- Written by Matej Pavlič
1. Game Salad
1. Game Salad
So first in line for a review is Game Salad.
Game Salad is just one of the drag&drop programs for game design. You can download the application for free and install it on your PC or MAC. Everything is then done there from importing your sounds and images to coding itself. Also you can make a game online with the web interface which si basically the same as on the offline program.
Tutorial
The initial tutorial is pretty basic but gives you enough information to start a game on your own. For more detailed info it makes sense to go through more tutorials and documentation. As usually web search will provide enough info for you to continue work and of course there are always forums. Below is the picture of the simple game from the tutorial.
Interface
If you're using a computer on a regular basis you should be fine with the interface, if not then guessing this isn't a way for you. Interface consists of a scene screen on the right side while the left is reserved for defining the actors, listing behavior options, importing your images and sound, etc. Below to the left is a properties screen for your actors, scenes and game properties definition. On the right of that is the backstage where you define all properties/attributes to specific actors. Here is a print screen of the program interface:
The properties definition was a bit confusing to me as the backstage interface is not the best in my opinion. Even just going through the tutorial I had a hard time understanding all the bits and the visual appearance does not really help. Question is how confusing it gets when you really have a lot of things to define.
Behaviors
In order to define actions and properties of your actors there is a list of behaviors.
You can also word input the same actions directly in the backstage
which become useful when you know all the angles of the program.
They are sorted by color so you can determine which is which but the differentiation could be a bit better.
Pricing
Well now we come to the interesting part. Comparing to other alternatives I'd say that GameSalad is not really cheap. You get the program for free but if you want to do something with them you need to pay up in monthly or yearly installments. Looking at the prices it really is a lot for hobby game makers. If you want to publish to all the platforms it goes up to 500$ and more. So imagine you need to make a really good one or a few to get an annual income of this magnitude. If this was simple then everyone would be doing it. Unfortunately the product page does not give any detailed info on what you really get for that amount of money and what happens to your published game when you cancel the subscription.
Showcase
There is a featured games sub page that shows a few games that have been developed with GameSalad. Searching throughout the web you can find more and that should give you an idea of what the program is capable of. The initial tutorial does not show it all of course.
Score
Score is of course a reflection of my own opinion and goes from 1-10, 10 being the highest possible value. Since this is the first program I'm reviewing the score might not be reflecting the actual value since I have no baseline yet. I will most likely be correcting each of them when I go through all the programs I plan on testing. In terms of difficulty I can say that it's not that difficult to learn the program itself but a couple of things could be more intuitive or visualized in a better way. There is enough information available for you to learn using it in a good way and over time you should become very versed i in it. The cost is the main factor bringing the overall score down since it's really too much for a hobby game maker but if you're a pro then this should be a bargain. Additionally the program can be used for educational purposes by schools an colleges but we're not looking for that so it's not influencing the final decision.
Summary conclusion is that the program looks good to build complex games but is a bit expensive for use for non pro users.
Difficulty: 7
Literature: 7
Cost: 3
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Overall score: 6
- Written by Matej Pavlič
2. Stencyl
2. Stencyl
Stencyl is a highly valued program but that could also be due to good marketing campaign. You can make games and publish them on the web for free but using more advanced options like publishing for desktop or mobile platforms gets more expensive. Once again this is an annual payment method which can get expensive for a hobby user.
Tutorial
Tutorial is pretty straight forward and you are making a simple run&jump game with a couple of characters with minimum interaction. Included is a art editor Pencyl which you can use to make you're own game art. If you're not making a simple game like the one shown below then the tutorial will not really give you a lot of information. As there are many options for behaviors there is a lot of information to go through and that is readily available.
Interface
Interface is very interesting as coding is puzzle like where the shapes tell you what fits together. After time it should get easier to use it but at the beginning it can be a bit confusing if you're not used to stuff like this. As seen above you have a tile palette which you use to build your levels.
Behaviors
Behavior is the main part of defining your characters and it seems pretty straight forward. There is a screen on the left where all the behaviors are listed and there is picture next to it for easier recognition. Additionally there are tabs for appearance, events, collision, physics and properties of each actor/character that you can define here.
Pricing
Not sure what to think of pricing in case of Stencyl as basically you're limited to platform 2d games so if you're not planing to build any of those I'd rather spend my money on something more versatile. On the other hand if you wish to make game for web or desktop platform it will cost you 99$ a year. This does not seem to much if you plan to earn from games in the future. Mobile is of course as usual more expensive and you can get it at 199$ a year so building a game without monetizing it in this case might be a bit pricey for you.
Showcase
Sifting through the games on their site I could not really find any good examples of what I'm after. It's hard to judge a game by the graphic design and there are plenty of them on the web as that is the free versions only option so anyone will make a game with that. I'm open to changes to the final score but Stencyl is not offering what I'm looking for so the score is pretty low on that note.
Score
There will always be an influence of my opinion to the final score so do mind that in these reviews as they progress. Anyway Stencyl looks fine for a beginner and as with other programs you will need some time to figure it out. If you're into a platformed 2d games it can be a place to start especially if you plan on only doing those. Then it's worth investing into the program and some additional resources. Otherwise it makes sense to search for a more suitable one for you.
Difficulty: 9
Literature: 9
Cost: 4
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Overall score: 5
- Written by Matej Pavlič
4. FlowLab
4. FlowLab
FlowLab is one of those online only game makers. Usage is pretty simple although the initial tutorial does not give you much help in terms of complexity. The program is friendly to new users but takes time to get used to as all of them. Free version only allows you to make 3 games and use 50 objects so that might not be enough for you to decide on it.
