As you may know last week and this week has been spent on adding new depth based post process techniques such as Motion Blur and Depth Field to improve graphical quality, as well as the usual run of tweaks. Here is a shot of the new POST EFFECTS:



We intend to continue testing into next week and release a build which currently stands at over 90 completed tasks and growing. We had intended a smaller release but we wanted to make sure a lot of the little niggles we have seen surface had been dealt with before going public with version 1.01.002. Along the way we've had some fun testing the new multiplayer support for custom characters, and also took some funny shots along the way.



This shot was taken after a successful battle with some soldiers, and the final rag doll rest state for the character was pretty funny. Next week in addition to the build testing and final tweaks we plan to look at performance, and find ways to boost the speed of certain games that have demonstrated some degradation in both in-game performance and also loading time.

We still have a long list of features to add, and my moving between graphical, performance and functionality areas we can give everyone a little piece of what they want right now. In the future, as we continue building the foundation, we may even get to a stage where new feature ideas will be hard to come by, and resolved through combing existing features. One performance experiment has already allowed The Asylum level to jump from 65 fps on HIGHEST shader settings all the way up to 120 fps which was great to see, and we hope to roll this and more performance boosts out with version 1.01.003 in the near future. For right now, it's time for the team to chill for a day or two, recharge the brain batteries and get ready to release version 1.01.002 next week. As I know you will be curious, here is the current list of completed tasks you will be getting:

* Third person character now gets hurt and dies properly from rocket guy
* Third person now fires in direction of camera (with retical dot)
* Ensured the early out frame of the jump land is now taken from FPE key-frames
* When camera gets too close to third person head, camera avoids penetration
* No longer able to collect/use jet-packs, weapons and ammo
* Removed hard coded early exit jump frame from third person control
* Moved retical for third person fireballs higher for true targeting
* When saving standalone that includes Cartoon Gun, works fine now
* You can now use mouse wheel to zoom in and out of free flight mode
* Fixed third person wizard to remove jump y position hack motion
* Fixed third person wizard jump intersect animation error
* Added dynamic light effect to any projectile fired by player
* Added dynamic light effect to exploding fireball
* No more water clipping when viewing editor terrain from a distance
* Added keys 1 through 6 for widget rotation control of entity
* Changed TOOLTIP Test Level to Test Game (aligns with tutorials)
* Added SPOT LIGHTING to weapon properties or dynamic spot light effect
* When in entity SPRAY MODE (press I), no longer need to hold SHIFT
* Fixed crash caused by submitting vert-only meshes to physics
* New feature; hold down Ctrl+MouseWheel in free flight to adjust clip
* NOTE: You can use camera clip by pressing TAB in the IDE editor
* Added Vignetting to post process shader for more modern game look
* Added general motion blur to post process shader on HIGHEST
* Extended MOTION BLUR to all shader levels as it smooths at low FPS
* Added Depth-Of-Field effect to post process shader (far distance only)
* NOTE: For MOTION+DOF you need Bloom Level to be a value of one or more
* Fixed mouse cursor alignment and post process crash issues
* Prevented depth generation in other camera renders, solves red leaf issue
* Prevented WEAPON model from being motion blurred (gun trails looked bad)
* Replaced CROSSHAIR from 3D to 2D (avoids motion blur issue)
* Supports middle button mouse press for camera drag and pan control
* Added slider panel for POST EFFECTS control (bloom, motion blur, dof)
* Added dofdistance and dofintensity fields in GUNSPEC for DOF override
* Added six new LUA commands to control new POST EFFECTS in scripts;
* SetPostVignetteRadius(v) where v controls the size of the vignette effect
* SetPostVignetteIntensity(v) where v controls the strength of the vignette
* SetPostMotionDistance(v) where v controls distance at which blur starts
* SetPostMotionIntensity(v) where v controls the intensity of motion blur
* SetPostDepthOfFieldDistance(v) where v controls distance DOF starts
* SetPostDepthOfFieldIntensity(v) where v controls the strength of DOF
* Added zoomhidecrosshair to GUNSPEC to hide crosshair when zoomed (sniper)
* Widget alignment fix when 'looking up from horizon' (can be improved)
* Prevented semi-transparent entities from eliminating DOF/Motion effects
* Added depth rendering to decal shader and added new 'overlay_basic.fx'
* Name plates in multiplayer no longer get distorted with depth effects
* Fixed issue with low resolution depth values causing 'depth shake'
* Changed way the weapon ray iterations work for increased performance
* Added new SKYBANK choice called FOREST, special thanks to MR LOGAN!
* Added smoothing so when enter scope mode, DOF effect fades out slower
* New support in LIGHTRAY shader for sun color and strength (skyspec.txt)
* Entities on 'auto find floor' no longer sink below terrain
* Updated Fantasy Level with new FOREST sky and balanced DOF settings
* Fixed AI_DEMON script so all foes fall to floor now, not freeze in air
* Added 'Camera Locked' property to third person camera for isometrics
* Restored system of auto-targeting if in camera locked mode
* Added new properties to third person camera controls;
* 'Over Shoulder' allows you to shift the camera for over-shoulder views
* 'Follow Player' will not force camera behind protagonist during game
* 'Show Retical' will control visibility of the third person cross-hair
* Can now put entities on top of other entities of any size (pyramids!)
* Replaced CLOSE button in getting started dialog with highlighted one
* Character physics capsules are now created proportional to their size
* Fixed issue causing characters not to shoot until last shot sound done
* Improved 'rate of fire' to produce a less 'timed repeat' feel to it
* Fixed Medieval and Zombie characters so they are not floating
* Discontinued use of OFFY in FPE settings and fixed capsule physics
* Character physics capsules now size to the model to support creatures
* Fixed crash when collected stones weapon which has no retical image
* Fixed depth render from weapon_basic shader (Hatchet Weapon DOF)
* Chat that exceed max length are now truncated rather than loosing the last characters
* You can no longer pick up weapons and ammo when the final score screen is being displayed
* Fixed an issue where chat messages would occasionally repeat
* Character Creator characters can now be used as your avatar in multiplayer sessions
* Co-op: Fixed various issues which affected the updating of enemies across the network
* Map with less spawn points than players would stop players being able to spawn in
* Cleaned up going from lobby to server start
* Fixed character creator entities lagging when being manipulated in the editor
* Character creator players would appear headless when spawning in after a round ends
* When loading an older visuals.ini file, ensure new DOF effects reset
* Fixed issue with reflections flickering when shadow mode is zero
* Fixed issue with smoke and explosions now accounting for

