All games created with GameMaker have the same basic design. A Graphics area is on the left side, a Text area is on the right side, and a total of 6 possible buttons are on the bottom.
There are two modes: Create Mode to create your game and Run Mode to test your game. Run Mode works much like a browser tool.
Launching GameMaker creates an untitled document. Card #1 will be displayed and the Text tool will be selected. Card #1 is the title card and has 6 buttons at the bottom. 3 of the buttons are already named and can only be changed by selecting "Game Options" in the "Go" menu. They will handle beginning of play, opening saved games, and quitting.
The "Begin Game" button is automatically set to advance to card #2, so the next portion of your game must begin at card #2. To advance to card#2 in Create Mode, select "Next" from the "Go" menu.
All other cards have 6 unnamed buttons at the bottom of the card. Clicking on any of these buttons displays a dialog box. The dialog box allows you to name the button and decide which card you wish to have this button linked to. In Run Mode, only buttons that have been defined (named) will be visible and active.
Use the "Tools" menu to type text and/or draw a picture in the window. Selecting the Text tool in the Tools menu will automatically select the text area for typing text. You can also select the Text area by clicking the mouse in that area.
Selecting one of the Paint tools in the Tools menu (Brush, Line, Rectangle, Roundrect, Oval, Region, Spray Can, Eraser) will automatically select the Graphics area for drawing graphics. You can also select the Graphics area by clicking the mouse in that area.
