I noted today how much I like programming - especially when I can try out new stuff. Not necessarily thematically new stuff (it’s not like I haven’t programmed a score manager before), but when I can do it in a stylistically new way. In this case, I tried to do it using dependency injection, something I stumbled over while trying to learn Angular.js – and then subsequently on the Unity blog.
Yes, I will absolutely obsess over these things.
Images have always been used to transport ideology, and it isn’t that different in games.
Case in point, because I just recently stumbled over concept art for Modern Combat 5. I don’t play these games. But what the concept art, though technically brilliant, tells you about the mindset of the developers behind the game, is quite … interesting.
Have a look here, and then observe a few things, especially regarding the character design:
[Disclaimer: I have been asked by Packt Publishing to review this book. I received a free e-book copy of the book as compensation.]
Unity 3D has always, despite its name, been used for 2D game development. Unity Technologies have realised that and have recently released an update to their game engine with better support for 2D game development. Obviously, it couldn’t take long until the first books on the topic were released.
While most gamers enjoy having as many options as possible to fine-tune the look and performance of the games they play, this is not always possible or advisable to do.
Especially in therapy games, where games are on one hand used by non-hardcore gamers that are oblivious to those possibilities and on the other hand are likely to be played on systems that have not been built to be used as powerful gaming machines, another solution is needed.
The following MonoBehaviour can easily be added to a project and adapts the quality of a game automatically in order to provide smooth frame rates.
Keeping track of different builds of (Unity) games can occasionally be convoluted, especially if you’re in a workflow where you also have to provide installers with your builds. With different testers potentially testing different versions, it’s easy to lose track what bug is fixed in what version or build.
Luckily, Unity3D is based on Mono (.NET), and therefore the problem can be solved by simply dropping in a new MonoBehaviour. Read on for how it works.
Can be done using this:
type file1.txt,file2.txt -Encoding UTF8 >> out.txt
However, this will not overwrite the out.txt, but just add new lines to the already existing files.
If you care about Swiss game design, then you have some serious playing to do. In the last few weeks two games have been released that couldn’t be more different. On second glance however, it becomes apparent that they share the same qualities.
These games are Journey of a Roach by Koboldgames and Drei by Etter Studios.
(Okay, I lied, there are slightly more steps involved.)
I regularly listen to short stories on podcasts, among them also The Drabblecast, which recently had a somewhat longer story: The Cold Equations.
Normally, these stories don’t elicit a very strong reaction from me, but this time, it did. (From now on: spoiler warning, in case you want to listen to the story first. Do it, it’s worth it.)
While I have posted several in-depth analyses of Facebook games during the last half year, an actual conclusion was still missing. Even though I abandoned my master’s thesis for now, I’d like to add a conclusion to the work already done. Therefore, I present to you after the jump: Things that therapy games can learn from Facebook games.
