OFFICIAL GameMaker Studio 2 Early Beta Release Version 2.2.1

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rmanthorp

GameMaker Staff
Admin
GameMaker Dev.
With the version 2.2.1 update to GameMaker Studio 2, a new Beta Channel has been added to Preferences.

This channel is for people who want to get bug fixes or new features sooner and in exchange are willing to risk encountering bugs or issues associated with a version that has not completed testing. We also ask of these users that they do report these issues as soon as they see them so that by the time the "Stable" release is made these issues have been fixed.

To stress that point: the beta channel version of GameMaker Studio 2 may contain bugs that could corrupt your projects. It may also introduce project structure changes which, whilst being completely safe and correct, block you from taking that project back into earlier GMS2 versions or sharing the project with others who are not using the beta version.

Accordingly, the Beta Channel opt-in will not be available for minors, Educational users who log in using seats, or anyone using the free Trial version. We would also caution users of shared computers from opting-in, as the setting is for the GMS2 install, not per-user.

It is also currently not available on Steam (we will review this for possible inclusion in a later release). For our Steam users, your YoYo Account is valid for the non-Steam version as well, so feel free to install and use that to take part in the beta.

FOR THESE FIRST FEW BETAS BEFORE 2.2.1 GOES STABLE...
You will need to follow the instructions and download the beta IDE installer from this helpdesk article:

Opting Into The GameMaker Studio 2 Beta Channel

As above, if your account is not eligible for the beta system, whilst the installer will work for you, you will be unable to get the correct runtimes. So please don't use the installer if you're a Trial user, below the age of majority in your territory, or an educational user.

...

VERSION 2.2.1:
Version 2.2.1 is our biggest ever bugfix release, thanks to our ongoing consolidation. Including, updated macOS IDE's Mono version, in-game performance optimizations, Android adaptive icons support, custom maps for gamepads and a huge amount of HTML5 fixes.

Check out all the details here:

Beta IDE Release Notes: http://gms.yoyogames.com/ReleaseNotes-Beta.html

Beta Runtime Release Notes: http://gms.yoyogames.com/release-notes-runtime-Beta.html
 

FrostyCat

Redemption Seeker
This looks like a good start for alleviating the bug responsiveness issues that have been affecting GMS 2 since its inception. What is the planned frequency for updates on this channel? At least twice a month would be a nice start, but I'm hoping for some sort of automated build that can push updates more frequently than that (e.g. every week). Not sure how much work has gone into the release notes, but having all of that written by a human could slow you down. People who would be interested in the beta channel are likely monitoring bug reports in Mantis already.

Also, since the beta appears to overwrite the current version of GMS 2 (which is unfortunately a step backwards compared to GMS 1.x EA), would installing in a different account help? Or would it still fight over things like the number of active sessions or space in C:\ProgramData?
 

Amon

Member
I've installed the new beta 2.21 ide but in preferences, I don't see at the bottom a beta section.
 

Dan

GameMaker Staff
GameMaker Dev.
I've installed the new beta 2.21 ide but in preferences, I don't see at the bottom a beta section.
" the Beta Channel opt-in will not be available for minors, Educational users who log in using seats, or anyone using the free Trial version." < if your account should be okay, then file > Log out. If this still fails to fix, send a Helpdesk ticket in so we can check your license and determine why you're not seeing this section.
 
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Dan

GameMaker Staff
GameMaker Dev.
Not sure how much work has gone into the release notes, but having all of that written by a human could slow you down. People who would be interested in the beta channel are likely monitoring bug reports in Mantis already.
Quite a lot of effort, actually, and you're correct in that this slows down the initial beta release. However, obviously, we need to be able to communicate what is in the version and therefore what new stuff we would like beta users to pay attention to and give feedback on. We also need to make the notes with the end release in mind and add/amend throughout the beta release window. So it doesn't really benefit us to skimp on details early on - people will just send us lots of messages asking what has changed...

