GameMaker Studio 2 - New Functions List – GameMaker Help Centre

GameMaker Studio 2 has a major update to the GameMaker Language (GML) and in this article we list all the new functions as well as give a short explanation for each. Some of these are replacement functions for things available previously (like the addition of the GPU functions to replace many of the Texture functions) while the majority are completely new to deal with new functionality in the IDE. You can find out more information about the obsolete functions here, and if you want to port a game from GameMaker: Studio 1.4 we have the following guide: Porting GM:S 1.4 Games Into GameMaker.

Array literals

Arrays can now be initialised using the syntax

var a = [1, 2, 3, 4];

Array literals can be used any place where an array could be used like,

show_debug_message( string([1,2,3,4]));

they can also be used to create an empty array as follows

var a = [];

arrays can be nested inside arrays such as

var a = [1,2,[3,4]];

Conditional Operator

Expressions can now use conditional (or ternary) operators, allowing decisions to be made within expressions:

var a = (b == 0) ? 10 : 11

Runtime Changes

Many functions have been added in GameMaker Studio 2, the following sections outline those that have been added and those that have been removed, please consult the manual (Help -> Open Manual) for further info.

Our Windows Desktop Runner has also changed from using DX9 to using DX11 this may mean that there are some compatibility issues that may need to be addressed, there are some known issues at present

No Anti Aliasing implemented - all functions return 0 for the number of anti aliasing levels, we will implement this in the future
Line drawing - unfortunately line drawing is not consistently implemented by hardware vendors, this means that between different manufacturers and different drivers from the same manufacturer you may get different results, we reccomend that you do not rely on line drawing in released games, but the functions are still there for you to try.
Windows XP is no longer supported for games created using GameMaker Studio 2.

GPU functions

gpu_set_blendenable(enable) - enable or disable the gpu blending
gpu_set_ztestenable(enable) - enable or disable the gpu ztest
gpu_set_zfunc(cmp_func) - set the gpu z compare function (one of cmpfunc_never, cmpfunc_less, cmpfunc_equal, cmpfunc_lessequal, cmpfunc_greater, cmpfunc_notequal, cmpfunc_greaterequal, cmpfunc_always, default is cmpfunc_lessequal)
gpu_set_zwriteenable(enable) - enable or disable the gpu z write enable
gpu_set_fog(enable,col,start,end) - enable or disable the fog used in the default shader setting the colour and the start and end depths
gpu_set_cullmode(cullmode) - set the gpu cull mode (one of cull_noculling, cull_clockwise, cull_counterclockwise)
gpu_set_blendmode(mode) - set the gpu blend mode (one of bm_normal, bm_add, bm_max, bm_subtract)
gpu_set_blendmode_ext(src,dest) - set the gpu blend mode where source or dest could be (one of bm_zero, bm_one, bm_src_colour, bm_inv_src_colour, bm_src_alpha, bm_inv_src_alpha, bm_dest_alpha, bm_inv_dest_alpha, bm_dest_colour, bm_inv_dest_colour, bm_src_alpha_sat)
