Programs For Artists and Game Creators

Hai! I was thinking that maybe the programs I use and would reccomend to others for making games and graphics might be helpful for others who are aspiring artists and game creators. - Mind you, these are just the ones I have mentioned there are countless programs one can use these are just my select few.

I hope this is helpful to somebody!

Graphics:

GIMP

I do pretty much all my graphics in GIMP, some of them are edited in the program I used for game creation but not overly often. GIMP is an opened-source photo editor and graphic program. This of is as a free photoshop. Granted photoshop might be aimed more towards painting but GIMP is just as good for making game graphics and it's free no strings attached.

MyPaint

As stated GIMP is my main source for graphics, but if I ever make a more advanced game or have a more painted style in mind I will for sure collab MyPaint and GIMP together for better coloring quality. MyPaint is another Opened-Sourced art program, this is more like a free ArtRage, the boldness isn't as sharp as ArtRage but it's still a wonderful program. If you want a more painted look I'd recommend MyPaint for sure; however there is another program called Krita, I can't seem to understand it personally...But I only use a mouse and that's probably why. Can't hurt for you to try.

 

Inkscape

 

I don't personally use Inkscape for the simple reason I don't understand Vectoring. When trying to make a vector I get so lost I'm on another planet. That aside, for those who would be more apt to use a vectoring program Inkscape is like a free Adobe Illustrator, it is as well opened source and is powerful enough to make sleek graphics that are vectors instead of normal images that use pixels.

Sounds:

Sony Acid (Free Version)

 

I use Sony Acid's synth pad to create my sounds (like picking up points, impact noises, power-ups...etc). I don't have the full version so exporting to .wav is an extra feature you can only get if you buy it so I have to use another program to convert to .wav...For what I need it for it's useful. You could maybe use Fruity Loops as well, there's free version if you have no money. Or another alternative is Linux Music Making Studio, it's a lot like Fruity Loops only you don't have to pay for it. (And it works in Windows too)

GoldWave ( Free version)

 

I use GoldWave to export my sounds in to .wav (that's the format I have to use in my game creation program) and I also edit the sounds in goldwave, like the volume and some effects to the sounds. You can buy GoldWave if you want too, I honestly don't know what you get if you buy it , I've been using the free version for stuff since I'm 10 or 11 years old so...yep. If you want a similar program that's fully free you can get Audacity, it's a free program for editiing music and stuff like that it would 

 probably be just as useful.

Game Creation

GameMaker 8.0

 

This is a program you'd have to buy for full functionality (unless you learn to code out of the gate). It's a very good program for noobs like me who don't know what they're doing. There's a drag and drop option and a coding option, if you code you have to use it's own coding language. Any previous coding knowlage would probably help you understand the codes in GML (Game Maker Language) however, its it's own lauguage and you'd have to learn it.
GameMaker is currently on the 8.1 version, and if you pay the most money (which is ungodly exspensive) you can make games on nearly every platform there is; however, though, if you are just starting out you don't want to spend all that money if you don't even know if you like the program. I'd mess with the free version first. GameMaker is a primarily 2D based program, there is some 3D ability but not a whole lot.

 If you're more in to 3D you can use J Monkey which uses Java Script as the code but you'd have to also lean how to use Blender which is a legally free opened source 3D animation and modeling program (Think if it as a free Maya).

I wrote review about GameMaker, it's rather old and I have learned a whole lot more about it since then but it might give you an idea. LINK

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Program Links:

Audacity

GoldWave

Sony Acid

Linux Music Making Studio

GIMP

MyPaint

Blender

Krita

JMonkey

GameMaker

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May God Bless You, Your Family, Friend; Along With The Health Of Yourself, Family, Friends, And All Who Know You. ~ Amen

~ Firefly

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Creating a points system, how I did it. - Semi tutorial

I'm working on a game that will have an actual intelligent reasoning to it's point system and I figured since I had no idea what I was doing that maybe telling my process might be helpful to somebody else who wants to attempt the same thing.
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 1.

I had no clue where to start so first I went in to gamemaker and arranged all the blocks by color so I can create a point system based on color pairs. I wanted a pattern but I didn't know how to limit the points. So I decided what's the highest number I want to go with as a point value. I decided 20 was a nice round solid number not that large but not too small, which is what I wanted because I have a bonus block of 50 points and I make one or 2 others but you'll have to work to get to them.
I also wanted the highest values to be the largest blocks and the smallest value with the smallest blocks so I went with a loose guideline of splitting a number in thirds for the sizes, but I also didn't want a double point in any sub section of blocks (Large, Medium, Small) [ex. two blocks with the value of 4 in the medium block category]. So the fun starts.

