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Ben Brown END USER PROGRAMMING FROM A CASE PERSPECTIVE: GAMEMAKER AS AN END USER DEVELOPMENT TOOL

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End user programming refers to software tools that allow for the creation or modification of software by developers who may not be versed in traditional programming skills. END USER PROGRAMMING?

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Spreadsheets. Excel allows anyone to create simple to advanced programs that calculate data that its developers didnt necessarily anticipate. THE CLASSIC CASE: Mass Effect 2 Character Creation MITs Scratch

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3d modeling and animation software Game mod tool kits Visual programming languages Game development engines OTHER TYPES:

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Youth Non experts in any field Software focused on education Scratch, Lego Mindstorms, AgentSheets Content Specialist Experts in non-programming field Game Developer, Scientist, Accountant, etcetera DEVELOPERS:

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Why? Money! Game development is a $100 Billion a year plus industry Development size and time requirements Games are constantly increasing in scale but price hasnt significantly increased Development needs streamlining Everyone is a game developer Indie games are viable sources of income GAME DEVELOPMENT:

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Professional Costly paid versions, used widely in industry (or aimed at large scale games) Unity Unreal Torque Godot Hobbyist Mostly free, genre specific tools M.U.G.E.N Beat em ups Inform Interactive Text Adventures RenPy Visual Novels Arcade Game Studio Arcade Style Games GAME ENGINES BROAD CLASSIFICATION

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In the middle - Used on some commercial projects, likely non genre specific, emphasis on 2d, not fully free GameMaker Construct 2 RPG Maker GAME ENGINES BROAD CLASSIFICATION

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Developed by YoYo Games (recently sold to PlayTech) Currently GameMaker Studio 1.4 2d game engine, free standard edition, with paid professional and master editions Supports development for PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, PlayStation (3, 4, Vita), and XboxOne Primarily GUI oriented, with custom scripting language Includes built in particle engine and physics GAME MAKER

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BIG GAMES: HOT LINE MIAMI

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BIG GAMES: GUNPOINT

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BIG GAMES: SPELUNKY

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BIG GAMES: GALACTIC MISSILE DEFENSE

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LETS BUILD A GAME!

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HMM Now What!

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Rooms: A place where objects go. Objects: A thing that goes into a room. CREATION FLOW

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Rooms: Contains only a background and some characteristics about the room Can be used to create a menu, a level, a splash screen, etcetera Can hold any number of objects Objects: May contain a graphic, normally a sprite Can contain any number of events Each event can contain any number of actions CREATION FLOW SOME DETAILS

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OBJECT CREATION MAKE A SPRITE

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OBJECT CREATION ASSIGN SPRITE

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OBJECT CREATION ADD EVENTS

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OBJECT CREATION ADD ACTIONS

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CREATE A ROOM

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REPEAT UNTIL

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sprite_index = sprite2; image_speed = 1; if image_index == image_number - 1 { sprite_index = sprite0; } GMS GAMEMAKER SCRIPTS Nope Script stops execution after collision becomes false.

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In end step event if (sprite_index == sprite2) { if image_index == image_number - 1 { sprite_index = sprite0; } GMS GAMEMAKER SCRIPTS

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NOW

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Yet Took a surprising amount of time to make High level of learning curve, especially for the scripting language NOT MUCH OF A GAME

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With proper tutelage the tool is powerful, can alleviate some programming Learning curve is high Must think like YoYo Games thinks CONCLUSIONS?