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How the studio behind 'Prey' reimagined space history
Talos I is a beautiful nightmare. The privately-owned research facility, suspended in space above the Earth, offers a captivating blend of science and art-deco design. Its offices are filled with tall, geometric art prints, red leather sofas and mahogany desks laced with gold. The station's lobby, large and extravagant, features two winged-lion statues carved from bronze and a huge set of windows overlooking the Moon. It's gorgeous, but there's a problem — the vessel is overrun with black, wispy aliens that can hide in everyday objects and kill you in a couple of seconds. Welcome to Prey, the latest video game from Arkane Studios.
US renews five-year gaming education grant for Becker College
To maintain its interest in gaming education, the US Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration renewed a five-year grant this week with Becker College in Worcester, Massachusetts. Becker College is the home of MassDigi, an academic program that focuses on the entrepreneurial side of game development, including a 12-week summer program where attendees take a concept to a market ready title. The Economic Development Administration's grant is for the amount of $583,000.
N64's 'GoldenEye 007' goes modern with Unreal Engine 4
Ah, yes. GoldenEye 007. One of the classic Nintendo 64 titles and a memorable first-person shooter is certainly a game that I spent a lot of time with. Now we have a glimpse of what the game could look like if it was made with the tools available to developers today. YouTube user Jude Wilson recreated a portion of the Facility Map using Unreal Engine 4, offering a bit of nostalgia for those of us who are familiar with the title. Wilson isn't the first to do this, as Mario and Sonic have already been given the UE4 treatment. It's an interesting take, but don't take our word for it, go through the level yourself via the video down below.
Someone made a giant Rubik's Cube in 'Fallout 4'
It seems there are two types of Fallout 4 gamers: those who want to do nothing but take out bad guys, and a very patient few who painstakingly create some incredible stuff. Case in point, this giant floating Rubik's Cube. User "Theowest" spent a whopping 25 hours gathering and assembling 128 generators, 36 terminals and thousands of wires to create this neon behemoth, but we're not entirely sure whether or not it's a cube that can be "solved." It seems to be missing a top and bottom panel and each square is able to change color. So if you're not a gamer who would make anything like this, then take a second to appreciate its complexity -- right before you get back to kicking bad guy butt.
The freedom to explore most open-world games is a lie
Open-world games aren't going away anytime soon, but more often than not when we play them we're being led around by a breadcrumb trail instead of actually exploring. Sometimes even quite literally. The reasoning for that is because it's much easier for game developers to stick a mini-map or quest directions in the heads up display than it is to integrate means of navigation into the game world itself. It's a topic YouTuber Mark Brown knows well and he's taking it for a spin in developer Bethesda Softworks' sprawling Fallout 4. In his latest entry into his Game Maker's Toolkit series he explains why he's turning off the quest markers in Fallout's irradiated Boston and trying to let his nose lead the way, so to speak.
'Uncharted' borrows from cinema to sidestep clunky game design
Developer Naughty Dog's games have always had a flair for the cinematic and that's due in large part to their presentation. The studio takes a minimalistic approach to how it delivers information to the player, eschewing ugly on-screen means of directing you where to go by using filmic techniques like smart scene composition and color to subtly guide the players from one area to the next. In the video below, YouTuber Mark Brown explores Uncharted 3's opening, breaking down how Naughty Dog pretty masterfully keeps players on the right track during the rooftop chase sequence without it feeling claustrophobically linear.
Recommended Reading: How baseball's tech team changed television
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. The Changeup by Ben Popper The Verge The streaming tech that powers HBO Now? It was built by Major League Baseball Advanced Media (BAM). Yes, the same outfit that handles MLB.tv and announced a partnership with the National Hockey League to handle its streaming services this week. The Verge takes a behind-the-scenes look at the department and what it's doing to build the future of television.
This is why 'Mario' levels are brilliant
For the past 30 years, if you wanted a masterclass in video-game level-and-objective design you needn't look any further than a Mario title from Nintendo. That didn't change any with 2013's stellar Super Mario 3D World or last year's spin-off Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, either. As Pocket Gamer's Mark Brown dissects in the video below, the ingenuity lies in how the former communicates wrinkles and tasks to the player -- not with a series of terrible tutorials, but gameplay. This is something the game's director Koichi Hayashida draws from four-panel Japanese manga. The structure's called kishoutenketsu, and it comes directly from Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto's time spent drawing comics; it's always been influential in how the company has approached game design.
Recommended Reading: The life of a professional dumpster diver
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. The Pro Dumpster Diver Who's Making Thousands Off America's Biggest Retailers Randall Sullivan, Wired Dumpster diving sounds pretty gross, right? Well, what if I told you there are thousands of dollars to be made rummaging through trash? That's exactly what Matt Malone is doing, and if he did it full-time, he claims he could rake in around $250,000 from his exploits.