Pre-point system arranged blocks in gamemaker

2.
Before I did the point assigning I first made a color chart on paper, using normal washable markers in a sketch book. I made what you could call a primitive excel-sheet splitting it by color using a maker to represent the color , and size making 3 collums to work with. I then marked with a tick mark (or a check as some call it) the sizes that go with that color. It did more of a preparation on how to figure out what strategy I was going to use to create the system than anything else since I mostly referenced the blocks in gamemaker since it was easier to read but it was helpful none-the-less.

Color Chart

3.

Now comes the "fun" part, point assigning, it was at this point that I went through the point limitation idea and thought process. I counted how many large blocks there were and I made value decisions based on that. I was going to go with factors of twenty but I ended up using another route, which was a better one because all the factors can't be split by 3 without going in to decimals and gamemaker doesn't use decimals in point-values. There are 6 blocks of each (I forgot until now! lol) but since I am going with thirds as a general though not hardlined theme I went with 3 blocks going by multiples of 6 and 3 blocks multiples of 5 skipping five so there would be a higher point value.

So the large blocks ended up being:

Point Chart

• 6
• 12
• 18
• 10
• 15
• 20

To make it easier to remember I used my markers again and marked the color and made columns like before only each column had a point value assigned to the color, but the colors stayed uniform. If a block existed in that color it got a point value, if it didn't it got an X to say this doesn't exist. I noticed I forgot to mark one the unmarked on has a value of 6.

I didn't end up being able to split in 3rds in the end, a few numbers were repeated more than once in any given column and I didn't want that so I had to be more loose; but it was a helpful general guidline to get my mind rolling.


I'm not saying much will change, but I still have to look over the points see if I can make it maybe slightly more coherent but for now I'm still happy I made it this far!


Here's what the full draft page looks like:

See how I added notes.

Final Comments:

The  main thing I want you to take away from this is preparation, even if you don't use all of it, it will help you get in to the mind set. And stay organized and undistributed I turned off distractions and put music on that I ended up blocking out. And be willing to make a loose mold to get the best results, somethings are point blank and some aren't. Also, be willing to use all your resources, if you have paper and markers draw out what you need done, whether it's a point system or how you want game menus to look. Anything you want to have you can draw out first to get the idea ahead of time. Movie producers and writers do this all the time, it's called story boarding.

I hope this was helpful!


~ God Bless ~

~ Firefly

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Program Review 3; Game Maker - Is it good for aspiring game designers?

Program Review 3; Game Maker - Is it good for aspiring game designers?

Helllllloooooo! It's been a while since I did a program review, in fact the last one I did I was told by somebody to take it down because it wouldn't be good to keep here, but I kept it anyway and bless God I've gotten the most comments on THAT post I was told to take down!


Okay so...This post will be about Game Maker! Now, you know I'm all for free programs, but this one is a special case. Although you do pay for the “Pro Version”, there is a “lite” version that you can still do a nice game with although not as fancy as for free.

What is Game Maker?

 

Game maker is a 2D focused game making program, it can make games similar to PacMan, Super Mario, and RPG games like the Pokemon games; It does support 3D but it's not focused on that so from what I have read it's not too wonderful in that regard but if it's available, why not give it a try too!

Game maker works in both Mac and Windows OS.


{For a more 3D focused game creation program, you could use Jmonkey, this is a full out engine that requires using Blender and Java Script and I believe it supports Opened GL. - Jmonkey Website Here.
Or you could try the UDK game engine, it's a a sample of sorts, you can create indie games with it. It's the engine to the “Unreal” games were made with. That Engine can be found Here.

Note: I haven't used UDK and only attempted Jmonkey briefly I have no comment other than they are available for use if you want to do more 3D games instead of platform games.}

What Functions Does It Have?

Game maker has many functions and sub functions, although I'm still new to this program (only about 2 weeks playing with it) I've learned enough to give you a breif tour, so...Here I go!


Note: This is Gamemaker 8.0 not 8.1 I'm not sure of differences from the two versions but I can imagine it's mostly bug fixes or something of that nature. 

There are 9 basic functions with many sub functions within Game Maker, here is a screen shot from Game Maker itself so you can see!

