⚂ Right here and right now
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Interactive demo (if JavaScript is enabled)
This is a small post about how to convert key codes to key names and/or convert key names to key codes. Comes with sample code for GameMaker and a generic version.
Mostly published because it covers majority of common and semi-common buttons.
Continue readingThis is an average-length (~10 pages) blog post about how to write a parser, AST builder, bytecode compiler, and a bytecode interpreter - in general, and in GameMaker specifically.
Continue reading
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Sometimes, you may want to draw a copy of the game's screen into itself - usually for a purpose-specific effect (proper name is Droste effect) like TV screens.
This small post explains the process of doing so.
This post is about implementing custom timelines in GameMaker.
Admittedly, timelines remain to be one of the more dated features of the software, designed for a specific purpose and kept in their original form for compatibility.
Time to time you'll see someone stopping by on forums to write a big rant about how these are a mess, do not do what they expect them to do, and should be redesigned immediately.
People will usually also argue that doing these things by yourself is too hard.
Since it is far easier than people claim, I decided to write a post about this.
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From Voidigo | full sized video
Roughly this time last year, I released GMLive - a web-based program that allows to write and run small snippets of GameMaker code right in the browser, including live reloading.
Today I'm pleased to announce that situation further improved and I am bringing live-coding to GameMaker: Studio and GameMaker Studio 2 themselves.
(artwork by Justin Chan)
So it has come to this - Nuclear Throne update 99 releases today! (also see AMA on subreddit)
For me it's even slightly more remarkable, as I did additional programming for this update.
This blog post outlines my involvement, changes, and answers some common questions.
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This is a small post about a method for figuring out collision_line's "contact point" in GameMaker - in other words, obtaining not just whether there's something on the way, but also the nearest point on the nearest matching entity.
Most commonly asked about for "hitscan" weapons and laser-sights, but has many uses.
Continue readingThis post serves as a collection of descriptions and links to various GameMaker-related assets and extensions that I have published over time.
It was supposed to be a short post, but turns out that I have made a lot of things.
Also should answer the "how do I support your work" question that some readers have.
Continue readingThis post about the issues with GameMaker's built-in JSON functions and an extension I made to address the issues.
Continue readingOn some occasions you may want to open a link in a new tab a GameMaker' HTML5 game.
As simple as it may look, this presents a bit of a problem:
url_open_ext is by far the most convenient of these, so let me explain why that does not work:
To prevent any page from being able to randomly open indefinitely large quantities of new tabs, the browser will automatically block attempts to open new tabs\windows unless they originate from user interaction (click event);
GameMaker handles events, and writes down new input states to later dispatch GML-level events at the right time and place (see event order). This means that your GML code inside a "Mouse Pressed" event does not count as originating from a user interaction (as it executes a few milliseconds later), and thus is not allowed to open new tabs (and do some other things).
However, with a bit of JS (and understanding of internal workings of GM), it is possible to accomplish the intended result, and this post is about that.
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