Category: Game Development

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Talos Particle Engine

Talos is an open source Java based particle system creation tool powered by the LibGDX graphics framework.  The source code is available on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 open source license, while the executable is available here in JAR format.  Currently there is a LibGDX runtime with hopefully more game engines to follow in the future.

Version 1.05 was just released with the following features:

  • legacy libgdx particle file importer full functionality
  • Modules can now be renamed with double click on the title
  • Full Copy/Paste functionality for modules from emitter to the emitter. Works between different talos windows.
  • Additive blend mode support in renderer and config properties for emitter
  • Global dynamic user set vars (global scope input)
  • Dynamic Drag point support for visualizing vector2 values in the preview window
  • Filtered search drop-down for module creation
  • Dropping curve in empty location auto-open’s module popup.
  • Preview supports background and foreground images.
  • Viewport width can be changed with exact numbers in input box instead of just scroll for zoom
  • Particle in the preview window can be moved with right-click
  • Module multi-select with rectangle hit, with SHIFT, and with Ctrl+A
  • Categorized module list
  • Some modules now have their default values exposed as input fields
  • Performance numbers such as triangles, particle count, render times and more shown in preview
  • Runtime: attached mode
  • Runtime: loopable effects and support for API methods such as pause/start/stop allow completion
  • Batch legacy import functionality
  • Export for runtime format
  • Settings dialog for default asset location
  • Module Grouping with Ctrl+G, color and custom text for module groups
  • Up & Down positioning for emitters.
  • Fixed samples list to work, now you can see 3 example .tls in File->Samples menu
  • Offset dynamic shape module
  • Module to script in java code and manipulate inputs/outputs
  • Beam Renderer module
  • Random Input slot module
  • Perlin Noise module
  • From To to Position/Size/Rotation converter module

Given the new ability to import existing LibGDX particle effects, you can download plenty of examples to play around with in this project.  If you are interested in learning LibGDX be sure to check out our complete tutorial series available here.  To learn more about Talos and see it in action, check out the video below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXse8XQ1IQQ&w=853&h=480]

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NeoAxis 2019.3 Released

NeoAxis 2019.3 was just released.  NeoAxis is a free C# powered 3D game engine with an editor capable of targeting Windows and UWP platforms currently with more planned in the roadmap.  The 2019.3 release brings several major new features such as a new terrain system and a built in 3D building for assembling geometry directly inside the game engine.

Details from the changelog:

  • API of the engine and the editor have been updated. Now they are considered complete.
  • Terrain.
  • Builder 3D. Fast level creation tools, 3D modeling tools, constructive solid geometry operations.
  • Three ways to create objects in the scene are now available: Drag & Drop, By Click, By Brush.
  • Tools for creation a huge amount of objects.
  • Surface component. A definition of surface type which contains material, set of meshes and other objects. Surfaces are used for painting and object creation by means brush.
  • Group Of Objects component. An object in a scene designed to store and display a large number of similar objects.
  • Decals.
  • Material: Advanced blending. The ability to configure which channels to write to the G-Buffer. Used for decals.
  • Per-object motion blur.
  • Smooth LOD transition.
  • Area component. Represents an area in space defined by the set of points.
  • Layers in the scene.
  • Package manager has been added.
  • Support for creating a build for the target platform has been improved. Now scripts and engine add-ons are supported. The process of creating a build is simplified. The page about build in manual has been added.
  • Build for Universal Windows Platform (UWP) has been improved.
  • Engine DLL assemblies management has been improved. Now unnecessary assemblies are not loaded into the simulation, thereby reducing the load on garbage collector.
  • C# Editor: Work with CS files has been improved. Now changes are synchronized between files. Now there are no invalid warning markers.
  • C# Editor: The ability to customize the visibility of markers has been added.
  • Occlusion query API has been added.
  • Lens flares now use occlusion queries to detect visibility on the screen.
  • Lens flares now appear and disappear smoothly.
  • The ability to change video mode, fullscreen mode, vertical sync in the player app.
  • Editor: Tool tips for events.
  • Editor: Many small fixes.
  • Material Editor: Access to TexCoord 2 and 3 from the shader editor.
  • Material Editor: DitherBlending function.
  • Objects Window: Search.
  • Scene Editor: Select same objects in sphere area by mouse double click.
  • Vignetting screen effect: Noise.
  • Bug fix: Physics: No collision between soft bodies and rigid mesh shapes.
  • Bug fix: Scene Editor: Unable to detach the object when it contains collision body.
  • Bug fix: Screen Space Reflection effect fixed.

