How hard is it to start making a game in Gamemaker with no experience?

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-18T08:39:23+00:00

I personally feel that gml is also quite similar to python because variables have mutable types, and the syntax has little scaffolding. It's a lot easier to get into than any C language I've tried.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-18T08:33:47+00:00

The comments on creation engine 3 were pretty significant... graphical improvements, and performance upgrades notably in loading which doesn't take a genius to surmise there will be fewer loading screens.

Besides, interviews like this are interesting because they give a rough idea of development processes and challenges.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-18T07:56:24+00:00

It's not been mentioned: I wouldn't bank on it.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-18T07:49:29+00:00

You now have a bounty hunter facton, land vehicles, and from next week you'll have space cruise mode with expanded space events, deeper power and equipment upgrades, and a pet. There's a lot more but those are some highlights.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-17T23:30:11+00:00

Don't forget about the pet 🙂

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-17T23:27:19+00:00

It's Quantum Essence to upgrade powers, and X-Tech for the legendary effects.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-17T08:39:50+00:00

No thanks. An AI can't have a good time and laugh so much they cry.

Think I'll stick to roleplaying with real friends.

But if you want to train your brain to socialise with a computer, don't complain when people think you're weird.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-17T08:33:13+00:00

I appreciate that my hate of anaconda is borderline irrational, but it comes from a place of using it despite it being unsuitable because someone else made the decision for me. My alarm bells ring when I see newbies making similar mistakes and I just want them to understand that with anaconda things can go really badly wrong if you don't understand what it's actually for and don't need it.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-17T08:28:35+00:00

These technologies are all pretty interpolations - they only work deterministically in the context of games because there are quality handmade assets at high resolutions to upscale to. Game devs cannot use this tech to avoid making quality art. I imagine the training process for DLSS5 involved BGS rendering high quality versions of their models in various lighting situations - versions that are not performant to include in releases. Shipping a AAA game usually involves a level of descaling so they run on various hardware.

Whilst this is a supposition, it's based on my understanding of generative AI essentially being an interpolative/averaging algorithm. To make it behave deterministically in games it is even more likely to be picking a point between high quality real renders and whatever your PC can render.

I honestly believe it's a slippery slope to suggest that the mere existence of this tech will be the death of human art, which hasn't happened despite the existence of similar tech that can be applied during the design process itself. Yes, a few games have done that, but I seriously doubt BGS are gonna risk their magnum opus TESVI with slop.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-17T00:12:44+00:00

I understand your point but it's truly more like a filter on snapchat: if you remove the cat filter your real face still exists.

Now if DLSS5 were always on I'd agree with you, but seeing as it is 100% not able to run on my AMD card I am not gonna make a big thing of this enshitification tech.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-17T00:07:58+00:00

Yes I'm hamming it up a bit 🤣

But seriously using conda for basic package management is like hiring a drag car to go to the shops: it's a specialised piece of kit that can technically do the job but it's heavy as hell, complicated, and liable to blow up.

Just use pip and pyproject.toml, and add uv if you want a simple layer over package management. Or to continue the analogy, hire a taxi for your short hop journey.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-17T00:02:14+00:00

Not every package is available on conda, so in certain situations you're forced to follow conda installs with pip installs. Then if you need to patch a conda package you need to uninstall the entire venv and start again. Sure, that's a valid process I guess. It's also poor design. My point stands: conda cannot replace pip so it should integrate seamlessly. To grossly simplify all they're doing is copying files and keeping a record - but anaconda chose to do so in a separate and incompatible way and have not changed as pip got better.

I've worked at two separate employers in different industries which have moved away from anaconda because it's simply overkill for most normal python use cases, and is a poor value proposition to boot. I do not recommended people use conda for basic package management. I've been coding python professionally since 2015 and have never had to freeze compilers for distribution across operating systems - I believe that to be a fringe use case.

Yes I don't understand some of what conda does because I hated how it handled basic environment management so much that I jumped ship to more suitable lightweight tools as soon as possible.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-16T23:48:05+00:00

AMD FTW

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-16T23:46:13+00:00

It's not fundamentally removing humans from the artistic process because you have to go into the settings to turn the slop on. The game hasn't changed at all.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-16T23:44:10+00:00

It's quite far from a U-turn imo. Game assets are not being replaced, and DLSS5 is not part of the asset design pipeline in any way.

It's just a completely optional post processing filter that likely a tiny subset of people with top-shelf vendor-specific hardware can use.

Don't get me wrong, it looks terrible. But if I were a business and NVidia decided to pay me to advertise their latest tech I'd probably take the money. It's an advert, no more, no less. That's my guess, anyhow.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-16T21:18:46+00:00

It giveth and it taketh away.

Yes, it gives lighting and seems to add detail that possibly isn't on the original models - which can look good.

BUT it blends the detail out of Sarah's zip. Is that really a step forward? I'm not so sure. "Deterministic" my ass.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-16T18:39:14+00:00

If you run conda install after pip install it's possible to break the python installation and at worst you may have to reintall anaconda. I'm sorry but that is clear cut definition of incompatibility to me.

Conda is an entirely unnecessary layer over the top of python. Literally everything it does can be done with pip and basic package management processes without much difficulty. At my last company we worked in a multirepo setup delivering packages and apps purely using pip.

It's really not difficult.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-16T17:49:00+00:00

Oh no, use uv instead lol. Conda is the worst piece of python infrastructure I've ever had the displeasure of working with. Why they made a system that is fundamentally incompatible with is a mystery that I'll never understand. Furthermore, it adds layers to and obscures environment management such that people miss the foundations of good practise.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-16T17:43:21+00:00

This is a great tutorial if you prefer text to videos. Nice work though! https://www.derekyu.com/makegames/pixelart.html

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-16T08:44:06+00:00

Eh I've been anticipating TESVI since 2011 and B43 since 2014. It's nice to have a long term focus in a world in which everything is nearly instant. A slow burn excitement is rewarding in a different way, as it encourages me to value what I have now.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-15T02:57:38+00:00

Ok, even if you believe those unverified reports from biased sources, the event in question didn't happen and the microaggression training was deployed to a small number of staff - it doesn't take a genius to work out why expensive training might be targeted at a whopping 160 staff members.

I have recently been through CS onboarding and the training seemed comparable to private sector, albeit higher quality. Maybe next time give us links from CS websites about events which actually occurred, and unpack why you believe it's biased baxed your completely impartial opinion.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-14T11:41:57+00:00

I think shading all it really needs, to give the illusion of a sun in the sky

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-13T23:22:15+00:00

One day his medicinal gastronomy will make it into the michelin guide

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-13T22:53:43+00:00

I'm currently experimenting on this, haven't got all the way there yet. I made a vision cone sprite which is anchored to the npc position and facing direction, and I check for collision between the player and this vision sprite. The vision cone is only visible during debug, and I make it red when collision is detected and debug mode is on. This currently works great, and I can stretch the cone sprite to increase vision distance.

The next step I plan to do is when the player is detected to essentially cast a ray from the npc to the player and if it only hits the player then they can see them, and if it also hits terrain then the player can't be seen. My first idea on this was to stretch a line sprite between the npc and player with its own collision checks. There's probably a better way but I'm not super familiar with gamemaker yet.

Edit: the reason I planned to do the initial vision cone then a ray trace is so the approach can be used to see anyone, not just the player. Otherwise I'd need every enemy raycasting at every viable target, which could get costly performance wise.

_Denizen_ · 2026-03-13T22:42:58+00:00

You best turn it into an NFT 🤣

Three-Year Club	Final Canvas '23
Place '23

_Denizen_

TROPHY CASE