Godot Dogwalk 🐶, Blender 4.5 LTS 🎨, UE5 Property History 🛠
🎮 Game Development Innovations
From Film to Game: Blender Studio's 'Dogwalk' Adventure
Discover how Blender Studio ventured from animated films to game development with 'Dogwalk', a charming story-driven game made in the Godot engine. The team navigated unique challenges, like animation export and gameplay mechanics, maintaining their open-source ethos and leveraging community support to overcome technical hurdles. Uncover their journey and inspirations behind this delightful project.
Blender 4.5 LTS: Powerful New Features and Vulkan Support for Game Devs
Blender 4.5 LTS is poised to transform game asset creation with major upgrades, including full Vulkan support for improved performance alongside OpenGL. The release expands Geometry Nodes with external data imports and mesh normal editing, enhances sculpting and painting tools, and boosts compositing capabilities with new nodes. Additional improvements to animation, rigging, rendering, and UI make Blender 4.5 a versatile powerhouse for game developers and digital artists alike.
🗞️ Industry News & Tools
Track Unreal Engine 5 Property Changes Instantly with Property History
Victor Careil, creator of Voxel Plugin, introduces Property History, a tool that lets Unreal Engine 5 users quickly view the change history of properties across various object types. Supporting complex property structures and compatible with Perforce and Git, this plugin integrates seamlessly with source control. Simply right-click any property to see its history, speeding up debugging and iteration.
Sam Lake on 30 Years of Remedy: Collaboration, Storytelling, and Creative Vision
Remedy’s creative director Sam Lake reflects on three decades at the studio, emphasizing how collaboration and trusted partnerships shape their games. He reveals the studio’s passion for blending different art forms and genres to tell deep, multi-layered stories, citing Alan Wake 2’s long journey as a testament to perseverance and creative vision. Lake also advocates drawing inspiration from Finnish culture and using practical effects to create immersive, emotionally resonant experiences.
🌏 Global Gaming Insights
Unlocking China’s Gaming Market: Insights from MyGamez CEO Mikael Leinonen
China commands around 30% of global gaming revenue, but entering its market requires deep local expertise and adapting to a unique regulatory landscape. MyGamez CEO Mikael Leinonen highlights booming opportunities in mobile casual titles, HTML5 mini games, and PC platforms, while advising developers to treat China like a completely new game launch. With rising talent costs and rapid innovation, China remains a crucial frontier for global game developers seeking growth and inspiration.
Why You Don’t Need a Huge Following to Market Your Game on Steam
Many first-time developers believe a large social media following is essential for game success, but that’s a myth fueled by the availability heuristic and algorithm biases. Games like Valheim prove popularity often comes after success—not before. Real game marketing involves direct outreach to content creators and event curators who already have audiences, rather than building your own from scratch. Focus on shipping quality games and building reputation, not chasing followers.
🚀 Game Creation Journeys
Creating 'Word Play': Mark Brown's Seven-Month Game Dev Sprint
Mark Brown has unveiled his new game, "Word Play", a strategic spelling game with roguelike elements, now available on Steam. Developed in just seven months, this project showcases a blend of strategic game design, community feedback, and the experience Mark gained from his previous title, "Mind Over Magnet". Despite challenges like competition and a personal injury, Mark's methodical approach and community engagement led to a streamlined and successful development process.
Mastering Game Porting: 5 Key Lessons for Cross-Platform Success
Porting games across platforms requires more than last-minute fixes—it demands strategic planning from the start. This article highlights crucial lessons like creative memory management for weaker hardware, navigating platform licensing and certification, leveraging AI for optimization, tackling custom engine challenges, and designing multiplayer as a core system. Developers who integrate porting considerations early can save time, reduce costs, and deliver player-pleasing cross-platform experiences in today’s competitive gaming market.