Game Maker Help Thread!

[Nathan Cash]

I don't know if this thread is just for Spelunky or all gamemaker games but I have a question. I just started adding some sound to a game i'm working on and the file size EXPLODED!!! Two sounds brought the file size from 28kb to 108kb. Is there a way to store sounds in a separate folder and load them in separately?

[halibabica]

Um, 80 kb isn't exactly an explosion.  But yeah, sounds can tend to take up a lot of file size, especially if they're .wav format.  You shouldn't worry about it unless the game has a hard time loading them for some reason.

[Nathan Cash]

ok

[idyll]

I've searched for the answer to this question, but have had no luck. I'm hoping it's an easy fix. I'm converting the 1.2 version of Spelunky to Game Maker 7 (I'm using a Mac and GM7 is the only option besides Studio right now), but I'm having an issue with the splash image that first appears when you start the game.

You know the image where the "Main Dude" is sitting down looking at a map, holding his whip and surrounded by a bat and a snake? The background is supposed to be black, but for me it's white. I'm guessing the issue is one of transparency, but I can't find the image to edit it or change its settings.

I've been searching the source code for hours now. Please help.

[Nathan Cash]

If it still looks okay keep it. Otherwise go to the global game settings (It's a button along the top of the form) find the load screen image option and check where its located. If you can't locate it click load image and implement a duplicate from google images.

[idyll]

Thank you for your quick reply, but I'm having trouble following your directions. When I go under "Global Game Settings" and click the "Loading" tab, I don't see the "load screen image option." However, I assume you mean the "Change Image" button. Is this what you meant? When I click the button it takes me to the same directory as the Spelunky 1.2 gmk file. There is no image file it appears to be pointing to. I'm guessing the loading screen image is within the gmk file.

Is there a way to edit the loading screen within Game Maker 7? Is there another program that can export the image so that I can edit it? I could do a screen cap of the Windows version and edit that, but I'd rather edit the original image. Any ideas?

[Nathan Cash]

I did mean change image. I feared the image would be within the gmk. Change it to this: https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcROjTdPn1ljgSoCqzXnIdOJGCrPSdA-nbGPsk-3wnortJwrkKrGXA

You may need to remove the background. This can be done with two clicks in paint.net using the magic wand. If you can't figure it out I will help. To change it when it brings you to its directory locate the image once its saved to your desktop

[idyll]

I did a screen capture of the image and with some editing in gimp did what you suggested. I added an alpha layer to the image, selected the background parts with the fuzzy select tool and pressed the delete key. Now I've got a png with a transparent background that seems to work fine as the loading image.

I still find it strange that the first image a player potentially sees can't be easily edited within Game Maker, but what do I know...    Thanks for your help and quick replies.

[Nathan Cash]

No problem! If you run into any more trouble I will try my best to help you out.

[TyrOvC]

@idyll
The Caster Extension http://moacube.com/resources/caster-multi-platform-ogg-extension-for-gamemaker/ is probably a good way to play Spelunky's music and sound files on Mac.

[idyll]

Thank you for the suggestion TyrOvC, but using Caster is what I planned to do all along.    I've accomplished about one third of what I want to do with the source code (that includes implementing Caster audio), but I'm now having issues with Game Maker 7 for Mac.

I'm using Game Maker Pro 7.5.87 and when I try to "Create Executable" it seems to work fine except when I try to run the resulting app. The Spelunky logo pops up and then I get a black screen and no sound. This happens with Spelunky 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and my modified version of the 1.2 source. I can exit the game with the "Esc" and "F10" key combo or "F4" and selecting "Quit", so the game logic is still working to some degree...

Here's the weird part. All those same versions of the game run fine (except for the Supersound errors) when I use "Run the game" from within Game Maker. I want to implement more changes in the code, but without the ability to redistribute a working executable, I don't see much point.

If I can't find any help here then my next step will be to contact L about his Mac port of Spelunky 1.0: http://mossmouth.com/forums/index.php?topic=2157.0 Thought I'd give the forum a go before I PM him. Worst case scenario, I'll just share the modified source as is and walk away.

Please help if you can, because I don't want to give up before I've barely begun. 

[Nathan Cash]

DONT GIVE UP!!! Btw why do you want spelunky to run in game maker 7?

[idyll]

It's not that I want Spelunky to run in Game Maker 7; I have little choice. GameMaker 8 and 8.1 for Mac doesn't exist. I love Spelunky and want to play the latest and greatest version on my Mac. I can't afford GameMaker: Studio and the beta version wouldn't run Spelunky when I tried it. Frankly, Game Maker 7 for Mac is crap. It's glitchy, full of bugs and has crashed on me many times, but it's the only affordable choice for this Mac user.  

I could wait for GameMaker 9, but who knows when that'll be released or how much it'll cost...

[Nathan Cash]

I think someone has already ported it to mac

EDIT: They have http://mossmouth.com/forums/index.php?topic=2561.0

[Wonkyth]

Not sure how good wrapping is compared to compiling with a Mac version of Gm, though.