Starting with the 2023.8 release of GameMaker, we have a new bug-reporting system inside GameMaker itself, which is designed to take any hassle for you out of submitting a report to us.
This new tool will collect all the required log files we need, grab a copy (if you allow it) of any project which is open at the time so we can use this to recreate the problem and later know we have fixed it, and also allows you to type in info about what was happening at the time of the bug and how you found it.
Then you can send all of this to us with one click - no more having to report it as a contact-us ticket and attach files to the form there.
Note that it does NOT replace the need to send tickets to our customer service team for all licensing problems, purchasing problems, not being able to see FAQs, or any questions/problems with any of our documentation or downloading our Marketplace assets.
Update First!
It's worth saying that always before you even submit a report, you should confirm that you are on the latest version of GameMaker, as whatever your issue is may have already been fixed.
(Updating and confirming you still see the problem is also the first thing our support teams will ask you to do if you send us an issue relating to an older release.)
LTS Users
LTS does not yet include the new bug-reporting system (and won't for a while), but it's worth stating to avoid any confusion: if you have found a problem in the LTS version, please always check the Monthly and even the Beta release notes and try installing them before you send any reports, as it's very likely your report would be out-of-date before you even sent it and this won't be an effective use of your time.
Where can I see the existing Issues and get an idea of what I am sending?
The public bugs live at https://github.com/YoYoGames/GameMaker-Bugs
And that "readme" page contains even more information as to how and why to file an issue you have found. We would recommend that you take a minute to read all of that readme now, before sending any reports.
To see the actual bug reports, click the Issues tab near the top of that page:
So, if you think you have found an unreported new problem and you want to report it to us, please read on...
Help > "Report A GameMaker Bug" Tool
You can find the new bug-reporter on the Help menu inside GameMaker:
This will open a new dialog with a form to fill in, in order to send us the required information. Many of the fields are mandatory and must be filled-in before the Submit button will be activated and clickable; however we would recommend you consider every field as to whether you can send us additional useful information.
It will also automatically collate all of your log files, licensing information, compiler log (if you have one at the time), and project (if you said to include this).
There is a link to this page you're reading right now at the top of the dialog, so if you have questions in future you can easily return here later.
If you click Send...
The tool will gather the info we require, zip it up, and then send it to us. This process typically takes less than a minute or two (depending on your internet connection speed and the size of the sample project you chose to send).
After a short delay, you should then see a little confirmation dialog saying that we received your bug report successfully.
If you chose to report the issue publicly, then that dialog will give you the clickable ID number as part of the "thanks" message. You can see your bug on our website and monitor its progress if you wish.
If you chose to report the issue privately, then that dialog will simply thank you for submitting the issue. You will have no ability to see your report or get feedback on it later on (not until such time as it appears in the release notes anyway).
Please do not report all your issues privately and then contact the Helpdesk asking for personalised progress reports on your issues, as our customer service team will not do this for you - if you need to see the progress of an issue, report it publicly (whenever possible), as that's why we made this new system.
If you click Don't Send...
The dialog is closed. That's all.
So what actually gets sent?
A zip file, containing the following files:
| ui.log | GameMaker's own log file |
| licence.plist | Your current licensing file |
| um.json | your current user manager file |
| bugreport.json | The text you typed and checkbox values you selected on the bug-reporter form |
| Any additional files you attached to the bug-reporting form | e.g., screenshots, sprites, sound files that you chose to send us |
| meta.json |
|
| output.txt (potentially) | If you had an Output log at the time you filed the bug, then the whole of this will be added also so we can (e.g.) determine the reason why a build failed or see what logging a game did before it gave an error |
| Project .yyz file (optionally) | If you said yes to including your current project as a sample, then it too will be in this .zip package as a compressed GameMaker .yyz archive file |
If you would like to open this .zip file and confirm exactly what is going to be be sent on your machine for a given report, simply create your report as normal, but disconnect your internet momentarily before you click the Submit button. You will then see the dialog saying we will try to send the report when you're back online. Look in your Output Window and it will tell you the path where the .zip file was created. Find that path in Explorer/Finder/etc. and you can then view the contents of the archive using your chosen zip manager tool.
