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Oculus now an official platform, build target for Unity 5
Oculus is now an official platform and build target for Unity 5, Oculus VR's VP of Product Nate Mitchell announced during today's Oculus Connect event. A related press release notes that Unity will "now fully support Oculus and the Rift with a dedicated add-on that includes stereo imaging optimizations, 3D audio support, and other features specifically for virtual reality." [Image: Oculus VR]
Unity Pro now free for all licensed PlayStation developers
Unity Pro is now available for all licensed PlayStation developers at the low, low cost of nothing. Those that become approved developers for Sony's platforms will have access to "PlayStation ready versions" of Unity Pro, which offers developers the tools to create 2D and 3D games and applications. Unity Pro normally costs $1,500 or $75 per month, as listed on Unity's store. Unity entered a partnership with Sony to offer optimized tools for the PlayStation platforms in March 2013. Sony has since shown greater interest in hosting the creations of independent developers, adding "fully-integrated solutions" for PS3 and Vita this past March. PlayStation Mobile developers received free access to Unity for PSM in June before Sony killed support for PSM on Android last month. [Image: Unity]
Gone Home going to Wii U, says Nintendo manager
For more on Gone Home, check out our review. (The Unite 2014 video is below the break as well as the text from the image for anyone who has difficulty reading it.)
John Carmack's 9-year-old son releases first game, Angry Face
John Carmack, arguably best known as the co-creator of Doom, has a nine-year-old son named Ryan. This week, Ryan released his first video game - a variation of Pong that substitutes the simple graphics of white bars and a square with ovals and a smiley face. It's called Angry Face. "I enjoy video games a lot so I made one," Ryan wrote on his blog. "I feel nervous about my game ... it's rather simple. It's called Angry Face! This is my version of Pong. I wrote the game but my 4 year old brother helped me with sound and testing. He really likes the game. This is the very first game that I've created and I want to make more in the future. I hope I get a good response and that everyone likes it." Ryan also mentions that he made a "grandma mode" difficulty level at the request of his grandmother, as well as an "expert mode" difficulty for those looking for a challenge. You can play Angry Face in a web browser for free, so long as you have the Unity Web Player extension installed. [Image: Ryan Carmack]
ID@Xbox developers achieve Unity
The Unity engine, known for powering independently-developed games like Slender: The Eight Pages and Oddworld: New N Tasty, has come to Xbox One. Any developers signed on as part of the ID@Xbox program with an Xbox One dev kit now have access to the engine completely free of charge, Unity (the company) announced via its blog. The build available now is version 4.3, but Unity 5.0 is the goal. "Unity 5.0 will eventually be our recommended version for all Xbox One development," the blog states. "However, we will continue to make updates for the Unity 4.3 version of the product including XDK upgrades into 2015 to ensure teams that have already built to this version of the product can ship." That's good news for several high-profile Xbox One games that are already using Unity, including Ori and the Blind Forest, Cuphead and Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime. [Image: Moon Studios]
How much does Metal matter to iOS developers? A ton, apparently
For anyone who hasn't dabbled in the rendering capabilities of Apple's iOS devices, the announcement of Metal -- the new API that Apple claims will offer greater power for games than ever before -- was cool, but that's about it. But for the team behind the hugely popular Unity game engine, the upcoming update is extremely exciting. Metal is designed to give developers much more control over the power used by the iOS devices that run their games. With less power needed to run the API, more resources can be devoted to making games run smoother and look better. As CVG reports, the change has impressed Unity's developers quite a bit. "Based on our testing so far, we have seen API+driver overhead vanish to just a few percent of CPU time," the team claims. "That is a tremendous improvement comparing to 15-40% of CPU time that it used to be before!" This comes on the heels of praise from Epic Games, creators of the vaunted Unreal Engine, who took the stage at WWDC 2014 to show off an impressive "Zen Garden" demo running on Unreal Engine 4 and Metal. With performance gains as high as 40%, Metal -- which is on the way in Apple's iOS 8 update -- is undoubtedly going to give marquee developers even more reason to devote time to Apple's platform.
