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Unity's '2017' game engine will focus on artists and designers
Unity's keynote at this year's GDC was all about the future of its game engine. The company has outlined plans for the next major version of its platform, Unity 2017, which is being designed with creators in mind. Unity says one of the main goals is to improve team productivity and collaboration features for non-programmers, particularly those who are artists and designers -- someone like a cinematic animator, for example. Developers will be able to sign up for a beta in April, marking the end of the Unity 5 cycle that began in 2014.
Facebook is launching its own PC gaming platform
Facebook's gaming aspirations didn't stop with Farmville and its $2 billion Oculus VR acquisition. Nope, the social network is also launching a dedicated PC gaming platform today. Said platform will lean heavily on developers using the ubiquitous Unity game engine, according to a release from the company. The partnership's first project is admittedly developer-centric, but it has a direct impact on the folks playing games on Facebook. Zuckerberg and Co. describe it as a new export feature baked into Unity that allows a studio to publish directly to Facebook and the aforementioned Facebook PC gaming platform "with very little effort and few code changes."
Autodesk Scaleform lets you use Flash to build high-end portable device games for $299 (video)
Got some great smartphone game ideas and Flash talent, but no budget and little to no programming savvy? Autodesk's Scaleform for Mobile Platforms could let you launch those ideas from a catapult, cannon or any game weapon of your choice -- all you'll need is Adobe creation tools and $299. That's the price per platform (iOS, Android or Windows 8,) giving you tools to convert your Flash assets and animations into a full blown Unity game, as well as the engine necessary for the mobile OS. That would let your creation take full advantage of the latest smartphone graphics and multi-processing capabilities, giving users smoother play and sharper looking games -- according to the company. The software is heavily based on the console and PC versions of Scaleform, optimized for the small devices and costing thousands less. So, if you think you've got the mad Flash skillz to create the next Infinity Blade, check the PR and video after the break to see how to power up.
Unity 4.0 game engine adds Linux support, Mecanim animation, Flash and DirectX 11 (video)
Unity is about to give a jolt to the Linux gaming community with version 4.0 of its engine. The Penguin has been "underserved," according to the game engine company, so it'll now join the list of supported operating systems alongside Windows, OS X, iOS, Android, Xbox, PS3 and Wii. Developers will also get the new Mecanim system for making character animation easier, on top of DirectX 11 for Windows and Flash publishing options. Details are in the video after the break, but it's good news considering how Linux's namesake just decried the lack of love for the platform.
Lenovo's Chinese eBox console suffers delay, here's how its camera-based games might play (video)
We had nearly forgotten Lenovo's Eedoo spinoff and its China-bound video game console, seeing as how it failed to meet a planned November 2010 unveiling, but IDG News reports that the motion-sensing eBox hasn't slipped Lenovo's mind -- it's just been pushed further into 2011. How far? If we were to guess, we'd say Q2 2011, and the video above spells out why. Seemingly by coincidence, we were just sent this footage of a game called Flyimal, built on the Unity Engine as a collaboration between 3D asset company Mixamo and 3D gesture recognition company Omek Interactive, and -- get this -- running on "the first [console] to be made by the Chinese for the Chinese market and due for launch by Q2 of this year." We can't think of many game systems that fit that description, to be honest. There's not a lot to look at here, but we imagine PrimeSense and competitors will be perusing the video soon, noting that the machine captures precisely 15 points on a user's body for its gesture recognition algorithms... and wondering if there's a third dimension to any of that movement. Read Unity, Mixamo and Omek's statement after the break.
