General game developing news and updates.
Two Point Hospital is Now Available on Steam and is 10% off!*
Design stunning hospitals, cure peculiar illnesses and manage troublesome staff as you spread your budding healthcare organisation across Two Point County.
*Offer ends September 5 at 10AM Pacific Time
As a demon army besieges his village, a young ninja ventures through a cursed world, to deliver a scroll paramount to his clan’s survival.
However, things are not what they seem. While The Messenger starts as an 8-bit action platformer with a simple story, it will eventually turn into an epic time travelling tale—revealing itself as a 16-bit Metroidvania packed with replay value and deadpan humor.
Features:
If you would like to purchase the game, please visit https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/the-messenger-switch.
Fantasy Violence
Start your engines! Only two weeks until the launch of Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit! To celebrate, Nintendo just released an overview video that dives (and drives and flies!) into more detail about this new Nintendo Labo kit.
After building several unique Toy-Con creations using Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit, there are plenty of games and features to explore. Here are few experiences shown in the video:
A closer look at Adventure, one of the included games, in which you get to explore a mysterious world featuring pyramids, an archeological dig site, snowy mountains and much more. Use the Toy-Con Key creation to seamlessly swap between a car, plane and submarine to explore the deepest depths and highest heights of the world. Interact with a variety of intriguing characters as you explore and complete different missions solo or co-op with a friend.
Different included games offer a variety of fun experiences: In Rally, you pass through checkpoints while racing to the goal. Circuit is a racing game with a twist – you can launch punches at opponents! Slot Cars is a classic game that is controlled using only the Toy-Con Pedal. And in Battle, you can participate in one-on-one automotive combat with other players*.
Paint Studio uses the Toy-Con Spray Can to let you personalize your in-game vehicles – and the driver! Gently shake it to feel and hear the “ball” inside as you mix up the paint.
Custom Controls, a new feature for Nintendo Labo, lets you make your own controllers for the included games with common household items. Want to ride a broom to steer the plane? How about drawing button controls on a customized screen protector when playing in Handheld Mode? Go ahead! It’s a great way to get started with building your own Toy-Con creations.
With the Toy-Con Car, Key and Pedal, you’ll also be able to race against your friends* in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe game for Nintendo Switch shortly after launch (Nintendo Switch and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold separately). Learn more about this new way to play with Vehicle Kit here.
Nintendo Labo allows fans of all ages to make, play and discover with its interactive DIY cardboard kits that come to life with the power of the Nintendo Switch system. Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit launches on Sept. 14 at a suggested retail price of $69.99. For more information about the kit, visit https://labo.nintendo.com/kits/vehicle-kit/.
*Multiplayer mode requires additional Joy-Con controllers and may require an additional Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit. System, kits and some accessories are sold separately.
Games Shown:
Grimstroke
– Stroke of Fate: reduced movement slow duration 2->1.5
– Stroke of Fate: movement slow can now be dispelled
– Stroke of Fate: reduced projectile vision radius (240->160)
– Stroke of Fate: reduced projectile’s endpoint vision radius (300->160) and duration (3.34->2)
– Stroke of Fate: fixed +600 range talent incorrectly updating the range preview
– Phantom’s Embrace: reduced phantom unit’s vision range 400->200
– Phantom’s Embrace: changed latch duration 4.0/4.5/5.0/5.5 -> 4.0/4.0/5.0/5.0
– Phantom’s Embrace: if the target dies, the Phantom now flies back to caster to refresh the cooldown
– Phantom’s Embrace: fixed a bug with +2 hits required talent only giving +1.3 hits (4 non-hero hits instead of 6)
– Ink Swell: reduced bonus movespeed 28/32/36/40->18/22/26/30
– Ink Swell: damage and stun amounts now range from 0 to max, instead of from a base value to max
– Ink Swell: ink tendril particle doesn’t display if the affected enemy unit is invisible
– Soulbind: no longer sees through invisibility on leashed targets
– Reduced model scale 0.81->0.76
– Fixed some tooltip values that didn’t updated with talent values
– Added some tooltip notes
If you’re a fan of Zachtronics’ playable machine systems, you probably already know they’ve released a new coding simulator called Exapunks in the last month. After the fantastical logic of Opus Magnum, it’s a return to the programmatic roots of Shenzen I/O and TIS-100, which means when talking to developers Zach Barth & Matthew Burns about making the game (as we did earlier on the Gamasutra Twitch channel), we wound up talking to them about making coding languages too.
