Category: Game Releases

New game releases.

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Heroic Labs Nakama Sponsor Defold

Today we are talking about Heroic Lab’s Nakama.  Nakama is an open source (as well as hosted and managed) solution for the networking side of the game development side of game development.  In October of 2019, Heroic Labs became a premium sponsor of the Godot Game Engine. This week Heroic Labs announced they are now sponsoring the recently open sourced* Defold Game engine.

Details from the Heroic Labs blog:

Today we are pleased to announce that Heroic Labs has joined the Defold Foundation as their first corporate partner in order to further support and expand open-source tools within the game development community.

The Defold Foundation has been formed to maintain and grow the newly open-sourced Defold game engine which was originally created by one of the world’s leading interactive games companies, King Digital Entertainment, to power their incredibly popular titles.

This partnership with the Defold Foundation has enabled us to join forces to create an open-source client library that integrates Nakama and Defold tightly together to enable developers to take advantage of the full range of client APIs found within Nakama including authentication, matchmaking, leaderboards, multiplayer, realtime chat, and much more.

At Heroic Labs we are firm believers in open-source tools and software being the future of game development; with the steady increase in the popularity of gaming, specifically online and social play, developers need access to tools that enable them to move quickly and provide the most engaging experiences to their players regardless of platform without service lock-in.

You can learn more about the Nakama server here and browse the available open source solutions on GitHub.  Learn more about Heroic Labs and Nakama in the video below.  If you want to learn more about Nakama, unfortunately we do not have a tutorial on the subject, but Nathan at GDQuest does, check it out.

*source available, not technically open source as per OSI definitions.

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A new Dragon Quest game is coming to mobile next year

A new Dragon Quest game is in the works for iOS and Android. Square Enix revealed Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai – Tamashii no Kizuna during a live stream with Pokemon Masters creator Dena handling development duties. These game names are not getting any shorter.

Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai – Tamashii no Kizuna is due to release in Japan in 2021 on iOS and Android, but we don’t have a specific date just yet. There is also no word on a Western release date, either.

We got a quick glimpse of gameplay that shows Dai, Popp, and Maam dashing from fight-to-fight and engaging in three-lane battles. You can check more of the game out in the reveal trailer below. The dash RPG looks a tad like Pokemon Masters, at least where the fighting is concerned as that game also features three-on-three bouts. The main difference between the two is that you do your own fighting in Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai – Tamashii no Kizuna – obviously.

Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai – Tamashii no Kizuna – which means bonds of souls, in case you were wondering – was revealed alongside two other titles. Infinity Strash – Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai and Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai – Xross Blade will launch on consoles and arcade respectively.

All three of them are based on a manga called Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai which ran in a Japanese magazine called Shonen Jump.

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If next year is a year too far, then we’ve got a list of the best mobile RPGs to keep you sane while you wait. We even have Dragon Quest VIII on there if you fancy sticking to the beloved series.

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RPG Game Development Assets Bundle

In one of the biggest game development Humble Bundle, the RPG Game Development Assets 2D Art, Music and Sound Effects bundle is live now.  As always it is split into tiers:

1$ Tier

  • 7Souls RPG Graphics – Desert Tileset
  • 7Soul’s RPG Graphics – Sprites
  • Dialogue Boxes
  • Inventory Sound Pack
  • Japanese Bar Interior Assets
  • Osaka City Game Assets
  • RPG Inventory – Fantasy Battle Axes
  • RPG Inventory – Fantasy Bows
  • RPG Inventory – Fantasy Daggers
  • RPG Inventory – Fantasy Potions
  • RPG Inventory – Fantasy Spears
  • RPG Inventory – Fantasy Swords
  • Warrior Adventure Game Characters

15$ Tier

  • 2D Characters Male
  • 2D Hand Painted Mine Tileset
  • 2D Hand Painted Snowland Tileset
  • 7Souls RPG Graphics – Town Tileset
  • Clean City Game Assets
  • Dark RPG Chiptune Soundtrack Bundle
  • Dwarves vs Elves RPG Sprites
  • Hand Painted Extra Objects Tileset
  • Japanese City Game Assets
  • JRPG Character Pack
  • Pixel Art Beach Tile Set
  • Pixel Art Town
  • Side View Animated RPG Battlers
  • Spells and Abilities Icons
  • Fantasy Character Bundle
  • Forest Isometric Block Tileset
  • Frozen Village Isometric Block Tileset

