The folks over at the G-Java forums (specifically TGMG) have been working on a very interesting and exciting project that is sure to spark some interest. Lately there has been a large need for services or software that will allow Game Maker Games to run in browser windows, unfortunately until now the only options have been Instant Play (which only works on the YoYo Games website and does not embed game windows) and other licensed (expensive) alternatives such as Web Game Builder.
Unlike the current ‘Instant Play’ type projects and software, GMBED is free to use and embeds the game directly into the browser window. To top it all of, the end user does not even need to install any additional plugins, as the module which embeds the Game Maker games runs off of a Java applet. GMBed also has the added advantage of being created specifically for Game Maker games (where some of the other projects floating around work with general executables and have been known to have issues embedding some Game Maker games).
Try out one of the test games here!
According to TGMG, GMBed will work on any executable but was designed especially in mind for GM7 games. Using the ‘plugin mode’ on GM7 games allows the game to only download the game data and not the 2 mb runner data common to all GM games. This way loading times can be cut down considerably and a game that is normally 2.3 mb may only need to download 300kb before it’s ready to run.
The project is just entering the testing stages, so it still has a couple of issues but other than that it is working smoothly and looks very promising.
For more information about the project, see here.
From our testing it seems to work with almost any Windows web browser which supports Java (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera & Safari (mixed reports))
NOTE (from bendodge):
There is another Instant Play-like solution called GMX. It is currently in beta development by the folks over at Covac Software.
Filed under: The GMC (General)
That’s pretty neat. Too bad they always show these simple examples at first. Why don’t they take Battleships Forever or Ark22 and show what it’s really capable of?
Hmm, the test game didn’t work correctly for me, but it’s nice to see some more output from the G-Java team.
[...] GMNews’ Post about GMBed [...]
“That’s pretty neat. Too bad they always show these simple examples at first. Why don’t they take Battleships Forever or Ark22 and show what it’s really capable of?”
You cant just take someones game and start showing it off without anyones permission
anyway its capable of anything game maker is capable of.
“There is another Instant Play-like solution called GMX…”
Well, I could have sworn that it is very unlike both.
Nice to mention it though. (Reason: it is cross-browser, uses java (most browsers), uses activex (for IE), embeds games, manages games…)
I just can say that TGMG’s idea is a very good start - only someone though of it beforehand :P.
Kind regards,
Christian
The example doesn’t work. They should use a more complex game as an example to show if it would work.
[...] previous InstantPlay alternative is the Java-based GMBed (v2.0 beta released July ‘08). Covac Software also published GmX, an ActiveX-based system, [...]