For those curious about how Exapunks was constructed, and why its creators did a lot of research into ’90s hacking culture and the original essence of cyberpunk, you can now watch our full conversation with Barth & Burns in the video linked up above.
And while you’re at it, be sure to follow the Gamasutra Twitch channel for more developer interviews and editor roundtables.
In this GDC 2018 talk, AR designer Bart Trzynadlowski discusses the design and technical challenges of augmented reality after a year of game prototype development on Microsoft’s HoloLens platform.
Trzynadlowski goes over how many game genres and mechanics are not readily adaptable to AR and despite the opportunities for new, creative game ideas, there are still lots of technical problems that remain unsolved.
He shares the design and technical challenges produced after a year of game prototype development on Microsoft’s HoloLens, providing demonstrations of mechanics and analysis of physical environments in AR.
It’s an informative talk that’s definitely worth watching, so developers shouldn’t miss the opportunity to do so now that it’s freely available on the official GDC YouTube channel!
In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.
Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.
Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas.
” Every game can be replayed from the beginning. That’s not unique. That’s not a feature.”
– Bethesda’s Pete Hines discussing replayability.
In an interview with IGN, Bethesda’s senior vice president of global marketing and communications Pete Hines discusses the company’s position on single-player experiences and choosing to play Fallout 76 solo.
Hines admits how talking about Bethesda’s affinity for protecting single-player games has started to get old.
“But single-player is part of who we are,” he explains. “We’re also the folks that make Elder Scrolls Online. We make Quake Champions. We make Elder Scrolls: Legends. But single player is part of who we are.”
With the beta for Fallout 76 looming on the horizon, Hines points out that he enjoys playing the game solo, despite it being the first Fallout to be a shared-world experience.
“I just go out and explore,” he says. “I decide whether I’m going to try and do some big quest or a personal quest like putting a scope on a rifle I just went through the trouble to repair…I’m in this world where I’m just trying to survive, and I feel like I’m alone. I feel like I’m playing Fallout by myself.”
Fallout 76 may be hard to define, since it’s advertised as an experience that can be enjoyed solo or with a group.
A common concern for single-player games revolves around replay value, and Hines notes that the company’s approach to single-player specifically has shifted away from the single value notion of replayablity.
“We have a joke in the office. I have banned the word replayable because that’s not a feature,” he says. “Every game is replayable. Tetris is replayable. Every game can be replayed from the beginning. That’s not unique. That’s not a feature.”
Instead, Hines wants players to feel a sense of value when they make the purchase.
“What is going to give the player that feeling of value if they buy this thing? How do we show them all the stuff they can do and how long they can play it for? It’s an evolution of thinking.”
The interview was part of a larger conversation around Bethesda’s stance on single-player games and Fallout 76, so be sure to read the entire piece over at IGN.
Looking for a small but full featured open source (LGPL) C++ 14 game engine with a built in editor? If so, the Limon Game Engine might be the perfect choice for you! Primary features of the Limon game are:
- Model loading using Assimp
- Skeletal animations
- Realtime shadows
- Rigid body physics
- 3D spatial sound
- Preliminary AI
- In game map editor
- Trigger volumes
- API for Custom Trigger code
- Loading shared libraries that has Trigger code
- Creating Animations in editor
Additionally the engine is documented, with the manual available here. The source code is cleanly written C++ 14 code and is available on Github. The engine works on Windows, Mac and Linux with binaries available for download here. If you are interested in seeing the engine in action, be sure to check out our hands-on video, embedded below. There are additional videos available on the Limon YouTube channel, available here.