Head on up to 'South Park' with Oculus Rift and have yourself a time
If it's been your childhood dream to explore South Park in 3D, consider it realized thanks to a new Oculus Rift experience from Tool. Over the course of a "few short weeks in June," the production company, inspired by The Stick of Truth RPG, faithfully recreated the fictional Colorado town allowing anyone with an Oculus headset to explore its scrapbook streets, interact with characters and find hidden easter eggs. For example: if you navigate through the town's church doors, you'll almost certainly "fall" into Hell. You can beat a hasty retreat, however, if you bump into Saddam Hussein, who'll whisk you back to the snowy streets of South Park (just don't ask us who killed Kenny). While the experience is best suited for Oculus Rift owners, the cartoon landscape is also available inside your browser. You can find that and the Oculus source files using the links below.
Neojac is looking to put Atavism MMO creator on Steam
Raise your hand if you've ever thought you could do better than a professional MMO dev. Good, now, all of you go and click the link at the bottom of this article that leads to something called Atavism Online. Atavism is billed as an "MMO creator" on its preliminary Steam Greenlight page, and it's essentially a Unity game development environment that handles all the pesky programming, networking, and server administration tasks while enabling creative types to jump in and start developing the actual game. You might recognize the company behind Atavism, as Neojac is also building an MMO called Neo's Land using this very toolset. [Thanks omedon666!]
Watch a small Insomniac team make its next game, Slow Down Bull
Ratchet and Clank series developer Insomniac Games announced a new pet project this week, Slow Down Bull. The game is in development for PC by a small team of four or five people at the studio. Slow Down Bull is an action game in which players will attempt to rein in an "overachieving" bull named Axel, who is keen on collecting "beautiful things." Axel's nature is of the more temperamental and tumultuous variety however, so players will need to help Axel stay stress-free while collecting the game's goodies. Little else is known about the project, such as its targeted release window, though it is being created in Unity. A small piece of concept art for the game can be found after the break. The small team does intend to host livestreams of Slow Down Bull's development process every Friday afternoon on its Twitch channel at 2:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. ET), starting tomorrow. Meanwhile, a larger chunk of the developer is working on getting its Xbox One exclusive game Sunset Overdrive ready for its release on October 28. [Image: Insomniac Games]
Unity comes to PlayStation Mobile
Unity, the malleable video game development engine available for nearly every platform known to man, is coming to – you guessed it – another platform man is familiar with. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. has announced the "official version" of Unity for PlayStation Mobile will be made available to developers beginning today. Unity for PSM, Sony says, is a "fully integrated solution" of the Unity engine, optimized for the development of mobile content for Sony's PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV hardware. "The official version of 'Unity for PSM' removes the need for extensive re-coding, allowing developers to easily port their games created for iPhone, iPad, and Android based devices to launch on PSM. This opens up the PS Vita platform to a broader range of mobile developers and will help fuel the expansion of the gaming lineup for both the PS Vita and PS TV systems," a press release noted. Sony adds that its PlayStation Mobile developer program, which supports developers in the creation of "dedicated content" for its platform, has expanded to 32 countries and regions. The program, Sony claims, is built to allow developers the opportunity to easily distribute their content to users via the PlayStation Store. More information on the platform is available on the PlayStation Mobile website. Bets for the next device to get Unity support are now open, with best odds going toward those fancy Japanese toilets and current-generation toaster ovens. [Image: Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.]
Minecraft maker's newest game blends cliffs, horses and Dogecoin
Markus "Notch" Persson is mainly known as the man behind Minecraft, but he's quickly developing a reputation for eccentric games that cover everything from speed typing to existential drama. If there's any doubt, you just have to look at his latest title, Cliffhorse. Yes, it's as absurd as the title suggests -- you play a horse pushing a giant ball around cliffs, and there isn't more to it than that. However, that barely-there design (which took all of two hours to build) is really the point. Persson describes the Windows-only game as a jab at developers who abuse early access programs by charging money for "minimum effort" releases, where most of the content theoretically comes later. And yes, he's aware of the irony given that he charged for Minecraft well before it was finished.