It will look a lot like this:
Assuming you're happy, turn your internet back on and wait a few minutes so GameMaker detects you're back online, then click the Submit button on the bug-reporting form, and the zip should be sent to us as per normal.
Why do you collect this info? What will you do with it?
Well, rather than requiring you to create a Helpdesk ticket and us have a back-and-forth asking you to attach files, etc., this new system makes things far quicker and easier for everyone, as now it's simplified to only one click for you and yet we know all the info we require is sent that first time.
As the bug database readme text says, we review the report to determine if it's an issue we need to investigate further, or if we already know the answer and so can close the report sooner. (Or if you have not provided all the info the form requested and so we're going to assign the report back to you for fixing.)
Assuming the information is all added properly, one of the development team responsible for the GameMaker functionality mentioned in your report will then investigate the problem by using your sample project to try recreating the issue for themselves. If you supplied logs with a crash/error message, then they may also use this to give them an advantage in knowing where to look in the code. Once they have confirmed the issue, they will make an attempted fix and likely use your sample again in order to confirm all now works well for them.
At this point, their fix goes into GameMaker and they close the report and leave you a comment saying what was changed.
We also now publicly show the majority of issues and add comments about the progress of these issues onto the reports - which saves us a tremendous amount of time each day responding to lots of tickets about the same problems with identical responses, but this also allows users to help identify the causes for obscure issues or to join in the discussion on how a problem might be fixed - resulting in a better outcome for everyone.
Who will access my submission packages?
Your files are always only available to select members of YoYo Games staff who actively work on GameMaker - no other end users are ever able to access files, and also no-one at YoYo not directly working on GameMaker.
As mentioned above, a core tech developer will download your package and study your logs and any sample inside, so that they can confirm and fix the problem and close your issue.
Next up, the docs team will review the change which the developer made and will determine if they need to update the manual to match the new/changed behaviour. They may potentially use your sample also in order to confirm they are wording things correctly and that they have understood the change properly.
And finally our QA team will verify the changes made to GameMaker and to the manual which came from your bug are actually correct. The QA person will run your sample to confirm the fix works on more platforms also and extend it as they see fit in order to confirm the change didn't accidentally break something unexpected.
Each person mentioned above would typically download a copy of your .zip package for the time period in which they actively work on the problem, but then delete it immediately afterwards.
On the odd occasion in which we claim something is fixed and you find that it is not fixed in the Monthly release it is supposed to have gone into, you are also able to reopen the issue and give us updated info. (Please do not reopen issues before you know you have a GameMaker release in which we have actually said it's fixed!)
Do I need to be online all the time because of this new bugs system?
No.
Obviously, GameMaker will need to be online in order to successfully send us your bug report and your machine as a whole will need to be online in order to open a bug issue in your browser, but that's it.
If you try submitting a bug report when you are offline, GameMaker will realise the upload failed, tell you it couldn't send the report because you are offline, and will keep your bug report information handy so you can try again once you have restored your connection.
Note that only the most-recent failed submission is remembered (so you can't write a second bug while offline) and if you close GameMaker, any "stuck" bug report information is cleared.
In summary...
The new bug-reporting tool in the Help menu replaces the need to contact our customer service website for most problems inside GameMaker and all problems when running your games. It does this in a one-click fashion, simplifying the process for you and ensuring we get all the logs and supporting files we need sooner.
It does NOT replace the need to send tickets to our customer service team for all licensing problems, purchasing problems, not being able to see FAQs, or any questions/problems with any of our documentation or downloading our Marketplace assets.
The reports (which are actually called "issues") can then be shown to all users, stopping duplicated issues and also allowing us to announce workarounds for urgent issues much sooner and in the one place users should expect to look for this information.
We can then use this better information to much more quickly fix the issue and also confirm that when we say something is fixed it is actually fixed on the affected users' machines.
Which should all mean more stable releases going forward and fewer issues for you, our much-appreciated users.
Thanks!