Video: How studios can set up accessibility-centric spaces
Should studios set aside permanent spaces dedicated to game accessibility research, feedback, education, and design?
In this GDC 2018 talk, Mixer’s Tara Voelker and 343 Industries’ Brannon Zahand discuss the value of a dedicated inclusive technologies space at Microsoft.
The two go over how the lab was launched, what went right (and not quite right) during the first six months of operation, and provide detailed tips and tricks for those interested in setting up their own accessibility-centric space.
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.
Creating the Competitive Line Racer Deadliners, Available Now on Xbox One
In “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” Robert M. Pirsig writes about quality. I think Deadliners gave me a taste of it. There’s a quality that goes into deep work, and there’s appreciation to be found there. Hidden steps and mysterious secrets to discover.
Creating things that work in this world is extremely difficult, but when it clicks you feel the love. Until the next problem arises, and it’s back to work. Conjuring up dragons isn’t the most pleasant experience but slaying them is better than you can possibly imagine.
Deadliners is a straightforward game, but parts of the gameplay talk deeply to who we are, and how we react when faced with our limits (I love that). People don’t know they have it in them, and I hope Deadliners can help bring that out.
It all started years ago when I made a little prototype game called Deadliners in JavaScript. The idea came from my older brother, who played a lot of Tron with his friends back in the 80s. It was easy to feel how much he missed that time. We had a lot of fun playing the prototype, and I had created it all on my own!
Finding the Right Path
A couple of years later I finished my BA in Software Engineering, which had been tremendously dull. I wanted to make a change for the future, but I didn’t know how.
And that’s when Casey Muratori saved my life.
Casey is the sole programmer and author of the YouTube show called “Handmade Hero,” an educational stream where he teaches you to program an entire game from scratch. I can’t recommend it enough. A single stream of “Handmade Hero” shows you just how masterful a person can be, and it’s right there, on the Internet.
I was blown away. Seeing that, my gut told me to follow along for a couple of months, and after that I knew I was headed in the right direction. I wanted that for my life, and oh my god, it was the best decision ever.
Coming to a Decision
After following the teachings of Casey, I branched out and worked on minor games to improve my skill. I made a little Bomberman-like game and a few months after I started on a bigger original project. Of course, the scope was way too big, being a single-person developer, and I dropped the project. I had to approach it differently. Deadliners was still in the back of my mind, and I thought: Why not?
I knew the gameplay was fun, and quickly ideas popped in to my mind about different game modes and challenges. My older brother helped me once more and we had many great talks about the design, the graphics and what kind of music to put in. We also had a bunch of disagreements, being family in a somewhat commercial project isn’t always great. I guess it made us stronger.
The development took about nine months, where I had to learn a whole lot, and I got help from a bunch of nice people who helped make the graphics and soundtrack. I think it turned out well, especially the gameplay. There are depths to it, that hopefully some players get to experience.
Looking Forward
Something very special about our time is that you can treat YouTube as your own little university. You can choose freely among the best of many different teachers. If you have the discipline, you can gain insight from masters of the craft and create a fantastic education for yourself. Material beats method and YouTube has excellent material, if you know how to find it.
Watching different programmers at work, I found my own style and I grasped the lessons that worked well for me. One of the best ones, I think, is the art of getting things going.
It’s so easy not to go after your goals in life, but there is a trick to get going, and if you figure it out, nothing can stop you. You pass through the membrane. You take the war path. You get out of bed, sit down, and you do the work. One step in front of the other, into the unknown.
Would I recommend making a game to someone else? Making Deadliners was, by far, the hardest thing I have ever done. I imagined it would be hard making a game; it’s not like that information is hard to find. But it was much, much harder.
I guess you must ignore the warning signs, if you really want something of value. Every single step in development was a challenge, nothing came easy. Learning C/C++, game design, graphics API’s, game testing, finding help among friends and to finally release it to the world is something I look back on with much despair.
