Godot 4.5.1 🎮, UE5 tools 🏗️, AI upscaling mistake 🎨
Engines & Releases 🚀
Blender 5.0 Beta: Game-Ready Modifiers, Nodes, and Pixel Tools
Blender 5.0 Beta lands with features tailor-made for game pipelines: a Scatter on Surface modifier, a fully revamped Array, Curve to Pipe, and a new Lattice Deform for faster modeling. Pixel artists get new painting tools, and a storyboarding template helps with previs. Geometry/shader nodes add Bundles and Closures for cleaner procedural setups, while .blend updates support larger scenes. Check the release notes, download links, and a full feature rundown video.
Godot 4.5.1 Stable Lands with 90+ Fixes and Zero Known Breaks
Godot 4.5.1-stable is out, delivering ~92 fixes from 50 contributors across 2D/3D, Animation, Physics, Rendering, Export, and XR. Notable improvements include corrected joypad input/vibration, OpenXR rendering fixes, and D3D12 stencil, glow, and LightmapGI corrections. There are no known incompatibilities with 4.5, making this a safe upgrade—just remember backups. 4.6 development is already underway; downloads and donation links are live.
UE5 Workflow Boosters 🧰
EasyToolbag Speeds Up UE5 World Building with One-Click Setup
William Faucher’s EasyToolbag for Unreal Engine 5 streamlines environment and cinematic setup with one-click tools for Post Process Volumes, Level Sequences with Cameras, Sky Systems, and Lighting Reference Spheres. Performance-focused viewport controls improve responsiveness, visual clarity, and even help reduce GPU temps. It also integrates seamlessly with EasyFog, EasyRain, EasyAtmos, and EasySnow via quick-add buttons.
Work Smarter in UE5: Modular Tools from Squint Opera
Squint Opera shows how modular UE5 tools turn repetitive work into reusable systems so teams can focus on creativity. Using Geometry Script, PCG, MetaHumans, and Scriptable Tools, they streamline building generation, crowds, and even task management for AEC-scale projects. The talk blends lessons learned with real-world demos and steps to adopt smart tooling.
Solo Dev Playbook 🎯
How a Solo Dev “Gamified” Productivity to Finish Orbyss
After a decade-long side project, solo dev Yannick Audéoud is launching Orbyss, a self‑coop puzzle game inspired by Portal, Q.U.B.E., and Gobliiins. He beat procrastination with an Excel “auto-scroller” that forced 10 hours of weekly progress. The interview covers solo dev highs and lows, a twist-first approach to 40+ puzzle rooms, and lessons on cutting features and embracing imperfection.
Indie Dev Real Talk: Marketing, Publishers, and Wearing All the Hats
Matt Hackett joins Thomas Stewart for a candid chat on the real work of indie dev: prioritizing across many hats, keeping scope sane with “save it for the sequel,” and balancing YouTube vs. build time. They frame marketing as simply finding players who want what you’re making and dig into team-building and course creation. Bonus: a publisher update—signed. A practical, energizing watch for devs pushing their projects forward.
Industry Insights & Learning 📚
Broken Sword Dev: AI Art Upscaling Was an Expensive Mistake
Revolution Software’s AI upscaling plan for Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars: Reforged didn’t save money or meet quality, says co-founder Charles Cecil. The team reverted to hand-redrawn backgrounds and will avoid AI for visuals on Broken Sword 2 Reforged. AI did help clean up old dialogue using dxRevive—added via a late patch. Filipino animators, including veterans from 1997, are contributing to the new remaster.
Owlcat Launches Free, Curated GameDev Learning Drop with 350+ Resources
Owlcat Games has launched the GameDev Learning Drop, a free, human‑curated hub featuring 350+ resources spanning software, tutorials, and courses. Built with partners like 11 Bit Studios and Fireshine Games, it invites studios and publishers to submit materials for review and inclusion.