Want to make games but don't know how to code? The free and open source GDevelop is a great cross-platform tool with an events-driven system.
Something I've covered a few times here on GamingOnLinux because I love the idea of it, and I grew up making little games in similar tools like the classic The Games Factory and Clickteam Fusion. It's pretty fun to just test things out in GDevelop, and you can throw something together pretty quickly with it.
They've teamed up with Fanatical offer a growing* bundle of assets and a 6 month subscription to their Silver Premium plan that gives you some added extras like cloud building, cloud projects, a mobile app and more extras that you may find helpful.
Pictured - an example GDevelop project and the events sheet. Click pictures to enlarge.
GDevelop is constantly improving too and since it's cross-platform, free and open source you can try it any time.
*Fanatical say to keep an eye out "for new additions to this bundle in future as there's so much more to come with GDevelop & Fanatical".
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16 comments
Great idea. There are many "simple" games that are addictive and fun because of the gameplay idea, rather fancy graphics or complicated gameplay. This allows anyone with a good idea, passion and energy to create something good.
3 Likes, Who?
hardpenguin Jul 26, 2023
Disclaimer - GDevelop is free and open source however the default build of the editor will add GDevelop watermark or splash screen to the game.
It can be removed by either paying for their subscription or, as I understand, compiling it on your own from the source.
https://github.com/4ian/GDevelop/issues/5275
This is a legitimate business tactic that does not violate open source principles at all.
It can be removed by either paying for their subscription or, as I understand, compiling it on your own from the source.
https://github.com/4ian/GDevelop/issues/5275
This is a legitimate business tactic that does not violate open source principles at all.
2 Likes, Who?
Disclaimer - GDevelop is free and open source however the default build of the editor will add GDevelop watermark or splash screen to the game.Yeah absolutely nothing wrong with it. Being open source doesn't mean they can't do things in their own product. I think it's a perfectly fine to show a splash screen of the tool.
It can be removed by either paying for their subscription or, as I understand, compiling it on your own from the source.
https://github.com/4ian/GDevelop/issues/5275
This is a legitimate business tactic that does not violate open source principles at all.
1 Likes, Who?
Disclaimer - GDevelop is free and open source however the default build of the editor will add GDevelop watermark or splash screen to the game.Yeah absolutely nothing wrong with it. Being open source doesn't mean they can't do things in their own product. I think it's a perfectly fine to show a splash screen of the tool.
It can be removed by either paying for their subscription or, as I understand, compiling it on your own from the source.
https://github.com/4ian/GDevelop/issues/5275
This is a legitimate business tactic that does not violate open source principles at all.
Well, I would prefer it to have it both optional, and show some message telling the game developer why they really should leave the splash screen where it is (making little PR for something good). The game developers probably are able to just recompile the thing, but the engine developers seem to make it feel like cheating.
1 Likes, Who?
This is a legitimate business tactic that does not violate open source principles at all.
I completely agree. This also seems to be quite common for creative software, two other (great) examples on the top of my head where the official no-cost binary is only for demo purposes:
- Aseprite, a pixel art editor/animator: “WARNING: You CANNOT SAVE files with the trial version”
- Ardour, a DAW: gives the choice between binary and source upfront, the demo binary “periodically goes silent after 10 minutes”.
EDIT: it seems Aseprite isn't open source anymore (since 2016), but still source-available
Last edited by Nic264 on 26 July 2023 at 6:49 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
This also seems to be quite common for creative software, two other (great) examples on the top of my head where the official no-cost binary is only for demo purposes:Interesting… I only knew about Ardour.
0 Likes
Well yeah, everyone would prefer it would be optional, but I'm looking at it as a devil's advocate here. It helps spread awareness of a FOSS tool, and potentially helps them get funding to continue development and the tool itself is still 100% functional. And yeah, also doesn't stop anyone editing it out and compiling it manually since it's FOSS.Disclaimer - GDevelop is free and open source however the default build of the editor will add GDevelop watermark or splash screen to the game.Yeah absolutely nothing wrong with it. Being open source doesn't mean they can't do things in their own product. I think it's a perfectly fine to show a splash screen of the tool.
It can be removed by either paying for their subscription or, as I understand, compiling it on your own from the source.
https://github.com/4ian/GDevelop/issues/5275
This is a legitimate business tactic that does not violate open source principles at all.
Well, I would prefer it to have it both optional, and show some message telling the game developer why they really should leave the splash screen where it is (making little PR for something good). The game developers probably are able to just recompile the thing, but the engine developers seem to make it feel like cheating.
5 Likes, Who?
Arehandoro Jul 27, 2023
Sounds like a good initiative, and I hope it works well for them, although I'd prefer if the licence used was under GPL.
However, I would be much more interested on a subscription for a learning platform that would teach you the ins and outs of video game creation. Something like A Cloud Guru or Hyperskill, but specialized, and of course using as many FLOSS software and Creative Commons licences as possible. I believe there were plans to do something like this for Godot, but not sure if the project continued/expanded.