... would installing in a different account help? Or would it still fight over things like the number of active sessions or space in C:\ProgramData?
No, the settings for the beta channel are for the overall GMS2 install, not per-user, so they would indeed just share settings in ProgramData. This is mentioned in the FAQ and we do caution users of shared machines to think about this before opting-in.
 

FrostyCat

Redemption Seeker
Quite a lot of effort, actually, and you're correct in that this slows down the initial beta release. However, obviously, we need to be able to communicate what is in the version and therefore what new stuff we would like beta users to pay attention to and give feedback on. We also need to make the notes with the end release in mind and add/amend throughout the beta release window. So it doesn't really benefit us to skimp on details early on - people will just send us lots of messages asking what has changed...
Would it make sense to put up more frequent, automated "sub-beta" releases that only documents the list of resolved and feedback-pending tickets they contain, followed by sparser but more detailed beta releases? That would help reduce the number of "red" builds to manage and allow the development team to respond between manually documented beta releases.

It would be even more effective if these releases contain metadata for what tickets it addresses, and users could type in a list of ticket IDs to monitor. When a beta arrives saying that it addresses something on the monitor list, it would alert them to download and test for those issues explicitly.

However, I do agree with your point that the stable release notes need to be written one day, and spreading it out over beta releases would reduce the workload for the stable release.

No, the settings for the beta channel are for the overall GMS2 install, not per-user, so they would indeed just share settings in ProgramData. This is mentioned in the FAQ and we do caution users of shared machines to think about this before opting-in.
My question is about the possibility of GMS 2 beta being installed concurrently with GMS 2 stable, not about shared machines.

Is it possible to get beta to coexist with stable on the same system by installing on another account, or another means simpler than that?
 

sylvain_l

Member
Is it possible to get beta to coexist with stable on the same system by installing on another account, or another means simpler than that?
batch launching script that update a symlink to cheat on the c:\ProgramData folder befaore running GMS2 (no tested, but could work to avoid having the beta / stable release use that same folder without sharing it. (but I don't know if there are other settings that need to be also switched)
edit: also knowing that GMS2 don't work with that for fonts; not sure it'll work at all.
 

Dan

GameMaker Staff
GameMaker Dev.
Would it make sense to put up more frequent, automated "sub-beta" releases that only documents the list of resolved and feedback-pending tickets they contain, followed by sparser but more detailed beta releases?
This is the plan, but it takes time to put that structure in place...

My question is about the possibility of GMS 2 beta being installed concurrently with GMS 2 stable, not about shared machines. Is it possible to get beta to coexist with stable on the same system by installing on another account, or another means simpler than that?
No, you were correct the first time / I agreed with you. Installing with a second account is no different to sharing a machine with a second person as far as GMS2 is concerned, so the two installs will use the same base settings. The easiest method is to install GMS2 via Steam as well as standalone, then you can keep the Steam install on the stable IDE and the standalone on the Beta, but you will have to watch as when you set a runtime as active in one of these it will apply to both.
 

Dog Slobber

Member
One of the popular Software versioning schemes is to number unstable/developmental releases with an odd number in the minor version filed.

YoYo should consider using a similar version numbering system. This way at a glance everyone can easily see when one is using an unstable release when posting bugs. For example using the third field (even = stable, odd=unstable), so as not to disrupt the existing number system too much.


Current Release Versions:
Stable Release (IDE): 2.2.0.343
Stable Release (Runtime): 2.2.0.261

Unstable Release (IDE): 2.2.1.361
Unstable Release (Runtime): 2.2.1.273
Upcoming Q4 Release Versions:
Stable Release (IDE): 2.2.2.xxx
Stable Release (Runtime): 2.2.2.xxx

Unstable Release (IDE): 2.2.3.xxx
Unstable Release (Runtime): 2.2.3.xxx

 

chance

predictably random
Forum Staff
Moderator
Made me chuckle. Numbering scheme aside, I'd never install a software version titled "unstable". ;)

Beta, or perhaps "early release"... yes. But not unstable. I know what you mean, of course. It just struck me as funny.
 
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