Game Maker 8.0 Features
As we promised, here is a preliminary list of features that you can expect in Game Maker 8.0. Note though that this is still subject to change.
PNG/alpha transparency/Image editor
Game Maker now supports sprites and background with alpha channels throughout the maker. An alpha channel allows pixels to be partially transparent. With the use of alpha channels your graphics can look a lot nicer. The most used file format for alpha channels is PNG. PNG files are now the standard image and sprite files for Game Maker although it can still read all the other file formats. The built-in sprite and image editors have been rewritten to handle alpha transparency. In particular the image editor has been completely rewritten, including many new drawing options and filters/special effects.
Collision checking option
Collision checking options for sprites have changed. You can now e.g. indicate whether sub-images should all have the same or different collision masks. Also you can increase and reduce the mask and use a disk as a mask.
Import and export of resources
You can now import and export the various resources in your game. For example, you can export all sprites and import them in another game. Or you can give a copy of your gmk to somebody else who makes some additional rooms which you can then import in your original game. It makes it a lot easier to collaborate on games.
Splash screens that show web sites and html documents
You can now show splash screens in the game that show a website or a local html file. In this way you can incorporate for example very nice help pages in your game. There are new actions to support this. Also splash screens got some additional options.
Time lines
Time lines have been enhanced. They can for example be paused and they can even play backwards.
Trigger events
These are a new type of event that you can define yourself and then use in your objects. For example, you can define events that happen when an object gets close to another object, or when you press a combination of keys, or when you reached a particular score, etc.
A new script/code editor
The built-in script/code editor has been completely rewritten, making it a lot easier to write code. For example there is pop-up function name completion, argument help, matching brackets, improved color coding, line numbers, on-the-fly error checking, and a sophisticated find and replace functionality.
The new script editor
Smaller changes
Some smaller changes include: Game Maker news shown in the program, much faster loading times (also when starting games), better encryption of executables, constant definition in a separate form, and some visual improvements. Also a number of bugs have been corrected.
Bundled resources
Game Maker 8.0 will be bundled with a complete new set of high-quality resources (sprites, background, sound effects) that you can use for free in your games.
87 Responses to “Game Maker 8.0 Features”
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June 26th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
All really nice useful additions!
I like the Splashscreen change alot! The Trigger Events & Timelines will help make it easier for a lot of people… & the import & export of resources will be very useful like you say for group projects 
Also, I’m very happy to hear about the much faster loading time
June 26th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Is it going to be a free upgrade? Im only 13 and live in Aus so the price is a bit for me, but i got it so i could get future upgrades…….YoYogames sucks if they charge for upgrades.
June 26th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
I’m pretty sure I could have used some of these new features so far, therefore I’ll be happy to see them at work.
June 26th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
i have been using game maker since GM3 i was sooooo young maybe 9 or 10 years and still like it, how much did the script editor changed in this version?
June 26th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
[...] Overmars has posted on the YoYo Games blog with a preliminary list of features that are planned to be included in Game [...]
June 26th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Splash screens that show web sites and html documents! YES! Does this mean I could embed Adsense ads into my game?
June 26th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
This might just make me want to use Game Maker again
Improved code editor, yay!
June 26th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
This makes me re-consider a Game-Maker-come-back when I finish my studies. Fair is fair – Game Maker is an excellent piece of software.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
I decided to add a picture of the script editor (as it looks now; might still change).
- Mark
June 26th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Thanks for the information on the new features. I’ve been using Game Maker since v5, I love it. One thing I’d like to see the more than anything else though is anti-aliasing.
Would this be possible as a feature in the new version?
I currently use XNA because it has anti-aliasing as standard, but if it was included in the latest version of Game Maker, I would definitely use it a lot more seriously.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Eww!
I now definitely prefer GM7 now!
Isn’t it annoying to use different colors now, and a popup screen with all GM codes?
No thanks YYG, but I prefer GM7 and GM6.
PS: “As we promised…..”
…. Competition? =/
June 26th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Evayr I personally prefer the new coding windows. Maybe it would cool to have it customisable though.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
An import and export feature? who ever would have suggested such a thing? (SARCASM)
Thanks for adding it Mark
June 26th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Everything is nice. But the new script/code editor sounds and looks lovely! And awesome, PNG support, PNG files are my friends.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Any more specifics on the resource exporter/importer? Like which resources we can use it with exactly?
