It's been a long road, we're almost there, and we felt you deserved a small Christmas present for your patience and so a short while ago we released a Public Preview of GameGuru which you can access through your Steam Client > GameGuru > Properties > Beta dialog which switches your current version over to a test version which shows off the new DirectX 11 engine and PBR rendering, including an updated Big Escape demo level that includes new PBR game assets.



We have released this preview in order to get a wider range of feedback on the current internal build and make sure the performance, visuals, backward/legacy compatibility are solid before we release the final update to you. This allows you access to the DirectX 11 overhaul if you want to try it out, but keep the current version while your fellow community members test it out.

The feedback so far has been positive, with reports of much faster boot times, and for some users a faster in-game rendering performance. Both loading and general performance will continue to be worked on in 2018 so feel free to try the Public Preview (remembering of course to make plenty of back-ups of your game projects and custom media) and report anything you feel should be included in the final update.

We are also excited to announce that the Steam Winter Sale is on right now, and we have a special Christmas treat for anyone who has yet to take the plunge and try out GameGuru. If you check out the main GameGuru Steam page and scroll down, you will see plenty of discounts we've arranged for you, including the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Bundles!

From the GameGuru team, and all of us at The Game Creators, may we wish you a Merry Christmas and hope to see you all again next year as we continue to develop GameGuru into something very special. Take care everyone and happy game making!

It's been a long road, we're almost there, and we felt you deserved a small Christmas present for your patience and so a short while ago we released a Public Preview of GameGuru which you can access through your Steam Client > GameGuru > Properties > Beta dialog which switches your current version over to a test version which shows off the new DirectX 11 engine and PBR rendering, including an updated Big Escape demo level that includes new PBR game assets.



We have released this preview in order to get a wider range of feedback on the current internal build and make sure the performance, visuals, backward/legacy compatibility are solid before we release the final update to you. This allows you access to the DirectX 11 overhaul if you want to try it out, but keep the current version while your fellow community members test it out.

The feedback so far has been positive, with reports of much faster boot times, and for some users a faster in-game rendering performance. Both loading and general performance will continue to be worked on in 2018 so feel free to try the Public Preview (remembering of course to make plenty of back-ups of your game projects and custom media) and report anything you feel should be included in the final update.

We are also excited to announce that the Steam Winter Sale is on right now, and we have a special Christmas treat for anyone who has yet to take the plunge and try out GameGuru. If you check out the main GameGuru Steam page and scroll down, you will see plenty of discounts we've arranged for you, including the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Bundles!

From the GameGuru team, and all of us at The Game Creators, may we wish you a Merry Christmas and hope to see you all again next year as we continue to develop GameGuru into something very special. Take care everyone and happy game making!

Progress is going well on the graphics engine overhaul with the completion of DirectX 11 support and the continuation of the refinement work on the set of PBR shaders that will lift the visual quality of your future GameGuru projects. The internal beta testing team are now starting on the final stretch of stability and performance testing to ensure the update you are eagerly waiting is solid, ensuring that your existing projects will continue to work and for those who want to venture into the world of PBR can do so with the right access to PBR art and tools.



As part of our work on the engine and technical aspects, we have also overhauled one of the sample levels to give you an idea what new PBR assets can do for your game visuals, and how they might look when pulled into a small demo level.  The main difference between the 6GB+ of classic media currently available in GameGuru and the new selection of PBR assets is that the later separates lighting information from the texture image and hands that responsibility over to the shader. The new assets have additional texture images for glossiness, metalness, ambient occlusion, detail maps plus an internally generated environment map for indirect lighting contributions.

