For Apple Macintosh Computers ©1995-2009 by Al Staffieri Jr.

Document revised 11/11/2009

* Having trouble getting started with GameMaker? Try the new video tutorials.

* Update your version to v3.9.94. Download the patch.

Latest Updates Download the Demo Screen shots Version History Ordering Info FAQ GameMaker Wiki Users Guide Source Code Add-ons and Tools Tech Notes and Support Game Maker's Garage Download Games GameMaker 4.0 News

About GameMaker GameMaker Info Latest Version: 3.9.94 Release Date: 6/12/09 Minimum Requirements: MacOS X 10.1 or better   What is GameMaker GameMaker is an easy to use card based development system which allows you to create adventure games with graphics, buttons, and text. There is no programming required, but it does have a scripting language which can be used to make better games. For beginners, just draw some pictures, type some text, click a few buttons, choose some options... and an adventure game is created! When you are ready to get more advanced, you can add some additional features to your game by using the simple scripting language to use sprites, play movie files, do actions based on player choices and variables, etc. You can then compile your game into a real application that you can upload and let others download and play. There are no royalties to pay, so make as many games as you like.   GameMaker received a 4 cow rating at TUCOWS.com

Latest Updates

Ordering GameMaker

GameMaker is $20. There are several ways to order GameMaker. NOTE: I am no longer using kagi.com for orders.

Option #1. Order online using PayPal.com  

Option #2. Print out the order form from the "Print Registration" menu item under the "Run" menu in the Demo version of GameMaker or if you can't print out the form, write your name, address, E-mail address, and a short note saying that you want to register GameMaker on a piece of paper and mail it with a check or Money Order drawn on a US bank for $20 to:

Al Staffieri Jr.
1061 Crestwood Dr.
Williamstown, NJ 08094
USA

Recent Version History

v3.9.94 - 6/12/09

• FIX: Using the command INVENTORY WINDOW made the inventory list invisble in certain situations.
• FIX: Using EXIT REPEAT inside an IF THEN structure was causing a script error in compiled games.
• FIX: Only 25 sounds could be shown in the Sound window. It should have been able to show up to 50 sounds and now does.

v3.9.93 - 2/08/09

• FIX: There was still a REPEAT bug that caused an error when changing cards from inside a REPEAT loop with GOTOCARD command.
• FIX: A change in the graphics copying routines caused crashes when using Undo menu or the selection tool.

v3.9.92 - 1/30/09

• FIX: Using REPEAT with a negative number resulted in an infinite loop. All REPEAT loops will now execute at least once even if the variable is less than 1.
• FIX: Additional fixes for any remaining REPEAT bugs.
• FIX: PRINT text wasn't showing up until the entire script was completed.
• FIX: The "Do on mouse down" option in click areas did not work correctly in compiled games.
• MOD: Increase the maximum lines of code to 750.
• MOD: Updated internet links to point to alstaffieri.com and macgamemaker.com

v3.9.91 - 8/23/08

• FIX: There was a bug in compiled games that wouldn't show more than 10 sprites.
• FIX: REFRESH TEXT did not erase the card text if the original card text was blank.
• FIX: The PRINT command wasn't printing text in compiled games if a semicolon was used at the end of the text.
• FIX: Adding strings together was not always adding the strings correctly.
• FIX: SPRITECOLLIDE was returning true even if one of the sprites was hidden.
• FIX: There were still some cases where the line after END REPEAT was not being run.
• FIX: There was a "Nested REPEAT" error when running a 2nd repeat loop inside an ON event structure (On MOUSEDOWN, ON MOUSEUP, ON TIMER, ON KEYDOWN).

v3.9.9 - 1/17/08

• FIX: A bug in the Applescript code made sprites flash and disappear when a script was finished running.
• FIX: The text field no longer flashes when multiple PRINT commands are used.
• FIX: The MOVIE command was not showing the movie at the correct location (was always 0 0)
• FIX: There was a bug in FILEIO WRITE that was not always saving to the proper folder.
• FIX: The END command with no parameters (to end the game) was not working.
• MOD: Remove quotes from text returned in END APPLESCRIPT.
• MOD: WINDOW TEXT loads text files faster.
• MOD: The maximum number of sprites on the screen has been increased from 10 to 20.

