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    Thursday, April 26, 2018

    GDC 2018: Advices on how to Improve your Portfolio

    GDC 2018: Advices on how to Improve your Portfolio


    GDC 2018: Advices on how to Improve your Portfolio

    Posted: 25 Apr 2018 11:29 PM PDT

    Unity/Unreal/Godot API Comparison: How do Nodes relate to GameObject/MonoBehaviours and Actor/ActorComponents.

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 08:40 AM PDT

    Gears: A look inside the Final Fantasy VII Game Engine

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 09:42 AM PDT

    Release my first game, here are my thoughts

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 05:42 AM PDT

    I took the plunge and quit my day job to go full time indie. After 18 months of full time development I finally released my application (this is for VR). I had to learn all the tools from scratch but I did it. I did all the modelling, development, marketing, website, etc, as a lone dev.

    So far I have sold 50 copies. Release day was an emotional rollercoaster followed by the dawning realization that there is no way in hell that I can support myself doing this full time. So after burning through most of my savings I'm sad to say that I have not achieved any measure of financial success whatsoever, in fact I may have seriously jeopardized my long term future prospects.

    I did learn alot though, and I hope that maybe I can move on to something new and exciting. Indie dev is brutally competitive and I can tell you for certain that the chances of becoming successful and profitable in this field, especially as a lone dev, are extremely small. It's hard not to feel a certain sense of defeat after pouring my heart and soul into something for so long, after so many hours, only to have it fall flat on its face and cast aside with nothing more than a few derogatory and offhand negative comments. All I can say is that I tried my best and took a chance, which not many people even get to do.

    If you are a lone dev, keep at it. Do the best you can. But keep your expectations realistic and have a backup plan in case this doesn't work out.

    submitted by /u/neuron_control
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    I'm the author of Unity in Action, a popular book about game programming. AMA!

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 12:26 PM PDT

    The 2nd edition of Unity in Action has just been released and some people have asked me questions about the writing and publishing process. Here's proof of identity.

    I'm not sure how many questions there will be, so I don't have a specific time limit in mind. I'll probably just keep answering questions until they stop getting asked.

    submitted by /u/jhocking
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    Where can I learn more about making shaders?

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 03:10 AM PDT

    Unity dev here. I'm interested in learning more about shaders but I don't know where to start. I see a lot of tutorials for achieving certain look but none that goes through the stuff I need to learn to create and tweak my own shaders.

    submitted by /u/Krons-sama
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    How shaders are used to make so many different visual effects ?

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 01:39 AM PDT

    Hi guys,

    So I'm a student in game programming and basically learning by failing and starting over. I was taught to build a game from scratch, with SDL, SFML, etc... but mostly use Unity to this day. Recently, I started to learn shader programming and it occurs to me that I quite don't know how the industry is managing so many shaders in a game for so many vfx.

    If I may take an example with Unity : materials are used and we apply a shader to it. A single shader. So if you have multiple effects on an object, should you use multiple materials ? Or simply switch shader on this material ? I quite don't know. Moreover, it seems that the more you use different materials, the more you'll have draw calls.

    An example of a AAA title that I've seen use a lot of shaders is Mass Effect Andromeda. When you load a map, the loading indicates that it loads shaders and some numbers have been quite high, like 300+ shaders for a single level.

    I don't understand how it's handled in a game engine today and how to make it efficient. Maybe I'm completely wrong about what I just wrote.

    Does anyone can enlighten me about that subject or point me in the right direction ?

    Thank you !

    submitted by /u/nxsnexus
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    Inside Nintendo's secretive creative process

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 11:04 AM PDT

    Which sites do you use to post game updates? Which are a waste of time, which could you recommend?

    Posted: 25 Apr 2018 06:02 PM PDT

    There are so many social networks, social media sites and aggregators out there. I just can't keep up.

    Which sites would you recommend to post updates about your games? Which sites lead to clicks, which sites are just impressions without interaction and which give the most feedback? Is the community toxic? Are "subscribers" (or similar) seeing you? Which sites are good and which seem to be a waste of time?

    I have next to zero experience, but here are my first impressions:

    Facebook: Having people liking/following your site doesn't seem to do anything. 110 people are following my site (organic, no friends), but whenever I post something, the post gets 5 impressions max (as well as 0 link clicks, 0 likes, 0 interactions). 110 is not much, I know, but still. Add in the constant "reminder" to advertise my posts and I'm beginning to think that FB without a marketing budget or a dedicated campaign is a useless waste of time.

    Reddit: Awesome to get feedback and to get the word out. Depending on the subreddit of course.

