[POLL] Are you still using GameMaker 8?

So, let's say (hypothetically, of course) I were to start developing the next generation of GameMaker Server extensions, how bad would it be if I left out...


  • ...GameMaker 8?

  • ...GameMaker 8 and GameMaker 8.1?



and what exports should I support?


  • Windows?

  • Native runners, like OS X, Android, iOS, Windows Phone?

  • HTML5/JavaScript based runners?



and how would you feel if I dropped support for...


  • gms_action_* functions?

  • Automatic variable synchronisation?

  • The VS mode?

  • Guest logins?



Please share your thoughts. Also, please keep in mind I've not decided anything! As of right now, I'm not developing a new version, nor am I dropping support for anything (yet?). If you don't feel like commenting, please use the "upvote" button on other posts if you agree with them!

Replies (52)

Last message on 14 Jan 2017

Size43 (Administrator) on 7 Dec 2015, 14:28:24
Since I can't create polls, I'm going to do it like this: Upvote this post if you want GM8 support.
Forgeio on 18 Dec 2015, 17:33:58
Hey sorry this is not the proper place to put this comment, but on the GMServer site can you make it so that your account on the site gets notified if there's an update on a game that you have logged into? and also maybe on the game pages, a section for an update log?
Size43 (Administrator) on 19 Dec 2015, 11:49:10
Good idea. Added to my todo list!
Size43 (Administrator) on 7 Dec 2015, 14:28:29
Since I can't create polls, I'm going to do it like this: Upvote this post if you want GM8.1 support.
SilicaAndPina on 12 Dec 2015, 06:11:49
Hell YES. i still use game maker 8. and 8.1

i absoulutly hate game maker studio. and refuse to upgrade to it. :3
amkgames on 15 Dec 2015, 19:30:18
I was never going to move to GM Studio if GM 8 and 8.1 games were not able to be decompiled.
Temple_of_the_Monkey_God on 4 Jan 2016, 20:25:50
Oh god PLEASE. I just worked like, 5 weeks for an online mode for it and now it'll go to waste? PLEASE NO.
Size43 (Administrator) on 4 Jan 2016, 22:57:07
Calm down. :)

I'm not retroactively dropping support for versions that have already been released. This would just be for a complete rewrite of the extension.
namlunthkl on 17 Jan 2016, 06:26:54
HTML 5! NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Size43 (Administrator) on 17 Jan 2016, 21:17:57
HTML5 support will be added in the rewrite :)
Ferry145 on 8 Feb 2016, 13:05:44
When are you going to rewrite Game Maker Server? I am so excited for it! :)
Size43 (Administrator) on 9 Feb 2016, 15:01:54
Rewrite is being worked on. I don't have a specific release date :)
Ferry145 on 12 Feb 2016, 17:31:05
Great. I can't wait!
amkgames on 15 Dec 2015, 19:26:55
-I use GM8 most(just for expriments).

-I think most popular modules are Windows, Android, iOS and HTML.

-Please support HTML. :P

-Just keep automatic variable synchronization and I don't care about VS mode and gms_action.

Good Luck! :)
Size43 (Administrator) on 19 Dec 2015, 11:49:34
Thanks!
amkgames on 15 Dec 2015, 19:34:03
HTML5*
amkgames on 15 Dec 2015, 19:33:22
Oh! I forgot to mention that I uses GM Studio now, but I like GM8. :P
amkgames on 15 Dec 2015, 19:31:27
Experiments*
Forgeio on 9 Dec 2015, 16:01:31
OK, so I tried porting my game to GM:S and changing all the settings and stuff so it would be compattable (made the GMS object etc) but it came up with a bunch of random errors that shouldn't be there, and they changed some things with strings so my login system no longer functions properly. I'll just stick with GM8.1 for now until I get those fixed lol
Size43 (Administrator) on 12 Dec 2015, 11:22:46
Don't worry, you don't need to be in a hurry to upgrade. Everything will remain as it is right now for quite some time. From the responses I'm gathering here, it seems like it might be worthwhile to keep supporting GM8/8.1 in future updates as well.
Aaron13ps on 8 Dec 2015, 23:48:51
Another thing that I would love to see have more love is "Friends". From my understanding, it is very limited. For instance, we can not strike conversations with friends on this website (I have honestly never thought of MSGing people but the option would be nice... Maybe have messages delete after a month/year). I have not explored yet what "friend" codes there are yet, but its more of on the backburner / not neccessary for my game (well, I could add pms in my game...)
Aaron13ps on 8 Dec 2015, 23:49:45
This would also allow people to MSG you directly without having to spam your email (unless you prefer that)
Size43 (Administrator) on 12 Dec 2015, 11:41:01
I don't mind the mails, every reply here will also send me a mail. That way I can keep track of whom I need to reply to a bit easier.

