Ummm....ok, I can't even seem to get started

[MichaelB]

I have learned from the tutorials how to create an actor and add animation to that actor. But that is pretty much all I can figure out. I see lots of demos online but I can find nothing that actually teaches me how to duplicate those demos. I can't even find anything that teaches me how actors interact with collisions and such. I know that GE is event driven, but how to I create those events?

Are there any tutorials that can take me, step by step, through the design process from the beginning to a complete game with events and actor interaction?

This looks like a very powerful tool and I would love to learn how to use it. But so far I am completely lost.

[Sgt. Sparky]

If you need help on specific thinge let me Know,
first add an actor,
name it, then press the enter(return) button or clic kon enter,
then to add events:
right click on the actor then click on actor control,
a window will open in GE and click on ADD
then you can take it from there
please try my commando man:
http://game-editor.com/forum/tp-3034--D ... 1-354.html
and my roborunaway base game might help you with what you need
http://game-editor.com/forum/tp-3071-Robo-baseGame.html
Just let me know if there is anything else I can do

[MichaelB]

I did find a tutorial for Moon Defender that helped a lot. But it seemed to be very heavy on scripting for what I would think would be built into the application. Is it normal for a simple game like that to rely that much on scripting?

Also, after following the tutorial, the finished game had some serious issues. I wonder if that is because the tutorial was designed for an earlier version of GE.

This looks like a pretty powerful tool, but what I really need is a manual. A reference that I can look up how to do certain things.

I don't want to have to come out here and ask someone for every little thing I need to figure out. Is there a manual available somewhere?

[Game A Gogo]

you can try to read the documentation

[DilloDude]

The Documentation has a lot of some of the features, but apart from that and the built-in-tutorials, there isn't much for learning. I found a lot through studying the tutorials and experimentation. Scripting is really where the power comes into GE. There are actions that don't require scripting, but they're fairly limited. A hardly ever make an event that isn't script editor, because all the actions (with the exception of SetText, which I don't use anyway) can be accessed from script editor, and it's much simpler to only have one patch of code to look through rather than look through twenty different actions on one event. The scripting I found came fairly easily to me, there are some online tutorials for fancy things, and the documentation contains all of GE's functions. Some of the explanations are a bit lacking, but apart from that, it's just practise that will teach you. Basic scripting I found really easy to learn, and with help from my brothers and my dad, as well as all the helpful people on these forums, I learned some more complicated things. There's still a fair bit I probably don'y know well, but a lot of that isn't particularly necesary to make a basic game.

[MichaelB]

I see. Well, I have been using GM6 and found it was pretty simple to get started in. In fact, within a few hours I had a nice playable game that I designed that looks nice and others enjoy playing. Within a week I have my first professinal game ready for distribution. I have used scripting in the game, but needed very little as the application took care of most things.

However, there are serious limitations to the platforms that GM games can run on. There are other limitations as well. So, I am trying to find something that is more powerful, but easy to get going in.

From what I have seen so far, it looks as though it will take me a quite a long time to get just the basics of GE down enough to even begin. I was really hoping this wasn't the case.

[Game A Gogo]

actually, it doesn't take much time as you appear to notice.
I tough the same way as you, after a week of trying this and trying that, i got the hang of this!

And for fast made games, you should spend more time, because you know those good games, it takes like 3 years to develop whit 100 people working on them! Patience should be your friend!

Ok, maybe if you could tell us what kind of game you want to develop, we could tell you some tricks to start working on a game!

[MichaelB]

There are several types of games that I want to develop. Eventually I want develop well designed RPG games with a 45 degree top down view. Think Diablo or Baldur's gate.

That, however, is not what I have been working on. I have been working on arcade games simply as a learning process. The one that I just finished the primary development on is based on Breakout. I know, there are lots of those out there. But I have gotten a ton of wonderful feeback from those I have had beta testing for me.

Anyway, I don't really care what kind of game I make in order to learn the application. I just want a few different things that will get me started. And I would prefer to be able to learn on my own without having to consult people 10 times a day for help.

Sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound that snotty. Honestly

[Game A Gogo]

baw, i was like that also, i was like, how the hell do i make a game??
Then after a week I switched to GM5, but got bored(Yes, i agree, you make games faster whit it) after a month, i choose of trying GE again, got up to check the tutorials, tried different things, and after 2 years, i founded this forum, which helped me a lot!

Also, you could check the demo page: http://game-editor.com/demos.html
for demos that could interest you!

[MichaelB]

Well, so far it doesn't seem like GE is going to meet my needs. If simple things like object movement can't be automated with point and click tools I do not see much of a point in using the tool. If I wanted to code simple things like that I would just use straight code to begin with.

Maybe when future versions are available I can actually make use of it. Until then, thanks for all of your input and attempts to help me. It really is appreciated.

[akhad]

I sympathise with you Michael. GE is an excellent tool but it's not always too obvious which tools are needed to carry out what is seemingly an easy task. After a month on GE I have a pretty advanced game in progress but am still left scratching my head at times. It's all down to learning how the different elements link together. I wouldn't dismiss it just yet, after a month on it you should feel more confident and your curiosity will be driving you forward. For now try this tut:

http://game-editor.com/forum/viewtopic. ... light=pong

I found it helpful in learning the above-mentioned `linking` of items. Get these basic things done and you'll slowly move to the more advanced workings.
Hope that helps.

[MichaelB]

Thanks, I will give it a try. In the meantime, while I am trying to learn it, I will continue developing in GM, since there is no need for it to take months to learn how to use.

I honestly do appreciate everything.

[Sgt. Sparky]

Game Editor RULES!!!