3 ms·

Is game maker web based? can you share your games on facebook? how do you monetize your games with game maker? There are vital differences. Look at aviary.

Is game maker web based? can you share your games on facebook? how do you monetize your games with game maker? There are vital differences. Look at aviary. i have photoshop, why would I use it? Because i can use it from anywhere and share it anywhere.

mynameishere 19y ago
Is game maker web based? No, but that was from 1985. There's at least one company that publishes user-submitted games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kongregate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kongregate Whatever the economics behind that, someone is getting paid. I don't know much about the game business, but it seems like there are a lot of great people working for next-to-nothing on the fringes. I can't imagine how popular a connect-the-dots approach to design would be. You basically were asking for criticism, so I'm giving it. Obviously, there are far, far...far...stupider things on facebook, so it may well be a big hit.
- poppysan 19y ago
  sorry for sounding like an a-hole. i was just noting the differences. Kongregate is far different as well. I want users to create the game through the site-based tools/ within set parameters. More like kongregate-mixed with game creator-mixed with the facebook widget
  - mynameishere 19y ago
    sorry for sounding like an a-hole I don't believe you did. If you want to see want an a-hole sounds like, look through my comment history.
    - kschrader 19y ago
      I looked through his comment history, and it's true! :)
- hhm 19y ago
  Kongregate is a different thing. Kongregate is for game developers, who already do games in Flash for example. I understand what he's proposing is different or is at least targeted to a different group of people (not professional game developers, but just people who'd like to design their own games, and to share them). And I think it's an interesting idea (I work, or used to, in the game dev industry).
nostrademons 19y ago
My cofounder and I have been working on exactly this idea (web-based game maker, can share games on Facebook/MySpace, targetted at non-programming users) for the last 15 months. Six months of that has been full-time work. Other competition - folks with released products - includes http://sploder.com/ http://sploder.com/, http://www.gamebrix.net/ http://www.gamebrix.net/ (they've got $500k in angel funding and 8 developers on it), and http://www.mygame.com/ http://www.mygame.com/. Both Sploder and GameBrix have been working on this for at least 6 months longer than us, so they've got at least 2 years of development behind their current releases. I believe the FuzzWich guys spent some time trying to develop a game-making platform before they started their current idea, and I've heard of at least another half-dozen startups in stealth mode that're doing the same thing, though obviously I don't know the details. So you're not the only one who's had this idea. ;-) The problem is that "a widget-based game maker" does not let you create fun games for any reasonable definition of fun, and a system that does let you create fun games is probably too hard for ordinary non-programming users to learn. Play around with GameBrix for a few minutes and then decide whether any of the games generated by it are stuff you'd be willing to show your friends. And judging from the GameBrix screencasts, their builder isn't all that easy to use anyway. Sploder's done a bit better - you can at least figure out how to use it in 5 minutes - but it gives you very limited customization. It's more like a map editor for common strategy games than a game creator itself. Anything more complicated than that requires a lot of both UI and technical discipline. We've run into some really thorny technical issues when trying to develop a UI that's both flexible and simple to learn, and we keep running into them. It makes me wonder whether the problem is even tractable, given the long history of attempts to solve it and the noted lack of success outside of specific domains (eg. GameMaker, Quake mods). So that's what the view looks like from 15 months in. I definitely still think there's something to this, otherwise I wouldn't still be working on it. But be prepared for some really tricky technical issues - you'll want a top-notch technical cofounder, because otherwise you'll be pretty limited in what you can do.
- poppysan 19y ago
  Thanks a lot for the links. It brings into perspective what those sites are missing,from what i can tell, that would make this idea more viable. But I do have to disagree with you on a point. I do believe that a widget based game maker can make original games as long as its open enough to allow creativity. From a programming stand-point this directly affects usability, but I would approach it from a design position. Imagine a standard 2d side-scrolling platform engine. Characters have a bunch of predefined states. Users must only choose which states they want their character to have(selectable through a survey or wizard). What differentiates Mario from Sonic is only a few actions difference. They are mostly distinct in design. Allow users a "bone man" with pre-made animations and abilities. Users can build the look with our online editor. then the designs are applied to the appropriate section of the "bone man". Background tiles and objects can also be skinned or selected from pre-made props. Right now at my 9-5 I am working on a children's virtual world and the most time intensive process is asset creation. This would also be the case in the stated idea. Animations, character states, and npc's and props would have to be developed over time, and can also be user submitted to speed up the process. I would do 2d games a puzzle game (standard scrolling, adjustable rules) a fighting game (actions ability and looks would be adjustable to name a few) a side scroller action game a racing game and others. All of these would have premade "bone man" animations stock that can define a player's personality and skill set. The custom design is the key in my opinion. i personally would love this.