'Doom' designer John Romero tells you about the game while playing it
Most Blu-rays and DVDs these days come with filmmaker commentary tracks, but it isn't too often you get to hear a game developer give play-by-play while running through something they created. That's the thrust behind the latest episodes of Double Fine Productions' "Devs Play" YouTube series, spotted by Polygon. Here we have one of Doom's co-creators John Romero playing a handful of maps from the legendary first-person shooter that runs on basically any platform. He breaks down everything from the work that went into differentiating it from id's other FPS Wolfenstein 3D, how the team used texture irregularities to denote secret rooms and even how he's watched speed runs that not even he can replicate. Oh, and he designed the first level last, incorporating everything he'd learned throughout the other missions to make the initial one the most interesting.
Poser 10 and Poser Pro 2014 available, bringing new characters, physics and more
Poser has come a long way from the last time I used it, right around version 4. We're now at 10 for the basic edition (retail US$299.99) and Poser Pro 2014 (retail $499.99) has become a powerful animation tool in its own right. I got to look at some of the new features rolling out today and they are impressive, putting Poser on par with many animation and modeling suites costing much more. A problem with any humanoid character is how the "skin" folds when you bend it. Poser now offers Pixar's OpenSubdiv libraries, which means subdivision surfaces anywhere you need them. I was impressed with the accuracy and speed at which Poser created subdivisions, which add greatly to the realism already available in Poser. There are also some new characters, both realistic and cartoonish, to help get you started. For basic work the stock characters will keep you busy for quite a while, but there's also a great third-party market for Poser models should you need more. One pain point for many digital artists are the hair and clothes for models. Getting those to "fit" properly can take a long time. Poser Pro now offers a "fitting room" which speeds up this process. Poser already has a cottage industry of third-party models and props, including clothes and hair. Now with the fitting room you can quickly fit those accessories to your basic models faster. Sure, you've still got the morph targets you've come to know and love, but Poser Pro now offers five specialized tools for interactively loosening, tightening clothes while retaining their physics properties (rigid or soft-body deformations). Both the Pro and basic editions now offer Bullet Physics, which simulates rigid-body and soft-body dynamics. Applying regions of soft-body dynamics is as easy as painting on your character, and the results are truly impressive with very little learning curve for newbies. That's the power of Poser, really. Many of the trickier elements of 3D modeling and animation are done for you (if you've ever rigged a biped using IK you know how tedious it can be!), leaving you to "play" with the models, lighting and accessories to get just the right look. With models already rigged, and now with Bullet Time, it has become easier than ever to get realistic animation out of the box with very little effort. Poser has become a powerful tool for graphic novelists as well, allowing artists to quickly pose and render characters. The latest addition offers a Comic Book Preview mode which allows artists to dial in the correct amount of lines and shading throughout a scene, even animated. Doing this in your 3D tool counts for a lot, and the examples I saw were impressive and fast. If you've ever set up a scene, added a cartoon render and discovered lines going funky when you animate, you'll be pleasantly surprised by Poser's ability to lock down lines and shaders in Comic Book mode. In addition to all this, there's a more capable Morph Brush for enhancing models, and a Live Simulation preview which allows you to quickly render ray traced models or preview animation using Bullet Time. Poser has become more capable and faster -- exactly what you want in a 3D modeling and animation tool. While the cost isn't cheap, Smith Micro is offering a deal through June 30. Poser 10 will be available for $239.99 and Poser Pro 2014 will be $399.99. If you're upgrading, check the Poser site for more details. Compared to 3ds Max and other tools, Poser is a steal at those prices. If you find yourself needing character models (for medical illustrations, graphic novels, stock photos, etc.) I think the basic version will make you very happy. If you need animated characters with lifelike skin, hair and clothes, Pro is simply brilliant and priced very competitively for what it delivers. No, these are not hobbyist tools exactly, but they are accessible to anyone and powerful enough to be used in professional situations. Check out Poser if you need a reliable solution to character animation or modeling needs. Show full PR text New Poser 10 and Poser PRO 2014 Animation Software Now Available · New 3D characters · Subdivision Surfaces · Bullet Physics with soft body dynamics · Interactive Raytrace Preview · Comic Book Preview Mode ALISO VIEJO, CA – May 21, 2013 – Smith Micro Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMSI) Productivity and Graphics Group today announced the newest version of its 3D animation software program, Poser® 10 and Poser® Pro 2014. Perfect for artists, illustrators, animators and graphic designers, Poser enables users to easily create full 3D scenes with digital humans, animals and props. In addition to an extensive library of pre-loaded characters and content, Poser 10 and Poser Pro 2014 come equipped with new features such as Subdivision Surfaces for improved bending