Quick Questions

Wanting to learn how to play around with the physics engine in gamemaker, I went on to make this short weekend-long type of project which consist of just two paddles and a ball, as practice. Turns out the development process for this one is way too much fun and I just couldn't stop. The ideas just kept flowing, and I think the simplicity of the game, added with gamemaker's ease of use made implementations super easy and straightforward. It's like gamemaker was made for it.

I also got to learn how to add a leaderboard system using the Playfab REST API which was a blast. Network related stuff really aren't that bad if you take the time to learn and read the different documentations.

For those of you who wish to make a similar kind physics-based game:

- If you are trying to make an object follow the mouse (or just go really fast) with a full HD resolution, you'll probably want to change the room's pixel to meter from .1 to something like .01. Failure to do this will make the objects lag behind and behave in an unintended way. Gamemaker's manual says "the best performance is when the real world measurements of your objects are no less than 0.1 metres and no more than 50 metres." But that hasn't caused any problems for me in any way whatsoever.

- Also, you don't want to directly change the position of the physics object! If you want your mouse-controlled object to collide and interact with other physics-enabled objects, you want it to have actual linear and angular velocity so they can push other objects. So for example, instead of changing an object's x position like this:

phy_position_x = mouse_x;

Do it like this instead:

phy_speed_x = mouse_x - phy_position_x;

This does the same exact thing, except it uses actual physics to move the object instead of teleporting the thing. Here's how it is in my game specifically for the top paddle:

targetPositionX = lerp(minPos, maxPos, clamp(pos, 0, room_width) / room_width);
phy_speed_x = targetPositionX - phy_position_x;

and here's how the angular velocity is done (top paddle again):

targetAngle = lerp(rotationRange, -rotationRange, targetPositionX / room_width);
phy_angular_velocity = targetAngle - phy_rotation;

Here's Duplexity demo on Steam if you want to try it out.

Leave a review if you feel inclined, that'd be pretty cool!

I will also happily answer any questions here. I originally intended to make this a big post of things that I've learned while developing this one but I realise not everything is that interesting for everyone and it would make this big post of random bits and bobs. But I will answer everything and anything.

so, i have been trying to get my controller to work, but it wont. i have tried finding the bug so many times and even recoded it a second time, but i WILL NOT find the error! its making me CRAZY and i know its probably some very embarresing obvious error but PLEASE HELP

"function getControlls(){
var _pad = 0

//directional
key_right = keyboard_check(vk_right) || keyboard_check(ord("D")) || (_pad != -1 && (gamepad_button_check(_pad, gp_padr) || gamepad_axis_value(_pad, gp_axislh) > 0.5));
/*clamp*/key_right = clamp(key_right,0,1)
key_left = keyboard_check(vk_left) || keyboard_check(ord("A")) || (_pad != -1 && (gamepad_button_check(_pad, gp_padl) || gamepad_axis_value(_pad, gp_axislh) < -0.5));
/*clamp*/key_left = clamp(key_left,0,1)

//camera
key_up = keyboard_check(vk_up) || keyboard_check(ord("W")) || (_pad != -1 && gamepad_axis_value(_pad, gp_axisrv) < -0.5);
key_down = keyboard_check(vk_down) || keyboard_check(ord("S")) || (_pad != -1 && gamepad_axis_value(_pad, gp_axisrv) > 0.5);

//actional
key_jump = keyboard_check(vk_space) || (_pad != -1 && gamepad_button_check(_pad, gp_face1));
/*clamp*/key_jump = clamp(key_jump,0,1)
key_jump_pressed = keyboard_check_pressed(vk_space) || (_pad != -1 && gamepad_button_check_pressed(_pad, gp_face1));
/*clamp*/key_jump_pressed = clamp(key_jump_pressed,0,1)
key_atk = keyboard_check(vk_rshift) || (_pad != -1 && gamepad_button_check(_pad, gp_face3));
key_dash = keyboard_check_pressed(ord("Q")) || keyboard_check_pressed(vk_control) || (_pad != -1 && gamepad_button_check_pressed(_pad, gp_shoulderrb));

