GameMaker 8.x Uploads Only at New YoYo Games Website
- GameMaker must appeal to more serious developers
- Publishing games will showcase the potential of GameMaker
- Need to shed reputation of being a “kids play site”
- The current YoYo Games website will be kept and fixed – how this will fit in with the new site is not announced.
- YoYo Games’ Instant Play plugin will be made open source since it takes too much time to maintain (and will be replaced by the ability to produce HTML5 games in GameMaker.
- Games created in GameMaker 8 and beyond will be allowed on new website
Reading the post adds confusion over which versions of GameMaker will be able to be used to create and upload games to the new website.
An earlier blog post by YoYo Games suggested that the new YoYo Games website would restrict uploads to games created in “GameMaker 8.1″ before Russell Kay replied to the comments and stated that YoYo were “considering allowing GM8 and GM8.1 files”.
However in today’s post YoYo Games’ Community Manager Kirsty Scott blogs about the reaction to a proposal for “making game uploads restricted to Standard 8.1″. I think this is the first anyone has head about such a proposal to limit uploads to upgraded GameMaker users. Kirsty continues stating that GameMaker 8.1 Standard users are paying for the website and adds “while we understand that there is a great many users of GameMaker 7 and Lite, we cannot place priority on supporting these over the latest (full) version users”. Despite these comments after clarification from YoYo Games it seems that “uploads by all users of 8/8.1″, including the free Lite versions, will be able to upload.
YYG’s glog posts are getting worse — if that’s possible. First, Sandy makes an announcement, which Russell clarifies. Then Kirsty makes another announcement to clear things up… but that gets corrected by a YYG tweet.
I like YYG, but they have serious communications problems. I generally support their policy decisions. But I’m annoyed that they can’t articulate them without contradiction, ambiguity, and corrections.
I agree. I was particularly narked by Kirsty’s response to me “Details on this nearer the time without labouring micro details Phil. It is clear and consistent- “as we still making GameMaker 8 and 8.1 available, it makes sense to have both of these be allowed to upload from”.”
So clear and consistent that I had to clarify it on Twitter and the third reply got the wrong end of the stick.
What exactly is going to happen to games that are already uploaded?
I’m all for encouraging people to use new versions of GM, but by not allowing ‘GM 7 or less’ version games on the site seems like a step too far. Try the carrot instead of the stick.