Tutorial
The base tutorial makes you create a simple game with a space man jumping around the screen. You are basically placing sprites onto the screen and making the scene with it. Defining those sprites tells them how to behave.
Interface
Everything is basically done by right clicking into the screen and selecting an option from a wheel. With those options you build up a scene, ad players, enemies, etc... In the same screen you also define physics, behaviors and graphics.
Behaviors
Behaviors once again define each sprite and what it can do. There are some bundles of preset behaviors available for selection, run and jump for example in the case of tutorial. This one defines the arrow left, right and up keys to act as the controls for running and jumping action of your character.
Pricing
Pricing is again monthly/yearly based and as the free option does not provide very much in terms of testing functionality you're ending up with a 60$ a year minimum price tag. The main difference between options is basically that you get unlimited accounts for 4x the price of the Indie version. So if you're running a studio you can have that just under 200$ a year.
Showcase
Once again you can find many games on the site and as usual those are pretty basic. Of course graphics is not the main thing in a game so if you're looking for something similar to the examples there...
Score
Yet again this program provides a good learning experience but lacks the game complexity I'm looking for. It's not hard to learn but the basic tutorial does not show you all the kinks while the free version might not be enough for really getting all necessary knowledge. It's nice that you can do everything in the browser but then again what happens when you press the back button on your mouse :D
Difficulty: 9
Literature: 8
Cost: 4
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Overall score: 6
- Written by Matej Pavlič
3. Game Maker Studio 2
3. Game Maker Studio 2
From the beginning Game maker studio 2 gives a more professional look and you get a feeling you're working with a good tool for game creation.
Tutorial
In the tutorial I was making a nice looking top down shooter game. Comparing to other programs I've come up with so far this one takes a bit more time and you can do it in two ways. Either by drag and drop or by coding directly in the program. Although the game itself is not that complex you got through many steps and options while building it and getting a good feeling for the program itself.
Interface
All players/actors are named sprites and their propertis are objects. Rooms are used as levels. All of these resources you can see on the right side of the screen. On the left side you have the room layers where you put your objects into. Middle area is used for room overview and for editing anythng from sprites to objects, sounds, etc... Bottom area is reserved for compile notes, errors and other output related topics.
Events
Events are what defines the objects and in terms the sprites you are using. There are many to choose from and if you follow the tutorial closely you should be able to use quite a few few of them already. The rest is up to research and specific needs I guess. It gets a bit complicated at first but after you make a couple objects, things get easier unless you're doing a really complex sprite.
Pricing
For a change the pricing is not annual but if you'd like to publish to more platforms the price can go up quite a bit. For example publishing to mobile costs you 319$ while desktop goes for 79$. Initially the program is free to use with some restrictions.
Showcase
There are quite a few games showcased on the site so I can see potential in this program. Wouldn't like to use 2 different ones though so let's keep looking. Was trying to make a video of the game but keep getting an error. Will update if I ever figure what it is (game or program related)
Score
There will always be an influence of my opinion to the final score so do mind that in these reviews as they progress. Anyway Stencyl looks fine for a beginner and as with other programs you will need some time to figure it out. If you're into a platformed 2d games it can be a place to start especially if you plan on only doing those. Then it's worth investing into the program and some additional resources. Otherwise it makes sense to search for a more suitable one for you.
Difficulty: 9
Literature: 9
Cost: 4
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Overall score: 6
- Written by Matej Pavlič
5. Click Team Fusion 2
5. Click Team Fusion 2
Click Team Fusion 2 looks a bit old in design but don't let that fool you. It's very well up to the task of making games although it's more or less platform 2D again. If you're giving it a try remember to download the developer option as the base one will not even give you enough options to make a solid tutorial. Apparently there are a lot of things to download, meaning you have a lot of preset behaviors like moving and jumping for example that you can use directly without any effort.
Tutorial
One of the base tutorials makes you create a simple game with a space man jumping around the screen. You are basically placing sprites onto the screen and making the scene with them. Defining those sprites tells them how to behave.
Interface
Everything is basically done by right clicking into the screen and selecting an option from a wheel. With those options you build up a scene, ad players, enemies, etc... In the same screen you also define physics, behaviors and graphics. Image below shows the setup of activities for all objects (courtesy of the official page). This concept is a bit different to other programs as all the objects are already in a table and you just select an action for them.
There is a graphical in editor implemented so if you're planing on making a basic game that could well be enough for you to make the sprites there. You can just double click the sprite and edit it directly. It's not that advanced but could be useful for your first game.
Pricing
Pricing is reasonable when you buy the basic version of th software but goes up to 299$ for an advanced one. There is also the modules you need to buy to export to specific platforms which will make it more expensive. So all in all it can get quite expensive. It is a single payment though so overall can be cheaper than other options if you plan on using it years to come.
Showcase
In the site blog you can find quite a few examples of the games made by CTF2. If you're a Super Mario fan you will see that this is again one of those programs in which you can make such a game.
Score
As the software includes it's own graphic editor you can basically make the complete game with it, especially if your target is a simple game with sprites which are not too complex. All the sprites in the tutorial video above are made by myself so you can see that it's pretty simple so you can start building immediately. I can say that the software is comparable to others but it has some specifics you need to learn as usual. Once again the price is not so nice if you plan to do a simple project but if you plan to earn big $$$ then it should not be a problem for you anyway.
Difficulty: 8
Literature: 8
Cost: 3
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Overall score: 5