Students and would-be game devs, take note: when you log on to attend GDC Summer next month, there will be an entire channel of learning opportunities tailored specifically for your needs!

This is a unique strength of the virtual platform we’ll be hosting GDC Summer on August 4th through 6th, and anyone looking to advance their game dev career or quickly learn new skills is invited to check out some of the cool content you’ll find in the GDC Summer Student Channel.

Anyone with a GDC Summer Student Pass or higher will have access to the Student Channel’s talks and interactive sessions, all of which address common concerns of junior and aspiring game makers. It’s all part of the GDC Summer Student Program, a full Thursday (August 6th) of lectures, interactive sessions, and group discussions designed for aspiring devs and seasoned professionals seeking new opportunities and career advice!

Phoenix Labs’ Garrett Fredley will be there to deliver a talk on “Increasing the Interview Odds Through Skill Set Diversification“, for example, and it promises to be a practical talk aimed at helping students, grads, and experienced devs diversify skills and demonstrate enough prowess to clinch that next job interview.

Don’t miss it, because you can expect to walk away with practical advice for avoiding skill set pitfalls, converting secondary skills into highlight strengths, and maximizing the chances of that next interview!

Plus, “Ask Me Anything: Whiteboard Interviewing Q&A with Ellen Beeman & Cal Reinhard” is a great opportunity for junior and would-be game devs to ask questions about the dreaded white board tests that are part of many game industry interviews. Together, Ellen Beeman from DigiPen and Cal Reinhard from Popcap Games will talk through the principles of what interviewers are looking for in these sessions and how to answer them, including the “Ask, Talk, Test” approach that Ellen has used to successfully mentor over a hundred DigiPen students!

Or check out “Pixel Art and Animation in the Hi-Bit Age“, in which experienced game artist Tyriq Plummer (Catacomb Kids) will go over some techniques and best practices for approaching pixel art and animation for contemporary games.

He’ll also explore some of the tools that are available to artists, and discuss some of the more innovative ways pixel art can be incorporated into games with a modern bent. If you’re at all interested in learning pixel art or 2D game art, check it out!

More details on these sessions and many more are available now in the GDC Summer session schedule, so take a look and register to attend if you haven’t already!

For more details on GDC Summer, scheduled to take place virtually August 4th through the 6th, visit the show’s official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent company Informa Tech

Unity acquired Bolt from Ludiq back in May of 2020 although no further announcements were made.  Today however that all changed when Unity announced that the Bolt visual scripting solution for the Unity game engine will now be free for all tiers of Unity, including the free or personal tiers.  Bolt is available immediately as a free download on the Unity Asset Store.

Details from the Unity blog:

Bolt visual scripting is now included in all Unity plans, at no additional cost.

We believe the world is a better place with more creators in it, and we know that visual scripting is a critical part of bringing ideas to life quickly in Unity.

Bolt is now available for download by all Unity users through the Unity Asset Store. Users who purchased Bolt after Unity made the acquisition announcement on May 4, 2020 will receive a refund in the amount of their purchase. We’ll be sending an email to those users within the next two weeks.

The next version of Bolt, Bolt 2, which will bring improvements in capability, scalability, performance, and ease of use is in development. When it arrives, Bolt 2 will also be included in all Unity plans at no additional cost. More information to come later this year.

We are committed to providing a great visual scripting experience for users for all types of projects, regardless of the architecture. Bolt is an acceleration of this mission towards providing that experience. We’re also working to refine our various node-based tools to improve the general user experience progressively, over time, across the Editor.

Again you can learn more about Bolt and download it here.  Learn more about the Bolt release in the video below.

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GameDev News Unity

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The release of Crysis Remastered on Switch has left many a gamer who remembers trying to get that massively taxing game running well on a PC back in the late 2000s scratching their heads in disbelief. We’re still putting the game through its paces for review but, by most accounts, the handheld Switch version holds up rather well.

Of course, Crysis isn’t the first FPS CryEngine game to come to Switch; free-to-download online shooter Warface landed on Nintendo’s console earlier this year and impressed us with its enjoyably old school action. To find out a little more about the technical challenges of getting a CryEngine first-person shooter on Switch’s mobile chipset, we caught up with Ivan Pabiarzhyn, Franchise Producer at Warface to discuss how the talented team managed it.

