{"id":4871,"date":"2017-03-08T09:04:04","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T16:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/yoyo-games-heats-up-the-game-engine-wars-with-gamemaker-studio-2\/"},"modified":"2017-03-08T09:04:04","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T16:04:04","slug":"yoyo-games-heats-up-the-game-engine-wars-with-gamemaker-studio-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/yoyo-games-heats-up-the-game-engine-wars-with-gamemaker-studio-2\/","title":{"rendered":"YoYo Games heats up the game engine wars with GameMaker Studio 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

The link between playing violent video games and antisocial behavior, patient<\/a> such as increased aggression and decreased empathy, is hotly debated. In a recent study the long-term effects of playing violent video games were investigated. This study found that empathy is not blunted by playing such games long-term.<\/p>\n

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SAN FRANCISCO\u2014Before I gush about how slick and action-packed Middle Earth: Shadow of War<\/em> is looking before it comes out\u00a0for PC and consoles, information pills<\/a> I’d like to offer a huge warning: I didn’t get to play it. Warner Bros. Interactive hosted the Tolkien-universe game’s first major demo at a state-of-the-art movie theater down the block from\u00a0last week’s Game Developers Conference. The developers at Monolith carefully hid their\u00a0controllers\u00a0behind a theater seat, buy<\/a> and the game doesn’t come out for almost six\u00a0months.<\/p>\n

For some incomplete games’ previews, those are tolerable limitations, especially if their basic gameplay systems (combat, strategy, interface) are neatly spelled out. And in a few ways, what I saw\u00a0looks like a “bigger and better” Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor<\/em>. That isn’t a terrible conclusion to draw. (While uneven in some respects, the 2014 action-adventure game enjoyed a solid reception<\/a> by making the most of its Tolkien license, as opposed to being chained to a single book or film’s exact plot.)<\/p>\n

But, in too many other ways, Shadow of War<\/em> is aiming its swords, axes, arrows, and spectral super-powers a\u00a0lot<\/em> higher this time\u2014and doing so in an action-adventure market that is looking quite different than it did in 2014. Thus, my\u00a0challenge is to piece together how many parts of the demo were\u00a0withheld for mystery’s sake as opposed to being incomplete or bad.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read 14 remaining paragraphs<\/a> | Comments<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"GameMakersearch<\/a> http:\/\/1u88jj3r4db2x4txp44yqfj1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/gamemaker-studio-2-300×166.jpg 300w, for sale<\/a> http:\/\/1u88jj3r4db2x4txp44yqfj1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/gamemaker-studio-2-768×424.jpg 768w, http:\/\/1u88jj3r4db2x4txp44yqfj1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/gamemaker-studio-2-800×442.jpg 800w, http:\/\/1u88jj3r4db2x4txp44yqfj1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/gamemaker-studio-2-780×431.jpg 780w, http:\/\/1u88jj3r4db2x4txp44yqfj1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/gamemaker-studio-2-930×514.jpg 930w, http:\/\/1u88jj3r4db2x4txp44yqfj1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/gamemaker-studio-2.jpg 1200w” sizes=”(max-width: 578px) 100vw, 578px”><\/p>\n

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YoYo Games<\/a> is launching a new version of its cross-platform game engine, dubbed GameMaker Studio 2.<\/p>\n

Game engines are tools that make it easier for developers to create games. Big companies such as Amazon have figured out that if you want to find a way into a game developer\u2019s heart, you should make a game engine. Others who have figured out that game engines are a strategic asset are Unity Technologies (Unity), Epic Games (Unreal), Chukong Technologies (Cocos2d), and Crytek (CryEngine).<\/p>\n

Dundee, Scotland-based YoYo Games is one of the underdogs in this business, but it has carved out a niche with \u201cfluid and flexible\u201d cross-platform two-dimensional games.<\/p>\n

GameMaker Studio 2 is now available\u00a0from the YoYo Games website starting at $100.\u00a0YoYo Games also revealed that GameMaker Studio 2 will launch a closed beta for the Mac IDE\u00a0to give Mac developers access to the powerful GameMaker Studio platform for the first time.<\/p>\n

GameMaker Studio 2 builds upon the best of its predecessor with new features and\u00a0functionality that take the 2D game development environment to a new level. Beginners with\u00a0limited to no coding experience can use the drag-and-drop\u00a0system to turn ideas into actual code, the company said.<\/p>\n

\"GameMaker<\/p>\n

Above: GameMaker Studio 2\u2019s user interface.<\/p>\n

Image Credit: YoYo Games<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

And it said that professional developers can use the powerful\u00a0programming language and comprehensive set of tools for advance exporting and rapid\u00a0deployment across all leading platforms including mobile, console and desktop.<\/p>\n

With a completely redesigned user interface, new editors, enhanced monetization\u00a0tools and more, GameMaker Studio 2 also introduces new features and improvements with such as layer-based level editing to create\u00a0more complex visuals with backgrounds, tiles, instances, assets and paths.<\/p>\n

The target platforms for games built with the engine include Windows (Vista and above), Mac OS X (soon), Ubuntu,\u00a0iOS, Android (including Android TV, Amazon Fire and Fire TV), PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.<\/p>\n

\u201cGameMaker Studio 2 takes all the best features of the previous version and elevates game\u00a0development for all levels by simplifying the process and allowing creators to focus on making\u00a0fun and engaging games that can quickly come to market,\u201d said James Cox, general manager of\u00a0YoYo Games, in a statement. \u201cYoYo Games is dedicated to supporting the community and delivering the tools\u00a0to help developers be successful without breaking the bank.\u201d<\/p>\n

To date, the GameMaker Studio family of products has been downloaded more than 10 million\u00a0times since 2012 and currently has 200,000 monthly active users.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The link between playing violent video games and antisocial behavior, patient such as increased aggression and decreased empathy, is hotly debated. In a recent study the long-term effects of playing violent video games were investigated. This study found that empathy is not blunted by playing such games long-term. SAN FRANCISCO\u2014Before I gush about how slick… Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4872,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[174,377],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-games-media","category-gaming"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t