Doodle balls, a game created by Stubbjax02 yesterday, is in the beta stages–though it is rather difficult to tell!

The graphics are superb, and the sounds are indeed brilliantly done, plus the gameplay is rather addicting – even though the only mode available is easy.

You’re a ball that draws a line behind wherever you go, with a spark chasing you. The ball is guided by the mouse cursor, however it has a curve, in that it does not go in the exact path that the mouse is going in. Rather, it meanders and slides around in a frustrating way. I often found myself trapped, the ball bouncing back and forth between two corner blocks, desperate to get the last coin for the coveted extra life! This may seem like an easy-going game, but there is one small problem: There is a small spark of Absolute Death following your line!

All is not lost, though, for a variety of powerups (and, unfortunately, powerdowns) are available. One such powerup is the “red coin”, which lowers the timer by five seconds. Once the timer reaches zero, you win the level. One of the powerdowns is a red ball that follows you, though not exactly in a straight line, and it’s very slow. If you hit said red ball, you slow down, while the spark continues to chase you! Luckily, this effect lasts for only about five seconds.

The slew of sound effects are OK. The ball shatter sound (which occurs when the spark touches you, or you touch a red ball) is rather realistic. There is, unfortunately, no music though the sound effects are varied, and almost every event has one.

I was surprised by how polished the graphics look. Buttons are nice, the walls are clearly identifiable and look amazing. I don’t know why, but the ball’s line is even nice looking–you can make art with it! The spark looks pretty darn good, though I suspect it’s a particle and not actually a sprite.

There is a level editor available, though loading into the game is not functional yet. Using the level editor is as simple as click to select your object, and click around the level to make it! You can also have multiple balls, and make some nice-looking, er, “art”, if you can call it that.

All in all it’s a great game, and it’s still in the 0.08 beta stage! If this is only a fraction of what the finished game will look like, i’m sold! I give this game an eight out of ten.

Review: Doodle Balls – artistic fun? is taken from: GameMaker Blog

Cameron and Zedman both wrote a closing speech on this topic at their forums. “The game could barely handle a few plants on the ground” said Zedman. Though the game ran on a dll called Ultimate3d, the game still needed to communicate with a server which added extra lag. After talking with Zedman, he says he will move the files onto another hard drive rather than delete them all together. This way they still have the opportunity to continue on the game if they ever choose to do so.

But with all this work, Combustion Entertainment has found out what is like to be a real game developer.

3D MMORPG down the drain is taken from: GameMaker Blog

A history

Game Maker, its community, and the games people are creating with it have certainly come a long way. When I first found the Game Maker Community in late 2002 there were very few commercial games that were made using Mark Overmars’ software, in fact had someone suggested creating a commercial game back then they would probably have been laughed out of the forums.

Jump forward to 2007, when after a couple years spent away from Game Maker I returned to the community. I see a much larger number of games are now being released commercially – albeit with a varied degree of success. There has also been a huge increase in the number of Game Maker ‘teams’ who now have their own domain name, suggesting to me that the users of Game Maker have certainly grown up.

With many people believing that Game Maker itself has recently becoming more commercialized with the advent of YoYo Games it looks like the growth in the number of commercial Game Maker projects will only continue. In a world that is favoring more open-source and freely available software this may be surprising, but once people see that there have been successful commercial projects it is natural that they too want a piece of the action.

As well as what you might think are the traditional methods of making a commercial game, i.e. selling physical CDs or digital copies of the game there are other methods available to enable a game creator to receive monetary gain from their software.

Although people who have decided to go commercial may not like to share the facts about the success of their projects it is obvious that it has been varied. One anomaly to this rule is StudioEres who have been very open about their commercial project entitled “Immortal defense” posting updates of the game’s progress on their forum. Revenue generation methods:

Shareware

Shareware is one of the oldest and most popular distribution methods out there. The user gets a chance to try a program for free before deciding whether or not to purchase the full version. The free version of software is offered normally with feature or level limitations or a gameplay time limit. The difference between shareware distribution and the use of a demo is that shareware can be converted into the full version by entering an activation code whereas use of a promotional demo would still require the full version of the game to be installed on your computer.

Shareware games are often accompanied with ‘nag screens’ which encourage the user to purchase the full version of the software. WinZip is an example of a popular shareware program offering a ‘free trial’ version of their application. Game Maker itself is shareware as the pro version of the software has additional features which can be unlocked by paying a fee.

