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The table below lists the game-creation the tools I have evaluated so far, ordered according how difficult they are to use. There are still plenty of other tools that I haven't had a chance to evaluate yet, so if you have practical teaching experience of using these or any other product for then please mail me as it would be great to incorporate your experiences into the evaluations.
| Product | Difficulty Level | Approximate Price* |
| 3D GameMaker | Casual Interest | £10 - £25 per copy |
| StageCast Creator 2 | Beginner | £30 per copy (ELC) |
| GameMaker | Average | Free |
| Klik&Play | Average | Free for schools |
| BlitzBasic | Advanced | £30 - £50 per copy |
| DarkBasic | Advanced | Free for schools |
* as exchange rates and special offers change regularly this figure is only intended as a guideline for price. Check the company websites for more accurate information.
Click on the link below to find out about other kinds of more advanced tools that can be used to help you enhance your games once you are more confident about game creation.
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The
3D
GameMaker
by The Game Creators Ltd |
Age Suitability | Price | |
|
7+ |
Lite £13.00
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Supported Platforms |
Minimum System Requirements |
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| Windows |
Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP, 400 MHz Pentium II or faster, 64 MB RAM |
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Description |
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| The
3D GameMaker is more of a game "construction kit" than a programming
tool, which means that it allows you to quickly create games that follow
a predefined structure. You get choose between a set number of different game
styles (shooter, space, driving or silly), and make various
choices about how you want the characters and objects in the game to
look and behave. The results can look quite impressive,
and it is certainly fast and easy to use, but it doesn't offer much of a
challenge
and the games quickly begin to look the same. It doesn't seem
like a tool that would naturally lead on to bigger and better
things, and may leave the user disappointed with the look
of their own efforts if they do go on to use a real programming tool.
It would probably be most appropriate for some kind of one off game-making event for
beginners, but if you have more time then I would
recommend starting with something slightly more challenging. Find
out more from the website.
An example of the option screens in 3D GameMaker:
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Summary |
Provides an entertaining distraction, but with a limited lifespan. | |||
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StageCast
Creator 2
by StageCast Software Inc. |
Age Suitability | Price | |
|
7+ [tested at 7-11] |
Single user - £45* 10
users - £325 |
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Supported Platforms |
Minimum System Requirements |
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| Windows |
Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP, 133 MHz Pentium or faster, 32 MB RAM |
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| Macintosh |
MacOS 8.1 or higher, 120 MHz PowerPC processor, 32 MB RAM |
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Unix |
Any UNIX system capable of running Java. |
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Description |
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| StageCast
is the software we chose to use in our club because we found it to be
one of the most simple programming tools around. This is largely because it uses picture-based
'before' and 'after' rules to move characters around the
screen, which are easy for both children and adults to understand.
StageCast is limited to making two dimensional games,
which can appear a little clunky compared with professional games, but the finished
products can be uploaded onto a web page and played over the
internet. It also comes with a good set of interactive tutorials,
which allows confident readers to teach themselves how to use the
software. A free 120 day evaluation version can be
downloaded from the StageCast website.
I highly recommend this as a good place to start if you have never tried to create a game
before and you need to be convinced that you can do it!
