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Editorial

Issue 153 cover

Once again we're releasing the TheGameCreator newsletter a little later in the month than normal, for which I apologise. There's been has been so much going on across a lot of projects, both big and small that we felt you'd appreciate the delay so we can bring you some great news regardless of your game creator tool of choice.

From a personal point of view, it's been a very busy month for me, both here at TheGameCreators and in my outside life (something that I seem to get very little time for, but it's all worth it). The snow here is late by several weeks, something that is both a relief for me and a disappointment for my small son. I've had however, been dividing my time between work and buying tyres, firewood and a mass of warm clothes only to find myself experiencing one of the warmest Novembers for many years.

I had hoped to have hunkered down by now and to be digging into all of those projects I've been promising myself I'd get started on once the cold weather arrived. Somehow I find I need an excuse to stop going out and hide away. 

Like everyone, I'm sure my list of planned developments outstrips my free time, but I've set myself a goal of completing at least one before the end of February, so fingers crossed and best coding hat on for me.

If you're planning you're own game or application, I wish you the best of luck and don't forget just how helpful our community is. They are an excellent source of knowledge, inspiration and encouragement.

Until we meet again, goodbye for now and enjoy the newsletter.

Dave Hawkins

 

contents

(1) GameGuru (2) GameGuru Steam Daily Deal (3) GameGuru Store (5) Twitching! (6) AppGameKit (7) AGK 2 Assets (8) AGK pricing change! (9) Cell Infex (10) My Mobile Music Maker (11) Community (12) YouTube (13) Keep up to date

GameGuru V1.1 Launches!

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Hello GameGuru fans!

It's been a few months coming, but we're proud to announce GameGuru V1.1 is now available to download for all of our users. As most of you will be aware our focus over the last months has been almost solely on performance. Overall, this significant round of work has yielded 100% increases for almost all of our beta testers, with many systems seeing even better results.  A side effect of this work has been that we are able to better manage memory, allowing users to create much larger levels which the new engine can, of course, handle more efficiently. Simply run Steam and download the latest version to get up and running.

So, what's new?

Well, to be honest, we've improved so many areas that we don't have space to put them all here, so let's take a look at the highlights:

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Although we've listed some of the most significant improvements, we have in fact fixed, tweaked or generally improved over 160 issues as well as making some great leaps forward in performance. We hope that you are as happy with GameGuru V1.1 as we are, and remember, this is still a stepping stone to greater things.

All of this work is, in fact, pathing the way for our next major update with our move to a DirectX 11 rendering engine which is scheduled for early 2016. However, don't worry, as work won't stop on GameGuru before then, the team will be checking the forums and your feedback to ensure GameGuru is rock solid and running as planned.

Don’t forget, that if you’ve not voted or want to change your mind, the voting board is available for you to access 24/7. You can add your weight to the features you most want to see here.

GameGuru is on special offer for the next 48 hours

Grab yourself a bargain on Steam. In celebration of the new V1.1 release GameGuru and all the DLCs are on special offer for a limited time.

GameGuru Daily Deal

Grab this deal while you can!

What's new in the GameGuru Store?

As we've come to expect, the GameGuru store has continued to grow with well over 6,700 entities, audio effects, scripts and music tracks available to download for bargain prices. We're seeing more items uploaded with some excellent new models and other assets arriving daily. We recently approved a set of furniture that inspired us to showcase some of the new and old common household items that artists are uploading.

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First of is this new pack from Nomis3D with a small but high-quality modern living room pack.

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In a similar vein is this furniture pack from artist BSP.

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Lastly, this month for our review of furniture is this fibreglass pack from ErrantAI.

We hope you find this inspirational and don't forget that if you create some great looking levels using any of this media, that you can share your masterpieces on the GameGuru Galleries.

Become a Store Artist!

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 become a store artist!

 

 

Lee's Twitching again!

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The GameGuru dev team will continue with their regular Twitch Broadcasts each week and you’ll be able to listen to their tips and teasers every Wednesday at 4 pm GMT/ 11 am EST and 8 am PST.  It is always great to see you there and don’t forget that you can ask the team any questions you have about GameGuru and its current development.

For those of you who missed last Wednesday, you can catch up with the latest broadcast as well as every broadcast we’ve made by simply clicking the image below. 

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All the past Twitch broadcasts are viewable here.

 

 

AppGameKit Latest

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We're sure that most of you will have noticed by now that AppGameKit 2.0.15 launched on the 30th October with cool new 3D and Physics commands. All AppGameKit users can get their update now, so take advantage of some of the excellent new commands and start coding your next masterpiece!

We've not let this major release slow us, and since the then we've made a further four updates, fixing several issues raised by our great community.

Once again there have been so many fixes and additions we wouldn't want to swamp you with information, so here are the highlights.

For those of you who might also have missed the great demo of the 3D Physics and 3D Animation commands. We were very impressed with how quickly and effectively this scene came together, made by Jammy a community member.

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AGK 2 DLC's launch!

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We're very proud to announce our first 4 AppGameKit DLC's. We've collected together 1000's of sprites to create two excellent value packs for all occasions. We've also listened to our users and updated the Hands On AppGameKit guide books to suit all skill levels.

 

This Giant Asset pack #1 for AppGameKit contains over 500 sprites, sprite sheets and sprite construction sets providing more than 2,000 individual action orientated sprites. Expand your 2D collection and add that extra spark to your games with this great assets pack. This DLC is complete with a number of code demonstrations showcasing the sprites, making this pack a must-have for all budding developers.

