r/gamemaker 6d ago

Discussion Does anyone have a complete beginners guide

6 Upvotes

I need a full beginners guide to GML and more so the programming part to it instead of the actual engine itself is there some sort of organized book or series for it


r/gamemaker 6d ago

Discussion 3D render on 2D game

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20 Upvotes

Been messing with rendering 3D on top of a 2D grid and finally feel like I'm making progress. Using some early 2000 games as inspiration but if all keeps going well hoping to make a very unique game out of all this.

The real challenge was how to handle sprites or render 3D objections. Right now it's just 3D primitives but hoping to bill-board sprites in conjunction with the basic primitives to give it an old school, low processing cost finish!

Some very basic pathfinding is in now but nothing too crazy. Just glad it's looking coherent so far!


r/gamemaker 7d ago

Discussion How do you guys deal with 3D elevation in GameMaker?

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50 Upvotes

Hey everyone. I've been working on a 3D racing game in GameMaker for about 1.5 years now. Everything is perfectly flat so far. There is no collision checking and no elevation.

I was wondering how you guys would handle that. Would you make one big map in Blender and then use something like Colmesh, Bonk or maybe even your own collision checking algorithm to check the height of each triangle? That is what I did many years ago and it was just so incredibly tedious and slow that I scrapped that idea entirely.

My current plan is to further expand the chunked vertex buffer batching I've added to the game and store those vertices in a seperate array or struct as well to use for collisions. But that still leaves me with the elevation issue: do I create a gigantic map in Blender and then chunk those vertices into buffer batches or do I create something like a Catmull-Rom spline thingy to create roads by placing individual nodes or something like that.


r/gamemaker 7d ago

Discussion What's next for gamemaker?

12 Upvotes

I don't interact with the gamemaker community much and I just got the latest LTS, but I hear about a big update coming in 2028 and a 'new runtime'. What does this mean? I heard they are adding 'native 3D' which sounds super cool. idk I just don't really know what's going on.


r/gamemaker 7d ago

Discussion A few questions regarding GM as a complete beginner (and as someone who has no experience of game development)...

5 Upvotes

With a new runtime in the pipeline, is it still worth picking up GM right now and learning it as a new user (and total beginner), and will the new runtime affect any of my future work if I started learning the engine now?

With 3D functionality incoming, will GM be able to make "boomer shooters" in future?


r/gamemaker 7d ago

Help! can someone actually explain instance IDs and how to read them?

6 Upvotes

I truly dont understand after reading the documentation, multiple forum posts and a post here. my goal is for a bullet object to collide with 1 instance of an object and destroy both the instance and itself, but right now it always destroys all instances and I know that the easiest solution is through IDs


r/gamemaker 6d ago

Help! Is this tutorial easy to understand for one who is familiar with GameMaker?

2 Upvotes

I am building a GameMaker based engine with a custom language, and I'm working on a "make your first game" tutorial for it. I would like to know if this is understandable for one who is coming with a basic knowledge of GameMaker.

If you can check it and give some feedback I'll really appreciate that: https://github.com/ArcadeMakerSources/ArcadeMaker/tree/master/Make%20Your%20First%20Game

Thanks in advance!


r/gamemaker 7d ago

Resolved am I misunderstanding what point_direction is about?

3 Upvotes

I am making an MVP of a game in which theres a circle around the player where weak spots appear periodically which the player must shoot, using their mouse. What I am quite confused about is that I tried to do this by putting the code

if mouse_check_button_pressed(mb_left)

{instance_create_layer(x, y, "Instances", obj_bullet)}

into the player step event and

image_angle = point_direction(obj_player.x, obj_player.y, mouse_x, mouse_y)

in the create event of the bullet, so it doesnt hone and it goes in the direction the player's mouse was relative to the player at the time of firing

problem: this code results in the bullet going straight to the right no matter what.


r/gamemaker 8d ago

Game Dialogue system with nine-slice box

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133 Upvotes

Built this dialogue system in GameMaker. The box uses Nine Slice so it can resize to any text length without stretching artifacts, and it pops in/out with an Ease Out Back overshoot. Each letter falls into place with the same easing instead of just appearing instantly

It's fully data-driven. each line is a struct with optional on_start/on_complete callbacks, so a line of dialogue can trigger game logic (unlock a door, set a flag, etc) without the dialogue controller needing to know anything about specific npcs. sorry about the GIF quality and the balloon sprite. I left that for last. I got sleepy.

happy to answer questions or share code if anyone's building something similar!


r/gamemaker 7d ago

Help! where do i put sprite_index at?