Bigger Version

Here are screenshots for other interfaces within the program:

Basic Main Interface:

Bigger Version

Sprite Editor and Creator:
You can either import an already made sprite or make a sprite in Game Maker itself.

Bigger Version

Room Creator:

This is a point and click feature for making rooms/levels for your game, this is where you put it all together. You can watch a video on me making a room in this interface here.

Object Creation Interface:
In this part you "program" what you want things to do, by either already set options or by setting it up with scripts.

Bigger Version

The Scripting Interface:
This is where you write scripts for Game Maker, to get to the script interface you have to have advanced mode on and there will be a folder on the side bar called scripts, right click on it and create a new script.

Bigger Version

How Does Game Maker Render Game Creations?

There are 2 ways that I know of to create games in this program: Drag and drop, and GML – Game Maker Language (scripting), then you put the whole thing together in the “Create a Room” option; I am newer to the program so I use the “drag and drop” option and don't know about scripting yet, but if you want to read about the scripting aspect you can go to it's Wiki Page Here; I'll talk briefly about the “Drag and Drop”.


Note: Wiki Pages Related to Game Maker are often butchered and not fully accurate if you want the best information go to the yoyo games forums to ask actual users, and makers of the program. - Forum can be found here.

Drag and Drop:

In game maker you do 2 steps with mini steps after and it would go as follows:

1: You Make a Sprite (A Sprite is an image and can be animated)

2: You Make an Object; Within making an object you do some mini steps after within the object itself, for example: Lets say you want a your character to stop at a block you create your sprites and make both sprites (the wall and the player) in to objects, then you go in to the players object and make a new event called collision and within that you tell it to move at a speed of 0 within the directional move option. Basically you tell it what to do in pre-made steps that you arrange and can somewhat customize.

Note: You don't always need a sprite, things like music and a score board for example are objects with out sprites.

You can also use scripts and drag and drop, and make invisible objects that create things like a health bar and lives, and many more things that I haven't played with as of yet!

Is this program good enough for a stand alone or do I need other programs?

Graphics:

It's really up to you, I personally am a very visual person, I want to see what I like and like what I see and for that I pair up with GIMP for the graphics, if I was making a more complex game like a Super Mario World type game I'd go with GIMP paired up with MyPaint, but that's my preference! Whatever you feel comfortable, even MS Paint isn't that bad, if you want to make Pixel Art MS paint is perfect! If you are a linux user Tux Paint might be perfect for you!


If you want my own personal opinion I think this program is best paired up with another program like GIMP, MyPaint or Inkscape (if you want to go with buy-able programs then Photoshop, Illustrator, Art Rage or other programs), it has a “drawing” tool within the sprite maker and it's not bad! But if you want the best looking graphics, especially for a 2D game I think a more professional program would be better, but that's up to you!

Sounds and Music:

Yes you will need another program for this because you can't create sounds only import, unless you want to go with the provided default things that Game Maker provides you will need to either use another program or have a friend/person make the music for you.  - I personally use the free version of Sony Acid for sounds I haven't composed any music as of yet so for that I have no personal usage recommendations, just remember any music you might add it would be the best for all involved if you make it yourself for copyright reasons.


Programs that are good for music composition would be Sony Acid or Fruity Loops (I have the “Demo” versions of both, they are limited but still semi useful), there are also other programs, like Rose Garden, Audacity, Goldwave and many others. - A full list of programs can be found here.

Price:

The price can only (from what I can tell) be said for 8.1 which I do not have, but the price is $39.99 for windows and $19.99 for Mac for the standard GameMaker, for  Pro it's $99.99.

The Free Version can be found here (Legally).
Free Download

Conclusion:

I think Game Maker is pretty beginner friendly! There are a fair amount of videos on YouTube for things, along with tutorials on the Game Maker Forum.

I give it 5 stars for beginner  friendliness , but it looses half a star because they make you pay I believe too much for the program when you buy it.







I hope this was useful for you who are interested in the program!




Links:

Game Maker Download
Game Maker Forum

100 Game Maker Games in 10 Minutes (Video - Not Mine!)

May God Bless You, Your Family, Friend; Along With The Health Of Yourself, Family, Friends, And All Who Know You. ~ Amen

~ Firefly

Useful Links:

Would You Like To Read More Blog Posts Similar To This One? Take A Look At The Official Blog Archive.
Would You Like To See My Drawings? Click here.

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