software and workflow

take these words not as dogma. these are the tools i use, and the workflow i'm used to

gamemaking, or any other creative work for that matter, is not one-size-fits-all

there could be parts of my workflow you'll vehemently disagree with

and that's okay because i'm behind the wheel of my own vessel, not yours

if you try these things but they don't work out for you, try something else instead of giving up

software

gamemaker 8.2

i used gamemaker studio from the time it launched until the release of crimson needle 2.5

there are a lot of things i like about it a lot, but gamemaker 8.2 is just an incredible collection of software

the room editor was (literally) designed for fangame development and using it for any amount of time makes this crystal clear

fields are brilliant and i struggle to feel like i can use other versions of gamemaker because

i use them incessantly and no other version of gamemaker can hold a candle to its implementation

above all the amazing features that come with gamemaker 8.2, the shockingly fast compile & save times obliterate other gamemaker versions

it only takes seconds to implement an entirely new feature, test it, and iterate

i have probably spent at least a couple of months worth of time waiting for projects to save+compile in studio, so the value of this for me cannot be overstated

for a while i was apprehensive about using gamemaker 8.2 because you could previously only have one event's code window open at a time

>this has since been remedied so now the only hurdle is some missing code features, and still not understanding how the fuck to use shaders

but the benefits obviously far surpass these issues, so i would recommend this program instantly to everyone interested in making fangames

verve engine

the former half (or more?) of my time making fangames with gamemaker studio, i used yoyoyo engine

yoyoyo engine did a lot of great things, but it always felt like it was missing a lot

the major shortcoming was its trigger system being completely useless

verve engine fixes this issue with flying colours

there is a LOT that verve engine does brilliantly, but its trigger system is so robust and flexible

admittedly the gm8.2 version of verve's trigger system is a bit lacking compared to its studio counterpart, but it's still very competent for intricate trigger platforming

another thing i really like about verve engine is how un-bloated it is

i really like renex engine, but it is undeniably packed full with a lot of objects/mechanics i personally will never use

i generally prefer not to work with other people's code because i'm afraid of intimacy, so verve's code being very clean and minimal is ideal for making modifications

paint.net

paint.net and i have a strange relationship, despite the fact i make most of my backgrounds and textures in it

there are a lot of things about this software i do not find to be intuitive in any capacity

making selections can be really annoying, the text tool is better if you pretend it doesn't exist, a lot of things are missing keyboard shortcuts, the ui sucks

but there are a lot of things it does very easily compared to warez i've used, especially the Quantize and Add Noise effects

these two effects alone are so so so widely applicable and have the capacity to add a lot to a piece, and paint.net has myriad community-made plugins too

this program is one that i use a lot for work, but i also use it all the time in everyday life in synergy with sharex (bonus software) for quick editing jobs

clip studio paint

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one of two entries that has a price tag

but of course, if there's a will there's a way

git extensions

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audacity

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i'm pretty sure new versions are spyware so i have linked directly to a zip of 3.2.3 for windows, the version i currently use

frankly i should downgrade further but i'm busy

sublime text

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one of two entries that has a price tag

but of course, if there's a will there's a way

workflow

this section will be about how i approach making fangames from start to finish

what order i make stuff in, what i think about before making, and so on

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