Since not much was happening this week besides the release of the newest Level Pack for Mars Lander Runner, I thought I'd go into a bit of detail on how I got about creating levels. But that quickly became a two page long, complete "behind-the-scenes" write-up on the creation of the program itself. As a result, I decided to split the article up into key components and I'll release a part of it along with each week's Level Pack News Post. So without further ado, here is the first part of the behind the scenes look at Mars Lander Builder and Runner:

Working with a Theme:

First of all, I don't use any type of specialized editor which only I, the creator of the program, can use. I've been using Mars Lander Builder to make levels, just like anyone else with the program could. That is to say, I don't make the levels with GameMaker, I design, build and test them within the same program.

Mars Lander Runner Major Update:

A promise made…
At long last the Lander Runner is (hopefully) going to receive its final iteration. And contrary to what I said last week, I’ve made a few significant changes:

Aesthetic Update:

Mars Lander Runner no longer has those unsightly black bars along the sides of the screen that made it look like a really weird aspect ratio. The sides of the screen have been properly filled with some real content, adding back the play/stop, load, and quit buttons from the Mars Lander Builder. Also, the buttons from dialog boxes appear nicely on the other side of the screen. Overall, I think it just looks better, and no longer requires you to go back to the main-menu to load another level.

BGP GameMaker Help News:

If you're a long-time follower, you'll have noticed that BGP GMH has gotten a new front page! If you're reading this for the first time, then forget what I just said, it's always looked that good...
Anyway, a little less text and a few more images really do go a long way! I hope you're as happy as I am with the new look.
Speaking of the "new look" you might notice a little yellow button. It has the word "Donate" written on it, and I think it deserves a little elaboration:
Bluish-Green Productions Game Maker Help tutorials will ALWAYS be free. But it's kind of hard to offer something for free when you aren't making any money from other sources. I ought to be able to licence my tutorials for use this coming summer, which of course means I will be making more. However, I haven't heard back regarding this deal, so I can't count on it as a source of income. In the meantime, I thought if anyone was feeling generous enough to support BGP GMH, the opportunity should at least be available.

Thank you.

Now on to more fun things:

I’ve been quite busy these past few months. Busy with education, busy with work, and busy with what you care about most: Game Maker. The result of this busy-ness with Game Maker is quite something; two programs, one called “Mars Lander Builder”, the other called “Mars Lander Runner”.

The Story of Mars Lander Builder/Runner:

Mars Lander Builder was a specially requested piece of software I developed as part of the aforementioned “work” I did. I work at a program called iCamp where I help kids make games, either by teaching them myself or by assisting them through tutorials much like the ones I write. Part of my work includes birthday parties, where the children go through our single shortest tutorial. Only, they rarely finish it within the time we have, and never get to make more than a single level. So I proposed that I develop a pair of programs, special proprietary level building software and another program that would run those levels.

As a result of this agreement, I will not be distributing the Mars Lander Builder, but I will be distributing the Mars Lander Runner. But what good is the Runner without the Builder?

 

Level Packs:

I will release level packs on a weekly basis for the Lander Runner. The Lander Runner itself comes with 10 levels in a “Starter Pack”. The weekly packs will be in sets of 5, one for each weekday! Expect them along the traditional "Sunday-night/Monday morning" release schedule.

Level Editing:

While I can’t release the level building software, I can tell you how the levels are saved, and how you can edit them manually. The levels are saved in an alphabetical code with each letter corresponding to a different Object:
Levels are loaded from a 300 character “string”. They are loaded in columns, from left to right. Also, all letters must be in uppercase. The default case for any unrecognisable character is an empty grid space, and I’ve yet to enter a string that messes up the level-loading script. So it doesn’t matter if the string it too short, too long, full of lower-case letters, it will load. You can use Notepad to edit levels.
Asteroids are different Objects depending on what direction they travel:
M = Left
N = Right
O = Up
P = Down
Geysers snap to adjacent surfaces automatically, but the time it takes them to fire can be adjusted:
T = 3 Seconds (Fast)
U = 6 Seconds (Medium)
V = 9 Seconds (Slow)
I could easily have written a level-code that would be harder to manually edit, but it would have been to our own detriment. After all, with such a simple level code (and thanks to the fact that it was made with Game Maker), the Runner can be ported onto any number of devices, basically anything Game Maker Studio will have support for.
So with all that in mind, I would like to issue a challenge:

Level Building Contest:

By manually editing a level save-file, try to design a level that is actually playable but can be read as a sentence when opened for editing. Don’t worry too much about it being “playable” if you manage to make a neat pattern, or discover that a high-school essay becomes a horrible death-trap, you can send those in too.
To submit your levels, simply leave the code as comments on this News Post. Let everyone try your level! HAVE FUN!
Anyone who sends in something exceptionally creative will get their levels featured in an upcoming Level Pack.
Tips:

• You can leave        a whole bunch of spaces     and it will just load empty grid-spaces. This will prevent your level from being too cluttered while also reducing on how many “W”s you need in the save-code.
• If you use an "L" in the code, the game will spawn a "Checkpoint" this Object was cut from the final game because of saving difficulties it would cause. The Object has no programming, and will appear as a "CP" in it's grid-space.
• Grab any text you can find! What does this News Post look like as a level!?

