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Game Maker for Mac – “Final Release Candidate”

YoYo Games yesterday released what they claim will be the final release candidate of their initial Game Maker for Mac product prior to a general release by the end of the month. The program is available to anyone using the following link:  http://appstore.yoyogames.com/downloads/gm4mac/Game_Maker.dmg (note the ‘appstore‘ prefix!).

Discovered issues should be posted on the bug tracker (you will need to create a bug tracker account to do so).

Interestingly there is a new method of providing paid for access to the software.  All features will be available for 10 usage hours in an initial ‘Trial’ version after which you will have to purchase Game Maker for Mac to continue using the software.  This upgrade process is written by YoYo Games and does not use Softwrap.  Although the absence of Softwrap may be welcomed by some I suspect the time limited free access prove deeply unpopular if introduced in Game Maker 9 replacing the existing Lite/Pro combination.

Throughout this final trial phase (which will be for 2 weeks) we will be testing the update mechanism and the YoYo Games license key system so please helps us and participate at http://gm4mac.yoyogames.com. These keys will be available from the Announcements section at http://gm4mac.yoyogames.com

The license keys will be live for the period of the trial, then deactivated once the trial is complete.”

Russell Kay has said that pricing information should be released in a week or so.

What do you think?

15 Comments

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  1. Weeks? I could build the whole Free/Pro system in the space of 12 hours and do a much more secure implementation than the one in DSGM today. Maybe because everything is contracted out, it takes so long to do basic things.

  2. If they didn’t use softwrap they may have a chance of stopping the piracy. Either way, I feel YoYo Games is being run by disappointed share holders – wanting more bang for buck, and not understanding the industry.

    “Bob – Cash flow’s down, these Ad things don’t make us a dime and our competition is planning big things behind our back… what do we do? We’re doomed!”

    “Nah Bob, if we make it so everyone has to buy Pro to do anything, and all existing Pro users from 2009 and backwards have to buy it again, everyone will buy Pro.”

    You can see why it may work?

    Sigh…

    • This Game Maker for Mac RC version does not use Softwrap. It uses YoYo Games’ own system.

      They had initially planned to use their own system instead of Softwrap for Game Maker 8 but had not developed a system in time, hence a few weeks prior to release Sandy polled users to see whether they would prefer a DRM-free version after Christmas or to stick with Softwrap for pre-Christmas release.

  3. Warezland, here we come. That’s just a stupid desicion to make, and I bet you twenty quid that a) less people buy it and b) more people pirate it..

  4. From running DSGM I can tell you that they are WAY WRONG with this time limit idea.

    When I started, I made it so you basically had to buy Pro to do anything. It’s one way to get sales, and it sort of worked.

    BUT – once you could actually use the Free version to make games, there was MUCH more interest and sales. People have to try it out, properly, and progressively, and actually make good games in Free before they will buy Pro.

    It’s logical as well – if you can’t make any good games because of extreme limitations or time, you can’t grasp how good the software is. There will always be people who do not buy Pro – some extremely talented people – who create great games and these make other people buy Pro. What are these users supposed to do now?

    Most very talented programmers are against commercialization of work and will do everything legally possible to get round the Pro limitations.

    • That probably wouldn’t work, because all the user would have to do is delete the plist file every 10 hours. Time limited trials are stupid anyway. They should keep it the same as the PC version.

    • Everyone seems to be reading it differently to me. The old Beta versions of GM had a date when they stopped working. This one will work for up to 10 hours. How I read it, it has nothing to do with the final version only the time limited beta version. I would expect the lite version will still function as it always has once released.

    • I think you are wrong Dave, if you read the *cough* official post *cough* Russell writes that they will be testing the upgrade mechanism (presumably the ‘more than 10 hours usage thing’) throughout the Final RC testing period.

      In the bugtracker announcements section Russell has posted:

      Here is the initial licence key for Game Maker for Mac – we will be testing the licence process by revoking this key in 3 days time (when we will post another key).

      Just select the “Enter Licence Key” button at the initial screen and cut and paste the following information.

      Licence Key: 86428c20-5f7b-012d-e0ac-001e4f347ee6
      Email Address: beta@yoyogames.com

      Although I do not have access to a Mac myself I would presume that this upgrade key unlocks the software after the initial cumulative 10 hours of usage.

      The license keys will be live for the period of the trial, then deactivated once the trial is complete. in the glog post suggests to me that the given away 10+ hour codes will expire when the testing is complete (since they were given away free and would normally have a retail value of $25 or something).

    • I think you may be right that it’s for the final version, after re-reading the official post. However, I would hope it refers to a 10 hour pro trial before reverting to light. I think most people realise that cutting the lite version to 10 hours would cut the userbase massively and hugely impact sales.

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