New tutorial, GMFiddle & donations

It's been almost 3 years now since I first started GameMaker Server. I thought it'd be a good time to reflect on what has happened and what my plans are for the coming years. Let's start with the bad news first.

Donations

Even though the website has has over 300,000 page views, and GameMaker Server is nearing 100,000 logins, I have had to spend my own money to keep this project running. I thought ad revenue would be enough to cover the costs of running GameMaker Server. I was wrong.

In the past few years, I've spent hundreds of hours (and dollars) improving GameMaker Server. I'm starting to reach a point where I can't justify "paying for the privilege to work on GameMaker Server" to myself. I'm not going to shut down GameMaker Server. I love working on GameMaker Server, and I don't need to make any money doing it. I just can't pay for all the costs myself.

That's why I've opened up an option to donate to GameMaker Server. As a thank you for donating, you'll be able to visit this site ad-free and you'll get a load of Pixels to spend on a custom background for your game's page, for example.

You won't need to pay to use GameMaker Server, it'll always remain free. But if you have spare money laying around, it'd help me out greatly if you donated. If you don't want or can't donate, that's fine too. I don't need to make a living from GameMaker Server, I just need to somehow cover the costs.

New tutorial: Instance synchronisation

I've been working really hard to get this tutorial done in time. It's absolutely massive, and it covers every aspect of synchronising instances. Together with the Getting Started tutorial, the Instance Synchronisation tutorial is the second tutorial I've written. Please let me know what you think!

If there's enough interest, I'll try to write a new tutorial every 2-4 weeks, depending on its size. If you want to see more, please let me know what part of GameMaker Server I should cover next!

GMFiddle

For the past year I've been working off and on on this project: A custom GML compiler.

If you need to quickly test a piece of GML, GMFiddle is the easiest and fastest way to do so right from your browser. You can use it when you don't have access to GameMaker, on a Mac or even a tablet. GMFiddle already supports every GameMaker 8 function that does not require a drawing surface. It even partially supports file reading/writing & the registry!

It's also possible to Save & Share your code by clicking the "Save & Get link" button. GMFiddle will save your code and generate a unique link that others will be able to click to see and test your code.

Please take a look:http://gmfiddle.gamemakerserver.com/

In the future I'll be combining GMFiddle & GameMaker Multiplayer. You'll be able to host your own multiplayer game, or hook into GameMaker Server & run a full GMK file on the server, not "just" a single script with limited functionality (that's what you're able to do right now).

Thank you

Lastly, I'd like to thank you all. You are the ones that have gotten GameMaker where it is now. Without you this project would have been nowhere. It's amazing to see how every day, so many of you use GameMaker Server. I hope I'll be able to continue working on it for many years to come!

Replies (23)

how much do u need for keeping the server running?

I've spent about $300-$400 buying a small server. Monthly costs include electricity, part of the 100/100mbit internet and the domain name, which is at least another $300-$400 since starting GameMaker Server.

I want to start by saying thank you Size43. This GameMaker Server Extension was just the thing I was looking for. It is allowing me to do what I always dreamed of doing! Keep up the great work! :D

I don't know why but i guest your script have many error when run on HTML 5. I can't compile it, i found there in compile Form:
Error : gml_Script_XWindow_step(0) : argument naming error, 3 arguments but no reference found to argument1
Error : gml_Script_XServer_instance_sendsync(0) : argument naming error, 8 arguments but no reference found to argument5

HTML exports are not supported. I am working on supporting them with the 1.8 update. ;)

:( I need HTML version!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't work faster than fast :)

When will you complete it??????

As soon as I can. I've got a very limited amount of free time every day right now, and I simply can't work on this project as much as I used to in the past. I also need to make money to pay the bills (and pay for GameMaker Server)

Please don't expect anything, I can't promise a timeframe. It's going to take at least another month before the next update is finished. I'm trying to inlude the JavaScript version with that update.

I really want to know when this feature: "You'll be able to host your own multiplayer game, or hook into GameMaker Server & run a full GMK file on the server" is coming.

Not any time soon. I'm currently running a small alpha/beta/test version/whatever (if you're interested, let me know) for GM8(.1) files only. I don't have enough time to work on (and maintain) GameMaker Server, the GMK runner, a fulltime study and making money all at the same time. I think it's obvious which 2 get the highest priority ;)

I'm trying to get the next GameMaker Server update finished somewhere early next month, and after that I'll work on the GMK runner again.

Size43

Can't wait!

I can't log in...
What's wrong here?

Does it show an error? It seems to be fine for me...

have you tried to run it in studio, because every time i try it fails
it use to work in the past, but it dosnt anymore :/

It seems to work fine for me. What's not working?

Hello again. Sometimes i receive this error:
ERROR in
action number 1
of Begin Step Event
for object __newobject16:
Instance to LinkSync was not found.

What is it and how to fix it?

Seems like an instance is destroyed before instance synchronisation was able to catch up. If an instance is destroyed just a few steps after it was created, you may see this error.

If you want to hide all GameMaker Server errors, you can call this function:

gms_debug_hide_errors();

Hello. Why can't I and my friends login for like 5 days? When i press login, nothing happens.

Hey,

Sorry about that. It seems like there's a bug which prevents GameMaker Server from working after a reboot of the server. I've restarted the server app, which should fix it for now. I'll be working on a permanent fix to make sure this does not happen again.

Thanks, it works now.

i would be willing to donate, if the studio version of the engine wasnt so messed up

As long as nobody tells me about a bug, I can't fix it. :)