Platform Builder 10 Beta

[TingThing]

Hey Everyone! I thought I'd surprise you with an exciting announcement.


Platform Builder 10 Beta. It's out.

That's right! I just dropped an early release of PB 10 so that you can get the chance to try out the new features and check out the new look! (The graphics are mostly finished, but still subject to change some.)

Check out my video announcement here:

Here's what's changed (Scroll down to see beta updates):

Beta 1.0

• The graphics in Platform Builder has been redone. You can choose between the two new options or the old graphics in "other settings" of Game Setup.
• The available features for Platform Builder Standard have shifted around some. You can now use more custom enemies, items, characters, etc., and NPCs are available. However, Platform Builder Standard will no longer let you publish games to the explore section; you will need Pro for that.
• The tile Selection menu is available for all items that use subcategories.
• Game Slots are now unlimited.
• Added a new way to report bugs and errors through the menu of Platform Builder's editor mode.
• Added a new type of custom block which is both invisible and not solid until it is triggered.
• Added conditionals for collisions with enemies, items, etc.
• Added tool to search all commands in your game from the Game Setup main menu.
• Added Gray Advanced Cliffs in Overworld
• Added two more candle part sprites
• Added a few extra sprite options for pick-up custom items.
• Added cape, backpack, belts, and several other new pieces in the character designer.
• Added two kinds of lift blocks that work like elevators for your levels.
• Added "testing area" and "testing game" conditionals (which are more specific than just "testing")
• Added "projectile direction = X degrees" command for 360-degree projectile directions.
• Added "harmed" conditional for when the character is blinking after being harmed.
• Added a simple volume control for imported music.
• Added options in enemy settings for how to respond when hit by a character with invincibility.
• Added many new commands for modifying the settings of custom items.
• Added many new commands for modifying the settings of custom projectiles.
• Added many new commands for modifying the settings of custom blocks.
• Added commands for changing how custom enemies respond when hit by a character with invincibility.
• Added "Enemy Continue" command which causes the enemy to drop any movement commands but continue in its current movement.
• Added commands for checking, changing, and randomizing the "seed" of the randomizer in Platform Builder.
• Added commands for changing the window size.
• Added commands for snapping the x and y position of enemies, items, etc., to a grid of your chosen size.
• Added commands to modify the scroll speed and scroll direction of scrolling backgrounds.
• Added command to change the game's target fps after changing areas.
• Added commands to make custom enemies visible or invisible to homing projectiles.
• Added "distance to player" conditional.
• Added commands to spawn a sprite to be used in the HUD.
• Added commands to use the rumble feature on controllers.
• Added a few commands to change the size of the overhead text
• Added large cannonball and large cannonball wall cannon sprites to the sprite sheets.
• Improved animation of items when they are spawned from auto-blocks.
• key press conditionals for jump, attack, pick, and use can be used as non-conditionals (to just cause the character to respond as if the key was pressed.)
• harm/hurt command will cause knockback and trigger hurt commands even if the player has unlimited health.
• "music volume" command is spread more evenly from soft to loud.
• The example file has been updated slightly.
• The view position and movement are improved some with auto-run games, especially when those games include wall jumps.
• The secondary dirt color in the overworld has been added as an option for the overworld background.
• Fixed: Unable to set tile selection off to the side for live placement in the overworld editor.
• Fixed: Enemy 1 Sprite Sheet does not save and display correctly in Game Setup
• Fixed: There's an empty sub-position for text item in area, splash screen, and victory screen editors.
• Fixed: Some shading and animation issues are occurring with the item selection and subpos arrows in the workstation.
• Fixed: Putting tile selection off to the top-right corner does not work in the overworld editor.
• Fixed: "exit" command does not fully exit the command prompt.
• Fixed: Custom enemies set to ignore their environment are still affected by repel stones.
• Fixed: "Enemy = left down" command does not move the flying enemy in the right direction.
• Fixed: sparkle effect does not work right in items spawned from an auto-block.
• Fixed: Animation climbing down the ladder does not work when the character is near the top of the ladder.
• Fixed: Forced window size setting can be changed with F11 during gameplay.
• Fixed: When editing a new area for the first time, it says that the view distance is 4 when it's actually 5. This may cause the view to start too high next time the area is loaded.
• Fixed: Sideways slime enemy may appear squished.
• Fixed: The quick edit mode from a test run is broken.
• Fixed: There are some problems with the character falling from moving platforms
• Fixed: The character position glitches when climbing on a ladder positioned next to another ladder.
• Fixed: Flying bosses which lock the view can fly out of the view.
• Fixed: Some text is cut off at the bottom of the pages of the manual.
• Fixed: Enemy hp and enemy max hp commands only work if the operator is "=".
• Fixed: Pop effect appears too high above items
• Fixed: Custom item settings for jump and bounce do not apply correctly.
• Fixed: Block trigger defense setting does not work correctly sometimes.
• Fixed: Some background distance settings do not work when the background is a single image and parallax scrolling is enabled.
• I worked on an issue of the character falling down through jump-through platforms. It seems to be fixed but it's hard to test because the glitch was not always consistent.
• Several of the broken games on the explore section have been fixed, or will be fixed soon.
• A lot of stuff that said "upload" now says "import."
• Items pop out of chests faster.
• Note: If you have uploaded sprite sheets for Cannons, Items 1, or Blocks, those sprite sheets will be reverted because of some new sprites that are included in those sheets. You will need to re-upload your custom sprites. If you don't have your old sprite sheet file, you can get it by going back into Game Setup to the desired sprite sheet and select "Save File." Although the new default sprite will be displayed, Platform Builder will save the old sprite sheet back to your harddrive.
• Note: The Requirements for publishing to the explore section have been updated. Please view them in page 10 of the manual.