Here's a breakdown of the different themes the pack covers

A total of over 2,000 individual sprites ready for your games including:


The pack will effortlessly install onto your system and can quickly integrate into your games or combined and edited using 3rd party image software to create millions of variations.

All the assets in Giant Assets Pack #1 are royalty free, meaning any game you make with them can be legally sold by you.

This pack is 370 megs of media and we'll be adding to the pack in the weeks and months to come!

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This sprite pack for App Game Kit contains over 1,500 sprites and sprite sheets providing more than 3,000 individual puzzle and adventure orientated sprites.
With this pack, you can improve your 2D asset collection, save development time and add gloss to your game projects.

This DLC is complete with a number of code demonstrations showcasing the sprites, making this pack is an essential addition to any coders collection.
Here's a breakdown of the different themes the pack covers

A total of over 3,000 individual sprites ready for your games including:


The pack will effortlessly install onto your system and can be used instantly in your games or combined and edited using 3rd party image software to create thousand of different sprites.

All the assets in Giant Assets Pack 2 are royalty free, meaning any game you make with them can be legally sold by you.

This pack is 200 megs of media and we'll be adding to the pack in the weeks and months to come!

The Official Guides

We are sure many of our longer term users will remember the well written and clear programming guides for the original AppGameKit by  Alistair Stewart. 

Well, he's returned to update the step by step guides for AppGameKit 2 for both novice and advanced users.

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Although AppGameKit comes with online help and documentation, this book will lead you step-by-step through a series of lessons and activities from a simple guessing game to a fully functioning, interactive video game. 

The Beginner's Guide includes these sections;

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For the more advanced user, Alistair has created an advanced guide, which not only covers ALL of the aspects of the beginners guide, but will take you beyond humble game making where you'll learn about:

 

AGK is now even better value!

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If you've not grabbed yourself a copy of AGK 2 or if you're looking to buy a copy for a friend as a gift, now is an excellent time to do so. Until the 25th November 2015 you can get a massive 40% discount.

So, head on over to the Steam Store now for a bargain.

Download Cell Infex and support charity.

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Forum user Zappo has released this great little AGK game for Apple, Android and Amazon, he's launched this for Free and all he asks is that if you like it, please consider a donation to Cancer Research UK (via JustGiving). Any amount, no matter how small, will help them research treatments and cures for cancer. If you can't afford to donate, don't worry - enjoy the game anyway!

Background

An alien virus has contaminated most of the population. You have to inject a single genetically modified/infected cell into various locations in a patient's body to cure them. Any cell which touches your engineered cell will itself become infected. Any that touch those will in turn be infected, and so on. You must infect and destroy a growing number of cells in each location. Think about where you place your cell carefully because you only get to inject one.

Click here to download from the thread

Community user seeks funding

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Community member Phil Sadler is seeking funding for an exciting music project aimed at helping indie music developers kick-start their music careers at minimal cost.

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Click on the image above to see exactly what Phil wants to do and add your support if you can.

 

What's new in the TGC Community

TheGameCreators community has been busy as always. Being massive fans of retro we were overjoyed to find this WIP demo from AGK developer spectrepaul. He's been working on this for some time, but it's always good to take a look at ongoing work.

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On the same thread, Conjured Entertainment has joined in with this blast from the past. All of us here at TGC remember Platoon well, and it was great fun watch even a simulation of the loading process.

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You can see these and the other demos here.

 

Fancy running a football team?  Are you a tactical football management master? Have you got what it takes to reach the pinnacle of football management and dominate the Gold League? Are you the Ultimate Football Manager? Well, Matchday Heroes from AGK developer lmr2013  may be just what you are looking for.

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Game Features:

Plus much, much more...

http://matchdayheroes.com/

http://2bigpixels.com/

Available on Google Play.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.twobigpixels.matchdayheroes&hl=en_GB

Available on IOS

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/matchday-heroes/id1037709550?mt=8

GameGuru

In the world of GameGuru, development continues by user Tarkus1971 on Saviour 2. Watch this 3rd party review!

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If you like the look of this game, you can download it from Tarkus1971's thread for free.

TheGameCreators YouTube Channel

Youtube ChannelTheGameCreators YouTube Channel is still going strong with over four years of content to browse and view:

Youtube ChannelTake a look at our channel now, and make sure you hit the subscribe button to stay up to date with new video uploads. Very often you'll get advanced previews of upcoming news.

We've also create a new GameGuru channel to focus on GameGuru tutorials and gameplay. You can access it here

TheGameCreators on Facebook & Google+

Find us on Facebook to discover more about The Game CreatorsJoin thousands of fans on TGC's Facebook page to keep bang up to date on news, user projects from the forums and discussions.

We're keen to hear from all our avid users and we always love to hear what you've been up to with the tools we sell. So if you have something you want to share with the wider TGC audience why not post it into the TGC Facebook page?

GameGuru

gamegurufacebook.jpgGameGuru has it's own Facebook page now. Whether you simply want to see the update and progress news as it is released, or get involved in technical discussions about LOD, Light and lots of other topics, sign up to this page today to be part of it.

 

AppGameKit 

You can join in the Facebook discussions in our AppGameKit group page with over 650 members and we also have an AppGameKit Facebook page.

 

Google+

You can also follow our products on Google+ 

TheGameCreators on Google+

GameGuru on Google+

AppGameKit on Google+ 

"Don't lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations."

Ralph Marston - American Writer.