• Breaking News

    Friday, February 23, 2018

    Home Unlabelled 12 shader repositories for free: fractals, triplanar mapping, noise displacement and many others!

    12 shader repositories for free: fractals, triplanar mapping, noise displacement and many others!

    February 23, 2018

    12 shader repositories for free: fractals, triplanar mapping, noise displacement and many others!

    12 shader repositories for free: fractals, triplanar mapping, noise displacement and many others!

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 01:09 AM PST

    Getting game systems to interact without ruining your game.

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 04:59 AM PST

    The ever evolving complexity of game design Game development has evolved significantly since the days of Minesweeper, Snake, and Pacman. Whether it's an indie Eldrich horror game where you are making the best of a bad situation (Darkest Dungeon), or a AAA title where you are working to bring down the forces of evil in a way you never even asked for (Shadow of War), many new games are loaded to the brim with a multitude of game systems that provide upgrades, complex moves, rich lore, distinct visuals, base management, boss fights, collection, resource management, and different playstyles.

    It's hard to see through these game mechanics to identify one thing that makes these games fun. In Shadow of War you can go from enjoying an expansive vista, to planning out progress to your next collection quest, to enjoying the victory of a battle executed perfectly. In Darkest Dungeon you can manage your heroes and village, feel the joy of finding exactly the loot you need, feel relief at a battle that went well, and hope that the hero you need will come to town to perfectly fill out your roster.

    And those are just examples of just some of systems you have in these carefully crafted games. If you were to ask "what makes these games fun?", you might get completely different answers. It is incredibly hard to figure out the principle that guided the design of these games without risking being too reductionist.

    However you need some cohesive narrative in designing a game to ensure that nothing obtuse, unnecessary, or out of place is added to your game. There did not need to be base management in Shadow of War, and yet it fit nicely with the rest of the game. There didn't need to be food in Darkest Dungeon, yet it adds a level of stress that makes each journey into the dungeon more unique.

    A toolbox for designing great game mechanics Whether you're collecting items, exploring the map, making your character more powerful, great games make these systems interact in an intuitive way. I wanted to share some of the tools I've learned (illustrated with examples) to show you how you can do the same.

    • Leverage your base mechanics. In Darkest Dungeon almost every game mechanic focuses on improving your combat and exploration. Trinkets are collected through combat and exploration, which in turn modify how combat and exploration work. When game systems work together like this, they are much more fun then when they stand alone.
    • Verisimilitude. Does this system make sense intuitively, based on previous experiences? Planting and growing wheat to harvest and feed your troops makes sense. Planting and growing keys on the other hand to unlock chests, however, does not.
    • Affordances.** People intuitively know what they're supposed to do with gold without you explaining it to them. Any time you can make a game system that learns on affordances, you lighten the workload in explaining that game system to them.
    • The Hunt. People like collecting things. If you make a big deal about what they collect, they have a tendency to desire collecting things, even if the items they are collecting are completely useless (like collecting journal entries NPCs have written).
    • Lore and Fantasy. If your game is about horror (like Darkest Dungeon), your game mechanics should contribute to that lore, without having to tell the players that they do. In Darkest Dungeon, the structures you build look ragged and spooky at the start. When you improve those structures through exploring dungeons, the visuals of these structures start to improve. This makes the hunt I mentioned above feel more fun (you feel accomplished collecting fully built, impressive buildings). Another example in Darkest Dungeon are the trinkets. Some trinkets are the severed heads of your roster in a bloody bag. These trinkets provide in-game benefits, while at the same time contributing to the horror fantasy that Darkest Dungeon espouses.
    • Show, don't tell. If you can contribute to your fantasy without having the player read more than a couple words of text, that's fantastic. Going back to the trinket example, those severed heads in a bag can contribute to that horror fantasy just through the grotesque image and their names. The more you can contribute to your fantasy or game mechanics without exposition, the better.
    • Autonomy. People don't like being forced to do things. Shadow of War lets people collect many things (the hunt), and lets them choose their own path to do so using the map. Darkest Dungeon lets you leave a dungeon at (almost) any time. Not only do these choices leverage other mechanics (Darkest Dungeon requires you to manage and care for your roster, so running away is a good idea sometimes), but they let users feel in control of their destiny.

