Category: Talks

Memoire’44, as expansões

” all these Memoir ’44 expansions should be back on stores before the end of the year!

– Pacific Theater
– Mediterranean Theater
– Winter Wars
– Eastern Front
– Terrain Pack
– Operation Overlord
– Winter/Desert Map.”

+infos(rede social): LINK

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Estatísticas…

A malta do superdataresearch.com lançou mais uma estatística relativa ao mês de Maio :)

A free giveaway of Grand Theft Auto V on the Epic Games Store caused PC player numbers to jump 245% from April to May. Launched seven years ago, the title continues to be a major draw, and the traffic from the promotion crashed the Epic Games Store. PC player numbers were only a quarter lower than the console version and PC revenue more than doubled as players purchased in-game content. Despite the surge in revenue, however, the console version continues to outearn its PC counterpart 4-to-1.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, another Take-Two Interactive title, was also given away for free on the Epic Games Store and PC player numbers surged 477%. PC revenue grew by 52% thanks to the promotion and the release of new in-game content, including a season pass.

May’s biggest new release, Minecraft Dungeons, attracted 1.8M players — but elements of its business model limited its revenue potential. The Microsoft title, an action role-playing game (RPG) spinoff, did not earn enough to make it to the top 10 PC games of the month and was only number nine on console. The title had a low upfront price ($19.99), and players on Xbox One and PC did not have to purchase the game directly, since it was available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

Peacekeeper Elite from Tencent hit an all-time revenue high and was the highest-earning game overall. The game is a China-localized version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile, which also hit a revenue high during May and is especially popular in markets like India and Southeast Asia. The success of the titles shows there is strong demand for fast-paced multiplayer titles on smartphones. Gamers in North America and Europe may prefer to play these types of games on PC or console, but mobile is the platform of choice for hardcore gamers throughout much of the world.

Pokemon GO spending rose 60% month-over-month to thanks to a combination of warm weather and even more options for playing at home. Earnings for the game typically rise during the summer months, and May 2020 was no exception. Earnings reached their highest point since September 2019 and were up 45% year-over-year. Due to COVID-19, developer Niantic began selling remote raid passes at the end of April, which allowed players to join in-game battles without the need to travel to certain physical locations.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive earnings and player numbers fell from an April all-time-high as competing title Valorant prepared to launch. After months of upward momentum, CS:GO revenue shrank by 9% and user numbers fell 6%. During this time, Valorant, the rival tactical shooter from League of Legends maker Riot Games, was in beta and potentially siphoned away CS:GO players.”

+infos(oficial): LINK

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Estatísticas…

A malta do superdataresearch.com lançou mais uma estatística relativa ao mês de Março, e que referem as vendas do mês de março :)

+infos(oficial): LINK

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Play Like a Game Designer por Alexey Shkorkin

Play Like a Game Designer

According to the authors of books and articles, it means you should play as much as possible. Play games in various genres. Don’t just play good games, but bad games too. Do everything you can to improve your gaming literacy.
There’s nothing wrong with improving your gaming literacy, but for some reason, it’s not obvious to everyone that literacy alone isn’t enough. You need to not just consume games, but take a critical approach to them as well.
The results of your critical analysis could take the form of an article or video about how the developers met certain objectives in the game.

1. PREPARATORY PHASE
What to do
1. Play the game. This might seem like an obvious requirement, but our main goal here isn’t to spend a few hours in front of the screen, but rather to examine all the aspects of the game from various perspectives in order to develop as objective feedback as possible.
a. It’s best to beat the game — as long as the game is beatable, that is. If it takes dozens of hours to beat the game, you need to at least finish the main storyline.
b. If the game features asymmetrical gameplay (as in StarCraft, for example) with various strategies, you need to play as various factions and against various opponents.
c. If the game has various difficulty levels, try playing them all.
d. If the game has various modes (single-player, multi-player, etc.), it’s preferable to try all of them. The same goes for board games — play with various configurations and with various numbers of players.

2. Your primary goal is not to have fun playing the game, but rather to make observations that you will then use to perform an analysis. There are no requirements for how to take notes on your observations — just make sure they’re easy to work with.
Try to focus on establishing a connection between design solutions and gameplay:
which solution was implemented
how this was reflected in the gameplay
which in-game resources were employed in order to achieve this
which goal was accomplished by doing so.
These solutions could reside in various aspects of the game, including interface, graphics, sound, balance, controls, game components, etc.

