Getting a new Game Maker?

R

RetroGameFan

Guest
Note: I'm not sure whether or not this sub-forum is the right place for discussing the idea of getting Game Maker Studio, but if it's not, please move it to the proper forum without penalizing me.

The PC I'm using is a Windows XP, but I currently do not have Game Maker Studio. I have Game Maker 8 Pro (paid version of Game Maker 8) as well as the free version of Game Maker 8.1 on my PC. Having said that, I was wondering: would it be a good idea to download Game Maker Studio, and remove versions 8 and 8.1 to save a bit of space on my PC?

I will discuss my concerns in the next paragraph.

I'm not willing to get the paid version of Game Maker Studio since that would cost just under $150, which is a lot of money for me. I was considering getting the free version because 1. I want to follow along with the tutorials found on the official site, and 2. I'm also thinking of creating a game with multiple levels, but the game might be too big in memory size for Game Maker 8 Pro to handle. (I'm assuming that since the Studio version might be better able to handle a larger-memory game, since it's a later version.)
 

Mr Magnus

Viking King
How large is "Multiple levels"? The larges game I ever made in 8.1 was over 100 levels, each took approx. 3 minutes to complete. I don't think memory is a large issue.

However, I strongly recommend you at least download the free version of studio and see how you like it. It is very permissive and doesn't have any real limitations so to speak.
 
R

renex

Guest
would it be a good idea to download Game Maker Studio, and remove versions 8 and 8.1 to save a bit of space on my PC?
If your concerns were solely disk space, then no because Studio is considerably larger depending on your export modules and peripheral software. Counting my entire installation and all the different SDKs gives me a total of 0.70 + 4.28 + 2.02 = 7 GB.

I'm assuming that since the Studio version might be better able to handle a larger-memory game
Definitely. You have much greater control over how things are done and years of development have been done to the underlying engine. And as said above, the very few limitations imposed to the free version aren't even relevant at first for someone coming from 8.x.

Go for it, definitely.
 
Last edited:
R

RetroGameFan

Guest
@Mr Magnus - I would say roughly 80 levels (consisting of at least 5 rooms each), as well as 8 boss battles. Having said that, that would be about 88 levels, but there will probably hundreds of rooms in the game. For the record, the game is a Mario-themed educational platformer. It borrows elements from Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. Thanks for your help! :)

@renex - Thanks a lot for the advice! :)
 

Yal

šŸ§ *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
IMO the main reason to get Studio isn't really it making more efficient games (though it does make games that uses Windows' new audio system so they won't crash on Win8 and above) but rather it having a better UX - there's been some nice additions to the room editor like zooming and panning, for instance, so you get a much more natural workflow when designing large levels. You can also stretch individual instances, which is great for e.g. invisible ground objects. There's also new functions and features all over the place, such as buffers to manage arbitrary data, which lets you do stuff like procedurally generating music or load binary files faster. It'll take some time getting used to, but Studio definitely is better than GM8.
 
Top