July 12, 2013GameMaker: Studio gets shaders and compiler
YoYo Games have recently released GameMaker: Studio v1.1058 which they consider a beta release of v1.2. This is a significant update that adds two huge new features.
The first of these is the addition of GPU shaders. One of the places GameMaker has always lagged behind is in 3D graphics support. GameMaker's primary purpose is for making 2D games but many users have found its basic 3D capabilities tantalizing enough to go to great lengths to get around some of its limitations to create games. Over time these limits have been reduced with simple improvements like better z-buffer control and render-to-texture abilities. With the addition of shaders and an improved vertex interface, there is now little that can't be done. GLSL ES shaders are available for most platforms and Windows users have the option of using more powerful GLSL and HLSL shaders.
The second major new addition is a native code compiler. As an interpreted language, GML has earned a reputation for being slow. The new compiler should put an end to that. CPU intensive games can expect significant performance improvements. YoYo has even gone so far as suggesting some processes running up to 100 times faster. That's probably an exceptional case, but expect at least modest improvements for all games. For now, the native code compiler is only available for Windows desktop games and requires the installation of Visual Studio or free-to-use Visual Studio Express.