition at the beginning of 2008 to win a cash prize, but due to the small number of entries, it has been canceled. GMTM apologizes for the inconvenience of those who entered to win. We will launch this competition again in the future. YYG: YoYo for a year YoYo Games has been running for a year and is also celebrating 100,000 registered website. The YoYo Games website was launched last year near the end of February. YoYo Games is looking to the future to go even further with a possible 1 million registrations next year. YoYo Games also receives 500,000 unique visitors per month, amounting to 6,000,000 per year. They expect to receive 5,000,000 unique visits per month in time to come. YYG: Future Website Upgrades YoYo Games has been looking into three possible website upgrades lately. One concern for many was the removal of the Download Game button on the website, allowing games to be played VIA Instant Play only. This was one measure YoYo Games could take to prevent games being decompiled. However many opposed this idea and recommend the user should have the choice to allow his/her game to be downloaded or only available through Instant Play. YoYo Games then agreed to the suggestion on giving the user a choice. The next plan for YoYo Games is: In game advertising. This will allow ads to appear during the game when played VIA Instant Play. YoYo Games has yet to decide who the service provider (that delivers these ads) will be. Lastly, Ad revenue sharing will be the next big improvement allowing game developers to receive money from their games. YoYo Games is still looking into how this system will be setup.
staff
gamez93 GM Tech Owner gmjab Editor Rup13 Assistant Editor Researchers: GMmarine Writers Bendodge Christian Sciberras Hiyukantaro ESA Rixeno tomrussell Aertcz Timoi RoboBOT RedChu Reviewers: Mediocre Xantheil Comic Artist: Bob11500K Proofreaders: NAL eagleprof Special Thanks: Alex Dr. Best Elmernite avrildg ShaX
staff say
by bendodge Every now and then you come across a real gem of a website. Ive found a few sites recently that I think more people ought to know about. First is gmtoolbox.com. This site is an index of many of the best Game Maker DLLs and extensions. Its designer, Optical Liam, apparently has an obsession with aesthetics. The one-page site uses well over 400 lines of Javascript for a fancy automatic searching, sliding things opened and closed with fade and smoothly scrolling the browser all over the page. Im not sure if this is good of bad, but it can keep you entertained for a while. Eye candy notwithstanding, it really does find things well. It has a very large list of tools, with things Ive never heard of like PHP4Games and DraggerDLL. Its definitely worth a bookmark. Another site to check out is Jassincs gamemakerresource.com, which is basically a topsites list. The thing that makes this site stand out is its usability; there are several topsites lists, but this is probably the most useful. Its registration is very streamlined, and it allows you to visit sites with one click or view detailed descriptions and nonexistant ratings (it doesnt seem to have much user feedback yet). Sites can be searched or sorted by category, with a few top in x statistic sections on the homepage. There are many more, but these are just a couple sites worth visiting, if for nothing else than to make sure your stuff is listed.
ARTICLES
GMTV Follow-up
Whats happened since GMTV started up? And how well has it done? Gmjab will take a look into it. Lets face it, how many so-called New Ideas and crazes have gone around the Game Maker Community? And how many have actually worked out? Many of you would answer this question very easily. There have been more new ideas and crazes about than you could count and probably 90% of them fail badly. But enough doom and gloom about ideas. Many would remember last year when the topic GMTV first appeared on the GMC. Very quickly people flocked to pitch in their ideas for GMTV and to give Danny support. However you cant have good comments without some bad and this is exactly what happened. Eventually the good comments died down as GMTV was still in production. As you probably know GMTV was working on the introduction for quite some time. Time went by and Danny (GMTVs Creator) started to cancel off reviews for episode one and left comments to give hope that episode one would come out eventually. A month or two passed and it seemed the first episode would never be complete. This time period gave reason to many users to post downgrading comments like: This will fail, Thisll never come out or A 14yr old kid cant do it. Soon enough there was a competitor, GMHV. Game Maker Helper Videos by nateistoraw quickly started up and posted their first video. Even though GMTV and GMHV werent actually doing the same thing, there defiantly was some tension between them. By the time GMTV episode one came out GMHV had already posted 2 or 3 Game Maker videos. GMHV was criticized by its low quality and sometimes unhelpful videos. Then GMHV released a Good Bye until next time video and GMHV hasnt been heard of since then. Episode 1 So the first episode was released and it had mixed user views. Some people thought it turned out better than they expected, others believed it could have been much better. Though it was great to see episode one released, the release could have went more smoothly. The GMTV site only had about 1GB of bandwidth to start off with which brought problems as they ran out of bandwidth very fast. Danny was quite surprised with the amount of people that actually watched it. Also, as people said, the review system was not very good and a bit random. Episode one did have offensive language which I think was a downfall with this episode. Finally people didnt expect to actually see Danny as the host on the GMTV video. Overall, everyone starts somewhere and this is where GMTV started. Episode one had a decent effort put into it. Episode 2 Compared to episode one, this episode was a 100% improvement even from the creators point of view. As I sit back and watch the season themed second episode, I wish there was some way to skip to a certain part, like a bookmark, even though this is not possible with video unless you know where it is in the video exactly. The episode featured some great improvements, first with a new categorized review system and secondly I didnt really hear any offensive language used. However I did find the live action of the host too dark and I thought the speech could use some enthusiasm as it sounded like he was just reading a script. Even though there are ads in episode one, I thought it was funny how there was an ad break just like real TV, only the ads are short, unlike the 1-2 minute ad breaks on TV. Secondly, are you a speed reader? Youll have to be for the credits. GMTV has the fastest credit scrolling Ive ever seen, but who stays around to read all the credits anyway? I think Danny has very much looked into what the users wanted and has delivered with episode two. I also thought there was a nice choice of content. Good work. Interview GMT: How has GMTV been progressing? Are you finding it easier to put together? DNY: Somewhat. Im more used to how to review and how different ways that I record/review can speed up the process. But really in episode 2, I had to edit the old intro and add a winter theme which was a really lengthy process and the live action filming is just as hard. Remembering the lines when live is hard. When I review I see them on the computer, but when Im live it takes me about 2 hours to get a 2 minute video right. GMT: Looking into the future, where do you see GMTV? DNY: It really is tough to say at this point. In about 2 years if GMTV is around I really want to change it completly, make it an online network with several different shows. Sadly it is unlikely, so in the future I see GMTV being well liked and only going to get better and better. GMT: Is there anything special coming up in the next episode? DNY: In episode 3 you will see a countdown of the top 10 games from the YoYo Competition. As well as our very first interview. As for other episodes we plan to add more segments besides the reviews and interviews Read the full interview on the GMTech Wiki Written by gmjab
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What attracts you to your favourite game genre? bendodge analyses some popular genres game is the Massive Multi-player Online Role-Playing Game. Both are highly popular due to the fact that you play as another person in an imaginative unique world. Many people find roleplaying games fun due to the fact that there is a long mysterious story that unfolds during the game and you can never expect what will happen next. The online version of the role-playing games is very different. Instead of a single player playing the game there are many thousands all over the world. These online versions arent usually story-based and they basically become a online simulation survival game. Arcade games, also called button mashers, are games descended from video game arcade machines. These games usually require little thinking, are fast-paced, and rely heavily on fast reflexes and sound effects. These games are quite popular for low-power devices, arcade machines (suprise!), and for people who want entertainment which can be started and stopped quickly (such as people people working at computers). Simulation games (such as flight simulator) are very diverse and appeal to a wide range of people, and very complicated or realistic simulations are popular among scientists and intellectuals. Simulation games are also used as training tools and blur the line between games and applications. There are other niche types, such as puzzle and card games designed to be simple entertainment for one person, simulation games (usually flight), and quirky games with innovative styles that dont belong anywhere else. These last games tend to form their own genres if they become popular enough. Puzzle and card games are another type used among office workers, although adult women tend to enjoy them as well. Probably the best-known example of this would be Tetris, although it does have some elements of the arcade genre. Puzzle games are much easier to program than those in the action genre, but they require much more creativity from the designer. Making on of these games might be a good idea for someone who is relatively new to Game Maker but who still wants to make a good game. There are also other quirky games with innovative styles that dont belong anywhere else. These last games tend to form their own genres if they become popular enough. Overall, video games are designed to allow the player to do things that they cant do in real life. They also allow people to play games which would be too complicated as table games, and allow people to play classic favorites without taking turns. Before you plan out the details of your game, make sure that it appeals to its target audience and try to differ a bit from the genre norms. Written by bendodge
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Need help writing a help file for your new game? bendodge breaks down the important sections in a help file. Controls This section should outline very clearly and concisely the keyboard and mouse commands, as well as the basic user interface (if there is one). Two columns will make this section more readable, although some care should be taken to prevent different display sizes from wrecking the alignment. Game Objective and Story Next, you need to tell the user the objective of the game and any storyline that might accompany it. (An alternative method is placing the storyline at the very beginning of the file, but this should only be used if you have a very engaging, well-written story.) This section should be in paragraph form, and using good grammar is important. If your game relies heavily on the storyline, you might want to only reveal part of it here and unveil the rest as users proceed through the game. Advanced Information and Tips This is probably a good place to give tips for getting past tough spots, advanced controls, or advanced game features. You want to let experienced players get more fun out of the game, but you must avoid boggling novices or giving them too much secret information. Troubleshooting Now we are done with the more interesting half of the file. The rest is boring, important stuff. Well start with troubleshooting. Ive divided this into three separate sections: System Requirements, Screen Issues, and Multiplayer. So its best to get past all this stuff as quickly as possible. Troubleshooting > System Requirements System requirements are something youll have to determine yourself, but some things are required for every Game Maker game: a DirectX 8 or higher compatible graphics card, Windows 2000 or higher (for GM7), and a DirectX compatible sound card. Note that games made with GM6 or previous versions wont work on Vista; they must be recompiled with GM7 or modified with Mr. Overmars converter in order to run on Vista. You will need to test the game on several machines yourself in order to determine the CPU, RAM and VRAM (video memory) requirements. This section is obviously quick and to the point, but it does require significant effort on your part. Article continued on the next page.