fidelity, Bullet Physics for adding increased realism to animation and Live Simulation mode for previewing dynamics in real-time. Watch a video teaser for Poser 10 and Poser Pro 2014 here. "It's our goal to provide illustrators, graphic designers, animators and 3D artists as well as novice users and hobbyists with a resource for telling their stories in 3D, via images and video," said Steve Cooper, senior product manager of productivity and graphics at Smith Micro. "Poser not only provides professional users with powerful tools for creating 3D character content and scenes, but also offers a variety of easy-to-use features and pre-loaded figures and props that allow beginners to get into 3D art without forcing them to master figure modeling, texturing and rigging." Poser comes with pre-built, ready to use 3D characters that enable users to begin posing and animating right out of the box. Supported by a multitude of tutorial videos as well as by an experienced team of content creators, developers, QA testers and customer service and support teams, the full featured software is reliable, well documented and easy-to-learn. "With each new version that is released, Poser continues to raise the bar for 3D illustrators and artists," said Brian Haberlin, co-artist and co-writer of the multimedia sci-fi adventure saga Anomaly. "Poser gives users the ability to create exceedingly realistic animations and illustrations and has emerged as the digital artist's secret little helper." Poser 10 and Poser Pro 2014 provide new professional level features, even at the base version of the software. The integration of Pixar's OpenSubdiv library enables artists to define subdivision levels by prop, figure or even individual body part with ease. This feature, known as Subdivision Surfaces, improves bending accuracy, smoothens polygonal surfaces and boosts overall performance by enabling lighter poly-count content. Poser's new Bullet Physics tool simulates rigid body dynamics, soft body dynamics and even dynamic strand-based hair. Poser artists can now add jiggle and bounce to any prop or character, paint soft body constraint weights to animate and more. Users can even preview their animations in real-time with the Live Simulation feature. "Poser offers a variety of features that help everyone from beginners to professional animators alike," said Monty Oum, director of animation at Rooster Teeth Productions. "Whether you are just jumping into 3D animation or are a skilled digital artist, Poser has tools that will help bring your art to life, while cutting down production time and cost." Comic Book Preview Mode and new Fitting Room: Poser's new Comic Book Preview Mode enables illustrators to create color or black and white comic art with improved line control and outlines with persistent shading, even when rotating or animating their point of view. Users can also interactively fit existing clothing and props to any Poser figure with Poser Pro's Fitting Room, which provides five intelligent methods that interactively loosen, tighten, smooth and preserve soft and rigid features. With the click of a single button, designers can generate a new conforming clothing item, using the original figure's rig, complete with full morph transfer. For a full feature-listing visit here. Pricing and Availability: From now until June 20, 2013 Poser 10 is available for $239.99 and Poser 2014 for $399.99. After this time, Poser 10 will be available for $299.99 and Poser 2014 for $499.99. For more detailed product, pricing and tiered upgrade pricing information, please visit the Poser website. About Smith Micro Software, Inc. - Productivity and Graphics Group: Based in Santa Cruz, Calif., the Smith Micro Software Productivity and Graphics Group produces award-winning software that inspires consumer creativity and enables efficiency. The group's creative suite of programs provides artists of all skill levels – from novice to professional – with the tools to illustrate, animate and create 2D and 3D art. Some of the Productivity and Graphics Group's award-winning creative and utilities products include Poser, Anime Studio, Manga Studio and StuffIt. For more information, please visit: www.smithmicro.com. (NASDAQ: SMSI) Safe Harbor Statement: This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, forward-looking statements relating to the company's financial prospects and other projections of its performance, the existence of new market opportunities and interest in the company's products and solutions, and the company's ability to increase its revenue and regain profitability by capitalizing on these new market opportunities and interest and introducing new products and solutions. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements are changes in demand for the company's products from its customers and their end-users, customer concentration given that the majority of our sales depend on a few large client relationships, including Sprint, new and changing technologies, customer acceptance and timing of deployment of those technologies, new and continuing adverse economic conditions, and the company's ability to compete effectively with other software companies. These and other factors discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its filings on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are made on the basis of the views and assumptions of management regarding future events and business performance as of the date of this release, and the company does not undertake any obligation to update these statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release. Smith Micro, the Smith Micro logo and Poser are trademarks or registered trademarks of Smith Micro Software, Inc. All other trademarks and product names are the property of their respective companies.
