Fangaming FAQ (latest: February 17, 2009), Read before asking beginner questions!

Are you new to MFGG? New to game making? Then you've clicked the right link.
So please read through these before making topics like "How do I make a game?" and "Can you make me a Mario game?"


Table of Contents
What is a fangame?
Can I sell fangames?
Can I sell original games?
How can I make a game?
I want to make a game, can you program, sprite and do sounds for me while I lean back and control your steps even though I know nothing about game making?
I have [insert any game making utility here] since yesterday, still I can't create a Super Mario 64 clone, what can I do?
So, how do I get better at game making?
Can I post non-Mario games in here?


Question: What is a fangame?
Answer: A fangame is any computer game that is based on an existing franchise.
Important is, that whenever you create such a game, it is illegal to sell it as the respective company (in case of Mario Nintendo) owns the rights to the characters/gameplay/scenario/etc.
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Question: Can I sell fangames?
Answer: No. As said above, the rights to fangames belong to their respective creators and as long as you don't pay a huge licence fee, they will not let you do that.
Creating fangames is just for fun, not for profit.
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Question: Can I sell original games?
Answer: That depends on the licence of the game making utility you're using.
e.g. Game Maker (registered version) allows to sell your games (if they are 100% made by yourself or you hold the licence for everything that is in the game, including sounds, graphics, scenario, etc.). However, RPG Maker 2000 will not let you sell any games legally.
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Question: How can I make a game?
Answer: To create a game, you can go for basically three different ways.
There are programs that have finished engines and with a little drag & drop you can make your "own" games in relatively little time. Examples: upcoming Stencyl or RPG Maker series. When using such programs, keep in mind though, that you do not have a lot of freedom in terms of programming new elements to the game (or in case of Stencyl you'd need to learn Java)

Then you can also use programs that are made for game making, like Game Maker or MMF(2). These programs allow you to start with a drag & drop interface, but also give you the opportunity to use built-in scripting languages to get a very high range of custom elements. Getting one of these programs is probably the best step towards game making. The third option is to learn an actual programming language, like C, C++, Java, etc. You should probably not start with these though, and if you're not intending to become a professional programmer, you might find the previous group way more effective.
The freedom you have in these languages is incomparable to the others though, as you can do basically everything, depending on your skill level of course (which must be rather high here)
Links to relevant topics:
Game Making List
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Question: I want to make a game, can you program, sprite and do sounds for me while I lean back and control your steps even though I know nothing about game making?
Answer: No. Common sense should tell you the answer on this already, but we get topics like this every now and then, so it's rather frequent that this question is asked, so it's here anyway.
Still I will explain why not: people here have worked hard for their skills in programming, spriting and other things. If you have skills yourself, people will probably like to form a team with you, but if you just want to "direct" others, it will most likely not work.
Sorry, but to make good things, you need to put effort in them.
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Question: I have [insert any game making utility here] since yesterday, still I can't create a Super Mario 64 clone, what can I do?
Answer: There is luckily no program that makes one an excellent game maker over night. Even with a simple drag-and-drop program, you have to learn some game making basics to make a decent game.
I for my part have been using Game Maker for over six years now, and I'm still not perfect. Others with similar skill will tell you similar things.
When you want to enter the game making community as a programmer, spriter or whatsoever, you need to know that you need to spend time and effort to learn anything.
The bottom line of this is: If your first game is not the next Smash Bros., just don't give up. If you do, game making is either not the right thing for you or you used the wrong methods.
Find your personal way, ask people for help and you will also be able to mount the staircase of game making step by step.
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Question: So, how do I get better at game making?
Answer: My best suggestion is to get yourself tutorials for your game making utility of choice. Usually you can find them all over the net, made specifically for you (the beginner). Tutorials teach you the basic logic of your program and soon you will be able to create your very own games (which will first suck, but you will get better as you practice, practice, practice).

