GameMaker TImeline

[Xiphos]

Maybe its just me but I cracked up to the first reply.

Yeah same!

[SecretAgentBob]

Like what was the Quest of Magic of the age? Who was the most active user? Why did the community collapse?

The major GameMaker community was on the old AOL message boards, and completely fell apart when AOL eventually decided to close it down.  There used to be lots of posts every day - it was a pretty active community.  I think someone made an archive of a bunch of them at some point, but I have no idea where that might be.  The GMG became the main hub for GameMaker and SilverCreator users at that point, but it was never quite as big.

I've gathered that SAB did things nobody thought possible with his series of RPGs, but what happened to him then? Did he move on to a more advanced language? How did he suddenly make the jump to motion media?

The main reason I did atypical games was because I wasn't really good at the whole "game making" part.  So I decided that if I couldn't develop a better game then I needed to make something unique.

I was planning on taking a college course in game programming, but eventually I had a reality check and realized I wasn't nearly good enough to go professional.  Movies, on the other hand, I might have a chance at.

It's just not the same. I don't mean to discount his success or anything... but you forget your roots. He doesn't even post those old games. At least I still have Dude on my site.

Hey, Mike!  I don't mean to forget my "roots," I just haven't considered myself a game maker for a long time.  I had an archive of my old games up at one point, I'll track it down and put it up again.  I'll also see if I can find any old GameMaker games that might be currently lost to time.  I'm not sure what I still have - I lost my computer in New Orleans during Katrina and I'm worried most of it was probably on that.

[GMG Mike]

Hey, Mike!  I don't mean to forget my "roots," I just haven't considered myself a game maker for a long time.  I had an archive of my old games up at one point, I'll track it down and put it up again.  I'll also see if I can find any old GameMaker games that might be currently lost to time.  I'm not sure what I still have - I lost my computer in New Orleans during Katrina and I'm worried most of it was probably on that.

Sorry to hear about Katrina and all that. I've still never seen any of your movies though :/

I'm probably the one who archived the most stuff from AOL - I have a pretty decent run of posts captured from the thumbtack boards, as well as some really old archives from before I joined that AFL Rod had made (where the hell is he?). I also archived both file libraries 1 and 2, so I have anything you uploaded there.

The GMG and the Plaza are the new community (and the official GM forums when I get them back up, sorry Al ). Lots of old AOL message boards have continued on in different ways. The community was one of the few things AOL had going for it, and it was the only reason why we kept AOL even after we got a cable modem, I know several other people kept it even after they got cable or DSL as well.

AOL seriously fücked up when they closed down all of those forums - not just ours but hundreds of other ones as well. It cost them sh¡t all to maintain compared to the ? x $9.95 monthly fees all of those customers brought in.

[Charlo]

I remember back on the old GMG I wanted so badly to be a part of the community, but I was inexperienced with the ways of the internet so I never really took part.  Anyway, by the time I got there, it was pretty much stagnant; not many people were actually making games anymore.  This must have been in 2001.  

Seeing those old archived sites really brings back the memories.  It also makes me want to write some reviews for the current iteration of this site, because I remember that the reviews were my favorite part.  Those guys really weren't shy about tearing into the piece of crap that was "Super OS" (the game which actually inspired me to make a really good GM OS until it got lost in some GM crash).

[GMG Mike]

Also forgot to mention - you can now convert older GM games into Carbon games. They are still PPC but they run fine in Rosetta, so new Macs can play them.

http://mikerichardson.name/gmutils/GMCarbonizerBeta.sit

Arbitrary Google find: GameMaker v2.61 demo: http://www.applefritter.com/node/14001

[SecretAgentBob]

I'm probably the one who archived the most stuff from AOL - I have a pretty decent run of posts captured from the thumbtack boards, as well as some really old archives from before I joined that AFL Rod had made (where the hell is he?).

Haha I forgot about AFL Rod.  Wasn't he the AOL moderator?

I also archived both file libraries 1 and 2, so I have anything you uploaded there.

Man, I'd love to play some GM games from the AOL days.  I have an original iMac with OS 9 on it - I've been meaning to look through my old hard drives and see if I saved anything from those days.

I only vaguely remember what file libraries 1 and 2 were.  About how many of the AOL-era GM games do you have saved?

The community was one of the few things AOL had going for it, and it was the only reason why we kept AOL even after we got a cable modem, I know several other people kept it even after they got cable or DSL as well.

