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    Saturday, September 11, 2021

    Screenshot Saturday #554 - Dazzling Form

    Screenshot Saturday #554 - Dazzling Form


    Screenshot Saturday #554 - Dazzling Form

    Posted: 10 Sep 2021 08:23 PM PDT

    Share your progress since last time in a form of screenshots, animations and videos. Tell us all about your project and make us interested!

    The hashtag for Twitter is of course #screenshotsaturday.

    Note: Using url shorteners is discouraged as it may get you caught by Reddit's spam filter.


    Previous Screenshot Saturdays

    submitted by /u/Sexual_Lettuce
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    Anyone else suffering from depression because of game development?

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 06:44 AM PDT

    I wonder if I'm alone with this. I have developed a game for 7 years, I make a video, it gets almost no views, I am very disappointed and can't get anything done for days or weeks.

    I heard about influencers who fail and get depressed, but since game development has become so accessible I wonder if this is happening to developers, too.

    It's clear to me what I need to do to promote my game (new trailer, contact the press, social media posts etc.), but it takes forever to get myself to do it because I'm afraid it won't be good enough or it would fail for whatever reason.

    I suppose a certain current situation is also taking its toll on me but I have had these problems to some degree before 2020 as well. When I released the Alpha of my game I was really happy when people bought it. Until I realized it wasn't nearly enough, then I cried almost literal waterfalls.

    Have you had similar experiences? Any advice?

    submitted by /u/Beosar
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    What are some things that you used to do and later found them useless and time wasting while developing your game?

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 09:58 AM PDT

    Both professionals and beginners welcome, I am just curious about what you found out to not work in your workflow/programming/similar things.

    submitted by /u/Etwusino
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    Where can I make a physical copy of my game?

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 04:38 AM PDT

    Hello guys. I hope you're having a splendid day.

    I would love to have a physical copy of my game on my shelf.
    Do you know any sites that does like boxes for games with images you send? I've heard of some sites, but they require like min 1000 copies, otherwise they don't ship.

    Is there a place where I can have someone making the box? Or the only cheap (< 60$) way is to print a custom image to replace a PS4 game cover?

    Thank you very much!

    submitted by /u/daoitbgem
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    I see a lot of choppy gameplay on trailers. This is how you fix it.

    Posted: 10 Sep 2021 07:24 PM PDT

    Making a trailer seems easy on the surface, capture gameplay, drop into your video editor, edit your clips and export. But one wrong setting and you end up with choppy or skipping video, giving your customers doubt if your game will run on their PC or think it is unoptimized.

    Here is a quick guide to help you. This assumes you want to target 60 FPS, but you can do this with 30 FPS.

    1. Make sure your game runs at 60 fps. If it doesn't, optimize your game or borrow a better pc. Set your desired resolution and make sure you use that at every step.

    2. Turn on VSync in your game, to lock it to 60 fps.

    3. Use a GPU recording software (like Nvidia Shadowplay) and in settings make sure you are recording at 60 FPS with the best quality settings.

    4. When you open your video editor, make sure that it is also set to 60 FPS and the resolution you captured in. Often it wont be.

    5. Be Careful with speed ups and slow downs as that will likely cause skipping or bad interpolation.

    6. Once you have edited your trailer, Check your export settings, there is a good chance its also not set to 60 FPS. Set the compression to be the highest quality.

    Missing just 1 single step and you will have that dreaded skipping that you often see. By making sure each step is the same FPS and resolution, you end up with buttery smooth gameplay trailers that will make your game look much more professional.

    Edit: Bonus tip. Record in 4K or scale it up before uploading it. For some reason YouTube uses different compression at 4k and gives you better quality at 1080p.

    submitted by /u/TotalSpaceNut
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    Do you experience long loading times?

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 08:40 AM PDT

    Hey guys, I'm a game programmer by trade. Been involved in the industry for about 6 years now, mostly working on PC titles.

    I have a question for fellow programmers working on projects that are at least medium scale. Do you have this problem where experimentation and iterating on game mechanics really slows down because of long load times? I've been now involved in two different projects and both have reached a point where it would take about 1-1.5 minutes to reach gameplay in the editor on a fairly good PC. In each case, at the beginning of the project, it wouldn't be as bad. But as time passed and more and more stuff was added such as graphical assets, some precomputation logic, it would increasingly get longer and longer.

