Old gamemaker?

S

santa22

Guest
I'm just wondering how far back does this community go? i remember first messing around with gamemaker 5.3a back in 2004, eventually buying it for myself. i stuck with it up until gamemaker 8.0 which i still use today, but just want to know if people still use that one or if ill be the only one still using it?
 

TsukaYuriko

☄️
Forum Staff
Moderator
You may still meet the occasional GM8 fan here or there as well as a sizable amount of Studio 1 users. I see close to nobody using versions older than 8. Support for versions older than Studio 2 has officially ended, so that's where the concentration is.
 

Psycho_666

Member
It could be just me but I really dislike the changes to the interface they did on Studio 2. I would use Studio 1 for as long as I can...
I started using 7 or 8 free, can't recall. But I enjoy Studio 1. Bought it for 1$ from a humble bundle back in the day...
 

JeffJ

Member
I too started with 5.3A. I still have an active copy of 8.1 installed, which I sometimes use for fast prototyping (it's still faster to just boot up and mess around than anything after it), though since I am developing for consoles, I have no choice but to use Studio 2 as my daily driver. It's not out of choice, though. Like @Psycho_666 , I strongly dislike Studio 2's user interface, and am much less productive than I was in Studio 1 and below. I wish I could have Studio 2 but with 1's modular windowed interface. The chains especially are what drives me up the wall.
 

TrunX

Member
I discovered Game Maker exactly the day GM6.0 was released, tried it out and liked it. Shorty afterwards I was also playing around with GM5.x because it had particle effects in the free version. Used all versions since then.
 

FrostyCat

Redemption Seeker
Legacy 7.0 and 8.0 in particular use Softwrap, which went out of business around 7 years ago. You will not find legitimate users for these versions anymore, except for those who have never reset their systems since that time. I still have my keys for every version of GM from 5.1 up, but most of it is strictly memorabilia.

Legacy 8.1 and GMS 1.4 are still installed on my current system, but I have not touched them for about 6 months now. The last time I used them was for validating tutorial examples from the old gmc.yoyogames.com site when it shut down in December 2019. So in no sense am I an active user of either now.
 
D

dannyjenn

Guest
I'm from the same era but I don't use GM8.

(Started with 5.0, which, as I recall, was the last fully-free version. Never did get a license at the time, nor did I move on to 5.3A or later versions. Kept using GM5.0 until I eventually switched to Mac and stopped using GameMaker (since, at the time, GM was Windows-only). But a few years later they ported GM7 to Mac, so I got a license for that and used it for a while. Never really tried GM8, since there was no Mac release. I briefly tried Studio 1 through Parallels, but there were performance issues running it on my machine (something was using up all my computer's resources. Not sure if the problem was with GM or Parallels or a mix of both). It wasn't until maybe 2017 that I fully transitioned to Studio (after they had released Studio 2 on the Mac).)

As far as GM8 users go... somebody in my game design program at college told me he was using it for his hobby projects. (Coincidentally, he was the only other GM user at the school, at least as far as I'm aware.) That was over a year ago though, so I don't know what he's up to these days. No idea if he has an account on here... I never did get to see any of his games, though he did mention they were Touhou-style RPGs or something.
 

kburkhart84

Firehammer Games
I've been here since 7.0. I remember that softwrap crap(and was glad they got rid of it with 8.1). There are going to be a few people around from before 7.0 but I think that's about the cutoff line for what is "common" if you get what I mean, since people have left over time. Back then, the tool simply wasn't as good, couldn't do so many exports, etc... and so people moved on. If we put some number, lets say...5 years that someone gave the program before moving to other engines...then we could say that from version within that number of years the product got better enough to keep people, but if you waited the same amount of time from versions before that, it didn't make that progress in that time span, so people left(just a hypothetical thing).

I'm not fully a fan of the new GMS2 workflow myself...I generally just do it similar to how I did with GMS1, only open a couple objects at a time. I move a second workspace to a separate monitor though, for when I want to keep a reference to some controller object's variables or something. Some people do swear by the new ways, so I'm sure there was a reason...it just doesn't stick with me though.
 

