Interactive Media & Game Development
Worcester Polytechnic Institute

IMGD
IMGD 1001: The Game Development Process
Project 1: Making Games with Game Maker

Due dates:

Objective: THIS IS AN INDIVIDUAL PROJECT, NOT TO BE DONE IN TEAMS!

This will ensure you have Game Maker skills even if tasks in later projects are more partitioned.

This project is actually a series of three smaller assignments with the primary goal of getting you up to speed with Game Maker. Each assignment works through a Game Maker tutorial with an additional custom piece on the end. Completing all three assignments will put you in good position to develop a game from scratch using Game Maker.


Details: Upon completion of each tutorial, and before turning it in, you must extend the basic game you have made in some creative fashion. This means adding code or art to extend the game by 10%. The actual extension is up to you, and you will indicate what you have done with a short README document when you turn in the assignment.

The assignments are:

  • A) The first assignment is to complete the Your First Game tutorial from the Game Maker pages. Download the complete tutorial by clicking on the link and extract the contents. Either print or view online the "first game" PDF included. Refer to the sample code as needed. Note, for this and other Game Maker tutorials, the resources (art and sound) needed for the tutorial are supplied under the "Resources" sub-directory. Once done, you might consider extending the game by one or more of: additional goals needed to complete the game (such as time limits or scores), other clown types with different behaviors, or alternate rooms with the above. This list is by no means the only way of extending the game.

  • B) The second assignment is to complete a Game Maker game from scratch. The game to complete is a classic, Pong, chosen because of the simple art yet compelling game play. Refer to the Pong.pdf file for the instructions. Since this game is from scratch, no additional external assets are needed. Once done, you might consider extending the game by adding more-complex ball behavior depending upon where it hits the paddles, or scoring mechanisms and increasingly challenging behavior. Again, this list is by no means the only way of extending the game.

  • C) The third assignment is to complete, and then extend, another Game Maker tutorial. Here you have a choice of either A Scrolling Shooter or A Maze Game. A slightly more advanced tutorial that can be tried is A Platform Game. Extract the tutorial as you did for the first assignment and proceed from there. Refer to the end of each tutorial for a few suggestions on how to extend it. The choice of the tutorial doesn't really matter (you might do all three if you have time, but only turn in one), but can be selected based on your interest in the game type. Important! Before starting project 1c, you should enable "advanced mode" in Game Maker (if you have not already). In the "File" menu option, select "Advanced Mode" directly under it. This will show some advanced features for Game Maker, useful for many games.


What to Submit: All assignments (A-C) are to be submitted electronically via turnin by midnight on the day the assignment is due. Each turnin will include the Game Maker source file(s). For Game Maker Version 6.x, this is a single file with a ".gm6" extension. For Version 7.x, there are two files: a ".gmk" and a ".gb1" file. Also, you should submit a short README document clearly describing the additional 10% contribution. Make sure your name and login is included in the README file.

When you are ready to submit, zip everything up into a single archive file. Name the file LastName_FirstName_proj1a.zip for part A, and similar for parts B & C.

You will use the new Web-based "Turnin" facility to submit your work. Information about submitting can be found here:

http://web.cs.wpi.edu/~kfisler/turnin.html.

Use your WPI user ID should be used to login, and you should have been emailed a password.
The Turnin assignment IDs are proj1a, proj1b, and proj1c, respectively.


Academic
Honesty:		 Remember the policy on Academic Honesty: You may discuss the project with others, but you are to do your own work. The official WPI statement for Academic Honesty can be accessed HERE.

Grading:
Grading Guidelines
Tutorial 50% Doing each tutorial without any additional customization is worth 1/2 the grade. While you will have learned a substantial amount about Game Maker, you will not have demonstrated your understanding of the principals enough to apply them in a creative fashion.
Customization 50% Extending or modifying the tutorial game with custom work is worth the other 1/2 the grade. Doing so will begin to flex your creative muscles and show mastery of the basics taught in the tutorial.

Resources:

For a presentation summary, you might check out the slides (PowerPoint, pdf) for this project.

The Game Maker home page.

Compiled Game Maker Tutorial Games (zipped), showing the range of games Game Maker supports.

There is a Wiki devoted to Game Maker, that includes background information and some possibly useful links at the bottom.


Back to course page.