Looking at a list of a 150 todo’s, knowing there is only one guy to finish them all. I am grateful it worked out, and I can’t wait for my next project. Maybe conjuring up dragons is my kind of thing.
I hope players will like the game and invite their friends to a small tournament, and that they feel the spirit of my brothers gaming group from the 80s. It’s always interesting figuring out hierarchies, and in Deadliners, you quickly realize who’s the best. Good luck!
There’s loads of stuff in Super Mario Party. In fact, there’s arguably more variety than any previous Mario Party game. But what’s old? What’s new? What’s the banana game? Well, in this feature we’re going to take you through the lion’s share of what’s new and improved in the latest game in the Mario Party series.
Game Modes
It may be the return to the old formula that many have been begging for, but the old-fashioned Mario Party isn’t the only game mode you’ll have available at your fingertips, oh no.
Partner Party is an evolution of the gameplay that first appeared in Mario Party: Star Rush; you move around a grid board freely rather than a set path with a few forks, but this time you’ll be doing it with a partner, as the name suggests. That means you’ll be involved in a 2v2 party rather than being a total free-for-all, allowing for some interesting strategies to be employed, by which we mean new and exciting ways to shatter your friendships. At least one of them will be maintained.
River Survival is a four-player co-op experience that tasks you with careering down a raging river whilst paddling in sync, slamming into minigame balloons, and avoiding more river-themed obstacles than you can shake an oar at. You’re on a time limit to get to the end, but as long as you work together, you’ll do brilliantly.
Sound Stage is a minigame rush mode that employs nothing but rhythm and timing. Charge through them to the sound of some classic Mario tunes and see who can score the highest and be potentially crowned the next Mozart.
And finally, if you’re more on a solo mission, you can indulge in Challenge Road. This will take you through every one of the 80 minigames on offer with occasionally mixed-up completion requirements. If you breeze through it all too quickly for your liking, return to the start and try and beat the harder challenges that you’ve just unknowingly unlocked.
Toad’s Rec Room
When the party’s just a bit too much, you can always retire to Toad’s Rec Room for a bit of an old ‘chillax’. Here you can play a variety of minigames that aren’t really suited to standard board game play, be it due to length, complexity, or requiring more than one Switch console.
Three of the four games only need a single system, but one of them requires two to even function. You have to rotate your consoles around to match up two halves of a banana perfectly, swipe across both screens, and yes it’s as ludicrous as it sounds. Break it out at Christmas if you don’t want to get into a whole, hour-minimum session.
Playable Characters, Allies, & their Dice Blocks
What’s better than having a myriad of playable characters to choose from? Super Mario Party offers more characters than any previous game in the series, with 16 being available the moment you slap your Switch on, and an extra 4 to be unlocked as you progress. That makes a total of 20 for any of you maths fans out there.
Each character also has their own unique die that they can roll. This was also present in Mario Party: Star Rush, but it’s been streamlined here to be more universal and less context-sensitive. These special dice can have a face value of up to ten, but can also cause you to gain or lose coins if you’re lucky and/or unlucky. Even if your character’s die looks rubbish, you never know when it might be beneficial to roll a lower number than usual, or even just stay where you are, especially if you’re on an Item Space.
Not only that, but characters that aren’t in the party can be called upon by landing on an Ally Space, using the Ally Phone item (known as Buddy Phone outside the UK for some reason), or in the case of Partner Party, just running into them as they stand waiting patiently to have something to do. Every Ally Character you have in your entourage can add up to 2 to your roll each, and you’ll also be able to use their special die if you so choose, so try and nab as many of these characters as you can!
Online Mariothon
If you’re looking to take things onto the internet and only destroy long-distance friendships, Super Mario Party has online for the first time in the series. Sadly this doesn’t include the main board game modes, but rather a short burst of minigames. The 10 minigames available are divided into cups which rotate as time goes by, and can be played with friends or randomly selected strangers.
Stickers
You also unlock stickers as you go through the game, which you can arrange on a series of backgrounds and share with the world by taking a screenshot. It’s a simple addition, but that’s your thing, enjoy!