Also, why on earth do you need “better” encryption? What was wrong with good old unencrypted files?
June 26th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
seriously, one thing that annoys me is that people were complaining that GM8 would be the same as GM7. What is the point, and all those whining questions. Now I bet the same people cannot wait until GM8.
June 27th, 2009 at 12:09 am
This is awesome!!! Can’t wait for GM8 to come out. And what have been listed of futures here and now is just the beginning right? It’s much more!? (I hope so, I really like to see an upgrade to the 3D functions)
June 27th, 2009 at 12:28 am
@Rusky : “Also, why on earth do you need “better” encryption? What was wrong with good old unencrypted files?”
“better encryption of executables”
They’re talking about the EXEs, not the GMK files.
@Wireless : An upgrade to the 3D capabilities is doubtful. GM is meant to aid in the creation of 2D games. The 3D functions were added to help enhance those 2D games.
There are many other programs available to you if you want to work with 3D.
@All : Let’s try not to cry about the price of GM8 on this post, too.
GM8 will have a free version, just like GM7 did. I’m pretty sure almost every one of these changes will be useable in the Lite version.
June 27th, 2009 at 12:47 am
I hope resource exporting was not what Sandy was hinting at when I was talking to him about GMOnline; that would be very disappointing.
June 27th, 2009 at 1:09 am
Import/Export? Trigger events? New code editor? Tons of other stuff? It’s like a dream come true! Thanks for the update, it great to see some progress
June 27th, 2009 at 1:41 am
@Nailog
I was just saying it because the only thing I know of that GM lacks functionality in is 3D. I know GM i meant to create 2D games, but we’re in 2009 and 3D looks almost like the real world, so why can’t we just hope for a little upgrade on the 3D support, I think there are many GM enthusiasts out there that agrees with me.
Except from fixing bugs and add some more functionality to GM (and maybe make it cross platform compatible), there is nothing more to upgrade that are needed. GM is an awesome application, and can do almost everything on windows platforms, and make all kind of 2D games with fancy effects and so one, there’s no limit.
From now we’re moving on to gm8 supported by yoyogames with high expectations, and for us that have used GM for many year’s are hoping for something big, witch might be upgraded 3D functions, an API function or cross platform compatibility (Witch we’re getting now with the mac version).
Anyway, I’m happy as long as the program are getting upgraded, and I’ll also make sure to be one of the first to buy GM8!
(Sorry for the long nonsense post, I just wanted to say something random)
Wireless
June 27th, 2009 at 2:35 am
My question now is…what of language support? Are we still stuck with the 256 ASCII characters, or will we have support for outputting text in other languages (such as Japanese) in GM8 as well?
June 27th, 2009 at 4:11 am
@Wireless
If you want 3D support so badly, why don’t you use one of the Game Maker extensions that people have made, like Ultimate 3D?
June 27th, 2009 at 5:25 am
Game Maker needs joystick pressed and released.
The changes seem good.
June 27th, 2009 at 8:13 am
I like the new features.
What about purchasing can I use it on more than 2 of my home pc’s
Will it come with a serial number or the awful online upgrade of gm7
as getting a new pc and having to update online is not an option for me.
Softwrap stinks.
June 27th, 2009 at 8:44 am
Cool !! I like the splash screen for showing a website in a game!
then i can show the online highscore in my game !! that’s ideal !! can’t wait for gm8! (ofcourse i like the other things too !)
http://www.jorasgames.webs.com/highscore.html
June 27th, 2009 at 8:47 am
Of course you can switch off features of the code editor (like color coding, the find panel, the popup help, etc.) and you can change the colors used as well.
Import/Export is not easy to describe and clearly an advanced feature. Basically you indicate which types of resources you want to export (so no choice of individual resources). All resources are possible. When you import you can again choose the types. The complication here is that e.g. objects refer in their actions to other resources, which you might not have exported. In such a case these will be replaces by references to resources with the same name in your current games. If resources have the same name in the game and in the import file you can decide whether to overwrite them, keep the original, keep the one changed last, or keep both. I hope this helps.
