GameMaker 8.1 has today been released. The update brings bug fixes, IDE improvements and new functions and variables to Windows users.
In addition there is a new registration system, an built-in updater, the restrictions on the free version have changed and a new higher price comes into effect from June 1st.
Download now (13.8MB installer)
The software can be installed and used alongside Game Maker 8, with editable games saved using GameMaker 8.1 given the .gm81 file extension instead of .gmk.
Usability Improvements
- Adding /// followed by a comment on the top line of a GML script will make the comment appear alongside the script in the Action box of the Object editor.
- Right click priorities have changed in the room editor and you can now zoom into and out of a zoom and pan around it. Using the mouse to pan and zoom have also been added to the Paths and Sprite Editor.
- You can use [F2] to rename resources instead of [Ctrl]+[R]
See: Video including these usability improvements
New Functions and Variables
- New rules apply to script argument passing
- New constants and functions relating to device type
- draw_self()
- dot_product(x1,y1, x2,y2) and dot_product_3d(x1,y1,z1,x2,y2,z2)
- point_distance_3d(x1,y1,z1,x2,y2,z2)
- d3d_light_define_ambient(colour)
Improved Font Support
The font system has been rewritten and fonts are now anti-aliased. Additionally a character set can be specified to improve support for foreign languages and accented characters.
Bug Fixes
With a menu option to report bugs and a built-in system to distribute new updates any identified bugs should be fixed quickly and pushed out to users.
Lite Restrictions
A required in-game watermark and end of game splash screen have been added. The ability to create distributable executable versions of your games remains. Some previously pro-only sprite functions become available including image_angle.
See: GameMaker 8.1 Lite Restrictions
Removal of Softwrap
The Softwrap DRM which controlled access to the upgraded features has been removed and replaced with an in-house version. Upgraded users can convert their Game Maker 8 purchase reference number into a GameMaker 8.1 license key.
Safe from decompilers, for now
Executables exported from GameMaker 8.1 are now encrypted so – currently – games are safe from Game Maker decompilers.
Submit your games to the YoYo Game Store…
GameMaker 8.1 is also the version of the game development software required in order to submit games for publishing in the YoYo Games Store. Although the store is not yet open to submissions one of the biggest hurdles put in the way of this happening has now been overcome.
A full list of changes can be found in the official release notes.
i like it
its not working at all
Hope the future updates will fix all the bugs.
@NakedPaulToast
Well, apologies to anyone that was understandably confused by the provided GMK. But the Bug is apparent and can be quite easily replicated on any GM 7.0-8.0 GMK imported into GM 8.1. Where the ” draw_text ” command is not imported correctly into GM 8.1, from my 8.0 GMK, it may prove useful to the YoYo Games programming team, as to what else maybe causing the problem. It might even be a random problem.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
OK, that was fun. Back to hell now.
Fun.
@Alex Aris
Your bug report is not very descriptive and confusing. The GMK you provided doesn’t demonstrate the problem, at least not to anyone not familiar with the game and doesn’t isolate the problem.
Your not helping to fix the bug.
All is good, apart from my projects in 8.0, don’t work well in 8.1 because of a bug with Draw_Text ( no display ). If Draw_Text is created from fresh in 8.1 it’s fine ! :O
Awesom, finelly it is released 😀
Zoom, Pan, using TAB to Block code and a auto-updater! Life is good. 😀
Awesomeeeeee.
The day has come…and i feel giddy!