[Year 12 SofDev] Alternative to GameMaker for Year-8 and Year-9

[Groves, Brett G]

Hi Jayanti

I went through the process of looking at alternatives to GM8.1 last year and there were a few candidates but nothing free. I actually bought a class set of GM Studio licences and found it completely unsuitable at Year 9. The students really struggled with the interface - total waste of the budget.

What was settled for in the end was to go back to GM8.1 (can help you with an MSI installer if you would like) and use Unreal Engine (https://www.unrealengine.com) for the latter part of the course. If you have a lab that has computers with graphics cards of a reasonable standard you can make parts of a 3d game at a level that Year 9 students can cope with. There's a heap of tutorial material available in video and text form - it's worth having a look at but it won't run on pc's with integrated graphics.

Other alternatives

Godot https://godotengine.org/ but doesn't use drag and drop, students will need to code - some may see this as an advantage if their students have prior coding experience or they have the duration to ramp the students.
Cry Engine https://www.cryengine.com/ similar to Unreal Engine in that you can create with minimal coding but needs a powerful graphics processor
Defold https://defold.com/ see issues same as Godot
Monogame  http://www.monogame.net<http://www.monogame.net/> see issues same as Godot
Corona https://coronalabs.com/ see issues same as Godot +++

Hope this helps



Kind regards,

Brett Groves
eLearning Leader

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Ph 9 955 5735 (Direct)
Mob 0415 910 011

From: sofdev <sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au> On Behalf Of hem.lony.l at edumail.vic.gov.au
Sent: Tuesday, 8 October 2019 10:20 PM
To: 'Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List' <sofdev at edulists.com.au>
Subject: Re: [Year 12 SofDev] Alternative to GameMaker for Year-8 and Year-9

Hi Jayanti,

I've stuck with gamemaker 8.0 or 8.1 and shall not be budging from that (I believe I don't need to). I still have the installer since way back when. Fortunately as our school has a 1:1 program, students can install it into their laptops.

Regards,
Lony Hem

From: sofdev <sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au<mailto:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au>> On Behalf Of Nayak, Jayanti S
Sent: Tuesday, October 8, 2019 9:08 PM
To: sofdev at edulists.com.au<mailto:sofdev at edulists.com.au>
Subject: [Year 12 SofDev] Alternative to GameMaker for Year-8 and Year-9


Hi,



For the past few years,  I have used GameMaker 8 with my Year-8 and Year-9 students. However, this year, I was told by our IT guys that GameMaker 8 is no longer available. So, we purchased one class-set of GameMaker Studio 2.0.  I am having a number of issues. Hence, I am looking for alternate for next year.



Is any one using GameMaker Studio 2.0?



If you are using any other software with your Year-8 and Year-9 classes, please let me know.



I have read a few email discussion but I could only find one about GameMaker dated 2017. Hence, apologize if it is a repeat.



Jayanti Nayak

Werribee Secondary College

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