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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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

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Would You Like To Read More Blog Posts Similar To This One? Take A Look At The Official Blog Archive.
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Edit: OLD DEMO - Tilly's Rose Garden [DEMO!]

This is a demo of a game I'm working on (Not promising a finish!), for now the object is to get all of the flowers then go to the circle to get to the next level! But don't touch the scarecrows or you'll have to pick them up all over again!

Creator's Notes:
The things are sensitive to touch in this game, if you touch the circle or scarecrows at all the level will be stopped and he next action will happen (restart or next level).

The player gets stuck on the mazes when it's a tight fit, I'm not sure why but I think it's how the program's room-grid works.

The "X" button to close the program for some reason doesn't work, use Escape (Esc) to close.

The Game Goes in to full screen mode and it's size adjustable  if you wish to make it bigger.

You can go to the next level whenever you want, you'll just not get all the points if you don't pick them up.

How To play:
You use the arrow keys for movement, the name of the key it the direction you go (up = up etc.)

Download Here


Programs Used:
GIMP - Art
Sony Acid (Free Version) - Sounds
Gamemaker 8.0 lite (Free Version of Gamemaker) - Putting it together and making it playable.


Enjoy!

Comments on what you think, how it could be improved, or other like bugs or the like are all welcomed!

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

Have A Question?

Ask The Firefly!