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[hpg678]

I'm interested in knowing which platform developers such as yourself cater to. Is it Windows, Linux, IOS or probably something else?

[HitCoder]

Always been a fan of the Linux operating system. Been using it since 2013, because 13 year old me was very interested in things like it. I have wanted to make my own distro but... never have managed to get all that far.

Regardless, I've always seen Windows as a priority platform for compiling applications and games, due to the fact it seems to be the most mainstream, especially for games. This is because it comes pre-installed on computers and laptops alike, much more so than linux. These devices are far more expensive than Apple devices.

I do prefer Linux to Windows (but keep running into issues with hardware compatibility which pushes me back to Windows far too much).

But, while you have included iOS, I think you should also have considered the fact Mac OS is its own thing (or maybe not, I've heard that iOS and Mac OS are the same OS, but they detect their hardware and change interface to match correctly. Don't quote me on this though, since I would never buy an Apple product as I cannot justify one for my own personal needs.

But overall, I would usually try to develop for Windows and Linux, which is why I like Enigma. I can make games that run on both of these platforms so long as I have an install of both, (though, again, my linux installs keep breaking due to random issues which have mainly been hardware).

I wouldn't really develop for a mobile platform, simply because I'm really too lazy to bother trying to compile for those platforms.
And while I do like the whole cross-platform thing very much, Java is one programming language that I'm going to avoid as much as possible, since it hurts me at how slow it is. So again, Enigma is my preferred compiler. Not a huge fan of the IDE (LateralGM) since it runs in Java, but I should appreciate that it works on windows and Linux. That being said, it actually functions very smoothly considering that it is in Java.

Sorry for rambling, I hope I helped provide any extra data you were looking for

[time-killer-games]

Just as a standard, for desktops I like to make sure I always support Windows, Mac, and Linux.

I wish I could (just for fun) make games for Solaris, ChromeOS, BSD, etc. but there aren't that many tools available to make games for those platforms, probably because of the lack of demand.

As for mobile, iOS and Android are all I care about. Tizen is dead and Windows Phone is dying.

tl;dr Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.

[Goombert]

For me, it's honestly Windows and HTML5. It makes sense why YoYoGames focused on those platforms first because it's where everybody is mostly at. That may someday change, but until then it's only practical. I love open source and Linux too, it's really great at a lot of things, but Windows has its clear advantages.

If there wasn't something like GameMaker, I would honestly probably just write HTML5 games manually without any toolkit. Heck they run everywhere and I am skilled enough to produce most of the games I would be interested in making, the desktop provides nothing special. JavaScript is also dynamically typed with many features similar, and better in some cases, to GML.

[hpg678]

Like many users, I grew up in the Windows world. I was always interested in pulling things apart and putting it back together and that is what got me in Computer repairs. Back then there was the Commodore, Amiga, Apple II and so on.

there is no denying that LINUX is more stable WINDOWS and is probably more stable than any other operating system out there.  As far as user experience in general is concerned, that is where it lacks as well is misunderstood. by this I mean, because of the many misconceptions around using LINUX, a lot of potential users run towards Windows and a lot developers cater then to that platform.

I mean let's be honest. All of us wants to make money as a developer whether you create software or games for what platform you cater to. It's perhaps the most successful way to make money, short of getting involved in religion , but that's another thing altogether.

However, I think that it's quite dangerous to keep flooding the Windows market. Eventually it is going crash and burn and users are going to look for another platform. Which is where developing for LINUX can be the next money making platform as well as rewarding.

I have two computers on my network, one with Windows 7 and the other has LINUX. When I test a project, I have found that the one running on LINUX perform much better in terms of speed, execution and the graphics run smoother. Of course I am using ENIGMA on both computers. I want to deliver this type of experience to the users of my game/software. that is not to say that all Windows games don't give you that, but I watched videos where this type of thing do happen a lot.

Lastly I want to just say, and this just my opinion by the way, game development is hard, very hard. It's like its within a box where there's a set of rules and directions that is for you to follow. let's take two games for example, Candy Crush and Bejeweled. Both have the same concept, match-3 or more objects, yet one is more successful. Now let's look at another example.... Flappy Bird. Compared to the two previous ones that had many lines of code, Flappy bird had less than 50 and the owner became a millionaire.

The point to this is the author didn't follow the norm with a big story plot, lot of levels and so forth, he achieved all of that with one level and that was it. WE need to think/do things out of box and not be too constrained within the norm.

