If your version of GameMaker: Studio has not been
bought through Steam, you will need to run the program
GMStudio-Installer.exe and follow the on-screen
instructions to install. You are given the option to install the
program anywhere you like but it is recommended that you follow the
default suggestions given. Once installation is completed, in the
Start menu you will find a new program group where you can start
GameMaker: Studio.
NOTE: If you have bought GameMaker: Studio through
Steam, the program should install automatically, giving you
the option to create a start menu icon and a desktop icon. Either
of these can then be used to run the program on your computer, or
you can run it through the Steam Client window library page
too.
Any computer that is less than five years old should be able to run GameMaker: Studio without any problems, but here are the minimum specs for your PC to use the program, and then the necessary specs for each of the additional modules that you may have.
IMPORTANT: The required SDK and OS given for each platform may be different at the time of use due to changes made between updates to GameMaker. You can always find the latest requirements from the YoYo Games helpdesk here.
GameMaker: Studio requires a reasonably modern PC running Windows XP, Vista, 7, or later. A DirectX 9 (or later) compatible graphics card with at least 32MB of memory is required for most created games. It requires a screen resolution of at least 1024x768 and 65536 (16-bit) colours (but preferably 32-bit true colour). Also a DirectX 9 compatible sound card, or integrated sound chip, is required. It is always recommended that you make sure you have the most recent drivers installed for your system.
GameMaker: Studio requires DirectX version 9.0 or later to be installed on your computer. (You can download this version of DirectX from the Microsoft website at: http://www.microsoft.com.) When designing and testing games, the memory requirements can be pretty high (at least 128 MB and preferably more, but this depends on the operating system). When just running games, the memory requirements are less severe and depend a lot on the type of game as well as the resources being used.
NOTE: Although most modern PCs ship with DirectX 10 and higher, this does not mean that DirectX 9 is present on your machine, and you should still install it from the link given above!
Please note that Steam users also have an additional target for compiling games which is the Steam Workshop. While creating and testing your game, this target module will work exactly the same as the standard Windows module, however when creating your final executable you will be shown additional options to submit the game directly to Steam. More information can be found here.
The Professional version of GameMaker: Studio comes with the Windows 8 Native and JavaScript target platforms as additional targets for free. These targets require a Windows 8 OS to run (and for testing), and this can be the main OS or a sub-OS that you can dual boot with Windows 7 (or any other OS you choose to use), however you cannot create a final application for Windows 8 outside of that OS.
You will also need to make sure that you have Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5 installed (.Net 4 is installed as standard with Windows 8, but you may need to install the previous version too) which is available here, although when you install GameMaker: Studio on your Windows 8 OS it should complete this part automatically.
Another thing that is necessary is a copy of Microsoft Visual Studio which can be found here. You must only use VS 2012 (the Express versions are fine), so even if you have a previous version of Visual Studio, it will not work with this module. A version of this product that supports Windows Store JavaScript app creation is essential as you will need it to create the *.pfx file which is your Developer Key and needed to submit your apps and games to the Windows Store.
The GameMaker: Studio Windows 8 export target will create an app specifically for the Windows 8 OS, and it will be compatible with many of the unique features that this OS offers the user. However, if you wish to publish this game through the Microsoft Store for Windows, you must have a Microsoft Developers Licence which is available by signing up for an account here. There is a small cost involved in registering for this account and you will need to have a valid bank account and credit facilities to be able to monetize any apps that you submit to the store.
Further information on setting up the Windows 8 modules can be found on the YoYo Games Helpdesk.
The above modules are included as standard for all versions of
GameMaker: Studio but the following modules are available
only to those who have upgraded to the Professional version
(more information on the different versions of GameMaker:
Studio can be found here).
To use the Mac OS X target module, you will need to have a Mac computer with an Intel chipset and running Mavericks (OSX 10.9) OS or above. You will also need to download and install Xcode for your version of the OS (minimum Xcode version 6). It's generally recommended that you use the latest OS X and the latest Xcode (you can find the version your Mac has by clicking on the "Apple" logo in the top left and selecting the "About this Mac" option from the drop down menu).
Further information on setting up the Mac OS X module can be found on the YoYo Games Helpdesk.
The Linux module is designed to be compatible with the Ubuntu operating system, and although it should work with other Linux systems, it is only guaranteed to work with the latest versions of this popular Linux OS.
Further information on setting up the Ubuntu module can be found on the YoYo Games Helpdesk.
The GameMaker: Studio iOS module requires that you have a Mac computer (or at least access to one) and that it meets the minimum requirements for the MacOSX target module (see above) and you must be a registered Apple developer and have all certificates and licenses up to date. For more information on becoming a registered Apple Developer and how to get the necessary certificates, please visit the Apple Developer site here.
