How not to use the manual
This topic was recently posted on the GMC.
this question is probably really stupid, but i want to know what comes first.
the events in the CREATE event of an object, or the CREATION code of an object(when you CTRL+RightClick an object in the room)
Took about 10 minutes for one responder to post a correct response, though he indicated he wasn’t sure, but had just heard that was the answer.
About 15 minutes later a second poster, quoted the manual, which definitively answered the original question. The original poster acknowledged and thanked the responders over an hour later.
The thing is, this type of question, demonstrates a huge failing on the part, of the original poster. Not necessarily because he didn’t use the manual, but because this is the type of question that can easily be resolved within minutes, by yourself.
I have never used the creation code, feature, didn’t know the answer. Though, reading the manual quote answered it. As an exercise, I decide to try it myself.
- I opened Game Maker
- Created a room
- Created an object
- Created a circle sprite, associated it with the object
- Added a Create Event, with the code, show_message(”create event”);
- Put the object in the room
- Added Creation Code, with the code, show_message(”creation code”);
- Ran the game
A dialog box with the “creation code” text appeared, followed by a second dialog box with the text “create event”.
It took me two minutes, and now I know definitively, the answer. Having done it myself, entrenched the answer into long-term memory. I doubt I will ever forget.
I learned the correct answer, tenfold quicker, then writing a post on the GMC and waiting for a correct response. I also avoided potential setbacks from earlier responders, who make crap-up, or post responses because “they heard” their answer is the way it is.
The original poster demonstrated a few mannerisms, that are not conducive to effectively learning Game Maker, or many other tasks.
Laziness and poor problem solving skills. If one has to resort to asking others to resolve a task as simple as this, there isn’t a snowball’s chance of learning, or solving other programming related problems. Sadly, examples like this come up all the time on the GMC.
Without question, one of the most effective techniques I’ve used to learn GML commands, syntax or behaviour is to create a quick and dirty standalone program. This concentrates exactly on the problem at hand, reduces influence from other commands, and helps clarify the explanation from what many consider to be an unreadable manual.
Similar techniques go along way in debugging problematic code.
Though, I haven’t seen anybody directly post about using tiny, focused, examples. I’d be shocked if the same technique isn’t used all the time by all the competent Game Maker users.
June 11th, 2008 at 8:08 am
I Agree! i do it all the time but sometimes i can be a bit lazy and put off doing it ^.^
June 11th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Yeah, I always find that surprising. If people worked to solve their problems they’d solve them much faster in the majority of the situations. People still have that mentality - be taught rather than teach themselves
June 28th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I just realized it was me who said that I heard it. Of course, where I heard it was from a tutorial I saw in the tutorials, and examples forum.
July 6th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Lol. I have to agree with this. Not only could you use a show_message(), you could use show_debug_message(). Or you could read the manual. Lol.
I just rembered that when I first started using Game Maker, I didn’t even read the manual.