Adware

Software supported by in-program advertising is known as Adware. Once the game has been installed or is being run adverts will be displayed on the user’s computer. Often the adverts are downloaded remotely from the Internet.

Advertising software is bundled with an application and earns the game promoter small revenue for each installation. If a piece of software is popular the advertising revenues can quickly add up.

A benefit of adware is that the programmer can be rewarded for their work without the user having to purchase the software, however this isn’t always that case as some software producers ask people to pay a fee to upgrade and remove the advertisements.

Many people see adware as intrusive as the sponsored messages displayed can cause a nuisance if they disrupt their activities. Adware has had a bad press due to the misleading and deceptive tactics various companies using the method have used to distribute their software.

Other methods

It’s may not be seen as commercial but some developers are rewarded by asking for donations to support their products future development. They may also choose to sell merchandise related to their product enabling consumers to choose whether or not and to what degree they would like to support the project. Likewise traditional internet advertisements can be placed on the creator’s website. These methods cause minimal annoyance to users who are able to use the software for free, whilst enabling those who choose to support the product to do so.

The best way to see the different methods used to distribute commercial games is to look at specific examples. So I set about cataloguing a handful of Game Maker made creations which have tried (successfully or otherwise) to generate an income. I also caught up with the creators of some of these games and asked them how they choose which commercial path to take. If you are considering making one of your future creations commercial listen up to what the people who have already tried say.

Next Page: Magi (Shareware)

Magi

In their words

“Magi” is a cross between RTS and RPG, yet it is very different from other games of those genres, actually it’s a genre of its own.

In Magi the player creates a wizard (choosing from various available classes, attributes and styles) and immerses in series of magical duels in a never-ending pursuit for the power and immortality.

Magical spells and projectiles, summoning mythical creatures and calling spirits to curse the opponent are common ways to victory in Magi.

Limitations of the free version

• Only 5/10 characters available.
• You can only learn 4 spells
• No save option
• Limited to 30 in game years

Interview

Why did you choose shareware as your distribution format?
Frankly, I did because this is the way to sell Indie games. The downloadable games market is growing dynamically and there is some good money to be made there. Portals dealing in “casual” games (like BigFish or Reflexive) are making millions of dollars every year and many “Indie” developers are making serious business out of selling games from their websites. With the recent expansion of broadband Internet connections, downloadable games are getting more and more accessible. They also don’t suffer from some issues that retail games do such as “shelf life” and relying on distributors.

When you started work on the game did you plan to use shareware?
MAGI wasn’t started as a commercial project. It was just a game I always wanted to make. Still, I knew that if I’d sell the game in the end, I’d make it a downloadable shareware title. After I got some really great feedback from the players and Indie gaming press, I decided to go commercial.

Do you believe your distribution method has been successful?
Yes. I wanted to break into the gaming industry with this game, while making some nice money out of it. The whole project taught me a lot about the business, got me a job in a big game-dev studio (CD Projekt – makers of www.thewitcher.com, I used MAGI as my portfolio) and earns me some nice cash at the end of each month. I’ve started as an amateur and ended as a professional game developer with some actual experience and a nice game under his belt.

What would you say to anyone who is considering making a commercial game?
Making Indie games can be much more than a hobby. If you are patient and prepared to learn a lot (mostly by mistakes), browse many forums and most importantly – develop a great game, go for it! The worst you can get is some good deal of serious experience. Just remember that the Game Maker Community is not the end of the world.

Any advice on promoting a commercial project?
Get your game reviewed by the Indie game sites and blogs out there. It’s as simple and as hard as that. Remember that GMC (or GM sites in general) are not the end of the world. You want to advertise a game, not an amateur project.

Next Page: Galactic Hacker (Adware)

Galactic Hacker

In their words

As a hacker in a futuristic world dominated by corporations, you must use your skills and technology to survive. The player must take jobs from corporations to earn money. Money can be used to buy equipment such as proxy by-passers, or other computer upgrades. No two games will ever be the same in this dynamic world. Galactic Hacker even features the ability to play with friends on a LAN, for some great multiplayer hacking action.

Note that the installer includes adware… When you install Galactic Hacker it installs the adware. This is no secret! Some Antivirus software may say that the installer contains a virus. The antivirus software just detects the adware and reacts accordingly. If you install GH, you can easily uninstall the adware from your Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs. 90$ was spent to put Galactic Hacker on download.com, so I included the adware because I get paid per install.