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How do you want to be remembered? Follow this guide and youll be on your way to being remembered as mature. Use proper language Using proper language is one of the key factors to not being a noob. People find it very annoying when people do not talk properly or when they dont make any sense. A lot of people are tempted to swear in flame wars and many make quick shorthand comments. If on the other hand, English is not your natural language and you know you cant speak it very well, it would be best to first check to see if there is a community in your language. If there is nothing available it may be best to use a online translator. Pointless, off-topic spam Pointless, off-topic spam is a post which has no relation to what the topic is about, and so is pointless. This is also against the rules. An example is, if a topic was discussing how to make destructible terrain and a user posted: Buy Worms World Part from me for $5 That would be spam, and has no relation to how to create destructible terrain in GM. Dont do that. Double posting/bumping This is the rule I see broken the most. Double posting is posting in a topic a second time right after posting. In other words, two or more consecutive posts before the time limit of 2 days. This rule is needed because if an user were requesting a sprite in the Graphics Forum and didnt get it in 2 hours and the person double posts then, it goes right up to the top of the list of topics and will be more easily seen by people. This would be unfair to those who waited a full 3 days before posting again. Many people tend to get away with this by saying something like this: Oops. Accident. Stupid server posted it twice But the two times that it was posted were quite a while apart. Big signatures Signatures are a privilege. A signature is seen under every post. Everyone can make their signature however they want, to the extent of not breaking the rules. Many people tend to make their signatures too big. The size allowance of a signature is 550 pixels by 150 pixels. Many have broken this rule. Make sure you dont make it any bigger than that. Finally there are two ways to be remembered: 1) remembered as being an idiot 2) remembered as being mature. So if you want to be remembered for good reasons, follow these basic guidelines and you will be able to avoid being a noob. Written by mememe
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Wikis, they are big and they are over-popular. Some however stand for good reasons. Ever since Wikipedia took off, it seems everyone just had to start up a wiki. Every pointless game and silly website had a poorly designed Wiki attached. Even when there clearly wasnt enough content to bother creating a wiki about it they did it just for bragging rights. And while Im sure you will still run into many websites that have stupid and pointless wikis, there is one that shows a lot of promise, and has managed to start of with a pretty nice look. Game Maker Technology Wiki Trust me, when I heard it the first time I thought, What? Why the heck would a magazine need a wiki? Here comes another crummy wiki! Boy was I wrong! The first time I visited it, once I realized what they were doing, I understood there was a very good reason to create this wiki because it has the potential to become an amazing reference for GM users. What GM Tech has begun doing is putting all of their articles and game reviews into their wiki. Remember that one helpful article you read? Crud, what magazine was it again? Rather than download and search every magazine, now all you have to do is visit the wiki and a quick search should pull up the results. How about the game you cant remember the name of, but you remember it was in magazine 4? Rather than have to download the magazine again, all you have to do is make a quick visit to the wiki and theres the games review and a link to the GMC topic. Now at the time of writing they still havent managed to enter in all of the stuff from their past issues, but they have made a pretty good dent in it. Even though its not complete, it is still an impressive amount of articles and game reviews. Once they manage to finish entering all of their past issues they will have a super amazing database of helpfully tutorials, articles, and game reviews. And since they will continue to add all of their upcoming magazines to it, its usefulness will only continue too grow. The GM Tech Wiki, the brainchild of gmjab, promises to be (and already is) one of the most helpfull and enjoyable GMrelated websites to come around in a long time. After this article was written, they added user comments and a rating system to the wiki. Now people can post feedback on the articles and game reviews posted there. This is showing, yet again, that this already great service is still on the rise. Link: Game Maker Technology Wiki Written by freelance writer: Elmernite
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ARTICLES
Which is your favourite site to use? Timoi compares both Snow Moon and 64Digits. over 10,000 hits. 64Digits does a good job of making you always feeling connected, active user lists, favourite user lists, and badges add to the sense of community. Snow Moon has all these features too, with currently less than 100 members it can feel a bit empty at times, but the members are generally friendly and fun. It also includes a nifty dynamic active user list that updates in real-time. During my time at 64Digits I only came across flaming or abusive comments a couple of times, which is only to be expected on any website this big but the overall atmosphere was cheerful and welcoming. In summary both of these sites offer a totally free, top quality service, and there is little to choose between them. As it stands 64 Digits is probably the better of the two as its in a more polished state and is packed full of content. Snow Moon still has improvements to be made. Keeping that in mind, if it manages to stave off the downtime problems that have affected 64Digits, Snow Moon will no doubt grow as more users start uploading there and it becomes a well known site. User opinions Youll never hear someone say, Find a different host! when you distribute your projects with 64Digits. Its not the website itself that makes it what it has become today, but the people who use it daily. Some days it could be bad, other times it could be good. If you want a place where you can upload your games and blog about almost anything, 64Digits is the place for you. - Dfortun81 (on 64Digits) 64D is a wonderful place. Sure, we have our ups and downs, but thats just fun! Were an easy to navigate source of incomparable coding expertise and examples, but were much more than that, so much more. I mean, look at the blogs, theyre interesting, many are funny, I even wrote a theme tune. So yeah, were more than just GM, were a community, and a damn good one at that. - Phazon Yoshi (on 64 Digits) The upload works well enough and the downloading is great, no problems so far. The site is pretty much constantly being worked on, so all the problems should be resolved pretty soon. After its been around a bit longer and had time to grow a bit more and get some kinks worked out, itll be great. And the community is awesome. - Rusky (on Snow Moon) Ever since I joined, Ive seen the progress it has gone through, and I knew it was heading in a good direction. Its user friendliness, layout, and speed are very nice and I encourage anyone to join this growing community. Although it may not be as popular as 64 Digits, someday, Im sure that it will surpass it. - Brod (on Snow Moon) Written by Timoi
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ARTICLES
What has YoYo Games done in the past year? Medieval looks back to see what they have done. first beta of the website which gave a warm welcome to GM users. On this new site you could transfer your GMC account onto YoYo Games. Once again, this was troublesome for some users. Aside from that, the new site was quite nice, allowing you to upload your game, select a genre to put it in, and add three or more screenshots. Users could then rate your game using a six star system, along with posting comments and reviews of a game. After the release of Beta 1 of YoYo Games site, Beta 2 was released featuring a new featured called instant play. This allowed users to play the game online without downloading it. Sept 6th - Seemed no information would be released on the future of GM development yet informarion was published on the YoYo Games glog. With this came the news of four headlines - Game Maker for the Mac, rewriting the runner into C++, more resources, and an updater. Though controversial on whether this would actually increase the speed of GM, it was good news that something was getting done. Following this news came the announcement that GM was being converted to be able to run on iMacs. Once again the actions of YoYo Games was debatable, is this really a smart move? Though, it seemed to me that whatever YoYo Games is doing or plans on doing, you can expect people to complain and not be grateful that they at least have GM. On track, if you have read issue 10 you can find quite a fewuser opinions on the development of GM on Macs. The resource section is nothing major, just YoYo Games getting people to make resources for GM. And finally, YoYo Games has hired a full-time Delphi programmer to release frequent updates for GM. Written by Medieval
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GM DEV
Pros You can add up to 10 channels to choose where you want which sounds to play. Cons Like FruityLoops, the demo is free. You again have to purchase the full version if you want to publish your songs in high quality, however you can actually save your projects, unlike FruitLoops. The demo can also only export in wma format, but there are many reliable converters available on the internet.