gpu_set_blendmode_ext_sepalpha(src,dest,srcalpha,destalpha) - set the gpu blend mode where the source and destination blendmodes are set separately and the src alpha and dest alpha blend modes can be different (each param is one of bm_zero, bm_one, bm_src_colour, bm_inv_src_colour, bm_src_alpha, bm_inv_src_alpha, bm_dest_alpha, bm_inv_dest_alpha, bm_dest_colour, bm_inv_dest_colour, bm_src_alpha_sat)
gpu_set_alphatestenable(enable) - enable or disable the gpu alpha test
gpu_set_alphatestref(value) - set the gpu alpha test reference value (default value is 0)
gpu_set_texfilter(linear) - set the gpu filter type for default sampler (0)
gpu_set_texfilter_ext(sampler_id,linear) - set the gpu filter type for specified sampler
gpu_set_texrepeat(repeat) - enable or disable the gpu texture repeat for the default sampler (NOTE: sets both u and v repeats)
gpu_set_texrepeat_ext(sampler_id,repeat)- enable or disable the gpu texture repeat for the specified sampler (NOTE: sets both u and v repeats)
gpu_set_colourwriteenable(red,green,blue,alpha) - enable or disable the gpu writing to destination channels individually
gpu_set_colorwriteenable(red,green,blue,alpha) - enable or disable the gpu writing to destination channels individually
gpu_get_blendenable() - get the current state of gpu blending
gpu_get_ztestenable() - get the current state of gpu z test
gpu_get_zfunc() - get the current value for gpu z function
gpu_get_zwriteenable() - get the current state of gpu z writing
gpu_get_fog() - get the current state of gpu fog (returns an array with entries [0] - enable/disable, [1]-colour, [2] - start value, [3] - end value)
gpu_get_cullmode() - get the current value for the gpu cullmode
gpu_get_blendmode() - get the current gpu blendmode value
gpu_get_blendmode_ext() - get the current gpu blendmode (array with [0] - src blend, [1] - dest blend)
gpu_get_blendmode_ext_sepalpha() - get the current gpu blendmode (array with [0] - src blend, [1] - dest blend, [2] - src alpha blend, [3] - dest alpha blend)
gpu_get_blendmode_src() - get the current gpu source blend value
gpu_get_blendmode_dest() - get the current gpu destination blend value
gpu_get_blendmode_srcalpha() - get the current gpu source alpha blend value
gpu_get_blendmode_destalpha() - get the current gpu destination alpha blend value
gpu_get_alphatestenable() - get the current status of gpu alpha enable/disable
gpu_get_alphatestref() - get the current gpu alpha test reference value
gpu_get_texfilter() - get the current gpu texture filter status for default sampler (0)
gpu_get_texfilter_ext(sampler_id) - get the current gpu texture filter status for specified sampler
gpu_get_texrepeat() - get the current status gpu texture repeat for default sampler
gpu_get_texrepeat_ext(sampler_id) - get the current status gpu texture repeat for specified sampler
gpu_get_colorwriteenable() - get the current state of the gpu color write enable (array with [0] - red, [1] - green, [2] - blue, [3] - alpha)
gpu_get_colourwriteenable() - get the current state of the gpu colour write enable (array with [0] - red, [1] - green, [2] - blue, [3] - alpha)
gpu_push_state() - push the current gpu state onto an internal gpu state stack
gpu_pop_state() - pop the entry from the top of the gpu state stace and make it current
gpu_get_state() - get the current gpu state as a map (returns a map id)
gpu_set_state(map) - set the current gpu state to the state stored in given map