30$ Tier

  • 7Souls RPG Graphics Tiles- Grasslands
  • Over 80RPG Characters with Animations
  • Ancient Game SFX Pack
  • Elemental Magic Sound Effects Vol 1
  • Elemental Magic Sound Effects Vol 2
  • Fantasy RPG Items Vol 2
  • Farm & Fort Tilesets and Icons
  • Human Fantasy Animated Pack
  • Interface SFX
  • JRPG Music Pack
  • Lighthearted RPG Location Soundtrack Bundle
  • Lighthearted RPG Soundtrack Bundle
  • Medieval RPG UI Kit
  • Monster Creature Animated Pack
  • Pixel Art Medieval Interiors
  • RPG Music Pack – Complete Collection
  • Survival Icons
  • Tyler Warrens RPG Battlers Pixel Style
  • MMORPG UI Kit
  • Monster Creature Super Mix
  • Pixel Art Medieval Fantasy Characters
  • Pixel Art Medieval UI Pack
  • Cute RPG UI Kit
  • Pixel Art Forest Road
  • Pixel Art Old Castle
  • 58 Fantasy RPG Items

… yeah, this one is BIG!  The GameDev Marketplace license details are available here.  As with all Humble Bundles, you decide how your money is allocated, including (and thanks so much if you do!) to support GFS if purchased using this link.  Learn more in the video below.

GameDev News Art

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I Was Blackmailed–Any YouTuber Could Be Next

If you follow Gamefromscratch on Twitter, you may have already seen this tweet I put out last night about a blackmail demand that was made against our YouTube channel:

image

First off, I really want to give a gigantic shout out to all of the people that helped get the message out, the tweets, retweets and even Reddit post.  You are an amazing community and hopefully if we yell loud enough, YouTube will here and fix this!

Basically it started with a message in the GFS Discord server claiming to have taken down my Animate CC video.  This video unfortunately has been taken down and reinstated 4 times in the last two months, this happened after YouTube turned up the bots responsibility due to Covid-19, so I had written it off as bots malfunctioning.  Each time it was taken down, I appealed and it would be restored.  After I didn’t pay the $50 in bitcoin, I started getting Circumvention of Technology notices for 3 of my videos.  That ultimately resulted in a community strike and loss of access to my channel for a week (or until appealed).  Thankfully those  three takedowns were reversed in about 2 hours and channel privileges were restored.

Today I was just waiting for YouTube to restore my 2 year old Animate CC video… then to my shock, it was reviewed and found to be in violation!  Even after multiple previous reviews, as you can see from these email snippets!

YTEmailThread

So that is where things stand now.  My channel is back, 3 out of 4 of my videos are returned.  Thing is, anyone that wants can do this exact same attack whenever they want.  It was reported to YouTube and frankly they did nothing.  Any YouTube creator you love can have their channel taken down by spamming Circumvention of Technology claims, and there really isn’t anything you can do about it.  YouTube assumes your guilt and until the review clears you name, your video is down.  As you can see from the above emails, your video doesn’t always come back.

The single biggest piece of advice I can give to any YouTube creator, make sure your content is mirrored on another network!   After my Animate CC video was taken down the second time, I started mirroring to Lbry.tv and I recommend you do to!  Thanks to mirroring to Lbry, my Animate CC video lives on!  So if you want to try to spot the copyright circumvention YouTube reviewers “found”, you can!

Hopefully if we yell loud enough, YouTube will hear and creators will be protected from insanity like this in the future!  You can learn much more in the video below.  Once again, thank you to everyone that helped amplify my voice, it was and is much appreciated!

Totally Off Topic

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Popular pet simulator My Talking Tom Friends gets a release date

Outfit 7 has announced the release date for the newest installment in the Talking Tom series, My Talking Tom Friends. It launches on June 12 on Android and iOS, with pre-registration open on Google Play right now. Over the years, Outfit 7 has cemented itself as the de facto developer and publisher of virtual mobile pet sims, with their suite of games receiving 12 billion downloads in the last alone decade.

My Talking Tom Friends is built upon Outfit 7’s success in those previous titles, advancing the formula by letting you care for all of Talking Tom’s characters at once under the same roof. The game takes place in a kind of domestic sandbox, as you cater to the needs of your cast of creatures.

It’s a little like The Sims – if all of your Sims somehow transformed into anthropomorphic animals and forgot how to look after themselves. Characters like Talking Tom, Ginger, Angela, Hank, Ben, and Becca are all present in the house, which you can also decorate and customise to your preference.

Below you can find one of the series shorts that makes Talking Tom and its characters so beloved:

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When asked about the new installment in the series, senior game designer, Barbara Erman, said this:

“We wanted to give fans the perfect blend of caring for their favorite characters and having amazing experiences with them. And where the line between ‘you’ and ‘them’ disappears as you get drawn into the bright, vivid world of games, fun, and friendship.”

If Talking Tom sounds like your kind of game, then you can get your hands on the real thing on June 12. You can also currently pre-register on Google Play, though not for iOS just yet.

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Unreal Engine Marketplace Spring Sale On Now

Epic Games are running their Annual Unreal Engine Spring Marketplace sale.  You can get a collection of 5000+ asset store items for up to 70% off, which 2k+ being at the maximum discounted amount.

Details from the Unreal Engine blog:

With up to 70% off more than 5,000 select Unreal Engine Marketplace products during the Spring Sale, the Marketplace is teeming with content to make development a breeze. Now through Wednesday, June 3 discover discounted construction kits, character collections, captivating countrysides, and so much more!