v3.9.8 - 11/03/07

• FIX: A new bug in WINDOW TEXT wasn't displaying contents of a text file if the file didn't contain end of line characters.
• FIX: There was a disappearing sprite bug in card scripts if the previous card layout was the same as the current card.
• FIX: The REPEAT and possibly other block structures were running some code fragments of their structures when they were in IF blocks sections that should not be exectuted because the IF section was not true.
• FIX: The MouseDown built in variable was always returning 0 inside TIMER, MOUSEUP, and MOUSEDOWN structures.
• FIX: Another bug with movies, sprites, etc not always displaying depending on if they are in a folder or not.
• FIX: Recompile with new FB compiler to fix possible crashes when running in new OS versions.
• MOD: Now requires OS X. GameMaker will no longer run in Classic/OS 9.
• NEW: You can now pass variables to applescript in the BEGIN APPLESCRIPT command using BEGIN APPLESCRIPT var1 var2

v3.9.7 - 9/1/07

• FIX: Selecting 'Window at Top' in the Game Options window displayed the wrong window size.
• FIX: Cursor names were not showing up in the pop up menu in the Click Area Options window.
• NEW: CLEAR PICT command clears the card picture.

v3.9.6 - 8/23/07

• FIX: Any remaining bugs with Select All and then pasting a picture from the clipboard should really be fixed now.
• FIX: The ALERT command was showing garbage text if the text to display was an empty string.
• FIX: When running a game in the editor, if the New menu was selected after an ALERT was displayed, the game would stop running and switch back to editing mode.
• FIX: An old bug resurfaced that would not display files in folders with IMAGEFILE, SPRITE, MOVIE commands.
• FIX: Cursors were not always being saved to the compiled games and thus not available to be shown in compiled games.
• FIX: If a cursor other than the standard arrow cursor was in use, it was not getting reset to the arrow cursor when starting a new game.
• FIX: The current cursor in use was not being saved to players saved games and was unable to be set correctly when the game was later loaded to continue play.
• FIX: An 'IF x$ = " " THEN xx' would return 'IF without THEN' error if x$ contained only space characters.
• FIX: Click areas were not being displayed when the Click Area tool was selected and the user switched to another card.
• FIX: Block command structures inside a SELECT CASE that were not executed because the CASE was not true was returning errors.
• FIX: DOMENU QUIT was not always asking to save even if the "Don't use save alert" option was not selected.
• FIX: Having multiple REPEAT blocks inside a TIMER block was returning an error.
• FIX: The window created with WINDOW TEXT was displaying line feed characters in the text file instead of breaking to the next line.
• MOD: Placement of most OK and Cancel buttons reorganized to more closely follow Apple guidelines.
• NEW: CurrentCard built in variable returns the current card.
• NEW: ASC command returns the ASCII value of a character.

v3.9.5 - 3/01/07

• FIX: When using paint tools, If you use the edit menu to Select All and then delete, some paint tools wouldn't work correctly unless you painted a dot or put a picture on the card.
• FIX: Using END SELECT inside a IF structure was returning an END SELECT without SELECT error if the part of the IF structure where the END SELECT was placed was not being executed.
• FIX: Adding strings together caused an error if the length of the new string was more than 255 characters. The new string is now truncated to 255 characters.
• FIX: The Paint Bucket tool was not working correctly on some Macs with OS X 10.4.x.
• NEW: TIMER x can be used to change the amount of time in a timer.

v3.9.4 - 2/05/07

• FIX: The kagi store link in the Demo version has been updated.
• FIX: In OS 9, the movie picture disappeared if the window later needed to be refreshed.
• FIX: The SELECT CASE command didn't correctly check for numerical variables. It only checked for either an actual number or strings.
• FIX: Saving the project file did not always save the "Loop Script" card option to the file.
• FIX: The keydown$ variable and KEYDOWN code block structure were not getting reset after a new game was started or a saved game was opened.
• FIX: Some block structures did not work or returned syntax errors if they were inside other block structures.
• MOD: The "Requires QuickTime" option has been updated to include newer versions of QuickTime.
• MOD: ON KEYDOWN now returns case sensitive characters in KeyDown$ rather than only upper-case characters.
• NEW: The Delete/backspace key now works with ON KEYDOWN by returning a "DELETE" string.
• NEW: LoopScript builtin variable to check if code has looped yet or not in card scripts.
• NEW: UCASE$ command sets a string to all upper-case characters.

v3.9.3 - 8/31/06

• FIX: REFRESH was not clearing the text area in compiled games if there was no text originally on the card.
• FIX: REFRESH was not always updating the card layout correctly if used in card scripts.
• FIX: Playing movies with QuickTime 7 or higher installed caused GameMaker to crash.
• MOD: STOPALERT commands are converted to CAUTIONALERT because STOPALERT is not available in OS X.