Light functions

draw_light_define_ambient(col) - set the ambient light colour for lighting, replacement for d3d_light_define_ambient
draw_light_define_direction(ind,dx,dy,dz,col) - set the light ind as a directional light for a given directional vector with colour, replacement for d3d_light_define_direction
draw_light_define_point(ind,x,y,z,range,col) - set the light ind as a point light for a given position and range with colour, replacement for d3d_light_define_point
draw_light_enable(ind,enable) - enable or disable a specific light
draw_set_lighting(enable) - enable or disable lighting
draw_light_get_ambient() - get the ambient light colour
draw_light_get(ind) - get the settings for a given light (returns array with [0] - enabled/disabled, [1] - light type (point or direction), [2] - x, [3] - y, [4] - z, [4] - w, [5] - colour)
draw_get_lighting() - current status of lighting (enabled or disabled)

Camera functions

camera_create() - create a camera
camera_create_view(room_x,room_y,width,height,angle,object,x_speed,y_speed,x_border,y_border) - create a camera with settings for a view in a room
camera_destroy(camera) - destroy the given camera
camera_apply(camera) - apply the camera settings to the current camera
camera_get_active() - get the current active camera
camera_get_default() - get the current default camera (camera used when there are no views active)
camera_set_default(camera) - set the given camera as the default camera
camera_set_view_mat(camera,matrix) - set the view matrix of the given camera
camera_set_proj_mat(camera,matrix) - set the projection matrix of the given camera
camera_set_update_script(camera,script) - set the update script to use on the given camera
camera_set_begin_script(camera,script) - set the begin script to use on the given camera
camera_set_end_script(camera,script) - set the end script to use on the given camera
camera_set_view_pos(camera,x,y) - set the view position on the given camera
camera_set_view_size(camera,width,height) - set the view size on the given camera
camera_set_view_speed(camera,x_speed,y_speed) - set the view speed on the given camera
camera_set_view_border(camera,x_border,y_border) - set view the border size on the given camera
camera_set_view_angle(camera,angle)- set view the angle on the given camera
camera_set_view_target(camera,object) - set the target object for the given camera
camera_get_view_mat(camera) - get the view matrix for the given camera
camera_get_proj_mat(camera) - get the projection matrix for the given camera
camera_get_update_script(camera) - get the update script for the given camera
camera_get_begin_script(camera) - get the begin script for the given camera
camera_get_end_script(camera) - get the end script for the given camera
camera_get_view_x(camera) - get the view pos x value for the given camera
camera_get_view_y(camera) - get the view pos y value for the given camera
camera_get_view_width(camera) - get the view width for the given camera
camera_get_view_height(camera) - get the view height for the given camera
camera_get_view_speed_x(camera) - get the view speed x for the given camera
camera_get_view_speed_y(camera) - get the view speed y for the given camera
camera_get_view_border_x(camera) - get the view border x for the given camera
camera_get_view_border_y(camera) - get the view border y for the given camera
camera_get_view_angle(camera) - get the view angle for the given camera
camera_get_view_target(camera) - get the view target object for the given camera

Resources

texture_get_uvs(texid) - returns an array with the uv positions for the given texture id [0] - top, [1] - left, [2] - right, [4] - bottom
sprite_set_speed(ind,speed,type) - set the speed for the sprite and set type spritespeed_framespersecond or spritespeed_framespergameframe
sprite_get_speed_type(ind) - get the speed type for the given sprite
sprite_get_speed(ind) - get the speed for the sprite

Maths

matrix_build_identity() - return an identity matrix
matrix_build_lookat(xfrom,yfrom,zfrom,xto,yto,zto,xup,yup,zup) - builds a "look-at" (view) matrix for a camera at position (xfrom, yfrom, zfrom) and looking at a point (xto, yto, zto) with an up vector of (xup, yup, zup)
matrix_build_projection_ortho(width,height,znear,zfar) - build an orthographic projection matrix with width, height and a z range from znear to zfar
matrix_build_projection_perspective(width,height,znear,zfar) - build a perspective matrix with width, height and a z range from znear to zfar
matrix_build_projection_perspective_fov(fov_y,aspect,znear,zfar)- build a perspective matrix with field of view ange fov_y and an aspect ration and a z range from znear to zfar
matrix_transform_vertex(matrix, x, y, z, [w=1]) - multiply the given vector (x,y,z,w) by the matrix NOTE: if no w component given then it is treated as 1
matrix_stack_push(optional_matrix) - push matrix onto the matrix stack
matrix_stack_pop() - pop matrix from the top of the matrix stack
matrix_stack_set(matrix) - set the given matrix as the top of the matrix stacl
matrix_stack_clear() - clear the matrix stack
matrix_stack_top() - return the value at the top of the matrix
matrix_stack_is_empty() - return true if matrix stack is empty, false otherwise

View Ports

room_set_viewport(room_ind,vind,vis,xport,yport,wport,hport) - set the viewport for a specific view in a specific room
room_get_viewport(room_ind,vind) - get the viewport for a specific view in a specific room (returns array [0] - xport, [1] - yport, [2] - wport, [3] - hport)
room_get_camera(room_ind,vind) - get the camera for a specific view in a specific room
room_set_camera(room_ind,vind,camera) - set the camera for a specific view in a specific room
view_get_camera(view) - get the camera for a view in the current room
view_get_visible(view) - get the visible status for a the view in the current room
view_get_xport(view) - get the xport for the view in the current room
view_get_yport(view) - get the yport for the view in the current room
view_get_wport(view) - get the wport for the view in the current room
view_get_hport(view) - get the hport for the view in the current room
view_get_surface_id(view) - get the surface_id for the requested view in the current room
view_set_camera(view,camera) - set the camera for a view in the current room
view_set_visible(view,visible) - enable or disable the visibility of a view in the current room
view_set_xport(view,xport) - set the xport of the view in the current room
view_set_yport(view,yport) - set the yport of the view in the current room
view_set_wport(view,wport) - set the wport of the view in the current room
view_set_hport(view,hport) - set the hport of the view in the current room
view_set_surface_id(view,surface_id) - set the surface_id for the view in the current room