    Tumblr: From what I read the focus on users and their updates is a very positive feature for e.g. game updates and staying in touch with the devs.

    Twitter: Everyone follows everyone and everyone is motivated to spam as much as possible which make all posts disappear after a few seconds. At least in bigger hashtags or on the main feed (when people follow many people). Feels a bit like a luck based game, where you win by having a bigger network, influence and money.

    Snapchat: Wtf is this bs? I don't even get what I don't get.

    Youtube: Mandatory.

    What are your thoughts? What about the others like Instagram, Tumblr, Google+, Pinterest, etc.?

    Any other sites? Indiedb? What's with the "alternatives" (e.g. vo at.co) and Alt tech?

    If you had no marketing staff and a very limited amount of time, which would you focus on?

    submitted by /u/Ravery-net
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    I read a post from video game attorney and now I’m not sure if I should continue.

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 11:47 AM PDT

    So I read a post from video game attorney and he said a whole load of legal stuff that amounts to paying out loads of money on legal fees before you even launch a game.

    He said stuff like you should form an LLC which costs approx $1k, have a terms of service, contractor agreements etc costing more

    Anyway I'm now lost. If I get sued for anything I can't afford to even fight a law suit never mind paying damages etc. So I'm kinda feeling like I should just give up now.

    My finance situation is that my family depend on my current job for everything and I'm developing in my spare time so if I get sued we are stuffed.

    Can anyone help ease my anxiety or should I just give up?

    submitted by /u/TheAngryBird03
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    A lean multithreaded multiplatform OpenGL starter kit

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 11:34 AM PDT

    How to make AI for a turn based game? (C++)

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 12:31 AM PDT

    I'm trying to come up with AI for a turn based board game. The AI can do things such as moving around the board a certain number of steps, attacking other units, using items, using skills, etc. If they move, they pick an action, and they end their turn.

    Right now I'm just using if/else statements. What's some sort of AI algorithms I can look into that would suit this kind of game?

    Edit: words Edit2: Just woke up. Thanks for all the replies!

    submitted by /u/SelMemoria
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    Are Unity shooter templates (Invector, PolygonR) useful for anything beyond prototyping?

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 01:20 AM PDT

    Hi folks,

    Are shooter templates such as those made by Invector or PolygonR useful for anything beyond prototyping?

    Considering that to produce something of commercial value, you'd need to be replacing or at least heavily tweaking the models, animations, character control, FX, sounds etc etc...

    Is it easier to just create your own systems (using deeper-level assets such as FinalIK, AI pathfinding etc) rather than trying to shoehorn a giant template into your design?

    Welcome your thoughts.

    submitted by /u/Richard_Earl
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    21 Free Concrete Stone Textures

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 06:42 AM PDT

    Four Lifehacks for Unreal Engine Users

    Posted: 25 Apr 2018 11:27 PM PDT

    Looking for advice for an upcoming project

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 12:55 PM PDT

    Alright so I am a student of computer science looking to start my first larger development project during my summer off from school. So I have always been a big fan of point and click adventures and to help build my portfolio I am designing a point and click in its entirety including the actual engine. I understand it would be easier to build this without making my own engine but I am also doing this for the learning experience. Currently on my team it is just me programming and my friend who is an artist.So I am asking you guys for advice for this journey for things I may not have yet accounted for. The over all goals I am looking to accomplish are: -The creation of the engine -a full game - Editor client that will allow non programmers to create their own point and click adventures -hopefully a deeper understanding in what goes into the creation of all of this any advice will be greatly appreciated!

    submitted by /u/megamullet286
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    Trying to understand frame rate in developing games

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 12:30 PM PDT

    Hey everybody!

    So I am newer to coding and pretty new to game development. I was looking at this article about developing your first game in unity from microsoft. This is the passage I am kind of confused about;

    // I am setting how fast I should move toward the "player" // per second. In Unity, one unit is a meter. // Time.deltaTime gives the amount of time since the last frame. // If you're running 60 FPS (frames per second) this is 1/60 = 0.0167, // so w/Speed=2 and frame rate of 60 FPS (frame rate always varies // per second), I have a movement amount of 2*0.0167 = .033 units // per frame. This is 2 units. var moveAmount = Speed * Time.deltaTime;

    So with this in mind. I am confused on games are having these variable framerates that can be decided by the graphics card. What would you have to set your movement amount at to decide this? Do people just set it for something like 400 max frames and then graphics cards decide? Or am I just misunderstanding due to no knowledge about the subject.

    Sorry for all the questions. I couldn't find a post but if I am repeating a question i apologize.

    submitted by /u/Totalyatworkonreddit
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    Steam Games - Possible to Include Physical Goods?