Beta 1.1

• Publishing to the explore sections has re-opened for Platform Builder Standard.
• Fixed: Some of the sprites options for custom blocks options still use old graphics when new graphics are used.
• Fixed: Some custom blocks change their sprites when playing levels.
• Fixed: Some destroy animations use the wrong sprite with custom blocks.
• Fixed: When switching levels via pipe with invincibility and both levels have the same music, the music stops.
• Fixed: Collisions are not accurate when striking custom blocks with character attacks.
• Fixed: Some secret blocks do no re-appear with the correct sprite.
• Fixed: Some of the new hat designs do not display with certain sprites/animations of the character.
• Fixed: Error when an enemy's defeat settings is to complete the game.
• Fixed: When trying to set an item or new enemy in custom enemy's defeat settings, you are instead asked to select a sprite.
• Fixed: Loading games that do not use worlds may resume in the wrong area.

Beta 1.2

• Updated the stone tile background
• Added a new water background
• The button to change the tileset has been moved lower to the workstation so it is easier to notice
• Fixed: Unable to select custom tileset for placing in worlds/areas

Beta 1.3

• Fixed a major beta error preventing the use of the editor.
• Added a short animation before a fireball pops up, to help users anticipate it.
• Fixed a few other small issues.

The New Commands:

• if testing area
• if testing game
• projectile direction = X degrees"
• if collision/if touching enemy/item, etc. Can be used with or without ID.
• seed = random.
• seed = 6.
• If seed = 6
• window size/screen size = 1x, 1.5x, 1.75x, 2x, 1.5x, or full.
• enemy ID x snap = number (This can also be for items, blocks, etc. You can snap the x position to a grid, or the y position.)
• background scroll speed (can be a decimal or negative, anywhere between -100 and 100.
• background scroll direction (any of the 8 numpad directions)
• key press conditionals for jump, attack, pick, and use can be used as non-conditionals, to just cause the character to respond as if the key was pressed.
• enemy invincible hit = killed/harmed/no difference/do nothing
• create hud sprite = Sprite ID. (Creates hud sprite in top left corner of screen. Use sprite x and sprite y to move it around. Note that hiding the hud will also hide the sprite, and disable any mouse commands.)
• create foreground hud sprite (shows the sprite over the other parts of the HUD)
• target fps = 30/60/45/90/120. Will only take effect after changing the room.
• "enemy visible to projectiles" and "enemy invisible to projectiles". (Works for homing projectiles, as well as when you have approximage enemy or exact enemy firing.)
• "if distance to player" (which works with or without a player number.)
• vibrate light = seconds (vibrates the controller lightly in the number of seconds you specify. decimals are okay. Not all controllers are fully compatible with this. If no seconds are entered, it will just do 1 second.)
• vibrate medium = (seconds)
• vibrate strong = (seconds)
• overhead size = small, medium, large, extralarge (small is default. This is the size of the overhead text)
• item gravity = off/on/levitate
• item speed = none/slow/medium/fast
• item attract = none/towardcharacter/awayfromcharacter
• item points (any op, any number)
• item animation/animate = 0-12
• item life = no limit
• item jump/bounce = none/low/medium/high/lowmedium/lowhigh/mediumhigh/random. Note this automatically turns on gravity.
• item price (Any op, any number or "= free")
• item apply = collecting player/both players/player 1/player 2
• item life = X seconds/no limit
• item frame (any op, any number)
• enemy animate/animation (not just animation as the only option for this command any more)
• projectile face = no change/travel/hor travel/vert travel/cursor
• projectile animation/animate = 1-12 (any op)
• projectile hit = none, fade, pop, fireball, explore, detonate
• projectile life out = none, fade, pop, fireball, explore, detonate
• projectile speed = 1-6 (Will not work if using reverse, boomering, or return paths)
• projectile = no acceleration, weak/medium/strong acceleration/deceleration
• projectile = straight path, weak/medium/strong homing/gravity
• projectile = stop at walls targets, pass through walls, pass through targets, pass through everything, bounce stop at targets, bounce pass through targets
• projectile hp/health (any op, any number)
• projectile max hp/max health (any op, any number)
• projectile defense = none, light, medium, invincible
• projectile = jump proof/vulnerable to jumps
• projectile weakness = none,fire,earth,water,ice,wind,electric,poison,darkness,light,other
• projectile harmful = true/false
• projectile grab items = true/false
• projectile friendly fire = true/false
• projectile affect item blocks = true/false
• projectile power = light/medium/strong
• projectile type = none,fire,earth,water,ice,wind,electric,poison,darkness,light,other,enemy
• projectile life = X seconds (any number and op)
• projectile frame (any op, any number)
• block animate/animation= 1-12
• block destroy = none, crumble, fall, fade, pop, fireball, explore, detonate
• block destroy top = no weakness, ground pound, walk over, run over, step on
• block destroy bottom = no weakness, bump
• block destroy defense = none, light, medium, invincible
• block destroy weakness = none, fire, earth, water, ice, wind, electric, poison, darkness, light, other, enemy, explosion, invincibility
• block destroy with = characters, enemies, anyone
• block trigger top = no weakness, ground pound, walk over, run over, step on
• block trigger bottom = no weakness, bump
• block trigger defense = none, light, medium, invincible
• block trigger weakness = none, fire, earth, water, ice, wind, electric, poison, darkness, light, other, enemy, explosion, invincibility
• block trigger with = characters, enemies, anyone
• block type = visible/invisible/secret
• block destroy setting = none, leave item, trigger, change [new block ID].
• block spawn = standard/auto/none
• block give item = none, block give item = [item ID]
• block limit = unlimited, (or any number with any op)
• block timer = none (or any decimal number which any op) Note that the number works differently if the timer is currently running. If it's running, the timer affects the running timer. If not, the time affects what the timer will start at once it's triggered.
• block timer = stop (stops the current timer on the block from running. If it's triggered again, it will resume where it left off.
• block timer = start (starts the current timer on the block, even if it hasn't been triggered)
• block finish = nothing, destroy
• block frame (any op, any number)

