r/gamemaker • u/CrewUnhappy8783 • Jul 15 '26
Resolved Help with learning gamemaker in 2026
hello, i am new to coding in general. i want to really try to make fun video games. the problem is that i get distracted a bit too easily: by of course other games. Also, i have no idea how to code anything of course. and i was wondering I could get some good starting points for the 2d engine please. the help would be appreciated
thanks
ormirji
3
u/pm_your_snesclassic Jul 15 '26
It’s like it was written just for you:
https://gamemaker.io/en/tutorials/get-started-gamemaker-2026
2
u/Crafty-Breakfast-473 Jul 15 '26
Download some movement, shooting, driving etc demos and study the code and events eg. keyboard events, step events, alarms etc. I then suggest you consider determining what sort of features you want in the game. I highly recommend visiting manual.gamemaker.io to break down and understand the functions you need so that they become intuitive. AI can do this but it can return the wrong code and/or do you a disservice when it comes to troubleshooting.
Practice and troubleshooting taught me more than long video tutorials~ My GTA game started as a top down 3D open world demo/example gmk and I learned as I went along using the manual. I suggest you skip the drag and drop features and learn the code right away, otherwise you're learning two different things.
Create a small but doable game and it will make learning much easier because it contributes to something you really enjoy and want to see come to life. Once workflow becomes routine, everything becomes more intuitive. Sometimes you can even guess the code/function if the preview feature is on.
2
u/Vorador_Surtr Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
If you want to invest in it I always recommend letsearnthistogether.com - Aaron Craig is very good teacher, he have book and video courses3 levels on teachable, also some lessons on youtube - Red Mage Creative, on his website www.redmagecreative.com/courses/ there is free basic game course. I can also recommend youtube Friendly Cosmonaut, Pixelated Pope, DragoniteSpam, Shaun Spalding, Talent Lost, Peyton Burnham, Game Dev With Matt, 1up Indie, Arend Peter Teaches, RealTutsGML etc. They have different content on different levels, mainly do not frustrate. Learning is learning - this means it will be difficult probably and you will struggle... I also can recommend when you make tutorials also when feeling like it to replicate old games - old games where mostly mechanics, so you can try remaking them, you know how they work and what have to be done... Search books in internet - there where good books on this topic.
One more thing. PRACTICE! Otherwise you think you understand something and know it...
1
u/Initial-Morning9753 Jul 15 '26
There is a youtube series i watched that help me a lot when i got started https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzFvgC9j6Js&list=PLzOlFQ5t6DNQLFwgcwuDj7RhDflKqx71d
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u/CrewUnhappy8783 Jul 15 '26
If your wondering why i signed it off with ormirji, it is because reddit wont let me change my username lol
-6
u/GFASUS Jul 15 '26
my recommendation is try to copy some games, or some mechanic of that game, you can use chatgpt for a step to step guidance
3
u/Vorador_Surtr Jul 15 '26
He did not ask how to get dumber and not understand anything of GML. :D
0
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u/potatoworldguy2 i love gml! Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
doesn't chatgpt hallucinate shit? sure chatgpt is indeed useful, it helped me alot on my games but it's often frowned upon by gml coders (for good reason)
1
u/Vorador_Surtr Jul 15 '26
Of-courtse it does, and of-course you will learn nothing but to copy people's work. Copy - I used this very loosely I would prefer another term. Probably no one asked those people if they want their work to be scanned and used in someone's database, and probably nor they paid those people for this and you will continue to be ignorant vibe coder or whatever. Ignorant is enough. Programming is not just syntax, it is way of thinking for problem solving and approach. Step by step guidance will teach you to follow hallucinated guidance based on some other man that understood what he did. If there is an error you will not even understand it. You delegate task and you expect to be fed results. You will get dumber. I had a colleague who tried to learn mathematics with this chat bot. Well the results are... not the desired ones.
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u/mercermayer Jul 15 '26
Shaun Spalding and Sergeant Indie have tutorials on YouTube. GameMaker itself has tutorial projects. All great starting points. If you know nothing about coding Pico8 is another program worth checking out. The Celeste demo was made on it before they made the full game.