Free Trialįirst of all, there is a free trial of Game Maker Studio. How much does Game Maker Studio 2 cost? It depends on the package and licenses you are buying. Along with the free trial, there are three other packages you can purchase in the engine. There is a free trial version for those who just want to explore the basics of what the engine has to offer.
The bad news is that GMS has both a subscription model and a permanent license model broken up over 4 categories, so it might get confusing as to which version you’ll need for your budget. Is GameMaker Studio free? Unfortunately, no. The good news is that GameMaker Studio 2 is nearly universal, with support on platforms:īut the intricate and varied access to all of these platforms allows for any game developer of any stripe to dive in and developer for almost anything you can think of.
With the Room Editor, you can alter layers, use tileset brushes, share code and resources between objects (this system is called ‘inheritance’), and so on.įurthermore, GMS provides you with a powerful Tileset Editor and Image Editor. Essentially, this is the building block of your game. Part of this easy-of-use philosophy is Game Maker Studio’s ‘Room Editor’.
Either way, if you do know how to program, it’s very likely you won’t have any issues getting comfortable with GML. GML is based on C, so it’s a little bit outdated in that aspect, with most modern programmers learning C++ or C#. Now, on the other hand, if you do have some programming skills, you can use their own scripting language, creatively called Game Maker Language (GML). Of course, that being said, it’s generally best to not be learning a new skill as you’re making a game. That means that you could theoretically learn to code as you create your game, and customize it according to your needs, even with no coding experience. What’s cool here is that you can actually look at the code behind the drag and drop boxes. You can run and call functions, alter and interact with files and other data, run scripts, even drop in an in-app purchasing system.Īs such, GMS is targeted at novice users, and with their recent overhaul of the drag and drop system, it’s even more versatile than ever. If you aren’t very program savvy, you can use their visual programming language to drag and drop code. One of the things that GMS spearheaded, is game creation with minimal coding skills. Although 3D games are not impossible by any means, 2D is where GamMaker Studio shines.
It has been created with 2D game development at the heart of its mission. The very first iteration of GameMaker Studio was released by YoYo Games on 15 November 1999, originally under the name of ‘Animo.’ GameMaker is committed to cross-platform use and functionality. Let’s have some basic history of the engine and see where it leads. GameMaker Studio does have some stuff that Unity can’t do! But I’m getting ahead of myself. However, to be a little more objective and to set our personal biases aside, we will look at the good and the bad at GameMaker Studio 2, as well as how it stacks up against other more widely used game engines like Unity.
But before I get ahead of myself, let’s look at some basics, comparisons, facts, and what you need to know. GameMaker Studio 2 is a fantastic option for those just beginning their journey. Since we have our fingers on the pulse of everything having to do with game design, we see a lot of powerful and underpowered, expensive, and free engines. We are huge fans of GameMaker Studio 2 here at.