Favorite version of GameMaker?

[Q-Nova]

I could've sworn that this kind of poll was made in the MFGG forums, at least as far back as the phpBB era, but searches have proven me otherwise.

Anyway, I know many people here use GameMaker, but I'm curious on what version they like best. This could be interesting; I'm sure a lot of users will pick one of the newer versions because of how advanced they are, but I wonder if anyone still prefers using one of the older versions. Like, are older versions really faster and more stable? I know Remar used versions 5.3A and 7 for his games, even in this decade. He explains his reasons in question #3 of his FAQ page, where he talks about some of the differences between a select few versions of GameMaker.

[VinnyVideo]

The latest version is the most powerful version overall. And now that it's free, it's hard to find a reason to not give it a try.

I voted for GM 8.0 out of nostalgia, since a huge chunk of my games were made in that version.

Course clear! You got a card.

[kremling]

The latest version is the most powerful version overall. And now that it's free, it's hard to find a reason to not give it a try.

I voted for GM 8.0 out of nostalgia, since a huge chunk of my games were made in that version.

I voted for GM 7.0 out of nostalgia haha, but it was a close tie between 7.0 and 8.0.
I think in regards to MFGG Game Maker was at its peak churning out games/engines/clones/etc.

[darkblueyoshi]

GameMaker 8 has a special place in my heart

[DJ Coco]

Game Maker 7 was very good for the time.
Game Maker 8, however, introduced some rather dumb problems. Regardless, I used it a lot back then.

I think most of my time was spent with GameMaker Studio 1.x though; perhaps even 1.4, despite it being absolutely terrible.
I got so accustomed to its problems that I stopped noticing them after a while. In hindsight, it's impressive I managed to put up with it.

GameMaker Studio 2 might be the best version so far; though I haven't used it much and I also have no intention to due to their subscription model.
So my vote goes to Game Maker 7.

[Vitiman]

This old early 2000s weasel is gonna pick Game Maker 5 purely because that was the only GM experience that I seriously sat down and tried to have a very very long time ago. It was not terribly fun but the example projects still hold quite a bit of nostalgic fondness in my cold, cynical heart.

Those who know me know I'm not really a Game Maker guy by any stretch of imagination. Now that the latest Studio is free though, who knows? Well, I actually had a 1.4 license for years now, I could have easily done something with that. I just didn't want to. But yeah, Game Maker's super old isn't it? That's wild to think about. Long live the development of amateur games - they make the world interesting.

[matrix]

I prefer GameMaker Studio 2 because at first, it wasn't that interesting. But when Opera acquired YoYo Games, GMS2 started to take its shape. They started to add a lot of cool features and also brought back features that existed in legacy GM but not in GameMaker Studio 1. And now, the latest version of GMS2 is fully free for non-commercial use, so I don't need to spend that much of my money. I am glad to see Opera being user-friendly.

The only downside of the latest version of GMS2 is that you can't export 32-bit applications.

Even GameMaker 6/7/8.x was nice. It had a lot of features to do with it but the downside is that it's difficult to use filters and effects as it does not have shaders.

Well, I don't even need to talk about GameMaker Studio 1.x as it is the worst version so far. I used GMS 1.4 and exported my game to Windows. And then when I opened it, it needed d3dx_43.dll for the game to work. And if I share with the people who want to play my game but don't know how to figure the error out, then I will not recommend GMS 1.x just because of compatibility issues. Also, they've removed almost everything in GMS 1.x, so there is no use of making games in GMS1.x.

 



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[The ☆ ChahArt]

I have more sentimental attachment to Game Maker 8, although Studio us actually good.

[Q-Nova]

Game Maker 8, however, introduced some rather dumb problems. Regardless, I used it a lot back then.

As someone who started with Game Maker 8, what are those problems you're talking about? Just wondering.

This old early 2000s weasel is gonna pick Game Maker 5 purely because that was the only GM experience that I seriously sat down and tried to have a very very long time ago. It was not terribly fun but the example projects still hold quite a bit of nostalgic fondness in my cold, cynical heart.

Those who know me know I'm not really a Game Maker guy by any stretch of imagination. Now that the latest Studio is free though, who knows? Well, I actually had a 1.4 license for years now, I could have easily done something with that. I just didn't want to. But yeah, Game Maker's super old isn't it? That's wild to think about. Long live the development of amateur games - they make the world interesting.

Haha, I should've figured that you would be the one who voted for Game Maker 5! I've recently downloaded a few older versions of Game Maker, including 5, to see what they are like. It's fun to check out the example projects! The Pac-Man example in particular lasted for a long time; it was in Game Maker 1.1, and seems to be included in each of the following versions up to 8.1, although starting with 7 it got reskinned into a treasure explorer theme (yet the help file is clearly a hasty minor edit, with Pac-Man references remaining).

And yes, Game Maker is pretty old, over 20 years old in fact! It has really changed over the years; to think that it started as something for beginners and now it's being used by indie developers to make commercial games! Clickteam is still running strong too (even if it got surpassed by Game Maker in popularity)!

By the way, I sent you a PM long ago. I thought I'd let you know, since it doesn't seem like you read it yet. I don't get notifications when I receive PMs here, so I'm not sure if that applies to other users.

The only downside of the latest version of GMS2 is that you can't export 32-bit applications.

Aw really? GMS2 can't export 32-bit games? That's a bummer, as someone who can't run 64-bit games. Sounds like a deal-breaker to me, although I have access to a newer computer that might be able to run 64-bit applications.

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[DJ Coco]

Game Maker 8, however, introduced some rather dumb problems. Regardless, I used it a lot back then.

As someone who started with Game Maker 8, what are those problems you're talking about? Just wondering.

I remember Guinea talking about how GML became a little unreliable.

For instance, adding a value X to a variable Y in a while loop until variable Y was larger than or equal to an integer Z.
After that, subtracting Z from Y could result in a value smaller than 0. (something like -0.000001)

YoYoGames had replied to that bug report by saying that is due to floating point imprecision, but as far as I'm aware subtracting an integer from a variable which is known to be >= the integer is guaranteed to be >= 0 in any other language, and also in GM7.

This issue has probably been amended in the meantime. But I remember being super anxious about this issue causing bugs in my games for a while

I don't remember much else about GM8, other than running into some bugs myself, but I couldn't tell you anymore precisely what they were.