Audacity | audacity.sourceforge.net
Not so much meant for making music, Audacity is a program of importance for sound effects. You can trim sounds, reduce the filesize, and remove unwanted noise from your recordings. Pros Taking out any static or unwanted noise is very easy to do with Audacity. Trimming and shortening sounds are easy to do because of the accuracy of this task with Audacity. Cons This program is not really meant for making music.
Anvil Studio | www.anvilstudio.com
This is definitely one of the most popular MIDI-making programs on the internet. It is free, and this is probably one of the many reasons that make it desirable to game-makers. Pros Many instruments and sounds to choose from. Cons Knowledge of music (ie. Being able to read sheet music) is very important to have. Tips Make loops in FruityLoops then arrange them in Acid. AnvilStudio has many sound effects to choose from. Noise Removal in Audacity takes away unwanted static. Sound Effects A game is always more interesting when it has sound effects to support it. There are many resources for sound effects on the internet, but one of the most common sites where sound effects are found is freesound.iua.upf.edu, otherwise known as The Freesound Project. It is a site where users upload their own sounds, and most of them are real-life recordings. Downloading these can save time. It is important to credit the creator of the sound, as the site is under a creative commons license. This guide has shown you great free resources for making music and sounds for your games. Tutorials and FAQs are available on the listed sites, but the best way to learn is to actually try the different programs out for yourself. Written by ESA
A large program that can be utilized to make many different types of music. Built-in instruments and effects help you get the sound you want, and there are small tools like vocoders that can assist in making sound effects as well. Pros Many plug-ins, instruments, and effects to choose from. You can come up with a variety of different sounds with this program. You can also render the songs/loops you make into many different formats such as MIDI, mp3, and wav. You can adjust the quality of the final song as well. Cons You have to pay $100 to unlock the full version. The demo is free, and you can use it as long as you want, however you cannot save your projects to edit them later.
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GM DEV
TheMagnitude provides a great little tip on simplifying a level editor for your games. Here are some snippets of code that are taken from the example included with this article: To add an object:
var i; i=show_menu(Ball|Wall,-1); // show menu with two items. if i=-1 exit; // check if user selected a menu item. switch (i) { case 0: (instance_create(100,100,obj_le_object)). object=obj_circle; // create a circle break; case 1: (instance_create(100,100,obj_le_object)). object=obj_square; // create square break; // to add a new object just carry on the pattern. //case 2: //(instance_create(100,100,obj_le_object)). object=obj_x; //break; }
With each instance of obj_le_object (hey Ive just realised that sounds french) it has a local variable: object set to the object id of the object that it mimics, so it can assign the sprite a frame later to appear as if its that object To save:
var str,i; str=; with (obj_le_object) { // create a string that, when executed will add the REAL object at the current place on screen str+=instance_create(+string(x)+,+string(y)+ ,+string(object)+);; } i=file_text_open_write(save.lev); // open file save.lev for writing file_text_write_string(i,str); // save the string file_text_close(i); // close the file
To load:
var i; i=file_text_open_read(save.lev); // open save. lev for reading s=file_text_read_string(i); // read the string execute_string(s); // execute the string file_text_close(i); // close the file
This concludes the Simplifying A Level Editor article. You are encouraged to view the example with this issue to see the scripts in action. Hopefully this article has given you an idea on how to simplify a level editor. View the Level Editor example supplied with this issue Written by TheMagnitude
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GM DEV
Part 1 of aviraldgs game calculation article shows us simple ways to calculate a ball bouncing and rolling In GML there are two ways this calculation could be written:
newdirection=90+(90point_direction(other.x,other.y,x,y))
The above code should be placed in the collision event of the ball with the paddle. Ball Rolling Well , heres the situation ... weve got a football game. (football as in soccer because in Europe and Asia its called football. In the US its called soccer.) The major part of any football game is the ball (common sense really ) and it must look realistic to the user.
Im expecting that you know your algebra and your equations, so lets get down to the diagram that we shall actually build our formula on.
The above animation strip would look like a rotating ball when animated at 30 frames per second.All we need to do is to make its animation speed match its motion speed and make it face the direction of motion.(Sorry , this only works for Registered/ Pro users). The following code should be used in the step event of the ball.
image_angle=direction image_speed=speed/image_number
This concludes the first part of the article. Hopefully it has provided two easy answers to two very common questions. Look forward to the next part of Simple Game Calculations. Written by freelance writer: aviraldg
Making environment effects can be challenging. Luckily there are quite a few examples out there that people can work from. This, Rain & Snow example by Giorgio for GM7 Lite is helpful. However to many newer users, this example may be confusing. This example mostly uses GML but does include a little bit of D&D. The rain effect is not realistic as far as drop size and the speed at which the rain falls. On the other hand, the snow example looks much more realistic. There is unnecessary code and objects in this example that may make learning from this example hard. Finally I could see a lot of work went into the presentation of this example.
You might notice a few things in the above diagram: The angle formed from the paddles origin to the ball (origin) is approximately 45 The new direction = 90 + ( 90 - olddirection from paddle to ball)
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The bottom turrets coordinates (that uses green lines was) measured using X and Y offsets. It may be simpler if the parent object does not rotate but, if the parent object turns, both X and Y will change in a strange manner that makes it hard to recalculate. However, the top turret uses polar coordinates; as we can see, the distance from the origin (r) and the angle of rotation () are both easily measured. GML can very easily find the polar coordinates for two points using point_direction() and point_distance(). The following code would go in the Create event of the turret. Now we have to decide where on the ship the turret(s) are going to be attached. In the following wireframe you can see the green circles indicating where I want to turrets to be attached:
r=point_distance(ship.x,ship.y,x,y); theta=point_direction(ship.x,ship.y,x,y);
Now that we have the polar coordinates stored, the ship can freely rotate and we can keep the turret in the proper place on the ship. For example, in the step event of the turret, we would put the following code.
x=ship.x+lengthdir_x(r,theta+ship.image_angle); y=ship.y+lengthdir_y(r,theta+ship.image_angle);
Remember, if the ship gets destroyed and the turrets try to adjust to the ships rotation, youll get errors because the ship doesnt exist. This is why it is best for the turrets to be destroyed if the ship gets destroyed, or change the code in the turrets step event to check if there is a ship. Now some math. First, we need to make sure the origins of our graphics are at the logical center, so that when they rotate they dont spin awkwardly. The turrets center would be at the center of its spherical base, not the center of the image. For the sake of simplicity, were going to convert the offset of the turrets into polar coordinates. This mean that instead of being an (X,Y) value, the coordinate is going to be a (r,) value. The r stands for radius: the distance from the parent objects origin. is the direction from the origin of the parent object. Here is another illustration to show you what I mean. The possibilities for attaching objects to each other are endless and can be an efficient way to save processing power every step. Written by freelance writer: ShaX
Be a freelance writer for the Game Maker Technology magazine! Writing for GMTM allows you to have your work in the magazine and to gain rewards. For more information, checkout the forum.