- Mark
June 27th, 2009 at 8:50 am
And one more remark, Game Maker does support forms of anti-aliassing. First of all, in the new sprites you can do it yourself with the alpha values. And secondly, when sprites are e.g. scaled or the views is scaled, use “Interpolate colors between pixels” in the Global Game Settings.
- Mark
June 27th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Thank you for the taking the time to reply Mark, I really appreciate it.
I will definitely be purchasing the latest version.
Andy
June 27th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Sounds awesome, great work.
June 27th, 2009 at 10:28 am
thank You YoYo Games, Mark Overmarrs if I might quickly ask You does
better encryption of executables mean that the files in the Include file
will be also included in the test .exe when i test my editable version of the game.
June 27th, 2009 at 10:38 am
GM8 sounds VERY promising. The only thing I would like to see is improvement to the mplay function.
Also, I don’t think Comp05 is coming until GM8 has been released.
June 27th, 2009 at 11:15 am
All those improvements are great. Well done. By the way, are you planning to include any function related to midi files? It would be nice if there were funtions to allow you for example to match the sound effects with the music, or make silent an instrument of the music that´s playing, etc.
I know it´s late to make suggestions, but maybe for the next time…
June 27th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Great news! Waiting for GM8 killing me xD
June 27th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Excellent work!
It’s about time for GM’s script editor to reach the standards of other compiler code editors.
The exporting of resources and upgrading timelines will be really helpful. I can see even more applications to the trigger events.
Thank you very much, Mark and Yoyogames! I can see a new, better tomorrow for Game Maker.
P.s. Will the individual handling of instances of sound be implemented, or will that system stay the same?
June 27th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
I have some questions,
You said there will be PNG transparency, does it mean we will be able to use bigger alpha translucent icons for the game executables instead of the ugly 256×256 game icon?
At the trigger events will there finally be a joystick pressed/released action? Also needs a ‘If Game saved’ and ‘If Game Loaded’ action.
Is the script editor dialog now non-modal?
By meaning .exe encryption, do you mean that the game variables, resource names etc. gets obfuscated?
Does GM8 still use DRM?
And finally how about .ogg sound support? Is GM8 going to have native support? I appreciate the upgrade on the gfx department but please don’t neglect the auditory as well.
Great upgrades so far, keep going, I’ll definitely pay for it.
June 27th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
^ correction: I meant “32 x 32 256 colors” than “256×256″
June 27th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Great I can’t wait to buy it!
June 27th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Wow !
Really Great !
I wish there will be some changes in room editor,e.g. zooming in and out in the room.
a viewer for scripted particle effects
and physics features in GM.
sorry if I asked too much.
June 27th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
I just want to pop back on to say *thank you for letting us know what to expect of GM8* – it’s very much appreciated
Also, I like those collision changes!
I think most of the changes make it easier/faster for people – so that’s cool!
I think the single biggest improvement is the .png support. That is just so useful (& I always hated having to deal with the transparent corner pixel thing before) – I look forward to release!
June 27th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
These updates look impressive. I can’t wait ’til the release. The improved image editor will make everything a lot easier and the script editor looks much better.
June 27th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Great features and improvements – really looking forward to working with it. I hope that probelsm with surfaces not working with some hardware will be fixed and maybe that support for mp3 playback will be better, but it is all looking really good (especially the alpha channel support).
June 27th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Excellent. How exactly does the export feature work though? Are all the resources packed into a single file then? Can we lock them.
It seems a little odd because we could always just share .gmks…
Thank you so much for showing off the new features. I’m loving the new script editor.
Not quite sure how useful the trigger event will be, since we can more or less do these things outselves.
Also, I think I may actually begin to use timelines now >:D
Improved loading times is great.
But what do you mean constant definition in a separate form? Do you mean you just moved it out of game settings?
June 27th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
cool,i have been expecting these for a long time,i wish there cwas somrthing that will let use make different loadings,like a circle finishes drawing when its loaded
it draws one degree for each %3.6 is loaded,or a wavy loading bar that waves while loading
June 27th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
and in GM8 please let us make mp3 files “background music”,so we can change their tempo’s
June 27th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
can you also tell when exactly are you releasing the test version of gm8(or are you?)and when are you releasing the GM8 and what are the prices for its pro going to be?