Interview

Why did you choose Adware as your distribution method?
I didn’t, my marketer did for a half-half split of what profits he could make from Galactic Hacker – and he chose adware.

Until the approach you had no plans to make money from the game?
That is correct.

Do you believe your distribution method has been successful?
Relative to the time I spent making Galactic Hacker, yes I do. I do not believe it can be done again though. As stated, Download.com was used, and they no longer allow adware.

My thoughts

An interesting introduction into using Adware here, Natso didn’t have any plans to generate revenue from the game until an approach was received from a distant friend who wanted to distribute the game in this format.

As complaints inevitably came Natso released an adware free version of the software however with 24,000
downloads and counting of the pay-per-install adware supported version someone is making money somewhere. Thankfully a very open approach to the use of Adware was made, at least on the Game Maker Community.

Personally I think that Adware has past its peak now as more people have become aware of what it does, and computer security has improved

Going Commercial is taken from: GameMaker Blog

What they say: Select from 6 heads, 8 bodies, and two guns to duel it out between two players. Now with 4 weapons, the old MK9′s and M16, plus the new custom ‘Riotgun’ and a nice little sword!

Download (1.3MB)

Quick Review: In this split-screen two player game you and your friend each control a gray stick man inside a platform environment. Various weapons are spread throughout the room which can be collected and used to inflect harm on your opponent. The aim of the game is quite simply to kill your opponent before they destroy you.

Different types of weapons can be found around the room, each causing different amounts of damage and with their own unique features. For example individual weapons have different fire rates and swords can only be used close up but are quite destructive.

You can only shoot left and right, and once you’ve found a decent weapon you may as well stick with it as there are no limitations on the ammo you can use during the game.

The biggest criticisms expressed at YoYoGames are that the game should have a single player mode and something should be done to fix the jumping bug. I certainly agree with the second point – it is possible to get stuck on the side of platforms within the room. This is a pretty major bug and I’m surprised the game was released with this, especially seeing as this is the second version of the game to be released.

The support for a single player mode is something I don’t necessarily agree with. The game works well as a multiplayer game – unless a decent and extensive single player mode can be added this will easily be outshone by the multiplayer option.

There are several options that can be customised including the appearance of both players; there are also two rooms to choose from. To be honest this doesn’t make much difference at all to the game play but at least the options are there for you to choose from if you wish.

The game has suitable music and sound effects which complement the game well. I’m not sure if they are original but they do seem pretty generic. They are a nice touch and without them the game would be much duller.

Another criticism I have is the games menu. They consist of very small graphics which are hard to read and click. It should be simple to have a well designed and easy to use menu but it seems this has been overlooked in an attempt to improve the aesthetics.

Review: 2p Shooter (Jack Sanders) is taken from: GameMaker Blog

Downloads do not really account account for anything – sure a good game may get more downloads that a bad game – but equally people may download a game based on the quality of a programmers previous creations, because it appears to be popular or simply because it is advertised around them.

A good game certainly may get people telling their friends which will obviously help increase the download count, however before the viral effect can take place some start has to be made to get the word out about the game.

Of course the definition of a ‘good’ game is different for different people, heck, some people think Mario clones are actually cool. There are few games I can really say are ‘decent’ on the GMC – but of course my view of a good game differs from everybody else’s. Take for instance Forted (last time I promise) – I like this game and gave it my one and only rating in 4 years at the current GMC. Other people however didn’t seem to think the game was anything special. Far worse games achieve higher download figures, maybe because people are curious to see just how crap the creation is, or maybe because – as happens all to often – they believe the hype or want to copy it.

The success of a game can be judged in many ways – for some just getting a game to the release stage is a success. Especially if you are working on your first game this will be the case. You may not care about what people think of your game, in which case you are being very foolish, but to you it is a success.

A game may be viewed as a success if it achieves high ratings – normally given out by GMC newbies who come up with scores such as 12/10 or 7.4242111231/10 without giving any reasonable or remotely logical explanation as to how they arrived at the score. These members are also the types who like leave comments like “Mega c00l game -this rockz!”, it is traditional for the creator of the game to then copy this in to his topic description to plague the creations forum with grammatically incorrect and mis-spelt half sentences.