[Setap]

• However, Platform Builder Standard will no longer let you publish games to the explore section; you will need Pro for that.

That kinda sounds like a dumb change (about the fact that you can no longer share games at all in PB), I understand there still need to be some limitations but I belive this is not the best way to go about it.

[Gizgord]

That kinda sounds like a dumb change (about the fact that you can no longer share games at all in PB), I understand there still need to be some limitations but I belive this is not the best way to go about it.

I thought about it as well. will PB Standard users still be able to share games?

[Alley]

Hey...

I think that's not a big problem when a feature to create executables of our games are still there for everyone because it is the most complete solution for a thing anyway. Anyway, long time being not here.

[Gizgord]

hello Alley!
you're wrong here. as of today, executables are only for Pro users. there was no mention of any change in this announcement 

[Alley]

Okay! You may be right here. Haven't written nor read here for long time also but saw this announcement. I have PRO so everything is free and easy to get for me.

[TingThing]

There are reasons why I am hesitant to keep the publisher part of the free version that I don't want to get into. But, you guys also make a good point that this makes it very difficult for players to share their games in any way. I will think through this some more before publishing a stable version of PB 10.

[Gizgord]

There are reasons why I am hesitant to keep the publisher part of the free version that I don't want to get into.

sure, I get it.

But, you guys also make a good point that this makes it very difficult for players to share their games in any way. I will think through this some more before publishing a stable version of PB 10.

we talked about it on discord and I proposed a read-only .PBX file (so users don't steal each others games)

[TingThing]

After consideration, I determined that Platform Builder Standard will continue to allow publishing to the explore section. Thanks for your input on that. The other changes for standard (more characters, NPCs, enemies, etc.) will stay.


Beta has been updated to 1.1


Best,
TingThing

[War]

@TingThing did the pb10 betas altered downloading game listings for explore updates? I have got into the situation of having to update explore listings several times on the new version, everytime it worked differently from before (prior to pb10, downloading game listings would regularly open 7zip terminal windows, which would prevent from doing something else while downloading game listings in the background). If thats true and intended then its an amazing change for the aforementioned reasons

[TingThing]

@TingThing did the pb10 betas altered downloading game listings for explore updates? I have got into the situation of having to update explore listings several times on the new version, everytime it worked differently from before (prior to pb10, downloading game listings would regularly open 7zip terminal windows, which would prevent from doing something else while downloading game listings in the background). If thats true and intended then its an amazing change for the aforementioned reasons

No, I didn't change the way PB downloads game listings. But the 7zip terminal window would open if the standard unzipping function in Game Maker failed. I noticed this was happening and so I created a failsafe with 7zip. However, it's possible that Game Maker updated and fixed the issue or it resolved after a Windows update, which would mean that the failsafe is no longer needed. Hopefully that is the case. I'll still keep it there just in case.

[TingThing]

Hi everyone,


In anticipation for PB 10's release, I have updated the command prompt page with all of the new commands. I also re-organized and re-categorized a lot of commands on that page to make it more intuitive.