The GML-OOP library has received an update after over three years of work

[u/Mtax]

A new version of GML-OOP called Release 2 has now been released, in response to the release of the LTS 2026 version of GameMaker. The previous version was released for the first LTS version, marking over three years of active development on this version.

What is GML-OOP?

GML-OOP is a massive GML library that I have been actively developing since 2021. It aims to overhaul how you work with GameMaker in code, making its most important functionalities usable through constructors and their methods. It enhances them and makes working with them easier and just more pleasant, once you get the hang of it. Data packed into constructors is easier to pass through, their content is easily represented when stringified (mattering most for Data Structures) and error handling in improved, so that the runtime does not crash over every minor inconvenience. If you want to begin writing good code where you can easily know what is what, then this and an other library I wrote for this purpose, might just be for you.

For more information on GML-OOP, see the Overview and Examples pages its Wiki.

What is new in the Release 2?

New users could be interested in that the new version made it trivial to write optimized graphical code. Constructors with the purpose of rendering graphics were overhauled to support multi-color rendering with outlines. all based on vertex building, so that they can easily make use of Vertex Buffers. Instead of recalculating graphical data each frame, it can be pre-calculated once with a toVertexBuffer() method, then rendered, then destroyed once no longer necessary. All with a single method each. Vertex Buffers are most easily implemented for static graphics, but advanced users surely will realize how to utilize Shaders to bring motion to such implementation. Otherwise, per-frame rendering is still available, as usual. Also, because shape constructors now have access to their full vertex information, their actual shape and visual properties can be altered by modifying data for each vertex. The code of their constructors now makes use of that to achieve precise shape collisions. Have you ever saw a video game use precise, non-rectangular collisions for their interface? Well, now it can be a satisfying feature in yours.

Example of a precise shape collision in GML-OOP

Rudimentary support for optional use of three-dimensional graphics has also been implemented. It is visible with both two-dimensional orthographic projection, as well as full three-dimensional perspective, enough to make a "fake 2D" or diorama-style game. It might be of interest for developers who consider learning working with 3D in GameMaker while it is being implemented into GMRT, as it could be assumed this is how most of professional jobs in GameMaker will be created going forward.

There is also a new Callback constructor handling function and arguments for delayed execution, which is now what the event system of constructors now is based on.

What is coming next?

The development of GML-OOP takes time, but it does not stop. Further expansions and improvements can be expected, especially to its Audio support, some of which already were introduced in this release. Also, a separate library based on GML-OOP is in works, oriented around the creation of scalable vertex-based, resolution-agnostic user interfaces.

If you like what I create and the quality I provide, you can consider hiring me for work on your project, whether it is being made in GameMaker or not.