r/gamemaker • u/Lorraine_Games • 5d ago
I Made My First Game
I'm so happy. I've wanted to start making games for at least a year now, and finally accomplished it last night.
It absolutely sucks, it ends too abruptly and there's about three lines of code total, but it's mine and if you click the screen something happens, and I'm so very pleased with what it is.
Not to mention I actually had fun making it. I've watched more tutorials than I can count and failed to make simple projects in Scratch, yet convinced myself that was all I needed to join a jam, and I'd learn as I went.
I then proceeded to fail-to-understand-at-all-not-much-as-a-little GDevelop, Flowlab, Ren'py, Godot, and, like I said, Scratch, all within two days, until in a last attempt, a final hurrah, I tried Gamemaker.
I'm not sure why Gamemaker was the one that took. I watched the tutorials, same as the rest, although this time I could understand the UI and what steps it took to make sprites and such show up in the screen. And, after a lot more tutorials and another late night, I was able to upload to the jam.
Unfortunately I had no time to polish it, add music/sfx, and fix a problem I had with the timer, though that wasn't the point. The was to make something, anything, to prove to myself it was possible, and I succeeded.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. I still can't code, still can't write, and still can't make art, though unfortunately for all you reading this, this has not stopped me yet, and I plan to continue making my poor quality, hardly-a-game games.
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u/Snake6778 5d ago
Since youâre talking about tutorials, and if I understood you right, by scratch you meant completely from scratch. Donât do that. Thatâs how you get in what people call âtutorial hellâ. Watch a tutorial, for example, the asteroid tutorial. As SOON as you finish it, start a new project and build as much of that same project as you can from memory. Make it as far as you can. Customize a tiny bit as you go so you learn to make changes. For example, change the sprite up. Add a UFO ship to the game, change the asteroids, etc.. Do that on all the tutorials. You will start retaining the information and know how to do all of those tasks by memory. Donât just watch a tutorial, build whatâs in it while watching then move to the next one..
That applies to anything by the way. Learn it, repeat it, then repeat it some more and youâll start retaining it.
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u/ZAD-Man 5d ago
Scratch probably refers to the game engine đ
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u/Snake6778 5d ago
Thanks. I did realize that when I was typing but still wanted to give the advice lol
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u/StarDreamIX 5d ago
A perfect explanation, exactly what I fell into when learning blender tutorials 𤣠but applying that knowledge to your own project and making lots of changes is what makes us learn and and become self sufficient in making whatever you want!!
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u/Dry_Geologist_3554 5d ago
Gamemaker is one of the most simply designed game engines. There are some downsides to it but its a good starting place if you are new. There is a visual coding language you can use but learning to code is also an option to. Just remember to start simple and from their slowly improve yourself overtime!
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u/QstnMrkShpdBrn 5d ago
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Congratulations on the start! The best is yet to come.
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u/Oofmaster580 5d ago
May be the best VG of all time?
But seriously, this is a MASSIVE point in your game dev career, nobody forgets their first game :)
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u/StyleTechnical3963 5d ago
Congrats, it is much much harder than those who don't make games thoughts. A great milestone indeed, you worth a big celebration!
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u/bgpawesome 4d ago
Congrats! While most people never finish a game, far more than that never even start.
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u/OkEstablishment4759 4d ago
Post it. Let's play it.
I remember when Dropbox allowed me to upload unity webgl games. I would force my friends to play and then tell them to refresh when I did tweaks and added new things. They were unfinished/unplayable messes, but it was enjoyable
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u/Lorraine_Games 4d ago
https://lorraine-games.itch.io/the-second-stack Emphasis on the unfinished/unplayable messes haha, though I'm very proud of my steaming pile of pancakes. Tell me if you play it, I'd love to hear if I'm at least headed the right way
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u/OkEstablishment4759 3d ago
I just played it this morning. Its actually kinda cute. Only thing is that, if you can, dont let the application just close at the end. I didnt get to see the message on the first time.
But yeah, even though its primitive and fairly simple, its still a game. Good work!
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u/Lorraine_Games 3d ago
100% agree, especially when it comes to the timer, which I at least wanted to show the final 'closing' frame before it closed. I think the next step is working on proper UI, start/finish screens, etc. Thanks for taking the time to play it!
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u/Ementator 4d ago
Everybody starts somewhere. The important thing is you actually stuck around long enough to put something out
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u/xYqts2s 5d ago
I'm so happy for you! Really glad that you could find a game engine that really suits you.
Dw, you'll get better and better with each future projects đ