Unity, Riot Games co-founders join AIAS board of directors
David Helgason, CEO and co-founder of Unity Technologies, and Brandon Beck, CEO and co-founder of Riot Games, have joined the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Board of Directors. For those just catching up, Unity is engine behind everything from garage development games to the upcoming Pillars of Eternity, while Riot Games is the studio behind highly-successful MOBA League of Legends. Helgason and Beck's addition to the AIAS is effective immediately, as is the promotion of Nexon America CEO Min Kim to Chairman. Ted Price, CEO and founder of Insomniac Games and AIAS vice chairman, congratulated all three men on their new titles. "Min's industry experience, his ability to tackle tough problems creatively and his collaborative approach to leadership will help propel the AIAS forward as it tackles more and more ambitious goals," Price said in a press release." "Furthermore congratulations and welcome to our newest board members David and Brandon. Whether it's through putting games development at the fingertips of every aspiring creator or delivering co-operative and competitive play on an unmatched global scale, Brandon and David have driven major change in our industry. We're honored that they're joining our team and we're excited to work with them in furthering the Academy's mission." [Image: Unity/Riot Games]
The PlayStation 4 is getting a game you can play using your voice
Voice-controlled gaming isn't quite as easy to pull off on the PlayStation 4 as it is on the Xbox One (that Kinect comes in handy), but Iridium Studios is out to prove that it's no big challenge. The developer has revealed that it's bringing its crowdfunded squad strategy title, There Came an Echo, to Sony's console. As on the PC and Xbox, you can order your team around using little more than your voice. While the gamepad is very much usable, it's not completely essential to finishing your mission.
The Inochi Project offers adorable robot-animals in exchange for Kickstarter money
If you've got some money burning a hole in your pocket and a love for all things robot and cute, then Forwardfor's Inochi Project Kickstarter campaign would like to have a chat with you. Launching today, the campaign seeks £30,000 (about $50,000 US) to help accelerate further development on the MMO. The game will allow players to create their own robot animals (ani-mechs), customize homes, participate in battle arenas, explore cities, and fight against the rust plague that is turning ani-mechs into rust-covered villains. Stretch goals climb upward to £350,000 (about $586,000 US), but pledges begin at $1.60 US. If you want to play the beta, $16 is your buy-in. We've got the trailer after the cut!
New Kinect for Windows arrives this summer
Amid the volley of announcements from Microsoft's Build conference, is word that the new Kinect for Windows has a near-future release timeframe for both the hardware and its SDK. The desktop version of Microsoft's do-all sensor will be available to the public this summer, as will its development framework. Perhaps more importantly, once they're done, developers can publish their creations to the Windows Store; meaning, there'll probably be more Kinect applications for Windows in one place than ever before. As Redmond tells it, this self-publishing will happen "later this summer." Next summer (notice a theme here?), Microsoft is adding support for one of gaming's most pervasive dev toolkits to Kinect for Windows: the Unity engine -- tools developers already know the strengths and weaknesses of, which should bolster the app selection even further. Given that the Xbox One will see Unity support this year, this could mean that cross-platform apps and games are a distinct possibility. Or, maybe we'll get a cool new bank account manager instead.
50 Unity games 'waiting in the wings' for Wii U, says Nintendo
Nintendo says there are 50 Unity games in development for the Wii U, in addition to the 17 already submitted for release on the eShop in the next two months. Nintendo distributes the Wii U-specific version of Unity free with every Wii U development kit, and by the sounds of it, that's enticed plenty of developers to both the platform and the engine. "Over the course of this show, we have 9 games on display," Nintendo of America Senior Manager of Marketing Damon Baker told Siliconera at GDC. "We have 17 that are currently in the pipeline, that have been submitted. So they will all be out within the next two months. And then, we have another 50 that are waiting in the wings, that are coming; so we've got a lot of Unity content on the way." For all the Unity support Nintendo's home console is getting, the engine remains absent from its portable system. Nintendo is "definitely looking at" the possibility of Unity coming to 3DS, especially now the engine's Wii U build is finalized and pumping out games. "Now, we can move on to other platforms and see how we can make those compatible," Baker said, "either with Unity or with additional middleware providers as well. So, 3DS is definitely an exciting platform for us, because we've got a huge install base, and we want to take advantage of that. We've got a lot of developers that want to take advantage of it. So, we're working towards that as well. But nothing to announce at this time."
