Game Maker is a popular game development tool that allows users to create games without having extensive programming knowledge. While the tool comes with a variety of built-in features, creating a text input field is not one of them. However, creating a text input field is not difficult and can add a level of interactivity to your game. In this article, we will walk you through the steps to create a text input field in Game Maker.

Step 1: Create a sprite for the text input field.

The first step in creating a text input field is to create a sprite that will be used to represent the field. To do this, open up Game Maker and create a new sprite. Name the sprite «text_input» or any name you prefer. Set the dimensions to the size you want your text input field to be.

Step 2: Add a create event to the sprite.

With the sprite selected, add a create event. This event will allow us to set up the properties of the text input field. In the create event, set the following options:

— Set the sprite to visible
— Set the sprite to be drawn somewhere on the screen
— Set the character limit for the input

Step 3: Set up the object for the text input field.

Create a new object in Game Maker and add the sprite you created earlier to it. Create a new event for the object and choose the «Draw» option. In the Draw event, add the following code:

draw_sprite(text_input, 0, x, y);

This code will draw the sprite on the screen at the location we set in the sprite’s create event.

Step 4: Add the ability to type in the text input field.

To allow users to type in the text input field, we need to add some code to the object. Add a new event and select the «Keyboard» option. In this event, add the following code:

//Store the key pressed in a variable
var key_pressed = keyboard_key_press;

//Add the key pressed to the input string
if (string_length(input) < char_limit) {
input += chr(key_pressed);
}

This code will store the key pressed by the user in a variable and add it to the input string if the character limit has not been reached.

Step 5: Draw the text in the text input field.

In the Draw event, we need to add code that will draw the text the user has typed in the text input field. Add the following code to the Draw event:

draw_set_colour(c_black);
draw_set_font(font0);
draw_text(x + 5, y + 5, input);

This code will set the font and color of the text and draw it on the screen in the text input field.

Step 6: Clean up the text input field.

Finally, we need to add code to allow the user to clear the text input field. Add another Keyboard event and use the following code:

//Clear the input string when backspace is pressed
if (keyboard_check_pressed(vk_backspace)) {
input = «»;
}

This code will clear the input string when the backspace key is pressed.

With these steps, a basic text input field has been created in Game Maker. Customize the sprite and code to fit the needs of your game. With a text input field, your game can become more interactive and engaging for users.