Official Game-Guru News:
Things are really making a lot of progress.
Each week I'd write up my little report and think "well, that was easy". I'd hunt down the 1-2 lines of detail about what is going on, put up some stuff from the store and cover the bases.
Then TGC went to github and we never came back.
There have been a whirlwind of changes done over the past year and honestly if you HAD Game-Guru at one point and dismissed it, we're now safely at a point where I can say you should give it another look over. Literally EVERYTHING is different.
We have dynamic lighting (up to 38 simultaneously, up from 3!).
We have functional PBR.
We have memory issues fixed.
We have modifiable projectiles.
We have quality of life fixes, like needing to press shift-f1/2/3/4 to go to the lightmapper.
We have better weapons systems code.
Almost every single DLC pack has been overhauled.
Seriously, it's a lot to take in. I highly recommend you give it another go, if you have the time.
Full details on the update can be found here: https://www.thegamecreators.com/post/gameguru-launches-monster-update
The big takeaway here is this isn't the first major update in the past year. It's more like the third. Seriously. There's been a lot of changes and appear to be more in store.
What's New In The Store
Recently there was a new kit released, specifically a weapons package.There's very few times when I have to list something as a 'must buy' but you're insane if you don't pick up this kit. This ultra-high quality kit is as good as I've seen for Game-Guru and really amplifies your options for game-making. Some minor changes to the textures and you'll have more than enough to change the game to your liking. Even if you don't, these are superb weapons. Check out the demo reel here:
So yeah, that's pretty much the first 'must buy' thing I've seen in a while and frankly I'm not surprised. I've long maintained that EAI (Errant AI) is the best artist in the Game-Guru community. This new pack sort of underscores that point.
Not that other artists aren't any good - it's just if you are looking for the absolute best of the best in terms of item/set quality items - he has no real equal (especially since his only real competition has moved on).
Speaking of must buys, there are some other really great items this week on the store.
Notably we have another top shelf artist (BSP) who created some fantastic PBR trees. If you absolutely must have the best looking trees possible, accept no substitutes!
We've also got a great city pack from Lafette (whose work has been growing leaps and bounds lately) and a very non-ninja oriented set of NPC turtles. While I can't imagine Gtox is going to see a lot of demand for the turtles, I have no doubt they will be of the same high quality as most of his creatures are.
Random Acts of Creativity
I want you all to know that what follows here is.. unusual for me. I go out of my way to not ever be derisive or condescending but seriously, this can't be helped.
In literally one of the most baffling things I've ever seen, there's something for sale on the TGC store that.. I don't know what it is.
Seriously.
It's called 'Data Bafticomputer'. It's by a 'Drstewart8klar' though if you google around you'll find he goes by drstewart2klar, 4klar, etc etc.. there's a million aliases. You also find two books on smashwords.com which are of .. questionable english usage. I mean I found a read-along on youtube and I literally lost all understanding of what the hell was going on. My inner Gordon Ramsey is standing around asking "What the $@%! is this pile of *** ****?"
So yeah. I think this qualifies, probably, as an act of creativity. I guess. I mean it's got some pretty fantastic ms paint art... it's marked as 'adult content' but there's nothing even indicating why or what this is... and yeah. I mean this is a train wreck spaghetti-plate disaster. It's worth looking at, if only as a cautionary tale as to how not to release a game.
So in a more meaningful set of reviews - Bugsy appears that he's done with Direct Action 2! Looks great. His minimalist "high speed low drag" approach to game design is worth taking a peek at - he is a ruthlessly efficient developer and while it's not for everyone it has some serious purpose behind it. Moreover the cutscene work is pretty impressive, considering the limitations of the engine.
Youtube video of his work can be found here (Don't want to bog down the page with more than one video, sorry!)
Another super interesting one (to me, at least) is Bod (you know, the super prolific free-stuff guy) is making a game and model pack. It's a different style but honestly I'm ok with that - I like seeing the variety in people's artistic visions. This medieval style game has promise. As it is refined it should really clean up well.
 |
| A very Bod-style game, interesting to see it all put together! |
Tutorials and Third Party Programs
With a lot of third party programs being integrated into the core build due to it being accessible via Github, we have a lot of potential loss for this particular section. There was a great article a few weeks back that if you map over Game-Guru's development, it takes a very similar tract.
https://medium.com/@eigenbom/how-to-take-7-years-to-ship-a-beta-4fcfc2428d88
Of course, that's all mute now because we're seeing real progress now that the engine's been opened up.
In My Own Works
<REDACTED>
There's a lot going on right now. Keep your eyes peeled for an old project I never released to make the light of day. Some interesting code, for sure. A while ago I uncovered/developed a really impressive algorithm for creating certain randomization within Lua.
I think it's about time I showcase them! Also, as an aside my complete time day and weather kit, along with all skies package is on sale at 14.95 this week!
No comments:
Post a Comment