    I was wondering if that's a common issue among folks and if there is anything you do about it. Or maybe that doesn't bother you as much as it does me.

    submitted by /u/julkopki
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    Free Hi-Res Artworks

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 03:04 AM PDT

    How can you make a ball travel along a parabolic path?

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 09:36 AM PDT

    Hey everyone,

    I'm in highschool and learning code. I wanted to make a small basketball game where all the player does is hit space to throw a ball in the hoop.

    I guess what I'm asking is how can I make that ball travel along some parabolic path like -3(x-1)2 +2?

    Do I need physics for this?

    Thanks! =)

    submitted by /u/ohgodohheck777
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    Why & how does spam/shovel-ware work?

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 10:33 AM PDT

    I'm not debating whether or not it works, because it clearly does and big companies are making millions by spamming the market with low effort games. I want to know why it works. Does anybody know how and why shovel ware works?

    submitted by /u/justaguyjoshua
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    32bit Jam 2021 - Starts in 24 hours!

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 06:43 AM PDT

    I am making a devlog series about how to develop indie games, today this is about art! Let me know how I can improve.

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 09:47 AM PDT

    Hello guys! I want to learn game development in unity. I want to start by creating this kind of game where you can see the objectives of finding objects in the HUD. Does anyone know any good tutorials for this? Thank you.

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 06:01 AM PDT

    Any time-saving tools you recommend?

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 11:49 AM PDT

    I'm looking to save time when it comes to rigging characters. Is there a good tool that automatically creates controls for my rig so I can have an easier time animating?

    submitted by /u/trim-d
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    I created an asset pack containing everything a beginner needs to create their first game in unity!

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 11:48 AM PDT

    Has anyone tried using Nvidia's NeMo (synthetic voice text to speech director) to make audio for their game?

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 11:34 AM PDT

    I was watching a recent video from Nvidia's AI studio and they were talking about how they created a "director" program where you can basically record yourself saying some lines, and use that to train the AI on how to emphasize words, what the cadence should be, all those types of things.

    I have a tutorial in my game, and currently it's just narrated by a SAPI5 TTS, which is way better than older TTS systems, but still sounds incredibly artificial and fake, and I have to put in weird spellings of words to get the pronunciation the way I want it (it has a really hard time with some words, or for emphasizing letters, like saying "Press the 'E' button" comes out sounding like "Press theeee button")

    I was just wondering if anyone has tried playing around with it and knows of any good tutorials or anything, or any good alternatives to adding speech into your game. I don't need real time speech generation, I'm currently just recording SAPI with Audacity and playing those files back.

    submitted by /u/icanseeclearly2020
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    Is Monogame good for gamedev

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 07:19 AM PDT

    Hey i was looking at the engines and programming languages of great games like TERRARIA,CELESTE AND STARDEW VALLEY and one thing stood out they also used XNA. It is dead now but monogame is still there so could i use it to create some good games and can i build a game engine out of it as made by Stardew Valley and Rogue Legacy. Is it equivalent to XNA in the past.

    submitted by /u/Historical-Part9602
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    Prototype gamepad controlled UI

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 04:42 AM PDT

    Hi,

    I'm a UI designer and I'd like to quickly prototype videogame menus (e.g. settings, pause menu, inventories, weapon wheels, etc.) controlled with a gamepad.

    With tools like Axure I can create complex enough prototypes with conditional logic that can be controlled with mouse + keyboard or touch screens, but the options to use a gamepad as the input are very limited: you can't input 2 or more buttons at once and joysticks are limited to four directions.

    I've tried Unreal Engine's UMG but it also has very limited gamepad support.

    What do you use to quickly prototype menus controlled with a gamepad?

    Thank you.

    submitted by /u/diHobbes
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    Wise people of Reddit, please share your wisdom!��

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 10:30 AM PDT

    I'm confused! I've completed mechanical engineering diploma (because my parents forced me to) but now I'm doing B.Sc. I.T to become a game developer. But turns out it's not enough in india to get a job. So... The question is, what other courses i should do? Where are they available? Who should I follow? Do I need any more skills/certificates to get a decent job in Maharashtra,India?