TheouAegis

Member
I think I started on gm6. maybe it was gm5, I would have to look at my stack of CDs to see which installer I had saved. I was late on the ball for studio 1, then when studio 1 became free I jumped on the wagon. I'm not a huge fan of studio 1, I still think gm8 is better in some regards, but ultimately not enough to go back to GM8. I share the sentiment about studio 2's interface - I hate it. with that said though, there are definitely aspects of gms2 I appreciate, like tile maps and layers and the camera system. I plan on sticking with gms1, I will work around the flawed tile system that persisted until gms2. I will cope with the old array handling. I just really miss the gif handling from GM 8... 😢
 

O.Stogden

Member
I started with GM6.1 back in 2006 or so? Stuck with 8.1 for ages, until Studio 1 was in the Humble Bundle, then made the move to Studio 1 when I got that.

I bought Studio 2 and started using it towards the end of last year. I agree that the workflow thing is a pain in the backside, seems cumbersome/clunky to me, definitely preferred how the previous GM's were.

I did dabble with 5.3 before GM6.1, but it was literally trying it at a friends house for about an hour, and then going home and not using Game Maker for a few months, as I was using another game development tool at the time.
 
I started with GM7 in 2011 and continued on to 8 and 8.1 (all lite versions) until I finally moved to Studio 1.4. It took me a long time to finally transition to Studio. Though I don't use Gamemaker a whole ton as of late other than to make bug fixes in GunDown, Studio 1.4 is the version I used to make all three of my released games. It was especially nice to be given a free premium copy of Studio 1.4 when it went obsolete (I guess everyone with GM:S 1.4 Standard got this?). I've never used GM:S 2.
 

HayManMarc

Member
I found GameMaker with the 5.3 version (I think, so long ago). I've always upgraded ever since. I was reluctant to upgrade to GMS2, but finally did and have gotten used to the interface just fine. I'm only a hobbyist and a dabbler, so my expertise is nominal, but the overall experience with the product and the community has been overwhelmingly positive.
 

Evanski

Raccoon Lord
Forum Staff
Moderator
I started in 2014 with GMS 1.4.? going off of ShaunSpalding's tutorials
skip ahead to GMS2 releasing, I some how got GMS1.4.9 for free, I contacted yoyo about this and they said I have a license so, works for me I guess
Bought GMS2 on 08 Nov 2018 and been using it since
Didn't actualy join the fourms until Apr 17, 2018
My first post asking for help with my fire bat ai for ZC
 

Micah_DS

Member
I've used nearly every version of GameMaker, since the beginning in 1999. Back then I was barely involved in the online community, but I was quite active with GameMaker itself.

There have been a few things I liked that were lost from version to version, but overall the gains have been far, far greater, so it's definitely been worth moving on to the latest GMS2 for me. These days, I can't even stand working in GMS1 or GM8 - I have tried, just to see if things were as good back then as I remembered, and it's been shocking how much has improved with later versions, and I didn't realize until I tried going back.

Even though the gains are far greater than the losses/downsides, I must be honest and say some things do make me pretty sad about GMS2 (though very few). One example of something I really don't like with GMS2 is the fact that resource names, functions, strings (RIP story-based games), shader script code, etc., are all easily visible in "data.win". It feels a bit unprofessional to me to have that data laid so bare, being easily viewable by even a layman who only knows how to open it with something like notepad. Granted, with some of those things, you can find workarounds to obfuscate, but not all (at least, not to my knowledge). IIRC, Studio 1 also had this issue, but it would export data.win in fewer circumstances, I think? It's been a long time since I exported in Studio 1, so I could very well be wrong on that. In any case, it's something I see as a big downside with GMS2, but it still pales in comparison to all the awesome things GMS2 allows me to do over GM8 and prior versions, or even Studio 1.

Of course, I didn't always move on to the next version right away. In fact, I was VERY stubborn with moving from GM8.1 to Studio. Eventually though, I warmed up to Studio after using it enough to get comfortable with it. Then, when GMS2 came out, I was once again thinking, "oh great, I have to relearn a lot", and I was ready to be stubborn all over again, but at the same time, I could see that it'd be worth it, so I forced myself to move on as quick as I could. I'm glad I did and I don't regret it at all.

