News

Steam Audio released as open source

Valve has recently released a new update for Steam Audio. Alongside this release, a new open-source licensing model has been introduced for the Steam Audio SDK, making the entire Steam Audio codebase open source. Steam Audio is a spatial audio solution that has been used in Valve's own game titles including Half Life: Alyx and DOTA 2. It offers features such as real-time sound propagation, occlusion and reflection, backed propagation, HRTF (Head-related transfer function)-based 3D audio, support for ambisonics, and more.

Published: 26. Feb. 2024

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New worldbuilding tool for Unreal Engine previewed

A new worldbuilding tool for Unreal Engine 5 is being developed by Paul Martin Eliasz, a Senior Technical Artist and recognized Unreal Engine enthusiast. The tool is built upon the Procedural Content Generation Framework (PCG), which was featured in our coverage back in March 2023 during the preview release of Unreal Engine 5.2.

Published: 19. Feb. 2024

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Stride has been updated to version 4.2

Stride, the open-source cross-platform C# game engine, has received a new update. This update focuses on improvements to performance, stability, and the developer experience. Some of the standout features of this release include integration with .NET 8, a new tool named Stride Diagnostics Analyzer, added support for F# and Visual Basic programming languages, and editor enhancements.

Published: 12. Feb. 2024

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Weatherade - A new snow and rain system for Unity

Recently launched, Weatherade is a new snow and rain system designed for Unity. Developed by Vitaly Okulov, an experienced 3D Artist and asset developer, this system enables the creation of remarkably realistic digital snow and rain. Weatherade includes two different sets of shaders for snow and rain scenes. Additionally, it features "Cover Instance", a manager that enables users to globally customize the appearance of scene surfaces and create a coverage occlusion mask. This mask is automatically generated and prevents objects located under roofs or canopies from being exposed to snow/rain.

Published: 5. Feb. 2024

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Godot games can now be ported for free to the Nintendo Switch

The Godot game engine is rapidly evolving, providing an ever expanding list of features and improvements. This makes it a great choice for developing a wide range of games, from 2D to 3D and from smaller to larger titles. Despite its strengths, exporting games for consoles has posed challenges due to the open-source nature of the project. Up until this point, if you aimed to port your game developed in Godot to the Nintendo Switch, you had to undertake the task independently, subscribe to W4Games Consoles or rely on porting services such as Lone Wolf Technology or Pineapple Works. While these can be effective solutions, they might not be suitable for smaller indie projects with tighter budgets.

Published: 29. Jan. 2024

News

The Global Game Jam 2024 is starting!

The world's largest game creation event has kicked off once again today. The 2023 edition witnessed the creation of over 7,600 games, with tens of thousands of participants from over one hundred countries. This year, even more enjoyable games are anticipated. For those unfamiliar with the Global Game Jam (GGJ), it is an annual event, this year running from 22 to 28 January, where participants gather either physically, online, or in a hybrid setting (blending online and on-premises) for a short period of time to create games based on a shared theme.

Published: 22. Jan. 2024

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Unity glTFast package has been released

Unity has recently released the Unity glTFast package, which enables developers to import and export glTF 3D files both at runtime and within the Editor. In Unity's words, glTF, which stands for Graphics Library Transmission Format, is like the JPEG of the 3D world. It is a standardized file format used to store and transfer 3D scenes that is gaining significant popularity. Being open-source and versatile are contributing factors to its increasing adoption. This new package is an enhanced and re-released version of the original glTFast, an open-source Unity package developed by Andreas Atteneder in 2018. Andreas joined Unity in 2020 and remains actively involved in the development of glTFast.

Published: 15. Jan. 2024

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Fluid Frenzy - A GPU Fluid Simulator powered by Unity

Fluid Frenzy is a new fluid simulation tool being developed by a Reddit user known as FrenzyTheHedgehog. It is powered by the Unity game engine and runs entirely on the GPU. The developer intends to release it to the public on the Unity Asset store in the near future, making it an appealing option for those seeking high-performance water simulation in their Unity projects. According to the author, the simulations can interact with Unity's terrain and renderers, allowing the creation of flowing rivers. Users can interact with the simulation in various ways, such as adding or removing water, placing obstacles, making waves, and floating on the surface.

Published: 8. Jan. 2024

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Unigine 2.18 has been released

Unigine, the multi-purpose 3D engine has been updated to version 2.18. The new release focuses on improvements in visuals, animation, and virtual reality (VR), making it a valuable update for game developers. In terms of visuals, new features have been introduced, including a local tone mapper, a multiplicative blending mode for Voxel Probe, and additional sharpen and blur options for mipmaps. The update also brings improvements to Exposure, White Balance Correction, Denoiser, and the translucence effect. Additionally, asynchronous shader compilation has been implemented to enhance performance, addressing the issue of the engine freezing during shader compilation.

Published: 1. Jan. 2024

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Terrain3D - A terrain system for Godot 4 enters beta phase

Terrain3D, one of the best available options for terrain creation in Godot 4 has entered the beta phase with version 0.9, further solidifying its position as an excellent choice for this task. The plugin was initially developed for “Out of the Ashes”, a medieval-themed action-adventure game currently in development. Subsequently, the developers released it to the Godot community back in July. Since then, the plugin has maintained a relatively stable "alpha" state, offering essential features for terrain creation.

Published: 25. Dec. 2023

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Odyssey - A new animation software powered by Unreal Engine

Odyssey is a new animation software primarily designed for 2D artists who may have limited experience with 3D software. It facilitates the creation and integration of artworks and animations into 3D scenes. According to Praxinos, the company behind the project, Odyssey combines the benefits of 3D real-time technology with the spontaneity of traditional 2D animation. Odyssey was developed as a standalone application built on the Unreal Engine, allowing artists to access a diverse set of features. These include lighting, post-process volumes, and the ability to modify the composition of both 2D and 3D scenes — all within a user-friendly and straightforward interface.

Published: 18. Dec. 2023

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GeoGen has been released – An anticipated terrain and planet generation tool

JangaFX, the creators of EmberGen, a real-time fluid simulation software, have now launched GeoGen, a highly anticipated terrain generation tool. The software, initially announced in early December last year, is now available in alpha, and enables users to create 3D landscapes, terrains and planets in real-time. JangaFX describes GeoGen as a fresh approach to terrain and planet generation, emphasizing that no other terrain editor on the market offers the ability to create planets with such ease.

Published: 11. Dec. 2023