June 27th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Ive got a question, Ive been using gm7 for a long time now but I havent seen this are you able to create a stand alone exectuable out of the game? If you cant I just wanted to suggest that for gm8 if its not to late. It would be very usfull for creating programs that can make special programs like paint,wordpad,ect.. and they dont have to use any code. So my question here is there going to be a way to create a exe with the game you make in gm8?
June 28th, 2009 at 12:26 am
You can make a stand alone executable in Game Maker 7. Just go to the file drop down menu and select create executable.
June 28th, 2009 at 3:55 am
FANTASTIC!
Great to see a list of the new features.
My favorites features would have to be being able to import and export resources and the new script editor. Will the script editor show the function suggestions down the bottom like in GM7, or will you have to click something? That would be annoying.
I’m guessing that GM8 executables won’t be able to be decompiled by the current version on gmdecompiler.
Also, aren’t trigger events just another word for the user defined events? event_user(0);
June 28th, 2009 at 3:56 am
yeah but what if I want to test the .gmk8 with out testing the stand alone file and I want to include the DLLs required for it and I want my other resources to be included.
June 28th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Will game maker 8 be released this year?
June 28th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Let me explain the triggers a bit more. A trigger event has a name and a condition. The condition is a piece of GML code that returns a boolean value. Once you defined a trigger it can be added to objects just like any other event. Every step the condition is executed and when it is true the actions for the event are executed. (You also have some control over when the event is tested.)
Now you can do all of this already by putting the conditional code in the step event. But the new way is more convenient and leads to cleaner code. (Also you can save the collections of trigger events for later use.)
- Mark
June 28th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Can’t wait for the new version!
June 28th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Completely agree with MR B…
Joystick support needs pressed and released functions. I can’t get the right effect I want with the code without screwing up the keyboard functions I already have in place.
PNG support is killer… home-spun Anti-Aliasing and transparency!
GM 8 looks promising!
June 28th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Sounds promising! Will the ExecuteString() function be faster in GM 8.0? I hope it will.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
No, lets get this out I know how to make a exectual for the game it extrmely simple, I want to know if you can do it out of the game you make?
June 29th, 2009 at 2:00 am
@ squiggy – ah I had misunderstood you in the same way as everyone else… I see now what you’re asking for.
Actually it would be *fantastic* if our .exes could output .exes… could lead to a lot more “specialized game creators” made with GameMaker.
If this is at all possible to implement – I’d love to see it!
June 29th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I am really looking forward to this! The new features seem interesting. What about GM’s speed? Will the rewrited parts be faster/more optimized?
June 29th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Man, I wish there was news allotting to timing with sounds… sounds don’t start instantly, and there’s no default way to wait for it to start(programming a way is rather dull, too, and the easiest way freezes your screen), there’s also no way to get the time of a song’s length or current position.
Playing sounds should be more like instances, with a local volume setting relative to a global volume setting, and default to the sound window’s setting…
Easier said than done, and a bit too late, but this sure as hell isn’t the first time this has been said.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Crazy question, will “The Game Maker’s Apprenitce” book be compatible with this? Sorry if this is the wrong spot for this.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:16 am
@thebat I’m pretty sure that the book will still work with GM8, however if the book comes with pictures of the code or sprite editors then they might be a little different. But GM8 hasn’t completely rewritten the GML system or anything, so you should be ok.
Anyway, these look like great new features and I hope all of them can be implimented in the next version! I’m excited for the new sprite editor!
June 30th, 2009 at 12:53 am
Major disappointed – To be honest I expected GM8 to be a MAJOR release – Even Sandy himself said in an interview, not to expect a major release – I mean come on FFS – they disappointed us all with GM7 which was not really a major improvement, now with GM8 it is the same crap all over again – why not call it 7.5 ??? Other than the added resources, they could ahve distributed seperately, there is no significantly new features, no improvements in speed, no optimized code, no significant new feature, no new D&D, no new XML commands, a lame sprite editor I mean give me a break we can use any editor to make our sprites – what about integrating plugin functionality, what about improving room editors, what about making GM faster, what about support for the MNG format, which is like animated GIF but 24bit, NONE of that, nothing significantly new – Bollox !!! Sandy, Mark and Company you did not listen AT ALL to any of our requests – other than the sprite and resources, what significant improvements to GM base ? NONE…..this is sad and pathetic that we waited all this time for this…quite sad.