Until next time, have a great weekend and happy game making!

As you may know last week and this week has been spent on adding new depth based post process techniques such as Motion Blur and Depth Field to improve graphical quality, as well as the usual run of tweaks. Here is a shot of the new POST EFFECTS:



We intend to continue testing into next week and release a build which currently stands at over 90 completed tasks and growing. We had intended a smaller release but we wanted to make sure a lot of the little niggles we have seen surface had been dealt with before going public with version 1.01.002. Along the way we've had some fun testing the new multiplayer support for custom characters, and also took some funny shots along the way.



This shot was taken after a successful battle with some soldiers, and the final rag doll rest state for the character was pretty funny. Next week in addition to the build testing and final tweaks we plan to look at performance, and find ways to boost the speed of certain games that have demonstrated some degradation in both in-game performance and also loading time.

We still have a long list of features to add, and my moving between graphical, performance and functionality areas we can give everyone a little piece of what they want right now. In the future, as we continue building the foundation, we may even get to a stage where new feature ideas will be hard to come by, and resolved through combing existing features. One performance experiment has already allowed The Asylum level to jump from 65 fps on HIGHEST shader settings all the way up to 120 fps which was great to see, and we hope to roll this and more performance boosts out with version 1.01.003 in the near future. For right now, it's time for the team to chill for a day or two, recharge the brain batteries and get ready to release version 1.01.002 next week. As I know you will be curious, here is the current list of completed tasks you will be getting:

