Writing on Twitter Russell Kay stated that YoYo Games are looking at the possibility of getting the GameMaker maker, or IDE, running on the $25 RaspberryPi computer which is soon to be placed on sale.

The latest version of GameMaker is currently only available for Windows.

Game Maker 7 for Linux? is taken from: GameMaker Blog

Described as a “Brilliant and beautiful neon puzzler” the game is currently available on iOS and Android for $1.99 or £1.49. This is about twice the price of previous GameMaker games released for mobile devices.

The game looks to be based on a couple of GameMaker games with the same name created by Juho Pohjonen several years ago.

iOS5 has been released for Apple devices and features vastly improved HTML5 performance. We’d previously heard great things from those within YoYo Games about the increased capabilities, now the real-world performance can be put to the test. Blaze.io has a nice video showing the speed improvement of HTML5 content rendering from iOS4 to 5.

• Mike Dailly has made only the second post on YoYo Games’ Tech Blog, fast platform collisions.
• An official GameMaker:HTML5 list of frequently asked questions is now being maintained on the YoYo Games wiki.

YoYo Games & GameMaker:HTML5 – Reflexions, iOS5, Fast Platform Collisions and FAQ is taken from: GameMaker Blog

The articles revealed:

• Unit sales of GameMaker 8.1 have increased 50% since the price jumped from $25 to $40
• There are 1.5 million downloads of GameMaker a year
• Symbian support will be present GameMaker Studio
• GameMaker Studio will be released “later this year”
• “In 2012 EVERY version of GameMaker will get a complete rewrite and many new features”
• Published game releases are planned at a rate of “two per month”.
• The GameMaker HTML5 beta will be launched “at the end of September”

Last night YoYo Games also published their latest title Pollushot by Greg Lobanov.  The game is currently available to download on iPhone, iPad and Android and costs £0.61/$0.99.

Sandy: GameMaker Sales Up 50%, Symbian Support, Total Rewrite Next Year is taken from: GameMaker Blog

Since that last release Kay completely left “the GameMaker scene”, time which has seen numerous developments and announcements surrounding the future of the GameMaker software.

In order to summarise what he’d missed since then I first had to remind myself of the major developments that had occurred. This post will serve as a recap for Kay and anyone else interested in a summary of key milestones in the GameMaker (or as it was then Game Maker) community over the last couple of years in one place.

2009

• Game Maker 8 Released, the first new version in almost 3 years.  Major sprite and script editor updates.

 2010

• YoYo Games move to Dundee
• Mike Dailly and Russell Kay join
• GameMaker for Mac released
• SkyDiver Mach II is the first game published by YoYo Games and becomes available in the iTunes store.
• Simply Solitaire HD becomes the first GameMaker game published on Android

2011

• GreenTech+ becomes first GameMaker game playable on PSP and as a PlayStation Mini
• Game Maker becomes GameMaker with the release of GameMaker 8.1
• GameMaker 8.1 introduces a built in product updater, and regular updates are now being delivered.
• GameMaker 8.1 also features new Lite restrictions and a new registration system
• GameMaker Studio is announced which will allow exporting games in iOS, Android and HTML5 formats.
• Price increased to $39.99
• GameMaker HTML5 enters alpha, demo games released.
• YoYo Games now employ 14 fulltime staff

And the magazines we’ve seen launch (and release more than a single issue) since the last GMTech:  GMIndie, KwikLook, Overbyte, Nikc-Nack, GMAG, Game Maker’s Digest, This Is Indie, RekameMag, indie(Magazine)

Have I missed anything? If you recall any other significant developments with regards to GameMaker please post them in the comments so I can update the list.

Since Game Maker Tech is taken from: GameMaker Blog

A $100 discount is available to those who purchase during the beta period which, anticipated to start in September, is just weeks away. This means that active GameMaker users will be able to pick up a copy of GameMaker HTML5 for $99.