When the team first sat down to look at the Switch hardware from a technical standpoint, what were your initial impressions and thoughts regarding its suitability for running CryEngine?

At first, we considered it an impossible task but then decided to give it a try.

As we understand it, Warface was built in CryEngine 3. Does your 2020 version of the engine bear much resemblance to the CryEngine 3 that launched over a decade ago? What are the biggest alterations or refinements that have been made over the years?

The original CryEngine as used in the original PC version of Warface didn’t support 64-bit or DirectX 11. So we had our work cut out for us in switching to x64 and DX11 on PC. When porting the game to the Nintendo Switch we wrote our own emulation of DX11 and tried to make it as fast as possible.

One of the things that we managed to keep intact on Switch is CryEngine’s dynamic lighting system.

Obviously, to get the engine running on Switch’s mobile chipset involves sacrifices. Can you explain some of the ways you tailored the engine to perform well on Switch?

One of the biggest unknowns for us was how well the CryEngine would work on the Switch hardware. In particular, one of the challenges was finding a balance between image quality and frame rate which was good enough for comfortable gameplay on the Nintendo Switch. We had to make sure it maintained a stable 30FPS in all gameplay modes. We did this by having a fixed resolution for Warface in both docked and portable modes. That wasn’t easy, but the team was able to skillfully achieve this with only minimal reduction to image quality.

Post-CryEngine 2 (following cries of ‘but will it run Crysis?’ which went on for years), scalability seemed to gain importance in future versions of the engine. Despite the hardware’s limitations, were there any technical features you were able to implement on Switch that surprised you?

One of the things that we managed to keep intact on Switch is CryEngine’s dynamic lighting system. You can see light bouncing realistically through open windows and onto players and their weapons in the Pripyat Special Operation, for example. Some of the new and upgraded graphical assets from the recent Mars and Titan Special Operations have also made the transition to Switch.

A more powerful GPU… would’ve allowed for better graphical fidelity and saved the team a lot of time in optimization

If you could upgrade a single component in the Switch to aid and smooth the development process, which part would you beef up? What would the effect be for a game like Warface?

A more powerful GPU. It would’ve allowed for better graphical fidelity and saved the team a lot of time in optimization.

Working with one engine for so many years must have its pros, as well as some cons. As a developer, at what point do you decide to make a clean break and switch to a different, newer version? If you were ever to make a sequel or a different game, would you stick with the engine you’re using now?

The longer you work with a tool, the better you become at using it. We always try and use the latest possible technology, but it’s the question of striking a balance between new features and maintaining the game’s stability. When working on a new game, we always consider every tool at our disposal that would be best for this particular project. Our team’s experience plays a major role when making those choices.

Given your experience bringing an established game to Switch from other platforms, are there any Switch ports from other studios that stand out as particularly notable from your point of view? What about them impressed you?

Warface is the Switch’s first free-to-play military shooter, so there wasn’t much in the way of precursors. But we did like the ease of access Fortnite provides for its players, so it was important for us to keep Warface free-to-play online without requiring a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

We also knew that in terms of in-game content and modes we have both PvE missions and 11 completely different PvP modes including a “battle royale” mode. So, possibly, we have more interesting content to offer on these terms that anybody else on the market. As such, we didn’t really look at other games and just made the decisions we considered best for both our existing community and new players.

Warface on Switch gained 1 million players after its first month-or-so of release. Has the Switch version performed in line with your expectations?

Yes, but we weren’t — and aren’t — planning on stopping there. Our mission is constantly developing the project while coordinating our efforts with the platform’s requirements and building on the community’s feedback.

You added a 32-player Battle Royale mode back in April this year, too. What are your plans for the game going forward?

As our game is huge in content, at the moment not all the in-game content (special weapon series, themed kits) is available on Switch yet. We want to bring the Switch version up to the level of the PS4 and Xbox One version there were released earlier and launch full-blown crossplay between Switch and other systems.