Particle Systems

part_system_create_layer(layer,persistent) - create a particle system on a given layer and mark it as persistent or not
part_system_get_layer(part_ind) - get the layer of a given particle system
part_system_layer(part_ind,layer) - set the layer of a particle system

Layers

layer_get_id(layer_name) - get the id of a layer name
layer_get_id_at_depth(depth) - get the id of a layer of a particular depth
layer_get_depth(layer_id) - get the depth of a layer
layer_create(depth,name*,...) - create a layer at a given depth with an optional name
layer_destroy(layer_id) - destroy the given layer id
layer_destroy_instances(layer_id) - destroy all the instance on a given layer
layer_add_instance(layer_id,instance) - add an instance to a given layer
layer_has_instance(layer_id,instance) - returns true if given instance is on the given layer
layer_set_visible(layer_id,visible) - enable or disable a given layer (if disabled nothing on it will draw)
layer_get_visible(layer_id) - returns true if the given layer is visible
layer_exists(layer_id) - return true if the given layer exists
layer_x(layer_id,x) - set the given layers x value
layer_y(layer_id,y) - set the given layers y value
layer_get_x(layer_id) - get the given layers x value
layer_get_y(layer_id) - get the given layers y value
layer_hspeed(layer_id,speed) - set the given layers horizontal speed value
layer_vspeed(layer_id,speed) - set the given layers vertical speed value
layer_get_hspeed(layer_id) - get the given layers horizontal speed value
layer_get_vspeed(layer_id) - set the given layers vertical speed value
layer_script_begin(layer_id,script) - set the given layers begin script
layer_script_end(layer_id,script) - set the given layers end script
layer_shader(layer_id,shader) - set the given layers shader
layer_get_script_begin(layer_id) - get the given layers begin script
layer_get_script_end(layer_id) - get the given layers end script
layer_get_shader(layer_id) - get the given layers shader
layer_set_target_room(room) - set the current layer target room to a given room (allows changing layers in other rooms)
layer_get_target_room() - get the current layer target room
layer_reset_target_room() - reset the target room back to the current room
layer_get_all() - returns an array with a unique ID for each layer in the room
layer_get_all_elements(layer_id) - returns an array with all the element IDs for the given layer
layer_get_name(layer_id) - returns the name of the layer
layer_depth(layer_id, depth) - set the depth of the layer
layer_get_element_layer(element_id) - get the layer id of the given element id
layer_get_element_type(element_id) - get the type (kind of) of the element id
layer_element_move(element_id,layer_id) - move an element id to another layer
layer_force_draw_depth(force,depth) - force all layers to be drawn at a specific Z depth (does not change ordering)
layer_is_draw_depth_forced() - true if currently being rendered with draw depth forced
layer_get_forced_depth() - get the value of the depth that rendering is enforcing
layer_background_get_id(layer_id) - get the background id from a layer (-1 if no background id)
layer_background_exists(layer_id,background_element_id) - true if the background id exists on the layer
layer_background_create(layer_id,sprite) - create a new background using sprite index on the layer, returns background id
layer_background_destroy(background_element_id) - destroy a background
layer_background_visible(background_element_id,visible) - set the visibility of the background id
layer_background_change(background_element_id,sprite) - change the sprite on a background id
layer_background_htiled(background_element_id,tiled) - set the background id to be horizontally tiled (enable or disable)
layer_background_vtiled(background_element_id,tiled) - set the background id to be vertically tiled (enable or disable)
layer_background_xscale(background_element_id,scale) - set the background id x scale value
layer_background_yscale(background_element_id,scale) - set the background id y scale value
