Engine Overhaul
Posted by The DaveDave here with an important announcement regarding the engine.
We’re moving to C++.
What does this mean for me, Dave!?
More compatibility! We can recompile the game to run on a number of operating systems including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It also means more interesting graphical effects are possible like upscaling with algorithms such as scale2x, eagle, super eagle, or hq2x! (And more!)
What does this mean for you Dave!?
It means I can be way more organized! It also means that I have almost complete control over how things work in the engine, so I can get everything I need just right.
Will I need anything more to run this now?
Nope! Everything you need will come in one package! Or an installer maybe!
Dave you’re my hero! Where can I send you fan mail!?
The contact form will suffice. 
Feel free to ask me more questions about the engine in the comments!
December 28th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Awesome Christmas Present to the Mac and Linux users!
December 28th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
That’s awesome! A more flexible engine for everybody!
Also, what happens to the old Game Maker engine now? Is there anyway I can request a copy of it?
December 28th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
The game maker engine will remain private until the launch of the game. I will decide then what to do with it.
December 28th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
This also means some outside programmer-type person can port it to xbox, just like they did with Beats of Rage! No expectations here, just hope.
Since I’ll be switching to MAC soon I am also pretty psyched about this. The more versatility, the better!
December 28th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Does this effect the speed the game is being made? Or is it still making the same amount as progress.
December 29th, 2009 at 12:52 am
@ G.Wicks
I dunno how well this would fly on the xbox though.
@Stephen
If anything it’s set us back a bit; I have to write most of what Game Maker provides pre-written. But all of the concepts and some code can be brought over from GM to the new engine pretty easily.
December 29th, 2009 at 1:21 am
I love how the image depicts the C++ smashing through the Game Maker logo!
December 29th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
For further and more in-depth information, feel free to check out our thread on starmen.net, where we speak more casually about our updates and progress.
December 29th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
So, Well, We have a different program, I see, Like I said before, This won’t have a problem with looping a battle systems either right?
December 29th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
By the way, You should update the FAQ about this change in programming.
December 29th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Nope there will be no problems in looping. I will be using the same system to do audio as I was in Game Maker.
And good catch on the FAQs, I’ll get on that.
December 31st, 2009 at 1:25 pm
I know this is a bit off topic, but since this is the most recent announcement…
What’s with the picture that shows when you click clay Chase’s nose?
December 31st, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Ahahaha! Someone finally found that. That would be Zephys’ writing notebook, thus the text on the image.
You didn’t hear it from me, but there are more of those hidden links buried around the site…
December 31st, 2009 at 2:14 pm
yeah. I saw it a few days ago and thought “Whaaaaa?”
I don’t know any others.
Giygas doesn’t do my homework. I’m jealous.
December 31st, 2009 at 2:16 pm
oh I forgot another question
What is the dashboard? When I click it I get an error
December 31st, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Oh uhoh. That’s where you can change settings about your account. However since I’m an admin here it takes me elsewhere. Thanks for letting me know there was a problem. I’m going to take a look at it ASAP.
EDIT: It appears to be working now.
January 2nd, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Yes! This brought my belief into this project back, as the fact it was being made with Game Maker didn’t really make me expect much, as I see Game Maker as a very limited program.
It would be awesome to have it ported to Wii using homebrew, too!
January 4th, 2010 at 12:05 am
I think c++ will be to slow for development. Dave, did you read my message?
January 4th, 2010 at 12:51 am
I did indeed, and am currently replying to it. Might be kinda lengthy.
Long story short though, I’m going to stick with C++ since I’ve made too much progress to drop it now, and it’s what I’m familiar with. Thanks for the offer though, I really do appreciate it. You’re one of three or four people to ever offer programming help.
And I’m totally going to look into Python for other projects.
January 4th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Ah-HA! They found it! Now we can start adding those other secrets.
January 5th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
question:when and how can we play and get this game?
January 5th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
When the game is completed, you will be able to download it from this website. It’s a computer game, so you won’t need an emulator or anything of that nature.
January 7th, 2010 at 6:59 am
Hey man, Game Maker can actually be quite powerful with custom scripts if you do it right. I’m working on a game myself that’s sort of a combination of Contact/Earthbound, and though personally I would prefer doing it all in C++ I really just don’t have the time to since it’s a solo project… :<
Also best of luck to you guys, hope you have a good programmer!
January 7th, 2010 at 11:36 am
Yeah I had some good stuff going in Game Maker. But the benefits C++ brings are too hard to pass up. I don’t think rewriting the engine will be overly difficult seeing how it’s gone so far, and I like to think of myself as a good programmer.
Best of luck with your project!
January 7th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
A rather small comment I made on Starmen.net forums seems to have sparked widespread interest in finding the secrets on this site. I joined so I could thank yeroc commenting that he found one of the secrets, and The Dave for pointing out that there are others! (And also Zephys for saying they’ll put in more) From what I’ve heard, there are five secrets (not including the red herrings. I have found four so far. Good fun.
-Gabriel Rodriguez, or GR
January 8th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Heh, that’s good, I hope it really does work out just right.
Umm… I tried to submit something, it was within the requirements, but it said there was something wrong with it… something up with the Submit page?
January 8th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Are you certain it was within the requirements?
There’s only one bug with the submitter, and it catches that and displays a message when it happens. (Which is rare.) I’m going to take a look at it to make sure everything is kosher though.
January 8th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
3.11 KB, 227×194, and PNG, fairly certain that’s in the limits.
January 8th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Found the problem. The submitter didn’t recognize the mime type of the png. It registered as “x-png” instead of the accepted “png”. I’ve fixed that up.
January 8th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
I should note that I’m doing maintenance on the submitter so things are probably wonky as all get out.And we’re back.
January 8th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
sounds very kool.
January 9th, 2010 at 12:04 am
I have a small question, will we be able to decide on the screen size we play the game in?
January 9th, 2010 at 12:36 am
Yes, the screen size is scalable. (1x, 2x, 3x, etc.) There is also full screen support.
January 9th, 2010 at 1:02 am
Yes! Now it can be easily ported to anything I actually care about!
Linux: Yes
Pandora(basically angstrom): Yes
Windows: Yes
Now this project is everything I have hoped for. just one thing. The rhythm based battle system in 3 was awesome. Do you plan on implementing it? Or will it be more like #2?
The mother games were made for a handheld. I play mother 2 on a snes emu for my ds.
January 11th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
I found 2 more sekrets! Can I give them away?
January 20th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Would this game work on a dell?
January 20th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Manufacturer doesn’t matter. As long as it’s running Windows (2000, XP, Vista, or 7) or Linux (Haven’t worked out the details on this yet) you should be fine.
March 6th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
I’m a Mac I’m a PC I’m a Linux and we can play Mother 4 YAY!
March 7th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
The dave when I type in S E C R E T (sorry about that if I actually typed it in it would take me to a pic) anywere it takes me to a picture of a circle and a cross right through it written with spray paint? 0_0