3. You should also take notes of your personal impressions. They won’t have a place in a critical article, but they could influence your thoughts on how a given solution affects the player’s experience.
Jot your impressions down in the form of a “developer’s solution — your reaction” pairing, e.g. “No rally point for trained units — irritating.”
What not to do
1. Don’t read previews and reviews of the game until you’ve played it yourself and written the first draft of your article. First of all, you probably won’t get anything useful out of reading that stuff (you’re more likely to find advertising, emotions, spoilers, unfounded judgments, and useless details). Second, other people’s opinions will just ruin your focus.
2. Don’t rush into your analysis until you’ve completed all the steps listed under “Play the game.” There’s a good chance that you’ll see the game in a whole new light during the later stages, and then you’ll either have to rewrite the whole thing (which will take up time) or just you won’t be in the mood to redo your work (which will hurt the quality of your work).
3. Make sure you take notes and don’t just rely on your memory. You run the risk of completely forgetting certain factors or wasting time looking for them in the game in order to pin down the details.
4. Don’t mistake the rough draft of your article for a complete analysis and publish it before it’s ready. Follow the recommendations from the next phase first.

2. ANALYZING THE GAME AND WRITING YOUR ARTICLE
What to do
1. During the preparatory phase, you identified the connections between design solutions and gameplay. Now you need to organize these connections and flesh them out. If you need to play for a while before you can do this, go ahead and play. The results could take the form of connections such as:
The game has no “fog of war.” This reduces the amount of information hidden from the player and increases the amount of time it takes to get ready to attack the enemy, which in turn increases the importance of scouting.
2. Identify the objectives the developer set for themselves (this is easier to do after doing some work with the connections you found in the previous step). Determine how these objectives were met (or not entirely met) and what was employed in order to achieve this. If the results aren’t clear, spell them out. Try to describe the objectives that were met in such a way that the solutions are reproducible. For example:
Objective: simplify the process of translating and localizing the game.
How this was done: the game has no voice-over — the words in the dialogs are replaced with incomprehensible gibberish, so all that had to be translated was the subtitles and the interface; there is no text in the game world.
Result: the game was released in ten languages simultaneously.
3. If there’s anything else in the game that demands your attention (e.g. a new mechanic, a surprising solution), identify it.
The same goes for elements you liked and for which you were unable to identify an objective or function — set these notes aside; they might come in handy later on.
4. If you have any recommendations on how the game could be improved, they should be specific and well-founded.
a. Specific recommendations are those that describe HOW to solve a problem — instead of “I’d readjust the weapon balance,” write about how you would change the attributes of a certain item.
b. Well-founded recommendations are those that clearly explain WHY a given solution should be changed. When developing well-founded suggestions, it’s best to refer to similar solutions in other games, and not just talk off the cuff.
5. Recommendations for the layout of the article:
a. Identify the developer, publisher, year of release, genre, and platform.
b. Provide a link to a gameplay trailer for readers who haven’t played the game — this will save them time, and they’ll appreciate it.
c. Provide visual aids in the form of screenshots from the game. Sometimes it’s better to make a gif.
d. SPOILER ALERT: warn about spoilers, and hide text containing spoilers.
e. If, despite these recommendations, you decide to talk about your impressions of the game, set them aside visually in such a way that they are distinct from the main text of the article.

What not to do
Here are some typical mistakes that occur when the author of an analytical article mixes their criticism up with something else.
1. Don’t assign the game a rating, and don’t evaluate its various aspects (e.g. 3 for graphics, 4 for gameplay). First of all, ratings aren’t very informative, and second, your goal is not to compare the game to other games. The quality of critical analysis and the quality of the game itself usually have very little to do with each other. The usefulness of analysis is determined by how much the reader can learn from it, and listing specific mistakes in an unsuccessful game can be more valuable than an emotional, praise-filled 10/10 review.
2. Don’t express your emotions. If you can’t stop yourself from providing an emotional evaluation of a certain solution, at least try to provide a logical basis for your point of view.
3. Don’t recapitulate the storyline. Describing the storyline usually isn’t very valuable to script-writers. It would be better to point out interesting storyline developments and how the storyline affects the gameplay.
4. Don’t recapitulate the rules (if we’re talking about a board game). A critical analysis isn’t a tutorial! Try to focus on how certain rules affect the way the game is played.
5. Avoid superfluous details, especially when describing mechanics. A critique isn’t the same as an exhaustive breakdown! A detailed examination of a jump mechanic could be important when analyzing a platformer, but for games in which this isn’t a key mechanic, it probably isn’t worthwhile. If your analysis includes mathematical formulas or lines of code, you’re probably on the wrong track.

3. WHAT YOU CAN GET AS A RESULT
Your result can be something like this. Here’s part of my analysis of Firewatch, with no spoilers or superfluous details.
This is an analysis of a video game, but you can do the same thing with a board game. Board games are typically a little more difficult to analyze, since, first of all, they’re usually more expensive, and second, they’re physical objects (you need to go to the store and buy them, then keep them somewhere — if you’ve got 100 boxes, this could become a problem), but the main thing is that you need other players to play with on a regular basis. If this isn’t a problem for you, great.