So the only reason I would ever use GM8 again is if I was someone who was stuck with an older computer that couldn't run Studio 1 or 2, or if I had no money to buy GMS2 desktop, but already had the full version of a previous GameMaker. Even then though, I own the modules for mobile export in GMS1, but not in GMS2, and I honestly want to do some mobile development, but I'd still rather wait until I can purchase the exports for GMS2 instead, so even in this case, I guess I still wouldn't go back.

-
One last thing to note, thinking about the GMS2 workspace UI, which might dissuade some people from moving to GMS2 from previous versions, since that's one of the major differences:
I personally stay out of the workspace as much as possible because I have trouble keeping a good workflow when using it - it feels cluttered and hard to focus as I need to. But the good part is that you don't have to work in it much; there are other options. For e.g., I just right-click on objects and use "Open All Event Scripts" so I can have my pure and cozy GML fill the screen, which lets me follow the flow of code and focus so, so much better. That's one of the good things about GMS2 - you have a lot of options to work how you want. I think some people shoot it down without exploring their options.

For anyone still stuck in older versions, I encourage you to give GMS2 a real shot. Even now, GMS2 is more than worth upgrading to, and GMS2 is only getting better. I mean, look at the new updates in 2.3. So many of those things are great improvements (e.g. asset browser customization, in-line functions, structs [those "lightweight objects" you may have heard promised a while back], etc.). Full disclosure: I haven't tried the beta yet, I've only read about the features. But I'm planning to try it out very soon, and I'm very excited.
 

Bart

WiseBart
My first encounter with GameMaker is pretty long ago, somewhere in 2002, I guess it was version 4.3 or 4.4 or something back then (I remember it didn't have transparency or PNG support yet).
Since then, I've used just about every version of GameMaker.

Nowadays I only use GMS2 anymore and I don't have any other versions installed (I may install 1.4 again for those very few situations where I might need it).
GameMaker evolved quite a bit from 8 to Studio to Studio 2 so I don't see myself go back to any of the older versions.
And now that version 2.3 is just around the corner... With the new features it has to offer... It's once again time to move forward.
 

gnysek

Member
wish I could have Studio 2 but with 1's modular windowed interface.
You know you can set windows to overlap, or move objects to another tabs/workspaces or even to separate screens ? Of course this need to be done manually (would be good if they could add a preference to open every object in separate workspace).
 

JeffJ

Member
You know you can set windows to overlap, or move objects to another tabs/workspaces or even to separate screens ? Of course this need to be done manually (would be good if they could add a preference to open every object in separate workspace).
I know, I enabled overlapping long ago, otherwise I would have gone completely mad. The problem is, it still doesn't let me get rid of the chains, or only have part of an object window (like its code) open - I can't close the main part or the events part (or both) of an object. For overlapping to actually be useful, I would need to be able to have events and/or actions on top of the rest of the object window, or even better, just allowed to close the parts of the window I don't need. There's also all the visual clutter, like the vertical lines between each chain part of an object window, that overlaps and gets in the way for no reason at all, which wasn't there before (I still don't get why these can't be disabled, since you could just as easily resize by dragging the edges of the window part itself rather than those vertical lines).

Also, in GMS1 I could open up a "piece of code" from an object and move it to another screen. If I do this in GMS2, it not only moves the entire object window (all three chained parts + chains), but it also creates an entire new "app" wrapper, complete with the entire "File | Edit | Build | etc..." menu and everything that comes with it, which again takes up way more space than it needs to.

There's also the fact that the workspace always insists on automatically panning to the "main" part of an object window whenever you open a new object, or double click some code from a search result or anything else, and I constantly need to re-drag the workspace view to the right in order to move that part out of view in a desperate effort to minimize workspace clutter.