June 30th, 2009 at 1:02 am
When can we bloody expect GM8 anyway, we’ve waited long enough – Will it be released by 2012 ? Maybe 2015 ?
June 30th, 2009 at 3:31 am
Greg, you have to understand that all of that takes funding- funding they don’t even readily have. Game Maker is NOT making a profit.
Not to mention that most of your suggestions aren’t that necessary anyway…
June 30th, 2009 at 6:02 am
One thing that have limited gamemaker in the making of a lot of games is the lack of physics simulation. An example would be a ball rolling down a slope or hill. With the previous versions of Game maker, the ball would most likely get stuck, and of course not get higher speed depending on the slope’s angle. This has limited the making of games such as:
- Platform games with uneven ground. It is terribly hard to make it work correctly.
- Ragdoll simulation – Body with connected parts that moves and rotates according to gravity.
- Other physics games like Magic Pen of FreeRider (addictinggames.com).
I understand there is not time to create this for Game Maker 8, but it is something you should think about for the next, next release of Game Maker. Other than that, I love game maker
June 30th, 2009 at 6:44 am
I just read commend #44, and I couldn’t agree more! I’m tired of the old loading bar, because it’s so.. impersonal! What should be done instead is that you can make a “game” that launches when the game loads, so that is what appears instead of the loading bar (if you choose so). That way we could create some custom loading animations to play, or a simple “play-around-when-loading”-thing. However, that would need more built-in codes for the GML such as the amount of percent loaded of the real game.
I know it’s late for suggestions and stuff, and you must be sick of hearing them. I just had this vision of all these costom made loading screens, and it made me happy :’)
June 30th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
@ Greg24: ok, ok… you’ll get a bonus cookie with your copy
Nah, I understand your feeling.
I think the things to bear in mind are:
1: I *think* YoYo aren’t doing as well as some think & don’t have so much money to invest in programmers for new versions.
2: I *think* it is in fact just 1 man (Mark) who is coding GM8.
3: I *think* that once GM7 Mac & GM8 are out there & selling well that YoYo will have a lot more money for future GM versions.
@ others asking for physics:
I agree 110% – physics solution included would be *incredibly useful* – hopefully “next time”.
Personally, I’m happy with GM8 (primarily because of .pngs)
June 30th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
LOL hopefully next time ? when in GM 12 ? We are in 2009 – look at the high quality of games now? What do you mean funding ? That’s why YoYogames invested a lot of money – THEY are the funding – and making a GOOD product = more $$$. GM8 is not much over GM7 they could have named it 7.5 ! I think after all these years and so much talk about how GM is unoptimized and how SLOW it gets when you have even plain scenes with a few sprites, that I believe a major rewrite would be in order – I expected a major rewrite for GM8, what was all this talk about C+, faster GM, portability, all this was BS or what ? Most suggestions here are VALID – what’s a game maker with the complete absence of physics – something they SHOULD include, they only went 1/3 of the way by hiring people for sprites – they could have gone further and had some features requiring plugins, NATIVELY supported by GM8, like physics among others, included in GM !that’s more important than 5000 bloody sprites. GM is very poorly optimized – it can slow to a crawl even on the fastest processor, the equivalent COMPILED game would run 300x faster and that is FACT and has been reported by many over the years. Don’t talk to me about funding MATE – I would gladly spend up to $100 on something HALF decent, that has enough features and performance to compete with all the 2D games out there, instead of the usual limited n00b games made with GM that remind me of 1982 games FFS !
What a MAJOR disappointment !
better encryption ? LOL I’ve heard that one before – only a matter of days before a gm8decompiler comes out I’m willing to BET on it!
Also GM EXEs return tons of false positives – the slow nature, false positives and poor security of GM are 3 out of many reasons that deter people from using GM…..FIX those 3 and you are half way there FS!