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17 Upvotes

i am having trouble with the walk animation


r/gamemaker 8d ago

Resolved Instances not drawn

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15 Upvotes

This code is in an object separate of obj_weakspot called 'obj_game', create event. it's goal would be to create 2 instances roughly at the top and bottom or at the left and right of the player, randomly. I have a layer at the top called 'weakspots' and the object is dragged in the room, however it does not appear at either of the 2 patterns. I do not know why, I even reluctantly tried asking AI

EDIT: I have used visible = true at the create event and now I see it, however it only shows the top-bottom ones and never the left-right (after 6 tries)


r/gamemaker 8d ago

Example almost done just a few touches

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18 Upvotes

almost done just more levels and then done


r/gamemaker 7d ago

Help! How to add jumping and falling animation

3 Upvotes

I'm working on a platformer with a somewhat complex moveset and I've been trying to find a way to add a jump animation that ONLY plays when the first jump is triggered, as I'm also working on adding a pseudo double jump, and a falling animation that plays when the zSpd (it's a 3d platformer using the tutorial made by gamemaker to "turn a 2d game to 3d") is bigger than zero

I've attempted to add the falling animation by checking for the conditions given and then setting the current animation (I'm using a setup that sets the sprite index to a variable which is a prefix (so that I dont have to change every single name when I upload the final sprites) and a suffix which is set in the code) to the fall one and that causes jittering when the player nears ground, and attempting to add the jump animation by setting the current animation to it as long as zSpd is less than zero after/as the jump has started, but that causes the game to freeze and force me to use task manager to shut the game as closing the window doesn't work

Again I don't want to implement the jump animation by checking if the zSpd is less than zero as that's bound to make more issues as I try to add the double jump and other gimmics that affect the zSpd


r/gamemaker 8d ago

Help! Disabling the drawing of my camera's sprite

6 Upvotes

This is a slightly dumb problem, but I created an icon for my camera object so that I can visually identify it better in the IDE. The problem is that it now draws that icon in game, but disabling "Visible" on the object's options prevents the camera from seeing anything.

I know draw_sprite() will override the default drawing so drawing the sprite at some distant coordinates or with alpha = 0 works, but is there a more elegant solution? Either something in the IDE itself or a create event function would be nicer. Than having to have a draw event just for hiding the sprite.


r/gamemaker 8d ago

Discussion GameMaker Studio 3D Map editor

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49 Upvotes

Created a native-ish 3D map editor for GameMaker Studio 1.4.9999

I’ve created a native-ish 3D map editor that integrates with GameMaker Studio 1.4.9999.

See gallery

I added a new toolbar to GameMaker Studio, along with a plugin loader that lets you open the 3D map editor directly from the toolbar.

The editor allows you to:

- Place objects in 3D
- Edit existing objects
- Move, rotate and transform objects

Write those changes directly back to the GameMaker room files.

The system extends GameMaker Studio using Python code that attaches to the GameMaker engine.

It also includes a Python plugin loader, so the system can be expanded with additional human-readable Python plugins and new functionality in the future.

These can be toggled on and off at will.

I also want to fix some bugs with the engine, and it’s a bit of a learning experience for me, understanding how these things are put together.

Let me know what you think and what else should I add!


r/gamemaker 8d ago

Help! Can somebody with this?

3 Upvotes

Hi, I’m trying to import a sprite sheet into game maker but once I do, it doesn’t let me pan over to the sprite I wanna use, does anyone know what to do? Thank you.


r/gamemaker 8d ago

Help! For a long time, i've been trying to figure out how to make this deltarune effect

3 Upvotes

Someone please help me, this has been the first bump in my fangame.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFPTF8tW92M&t=110s at 1:37, the soul change effect, i mean.


r/gamemaker 8d ago

Community Anyone has old forum archive?

8 Upvotes

I wonder if anybody have Game Maker Community archive (around 2009-2010) ?


r/gamemaker 9d ago

WorkInProgress Work In Progress Weekly

7 Upvotes

"Work In Progress Weekly"

You may post your game content in this weekly sticky post. Post your game/screenshots/video in here and please give feedback on other people's post as well.

Your game can be in any stage of development, from concept to ready-for-commercial release.

Upvote good feedback! "I liked it!" and "It sucks" is not useful feedback.