mynameishere 19y ago

Is game maker web based? No, but that was from 1985. There's at least one company that publishes user-submitted games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kongregate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kongregate Whatever the economics behind that, someone is getting paid. I don't know much about the game business, but it seems like there are a lot of great people working for next-to-nothing on the fringes. I can't imagine how popular a connect-the-dots approach to design would be. You basically were asking for criticism, so I'm giving it. Obviously, there are far, far...far...stupider things on facebook, so it may well be a big hit.

poppysan 19y ago
sorry for sounding like an a-hole. i was just noting the differences. Kongregate is far different as well. I want users to create the game through the site-based tools/ within set parameters. More like kongregate-mixed with game creator-mixed with the facebook widget
- mynameishere 19y ago
  sorry for sounding like an a-hole I don't believe you did. If you want to see want an a-hole sounds like, look through my comment history.
  - kschrader 19y ago
    I looked through his comment history, and it's true! :)
hhm 19y ago
Kongregate is a different thing. Kongregate is for game developers, who already do games in Flash for example. I understand what he's proposing is different or is at least targeted to a different group of people (not professional game developers, but just people who'd like to design their own games, and to share them). And I think it's an interesting idea (I work, or used to, in the game dev industry).

nostrademons 19y ago

My cofounder and I have been working on exactly this idea (web-based game maker, can share games on Facebook/MySpace, targetted at non-programming users) for the last 15 months. Six months of that has been full-time work. Other competition - folks with released products - includes http://sploder.com/ http://sploder.com/, http://www.gamebrix.net/ http://www.gamebrix.net/ (they've got $500k in angel funding and 8 developers on it), and http://www.mygame.com/ http://www.mygame.com/. Both Sploder and GameBrix have been working on this for at least 6 months longer than us, so they've got at least 2 years of development behind their current releases. I believe the FuzzWich guys spent some time trying to develop a game-making platform before they started their current idea, and I've heard of at least another half-dozen startups in stealth mode that're doing the same thing, though obviously I don't know the details. So you're not the only one who's had this idea. ;-) The problem is that "a widget-based game maker" does not let you create fun games for any reasonable definition of fun, and a system that does let you create fun games is probably too hard for ordinary non-programming users to learn. Play around with GameBrix for a few minutes and then decide whether any of the games generated by it are stuff you'd be willing to show your friends. And judging from the GameBrix screencasts, their builder isn't all that easy to use anyway. Sploder's done a bit better - you can at least figure out how to use it in 5 minutes - but it gives you very limited customization. It's more like a map editor for common strategy games than a game creator itself. Anything more complicated than that requires a lot of both UI and technical discipline. We've run into some really thorny technical issues when trying to develop a UI that's both flexible and simple to learn, and we keep running into them. It makes me wonder whether the problem is even tractable, given the long history of attempts to solve it and the noted lack of success outside of specific domains (eg. GameMaker, Quake mods). So that's what the view looks like from 15 months in. I definitely still think there's something to this, otherwise I wouldn't still be working on it. But be prepared for some really tricky technical issues - you'll want a top-notch technical cofounder, because otherwise you'll be pretty limited in what you can do.

poppysan 19y ago
Thanks a lot for the links. It brings into perspective what those sites are missing,from what i can tell, that would make this idea more viable. But I do have to disagree with you on a point. I do believe that a widget based game maker can make original games as long as its open enough to allow creativity. From a programming stand-point this directly affects usability, but I would approach it from a design position. Imagine a standard 2d side-scrolling platform engine. Characters have a bunch of predefined states. Users must only choose which states they want their character to have(selectable through a survey or wizard). What differentiates Mario from Sonic is only a few actions difference. They are mostly distinct in design. Allow users a "bone man" with pre-made animations and abilities. Users can build the look with our online editor. then the designs are applied to the appropriate section of the "bone man". Background tiles and objects can also be skinned or selected from pre-made props. Right now at my 9-5 I am working on a children's virtual world and the most time intensive process is asset creation. This would also be the case in the stated idea. Animations, character states, and npc's and props would have to be developed over time, and can also be user submitted to speed up the process. I would do 2d games a puzzle game (standard scrolling, adjustable rules) a fighting game (actions ability and looks would be adjustable to name a few) a side scroller action game a racing game and others. All of these would have premade "bone man" animations stock that can define a player's personality and skill set. The custom design is the key in my opinion. i personally would love this.