Express Game Maker

Read the rest here: http://www.expressgamemaker.com/Community/Forum/yaf_postst71_EGM-Weekly--5th-March-2010.aspx

Update ----------- Hello everyone, we've released more about features. Check them out. We'll be releasing more content soon :)

That would require a direct comparison between the two. We will let the 2nd set of private beta testers and then you the public to truly determine that. ;) But I'll go ahead and say that it will be simple to use. It will require more work at some places (i.e. custom animations, collision boxes) but less work at other places (i.e. organizing, editing, UI, Eventing). We did take routes to make repetitive tasks simpler, such as creating an animation from a sprite sheet (Go to Animations, then check the second image) or copying/pasting collision boxes.

We are planning it to be shareware at this time but we haven't determined the final cost yet. We are planning multiple licenses so we can provide a more suitable cost for each user base (ie. Hobby, Commercial/Indie, Team, ect.) However, it won't be expensive as some other game makers out there :). And there will be a trial of the program.

We are having problems with the website at this time and we are working on to resolve the issues. Sorry for the delay. We will post more information ASAP and we will of course also post the information that we were supposed to before ("every 3 days"). Again, sorry for the delay.

I won't be able to answer all your questions due to the amount I can reveal at this point :). You can import your own graphics in of course! Videos, images, sprite fonts, and audio can imported. By layout, I assumed the window placements but I see you mean something else. And of course, we are not too fond of selling "patches" as new programs :). We have a great product line up (can't say what) and we, with your support, hope to improve the game maker community in the following years with these great tools. I wouldn't buy a software before I tried it out either :). Thanks for the interest everyone, if you have any suggestions, we would love to hear them here.

Any OS (32/64bit) that supports the .Net 2.0 framework and up and XNA framework. This pretty much includes all Windows since Windows XP and up to Windows 7. No Mac support yet. As far as I know, XNA can't run very well on Mac yet.

Update We've just revealed more about two features! The Animation Editor and the Map Editor. Check them out! :) Thanks for the interest guys! About the similarity of the RPG Maker series, the interface is completely re-organizable. This means you can "drag n' dock" all the windows you see to anywhere you like. I've designed the interface (while in the game maker itself) you see in the screenshots similar to the RPG Maker series because this is a predominantly RPG Maker forum and I thought you guys would like the familarity of the game maker as well as customizability of it. I assure you, while it right now seems similar to Rpg Maker, when you use it, you will see how different yet easy it is. We will post more screenshots in the upcoming days and videos to make it more clear :). As for the graphics, they are 100% custom. EGM will be release with a resource package and that resource package will be updated. Sorry for the misunderstanding the thumbnails have caused (you can click on them and they will link to bigger images). There will be a special on the graphics in the upcoming days.

We are pleased to announce Express Game Maker (EGM)! Ever wanted to make games but you don't know how to program or draw? Wait no more! Express Game Maker is a 2D game making software that requires no programming or artistic knowledge to use. Make games for Windows, Xbox Live, and Silverlight. What makes Express Game Maker different from the rest? Intuitive user-interface… powerful C# engine… ease of use… loads of features… and multi-platform deployment. EGM is designed from the ground up to be user friendly as well as powerful. Keeping in mind both beginner and advanced users, EGM has features to cater for all. Beginner game developers will be able to take advantage of: • Project templates that come with pre-setup data to quickly get them started. • Resource packages that provide graphics, font and audio they can use in their games. • The release version of EGM will also come with a built-in tutorial system to guide you through creating your first game. Advanced users will be able to make their own project templates and take full advantage of: • The custom databases. • The powerful event editor. • Multi-Variable System. • The particle system. Programmers can enhance their games by adding their own code to the fully open source C# engine written on top of XNA and even share the code with others. ExpressGameMaker.com/Features More features will be revealed every three days (some sooner), so check back soon. ExpressGameMaker.com – Our main website facebook.com/ExpressGameMaker - EGM on Facebook twitter.com/EGMaker - Follow us on Twitter Place one or more of these in your signature and spread EGM! (Link back to this thread or our website) :D The Release Candidate’s Release Date is planned to be sometime in February or March 2010. More info will come to follow, so check the website frequently. expressgamemaker.com/BetaPortal.aspx