GameMaker Studio DRM Bug Trashes Legit Resources *UPDATE*

[Tapewormz]

YoYo Games says it will remove "destructive" copy protection from GameMaker Studio but won't give up on DRM.

GameMaker Studio developer YoYo Games has acknowledged that many legitimate owners of its software had their game resources permanently trashed after its DRM system went "haywire." The issue first came to light late last week when a user reported a "weird GM Studio error" that had changed all his sprites to skulls and crossed swords. He was initially accused of using a pirated copy of the program but a YoYo employee quickly stepped in and said that "sometimes a virus or something can effect an exe and gives some issue like this."

Unfortunately for many GameMaker users, the problem is much more widespread than just that. "Those who use a legally obtained version of Studio have had game resources, such as sprites, overlayed with an image of a skull and crossbones. The resources are permanently edited, rendered useless," a GameMaker Blog post states. "Although staff have encouraged users to run virus scans on their computers to ensure the program was not tampered with, reports of the issue have become more widespread suggesting it is an official bug and not an anomaly."

An official fix hasn't been released at this point but the "current solution" is to uninstall the program, delete %appdata%GameMaker-Studio and %localappdata%GameMaker-Studio, delete the GameMaker Studio registry key, perform a full system scan to ensure that you haven't actually picked up a virus and then reinstall the whole thing. If that doesn't work, users may contact YoYo's help desk "and we'll see what we can do to help."

It's an ugly situation, but in spite of an admission that it's "hard to argue at this stage" that DRM doesn't cause trouble for anyone but legitimate users, the studio says it won't do away with it. "We'd LOVE to be able to remove the protection completely, but we know that vast numbers would simply copy it if it was that easy," YoYo's Mike Dailly wrote. "There are many levels to the current protection system, and while many are visible like this, there are also many hidden so that we can always tell when a final game was created with a crack."

"We expect an update to go out tomorrow to remove this protection, and will move away from the 'destructive' protection like this, to more passive methods to help protect innocent users who through no fault of their own, somehow trigger it," he continued. "As to why we don't just switch into FREE mode, this is because crackers can simply activate features while the program is running, so doing this serves no purpose other than to annoy paying customers."

YoYo's desire to avoid annoying its paying customers is admirable, but I can't shake the feeling that it's going about it the wrong way.

ANDY CHALK | 28 NOVEMBER 2012 2:43 PM

*UPDATE*
YoYo Games LTD. is now accusing legit who call in for support concerning the DRM fiasco of piracy. They'll even go as far as to strike their posts from their support forums. This doesn't sound like a company that wants your business. I found a video posted by a youtube patron that describes the evils of YoYo Games EVIL DRM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMaNI8D2mAI&feature=colike

As for myself, my GMS is still working properly. However, I'm going to be switching to FreedomEngine when it launches. It's being developed by The Game Creators, a company that has never treated their customers like a steaming dog pile, nor have they deployed any DRM.

http://youtu.be/A2A3wKpiI74

[Alainxyz]

Woah. I for one work on pixel art assets inside Game Maker, so that have all that stuff trashed would be awful, especially if someone only uses the project folder to store everything.

I hope this gets fixed soon. D:

[Kaykay]

It seems there is just more and more bad stuff with this thing.
My experience with it so far has been horrible. More frustration than it's worth.
I'm just glad my brother only paid $50 for the $200 package when gifting it to me.
Still it's a waste of $50 since I can't even use it. He said there's a horrible memory leak.
I can't run any demo's or games I make. It gets slower and slower until my computer locks up.
And on his as well while testing it.

Anyhow, I don't know what else to say other than I hope they get it together. I just can't believe the prices they ask for software that doesn't even work. And apparently it's been out for years.

[Tapewormz]

My friend and I both own this product. We didn't purchase it from Steam, but instances like this are the reasons Valve yanks products from the store.

One thing I didn't really appreciate was YoYo's nonchalant shoulder shrugging apology. What about small businesses using this product to make app entertainmaint for mobile devices? It makes them look terrible, and inundates their inboxes with rage mail.

Don't get me wrong, I like this product and what it offers. I just think they're putting too much effort into DRM and not enough into squashing bugs.

@Ms. Melissa, do you have the android sdk installed? There's a bunch of things that are required to be installed and present before you install GMS. That might be why the demo's aren't working.

[Alcator]

A defective product is grounds for refund. Please, people, VOTE WITH YOUR WALLETS! It's the only communication some companies listen to.

[Tapewormz]

It's safe to say that neither myself or my friend will buy any further modules for yoyo products. It's just not worth the grief if their drm is going to grief us in the future.

[Scorcher24]

Originalmente postado por Ms. Melissa:

It seems there is just more and more bad stuff with this thing.
My experience with it so far has been horrible. More frustration than it's worth.
I'm just glad my brother only paid $50 for the $200 package when gifting it to me.
Still it's a waste of $50 since I can't even use it. He said there's a horrible memory leak.
I can't run any demo's or games I make. It gets slower and slower until my computer locks up.
And on his as well while testing it.

Anyhow, I don't know what else to say other than I hope they get it together. I just can't believe the prices they ask for software that doesn't even work. And apparently it's been out for years.

Seems to be a problem on your end, never happened to me.

[Hannibal]

Almost bought this last week till this came up. I wont support a company who makes it hard on its legitimate customers and easier for pirates. MOST development companies know this. They dont create idiotic DRMs, they lure legitimate buyers with content that can only be gained with a legitimate copy. Plenty of other game development software out there. Leadwerks, S2, Unity. This is actually for beginners.

[Tapewormz]

Originalmente postado por jimrad1:

Almost bought this last week till this came up. I wont support a company who makes it hard on its legitimate customers and easier for pirates. MOST development companies know this. They dont create idiotic DRMs, they lure legitimate buyers with content that can only be gained with a legitimate copy. Plenty of other game development software out there. Leadwerks, S2, Unity. This is actually for beginners.

GML offers lots of control. There are features in GMS that I like over something like Dark Basic Professional. I love Dark Basic Professional. Evochron Mercenary was developed in Dark Basic Professional. It's available in the Steam store. :D

[76561197993457899]

Is this DRM still active? I was considering buying, but after seeing this I'm not so sure anymore.

[M.S.T.O.P.]

Originalmente postado por Tortoise:

Is this DRM still active? I was considering buying, but after seeing this I'm not so sure anymore.

No, the DRM was removed.

[Tapewormz]

Originalmente postado por M.S.T.O.P.:

Originalmente postado por Tortoise:

Is this DRM still active? I was considering buying, but after seeing this I'm not so sure anymore.

No, the DRM was removed.

Yoyo Games utilises several layers of DRM. They have patched and disabled the destructive DRM measure, but who knows what else they have up their sleeve. Only time will tell.