• Editor
  • How limited is the Spine support for Game Maker Studio 2?

Related Discussions
...

Hello everyone,

I have recently purchased GMS2 after using UE4 for a while and realizing it's too much of a bite for a new developer like myself. I really enjoy using Gamemaker, especially because the prototyping is really fast compared to Unreal and C++.
However, not long after purchasing GMS2 i learned about Spine and was completely blown away by it's capabilities, only to find out that it's not properly supported. I heard that the newer versions of Spine don't even work with it, and that is quite depressing.
I'm wondering how limited the features really are, and what are you able to achieve using these two programs together? Is there anyone here that uses GMS2 and Spine? If it's worth it, should i even bother buying the Professional version or should i stick with the basic one?
I'd really love someone to help me out on this topic, and would very much appreciate an answer from the Spine devs themselves, thanks!

Hi MadPropz101, the GM developers recently contacted us because they're about to update the runtime to our latest Spine version, so don't worry!
You can do a lot of amazing things with ESS already, and that is fully compatible with GM, and you can always upgrade later for the difference in price if you find out that you want more. Depends on what kind of style you are after!

Erikari wrote

Hi MadPropz101, the GM developers recently contacted us because they're about to update the runtime to our latest Spine version, so don't worry!
You can do a lot of amazing things with ESS already, and that is fully compatible with GM, and you can always upgrade later for the difference in price if you find out that you want more. Depends on what kind of style you are after!

I can't express how happy i am to hear this, thanks!

3ヶ月 後

Hi there,

Has the Spine runtime been updated now and if so how can I access it? If it hasn't, what's the latest compatible version of Spine for Game Maker Studio 2 and where can I download that?

Many thanks,

  • Tom

Hello Thomas,
I recommend asking on GM's forums as we are not maintaining a Spine runtime specific for Game Maker.

Thanks Erikari,

I asked but didn't get any concrete info, it seems like a lot of people are disappointed with Game Maker's management of their Spine integration.


Hi Erikari,

Apologies but would there be any chance of getting any more concrete information from Spine's side? Yo-yo games are not forthcoming at all and it's affecting my ability to select the right game engine for my next project.

We provide runtimes that support all features. YoYo Games integrated our runtimes into Game Maker. As we release updates, Game Maker needs to bring in the latest runtimes. Usually updating the runtimes isn't hard, but does require quite a bit of testing to make sure the integration is solid. Game Maker can run on various platforms, so I expect they make use of at least 2 of our runtimes, possible more, which is a multiplier for the effort.

The Game Maker should be able to tell you what version of Spine they support. This will be the version of Spine that matched the Spine Runtimes which they integrated into Game Maker. Once you know that Spine version, you can set your Spine editor to the same version and all features in that version should work. There are a small number of features that require special support from the game toolkit, such as tint black. Game Maker should provide a list of any features that aren't supported.

If Game Maker hasn't integrated our latest runtimes, you are limited to the Spine version they do support. I don't suggest using a newer Spine version until Game Maker has been updated with newer runtimes. Of course everyone always wants the latest, but likely even an older version of Spine can get you very far.

Here are some tips/caveats on using Game Maker's Spine integration:
https://forum.yoyogames.com/index.php?threads/what-features-are-supported-from-spine.24485/

Thanks Nate, I really appreciate the detailed feedback. Since so many engines are first rate these days it comes down to these kind of things to tip a decision. I'll keep a keen eye on the Godot 3 runtime as well.