THE BASICS

THE SPRITES

THE OBJECTS

THE ROOMS

THE INSTANCES



DEFINING SPRITES
NAMING THE SPRITE
LOADING A SPRITE
REMOVING A SPRITE
EXPLORING FOR MORE
SPRITES
THE SPRITES




Sprites are the visual representations of all the objects in the game. A sprite is either a single image,
drawn with any drawing program you like, or a set of images that, when played one after another, looks like
an animated motion. For example, the following four images form a sprite for a character moving to the
right.




When you make a game you normally start by collecting a set of nice sprites for the objects in your
game. A considerable number of useful sprites are bundled with Game Maker. Other collections of
interesting sprites can be found on the Game Maker website. Many more sprites can be found on the web,
normally in the form of .png or animated .gif files.
There are three ways to define a sprite. Each can be a useful depending to your needs.
1. Clicking the Resources Menu then click the Create Sprite Command.






2. Clicking the Create Sprite Icon in the Tool Bar.






3. Using the keyboard short cut. Press and hold the SHIFT and CTRL key then press S.
NAMING SPRITES

1. Define a sprite by using any of the three ways that
was mentioned before, then this window will appear:











2. To change the name of the sprite, just click the Name
box and type the name that you want. For now just
name it S1.






3. Once you change the name of the sprite you will
notice that the Sprite Properties also change to its
declared name.

LOADING A SPRITE

1. Click the Load Sprite button to load a sprite from the
game maker sprite folders.





2. The Open Sprite Image window will appear on the
screen.









3. Click the apple sprite.








4. Click the Open button.





5. After clicking the open button you will return to the
Sprite Properties Window. You will notice that the
sprite that you selected is added to the window.









6. Click Ok button to finish our work.





DELETING A SPRITE

1. Point your mouse pointer on to the sprite that you
want to remove.










2. Press the right button of your mouse then click delete.














3. The sprite is now deleted from the list.




EXPLORING FOR MORE
SPRITES

1. Click

2. Change its name to S2.


3. Click .


4. Click (up one level).






5. There are 8 folders in the window. Each folder
contains sprites that you can use. Try to open each.

Board Game Folder







Bouncing Balls Folder






Buttons Folder








Cards Folder







Icons Folder









Maze Platform Folder









Space Folder









Tutorial 1 Folder









6. Select any sprite that you want then click Open
button.






Note:





UP ONE LEVEL

Allows you to exit the previous folder or return to the
previous level. This will help you explore for more sprites on
your computer.






THE OBJECTS
DEFINING OBJECTS
REMOVING AN OBJECT

Objects are entities in the game that do things. Most of the time they have a sprite as a graphical
representation so that you see them. They have behavior because they can react to certain events. All
things you see in the game (except for the background) are objects. (Or to be more precise, they are
instances of objects.) The characters, the monsters, the balls, the walls, etc. are all objects. There might
also be certain objects that you don't see but which control certain aspects of the game play.
Please realize the difference between sprites and objects. Sprites are just (animated) images that
don't have any behavior. Objects normally have a sprite to represent them but objects have behavior.
Without objects there is no game!
There are three ways to define an object. Each can be a useful depending to your needs.
1. Clicking the Resources Menu then click the Create Object Command.






2. Clicking the Create Object Icon in the Tool Bar.







3. Using the keyboard short cut. Press and hold the SHIFT and CTRL key then press O.
DEFINING OBJECTS

1. Define a object by using any of the three ways that
was mentioned before, then this window will appear:










2. To change the name of the object, just click the
Name box and type the name that you want. For now
just name it O1.






3. Click to put a sprite on your object.








4. Choose the S1 sprite.











5. Point your mouse pointer to the Solid box then click
it to put a check on it.







6. Click Ok button to finish our work.





REMOVING AN OBJECT

1. Point your mouse pointer on to the object that
you want to remove.
















2. Press the right button of your mouse then choose
delete.


















3. The object is now deleted from the list.



























THE ROOM
CREATING A ROOM
CHANGING THE SETTINGS
REMOVING A ROOM

Any game will need at least one room. In these rooms we place instances of the objects. Once the
game starts the first room is shown and the instances in it come to life because of the actions in their
creation events.
There are a large number of possibilities when creating rooms. Besides setting a number of
properties and adding the instances of the objects you can add backgrounds, define views, and add tiles.
Most of these options are discussed later.
There are three ways to create a room. Each can be a useful depending to your needs.
1. Clicking the Resources Menu then click the Create Room Command.







2. Clicking the Create Room Icon in the Tool Bar.







3. Using the keyboard short cut. Press and hold the SHIFT and CTRL key then press R.
CHANGING THE SETTINGS

1. Create a room by using any of the three ways that
was mentioned before, then this window will
appear:













2. Click Maximize button to have a full
view of your room. (It is located at the upper
right corner of the Room Properties Window)
















3. Click Settings Tab to view the settings
of the room.









4. Change the Name of the room to R1 and Caption
for the room to Room 1. (We will not change the
value of Width, Height, and Speed for now)









5. Click Check button to finish our work.
Then save your work and name it SAMPLE 01.










REMOVING A ROOM

1. Point your mouse pointer on to the room that you
want to remove.












2. Press the right button of your mouse then choose
delete.













3. The room is now removed from the list.




















THE INSTANCES
ADDING INSTANCES
REMOVING INSTANCES
REPOSITIONING INSTANCES
INSTANCES

Instances are objects (it can be visible,
invisible, solid or not) that we put inside a room.

ADDING INSTANCES

1. Inside the Object tab click O1 (Apple). You will
see all the objects that you created. (For now O1
is the only object available)










2. You can put the instance anywhere you want as
long as its inside the grid line, but for now point
your mouse pointer on to the first square then
Click it. The apple object will appear on it.














3. Create a border of apples around the room. You
can press and hold the Shift button then hold the
left button of the mouse then drag it to add
multiple instances.















REMOVING INSTANCES

1. Point your mouse pointer on the instance that you
want to remove.





2. Press the right button of the mouse to remove it
from the room.





REPOSITIONING INSTANCES

1. Point your mouse pointer on the instance that you
want to move.












2. Press and hold CTRL then press and hold the
left button of the mouse. Drag the instance
anywhere you want.