Game Maker Academy

Links to game design resources

Alice
www.alice.org

A programming software designed for high school and university students, specifically targeted to girls. Supports the creation of interactive stories and games in 3D within a graphical drag and drop IDE. An offshoot application, Storytelling Alice, has been developed for girls at the middle school level.

Game Maker
www.yoyogames.com

Originally developed by Mark Overmars as an educational technology for his CS1 students, Game Maker is now one of the most widely used game engines, supported by an active forum of global game developers of all ages. Until now only available for the Windows platform, a Mac-compatible version is reportedly in closed beta status as of January 2009.

Greenfoot
www.greenfoot.org

Greenfoot is a graphical IDE (integrated development environment) that permits programmers to design two-dimensional games and virtual worlds while learning the fundamental concepts of object oriented programming utilizing Java. Greenfoot was developed by Michael Kolling’s team at the University of Kent and is supported by a number of sample projects and online tutorials.

Robocode
robocode.sourceforge.net

Originally debeloped by Mathew Nelson in 2001-2005, and now maintained by Flemming Larsen, Robocode is a Java-based development environment for creating virtual robots. Robocode's battles take place in an arena where a number of robots fight it out until only one is left. Robocode competitions are held worldwide at the secondary school and university levels.

RoboMind
www.robomind.net

A simple programming environment that alllows beginners to program a virtual robot. In addition to foundational programming concepts, students are introduced to robotics and artificial intelligence. Robomind is available as an open source, multi-platform free download.

Scratch
scratch.mit.edu

Developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group of the MIT Media Lab, Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills through the process of designing games, stories, animations and art. As they create Scratch projects, young people develop important mathematical and computational concepts, while also acquiring an understanding of the process of design. Available as a free download.

Squeak
www.squeak.org

A graphical IDE appropriate for teaching foundational programmming concepts, as well as mathematics and physics concepts and multimedia literacies. Developed by Alan Kay, Dan Ingalls and others at the Xerox PARC facility, Squeak is availbable as a free download.

StarLogo TNG
education.mit.edu/drupal/starlogo-tng

StarLogo TNG (The Next Generation) version 1.0 was released in July 2008. It provides a 3D world using OpenGL graphics and a block-based graphical language to increase ease of use and learnability. It is written in C and Java.

Game Maker Tutorials
http://www.yoyogames.com/make/tutorials/

The Art of Computer Game Design by Chris Crawford (A classic book written by an early Atari
designer) http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/peabody/game-book/Coverpage.html

Game Design Glossary
http://www.gamersmob.com/weblog/archives/game_design_glossary_salen.pdf

Game Design Dictionary
http://www.gamedev.net/dict/

GameDev's "Getting Started Guide to Game Development" (long !!!)
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article261.asp

Online 'ZINES FOR PROFESSIONAL GAME DEVELOPERS

GameDev
http://www.gamedev.net/

Gamasutra
http://www.gamasutra.com/

MISC RESOURCES

Game Maker Resources Page
http://www.yoyogames.com/make/resources

Game Design Resources (applications, graphics, sound)
http://www.ambrosine.com/resource.html

Open Directory: Game Design Resources
http://dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Game_Design/Resources/

SPRITES

Spriter's Resource
http://www.spriters-resource.com

The Mushroom Kingdom
http://www.themushroomkingdom.net

The People's Sprites
http://www.panelmonkey.org

Game Sprites Archive
http://www.gsarchives.net

Pixel Perfect
http://firelem.slightlydark.com/

Video Game Sprites
http://www.videogamesprites.net/
http://www.videogamesprites.net/Links/ (VGS's links page)

Sprites Database
http://sdb.drshnaps.com/SpritesPC.htm

Bogleech (Bosses/Monsters)
http://www.bogleech.com/

Retro Game Zone
http://www.retrogamezone.co.uk

RPG Icons
http://www.rpg-icons.com

SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC

Absolute Sound Effects Archives
http://www.grsites.com/sounds/

Video Game Music Archive
http://www.vgmusic.com/

Game Music Database
http://www.mirsoft.info/gmb/index.php

The Recordist
http://therecordist.com/pages/game_sfx.html

The Free Site (portal to free MIDI/WAV/MP3 sites)
http://www.thefreesite.com/Free_Sounds/

FORUMS

Game Maker Community
http://gmc.yoyogames.com/

64 Digits
http://www.64digits.com/

Game Maker Games Forums
http://www.gamemakergames.com/forum/

Indie Gamer Forum
http://forums.indiegamer.com/

BLOGS OF GAME DESIGNERS, BLOGS FOR GAME DESIGNERS

Casual Game Design
http://www.casualgamedesign.com/

Game Dev Blog
http://www.gamedevblog.com/

Game Girl Advance
http://www.gamegirladvance.com/

Gameology
http://www.gameology.org/

Joystick 101
http://www.joystick101.org/blog/

Kotaku
http://www.kotaku.com/

Lost Garden
http://lostgarden.com/

Patrick Curry
http://www.patrickcurry.com/thoughts/

Jesper Juul
http://www.jesperjuul.net/ludologist/

Terra Nova
http://terranova.blogs.com/

Alice www.alice.org	A programming software designed for high school and university students, specifically targeted to girls. Supports the creation of interactive stories and games in 3D within a graphical drag and drop IDE. An offshoot application, Storytelling Alice, has been developed for girls at the middle school level.
Game Maker www.yoyogames.com	Originally developed by Mark Overmars as an educational technology for his CS1 students, Game Maker is now one of the most widely used game engines, supported by an active forum of global game developers of all ages. Until now only available for the Windows platform, a Mac-compatible version is reportedly in closed beta status as of January 2009.
Greenfoot www.greenfoot.org	Greenfoot is a graphical IDE (integrated development environment) that permits programmers to design two-dimensional games and virtual worlds while learning the fundamental concepts of object oriented programming utilizing Java. Greenfoot was developed by Michael Kolling’s team at the University of Kent and is supported by a number of sample projects and online tutorials.
Robocode robocode.sourceforge.net	Originally debeloped by Mathew Nelson in 2001-2005, and now maintained by Flemming Larsen, Robocode is a Java-based development environment for creating virtual robots. Robocode's battles take place in an arena where a number of robots fight it out until only one is left. Robocode competitions are held worldwide at the secondary school and university levels.
RoboMind www.robomind.net	A simple programming environment that alllows beginners to program a virtual robot. In addition to foundational programming concepts, students are introduced to robotics and artificial intelligence. Robomind is available as an open source, multi-platform free download.
Scratch scratch.mit.edu	Developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group of the MIT Media Lab, Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills through the process of designing games, stories, animations and art. As they create Scratch projects, young people develop important mathematical and computational concepts, while also acquiring an understanding of the process of design. Available as a free download.
Squeak www.squeak.org	A graphical IDE appropriate for teaching foundational programmming concepts, as well as mathematics and physics concepts and multimedia literacies. Developed by Alan Kay, Dan Ingalls and others at the Xerox PARC facility, Squeak is availbable as a free download.
StarLogo TNG education.mit.edu/drupal/starlogo-tng	StarLogo TNG (The Next Generation) version 1.0 was released in July 2008. It provides a 3D world using OpenGL graphics and a block-based graphical language to increase ease of use and learnability. It is written in C and Java.