What’s your favourite new feature in Super Mario Party? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Relive the glory days of cooperative arcade games with the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle! This comprehensive collection includes seven classic titles, each with various multiplayer options and online capabilities!
“I’ll be damned if we’re gonna sit around and mope all day—Cayde woulda hated that. So let’s have some fun, huh? Put on this mask, and go show the bad guys they can’t keep us down.” —Amanda Holliday
For Guardians, death is usually a temporary condition, no more dangerous than a splinter and forgotten just as quickly. Even after Eva Levante first brought the City’s traditions to the Tower with Festival of the Lost, it was less a time for remembrance and more of an irreverent celebration.
The last year has changed everything. The Red Legion razed the Last City. Countless Guardians were lost. Despite victories on Mercury and Mars, morale in the Tower is low after the fall of a legend: Cayde-6. This year, death has not passed us by. It has come to stay.
More than ever, it’s important to remember loved ones who have fallen, and to celebrate the fact that we have lived to fight on in their honor. Festival of the Lost begins for all players of Destiny 2 on Tuesday, October 16.
Light in the Dark
No one has heard from Eva Levante since the City fell. Shipwright Amanda Holliday has stepped up to raise everyone’s spirits. Thanks to her, the Tower is filled with merriment, as memories good and bittersweet fill our hearts.
New Triumphs will be available for you to earn, and Holliday will offer daily bounties that award Fragmented Souls. These items can be used to purchase Festival of the Lost masks, as well as the Horror Story Legendary Auto Rifle.
But even with the Tower illuminated by spooky violet candles, there’s always something scary lurking just out of sight.
Fear and Fright
This year, Festival of the Lost brings more than just masks. For a limited time, all players of Destiny 2 are invited to the Haunted Forest. Guardians have been tasked with clearing out its ghouls and demons, which are spooking up a storm. You’ll have 15 minutes to dive as deep as you can into the Haunted Forest and clear out the Nightmares lying in wait. Be wary—the deeper you go, the more difficult your job will become.
You can jump into the dark as a solo player, with a pre-made fireteam, or through matchmaking to join other Guardians in the fight.
On the Case
Most players of Forsaken have already won justice for Cayde-6. But near the conclusion of Festival of the Lost, they’ll be called once again to avenge a fallen friend. Master Ives has been struck down. Maybe someone wanted to settle an old score, or lost their temper when receiving an Edge Transit. Whatever provoked the wrongdoing, justice must be served.
This pursuit of Master Ives’ killers will take place through a quest line, which adds an additional powerful reward for you to earn each week. The hunt begins on Tuesday, October 30.
Treats for All
Alongside the Festival of the Lost rewards from Amanda Holliday and the Festival of the Lost Triumphs, players will earn an Ephemeral Engram every time they fill their XP bar after achieving the max character level. Players will receive this engram in addition to the Steadfast Engram, which effectively awards players double Bright Engrams for the duration of Festival of the Lost. Players may also purchase Ephemeral Engrams from Tess Everis in the Tower, if they so choose.
Tess will also feature rewards from the Ephemeral Engram on the Bright Dust store throughout the event, for those wishing to purchase specific items directly.
Every Guardian is invited to shoot their way through the masquerade. Festival of the Lost begins on Tuesday, October 16, and concludes at 10 AM PST on Tuesday, November 6.
source{d} Engine: A Simple, Elegant Way to Analyze your Code
With the recent advances in machine learning technology, it is only a matter of time before developers can expect to run full diagnostics and information retrieval on their own source code. This can include autocompletion, auto-generated user tests, more robust linters, automated code reviews and more. I recently reviewed a new product in this sphere — the source{d} Engine. source{d} offers a suite of applications that uses machine learning on code to complete source code analysis and assisted code reviews. Chief among them is the source{d} Engine, now in public beta; it uses a suite of open source tools (such as Gitbase, Babelfish, and Enry) to enable large-scale source code analysis. Some key uses of the source{d} Engine include language identification, parsing code into abstract syntax trees, and performing SQL Queries on your source code such as:
What are the top repositories in a codebase based on number of commits?