June 30th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Dear Greg24,
You are very welcome to stop using Game Maker and use another product that has all the great features you require for your games.
- Mark
June 30th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
[...] ועובדים במרץ על גרסא 8 – יש למה לחכות! [...]
June 30th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Hello Mark nice to meet you =)
im going to read again book now im at chapter 10 =) btw im curious will there be any use of Particles cuz i don’t know how to use em and want to and what do they do ? (in the book i mean)
Il soon buy This new version too but my dad don’t trust Credit card Pay and i wonder how will i can buy it im from Slovenia in Europe…
July 1st, 2009 at 1:51 am
Dear Mr. Overmars,
I must say I am shocked at your canned response – you took the easy way out – I invite you to re-read my message ENTIRELY and ALL the points I’ve raised – I’ve carefuly taken the time to post this and you will see I am right on every point – if not, please do prove me wrong….
* The slow nature of GM – It is *FACT* that many people have complained at how poorly optimized GM is and how SLOW it can become, and how much memory it gobles for very simple games – because of the nature of the program and the fact it uses your resource TWICE in RAM. It would be VERY difficult to make high quality 2D games and match the speed of current games out there in 2D. Some blame this on the interpreter nature of GM. Now you decided to make the Runner in C++, this is totally misleading – people imagine that because the runner is C++ that it will be much faster – TOTALLY WRONG – GM’s nature is still an interpreter – making it C++ over Delphi, give me a break, it won’t make it lightning fast like people think – might even make it slower compared to Borland’s optimize code for compiling – what is not optimized is GM itself !
* I think Game Game is TONS of potential – with the right speed and feature it could be one of the best out there – you’ve missed that chance – A complete re-write of GM would have been better – new GML commands, fixing of bugs, sound that plays instantly when you call it as opposed to a delay, etc…. What great potential GM would have without these shortcomings – Why isn’t GM 8 a MAJOR release ? To me GM 8 = GM 7.5 !
* GM returning tons of false positives – Imagine distributing your games on forums and other places when people scan it and returns viruses, trojans, spyware.. doesn’t make anybody look good – All these years, how come you didn’t investigate and make sure the problem is addressed all around. I think you have abandonned Game Maker and have not set your priorities straight – I would have gladly paid you $50-$75 for Game Maker if it was SIGNIFICANTLY better and faster than GM6 – I ordered your book and what a waste of money it was, putting more emphasis on stock games than going step by step over each GML command.
Look at the 2D games you see on yahoo and other sites – they have tons of background events – IMPOSSIBLE to do that in Game Maker – the more step events you add the more your game comes to a crawl!
To me a new sprite editor + resources does NOT justify paying money again – that’s a SMALL upgrade – I woN’t hide how badly disappointed I am – I expected from all this wait we’d get a totally revamped, fresh new Game Maker, FASTER, optimized, better!
Members have made tons of constructive suggestions over the years and it seems you haven’t implamented a fraction of what was recommended….. I thought YoYoGames coming along was going to make things faster and better – They have invested so much money on their site and other things – and all we get is a “not a significant update” those are Sandy’s own words on a blog – he even admitted GM 8 will not be a major update – so why the hell call it 8.0 and not 7.5 ? This is very misleading in my opinion.
I am truely disappointed and frustrated that a program with such great potential and a good market was not significantly improved and is still vulnerable to hackers and n00bs and returns so many false positives. I am certain MANY people share my concerns but are too much of cowards to post about it, scared they will get into trouble. I am no programmer and I have no time – if I did you think I would use GM I would code in C++ and spend years making a game! I would gladly donate my time FOR FREE to you if I knew Delphi or C++ if only to make GM better – that’s how much I feel GM has potential that is unused.
July 1st, 2009 at 2:21 am
Mark, is there any improvements happening to the extension system to incorporate the new resource exporting or trigger events?
July 1st, 2009 at 2:22 am
Greg, you are highly exaggerating Game Maker’s speed. It isn’t that slow, and if it is for you I suggest you look into your coding methods a little better. It’s obvious you are making terrible memory leaks. I have one of the worst PC’s for gaming and yet I can make some complex scenes with no lag. I swear some people just love to go on an endless hyperbole about Game maker’s speed.
