GDevelop 5.4 Is Here! Multiplayer, Simplified Variables + More!

GDevelop 5.4 has arrived with two major improvements and a ton of improvements.

Introducing GDevelop Multiplayer

GDevelop now supports building real-time multiplayer games, with:

• Ready-to-use lobbies for your game and a user interface allowing players to start a new game,
• 2 to 8 players in each lobby,
• Built-in authentication for players to create an account and login to your game,
• Automatic synchronization of players, depending on who is in charge of each game object,
• Automatic synchronization of the rest of the game state: game objects, variables, visual effects...
• Out of the box client-side prediction of game logic and object behaviors,
• Soon, automated compression to reduce bandwidth usage.

Getting started is super easy. Building a multiplayer game works by using 1) the actions to display the lobbies for your game and 2) a new Multiplayer Object Behavior, allowing to mark which objects are active in the game (players, projectiles, enemies, doors, etc.)

Multiplayer servers are usually costly to set up and maintain for games (from tens to thousands dollars a month for successful games).

GDevelop Multiplayer is built so that it can scale from no players to multiple thousands playing to your game. Free accounts have one lobby available for the game.

With a silver, gold or pro account, your game will get unlimited lobbies so your game can work with any number of players. Gold and Pro memberships will get access to advanced features (lobbies administration, matchmaking, teams...) and monetisation options in the future.

You'll find on the blog a special article on Multiplayer in the next days. Look at our introduction video for Multiplayer, and read the documentation here.

Simplified variables and local variables

GDevelop 5.4 streamlines the process for creator's of all levels with simplified variables. This revamps how you work with variables, resulting in cleaner, more readable, and easier-to-maintain logic.

• Global or scene variables of any type can now be used with a unique action and condition. For example, you no longer need to choose between an action to modify a scene or a global variable, as there is now a single action for it. In the action, both global and scene variables can be used. You also don't need to choose a different action for a number, text or boolean variable.
• It's now important to declare your global and scene variables. You can open these when editing events too, so you don't lose much time in case your forgot to create one before working on an action or condition. Autocompletion will be there to help you fill in the fields more quickly.

The new release also introduces local variables (perfect for temporary usage in events or when writing algorithms) and extension variables (perfect for storing data inside an extension without cluttering scene variables).

More new features

In addition to GDevelop Multiplayer and simplified variables, GDevelop 5.4 comes with:

• Diagnostic Report: this report identifies missing variables or behaviors in your event sheet, preventing hidden bugs.
• More Community Badges: The Get Started tab boasts new badges you can unlock to earn credits. Fill out your profile and connect with the GDevelop community for even more rewards!
• Enhanced Player Login in leaderboards: Leaderboard login options and automatic score attachment simplify player interaction.
• A brand new curriculum and educational resources are now available as part of the education plan.

Since GDevelop 5.3, we also introduced progressively:

• One click export to iOS - with automatic upload to the App Store.
• UI Improvements including a redesigned instance properties panel: streamlined and more efficient to use.
• Support for Spine animated objects.
• Blazing fast, background loading of game resources (+ ability to create custom loading scenes). Games can launch immediately and continue loading in the background.
• Version history for cloud projects.

Multiplayer in action!

More new extensions

Several official and community extensions received exciting updates, including:

• Shock Wave Effect (No More Tween Behavior Needed): This extension lets you create stunning visual effects without the need for the Tween behavior (thanks to Alios5!).
• 3D Flip Animation Integration: Use animations to seamlessly flip sprites with the 3D Flip extension.
• Resource Bar Fix: The Resource Bar (separated units) extension now has a functioning "max value" action.
• CrazyGame Video Ads Fix: The CrazyGame extension's video ad display functionality is fixed, and it now returns an error if the video ad isn't ready (thanks to MartijnKuilema!).
• Boids Movement Fix: A bug in the Boids Movement extension has been addressed, ensuring proper velocity calculations.
• Transition Animation Enhancements: The Transition extension offers smoother animations for zoomed layers and maintains the last frame when "Forward" is chosen.
• Fire Bullet Updates: The Fire Bullet extension boasts minor updates and fixes, including a new expression for tracking reload time, preventing negative ammo values, and improved bullet firing logic.
• Community Extension Gems: The InkJS extension allows for interactive storytelling using InkJS (thanks to infokub!), while the Point and Orbit extension offers enhanced functionality (point towards an angle and synchronized rotation).

And more - but we could not list everything

GDevelop v5.4 offers additional improvements, bug fixes, and new assets (both free and premium). For the complete list, head over to the official release notes.