GameMaker Studio 2
Make games — with or without coding. FROM US$39–$1,500 | YOYOGAMES.COM
Some great games have been produced in previous versions of GameMaker Studio, including Hyper Light Drifter and Spelunky. GameMaker Studio 2 is the latest incarnation, which its developer says has everything you need to take your idea from concept to finished game, with supposedly no barriers to entry.
Starting a new project presents you with two options. Drag and Drop is a visual scripting tool, which can be used to create games without typing code. You are still programming, but your code is created and presented visually using ‘ blocks’, visual representations of simple expressions or statements, such as loops, which fit together in sequence. In theory, a whole game could be put together this way and is great for absolute beginners, especially since you can view the underlying code to see how it’s all done.
Intermediate and experienced developers will want to try GameMaker Language, which is designed to give you the power of other programming languages, while still being relatively easy to learn. Typing directly into GameMaker Studio’s code editing window allows for much faster progress, and this version’s editor offers much improved code completion, filling in function names as well as any variables you’ve created to record the state of objects and colour-coding them all appropriately.
If ever you get stuck, you can turn to the documentation or watch one of YoYo Games’ many instructional and informative YouTube videos.
A nice feature for coding on the go is GameMaker Studio 2’s Laptop Mode, which changes the layout and interface interactions in subtle ways, utilising your smaller working area and making working on a laptop much less of an impediment.
It also includes image editing capabilities, animation tools and a visual level editor, which is much improved over the previous version. The tile editor allows you to draw out the floor plan of your level, almost like using a paintbrush.
Every feature in feels like the developer has tried to address the usual pain points in game development. The range of tools and ease of use of GameMaker Studio 2 mean that it really is for everyone.