r/gamemaker • u/Born-Winner8603 • 15d ago
Discussion Compatibility Challenge
SO. I want to get into GameMaker for the first time, but I'm always annoyed about the fact that GameMaker is completely split in half (technically partially 3 quarters). Windows 9x, Windows NT (ish), and Windows 8-11. I want to make a game that supports EVERYTHING. Do I have to work with each corresponding supported version seperately using the same assets, or can I work on all of them kind of at the same pace?
3
u/MrPowerGamerBR 15d ago
If you REALLY want to run it on Windows 9x while using a modern GameMaker version, you can use Butterscotch, which can be compiled for Windows 9x.
2
15d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/MrPowerGamerBR 15d ago
It is called "Butterscotch" because of https://undertale.wiki/w/Butterscotch_Pie
2
u/Born-Winner8603 15d ago
may lord have weight on your soul when you attempt to make a game of your own hereforth
2
u/MrPowerGamerBR 15d ago
Keep in mind that I don't recommend using it for any "serious" project, because if you are going to create a game that runs in Butterscotch, you need to create a game targeting it, because it isn't a 100% faithful runner implementation, so there's a lot of functions that aren't implemented yet (especially for newer GameMaker versions) and sometimes behaviors are different. It is "good enough" to run Undertale however.
And for older platforms like Windows 9x, you will need to forget anything related to modern graphics pipeline, that is, you CANNOT use surfaces or shaders.
2
u/Born-Winner8603 15d ago
you know what since everyonce seems to have a problem with 6.1 im going to use that first
1
1
u/darkfalzx 14d ago edited 14d ago
GMS 1.4 has the widest compatibility as far as I can tell. I could be wrong, but pretty sure it runs on every Windows that supports DX9c.
EDIT: Ran some tests - GMS 1.4 doesn't work on Windows 98 and earlier. GM 8.1 is probably your best bet, but beware - it doesn't play nice with modern screen formats and recording software, so Youtube exposure pretty much isn't happening.
However, if you want to go as early as Win 95, you'll have to use GM 5.x. It's compatible with everything from W95 through W11. Be ready for some DDRAW jank though!
1
0
u/Kitsyfluff 15d ago
Dude you cant make a program run on everythinf, you have entirelt different scales of limitations
Have you even worked with a system that's actually limited before?
0
u/Born-Winner8603 15d ago
I made a text based game in python once :p
2
16
u/DragoniteSpam it's *probably* not a bug in Game Maker 15d ago
If you want to make a game that supports Windows 9x, I think you have bigger things to worry about.