Uncover a treasure trove of products to help you construct lavish hotels and lively low-poly campsites, or vast solar systems with starry skyboxes and advanced sci-fi spaceships. Don’t miss out on ambient sounds and tracks to envelop your audience, explosive effects, and handy tools to tidy up your projects.
Sale lasts now through June 3 at 11:59 PM EDT. Happy shopping!

Please not the above Marketplace link was editing to the correct location.  You can also access the sale in the Epic Game Launcher.  You can learn more about the sale and assets available in the video below.

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Building Tools Blender Add-On Released

As discovered on BlenderNation, a new plugin for Android was released that makes quickly creating buildings in Blender a breeze.  Building Tools is available for download here in both zip and tar.gz formats.  Simply download the archive and add it as a plugin in the Blender add-ons panel.  Building Tools enables you to rapidly create houses, from simple single story bungalows, to 100 story towers.

Buildings feature the following configurable assets:

  • Floorplans
  • Floors (slabs and walls)
  • Doors
  • Windows
  • Multigroup (door-window combinations)
  • Roof
  • Stairs
  • Balcony

The add-on is also open source under the MIT license on GitHub.  You can see how to create buildings quickly and simply using Building Tools in the video below.

GameDev News Art

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Krita Beta On Android And Chrome OS

Earlier today, Krita just launched the first beta releases of Krita on Android and Chrome OS.  Unfortunately for now it only works for Android tablets and the UI still has many desktop requirements so it may not work as expected, at least without a mouse and keyboard attached.

Details from the Krita website:

Thanks to the hard work of Sharaf Zaman, Krita is now available in the Google Play Store for Android tablets and Chromebooks (not for Android phones).

This beta, based on Krita 4.2.9, is the full desktop version of Krita, so it doesn’t have a special touch user interface. But it’s there, and you can play with it.

Unlike the Windows and Steam store, we don’t ask for money for Krita in the store, since it’s the only way people can install Krita on those devices, but you can buy a supporter badge from within Krita to support development.

Install
Notes
  • Supports: Android tablets & Chromebooks.
  • Currently not compatible with: Android phones.
  • If you have installed one of Sharaf’s builds or a build you’ve signed yourself, you need to uninstall that first, for all users!

Do to the limited number of Android tablets and the massive size of some Android phones, it’s unfortunate a phone release isn’t also available.  Do keep in mind this is early access software, so expect all the bugs that come with that.

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Magic Leap Secures Funding and Avoids Layoffs

In a time where far too many people are being laid off, it’s nice to get a bit of good news for a change.  AR tech start-up Magic Leap, have had a bit of a rocky year cumulating in the announcement they would be laying off half of their employees.  Thankfully it was just announced that they received a $350M investment and those layoffs have been cancelled.

Details of the new funding from SiliconAngle:

Troubled augmented reality company Magic Leap Inc. has raised $350 million in new funding, according to an internal memo to employees obtained by The Information.

Details on the round, which depending on its form should be a late-stage Series F, are somewhat vague. The investors are described only as current and new investors with the suggestion that a key healthcare company may have been involved.

Although the fundraising itself is surprising, it was good news for employees as Magic Leap withdrew a notice to terminate about 1,000 staff issued in April — meaning that staff on the chopping block will now keep their jobs. Notably, at that time, Magic Leap said it was in the process of negotiating “revenue-generating partnerships.”

The news that a healthcare company may have invested in the company follows Magic Leap’s announcement in December that it was shifting to enterprise augmented reality after failing in the consumer market. The company’s first product, the $2,295 Magic Leap Creator Edition, sold only 6,000 units, a huge disappointment give that the company predicted sales of 100,000 units.

It is nice to see that Magic Leap lives to fight another day, although it’s less and less likely we will see Magic Leap in game development with the shift towards enterprise computing, where they will compete directly with Microsoft’s HoloLens.  More details of the investment and Magic Leaps rocky recent history check out the video below.

GameDev News

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ezEngine Free and Open Source 3D Game Engine

ezEngine is an open source 3D game engine with a complete editor written in C++ using the Qt framework.  It is hosted on GitHub and available under the MIT source license.

Details of the ezEngine:

ezEngine is an open source C++ game engine in active development. It is currently mainly developed on Windows, and higher level functionality such as rendering and the tools are only available there, but the core libraries are also available for other platforms such as Mac and Linux.

ez is built in a modular way, enabling users to either use all available functionality, or to pick and choose individual features and build the rest yourself. Larger features are implemented through engine and editor plugins and can therefore be easily removed or replaced. For instance sound (Fmod), physics (PhysX) and particle effects are all provided through runtime plugins.

The ezEditor is a full blown editor used for editing scenes and importing and authoring assets.

ezEngine documentation is available here, while Windows binaries are available for download here.  You can learn more about ezEngine in action in the video below.

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