Dr. Jacob Habgood (Jake) Sheffield Hallam University Presentation from Jacob at Windows In Academia event http://blogs.msdn.com/b/uk_faculty_connection/archive/2013/02/23/windows-8-and-windows-phone-8-game-developement-in-education-event.aspx

1. GameMaker: Studio
Dr. Jacob Habgood (Jake)
Sheffield Hallam University
J.Habgood@shu.ac.uk

2. My Background
Sheffield’s Games Industry
Gremlin and Sumo Digital
• Started as programmer on PlayStation 1
• Hogs of War, MicroMachines, (over a dozen)
• Programmer / Technical Lead (PSX, PS2, Xbox, GC)
• PhD in Game-Based Learning
• Head of Serious Games at Sumo-Digital
Hogs of War
ELSPA Silver Sales Award
Electronics Boutique’s Best Multi-Player Game of 2001

3. Background

4. Background
GameMaker
Prof. Mark Overmars
• Originally created in 1999 by Mark Overmars,
Delphi’s creator, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Utrecht
Anders Hejlsberg,
went on to create
• Written in Borland Delphi (object-oriented Pascal)
C# for Microsoft • Created to teach game design principles to Computer
Science students who already knew how to program
• A fully-capable free version of Game Maker allowed
hobbyists to aspire to make money from games
• Extensible architecture (3rd party libraries)
• Gathered a worldwide hobbyist following and an active
online community (the GMC)

5. Background
GameMaker
My Connection
• Left the games industry in 2003 to take up a PhD scholarship
in the Learning Sciences at the University of Nottingham
• Research began teaching
children to make games
Screenplay was
the forerunner to • Used GameMaker for a
Nottingham holiday school at Screenplay
Game City • Wrote an article in Develop,
which I sent to Mark
• We decided to collaborate on
a GameMaker book
Develop, March 2005

6. Background
GameMaker Book:
The Game Maker’s Apprentice:
Game Development for Beginners
• Written by myself and Prof. Mark Overmars
First published in • Covers basic GameMaker use and game design basics
2006. Currently on • Not a textbook – “just in time” learning by example
its third edition
(Game Maker 8)

7. Sequel:
The Game Maker’s Companion:
The Journey Continues
• Written by myself, Nana Nielsen and Martin Rijks
Published in 2010 Illustrated by Kevin Crossley.
• Covers intermediate Game Maker, storylines and characters

8. What is GameMaker?
Game Maker
Drag and Drop Programming
• Event-driven, icon-based programming
• Trade-off… easy but limited?
• Not really!

9. What is GameMaker?
1 hour 2 hours
3 hours 2 hours

10. What is GameMaker?
Entry-Level Game Development
Drag and Drop Programming
• Not as limiting as you might think…
• This remake of a Gremlin classic is made mostly using D&D

11. What is GameMaker?
Entry-Level Game Development
Drag and Drop Programming
• Not a game “construction kit”
• Visual programming language
You do the hard
• Object-oriented (inheritance)
work, and many • Logic, mathematics, probability
principles are
X axis = 640 pixels
transferrable
Y axis = 480 pixels
135 pixels

12. Resources
Basic Resource Types: Rooms
Sprites
Objects
Instances

13. Programming
Event-Driven:
Events
• Things that "happen" in the game.

14. Object Behaviours
Event-Driven:
Actions for Events
• Each event can have many actions
• 7 tabs:
– move
– main1
– main2
– control
– score
– extra
– draw

17. Object-Oriented Concepts
Instances, Objects and Parents
Objects inherit
events and actions
from their parents,
and can be treated as
a group (in collisions,
for example)
obj_bigleg
a kind of
a kind of
obj_bigleg_move
obj_bigleg_small a kind of
obj_bigleg_move_small

18. State Machines
Instance Change:
State Transitions
• Animation End Event Jump
• Key Press Event
Hop
• Collision Event
Jump Hop State Objects are
Key Press <left> special objects that
Left Left represent different
behaviours for the
Animation End Stand Animation End same “thing”
Jump Hop
Key Press <right> State Transitions
Right Right show how instances
Collision
change between
Obstructed Not obstructed different state
Dead objects (arrows)

19. Scripting Language
A High Ceiling
GML
• Comprehensive scripting language
(C/Pascal hybrid)

20. Scripting Language
A High Ceiling
GML
• Functions, arguments, return values
• Instance variables, global variables
• Control flow statements (if, for, with, switch, etc.)
• Arrays, Hash maps
• Id (analogous to a pointer)
Extensions
• Create your own icon actions from GML
• Create your own DLL in another language and call the
functions contained within it from GameMaker (PC only)
• Create your own JavaScript extension (HTML5 only)