Last edited by Arehandoro on 28 July 2023 at 9:38 am UTC
However, I would be much more interested on a subscription for a learning platform that would teach you the ins and outs of video game creation. Something like A Cloud Guru or Hyperskill, but specialized, and of course using as many FLOSS software and Creative Commons licences as possible. I believe there were plans to do something like this for Godot, but not sure if the project continued/expanded.
Last edited by Arehandoro on 28 July 2023 at 9:38 am UTC
1 Likes, Who?
Hi everyone!
My name is Marcos and I'm the Marketing Lead at GDevelop. I'm also the person behind establishing these partnerships. Fanatical has been a fantastic partner, they've even sponsored our game jams. So big ups for them. And MEGA thanks to Liam Dawe for writing about our bundle! The assets can be used with any game engine, by the way. So if you just want some great assets on the cheap, feel free to grab it. However, we'd love it if you gave GDevelop a spin!
Yes! There's a splash screen at the start of games if you use the free (still full featured, no restrictions) version of GDevelop. However, that's the only bit of branding you'll see on GDevelop-made games. There are no in-game watermarks (EDIT: mandatory in-game watermarks that need a subscription to be removed), resolution restrictions, restrictions on the number of events, scenes, and so on, in the free versions of GDevelop.
Thank you for the comment! It's definitely a difficult balance, to find unobtrusive ways to generate awareness and sustainability. We're very proud of the rate of development we're seeing within GDevelop, particularly in the past 2 years, considering we're still open source.
We're trying to remain truly competitive with commercial applications in terms of product quality,user experience, interface, output quality, etc., while also staying true to the community, open-source oriented philosophy we've had from the start.
There's always stuff we can do better, however, and that's why we like reading your comments and replying to them. We would not exist without our community and open source in general, so thank you all for your kind comments.
Last edited by marcoscodas on 27 July 2023 at 5:40 pm UTC
My name is Marcos and I'm the Marketing Lead at GDevelop. I'm also the person behind establishing these partnerships. Fanatical has been a fantastic partner, they've even sponsored our game jams. So big ups for them. And MEGA thanks to Liam Dawe for writing about our bundle! The assets can be used with any game engine, by the way. So if you just want some great assets on the cheap, feel free to grab it. However, we'd love it if you gave GDevelop a spin!
Disclaimer - GDevelop is free and open source however the default build of the editor will add GDevelop watermark or splash screen to the game.
It can be removed by either paying for their subscription or, as I understand, compiling it on your own from the source.
https://github.com/4ian/GDevelop/issues/5275
This is a legitimate business tactic that does not violate open source principles at all.
Yes! There's a splash screen at the start of games if you use the free (still full featured, no restrictions) version of GDevelop. However, that's the only bit of branding you'll see on GDevelop-made games. There are no in-game watermarks (EDIT: mandatory in-game watermarks that need a subscription to be removed), resolution restrictions, restrictions on the number of events, scenes, and so on, in the free versions of GDevelop.
Well, I would prefer it to have it both optional, and show some message telling the game developer why they really should leave the splash screen where it is (making little PR for something good). The game developers probably are able to just recompile the thing, but the engine developers seem to make it feel like cheating.
Thank you for the comment! It's definitely a difficult balance, to find unobtrusive ways to generate awareness and sustainability. We're very proud of the rate of development we're seeing within GDevelop, particularly in the past 2 years, considering we're still open source.
We're trying to remain truly competitive with commercial applications in terms of product quality,user experience, interface, output quality, etc., while also staying true to the community, open-source oriented philosophy we've had from the start.
There's always stuff we can do better, however, and that's why we like reading your comments and replying to them. We would not exist without our community and open source in general, so thank you all for your kind comments.
Last edited by marcoscodas on 27 July 2023 at 5:40 pm UTC
4 Likes, Who?
hardpenguin Jul 27, 2023
There are no in-game watermarks, resolution restrictions, restrictions on the number of events, scenes, and so on, in the free versions of GDevelop.
Oh the watermark was removed? That's great. Cheers and keep up the good job! 💪
0 Likes
hardpenguin Jul 27, 2023
My thoughts exactly.This is a legitimate business tactic that does not violate open source principles at all.Yeah absolutely nothing wrong with it. Being open source doesn't mean they can't do things in their own product. I think it's a perfectly fine to show a splash screen of the tool.
0 Likes
hardpenguin Jul 27, 2023
Why people are so afraid of coding, that they keep getting fascinated by an idea of wrapping code inside fancy blocks? That effectively doesn't relieve them of coding, but just changes syntax.Not everyone has to be writing code. You are right, this is still programming. Many people started with graphical program design tools and moved on to writing code later in life - like myself :)
0 Likes
benstor214 Jul 27, 2023
[…]considering we're still open source.Still? Are you considering to go closed-source?
