Welcome to GameMaker Studio 2.3.0! This major new release introduces many significant improvements to the software, which you can find detailed further down this page: new resource types and editors; important quality-of-life changes throughout the IDE; a brand new manual; an overhauled project format; lots of new GML language functionality; and much more.
“With version 2.3 of GameMaker we’ve not only changed the best practices for doing almost everything in GML, but with new features like Sequences and Animation Curve we’ve introduced incredibly powerful new tools which continue to open-up GameMaker Studio 2 to people who are less experienced with code and who prefer a more visual approach to making games”, said Stuart Poole, General Manager, YoYo Games. “This ability to synchronise audio and animation and invoke instances of it at any point through game logic is going to increasingly add a huge amount of polish to games, by giving content creators a very high level of control over how their designs are implemented within the game.”
One of the most anticipated new features is Sequences - an easy-to-use tool for adding sound and animation to visual assets. Used in conjunction with another new top-level feature, Animation Curves, Sequences enables artists to unleash their creativity to create dynamic animations and cut-scenes, all without needing a coder to change every pixel.
“Developing cutscenes or complex animations may have been difficult before but has been streamlined tremendously with Sequences. With just a couple of keyframes, I'm able to see my animation come to life immediately and make small adjustments to get it just right,” said version 2.3 closed-beta participate Sam Baylus from MashArcade, adding: “Sequences allow me to work quickly, efficiently, and more intuitively than ever before and developers have only begun to scratch the surface of what Sequences is capable of.”
Developer and closed-beta participant Gurpreet Singh Matharoo is also excited by the potential of Sequences: “There is so much I like about v2.3, but Sequences outshines them all. There's so much you can do with them. Animations and cutscenes are the obvious ones, but even GUI design, audio sequencing, template design (for example, pattern of incoming enemies in a space shooter game), and so much more that is yet to be discovered.”
In addition to the streamlined new project format, the latest update also sees the Resource Tree replaced with the Asset Browser, in a significant IDE upgrade which offers developers a completely redesigned way to create, manage, tag and filter their assets. Developer JuJu Adams, who has been using version 2.3 during closed-beta, was particular impressed by the new Asset Browser: “The biggest workflow improvement is ensuring merge conflicts in source control no longer require Bletchley Park to decrypt. That resources can be anywhere is a game-changer for many reasons, not least because you can communicate a lot of information about the underlying structure of a game just through your Asset Browser tree.”
2.3.0 AND THE EXCITING CHANGES IT BRINGS
This one is quite a long read, as there are a lot of things to cover and there is also an important section below about things to be aware of migrating from 2.2.5, but please do take the time to review all of this page and you'll have no problems adapting to all the changes in 2.3.0 and be ready to take your games to new heights.
Now, if you're sitting comfortably, I'll begin...
GET UP TO DATE WITH 2.3
- GameMaker Studio 2.3: New IDE Features
- GameMaker Studio 2.3: New GML Features
- Sequences Tutorial Video Series