Minimal menu-switching
The game doesn’t switch to another screen when you use the map and/or compass. The compass appears in your right hand, and the map appears on your left. Part of the screen ends up getting covered, but the game world doesn’t stop, and the protagonist can keep moving.
You can zoom in on the compass if you need to.
If you zoom in on the map, it will take up the entire screen, but it’s much easier to get around that way. However, the character can’t sprint when you’re zoomed in on the map.
Additional menus don’t appear when you pick up other items either.
You have the option of examining every item you pick up, even if it has absolutely no effect on the storyline.
● Rotating an item allows you to further immerse yourself in the game world (for example, if you pick up a book, you can examine not only the front cover, but also the spine, and read the notes on the back).
● Zooming in on an item allows you to read documents without opening a special menu.

Which objective is being met: immersion, since the player isn’t distracted by extra menus and doesn’t leave the game world.

Suggested improvements:
You can read the documents you find either as an image or as text by opening a separate menu. If you open the menu, the game is paused (this is clear because, for example, a dialog with Delilah will get cut off mid-word and continue when you’re done reading the document). Since the documents are fairly short, this menu could be gotten rid of. Instead, the documents could be reproduced as images, and the player could zoom in on them like the map. However, this kind of dual text is probably in place to make translation and localization easier.

1. Backpack with equipment
There is always a backpack full of equipment such as a rope and an axe next to the exit. Every time the player clicks on the tower door in order to leave it, the main character picks up the backpack before going outside.
Which objective is being met: this solution increases the player’s belief in what is happening in the game. The usual question of “so my character sleeps in his armor?” doesn’t arise here.
Enhancement of the solution: large items are only pulled out of the backpack when they are needed. For example, you can’t just pull the rope out and unwind it — you can only do it when climbing down a rock face. You can’t just wave the axe around either.

2. Character movement
In general, character movement is much more realistic than in an FPS or action-RPG. This fits well into the game world (after all, you’re playing a heavyset man in his forties with a full backpack on his back), but it could be painful for fans of these genres because of the character’s difficulty overcoming obstacles that the player could just hop over in real life.
Inaccessible areas:
Hills and underbrush. These are used to stop the player from going to places they aren’t supposed to go yet for storyline reasons. Once the character gets the rope and axe, these areas become passable.
Impassable obstacles. The character can’t enter the lake — not even up to his knees — but he can pass over small holes and clamber up gentle slopes.
Safety. The character can’t jump off a cliff or hurt himself in any other way.
Jumping. The character can only jump when necessary, i.e. to overcome obstacles. The player can’t just jump whenever they want to.
Sprinting. The developers made some concessions here. You can sprint at any time (except when using the map). There are also no restrictions on sprinting uphill. Running as fast as a motorcycle obviously isn’t realistic, but we’re all willing to suspend our disbelief here for the sake of saving time and cutting back on frustration.

As you probably noticed, the solutions employed by the developers of Firewatch were all focused on immersion in one way or another. Now the question is, “what do we do with this information?”

I suggest compiling a database of similar solutions. It doesn’t really matter what it looks like. The most important thing is that it will allow you to find several working options for ways to meet a given objective — for example, how to teach the player the controls, how to introduce an antagonist into the game, etc.

It would also be expedient to identify unsuccessful or unsatisfactory ways similar objectives have been met.

When it comes to posting things online, publishing individual breakdowns isn’t the best option for the following reasons.

1. First of all, it’s best to draw conclusions about specific solutions based on multiple breakdowns of games in the same genres rather than just a single game. The kind of breakdown I’m suggesting here is probably just a first step that will allow you to gather examples that you can then analyze and use a basis from which to draw conclusions.
2. Second, if you’re writing for a large audience, this audience will probably include a player who has already spent hundreds or thousands of hours on the game. And if your article is missing anything or contains factual errors, this player will point them out to you — in public.

It’s safer and more useful to only post conclusions with examples from multiple games in the same genre.

Once you’ve broken down a number of games (focus on twenty or so, as long as the games aren’t from very different genres), you’ll have enough material to make a “ten ways to…” video. These videos can be more content-rich and useful than most of the stuff on YouTube right now.

And if you’re disciplined, you won’t have any trouble with content going forward.”

e fica também uma história complementar “How indie developers from Russia make games for Google Play and social networks” e que também é interessante.