layer_background_blend(background_element_id,col) - set the colour tint value for the background id
layer_background_alpha(background_element_id,alpha) - set the alpha value for the background id (0..1)
layer_background_index(background_element_id,image_index) - set the image_index to use for the background id
layer_background_speed(background_element_id,image_speed) - set the image speed to use for animation on the background id (0 - no animation)
layer_background_get_visible(background_element_id) - get the visiblity of the background id
layer_background_get_sprite(background_element_id) - get the sprite index of the background id
layer_background_get_htiled(background_element_id) - get the horizontal tiling value for the background id
layer_background_get_vtiled(background_element_id) - get the vertical tiling value for the background id
layer_background_get_xscale(background_element_id) - get the x scale value for the background id
layer_background_get_yscale(background_element_id) - get the t scale value for the background id
layer_background_get_blend(background_element_id) - get the colour tint value for the background id
layer_background_get_alpha(background_element_id) - get the alpha value for the background id (0..1)
layer_background_get_index(background_element_id) - get the image_index for the background id
layer_background_get_speed(background_element_id) - get the image speed for the background id
layer_sprite_get_id(layer_id,sprite_element_name) - get the element id with the sprite_element_name on the layer
layer_sprite_exists(layer_id,sprite_element_id) - return true if the layer has the sprite_element_id on it
layer_sprite_create(layer_id,x,y,sprite) - create a sprite element on layer at position x, y
layer_sprite_destroy(sprite_element_id) - destroy the sprite element
layer_sprite_change(sprite_element_id,sprite) - change the sprite index to use for the given sprite element
layer_sprite_index(sprite_element_id,image_index) - set the image index for the sprite element
layer_sprite_speed(sprite_element_id,image_speed) - set the image speed for the sprite element
layer_sprite_xscale(sprite_element_id,scale) - set the x scale for the sprite element
layer_sprite_yscale(sprite_element_id,scale) - set the y scale for the sprite element
layer_sprite_angle(sprite_element_id,angle) - set the angle for the sprite element
layer_sprite_blend(sprite_element_id,col) - set the colour tint value for the sprite element
layer_sprite_alpha(sprite_element_id,alpha) - set the alpha value for the sprite element (0..1)
layer_sprite_x(sprite_element_id,x) - set the x position of the sprite element
layer_sprite_y(sprite_element_id,y) - set the y position of the sprite element
layer_sprite_get_sprite(sprite_element_id) - get the sprite index for the sprite element
layer_sprite_get_index(sprite_element_id) - get the image index for the sprite element
layer_sprite_get_speed(sprite_element_id) - get the image speed for the sprite element
layer_sprite_get_xscale(sprite_element_id) - get the x scale for the sprite element
layer_sprite_get_yscale(sprite_element_id) - get the y scale for the sprite element
layer_sprite_get_angle(sprite_element_id) - get the angle for the sprite element
layer_sprite_get_blend(sprite_element_id) - get the colour tint value for the sprite element
layer_sprite_get_alpha(sprite_element_id) - get the alpha value for the sprite element
layer_sprite_get_x(sprite_element_id) - get the x position for the sprite element
layer_sprite_get_y(sprite_element_id) - get the y position for the sprite element
layer_tilemap_get_id(layer_id) - get the tilemap element id for the given tile layer (-1 if not present)
layer_tilemap_exists(layer_id,tilemap_element_id) - return true if tilemap_element_id is on layer
layer_tilemap_create(layer_id,x,y,tileset,width,height) - create a tilemap element at position x, y using tileset and has width and height in tiles (not pixels), return id
layer_tilemap_destroy(tilemap_element_id) - destroy the tilemap element id

