Blips Blog

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

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Godot 4.2 has been released

Godot 4.2 has recently been released. According to the official release publication, this update represents the culmination of over 1800 improvements made by 359 contributors since the launch of Godot 4.1 nearly 5 months ago. The new version introduces many new features and essential bug fixes that make Godot an even better tool for developing your game projects. Without further ado, let's dive into a brief summary of the most impactful changes in this release.

Published: 4. Dec. 2023

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GameMaker introduces new and more accessible pricing for game developers

GameMaker, presented as the ultimate 2D game engine by its developers, has recently unveiled a new pricing model. The change makes Game Maker free for non-commercial use on all platforms, except consoles. For commercial projects, a new one-time payment license has replaced the existing Creator/Indie subscriptions. This marks a surprising shift, with the company deciding to transition from a subscription-based product model to a single upfront fee.

Published: 27. Nov. 2023

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Unity releases new sample resources for mastering Shader Graph

The Unity Shader Graph team has recently released new Node Reference Samples, comprising a collection of over 140 graphs representing a large majority of the nodes available in Shader Graph. Each graph includes a description of the node, an explanation of its functionality, and provides examples, illustrations, and helpful tips. Just a few examples of available node samples include Dot Product, DDX, Normal Vector, Lerp, and Normal Blend. Samples are categorized across various domains such as Artistic, Channel, Custom Render Texture, Input, Math, Procedural, SpeedTree, Utility, and UV.

Published: 20. Nov. 2023

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Reallusion introduces AccuFACE - An innovative facial animation tool

Reallusion has released a new facial animation plugin named AccuFACE for their 3D animation software iClone. AccuFACE is an AI-powered facial tracker designed to deliver high-quality real-time facial animation. Reallusion describes the tool as revolutionary, emphasizing that in the past, users would have needed expensive hardware or paid subscription fees to achieve such results. In contrast, AccuFACE makes top-tier facial mocap accessible to most users.

Published: 13. Nov. 2023

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GDevelop 5.3 has been released with native 3D support

GDevelop, the free, open-source, and easy-to-use game engine, has been updated to version 5.3. This release marks a significant departure from being a 2D-only game engine to a versatile engine also capable of creating 3D games. While 3D game development was previously achievable through community extensions, it is now supported natively. This further increases GDevelop's appeal, making it an even more attractive choice for those seeking an intuitive game engine with a “no-code” approach for both 2D and 3D game development.

Published: 6. Nov. 2023

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Valve releases SteamVR 2.0

Valve has recently released SteamVR 2.0, a major update to its virtual reality (VR) platform. According to Valve, this is the first major step in an ongoing effort to unify the Steam ecosystem for all users, ensuring a consistent experience across devices. With this update, Steam's objective was to seamlessly integrate the latest Steam features into VR and make it easier to add future ones in a faster and more frequent way.

Published: 30. Oct. 2023

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SideFX presents a sneak peek of Houdini 20

Houdini is a popular procedural 3D software for VFX, motion graphics and game development. SideFX, the company behind the product, has recently released a sneak peek video showcasing the new tools and features in the upcoming Houdini 20. The video highlights updates to the most important aspects of the software, covering the Karma renderer, simulation tools, character rigging, and animation.

Published: 23. Oct. 2023

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Kenney releases a first-person shooter starter kit for Godot

Following the recent release of City Builder, Kenney now presents us with a new starter kit for first-person shooters (FPS). As usual, the new kit maintains a charming low-poly art style consistent with the other starter kits. The FPS Starter Kit is a basic template for a first person shooter type of game and includes features such as a character controller, weapons, the ability to switch weapons, enemies, sprites and 3D Models.

Published: 16. Oct. 2023