You can learn more about the release and see NeoAxis in action in the video below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcJBAuhPoyI&w=480&h=270]

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AppGameKit Particle Editor Released

The Game Creators have just released the AppGameKit Studio: Particle Editor, which despite the name will work with both AppGameKit Classic and the newer AppGameKit Studio.  It is a combination editor and runtime making creating and controlling particle systems for AGK a breeze. 

Key features include:

  • Create effects with as little as 1,000 to 1 million particles
  • Emitter types include box, circle, disc, filled sphere, spherical shell, line
  • Burst emitters for explosions and sparks
  • Particle type settings from size, colours, lifespan and more
  • Animated image particle support
  • Particle blend modes supported, opaque, alpha, additive
  • Particle colouring controlled using gradients
  • Particle orientation control
  • Turbulence system
  • Vector field controls, paint, push, attract, repel, swirl
  • Function packed runtime code for your projects (Win, Mac & Linux)
  • Custom textures and gradients supported
  • Reflector system used to bounce particles off floors and walls

The Particle Editor is available as DLC with an MSRP of $30 USD.  If you are interested in checking out AppGameKit Studio, be sure to check out our hands-on getting started tutorial series available here or check out the video below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSQH-30a7Bg&w=877&h=493]

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AMD Joins Blender As A Patron

2019 has been a massive year for the open source 3D application Blender.  Back in July Blender 2.80 was released, perhaps the biggest release in Blender’s history.  Just a few days later, Epic Games announced that they would be giving Blender 1.2M dollars as part of their Mega-grant program.  Then earlier this month, NVIDIA became a Patron level sponsor, the highest tier possible.  Today another company joined that tier, announced in the following tweet:

image

No formal details of the partnership have been announced by either Blender or AMD as of yet, but a patron level sponsorship means that AMD will be giving the Blender Foundation at least 120K Euro/month, enabling the hiring of at least two developers full time!

Learn more about this and prior announcements in the video below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuecgWCP13g&w=853&h=480]

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LowRes NX Fantasy Console

LowRes NX is a cross platform and open source fantasy console.   Fantasy consoles are designed to create a virtual game console as well as providing all the tools you need to create games for the console.  It’s a way of harkening back to a simpler time in game development and is an excellent way of introducing game programming while keeping the complexities down, as well as teaching more experienced programmers how to deal with more constrained environments.

LowRes NX is described as follows:

Virtual Game Console

Imagine LowRes NX as a handheld game console with a d-pad, two action buttons and a little rubber keyboard below a slidable touchscreen. LowRes NX was inspired by real 8- and 16-bit systems and simulates chips for graphics, sound and I/O, which actually work like classic hardware. It supports hardware sprites as well as hardware parallax scrolling, and even offers vertical blank and raster interrupts to create authentic retro effects.

Old-School Programming

The programming language of LowRes NX is based on second-generation, structured BASIC. It offers all the classic commands, but with labels, loops and subprograms instead of line numbers. Graphics and sound are supported by additional commands and you can even access the virtual hardware directly using PEEK and POKE. You have complete control over the program flow, there is no standard update function to implement.

Creative Tools

LowRes NX includes all the tools you need: The Character Designer for editing sprites, tiles and fonts, the Background Designer for tile maps and screen layouts, as well as the Sound Composer for music and sound effects. All of these are just normal BASIC programs. You can change and improve them or even create your own custom editors.

