What Is an Angle?

An angle is a way to describe a direction or a rotation, and is measured in degrees (°).

Starting from 0° to the right, the angles increase as you move in a counter-clockwise direction. 360° is a full rotation!

• 0° points to the right
• 90° points up
• 180° points to the left
• 270° points down

For example, if a character is facing upwards, they have an angle of 90°.

Where Do You Use Angles?

You’ll see angles in many built-in variables and functions in GameMaker. There are a lot, but here’s a few:

• image_angle
  A built-in variable that rotates how the sprite is drawn. Perfect for spinning objects or rotating a top-view character to face a direction.
• direction
  A built-in variable that stores which way an object is moving. When paired with speed, this makes objects move in a given angle automatically.
• point_direction(x1, y1, x2, y2)
  A function that calculates the angle between two points. Essential for aiming at the player, shooting toward the mouse, or steering enemies.

Key Takeaways

• Angles in GameMaker measure how much something turns, and it’s measured in degrees.
• 0° is right, then angles increase counter-clockwise.
• Angles reset back to 0° after 359°