    Wise people of Reddit, please share your wisdom 🙏

    submitted by /u/WonnabeGameDev
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    Kickstarting an indie game is a long and difficult process. Here is my comprehensive how-to guide with examples, tips and templates.

    Posted: 10 Sep 2021 03:01 PM PDT

    This is my guide about Kickstarting an indie game. I really hope this will help at least one dev here to be successful in her/his next campaign. My main goal is so you can properly use Kickstarter and do it perfectly right, by yourself, the first time. If you feel I forgot something, feel free to leave a comment.

    (This article is also published on my website empowered.gg)

    The pros and cons of crowdfunding an indie game

    Is Kickstarter the right option for you and your team? You can make it big without publishing help, but taking help from publishers can lead to more success in some cases. You must consider all sides of the coin before diving in head first. Also, you need to understand how Kickstarter works before deciding if it is the right way or not.

    Table of Contents

    1. The pros and cons of crowdfunding an indie game
      1. 1 The pros of crowdfunding your indie game:
      2. 2 The cons of crowdfunding your indie game:
    2. Past successful campaigns (and unsuccessful ones)
    3. What you will need before creating your campaign
    4. The campaign structure
    5. Delivery Dates
    6. Determine the right budget goal
    7. Choose your Indie Game's Kickstarter rewards – and don't forget taxes!
    8. Marketing Strategy Behind an Indie Game Kickstarter Campaign
    9. Tips on how to seek out press coverage for your Kickstarter campaign
    10. Dealing with a slowing-down campaign
    11. Take care of our new community!
    12. In conclusion

    1.1 The pros of crowdfunding your indie game:

    • You get to keep their IP rights
    • You get funding for the game you want to make rather than what a publisher wants you to make.
    • In case your campaign is successful, you will have an easier time finding publishers if you want one.
    • You can make games that are more niche or personal instead of what is trending at the moment.

    1.2 The cons of crowdfunding your indie game:

    • You'll need to be skilled at marketing and publicity - or at least have a firm grasp on the basics! This includes maintaining your branding, managing a community of players/fans/backers, making connections in the business industry, and performing other PR activities.
    • You are not guaranteed of getting funded. You can read why is funding all-or-nothing on Kickstarter.
    • You can be slowed in the process of making your game because of the marketing efforts you will have to invest.

    To make a wise choice, Indie developers must consider their needs on a case by case basis. Indie devs are capable of making it big without publishing help, but taking help from publishers can lead to more success. Indie devs will have to determine what is best for themselves and their projects while considering both the pros and cons of crowdfunding before they dive in head first.

    Now that Indie game developers have some idea about Kickstarter, let's take a look at how it works!

    2. Past successful campaigns (and unsuccessful ones)

    Before anything, in order to make this guide as helpful as possible, we have constructed a list of all relevant Kickstarter pages to check out and learn from their success. All these pages were done by other indie devs, so it is worth checking them out!

    We have been hesitant to list any Kickstarter campaign failures in this article, for teaching and demonstration purposes since I don't want us to get in trouble. Therefore, we will leave it to you to do your own research about some past failures. Analyze the patterns and errors, what should have been improved and what can we learn from it. After all, this is golden information available for free! But take in note that some information about an unsuccessful campaign might be invisible or harder to get, i.e. a Kickstarter page can be perfectly structured, but if no marketing effort has been made during the campaign, this is probably what led to its failure.

    3. What you will need before creating your campaign

    The biggest asset is your game. It must be exciting to convince people to back it and to create some hype around it. Therefore, before creating the Kickstarter campaign, you should aim to have at least a prototype / an alpha version to use as an asset, and ideally a demo.

    In addition, a successful Kickstarter campaign requires a great video, good rewards and proper timing. A good video should be short (one minute or less), engaging and explain what makes your game different from others currently in the market. Good rewards involve tangible items that backers can receive when they support the campaign - the list we made earlier.