In its current form the friends feature is not worth keeping. Just like achievements and statistics, it's barely used. I'll either have to rethink and improve it, or drop it until I can come up with a better implementation.

One use case that I'm considering is add the ability to team up with friends and play the game together, so that not every dev needs to code their own system, or use the nowhere near as flexible VS mode system (which does not support friends right now). Some way to send PMs would also be nice, maybe even a way to chat with friends while they are playing a game.
Nefault1st on 8 Dec 2015, 08:31:53
This was unexpected.
Well since I've been using GM8, it would be unfortunate if you no longer supported it. My project hasn't been finished yet but Multiplayer mode is near complete. It would suck to come that far just to have it no longer supported along with a couple of these functions I put in multiple times. But it's your server I'm using and I'd hate to be the one to hold you back, so it's up to you if you need to make that decision.
Size43 (Administrator) on 8 Dec 2015, 18:54:50
Thanks for the feedback! Just to be clear: I'm not retroactively dropping support for versions that have already been released. This would just be for a complete rewrite of the extension.
Nefault1st on 9 Dec 2015, 15:05:17
Oh I see, thanks for clearing that up! If that's the case then I honestly don't have a say in this. Because once my project is finished I'll most likely be done with using GM8 all together. Still there are a few bugs with the current version of the extension. But as far as I can tell, there's nothing broken so I wouldn't really mind if you upgraded.
Forgeio on 7 Dec 2015, 20:03:49
1. my thouts are you should get rid of GM8 support, but keep support for GM8.1 (that's what I use)

2. you should support all the exports in my opinion

3. keep automatic variable synchronization, it helps a lot

those are my votes hopefully that's how it works, I hope you don't get rid of GM8.1 support though because that is exactly what I use lol
Size43 (Administrator) on 8 Dec 2015, 19:05:39
Thanks for the feedback! There's no fixed limit on the number of votes something needs to get to remain supported, I'm just trying to find out what you're all using and what features are worth focusing on in the future. I'm not retroactively dropping support for versions that have already been released. This would just be for a complete rewrite of the extension.
Aaron13ps on 8 Dec 2015, 04:53:44
I personally think you should upgrade to studio but that is up to you of course.
Forgeio on 10 Dec 2015, 18:12:47
I tried that but it messed up my game, and I don't feel like re-coding everything to GM:S standards :P
Aaron13ps on 10 Dec 2015, 18:14:10
Yea it had messed up my game too.. But I tried it at a later date and it worked... so IDK. If you want me to look into it, just pass the files to me and I will see if I can get it to work. If you'd rather stay in GM8 then thats fine XD
Forgeio on 10 Dec 2015, 18:16:17
I'll upgrade as soon as I finish my game, but for now I'll stick with GM8, I honestly wish they just would have updated game maker a bit more and removed some bugs and added some things instead of making GM:S because its almost a different code, lots of the features work differently and its just a bit frustrating to move over to :/
Forgeio on 7 Dec 2015, 20:06:08
basically what Aaron13ps said...
Aaron13ps on 8 Dec 2015, 04:53:00
For the most part.
matthe815 on 12 Jan 2017, 03:20:43
Just a thought, but perhaps the commands "gms_info_serverload" and "gms_info_playerlimit" would be good additions? gms_info_serverload would return the current load, and player limit would show an estimate of how many players could fit onto the server at the time.
Size43 (Administrator) on 14 Jan 2017, 10:54:03
Absolutely! The rewrite will, among other things, feature multiple servers as well as in-game information regarding the server load.

