Hey gamers and devs, buckle up! GameMaker, the widely loved 2D game development engine, just announced their annual update, and it’s a doozy. Straight from Dundee, Scotland, the team behind GameMaker has laid out their roadmap for 2023, and it’s all about what the community has been asking for. Including a new code editor, enhanced modding capabilities, and even AI support! 🤖
Russell Kay, Head of GameMaker, had some lovely words for the community: “One of the biggest strengths of GameMaker is our vocal and engaged community, who let us know loud and clear what new features and refinements they want us to make to the design environment.” Thanks to this feedback, the roadmap is chock-full of exciting new additions!
Let’s dig into the highlights, shall we?
Modding Extensions: Get ready for an influx of user-generated content! The new mod.io extension will make it simple for developers to turn players into modders, creating more content for their games and boosting community engagement. Once connected to mod.io, devs can access a range of game mods, from simple DLC options to sophisticated user-created levels and data.
AI Integration: Following Opera’s collab with OpenAI, GameMaker is keen to integrate AI in a way that simplifies game-making without squashing individual expression. They’re experimenting with systems that let AI queries and results be incorporated directly into projects – think code generation, graphical placeholders, and image in-painting or out-painting.
New Code Editor: A fresh, redesigned UI is coming to the Code Editor, along with new features like full-screen hosting, object and event creation within the editor, and improved syntax highlighting and Intellisense support. GameMaker will also be open sourcing its Language Server for GameMakerLanguage (GML), opening it up to more environments and even Visual Studio Code compatibility.
Read about the new features in more detail here.
Now, it’s your turn! Are you buzzing about these updates as much as we are? What feature are you most excited about? Share your thoughts in the comments below, or join the conversation in the Gaming.Buzz Community Discord. Let’s get this chat going! 🎮👾