What is the most recent commit message in a given repository?
Who are the most prolific contributors in a repository?
Because source{d} Engine uses both agnostic language analysis and standard SQL queries, the information available feels infinite.
From minute one, using source{d} Engine was an easy, efficient process. I ran source{d} Engine chiefly on a virtual machine running Ubuntu 14.04 but also installed it on MacOS and Ubuntu 16.04 for comparison purposes. On all three, install was completely painless, although the Ubuntu versions seemed to run slightly faster. The source{d} Engine documentation is accurate and thorough. It correctly warned me that the first time initializing the engine would take a fair amount of time so I was prepared for the wait. I did have to debug a few errors, all relating to my having a previous SQL instance running so some more thorough troubleshooting documentation might be warranted.
It’s simple to go between codebases using the commands scrd kill and scrd init. I wanted to explore many use cases so I picked a wide variety of codebases to test on ranging from a single contributor with only 5 commits to one with 10 contributors, thousands of lines of code, and hundreds of commits. source{d} Engine worked phenomenally with all of them although it is easier to see the benefits in a larger codebase.
My favorite queries to run were those pertaining to commits. I am not a fan of the way GitHub organizes commit history, so I find myself coming back to source{d} Engine again and again when I want commit history-related information. I’m also very impressed with the Universal Abstract Syntax Tree (UAST) concept. A UAST is a normalized form of an abstract syntax tree (AST) — a structural representation of source code used for code analysis. Unlike ASTs, UASTs are language agnostic and do not rely on any specific programming language. The UAST format enables further analysis and can be used with any tools in a standard, open style.
My only complaint is the (obvious and understandable) reliance on a base level of SQL knowledge. Because I was already very familiar with SQL, I was able to quickly use the source{d} Engine engine and create my own queries. However, if I had been shakier on the basics, I would’ve appreciated more example queries. Another minor complaint is that support for Python appears to only be for Python 2 right now, and not Python 3.
I’m excited to follow the future of source{d} Engine and also source{d} Lookout (now in public alpha) which is the first step to a suite of true machine learning on code applications. I would love for the documentation of this and other upcoming applications to be more comprehensive, but because they are not fully available yet, just having what’s available already is great.
In general, I’m extremely impressed with the transparency of the company — not only are the future products and applications clearly listed and described, many internal company documents are also available. This true dedication to open source software is amazing, and I hope more companies follow source{d} ’s lead.
Lizzie Turner is a former digital marketing analyst studying full stack software engineering at Holberton School. She is currently looking for her first software engineering role and is particularly passionate about data and analytics. You can find Lizzie on LinkedIn, GitHub, and Twitter.
This article was produced in partnership with Holberton School
The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories
The blunt disappearance of a close friend encourages J.J. to go look for her on the strange Island of Memories. You can?t die on this nightmare island, even if you?re seriously injured. No matter how many times J.J.?s brought back from the grips of death, she drags her mangled body deeper into the woods to find her friend.
Luigi steps out from the shadow of his brother Mario and into the gloomy shadows of a very haunted house in this, his first-ever starring role. Armed with a flashlight and a customized vacuum cleaner, Luigi must rid the mansion of Boos and ghouls--and find his missing brother to boot. As Luigi, you'll search for the keys that open the many locked doors; vacuum coins, cash, and gold bars; and explore vases, bookcases, and drawers. From the brick-walled basement to the gloomy grounds, Luigi's Mansion is packed with chills, thrills, and creepy surprises.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-11-2018, 12:29 PM - Forum: Windows
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Goodyear mobilizes with Microsoft 365 to lead in a new mobility ecosystem
Today’s post was written by Sherry Neubert, chief information officer at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
Goodyear has a 120-year history of being at the forefront of an ever-changing mobility industry. From bicycles, carriages, and the first Ford Model Ts off the production line, to blimps, airplanes, and even the first tire on the moon—Goodyear has always delivered innovative solutions that keep the world moving.
