Designing Games with Game Maker - YoYo Games

The following additional draw action is available in advanced mode:
Set Font
You can set the font that is from this moment on used for drawing text. This must be one of
the font resources you have define. If you choose No Font a default 12 point Arial font is used.
Particle actions
A set of action dealing with particles is available on the Extra tab. These actions are only
available in the Pro Edition of Game Maker.
Particle systems are meant to create special effects. Particles are small elements (represented
by a pixel or a little shape). Such particles move around according to predefined rules and can
change color while they move. Many such particles together can create e.g. fireworks, flames,
rain, snow, star fields, flying debris, etc.
Game Maker contains an extensive particle system that can be accessed through functions. A
more limited particle system can be accessed through the actions described below.
A particle system can deal with particles of different types. After creating the particle system
the first thing to do is specify the particle types. Using the actions below you can specify up to
16 types of particles. Each type has a shape, a size, a start color and an end color. The color
slowly changes from the start color to the end color. Particles have a limited life time. In the
type you specify the minimal and maximal life time of the particles. Particles also have a
speed and a direction. Finally, gravity and friction can work on particles.
After you specify the particle types you must create them at places in the room. You can
either burst a number of particles of a particular type from a place or you can create a
constant stream of particles appearing. Particles appear at emitters. The particle system can