Game Development

Economic integrity is what makes progression in online RPGs mean something: a level playing field where items and advancement are earned through gameplay and skill, not purchased, botted, exploited, or obtained by socially engineering a studio's customer support department.

References: https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/isre.2020.0416

What do you think is most likely to be taking them so long?

Hardware/software/other technical aspects:

• keeping their software in sync with new hardware - obviously (?) it's going to be a 64-bit game, but maybe there are other aspects to it, for instance, adapting the maximum quality of textures, meshes, shaders, animations and what have you to be appropriate for today's computing power (CPU, GPU, new PCIe standards, etc), considering how long ago the game's development began.
• game engine - are they making something from scratch, reusing older assets or "borrow" for instance UE5?
• other?

World building aspects:

• there are tons of loose ends to tie up or to build upon from previous games - did they not have plans for a sixth game when Skyrim released and thus were left clueless on how to develope the story? Most unlikely...
• are they taking time trying to incorporate fan theories and stories?
• resolving contradictions from previous games?
• other?

Political aspects:

• the acquisition by Microsoft?
• internal strife?
• budget?
• other?

Other aspects:

• "simply" fine tuning to achieve perfection?
• all of the above?
• none of the above?

Context: I have never ever participated in game development ✌️

Announcing the release of CtrlAssist v0.3.0, which introduces significant new features and usability improvements. CtrlAssist brings "controller assist" functionality to Linux gaming by allowing multiple physical controllers to operate as a single virtual input device. This enables collaborative play and customizable gamepad setups, making it easier for players of all ages and abilities to enjoy games together.

Major Features

System Tray Interface

This release introduces a graphical system tray application that provides desktop integration for managing controller multiplexing. Users can now:

• Configure primary and assist controller assignments via dropdown menus
• Start and stop the mux without using the command line
• Adjust settings through a context menu interface
• Receive desktop notifications for status changes
• Persist configuration across sessions

The tray interface supports live reconfiguration of device-invariant settings (mux mode and rumble target) while the mux is running.

Multiple Hiding Strategies

Controller hiding now supports three distinct strategies:

• None: No hiding, manual configuration required
• Steam: Automatically manages Steam's controller blacklist via config.vdf modification
• System: Restricts device permissions system-wide (requires root access)

The Steam hiding strategy enables proper functionality in sandboxed environments without requiring elevated privileges, addressing a key limitation for Flatpak users.

Live Runtime Updates

The mux runtime now supports dynamic reconfiguration without restart for:

• Mux mode changes (Priority, Average, Toggle)
• Rumble target adjustments (Primary, Assist, Both, None)

This functionality is available through both the system tray and programmatic (D-BUS) interfaces, allowing users to adapt behavior during gameplay sessions.

Flatpak Distribution

CtrlAssist is now packaged as a Flatpak application with:

• Automated GitHub Actions workflow for release builds
• Desktop entry and metainfo for application catalogs
• Proper sandbox permissions for device access
• Support for Steam configuration modifications within the sandbox

Flatpak bundles are automatically built and attached to GitHub releases.

Additional Improvements

• Configuration persistence to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ctrlassist/config.toml
• Controller selection by name with best-effort matching across sessions
• Enhanced documentation with installation instructions for both Cargo and Flatpak
• New pixel art banner and application icon (via Aseprite)
• Improved force feedback device recovery after disconnection
• Better error handling and user feedback throughout the application

Installation

CtrlAssist v0.3.0 can be installed via:

• Cargo: cargo install ctrlassist --force
• Flatpak: Download the bundle from the releases page and install with flatpak install

Full installation instructions are available in the README.

Breaking Changes

The --hide flag now requires an enum value (none, steam, system) instead of being a boolean flag. Users upgrading from v0.2.x should update their scripts accordingly:

• Previous: ctrlassist mux --hide
• Current: ctrlassist mux --hide system

Hi all, I'm currently working on a hobby project currently titled "Prometheus and the Gods" (but will be changed at a later date to reference the duck), where you are tasked by Prometheus, the Titan who stole fire from the gods, to infiltrate in the worlds of the twelve (Greek) Olympian gods and steal their power for the humans (e.g. mastery of the seas from Poseidon). In addition, the player is a duck, which is kind of fun.

The game will mostly be about solving puzzles and going through obstacle courses, rather than real-time combat. The player can interact with "totems" to use the powers of what Wikipedia calls "nature deities": Helios, the all-seeing Sun god, Achelous, the river god of the largest river in Athens I think, and the four Anemoi, the winds (N/S/E/W)

I've got the basic movement down, and I think I have done a decent job at making pixel art for the player, character sprites, and the world. However, I'm not very good at level design at all, and the levels that I have added (tutorial + meeting the four winds) aren't all that fun to play, they all are either a) too easy b) way too difficult or c) just boring/uninteresting.

