212 lines
8.9 KiB
HTML
212 lines
8.9 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
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<html><head>
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<title>The global user interface</title>
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<link href="style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
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</head>
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<body background="images/back.gif">
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<!--START-->
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<h1>The global user interface</h1>
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When you start <i>Game Maker</i> the following form is shown. Note that the
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form might in reality also show some <i>Game Maker</i> news and the tutorial
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might be visible at the right side.
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<p>
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<img src="images/form_main.jpg">
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<p>
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(Actually, this is what you see when you run <i>Game Maker</i> in simple
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mode. In advanced mode a number of additional items are shown.) At the
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left, you see the different resources mentioned above: Sprites, Sounds,
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Backgrounds, Objects, Rooms and two more: Game Information and Global Game
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Settings. At the top there is the familiar menu and toolbar. In this
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chapter we will describe briefly the various menu items, buttons, etc. In
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the later chapters we discuss a number of them in detail. Note that many
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things can be achieved in different ways: by choosing a command from the
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menu, by clicking a button, or by right clicking on a resource.
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<h3>File menu</h3>
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In the file menu you can find some of the usual commands to load and save
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files, plus a few special ones:
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<ul>
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<li><b>New</b>. Choose this command to start creating a new game. If
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the current game was changed you are asked whether you want to save it.
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There is also a toolbar button for this.</li>
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<li><b>Open</b>. Opens a game file. <i>Game Maker</i> files have the
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extension .gmk. You can also open old .gm6 files. (If you want to open .gmd files
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created with version 5 of <i>Game Maker</i> you must select the appropriate
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file type at the bottom of the dialog. These might though not
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work correctly in the new version.) There is a toolbar button for this command. You can also
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open a game by dragging the file into the <i>Game Maker</i> window.</li>
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<li><b>Recent Files</b>. Use this submenu to reopen game files you
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recently opened.</li>
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<li><b>Save</b>. Saves the game design file under its current name. If
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no name was specified before, you are asked for a new name. You can only
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use this command when the file was changed. Again, there is a toolbar
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button for this.</li>
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<li><b>Save As</b>. Saves the game design file under a different name.
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You are asked for a new name. </li>
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<li><b>Create Executable</b>. Once your game is ready you will probably want
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to give it to others to play. Using this command you can create a stand-
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alone version of your game. This is simply an executable that you can
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give to other people to run.</li>
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<li><b>Advanced Mode</b>. When clicking on this command <i>Game Maker
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</i> will switch between simple and advanced mode. In advanced mode
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additional commands and resources are available.</li>
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<li><b>Exit</b>. Probably obvious. Press this to exit <i>Game Maker
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</i>. If you changed the current game you will be asked whether you want
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to save it.</li>
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</ul>
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<h3>Edit menu</h3>
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The edit menu contains a number of commands that relate to the currently
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selected resource (object, sprite, sound, etc.). Depending on the type of
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resource some of the commands may not be visible.
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<ul>
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<li><b>Insert resource</b>. Inserts a new instance of the currently
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selected type of resource before the current one. A form will open in
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which you can change the properties of the resource. This will be treated
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in detail in the following chapters.</li>
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<li><b>Duplicate</b>. Makes a copy of the current resource and adds it.
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A form is opened in which you can change the resource.</li>
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<li><b>Delete</b>. Deletes the currently selected resource (or group of
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resources). Be careful. This cannot be undone. You will, though, be warned.</li>
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<li><b>Rename</b>. Gives the resource a new name. This can also be done
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in the property form for the resource. Also, you can select the resource
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and then click on the name.</li>
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<li><b>Properties</b>. Use this command to bring up the form to edit
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the properties. Note that all the property forms appear within the main
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form. You can edit many of them at the same time. You can also edit the
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properties by double clicking on the resource.</li>
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</ul>
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Note that all these commands can also be given in a different way. Right-
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click on a resource or resource group, and the appropriate pop-up menu
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will appear.
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<h3>Resources menu</h3>
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In this menu, you can create new resources of each of the different types.
