Ego AI NPCs 🤖, Sora 2 IP 🇯🇵, MacBook M5 💻, UE5 Cloth 🧵
AI NPCs and IP Watch 🤖📜
Ego AI’s character.world Promises Persistent, Human-Like NPCs
Ego AI has launched character.world, an engine that merges small language models with reinforcement learning to deliver human-like, persistent NPC behavior. Alongside the engine, the open-source Character Context Protocol lets characters retain personality, memory, and relationships across platforms. Backed by $6.7M from top investors, Ego AI is partnering with AI Singapore, NUS, and NTU to scale training. The goal: move beyond chatbots to living, memorable in-game characters.
Japan Warns OpenAI: Sora 2 Faces Anime IP Scrutiny
Japan is pressuring OpenAI over Sora 2’s anime-like outputs, warning against potential copyright infringement on treasured manga and anime IPs. Officials may invoke Article 16 of the AI Promotion Act to force disclosure of Sora’s specs, filtering, and moderation. Ministers say the model must be adjusted to comply with Japanese rules. Game studios using AI-generated anime visuals should prepare for stricter transparency and compliance expectations.
Performance, Tools, and Pipelines 🛠️🚀
Chaos Cloth in UE5: AAA Workflows, Budgets, and Debugging That Ship
Epic’s cloth experts break down how to ship great-looking capes on a 1 ms budget. Get concrete targets (200–600 verts, ~350 sweet spot), why PBD beats XPBD for games, and how to replace expensive self-collisions with sphere repulsion plus cloth-cloth constraints. Learn to drive behavior with a runtime “cloth controller,” Velocity Scale clamps, dynamic collisions, and control rig—and finish with cinematic tips to prevent pops.
14-inch MacBook Pro M5: Faster Renders, Higher FPS, All-Day Battery
Apple’s new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 delivers up to 3.5x AI performance and 1.6x faster graphics over the previous gen—at the same $1,599 starting price. Expect up to 6.8x faster Blender renders vs M1, 3.2x higher game frame rates, and 2.1x faster Xcode builds. A 24-hour battery claim, faster SSD, and 150GB/s unified memory bandwidth target heavy 3D and dev workflows. Pre-orders are live now, with shipping starting October 22.
Indie Dev Playbooks & Shipping Tips 🎮⏩
From Dorfromantik to Star Birds: Inside Toukana’s Repeatable Indie Playbook
Toukana Interactive breaks down how Dorfromantik became a breakout hit—and how they’re applying the same principles to Star Birds. They share actionable tactics on Early Access, Steam visibility, and creator outreach, plus art-tech tricks like “3D that looks 2D” and Switch-focused optimization. Expect candid takes on staying small by design, scoping smart, and designing chill, readable systems with no fail-state. A practical roadmap for replicating indie success.
Ship Sooner: A Veteran Indie’s Fast-Track to Your First Game
Indie dev Kyle Banks lays out a practical blueprint to ship your first game faster: pick a small, finishable project, commit to an engine, define the core loop early, and iterate through constant playtesting. Keep your “why” front-and-center to avoid scope creep and stay motivated. Treat your first game as a learning win—finish it, ship it, and keep leveling up.