    Timing can be important, too - Indie Games that have a story or a narrative tend to do well during certain parts of the year (for example, Indie Games set in the winter holidays do better around December).

    4. The campaign structure

    Now, let's take a look at the typical Kickstarter structure for an indie game.

    1. Video. The first thing you're going to need for your Kickstarter campaign is a video. Though it might be a little bit outdated, Kickstarter shared the fact in 2012 that projects with videos succeed at a much higher rate than those without (50% vs. 30%)." It can be one of your best investments to outsource it to an expert (if you can afford it).
    2. Assets (visual and audio). You'll also need pictures, screenshots, GIFs, banners and other visual assets for all the other points below. If the game's soundtrack is important to its success, you may include audio samples on the project page.
    3. Pitch. Write up your main pitch and make it as compelling as possible. You should also think about what other content you can share to generate interest, such as screenshots of early versions of the game or concept arts.
    4. Gameplay. Explain why people would want to play it. Usually, it includes game mechanics, characters, story, and anything else that's essential to the game.
    5. Tags. Concerning the genre of your game, add the right tags to your Kickstarter page.
    6. Platforms. Indicate somewhere on which platforms it will be available.
    7. You (and your team). You should also explain why you're qualified and able to make it. If you have a team, introduce your team members. If possible, show some examples of your previous work or talk about how you've made games in the past. Make. it. Personal. You backers want to know who is behind the project and trust you (and your team).
    8. Rewards. Once you have all of that done, it's time to list some rewards for backers at several different price points. It's always good to have some cheap rewards available so the average person can contribute without having to spend too much money on your project. You can also use custom perks if you need perks you cannot find on Kickstarter already.
    9. Budget. It's good to have a budget breakdown. People who read this need to know which parts their money is going to, so they can feel as though they have a good understanding of the process.
    10. Stretch goals. Make sure to come up with some stretch goals so you have something to really aim for. Stretch goals are additional features or content that will be added if certain milestones are met during your Kickstarter campaign. You can also use them as rewards for hitting certain donation targets.
    11. Rewards. Explain your rewards system in detail.
    12. Risks and challenges. You will have to inform your potential backers about the risk and challenges. This could be seen as the scary part of the process, but it should not. Nowadays, people are well aware of risks about backing a KS project and not mentioning them would raise distrust. Take this as an opportunity to be honest with your community. You can talk about the delivery date that might be affected in case you reach stretch goals - if you think this is the case.
    13. Story-telling. Your whole kickstarter campaign should be story-telling and this is why it is important to use visual assets, not only text.

    A side note: be professional. This includes things like using high quality images, formatting everything correctly and double checking your grammar.

    All these points above should be taken one by one in order to create your own Kickstarter campaign plan.

    5. Delivery Dates

    It's conceivable that certification and stretch goals will cause delays. Keep in mind the time it takes to get certified by Apple or the iOS app store, as well as how long it takes to deal with ESRB if necessary.

    6. Determine the right budget goal

    You must first construct your operational plan and anticipate a budget before launching the campaign. Then, you should be able to set the funding goal. Kickstarter fees are approximately 10% of the total funds raised. Therefore, for example, if you estimate that you will need $30,000 to complete the game, your budget goal should be around $33,500.

    This Kickstarter's articles about What should I consider when setting my funding goal? explains in detail the fees, the payment processing, their calculator tool, taxes and more.

    Don't forget that you must include all the costs associated with the merchandise and physical rewards of your campaign if you decide to offer some. This includes "the materials, resources and expenses (such as shipping costs) you'll need". (Source)

    7. Choose your Indie Game's Kickstarter rewards - and don't forget taxes!

    For Indie Game Kickstarter campaigns, Indie game producers should be creative with the rewards (and pledge amounts) they offer for different budgets. Indie game developers can see what other indie games are offering for certain pledge levels and then adjust accordingly based on their own goals' price points. Rewards can range from t-shirts or art prints to early access to beta versions of the game or custom designed, personalized items! Some examples include but are not limited to:

    • Special role in your Discord server
    • Digital copy
    • Early access beta
    • Signed art print
    • Poster
    • T-shirt
    • Calendar
    • Trophy
    • 3D printed stuff
    • Mention in the credit
    • Customized character (boss, NPC, etc.)
    • Custom Art Print or Painting
    • Appear in the game
    • Offer Indie Game Mentorship

    To set the adequate price, a good rule of thumb is that every dollar you spend creating a reward/perks should reflect three dollars in revenue. And don't forget about taxes!