Our thanks to the team for their time. Warface is out now (and free to download and play) on Switch eShop – check out our review of the game following its February launch. Crysis Remastered is also available – keep an eye out for our verdict soon.

Earlier this week, during the Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase, we found out Cadence of Hyrule would be receiving three new paid DLC packs this year. As you probably already know, the first character pack is now available for $5.99 USD (or your regional equivalent). It contains Impa, Federick (the Shopkeeper), Aria, Shadow Link, and Shadow Zelda.

Alongside this, Brace Yourself Games has rolled out Version 1.2.0. We’ve now got our hands on the full patch notes – which adds and changes some content, and also fixes a lot of bugs. Here’s the full rundown:

PATCH NOTES 1.2.0

• Character DLC now available! Play through any game mode as Impa, Frederick (Shopkeeper), Aria, Shadow Link, or Shadow Zelda. Includes a new game mode: all characters mode, and 1 alternate outfit for each character (changeable at sheikah stones)
• added a new game mode modifier: mystery mode
• changed behaviour of some enemies to have them better avoid falling in holes
• changed Octavo’s haste ability to be speed capped in the same way as peaceful area movement or fixed-beat movement
• added portals to dungeon mode to allow the player to restart a zone from the boss area
• added 2 extra weapons in dungeon mode, in zones 2 and 3
• changed dungeon mode to not regenerate the dungeon after death when playing in seeded mode
• added a display of the random seed to the post-game screen, and make it briefly visable after a quick-restart

BUG FIXES

• fixed “bounce-cancelling”, an exploit that could allow the player to be stuck hovering at a specific height
• fixed a bug/exploit involving using the inventory screen to cancel a bow or power glove action
• fixed a bug where characters would continuously swap equipment if they picked up a new item while standing on a bridge or object
• fixed a bug where the contents of certain objects (crates, bushes, etc) could be duplicated using the power glove
• fixed a bug where “Quick Restart” in a co-op game would then start a new game in single player mode
• fixed a bug in dungeon generation where bounce traps could be generated adjacent to doors
• fixed a bug where picking up an item while sliding on ice could cause the player to slide too far
• fixed a bug where using the hookshot and the “haste” ability could cause the step count to be incremented incorrectly
• fixed an issue where helper characters in the Ganon battle could get stuck with glass weapons, and then lose their only available weapon after getting hit
• fixed some bugs involving player movement around wind traps
• fixed an issue where heart pieces could disappear if the player left the screen without picking them up
• fixed some bugs relating to unusable items appearing for Yves
• fixed an issue where Yves could unburrow inside certain larger enemies, causing them to get stuck
• fixed a bug where the shrine of death could allow the player to skip Necrodancer phase 3
• many other bug fixes

Packs 2 and 3 will be released before the end of October (for $5.99 and $9.99 respectively). You can also buy all three in the Season Pass for $14.99 (which includes bonus costumes for Link and Zelda). The second pack adds 39 songs to the game, and the third pack adds additional story content and allows you to play as Skull Kid.

There’ll also be a physical edition of the game released on 23rd October. It contains the base game and all of the DLC. Have you downloaded the latest update for Cadence of Hyrule? Did you buy the DLC? Leave a comment down below.

Earlier this week you may have seen a certain tweet doing the rounds on Twitter insinuating that 2020 is the worst year Nintendo has had for a while. This comes following an underwhelming Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase which came on the heels of a Nintendo Treehouse stream that also disappointed fans hoping for big announcements on upcoming games in the second half of the year.

Even if the first half of 2020 has proved light on the ‘MEGATON ANNOUNCEMENT’ front, we’ve been playing some mighty fine games on Switch

Without naming names, it struck us as amusing that Nintendo’s year so far could be considered a ‘bad’ one. Has it been a bit quiet? Certainly. Lacking in blow-out Direct presentations compared to Switch’s previous years? Undoubtedly. But Nintendo’s worst year since…? Everything is relative, of course, but it’s clear that some fans have let their expectations run amok. Anybody expecting confirmation of the rumoured Super Mario 35th Anniversary remasters from a video clearly labelled as a ‘Partner Showcase’ only has themselves to blame.