EDIT – The author in response to the video has released an updated version, with the editor key changed in 0.5.2 to the much more sensible F2 key.
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7.19b:
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* Buyback respawn time penalty changed from +25% of remaining time to +25s always
* Level 2 XP requirement changed from 200 to 230 (in a scenario where Team A gets 2 melee denies per wave, and team B gets 1 melee deny per wave: Team A wave requirement for level 2 increases from 2 waves to 3 waves. Team B wave requirement remains at 3 waves. Total XP needed for other levels unchanged. )
* Glyph is now on cooldown until the 3 minute timer in-game
* Stout Shield: Damage block for melee heroes increased from 18 to 20
* Ring of Aquila: Bonus damage reduced from 10 to 7
* Mekansm: Heal increased from 250 to 275
* Guardian Greaves: Heal increased from 250 to 275
* Urn of Shadows: Heal rate reduced from 35 to 30
* Spirit Vessel: Heal rate reduced from 35 to 30
* Spirit Vessel: Movement speed bonus reduced from 30 to 20
* Scythe of Vyse: Manacost increased from 100 to 250
* Phase Boots: Speed bonus on ranged heroes reduced from 16% to 13%
* Phase Boots: Instant turn ra te is now a melee only feature
* Alchemist: Greevil’s Greed bounty rune multiplier rescaled from 3.5x to 2/2.5/3/3.5x
* Bloodseeker: Bloodrage heal rate reduced from 19/21/23/25% to 16/19/22/25%
* Broodmother: Base agility reduced by 3
* Chen: Penitence duration reduced from 8 to 5/6/7/8
* Clinkz: Base strength reduced by 2
* Crystal Maiden: Crystal Nova manacost increased from 130/140/150/160 to 130/145/160/175
* Dark Willow: Shadow Realm damage reduced from 120/200/280/360 to 90/180/270/360
* Dark Willow: Cursed Crown cast point increased from 0.1 to 0.2
* Drow Ranger: Base agility reduced from 26 to 19 (base damage unchanged)
* Drow Ranger: Agility gain increased from 1.9 to 2.2
* Drow Ranger: Base attack animation time improved from 0.7 to 0.65
* Enchantress: Base movement speed reduced by 15
* Gyrocopter: Base agility reduced by 5 (base damage and armor unchanged)
* Huskar: Base damage reduced from 42-51 to 40-45
* Huskar: Level 10 Talent increased from +175 Health to +225
* Io: Spirits cooldown from 20/18/16/14 to 26/22/18/14
* Io: Level 10 Talent reduced from +25% XP to +20%
* Mirana: Level 15 Talent reduced from +100 Leap Attack Speed to +80
* Nature’s Prophet: Base damage reduced by 3
* Necrophos: Agility rescaled from 15 + 1.2 to 12 + 1.3
* Necrophos: Base movement speed reduced by 5
* Phantom Lancer: Level 25 Talent reduced from -7s Doppelganger CD to -6s
* Silencer: Arcane Curse manacost increased from 75/95/115/135 to 105/115/125/135
* Spectre: Spectral Dagger linger duration reduced from 2 to 1
* Spectre: Dispersion max reflection range reduced from 1000 to 700
* Spectre: Desolate single hero range check increased from 325 to 375
* Tiny: Tree Grab manacost increased from 20/30/40/50 to 50
* Tiny: Avalanche cooldown increased from 20/19/18/17 to 23/21/19/17
* Ursa: Overpower manacost increased from 45/55/65/75 to 75
* Vengeful Spirit: Wave of Terror cooldown increased from 10 to 16/14/12/10
* Weaver: The Swarm manacost increased from 70/80/90/100 to 110
* Wraith King: Wraithfire Blast cooldown increased from 11/10/9/8 to 14/12/10/8
SCUM is Now Available on Steam Early Access!
SCUM aims to evolve the multiplayer open world survival game with unprecedented levels of character customization, control and progression, where knowledge and skills are the ultimate weapons for long-term survival.