The Engadget Interview: Cliff Bleszinski on next-gen gaming, Oculus Rift and the always-on console
What's life been like for the outspoken Gears of War designer and former design director of Epic Games since his departure last fall? Well, a lot of taking it easy. Cliff Bleszinski (or CliffyB to many) may not be manning the design reins of an upcoming game, but he's still quite active -- especially in chatting up the blooming dev community around Raleigh, N.C. We caught up with Cliff after his keynote at the recent East Coast Games Conference to talk next-gen, annualized game franchises and anything else we could think of. Join us on the other side of the break for the full discussion and some unabashed love for the Tarheel State.
Microsoft's Kodu challenge invites the younger generation to design games
As part of its encouraging Imagine Cup, Microsoft is giving young ones that are aged between 9 and 18 the chance to enter a game design challenge dubbed Kodu. With a renowned Xbox controller being used as the main interface, Kodu will allow kids and teens to create games on a PC or Xbox "via a simple visual programming language" -- which allows them to virtually layout anything from sculpted landscapes and decorated trees, to creating their own scoring system, gameplay and, of course, characters. The Imagine Cup Kodu Challenge, as it's more formally known, is now open and will remain this way until May 17th, with the eventual winners set to be awarded up to $3,000. Finalists in other Imagine Cup categories, meanwhile, will nab a trip to the event in St. Petersburg, Russia, where they could end up taking home a range of prizes, including cash, grants and other goodies -- but, perhaps most importantly, also the utmost respect of all other challengers present.
Valve announces Steam for Schools, helps teachers create educational Portal 2 levels
Who ever said being a scientific guinea pig couldn't be educational? With Steam for Schools, teachers can now use Portal 2's level editor to create lessons focused on boosting critical thinking, spatial reasoning and problem solving skills. Announced at the Games for Change festival in New York City, the educator edition of Steam comes with a free copy of Portal 2 and the Portal 2 Puzzle Maker. Students and teachers alike can use the tools to create puzzles, but distribution is handled by teachers alone. (That's right, kids -- no level sharing unless the teach says so.) An accompanying website serves as a gathering place for teachers to collaborate, and aims to provide sample lesson plans centered on science, technology, engineering and math. If you're an educator who can't wait to bring a Portal-assisted physics lesson to life, see the links below to sign up for the ongoing beta. Now if you'll excuse us, we're off to "study."
Crytek's CryEngine 3 makes it easier than ever for devs to build games as pretty as Crysis
It's not every day you get to speak with the folks who make one of the most advanced game engines in the world, but today at E3, Crytek (you know, the folks responsible for Crysis) let us in on some of the secrets behind its latest game platform, CryEngine 3. We sat down with Kirthy Iyer, an animation technologist at Crytek, and had him walk us through some of CE3's tools that are enabling publishers to build games for any platform -- including PC, PS3 or Xbox 360 -- faster and better than ever. Among the highlights are a "multi-layer navigation mesh" that automates the movements of AI-controlled game characters, and super realistic water rendering technologies. We could go on singing CryEngine's praises, but instead we'll let you get all the details from Mr. Iyer in the video after the break. Enjoy.
Angelina: the experimental AI that's coming for our game dev jobs
Ok so, maybe Angelina couldn't have created Skyrim all on her own, but the experimental AI from Michael Cook (a computer scientist at Imperial College London) is still quite impressive. The artificial dev is able program enemy behavior, layout levels, and distribute power ups with random attributes. While many elements of a game like Space Station Invaders (which you can play at the more coverage link) are designed by human hands, it's Angelina's ability to act as a composer building something fun from the various ingredients that's so interesting. Before setting a level in stone she plays through the possible combinations, determining which will be most enjoyable for a human player. Hit up the source link for loads more info.
