Question: How do you implement WASD movement in GameMaker?

Answer

To implement WASD movement in GameMaker, you will need to use GameMaker Language (GML) to check for keyboard input and move an instance (such as the player character) accordingly. Below is a simple code example that you could put in the Step event of your player object to achieve basic WASD movement.

// Define movement speed
var move_speed = 4;

// Get player input
var move_x = keyboard_check(ord('D')) - keyboard_check(ord('A'));
var move_y = keyboard_check(ord('S')) - keyboard_check(ord('W'));

// Normalize diagonal movement
if (move_x != 0 && move_y != 0)
{
    move_x *= 0.7071; // Approximately 1/sqrt(2)
    move_y *= 0.7071; // Approximately 1/sqrt(2)
}

// Apply movement
x += move_x * move_speed;
y += move_y * move_speed;

This code checks if the keys 'W', 'A', 'S', 'D' are pressed and sets move_x and move_y accordingly. If both move_x and move_y are non-zero (i.e., the player is moving diagonally), their values are multiplied by approximately 0.7071 to ensure that the player's diagonal movement speed is consistent with their horizontal and vertical speeds.

The keyboard_check() function returns true if the specified key is being pressed and false otherwise. The ord() function converts a character to its ASCII value, which is necessary because keyboard_check() expects a numerical key code.

Lastly, the x and y coordinates of the instance are updated by adding the product of the direction (move_x or move_y) and the move_speed. This moves the instance in the intended direction according to the player's input.