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Note that for each of them there is also a button on the toolbar and a
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keyboard shortcut. Also you can change the game information and the global
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game settings.
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<h3>Run menu</h3>
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This menu is used to run the game. There are two ways to run a game.
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<ul>
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<li><b>Run normally</b>. Runs the game as it would normally run.
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The game is run in the most efficient way and will look and act as in an executable game.</li>
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<li><b>Run in Debug mode</b>. Runs the game in debug mode. In this mode
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you can check certain aspects of the game and you can pause and step
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through it. This is useful when something goes wrong but is a bit
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advanced.</li>
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</ul>
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Once your game is finished, you can create a stand-alone executable of
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the game using the command in the file menu.
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<h3>Window menu</h3>
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In this menu you find some of the usual commands to manage the different
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property windows in the main form:
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<ul>
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<li><b>Cascade</b>. Cascade all the windows such that each of them is
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partially visible.</li>
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<li><b>Arrange Icons</b>. Arrange all the iconified property windows.
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(Useful in particular when resizing the main form.)</li>
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<li><b>Close All</b>. Close all the property windows, asking the user
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whether or not to save the changes made.</li>
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</ul>
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<h3>Help menu</h3>
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Here you find some commands to help you:
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<ul>
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<li><b>Contents</b>. Use this command to show this help file.</li>
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<li><b>Tutorials</b>. Use this submenu to show the different tutorials that are provided with <i>Game Maker</i>
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to teach you how to make your first games.</li>
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<li><b>Upgrade to Pro Edition</b>. You can use this command to upgrade the Lite Edition
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of <i>Game Maker</i> to the Pro Edition Online. The Pro Edition has
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many aditional features.</li>
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<li><b>Enter Activation Code</b>. If you purchased <i>Game Maker</i> before (and hence, have an
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activation code or a previous purchase reference) you can use this command to enter your code.
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You will be brought to a webpage where you can either enter
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your activation code or your purchase reference from your previous payment.</li>
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<li><b>News</b>. Here you can see the most recent news about <i>Game Maker</i>.</li>
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<li><b>Book</b>. This command will bring you to
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a location on the website where you can find information about the <i>Game Maker</i> book.</li>
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<li><b>More Tutorials</b>. This command will bring you to
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a location on the website where you can download some more tutorials.</li>
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<li><b>Website</b>. Connects you to the <i>Game Maker</i> website
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where you can find information about the most recent version of <i>Game
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Maker</i> and collections of games and resources for <i>Game Maker</i>.</li>
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<li><b>Forum</b>. This command will bring you to the forum where users
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help each other with many aspects of <i>Game Maker</i>.</li>
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<li><b>Wiki</b>. This command will bring you to the <i>Game Maker</i> wiki where
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you can find plenty of information about the use of <i>Game Maker</i>.</li>
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<li><b>About <i>Game Maker</i></b>. Gives some short information about
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this version of <i>Game Maker</i>.</li>
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</ul>
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<h3>The resource explorer</h3>
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At the left of the main form you find the resource explorer. Here you
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will see a tree-like view of all resources in your game. It works in the
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same way as the Windows Explorer, and you are most likely familiar with
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it. If an item has a + sign in front of it you can click on the sign to
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see the resources inside it. By clicking on the - sign these disappear
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again. You can change the name of a resource (except the top level ones) by
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selecting it (with a single click) and then clicking on the name. Double
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click on a resource to edit its properties. Use the right mouse button to
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access the same commands as in the Edit menu.
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<p>
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You can change the order of the resources by clicking on them with the
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mouse and holding the mouse button pressed. Now you can drag the resource
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to the appropriate place. (Of course the place must be correct. You
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cannot drag a sound into the list of sprites.)
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<!--END-->
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</body>
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</html>
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<!-- KEYWORDS
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interface
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resources
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main interface
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menus
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loading games
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saving games
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create executable
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stand-alone game
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advanced mode
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simple mode
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mode,simple
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mode,advanced
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adding resources
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creating resources
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rename
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duplicate
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running games
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debug mode
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windows
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recent files
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--> |