I had this when i was teen in the 90s. I hated it because it stunted my creativity. characters could only be 2 blocks high and enemies could only be 1 block high unless you made them stationary and they couldnt shoot projectiles at the character. I downloaded the other game maker by mark.o and it's engine is a shit load better. The best game i made with gm was a 2D overhead view remake of doom with enemies that couldnt fire weapons. Very basic program, but it was the 90s.
@TheWaynelds Depends on how you look at it. Its limitations are a little eccentric, but boundaries are also one of the greatest catalysts to creativity.
Yeah, I'd have gone for more flexible sprite sizes as well.
@TheWaynelds Curiously, one of the best solutions I find when working with limited tools is to limit myself even further so that it's never obvious that I'm butting my head up against the frame I'm given. Check out the game Parsec Man 3D; it could very easily be a modern indie game in the vein of Hero Core or Love+. It feels unfettered and basically timeless -- yet it has the same technical limits as, say, Penguin Pete. It just shrugs and does its own thing instead of raging against the machine.
@aderack i wish. The hard drive from my 90s PC somehow vanished. I think my step dad removed it and replaced it in his parents PC, which is now long gone. I also installed GM on the other PC we used in 1999-2004, but it got a virus on it and it's not too functional now. Shame too because it would be awesome to go through and play my old games i made back in my mid teens from the 90s. I'm currently learning to use Blenders game engine. Blender is a free 3D/CGI software like Maya or 3D max.
So good to see these GM demos!!....God I was consumed by and mastered Gamemaker from about 1994-2000....Great to see other people used it!
I made some great things using GM but sadly the disks rotted away in my college house about 10 years ago... too bad I had some off the wall stuff. one game called "Fat Kid Olympics."...man i wish you fellow GM 'ers could see that one!
Anyone ever make any "unorthodox" game on GM?? meaning like non traditional platform or maze games??
@kirstleeh Hey! Glad to find another user. It's a shame your stuff no longer exists. That's a pretty common scenario, though. If you ever do dig up copies of your games from somewhere -- an old hard drive, a friend's computer, a floppy in the back of a closet -- be sure to let me know!
If you visit the wiki linked above, you can find some oddball uses of the engine. One fellow created a Dragon's Lair style QTE game and a semi-workable port of Space Harrier.
@kirstleeh Wow, some of those sound very radical for RSD's engine. I'm always impressed with how far people can bend systems like this. You might be interested in a sort of side-scrolling Minecraft tribute that someone whipped up a few months ago.
Even now people are finding new ways to use the tools!
I've an interview with Game-Maker's lead programmer that I'm working on polishing up for publication. It's taking a while, as real life takes priority, but it should answer lots of questions.
@kirstleeh RSD has been out of commission for about 15 years now, and there's nothing official online. The closest you can find, aside from the wiki, is Andy Stone's blog, Effluvia of a Scattered Mind. These days he mostly talks about circuit boards, but it may be worth watching.
@aderack was looking for general game maker info on google and youtube. just surfing for info and history of it...did NOT know anyone else ever who used it besides myself. there is not much info from the creators of if out there to find..if you know of any websites message me!!
@octoberorange4 It just struck me -- so you had the CD release! Huzzah, that's the good one! It's also a little less common than the earlier versions. You may remember a few of the other associated games, then -- Orb: The Derelict Planet, Parsec Man 3D, and so on.
I freakin loved GM. I never actually finished a game though, and I can almost guarantee that nothing I made survives, unless my brother has them on one of his many 'nostalgia' backups.
I do remember making something like a top-down Simcity where you controlled a crosshair and dropped bombs on the buildings.
I ordered the CD version from some obscure software/shareware magazine, when the internet was still mostly unknown.
@octoberorange4 Ah! Well, finished or not, if any material does magically surface, I'd be interested to hear about it. The SimBomber game sounds delightfully left-field, given the tools.
I had this when i was teen in the 90s. I hated it because it stunted my creativity. characters could only be 2 blocks high and enemies could only be 1 block high unless you made them stationary and they couldnt shoot projectiles at the character. I downloaded the other game maker by mark.o and it's engine is a shit load better. The best game i made with gm was a 2D overhead view remake of doom with enemies that couldnt fire weapons. Very basic program, but it was the 90s.
TheWaynelds 2 months ago
@TheWaynelds Depends on how you look at it. Its limitations are a little eccentric, but boundaries are also one of the greatest catalysts to creativity.
Yeah, I'd have gone for more flexible sprite sizes as well.
aderack 2 months ago
@TheWaynelds Curiously, one of the best solutions I find when working with limited tools is to limit myself even further so that it's never obvious that I'm butting my head up against the frame I'm given. Check out the game Parsec Man 3D; it could very easily be a modern indie game in the vein of Hero Core or Love+. It feels unfettered and basically timeless -- yet it has the same technical limits as, say, Penguin Pete. It just shrugs and does its own thing instead of raging against the machine.
aderack 2 months ago
@TheWaynelds I don't suppose you still have any of your old work sitting around?
aderack 2 months ago
@aderack i wish. The hard drive from my 90s PC somehow vanished. I think my step dad removed it and replaced it in his parents PC, which is now long gone. I also installed GM on the other PC we used in 1999-2004, but it got a virus on it and it's not too functional now. Shame too because it would be awesome to go through and play my old games i made back in my mid teens from the 90s. I'm currently learning to use Blenders game engine. Blender is a free 3D/CGI software like Maya or 3D max.