    When designing any game systems it is a good idea to assess them using these concepts. Doing so primes you to think about how you can combine any proposed game mechanic with your existing ones, to see if they can become the sum of their parts.

    These concepts were hard learned for me when designing my gamified task/habit tracker MMORPG. I often added game systems that didn't make sense in the game world I was building, and it showed in how my testers understood and interacted with the game. Often times these systems would cause confusion, leading people to leave before they could invest and gain the benefits of the task/habit tracker.

    I'd love to add more tools to this game design toolbox, or evolve my understanding of existing ones. Let me know your own stories of how you used these tools, and I'd love to add more tools that you have successfully used in your own games.

    P.S. If you want to see examples of how I put these concepts into action (and places where I still need to work on them), you can check out my gamified task/habit tracker here.

    submitted by /u/Pianoismyforte
    [link] [comments]

    Game Development Infrastructure: What's Yours? (2018 Edition)

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 09:52 AM PST

    Hey all! Almost two years ago, I asked the GameDev Community what tools and resources were being used in the creation of your projects. I want to revive this for 2018 and see what new tools we're using :)

    I always hear about teams using so many different applications for game development (engines, IDE's, etc), that I often wonder what kind of infrastructure people are using to keep development going smoothly.

    I'd like to pose this question: What hardware and applications help support your team?

    My team is about to launch our game Bacon Man on Steam on March 6th. Here are the tools we used in development:

    Team Size: 4 (sometimes larger with contractors)

    Version Control: SVN running on a local virtual machine server.

    Bug Tracking: Trello for bugs. Testers of our game submit through a Google Form connected to IFTTT, which posts the bug into the Trello board.

    Fire Sharing: SeaFile, running on the same server as our source control. If we're sharing a file outside of the org, Google Drive.

    Backups: BackBlaze B2 and Arq Backup creates an offsite backup of all of our files every night.

    Communication: Slack! We've tied all of our services into it. Some examples include source control commits, UE4 news, Twitter posts, etc. We intent to eventually switch to Discord.

    Hosting: Vultr costs us only $10/month for web hosting, VPN, and even some specialized web apps.

    Engine: Unreal Engine 4, sometimes Unity on contracts

    Planning: Trello

    Hardware: One crazy server with tons of SSD and an HDD storage array, MacBook Pro, and plenty of gaming PC's. Also devkits!

    submitted by /u/thekingofcosmos
    [link] [comments]

    Is there an appetite for a game developer live stream?

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 08:38 AM PST

    Folks you know how gamers twitch stream their games live....I saw this post on Quora once that I for the life of me now cannot find, about an indie game developer live streaming while working. Is there an appetite for this kind of thing? I can't remember if people actually got into the idea or not, I can see this becoming actually quite useful but give me your views on it.

    I was planning on doing monthly dev blogs aimed specifically at developers on how I am building the game at WRKS Games, however doing a one day a week live stream would be no problem at all if that was actually a thing people wanted.

    Thoughts?

    submitted by /u/WRKSGames
    [link] [comments]

    Making a Video Game In 3 Weeks. How to actually finish something.

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 07:06 AM PST

    Wholesome devs- when small details matter

    Posted: 22 Feb 2018 08:38 AM PST

    How Monster Hunter World's "Hunt/Craft" Loop Keeps Players Engaged

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 03:44 AM PST

    Releasing under a pseudonym?

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 07:25 AM PST

    Hi, I'm about to release my one-person indie game. ("Release" might be overstating it, "upload somewhere, sit back, and watch it be ignored" might be more accurate hah.)

    I have an instinctive aversion to having my real name exist anywhere on the internet, so I'd like to release under a pseudonym.

    Are there any legal issues that might arise from doing so? Will it be more difficult to claim ownership, try to monetize, or anything else?