Share and Play

Send your games directly to other users or share them via the website. All programs are open source, so you can play them, learn from them and edit them. Do you prefer making just art or music? Share your creations as assets and let other programmers use them in their projects.

One of the most interesting aspects of LowRes NX is there is a completely free iOS implementation available on the Apple App Store enabling game development on the go.  There is also a community of games you can learn from.  The source code is available on GitHub under the LGPL v3 open source license.  You can check out LowRes NX in action in the video below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F4TOtT2k1M&w=853&h=480]

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Aeriolod Released

The creator of MagicaVoxel just released a new free interactive path renderer for heightmaps called AerioLOD.  It is a very early version, labeled 0.0.0 and available for 32 and 64bit Windows machines.

The very brief description from the homepage:

An interactive path tracing renderer for height maps.

  • support rendering height maps of size up to 16384^2.
  • support importing and exporting 8-bit and 16-bit png images.

Current release notes:

0.0.0 – 10/19/2019

You can check out AerioLOD in action in the video below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0DXe3JQowA&w=853&h=480]

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Unity Announce Price Increases

For the first time since moving to a subscription based pricing model, Unity Technologies have announced an increase in price for their Plus and Pro subscriptions.

Here are the current subscription costs:

image

Effective January 1, 2020 prices will rise to $40 a month for Plus and $150 a month for Pro subscriptions.

Some details from the Unity blog:

What’s changing and when?

Effective January 1, 2020 at 12:00 am UTC, the price for Unity Pro subscriptions will be USD $150/month and Unity Plus subscriptions will be USD $40/month. This pricing applies to new subscriptions, additional seats, and renewals of expiring custom agreements. Current seat subscriptions and current custom agreements are unaffected. If you wish to confirm this, please check your email or contact the Customer Service team.

Why are you raising the price of subscriptions?

The price has remained the same for over three years and we are making these increases in order to continue investing in new technology, features and services that will benefit all Unity creators.

Will there still be a free Unity version?

Yes. Unity Personal remains free to creators with revenue or funding (raised or self-funded) below USD $100K in the past year.

Subscriptions purchased before January 1st will remain at the current pricing, so if you are looking to subscribe, now is the time!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOrUMWmNyF4&w=853&h=480]

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RobocraftX Becoming Gamecraft–Free Until Oct 24th

RobocraftX by FreeJam is a game about creating games that is currently in early access on Steam.  In the upcoming release it is going to be rebranded to Gamecraft at which point it will become commercial software.  However if you add RobocraftX to your library before October 24th, it will remain yours forever for free.

Details from the Steam announcement:

On October 24th 2019 Our plan is to shift the game over to $5 Premium (i.e. pay up front) along with the brand name change.

ANYONE WHO ALREADY HAS A COPY OF THE GAME WILL KEEP THEIR COPY, FOR FREE, FOREVER.


ANYONE WHO HAS THE GAME IN THEIR STEAM LIBRARY BETWEEN NOW AND THE 24th WILL ALSO KEEP THEIR COPY, FOR FREE, FOREVER.
SO – TELL YOUR FRIENDS OR ANYONE YOU THINK MAY BE INTERESTED TO OWN THE GAME IN FUTURE, THAT RIGHT NOW IS THE LOWEST PRICE THE GAME WILL EVER BE (i.e. FREE!) AND TO GET IT NOW.


The Gamecraft Team

The upcoming release will also contain several new features, including the ability to share your creations, a move to Unity’s DOTS physics engine and additional logic controllers and bricks to play with. 

In the meanwhile you can check out some of the new features in the preview release on Steam.  You need to follow the following instructions (more details here or shown in the video below):

  • Open the Library tab on Steam
  • Right-Click on RobocraftX
  • Click on “Properties”
  • Click on the “Betas” tab
  • Enter the code “FreedomIsKey” and click on the “Check Code” button
  • Click on the dropdown and select the “Preview” branch
  • Give this a minute to download
  • Make sure the game appears as “RobocraftX [preview]” in the Library
  • Click Play and enjoy!

