download it here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nGMS 2 isn\u2019t free, unfortunately, but it\u2019s still an excellent tool that\u2019s relatively cheap for a high-quality game engine. It\u2019s a flat purchase price, meaning that GMS 2 doesn’t try to take your game\u2019s profits or make you pay monthly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After you\u2019ve downloaded the game development program, you should be ready to make a game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the benefits of GMS 2 is that it doesn\u2019t require a bunch of scattered dependencies to make it work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First<\/strong>, click New<\/em> under Getting Started<\/em> to begin making your first game. <\/p>\n\n\n\nNext<\/strong>, select GameMaker Language<\/em> instead of Drag and Drop<\/em>. Name your project as you please and save it somewhere safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
GameMaker Language vs Drag and Drop<\/strong><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Since we\u2019ve just gotten the program, let\u2019s look over the interface. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The page you start on is the Workspace<\/em>. This is where we will be working on the art and code for our project, among other things. <\/p>\n\n\n\nOn the right are your resources in the Resource Tree<\/em>. This will contain every element of your game, whether it\u2019s a sound file, a sprite, or a block of code. <\/p>\n\n\n\nMy GameMaker Studio 2 Workspace has an interesting background. Yours will be gray if you\u2019ve just installed it.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIf you click on the Rooms<\/em> dropdown in the Resource Tree<\/em>, you\u2019ll see we have a default starting room for our game. Double-clicking it will open the room tab for that room, which is just a black background for now. <\/p>\n\n\n\nRooms<\/em> are what they sound like: places for you to put your sprites and game objects. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThey can be any size you like, and GMS 2 has a camera\/viewport system, so our room doesn\u2019t have to be the same size as our screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, we will just leave it set at default with the room taking up the whole game window. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019d like to see your game (again just a black screen), press F5<\/em> to run the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\nA blank canvas for our game.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nRight now everything is looking very empty, so let\u2019s get started making our game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Step 2: Making Our Character<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe next step we want to take in our GameMaker Studio 2 tutorial is to make a character that the player can control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
GMS 2 uses Objects<\/em> as general containers for anything that has code attached to it. Objects<\/em> have a number of built-in properties that will help us as we make our game, so it makes sense to make a new object for our character. <\/p>\n\n\n\nRight-click the Objects <\/em>drop-down in the resources panel and click Create Object.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\nOur GMS 2 workspace is filling up already.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nWe now get to see an Object Panel<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nOn the left is the space where we can assign the object a name and a sprite, along with some other options. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the right is the Events Space<\/em>, which will be where we put all of our code (more on this later). <\/p>\n\n\n\nLet\u2019s rename our new object to obj_player<\/code> in the name box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Naming Practices<\/strong>obj_somthing<\/code> or Osomething<\/code>. That way, they know if what they are using is an object or something else.obj_player<\/code> (for the object) and spr_player<\/code> (for the sprite).\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nRight now, unfortunately, our player object looks like nothing. That\u2019s because it doesn\u2019t have a Sprite<\/em> yet. Let\u2019s make a new Sprite<\/em> and then add it to the player object. <\/p>\n\n\n\nRight-click the Sprites<\/em> section of the Resource Tree<\/em>, then click Create Sprite<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Per the box I\u2019ll name this spr_player<\/code>. Sprites are the game dev word for images. Sprites don\u2019t do anything, they are just pictures that are sometimes animated that we attach to things that have code, i.e. objects, or that we just put in our scene to look pretty. <\/p>\n\n\n\nOur workspace now has two boxes. To navigate the workspace, use the scroll wheel to scroll or the middle mouse button to move around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right now, it\u2019s a little small. Let’s make it a bit bigger. Click the small box with four arrows under Image Size<\/em> and set the width and height to 64×64 pixels under Scale Image<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nNow that it\u2019s the right size, let\u2019s draw on it. Click Edit Image<\/em> near the size button. This will open up the sprite in a new sprite editor tab. <\/p>\n\n\n\nNow, let\u2019s draw something simple to represent our character. Later, we can come back and draw some animated sprites that resemble more than a box. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But to get into making our prototype, we just need something that tells us where our player is and how big they are. Just remember that for now, it will be appearing on a black background, so don\u2019t make it black<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nI used this opportunity to really flex my creative muscles, but you can make whatever you\u2019d like. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nOnce you\u2019ve finished, return to the main workspace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before attaching the sprite to our player, we will want to change a couple more options: the first is the sprite\u2019s Origin<\/em>. The Origin<\/em> is the exact point that the game considers your player to be. And if you rotate your player, they will rotate around this point. <\/p>\n\n\n\nFor now, let\u2019s put the Origin<\/em> at the player’s feet. I\u2019ve found that to be the best place when making a top-down game. <\/p>\n\n\n\nChange the dropdown menu right above the preview of the sprite from top left<\/em> to bottom center<\/em>. You\u2019ll also see the small crosshairs move on the sprite. You can change this manually by clicking on the preview. But, for now, let\u2019s keep it at the bottom center<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe only other thing to change is the Bounding Box<\/em>, or Collision Mask<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Bounding Box<\/em> is what lets the game engine know what your sprite is touching, known as Collision Detection<\/em>. Above your sprite\u2019s preview, click Preview Mask<\/em>. The origin cursor will disappear and a grey box will show up on your sprite. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/em><\/strong>It\u2019s best to have the box completely covering your character, with no overlap or extra space. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe options for this box are on the left side of the panel under Collision Mask<\/em>. By default, it\u2019s set to automatic<\/em>. The automatic<\/em> setting is pretty smart, and it does a good job, so I won\u2019t change it for my sprite. But you can change it to manual<\/em> if you want to move around the box. If something is touching that box, it will be touching your player, so keep that in mind if you decide to change it.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNow, we can attach the sprite to our character object, and put that object into our room. Return to our player object by double-clicking its name in the resource tree. Click where it currently says \u2018No Sprite\u2019 and select spr_player<\/code>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nNow that our object has a gorgeous new stand in graphic to display, go to the room tab, then drag and drop obj_player<\/code> from the resource tree into the room. Anywhere is fine. <\/p>\n\n\n\nNow your player object is in your room, and therefore part of the game. Let\u2019s make sure it all worked and press F5<\/em>. This will compile and run your game. After a few moments, a window will pop up.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIt’s a game now!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHopefully, your player object shows up like the above screenshot. Now, you may notice that they don\u2019t do anything. That\u2019s because we haven\u2019t given them anything to do, so they just stand where we\u2019ve placed them. Let\u2019s change that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Step 3: Getting Our Character to Move<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe next step is to finally get into some code to make our character move around on the screen. This is going to be pretty simple code, so don\u2019t worry. We will be using an event<\/em> to make our player move around the screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\nEvents<\/em> are blocks of code attached to objects that run when that event happens. For example, a Create<\/code> event will run only once, right when the object is created. If the object is in the room when the game starts, this code will run once when the game starts. <\/p>\n\n\n\nA Step<\/code> event, on the other hand, will run every step of the game, which for us should be 60 times every second. Just in case, in the Resource Panel<\/em>, go to Options > Main<\/em>, and make sure the \u2018Game frames per second\u2019 is set to 60.<\/p>\n\n\n\nReturn to the workspace and click Add Event<\/em> in the events box attached to your player object. Then, click Step > Step<\/code>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nYou should now have a Step<\/code> event and a new window containing a text editor to type your code into.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNow, it’s time to code. We’ll start with an if<\/code> statement. Type the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
