Lodigame-NOVA Overseas Independent GamesThe Independent Games Festival (IGF Awards) is known in the industry as the “least boring game awards”, and the game lineup of this “IGF Celebration” promotion proves that this is true.
Lodigame-NOVA The Independent Games Festival (IGF Awards) is known in the industry as the “least boring game award”, and the game lineup of this “IGF Celebration” promotion proves this to be true. From July 11th to 20th, IGF’s previous award-winning and shortlisted works are available at discounts on Steam, including IGF 2024 shortlisted games, such as “Mediterranea Inferno” with a 70% discount, “Winebad Family” with a 40% price reduction, and “Rhythm Doctor” with a 10% discount.
Lodigame-NOVA The IGF preliminary jury is composed of a large number of first-line developers and media people. They first screened out a preliminary list from hundreds of games, and then the voting jury (also mainly composed of developers) further evaluated to determine the final list and decide the winner. This mechanism has repeatedly brought previously unknown masterpieces into the public eye. “Star Wilds” is a typical example. This game was originally just a graduation project, but it quickly became a commercial success after winning the IGF Award in 2015.
Through its unique selection method, IGF has created a cultural atmosphere that focuses on design and innovation, rather than just traffic and popularity. Ultimately, independent games have developed as a medium of expression. Of course, more importantly, there are now a large number of high-quality masterpieces that can be purchased at very low prices.Lodigame-NOVA
Summer promotion launched
In the hot summer, the carnival of game promotions is not unique to Steam. From July 3 to 12, the independent game platform itch.io also set off a wave of summer promotions. The pixel action adventure game “Tax Evasion”, the surrealist JRPG “Hylics”, the black humor website censorship simulation game “Hypnospace Out Law”, the refugee-themed game “North” with construction as the main gameplay, and the “dark version of Zelda” “Anodyne”… These well-known and unique masterpieces have been thrown at attractive prices in this promotion.Lodigame
It is worth mentioning that itch.io is not only a paradise for players, but also a treasure land for developers. The platform has long provided rich development resources and professional tools, such as low-polygon modeling tool PicoCAD, chip music production software Lovely Composer, etc. They also joined the discount army during this promotion, providing creators with a rare opportunity to buy.
RPG Maker Development Team Announces Action Game Maker
Gotcha Gotcha Games, the creator of the RPG Maker series, announced the arrival of the new product “Action Game Maker” (AGM) on July 12. This is a creation tool designed specifically for action games. It follows the iconic “node-based visual scripting system” of the RPG Maker series, aiming to lower the threshold for game creation and allow programming novices to master game creation.
AGM’s core technology relies on Godot Engine. It is not only compatible with GDScript, but also integrates a comprehensive 2D development pipeline, covering a map editor with automatic tiling function, sprite and 2D skeletal animation support, as well as rich processing capabilities for particles, shaders, dynamic lighting and shadows, providing a solid guarantee for the visual expression of the game.
It is worth mentioning that AGM provides “everything you need to create your first game” resource package, from character animation to tiles, to music and sound effects, everything is available, and supports the import of high-resolution custom assets. This makes people wonder, can AGM give birth to a series of masterpieces with different styles and rich connotations like the RPG Maker series? Although the road is long and difficult, AGM has opened the door to new creativity for developers.Lodigame
Although the exact release date has not yet been announced, AGM has opened the Steam store page. In addition, RPG Maker XP is offering a discount of up to 90% on Steam, with a discount price of only RMB 9.2, valid until July 19.
Godot 3.6 is coming soon
Although the development focus of the Godot engine has shifted to version 4.3, a group of enthusiastic contributors are still pushing forward the development of version 3.6 to support the developer community that continues to rely on Godot 3. The release of the latest candidate version (RC1) on July 9 marks that Godot 3.6 is now in the final polishing stage and is only one step away from the official release.
In the past few weeks of intensive testing, thanks to the positive feedback of participants, Godot 3.6 has made many bug fixes and performance improvements. In order to further verify its stability and compatibility, the development team calls on users to try RC1 and subsequent candidate versions in their projects to help the team identify potential hidden problems or regressions.
The highlights of Godot 3.6 mainly include: 2D physics interpolation, 2D hierarchical culling, enhanced shadow culling, discrete level of detail (LOD), mesh merging, ORM materials, vertex cache optimization, Android dependency updates to match API level 34, etc. Since Beta 5, RC1 has made many targeted fixes, such as scene shader issues, mesh merging, pause and viewport behavior related to physical interpolation, text-to-speech loading timing, physics counters, etc., further improving the responsiveness of editor meshes.
You can download Godot 3.6 RC1 here. If you find anomalies during testing, you can submit bug reports on GitHub. Be sure to search for relevant keywords in advance to avoid duplicate submissions. The development team pays special attention to any changes that may cause project functional regression, that is, the function that previously worked normally in the 3.x version suddenly fails.
Speedrunning competition raises $2.5 million for Doctors Without Borders
A group of skilled gamers raised more than $2.5 million for Doctors Without Borders during last week’s Summer Games Done Quick. The popular speedrunning event brings together modern and retro gamers who are asked to complete games with a variety of strange rules and livestream them to raise funds.
Countless games were conquered over the seven-day event. A bug-free speedrun of Elden Ring helped raise funds to exceed the $2 million mark, with speedrunner “Blanxz” spontaneously pausing the game to cheer with the audience. Prior to this, another From Software game, Sekiro, was the first to appear. During the 37-minute speedrun, player “Mitchriz” caused laughter by frequently pressing sticky keys. Although the goal of completing the game without damage was not achieved in the end, this episode brought enough show effect (and livestream gifts).