Also, in regards to a physics engine, you won’t ever get that built in. Code one yourself, I’m sure you’ll get alot of help on the GMC with that, and you’ll definitely have to learn some higher level math. Since Game maker is meant to make all types of games, built in physics simulation will be very inflexible. You can already do what you want with a level of knowledge.
Also, what do you mean plugins? Are they in any way different from DLL’s?
I think your problem is that you’re underestimating Game Maker and need to actually become a little more experienced with it and learn how to get the most of it. Your suggestions are hardly valid at all.
July 1st, 2009 at 2:23 am
Mark, since you seem to be reading these comments, is there a chance that softwrap issues have been, excuse the pun, wrapped up?
July 1st, 2009 at 8:54 am
By the was what is that mask in objects and what does it do ?
July 1st, 2009 at 10:47 am
GM8 = interpreter + code + resource like GM7?
GM8 = GM7 + beautiful sprite/code editors + some fixes?
I think will be more professional (more users, more $$$) if you decide to implement compiler one time for all.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:31 am
Primoz128: I suggest you read through the topics on masks in the help file. Basically a mask is the sprite used for collisions. Usually it’s the same as the drawn sprite but GM allows you to use a different one if you want.
Roby: I don’t think you really understanding what you’re asking for, a compiler for GM (as opposed to an interpreter) would take many people a very long time to create. It’s just not a practical idea. If you need extra speed I suggest you learn to optimize your code.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:42 am
I want the best for GM and it’s time to think about the compiler, not for me, not for my games, not for the speed, but for the quality of the tool.
Obviously I will optimize my code, but a compiler is a necessary step.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:51 am
“a compiler is a necessary step”
I do not believe this is true, interpreted languages have several advantages over compiled ones, especially for beginners. For instance being able to change code while the game is running. Several “professional” languages are interpreted, Java and Python to name a few.
July 1st, 2009 at 2:10 pm
GM8 uses Dx8 or OpenGL? I don’t remember…
July 1st, 2009 at 3:31 pm
I love all the new features … I would love to know whether the Games Now saupport biggers ICons …as in Windows Vista and Windiws 7 ?
July 1st, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Hmm.
If it’s not too late, what about having functionality to include only certain GM features in the runner that we need?
For example, taking 3D out if your game only uses 2D, or taking out particles if those aren’t used.
Also, how does runtime speed (FPS) compare to GM7? Or is that included in “much faster loading times”?
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I found on Gm 7 an CRAZY STUPID ERROR !!!!!! im yust on Gml chapteri wanted to write message hello world but when i used alt gr + b to make { alvays openes new background o.O !!!
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Primoz128:
I would recommend you demonstrate an IQ of at least room temperature and use proper English. Or do you even have that IQ?
July 6th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Wow….a lot of fire in this glog. Also, “I think it. Therefore, it must be so..”, comes to mind, as a game developing methodology from some users in this glog. I.E., no programming, no understanding, it doesn’t matter how it gets done….JUST DO WHAT I THINK IN MY PERFECT LITTLE MIND!!!!!AND MAKE IT SO!!!
That kinda of technology won’t be available for some time here on planet Earth. In the meantime, it’s called a learning process(Greg24). This process Greg, should help you find what part of game developing you want to be in. Which, to me sounds like directing or production. Or, your so excited about making a game. You don’t want to interact with the scripting or GUI interface that others have worked so HARD to bring into existence. :I
July 7th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I’m loving what I have seen so far, apart from setting transparency on Sprites which seemed pretty easy in GM7 and below. As in, choose a background colour, the bottom left hand pixel being that colour. Embrace change though !
On other small niggle, in terms of the High Score Table. Why does it have to be a ” Pop-up Window ” ? It would be nice to enable the scores as strings to be placed in a Room that could even be placed anywhere and in any colour. I find it impossible to place animated Objects / Sprites in the same ” High Score ” Room. I haven’t seen many tutorials on High Score Table settings, I guess this maybe why. I notice the ” Merge Game ” feature has gone / replaced by Export / Import Rescources, I guess this is the same thing. I’m looking forward to the release of GM 8 ! 