01-21-2024, 04:19 PM
(01-21-2024, 09:32 AM)VinnyVideo Wrote: I discovered GM around the time GM 7 first came out. I thought it was pretty amazing that a tool enabled mere mortals to make their own video games! I tried both GM 7 and TGF 2, and I found GM to be easier to wrap my head around.
Over the next several years, I spent a lot of time learning about GM and becoming significantly better at it. I probably would've ended up in a very different career path if not for GM. (Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is up to you!)
While GM Studio 1.x added a lot of features compared to GM 8, I agree that GM's overlords lost their way for a while. I think GM Studio 2.x is on better footing, though I still miss the minimalist UI and lightning-quick compile times that GM 7/8 offered.
I remember trying out The Games Factory 2 before GameMaker. I read through the first game tutorial (the breakout game with the chocolate bars), but could hardly understand how it works. A few years ago, though, I figured out my way around the original Games Factory very well, so maybe I won't have too much trouble with TGF2 (or CF2.5) nowadays!
I can also say that I spent a lot of time learning about GameMaker and getting immensely better at it! The How-Tos on MFGG and example projects/tutorials on the YoYoGames Sandbox (remember that?) were really helpful in my early years. Even up to my latest project, I was learning new things. In Go! Go! Gooble!! I finally learned how to use for/while loops and the return function, which were extremely useful!
Yeah, GameMaker Studio 1.x was questionable in some areas, especially in the beginning. I remember it being so unstable, that I could've sworn it even uninstalled itself at one point, however that managed to happen! It got better later on, and I don't remember having any issues with it since I joined MFGG, although I'm not a fan of how .OGG files greatly inflate the file size even when compressed, unless there's another way I'm not aware of (FMOD?).
(01-21-2024, 01:50 PM)littlelum Wrote: I discovered GM(8) through MFGG, as that's what others on the site recommended to beginners. Although I remember finding around with BASIC in elementary school, GM8 was the first time I actually finished something. (Mainly because the minigame comp had a deadline, but technically it was finished).
I haven't touched it in years, but I have fond memories of reading the documentation. (As a kid I loved reading through documentation stuff for some reason).
Hey, I haven't really done anything substantial with GameMaker in years either; all I've done with it lately is check out example projects and How-Tos. I also love reading the documentation, even to this day. I have a couple GameMaker books that I like to read through on occasion just for fun!
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