GM8.1 threw out .exe’s

Edit: restrictions on the creation of .exe’s with the lite version of GameMaker 8.1 have changed. There is now a watermark on your game, and a splash screen that appears when you leave a game. In GameMaker 8.1 Lite .exe’s will only be able to be used for ten minutes, however one can easily have someone who has bought GM8.1 Pro compile a game into an executable for them. .gmk’s.gm81’s can be uploaded to YoYo Games, and I doubt this will change. Blue Moon Productions have given YoYo Games many good reasons why they should not limit .exe’s. Mike has said

Actually as a rule… we’re happy to listen to reasonable discussion and argument. If you can persuade us; we’re happy to change!

So maybe these arguments will be good enough to get YoYo Games to change their mind. Blue Moon Productions’ arguments are listed below.

Hey YoYo Games :p

I completely disagree with removing the .exe exporter from Game Maker for Windows, and I think you should also add a .dmg exporter for Game Maker for Mac.

In your tweet you suggested(as I replied) that only beginners use lite, and advanced users can afford pro. I’m not sure wether this was intentional or not, but I completely disagree (again).

First of all, there are a lot of good Lite games. Here are a few examples: http://www.yoyogames.com/games/164200-auto-d (featured) http://www.yoyogames.com/games/142545-artilerry-f And there are way more good lite games.

What is the point of Game Making software when there’s no way to share your creations?

Who said people will KNOW they have to buy the Pro version to export .exe? When I started using Game Maker, 3 years ago, I used Lite for a few months, excited by the fact that I was able to make stand-alone games. If this export feature wouldn’t have been there, I would never have bought the Pro version.

If you want people to buy the Pro version, you should add features to it, instead of removing features from the Lite version.

For example, give users the ability to export both .exe and .dmg, on both GM4Windows and GM4Mac.

GameSalad, Construct, Unity.. They all export .exe or .dmg in the free version. If I had to choose, between one of them or Game Maker, and I knew that -ONLY in GameMaker- I had to PAY to export my games, what would I choose?

Correct, GameSalad, Construct or Unity.

You will lose a lot of potential Game Maker users by doing this > potential sales.

GameMaker is promoted as a ‘Free Game Development tool’. After removing the .exe exporter, it still is, but the title is completely misleading, as you will have to pay to show your game to the world(without the chance someone ripping off your game). A few weeks ago, I started ‘testing’ GameSalad. It promised me that I didn’t have to pay a single dollar to make a game I could sell, and told me I could export for iOS too. Then I found out, you could only test your game when you bought GameSalad Pro($500/year), and the $100 Apple fee.

That’s why I stopped using GameSalad immediately, and returned to GameMaker. I’m not saying I’m going to stop using GameMaker, but these misleading slogans really discourage people.

I could write a lot more, but this is everything in a nutshell.

Looking forward to your reply, Timon Knigge, BlueMoonProducions