    For an easier campaign, you may want to focus more on digital rewards than physical ones that require fulfillment and additional operations like manufacturing and shipping. However, if you feel confident, you may want to take a look at the Kickstarter's resource section where they "compiled a list of services that can aid in the process of completing your project".

    8. Marketing Strategy Behind an Indie Game Kickstarter Campaign

    In order to be successful, the marketing aspect of the Kickstarter campaign should not be overlooked. In fact, a crowdfunding campaign requires marketing to be successful, but it also feeds into the marketing strategy, as the hype created around the Kickstarter might lead backers, fans and evangelists to share your campaign and some media companies to cover your campaign, thus fueling the marketing funnel.

    Here are some ideas of marketing strategies that you can use to create awareness and engagement around your crowdfunding:

    1. Use of social media like Facebook and Twitter to drive traffic to the Kickstarter page.
    2. Incorporating relevant hashtags into posts can aid in spreading awareness of the product through trends maps.
    3. Run paid ads on Youtube and Facebook (with your trailer).
    4. Create a Discord Server.
    5. Create a subreddit for the game you're creating.
    6. Exploit the network of your existing community (fans/followers).
    7. Posting videos on Youtube can also help in spreading awareness of the product.
    8. Reach out to members of the Indie Game review sites such as IndieGames WeLove, IndieStatik, etc... who have interest in reviewing your project. Having good reviews posted online about your game will be invaluable to the Kickstarter campaign.
    9. Reach out to indie gaming (news) sites that accept submissions.
    10. Blog and devlog about your game.
    11. Create a mail list.
    12. Partner with popular YouTube personalities or Twitch streamers that play indie games to advertise the Kickstarter campaign in order to increase viewership/attention during the duration of the crowdfunding period.
    13. Submit a press release to news outlets.
    14. Attend indie gaming events where you can network with Indie Game journalists and give them free promotional copies of your game (if finished) to play and write articles about your campaign.

    For more information and marketing ideas read Indie Game Marketing Tips to Help Your Indie Game Stand Out in a Crowded Marketplace.

    9. Tips on how to seek out press coverage for your Kickstarter campaign

    This step requires you to do some research on what kind of games are popular, what has been written about them in the past and how similar your project is. Once you know this information, find articles that list things like top 10's or roundups with a few interesting titles shared by lots of contributors. When writing to these sites with an inquiry, mention any shared similarities with their site ("I'm creating a voxel based sandbox FPS which also has a dynamic questing system like your top 10 Indie Games of [Year YYYY]!"). Choose a few sites to send emails and tweets to and write personalized, professional requests for coverage. Keep these requests short and punchy with vital information such as release date, price, special features etc.. If they don't reply after a week that's totally fine--just keep trying until you get a positive response. Some writers may not want to commit just yet because they're still looking into the game themselves or waiting on information from you so if they say no it's not an instant rejection. You can't win them all, but if you keep trying different angles eventually somebody will bite!

    Tips 1: It's hard for journalists to justify writing news stories when it feels like they're just repeating information from the Kickstarter page but if there is a new mechanic, trailer or gameplay video to share you're in with a chance.

    Tips 2: If you have a playable prototype or alpha you can send GIFs, screenshots and video clips to media outlets as this is a great way to grab the attention of gamers.

    Tips 3: Don't be afraid to reach out multiple times with updates! If your campaign is drawing towards its end and still hasn't been written about put a reminder in your calendar for a month later to contact them again. Indie games aren't as big budget as their triple A cousins so an engaged PR person needs more nudges before they'll eventually bite!

