I have a bunch of Old Game Maker Games

[TheGodson]

Long ago when I was a young teen I built Game Maker games. Eventually it upgraded to something like Game Maker 8. Was quite similar to the previous version. I saved my games on a CD. Fast forward roughly a decade and now Game Maker is completely foreign. I have all my old games, but they aren't compatible with the new version.

The new version looks cooler and probably has better features, but is also vastly more complicated and I can't run my old games from long ago. Another bad thing is that is always requires internet connection. Is there anywhere I can go to get the old Game Maker?

Old Game Maker was much more intuitive for a guy like me.

 

[Perseus]

Is there anywhere I can go to get the old Game Maker?

All the versions prior to GMS 2 are no longer publicly distributed on official sites. Other sources can't be and shouldn't be trusted. However, if you had bought a license, you can contact the Helpdesk and they will send you a copy of the installer. But don't hold your breath for anything older than GM8.1, for those versions can't be activated now (from Lite to Standard) as the licensing service has been out of buisness for years. Besides, they don't even work on newer versions of Windows without crashing.

At this point, I suggest adapting yourself to GMS 2 if you're serious about your future in game development. It would take you far more time to get the older versions working properly than it would take you to learn and make a game in GMS 2. Believe me, it would be worth the efforts and this is coming from someone who stayed with GM8 for nearly 7 years until GMS 2 finally came out.

 

[FrostyCat]

But don't hold your breath for anything older than GM8.1, for those versions can't be activated now (from Lite to Standard) as the licensing service has been out of buisness for years.

Only 7 and 8.0 were affected by Softwrap. 5.x and 6.x can still be activated (though 6.x needs XP or below to run, easy with a VM), and 4.x and below come full-featured. If the original poster is old enough, all he needs to legally go down memory lane is the discipline to have written down his keys.

Besides, they don't even work on newer versions of Windows without crashing.

Surprisingly, 5.x and games made with it still work on Windows 10 for the most part, perhaps because of a lower number of runtime dependencies. The only notable thing that doesn't work is mplay, which I can live without for memory's sake. It's 6.x through 8.x that Windows 8.1/10 struggles with.

 

[Andy]

Do you know what version of GM you need? What are the file types you are trying to open: gmd, gm6, gm81, etc...

 

[RichHopefulComposer]

Long ago when I was a young teen I built Game Maker games. Eventually it upgraded to something like Game Maker 8. Was quite similar to the previous version. I saved my games on a CD. Fast forward roughly a decade and now Game Maker is completely foreign. I have all my old games, but they aren't compatible with the new version.

The new version looks cooler and probably has better features, but is also vastly more complicated and I can't run my old games from long ago. Another bad thing is that is always requires internet connection. Is there anywhere I can go to get the old Game Maker?

Old Game Maker was much more intuitive for a guy like me.

New GM is almost exactly the same, just with a slightly shinier UI and more built-in features. The basic program structure and syntax haven't changed in like fifteen years, for better and worse. If you want to run your old games, find the old GM, obviously. If you want to make new games, use the new one. You'll get access to the new stuff they added, support from other devs here, and it'll take you like two hours to learn the new program.

 

[TheGodson]

Hehe. Guess what I found it! so pleased. I now have both versions on my computer. I have the good old fashion version of Game Maker 8.1. I can now play all my old games. Wow! Such interesting to see what my ideas were as a young teen. I've been playing some of these games for hours now!

I remember making a cartoon a long time ago that was really hilarious as well as a knockoff Myst game. Too bad those were deleted.

I also remember having a ninja game. That one got deleted in a computer virus. I rebuilt the game on another computer exactly how I remembered it and that got deleted too... Now that I am 23 maybe I'll have another go at it... This time I'll have to make backup files to ensure it doesn't get deleted a third time

Thank you all in attempting to help me and give information. I am psyched!

