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Learn to make no-code games with GDevelop and Fanatical

By - | Views: 17,591

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".

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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16 comments
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fabertawe Jul 26, 2023
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.
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.
Liam Dawe Jul 26, 2023
Quoting: hardpenguinDisclaimer - 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.
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.
Eike Jul 26, 2023
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Quoting: Liam Dawe
Quoting: hardpenguinDisclaimer - 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.
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.

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.
Nic264 Jul 26, 2023
Quoting: hardpenguinThis 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
Klaas Jul 26, 2023
Quoting: Nic264This 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.
Liam Dawe Jul 26, 2023
Quoting: Eike
Quoting: Liam Dawe
Quoting: hardpenguinDisclaimer - 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.
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.

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.
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.
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
marcoscodas Jul 27, 2023
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!

Quoting: hardpenguinDisclaimer - 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.

Quoting: EikeWell, 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
hardpenguin Jul 27, 2023
Quoting: marcoscodasThere 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! 💪
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