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GM DEV
Manipulating a String
If you have ever read the GM help file and checked the string handling functions, some of you might be thinking that this is great, and some of you might be wondering if there can be more. Well, the answer to both is simply yes. By using GMs already built-in string handling functions, you can manipulate a string in almost any way possible, but, like everything, it needs some time. Here are some handy scripts that can help you along the road of string manipulation. Reverse a string This takes a string that you assign and reverses it. For example, GMTech reversed will equal hceTMG.
//string_reverse //Takes a string and reverses it //Argument(s): //argument0 = string //Returns: The reveresed string var str_length,str_new,i1,i2,str_char; str_length=string_length(argument0); str_new=; i1=str_length; i2=1; repeat(str_length) { str_char=string_char_at(argument0,i1); str_new=string_insert(str_char,str_new,i2); i1-=1; i2+=1; } return string(str_new);
Want to do more with strings then Game Maker can do? Rixeno provides new scripts. Encrypt/Decrypt a string There are so many topics on scripts to encrypt and decrypt a string. This is a very simple, yet very effective, script that only requires a string and a number. The number will change the ASCII value of every character. If you put the number high enough, it will be all black, or question marks, and once you set the negative value of the encryption number, you get the decrypted version of the string
//string_encrypt //This script encrypts/decrypts a string using the numerical value //Ex: Encrypt level 5 // Decrypt level (-5) //Argument(s): //argument0 = string //argument1 = encryptic value (number) //Returns: The encrypted/decrypted string //Written by Rixeno var str_length,str_new,str_char,str_crypt, str_number,i1; str_length=string_length(argument0) str_new=; i1=1; repeat (str_length) { str_char=string_char_at(argument0,i1) str_crypt=real(ord(str_char)+argument1) str_new=string_insert(chr(str_crypt),str_new,i1) i1+=1; } return string(str_new);
Randomize a string By taking every character in the string and putting it in a random position, you randomize it. Randomizing has many possibilities and it increases with the size of the string.
//string_randomize //This script takes a string and places the characters at random positions //Argument(s): //argument0 = string //Returns: The randomized string var str_length,str_new,str_char,i1; str_length=string_length(argument0) str_new=; i1=1; repeat (str_length) { str_char=string_char_at(argument0,i1); str_new=string_insert(str_char,str_new,random( str_length)); i1+=1; } return string(str_new);
Aviraldgs Tooltip example is quite different to many other examples due to its method. In many tooltip examples the cursor object will check the object under it to see if there is a tooltip available to display. This example does it in a different way. The object checks if the cursor is over itself then the object executes a appear script to make the tooltip appear. However the method this example uses could cause many speed issues in the future. The reason for this is because each object creates its own tooltip object. In the future this could mean having an extra 100 objects that are just tooltips which Game Maker needs to keep track of. Also the tooltips method of fading is slow, and the creator has mention this in the scripts. This example does do what it is meant to do, but it could do it much better.
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GM DEV
One of the first problems to come up when building an RTS is selection. This tutorial provides some help.
if ((x<mouse_x) && (y<mouse_y) && (x>global. start_x) && (y>global.start_y)) { selected = true; } else { selected = false; }
We are now using the global positions that were set as the mouse button was pressed, and compare it to the current mouse position. This is exactly what we do when we draw, so if you really want to understand what area we create you should check it out visually in the example. The only problem with the code is that is assumes certain situations - that the user marked a square from the left-top corner to the down-right corner. The truth is that there are more such as if the user did the reverse. To cover up all of the four possibilities the code needs to be altered:
if ((x<mouse_x) && (y<mouse_y) && (x>global.start_x) && (y>global.start_y)) { selected = true; } else { selected = false; } if (selected == false) { if ((x>mouse_x) && (y>mouse_y) && (x<global.start_x) && (y<global.start_y)) { selected = true; } else { selected = false; } } if (selected == false) { if ((x>mouse_x) && (y<mouse_y) && (x<global.start_x) && (y>global.start_y)) { selected = true; } else { selected = false;} } if (selected == false) { if ((x<mouse_x) && (y>mouse_y) && (x>global.start_x) && (y<global.start_y)) { selected = true; } else { selected = false;} }
This is for the square which the object is meant to draw, but it will also be used by the selectable objects and thats why we make the position variables global. In the draw event goes this:
draw_set_color(c_red); if (draw==true) { draw_rectangle(global.start_x,global. start_y,mouse_x,mouse_y,true); }
The rectangle is a visualization of the area that will be selected. It starts where the mouse was first pressed and ends where it was released. It disappears immediately thereafter, by the way. Draw is the variable that fixes that, because when the left button is released it is set to false. In the global left pressed we have this code:
global.start_x = mouse_x; global.start_y = mouse_y; draw = true;
Thats actually everything thats in the controller. The rest is done from the selectable object. It has a sprite with two sub images, one when the object is selected and one when it is unselected. So I simply set it in the step event:
if (selected == true) { image_single = 1; } else { image_single = 0; }
The variable selected is local as you can see, which enables me to treat each instance as an individual. I initialize it, and image_ single in the create event:
image_single = 0; selected = false;
As you can see I added one line: if (selected == false) to check for each possibility. I had to do this or the else condition would be applied every time and selected would undoubtedly be set to false. To make the object perform only when selected make them perform only to the condition when selected is set to true. If selected==true { ... I hope you understand. Written by Calle Ekdahl | Provided by: gmtutorials.com
And now the only event not yet described is by the far most important: global left released. We have this event in the controller as well, but it is in this object that the entire selection system is done; having each individual figure out for itself whether or not it is selected is the best solution.