An example of the picture-based rules used in StageCast:
Click here to see an example of the kind of game you can create using StageCast Creator (You will be prompted to download and install the StageCast web player, the first time you do this). *Depending on the current exchange rate. Price includes delivery from the US by standard mail and import VAT which is normally payable to your postman on delivery, along with a 'clearance fee' of about £4. A single copy purchased from RM in the UK is £70, although it does include an additional teacher's guide. |
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Summary |
Easy to use, but limited in scope. An excellent place to start. | |||
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Game
Maker
by Mark Overmars. |
Age Suitability | Price | |
|
10+ |
Unregistered - free Single user registration |
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Supported Platforms |
Minimum System Requirements |
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| Windows |
Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP |
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Description |
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| GameMaker
is a free programming tool for creating 2D games created
by Mark Overmars, a Professor of Computing at Utrecht University in the
Netherlands. It allows you to create games through iconic
sequences of commands which define how characters should behave in
response to different events in the game. It also has a text based
BASIC language which is usually hidden away, but can be accessed by the more adventurous user. Although
GameMaker
is easy to use at a basic level it has plenty of depth, and with
practice it is possible to create some quite professional looking 2D
games. Unfortunately GameMaker does not have a
built-in set of tutorials, but there are some tutorials on the website
as well as useful links and information about
using GameMaker in the Classroom. There are a number of
summer schools and school clubs around the world that have successfully
used GameMaker and it has a thriving (if occasionally juvenile)
online community forum. An example of the kind of 'events' and 'actions' that are used in GameMaker:
Click here to download an example of the kind of games you can create using GameMaker (self extracting archive - run the file, or open it with WinZip to extract the game files) |
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| Summary | A user- friendly and powerful 2D package. A good next step after StageCast. | |||
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Klik&Play
by ClickTeam |
Age Suitability | Price | |
|
10+ |
Free for schools |
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Supported Platforms |
Minimum System Requirements |
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| Windows |
Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP |
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Description |
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| Klik
and Play is the most junior of the range of multimedia and game-creation
software produced by ClickTeam. One of the main partners of the
company is François Lionet, who has been creating this kind of software
for decades, and was responsible for the excellent AMOS and STOS on the
Amiga and Atari ST computers in the 80's. Klik and Play is
available free for schools and can be downloaded from the ClickTeam
website. Unfortunately, Klik and Play is about ten years old now
and it shows its age quite badly. It allows you to create 2D
games in a comparable way to GameMaker, but it is quite painful to use
and the results look very dated. Since Klik and Play was
released, ClickTeam have brought their product line up to date in the
form of The Games Factory and then Multimedia Fusion, but Klik and Play
is the only product that is provided free to schools. Personally,
I would avoid Klik and Play as it is more likely to put
you off the idea of game-creation
altogether.
An example of the level editor in Klik and Play:
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Summary |
If you want to make 2D games for free then try GameMaker instead. | |||
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Blitz3D
by Blitz Research Ltd |
Age Suitability | Price | |
|
13+ |
£55.00* from BlitzResearch |
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Supported Platforms |
Minimum System Requirements |
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| Windows |
Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP |
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Description |
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| Blitz3D
is a more traditional text-based, BASIC programming language, which provides the
potential for creating commercial quality 2D and 3D games. This
doesn't mean that it is beyond the grasp of mere mortals, but it probably
isn't the best place to start if you have never created a game
before. Blitz3D comes with example programs and reference guides
rather than tutorials, so you also need to be prepared to direct your
own learning process. Nonetheless the forums on the Blitz
website are usually teeming with experienced users at all
times of the day or night and they are always keen to help out a
beginner if you get stuck. There is also a book available called
"Game Programming for Teens", by Maneesh Sethi, which covers
the basics of programming 2D games using Blitz. You can download
a free, unlimited use trial
version of Blitz3D from the Blitz website. This only
allows you to create small games and doesn't allow you to create
executables (so you can't distribute your games), but it is more than
enough to teach a short course on programming with Blitz3D and it is
absolutely free.
An example of the kind of basic code that is used in Blitz3D:
Click here to download a (modest) example of the kind of game you can create using Blitz3D (self extracting archive - run the file, or open it with WinZip to extract the game files). *Depending on the current exchange rates. Blitz3D is not available to purchase in shops and can only be paid for and downloaded from the company website. |
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| Summary | A powerful product with a good support network. Not for beginners. | |||
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DarkBASIC
by The Game Creators Ltd |
Age Suitability | Price |
|
13+ |
Standard £32.99
Professional £49.99 |
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Supported Platforms |
Minimum System Requirements |
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| Windows |
Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP, 300MHzPentium II, 64MB RAM |
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Description |
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| DarkBASIC
is similar to Blitz3D in that it is a text-based, BASIC programming language,
which also offers the potential for creating commercial quality 2D and 3D games.
You can even get 10 licenses free for your school, providing that
you go through the appropriate registration process on
the website. Unfortunately, DarkBASIC is not as easy to use
as Blitz3D and it crashed repeatedly on
me during my evaluation. The BASIC language itself doesn't have as
many neat features as Blitz, but it does seem to be possible to create
games that look nearly as good if you are prepared to put in the extra
effort. You can download a 30 day trial
version from the DarkBASIC website, which also has an active forum
from which you can quickly get
help and support from other users. The Game Creators also offer
DarkBASIC Pro, which is not free for schools, but does claim to provide
solutions to many of the short fallings of DarkBASIC.
Click here to download a (modest) example of the kind of game you can create using DarkBASIC (self extracting archive - run the file, or open it with WinZip to extract the game files). |
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| Summary | Powerful and free, but quirky and unreliable. | ||
