GameGuru MAX News

[h2]August 2025 Update[/h2][p]Since our June release, development on MAX has been busier than ever — a flood of new features, dozens of updated and new behaviors, and a long list of stability improvements. This cycle saw an especially heavy focus on expanding the behavior system, giving creators more built-in gameplay mechanics, UI controls, and visual feedback options right out of the box. Alongside this, the editor gained several usability upgrades and optimizations aimed at making large projects faster and smoother to work with.[/p][p]Here’s a round-up of what’s now part of today’s release:[/p][hr][/hr][h3]Major Features & Additions[/h3][p]Behavior System Expansion[/p]

• [p]New Behaviors: Booster, Particle Toggler, XP Monitor, Objective Monitor, Freefall Object — plus many new icons (life/health, hand, disk, trade, switch, progress bar) for clearer in-game feedback.[/p]
• [p]Enhanced Existing Behaviors: Huge sweep of updates to quest, vehicle, door, switch, HUD, stealth, NPC, environmental, and combat behaviors — including fixes, optimizations, and new highlight/icon support.[/p]
• [p]Gameplay Mechanics: Improvements to object interaction (carry, break, destroy, hack, search, climb, etc.), better stacked object handling for destructible items, and refined flashlight logic (battery drain, auto turn-off, and specific use cases).[/p]

[p]Lua Command Additions[/p]

• [p]SetPlayerRun(v) — toggle player sprint ability.[/p]
• [p]Include(file) — load external Lua scripts into your logic.[/p]
• [p]MoveDown(e,v) — quickly shift entities in the world.[/p]
• [p]Multiple new player, HUD, and weapon animation control commands, including ForceGunUnderWater, SetGunAnimationSpeed, and full control of gun animation frames.[/p]
• [p]Added new g_UserGlobal entries for ammo, health, and lives tracking.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]Editor & UI Enhancements[/h3]

• [p]New Global Behaviors system centralizes common scripts for easier reuse.[/p]
• [p]Status bar and highlight colors now independently configurable.[/p]
• [p]Modern Dark theme refinements, plus re-addition of Darker Style.[/p]
• [p]Faster storyboard thumbnail and .fpe loading.[/p]
• [p]“Empty Level” grid controls with adjustable floor height.[/p]
• [p]Expanded editor menus for project management, toolbar layouts, and icon selection.[/p]
• [p]Improved import of remote projects and custom fonts.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]Visuals & Effects[/h3]

• [p]Added gun tracers for aircraft and below-barrel tracer options.[/p]
• [p]Optimized decal rendering for smoother animation.[/p]
• [p]New particle emitter rotation support and trigger types for more dynamic effects.[/p]
• [p]Improved handling of custom materials in standalone builds.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]Bug Fixes & Stability[/h3][p]Gameplay & Logic[/p]

• [p]Fixed numerous behavior logic issues (quest progression, stealth zones, objective visibility, NPC state changes, underwater detection, particle toggling, and more).[/p]
• [p]Resolved fog setting restoration after test games, weapon ammo handling, and custom material activation problems.[/p]
• [p]Fixed font loading, WPE resource validation, and workshop subscription edge cases.[/p]

[p]Editor & Standalone[/p]

• [p]Prevented freezes when saving/loading large levels.[/p]
• [p]Improved validation of duplicated entities in standalones.[/p]
• [p]Fixed missing skybank handling, crash cases from collection saves, and hot-loading object issues.[/p]
• [p]Enhanced VRAM management between levels for smoother transitions.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]Performance & Optimization[/h3]

• [p]DDS conversion and compression options to reduce texture memory use.[/p]
• [p]Freed VRAM between level loads, optimized material handling, and reduced “not responding” waits for big levels.[/p]
• [p]Faster decal, storyboard, and .fpe loads.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]New Swimming Arms in Global Behaviours[/h3]

• [p]Thanks to the awesome community contributions, you now have access to a new global behavior that, when selected, will employ animated swimming arms when underwater[/p]
• [p]You can find this behavior in the new Global Behavior feature titled "swimming.lua"[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]General Observations[/h3][p]This has been one of the broadest updates we’ve done for MAX in terms of scope — from deep gameplay scripting tools to quality-of-life tweaks in the editor. The Global Behaviors push, the massive wave of behavior updates, and the addition of powerful Lua commands give creators more freedom than ever to build complex, interactive worlds without starting from scratch each time.[/p][p]As always, the best way to see these changes in action is to join our community on Discord — share your creations, test the new features, and help guide where MAX goes next.[/p][p][/p]

We are thrilled to announce that GameGuru MAX, AGK Studio, GameGuru Classic, and all associated game development intellectual properties have officially been acquired from TheGameCreators by Dark Basic Software Limited. The transfer, finalized in May 2025 and announced in June 2025, marks the beginning of an exciting new era for our game-making communities!

This seismic change will refocus our development efforts moving forward, with a greater emphasis on product improvement, community involvement, and building on our ecosystem of contributors. We've been very fortunate to have had the support of passionate, highly experienced contributors over the years, and we feel this is a great way for a small team to build a great product.

So what does this mean for our loyal users? Nothing changes, except for the better! You’ll continue to get your quarterly updates and regular news on progress. The only difference you’ll notice is a renewed energy behind the scenes, including:

• Faster development cycles
  
• Quicker and more responsive bug fixes
  
• More frequent updates
  
• New features and enhancements rolled out with greater consistency
  
• A tighter feedback loop with the community
  

So, what does the team behind Dark Basic Software Limited say? Well, this is more than a business decision; it’s about renewing the energy behind the development effort, creating the space and freedom necessary to deliver the kind of tools we always dreamed of for indie developers and creators. We’re excited to share this news with our community and can’t wait to show you what’s coming next!

