An introduction to (coding) {

Scripting in GML}

Introduction

What is coding?

Coding is a way of telling the computer to do something.

Simply put, it is a set of written instructions, for example;

If (lives==0)

{

GameRestart=True

}

What do we use coding for?

Websites

Games

App development

Programming

Hardware development support

The list goes on and on

Why do you need to learn coding?

We live in a digital world; much of our everyday lives are spent interacting with the “web of things” and coding is the magic that makes all of these things work.

Whether you want to work as a programmer or not, understanding what code is will give you a better understanding of how the world around you is working.

How important a skill is coding if you want to work in the games industry? Why is this?

Programmers are the people who write code. What skills does a good programmer need?

Attention to detail (otherwise things will go wrong)

Patience (it takes a lot of patience to figure out where you went wrong, and how to fix it)

Curiosity (programmers always need to learn new languages)

Creativity (for figuring out a solution to a new problem or implementing your ideas in new ways)

What coding language does GameMaker use?

GameMaker has its own programming language, GML, created by the programmer Mark Overmars.

Games be made completely using GML.

In todays lesson

You will be using GML to create a lives and score system, rather than using the drag and drop system we used for the top down shooter.

By the end of the workshop, you

MUST code simple lives & score systems in Game Maker Language

SHOULD code the destruction of an object in Game Maker Language

COULD experiment with your code to change how the lives, score and collision systems work in your game level.

Task 1

Log onto Moodle and open up the week 2 tutorial for the platformer series.

Watch the video and learn how to code the lives and score system.

Apply this knowledge to your platformer level.

Play with the code; see what works and what doesn’t.

I will come and look over your levels as you’re building them!

Task 2

End of lesson quiz

What is coding?

What problems did you encounter?

How could you work towards solving these problems?

Hands up who added their lives system?

Hands up who added a score system?

Hands up who added a simple enemy?

Hands up who had more than three lives?

Programming is an amazing skill.Where can learning programming take you?