+infos(versão traduzida e fonte): LINK

+infos(original): https://habr.com/ru/post/491336/

+infos(história complementar): LINK

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Estatística no https://itch.io/

A plataforma do itch.io tem sempre disponibilizado boas ferramentas e uma plataforma boa, para que se possam divulgar o que se vai criando no mundos dos videojogos. Não tenho explorado esta tecnologia mas reparei que é possivel aceder à plataforma e observar o que vai surgindo por lá :)

Para além de indicar os game engines, também é possivel consultar os outros softwares que são mais usados nos projetos.

Interessante leitura:
game engine mais usado: Unity
+infos(oficial): LINK

Ferramentas:
ferramenta gratuita mais usada: EZ Sound Preview
+infos(oficial): LINK

Game assets:
o pack de game assets gratuito mais usado: Kings and Pigs
+infos(oficial): LINK

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National Videogame Museum (em Sheffield, Reino Unido)

O National Videogame Museum em Inglaterra é um espaço onde se pode ver um pouco da história dos videojogos, mas é também um local onde se pode jogar. Neste momento eles estão a precisar de ajuda para manter o espaço e para isso está a decorrer uma campanha.

+infos(o museu): LINK
+infos(a campanha): LINK

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“Gastos com jogos online duplicam em Portugal”

Com o titulo “Gastos com jogos online duplicam em Portugal” surge a noticia de que os portugueses andam a gastar mais em jogos online do que gastavam

“Confinados em casa, os portugueses estão a gastar menos em restauração, mas mais em plataformas de gaming e de videojogos, bem como nas subscrições de serviços de streaming. Os dados são da Revolut, a fintech britânica que conta já com mais de 400 mil utilizadores em Portugal, e que comparou as opções de compra em março com as realizadas no mês anterior.

Steam Games, PlayStation e Nintendo foram as três marcas que registaram maior subida no número de transações feitas, com variações que vão os 73% no caso da Nintendo aos 241% mais da Steam. Os gastos com a PlayStation cresceram 136%. Mais moderados foram os crescimentos das compras à Apple e Google, que aumentaram 15 e 11%, respetivamente, enquanto as subscrições da Netflix foram 9% superiores a fevereiro.”

+infos(fonte): LINK

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Um museu com história (em Leicester, Reino Unido)

O espaço museu Retro Computer Museum (RCM) em Inglaterra, mais concretamente em Leicester, está a pedir ajuda para manter as portas abertas. A larga colecção que eles têm começa com peças de 1960 e daí em diante, sendo que o visitante tem a possibilidade de jogar/brincar em todas elas. As receitas que vinham das visitas ao espaço, terminaram  e por essa via eles estão com dificuldades em manter o espaço. Surge então o pedido de ajuda com qualquer contribuição. O espaço:

+infos(campanha): LINK

+infos(o museu): http://www.retrocomputermuseum.co.uk/

 

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Humble 7000 Icons Game Dev Bundle (uma campanha)

Mais uma campanha e desta vez um pack de icons:
Fantasy Weapon Icons
Blue Loot Box
Jewelry Icons
Armor icon pack
Flat Skills Icons
SpellBook. Page01
SpellBook. Page02
SpellBook. Page03
SpellBook. Page04
Sci-Fi Icons Pack
Sci-Fi Skill Icons Pack
Pirates Icons Pack
Witch Craft Icons
Fruit and Vegetables Icons
Gems Icons
Trading Icons
RPG Armor Sets
RPG Weapons Icons
Loot Icons
Herbal Icons
Prehistoric Age Icons
Bags And Boxes Icons
Scrolls and Books Icons
Magic Items
Potion Icons
Resources and Craft Icon Pack
Weapon and Armor Icon Pack
Fishing Icons
Hunting Icons
Forest Icons
Necromancer Icons
Sci-Fi Armor Icons
Mining Icons
Trophy Icons
Barbarian Icons
Engineering Craft Icons
Food Icon Pack
SpellBook. Page05
SpellBook. Page06
SpellBook. Page07
SpellBook. Page08
SpellBook. Page09
Skill Icon Pack
Sci-Fi Flat Skills
Strategy Game Icons

+infos(campanha): LINK

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Emulador de jogos clássicos (cultura Japonesa)

Um emulador que permite jogar alguns dos jogos para PC desenvolvidos para o mercado japonês, e na sua maioria por japoneses.

“Atari, TANDY, Commodore, those are the names that give us fond memories of the 1980’s, when all kinds of computers and systems were popping up everywhere. In fact, the same situation existed in Japan at that same time. However, it wasn’t the IBM-PC or the Commodore 64 that was winning popularity, but instead totally unique computers.

The PC-9801, once called ‘the national computer’; the FM-7, which became the topic of conversation with its low cost and high performance; and the X68000, often called ‘Japan’s Amiga’ name just a few. A variety of computers existed, and all of the games that were being sold were also quite different than anything in the West. The influence those games had on the Japanese games of today is immeasurable. It must be said that these computers were the origin of the Japanese games industry. However, for a long time it was very difficult for anyone outside of Japan to get their hands on those games.

