Any Game Maker users?

SlamminSamSlamminSam Member Posts: 5
in Miscellaneous
Hey all

Just bought Game Maker Studio Master for $300 yesterday, as me and a friend really had to if we wanted to get our game out there. I wasn't very happy about this, because YoYoGames have really been stuffing everything up for a long time. Just recently the forums were hacked and data was stolen, and I'm sure some of you have heard of the DRM issue. So I wasn't very happy about spending $300 for a broken/buggy program. The ONLY reason we bought it was because we've been developing with it for a long time.

I got an email from GS today, and it looked pretty nifty. I've downloaded this before, but couldn't really work it out in half an hour, so gave up. This program looks like its developers actually care, and aren't complete idiots who treat their paying customers like pirates ;)

So my question is, are there ANY ex-Game Maker developers that have moved to Game Salad here? Is it better? Was it an easy move? Is there anything that Game Maker can do better? Are the forums friendly and helpful? What's bad about Game Salad? Does GL have a programming language we can use instead of drag and drop? Basically anything that you think I might not know about GS Pro, I'd love to know. I may just end up moving to this one day.

Thanks all
Sam

Comments

  • tenrdrmertenrdrmer Member, Sous Chef, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 9,934
    edited March 2013
    @deepblueapps.com used to use game maker back in the day I believe.

    the tag doesn't work cause or the period in his username.

    http://forums.gamesalad.com/profile/deepblueapps.com
    Warning There was an error rendering this rich post.
  • 3itg3itg Member, PRO Posts: 382
    edited March 2013
    Only Drag & Drop, No Code.
    Pro doesn't offer any content creation tools above and beyond what the free version of GS offers.
    Going Pro with GS really gives you more control about how your game is monetized, and more platforms to distribute on.
    Which are GREAT benefits.

    My suggestion is to grab the GS free version, install...
    Make a new project.
    From the gamesalad projects Home Screen, and under the actor tab, add an actor.
    Open the actor and add a rule that says:
    When "Actor Receives Event" "Key = right arrow" is down.
    Add a move behavior, direction 0, select a speed... press play.
    Just about everything in Gamesalad starts by creating an actor and defining "behaviors"

    My example should take about 5 min, but should illustrate just how easy GS can be by quickly creating an actor that responds to input.

    From there I would make my own conclusion about GS vs. GameMaker
  • SnapFireStudiosSnapFireStudios Member Posts: 1,603
    @deepblueapps.com used to use game maker back in the day I believe.
    The tag doesn't work cause or the period in his username.
    It is rather annoying, isn't it? ;)
    - Thomas
    Warning There was an error rendering this rich post.
  • RPRP Member Posts: 1,990
    edited March 2013
    I used Gamemaker a long time ago. I did not like it much and moved to Torque. I had used GameSalad off and on around the same time and started using it again more seriosuly over a year ago. I prefer GameSalad to Gamemaker for sure, but both are quite limited in comparison to Torque. The interface could use some tweaking, but it is quite good and making games in GS is quite easy. You can make more complex games, but the limitations of GS can limit your game design/logic.
  • EbreezeEbreeze Member, PRO Posts: 481
    Game Salad :ar!
  • ADSentertainmentADSentertainment Member Posts: 397
    I used to do Gamemaker a long time ago. I liked it, but didn't really understand it as easily, I literally just memorized the steps, I never learned it. Gamemaker is very tedious and difficult to work with sometimes. I especially don't like how they have a pre-made health bar, score counter, high score table, and lives counter built in. it's stupid and doesn't teach you anything. not only that, but you have to pay for the pro edition to even do some basic things, like rotations, I hate that. Gamemaker may have more to offer, like 3D games and a coding language, but it doesn't make it much better if it's hard to work with. I also don't like how game maker doesn't seem to have different variable (Attribute) types and just puts it all in one. Gamesalad's better in several ways, you have different variables/attributes to work with, it's much more user friendly, and most of the time, you actually KNOW what you're doing. It is a bit slower sometimes, but it's in beta, Gamemaker's in 8.0. I admit I STILL use Gamemaker on occasion, but I never do it for anything serious like I do on Gamesalad.

    Having trouble with your game? Sounds like a personal problem.

  • LyboTechLyboTech Member Posts: 135
    Game Maker was my entry into indie game development, I moved over to Gamesalad a while ago since GM lacked iOS compatibility and must say I love it so far. As for the community I must say that Gamesalad community is much more helpful and usually find solutions very quickly.
  • ADSentertainmentADSentertainment Member Posts: 397
    Game Maker was my entry into indie game development, I moved over to Gamesalad a while ago since GM lacked iOS compatibility and must say I love it so far. As for the community I must say that Gamesalad community is much more helpful and usually find solutions very quickly.
    I believe gamemaker does have iOS support as of now. But it's separate software, I think it might be gamemaker studio. I honestly don't get why they're making seperate programs for this stuff. and it's so much more expensive now.

    Having trouble with your game? Sounds like a personal problem.

  • LyboTechLyboTech Member Posts: 135
    If you didn't understand what I ment, i switched back when Studio wasn't available :)
  • ADSentertainmentADSentertainment Member Posts: 397
    If you didn't understand what I ment, i switched back when Studio wasn't available :)
    Oh, I'm sorry. My bad

    Having trouble with your game? Sounds like a personal problem.

  • GamEasy EntertainmentGamEasy Entertainment IndiaMember Posts: 5

    Trust me ! :neutral_face: i had used game maker in the past and it was a horrible experience. I had never really understood the programming interface just gone with the tutorials and never tried anything else as i am not a Hardcore programmer, i found Gamesalad useful with Drag&Drop Techniques and simply the Templates were Awesome! Which GameMaker Studio lacked ! Only in One Word GameSalad is "Best" I just Recommend to Use GameSalad :smiley:

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