How to Make Video Games: The Smarter, Faster Way

Master creating and using variables in Gamemaker Studio, from move speed to strings, across create and step events, with descriptive names, built-in variables, and warnings, guided by the manual.

Master the Gamemaker Studio manual to understand every function, built-in property, and instance variable, and navigate the language reference with search, autocomplete, and practical examples.

Learn to ask precise, actionable questions for game development, provide exact error messages and screenshots, and use detailed information to get faster help with 2D games in Gamemaker Studio two.

Analyze the classic snake to identify its essential mechanics, then design a unique clone that increases difficulty as you collect items and chase a high score.

Create and place the snake object, then wire arrow-key controls to set direction (right 0, up 90, left 180, down 270) and initialize speed to 1 so the snake moves.

Learn how to use descriptive names and inline and multi-line comments to maintain and understand code, document events, and simplify debugging as projects grow.

Explore how functions in Gamemaker Studio streamline game logic, from destroying an instance with an ID to debugging with show message and using random.

Explore how difficulty in video games is subjective and tied to the designer’s intended story. Balance accessibility options with the core experience, and avoid modes unless they serve the design.

Conform to obvious game expectations by using familiar controls and consistent save mechanisms, while strategically subverting expectations for experienced players through surprises and NPC secrets.

Increment the built-in score when food is collected and draw it with draw_text, ensuring the object draws itself in the draw event; convert numbers to strings with string() for display.

Lead cross-functional teams, understand all roles, and facilitate communication to keep the game on track, estimating time and budget and aligning funding and timeline.

Download online assets for the space game and platformer to enhance visuals, then download the module assets and finished game to follow along, compare your code in a gamemaker project.

Import player ship sprites in GameMaker Studio by dragging them into the sprites resources, using create sprite from images, or adding existing sprites from library or projects; resize when needed.

Explore how conditional logic guides game behavior through if-else constructs and speed checks, teaching you to adapt controls and game flow based on data.

Utilize room width and height properties to keep the player in bounds, checking Y and subtracting half the sprite height to align at the edge.

Learn to create a player laser in GameMaker by using an asset sprite, setting speed and direction, applying scale and depth, and firing via a global left-press event.

Learn to import and name sounds, set priority and looping, and control playback with Gamemaker Studio’s audio functions, including fade in/out, pause, stop, and is playing checks for 2D games.

Explore room properties and layers, including background instances, tile layers, and assets layers, and learn how tiling, depth, persistence, and creation order shape level design.

Enable viewpoints and configure a camera and viewport to control what portion of the room is visible, with the camera following the player and aligning resolution between camera and room.

Create a mockup of the first room by organizing assets, resizing the game area, and building a functional ui with start, ship selection, score, a scrolling background, and arrays.

Add bounds checking to prevent out-of-range access when cycling through ship sprites, using array length and zero-based indexing to keep the ship index valid and restrict controls during ship switching.

Bring in the first enemy ship and animate it like the player ship using the symmetric second option, then organize assets and create an enemy group for level and ai.

Set max health and current health, decrease current health on hit, and check health in the step event to trigger a one-time player explosion with sound when health reaches zero.

Explore the core loop types in programming, including while loops, do-until, and for loops, through code examples, including printing messages and drawing life sprites to reflect lives in a game.

Compare procedural generation and handcrafted experiences to see how they shape endless games, open worlds, and story-driven play, including dynamic enemies.

Use the step event to compare the score with the first level max score, stop spawning, reset the player, switch to level two, and play victory music.

Learn how to implement level inheritance in GameMaker, creating parent and child levels that share layers and cameras while letting you customize backgrounds and enemies per level.

Debug a bug that makes the score jump when enemies are destroyed; use the debugger to route the score increase to laser or player destruction and remove the destroy event.

Share your game with trusted friends and family to receive honest feedback early, then weigh it to keep your passion project fun.

Learn to save and load game data using ironi files with open, write, and read operations, and manage scores and total kill count via a data structure map.

