Issue #252 - Design, Behaviors/AI, Marketing and more

This article was originally published on GameDevDigest.com

Hot off the presses, another week of game dev stuff. Enjoy!

Learn GPU Programming in Your Browser - WebGPU has arrived, opening a direct pipeline from the web browser to your local GPU. We’ve built WebGPU Puzzles to help you try it and explore the possibilities. It’s a simple, interactive way to learn GPU programming using nothing but your browser.
answer.ai

Why use Utility AI instead of Behavior Trees and Finite State Machines - After years of working with Behavior Trees and Finite State Machines, I realized that they have many drawbacks and are not a good choice for creating game AIs. Then I explored Utility AI and discovered that it can address many of the disadvantages of Behavior Trees and Finite State Machines. That’s why I like Utility AI and created Utility Intelligence.
blog.carloslab-ai.com

You Don’t Need To Be An Extrovert To Be Good At Marketing - I hear this all the time from indie developers "I love the game making part of being a game developer, but absolutely suck at the marketing part because I have crippling social anxiety."
howtomarketagame.com

How to find content creators to play your game - Get your game in front of more people with these 4 steps. Marketing, everybody!
valadria.com

Lord of the Buckets — A Dictionary of Lists in C# - Whenever your code sorts things into a variable number of (named) buckets and keeps an order of said stuff inside the buckets, then you are working with a dictionary of lists. The most straightforward approach to this is to use a Dictionary> to map from a bucket name to the contents, there is a better way!
medium.com

Why Video Games Are Tough For Storytelling - "Players will forgive your game for having a story as long as you allow them to ignore it." - Vogel's 2nd Law of Video Game Storytelling
bottomfeeder.substack.com

How to tackle randomness in automated game testing - Randomness has a special place in game development. Its usage can span from small visual effects (particles), to entire gameplay mechanics (dice rolls), or even business models (loot boxes). Since randomness is ubiquitous, it is important to understand how it works, and take it into account in your tests.
gameconductor.net

Game Enemy Design: A Beginner’s Guide - Overview of the enemy design discipline in game design. And how to create challenging enemies, monsters, and bosses to test and teach the players the necessary skills as they progress through the gameplay.
gamedesignskills.com

Videos

The Unity Engine Roadmap - Eager to learn more about upcoming Unity tech and features? In this video, Andrew Bowell and Will Goldstone will guide you through all the exciting updates coming to the Unity Editor and Engine. They'll also share valuable insights on where we’re headed beyond the Unity 6 generation. …
Unity

How to draw Pixel Art in Unity 6 - Learn how to build Aseprite like pixel art drawing tool in Unity 6 using UI Toolki! It could also be useful when making a game that utilizes drawing as a game mechanic like the Pixel Art Academy game.
Sunny Valley Studio

Using and Customizing Unity's NEW Behavior Graph - The New Behavior package comes with some much needed functionality for building node based systems in Unity. Learn how you can take advantage of this new package to create custom node based logical flows, broadcast events, and build custom actions with a system that is extensible, serializable and easy to use.
git-amend

How you can make YOUR OWN Tween library (Unity Tutorial) - I went full on 100% teacher mode in this one. Not sure if that's your thing or not but I LOVE making this kind of content. This video will teach you how to setup your own tween library from scratch, and we keep it simple, modular, and also EXTREMELY easy for the end-user (ie. You, when you actually want to tween something)
Sasquatch B Studios

Assets

Arcade Paradise - Game Dev Treasure Chest Bundle - Amazing assets for your unique projects.

Dive into the ultimate game development experience with the Arcade Paradise: Game Dev Treasure Chest! This all-in-one bundle is perfect for both aspiring and seasoned developers, featuring the acclaimed game Arcade Paradise alongside an impressive collection of top assets from Unity Asset Store. Whether you're crafting stunning 3D environments, dynamic characters, or immersive gameplay mechanics, this bundle equips you with everything you need to bring your creative visions to life.