Yeah, it was the same thing with me.  I kept AOL until they deleted the message boards.

[Al Staffieri]

I just saw this thread now. Don't know how I missed it. I have a bunch of old GM games from the AOL forums on my G3 iMac. They only run in OS 7, 8, 9. When AOL closed the forums I saved most of the better games at the time. I'll try to make an archive of them all and post it on my site.

[Al Staffieri]

Dan Grover (nuttdan) - Created Wonderwarp software back when he was making GameMaker games. He originally had his GM games on his wonderwarp.net site, but eventually went on to become a legitimate software company still using the WonderWarp name and web site.
http://www.wonderwarp.com/


Nick Ver Voort (Moldormavx) - Started with GameMaker and went on to create Wanilla Entertainment and makes iphone apps.
http://www.wanilla.net/site

Mobuli - Created Space Can Suck and 2nd Terror Protocol. Went on to create and star in his own movies. His first movie was called Hitman's Handbook and he was making a movie based on the Space Can Suck GM game.


Mindsoftpro - Read about a GameMaker user from way back on the AOL forums and his attempt to create some GM games with others.
http://mindsoftsw0.tripod.com/mindsoftproductions/id4.html


An old log of an AOL Games Forum chat with Spiderweb Software. If you were around back then you may see some familiar screen names. A few were GameMaker users such as Fsccr99, sugura528, FX Wzrd, TS TomDale.
http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/misc/interviews/NETH_AOLchat.txt

[SecretAgentBob]

I just saw this thread now. Don't know how I missed it. I have a bunch of old GM games from the AOL forums on my G3 iMac. They only run in OS 7, 8, 9. When AOL closed the forums I saved most of the better games at the time. I'll try to make an archive of them all and post it on my site.

That would be amazing.  I remember playing so many cool games back then, it would be great to revisit some of them.

[GMG Mike]

I just saw this thread now. Don't know how I missed it. I have a bunch of old GM games from the AOL forums on my G3 iMac. They only run in OS 7, 8, 9.

GM Carbonizer should be able to convert any v1.5 or newer game to Carbon.

Also, I think you wrote your own converter for the super old games.

[Silverwind]

Hey! Nice to see you back Jason. I wasn't sure if you'd found the GMG since the MGM forums went down. What's with the animation hiatus?

An old log of an AOL Games Forum chat with Spiderweb Software. If you were around back then you may see some familiar screen names. A few were GameMaker users such as Fsccr99, sugura528, FX Wzrd, TS TomDale.
http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/misc/interviews/NETH_AOLchat.txt

Wow, that was interesting, especially this segment:

B5 RobMan:  What's the toughest part of creating a shareware game?
SpidWeb:  My wife just said "carry through."
RayDunakin:?
SpidWeb:  She is right, although perhaps I
SpidWeb:  should explain what she means.
SpidWeb:  It's easy to start a game.
SpidWeb:  It's easy to write most of it.
SpidWeb:  But then, when it's mostly done, you awlways hit this
SpidWeb:  wall. Where it will take a huge effort tofinish it.
SpidWeb:  Getting past that hurdle, gritting your teeth, and finishing the game when there's
SpidWeb:  nothing you'd loathe more than working on it more,
SpidWeb:  is the hardest thing about making a shareware game.
User877845:  hehe
BGraceFild:  ?
B5 RobMan:  Thanx
SpidWeb:  Many, many promising games hit that barrier, and then disappear for a few words.
SpidWeb:  Or forever.
SpidWeb:  GA

[EqwanoX]

i wonder what happened to brandon ballinger, ide be interested in what hes up to now, after makeing such an epic game with chronicle of ekan how could he ever abandon game design or even programming

and TSReid, he was a pretty talented artist and animator, and that was 10 years ago, he must be at a proffessional level now if he continued to pursue it

[GMG Mike]

Brandon seems to have fallen off the face of the earth.

The last time I saw him around was 5 years ago when he made a few posts on the Plaza.

He doesn't appear to be on Facebook.

I remember he used to sign onto AIM occasionally, but I haven't had him on my buddy list since it crashed over a year ago. (lost a ton of other screen names too when that happened )

[x]

I vaguely remember some of this stuff. I was a lurker back in 1998 onwards.

Still am mostly.

[Silverwind]

It amazes me how long people lurk on forums. I thought Alias was a record holder with like, 9 years or something, but 12 years?! Why in the name of Jiminy Cricket didn't you post man!

Welcome to the forum btw.