TheWaynelds 2 months ago
@TheWaynelds Ah, that's a shame. Not uncommon, either. I've lost way too much to data corruption and entropy, myself.
Blender sounds pretty good!
aderack 2 months ago
The 3 top limitations that bugged me about GM (although it was AWESOME!)
1. You always had to start in the middle of the screen - hated that b/c it limited one-room type game options.
2. You couldn't create display graphics for during gameplay. (like lives or health remaining; that would have been cool.)
3. So hard to make moving monsters that also shoot things...(tried...its almost impossible)
4. also wished you could make bigger Characters than just 2 blocks
Otherwise I loved this program!!!
kirstleeh 3 months ago
So good to see these GM demos!!....God I was consumed by and mastered Gamemaker from about 1994-2000....Great to see other people used it!
I made some great things using GM but sadly the disks rotted away in my college house about 10 years ago... too bad I had some off the wall stuff. one game called "Fat Kid Olympics."...man i wish you fellow GM 'ers could see that one!
Anyone ever make any "unorthodox" game on GM?? meaning like non traditional platform or maze games??
kirstleeh 3 months ago
@kirstleeh Hey! Glad to find another user. It's a shame your stuff no longer exists. That's a pretty common scenario, though. If you ever do dig up copies of your games from somewhere -- an old hard drive, a friend's computer, a floppy in the back of a closet -- be sure to let me know!
If you visit the wiki linked above, you can find some oddball uses of the engine. One fellow created a Dragon's Lair style QTE game and a semi-workable port of Space Harrier.
aderack 3 months ago
@aderack some other titles I created long ago:
Hijack - a terrorist-on-plane action game eerily similar to 9-11 scenario but created way before that happened.
200 to 1 - a strategy game where you had to defeat a whole army of soldiers by yourself using traps and guerilla tactics.
1 to 200 (sequel) strategy game where you commanded an army to find fleeing soldiers using horsemen, sentries, scouts, etc,
Woodbridge Mansion - a first person room-to-room puzzle game-"character" was a hand
kirstleeh 3 months ago
@kirstleeh Wow, some of those sound very radical for RSD's engine. I'm always impressed with how far people can bend systems like this. You might be interested in a sort of side-scrolling Minecraft tribute that someone whipped up a few months ago.
Even now people are finding new ways to use the tools!
I've an interview with Game-Maker's lead programmer that I'm working on polishing up for publication. It's taking a while, as real life takes priority, but it should answer lots of questions.
aderack 2 months ago
@kirstleeh RSD has been out of commission for about 15 years now, and there's nothing official online. The closest you can find, aside from the wiki, is Andy Stone's blog, Effluvia of a Scattered Mind. These days he mostly talks about circuit boards, but it may be worth watching.
aderack 2 months ago
@kirstleeh If I may ask, how did you find your way to this video?
aderack 3 months ago
@aderack was looking for general game maker info on google and youtube. just surfing for info and history of it...did NOT know anyone else ever who used it besides myself. there is not much info from the creators of if out there to find..if you know of any websites message me!!
kirstleeh 3 months ago
No. Fucking. Way.
I bet my brother still has my Game Maker CD somewhere.
octoberorange4 8 months ago
@octoberorange4 Well, hello.
I take it you were pretty into Game-Maker, back in the day? You think that any of your old work still survives?
aderack 8 months ago
@octoberorange4 It just struck me -- so you had the CD release! Huzzah, that's the good one! It's also a little less common than the earlier versions. You may remember a few of the other associated games, then -- Orb: The Derelict Planet, Parsec Man 3D, and so on.
aderack 8 months ago
@aderack
I freakin loved GM. I never actually finished a game though, and I can almost guarantee that nothing I made survives, unless my brother has them on one of his many 'nostalgia' backups.
I do remember making something like a top-down Simcity where you controlled a crosshair and dropped bombs on the buildings.
I ordered the CD version from some obscure software/shareware magazine, when the internet was still mostly unknown.
octoberorange4 7 months ago
@octoberorange4 Ah! Well, finished or not, if any material does magically surface, I'd be interested to hear about it. The SimBomber game sounds delightfully left-field, given the tools.
aderack 7 months ago
Wow, thought I would never see this again! I had version 2.0, and this version seems vastly improved.
Madguy90 1 year ago
@Madguy90 Hey, swell to track down another Game-Maker user. I don't suppose any of your old games still survive?
aderack 1 year ago
@aderack Nah, I was about 9 years old when I used this. Long gone.
Madguy90 1 year ago
@Madguy90 Ah well, such is life. And yeah, that's a pretty common story. It's hard to hold onto pre-Web data.
aderack 1 year ago