Activision Gamemaker
Encyclopedia
Garry Kitchen's GameMaker was an IDE
for the Commodore 64
created by Garry Kitchen
and released by Activision
in 1985. It was the first sophisticated game design product for the average consumer.
The system was divided into 5 subsystems, all of which provided a graphical interface controlled with the joystick:
The programming language used in gamemaker was reminiscent of other early programming languages like BASIC
, but with many built in graphics and sound facilities that tied in components created in the other parts of the system.
The language was not keyed in via the keyboard, but used a novel system of selecting possible instructions from a menu, and then customizing the active parts of the instruction, like variable names or numbers.
Still, GameMaker proved to be a powerful game development environment for its day. As a demonstration of its power, a remake of Pitfall!
(one of Activision's most popular games) created entirely with GameMaker was included with the package.
Integrated development environment
An integrated development environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development...
for the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
created by Garry Kitchen
Garry Kitchen
Garry Kitchen is a programmer who is perhaps best known as the author of Garry Kitchen's Gamemaker for Commodore 64.He was also the president of Absolute Entertainment throughout the company's life, and then pulled the plug and became the founding president of Skyworks Technologies in 1995...
and released by Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
in 1985. It was the first sophisticated game design product for the average consumer.
The system was divided into 5 subsystems, all of which provided a graphical interface controlled with the joystick:
- SceneMaker - for creating background graphics
- SpriteMaker - for creating movable objects (commonly called spritesSprite (computer graphics)In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
) - MusicMaker - for composing musical scores
- SoundMaker - for creating sound effects
- The Editor - for programming the actual game
The programming language used in gamemaker was reminiscent of other early programming languages like BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
, but with many built in graphics and sound facilities that tied in components created in the other parts of the system.
The language was not keyed in via the keyboard, but used a novel system of selecting possible instructions from a menu, and then customizing the active parts of the instruction, like variable names or numbers.
Limitations
There were some notable limitations, some imposed by the Commodore 64 architecture and some imposed by GameMaker, most likely because the IDE itself used a good deal of resources.- Only 8 sprites could be on screen at once (a C64 limitation)
- Each sprite and background could have a maximum of four colors (out of a palette of 16) (a C64 limitation)
- Only 2 stationary background screens could be used per game (a GameMaker limitation)
- Only 3553 bytes were available for game resources, including songs, sounds, sprites, and code (a GameMaker limitation)
- No disk access could be added to the game itself (a GameMaker limitation)
Still, GameMaker proved to be a powerful game development environment for its day. As a demonstration of its power, a remake of Pitfall!
Pitfall!
Pitfall! is a video game released by Activision for the Atari 2600 in 1982. It is the second best selling game made for the Atari 2600, with over 4 million copies sold.-Gameplay:...
(one of Activision's most popular games) created entirely with GameMaker was included with the package.
See also
- Arcade Game Construction KitArcade Game Construction KitArcade Game Construction Kit is a 1988 software program that allows users to design arcade-style games. It was developed by Mike Livesay and published by Brøderbund for the Commodore 64. AGCK contained four floppy disks. The program features a joystick-driven menu system and a few pre-made games to...
- Another game development platform for the C64. - Shoot'Em-Up Construction KitShoot'Em-Up Construction KitShoot'Em-Up Construction Kit was a "construction kit" for the Commodore 64, Amiga and Atari ST created by Sensible Software and published by Outlaw in 1987. It allowed the user to make simple shoot 'em ups by drawing sprites and backgrounds and editing attack patterns...
- Another, quite professional, game development platform for C64 with ports to the Amiga, Atari ST and modern PC hardware. Primarily designed for shoot em-up games.
External links
- Official Site
- Gamemaker Fan Site including some games
- Games Made with Gamemaker at gamebase64