I'm currently only providing bug fixes for the current version of GameMaker Server, so that I can focus all my efforts on the rewrite. Especially something that requires both server and extension updates takes quite a lot of time, so it will not be added to the current version.
matthe815 on 14 Jan 2017, 21:29:30
Also, another idea for the rewrite would be having the game background display in the developer panel.
matthe815 on 14 Jan 2017, 16:34:56
Alright, If I find a bug I'll report it to you asap.
matthe815 on 18 Jul 2016, 03:21:21
I use a mix of 8.1 and studio, so i want 8.1 to stay, but 8 is a bit different.
Some requests though.

A bit more on the friend list side? And also, make the menus center to the middle of the camera, when i was opening up the friends list in game. It would move to the middle of the room instead of the middle of the camera which ANNOYS the heck out of me.
Size43 (Administrator) on 25 Jul 2016, 17:21:15
Thanks for the feedback. GM8/8.1 is definitely staying, a lot of people still use it, it seems.

You can use gms_show_set_position to change the area the menus use.

Friends list is something I'm looking to improve. In it's current state it's not very useful, I agree.
matthe815 on 30 Dec 2016, 00:52:03
If you require ideas for that, I can say you would need a command that allows you to agree to requests in game, such as gms_friend_accept(n) and perhaps the ability to invite playerID X to your session with gms_friend_invite(player_id).
matthe815 on 30 Dec 2016, 00:58:01
Also, I actually like VS mode. I personally have been having problems with the actual commands and enjoy the automation that VS mode allows for.
conanphamtuan on 21 Jun 2016, 03:45:53
GM 8.1 pro + GM studio
Export IOS, Android, Java
Size43 (Administrator) on 22 Jun 2016, 14:27:19
Thanks!
Aaron13ps on 7 Dec 2015, 18:40:13
BTW is there a way to get notifications for when you post new "updates"? I would really like that so I can keep in touch :D
Size43 (Administrator) on 8 Dec 2015, 18:55:46
Currently not, but it's definitely something that's on my todo list.
Aaron13ps on 7 Dec 2015, 18:37:29
-I like guest logins, but I would prefer if their data was removed when they logged out. This would free up clutter as game developers and free up space for you as the one who has to host / pay for all data used. It would also give incentive to create an account.
Size43 (Administrator) on 8 Dec 2015, 19:03:47
Good point. It might be worthwhile to give some more control over the INI files in general. Some way to programmatically loop through all files and edit/delete them.
Aaron13ps on 8 Dec 2015, 23:45:23
That would be nice. In my game, when you join "another players server" the house data for that player is supposed to load. Unfortunately it is impossible to load OTHER players data and instead I am resorting to Binary Data Blocks (BDBs) (Which is why I am emailing you about them ;)
Aaron13ps on 7 Dec 2015, 18:35:15
No I do not use Game Maker 8 or 8.1, But I know of some who do. Im neutral on this pole.
I would be sad to see support stopped for those people, but it would be nice if they upgraded heh.

-Windows of course. That would be silly not to.
-Personally, I think all Native runners listed are good. They are the most commonly used (not sure about Windows phone tho)
-HTML5, even thought I do not use it, think it might be a good idea, undecided on Javascript, I can not voucher for something I know little about.

-I do not know what gms_action* and can not even find it in the documentation. I would be ok with it removed
-Automatic Variable Synchronisation??? Possibly if you could pick which variable is being synced. The lack of documentation on which variables are synced bothers me and I think having the choice would be nice.
-I was never sure what VS mode did... I do not see a high need for so I would not mind its absence.
(CHARACTER LIMIT)
Size43 (Administrator) on 8 Dec 2015, 19:01:47
Thanks for the feedback! Seems like nobody has a clue what the gms_action_* system does, which is good because I'll be able to replace it with something better without anyone noticing. :)
Tmnt13 on 28 Dec 2015, 13:00:43
Accept Friends in game is a problem for me