 

[Nocturne]

I should point out that you CAN update your games if you're prepared to put in a little effort... 8.1 games can be imported into GM:S 1.4, which in turn can be imported into GMS2. If you buy any GMS2 licence you get access to 1.4, so your upgrade path would be:

• Import your 8.1 games into 1.4
• Fix any compatibility issues in 1.4 so that they run
• Export your 1.4 game as a GMZ file
• Import the GMZ into 2.0 and then fix any compatibility issues you have

 

[Kuro]

The new version looks cooler and probably has better features, but is also vastly more complicated

I disagree with the sentiment that because GM:S 2 is newer that newness automatically makes it more 'complicated'.

In a lot of places, (all the places that matter), such as the stuff that most game creators are going to be doing over and over again, the latest version is much more intuitive, less complicated, and gives faster access to the stuff you want to do than previous versions.

Two examples:

Spoiler: GML inside events obfiscated vs accessable

GML in an event was hidden behind an icon in older versions:

vs immediately accessable in newest version:

Spoiler: Editing a sprite in older versions involved two different sub windows!

One window to edit the sprite.

Then another one to edit the image!

By contrast GM:S2 has condensed both these windows into a single sprite editor tab.

And then there's how much simpler my life is now workspaces and tabs are a thing.

It's easy to disregard a new thing that seems alien when we have a lot of fond memories of earlier things. But if you set it to the white colour scheme it's interesting how much more easily our perception can spot its familiarity. At its core it really is very similar to previous versions, just with some modern conveniences thrown in. Like tabs.

Spoiler: With the new coat of 'Paint' off

P.S. @TheGodson not really posting this to persuade you one way or the other, since I saw that you now have access to both old and new versions and are happy. Posting this more for discussion's sake.

 

[The Little Game Dev]

I used game maker before it had the auto updater. it took me ages to find out i was so behind

 

[Zefyrinus]

I don't know if this is helpful, but recently I found out that there's a program that can convert your old, finished games into files that can run on newer versions of Windows. Unfortunately I don't have a link to it, but maybe you can find it yourself if you need it. AFAIK the program is called GM_Convert_Game.

 

[Nocturne]

https://help.yoyogames.com/hc/en-us/articles/216753218-Troubleshooting-Legacy-GameMaker

 

[factnfiction101]

I have a lot of old Game Maker games (and apps, examples, etc...), most from the old GMC (legacy).Versions 4.2 and up

Back everything up, just in case. I keep dated folders, versions, etc... In the past GM has corrupted the newest version of a game I was working and also the backup was corrupted too. So it helps.

 

[Sunamena]

I think i still might have a Game Maker 5 installation file.

But i would (as many before me) suggest using the newer Game Maker. It offers more and better feautre's. =D

If you still want the installation file, i can look it up for you and send it.

 

[jujubs]

Am I the only one who got curious about those old games? I'd like to take a peek at them.

Back in the day, all I did was maps for Doom and Duke Nukem 3D, and sadly, those are mostly lost, thanks to floppy disks. I made a little game on an old GM version (can't remember which, but it had a red ball as its icon, and it was around 2009 or so) which was basically a bad version of VVVVVV. I didn't enjoy the software at the time.The project files are gone, too.

 

[Frostbite]

I got a new computer and backed everything up on a hatd drive. Put it in my new Win 10 PC and everything just deleted. Not only what I copied to the PC, but what I had on the portable hard drive too. I was able to get it back and disable some win 10 feature, but months have passed and I went to mess with an old version of GM and 15 years of work is deleted. Anyone know how to get my stuff back? I know my antivirus deleted GoDod and engines, but I dont think thats what deleted GM and my GML files.

 

[Rukiri]

You'll need to do a system restore, there is software that can recover files as long as the hard drive has not been reformatted.

 

[Kuro]

Don't do a literal system restore though. It will cause a lot of files to be written, and the more files written the more chance there is of the files you are trying to recover being over written. Find software that can recover deleted files, as suggested by Rukiri, and run it first, before you do anything. Once you've secured your lost files, then do whatever other steps you need to take.