It's not all visual work however, as the update will also contain many performance and stability improvements, plus a good spread of core fixes and tweaks as requested from the community since the last update.  Watch this space for more announcements on the update, and remember you can keep up to date with the development at the usual blog location here: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/218545

If you have yet to take the plunge on GameGuru, now is a great time to buy, with promotions on the core product and both Fantasy and Premium bundles which add some cool DLCs to expand on the Gigabytes of game assets you get for free as part of the core product.  Here is a quick link to the main page so you can check them out: 

http://store.steampowered.com/app/266310/GameGuru/

 

 

Progress is going well on the graphics engine overhaul with the completion of DirectX 11 support and the continuation of the refinement work on the set of PBR shaders that will lift the visual quality of your future GameGuru projects. The internal beta testing team are now starting on the final stretch of stability and performance testing to ensure the update you are eagerly waiting is solid, ensuring that your existing projects will continue to work and for those who want to venture into the world of PBR can do so with the right access to PBR art and tools.



As part of our work on the engine and technical aspects, we have also overhauled one of the sample levels to give you an idea what new PBR assets can do for your game visuals, and how they might look when pulled into a small demo level.  The main difference between the 6GB+ of classic media currently available in GameGuru and the new selection of PBR assets is that the later separates lighting information from the texture image and hands that responsibility over to the shader. The new assets have additional texture images for glossiness, metalness, ambient occlusion, detail maps plus an internally generated environment map for indirect lighting contributions.

It's not all visual work however, as the update will also contain many performance and stability improvements, plus a good spread of core fixes and tweaks as requested from the community since the last update.  Watch this space for more announcements on the update, and remember you can keep up to date with the development at the usual blog location here: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/218545

If you have yet to take the plunge on GameGuru, now is a great time to buy, with promotions on the core product and both Fantasy and Premium bundles which add some cool DLCs to expand on the Gigabytes of game assets you get for free as part of the core product.  Here is a quick link to the main page so you can check them out: 

http://store.steampowered.com/app/266310/GameGuru/

 

 

Grab yourself a great bargain from our whole catalogue of game making products.

In many cases you can save 60% off the normal prices.

Our teams are working hard (like zombies at times), adding new features to all our products so you can be sure to benefit from free updates to


Check out the deals here for some scary low prices!!!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/266310/GameGuru/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/365530/GameGuru__Fantasy_Pack/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/404570/GameGuru__SciFi_Mission_to_Mars_Pack/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/365540/GameGuru__Death_Valley_Combat_Pack/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/321140/GameGuru_Mega_Pack_1/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/321141/GameGuru_Mega_Pack_2/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/321142/GameGuru_Mega_Pack_3/

Grab yourself a great bargain from our whole catalogue of game making products.

In many cases you can save 60% off the normal prices.

Our teams are working hard (like zombies at times), adding new features to all our products so you can be sure to benefit from free updates to


Check out the deals here for some scary low prices!!!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/266310/GameGuru/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/365530/GameGuru__Fantasy_Pack/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/404570/GameGuru__SciFi_Mission_to_Mars_Pack/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/365540/GameGuru__Death_Valley_Combat_Pack/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/321140/GameGuru_Mega_Pack_1/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/321141/GameGuru_Mega_Pack_2/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/321142/GameGuru_Mega_Pack_3/

As some of you know, work continues in the basements of GameGuru HQ to reform the entire graphics engine to use DirectX 11 and PBR rendering to bring the graphics capability to modern gaming standards and at the same time take advance of performance improvements along the way. We have also taken the opportunity to improve AI, loading speed and other issues reported to us from the community.

Aside from the more radical engineering underway, we can report some additional work that you can look forward to when we release the next major update, such as a new UI graphical style which creates a more consistent visual experience when editing, which includes a new welcome system to replace the video and game menus you currently see.

Calculating AI obstacle data, which could be a significant factor when loading your level for testing can now retain previously generated data so subsequent test sessions are loaded much quicker for an improved experience. We have also tackled some major AI issues reported so you can now have a large number of characters in your level, all processing their AI logic as you would expect.  It is always recommended you design your AI so they can be activated in waves during the level, but there is no longer a penalty if you choose not to do so.

More settings have been added to the light mapper so you can now eliminate the effect of direct sunlight from your scenes, ideal for games that are interior only levels and we have increased the shadow cascade system to use 8 cascades instead of 4 which gives greater shadow quality, especially for shadows up close to the player.  You can also up the maximum shadow resolution per cascade for even higher levels of quality.