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GM DEV
Tutorial: Strafing
Almost every First Person Shooter game has strafing. So how can you implement strafing into your game? I saw a question on this a little while ago and I thought that Id write a little about it. For those who dont know, strafing is when you move sideways. This is common in FPS-view games and also in top-down view games. Look at my example, and imagine that the arrow is in fact a soldier. We steer with the mouse, but we do not want to have to change direction entirely just to pass an object or similar and thats when we use this. Anyhow, the problem from a programmer point of view is that we dont know what position is to the left/right of us, and therefore do not know how to change our position in order to make the character strafe. My movement for this example is direction orientated, so all I have to do, therefore, is a little alternation. First, look at the code, and then Ill explain. Step Event:
dir = point_direction(x,y,mouse_x,mouse_y); image_angle = dir; if keyboard_check(ord(A)) { x -= lengthdir_x(4, dir-90);y -= lengthdir_y(4,dir-90);} if keyboard_check(ord(D)) { x -=lengthdir_x(4, dir+90);y -= lengthdir_y(4,dir+90);} if keyboard_check(ord(S)) { x -= lengthdir_x( 4,dir); y -= lengthdir_y(4,dir);} if keyboard_check(ord(W)) { x += lengthdir_x( 4,dir);y += lengthdir_y(4,dir);}
dir is the direction between the object (the center of the object, because of my sprite origin), and therefore when I move forward I want to go to some point in dir direction and x step. This can be calculated using the lengthdir functions, which is actually trigonometry. Look at the last piece of code, when W is pressed. There I first assign x the value of x+4 in the given direction dir. In S I do the reverse where I have -4 instead of 4. If I want to strafe I will want to use the same speed, but a different direction - since we do not want to walk towards the mouse any longer. Imagine a cross with the four directions where we are going up. If we want to strafe sideways then we want the directions on either one or the other side. 360/4 is 90, and therefore we know that is the difference between the angles and thats how we cant calculate the angle with either dir+90 or dir-90 ... Written by Calle Ekdahl | Provided by: gmtutorials.com
Want to know how to flip everything upside down? Calle will provide a way to do so. initialisation. The mirroring code I placed in the space release event, but it could of course be placed anywhere you like to create the effect. And what do I do? Well, first of all I use the for statement to loop through my index. ! is a binary operator that turn 1 into 0 and 0 into 1; therefore what my expression says if mirror_index[i] is not equal to zero - then go on, and I can do this because I have defined the end of the index with a zero. The next line of code will change the position of the objects in the index and this is the interesting part:
with(mirror_index[i]) y = (room_height-sprite_height)-y;
Note that the last one should be assigned as zero. You should always end your index with a zero as this represents the end. Also note that if you wanted to affect all of the objects you dont need to create this index. Instead, simply use all in the following code:
for(i=0; mirror_index[i] != 0; i+=1) { with(mirror_index[i]) y = (room_height-sprite_height)-y;}
The with statement means that what is to follow will be executed for the specified object. Since as I defined mirror_index with the id of the objects, its like saying with(obj1) or with(obj2). And then all variables that follow will use the id of the associated object. The formula states that y is assigned the value (room_heightsprite_height)-y and it assumes that the origin of the sprites of all the involved objects is set to (0,0). Therefore I take room_ height-sprite_height, but if you, for example, have the origin set to the middle then you should use room_height-sprite_ height/2. Written by Calle Ekdahl | Provided by: gmtutorials.com
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EXCLUSIVES
Dr. Best is the creator of Ultimate 3D. GMTECH goes in and interviews Dr. Best about his great creation. GMT: So where did Ultimate 3D start? How has it changed since you first began? DRB: Ultimate 3D started with the dream of giving people the possibility to make good 3D games with Game Maker. With the release of Game Maker 6.0 this original aim became a bit void, since simple 3D functionality was built into this version. Although Ultimate 3D was still easier and faster it lost its place as only solution (despite Xtreme 3D). Anyway I just continued developing Ultimate 3D. It had its fans and there were some promising projects, which really could use any feature I added. Since the very first version it has changed strongly. Ultimate 3D 2.0 can not be compared to any of the old versions. Almost all features of the old versions are part of the novice section of Ultimate 3D. Those are just the tip of the iceberg. Ultimate 3D is now on its way to become a 3D engine of professional quality. Of course its full power can not be utilized through Game Maker, but its the best thing you can get if you do not want to give up on Game Maker. GMT: Ultimate 3D 2.0 has now been released, has the development and final product gone to plan? DRB: The final product definitely is what it was supposed to be and I am absolutely confident with it. In some points it is even better. There are some features now that were not planed in the beginning and the internal architecture has been completely redesigned and is a lot more fail save and flexible now. Basically this is why the development has not worked as planed. The list of features I decided to add became longer and longer while I had been working on it. After about four month of development most of the features I originally wanted to implement had been implemented, but the complexity of the product had become so high that the old illconceived architecture became too unreliable and unpractical. For this reason I began to rewrite one part after the other and finally I decided to redo all that was left as well. This is the reason why the development took one year longer than expected. It definitely was worth it anyway. GMT: How much work has U3D been? Can you give us an estimate of how many lines of code U3D makes up? DRB: A lot. Ultimate 3D 2.0, which is - as I already said - a complete rewrite, was in the development for about 1 1/2 year until the first beta was released and it took an additional half year to get to the release candidate (which had some important new features). Developing Ultimate 3D is my hobby, whenever there is nothing else to do I am working on it and I really like that. I have spent a lot of free time on it. The source code of Ultimate 3D 2.0 final is somewhere around 28000 lines and makes up 1 MB (pure code). Interview continued on the next page.
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EXCLUSIVES
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EXCLUSIVES
YMM shows GMTM what he has been working on lately. FLaiL has been in development for about 1 year. However, it has been in active development for a total of about two months. Its one of those projects that sits in the background on your hard drive while you slave away at more important games. FLaiL is also a platformer, but I guess thats a given considering I make platformers almost exclusively. FLaiL is formed out of a very simple set of core game rules, which are expanded, through cleverly designed environmental obstacles, to complexity. Its a similar concept to that of Jumper, but executed differently. The player can jump; obviously, and also grab ledges (then pull themselves up after doing so). There is no double jump, but instead the player possesses a unique ability. If youve ever played Super Smash Bros. Melee, you might recognize it as being very similar to Foxs recovery ability. You can hold the FLY button to charge up, and while charging indicate a direction with the d-pad (or arrow keys, for the gamepad-less). When charging is complete, youll rocket off in the chosen direction. At first it can be difficult to aim, but practice makes perfect. Normally, you can only perform this ability once in the air before you must touch the ground or grab a ledge. Of course, there are all kinds of variables powerups which allow you to perform the FLY power multiple times in mid-air and areas which prevent you from utilizing it at all, objects which reverse the flow of gravity, moving platforms, etc. The game is heavily time-trial based, unlike Jumper. The faster you complete a stage, the more points you earn - of course there are also items to collect along the way which add time to the clock. New zones (sets of 10 stages) are unlocked when the sum of all your best scores surpasses specific milestones, making the game very non-linear. You can play the stages within each zone in any order, skipping levels that give you too much trouble. As for multiplayer, FLaiL is 2.5-player. Two friends can play the stages simultaneously and try to beat their personal best scores (or each others). A third player uses the mouse to place bombs at choke points in an attempt to explode the others into tiny pieces. FLaiL is nearing completion, but I have not yet set a release date. Written by Matt YMM Thorson (Project Creator)
A new strategy game in the making. Could this game be good? ... GMT gets some information on it. Vortec is a strategy game in which you must take over the universe before the enemy, by taking over planets and building ships. Each colonized planet has a population which you can use to build ships to colonize uninhabited planets, or to try and overwhelm the enemy. The storyline behind the game is of a futuristic society that has spread throughout the galaxy and has been suddenly attacked by an unknown enemy, which you must destroy. As the game progresses you learn more about what they are and where they came from. The Vortec project was started several months ago and has come along way since, Ive been updating it about every two weeks and Its gotten some nice responses. This game originally started out as a test for some blend modes and has evolved to its current state, it features some nice home made graphics and tons of effects. So far it only has two modes besides the story, but the game has quite a bit to offer. In future versions I hope to add several other aspects to the game to make it harder such as black holes that suck in ships and suns that can super nova and strip colonized planets back into uninhabited planets.
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EXCLUSIVES
Madhouse on DS
phubans lets us in on the big plans for his new Madhouse game. I started working on Madhouse back in the later half of 2004; it was based off an idea I got when I first started using Game Maker in 2003. I wanted to create a two-player versus game using Halloween-inspired characters and themes. Im not really sure where the inspiration came from; it just kind of hit me all at once and I went from there. Once I worked out the graphical style of the game, thats when things really started moving. It was a lot of work and there were plenty of hurdles; I was actually learning how to code in GML while making the game, so it was largely a learning experience. A few months into the project my data file actually became corrupt and I had lost a lot of work; about 2 weeks worth... I was greatly disappointed and didnt touch the project for several months. Needless to say, I started working on the game again and was able to redesign everything that had been lost. For the next two years I continued working on the game until it became what we see today. As of right now Im currently speaking with the owner of a game development studio here in San Francisco whos seen Madhouse and liked the idea. Were talking about getting it published as a DS game, and if were able to find a publisher, hes going to hire me and well begin working on the game. Its all very exciting, because making video games on a commercial level has been my dream for the past 20 years (Im 26) and its also the reason I moved to California. So Im currently working on a DS mock-up demo of Madhouse that is made to look like its playing on a DS, and my associate who has the studio will be showing this as a teaser of other projects his studio has planned at the upcoming Independent Games Festival. Aside from Madhouse, there have been a few other projects I have worked on, but none that have really gotten off the ground, unfortunately. Ive devoted most of my time and energy into making Madhouse without having much left over for anything else. I am confident as well as hopeful for the success of Madhouse DS, however, and if and when the game has been completed I look forward to starting on new projects. More information on Madhouse can be found at the official website, www.madhousegame.com. Written by phubans (Project Creator)
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EXCLUSIVE
Pros Very good to look at Feels professionally-made Unique idea Cons Can get a little dull Controls can feel a little awkward As yet no music Overall I have criticised the game in a few ways, but I am willing to let it slide as the game is still a work in progress. I really want to play the full version of the game, as it is an original idea very well executed and polished to the extreme. Its not just the stand-out features that make LOVE UP!! as good as it is, its all the little details that only those with a decent eye will pick up on. Im sure that when it is released in all its full glory, it will be the sort of thing Nintendo regrets not coining many years ago. Read the extended full review on the GMTech Wiki Written by NAL
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REVIEWS
L4nimation Studio
Graphics: 2.5/5 Functionality: 3.5/5 Audio: n/a can singly view each frame making it easy to adjust the model on particler frames. The frame strip also allows to to deletes frames and to dubpicate the first frame which is useful when looping an animation. There are a several of bugs I found. In the first two one is annoying and the other makes no real difference whatsoever to the programs use. The latter is simply that you can see bodypart highlights through the floor if you move the camera below ground level. The annoying one is with the X-Y map on the topright of the screen. If you grab the red slider, which I presume is supposed to slide anywhere around that box, it adheres itself to x=-50 (ie. the left of the box). Its fixable by manually setting the x coordinate, but still annoying. There is also a bug with the X and Y images displayed on the grid. Normal they will turn to the direction of the camera so they remain clearly visible. However when moving the camera below ground level the X and Y no-longer tilt towards the camera, making it very difficult to see. The other problem is due to depth issues. When moving the camera below the ground one again the grid appears through the ground on some angles. These minor bugs can easily be corrected and are not something to be worried about.
