Windows' windows for GameMaker

Quick links: documentation · source code
Versions: GM2022+ (LTS/Stable/Beta)
Platforms: Windows, Windows (YYC)
See also: more Windows Tricks · more GameMaker things!

Windows' windows (winwin) is an extension that lets you create additional windows in GameMaker games on Windows!

This can be used for things like:

• Debug UI (you can even update windows while the game is busy!)
• Pop-out panels and windows (ever make software in GameMaker? Some people do)
• Novel ideas (takes some work to stand out of the crowd these days!)
• "Fourth-wall" tricks (want your game to draw inside and outside the game window?)

And there are always more things to explore!

The extension is straightforward to use - the general functions work much alike to the built-in window_* functions, drawing works akin to working with surfaces, and there's a cheat sheet covering what every function does.

And if you prefer to learn from an example, I'm also including a project with small showcases for various things that you might want to do with this.

On the technical side, the extension works directly with WinAPI and D3D11 for best-case performance.