Looking ahead, we’re already hard at work on several exciting updates, and this new structure allows us to move faster and listen closer than ever before. GameGuru MAX is entering a new phase of evolution, and the journey is just beginning. Thank you for being part of one of the longest-standing (and long-suffering) game-making communities out there :)

Here's to the future, let’s build it together!

[h2]June 2025 Update[/h2][p][/p][p]For those following the ebb and flow of development on GitHub and our quarterly update announcements, you'll know we've been assigning bug fixing as top priority. Indeed, it's been our top 3 priorities, much to the chagrin of some users who want us to go much faster. The good news is that single-mindedness has now paid off, and with this update, only 10 bugs remain outstanding on our issues board. Here is a summary of the last 3 months of development, now part of today's release:[/p][p][/p][h3]Major Features & Additions[/h3]

• [p]HUD & UI Enhancements[/p]
  • [p]New alternative in-game HUD system and logic for enabling/disabling shooting during live HUD.[/p]
  • [p]Improved HUD screen management: duplicating/renaming screens, selector dropdowns for various scripts.[/p]
  • [p]Expanded “Active HUD” and “HUD Zone” behaviors for more dynamic overlays and controls.[/p]
  • [p]Added assorted and interactive icons (drink, climb, carry, break, push, etc.) for better visual feedback.[/p]
• [p]AI & Gameplay Logic[/p]
  • [p]Improved soldier AI for melee combat with new block, counter, leap attack, and stun/ground logic.[/p]
  • [p]Added new master interpreter commands for enhanced combat logic.[/p]
  • [p]Better patrol logic for AI and fixes for quest-giver and NPC control behaviors.[/p]
  • [p]Added new Lua commands for explosions, entity properties, and HUD interaction.[/p]
• [p]Materials & Graphics[/p]
  • [p]Improved custom materials system, material settings fixes, and restored custom material tick function.[/p]
  • [p]Added support for custom shaders, delayed point shadows, and new particle system controls (including the ability to disable particles).[/p]
  • [p]Performance optimizations for raycasts, sound modes, and texture handling.[/p]
• [p]Editor & Project Management[/p]
  • [p]Enhanced deployment and build automation scripts.[/p]
  • [p]Improved handling of standalone game packaging (DDS handler, memory optimizations).[/p]
  • [p]“Completely Empty Level” mode for faster scene setup/testing and space levels.[/p]
• [p]Scripting & Behavior Updates[/p]
  • [p]Numerous updates to Lua scripts for spells, items, and zones—especially for user global selection, HUD, and sound handling.[/p]
  • [p]Added water zone behavior and associated sample models.[/p]

[h3]Bug Fixes & Stability[/h3]

• [p]Editor and Level Stability[/p]
  • [p]Fixed corrupt references in editor lock list, crash scenarios in matrix math, and rare crashes from model files or physics.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed issues with player speed, entity duplication, and improper material settings carrying over.[/p]
  • [p]Autosave for storyboard modifications and improved error trapping for old levels.[/p]
• [p]Gameplay and AI[/p]
  • [p]Fixed quest-giver always being active, improved handling of player/NPC states, and rogue sound issues.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed various issues in melee combat, attachments, and sound playback (notably XAudio2 bugs and volume reset issues).[/p]
• [p]Scripting and Logic[/p]
  • [p]Fixed problems with multiple global lists, bug in workshop subscriptions, particle system behaviors, and sound system edge cases.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed array overruns, premature blood loads, and issues with entity spawning and navmesh toggling.[/p]
• [p]Visuals & UI[/p]
  • [p]Fixed image references, HUD screen selection, and icon updates for a more consistent UI experience.[/p]
  • [p]Unified workshop scripts into the core for improved compatibility.[/p]

[h3]Other Noteworthy Updates[/h3]

• [p]Performance and Optimization[/p]
  • [p]Added more logging, error trapping, and performance metrics (OPTICK events).[/p]
  • [p]Improved handling of large-scale levels and standalone performance.[/p]
• [p]Automation[/p]
  • [p]Enhanced scripts for automated build, deployment, and changelog generation (pulls live from GitHub).[/p]

[h3]General Observations[/h3][p]It's been a very active period with a mix of major features, usability improvements, and a strong focus on stability. Continuous improvement to both user-facing features (HUD, icons, AI) and backend/editor tools (build automation, error handling) has been made, and ongoing cleanup, deprecation of old behaviors, and streamlining of the codebase have put the engine in a good place.[/p][p]With the last of the bugs being rounded up, MAX enters a new phase of development, and exactly what shape that takes will be discussed extensively by our amazing community. To find out what comes next, the best place to hang out is our Discord channel, where you can learn about official developments and also what the community is creating right now with MAX.[/p][p][/p]

Are you prepared for the most monumental news in the history of GameGuru MAX? Then put the 12th June 2025 in your calendar, and be ready to join us for a very special live Q&A starting at 7 PM BST. Don't miss out on this, the only opportunity to say, "I was there on the 12th June, 2025!"

A very happy Easter to all our GameGuru MAX community!

We are happy to extend to all our dedicated game makers out there an addition to the FREE "GameGuru MAX Easter Gift Kit" DLC, giving you the power to make your own Easter games!

This year the pack is enhanced by the addition of 10 more easter egg designs to fill your Easter Basket!



You can visit Steam and download for free now:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2298680/GameGuru_MAX_Easter_Gift_Kit/