Engine updates and new tools
Text Engine for interactive fiction
Text Engine is a JavaScript-based engine for building text adventure games in the browser. The engine reads a "disk file" that returns a JavaScript object describing rooms, items, and characters. It ships with built-in support for classic interactive fiction commands like look, get, and inventory, while also allowing developers to customize behavior with their own JavaScript functions. A playable demo is available on itch.io.
Wireframe post-processing for Unity
MirzaBeig/Post-Processing-Wireframe-Outlines adds a wireframe-and-outline effect to the Unity camera. Setup involves dropping in two components and adjusting sliders to control the look, making it easy to combine with other shaders for a distinctive visual style. See the README for setup instructions.
Floating capsule character controller
Floating Capsule Character Controller demonstrates combining Three.js graphics, Rapier physics, and React to build a browser-based game engine. The project showcases character and camera controls, movement, environments, and physics with an interactive settings panel. A live demo is available.
Games worth playing
Beyond All Reason hits 20,000 Discord members
Beyond All Reason, a large-scale RTS built on the Spring RTS engine, recently celebrated 20,000 members in its Discord community with special maps and game formats. The open source title draws inspiration from Total Annihilation and features thousands of units battling across expansive environments. You can start playing on the project website.
Sine Rider: graphing for fun
Sine Rider is a game "about love and graphing" that asks players to write equations that guide sledders across a coordinate plane. It was developed by student members of Hack Club, an organization that brings together teenagers to pursue coding projects. Play it in your browser.
GDTLancer space sim in Godot
GDTLancer is a space simulator for Windows, Linux, and Android inspired by Freelancer, Orbiter, and other space sim classics. The work-in-progress by a Ukrainian developer models space at true-to-life scale, with stars light-years apart and FTL travel required to get anywhere. Follow along via YouTube dev diaries or the GitHub repo.
ScummVM's Summer of Code contributors
ScummVM, which reimplements engines from classic adventure games and RPGs for modern platforms, has taken on five contributors through Google Summer of Code 2023. The newcomers are working on compatibility and performance improvements, plus packaging and file integrity systems, with mentoring from the ScummVM team. Read the welcome message to follow their progress.
Mods and community projects
Shattered Paradise for C&C: Tiberian Sun
Shattered Paradise is an open source expansion for Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, adding a substantial set of factions, units, maps, and visual updates. The project comes out of the OpenRA community, which continues to develop new gameplay on top of the classic Red Alert series. Find it on ModDB.
A Copilot-built Asteroids
Scott Hanselman and Mark Russinovich produced a multiplayer Asteroids game live on stage at Microsoft Build 2023 using GitHub Copilot, finishing in about an hour. The startpoint branch is the starting point for following along with the keynote video.
Game jam roundup
- GMTK Game Jam (July 7 to July 9): 48-hour jam with a theme announced at kickoff
- Open Source AI Game Jam (July 7 to July 9): 48-hour jam requiring at least one open source AI tool
- JS13Kgames (August 13 to September 13): Browser games at 13,312 bytes or less
Jam game of the month: Neo City Express
Neo City Express puts you in the role of delivery driver Dagger McBlack, racing through six levels that blend arcade driving, visual novel, and touch typing mechanics. The mix of outstanding art, sound, and writing earned it first place in multiple Ludum Dare 53 categories. Grab the latest version on itch.io.
