Blips Blog

FMOD 2.03 released with improved real-time audio control

FMOD, the professional middleware for adaptive game audio, has been updated to version 2.03. This release introduces powerful new features for real-time audio control. These include brand-new effects such as Multiband Dynamics and Spectral Sidechaining, a new Spectrum Analyzer, and utilities that offer higher levels of control over existing properties and signal chains.

Published: 22. Apr. 2024

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Nevercenter rolls out Pixelmash 2024.1

Pixelmash, presented as the next-generation pixel art and animated sprite editor for Windows and macOS, has received a new update. For those who are unfamiliar, Pixelmash is a tool for pixel art and animation that allows artists to blend high-resolution vector-based layers with low-resolution per-pixel layers. Vector layers are dynamically pixelated to a lower resolution in real-time, offering novel methods to create pixel art through transforms, tweening, and advanced layer effects. Additionally, Pixelmash includes essential features for pixel art work, such as Pixel Perfect Editing, Onion Skinning, Reference Layers, and more.

Published: 15. Apr. 2024

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Flax Engine 1.8 has been released

Flax Engine, described by the development team as "The most agile game engine," has recently been updated to version 1.8. For those unfamiliar, Flax Engine is a fully featured, source-available game engine featuring a modern editor interface and a component-based architecture similar to engines such as Unity. Some of its standout features include multiple scripting options such as C#, C++, and visual scripting, open-world tools including terrain, foliage, and fog systems, and support for large worlds with 64-bit precision coordinates.

Published: 8. Apr. 2024

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Blender has been updated to Version 4.1

Blender, the powerful open-source 3D creation suite, has received a new update. The new version introduces a multitude of new features, along with performance and workflow improvements, particularly beneficial for modelers and animators. Additionally, according to the Blender team, this release includes hundreds of bug fixes, code cleanups, and refactors, making Blender more stable and facilitating future contributions from developers.

Published: 1. Apr. 2024

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Cascadeur 2024.1 has been released

Cascadeur, the AI-driven 3D animation software, has received an update. Nekki, the company behind its development, states that the new 2024.1 version is a significant update, introducing functionality designed to improve users animation projects and streamline the workflow. One of the key additions in this release is animation unbaking, allowing you to convert baked (fully keyframed) animations into regular ones with fewer keyframes and various types of interpolation set automatically.

Published: 25. Mar. 2024

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Unity releases Megacity Metro - A new multiplayer game sample

Unity has released a new multiplayer game sample called Megacity Metro. Unveiled at Unite in 2023, this sample project provides valuable insights into creating games that are compatible across various platforms, using Unity Cloud Services, DOTS (Data Oriented Tech Stack), and the Universal Render Pipeline (URP). Megacity Metro is an an action-packed shooter game built upon the foundation of the original Megacity game sample. It leverages the power of Netcode for Entities to deliver an immersive multiplayer experience.

Published: 18. Mar. 2024

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The Godot game engine gets a complete multiplayer solution

A new open-source backend optimized for the Godot game engine has been released by W4 Games, a company created by key Godot contributors. The solution, namely W4 Cloud, is just one of the two products being developed by the company, the other being W4 Consoles — a framework for porting Godot games to consoles. Speaking of porting to consoles, you can now port Godot games to the Nintendo Switch for free. After 2 years in development, W4 Cloud has been launched in beta, providing seamless integration of multiplayer functionality into Godot game projects.

Published: 11. Mar. 2024

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The Defold game engine gets support for Playstation 5

Defold, the 2D-focused yet 3D-capable game engine, has recently added support for a new console target — this time, the PlayStation 5. This announcement was expected since the Defold Foundation outlined their console support plans back in June 2023, coinciding with the introduction of support for the PlayStation 4. PlayStation 5 is now an additional export target for the Defold game engine, joining an already extensive list of supported platforms.

Published: 4. Mar. 2024

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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