Tag: GameDev News

Cocos2D-x, a popular open source cross platform C++ powered game framework, just released the first release candidate of Cocos2D-x 4.0.  Highlight features of RC0 over that last Beta 0 release include:

• optimize Sprite creation speed
• add some documentations
  • migration from v3 to v4 or using using v4 with cocopod can refer to this doc 4
  • new concept of v4 can refer to the docs 6
  • API changes doc is here 1
  • some examples can be found here 2
• update luajit to latest 2.1
• update GLFW to 3.3
• remove tiff
• Webview and VideoPlayer adapt to iOS 13
• fix system font issue on macOS 15
• fix memory leak on mac
• many bugs fixed

Cocos2D-x 4 RC0 is available for download here.  If you are interested in learning Cocos2D-x, we have a 3.x based tutorial series available here.

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

GameDev News Cocos2D

This new Humble Bundle may be the single best value of any bundle yet, as long as you are a Unity developer that is.  The Unity Bundle 2019 is a collection of Unity assets, training materials and plugins from the Unity marketplace as well as a year subscription to Unity’s premium learning portal previously described here.

As always the bundle is broken into tiers.  You buy a higher value tier you get access to all the lower tiers.  This bundle consists of the following tiers:

1$

• Easy Mobile Pro
• Mtree Tree Creation
• Snaps Prototype Asian Residential
• Snaps Prototype Asian Residential HD

11$

• Dynamic Bone
• UMotion Pro Animation Editor
• Doozy UI: Complete UI Management System
• Snaps Prototype:Construction Site
• Snaps Prototype:Construction Site HD

15$

• 1 year Unity Learn Premium
• PlayMaker
• Aura 2 Volumetric Lighting & Fog
• Snaps Prototype Buried Memories Volume 2:Serekh
• Snaps Prototype Buried Memories Volume 2:Serekh HD
• The Ultimate Guide to Game Development with Unity 2019

When you purchase the bundle you receive a number of keys to be registered on the Unity Store or Unity Learn, with the keys expiring in 1 year.  Don’t worry, once redeemed your purchase does not expire.  As with all Humble Bundles, you can decide how your money is split, between the publisher, Humble, charity or if you choose (and thanks if you do!) supporting GameFromScratch. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVDLWUW0RQw&w=853&h=480]

GameDev News Unity

After more than a year when it was first released in early access, Pixel Game Maker MV has finally released on Steam.  Pixel Game Maker MV is designed to create 2D games in both a top down and side scrolling perspective.  It provides all of the tools you need to create a game, as well as a ton of completed examples to learn from.

Pixel Game Maker MV is described as follows on Steam (where it is currently on sale):

Pixel Game Maker MV allows you to build up your own action game with no programming knowledge necessary. This engine was designed with the idea of giving a voice to people’s passions, allowing them to freely express the game that they have held in their hearts. Create the game that you want to play now!

Using only six tools, you can create the game of your dreams!

1. Resources – Prepare and arrange image assets required for your game
2. Tiles – Create “tiles” necessary for map field creation
3. Objects – Provide characters and items with various gimmicks
4. Animation – Enliven and enrich your graphics
5. Scenes – Build stages using tiles and objects
6. Transition – Connect scenes to bring your games into shape

Key Features:

An Easy to Use Visual Scripting System – No Programming Necessary
Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned developer, Pixel Game Maker MV offers a flexible game creation system, allowing you to plan, create and build an exciting game using the intuitive visual scripting system.
4 Player Support Straight Out of the Box
You can build your own multiplayer games with Pixel Game Maker MV without any additional programming or plugins needed. Create cooperative or competitive local play between up to four players.
Customize your game further with JavaScript
Pixel Game Maker MV supports the use of JavaScript to create plug-ins and perform actions not available in the Visual Scripting system. This allows you to create and customize your game without restriction.
Create Endless Fun with “Multi-Viewpoint/Multi-Versus”
Allows for both top- and side-based views, combine this with the multiplayer function to bring your game to a whole new level. Works with any genre, so the games you can create are limited only by your imagination!
A Simple Way to Create Rich and Beautiful Game Graphics
Using the graphic import feature, physics engine, particle effects, and multiple layer combination, you can create your own ideal game in exactly the way you want to make it, easily and without all the hassle.
Allows for Functional Expansion
You can use JavaScript to expand on and add to the pre-existing features. Master using these extended functions and add-ons to create even more complex and beautiful games!

When we first look at Pixel Game Maker MV, we were not impressed.  We took another look at it in the video below if you want to learn more about this release.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91u0s1HDoxQ&w=853&h=480]

GameDev News 2D Engine

There is currently an AppGameKit Bundle over on Fanatical, an opportunity to pick up this seminal game engine and a ton of content for an extremely low price.

The bundle is composed of 3 different tiers ( each higher level tier contains all of the lower tiers content as well ), broken down as follows:

Tier 1 (@ 5$ USD):

• AppGameKit Classic Game Engine
• Games Pack 1
• Games Pack 2
• 3D Asset Pack

Tier 2 (@ 10 USD):

• Tier 1 +
• Giant Asset Pack 1
• Giant Asset Pack 2
• Sound Library
• Shader Pack

Tier 3(@ 20USD):

• Tier 1 & 2 +
• GameGuru Loader

I have covered AppGameKIt in the past including this closer look review, this video on AR in AppGameKit and this tutorial/introduction to AppGameKit Studio.  I also previously did this video on GameGuru if you are interested in learning more about the Loader included in the third tier.  You can learn more about this deal in the video below.  Using the above link from Fanatical also helps support GFS with each purchase, so thanks if you do so!

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

GameDev News Engine

Today we are looking at Bitmelo, a free and open source browser based game engine for creating simple pixel art games.  It contains all of the tools you need to create a complete game including a graphics editor, map editor, sound creator and programming environment, all in one place.

Bitmelo is described as follows:

Bitmelo is a game editor and engine for making small pixel art games right here in your browser.
This editor has everything you need to develop a game in one convenient location.
You can code, draw tiles and tilemaps, design sound effects, view the documentation,
and playtest your game, all without having to break focus by switching applications.
Once complete you can then export your game as a single HTML file.

Bitmelo is currently in early access. Right now it has everything you need to make a minimal game,
however many more features are planned for the future.

The underlying JavaScript game engine is available on GitHub under the MIT license, while the editor is available in a different GitHub repository under a different license, described as such:

The Bitmelo editor is licensed using a source available license. This license
allows you to download the source for personal use, but does not allow you to
distribute it to third parties. In addition, three years after the
release of each version of the editor, that version is dual licensed to
use the GNU Affero General Public License.

In addition to being able to run it directly in your browser, you can also download the editor as an Electron application on Itch.io.  Learn more about Bitmelo and see it in action in the video below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atist4GiWnE&w=853&h=480]

GameDev News JavaScript

SHADERed is an awesome tool for authoring shaders interactively.  With the just released 1.2 version, SHADERed just got more capable, gaining the ability to create Compute shaders.

Details of the release:

• add compute shaders
• add empty image object
• fix loading files from different drives on Windows
• fix saving info about item opened in PropertyUI
• fix “Show error list window when build finishes with an error” option
• temporary fix for crash on float3(), float4(), etc

SHADERed is completely free and available for download for Linux and Windows here.  The project is open source under the MIT license.  We recently did a feature on SHADERed, so if you want to learn more about this excellent free tool, check out the video below.

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

GameDev News Tools