v3.9.2 - 8/06/06

• FIX: There was a bug that was drawing the wrong size frame around the window if the status bar or counter was hidden using script commands.
• FIX: A bug in INVENTORY WINDOW did not correctly display the inventory if the command was used in a card script.
• FIX: The EXIT command was not always exiting a structure or script correctly.
• FIX: Pressing <COMMAND> + <PERIOD> was quitting compiled games. This is now disabled.
• FIX: Click Areas would not always work correctly if "Loop Script" option was used in the card script.
• FIX: Using SELECT CASE structures sometimes incorrectly caused a "Nested SELECT CASE not allowed" error.
• FIX: Sprite information was not being saved to players saved game files.
• MOD: The NOTE command is now asyncronous (script continues to run while the sound is being played), but will still wait before playing if a previous sound is already playing.
• MOD: No Classic version. Now requires CarbonLib 1.6 with OS 8.6 or better or OS X.
• NEW: The Internet menu in GameMaker now has links to the Users Guide and message board forums.
• NEW: You can hide the cursor by using SETCURSOR with any negative number.
• NEW: ON KEYDOWN command structure.
• NEW: FILEEXISTS command.

Help & General Questions

If you're experiencing bugs or problems with GameMaker, first make sure you're using the latest version. See the Latest Updates section to download the update patch for your version.

I downloaded GameMaker, but It says I need an application to run it.

GameMaker is a Macintosh application and requires the user to have an Apple Macintosh computer. It will not run on any version of Windows. Current versions are compressed as zip archives. They should be able to be extracted simply by double clicking on them after making sure the file has the 3 letter extension of .zip. Previous versions of GameMaker were compressed as StuffIt archives (.sit file). StuffIt is the older Mac standard of compressing files for the web before OS X came along. You can open those compressed archives using the free StuffIt Expander which you can download from http://www.stuffit.com/mac/expander/download.html

Is there a Windows version of GameMaker available?

No. There might be one at some point in the future, but there isn't one at this time. 

I'm not a registered user. How do I get the full version?

See the Ordering GameMaker section above.

Why should I register?

Once you become a registered user, I will send you the latest full version of GameMaker which lets you have up to 750 lines of code per script (the unregistered version is limited to 15 lines of code per script), removes the nag windows that ask you to register, and can compile your games into real stand alone Mac applications that can be run without the need for GameMaker or any game player type of program.

Can I get the full version for free?

No. Please don't ask me to send it to you for free. I can't accept software trades either. I'm not trying to be mean to you, but I spend a large amount of time and my own money to constantly update this software and provide support for it.

Can I charge shareware fees for games that I make?

Yes. If you are a registered user of the full version, you can charge fees for your games. You can send your games to anyone or upload them to any internet location or online service that allows uploads. However, you are NOT allowed to give away or charge money for GameMaker itself.

How do I use the inventory, status bar, midi files, counter, any other feature?

There is a new GameMaker Guide web page that discuses various features. Please visit the GameMaker Guide page to see if your question is answered there.

Can v3.x open documents created with a previous version?

GameMaker v3.x can open game files made with any version of GameMaker as far back as v1.5.

Do I need other software to run GameMaker or compiled games?

No. GameMaker is an application. No other software is needed to use GameMaker. Games created with GameMaker can be compiled into stand alone applications so that no other software is needed to run them.

Application I created won't launch or shows wrong icon

In some cases, after creating an application, you may need to close the folder and reopen it for the Finder to properly recognize the new application. If that doesn't work then you may need to rebuild the desktop. To rebuild the desktop press the Option & Command keys while restarting your computer.

Tech Notes & Tech Support

Late Breaking News

The notes below are for GameMaker v3.9.94. If you're using an older version, please get the latest update here.

6/12/09 -GameMaker v3.9.94 released. No issues at this time.

Known Issues For All Versions

• Version 3.x may still have some problems when encountering a full disk (unconfirmed because we haven't been anywhere near having a full disk in several years). It is highly recommended that you use a Hard drive with at least several Mb of free disk space and always keep a backup copy of any game you're working on.

• There is approximately a 16Mb file size limit for GameMaker files. Creating a project that is larger than 16Mb can cause GameMaker to crash. This is a Macintosh resource file limit so I can't fix this easily. Future versions will eventually use multiple data files to correct this problem. If you are experiencing a disappearing card picture, then you've probably reached the file size limit. Try using GM Toolkit to compress your game pictures or use external graphics files with either the IMAGEFILE or SPRITE commands.

• GameMaker will not run on locked or read only media such as a CD. If you recieved GameMaker on CD, drag the entire folder to your hard drive and run it from there.

Other Problems

If you have any other questions, comments, or problems, please fill out the form on the Tech Support page or E-mail me at AlStaff@aol.com.

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