When I was first greeted by the L4nimation Studios main interface I thought itd be difficult to pick up. How wrong I was within about 5 minutes I felt comfortable with it. The interface is, as I previously mentioned, daunting at first. With a little learning, its very nice though. Its a case of experimenting with all the little buttons and sliders. After a message and a help-file (for first-time users) you are put into a 3D room containing an HUD, a grid floor and a simple man-shape. No stupid bits clogging up room unnecessarily, nothing too complicated. The HUD is not elaborated decorated, its a set of partially see-through grey boxes with stuff on them. Its very refreshing to see something so functional feel so simple.
In terms of graphics, Ive pretty much covered it. Due to L4nimation Studio being a program, there are no walls, ceilings or anything. Its a man on a grid. The man is no more than seven 3D shapes making a crude man-shape. It doesnt matter though. The basic guy is there, and you do not need anything more complicated. Looking at the GUI on the other hand it is very nice. L4nimation Studio takes on the blank grey style interface that many 3D programs have. The GUI is simple and effective but I think themeing could be added to the program to allow the user to chose his/her own skin color. Ill move onto audio. What audio? L4nimation Studio has none. Its a program though any audio may detract from its purpose (although the odd click sound effect to acknowledge my activation of a button would be nice). In terms of functionality, L4nt0m plays an ace. It allows beginners to make otherwise-complicated human model movement with a few clicks. Sure, its time consuming, but what isnt? The ease with which people can make animations is very, very nice, and thats what the program is for. With the animation you
There are a number of possible suggestion I could give for future version of L4nimation. I will list just three of them: - Animation looping - Program Options (Themes, Camera Settings) - Add the ability to animate more then just a person Pros Easy to grasp User-friendly interface Does its job effectively Cons Not great for compicated animations May feel too simple for some A few things give it an unprofessional feel Overall In all, youve got to want human model animation to appreciate L4nimation Studio. For a little play around, youll get bored quickly, but for the task at hand youll be hard-pressed to find better without shelling out both money and learning time. Written by NAL
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REVIEWS
There was one good activity I liked which required you to jump on different buttons to rotate pieces of a circuit to go together which then unlocks the next level. Lastly there was no game lag which is always good to see. The plot of the game is a letdown. It gives you a back story, ends way too abruptly and rolls the credits. You feel like the game is just getting started then it ends. Because the game is short replay value is lost. It would be good if the game was a bit more random so when playing it over again it wont be as easy to complete. Pros Great graphics and effects Music is very well implemented Solid gameplay Cons Huge game file Feels unfinished in places Combat is fairly poor Overall I began the review by mentioning that the game could be brilliant if improvements were made. If the combat mechanism was changed, and the story was vastly lengthened, it could become brilliant. Everything thats needed is there; a nice variety of levels, great graphics and music, a nice story idea; but it currently feels like a work in progress. Written by NAL
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REVIEWS
Cell Burst
Graphics: 4/5 Gameplay: 3.5/5 Audio: 4/5 click sounds. I noticed each gun had a sound effect except for the flamethrower. An effect for the flamethrower should be added, I think. After a while of playing, the sounds got very repetitive and were boring. Some sound variety for each gun would be an improvement. Lastly how does the game play? I have to say its very smooth and seamless unlike many other games you see around today. The game menus cant really be improved on since they work so well. However, a great addition to the game would be to have some sort of level editor. If this was to be included adjustments to the combo box for choosing a level would need a scroll bar. When first playing the game, I was playing it on granny difficulty because I found it was too fast to keep up with. However youll find that after a few plays the other difficulties are more in reach. For me the best way to stay alive was to jump around like an idiot before getting shrivelled up in mid-air by a flamethrower... but thats just my way. Going head on into the bullets is not an option in this game because youll be dead before you hit the arrow key. The controls were easy to use however when you die you lose all your guns (which is annoying). I also found no game lag whatsoever. So in my opinion the gameplay is very good. Pros Smooth graphics Nice selection of music/sound effects Menu style is somewhat unique Cons Can be a little too fast paced to survive The game gets repetitive Takes a while to fully get used to the game Overall The game is excellent and sure deserves its stars. The graphics are very smooth with only a few tiny problems. Sound and music is good, however, it could use a few more adjustments. Lastly, the gameplay is pretty much as good as it gets besides the fact that it is fast. Overall, brilliant work. Perhaps we could see a sequel soon. Written by gmjab
Elmernite is known for making a few platform shooters in the past and they keep getting better every time. Cell Burst is Elmernites latest game and its very good, even scoring a staff pick on YoYo Games. So what is Cell Burst all about? Well, you play as a cell looking creature/person and the basic point of the game is to destroy all the other cell guys as many times over as you can. The game has several game modes, guns and scenes to play in. So after about 20 seconds setting up your game scene youll be jumping around all over the screen dodging as many bullets as you can. But I must warn you, if youve never played a game like this before the AI will not treat you kindly. Cell Burst has some mighty graphics. As I started the game I had a great relief when I actually saw a custom loading bar for the first time in ages. Now if youre one of those people that likes starring at menus that have smooth graphics then youll be doing it with this game. Cell Burst has an excellent scrolling effect between menus that just looks superb and if you hit a back button itll even scroll backwards again! When starting a game you will also be shown a possibly fake loading screen which is very nice also. You can tell that much effort has been put into the menu design in this game. The in-game graphics are the next big thing youll like. Each game level is completely different from one another, although some looked much better than others. There is no scrolling in the game whatsoever so its just one set playing area. Each gun has its own graphical effect to go with it. The effect I like most of all was that of the classic flamethrower. When a player dies the body falls into black pieces, a little like ash. The death effect was very cool indeed. I found the size of the players a bit small, too small to see the good details of each player, however this really isnt an issue. The game doesnt have much of a HUD which is a pity because it could be used to show many different details. Then again, the game is that fast paced you dont get a chance to look away from your target. There was one downer with the graphics: the fact that the cell guy characters look 3D while the playing area is flat 2D, so to me it didnt fully fit. Next: the sound and music. The in-game music was good and there were a few different songs to go with different levels. The game had great sound effect for both the menu and the game. The menu has a sound effect for the menu scrolling effect which I mentioned earlier, however, it didnt seem to have button
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REVIEWS
3D Racer
3D games on the GMC are always seen as something rare, mainly because 3D games are hard to make, and GM handles models very slowly. Dmitko, who had earlier released Pure Action CTF, has now come with a new 3D game, called.. well.. 3D Racer. Despite the very cheesy name it has now, this game is well worth playing. Despite the simplicity of the models used in this game, they start to give this game the feel of a N64 game, and if the games environment is further polished, I really believe this effect could be achieved. I also found it pretty amusing to see the sheep standing in the middle of the road. Driving your funky vehicle would be very fun to do as well, if there was a bigger track to drive on. I found it amusing to see my character rise up as a ghost when my car blew up because of too many collisions with the boundaries of the track. As I drove on the track, I noticed something that frustrated the crap out of me; my competitor made no mistakes. He never collided with any wall. He always drove on the middle of the road (Unless I bumped into him of course, then he went all faulty instead). He is too smart. I thought I could change that by shooting a sheep on him, but no.. He doesnt even slow down. This should definitely be fixed as it is very annoying to race against someone who is so much better than you. Enough complaining, this games sound effects are pretty good so far. Not very realistic, but still good, as they fit the simple style of the game. Now add some Mario Kart-like music beneath it, and this game will be better already.