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 12:29 PM PDT

    Suppose I wanted to ship a few swag items (like a fancy cloth map for my RPG) to people who buy my game (or a certain DLC) on Steam. Has anyone done that before? I'm okay with running my own web server where players can opt-in and enter shipping info but verifying those registrations against Steam ownership data seems problematic. Any ideas?

    submitted by /u/codepoetz
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    Should I choose Cloud Functions or App Engine as a data processor for a complex game backend?

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 12:28 PM PDT

    Hi redditers,

    I am making a geolocation based game, where player will interact with random map points and possibly do something else with them (move, collect...). Currently I use Firebase for auth, analytics, Firestore, Cloud Functions (via http triggers, because I don't want players to have direct access to database), Cloud Messaging (later to trigger updates on map for other players).

    Recently I was wondering if Cloud Functions will fit my expectations for smooth experience (as I need to handle player inventory, map stuff, possibly transactions between players... this will trigger bunch of requests and also the code will be complex) and low cost. Can App Engine be more suitable for this job?

    EDIT: Forgot to mention, that I target Android devices, 100 users in the beggining, about 75-150 requests per hour and I dont need to have instant responses (optimally 1-3 seconds range).

    submitted by /u/FlynnRoot
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    IndieCade is running ads on Reddit for festival submissions

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 11:46 AM PDT

    I found this very strange. u/IndieCade is running the following ad on reddit:

    https://i.redd.it/l80xyu11sau01.png

    Does anyone else find this odd?

    In their site, IndieCade states that:

    All submission fees directly cover the costs associated with processing your submission and showcasing selected games.

    I mean, sure. The money goes to support the costs of IndieCade. But I don't know, I just feel there is something weird about running ads for these paid festival submissions. I understand there is a cost to judging the games and I've paid this before, but the ads I don't get. If the submission fee is meant to cover costs, why are they spending even more in ads?

    I guess I can think of some well-intentioned explanations. They could be trying to find the very best games and ads would help them reach devs who might not know IndieCade or who might forget the submission dates. They could be losing money on the ads in order to find the coolest games. Or they could be profiting from them and using the money to showcase the selected games better.

    But still, there's something that just feels wrong here. Is it just my imagination or do you feel it too?

    submitted by /u/AD1337
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    A bit of an in-team debate about making a game, and forcing players to play it as intended.

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 11:21 AM PDT

    A Partner and I were having a bit of a philosophical discussion last night about making a relatively open world game that encourages freedom of exploration and style. This is one of our favorite parts of game-dev (the theory behind it) and we had a pretty lively discussion.

    One of us is against allowing players to 'cheat' in multiplayer by bringing in high level characters or powerful items to help out lower level characters. (Multiplayer isn't public, it would be private matches only to which you invite your friends) which would compromise the integrity of our game, allow players to experience things they were not meant to, and ultimately circumvent the vision we set out to achieve.

    The other one of us thinks that if a player wants to ruin the game experience for him or herself, then that's their choice and that it is the player's right to experience the game as he or she chooses. While this may cause the actual play time of the game to be much shorter and less rewarding and it may cause plot holes and confusion or general lack of fun, we would hope that allowing that sort of freedom doesn't get reflected in reviews due to the game being 'too simple' or 'breakable'.

    The two of us are having a bit of trouble coming to a conclusion of what's right for the game, and I'm curious if anyone else has had similar design challenges, and what you ultimately decided to allow / limit.

    Also, I've searched for articles on the matter and haven't had a ton of luck, so if anyone knows of any please link them up!

    submitted by /u/burge4150
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    Including Real Life People in your Game?

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 11:09 AM PDT

    My main question here is , what can I legally include in my game? If I wanted to put Lebron James' face, or Trump, or anyone's face in my game, would I be allowed? Can someone link me a rule book or something lol before I create a game and get sued.

    submitted by /u/jcool9
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    Contacting Content Creators

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 11:01 AM PDT

    Hey!

    Wanted to ask to the community if anyone has experience contacting content creators to cover your game.

    I have tried getting on their youtube channel and streams and emailing, but most seem to avoid these emails. Also, I don't bulk email and try to make them as personalized as possible.

    While showing our game at Pax East, I met a couple youtubers who later covered our content, funny enough I had emailed them before, but they didn't know until they met me in person.

    Is there an effective way to reaching out to them other than email? Would love to hear what other devs have tried.

    submitted by /u/Stuido_Studios
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    Royalty Free Music | Rejection - Hip Hop Instrumental - Excellent for Gaming Channel Creators.

    Posted: 26 Apr 2018 10:49 AM PDT

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