1 Likes, Who?
Hi everyone! Thanks for the warm welcome!
Great question! During our research, we've seen that answers vary. For example, you have designers or visually-oriented creators who won't want to (or can't) learn a new skill like coding. Then there's the issue of a learning curve, which we've seen is dramatically cut for some users with a visual programming approach. Finally, there's the issue of neurodiversity: not all brains work the same. Some may work really well for coding. Others are more in tune with other creative processes.
They're all valid skills and we're hoping to bridge the gap for those who want rapid creation on the programming side to focus (be it for preference or otherwise) on other aspects of game creation.
Thank you! As far as I'm aware, we've never had in-game watermarks (EDIT: mandatory watermarks that need a paid subscription to be removed). Just the splash screen at the beginning.
Definitely not. If it came across that way, I apologize. We're committed to remaining open source, regardless of what the commercial aspect of the endeavor looks like.
That sounds incredible, but sadly, it is out of the scope of what we're trying to do. As a small team that heavily relies on community contribution, hyper-focusing efforts on improving GDevelop as a tool is the best way to ensure we remain competitive (in terms of user experience, output, graphical interface, ease of use, feature set, etc) with commercial alternatives.
However, we're super proud of the work done by the content creation team on our YouTube channel. They constantly put out both detailed in-engine tutorials, as well as general topic videos. We've also had collaborations with YouTubers like Goodgis and Vimlark, where they go in like a normal user and they talk about their experience from a personal point of view.
Last edited by marcoscodas on 27 July 2023 at 5:40 pm UTC
Why people are so afraid of coding, that they keep getting fascinated by an idea of wrapping code inside fancy blocks? That effectively doesn't relieve them of coding, but just changes syntax.
Great question! During our research, we've seen that answers vary. For example, you have designers or visually-oriented creators who won't want to (or can't) learn a new skill like coding. Then there's the issue of a learning curve, which we've seen is dramatically cut for some users with a visual programming approach. Finally, there's the issue of neurodiversity: not all brains work the same. Some may work really well for coding. Others are more in tune with other creative processes.
They're all valid skills and we're hoping to bridge the gap for those who want rapid creation on the programming side to focus (be it for preference or otherwise) on other aspects of game creation.
Oh the watermark was removed? That's great. Cheers and keep up the good job! 💪
Thank you! As far as I'm aware, we've never had in-game watermarks (EDIT: mandatory watermarks that need a paid subscription to be removed). Just the splash screen at the beginning.
[…]considering we're still open source.Still? Are you considering to go closed-source?
Definitely not. If it came across that way, I apologize. We're committed to remaining open source, regardless of what the commercial aspect of the endeavor looks like.
Sounds like a good initiative, and I hope it works well for them, although I'd prefer if the licence used was under GPL.
However, I would be much more interested on a subscription for a learning platform that would teach you the ins and outs of video game creation. Something like A Cloud Guru or Hyperskill, but specialized, and of course using as many FOSS software as Creative Commons licences as possible. I believe there were plans to do something like this for Godot, but not sure if the project continued/expanded.
That sounds incredible, but sadly, it is out of the scope of what we're trying to do. As a small team that heavily relies on community contribution, hyper-focusing efforts on improving GDevelop as a tool is the best way to ensure we remain competitive (in terms of user experience, output, graphical interface, ease of use, feature set, etc) with commercial alternatives.
However, we're super proud of the work done by the content creation team on our YouTube channel. They constantly put out both detailed in-engine tutorials, as well as general topic videos. We've also had collaborations with YouTubers like Goodgis and Vimlark, where they go in like a normal user and they talk about their experience from a personal point of view.
Last edited by marcoscodas on 27 July 2023 at 5:40 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
Oh the watermark was removed? That's great. Cheers and keep up the good job! 💪
Thank you! As far as I'm aware, we've never had in-game watermarks. Just the splash screen at the beginning.
The bug message about all this shows an option about a watermark:
0 Likes
Oh the watermark was removed? That's great. Cheers and keep up the good job! 💪
Thank you! As far as I'm aware, we've never had in-game watermarks. Just the splash screen at the beginning.
The bug message about all this shows an option about a watermark:
My mistake! I thought they meant mandatory watermarks, based on their wording.
Disclaimer - GDevelop is free and open source however the default build of the editor will add GDevelop watermark or splash screen to the game.
It can be removed by either paying for their subscription or, as I understand, compiling it on your own from the source.
https://github.com/4ian/GDevelop/issues/5275
This is a legitimate business tactic that does not violate open source principles at all.
Only the splashscreen is mandatory for free game exports. The watermark is optional (and quite a new addition). I believe it's currently an opt-out.
As you demonstrated, you can disable the waterkark even without a subscription. Only the splashscreen remains if you're using the free versions of GDevelop.
Thank you for the clarification!
1 Likes, Who?
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