Click‘Usea CustomCollisionMask’toedityourhitbox,
whereyoupositionrednodestodefineyourshape.Add
morenodesbyclickingthe‘+’signintheblackcircle.The
morenodes,themorecomplexa shapeyoucandefine.
EditPointsenablesyoutocreatespecialpositionsona
sprite,suchastheendofa turretorthepositionfromwhich
anobjectrotates.Youcanhavemultiplepointsforeach
character,allowingforhighlydetailedobjectswithmultiple
weaponsorabilities.
TheinitialcontrolsarequitesimilartoEditHitboxes,inthat
youcanchoosewhethertohaveindependentpointsacross
frames,orwhethertosharethemacrossallanimations.The
standardoptionsarejustOriginandCenter,butif youclick
the‘+’sign,youcanaddyourowncustompoints,suchasa
muzzleflash,forinstance,andnamethemanythingyoulike.
ReadyPlayer One?
It wouldbetemptingtoworkfroma template,butit will
bebettertoshowyouhowGDevelopoperatesbystarting
fromscratch.Fromtheopeningscreen,choose‘Createa
NewProject’.Amenuappearswitha bunchoftemplates
tochoosefrom;choosethe‘Emptygame’option.Makesure
youchoosewherethefolderwillbe,orit willbea nightmare
findingit again.
BackintheStartPagetab,it almostlooksthesameasthe
welcomescreen,soit’seasytomissthatthefirstbuttonhas
changedfrom‘Opena Project’toOpenProjectManager.This
enablesyoutomodifytheglobalsettingsofthe
game,suchastheorderofyourlevels,forinstance.
Thisismostlybeyondthescopeofthisarticle,but
rememberit’stherewhenyourgamestartstogrow.
Fornow,gototheProjectpaneontheleft,and
underScenes,clickthe‘+’signtoadda newscene.
ClicktheentrythatsaysNewScene,andit opensin
theNewScenetabinthemainwindow.TheProject
panewilljustbeinthewayfornow,sofeelfreeto
closeit if it’sbuggingyou.
Forthemoment,we’lljustdotheeasyprepwork,
creatinga seriesofobjectsandanimations,whichwe
willthenprogramlater.We’rerelyingonthefactthat
you’llprobablyhavethetutorialfilesinstalled(along
withalltheirgraphics),butif youdon’thavethefiles
wemention,youcanjustdrawyourown.
Your platform
FromtheObjectspanel,adda newobject.Youneed
todifferentiateyourplatformfroma regularcharacter,
sofromthenewwindow,chooseTiledSprite.The
Propertieswindowpopsupwiththeboringname
NewObject. Renameit toGrassPlatform.
Now,togivetheplatformgraphics,clickinthe
‘Selectanimage’field,anda drop-downappears
withtheentry‘Choosea newimage’.If youcanfind
GDevelop’sinstallationfolder,yoursampleimagesare
Explore the GDevelop interface
1
2
4 3
5 6
- Main toolbar
This is where the chief buttons are,
although they change depending on
the open tab. Thankfully, the Play
button is always here. - Scene editor
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design and construct your levels.
The mouse wheel zooms in and out.
3. Objects pane
Create objects for your game here,
then click-and-drag them on to the
scene in the middle.
4. Properties pane
This pane can get in the way
sometimes, but remember that it’s
here when you want to tweak an
object’s behaviour.
5. Function tabs
These tabs jump between the main
section of the program and completely
change which buttons are on screen.
6. Event editor
Open this tab to do the boring stuff,
constructing the logic behind your
game – LWGHSHQGVZKDWÁRDWV\RXU
boat, really...
Windows 10
Build your own 2D games
May 2019 | |^45