Tilemaps and Tiles

tilemap_tileset(tilemap_element_id,tileset) - set the tileset to use for the tilemap element
tilemap_x(tilemap_element_id,x) - set the x position of the tilemap element
tilemap_y(tilemap_element_id,y) - set the y position of the tilemap element
tilemap_set(tilemap_element_id,tiledata,cell_x,cell_y) - set the tiledata at the cell (x,y) position on the tilemap element
tilemap_set_at_pixel(tilemap_element_id,tiledata,x,y) - set the tiledata at the pixel (x,y) position on the tilemap element
tilemap_get_tileset(tilemap_element_id) - get the tileset used for the tilemap element
tilemap_get_tile_width(tilemap_element_id) - get the tile width of the tilemap element
tilemap_get_tile_height(tilemap_element_id) - get the tile height of the tilemap element
tilemap_get_width(tilemap_element_id) - get the width (in tiles) of the tilemap element
tilemap_get_height(tilemap_element_id) - get the height (in tiles) of the tilemap element
tilemap_get_x(tilemap_element_id) - get the x position of the tilemap element
tilemap_get_y(tilemap_element_id) - get the y position of the tilemap element
tilemap_get(tilemap_element_id,cell_x,cell_y) - get the tiledata for the cell at (cell_x, cell_y) on this tilemap element
tilemap_get_at_pixel(tilemap_element_id,x,y) - get the tiledata for the pixel at (x, y) on this tilemap element
tilemap_get_cell_x_at_pixel(tilemap_element_id,x,y) - get the cell x for the pixel at (x, y) on this tilemap element
tilemap_get_cell_y_at_pixel(tilemap_element_id,x,y) - get the cell y for the pixel at (x, y) on this tilemap element
tilemap_clear(tilemap_element_id,tiledata) - clear all the cells in the tilemap element with the given tiledata
draw_tilemap(tilemap_element_id,x,y) - draw the tilemap at position x, y in the current view
draw_tile(tileset,tiledata,frame,x,y) - draw the given tiledata from the tileset using given frame at position x, y in the current view
tilemap_set_global_mask(mask) - set the current rendering global mask for ALL tilemap elements (allows user to reserve bits in the tiledata as renderer can be set to ignore them using this function) NOTE:this does not affect get/set tiledata functions above
tilemap_get_global_mask() - get the current global mask
tilemap_set_mask(tilemap_element_id, mask) - set the current rendering mask for this tilemap element (allows user to reserve bits in the tiledata as renderer can be set to ignore them using this function) NOTE:this does not affect get/set tiledata functions above
tilemap_get_mask(tilemap_element_id) - get the current rendering mask
tilemap_get_frame(tilemap_element_id) - get the current frame number for the tilemap element
tile_set_empty(tiledata) - set the tiledata to be an empty cell, returns modified tiledata
tile_set_index(tiledata,tileindex) - set the tileindex to use on a given tiledata, returns modified tiledata
tile_set_flip(tiledata,flip) - enable or disable the flip flag on tiledata, returns modified tiledata
tile_set_mirror(tiledata,mirror) - enable or disable the mirror flag on the tiledata, returns modified tiledata
tile_set_rotate(tiledata,rotate) - enable or disable the rotate flag on the tiledata, returns modified tiledata
tile_get_empty(tiledata) - returns true if tiledata is empty
tile_get_index(tiledata) - returns the index of the tile from tiledata
tile_get_flip(tiledata) - returns the flip flag of the tiledata
tile_get_mirror(tiledata) - returns the mirror flag of the tiledata
tile_get_rotate(tiledata) - returns the rotate flag of the tiledata

Instances

instance_activate_layer(layer_id) - activate all instances on the layer
instance_deactivate_layer(layer_id) - deactivate all instance on the layer
instance_create_depth(x,y,depth,obj) - create an instance of obj at position x, y at a specific numeric depth
instance_create_layer(x,y,layer_id_or_name,obj) - create an instance of obj at position x, y on a specific layer (either id or name)
instance_id_get(index) - get an entry from the instance_id array

General Functions

array_equals(var1,var2) - returns true if var1 and var2 are arrays and they are either the same array or an equivalent array
array_create( size, [val], ... ) - create an array of the given size (can be 0), if val argument is passed in then every entry will be set to that value (NOTE: This makes the function slower); if not given then all entries are set to 0.
array_copy(dest,dest_index,src,src_index,length) - copy length entries from source to destination array from the source index to destination index
variable_global_exists(name) - returns true if global variable exists
variable_global_get(name) - returns the value of a global variable, returns undefined if not present
variable_global_set(name,val) - sets the value of a global variable
variable_instance_exists(id, name) - returns true if instance variable exists
variable_instance_get(id,name) - returns the value of a instance variable, returns undefined if not present
variable_instance_set(id,name,val) - sets the value of a instance variable
string_hash_to_newline(str) - replaces occurences of "#" in a string with "\n"
game_set_speed(value,type) - set the game speed to value as either gamespeed_fps or gamespeed_microseconds
game_get_speed(type) - get the current game speed in terms of gamespeed_fps or gamespeed_microseconds
load_csv(filename) - load a CSV file from filename