Finally, we have a small army of beta testers thrashing the internal builds to make sure legacy functionality is retained, so any game projects you are working on won't behave or look different.  When we converted the shaders from DX9 to DX11, the same rendering style was used so your projects won't break and created a new set of shaders specifically for the PBR renderer, which we can cover in more detail in a future announcement.

For now, happy game making and look out for another news update soon. For those who have yet to take the plunge into making your own 3D games, you might be happy to learn GameGuru is currently on a promotion at the moment and you can get a great deal here: 

http://store.steampowered.com/app/266310/GameGuru/

 

As some of you know, work continues in the basements of GameGuru HQ to reform the entire graphics engine to use DirectX 11 and PBR rendering to bring the graphics capability to modern gaming standards and at the same time take advance of performance improvements along the way. We have also taken the opportunity to improve AI, loading speed and other issues reported to us from the community.

Aside from the more radical engineering underway, we can report some additional work that you can look forward to when we release the next major update, such as a new UI graphical style which creates a more consistent visual experience when editing, which includes a new welcome system to replace the video and game menus you currently see.

Calculating AI obstacle data, which could be a significant factor when loading your level for testing can now retain previously generated data so subsequent test sessions are loaded much quicker for an improved experience. We have also tackled some major AI issues reported so you can now have a large number of characters in your level, all processing their AI logic as you would expect.  It is always recommended you design your AI so they can be activated in waves during the level, but there is no longer a penalty if you choose not to do so.

More settings have been added to the light mapper so you can now eliminate the effect of direct sunlight from your scenes, ideal for games that are interior only levels and we have increased the shadow cascade system to use 8 cascades instead of 4 which gives greater shadow quality, especially for shadows up close to the player.  You can also up the maximum shadow resolution per cascade for even higher levels of quality.

Finally, we have a small army of beta testers thrashing the internal builds to make sure legacy functionality is retained, so any game projects you are working on won't behave or look different.  When we converted the shaders from DX9 to DX11, the same rendering style was used so your projects won't break and created a new set of shaders specifically for the PBR renderer, which we can cover in more detail in a future announcement.

For now, happy game making and look out for another news update soon. For those who have yet to take the plunge into making your own 3D games, you might be happy to learn GameGuru is currently on a promotion at the moment and you can get a great deal here: 

http://store.steampowered.com/app/266310/GameGuru/

 

The three winners of the GameGuru Easy Building Editor competition were announced today. The winners were chosen based on their ability to show what the GameGuru Building Editor can do without the benefit of additional entities, both in terms of shape design and use of custom textures to create the final visual. Many entries conformed to the zero-entity guidelines, but the following scored higher for their use of textures and impressive shape design:

1. Perry is the first of our three winners with this impressive Church created entirely from Building Editor blocks and custom textures. This demonstrates great creativity in block design and use of textures to create a unique and imposing building, with the outer paving and fencing also created using the Building Editor.

2. JillyJill is our second winner with 'Tower' This huge structure took an entirely unique set of custom textures to construct and made great use of relief shapes to add that all-important shadow detail to the final visual.

3. Gary is the third winner with this gargantuan Pyramid which actually took several full-size Building Editor structures to complete, using a complete set of custom textures and a fair amount of patience. The building is also functional and the player can reach the summit room at the top too!

There are some honorable mentions too for the entries that almost got to the top three, also showing structures that did not rely on entities near the structure (except for trees):

4. This building by Stephen Shows some great atmosphere and an intriguing building editor structure to explore.

5. JDM created this building reminiscent of a small Roman villa, with good use of colors.

6. Christopher used only two custom textures, but the creativity of the shape design really stood out.

Some of the entries used a few entities to make their creation look even better, and as much as we wanted to score them purely on the visuals, we had to stick with the rules for the judging criteria. Had entities not been discouraged, we're sure some of these would be in the top three:

7. Amir gave us this fabulous explosion of color and a feeling of the tropics. What a great screenshot!

8. Michael submitted what is probably the closest to what you might find in a real game, showing a good eye for scene design and lighting.

