DOWNLOAD the FREE Standard Version of GameMaker Studio NOW!!!
If you know me, you know I am a HUGE fan of GameMaker as a tool for teaching game design and development. GameMaker studio makes game creation easy thanks to it's intuitive drag and drop approach. However, as an introduction to computer science, students grasp the concepts in a concrete manner that is true to the coding constructs represented based on the required syntax. Students learn key programming concepts including conditional statements, variables, and loops. The logic involved translates seamlessly to any programming language, including the built in GameMaker Language (GML). Some students will stay with the drag and drop approach, but others will slowly (or quickly) gravitate toward the use of code.
I can't encourage you strongly enough to download GameMaker Studio while it is free. This is the standard version ($49.99 value). There is a free version that will remain available after this promotion, but the free version limits the number of resources you can use in your games. This becomes a limiting factor for sure.
Learn GameMaker - I'll help!
I teach video game design and development at the middle and high school level. Along my journey, I have created a number of resources that should help you to learn GameMaker. The resources take you from the very basics into Intermediate concepts. Mark (Garlic) Suter and I have been developing content and working with Indie developers to create a wide array of tutorials and sample projects for the Learn section of the yoyogames website. Our content will be available there soon. In the mean time, please enjoy some of our resources in their current form.
Resources:
- GameMaker Studio Tutorials
- GameMaker 8.1 Tutorials and 'how to' example files
- A Peek into my video game design and development classroom
- Garlic's Sir Clicks a Lot step by step video tutorial with game files
- GameMaker Resources - Diigo Group
Enjoy the resources and we can't wait to play your first game!