360iDev: Designing iPad specific (and iPad-supported) games
Developer Gareth Jenkins's talk at 360iDev this week in Denver was about designing games specifically for the iPad. He made the distinction early on about two reasons you would design games (or apps) for the iPad. First, they're either iPad-supported, such as a game you designed elsewhere but are bringing to the iPad. Or, second, they're iPad-specific, a game made just for the iPad's unique screen, interface, and use case. Jenkins said he was sorry that we'd seen very little in terms of iPad-specific games so far. Most games simply borrow their interfaces either from other game systems or from the iPhone's much smaller touchscreen. But, as he reiterated many times in his talk, the iPad is different. It's not a game controller, or a phone, or anything else we've seen yet. The demographics are different, the use cases are different, and the use itself is different. He used his own game, Hyperion, as an example. Hyperion was developed at the 360iDev game jam last year, and the game involved a hex battle system that plays kind of like Risk with "some Pac Man-esque AI." The game really only works well on the iPad rather than the iPhone, and Jenkins says that's because your fingers don't cover up the tiny screen. Hyperion depends on multiple areas of gameplay, what Jenkins called "independent areas of action and interaction," where you're playing on one part of the screen but watching what happens on the other. Only the iPad's larger touchscreen allows for that type of dual movement. He also showed off a prototype that his company had worked on, which he called "a cross between Dragon Age and Dawn of War 2" that hadn't been made yet. The game involves guiding a group of four adventures through a top-down world in real time; one action bar on the bottom of the screen corresponds to the four adventurers, while another action bar in the top right deals with their skills and spells. The main part of the screen, as seen above, is used to draw real-time paths for the heroes to take, so players will be watching what happens on the main screen while pressing buttons on the bottom and side of the iPad. The idea sounds wild, but Jenkins said the prototype worked well. Even though the UI was relatively complicated (and he used World of Warcraft's extremely detailed UI as an example), the controls "mapped" well to how the player approached the game, and it's something that could only be done on the iPad's screen. Next, Jenkins gave examples of games that were "iPad-supported" -- games that started out elsewhere, but came to the iPad in either the same form or a different one. Mirror's Edge, Call of Duty: Zombies, Canabalt, and even the recent Machinarium were cited as games that recently arrived on the iPad, and made (mostly) solid use of Apple's tablet while not diverging too much from their original ideas (though Mirror's Edge was probably the exception in Jenkins's mind -- he said he was disappointed the iPad game played so unlike the console version). Finally, Jenkins gave some advice to developers thinking about working for the iPad: Just start doing it. He advised prototyping early and often for the iPad, and also consuming and analyzing other developers' work. Jenkins said he will often do things like taking screenshots and drawing all over them to point out what he does and doesn't like. He also recommended developers use the iPad for content creation, both for creating art and for doing things like using the iPad's synthesizer apps to create sound effects and music. Jenkins's talk offered up a lot of insightful commentary on just what it means to make and play an "iPad game." Here's hoping future developers make even more unique use of this definitely unique device.
9-year-old hangs with PopCap, creates iOS game via Make A Wish Foundation
When you're 9 years old you dream of plenty of things. Thanks to the Make A Wish Foundation, Owain Weinert's dream came true when he got to visit PopCap Games and design his very own video game. Owain's been diagnosed with pre-B Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia and has spent several weeks working with PopCap to design his game, Allied Star Police. "This is my dream and I finally get to see my dream come true," he says. "It's a real-time strategy game and I really had fun watching it take shape." Owain's mother Heather seemed bowled over by the kindness PopCap has shown her son. "Today is a real high point," she said during a visit to the company. "Being in the hospital for kids with cancer can be a real downer." PopCap presented Owain with an iPad with the development version of the game, which is due in the App Store in the coming months. Profits will go to the Make A Wish foundation. You can watch a video of Owain's visit to PopCap on the next page (sorry iOS users, no Flash-free version available).
Game designer talks rebalancing Street Fighter 2 HD
David Sirlin knows fighting games. So when Capcom tapped him to re-balance Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, and make it better than the original, they were putting the game's untarnished reputation into just the right hands. Sirlin proves his worth in the first of a series of articles on rebalancing Super Turbo HD, revealing new details about the latest Street Fighter II sequel while discussing important decisions made to improve upon the game. Through it all, Sirlin emphasizes the need to retain and improve upon both the feel and the tournament-worthy status of what he considers to be the best in the series.In short, Sirlin discusses how he aims to make the game more approachable to a larger audience, while rebalancing each fighter to ensure that the title is perfected for tournament play. Purists need not worry: the HD remix will allow gamers to choose to play an unaltered, arcade-perfect version of the original Super Street Fighter II Turbo, which uses the enhanced graphics and sounds but includes none of the rebalancing. The article's a good read for aspiring game designers, Street Fighter fanatics, or just fans of fighting games in general.[Via GameSetWatch]
Gamasutra looks at 20 difficult games
Believe it or not, building difficulty into games isn't just about making them more impossible. John Harris over at Gamasutra takes the long route to prove this in an extended look into difficulty in game design. The majority of the feature is spent looking at specific cases of legitimately difficult games, dissecting their design and coming away with lessons learned from each. Harris concedes that most intelligently difficult games are much older, and typically don't have a "lose" condition. The list includes hair-pulling classics like Defender, Sinistar, and Lode Runner, as well as a few more recent titles like Super Monkey Ball. It's a good read for anyone interested in game design.John Harris also writes the excellent @Play column for GameSetWatch, which focuses on a long history of games classified as "roguelikes."
