This article represents solely the opinion of the author and does not reflect the opinions or views of The Game Creators, its employees, or subordinates. It likewise does not reflect the views or opinions of www.tgcstore.net and its staff. The author receives no compensation for this work and it is done solely as a service for the GameGuru community at large.
As you can see, this week I've included a disclaimer as I've received feedback that the way this blog is syndicated on www.game-guru.com, www.thegamecreators.com, blogarama and gamedev.net can lead to some confusion as to the nature of these news releases. I will be including this disclaimer going forward to help clarify for those who are not familiar with my work.
While I realize that some people may disagree with my methodologies, at the same time you are free to do so. I do reside and live in the United States of America and our rights of free speech are important to me. I make every effort to ensure that I do not denigrate or diminish anyone's work. If you take issue with the way I portray YOUR PERSONAL PRODUCTS then please contact me.
Thanks for your time, everyone - I now consider that issue at an end. Also, a special note at the end, so make sure you read all the way through - big news about my book! :)
GameGuru News
Per GitHub the latest information is that there is a trial version being added to GameGuru where you can use it for around 7 days before having to purchase it. This will likely add a number of new potential buyers to the product so keep a close eye out for those new guys and gals!
Also it appears there is a relatively minor change that will allow standalones to be exported without encryption so as to allow entity sharing? I'm not sure what that one is for but I'm sure it'll make sense eventually.
I can also soft confirm that ... other interesting things are going on with GameGuru. That's the most I'll say for the moment!
What's Good in The Store
FredGames77 continues to pump out high quality assets at a record pace. While we've all likely got a huge stash of boxes, the quality on his recent submission is definitely worth a look:
You get 10 'pack cases' (boxes) for $10 (currently on sale for $5!) - a very reasonable offer. These are high quality to boot with low poly count and excellent PBR texturing. Get yours here: https://www.tgcstore.net/pack/11145
There's also this interesting grub enemy creature by Gtox:
Get yours here: https://www.tgcstore.net/product/33376
Free Stuff
Honkeyboy added some horns to Character Creator: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/220945
Not bad work. I will admit my book's materials ALSO include some donated Character Creator attachments so keep an eye out for that as well. He's got additional ones here: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/220945#msg2618825
They include a rice farmer's hat, knight's templar's helm, skeleton warrior, and another set of demon horns.
Third Party Tools and Tutorials
This week I caught wind of a pretty interesting blog tutorial on the best mods for Blender 2.8 (which recently dropped). If you use Blender actively check it out here: https://cgcookie.com/articles/the-top-10-modeling-addons-for-blender-2-8
The latest official GameGuru tutorial video was posted online:
There were actually a number of non-english tutorials being posted. Some work reasonably well enough with YouTube's auto-translate function if you're interested:
Work continues on the '3D Asset Manager' program for GameGuru - it has come such a long way in such a short period. The latest info can be found here: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/220822?page=5#msg2618874
Random Acts of Creativity (WIPs)
Bod this week made a really serious Taxicab…which turned into a police car... which turned into this awesome street racer with neon lights and alpha-planed headlights:
Bonesy also made more forward momentum through steady refinement of his cyber-fi game:
One of the more interesting bits is a new user named "Trollbae" posted one of his friends creations from amateur work in the EBE and it's an impressive manor house:
I have to admit this is quality work for someone who is just trying out the EBE and GameGuru. It shows a pretty clear ease for new users and proves a bit to some of us older hats that maybe the EBE is worth using from time to time after all!
Tarkus1971 posted an update to his 'Urban Histories' game that I am personally very interested in seeing - apparently he's reworking it from scratch. More info here: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/220589?page=1#msg2619135
Solar is working on a side project called "Zombie Central". It's a suburban zombie city crawl.
https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/220974#msg2619073
This is because his other project, Kaboom Foxie is apparently nearly complete.
In My Own Works
And lastly, in my own big news (if you even made it this far to the end of this report) ... is my book is FINALLY released!
https://www.crcpress.com/An-Introduction-to-GameGuru/Messina/p/book/9781138612631
That's right! The first start to finish guide for making and selling a game in GameGuru is finally here! The book is 426 pages in print with a significant error index, Lua, FPI Guide, 20+ chapters on GameGuru and Game Development in general.
The assets for this (demo maps, character creator addons, custom weapons, custom static entities, some generously donated other materials, all my scripts, skies and textures...) are all going to be uploaded TONIGHT by 12PM EST.
I will also be giving away some promotional copies for FREE in the coming week. So keep your eyes peeled on Discord and on the Forums for more details.
For those interested, there is a special 20% off discount code I have through my publisher you can use that is valid until the END OF THE YEAR - AITGG230
FOR THOSE NOT PURCHASING THE BOOK, THE ASSETS WILL BE POSTED TO THE STORE IN THE COMING WEEK OR SO FOR PURCHASE.
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 author of a start to finish guide for GameGuru via Taylor and Francis (via CRCPress).