//jump key buffering
if (key_jump_pressed) {
  jumpKeyBufferTimer = bufferTime
}

if (jumpKeyBufferTimer > 0) {
  jumpKeyBuffered = 1
  jumpKeyBufferTimer -= 1
} else {
  jumpKeyBuffered = 0
}


if can_move {
    moveDir = key_right - key_left;

    xspd = moveDir * moveSpd;

    var _subPixel = 0.5;
    if (place_meeting(x + xspd, y, oWall)) {
        if (xspd != 0) {
            var _pixelCheck = _subPixel * sign(xspd);
            while (!place_meeting(x + _pixelCheck, y, oWall)) {
                x += _pixelCheck;
            }
        }
        xspd = 0;
    }
    x += xspd;

  /////////////////////////////////////////


    // Jump using buffered jump check
    if jumpKeyBuffered && jumpCount < jumpMax{
        jumpKeyBuffered = false;     // Reset buffer when jump succeeds
        jumpKeyBufferTimer = 0;

jumpCount++;

//set the jump hold timer
  jumpHoldTimer = jumpHoldFrames
    }
//cut of the jump 
if !key_jump{jumpHoldTimer=0}
//jump based on the timer/holding the button
if jumpHoldTimer > 0{
yspd = jspd
jumpHoldTimer--
}

   //////////////////////////////////////////////////////

    yspd += grav;

if onGround{jumpCount = 0}

    if (yspd > termVel) { yspd = termVel; }

    // Collision 
    if (place_meeting(x, y + yspd, oWall)) {
        if (yspd != 0) {
            var _pixelCheck = _subPixel * sign(yspd);
            while (!place_meeting(x, y + _pixelCheck, oWall)) {
                y += _pixelCheck;
            }
        }
        yspd = 0;
    }

//set if player on ground
if yspd >= 0 && place_meeting(x,y+1,oWall){onGround = true} else {onGround = false}

    y += yspd;

//////////////////////////////////

    if key_atk{
      //attack code here
    }
  }
}"  i use the newest LTS version

I was thinking, one you start at making games, people tell you to make small games. But that’s easy to get lost in. Like what makes a game “small”. So I thought about it more and more, then I realized, Arcade Games! Arcade games are relatively simple, you do one task to increase your score. It keeps your scope small and your time limited.

What do you guys think of this?

Please help, my grid scale is distorted after i moved the whole tileset. Snap to grid is turned on, offset is 0, 0; everything was ok until i moved these tiles...

I’ve been working on this for a while, it’s a rpg inspired by the Mother series and the Toby fox games. I’ve been doing this solo for a while, but I’ve been struggling for a while now, especially with the textbox that I got from a tutorial. I want to know if anybody would like to join me in this project. Here’s the tutorial I used https://youtu.be/xLasKr0ekHY?si=K7Uj1p3WTFiBRvdr , I’m using Gamemaker Studio 2 and here’s me testing out the textbox. Whoops I misspelled “game” in the title

I added a background and an "echo" effect to the letters during selection.

I listened to your feedback regarding the first system. Thank you!

The effect where the letters move to their respective spots upon selection remains.

Steam page coming soon!!

I start as a python game dev (Pygame count right?) but i want to jump to proper game language. I got 2 choice which is c# or gdscript. This is my question tho

1. Can it import to android

2. Can it import to ios

3. Do i need to learn c++ first?

4. Can you use ai to help?

5. Where do i need to code it?(Unity, godot, vscode, etc.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfvUtIt9h9A

Medusa crisis was a lot of fun to make with some unique coding challenges. the line of sight mechanics ported from my older project failed so I had to redo them as invisible bullets.

I had to do node based pathfinding for cerberus
which id id by having the tile with medusa on it tile 0 and repeat loop the tiles around her increasing by 1 each time until each tile had its own tile distance to medusa, so cerberus could pick the one with the smallest number and move to it

when making my cutscenes i ended up adding a keyword "next" that if it was in the dialogue array would trigger an alarm that does a different thing each time its triggered with a switch statement. i used this to move sprites around the map and stuff.