* Third person character now gets hurt and dies properly from rocket guy
* Third person now fires in direction of camera (with retical dot)
* Ensured the early out frame of the jump land is now taken from FPE key-frames
* When camera gets too close to third person head, camera avoids penetration
* No longer able to collect/use jet-packs, weapons and ammo
* Removed hard coded early exit jump frame from third person control
* Moved retical for third person fireballs higher for true targeting
* When saving standalone that includes Cartoon Gun, works fine now
* You can now use mouse wheel to zoom in and out of free flight mode
* Fixed third person wizard to remove jump y position hack motion
* Fixed third person wizard jump intersect animation error
* Added dynamic light effect to any projectile fired by player
* Added dynamic light effect to exploding fireball
* No more water clipping when viewing editor terrain from a distance
* Added keys 1 through 6 for widget rotation control of entity
* Changed TOOLTIP Test Level to Test Game (aligns with tutorials)
* Added SPOT LIGHTING to weapon properties or dynamic spot light effect
* When in entity SPRAY MODE (press I), no longer need to hold SHIFT
* Fixed crash caused by submitting vert-only meshes to physics
* New feature; hold down Ctrl+MouseWheel in free flight to adjust clip
* NOTE: You can use camera clip by pressing TAB in the IDE editor
* Added Vignetting to post process shader for more modern game look
* Added general motion blur to post process shader on HIGHEST
* Extended MOTION BLUR to all shader levels as it smooths at low FPS
* Added Depth-Of-Field effect to post process shader (far distance only)
* NOTE: For MOTION+DOF you need Bloom Level to be a value of one or more
* Fixed mouse cursor alignment and post process crash issues
* Prevented depth generation in other camera renders, solves red leaf issue
* Prevented WEAPON model from being motion blurred (gun trails looked bad)
* Replaced CROSSHAIR from 3D to 2D (avoids motion blur issue)
* Supports middle button mouse press for camera drag and pan control
* Added slider panel for POST EFFECTS control (bloom, motion blur, dof)
* Added dofdistance and dofintensity fields in GUNSPEC for DOF override
* Added six new LUA commands to control new POST EFFECTS in scripts;
* SetPostVignetteRadius(v) where v controls the size of the vignette effect
* SetPostVignetteIntensity(v) where v controls the strength of the vignette
* SetPostMotionDistance(v) where v controls distance at which blur starts
* SetPostMotionIntensity(v) where v controls the intensity of motion blur
* SetPostDepthOfFieldDistance(v) where v controls distance DOF starts
* SetPostDepthOfFieldIntensity(v) where v controls the strength of DOF
* Added zoomhidecrosshair to GUNSPEC to hide crosshair when zoomed (sniper)
* Widget alignment fix when 'looking up from horizon' (can be improved)
* Prevented semi-transparent entities from eliminating DOF/Motion effects
* Added depth rendering to decal shader and added new 'overlay_basic.fx'
* Name plates in multiplayer no longer get distorted with depth effects
* Fixed issue with low resolution depth values causing 'depth shake'
* Changed way the weapon ray iterations work for increased performance
* Added new SKYBANK choice called FOREST, special thanks to MR LOGAN!
* Added smoothing so when enter scope mode, DOF effect fades out slower
* New support in LIGHTRAY shader for sun color and strength (skyspec.txt)
* Entities on 'auto find floor' no longer sink below terrain
* Updated Fantasy Level with new FOREST sky and balanced DOF settings
* Fixed AI_DEMON script so all foes fall to floor now, not freeze in air
* Added 'Camera Locked' property to third person camera for isometrics
* Restored system of auto-targeting if in camera locked mode
* Added new properties to third person camera controls;
* 'Over Shoulder' allows you to shift the camera for over-shoulder views
* 'Follow Player' will not force camera behind protagonist during game
* 'Show Retical' will control visibility of the third person cross-hair
* Can now put entities on top of other entities of any size (pyramids!)
* Replaced CLOSE button in getting started dialog with highlighted one
* Character physics capsules are now created proportional to their size
* Fixed issue causing characters not to shoot until last shot sound done
* Improved 'rate of fire' to produce a less 'timed repeat' feel to it
* Fixed Medieval and Zombie characters so they are not floating
* Discontinued use of OFFY in FPE settings and fixed capsule physics
* Character physics capsules now size to the model to support creatures
* Fixed crash when collected stones weapon which has no retical image
* Fixed depth render from weapon_basic shader (Hatchet Weapon DOF)
* Chat that exceed max length are now truncated rather than loosing the last characters
* You can no longer pick up weapons and ammo when the final score screen is being displayed
* Fixed an issue where chat messages would occasionally repeat
* Character Creator characters can now be used as your avatar in multiplayer sessions
* Co-op: Fixed various issues which affected the updating of enemies across the network
* Map with less spawn points than players would stop players being able to spawn in
* Cleaned up going from lobby to server start
* Fixed character creator entities lagging when being manipulated in the editor
* Character creator players would appear headless when spawning in after a round ends
* When loading an older visuals.ini file, ensure new DOF effects reset
* Fixed issue with reflections flickering when shadow mode is zero
* Fixed issue with smoke and explosions now accounting for

Until next time, have a great weekend and happy game making!

The weeks seem to rush by here in the catacombs of GameGuru development. It often feels that a week can't surely have passed before we're updating you with more news on features, tweaks and fixes. Still, it is that time again and we'll take a look at all that is new below.

Before we do, this caught our eye from the Steam forums today, showing some work in progress from Steam user Tarkus1971.
https://youtu.be/IPipysjxHVk

It is always great to see what our users are up to, so if anyone else has a game they are working on please share it with us in video form if you can.