So have fun! See what makes a neat level, functional or not.
And as always,

Good luck Game Making!

~Bluish-Green Productions

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for the lack of any new content for the past few months (gosh, has it that long already!?). But now, so many things are happening at once that I just had to write a news post.

GameMaker:HTML5

It's been out for quite some time now, and I've already talked about its release in a previous news post, so what is there to report? THIS:

That's right! An overview of GameMaker:HTML5 made by yours truly. Not only did I create the Demo with HTML5, but I've also used it create an element for the web-page of the brand new:

Assembly Line Games

I have recently teamed up with some friends to create Assembly Line Games. Right now there isn't much on our site, except for an Assembly Arm I made in GameMaker:HTML5.

_{Like the header says, we're under construction.}

We're just starting up, but soon we'll be using GameMaker to create games for all major mobile platforms. And this does NOT mean that I'll be stopping tutorial production, in fact, it will be quite the opposite!
At Assembly Line Games, we understand the value of maintaining a strong community. And what better way to keep people happy than to give away free stuff?...

The Future of Tutorials

Alongside every game we make, we'll be releasing a tutorial on how to make a component of that game. We're not going to give you access to every single resource or a finished and editable copy of the final game (we're not crazy), but I will be writing Tutorials using some actual game assets that will teach you how to make some part of the game, like (for example) how to build a similar platforming engine to one used in our games.
...and that's not all. If not right away, then as soon as we get into the swing of a professional game development cycle we'll attempt to release something every week (not necessarily a game or a tutorial).
As for the basic sets of tutorials, those will also be finished! Cave Explorer is already finished, Station 17B will be next, and Tower Guard is still some ways off, especially because there might be a few tutorials in-between. Until then, you can still look at the finished editable file for Tower Guard.
An exciting and game-filled future awaits for everyone, and on behalf of the Assembly Line Games team,

Good luck Game Making!

~Bluish-Green Productions

Tower Guard Source Code

While I haven't had the time to make any more tutorials, I figured the least I could do was give out the editable file for this due-to-be tutorial game. Why now and not before? Well, I just cleaned up all the programming. There are no comments in the code but it has a relitively simple structure and I'm sure it won't be too difficult for anyone to decipher.

As you may know, Tower Guard is designed to be compatible with IOS, hence the "Tap the screen to start" instruction. What you may not have known is that Tower Guard is compatible with the upcoming Game Maker HTML5. The game runs in-browser without any trouble!

Click here to download the gm81 file for Tower Guard

As an added bonus, Tower Guard uses none of Game Maker's Standard functions, so the download is good to go for all you Lite users.

Game Maker HTML5

Not far off is probably the most significant update to come to Game Maker in a long time. Don't forget to sign up for the Beta if you are interested. Also, if you ever want to get it, get it now while it's only $99 instead of $199! At last, you can make a game in Game Maker and have it run in any HTML5 compatible browser. Forget Flash! Too expensive and complicated! With Game Maker HTML5, you can experience all the simplicity of Game Maker and still produce web-ready content.
All that said, you are probably wondering if I will be making tutorials for GM HTML5. Official Answer: Maybe. The interface has been re-skinned, effectively making all my current tutorials "out-of-date", but not useless. Same Actions, just new pictures. At the very least, I'll make sure anything I write in my current tutorials isn't incompatible with GM HTML5, like I did with Tower Guard.

Good luck Game Making!

~Bluish-Green Productions

Basic Maze Game Lesson Complete Tutorial now available

Drumroll please,...

The complete Basic Maze game tutorial is now finished!

All three lessons are now available for download at the following links:

Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Complete tutorial pack

The "Complete tutorial pack" includes all 3 lessons, the finished "Cave Explorer" game, BGPGMH Introduction, and Game Builder Extension.

:(

And now for a very somber issue, the end of summer (and what it means for BGPGMH tutorials).
Throughout the summer, I've had plenty of time to produce free, weekly lessons. With the end of summer fast approaching and several other obligations cropping up, I can no longer guarantee weekly updates. Why? Because I'm doing this for free. It just might happen that I may be paid for this in which case I will resume. Anyways, Bluish-Green Productions as a whole will not go silent, just expect more content on the image/video front instead of Game Maker tutorials.
I still intend to keep the forum going, in case you are wondering (assuming there are any posts).
Whatever the future may hold, I hope that you find the lessons available so far to be helpful. And as always,

Good luck Game Making!

~Bluish-Green Productions