Learn to implement saving and loading the snake game's high score using a simple ini-style file, handle common errors, and prepare for more robust saves in future lessons.

Learn to implement jumping with a custom gravity system, pixel-perfect vertical collision checks, and reliable ground interaction in GameMaker.

Learn how to create a custom hitbox and precise collision mask for a game character, using the UI and code to control mask index SPDR hitbox and prevent movement glitches.

Explore building a game state machine using an enum for player states like moving and attacking, with switch-case transitions driven by input.

Import and organize hero attack sprites, link attack one to attack two for a combo, and drive the attack state with transitions that reset image indices and return to moving.

Configure room zero for pixel art with a widescreen viewport and balanced width and height, then design three rooms using inheritance and import a tile set.

Explore castle tile sets in Gamemaker, import tiles, create tile sets and layers, configure 16 by 16 tiles, and assemble a room with background and platforms for level design.

Learn to design enemy ai that is fun and challenging, keeping it simple, using a basic state machine with limited vision (two hundred pixels) and optional sensing like virtual ears.

Implement a walking skeleton with a move speed, random left or right via image X scale, and idle-to-walk transitions, plus wall and ledge checks to reverse direction.

Create a player hit script that knocks the player back using point direction, applies x and y speeds, and triggers a taking-damage state with health clamping.

Learn how to implement damage and death for a skeleton enemy by subtracting health, triggering a death state and animation, and ensuring a dead skeleton remains non-interactive after two hits.

In this lesson, you animate a door open by drawing sprite parts, trigger a room change, and fade to the next room, syncing hero movement and state transitions.

Design a middle level using tile sets and brushes to create reusable platform configurations, place doors and platforms, and refine with grid settings and copying techniques.

create and animate a flying eye enemy with sprite frames and a hitbox, implement a room-switching debug tool, and discuss parent concepts for scalable object collisions.

Implement a bat enemy's charge state by checking vision length and collision line to determine visibility. Use direction, distance, and speed calculations to chase the player.

Finish the middle room by placing bats and skeletons, adding castle decorations, torches, and spider web details for atmosphere. Test gameplay, adjust doors, and refine enemy health for next level.

Import goblin assets, convert to frames, and adjust frame width and spacing to create idle, run, attack, and take-hit animations; then align, trim, and set goblin under the enemy parent.

Configure goblin data and a state-based behavior system, establishing move speed, vision, attack range, health, and damage, plus idle, moving, charging, taking damage, and death states with region logic.

Implement goblin idle, walk, and charge states using idol and run counters, facing the hero, and trigger charging and attacking within vision length and attack range.

Create a magic sword slash attack and a combo system for the hero, integrating a sword slash object, range-based damage to enemies, and a matching sound effect.

Add a mushroom boss with animated sprites (attack, idle, death), test with a quick V key teleport, and gate the door using an existence check while refining object layers.

Implement a mushroom boss that grows from size one to two point five using image scale, then attacks with fireballs and a custom hitbox.

Import and animate a fireball spell from assets, attach it to the mushroom enemy, and ensure the projectile faces the player with proper direction and angle.

Wrap up the mushroom enemy logic by implementing invincibility and damage checks in the attack state, add death handling, and integrate attack sounds and a health bar.

Set up a gui health bar using dark outline and fill sprites, and update its width with current health over max health to reflect damage.

Decorate the last level with bats, skeletons, a boss, and varied tiles, torches, lights, chains, webs, and skulls, then test and plan how to end the game.

End a game by delivering a final impression that matches the game's vibe, whether it ends or offers new game plus content, and credit all contributors to honor the team.

Analyze whether longer games are better by weighing time spent against engaging, memorable experiences, and decide to focus on content, story, mechanics, and design over length.

Keep coding and designing every day, pick a project with a clear goal, and share progress online to gain feedback and maintain momentum toward publishing.

Learn how game juice heightens feedback to make actions feel awesome, using sound, screen shake, and effects; apply these ideas to a space action game without changing mechanics.