Hi Folks,

Finally after the months in development, masses of effort from our core tech team Russell and Mike, support from our internal testers and beta testers (thank you guys) we have released the long anticipated Standard and Lite version of Game Maker 8.1.  As a way of saying thanks to everyone for their patience whilst we have been bringing Standard and Lite together, and as a little Easter egg, we’d like to give you a little snippet of the future…

Game Maker Studio* ;)



*working title

Our first update (8.1.69) has now been released! You can get this simply by running GameMaker and allowing the new updater to "do it's thing". GameMaker 8.1.69 is mostly bug fixes, but has a couple of cool new features.

First, we've added the ability to turn OFF the new parameter checking system. This gives extension makers time to update them, without forcing those of you making games with them, back into Game Maker 8.0. This is a PER-GAME option, and you can find the switch in the Global Game Settings dialog. Any Game Maker 8.0 game loaded, is automatically set to having this OFF, but you can always change it back if you've upgraded your scripts. Be warned; this IS going to be mandatory in the future, so please use the extra time to upgrade your scripts.

We've also added the ability to control the Anti-Alias settings in the FONT dialog Since the new FONT system has removed the ability to use the (very) old bitmap fonts, we've added this to make sure you can still do those retro style games, with nice "clunky" fonts. Not only that, but there are now 3 anti-alias settings, meaning you can now fine-tune your font so it's not quite as soft as it was with 8.1. Please note however, these settings won't be visible in the FONT dialog just yet that will come in a future update; we felt it more important to give you the setting NOW, rather than waiting for it.

And lastly... we've added some folder links so that you can find all those tutorials, libs and extensions that GameMaker stores in it's program folder, meaning you don't have to go looking for it. There's one in the HELP menu, and if you do a fresh install there's also some in the main windows START menu. We'll be updating the GM installer links later.

You can find a complete list here: release-notes.html

So go and download the new version, and have fun!!

The YoYo team are delighted to be announce the release of GameMaker 8.1 Standard and Lite Editions today, available from our store link below.

http://store.yoyogames.com/games/273-gamemaker-for-windows

This version is for WINDOWS only, and contains many new and upgraded features, which makes GameMaker more powerful and enjoyable to use than ever before.

Our previous announcement http://glog.yoyogames.com/?p=3045 lists the details all the new features.

Those of you who have already purchased Game Maker 8, you will be able to upgrade for FREE! If you are a new customer or currently using GameMaker Lite, you will be able to upgrade to the new GameMaker 8.1 Standard Edition through our store. This will stay at the low price of $25 until the 1st June 2011.  After this time, GameMaker 8.1 Standard will cost $39.99.

Upgrading process to 8.1

What you need is your “Purchase Reference”. If you don’t have your Purchase Reference, then follow this link and enter the email address you used to register Game Maker- http://www.softwrap.com/page.aspx?section_id=9 it should automatically send you what you need. If you no longer use that address or the link sends you an email without any details, then email support@softwrap.com and they will deal with this within 24 hours (weekdays only).

By going to the Store http://store.yoyogames.com/ you will be able to click on GameMaker and upgrade or purchase easily.

We'd like to thank you all for your patience, we wanted to make sure everything was working right before we released. We hope you enjoy GameMaker 8.1 and look forward to seeing some amazing games come out of it!

Best,

The YoYo Team

NB- if you have any problems at all i.e. your code appearing to be invalid, please contact us via the https://yoyogames.mojohelpdesk.com where we will be able to track and advise. Thanks

Some of you might have been following the various posts about the new version of GameMaker, and part of this discussion it became clear that we've lost much of the education side of the program. Part of this discussion centered on the fact that we really want to get more kids involved, and so we think that with the release with 8.1 it's a good time to change our image and aim for the younger demographic. To this end, we've spent some time coming up with a new look for GameMaker, and so we're now proud to present the all new GameMaker logo!

The new simpler logo has been designer to targeted the educational markets, and in particular bringing in parents and young children into game programming. This is the first of several measures we'll implement which is aimed at making GameMaker a simple application, more child friendly and easier to use. GameMaker 8.1 will be the last version in the current style, and we believe that it's as much as most hardcore users will need. The new version (which we've been talking about for awhile now) will be the all new "GameMaker for Kids!". More focus will be placed on an all new drag and drop mechanic, and will allow you to attach pre-canned behaviors making it simple for kids to make the game of their dreams. It will boast complex yet simple to control physics systems, an all new GUI for allowing simple 3D games to be created, while there will be several new videos and tutorials for getting the younger (and inexperienced) designer up and running.

The aim of GameMaker has always been to introduce new people to wonders of game creation, without the need of programming, and we believe we can finally achieve this with the newly designed GUI and all new "Aboyne" runtime engine.

The new GameMaker for Kids will be available at the start of Q4 this year for the same low price of $39.99, and unlike previous versions will be available IN STORES nationwide, with the aim to go worldwide soon after. We're incredibly excited about this new application and the new distribution deals we've put in place, and hope you'll join us when the new version finally appears in stores.

EDIT: Yes folks, this really was an April Fool, we hope you enjoyed it... thanks for the feedback.