In GMS1 I could also minimize a code window, or just drag it so far into the bottom that only its top bar would stick out for quick access. I can do neither of these in the "workspace" paradigm and find myself constantly scrolling up and down to go back and forth between objects, which in itself is extremely cumbersome and takes actual time. I could use the "Recent windows", but that shows much more than just objects, and even when I can find the object I'm looking for, accessing it by this will once again give the autopan problem I mentioned earlier. No matter what I'm trying to do, it feels like I'm constantly fighting the IDE rather than working with it.
 
Last edited:
R

rob2d

Guest
I'm just wondering how far back does this community go? i remember first messing around with gamemaker 5.3a back in 2004, eventually buying it for myself. i stuck with it up until gamemaker 8.0 which i still use today, but just want to know if people still use that one or if ill be the only one still using it?
There seems to be a derth of support for GM 8. I would highly recommend not using it since it's like 10 years old now and the code doesn't port well or automatically. In my own experience, I had a LOT of issues finally migrating to GM Studio 2 after a long time off from 8.1... and that's what I'm doing now -- may take days to weeks to get used to it depending on your free time.

I know, I enabled overlapping long ago, otherwise I would have gone completely mad. The problem is, it still doesn't let me get rid of the chains, or only have part of an object window (like its code) open - I can't close the main part or the events part (or both) of an object. For overlapping to actually be useful, I would need to be able to have events and/or actions on top of the rest of the object window, or even better, just allowed to close the parts of the window I don't need. There's also all the visual clutter, like the vertical lines between each chain part of an object window, that overlaps and gets in the way for no reason at all, which wasn't there before (I still don't get why these can't be disabled, since you could just as easily resize by dragging the edges of the window part itself rather than those vertical lines).

Also, in GMS1 I could open up a "piece of code" from an object and move it to another screen. If I do this in GMS2, it not only moves the entire object window (all three chained parts + chains), but it also creates an entire new "app" wrapper, complete with the entire "File | Edit | Build | etc..." menu and everything that comes with it, which again takes up way more space than it needs to.

There's also the fact that the workspace always insists on automatically panning to the "main" part of an object window whenever you open a new object, or double click some code from a search result or anything else, and I constantly need to re-drag the workspace view to the right in order to move that part out of view in a desperate effort to minimize workspace clutter.

In GMS1 I could also minimize a code window, or just drag it so far into the bottom that only its top bar would stick out for quick access. I can do neither of these in the "workspace" paradigm and find myself constantly scrolling up and down to go back and forth between objects, which in itself is extremely cumbersome and takes actual time. I could use the "Recent windows", but that shows much more than just objects, and even when I can find the object I'm looking for, accessing it by this will once again give the autopan problem I mentioned earlier. No matter what I'm trying to do, it feels like I'm constantly fighting the IDE rather than working with it.
I agree with this (this inspired me to write the recent thread). What I've found has helped me is not intuitive but to drag the different panes into entirely different windows. At least then I don't get as confused and can semi max screen... I really am not fond of the new UI so far. But I do like the new improvements to the code itself in Studio (e.g. accessors, functions, structs in the beta especially, etc). It would be powerful but it does lead to some procrastination to do anything on my free time with the overwhelming UX.

My first encounter with GameMaker is pretty long ago, somewhere in 2002, I guess it was version 4.3 or 4.4 or something back then (I remember it didn't have transparency or PNG support yet).
Since then, I've used just about every version of GameMaker.

Nowadays I only use GMS2 anymore and I don't have any other versions installed (I may install 1.4 again for those very few situations where I might need it).
GameMaker evolved quite a bit from 8 to Studio to Studio 2 so I don't see myself go back to any of the older versions.
And now that version 2.3 is just around the corner... With the new features it has to offer... It's once again time to move forward.
would suggest to just use the beta cause structs + functions as scripts are game changers 🎉 (just unfortunately still has UX issues lol)

resource names, functions, strings (RIP story-based games), shader script code, etc., are all easily visible in "data.win". It feels a bit unprofessional to me to have that data laid so bare, being easily viewable by even a layman who only knows how to open it with something like notepad. Granted, with some of those things, you can find workarounds to obfuscate, but not all (at least, not to my knowledge).
re: obfuscation, seems at least the format is easy enough to write something quickly which does that thankfully (not that you can to a certain extent with... the way it is)... and it's confusing why YoYoGames don't prioritize something like that after all of these years. But 100% agreed.
 
