Easy Skill Tree Engine

Easy Skill Tree Engine – The ultimate skill tree system for GameMaker

Build complex, dynamic, and beautiful skill trees in minutes, not days – no matter the size of your game or your experience level.

The Easy Skill Tree Engine (ESTE) is a plug-and-play system that makes implementing fully-featured, highly customizable skill trees effortless. Designed for both newcomers and veterans, this tool handles everything from skill node progression to stat bonuses, dynamic descriptions, node locking, and more.

FEATURES

Powerful & Flexible:

• Unlock new abilities and grant stat bonuses through skill tree progression
• Make abilities stronger by investing multiple levels into a skill node
• Build your trees in any orientation
  • Vertical – Top Down
  • Vertical – Bottom Up
  • Horizontal
• 3 Skill Point Allocation modes to suit your game type
  • Instant - Instant Level-Up on click
  • Hold - Hold button to level up
  • Deferred – Apply all skill points first and then commit when ready
• Support for symmetrical and freeform layouts
• Connect nodes with prerequisites and branching paths
• Lock/unlock nodes dynamically through gameplay
• Apply player level locks, and node level up requirements based on player level, node ranks and skill tree spend requirements
• No limit to the size of your skill trees. Scroll across your tree on both x and y axis to view all your nodes
• Force choices by having skill nodes lock other nodes upon leveling up
• Customizable description panel
• Easily plug into RPGs, action games, roguelikes, or any genre with progression
• All visuals can be customized to suit your aesthetic
• Extensive macro list to provide powerful customization
• The cost to level up a skill can be anything
• Set Trees to be active or inactive. Visible or Invisible.
  • Stat bonuses can be derived from an active tree, even if it is not visible. (Eg. Meta Progression tree in the main menu)

Robust Stat System:

• Define stat bonuses with custom functions, or use the engine’s built in Easy Notation
• Built-in formula parser to handle constants, scaling values, and more
• Stats can be boosted by items and powered up through leveling up skill nodes
• Boost skill node levels beyond their maximum level with items bonuses
• Allow for immediate effects the moment a skill is levelled up, or an item equipped.

Beautiful & Responsive UI:

• Fully GUI-layered rendering;
• Auto-aligns nodes and draws connectors dynamically;
• Support for highlighting, focus sprites, locked states, tooltips, and categories;
• Skill descriptions use live stat preview with {stat} and {%stat%} tags;
• See your node’s current stat bonus as well as the next level bonus
• Works with keyboard, mouse and gamepad.

Data-Driven & Modular:

• Saving, Loading and Resetting is all handled within the tool
• Supports exporting and importing skill trees with or without encryption
• Extendable node structure to suit any gameplay needs
• Skill trees are fully modular – use one tree or hundreds!

Developer-Friendly

• Lightweight & well-commented codebase;
• Clean architecture using constructors and structs;
• Full source code – no obfuscation
• Includes extensive examples
• Large range of helper functions categorized and included
• Further Documentation is available on the Fat Pint Games website
  • Easy Skill Tree Engine · Documentation

EXTRAS

• Demo Included
  • Includes a playable character with abilities that can be unlocked through skill trees
  • Skill trees and Item catalogue has been premade
  • See how each skill node and stat bonus effects your character
  • Increase Attack Damage, Stamina, MP, recovery rate, attack speed and more
  • Easily build and test node features and layouts;
• In-depth documentation on functions, node structure, and customization;
• Easily integrates with EXP, ability points, or custom currencies;
• Use with any controller type – mouse, keyboard, or gamepad;
• Efficient by design – Handles large skill trees smoothly

FAQ

Q: How can I use the Easy Skill Tree Engine in my game? A: Import the package and then create the skill tree manager object in your game

Q: Can I connect my own upgrade effects or abilities to nodes? A: Yes! Each skill node supports custom effects/triggers and stat bonuses. Use skill nodes as a way to gain access to the abilities you’ve made in your game.

Q: What if my game uses a custom UI layout? A: The rendering system is fully GUI-layered and resolution-independent. You can control node positions, layout spacing, panel orientation, and even inject your own draw code for custom visuals. The demo for Fat Pint Games created “Edge of Madness” (Still in development) is available on itch.io and shows how the skill tree engine can be incorporated into an in-game pause menu.

Q: Can I save/load player skill progress? A: Yes! Built-in support for saving and loading, as well as exporting and importing tree state in JSON or encrypted formats.

Q: Will this work in my genre? A: RPG? Metroidvania? Action roguelike? Idle game? This system is designed to be generic, flexible, and scalable to any genre.

Why choose Easy Skill Tree Engine?

Don't reinvent the wheel. Spend your time designing compelling abilities, not wrestling with skill tree logic. ESTE gives you professional skill tree functionality with none of the hassle — and it’s flexible enough to grow with your game.

Built 100% in GML. Ongoing support via Discord. Super clean and compact .yymps file. Includes sample projects and clean documentation. No resell or redistribution of source code.