    Thanks.

    submitted by /u/zeddyzed
    [link] [comments]

    Magnum graphics engine 2018.02 released with WebGL 2.0, VR integration, iOS port, improved asset management and more

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 01:30 AM PST

    The feeling of the first review of your game

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 06:52 AM PST

    Releasing a game is truly a roller coaster ride. Our game is to be released on Early Access on next Friday, and the whole week I've been working so hard to get the attention of Streamers / YouTubers / press / players. And today I watched the first review come out by a small YouTuber, and I'm telling you what an incredible feeling to see someone totally unknown playing and enjoying your game. If you haven't experienced it so far, I'm telling you, it's worth all the effort. Have you ever had the feeling, please share

    submitted by /u/RobiwanKanobi
    [link] [comments]

    How can I make a large amout of enemies on a 2D platformer work?

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 04:49 AM PST

    I personally have more Fun playing games filled with low HP enemies, It makes the game more Fun for me, But all games like this i know are top-down shooters, And I couldn't think of a Way to make It work on a 2D platformer.

    Piercing weapons are either too good or underwelming. Low fire rate but High Damage weapons feel weak. Bosses get a bit too hard with more enemies on screen.

    Do you have Any Idea of How to make It work?

    submitted by /u/mampatrick
    [link] [comments]

    Win32 api relevance in the threatening UWP possible era

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 05:04 AM PST

    As someone who wants to dig into low level stuff (Win32 api and d3d11 maybe 12), I'm concerned about win32 relevance in the next decade. UWP most likely won't fly in the game consumer and developer communities but Microsoft seems to be determined with it. I really hope it doesn't.

    So, if you wanted to start your low level game/engine programmer journey now, and considering the time it takes to be good at these, where would you stand ?

    submitted by /u/fynesia
    [link] [comments]

    Can I be sued by the makers of a gun for using it in my game?

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 11:50 AM PST

    Artists described the way they remade the visuals in Shadow of The Colossus

    Posted: 22 Feb 2018 06:56 PM PST

    Free Low Poly Pine Tree Pack!

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 11:11 AM PST

    Hey r/gamedev!

    Back with another free asset pack as part of my practice with modeling. This time I've got a bunch of pine trees that you're free to use in any of your projects, hobby or commercial.

    It includes 3 pine trees, each with a snowy variant and matching stump for a total of 8 models. I've also included 3 different textures to show how easily you can recolor them to fit your needs!

    Preview One

    Preview Two, showing the three included textures

    Preview Three

    Download Link

    License:

    CC BY 4.0 - Free to use and adapt for both personal and commercial use with attribution.

    Hope you enjoy! You can check out my previous free asset packs below:

    Bladed Weapons

    Flintlock Weapons

    submitted by /u/TeaGuns
    [link] [comments]

    Is it favorable to potential Publishers, for you to announce or even Kickstart your game before approaching them?

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 10:58 AM PST

    Hello fellow Gamedev-er!

    So I have a big question.

    If I were to announce my game before approaching a Publisher, is this unfavorable? What about doing a Kickstarter?

    I could imagine this being unfavorable, if Publishers prefer having more control over a marketing campaign. Also, it definitely weakens their contract, as they will have less bargain chips on the table. If you are guaranteed moderate success from an established consumer-following due to, example, your Kickstarter or Announcement -- the Publisher has less room to wrestle for higher percentages in the Contract between you two.

    But it could be in their favor, as any developed community (or proof of product) will bring new fans to their Publishing Brand.

    Of course, smaller publishers stand to benefit from taking in an established consumer-base. The publishers I am referring to, are the ones who have the financial and fan resources to market your game from the ground up -- such as 'Devolver Digital'.

    So the question boils down to -- would a Big Indie Publisher, such as 'Devolver Digital', be less interested in a title that has already been announced or Kickstarted? Why, or why not?

    submitted by /u/Zephir62
    [link] [comments]

    Construct 3 or another engine?

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 10:49 AM PST

    I was wondering what everyone's thoughts on Construct 3 are. I know it is a drag and drop type system.

    I have zero programming experience and I am looking into learning to make games. Mainly focusing on 2d games and my PC can't run Unity all that well. I have toyed around with construct 3 but I am terrified of wasting my time on an engine that seems so sketchy in terms of performance and publishing.

    submitted by /u/Dewba
    [link] [comments]

    Would anyone here like to help out a couple of students with a interview?