Nearly all iOS devices are compatible with GameMaker: Studio including:
- iPhone 4, 4S, 5, 5C, 5S, 6, and 6plus
- iPad 1 and above
- iPod Touch 3rd Gen and above
It also doesn't matter if you are testing on an iPhone or an iPad as all iOS project builds created by GameMaker: Studio are, as standard, universal apps. This means that they will run on both iPhone and iPad devices without problems.
Further information on setting up the iOS module can be found on the YoYo Games Helpdesk.
Before actually starting to work with GameMaker: Studio and Android or Amazon Fire, it is worth noting that the devices that will play your game vary immensely in capability. The GameMaker: Studio runner will only work with Android 2.3(Gingerbread) and above (API Level 9 and above in the Android SDK), which covers the majority of devices around at the moment but not all of them, so please check and make sure which version of Android your device uses. It is also recommended that your device have a dedicated GPU with OpenGL version 1.1 or above. Devices without a GPU will still run your GameMaker: Studio projects, but expect them to have a severe drop in performance. The Amazon Fire target supports all Fire TV devices, the Fire Stick, and all Fire Tablets.
You will also need to download the Android SDK as GameMaker: Studio requires some of the components of the different Android versions and the Platform Tools it installs. You can get a copy of the SDK here. if you are also using the YoYo Compiler (YYC) then you will also need to install a copy of the Android NDK which can be found here.
Further information on setting up the Android module can be found on the YoYo Games Helpdesk.
The HTML5 export module requires only an HTML5 compliant browser. Note that although most modern browsers are capable of running HTML5 games, not all of them support the WebGL standard currently, so we recommend Chrome for testing as that shows all the features supported by the module.
Further information on setting up the HTML5 module can be found on the YoYo Games Helpdesk.
Creating games for the Windows Phone module requires that you have installed the Windows Phone SDK 8.0 (download from here). You will also need a Windows 8 PC with the following specifications:
- Windows 8, running 64-bit. A 32-bit system is not supported.
- 4GB RAM minimum
- 6.5GB of disk space
if you do not have a Windows Phone device, you can make use of the Windows Phone emulator, however be aware that these additional requirements will also apply in that case:
- Windows 8 Professional or Enterprise Edition
- Hardware virtualisation
- Second Level Address Translation (SLAT)
- DHCP, so the virtual machine can get a IP address on the local network
NOTE: The Windows Phone SDK will also install Microsoft Visual Basic Express for Windows Phone as well, so there is no need to install it separately.
Further information on setting up the Windows Phone module can be found on the YoYo Games Helpdesk.
The Tizen target module has certain pre-requisites that must be met before being used, the most important of these is that you must have installed the Tizen SDK (available You can get the SDK here).
WARNING!:The current Tizen SDK does not work on Windows 8, so you will need to have an earlier OS installed on your development machine (you can dual boot to Windows XP, Vista, or 7). Also note that the 64bit SDK may not work, even if your OS is 64bit, so if in doubt you should choose the 32bit version.
Apart from that you will also need the following:
- dual-core 2 GHz CPU
- At least 2 GB of RAM memory
- At least 3 GB of free disk space
- Oracle Java JDK (v6 or above) installed (do not use OpenJDK)
If you do not have access to a Tizen device, you may be able to use the Tizen Emulator, however you must also meet the following requirements for it to work correctly:
Further information on setting up the Tizen module can be found on the YoYo Games Helpdesk.
- A CPU that supports Intel VTx
- At least 1280 x 1024 screen resolution
- The most up to date graphics drivers for OpenGL ES acceleration
The YYC takes the normal GameMaker: Studio output and then compiles that into native code for the target platform, "stripping out" unneeded functions and performing a host of other optimisation techniques to create a smaller and performance enhanced executable. This can increase your games performance by at least two or three times, especially on logic-heavy games, and gives an incredible overall boost to performance, ideal for those larger or CPU intensive games.
The YYC is really a number of separate modules, one for each available target, and will be made available to you when you get any supported target module. So if you have, for example, the iOS and Android modules, then you will see two new modules added to your target list apart from the standard ones - iOS (YYC) and Android (YYC). Should you get other modules at a later date, the YYC will update too and show an extra (YYC) module for that target platform.NOTE: The YYC is not available for the HTML5 target, nor any of those that are JavaScript (JS) based.
The requisites for the YYC target module will depend on the original target modules that you have and wish to use it with, as they will need to be set up correctly before the YYC will work correctly. You can find further information about this from the YoYo Games Knowledge Base as well as on the individual target module Global Game Settings pages detailed in this manual.
No matter what version of GameMaker: Studio you have, you will find that it comes bundled with a stand-alone application called the GameMaker: Player. This application is a platform for distributing your games and for playing those made by others. Once you have installed GameMaker: Studio and the gameMaker: Player, you can then run them independently and also upload your own games to the Player for others to play.
You can find out more information about the GameMaker: Player target platform from the YoYo Games Knowledge Base - GameMaker: Player.
For further information, advice and troubleshooting please
consult the YoYo Games Knowledge Base where you will find detailed
information of how to setup all platforms for use with
GameMaker: Studio.