D4 Enterprise provides Project EGG so that you can enjoy the great games any time you want through re-released versions on Windows. We want to be thought of as a part of retro gaming history and culture and make that image known to even more people around the world as we bring them great entertainment.”

+infos(oficial): LINK

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Um revista dos anos 90 :)

Agora que o tempo passou a ser em casa, têm surgido alguns exemplares (fotos) da revista Crash ZX Spectrum, que nos anos noventa foi um “must” para se saber mais acerca das novidades para a “consola” que não é consolta, ZX Spectrum. Ficam aqui algumas das imagens que me fazem recordar boas leituras. O mais giro disto era a cassete que vinha com a revista e que trazia alguns jogos e demos :)

Uma reportagem sobre a revista Crash pelo jornal Independent:

“A hugely successful videogame magazine from the 1980s is set to make a comeback later this year after fans of the original publication flocked to crowdfund a new edition.
Crash, which was dedicated to covering games made for the ZX Spectrum home computer, will be launched as a hardback annual in time for Christmas – 25 years after its last issue was published.
It comes as a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign to seal its return crashed past its target of £12,000. The crowdfunding attempt has attracted more than 1,000 backers so far and it is set to end on 20 August.
Crash originally launched in 1983 as a mail order software catalogue but it branched out and became a newsstand magazine in February 1984.
The publication became popular for its lively mix of news and reviews, most of which were written by school children in Ludlow, Shropshire where its publisher, Newsfield, was based. Readers would also enjoy the occasional cover-mounted cassette jam-packed with games.
Edited by Roger Kean, it carried striking cover illustrations by Swiss-born artist Oliver Frey and at its height, it was selling as many as 101,483 copies.
But although it printed its last issue – number 98 – in April 1992, it has never been forgotten by gamers of that era.
Kean and Frey have returned to helm the 99th issue along with adventure game specialist Stuart William and journalist Nick Roberts who used to compile the magazine’s tips page.
“Response to the Kickstarter campaign has been amazing, and if reaction to the final product matches the enthusiasm, we’ll all have to take time out to think whether it’s been the start of an extended comeback,” Kean told the gaming website Eurogamer.
It is not the first time a videogame magazine of old has been dusted down and revived. Commodore fans created a special issue 107 of Zzap!64 magazine in 2002 which was followed up by The Def Tribute to Zzap64! in 2005, copies of which were given away with the specialist gaming magazine Retro Gamer.
In 2008, a tribute to Amstrad Action magazine was also created. Covering Lord Alan Sugar’s series of 8-bit CPC computers, it gave closure to a long-lived publication which began in October 1985 but ended with issue 117 in June 1995.
The publication of a new Crash magazine (which comes with a badge and potentially a calendar of Frey’s artwork) coincides with huge interest in all-things Spectrum. A newly created 8-bit computer called the ZX Spectrum Next is due to be released early next year, boasting enhanced video modes, extra memory and a faster processor.
Capable of playing games developed for the original computer, it will come bundled with Wonderland Dizzy, a game reviving an egg-based character called Dizzy which sold in large numbers during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
It also follows the launch of the keyboardless Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega, which raised £155,677 on Indiegogo, and the Recreated Sinclair ZX Spectrum – essentially a Bluetooth keyboard of the machine British entrepreneur Sir Clive Sinclair launched in 1982 – which attracted £63,194.”

+infos(independent.co.uk): LINK

+infos(archive.org): LINK

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Netbeans v10 e seguintes para programar em C e C++

A nova versão do Netbeans não tem por defeito a possibilidade de programar em C ou em C++, pelo que é necessário instalar essas funcionalidades. Para isso basta que:

(relembrar que antes de instalar o NetBeans é necessário ter instalado o MinGW, com as seguintes opções:)

1) depois de instalado MinGW e de seguida o netbeans, no netbeans ir ao menu TOOLS -> PLUGINS

2) escolher na barra de tabulações, SETTINGS

3) ativar a opção NetBeans 8.2 Plugin Portal

4) ir à secção de AVAILABLE PLUGINS e clicar em Check for Newest

5) escolher a opção que indica C/C++

6) clicar em INSTALL.. e deixar ir até ao final

7) fechar o Netbeans e voltar a abrir o programa

8) Criar um novo projeto com C … C99

extra) Existe uma patch que sinceramente não sei para que serve.. fica aqui o LINK da mesma.