S

SSJCoder

Guest
You are most definitely not the only one using it.

I have never gone past GM8 because I didn't like the direction YoYo-chan decided to take it.

GM8 is and always will be probably my favorite version of the engine, and don't plan to ever use any version past that. (me and YoYo have had our issues, and frankly, they have made it very clear that they want to be corporate, not what I saw GM to be when I first found it).

Also, keep in mind a lot of people like myself don't use these forums anymore, so a lot of ppl who still use GM8 are scattered abroad.
(also we use other engines, not GM8 exclusively)
 

Yal

🐧 *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
I switched over to GMS2 like three from-scratch projects ago (and temporarily switched back to GMS1 for a collab jam game because of Git concerns). I got a GMS2 license during the loyalty upgrade beta period, ran into some experience-breaking bugs, and then waited for it to get really stable before switching over... and once I was ready to switch over, I still were halfway through some big projects I'd rather finish before taking the leap.

I miss a bunch of GMS1 features (like having a cross-program copypaste function in the sprite editor so it's less of a pain to use GIMP filters, or some middle ground between "disorienting jumping around" and "fullscreen" for workspace windows) but overall I feel like the new "quickly find things" features are perfect for my scatterbrained workflow.
 

Gizmo199

Member
Been using gm since 06. Started with 5 and have kept up with it ever since. Biggest thing I miss about studio 1 / gm8 was how easy it was to make a simple 3d project. Much more difficult now with the way depth is handled and using the VBs. I am super thankful for the VBs but I'm just so novice to how exactly to get the outcome I want it's a bit daunting. Also miss alot of the Sprite editing feature. I still go back to studio 1 if I wanna just add a quick little outline or soften edges. Photoshop is nice but not as optimal for pixel art where as I could just 1 click in gm8 and have my Sprite outlined. As for the ide UI I am pretty happy with the chaining. Helps me keep track of what is where. It's not perfect by far and needs a little more structure to it. Would be nice to just have a tab but default pop up with all of the events linearly shown. I just use gmedit though for that. Ha
 

Kezarus

Endless Game Maker
I really dislike the changes to the interface
I strongly dislike Studio 2's user interface
I kinda like the new interface. I can place multiple objects/things at once on the screen, but the output window aways get in the way somehow. lol

I started with GM6.1 back in 2006 or so?
Yey mate! We started at the same year! September 2006! Right after my trip to England.
I return home without a job and made a game in 2 weeks with my brother on Game Maker. It's still selling on Steam! XD
Man... I would like to have the same drive and time that I had 14 years ago...
 

Shoba

Member
I think I started on Gamemaker 3.0 or 4.0, way back in the early 2000's, when I tried to make a Megaman Clone, and stuck until the release of GM:S, but I wasn't to happy with it. I kinda restarted with the 2.3 beta. Hmm... functions. Was about time :3.
 

Jabbers

Member
Old GameMaker is nostalgic as hell but I wouldn't go back to it. I understand there are people who use 8.1 still but only as a toy. It must be broken beyond belief at this point.
 

Xitilon

Member
Old GameMaker is nostalgic as hell but I wouldn't go back to it. I understand there are people who use 8.1 still but only as a toy. It must be broken beyond belief at this point.
Nope. In 2016, me and my team have unironically made a game with GM8.1, which is out there on Steam: (and its prequel, too)


I still use GM8.1 a lot - it compiles a billion times faster than GMS1 or 2 (while I have a pretty fast M.2 SSD), and doesn't force me to write stupid things like instance_create with depth/layer, or this modern mess:

Code:
camera_get_view_x(view_get_camera(0))
instead of just

Code:
view_xview[0]
For the releases, though, we have to use GMS2 of course. It's not half bad, and GMS2.3 is very promising at the moment. We've made a game with 3D maze of rooms, but now we can make it with less array-related shenanigans.

