64Digits Hacked

For the last few months, 64Digits has been down due to switching their server. 

Now, it seems as if someone has hacked the site and replaced the index.php file with one from the gay shock site Meatspin.       It seems as if its back to the normal outdated message from FSX, but this also happened a few times during this hack.   

Until updated, don’t visit 64Digits. It is recording IP addresses and other information.

Yet Another InstantPlay Plugin

James Rhodes from roket-games.com has released a Firefox-only “InstantPlay” plugin much like Yoyogames.com‘s InstantPlay. This one has the capability to run any Windows application (not just Game Maker games) and allows you to embed a play button on any web page.

Installation is quick and smooth, and the progress indicator on ‘buffering’ games far less obnoxious than YYG’s, but one still has to wonder about the security implications of a plugin that allows arbitrary binaries to run with a single click.

A previous InstantPlay alternative is the Java-based GMBed (v2.0 beta released July ’08). Covac Software also published GmX, an ActiveX-based system, which has had no apparent activity since ’07.

Russell’s Quarterly & Wiki-GM-Pedia

Tom Russel released the 4th issue of his well known GM Magazine today. Compared to previous editions, this release is visually friendly, but don’t be fooled – it is still heavy on the text. With an almost unbelieveable 90 pages of a content, the magazine is almost like a book.. so you will likely need to schedule some time off if you want to read through the whole thing.

Nevertheless, the magazine is still interesting and even includes an interview with former GMNews writer, Mark Carroll. The PDF of the magazine can be downloaded here. In my opinion, it is quite amazing how just one person is able to put together something of this magnitude and quality and I think Russell deserves a pat on the back for that.

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Also in the news (although slightly dated news); YoYo Games has announced that it will merge its Wiki with the more content full GMPedia operated by the GMKing team. This will no doubt improve the exising Wiki which is almost hanging on by a thread and until now hasn’t had many updates since its first appearance.

Glog again? – GMSchool Downhill

For a third time in three days, the YoYo Games glog has been updated with yet another post.

It reads,

The deadline for the third YoYo Games competition is quickly approaching. You have only four more days to submit your entries. We hope that we will see a number of interesting additional submissions. Checkout the Competition page for details. Please realize that the deadline is strict. Last time we extended the deadline because of the problems caused by the server move, but that is not the plan this time.

So there you have it, your last chance to submit a game so don’t miss out. For everyone else, click here for a list of participating games for you to check out and rate.

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In other news, GMSchool, a community forum to help Game Maker users is starting to take a turn for the worse. The previously popular message board, is becoming increasingly bare with some forums having no posts in months. Due to the lack of recent support, the owner of the forum is unable to continue funding the community and therefore will not be able to make the required annual payments for forum licensing and hosting costs to maintain the site.

As a result, the community is going to be moved back to Invision Free (a free forum hosting service) where ShadePlay23, the owner of the board, hopes the forum will gain some attention and pick-up it’s popularity once again.

Glog – GMWeekly – ‘Amazing Code’

The YoYo Games Glog received an official update today. Boasting an updated version of WordPress, the blog will open up to a broader range of topics including those previously reserved for Mark Overmars’ (no longer in use) personal blog.

Records of user registrations have been wiped clean, so all users will have to re-register for posting however for the time being users can post after having their comment approved by a moderator of the glog.

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Gm Weekly is a new Game Maker magazine start-up which promises hopes to release a new edition every Friday of each week. The magazine is more like a small newsletter, with only 2 1/2 pages of content, it is no wonder DPoole, the author, is able to keep up with the weekly schedule. This first issue contains various recent GM news items as well as a small tutorial on creating a simple ‘pause game’ function. The publication has mixed reviews, but for a first release – who’s complaining?

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GmMkr, a user on the YoYo Games forums, has posted a topic called ‘Josh’s Amazing Codes‘ which essentially is a challenge for Game Makers to decipher an encrypted string of characters. The prize is not too note-worthy, but I know a lot of Game Makers who enjoy a good thinking challenge, and I thought I might pass it on.

P.S. Josh has rated his puzzle with a difficulty of ‘EVIL’, so be warned 😉