 

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Estatísticas …

A malta do superdataresearch.com colocou cá fora (e versão grátis para o publico) mais umas referências sobre as vendas nos últimos tempos, sendo que os destaques são:
as vendas online (formato digital) continuam a subir de ao para ano;
o mobile continua a subir as vendas, enquanto que PC de consolas decresceu (em comparação com o ano passado);
no Japão o jogo Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle, subiu as vendas de $24.8M (em janeiro) para $78.0M (em fevereiro);
24 milhões de jogadores andam a jogar o Counter-Strike: Global Offensive;
e a oferta na PSN do Sims 4 fez com que o numero de jogadores na PS4 superasse o numero de jogadores no PC.

+infos(oficial): LINK

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Cursos de acesso grátis (PACKT)

O grupo PACK disponibilizou uma série de cursos on-line em formato de “workshops” e que podem ser um dos seguintes:

Web Development
The HTML and CSS Workshop (Understand the structure and style of the web.)
The JavaScript Workshop (Learn about the language that powers the internet.)
The PHP Workshop (Learn all about PHP programming from first principles.)

Data Science
The Data Science Workshop (Quickly get up and running with Python data science.)
The Data Visualization Workshop (Understand how to make your own engaging charts.)
The SQL Workshop (Get started with data analysis using SQL.)

Programming Languages
The Python Workshop (Learn about modern, effective Python.)
The Ruby Workshop (Get started with development in Ruby.)
The Java Workshop (Understand how to work with Java.)
The Go Workshop (Get to grips with efficient Go.)
The Clojure Workshop (Discover how to you can count on Clojure.)
The C++ Workshop (Write effective, modern C++ applications.)

+infos(os cursos): https://courses.packtpub.com/pages/free

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Arquivos de ROMs

Arquivo de referências para aceder a ROMs:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOu56sNffE5cmwpd2ylExGQ
https://archive.org/
https://the-eye.eu/
https://www.romulation.net/
http://daroms.com/
https://romsmania.cc/
https://emulator.games/
https://easyroms.com/
https://nblog.org/
https://www.pleasuredome.org.uk/
https://vimm.net/
https://www.zophar.net/

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Unity learn premium, grátis durante três meses

A malta da Unity decidiu apoiar/contribuir para que fiquemos por casa a estudar, e apresentou durante três meses a possibilidade de todos nós termos acesso aos seus cursos online.

Da lista que consegui “apanhar” constatam actualmente as seguintes ofertas:

grátis:
Artificial Intelligence for Beginners
Beginner Scripting
Beginning 2D Game Development
Beginning 3D Game Development
Create with Code
Create with Code – Teacher Training
Create with Code Live
Design, Develop, and Deploy for VR
Getting Started with Reflect
Getting Started with Unity
Growing your mobile game
Intermediate 3D Game Development
Mega Bundle – Related Content
Performance and optimization
Teaching Game Design and Development

premium:
Advanced Art: Unity Game Dev Course
Advanced Design: Unity Game Development Course
Advanced Fundamentals: Unity Game Dev Course
Advanced Programming: Unity Game Dev Course
Beginner Art: Unity Game Dev Course
Beginner Design: Unity Game Development Course
Beginner Fundamentals: Unity Game Dev Course
Beginner Programming: Unity Game Dev Course
Buried Memories: High Fidelity Game Visuals
Exploring Unity 2018 LTS
Intermediate Art: Unity Game Dev Course
Intermediate Design: Unity Game Development Course
Intermediate Fundamentals: Unity Game Dev Course
Intermediate Programming: Unity Game Dev Courses
Introduction to XR: VR, AR, and MR Foundations
Unity C# Survival Guide

+infos(os cursos): https://learn.unity.com/courses

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As questões de ética no design de videojogos

Têm surgido nos últimos tempos algumas “conversas” acerca das questões éticas no desenvolvimento de videojogos, mais especificamente relacionadas com as questões de privacidade dos jogadores, mudanças no negócio por conta desses limites à privacidade, o que pedir e o que fazer com o “data” que surge do videojogo e como transformar isto tudo em algo que deve ser tido em conta durante o processo de desenvolvimento de um videojogo.

algumas referências para futura consulta:
The Videogame Ethics Reader (Revised First Edition) por Jos P Zagal – LINK
“The Ethical Design Handbook”: How To Leave Dark Patterns Behind, por por Trine Falbe, Martin Frederiksen e Kim Andersen – LINK
Infrastructures of abstraction: how computer science education produces anti-political subjects, por James Malazita – LINK

e co-relacionado a diversidade onde “diverse teams are more creative and productive”,
Why Diverse Teams Are Smarter por Heidi Grant – LINK
Why Diverse Teams Are More Creative por Tendayi Viki – LINK
Are Culturally Diverse Teams the More Creative Ones? por Daniel H. Scheible – LINK
Why Diversity is the Mother of Creativity por Jeffrey Baumgartner – LINK
Diversity and Work Group Performance por Stanford GSB Staff – LINK
Why diverse teams make better business decisions por Andrea Hak – LINK
How Diverse Teams Produce Better Outcomes por Sian Beilock – LINK