My point being: older versions are still absolutely usable (Princess Remedy seems to be made in GM5!), but in 2020 they are a pretty bad way to start, unless you're on a extra low-end hardware.

On topic: I've onboarded in 2006, with GM6.0. My friend bought 8.1 for me, as a kind of payment for me coding a game he envisioned. The game was eventually dropped (then I was dropped out of the university and was conscripted into the army, but that's a whole another story). ConE1 and 2 were made in a team with that same friend.

I slightly miss old times and gamemakergames.com, but there are many more things to come.
 
Last edited:

Yal

🐧 *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
Nope. In 2016, me and my team have unironically made a game with GM8.1, which is out there on Steam: (and its prequel, too)


I still use GM8.1 a lot - it compiles a billion times faster than GMS1 or 2 (while I have a pretty fast M.2 SSD), and doesn't force me to write stupid things like instance_create with depth/layer, or this modern mess:

Code:
camera_get_view_x(view_get_camera(0))
instead of just

Code:
view_xview[0]
For the releases, though, we have to use GMS2 of course. It's not half bad, and GMS2.3 is very promising at the moment. We've made a game with 3D maze of rooms, but now we can make it with less array-related shenanigans.

My point being: older versions are still absolutely usable (Princess Remedy seems to be made in GM5!), but in 2020 they are a pretty bad way to start, unless you're on a extra low-end hardware.

On topic: I've onboarded in 2006, with GM6.0. My friend bought 8.1 for me, as a kind of payment for me coding a game he envisioned. The game was eventually dropped (then I was dropped out of the university and was conscripted into the army, but that's a whole another story). ConE1 and 2 were made in a team with that same friend.

I slightly miss old times and gamemakergames.com, but there are many more things to come.
For simple projects where you don't care about depth sorting, you could just use
GML:
function instance_create(x,y,object){
  instance_create_depth(x,y,depth,object)
}
and then it works basically the same as before. (Objects needing to be in the fore/background could manually set their depth in their create event)

I'm with you on camera_get_view_x being a bloated mess in comparison to the old view system, but the advantage is that there's no difference between 2D and 3D cameras anymore (you can even get Mode 7-style effects like the Final Fantasy 6 overworld 3D effect really easily by tilting a 2D camera in 3D space now).
 

Xitilon

Member
Yes, I know. I've experimented with 3D recently: (warning, strobbing patterns at some moments)


Now this would really be impossible in pre-Studio GameMakers. Mode 7 style, though, would be possible.
 
Last edited:

duran can

Member
I have been interested in Gamemaker ever since I saw this game. I think 3D games first came out with 6.1 version.
We opened a forum site "gamemakertr.com" with my friend in 2011. We have published game programming lessons for Turkish people with gamemaker.
web archive We weren't aware that using crack was bad because we were young at the time. until I got into my first job. (If you still haven't bought it, there is a nice bundle here on Steam.)

To the point, although Gamemaker is actually far behind its competitors, I guess I am happy to use gamemaker because it gives me nostalgia. My childhood comes to mind ..
 

Yal

🐧 *penguin noises*
GMC Elder

No, that's an unrelated program of the same name. The program that turned into GMS was made by professor Mark Overmars and was originally called Animo (since you used it to make animations rather than games).
 

Elodman

Member
Not that uninformed I am, @Yal ! ;)
(Little speech != little knowledge - at least ! in every case, daring to hope.)

But for clarity sake, thanx for informing the folks around!

Of course not the same brand, origin ... just shed some light on the very beginnings - for anyone interested - but maybe even my shown tool was not the 1st one of this kind.

Edit: also, look at the topic title. Than my post's video's title...;). ( No other specifics were mentioned )

Edit 2: as now by accident we have met, must grab the chance & express my deep respect to thou and thy works in GMS.
So quite distinguished (why? I know what i know, my secret it is :) ) a GMC Elder cannot become anyone of course, but at least can try to advance to in every possible way.
( Btw. Penguin noises should also be streamed via forum - as it is so unlikely for me to travel to the little birdies, unfortunately. Hope to hear them soon.)
 
Last edited:
Top