Writing on Twitter earlier today developer Mike Dailly wrote that he was “really looking forward to start releasing some of the demos to the public!”

You can sign up for the GameMaker HTML5 beta here.

GameMaker HTML5 Pricing Revealed – $199 (or $99) is taken from: GameMaker Blog

You can request an invite for the GameMaker HTML5 beta here.

Java not your cup of coffee?

If any GameMaker Blog readers are heading to GDC please fill us in with the all the juicy YoYo Games details!

GameMaker HTML5 Windows Beta “Anticipated” for September is taken from: GameMaker Blog

We can review a product exported from this upcoming Game Maker version already at http://www.yoyogames.com, where the site now features a HTML5 version of its homepage animation replacing its ActionScript carousel counter-part.

The above video released by YoYo Games is of GraveMaker a game created using the Alpha version of GameMaker HTML5.

GameMaker HTML5 in “closed Alpha build” is taken from: GameMaker Blog

Mike Dailly has been “having fun playing with obfuscators” in response to the recent release of a GameMaker 8.1 Decompiler.

Games created in GameMaker that are run through an obfuscator will have their source code jumbled up so that if an executable version of the game is decompiled it will not be in a human readable format. Schreib‘s Game Maker Obfuscator has existed for three years now but remains incompatible with Game Maker 8 and beyond.

Writing on Twitter Mike said that “we’ll change the encryption soon” but added that a proper fix would not come about until the release of GameMaker Studio.

“Unfortunately, we can’t “stop” decompilers with the current code base; we can only delay it. However, GM Studio will stop it forever. Because Studio is almost a rewrite, we can prune out enough that you can’t actually rebuild it. The Delphi runner is the issue.”

Fellow GameMaker developer Russell Kay then added ”in Studio (and our C++ Runner) we will have compiled code (even the interpreted GML) so [there is] no source code to decompile.  We will be using LLVM to compile directly to machine code to get a huge speed boost.”

Progress on an obfuscating as an intermediary solution to protecting GameMaker source code appears to be going well.

Mike writes that he is “not sure how we’re going to bundle all this yet” but has clearly had some success including a reduction in file size. “Having our own [obfuscator] means we can take advantage of local knowledge of the code we’re able to cheat a little more because we know the code. Our obfuscator has shrunk the code buy more than 2 thirds! It also removes unused functions!”

Work on Official GameMaker Obfuscator is taken from: GameMaker Blog

Until now games created using GameMaker 8.1, which promised “new, more secure .EXE encryption”, were “safe” from having their source code revealed.

This latest release is actually an updated version of the original Game Maker 8 decompiler. I would imagine that the decompiler could quickly be rendered useless thanks to the system used by YoYo Games to push out regular updates to GameMaker 8.1 users.  Or a more speedy game of cat and mouse could ensue.

Writing on Twitter prior to 8.1′s release GameMaker developer Mike Dailly described the new encryption as “nothing amazing” but added that it “should block things for a little while” and that he “could even change it with each release”.

The most recently released GameMaker decompiler was able to turn iOS apps released by YoYo Games into a computer editable Game Maker file.  That was developed as a stepping stone in a project working towards developing a, subsequently abandoned, Game Maker iOS compiler which could attach YoYo Games’ iOS runner on to any editable Game Maker file.

GameMaker 8.1 Decompiler Released is taken from: GameMaker Blog

YoYo Games’ next published game will be Super Snake HD which has been written by GameMaker creator Mark Overmars. In an extension of the classic snake game snakes must be navigated around obstacles in 80 levels across 4 worlds to feed on chickens. The game has a cartoony look to it, multiple options for controlling snakes as well as a two player mode.

Super Snake HD will be the first new game published by YoYo Games since the release of SkyDiver Drop Zone back in April this year.

YoYo Games’ Super Snake HD will be released on Android and iOS this Thursday.

Super Snake HD by Mark Overmars out Thursday is taken from: GameMaker Blog