Then of course you have people with a little more time and sense who will judge a game on different aspects, e.g. graphics, originality and story – all of which will be irrelevant to Mario clones. These ratings make more sense as a clear breakdown of the game is shown – however saying things like “graphics 7.5/10, sound 3/10, story 0/10” doesn’t help. A two year old could pluck random numbers between 1 and 10 out of the air. Justification. Comments without justification are as worthless. Saying “That sucks” doesn’t help unless you are describing an automated drinking straw, instead you should say “Your game lacks originality as you have illegally ripped Mario sprites and music and claim to have come up with a unique concept. You also managed to mis-spell every other word in the game“. Then the creator knows to go away and come up with a new concept perhaps even a Pokemon fighting game or Zelda.

So far I have discounted download figures and ratings as accurate methods of judging the success of a game.

In truth there is no one method that can be used to judge the success of a game, and to different people success will be judged differently. Some people may be proud of their 7 downloads and 3 comments, whereas others will be disappointed unless they manage to sell 100 copies of their game.

I haven’t produced any games that I think have been successful, sure they have been finished and were downloaded several hundred times but I never stretched myself far enough to come up with something I was really proud of and could call a success.

In summary it is up to each game creator as to how they judge the success their game has achieved, and we should respect that.

How do you judge the success of a game? is taken from: GameMaker Blog

Forted, a bunker defence game is an exception to this rule. This game has it all. A great idea, simple but adequate graphics, sound, easy gameplay and a number of features that appear later in the game to keep you playing. A highscore table makes the game addictive, as does the chance to choose how to upgrade your bunker.

Sure, this has all been seen before with the defend your castle game produced by xgenstudios, which interestingly I also compared Coffee Lover Proction’s trailer for Senseless War to, but the concept was good and Micco, the creator of Forted certainly hasn’t produced a rip-off of defend your castle.

You control the guns of a military bunker in an area of open grassland, you are attacked by various soldiers from either side and from bombers, fighters and helicopters from above. You have to work out how to best manage your resources which include when to reload, when to nuke and which upgrade option to choose after you have killed the next 100 soldiers.

Forted is an excellent example of the type of mini-games that can be produced with gamemaker and how a basic concept can quickly be built upon to build a more fulfilling and complete game.

No fancy 3D graphics or major soundtrack, and yes the game has its flaws – some of the text is a bit too small to read, and the colour changes of the sky are a bit dramatic – but an excellent and fun minigame! With a bit of tweaking here and there it could get my top rating. I’d give this game a 9/10, and I don’t even give out high ratings, or even any ratings often at all unless I think a game really deserves it.

Forted
Added: 10 May 2007
By: Micco

Forted is taken from: GameMaker Blog

How many times have you started to play a gamemaker game before realising that the programmers ‘forgot’ to include full instructions and a control map?

Finding yourself playing a game for the first time without knowing what you are meant to or how to do it is daunting; however there are a lot of games out there which are just like this.

Some people make use of the ‘Game Information’ screen which can be set up in gamemaker, and viewed in most games, even if it has been left blank by the authors, by pressing [F1]. This however has very limited capabilities and can display only basic text.

Of course, for people unfamiliar with gamemaker they may not even know that help is available by pressing [F1]. So it is always best to include an external manual or full instructions which are clearly accessible from your games main menu.

A well-designed manual can include screenshots, graphics, annotated diagrams and illustrations such as a keyboard map of controls. There will also be room for a full introduction to the game, and you can even include hints for players to get more out of your game.

Creating an external manual is easy. It can be done using the most basic of software – a wordprocessor. Many games are distributed with a .txt readme file, however this usually contains just copyright information and is not suitable for a full professional-looking manual.

The beta version of Microsoft Office’s 2007 version of Word did contain a built in .pdf compiler so you could save your documents to be read by Adobe’s free Reader software. This however was removed from the official release, but is still available to install as a plugin from the Microsoft website.

Earlier versions of Word or other word processors can still be used by making use of free text-to-pdf converters such as pdf995.

There is no excuse for not including good instructions with your game. They can make the difference between someone trying and failing to play your game and someone playing and enjoying your game.

Links:
o Microsoft Office 2007 PDF plugin
o GMB: tutorial: Using pdf995 to create a .pdf file

As featured in the May 2007 edition of the MarkUp Game Development Magazine – Download it now for more gamemaker articles, reviews and tutorials.

Why you should include a manual with your game is taken from: GameMaker Blog