    10. Dealing with a slowing-down campaign

    It's no secret that KS campaigns frequently hit a snag in the middle. No worries. If you believe your campaign is falling behind, there are several things you can try to get it back on track:

    (If you haven't started yet, you can anticipate solutions to this problem)

    Emotional Link. Create an emotional link between your project and the success of your fundraising might encourage people to upgrade their pledges. It can be done through regular updates, a Devlogs, discussions on your Discord server, etc. Keep them engaged!

    Media. Media attention becomes even more valuable, since you need extra visibility to reach your campaign's goal. If you believe that media exposure or within your game's social network would help you reach more coverage, put in a little bit more effort. It could be through your own social media, paid media, and news website (like explained earlier).

    Reddit. Reddit is know as a double-edge sword. Be careful how you post on Reddit because you could end up shooting yourself in the foot before your campaign is over. However, it can be a very good resource for getting extra attention and reaching more people if done right. Two things to consider: creating a subreddit, and creating posts that add value to the community.

    11. Take care of your new community!

    It's critical to keep in touch with the community after a campaign is finished, otherwise people may get concerned. It can be difficult to manage a community, therefore it's important to plan ahead of time. Here are some tips that can help you plan ahead:

    • Thank and email those who supported you during your Kickstarter campaign. You'll want to send them a message as soon as possible to keep them in the loop and ensure they don't lose interest in what's going on. This email should be sent as soon as you can after the campaign is finished.
    • Keep responding to everyone who sends you a message via Kickstarter. If people take time out of their day to reach out, it's important to respect that by replying as soon as possible.
    • Write a detailed update that talks about what happens now that the campaign is finished, and address concerns. If you're pressed for time, keep it brief.
    • Monitor the comments section on Kickstarter especially. This is where people can ask you questions, and also give feedback about your project.
    • Speak at community events rather than simply attending them. You can record yourself speaking, or stream live with a webcam or capture device. Having an archive of videos will help keep awareness for your game high throughout the year.
    • If you have a devlog, update it regularly with new posts after the campaign is finished. This will help keep your community engaged throughout the development process.
    • In fact... Continue doing everything you did during the Kickstarter campaign! If you're like most devs, this means having a web presence that is regularly updated with posts and social media updates including in Discord.

    12. In conclusion

    In conclusion, launching a Kickstarter campaign for an Indie Game is a challenging endeavor for game developers. However, with the right preparation and knowledge, Indie Game Kickstarters can be just as successful as any other Kickstarter campaign. For Indie Game Developers looking to Kickstart their next project, there are many factors to consider before making your Indie Game Kickstarter page live—and that's where this guide comes in! If you follow the steps outlined in this guide closely, you'll have all of the tools necessary to produce a stellar Indie-Game Kickstarter page on launch day.

    If you want to take your Indie Game Kickstarter campaign further, Empowered.gg can also provide personalized help. We run an video game consulting service. No matter what type of game you're trying to Kickstart, we are ready and willing to offer their expertise for a small fee. Our strategy is based on extensive research and analysis into the Indie-Game Kickstarter landscape. If you want customized advice or feedback for your indie game Kickstarter page, or if you simply need more information about getting started with crowdfunding, feel free to drop us a message.

    submitted by /u/galabyca
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    How do you get people IN to your Discord?

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 05:38 AM PDT

    I've watched the GDC videos by Mike Rose from No More Robots about how to grow and maintain your community through Discord, but how do you get people in the door??

    Any insights, videos, anything at all will be much appreciated!

    submitted by /u/daisyalesoundworks
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    Compile 2D games to QR codes

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 01:51 AM PDT

    will Godot ever be one of the standard game engines

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 08:11 AM PDT

    since Godot 4 is coming out with major improvement. do you think Godot will be one of the standards for game dev

    submitted by /u/turtle-monkey1997
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    I have a simple 2D vector function whose I don't know if it has a commonly used name. Is this function a thing?

    Posted: 11 Sep 2021 08:04 AM PDT

    The function implemented in Unity is

    private Vector2 MultPerpendicular(Vector2 src, Vector2 mult) { return src * mult.x + Vector2.Perpendicular(src) * mult.y; } 

    You can use this with (cos(a),sin(a)) to rotate a vector, but is has other uses. Is this common? Does this have a name ?

    submitted by /u/Sentmoraap
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