Pros Great 3D graphics for a GM game Decent sound effects The game had a nice simple feel Cons Enviroments could be furter worked on AI doesnt make any mistakes A few things give it an unprofessional feel Overall Despite the pretty major downsides this game has, I DO recommend you to play this game, even more when its finished. Dmitkos done well with this. Written by Medieval
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Visit the forum: www.gamemakertech.info/forum/ Go to the Submit > Preview/Review and create a new topic. You dont even need an account. Provide your username, game name, download link, screenshot and some brief information.
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REVIEWS
Frozzd
The YoYo Games winter competition has seen a lot of original games come in and Frozzd is perhaps the most original of them all. Sure, the influence by Super Mario Galaxy is evident (and has also been stated by the author) but ultimately Frozzd is a new and enjoyable playing experience. Frozzd takes place in the Universe and your objective is to free all the Mubblies, cute orange beings, and take them back to the Mubbly Kingdom. The Mubblies are lost throughout various snow covered planets and you will use your spaceship to travel between each planet. Eventually you will also have to fight the root of all evil (and snow) in order to protect the Mubblies from future danger. At its simplest, Frozzd is a platform game. However the addition of 360 gravity makes it a very unique one. While the gravity looks a little unsmooth at times, on the whole its implanted very well. Another difference from most platform games is that your character will not be doing the attacking. Instead it will be up to the Mubblies that you rescue to perform firing duties. When you encounter an enemy the Mublies will automatically shoot at it although you must first ensure that you are set to attack mode. Having the Mubblies attack for you makes this game more relaxing to watch as you wont be on the edge of your seat trying to shoot the enemy. The other mode, unfreeze, is used to rescue the Mubblies from their frozen state. A few shots from your Mubbly king and the ice will break off and youll have a new Mubbly to help you. As well as protecting the Mubblies, you need to keep an eye on your characters temperature; a hot chocolate will surely help you there. The menu is different from other menus. It incorporates all the levels and options in the one room making the menu very easy to navigate. You will notice when moving the cursor around that the spaceship actually flies around the cursor very smoothly. Frozzd has an excellent level select system which shows the level name, description, wether the level is new or finished and the score you received if you finished that level. This system is similar to games such as SimCity 4 and TheSims. There are 12 levels altogether, and at some points you can decide in which order you attempt them. The only slight downfall of the game is its length. Levels dont take that long to complete and a decent player should not have too much trouble until the final couple of stages. The level design almost completely changes for every level making the game more unique.
Graphically the game is very cute. The menu has been well designed with nice glossy icons for game options. The characters are fairly simple but well shaded and give them a very charming look. All the graphics fit perfectly together and maintain a glossy cartoon-ish effect. The chosen colours for the game are easy on the eyes and flow beautifully. The only small gripe I found with the graphics was the background. While it looks good it just seems a little too repetitive. The snowy look is obviously one of the main themes of the game but it would have been nice to see just a few more colours, although admittedly it does make the Mublies stand out well. The music is great but the lack of different tracks makes it get a little old. It does however suit the atmosphere very well. I would have also preferred to hear more sound effects. Sometimes the absence of them makes the game seem a little empty. Most sound effects that are included are decent although the hot chocolate sound seemed a little lo-fi.
Pros Smooth well shaded graphics High quality music Excellent and unique gameplay Cons Could use more music tracks Most levels are too easy Needs more colours in levels Overall Frozzd is a charming, and most importantly, fun, game which also shows that it is still possible to create a unique 2d platformer. Frozzd is also great to look at, with the only real thing holding back the rating being the small amount of sound effects and length. A well deserved first place in the YoYo Games Winter competition. Written by Mediocre
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Unlockable Protips - [A] and [D] buttons control the wind - The cat is your friend - Hold [S] to charge Brickopalypse - Rock the house back and forth to shake off elves - Sparkly cat mean golden bricks - Fill Whopee-meter and use air-strike for a cone race - Erratic wind will knock parachuting presents out of the sky - Low on bricks? Let the cat reach the chimney - With a house completely full of gold, get another gold refill for diamond - No air-strikes? Bounce cat off the screen until princess arrives - No air-strikes? Double bounce cat for instant princess - Achieve high combos to get whopees - Volley cat twice to make it sparkle - Blow parachuting presents of the screen using [A] and [D] - Press [W] to increase level to a maximum of 15 - Reinforcements arrive after 80,000 points Pros Cool arcade styled graphics Humorous little graphics to make the game even more fun Great gameplay and nice unlockable features Cons This game can become boring after a while Hard to master the bungee rope Different backgrounds on levels would have been nice Overall So despite everything being quite simple, whether it be the arcade style graphics and audio or simple gameplay design, it is easy to see why Garden Gnome Carnage achieved a second placing in the YoYoGames winter competition. The idea behind the game is both unique and fun while the wide range of little touches increase the replay value significantly. Give this game a go, you will be in for a blast! Written by Mediocre
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all have different ways of causing damage. The difficulty curve is good; it will take a few tries to get through each of the levels but should not get too frustrating. Lastly, one of the best parts of this game is: despite there being heaps of objects, bullets and effects there was no game lag ever found which means RedSystem has probably put in a good effort to keep the game clean and simple in its code. With all this in mind you can see why it was one of the YoYo Games Winter Competition winners.