    • You can learn more about Robocraft/Gamecraft in the video below.  Another very similar experience is GameBuilder that we covered in this video earlier in the year.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=febMz2puACI&w=853&h=480]

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    Material Maker 0.6 Released

    Material Maker is a free and open source MIT licensed procedural texture generation tool built using (and that can run within) the Godot game engine.  Material Maker 0.6 was just released.

    Details of the 0.6 release from the Itch.io news page:

    • Material Maker is now a lot more generic and nearly all generators are based on GLSL shaders that can be edited. To test this feature, just drag one from the library to the graph editor, selected the newly created node and hit Ctrl+F. The node becomes editable, and hitting the pencil button will show the shader editor that can be used to define the node’s parameters, inputs, outputs, and GLSL functions that will be used to generate textures. For now it lacks diagnostic tools, so you’d better start with  code you already tested (in shadertoy for example). Since images described in GLSL are math functions, all those generators are resolution independent.
    • It is now possible to create a group of interconnected generators using Ctrl+G. This will create a new node that contains the previously selected ones, while keeping all connectivity with other nodes of the graph. To edit the new subgraph, click on the pencil button of the newly created node ; and to get back to the parent graph, use the Up button in the top left corner of the view. If a Remote node was selected, it will be used to define the new node’s parameters.
    • All nodes now have embedded previews. Just click on the closed eye left of each node output to open it.
    • The 3d preview can now be moved manually, and the “O” button in its top right corner will show the preview as background of the graph view.
    • the library pane now has icons for many generators and a filter.
    • There are quite a few new generators: truchet, weave, runes, mirror and kaleidoscope.

    The source code for Material Maker is hosted on GitHub, although the 0.6 code doesn’t seem to have been made an official release yet.  Material Maker can also be downloaded from within the Godot Engine, in which case it will directly create a Spatial Material ready for use in your Godot game.  The standalone release instead exports a series of PNG textures for use in whatever engine or application you wish to use.

    You can learn more about Material Maker in the video below.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgTnsE8ueKI&w=853&h=480]

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    Developing Your Own Games by Springer Bundle

    Humble are running another Bundle of interest to game developers, this one is the Developing Your Own Games by Springer bundle.  A massive collection of e-books by APress covering a huge number of game engines and technologies.  As always it is broken into tiers, if you buy a higher value tier you get all of the lower value tiers below it as well.

    The tiers of this bundle consist of:

    1$

    • Java Game Development with LibGDX
    • Beginning Swift Games Development for iOS
    • Learn Unity for Android Game Development
    • Practical Video Game Bots
    • Developing Games on The Raspberry Pi
    • Developing Turn-Based Multiplayer Games
    • Python, PyGame and Raspberry Pi Game Development

    8$

    • Mostly Codeless Game Development
    • Learn Unity for Windows 10 Game Development
    • The Advanced Game Developer’s Toolkit
    • Pro Java 9 Games Development
    • Building Games with Ethereum Smart Contracts
    • Essential TypeScript
    • Practical GameMaker Studio
    • Physically Based Shader Development for Unity 2017

    15$

    • Developing 2D Games with Unity
    • Program Arcade Games
    • Beginning Android Games
    • Let’s Build a Multiplayer Phaser Game
    • Beginning iOS AR Game Development
    • Game Development with Construct 2
    • Understanding Game Application Development
    • Pro HTML5 Games
    • Introducing JavaScript Game Development
    • GameMaker Studio 100 Programming Challenges

    As always with Humble you can decide how your money is allocated, between the publisher, Humble, charity or if you so choose (and thanks if you do!) to support GameFromScratch by using this link.  Learn more about the bundle in the video below.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb4WNehj7wM&w=853&h=480]

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