 

 

Ainda sobre o Command and Conquer remastered (uma entrevista)

A entrevista dada pelo produto do jogo Jim Vessella,

“On March 11 Producer Jim Vessella took to Twitter to answer your questions about the Command & Conquer™ Remastered Collection. His “Ask Me Almost Anything” session included a wide variety of questions about all aspects of the remastered games, and we’ve picked out some of the top ones, along with Jim’s answers to post below:

Question: “If [we] buy [the game on] Steam, do we need Origin installed to play the game on Steam or [do we] only need to link/sign in with an EA account?”

Answer: Right now, Steam players will need to link to an EA Account upon first bootup. However, they will not need the Origin Client installed.

Question: “How extensive is the Map Editor? Can you make single-player missions with it?”

Answer: Yes! The Map Editor can create both single-player and multiplayer maps. We’re excited to see what the community creates!

Question: “Hi Jim, will there be difficulty levels on Tiberian Dawn? [On] the original [it] wasn’t and I would like to play it on brutal. Second, how smart is the AI? [On] the original you could block units with sandbags and things like destroying the harvester and they wouldn’t buy a new one.”

Answer: I’m glad you asked! We’ve actually added difficulty levels to the campaign for Tiberian Dawn, along with Skirmish mode with AI difficulty levels as well. We did keep many of the AI behaviors the same but have fixed a few AI bugs along the way.

Question: “Will the graphics switch work in multiplayer, or is it for campaign only? Cheers, Jim!”

Answer: The graphics switching took some magical code work by the Petroglyph team. It works in solo modes, so Campaign and Skirmish, but not in Multiplayer. It’s one of my favorite features in the Remastered Collection.

Question: “How do the radar Jammers work? And are there any units that have gotten a rework to make them more viable? (Eg medics, [thieves], spies).”

Answer: Our goal has been to maintain the authentic gameplay of the classic games, so we’ve kept the functionality of all the units the same.

Question: “Is there a game speed controller in the remaster like in the original?”

Answer: Yes, you can adjust the game speed for yourself in both Campaign and Skirmish, and then the Host can choose it for everyone in Multiplayer.

Question: “You can unlock the extra content (videos, etc.) just by playing or there will be some sort of challenge? Vague answers welcomed.”

Answer: You’ll earn a piece of behind-the-scenes content each time you complete a campaign mission (regardless of difficulty level). We do track which difficulty you completed campaign missions on, so for a true challenge try to complete all missions on Hard.

Question: “If I pre-ordered [the] 25th Anniversary Edition. [Will I be] able to play on release or [will] I need to wait [for] my ordered physical copy?”

Answer: Both Collector’s Editions come with a Steam code, which will be emailed to you in the days prior to launch on June 5. That way you can pre-load and play the minute the game comes out, regardless of when your physical copy arrives.

Question: “In multiplayer can you form alliances with players while in-game like RA2? (handy for people DC or leave). Does it support different match types 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, FFA, etc.?”

Answer: Great question! In the new Custom Game Lobby, you can set teams ahead of time and have any combination you’d like. So 2v2, 3v2v3, 1v7, take your pick! (Up to four players for Tiberian Dawn, and eight players for Red Alert).

Question: “Will the unit balance in remaster remain [the] same as in [the] original games, and what about maximum map size in Tiberian Dawn and Red Alert?”

Answer: We’ve decided to keep the balance and map sizes the same as the legacy titles. The Tiberian Dawn maps support four players, while certain Red Alert maps support up to eight players.

Só faltou uma pergunta muito importante:
“but why the hell are postage prices so expensive? cost almost half the game”

+infos(fonte original): LINK

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Command and Conquer, remastered

Eu sou do tempo em que os videojogos eram partilhados com colegas através de disquetes. Era um abuso que se fazia com as disquetes de 720kbytes furadas para passarem a ter o dobro do espaço. Mas este jogo, o Command and Conquer (C&C) veio trazer uma nova dinâmica, que foi a utilização e partilha através de CDs. Isso mesmo, o C&C tinha dois fantásticos CDs já que incluía durante os jogos de uma narrativa mostrada através de pequenos trailers e monólogos das várias personagens.  Foram horas e horas a jogar até terminar e voltar a terminar todas as missões, independente da facção escolhida entre o GDI e os NOD.

