N64 Open Worlds 🌍, Unreal Perf Automation 🚀, LitMotion 🌀
🕹 Retro Tech, Modern Worlds
Junkrunner 64: Skyrim-Scale Open Worlds on Real N64 Hardware
Homebrew dev James Lambert (Portal 64) is back with Junkrunner 64, a game jam project running on real Nintendo 64 hardware that shows off massive open-world draw distances. By drawing the world twice—once for far geometry and once for near—and splitting the map into LOD-driven tiles, he hits “Skyrim-scale” visibility on a 90s console. The video breakdown dives into the tech, and you can download the ROM for N64 or emulator. Lambert plans to reuse this tech in a larger N64 project.
Stop Guessing: Automate Your Unreal Engine Performance Workflow
Engine programmer Nitish Victor joins Inside Unreal to show how to make performance profiling a first-class part of your daily UE5 workflow. Using level sequences, automated performance testing, CSV capture, and Unreal Insights, he demonstrates a repeatable benchmark that drives real gameplay code and exposes a costly hot path. After optimizing the feature, he reruns the same automated test to validate the win and visualize trends over time. You’ll also learn how to combine static cameras, sequences, and replays, and why teams should share responsibility for performance.
🧠 Smarter Game Architecture
Tween as Data: Mastering LitMotion with UniTask, Coroutines, and R3
LitMotion rethinks tweening in Unity by generating values you can bind, await, or stream anywhere in your architecture. This walkthrough starts from simple position and scale animations, then escalates to sequences, punches, and shakes before integrating motions with UniTask, coroutines, and R3 observables. A single normalized “charge” tween is reused to drive multiple cubes, UI fill, and text updates. The video also demos an inspector-based animation component so non-programmers can author and debug tweens visually.
From Dependency Hell to Event Aggregator: Cleaning Up Your Unity Architecture
When your SoundManager needs a direct reference to PlayerController just to play a pickup sound, your Unity project is already in trouble. This video walks through replacing a web of Observer subscriptions with an Event Aggregator—a central static class that owns all game events. By routing gem collection, scoring, and UI updates through this hub, dependencies are inverted and components become far more independent. The creator also explains why this isn’t a perfect solution, highlighting its god-object risks and testing challenges.
🌐 Web & XR Workflow Upgrades
Stop Hand-Converting Fonts: Automating SDF Text for A-Frame
Working with text in A-Frame is easy—until you hit the font conversion wall. This post shows how to use PixiJS AssetPack’s `sdfFont` pipe to automatically transform standard TTF/OTF fonts into SDF assets during your build. Drop fonts into a `raw-assets` folder, tag the ones you want with `{sdf}`, and run `npm run assets` or `assets:watch`. Font prep disappears into your existing WebXR asset pipeline, keeping A-Frame text work fast and frictionless.
Google Play Level Up: Lower Fees, Higher Dependency for Game Devs
Google Play’s latest update advertises lower fees and more “choice,” but this breakdown shows how the best rates sit behind deeper lock-in to Google’s services. Games Level Up demands tight integration with Play Games, cloud saves, and loyalty surfaces, shifting data and player relationships toward the platform. The author urges studios to model their real effective take rate and treat Level Up as a roadmap decision, not just a discount.