Starting off

Okay, you've purchased it, downloaded it and installed it - what next? The 2D Shooter Game Creator is filled with features, and this guide aims to get you on the road to making those amazing games you want to!

Probably the first thing you will want to do is play a premade game - you can find the Hydra demo, an oompa loompa level and some others (more may be available on the site). To play a game, run the "2DSGC - Play Game" option from either your start menu or 2D Shooter Game Creator folder. The red spark fadescreens should come up, and then you will be presented with the menu selection screen. You can choose your level from here.

The Global Controls for in-game are: aim/fire: mouse & left click; reload : space; reload : Numpad + / Numpad 9. You can use these controls for lightgun input when configuring your lightgun with wingun.

So now you've played a game, what about making your own levels? Well, it's easy - first, run the "Level Editor" option, again from either the start menu or 2D Shooter Game Creator folder. The level editor is fullscreen, but you can use the windows shortcut alt-tab to switch to other.

The level editor is relatively easy to use, and you can find all the different functions covered in the readme that comes with the software. You will probably want to open up the Hydra level and see how it was made first, to have time to experiment with it - you can always save it and then run it in the "Play Game" to play through your edits. If you want more information on using the level editor, there is a tutorial all about it.

The level editor contains a large number of buttons and controls all laid out across the screen, and so it takes a long time to get used to using it. However, the best way to learn the different functions is simply to press the buttons - you can just reload the level at any time, so the changes you make or discover will only be temporary.