Solo Game Dev 🕹️, Windows BSOD 💻, Blender Hair Studio 💇‍♂️
🎨 Mastering 3D Art Techniques
Mastering Hand-Painted Stylized Swords: A 3D Artist’s Workflow
Join Rémy Lauret, a 3D environment artist at Gameloft, as he walks through crafting a hand-painted stylized sword from concept to final render. Discover his approach using Maya, ZBrush, and Substance Painter, along with tips on sculpting, retopology, and adding rich hand-painted details. Rémy highlights the value of personal projects, encouraging artists to focus deeply on single props for better creative results.
Crafting Eerie Atmospheres: 3D Environment Artist’s Journey on “Last Call”
Environment artist Gabriel Bossenberry shares an in-depth look at creating “Last Call,” an eerie, grungy payphone crime scene inspired by classic horror games. From low-poly modeling and detailed texturing using Substance tools to cinematic lighting in Unreal Engine 5, Gabriel reveals both creative techniques and time management lessons learned over four weeks. This project highlights how thoughtful asset workflows and storytelling can combine to craft immersive, suspenseful 3D scenes.
🖥️ Latest Tech Innovations
Windows 11 Ditches Blue Screen of Death for Sleek Black Design
Microsoft is retiring the iconic blue of the Blue Screen of Death, replacing it with a sleek black interface in Windows 11. This redesign simplifies the critical error screen for faster recovery—cutting downtime during crashes to about two seconds—while maintaining essential technical details. The update aligns with Windows 11’s modern design principles and will roll out this summer to all version 24H2 users. Say hello to the new black screen of (error) death.
Speed Up Character Hair Creation with Hair Card Studio for Blender
Hair Card Studio by PixelicaCG is a powerful Blender add-on designed to streamline the creation of hair cards for character art. With customizable options for strand count, thickness, curl, frizz, and color transitions, artists can easily craft a range of hairstyles. The tool also offers instant previews under different lighting and render settings, enabling quick iterative design. Recommended for Blender 4 and above, it’s a must-have for game developers looking to enhance hair styling workflows.
🎮 Game Development Insights
DevDuck’s 5-Year Solo Game Dev Journey in Godot
Join an in-depth conversation with DevDuck as he reflects on developing his indie game Dauphin entirely solo over five years using Godot. Discover his approach to balancing full-time work, managing scope creep, and crafting unique procedural underwater gameplay and pixel art.
Finishing Your Game is Hard—Here’s How to Make It Easier
Struggling to finish your game? BiteMe Games breaks down why finishing is challenging and shares actionable tips such as always having a playable version, managing task sizes, and planning your game's end from the start. They also tackle mental blocks like procrastination and the pitfalls of comparing yourself to others. This talk is essential viewing for indie developers aiming to complete projects with confidence and clarity.