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 05:37 AM PST

    Hello Everyone!

    Me and another student are looking to interview a game developer for one of our college classes. There are 13 questions and we are looking for someone who works for a development studio or has had worked for a studio. We would like to do the interview over discord or skype if possible. Thanks!

    submitted by /u/CassP1
    [link] [comments]

    Any ideas how to improve this scene?

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 08:03 AM PST

    Indie devs, what do you want out of a music guy?

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 03:45 AM PST

    Posts from composers looking for work are a dime a dozen on a lot of game development forums, so I want to ask you semi-experienced devs what exactly would make you think 'yeah he/she is the guy/gal'.

    Assuming you don't already know someone good for the job and are just looking blindly online through ads and websites, what are some points that are positives/negatives in your eyes?

    Previous experience in development (as in actually developing, not specifically only doing audio)?

    Original style of music or a chameleon who can write in any genre you want?

    Is decent music and experience with Wwise etc and adaptive audio more important than having no prior game experience but amazing music?

    Do composers that offer their services for free seem to you like an amazing bargain to snap up, or a basket of red flags?

    Any other points or discussions you may have in mind would all be greatly helpful, both as tips for what I myself should work on building skills in and also hopefully to help anyone else looking to write music for games who wants to try and avoid just spamming their profile everywhere.

    submitted by /u/mrsquare
    [link] [comments]

    Very good advice about level design

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 12:08 PM PST

    Using cloud storage to back up player data on mobile?

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 01:33 AM PST

    Hi, so I was thinking of adding a form of cloud storage (probably Google) to back up players in game currency and their unlocks. However, I'm not quite sure how to do it.

    My current plan is when the game is launched for the first time on a device, it'll write the data stored on the cloud to the devices local data. This is the only time when it will be called

    The local data would be backed up every purchase or game to keep the cloud data as up to date as possible.

    However, current issues I can forsee would be:

    • Players logging in to their friends devices to give them all their currency and unlocks

    • If they aren't connected to the Internet when the game first launches, they'll miss the opportunity to get the data from the cloud

    Any suggestions how (and if you do) handle cloud backups would be greatly appreciated <3

    submitted by /u/BakaZora
    [link] [comments]

    how good should I get with my engine before joining any jams?

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 03:16 AM PST

    I'd love to start doing jams to get better (in gms2 currently) but I have doubts about my current abilities since I'm still learning the basics. I don't want to be that one person that can't keep up with the rest because I'm looking everything up in manuals and watching youtube videos instead of doing my part. further context I'm actually quite new to coding in general and tend to get hung up on things I want to fix rather than just doing something else.

    submitted by /u/ametueraspirant
    [link] [comments]

    Questions about Unreal4 Engine Networking

    Posted: 23 Feb 2018 08:09 AM PST

    Long story short, I'm working on my master's degree in CS and I quit overwatch so I need a new hobby to try hard at.

    I'm interested in trying to make a small scale online RPG, don't really care how crap it is. I originally started working with SDL and had a lot of fun but I'd like to try working with a 3D engine before I completely scrap the idea and focus on making a 2D game. I've played with Unity in the past but found it a bit restricting on what I could do so I've been looking into Unreal.

    My question is about the networking capabilities of Unreal. I had originally thought that I would use a game engine to write the client and then have to manually write the server myself, but I came across some guides on how to create a dedicated server from an Unreal project. This leads me to ask the following questions to those who may have experience with making a dedicated server in Unreal:

    • How well is it optimized? (Is an open world game realistic?)
    • Does it handle multi-threading well? (Can I configure that?)
    • Is it as simple to manage as its face value? (Is there a catch?)
    • Are there any examples of games that have used the dedicated server made from the Unreal engine?
    • Are there any known security problems with the generated server? (ie. able to easily reverse engineer client)
    • What kind of things can I configure before vs after I compile the server?

    I'd appreciate any knowledge on this because I'm not super experienced with game engines so I have a lot to learn but I'm not a total noob either.

    Thanks.

    submitted by /u/Indoel
    [link] [comments]
    Read more
    at

    No comments:

    Post a Comment