Get the bundle and help support Girls Who Code with your purchase!
Humble Bundle Affiliate

Blender Market Best Of 2024 Bundle - New Blender toys for artistic developers.
Game developers, expand your world-building toolkit with this massive bundle of unique assets. This high-quality collection includes hard ops, terrain, liquids, humans, flora, and more for use in the renowned open-source development platform Blender.
Get the assets you need to bring your game to life, and support the World Wildlife Fund with your purchase. Don’t wait—start creating video games today!
Humble Bundle Affiliate

MagicOnion - Unified Realtime/API framework for .NET platform and Unity.
Cysharp Open Source

PrefsGUISyncForMirror - Sync subset for PrefsGUI over Mirror
fuqunaga Open Source

steam-leaderboards - System for using Steamworks.NET leaderboards in Unity.
robertrumney Open Source

com.studio23.ss2.dialoguesystem - Dialogue system is a package for handling dialogue for Unity games. It supports dialogue choices, Unity localization system and provides a node based Editor UI for setting up dialogue.
Studio-23-xyz Open Source

GeoJsonCityBuilder - Unity Package to recreate a 3D-city from a specially crafted geojson file.
ElmarJ Open Source

oldschoolengine2 - Limited feature C64 emulator written on Unity, runs recent Covert Bitops games.
cadaver Open Source

dethrace - Dethrace is an attempt to learn how the 1997 driving/mayhem game Carmageddon works behind the scenes and rebuild it to run natively on modern systems.
dethrace-labs Open Source

com.remzisenel.ide.neovim - The Neovim Editor package provides an integration for using Nvim as a code editor for Unity. It adds support for generating .csproj files for code completion to be used with omnisharp.
remzisenel Open Source

scriptable-scenes - Simple scene loading and management system for Unity Engine, implemented via scriptable objects
chark Open Source

Frictionless - A lightweight, simple service locator and message router framework for Unity apps
Claytonious Open Source

Spark2D - Spark2D is an open-source 2D visual effects library for Unity, aiming to provide comprehensive image processing operations, SDF functionalities, and a 2D particle system. (Currently WIP)
Singtaa Open Source

The Best Of Synty Game Dev Assets #3 Bundle - Picture perfect polygon packs. Game developers—we're here to help you build vibrant polygon worlds with the Synty Studios Polygon Bundle, featuring 20+ asset packs. Bring your creativity to life with modular fantasy hero characters, tropical jungle biomes, pirate packs, dungeon packs, and more! Get the assets you need to bring your polygon-based game projects to life, and support Safe In Our World with your purchase.
Humble Bundle Affiliate

PDSim - PDSim: Planning Domain Simulation
Cryoscopic-E Open Source

Director-Ai-For-Survival-and-Shooter-Games - A rule-based ai system inspired by Left 4 Dead's Ai Director. Manages the intensity of gameplay and allows designers to define their own rules for shooter and survival games in Unity.
charlie2099 Open Source

com.pixelwizards.utilities - Some Unity utilities (UV tools, resource checker etc) packaged for Unity's Package Manager
PixelWizards Open Source

com.moonlitstudios.immediatestyle - Allows you to interact with Unity UI GameObjects in an immediate Style and fashion
hopeforsenegal Open Source

50% off AiKodex - Publisher Sale - AiKodex is recognized for its innovative generative AI and physics implementations. With ready-to-use content and custom editor windows, AiKodex minimizes development and iteration time while making your creative vision compatible with Unity. PLUS get Pose AI for FREE with code AIKODEX
Unity Affiliate

Audio Alchemy - A Premium Collection Of Sound FX, Music, And Game Engine Plugins From Ovani Sound - Audio alchemy with no strings attached. Create the perfect audioscape for your next game or creative project with the Audio Alchemy Bundle of subscription-free sounds from Ovani Sound. Highlights from this extensive library of commercial-ready assets include the Melodic Mayhem Bundle, Animals Sound FX Pack, Short Phrases Voice Over Pack, Epic Music Pack Vol. 2, and more! Explore a variety of genres, from lo-fi to classical and everything in between. Get the assets you need to achieve the sound you’re looking for, and support Children's Miracle Network Hospitals with your purchase!
Humble Bundle Affiliate

The Ultimate FPS & TPS Animation Collection - Create the next generational FPS or TPS. Game developers construct the next great first-person or third-person shooter with The Ultimate FPS & TPS Animation Bundle. This high-quality collection features rifle mo-cap packs, death animations mo-cap packs, FPS sniper rifle animations, FPS automatic shotgun animations, and more! Control every aspect of your shooting gameplay with professional level assets that help bring your game to life. Get The Ultimate FPS & TPS Animation Bundle and help support Direct Relief with your purchase.
Humble Bundle Affiliate

Spotlight

Senzu: A Whimsical Space Odyssey - Senzu merges farming, creature nurturing, and RPG elements, where players discover, train, and form bonds with mystical Senzu creatures. This beautiful, watercolor-inspired game will takes you on an adventure through the Verdant Region of the Yodin universe.

[You can wishlist it on Steam and follow them on Twitter]
@LockTheMage

My game, Call Of Dookie. Demo available on Steam

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