Once again, regular uploader Rolfy has stayed true by impressing once again with this screenshot using a mix of custom and default media.

We hit a milestone this week with over 4,500 items on the store, and that number is rising very quickly with more and more high quality game ready media being uploaded daily. Almost all genres are covered now, so whatever game you are creating, the GameGuru store can help you fill your virtual worlds with game ready content.

Store artist JForthDesigns has returned with some amazing new media, bringing a whole new cartoon or comic styled genre to the GameGuru store. His first pack, Cartoon Buildings features 17 items that fit together seamlessly and effortlessly to create houses and interior scenes. Please watch the short tutorial video to see how everything works together.

https://youtu.be/ufrRZ2yJN6A

Also from this artist is a pack of cartoon styled entities.



These two packs will make a great addition to anyones media collection and fit well with the default cartoon media as well as being useable for more modern games.

The Game Creator Store connects creative artists and musicians with enthusiastic GameGuru game developers. Can you create game ready 3D models or themed atmospheric music for the GameGuru community? If so, sign into the GameGuru website and sign up to HERE!

As you know, we’re always keeping up with user requests, and try to implement the most popular ones as soon as we can. One of the most common areas users have asked us to improve is in the visual department. We’re excited to announce that in the next release the engine supports post processing effects. With new slider controls accessed via the Test Level mode you can choose to add a subtle vignette to your scene, choose motion blur effects and also have depth of field. Here’s a scene showing the depth of field effect and the subtle vignette:



You’ll be able to use these features later this week when we release V1.01.002. Other key updates in this new version include;

• Character Creator entities can now be used in Multiplayer mode!
  
• Improved 3rd person mode
  
• Added dynamic light to the fireball projectile
  
• In the editor you can use mouse wheel to zoom in and out of free flight mode
  
• Stopped the water clipping when viewing editor terrain from a distance
  
• Added keys 1 through 6 for widget rotation control of entity
  
• Added SPOT LIGHTING to weapon properties or dynamic spot light effect
  
• When in entity SPRAY MODE (press I), no longer need to hold SHIFT
  
• Plus many other tweaks and improvements.

The development team are also working on a very cool new feature allowing users to add their own faces in the character creator! So in a later version you’ll be able to see your friends in the Multiplayer games or have an army of enemies with your face on!!! We’re still refining this feature and will share screen shots and video when it’s more complete. Next week we’ll also be profiling the engine to see where we can improve it’s performance, this is as a direct result of many community users asking for us to focus on this.

Back to the coding dungeon once again – lots of new and exciting features to come, so keep an eye on the weekly news and on the Steam & GameGuru forums for all the latest updates.

Don’t forget Lee’s Blog for daily updates and maybe some sneak peeks.

The GameGuru team

The weeks seem to rush by here in the catacombs of GameGuru development. It often feels that a week can't surely have passed before we're updating you with more news on features, tweaks and fixes. Still, it is that time again and we'll take a look at all that is new below.

Before we do, this caught our eye from the Steam forums today, showing some work in progress from Steam user Tarkus1971.
https://youtu.be/IPipysjxHVk

It is always great to see what our users are up to, so if anyone else has a game they are working on please share it with us in video form if you can.



Once again, regular uploader Rolfy has stayed true by impressing once again with this screenshot using a mix of custom and default media.

We hit a milestone this week with over 4,500 items on the store, and that number is rising very quickly with more and more high quality game ready media being uploaded daily. Almost all genres are covered now, so whatever game you are creating, the GameGuru store can help you fill your virtual worlds with game ready content.

Store artist JForthDesigns has returned with some amazing new media, bringing a whole new cartoon or comic styled genre to the GameGuru store. His first pack, Cartoon Buildings features 17 items that fit together seamlessly and effortlessly to create houses and interior scenes. Please watch the short tutorial video to see how everything works together.

https://youtu.be/ufrRZ2yJN6A

Also from this artist is a pack of cartoon styled entities.



These two packs will make a great addition to anyones media collection and fit well with the default cartoon media as well as being useable for more modern games.

The Game Creator Store connects creative artists and musicians with enthusiastic GameGuru game developers. Can you create game ready 3D models or themed atmospheric music for the GameGuru community? If so, sign into the GameGuru website and sign up to HERE!

As you know, we’re always keeping up with user requests, and try to implement the most popular ones as soon as we can. One of the most common areas users have asked us to improve is in the visual department. We’re excited to announce that in the next release the engine supports post processing effects. With new slider controls accessed via the Test Level mode you can choose to add a subtle vignette to your scene, choose motion blur effects and also have depth of field. Here’s a scene showing the depth of field effect and the subtle vignette:



You’ll be able to use these features later this week when we release V1.01.002. Other key updates in this new version include;

• Character Creator entities can now be used in Multiplayer mode!
  
