Get in the Game, Free GameMaker Course

Okay, I can remember getting my first NES back in the day, coping the Game-Boy, and Sega and having ideas and dreams about building and developing my own game.  I did dream of working for EA Sports using my passion for Sports to make me marketable creating better versions of Madden and NBA Live. Well, after my first Gaming class in College I was highly discouraged to even apply for any Gaming job – plus I kind of fell off of the gaming systems.

But, with Microsoft’s Virtual Academy – making video games can be fun and according to their site doesn’t require you to be a programmer (which means theoretically anyone can do it!).

Did you know that you don’t need to be a programmer or an artist to create a cool 2D game? If you can drag and drop, you can use GameMaker from YoYo Games to build a game and then export it to mobile platforms, including Windows, iOS, Android, Kindle and more. Get the details from industry experts who created Dave in the Cave and worked on World of Warcraft.

In this first of a two-part series, see how to navigate the integrated development environment (IDE) and explore basic movement and collision management using a starter kit. Find assets, like sprites and sounds, or create your own, using tools like Inkscape and Audacity. Wrap the course with the foundation for your own 2D game!

(NOTE: To follow along with the instructors and get the most from this course, be sure to download these free tools ahead of time: GameMaker, InkScape, Audacity, and Visual Studio Express.)

Take the class and start building your game here: Creating Your First 2D Game with GameMaker

This may be a great idea for a weekend STEM project.  But we’ll see. Please let me know if you or anyone you know gives it a try!

“But, we the future, Whitney Houston told me that/And it’s gon’ take more than a bullet in the heart to hold me back” Game – Dreams