21. GameMaker: Studio
Game Maker
YoYo Games
• In 2006 YoYoGames were a new media start-up seeking to
become the ‘YouTube of Videogames’
• Headed up by Sandy Duncan (Former Xbox Microsoft exec)
• Mark sold Game Maker to YoYoGames and became a
director of the company himself
• Employed Mike Daily (programmer of Lemmings & GTA)
• By 2010 YoYo had a web 2.0 site containing 60,000+ games
made by the hobbyist community
• The best games were offered a publishing deal and ported
onto mobile platforms by YoYo
• GameMaker: Studio was released in 2012 which allowed
users to publish their own games on mobile platforms

22. GameMaker: Studio
Commercial Games
Game Maker
• Interpreted language
• Runners on various platforms
– PC, Mac, Windows 8, iOS,
Android, HTML5, Win8 Phone,
(lots of titles) Ubuntu (new)
– PSP (one title: Mr Karoshi)

23. The GameMaker Family
Publishing to Windows 8
The GameMaker Family

24. GameMaker: Studio
Teaching Perspective
GameMaker: Studio
• More powerful, but longer compile times
• Interface/options are more intimidating for beginners
• Education version coming soon (.msi)
• Free version is only practical for evaluation
Standard price $50 per
seat. Educational
discounts available.

25. GameMaker: Studio
Teaching Perspective
GameMaker: 8.1
• Less powerful, but shorter compile times
• Less intimidating interface/options for beginners
• Education version is already available (.msi)
• Free “Lite” version is practical for students to use at home
Standard price $40 per
seat. Educational
discounts available.

26. Teaching

27. Teaching
Sheffield Hallam University
Game Programming Degrees
• BSc/MComp/MSc in Games Software Development
• Programming skills for the games industry
• 3 years of C++ as the primary teaching language
• 2 years of degree-level mathematics
• 2 years of hardware architecture (assembly programming)
• DirectX11 3D programming (shaders)
• Game console programming (PS3/Vita/PSP/GameCube)

28. Teaching
Sheffield Hallam University
Game Maker?
• First year Game Programming module:
– Limited potential for writing games in C++ in year one
– A creative outlet for programming while learning C++
– Get a published product in their portfolio
– Realise just how much work it really involves to bring
something to market – even with GameMaker!
– Insights into the wider perspective of a project lifecycle

29. Teaching
Sheffield Hallam University
Game Maker?
• Other Applications:
– Modules where the emphasis is on design rather than
the technical development skills: e.g. Serious Games
– Extra curricular competitions: Game Jams
– School’s outreach: Games Britannia

30. Teaching
Sheffield Hallam University
The Games Britannia Festival

31. The Windows Store
Dr. Jacob Habgood (Jake)
Sheffield Hallam University
J.Habgood@shu.ac.uk

32. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
Focussing on GameMaker specific parts of the process assuming a
‘least resistance’ first-time approach...
Requirements
• Get a Windows Store Developer Account:
– A DreamSpark account (free)
– A Microsoft email account (free)
– A credit card
– A bank account
• Export your GameMaker game for Windows 8
– A PC running Windows 8 (free on DreamSpark premium)
– A copy of GameMaker: Studio ($50)
– A copy of Visual Studio 2012 (free)

33. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
Design Considerations
• Minimum Resolution
– 1366x768
– GameMaker will scale for you, but better to design for it
• Touch Compatibility
– ALL interaction needs to work on both a touch screen
AND keyboard (e.g. Escape to quit)
– GameMaker supports “Virtual Keys”
» virtual_key_add(x, y, w, h, keycode);

34. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
Design Considerations
• Settings Charm
– Publisher contact details
– Other options like turning off virtual keys:
» win8_settingscharm_add_entry(name, callback);

35. The Windows Store
Lee’s comprehensive instructions:
http://tinyurl.com/dreamspark4gm
Publishing to the Windows Store
Windows Store Developer Account
• Create a DreamSpark account (free to students/academics
using a .ac.uk email) and link it to a Microsoft email account
(hotmail.com, live.com etc.)
• Use your DreamSpark account to apply for a free Windows
Store Registration Code (normally $50)
• Use the code to register on the Windows Store
– You still need a credit card (a nominal fee is charged and
refunded to verify your account)
– You’ll also need a bank account to deposit any potential
income earned by your app
– Income from the US to UK is covered by a tax treaty and
you just need to fill in a W-8BEN form online

36. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
Exporting to Windows 8
• The standard edition of GameMaker: Studio ($50) includes
Windows 8 support via HTML5 (JavaScript)
• Yet $50 is potentially prohibitive to students:
– Creating a publishable game takes A LOT of time and
A single copy of students need access to GameMaker outside of lessons
GameMaker: Studio – Possible to develop using GameMaker 8.1 Lite (free) and
may be enough for import to GameMaker: Studio just to publish it
a school/FE college
– But you cannot take a GM: Studio project back into
GameMaker 8.1 once you have edited it
– NOT practical to develop with GM: Studio free version as
it imposes limits on the number of resources

37. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
Development Environment
• You will need Windows 8!
• Free to download as part of DreamSpark Premium
You don’t need to • Dual boot is an option (e.g. http://tinyurl.com/dualbootgm)
know how to use
• Install Visual Studio 2012 (Express version is free
it – you just need
it installed to http://tinyurl.com/vsexpressgm)
develop for the • Install GameMaker: Studio
Windows Store

38. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Log into your Windows Store Dashboard and select
“Submit an App”
You don’t actually
need to be ready to
submit yet.
The whole process
can be stopped and
resumed at will

39. Windows 8

40. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Log into your Windows Store Dashboard and select
“Submit an App”
• App Name: Reserve a name for your app
• Selling Details:
– Price and Markets
» Free and just English-speaking territories (or just UK)
» Paid and just US and UK (or just UK)
– Hardware Requirements
» Available to all systems (DirectX and RAM)
• Advanced Features:
– None – just click save

41. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Age Ratings:
– Self-certification
» Formal ratings are optional for most markets
» Getting a PEGI (European) rating is free and easy
http://apps.pegi.eu/Games/Submit
» Avoid Korea, South Africa, Brazil and Taiwan
» The lower the age rating the bigger the market
» Be aware of the content of the game you are
publishing – you are potentially liable...
• Cryptography:
– Select “No” unless you’ve added any encryption

42. Windows 8

43. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Preparing to Create a Package:
– Launch Visual Studio Express 2012
– Select Store -> Open Developer Account
– Log into your account

44. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Preparing to Create a Package:
– Launch Visual Studio Express 2012
– Select Store -> Acquire Developer Licence
– Log into your account

45. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Preparing to Create a Package:
– Select File->New Project
– Settings are irrelevant, but note the location
– Select OK

46. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Preparing to Create a Package:
– Select “Store->Associate App with the Store”
– Sign in (again!)
– Select your app and Associate it

47. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Preparing to Create a Package:
– Double click on package.appxmanifest
in the solution explorer (RHS)
– Select the Packaging tab
– Copy the Package name, Package display name and
Publisher display name to somewhere safe

48. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Preparing to Create a Package:
– Look in the Visual Studio project directory you just created
for the StoreKey (e.g. App3_StoreKey.pfx in
c:usersfreddocumentsvisual studio 2012projectsapp3)
– Copy this to somewhere safe (with your GameMaker
project perhaps). You can rename it appropriately too.
» RevengeOfTheMole_StoreKey.pfx
– Launch GameMaker: Studio and open the Global Game
Settings for your game and select the General tab

49. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
Enter the package
settings copied from
the manifest EXACTLY If Foreground Text
as they were shown is Light then
Version is up to you Background colour
must be dark and
visa versa
Create and update
images for the store
icons.

50. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Preparing to Create a Package:
– Switch to the Installation tab and select the Certificate we
generated earlier (the .pfx file)
– Click on Install
– Save the project

51. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Preparing to Create a Package:
– That’s it for the setup.
– This process doesn’t need to be repeated until you
change the name of the app, or want to develop a
different app.

52. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Creating a Package for Submission:
– In Game Maker:
Take note of the » Go to File->Create Application (select output folder)
location as this is
» When the game runs, switch back to the Start Screen
where the package
file will be generated – In Windows:
» Launch “Windows App Cert Kit”
» You may need to search for it on the first run, but it
should appear on the Start Screen after that
» Select “Validate Windows Store App”
Wait for the process » Select the version of your game which doesn’t have
to complete and _test at the end of the name
address any failures

53. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Creating a Package for Submission:
– Common App Cert Kit failures:
» Running the test on the _test (debug) version
» Not enough contrast between foreground text and
background colours

54. Windows 8

55. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Creating a Package for Submission:
– Uploading the Package
» Find the .appxupload or .appx files generated in the
output folder you specified on “Create Application”
» Upload one or the other under “Packages” on the
In my experience the App Dev Centre
.appxupload » Once upload is complete it will perform more
sometimes hangs the automated tests
online system after
» Common Failures:
upload, so I have
then used the .appx Entering the package /publisher names
instead incorrectly or using the wrong .pfx file

56. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Description:
– Describe your game and upload screenshots
» MUST be 1366x768 resolution images

57. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
App Submission Process
• Notes to Testers:
– It is unlikely you will pass on your first submission
– Remember to tell them exactly what you have changed
between each submission.
• Common Failures
– Not having equivalent key/touch controls for everything
– Including a “quit application” option (don’t do it!)

58. The Windows Store
Publishing to the Windows Store
Monty Mole: Revenge of the Mole
• Available Now!
– Please download and rate it (its free!)
– Also available on Facebook:
» https://www.facebook.com/appcenter/gamesbritannia

59. The End
www.hiddenlevel.co.uk
Dr. Jacob Habgood (Jake)
Sheffield Hallam University
J.Habgood@shu.ac.uk