Enjoy and don’t forget to provide feedback via the Beta Testing servers.  We’re aware that there is one severe bug with the Mac version related to scaling images and we’re working hard to solve this.  Meantime here’s a list of what’s fixed in the latest GM4Mac Release … refer to the beta server for more detailed info.
0000168        Edit Spirit
0000176        Sprite editor doesn’t work well
0000022        Error with the image editor.
0000149        Sprite-maker doesn’t work very well
0000069        Zoom feature on paint zooms in on top left corner
0000054        Image Editor Zoom Error
0000031        Graphical smudging glitch when drawing in the sprite editor
0000042        The Sprite Maker Does not function.
0000165        sprite rotation crashes whole program
0000172        GM Crash
0000171        mouse requirements
0000178        Unable to draw sprites or even select them for that matter
0000051        One-Button Mouse.
0000180        Extra options
0000018        Game Info text effects not working
0000104        double-clicking game maker file does not actually open the file
0000124        Sprites do not show up in sprite editor window
0000111        Game wont run!
0000097        .gmk game file not saving anything?
0000105        ”Inside drop files” error message upon opening gmk from Finder
0000030        Unable to run games with os 10.4.11
0000060        Games don’t run
0000096        Access violation crash in Game Information window
0000034        i can´t run my test game
0000064        Does not load on startup even when the setting is on.
0000019        Won’t load help (documentation) file
0000024        You can’t open the properties window for paths or timelines.
0000029        Game info settings causing crash
0000033        Requests .ico file for icon; Not Icns
0000049        Smaller apps
0000045        Selecting extension packages doesn’t work

The deadline for entries has now passed

I will create a short list and Mark Overmars and I will decide on the winner(s) as soon as possible.

I expect we will be able to make an announcement this weekend .

We’re currently working on a major upgrade to the software on the site.  Most significantly this will mean upgrading to Rails 2.3 from Rails 1.1.  We’re anticipating a major performance and reliability boost from this as well as significant improvements to the Search capabilities on the main site.  If we have the time we will also introduce a new version of the Beast software that drives the YYG Forums.

@Trollsplatterer has diligently trawled through the GMC, the YYG Forums and the Helpdesk to produce a three page list of bugs and feature requests…most of these will be implemented as part of that change.

There will be no major changes to the look and feel of the website, though there WILL be one important new feature that I’ll talk about in a separate post soon.

Finally, we will add a new distribution and payment  mechanism to the website that will allow us to launch Game Maker 8 WITHOUT Softwrap ….thought some of you would be pleased about that !!

We don’t have a lot of time to get this integrated with some of the Website work that we’re doing, so I need to severely limit the time available to submit your designs.

We’re looking for a design that is more modern, communicates the vitality and excitement of what Game Maker stands for and fits better with the rest of the YoYo Games Branding.

Deadline for submissions is 9 am (GMT) MONDAY, OCTOBER 26th (i.e. four weeks from Today).  I need a high quality BITMAP (minimum size 640 X 480), winner will be announced by November 1st and the prize is $250 (you MUST have a PayPal account to receive the prize money).  YoYo Games will own the rights to the winning logo, so do not submit any entries of you don’t agree to YoYo Games having complete and absolute ownership of your competition entry.

Submit your entries to newlogo@yoyogames.com

The Five “runners-up” will get a free copy of Game Maker 8 Pro.

For a list of changes made, see http://gm.yoyogames.com/news/changes.html.

Please report bugs (no wished) through the bug reporting system. Please follow the following rules:

- Only bug reports. We no longer want to hear about wishes.
- First check the file at http://gm.yoyogames.com/news/bugs.html to make sure the bug is new.
- Also search the existing bug reports to check whether it has already been reported before.
- Always include a clear description on how to reproduce the bug, preferably including a small .gmk file.

It’s a bit bigger than I was expecting, but still substantially smaller than the previous release.

We’ve added a more Mac like look and feel to all of the dialogue boxes and there is now a “Window” menu option on the main screen, which lists the currently open Windows and allows you to bring that selected window to the front.

Finally we’ve corrected quite a few, but not all, of the known bugs.

We much appreciate your help and support…so please keep up the good work testing the Mac Beta….it’s getting closer to being a finished product !

1. We’ve added more of a Mac look and feel.  This has been a lot of work as almost every screen needed updating.  Here’s an example….nothing radical. I’m a Mac user myself and I appreciate the subtle changes, hope you do too ?

2. On a more significant note (technically speaking) we’ve made substantial progress on the size of the files.  The Maker is down to less than 20MB (unzipped) from 56MB and the Runner is now more manageable at less than 8MB (down from 40MB  !).  We can make them even smaller by removing PPC support, but we’ve chosen not to do that yet.

3. We’re working this week on clearing the backlog of bugs…at least the major ones…. and hope to get another, much more useful Beta out to you next week.

Many thanks to all of you for testing so far, hopefully we’re now getting much closer to something we can all be proud of and bring more Mac users (like me !!) into the Game Maker family !!