In addition, the speedrunning of Outer Wilds without a ship has become another highlight. “PTMinsker” used the reconnaissance transmitter of the Woodstove Star to provide the character with additional power, directly and accurately matched the orbit of the solar station, and successfully landed in person. In other projects, there are countless such wonderful operations.
Speedrunning events are not only a stage for hardcore players, but also suitable for ordinary audiences to watch. The commentators of the event (sometimes including the players themselves) usually explain the skills and loopholes in the process, making the entire speedrunning process clear and easy to understand. Since 2010, the Games Done Quick series of events has been committed to raising funds for charity, and similar amounts of funds have been raised in previous years.Lodigame
Independent developer Bit Golem makes humanitarian donations
Last week, Bit Golem, a Polish independent studio known for its Cthulhu work “Dagon”, announced that they have donated a total of 200,000 zlotys (about 50,000 US dollars) to several charities including the Polish Red Cross, Save the Children and Voice of Children as humanitarian aid to Ukraine. It is worth mentioning that “Dagon” is completely free, and only DLC is charged.
Since its release in 2021, “Dagon” has been downloaded more than 1.7 million times. To give back to the community, Bit Golem plans to launch a new DLC for “Dagon” and announced that it is developing a new work called “Pool of Madness”, a pigeon game that combines Cthulhu mythology with pool. Apparently, someone pronounced “C’thulhu” as “Cue-thulhu” (pool cue Sulu).
Bit Golem is made up of two Polish developers who, before venturing into the Cthulhu horror genre, had dabbled in more modest genres, such as Ultimate Fishing Simulator, with similar success.
“Phantom Beast Palu” developer, Sony Music, Aniplex establish joint ventureLodigame
On July 10, Pocketpair, the developer of “Phantom Beast Palu”, announced a strategic partnership with Sony Music and Aniplex to jointly establish a joint venture company Palworld Entertainment, aiming to expand new business areas related to the “Phantom Beast Palu” IP. In the first month of early access, this work attracted more than 25 million players worldwide, showing amazing market potential.
According to the official statement, the joint venture will aim to expand the influence of the “Phantom Beast Palu” IP and carry out diversified business activities including global licensing, animation, and commercialization, no longer limited to the scope of games. The initial plan of the cooperation will focus on the development of game-exclusive peripheral products. The first batch of products have been unveiled and sold at the Pocketpair booth at Bilibili World 2024.
Aniplex is a well-known Japanese entertainment media company. Its business covers the production and distribution of animation and film and television (such as “Puella Magi Madoka Magica”, “Fullmetal Alchemist”, “Fate/Zero”, etc.), merchandise retail, game publishing and other fields. It is also one of the subsidiaries of Sony Group.Lodigame
In addition, in an exclusive interview with GamesRadar on July 11, Pocketpair President Takuro Mizobe firmly denied the “false speculation” that “Phantom Beast Paloo” used generative AI. He said: “The outside world often doubts that “Phantom Beast Paloo” uses the power of generative AI, but this is not the case. Our art team has devoted their efforts and drawn thousands of sketches by hand.”
Since the first day of its launch, “Phantom Beast Paloo” has been accused of plagiarizing the “Pokemon” series. Nintendo has publicly stated that it will conduct an “in-depth investigation” on the game. Now, Pocketpair seems to be quite confident about this. They emphasize that they have not received any follow-up communication requests from Nintendo so far, which seems to indicate that Nintendo has not found any infringements sufficient to sue.
Swedish game industry wants video games to become “cultural classics”
On July 9, Dataspelsbranschen, the Swedish video game trade association, announced the selection of a list of “game cultural classics” and called on the government to include these works in the country’s official “cultural classics plan”. This honor list comes from hundreds of public nominations and is ultimately evaluated by a jury composed of game historians, opinion leaders, and industry authorities. The list includes 15 outstanding games created by Swedish local developers, such as “Amnesia”, “It Takes Two”, “Minecraft” and “Battlefield 1942”.
The “Cultural Classics Plan” was proposed by Swedish Minister of Culture Parisa Liljestrand in December last year, but the definition of specific art forms has yet to be clarified. Now, Dataspelsbranschen has firmly established its position that video games are fully qualified to become cultural classics. Spokesman Per Stromback said:
Games should be considered part of culture for many reasons: for players, games are a cultural experience, and their love and dedication to games are no different from their appreciation of other art forms. For game developers, game creation is closely linked to culture. Like other artists, they pursue self-expression, innovation, and emotional connection with the audience. Games are also a cultural reflection of society. They reflect the diverse aspects of the real world and have a deep historical heritage. They are now being valued by museums and other cultural institutions. In addition to the unique interactivity of games, we firmly believe that games deserve their place in cultural classics.Lodigame
The complete list of “Game Culture Classics” is as follows:
Stugan, Developed by: Kimmo Eriksson, Viggo Kann, Olle E Johansson, 1978/1986
BackPacker, Developed by: Tati Mixedia, 1995
Europa Universalis, Developed by: Paradox Interactive, 2000
Ground Control, Developed by: Massive Entertainment, 2000
Battlefield 1942, Developed by: DICE, (Digital Illusions CE) 2002
Amnesia–The Dark Descent, Developed by: Frictional Games, 2010
Minecraft, Developed by: Mojang, 2011
Toca Tea Party, Developed by: Toca Boca, 2011
Candy Crush Saga, Developed by: King, 2012
Star Stable Online, Developed by: Star Stable Entertainment, 2012
Goat Simulator, Developed by: Coffee Stain Studios, 2014
The Battle of Polytopia, Developed by: Midjiwan, 2016
Budget Cuts, Developed by: Neat Corporation, 2018
Sayonara Wild Hearts, Developed by: Simogo, 2019
It Takes Two, Developed by: Hazelight, 2021