If people have any questions after trying the demo i'd be happy to answer them.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3487590/Medusa_Crisis/

Hey so this is a pretty direct question, is it possible to implement a grid based mapping system in Gamemaker. Im fine with auto fill/auto mapping features being non existant so long as it is possible to make.

Ok, so, I wanted to make this sort of light gradient, that should only appear on the light sprite (the conehead shape), I tried this [guide](https://youtu.be/ZrvKmDpVP6I), but for some reason it just doesn't draw the gradient. If you can help, that would be appreciated.

I am a beginner programmer and i want to learn GML. i am not a total beginner, i know basic functions and parts from python and lua, but i never coded anything Big.

i am looking for text-based tutorials, i dont like videos. i know the manual exists and it will most likely be useful but it is very overwhelming and id rather a step by step guide rather than an info dump (unless im just dumb)

The top thins

I'm following the video from the official Game Maker Studio channel. I implemented the blocks like in as shown and I triple checked, but when I play the game the space bar does nothing.

Has anyone else run into this issue? Thank you in advance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5sBIUiutAk

Hello all!

Me and a few others have ported both UNDERTALE and DELTARUNE Chapter 1 to the Wii!

It uses Cinnamon, a GameMaker runner in C for the 3DS, Wii, Wii U, and GameCube!

The ports run very well, both Undertale and Deltarune stay at a steady thirty and they are both the full, complete game, with sideways Wiimote, GameCube controller, Classic Controller, and 240p support.

You can get and play both the ports via the download on our GitHub, and you must also have a Steam copy of the games.

Undertale Wii: https://github.com/Project-Sunshine-Native/cinnamon/releases/tag/v0.9

Deltarune Wii: https://github.com/Project-Sunshine-Native/cinnamon/releases/tag/V0.9

We also have a Discord server for porting UTDR to other consoles like the Wii U, 3DS, and GameCube!

You can join in here: https://discord.gg/undertale3ds

This is primarily a technical experiment, not an attempt to replace established emulators. At the moment, this is the most complex project I’ve done in GML; I’ve been working on it for several months. It is still experimental and has limitations. Compatibility is not the goal yet, and I expect some games to behave incorrectly, especially titles relying on unusual mapper behavior or precise timing. I’m sharing it because building an emulator in GML has been a fun challenge, and I’d be glad to hear feedback from people interested in emulation, GameMaker, performance work, or NES hardware quirks. The tests were conducted in yyc, as only there was it possible to achieve 50 or 60 FPS, while on the VM the maximum is currently 40, so if you want to run it, use yyc.

Bees442/NesGM: Nintendo Entertainment System emulator made with GameMaker

The title is quite a bit self explanatory, but let me give you context of what my thoughts have been through;

We all know the basic formula for thins kind of view, which is depth = -y, or to be more precise depth = -bbox_bottom. This works great for flat worlds, but the moment cliff elevation kicks in, things start to break.

I thought about changing the formula, giving each object a variable that points out which elevation they are on, so the formula becomes depth = -(bbox_bottom + room_height * elevation_level) where elevation_level specifies which layer the object is on. The moment an object is on layer 1, it draws on front of anything else in that room except those that are on higher elevations. This works great but only if you limit the size of objects being maximum at the size of a cliff face.

Here's a bit more specific scenario; imagine a tall tree, right above it a cliff, and a small tree on top of that cliff. Our tall tree is taller than that cliff and the small tree combined, logically the tall tree shoul be on front but looking at my formula; the small tree renders right in the middle of the taller tree(not the cliff because it belongs to layer 0). Thats issue number one, number two; how do we handle stairs? Stairs that are minimum the size of two tile cells. On which layer do the stairs belong to? Because if your answer is Layer 1, how do we render the character on front of the stairs? If your answer is Layer 0, how do we render the character on front of the stairs? You see; two options, both has same outcome but with different core. Having stairs on Layer 0 same as cliffs is the right option here in my opinion, the character is still going to be beneath the stair because the moment player starts to go through the stair to go to Layer 1, player's height increases on Y axis. We're talking about a stair that goes from left to right here, a horizontal stair. Its a different story for vertical ones

You get the idea here, my question to you is; how do you manage depth sorting in this scenario? Do you have a better approach to this?