• Improved 3rd person mode
  
• Added dynamic light to the fireball projectile
  
• In the editor you can use mouse wheel to zoom in and out of free flight mode
  
• Stopped the water clipping when viewing editor terrain from a distance
  
• Added keys 1 through 6 for widget rotation control of entity
  
• Added SPOT LIGHTING to weapon properties or dynamic spot light effect
  
• When in entity SPRAY MODE (press I), no longer need to hold SHIFT
  
• Plus many other tweaks and improvements.

The development team are also working on a very cool new feature allowing users to add their own faces in the character creator! So in a later version you’ll be able to see your friends in the Multiplayer games or have an army of enemies with your face on!!! We’re still refining this feature and will share screen shots and video when it’s more complete. Next week we’ll also be profiling the engine to see where we can improve it’s performance, this is as a direct result of many community users asking for us to focus on this.

Back to the coding dungeon once again – lots of new and exciting features to come, so keep an eye on the weekly news and on the Steam & GameGuru forums for all the latest updates.

Don’t forget Lee’s Blog for daily updates and maybe some sneak peeks.

The GameGuru team

Just in case you missed the many many pictures from last week, here is a feast of pixels for you. Of course you can visit the text that goes with them too in my daily development blog here: https://www.game-guru.com/devblog/?p=165


New Wizards Coming To The Fantasy DLC Soon


New Motion Blur Feature Coming Soon


New Vignette Effect Coming Soon


New Depth Of Field Effect - Also Coming Soon!

It was an exciting week filled with graphical treats and eye candy, soon to be followed with a week of stability and testing work. And of course my latest dev blog for Monday here, enjoy: https://www.game-guru.com/devblog/?p=176

Just in case you missed the many many pictures from last week, here is a feast of pixels for you. Of course you can visit the text that goes with them too in my daily development blog here: https://www.game-guru.com/devblog/?p=165


New Wizards Coming To The Fantasy DLC Soon


New Motion Blur Feature Coming Soon


New Vignette Effect Coming Soon


New Depth Of Field Effect - Also Coming Soon!

It was an exciting week filled with graphical treats and eye candy, soon to be followed with a week of stability and testing work. And of course my latest dev blog for Monday here, enjoy: https://www.game-guru.com/devblog/?p=176

Hi All,

If you haven't grabbed a copy of GameGuru yet, or think you have a friend who would like it and likes a bargain, check out the limited time offer on Bundle Stars. Grab a copy and 2 Mega Packs for just $18.85

Click for this amazing offer Here

Hi All,

If you haven't grabbed a copy of GameGuru yet, or think you have a friend who would like it and likes a bargain, check out the limited time offer on Bundle Stars. Grab a copy and 2 Mega Packs for just $18.85

Click for this amazing offer Here

Hi GameGuru fans,

We're releasing a new build with the following improvements;

• The third person wizard character can now open doors
  
• We've added the ability for the camera to look up and down in third person mode
  
• We've prevented third person from accidentally equipping new weapons
  
• Removed the recoil effect from firing fireball in third person
  
• Stopped third person stuttering if you hold down left mouse button
  
• Fixed issue where facial hair color would reset for characters in the editor after using Character Creator
  
• Fixed an issue when using test or starting multiplayer whilst using Character Creator or the Importer
  
• When choosing skin tone you can now decide to not choose a colour by clicking outside the color palette, or select "none" from inside the palette
  
• Fixed an issue that would prevent GameGuru from starting up on some machines

Thanks for your feedback, we'll continue working on improvement and tweaking.

The GameGuru Team

Hi GameGuru fans,

We're releasing a new build with the following improvements;

• The third person wizard character can now open doors
  
• We've added the ability for the camera to look up and down in third person mode
  
• We've prevented third person from accidentally equipping new weapons
  
• Removed the recoil effect from firing fireball in third person
  
• Stopped third person stuttering if you hold down left mouse button
  
• Fixed issue where facial hair color would reset for characters in the editor after using Character Creator
  
• Fixed an issue when using test or starting multiplayer whilst using Character Creator or the Importer
  
• When choosing skin tone you can now decide to not choose a colour by clicking outside the color palette, or select "none" from inside the palette
  
• Fixed an issue that would prevent GameGuru from starting up on some machines

Thanks for your feedback, we'll continue working on improvement and tweaking.

The GameGuru Team