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Monday, June 18, 2018

These Weeks (Bi-Weekly) in Game-Guru - 06/18/2018

So as you've noticed, I've switched to a bi-weekly update system.  This is to lessen the load on me, which has grown tremendously over the past few months.

I have simply too many obligations to attend to to do this consistently and as such, this is the result.  Good news though - we're in a slow period so there's not a significant amount of content to curate anyways.

So let's get on with it.

OFFICIAL GAME-GURU NEWS

Not a lot I can find here.  Seems like most of the news is done by the community as of current.  Work continues towards refining PBR's output and the engine in general.

NEW ITEMS IN THE STORE

My least favorite section to review because there's simply too much. Here's some pictures:







So the rundown:  There's some good stuff by M Stockton, Wolf, Campana Productions (love the butterflies and crystal cave stuff), and more.   I think I'll be picking up the gun supplies soon enough from MStockton.  Looks great and at 2.50 sale price - that's a steal.  Pick it up here: https://www.tgcstore.net/pack/11032


THIRD PARTY TOOLS & TUTORIALS

You'll notice the addition of '& tutorials'.  I am adding this because I want to ensure that the really noteworthy tutorials get encapsulated along with interesting third party tools.  And frankly, I already have too many subheadings.


An interesting visual scripting framework.  My son, who uses MIT's scratch, will love this.  https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/219760

A really great tutorial by DK (DuchenKuke) on how to do lightmapping. A  must watch!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6-7m6QLQMA
Work has begun by BOTR (Bored Of The Rings) of making his heightmap import tool an integrated package in Game-Guru on the GitHub source.  https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/218876?page=4#msg2601811

Graphix made a quixel (graphic tool) script for GG: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/219569

ALERT-EMERGENCY-ALERT - AMENMOSES RELEASED A PHYSICS LIBRARY! GET IT HERE: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/219758

FREE STUFF


Free Motorcycle Helmet by Bod: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/215012?page=17#msg2601335

Free monitor tables by Wolf:  https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/219741



Free rubber boat by GraphiX: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/217932?page=11#msg2601597

RANDOM ACTS OF CREATIVITY


Currently there's a lot of really good work going on in the community by committed members.  I recommend following:
Acythian, by Wolf: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/211124/newest

Direct Action 2, by Bugsy: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/219234?page=1#msg2600578

Into the Ice, by Ertlov: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/206985

Welcome to Manchester, by MooKai wins the honor of getting a screencap put in my blog this week.  What fantastic work using very elementary components of GameGuru:



You can learn more about WoM here: 
https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/219645?page=1#msg2601704

Lots of really good stuff here.  Still waiting on an update by Dimoxinil for his 'Space Losers' game, which should really be honestly one of the 'best of the best' games made by Game-Guru upon release.


IN MY OWN WORKS.


I'll admit, I've allowed a lot of my "Battletech: A Time of War" pen and paper (roll20.net, actually) campaign to preoccupy me, but it's served as a valuable creative writing tool so I can't fault it, too much.  The book is coming along slowly.  I'm dedicating a few hours each week to getting a couple of thousand words done, so it's progressing at the proper pace.  Currently I'm working on a segment discussing 'building your first game' - simply put priorities and configurations.

This chapter already has a few thousand words but is getting a second pass to really expand on it.


Tuesday, June 5, 2018

These Weeks in Game Guru - 06-05-2018

Ok, I'll admit, I've been busy.  Too busy.  Lots of nickel and dime stuff with life and it's held me up, significantly with this type of work. I will neither confirm nor deny my Battletech pen and paper RPG campaign has also eaten up many hours of my life more than I thought it would.

Regardless I'm here to give you some interesting news on the Game-Guru front.  I may switch this to a bi-weekly publication.  What are your thoughts on this?  Anyone have any preference?  It's a lot of work for me to do weekly, so bi-weekly might be just the ticket.

OFFICIAL GAME GURU NEWS:


There's an update which was pushed out, today, specifically addressing some changes to the fantasy DLC pack as more PBR assets got updated.   It appears Lee's FINALLY getting around to the long-standing issue of updating the weaponry to allow more than just a simple fireball attack.  He wants to add ice and poison attacks!

https://www.thegamecreators.com/post/gameguru-fantasy-pack-dlc-update

Why this is important is because the Game Engine specifically is limited with respect to projectile weapons and decals (both of which are used for the fireball effect in the fantasy pack).  And by limited, I mean one.  You can only have that ONE simple object and any further modification requires a complete redo of the files involved.  I know, I've done it.  It's a pain.  So adding functionality will mean adding the ability to have more than one simple hardcoded weapon (which was a cheap hack, IMO) and is a big deal. I for one am looking forward to it!

WHAT'S NEW IN THE STORE:







Lots of stuff,seriously.  Too much for me to cover.  I will go quickly though:
Pasquill has made a set of what looks like 1980'sish ford bronco's in many different colors, shapes, sizes, etc.  It's a good kit but a little overpriced, by my estimate.  I mean in some cases it's literally a recolor and I can't justify spending the same price on one as I do on the other.  Thankfully he's got a pack put to it in a much better spot financially.
Good times.

There's also a new kit by Tazman who is slowly sharpening up his products with the new PBR materials.  I for one think he's come a long way and really hope he continues to grow as his kits have always held a lot of potential.

There's some other stuff in there.  Most interesting, in my opinion is the stuff by M Stockton who continues to deliver new and interesting items.  I particularly like the reloader's bench (reminds me of many musty days in my father and stepfather's respective basements making bullets for competition or hunting) model.  Very nice work indeed!

FREE STUFF:

THIRD PARTY APPLICATIONS:

RANDOM ACTS OF CREATIVITY:

This one is one that is a good 'must look at' - it highlights some new work by MooKai on the unique title 'Welcome to Manchester'.  What's impressive is the use of PBR assets in a functional way along with a good lighting setup.  See the video for below:


 A user on discord named PEK put up some really solid looking screenshots as well from a Game Guru game that I have no name for:


We're in a good time, where people can actually start putting together really solid projects right out of the gate with minimum experience - just like was originally intended.  There's still some major faults that hopefully some donations and the github crew can solve (such as the AI system needing some serious reworking).

IN MY OWN WORKS:


I have a significant amount of catching up to do this month to meet my targets.  Thankfully I'm setting my word count very aggressively to help keep myself on track for my writing and I know I can bust out 15-20k words this month if I really buckle down and do it.  The game itself which will sidecar will need some additional love as well since there's a significant amount of assets that still are outstanding.