Sorry for missing last week guys.  Life got in the way. Life is trying to get in the way this week as well, but I'm going to quickly blast this report out before another dumpster fire breaks out in my near periphery.

GameGuru News

One - Lee continues to make adjustments and updates.  He's improved makehuman compatibility and FBX imports are now a thing.  I'd love to see a video tutorial of these updates to better know what this all means for us, perhaps some live examples.  See the GitHub log below:

Also Preben added a new physics shape - convex hulls to GG's github commits - https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/220961

What's Good in The Store

Well, this week we have a lot of really good stuff.  Fredgames continues to impress though I'd argue his pricing is a smidge high for this market.  Or heck, maybe it isn't.  Maybe he's selling like hotcakes.

Either way, it's quality work if you're looking for decent models. Lafette's robotic's lab and steam engine are also pretty fantastic, so definitely give that a look. Gtox has gone on from fish to birds, now having a number of stork/crane/herons on the store.

Free Stuff

Sorry guys, time doesn't permit me to break this down but there's a lot of great free stuff on the forums.  Check this link to head there directly: https://forum.game-guru.com/board/25

Third Party Tools and Tutorials

If you haven't been paying attention the official YouTube channel of GameGuru has been posting MANY short, easy tutorials. Some good stuff there, check them out here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1q1e3Q9IKMk4nDlAGb_5Jg/videos

The third party asset manager is still being worked on, check out the progress here:

https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/220822/newest

Random Acts of Creativity (WIPs)

Bonesy has posted some really interesting screenshots with some community feedback and it's looking better all the time:

Solar has a new project (I still want to see his other one, Resist: Revolution finished though!) called 'Kaboom Foxie' - looks like a revamp of some of the cartoon and easter egg assets.  Smart use of existing components, in my opinion:

I'm always a fan of clever re-use of assets.  Check out the progress and videos here: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/220951 

Cogwheel Chronicles (By Cybernessence) has a new screenshot of the dragon from last week.

Wow, the shader updates made this monster look very impressive!

Scienceboy's epic "Twin Worlds" is coming along beautifully.  The latest screenshots are incredible and I'm really looking forward to seeing this project come to fruition.

In My Own Works

What a busy week. Aside from dealing with a newborn, a toddler, and a nine year old with some learning disabilities... it's been an absolute mess.  My book's deadline for production got pushed up to the 7th. So good news, everyone - the book will be available very soon.  However, please hold off on purchasing until next week's GameGuru report as I will have a special 20% coupon with it.

For the record, I asked for the chunky, blocky look.

 

I've also been putting together the book's materials at the last minute and have some screenshots to show you all.  The idea here is fast, low poly models that look good but run very well for a number of projects.  I will be including them with the book but you will (if you prefer) be able to buy them separately on the store for about $29.95 (this will include many of my existing works as well).  

The book itself will be priced rather high for the GameGuru community.  Regrettably I have no control over the final price.  However, the 20% coupon will help mitigate it and the included materials will also make it much more attractive.  I have something on the order of 30 or 40 maps included with it as demonstrations of concepts straight out of the book.

Keep your eyes open because next week I'll have all the full details!

Michael Messina (AKA Bolt-Action Gaming) is a native of central Pennsylvania, currently residing near York. He is a Linux Systems Engineer, part-time author, part-time Indy game-dev and full-time father. He is currently working on authoring a start to finish guide for GameGuru via Taylor and Francis (via CRCPress).