What causes GameMaker step event order issues?

Instances' step events run in an order you do not control precisely, so logic that depends on one object updating before another (a controller before followers) behaves inconsistently.

How do I catch this when it only happens for some players?

Capture it automatically from the player's device with the full stack trace, the device and OS, the build, and a breadcrumb trail of what they did. That turns a vague complaint into a specific, reproducible issue you can fix without owning the hardware it happens on.

How to Fix GameMaker Step Event Order Issues

Quick answer: Use begin step, step, and end step phases to order dependent logic, drive dependent updates from a controller, and avoid relying on instance creation order.

GameMaker step order issues are reliance on uncontrolled order. Using phases fixes it. Here is how.

How to fix it

1. Use the step phases

GameMaker runs begin step, then step, then end step for all instances. Put logic that must run first in begin step and dependent logic in step or end step, to order across objects deterministically.

2. Drive from a controller

For logic where one object must update before others, have a single controller object run the updates in the right order in its step event, rather than relying on the order separate instances happen to step.

3. Do not rely on creation order

Instance step order is not a reliable guarantee to build logic on. Structure dependencies explicitly through phases or a controller, so behavior does not depend on the order instances were created.

Catching the ones you can't reproduce

The hardest version of this to fix is the one you can't reproduce — it only happens on a player's hardware, OS, driver, or save state, under conditions that simply aren't present on your machine. A report that says “it crashed” or “it froze” gives you nothing to act on, so the bug survives release after release while quietly costing you players.

Automatic error capture closes that gap. Each failure arrives with its full stack trace, the device and OS, the build number, and a breadcrumb trail of what the player did right before it broke, so even a failure you have never seen becomes a specific, reproducible issue. Fold identical failures into one signature ranked by how many players each hits, and your worklist sorts itself worst-first instead of arriving as a stream of vague complaints.

This is where a tool like Bugnet earns its place. Its SDK captures every GameMaker error automatically with the full stack trace plus device, OS, memory, build, and game-state context, folds duplicates into one grouped issue with an occurrence count, and ties each to the build it first appeared on — so you fix the problem that hurts the most players first and confirm it is gone when its signature disappears from the next release.

Reproduce it once with full context and the fix writes itself. The hunt is the expensive part.