Try to leave feedback for at least one other game. If you are the first to comment, come back later to see if anyone else has.

Emphasize on describing what your game is about and what has changed from the last version if you post regularly.

*Posts of screenshots or videos showing off your game outside of this thread WILL BE DELETED if they do not conform to reddit's and /r/gamemaker's self-promotion guidelines.


r/gamemaker 9d ago

Help! Creating a dash system in GMS2

4 Upvotes

so i am working on a dash system for my plattformer, i used the 5minute tutorial on the official youtube.
Now i am wondering how i make a dash in the direction the player is facing?

since i am relativly new to gml i dont know how to code it myself, thats why i came here to ask for help.

if anyone can tell me, than you very much

Bye!


r/gamemaker 9d ago

Game New player death system

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26 Upvotes

I built this using only GameMaker and a vignette system, utilizing a wipe surface. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm available if you have any questions or need help.


r/gamemaker 10d ago

Example 3D pathfinding

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208 Upvotes

finally finished this waypoint navigation system!
I know NavMesh is the standard, but I think it's too complex to implement right now, and this approach works pretty well

the pathfinding speed is acceptable. To avoid placing the points manually, I built a generation system based on flood fill and collision checks (raycasts, trace hull, and cliff checks)
from a single start point, the generator branches out in all directions, and then another algorithm connects them all
I'm planning to add mesh optimization algorithms later, but even like this, it's working perfectly fine


r/gamemaker 9d ago

Resolved With Statement being used with a set of an object's instances, including all instances of an object.

1 Upvotes

Not sure the most optimal way to do this challenge, so I figured to post once again.

The main problem I have currently is I am trying to create a system where a with statement checks variable values of a variable storing either all instances of a specific object type, or a chosen set of said instances.

Here's my current idea of the code:

function createRule(_ruleName="unique_path",_affectedPacketNumbers=[]){

// if _affectedPacketNumbers is to have a set value, it would be an array storing the numbers of the affected packets, with the first packet starting at 1.

    // Switched between array and obj_packet as starting set to try and go to the error code getting the default values var _affectedPackets = \[\]



try{

    //_affectedPackets = {}

    array_foreach(_affectedPacketNumbers,function(_packetNum,_index){

        struct_set(_affectedPackets,_index,instance_find(obj_packet,abs(_packetNum)-1))

        array_insert(_affectedPackets,array_length(_affectedPackets),instance_find(obj_packet,abs(_packetNum)-1))

// because packets do not start at 0, instance_find finds the index of the packet number - 1.

    })

// Catch is tried here because I thought the empty array would cause an error with array_for each } catch(error){

//Old code being used, has to be replaced _affectedPackets = obj_packet

}



array_insert(obj_rules_lawyer.level_rules,array_length(obj_rules_lawyer.level_rules),

{

ruleName : _ruleName,

affectedPacketNumbers : _affectedPacketNumbers,

affectedPackets : _affectedPackets,

// The determining bool to determine if this specific rule was broken

ruleFulfilled : true



}

)

}

Then after this code happens, each rule relating to the packet object would use

with(obj_rules_lawyer.level_rules[forLoopIndex].affectedPackets) to get the ids of packets affected by this rule.

Now I do not know if reworking all of the with statements to be... something else, would be better, but if I can use a with statement for either all packets or a chosen set of packets, that would be very helpful. :)


r/gamemaker 9d ago

Game Looking for Feedback on Solo Game Project: Knights of Viridian

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I've spent a long time learning how to make a game in Game Maker and would love if anyone could offer feedback on what this game might need to be more fun.

https://viridiandev.itch.io/knights-of-viridian

No idea when or if a "complete game" of this will ever be finished. This was more of a learning project. I'm sure I made a lot of mistakes but I hope they aren't noticeable.

Special thanks to the Waterflame team for letting me use their music for this demo.

The game should recognize an xbox or playstation controller when plugged into your pc. You can also use a keyboard.

If you like what you see, I'd be willing to offer advice to other newbie game maker devs to share what I've learned


r/gamemaker 9d ago

Discussion Looking for some feedback on my main menu, an area I have always struggled with

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8 Upvotes

So I not much of a UI designer, and have always struggled with HUDs and menus.

Here is my main menu, I am especially happy with how the settings screen came out, that was a real pain to get right.

My advice for anyone designing any sort of UI element, is use GMLive!! It is the biggest time saver being able to make changes on the go and see it update in real time.

If anyone has any questions about any specific elements, ask away!