Assignment 3

POINTS: 100

DUE DATE:  announced in class and in the front page

Even though Game Maker is really simple to use and creating intricate games is easy, at first glance the possibilities might be a bit overwhelming and it is difficult to understand where to start. This tutorial is meant to show you how to make one of the more easy types of games: a maze game. In a number of steps it leads you through the process of creating a game. The nice part is that from the first step on we have a game that, in further steps, becomes more extended and more appealing. All partial games are provided and can be

loaded into Game Maker.

Before starting creating a game we have to come up with an idea of what the game is going to be. This is the most important (and in some sense most difficult) step in designing a game. A good game is exciting, surprising and addictive. There should be clear goals for the player, and the user interface should be intuitive.

The game we are going to make is a maze game. Each room consists of a maze. To escape the maze the player must collect all diamonds and then reach the exit. To do so the player must solve puzzles and monsters must be avoided. Many puzzles can be created: blocks must be pushed in holes; parts of the room can be blown away using bombs, etc. It is very important to not show all these things in the first room. Gradually new items and monsters should appear to keep the game interesting.

So the main object in the game is a person controlled by the player. There are walls (maybe different types to make the maze look more appealing). There are diamonds to collect. There are items that lie around that do something when picked up or touched by the player. One particular item will be the exit of the room. And there are monsters that move by themselves. But let us tackle these things one by one.

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This game, you will have the flexibility to create your own maze game, based on the tutorial below. There are dozens of online maze games, so, you should base your game on a similar game found on the net.

Here are some links to help your quest:

Your task is to complete the tutorial below, then create your own maze game based on one of the maze games that you found online.

You should do first the lab 4. It contains video tutorials that are more detailed than the pdf tutorial.

Zip tutorial (PDF), sprites.

Note that this will be a bigger task than the previous assignments, so start on it soon !

Upload your .gmk file to the sws server. Make sure to have the game information filled out with your name and instruction about the game.

Use D2L forums to post your questions

This page was last modified September 18, 2009
wmorales@pcc.edu