You might also take a look at the following LINK LIST (that will be constantly updated):
Game Maker tutorials page, the first link here is a little essay named "What is a good game?". It is unrelated to Game Maker, but refers to game making in general. You don't need to be a beginner to learn from it either.
Fan Game Design Sins, a topic on MFGG where people complain about annoyances in fangames. Not everything described in this topic is necessarily bad, it could also just be opinions, but keep in mind that a game's success bases A LOT on opinions.
How do I make my level design not suck?, topic on MFGG on Level Design.
Fangames Mini-Tutorials, topic on MFGG that is filled with little tutorials for all kinds of game making utilities. Maybe the thing you want to implement in your game shows up here.
Game Making DO's and DON'Ts, topic about what to include and what to avoid when you want to make a decent game.
I can't finish a game, topic that gives advice on how to start games and also finish them.
GML Beginner's Guide By RetroXYZ. If you use GM and GML looks complicated to you, this might help you.
MMF2 Tutorials - If you use MMF2, you should check this out.
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Question: Can I post non-Mario games in here?
Answer: Yes. The fangaming board is for all kinds of fangames, including (and putting focus on) but not limited to Mario games. You can even post original games (ones that you hold all rights to yourself, since you made up all the characters/locations/scenarios yourself).
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So yeah, that was the little FAQ I've written. I hope that, if you are a beginner, your first questions have been answered, and if not you still have the chance to ask a question in this topic, so it will probably added to these.

@ALL MFGGers: I hope for your support here. I'm not a game making god (no really) and therefore I don't know every little secret about it. If you have any ideas for questions that are not in the FAQ, please let me know. I'd like this FAQ to be as helpful as possible for every beginner who comes here, and it'd also be nice if this topic could help more advanced members too with a good link list.

This post has been edited by Guinea on Feb 17 2009, 06:10 AM

This topic can be useful for beginners!

No joke! I especially agree with what Guinea said about making games overnight -- because it's just flat-out impossible. Development process for fangames is somewhat the same as making "official" games -- they take a lot of time, and numerous amounts of testing.

I added a link to the topic on the Help Board, Game Making List.

I added a link to Retro's GML Beginner's Tutorial.

Yay, my tutorial is being used! =D
And just to mention it: the guide is for beginners to coding who wish to start with Game Maker. If you already know how to code, this thing won't be very useful.

Also, shouldn't this be stickied/locked?

1) It was stickied not long ago. But I had a talk with BS how we had too many stickies and so we decided to put all of the stickies into one sticky that has links to the topics so they won't get lost.

2) I didn't lock this topic on purpose, because of what I said in the original post:
I want MFGGers to help and add their own questions and links. For example, you could have posted here and suggest your Tutorial for the link list. However, nobody does that

btw, 2) also refers to the other ex-stickies that are linked to in the main sticky, like the Mini-Tutorials topic. I'd also like to see some new updates for Megabytz!



And also, the link is listed as "GML Beginner's Guide", so I think that basically means what you said, doesn't it?

Ah, I see. We need more sticky-readers, then.

Add this to the "how do I get better at game making?" for MMF2.

link

Added.

Can I post a Guide for Reducing Lag in GM Games being filmed with HyperCam2 in this Thread? Or does it need a Seperate Thread?

Please post that link here and I'll gladly add it to the FAQ. (However, it would also work nicely in the MiniTutorials). You choose.

http://archive.mfgg.net/index.php?sh...dpost&p=3096258
7 Tips!

Oh, I missed out that this is about lag in Hypercam2, not in GM itself.
Therefore, this link should go to the general Help sticky in Help.

>_< And I doubt it's possible to move a single post. X_x

Copypasta is your friend.

whats the easiest engine to use?

@Tucayo: It depends on your preferences. The easiest two I can think of Game Maker (D&D Coding for beginners) and MMF2, which is apparently user friendly or something.

ok thanks, i had used game maker, but i didnt like it very much so i'll use MMF2

EDIT: MMF2 isnt free

This post has been edited by Tucayo on Sep 11 2008, 04:39 PM

Then you're pretty muchstuck with game maker if you're trying to learn something easy, for now. Here's a few tips for Game Maker:

- Read the tutorials. There are many found on the Game Maker community, and the Yoyogames website. These get you used to the Game Maker interface. There are official, and unofficial tutorials.

- Learn GML (Game Maker Language). This is basically like D&D, only much more organized, and with more options.

- I doubt you can do this, but buy the registered version. The registered version gives you a wider array of options for game creation.

- If you even need assistance, feel free to post in the Help section of MFGG Message Boards. The Game Maker Community isn't a bad place to, but people seem to ignore me there.....

I think Stencyl or whatever is comming out soon, which is said to be a really easy tool to use for Game Creation. And it'll be free.

This post has been edited by Soiyeruda on Sep 11 2008, 04:53 PM