Just my opinion.

[Goombert]

I've heard that iOS and Mac OS are the same OS

They are in the same sense that Ubuntu and Arch are the same OS. They use the same kernel (which is what Linux is) that is based on Mach which was itself developed at Carnegie Mellon University.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mach_(kernel%29

most successful way to make money

Yes, basically what I was trying to convey.

I am getting sick of using these abominations of shells though like cygwin, msys, git bash for windows, command prompt, and powershell are all terrible. This is one of the biggest pains of developing on and for Windows. It's part of the reason why Linux people have so much better success installing ENIGMA.

Take this issue I had to fix earlier while writing a Python server script:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/32597209/python-not-working-in-the-command-line-of-git-bash

flooding the Windows market

You know, that's an interesting perspective, I never would have considered the over-saturation of software on Windows to be a potentially bad thing, but you may be right.

[Hymas]

Like many users, I grew up in the Windows world. I was always interested in pulling things apart and putting it back together and that is what got me in Computer repairs. Back then there was the Commodore, Amiga, Apple II and so on.

there is no denying that LINUX is more stable WINDOWS and is probably more stable than any other operating system out there.  As far as user experience in general is concerned, that is where it lacks as well is misunderstood. by this I mean, because of the many misconceptions around using LINUX, a lot of potential users run towards Windows and a lot developers cater then to that platform.

Is there an example that someone made more money on Linux than on Windows from their game? When it was available on both of course.

[Solitudinal]

Actually I don't think that would be uncommon, due to the oversaturation in the Windows market and the relative low-supply-high-demand of games available to linux users.
Anybody willing to pay for a game would probably be willing to pay for a higher quality and relatively cheap Windows game, but if they are unwilling to use windows, they'll settle for a lower quality competitor.

Like let's suppose there's Flappy Eagle, a Windows-only game that's high quality, popular, and costs $5.
Then there's Flappy Penguin, a cross-platform clone that's lower quality but still fun, and costs $5.

Let's suppose there's 90 windows users paying to play these games, and 10 linux users paying.
85 windows users will all flock to Flappy Eagle.
5 windows users will prefer Flappy Penguin (maybe they just like penguins).
10 linux users play Flappy Penguin.

We see Flappy Penguin is making more money on Linux, but that's only because Flappy Eagle has claimed the Windows market.

Alternatively, there may be an occasional example of a game that as written and released for Linux, but eventually expanded into the Windows market and flopped there.

[hpg678]

The more I research into this, the more I am convinced into my assessment of developing for the LINUX platform.  Gamers seek a thrilling experience when playing games, whether it be a LINUX, Windows or IOS machine.  As a developer, this can be impossible to provide as everyone is different and what appeals to one may not appeal to the other. However, nothing vexes one playing a game, when it doesn't becomes unstable with some kind of glitch, ruining the moment.

The "lack" of LINUX games, (if there is one), pertains to big companies lack of support for the LINUX community. However INDIE developers who support and provide a LINUX port of their games do make money, as oppose to what other articles and so-called "experts" say. Besides developing for LINUX has a lot of advantages.

   
• Smoother graphics
• greater control of your source code
• ability to use proprietry software or not
• broader scope of Licenses
• execution of code runs natively on the LINUX machine enabling a faster frame rate
• opensource

As a user of ENIGMA, I prefer to use the LINUX version because it performs better than the Windows version. In my position where I use a Windows and LINUX machine simultaneously, I noticed a slower execution of programs on my Windows machine compared to when I run them in LINUX. The specs for my Windows machine were as follows

   
• Gigabyte mboard with embedded graphics
• 3.0GHZ CPU
• 4 GB 800MHZ DIMM3 memory
• 250 GB Seagate SATA
• DELL 19' WideScreen Monitor
• Windows 7 OS
• ENIGMA
• Gamemaker Standard
• VISUAL BASIC 6.0
• ANDROID STUDIO
• JAVA 8
• JRE 8

My LINUX machine consists of

   
• LENOVO Desktop
• 2.8 GHZ INTEL  CPU
• 19" Portrait Monitor
• 4 GB 800MHZ  DDR2 memory
• 320 GB Seagate HardDrive
• MX1 LINUX
• Embedded Graphics
• ENIGMA
• WINE

I also want to state that all my other external devices (printers, phones, tablets, external hds  etc) worked on my LINUX machine flawlessly except for my ipod touch, but that is another story altogether.