Today, our industry faces even more disruption through shifting consumer behaviors and expectations, digital transformation, and breakthroughs in technology that are accelerating change at speeds unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. This is creating a new mobility ecosystem shaped by shared mobility fleets, autonomous vehicles, connected vehicles, and electric vehicles.
Harnessing the power of our associates is key to competing—and continuing to lead—in this new world. With 64,000 associates selling products in around 150 countries, we need workplace productivity tools that enable innovation and bring together all of Goodyear’s diverse knowledge and capabilities. In 2014, we began to adopt Office 365 to modernize our workplace. Since then, we’ve empowered our associates worldwide with Microsoft 365 productivity and security tools and reached the halfway point in our global rollout of Windows 10. This cloud-connected modern desktop has given us the right tools to allow our teams to be as collaborative, agile, and productive as possible, while providing a highly secure digital environment.
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Enhancing collaboration is crucial to us for improved decision making and to drive innovation, both in tires and beyond tires. Connecting associates via Microsoft 365 tools such as Outlook, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Yammer, and Skype for Business Online helps us take better advantage of our cross-functional and geographically dispersed teams. Our multigenerational and multicultural global workforce is now sharing perspectives and ideas more quickly and easily than ever.
Another focus for Goodyear is driving productivity and greater efficiencies so we can deliver the right products to the right place at the right time—faster than ever. With Microsoft 365, we stay connected and access shared content from anywhere, at any time, on any device, which allows us to innovate with greater speed. We also have an Internet of Things (IoT) proof of concept with Azure hosting big data from sensors in our factories. This allows us to use machine-learning capabilities to improve our predictive maintenance.
It is critically important for Goodyear to keep our information and systems safe so we can help protect our customers, associates, and the company and keep our focus on the changing needs of the marketplace. We safeguard our people, devices, data, and IP better with Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility + Security. This has greatly improved our security capabilities, while at the same time continuously hardening our devices by providing updates as a service.
As our Microsoft 365 environment continues to mature, we’re evaluating the use of other Microsoft technologies. We’ve been using Microsoft HoloLens in exploration mode—it represents exciting possibilities for virtual tire modeling and design as well as remote knowledge transfer. We are also making strides advancing the AI infused in Microsoft 365, including Cortana, Azure-powered chatbots, and Focused Inbox, to amplify skills and democratize knowledge. The next big initiative on our horizon is adopting Microsoft Teams—we expect this to become our associates’ go-to social and collaboration platform.
The digital world is changing fast, and we must lead with digital innovation. For Goodyear, it’s all about how we can enable everyone in the company to put the customer at the center of everything we do and ensure that we maintain our leadership position in the new mobility ecosystem of tomorrow. When you find and deploy solutions that bring out the best in your people, the possibilities are endless.
Indie PC sensation Stardew Valley is another one of those one-man-band success stories that inspires new generations of game makers. A deceptively deep game, Stardew has just as much in common with the Farming Simulator franchise than it does anything else.
Taking care of the farm is a serious affair in that you really need to keep on top of things, or it will all go horribly wrong. Once you’ve got the basics down though, you can start exploring the nearby Pelican Town, getting to know its residents, and you can even go questing in some cave that’s randomly filled with monsters.
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Now, you too can experience the joy of trying to restore your Grandfather’s legacy to its former glory when Stardew Valley comes to iOS on October 24th. Pre-orders are available and the game will cost £7.99/$7.99.
An Android version is reportedly in the works, but no news on that yet. PC players will be able to transfer their save files via iTunes if they wish. Stardew Valley iOS will also feature all of the content from the recent 1.3 update on PC.
As an aside, the mobile version has actually been developed by a company called The Secret Police, who have industry legend Ian Livingstone as a chairman and key investor.