Even if the first half of 2020 has proved light on the ‘MEGATON ANNOUNCEMENT’ front, we’ve been playing some mighty fine games on Switch the past six months. A quick visit to our reviews section reveals that in 2020 we’ve awarded over 30 games a review score or 9- or 10/10 across various genres. We’ve seen brilliant remasters of older titles like Catherine: Full Body, Xenoblade Chronicles and BioShock: The Collection, and delightful indie hits like Good Job!, In Other Waters, La-Mulana 2 and To The Moon.

Elsewhere, our review banks are bubbling over with great games that scored 8/10. We’ve had Pokémon DLC, we’ve had new Smash fighters, within the space of two months we’ve had the announcement and release of a brand new Paper Mario game that’s really rather good… and we’re only just halfway through the year. Oh, and that other first-party joint that launched back in March. What was the name? Animal something-or-other…

Nintendo Life

Have there been disappointments? Sure, but considering the wider trials and tribulations citizens across the globe are contending with in 2020, we’d say Switch owners and Nintendo fans have had a pretty good time of it when it comes to gaming.

With that in mind (and for a bit of fun), we thought we’d ask you lovely people which year from Nintendo’s illustrious gaming history you think was the ‘worst’. How you define that superlative is up to you: perhaps the release of an unloved console sullied an entire 365-day period for you; maybe a post-launch drought sapped your enthusiasm one year; perhaps a hilariously poor E3 showing flushed Nintendo’s gaming calendar down your toilet.

The poll below starts with 1986–the year of the NES’ full launch in the West following its release in test markets the previous year–giving you 35 years to choose from. If you’re having trouble remembering what was released when, you can always head to our games database and filter by year to jog your gaming memory.

So, let us know which year represents Nintendo’s nadir below, and leave a comment to let us know why.

All a bit of a downer? Fear not – it’s only a bit of fun and we’ll counteract this negativity with a ‘Best Year’ poll soon. In the meantime, we’re off to find that Ravi Drums clip…

© Nintendo

Famitsu’s Japanese chart figures are now in for 13th – 19th July, and Nintendo’s latest Switch release Paper Mario: The Origami King has made its debut in second place – surpassing 100,000 sales.

The PlayStation 4 exclusive Ghost of Tsushima has taken out the top spot in its first week. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has jumped up to the third place, Ring Fit Adventure is right underneath it, and Konami’s baseball titles have dropped down to fifth and sixth place.

Underneath them sits Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Pokémon Sword and Shield, and the other new entry this week – Together! The Battle Cats.

Here are the top 10 (first numbers are this week’s estimated sales, followed by total sales):

1) [PS4] Ghost of Tsushima (Sony Interactive Entertainment) {2020.07.17} – 212.915 / NEW
2) [NSW] Paper Mario: The Origami King (Nintendo) {2020.07.17} – 109.092 / NEW
3) [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo) {2020.03.20} – 71.897 / 5.186.283
4) [NSW] Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo) {2019.10.18} – 36.183 / 1.173.243
5) [NSW] eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020 (Konami) {2020.07.09} – 29.719 / 124.595
6) [PS4] eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020 (Konami) {2020.07.09} – 26.951 / 118.498
7) [NSW] Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (Nintendo) {2020.06.05} – 20.586 / 235.891
8) [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo) {2017.04.28} – 10.031 / 3.035.989
9) [NSW] Together! The Battle Cats (Ponos) {2020.07.16} – 9.725 / NEW
10) [NSW] Pokemon Sword / Shield (Pokemon Co.) {2019.11.15} – 7.843 / 3.662.804

Standard Switch hardware sales went up this week, but there was a decrease in Switch Lite sales. Here are this week’s figures, followed by lifetime sales in brackets:

Nintendo Switch: 95,764 (11,904,115)
PlayStation 4: 3,053 (7,628,803)
PlayStation 4 Pro: 1,470 (1,567,758)
Xbox One S: 12 (21,411)
Xbox One X: 19 (20,628)

Nintendo Switch Lite: 17,433 (2,408,524)
New Nintendo 2DS LL: 827(1,137,995)
New Nintendo 3DS: 76 (5,888,143)

< Last week’s charts

Any surprises this week? Let us know in the comments.