GameMaker Language: An In-Depth Guide [Soft Cover]

I use Game Maker to program my games. This book has given me a better understanding on how to write code that is concise. It saves time when you write programs, and your games run faster.

I'd like to say up front that Benjamin Anderson did a fantastic job with his Udemy courses and has a lot of excellent (and free) Youtube videos, so this review of the book shouldn't be taken as a review of the author's ability to provide quality instruction. However, this book is a mess.The title would suggest that this is an "in-depth guide" to GML. It starts with some explanations of what variables are, what basic data structures are, and so on. It is very basic information, targeted at new users who may have little to no experience with programming in any language, let alone GML. Part of this section in the book goes into building an application to demonstrate how a stack works. The code is generally well described, and the user is told what sprites to create, which objects and events to put the code under, etc. The user is then congratulated on writing their first Game Maker program and urged to run the program and play around with it to really see how it works. This is where the book started to go off the rails.As I said, the code structure and information for the first project was good, but it wasn't complete. If the target audience is new programmers, or even new Game Maker users, then you also need to tell them to create a room for the code, to place objects into the room, etc. None of this was done. Any new user who tried to run this by following the book would be lost. And if the user is expected to know this stuff already, then why waste time with explaining variables, stacks and other terms at such a basic level? Sadly, this trend not only continues, it gets worse.I had enough experience with Game Maker to figure out the next few projects presented by the book, but then it came to particle emitters. There was no real discussion of how to set up the project, what objects would be needed, what events, etc. It seemed some code went in scripts, some in objects, and within those objects, the events to trigger the code were not discussed. Making some assumptions as I had with earlier projects, I was able to get particle emitters to work for the first example given (creating a blood spray), but adding the code given in the book to do snow (I think; I don't have the book sitting here with me) only produced errors. I checked around online and couldn't come up with any errata or updates to the book, and ended up learning everything by watching him go through it on Youtube. This brings me to my final comments.There is nothing covered in this book that isn't part of one of Benjamin's Youtube videos, which again, you can watch for free. The content of the book is not much more than a summarized transcript of the videos. If you've watched them and want to support him, try his Udemy course. If you still want to support him, try Patreon, and if you still want to support him and you have a table with a short leg or REALLY like the cover art, buy this book.TL;DR: This book targets both beginners and experienced coders and misses both targets completely. Watch the Youtube videos instead.

This is really good and in the top 5 books. It is for gm coding so you should have worked through:the apprentice #1 book and#2 book companion titles byovermars and habgood.

This product was very helpful in breaking down the different aspects of the GameMaker Studio 2 program. However, note that most of the information in this book can be found in the forums and help articles posted by GameMaker Studio 2, the book simply rephrases and explains in a different way the same concepts.

Really liked this book. Little short on content but an easy read that is pretty easy to understand. This is more of a beginners guide and if you have coding experience already this might not be what your looking for. Author has several videos on YouTube and various other sites that are also great references.

This is the 2nd Gamemaker 2 Studio book I have purchased. It claims to be in-depth but is far from meeting that claim. The book starts off with a basic intro to the GUI and what the different options do. After this, the book jumps into building a small app. Unfortunately, it does not adequately describe where what code is needed and where. The book refers the audience to use a certain image but does not describe what the image is or where to get it. Errors in spelling, missing code, etc. The book refers you to the author's website but it is no longer up and running. The youtube link worked and had a link to his new website, which has Godot tutorials, wow. Looks like the author has switched to another IDE. This is very unfortunate and the book started out very well, then went downhill. I had to stop as I was getting too confused and went to the tutorials on Gamemaker site.

For those looking to get into GameMaker (GM), this book is exactly what people need to learn the GML code. Combined with GameMaker: Studio for Dummies (GMfD), these two books form the best starting point for anyone wanting to learn GM with no prior experience in coding or game creation. GMfD for true beginners, then this book for learning the code itself to do more with GM. From there, get into other GM related books to up your game.

It is perfect for new or experienced developers who want to create their own video game. I liked how to explain complex concepts of programming in simpler terms. Good work, Benjamin.

This is a great book about the programming language of GameMaker - the Game Maker Language (GML).If you already have experience with making games in other programming languages, then this is probably the best book about GameMaker for you.I myself already knew how to program several programming languages, so this book has become my favorite book about GameMaker among the book that I have. Experience with other programming languages is not required though, because the author explains everything very well.The book format and readability is nice too. I could read it while laying in bed on my back without the book felt down on my face, as opposed to bigger sized books and hardcover books.

I have had high expectations of it and that is exactly what I got! The explanations are well thought through with easy to understand examples that anyone can relate to. The book is well presented with a nice contents page making it really easy to direct. Furthermore, it is clearly and well written and personally grabs your attention. I learn a nice amount of the author and still cannot comprehend how much this book has helped me. The pictures and bold text lets us know what IMPORTANT information we need to know which is always handy with a book. FANTASTIC JOB BENJAMIN!

Excellent book, explains everything very well, I`ve programmed with other languages years ago and this is easy to follow ad yet in-depth enough to make it challenging. would recommend this book without a doubt.

Very good book and well written. Its more geared towards the beginning but since reading the first few chapters I have learned a few things.

A+++