5 replies to this topic

[halfmaster1]

Hello.

I have two problems.

Unlike the windows version, the is no alpha, and no eraser tool in the sprite editor, so all the sprites are just a square of pixels, as in there is no transparency anywhere in it., which obvious won't work for, say, a player sprite.

My other problem is that I have tried to buy pro twice, but I am not receiving E-mails, and am a bit confused about how to pay, as it asks for an email adress, but no credit card numbers or paypal accounts.

[AlaskaGames]

That is just weird. I didn't know the Mac version was so bad.

[Dangerous_Dave]

GM for Mac is based on GM7 for Windows. Any additions since then, such as alpha, among a lot of other things, are not included. It's also quite buggy, and poorly supported.

If you have a Windows disk lying around, I suggest installing Windows on a virtual machine (perhaps using the free software Virtual Box) and getting GameMaker Studio instead. It's a little more expensive ($99) but a much more pleasant experience. To make Mac games with it, you'll need to have the software running on Windows at the same time as having your Mac running. I do this via a virtual machine, but if you have a Mac and a Windows PC then you may find it easier to do it that way. They need to be connected to the same network.

If you don't have what you need for that, GM for Mac does work, but expect a rocky ride. As for purchasing, after entering your email address, you should press the "proceed" button, then once you have checked the details, click the Google Checkout button (Buy Now) to pay.

[NakedPaulToast]

Second DD's advice.

I was an early adopter of GM4Mac, tolerated it, but was never really thrilled with it.

I do however like GM:Studio, I spend a lot of time in Bootcamp anyway and don't mind that I need a Windows OS to create Mac games. Small price to pay for compatibility.

[halfmaster1]

Hmmm.


Wait, so in GM7, all sprite were rectangular? How is that possible? I understand that alpha does work, but unless you have a solid colour for your background, you need to be able to see it through some of your sprite.

I might buy GM studio, but it awfully expensive. I have windows and mac on the same computer, but they don't run simultaneously. I have the windows version, lite, but I was hoping to use the app store.

Thanks.

Edited by halfmaster1, 16 June 2012 - 03:21 PM.

[Dangerous_Dave]

Wait, so in GM7, all sprite were rectangular? How is that possible? I understand that alpha does work, but unless you have a solid colour for your background, you need to be able to see it through some of your sprite.

The colour of the pixel in the bottom left corner of the sprite is used as the transparent colour. Any part of the sprite that colour will be shown as transparent, so long as you have checked the "transparent" box.

However, GM for Mac does not support partial transparency in a sprite internally. So anything that has partially transparent edges is going to look terrible. You can use the sprites fine if you store them externally and use sprite_add_alpha() to load them.

I might buy GM studio, but it awfully expensive. I have windows and mac on the same computer, but they don't run simultaneously. I have the windows version, lite, but I was hoping to use the app store.

In my opinion, the extra money is worth it for the more pleasant experience of GM Studio. However, $99 isn't a lot of money to me. I'm looking at buying a house, $99 is pocket change. But I remember what it was like to be young (barely), so if you can only afford GM for Mac, that's fine. It works well enough to make games. However, I've never managed to sandbox the apps, which means from June 1 (which has already passed), the apps can't be submitted to the Mac App Store. I haven't actually *tried* submitting one, but I wouldn't be wasting a $99 developers fee on that risk if you're in a financial situation when you can't afford Studio.

Oh, and Win and Mac *need* to run simultaneously for Studio. If you've still got the disk, then you can install it in a VM with Virtual Box. If not, there is VM software that allows you to run your bootcamp partition in a VM, but this software costs.