if (keyboard_check(vk_left)) {\n x=x-5;\n}<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nType Carefully!<\/strong><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The code we just wrote will constantly check if you\u2019re pressing the left arrow key on your keyboard. If the game detects that you\u2019re pressing left on the keyboard, it will run the code in the curly braces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this case, the code between the two braces is x=x-5<\/code>. What we are doing is taking x<\/code>, which is a special variable that all objects have, and making it equal itself minus 5. The x<\/code> variable controls the object\u2019s horizontal position on the screen, and it\u2019s measured in pixels. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIf x<\/code> were to equal zero, our object would be at the far left of the screen, and if x<\/code> was equal to the number of pixels on the screen, our object would be at the far left. When this code runs, we are setting the x position of the object to be 5 pixels less, or 5 pixels closer to the left side of the screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\nSimilarly, there is a matching variable called y<\/code>. This controls the vertical position of our object, with the top being zero. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe X and Y control the object\u2019s position on the screen in pixels.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nGo ahead and press F5<\/em> to run the game. Your character should be able to move left now. <\/p>\n\n\n\nUsing what we\u2019ve learned, let\u2019s make the character move right, up, and down as well:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
if (keyboard_check(vk_left)) {\n x=x-5;\n}\n\nif (keyboard_check(vk_right)) {\n x=x+5;\n}\n\nif (keyboard_check(vk_up)) {\n y=y-5;\n}\n\nif (keyboard_check(vk_down)) {\n y=y+5;\n}<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nNow, we are checking for the other arrow keys, with the up and down arrows affecting the Y-axis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Go ahead and run your game again. You should be able to move freely around the screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well done!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Step 4: Creating a Challenge<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe next step in our GameMaker Studio 2 tutorial is where things start getting really fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that we can move, let\u2019s make something that can hurt us, to provide a bit of a challenge for our players. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make a new sprite, and fill it with red to make a 32×32 red box. I named mine spr_damage<\/code>. Don\u2019t worry too much about the origin, and the bounding box should be all of the image now (which we want). <\/p>\n\n\n\nA red box appears!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nNow, create a new object (I\u2019ve named mine obj_damage<\/code>), add the red box sprite to the object, and put the object into the middle of the room. <\/p>\n\n\n\nFirst<\/strong>, we’ll make it so the game restarts if you touch the box. <\/p>\n\n\n\nReturn to our player object and add a new event; but this time, go to event > collision > obj_damage<\/code>, or whatever you named the new object you\u2019ve just made. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAs you may expect, the collision event runs its code when the two objects collide–or, more precisely, when their bounding boxes touch each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this event, the code is pretty easy, just put in the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
game_restart();<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nI\u2019ll let you guess what this code does. Go ahead and play the game and see what happens if you touch the red box. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, this isn\u2019t much of a challenge: the red box isn\u2019t very big, and it\u2019s easy to avoid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s change this by making it move. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Go to obj_damage<\/code>, and add a new step event. In the step event, add the following code:<\/p>\n\n\n\ny=y+50\n\nif (y>room_height){\n y = 0;\n}<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe first thing you\u2019ll notice is that the red box is moving much faster than your character. It moves 50 pixels every frame, compared to your character that moves 5 pixels every frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second part of the code checks to see if the Y position of the object is at the bottom of the screen. If it is, it sets the Y to zero, which is the top of the screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This way, the object doesn\u2019t just keep going into the infinite void offscreen. Instead, it teleports back up to the top of the screen when it reaches the bottom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you try it out, it\u2019s almost impossible to get past the red box without dying.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOur little friend does try so hard.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI think it would be a lot easier for our character if they could slow down time, don\u2019t you? Let\u2019s give our character that power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Step 5: Creating the Main Mechanic<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOur GameMaker Studio 2 tutorial is almost done! Let’s add some finishing touches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are going to make a new object and call it obj_world<\/code>. We won\u2019t make a sprite for this one; we don\u2019t want to see it. It just controls some things for us, namely time. <\/p>\n\n\n\nCreate a new Create<\/code> event in our world object. This will only run once, and we\u2019ll use it to establish a global variable. A variable<\/em> stores something for us, like a number, so we can use it somewhere else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"GameMaker](\"https:\/\/careerkarma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/gamemaker-studio-2.png\")
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