Pros Beautiful flowing cartoon graphics Sound effects and music were very fitting You dont see this type of game often Cons A few graphical depth issues Seemingly overused game mechanics Could do with easy, normal or hard difficulty setting Overall Overall, Granny and Snowmen is an entertaining little arcade game. Despite the seemingly overused mechanics of this game, it is certainly fun and addictive thanks in no small part to its incredible presentation and smooth engine. While this will not be the first or last game we see like this, it is definitely one I would recommend. Written by Mediocre
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Snow Moon is a fresh new site to share games and examples. Friiks provides some information about SM. A fresh, new site with interesting features and all kinds of stuff where you, Game Maker users, can hang out... Thats how I would describe SM. I dont remember why I started doing it like this but I like how it looks now. SM started as an IPB forum which I couldnt pay for, so I had to scrap it, but I didnt just want to lose the idea of a site that could unite people with same way of thinking, show each other their work, no matter if it was a game, WIP, image, sound, flash stuff or anything else. Thats how I started coding the site. First design was horrible - It was nothing more than 3 blocks with a black border around on a blue background. Not to mention it wasnt cross-browser compatible. I knew only some PHP at the beginning so I couldnt do much but as I wanted to code more things that were more complex I had to learn things (which I did). But the design was still a problem, and thats where GmWave came in, he designed Snow Moons design as you see it now. It was completely custom, hand made and... great. It was amazing compared to the old, blue design. I had worked for about 10 months when I finally got SM a domain name - snowmoons.com and a normal host. It was a great day for all the users we had by then - no more file upload limits, slow loading times or limited space. Two months after that, a year since I started coding the site, it was released. It wasnt too popular at the beginning, we got maybe.. 2-3 members in a week if we were lucky and actually it continued for quite a while. I even started thinking about closing Snow Moon and turning it into some kind of file host or whatever but then people started coming and visiting. It was a great surprise and some time later I got a PM saying that ..Snow Moon has been dubbed as the new 64D.. and asked me if I would like to write an article about it. No one could get the smile off my face that day. I got to say one thing though, Im not really happy with some people saying that SM is a copy of 64D. No, its not and it was never meant to be one. Snow Moon offers people to host and show off all kinds of their work - not only games as I mentioned before. I just wanted to make a community which people and I, myself, would like. I think Ive achieved that. I have some words about great changes of SM for those people who already have seen SM and especially for those who havent - Me and GmWave are working hard on a new version of the site. It will be much more user-friendlier, faster, cleaner... better in all ways. I am hoping to write the last lines of code by the end of February and hope that nothing will prevent me of finishing it by that time. If youve read this far .. Snow Moon is waiting for you. We wont bite. Written by Friiks(Site Owner)
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Gamez93 gets a chance to have an interview with Kairos to find out more about him and his views. portant things were the length_dir functions and the data structures. With every new game I make comes something new. GMT: Do you see GM as a limited tool and are thinking about moving to other tools? KRS: GM is indeed a limited tool. Nobody can argue with that. However, it is a tool that I can make a prototype of a design in only a few minutes, and Im still learning about many of the functions. Ive used faster tools before, but in the end I really like GMs interface the best. Part of the reason of why Im still using it now is to prove to people that you can make anything, regardless of the tool used to create it. Its quite fun to push the limits of the engine to make people wonder if the game was really made in Game Maker. GMT: What other software do you use? (For Music, GFX and/ or Game Making) KRS: I use the trusty MS Paint and GMs inbuilt graphics editor for GFX. You dont need anything fancy to make good graphics. I also acquired Torque Game Builder Pro recently, but I still prefer using GM despite the possible advantages. GMT: Do you hate YoYo Games or love them, and why? KRS: I dislike the way they handle their site a bit. I never really liked the instant play idea, and the download link should be right next to the instant play button. While there are many other things I dont agree with, I wont go into them. GMT: If there are any new features that you would like to see in GM8, what would they be, and why? KRS: Id like to see more security - a lot more security. I couldnt care less about new functions. GM games can be hacked quite easily from what Ive been reading, and frankly, Id rather not have my work revealed to others. Security is also extremely crucial in multiplayer games. GMT: Which projects should we see from you this year? KRS: You can expect a multiplayer micro-based RTS. Of course, right now is a little too early for details, but Ive gotten a nice bit done so far. We need real online games to play instead of the countless online platformer clones out there. GMT: Is there anything else you want to say to our readers? KRS: Use GM to the fullest to create some wonderful and original games. And dont give up on original ideas. If you are determined to get to a goal, then think positively on the development of the game. Interview conducted by Gamez93
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GMT Outlook
This issue, GMT Outlook brings you info on the YYG timeline and opinions on the YYG Winter Competition YoYo Games Winter Compition in the Game Maker world, many have been focused on YoYo Games and their latest challenge, the first competition. With the theme as winter hundreds of developers set about creating their masterpieces, hoping to be one of the people to collect one of the three cash prizes ($1000 for 1st place, $500 for 2nd place and $250 for 3rd place). User Opinion Most people were very happy with the fact that 2dCube (Creator of Frozzd), won the first YoYo Games Contest, here is what some of them had to say Smarty - Congratulations, 2D Cube. One of the most original entries, a deserved win. Same goes for place 2 and 3. According to one of the posters here, you are rich now. YoYo Games Judges - A game to silence any detractors of 2-dimensional game play. The comparison to Mario is inevitable, with elements from Paper Mario and Mario Galaxy combined to make something altogether new, and more interesting than either. Moreover the characters have a charm all their own and we found ourselves sucked into the Wubbly world. Excellent concept, Great graphics, good level design, a nice range of enemies and fine polish - $1,000 well earned. That this game has found such strong approval in the community is no surprise. The judges were left charmed. BlaXun - Congratulations to all the winners, and especially 2DCube. A very entertaining and solid gaming experience =) Timoi - Frozzd was a clear winner in my opinion, wonderfully polished, and great fun to play. Conclusion Considering the three games, I think that YoYo Games made the right choice in who should have won, as Frozzd is a great game. Now this competition is over, YoYo Games have released details about their next competition and it has begun. Taking into account the complaints from last time, they have given developers more time to complete a game and a deadline is now set for 27th April 2008. This time an interesting theme has been picked: Ancient Civilisation. This has opened up the possibility of many potentially interesting games as so far many people have started basing their games on civilisations in the past, invented civilisations, old civilisations meeting new civilisations. This gives YoYo Games exactly what they want, exposure and a bigger games database. Written by Rup13 YoYo Games Timeline YoYo Games has done quite a bit since it first started but noone has compiled a list of what they have done yet. However thanks to Phil Gamble from gamemakerblog.com he has compiled a list of links and dates to news YoYo Games has released. The list is as follows: Oct 15th 2004 YoYo Games Ltd registered as a company Jan 26th 2007 Mark Overmars announces formation of YoYoGames Feb 2nd 2007 Registration at YoYoGames website starts Feb 28th 2007 GameMaker version 7 released April 27th 2007 First public beta of YoYoGames website Sep 6th 2007 Instant play feature released along with 2nd version of website Sep 6th 2007 Commitment to Game Maker 7 for the Mac Nov 8th 2007 Winter Competition announced December 2007 Vote for us month Jan 10th 2008 Winter Competition results announced Jan 21st 2008 10,000 games, 75,000 developers Feb 1st 2008 Ancient Civilisation competition announced
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Comic
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Check Out
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Closing
With every beginning there will surely be an ending. Well now you can go outside and breath in some real air. With a new design and with a heap of articles and reviews we hope you liked this issue. Game Makers life has really only begun. Who knows what the future will bring for the excellent program? Only time will tell. With YoYo Games funding the development we can look forward to Game Maker becoming an even better program to be used. Until the next the issue, thank-you all for reading! Next Issue Here is a sneak peak of 4 things that will be in the next issue: 1. U3D 2.0 Getting Started Tutorial 2. Insight Into: Blazezone 3. Starting a Team 4. Global Gamer Profile If you wish to find out more or suggest something for the next issue visit out forums on: www.gamemakertech.info/forum/. Leave feedback Good or bad, we value your feedback. Your feedback lets us know how we should improve to satisfy all the Game Maker users. Your feedback can be about (although not limited to) articles, reviews, GM tips or the magazine in general. You can leave feedback in either our GMC topic or on our forum. Submit to the magazine Yes, we at GMTM will take almost any submission for a chance of it being published in the next issue. To submit to the magazine, simply go to our forum and submit in the submit section, registration is required and you will get a fast reply by one of our friendly staff. Here are three examples: - Submit your game to be reviewed - Submit an article/tutorial you have written - Submit exclusive information or request information We only ask that you submit content that you have permission to. Do not submit things that are not your own unless you have permission of the owner and do not submit illegal content. At GMTM we take submissions seriously and we will do what it takes to keep our forum clean and friendly. Write for Game Maker Technology Magazine Some of you dont have time to join the Game Maker Technology Magazine team, however you may have great writing skills, and if this is the case, then we welcome you to write articles freelance (where you work independently and on temporary contracts) - so you can write articles when you want, and have no deadlines. If you like the idea of being a freelance writer, check out more information here. View articles online and give feedback You can now view all the articles, reviews and other content in each magazine online. In addition to this you will be able to leave comments on articles/reviews and rate each article. This is all made possible on the Game Maker Technology Wiki. We look forward to your visit. Apply for a job Game Maker Technology Magazine is always looking for new fresh staff to write, research or review content for each magazine. If you think you got what it takes to join us, check out the forum for more details as to what jobs are available. Creative commons The Game Maker Technology Magazine is licensed under Creative Commons license. This means you are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work. This work is for Non-Commercial use only. You are NOT allowed to alter, modify or build upon the work contained in the magazine.
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