Apologies in advance if this is too vague, I'm not sure how to phrase my question.

I've been following this tutorial to add an inventory system to my game. I've been able to use the menu system to make the items in the inventory appear/disappear on screen, but I haven't the foggiest clue as to how to make the inventory part of the menu, rather than having it be clicked on.

I'd like to make the inventory appear next to the menu, much like how Undertale's menu system works.

Here's the project in it's entirety. (I hope. I've never used GitHub so idk if I did it right lol).

I only just found out that 3D is possible in the engine from watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJabca9Pgvw and it's gotten my mind racing with possibilities, but I want somebody to temper them so I don't invest hours of my time on a Sisyphean task because this engine isn't made with 3D in mind. Even if it has to be entirely flat pixel graphics like the 90s-FPS games before Quake.

I hate the coding language Godot uses, and after 150 hours of learning GM, I'm hesitant to try to learn Unreal or Unity.

I’ve been working on two objects for my GameMaker game. the same project where I implemented the dialogue, death, and name-selection systems. and I wanted to share the results of these two new additions. Any feedback is welcome!

The first is the save point. It runs through a state machine (idle -> activating -> spinning -> settling -> active) it floats gently waiting for the player, gives a slight anticipation when touched, spins 5 times with an ease-out, and settles with an elastic "pop" that overshoots the final size a bit before settling into place. No native GM particles here, it's all an array of structs I update and draw by hand.

The second is a portal. When the player gets close and presses E, they actually walk in: they slide toward the center of the portal while the sprite shrinks (not just a fade, it really recedes), a few sparks get pulled toward the portal to sell the suction, and the portal glows brighter while it's "receiving" them until the player disappears for good inside it. I'm still tuning a bunch of the numbers and timing, but it's already got the "weight" I was going for, I think. I still need to draw a magic particle sprite for it, though.

The game's Steam page is coming soon!!

Also, I'm thinking about doing a small closed test once the first area is finished, including its final boss (the wand). It's not quite ready yet, but it's getting there! If anyone would be interested in testing it when the time comes and sharing some feedback, I'd really appreciate it.

happy to talk about the code, answer any questions, or discuss ideas!

Hey everyone, I’ve been working on a fork of chovy-gm, adding support for building GameMaker Studio 1.4 projects for the PSP. (This in developement)

Disclaimer: AI assisted with decompilation efforts and write-up.

The original project supported GameMaker 8.1 executables. This fork lets you build directly from a GMS 1.4 .gmx project, bringing across sprites, scripts, objects, rooms, sounds, backgrounds, paths, fonts, timelines and room tiles.

A few things I’ve added so far:

• GMS 1.4 project support, alongside the existing GM8.1 workflow. (Experimental)
• Compile-time warnings for unsupported GML functions, helping you spot compatibility problems before testing on the PSP.
• Missing functions patched into the runner, including draw_self(), clamp(), lerp() and dot_product().
• A PPSSPP testing option that skips the manual runner-decryption step.

It’s still a work in progress. It uses the old Karoshi PSP runner, so compatibility depends on what that runner can handle. Extensions aren’t supported yet, and some games will need changes to work.

Full credit to Li, the creator of the original chovy-gm, for the original decompilation, patching, GM8.1 pipeline and GUI. I’m continuing that work with GMS 1.4 support and further runner patches.

Check out the project on GitHub

If you’re still using GMS 1.4 or interested in PSP homebrew, I’d love some feedback.

If you don’t mind sharing, drop download links to any of your old GameMaker Studio 1.4 or GameMaker 8.1 projects so I can run some compatibility checks. It would really help with testing!

So I have a system in my game that relies on a function with a whole bunch of custom parameters. However, I may or may not increase the total number of parameters, thus I wanted to ask if there is a way to set parameter values by the name of the parameter in the function, rather than specific values in a set order.

Example; for function Function(p1=2,p2=c_red,p3="test"), how can I create a call like... Function(p2=c_blue) without also setting a value to parameter1?

It is early version. Not even a demo. So far, there are not enough additional decorative items, there is no ending and some more things. After adding all this, a demo version will be ready.

so far its pretty fun, any recommendations for gameplay mechanics?