Nintendo 'looking at' Unity support for 3DS
Developers working on Wii U projects have counted the Unity engine among their options since last year, but support for Unity is still absent from the 3DS. Considering more than 42 million 3DS units have been sold worldwide, in comparison to the 5.86 million Wii U shipped to retailers as of January, Unity's absence from the 3DS is puzzling. Siliconera asked Nintendo's Senior Manager of Marketing Damon Baker about Unity's absence from the 3DS during GDC, learning that the company is considering implementing support for the handheld as well. While Baker noted there was nothing to announce at this time concerning Unity support for the 3DS, he stated that Nintendo is "definitely looking at that." Baker explained that getting the Unity situation sorted out on the Wii U was Nintendo's priority, adding that it can now focus on expanding compatibility for other platforms, "either with Unity or with additional middleware providers as well." Unity support was added to Sony's Vita in January, so doing the same with the 3DS would feel like a logical move if Nintendo wants to stay competitive as a host of developer-friendly platforms. [Image: Nintendo]
Assassin's Creed: Unity brings a French flair to stealth action on PC, PS4 and Xbox One
We hope you're making good progress on Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, because there's already a sequel on the way. Ubisoft has unveiled Assassin's Creed: Unity, a follow-up that takes the stealthy game series to Paris during the French Revolution. Clearly, you can expect guillotines to play an important role. You'll get a tiny hint of the experience in the teaser video below. However, it's worth noting that the trailer only shows Unity coming to PCs, the PS4 and the Xbox One -- there's no mention of the Wii U or previous-generation systems. We've reached out to Ubisoft to check on platform support, but there's a good chance that the developer is focusing all its attention on higher-end hardware this time around.
Sony eases PS4 indie development with new publishing tools
As if Sony's support of independent developers hasn't been apparent enough, the console manufacturer will make it easier for indies to bring their games to Sony's platforms. The company announced partnerships today to offer PS4 exporting tools for game development software GameMaker: Studio and MonoGame for free to licensed Sony Computer Entertainment developers. Sony also made "fully-integrated solutions" for PS3 and Vita available for Unity users, with an early access PS4 version arriving on Unity in April. Lastly, the company opted to offer its Authoring Tools Framework as a free, open source download available on GitHub. SCE uses the framework to help craft games like The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls. Created by Yo Yo Games, GameMaker was used to create games such as Hyper Light Drifter, Risk of Rain and Nuclear Throne. Conversely, MonoGame is the backbone of games like TowerFall: Ascension, Mercenary Kings and Transistor. One GameMaker-developed game is Savant Ascent, which Yo Yo Games named as its favorite game of 2013 for the development platform. The stylistic shooter was announced for PS4 this morning following its debut on PC, Mac, iOS and Android in December. [Image: Matt Makes Games]
Unity 5 game engine brings advanced lighting, physics and audio effects to mobile, PC and now the web
At the Game Developers Conference, or for those in the know: GDC, we got a taste of the new Unity 5 game engine. For most of you, a new engine doesn't mean much, but in the hands of the right people, it can mean more beautiful and realistic games. Unity, which powers any number popular titles, especially on the mobile front, is getting a host of new features for version five. Most notably is a new physics-based shader system and integration of Geomerics Enlighten illumination tools -- that means more realistic lighting and shadows as well as console-caliber visual effects. The engine's audio pipeline has also been rebuilt from the ground up for better performance and more flexibility when it comes to mixing sound and adding effects. But perhaps the biggest addition is early access to WebGL support, which means you'll be able to build titles that work on iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, OS X, Windows, Linux, PlayStation, Xbox, WiiU and any modern web browser. As an example, Unity will be demoing Dead Trigger 2 running on WebGL at their booth at GDC.
