GM Link - For Aseprite

Send your sprites directly to GameMaker with a single click!

Using GM Link - a completely free extension for Aseprite. By using Aseprite's 'slices', you can select which sprites goes to GameMaker and keep everything in one document. This is a Windows-only extension at the moment.

Features

• Create and update sprites in your GameMaker project from Aseprite with one click
• Have all your sprites in a single Aseprite file
• You can have animated sprites as well - just put "_strip<frame count>" at the end of the slice name
  
• Put your sprites in subfolders in GameMaker via Aseprite
• Adjust bounding box and origin within Aseprite
• Super easy setup

How to setup

1. Download the GM Link extension below
2. Open Aseprite and go to Edit -> Preferences -> Extensions, and click 'Add extension'
3. Click 'Ok' and go to File -> GM Link -> Configure, and browse to your GameMaker project file (.yyp)
4. READ AND ACCEPT THE WARNING TELLING YOU THAT YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING ADEQUATE BACKUPS/VERSION CONTROL IN CASE SOMETHING GOES WRONG
5. Lastly, open up GameMaker and load your project. Add a new, empty sprite named "spr_gmlink_base"

(These steps will appear within Aseprite as well and you'll get a heads-up if you missed something)

PLEASE NOTE: Because GM Link reads and writes files, you'll be asked to give permission by Aseprite. For the most seemless experience, give full permission to the script. If it worries you, feel free to take a look at the source code or just give individual permission when prompted.

Also, GM Link uses Powershell to carry out file and folder related tasks within your GameMaker project, because the scripting support in Aseprite is limited. You will therefore see a command prompt window open up as the extension is loaded. Please keep this window open at all times. If you try to add sprites to GameMaker without this window opened, Aseprite will crash. You can always reopen Powershell by going to File -> GM Link -> Reopen Powershell.

How to use

• Use the Slice tool, hidden behind the Move tool (SHIFT + C per default) to create rectangular slices around your sprites
• Double click a slice to edit its properties. Click the little button on the right to reveal the User Data field 

• To put your sprites into subfolders within GameMaker, type the desired path in the User Data field. For example, typing folder1/folder2/folder3 would put this sprite in Sprites/folder1/folder2/folder3/spr_my_sprite in GameMaker
• Edit the bounding box of your sprite using the 9-Slices control. You can edit this visually on your slice if you enable it and click 'Ok'
• Choose the origin point of your sprite by setting the Pivot point
• If you have a sprite that uses multiple frames, ie. an animation, simply suffix the name of the slice with "_strip<frame count>". For example: spr_player_idle_strip4
• Whenever you wanna create or update a sprite in GameMaker, just press SHIFT+F5 or go to File -> GM Link -> Update
• Keep in mind that:
  • Deleting a sprite or changing it in GameMaker will not be reflected in Aseprite. It is a one-way communication from Aseprite to GameMaker
  • If you name a slice the same name as a sprite in GameMaker, that sprite will be changed by Aseprite when you update

Important!

You are fully responsible for keeping adequate backups/version control of your project in case something breaks. This extension has not been tested on all versions of GameMaker and has had limited testing in general, so use with caution and please let me know if you discover any bugs. GameMaker has a history of updating their file structures a lot so this extension may break at any moment. Please reach out if that happens and I'll try my best to find the time to fix it. 

I hope this is of help to you and you enjoy using the extension! Don't hesitate to reach out in the comments or on Bluesky @torelehmann.bsky.social. Thanks! :)