9. Eugene built some great architecture, with clever use of the reflective water plane for the swimming pool!

10. Kevan was a close contender for the top spot with this excellent reconstruction of a house being built. A great looking scene!

11. Andrey had the F9 menu on show to detract from the final visual, but the use of transparent walls was pretty innovative.

12. Scott made a mind-bending structure, perfect for a multiplayer arena, just needed some custom textures to bring it to life.

13. Michael made great use of the Building Editor to create scaffolding and an industrial feel to the structure.

14. Full marks to Aaron for the spooky atmosphere from the light rays. The structure would have benefited from more detail in design and textures.

It's never easy to judge a competition with so much creativity on show, and it was fortunate we had some guidance in place to help us choose the winners. Congratulations to the top three, and big thanks to everyone who entered the Easy Building Editor competition.

As a special thank you, anyone who entered the competition and had their entry shown here can contact lee@thegamecreators.com and request a GameGuru DLC of their choice, compliments of The Game Creators.

Until the next competition, happy game making and feel free to post your recommendations on what type of competition you would like to see us run in the future. It can be something as simple as a level design competition, or something as fiendish as a scripting challenge.

We look forward to your feedback and bringing you another competition soon.

The three winners of the GameGuru Easy Building Editor competition were announced today. The winners were chosen based on their ability to show what the GameGuru Building Editor can do without the benefit of additional entities, both in terms of shape design and use of custom textures to create the final visual. Many entries conformed to the zero-entity guidelines, but the following scored higher for their use of textures and impressive shape design:

1. Perry is the first of our three winners with this impressive Church created entirely from Building Editor blocks and custom textures. This demonstrates great creativity in block design and use of textures to create a unique and imposing building, with the outer paving and fencing also created using the Building Editor.

2. JillyJill is our second winner with 'Tower' This huge structure took an entirely unique set of custom textures to construct and made great use of relief shapes to add that all-important shadow detail to the final visual.

3. Gary is the third winner with this gargantuan Pyramid which actually took several full-size Building Editor structures to complete, using a complete set of custom textures and a fair amount of patience. The building is also functional and the player can reach the summit room at the top too!

There are some honorable mentions too for the entries that almost got to the top three, also showing structures that did not rely on entities near the structure (except for trees):

4. This building by Stephen Shows some great atmosphere and an intriguing building editor structure to explore.

5. JDM created this building reminiscent of a small Roman villa, with good use of colors.

6. Christopher used only two custom textures, but the creativity of the shape design really stood out.

Some of the entries used a few entities to make their creation look even better, and as much as we wanted to score them purely on the visuals, we had to stick with the rules for the judging criteria. Had entities not been discouraged, we're sure some of these would be in the top three:

7. Amir gave us this fabulous explosion of color and a feeling of the tropics. What a great screenshot!

8. Michael submitted what is probably the closest to what you might find in a real game, showing a good eye for scene design and lighting.

9. Eugene built some great architecture, with clever use of the reflective water plane for the swimming pool!

10. Kevan was a close contender for the top spot with this excellent reconstruction of a house being built. A great looking scene!

11. Andrey had the F9 menu on show to detract from the final visual, but the use of transparent walls was pretty innovative.

12. Scott made a mind-bending structure, perfect for a multiplayer arena, just needed some custom textures to bring it to life.

13. Michael made great use of the Building Editor to create scaffolding and an industrial feel to the structure.

14. Full marks to Aaron for the spooky atmosphere from the light rays. The structure would have benefited from more detail in design and textures.

It's never easy to judge a competition with so much creativity on show, and it was fortunate we had some guidance in place to help us choose the winners. Congratulations to the top three, and big thanks to everyone who entered the Easy Building Editor competition.

As a special thank you, anyone who entered the competition and had their entry shown here can contact lee@thegamecreators.com and request a GameGuru DLC of their choice, compliments of The Game Creators.

Until the next competition, happy game making and feel free to post your recommendations on what type of competition you would like to see us run in the future. It can be something as simple as a level design competition, or something as fiendish as a scripting challenge.

We look forward to your feedback and bringing you another competition soon.