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game-maker-language

Can I use GameMaker Language (GML) without GameMaker Studio?


I use Python to code normally. However, it isn't ideal for creating games. I found out that GameMaker Language was. I want to use GameMaker Language without actually having to buy GameMaker Studio. I have PyCharm. If there is a free IDE, PyCharm/Atom.io plugin, or different way to code GameMaker Language, what is it?


Solution

  • GML itself is implemented by YoYo Games and consequently only exists in GameMaker itself.

    If you want something that looks like GML, many JavaScript-inspired languages end up with a similar syntax - something like Killa (a Lua fork with JS-like syntax) or Duktape (an embeddable JS runtime) would work for use with other engines, and countless JavaScript/TypeScript-based game engines exist.

    If you want something that works like GML (functions and all), that's where things get tricky - although many attempts at replicating GameMaker exist (the largest one likely being ENIGMA), usually they aren't very feature-complete - at some point the developers lose motivation and/or realize that majority of their userbase is people that cannot afford GameMaker.
    If you are very particularly after the easy-to-use collision functions, Godot has a somewhat similar scheme with a move_and_collide.

    As Steven mentioned, it is impossible to give unopinionated recommendations on alternatives, but you should be able to find plenty of these on your own - try things out and find what works best for you.