Existem três versões à venda, não fosse um hábito da EA explorar ao máximo os fãs:

25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (PHYSICAL), 150 dólares + 50 de portes..
Tiberium crystal 16GB USB drive with remastered original soundtrack
Four factional enamel pins
Tech tree prints (one for each faction)
Faction sticker sheet
Reversible 18″ x 24″ poster
Foil and embossed rigid box
Six-disc remastered original soundtrack signed by Frank Klepacki
Metal Mammoth Tank replica
Painted PVC light and sound tesla coil replica
Reversible beanie
Four faction patches
100+page art book

SPECIAL EDITION (PHYSICAL), 60 dólares + 50 de portes..
Tiberium crystal 16GB USB drive with remastered original soundtrack
Four factional enamel pins
Tech tree prints (one for each faction)
Faction sticker sheet
Reversible 18″ x 24″ poster
2-piece big box with embossing treatments

STANDARD EDITION (DIGITAL), 20 dólares
Command and Conquer Remastered Collection Standard Edition (Digital)

Bom.. vem aí então uma cena “nova”, o C&C remastered, que não é mais uma actualização para 4k de tudo o que foi feito no final dos anos 80. Sim anos 80.. e agora uns fantásticos 4k. Todas as missões, todos os extras possíveis e só lamento do formato digital ser barato e a caixinha ser pelos 150 euros. Mas aí esta C&C remastered em junho de 2020, na Steam ou na Origin.

+infos(oficial): LINK

+infos(steam): LINK

+infos(origin): LINK

 

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Dos Açores para o mundo, pelas mãos da Cereal Games

A malta do Cereal Games tem uma campanha a decorrer para ajudar no financiamento do seu próximo jogo, Pecaminosa. Pelo que li parece ser um videojogo em que o objetivo é o de conduzir uma personagem, num estilo de RPG, por uma cidade norte americana para a descoberta de algo…

+infos(campanha): LINK

+infos(rede social): LINK

+infos(oficial): http://cerealgames.net/

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Jogos de tabuleiro e manuais em PT e ING

..algumas referências:
Allies Battle of the Bulge
Axis and Allies DDay
Carcassonne: Star Wars
Catan
Heroes of Normandie TCG – Operation Goodwoo
Heroes of Normandie TCG
Imperial Settlers
Memoire 44
Pandemic
Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
Pandemic Legacy: Season 2
Pandemic: Fall of Rome
Pandemic: On the Brink
Pandemic: Rapid Response
Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu
Pandemic: Rising Tide
Pandemic: State of Emergency
Tide of Iron
Vikings Gone Wild

+infos(manuais em PT): LINK

+infos(manuais em INGL): LINK

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Humble Best of Polygon Game Dev Bundle (uma campanha)

Do pack faz parte:
POLYGON Prototype – Compatible with Unity + Unreal
POLYGON Adventure – Compatible with Unity + Unreal
Simple Town – Compatible with Unity + Unreal
POLYGON City – Compatible with Unity + Unreal
POLYGON Samurai – Compatible with Unity + Unreal
POLYGON Knights – Compatible with Unity + Unreal
Simple People – Compatible with Unity + Unreal
Simple Dungeon – Compatible with Unity + Unreal
POLYGON Sci-Fi City – Compatible with Unity + Unreal
POLYGON Western – Compatible with Unity + Unreal
POLYGON Heist – Compatible with Unity + Unreal
POLYGON Vikings – Compatible with Unity + Unreal
Simple Military – Compatible with Unity + Unreal
Simple Apocalypse – Compatible with Unity + Unreal

+infos(campanha): LINK

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Prémios em Portugal: PlayStation Talents 2019 (quinta edição)

Os prémios referentes a 2019 patrocinados pela PlayStation (Sony) foram entregues no final do mês de Janeiro.

Prémio Imprensa: Prism Seekers da Biga Forti (LINK)

Melhor jogo infantil: Controller King da Not a Game Studio (LINK)

O jogo mais inovador: Chronos da Team Chronos (LINK)


O jogo com a melhora narrativa: Little Goody Two Shoes do estúdio Astral Shift (LINK)

O jogos Games for Good: Back Then dos Outriders (LINK)


E o prémio PlayStation Talents 2019: Back Then dos Outrider (LINK)

+infos(fonte rubberchickengames.com): LINK

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Warcraft 3: reforged

A malta da Blizzard vai finalmente disponibilizar para todos os fãs a versão melhorada (graficamente e não só) do jogo Warcraft 3. Com o nome de Warcraft 3: reforged, o jogador vai poder jogar o terceiro capitulo bem como todas as expansões (histórias) que foram criadas posteriormente. O preço desta nova remix começa nos 30 euros.

como fã que sou da versão RTS, eu gostava muito que estivesse disponivel uma versão física do jogo, mas pela pesquisa que fiz não é isso que vai acontecer :(

+infos(oficial): https://playwarcraft3.com/en-us/

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