I am looking for someone who has any skill in level design, and ideally some experience with Godot as well. (two programmers are better than one!) This is a hobby project that won't be making any money though, so this isn't a job or anything, just a bit of fun. No set schedule or anything.

the project's repo if you want to look at what I have so far: https://codeberg.org/sbird/prometheus-and-the-gods

Previous posts on the game for reference:

https://lemmyverse.link/sopuli.xyz/post/30189374

https://lemmyverse.link/sopuli.xyz/post/29809327 (older post, player is not a duck)

~~Note: there does appear to be a "find a team" community, but there's only four posts, and it looks like it died a year or so ago...~~ cross-posted in the "I Need a Team" community

As the title says. Working on making a GDExtension to add a custom archive format to export to instead of PCK or Zip. Main reason is the format I am adding is not only compressed with ZStandard, which I know Godot supports already, but is also a format my studio made for our previous projects before moving to Godot.

Already have the library for it ready and implemented in C++ I just need to figure out the entry point into Godot's virtual filesystem and the export/pack loading process. So that way, when exporting we can choose our format like how you can with pck and zip. And so "load_resource_pack" from the ProjectSettings singleton will recognize the custom format and load it.

Struggling to figure out how pck and zip are being hooked into this system.

I tend to overthink alot and im not sure if my ideas are good enough for a game, most of them are incomplete ideas with plot holes and such in them.

I just want to know how to get a idea and expand upon it in a simple stress-free manner?

Excited to announce release v0.2.0 for CtrlAssist, adding rumble pass-through support and significant improvements to controller multiplexing! CtrlAssist brings "controller assist" functionality to Linux gaming by allowing multiple physical controllers to operate as a single virtual input device. This enables collaborative play and customizable gamepad setups, making it easier for players of all ages and abilities to enjoy games together.

🎯 What's New

Rumble Pass-Through

Force feedback can now be forwarded to paired physical controllers! Configure which controller(s) receive rumble effects—route them to Primary, Assist, both, or neither. Share every haptic encounter from turbulence, engine failure, and hard landings with your co-pilot. Even better: if a controller disconnects mid-game (swapping batteries, USB cords, etc.), CtrlAssist automatically recovers and restores all force feedback effects when it reconnects.

Smoother Input Transitions

All assist modes now feature improved synchronization for more natural gameplay:

• Joysticks snap cleanly: When assistance begins or ends, both X and Y axes update together—no more jarring diagonal-to-cardinal transitions
• Toggle mode syncs instantly: Switching between Primary and Assist now mirrors the active controller's complete current state, eliminating phantom inputs from buttons or sticks that were held during the switch

Better Device Discovery

Controllers device trees are now discovered more reliably, preventing edge cases where multiple similar devices could cause conflicts. This also improves device hiding and rumble pass-through selection.

🛠️ Under the Hood

• Refactored input handling for consistency across all three modes
• Fixed button mapping quirks across physical and virtual device boundaries
• Improved error handling and logging for edge cases and issue reporting
• More graceful shutdown on Ctrl+C with robust cleanup

📦 Install and Upgrade

cargo install ctrlassist --force

Full changelog available at the GitHub release page.

Note: If you have experience with Arch or modding SteamOS, I could use also some help in fixing/documenting SteamDeck support, as I've not the hardware on hand and most of my Linux development has been on NixOS and Ubuntu thus far:

• Investigate and Support SteamDeck / SteamOS Compatibility #13
• Investigate Dynamic Device Permissions for Virtual Devices (udev, ACLs) #19

I belive i would like to try making games but my laptop isint that powerful. Its a thinkpad from like 10 years ago, i upgraded it to a 250gb ssd, and 16gb of low voltage ddr3, i also put linux on it to screeze out as much as possible. So i need something that will run but im struggling on choosing expecially sense i want to start for free. I want to start with something dead simple and work my way up.

What would you suggest and why so?

The computer has taken its first steps toward actually playing the game. At the moment, its logic is limited to land units (tanks and infantry). Aviation and naval forces are not fully implemented for the player yet either.

The AI can construct buildings and units (within its budget), move them through friendly territories, and attack weak neighboring zones when an opportunity arises.

For now, I’m postponing further AI improvements and shifting focus to the user interface. The goal is to complete the overall game structure and architecture. This includes the main menu, options menu, save/load system, and a basic sound system.

https://rewinwar.itch.io/rewinwar

CtrlAssist – an open source project to bring more accessible, collaborative gaming to Linux! Inspired by PC gaming sessions with my own family, where both young and old relish exploring rich stories with immersive worlds (like Witcher 3, RDR3, Hogwarts Legacy, etc) but find coordinated combat or movement control too challenging to play solo, CtrlAssist lets you combine multiple controllers into one virtual gamepad, much like assist features on dedicated game consoles.

Whether your helping grandparents through tough boss fights, or co-oping with nieces and nephews to level age gaps, CtrlAssist aims to make PC gaming on Linux fun and accessible for everyone. While I’m certain similar utilities exist, I also just wanted a holiday hobby project to practice Rust development while scratching a personal itch.

Please give it a try, share your feedback in the relevant discussion categories, or check out the open issues if you’d like to contribute, help is always welcome!

• Developer Feedback and Rust Community Discussion
  • https://github.com/ruffsl/CtrlAssist/discussions/14
• User Feedback and Accessibility Community Discussion
  • https://github.com/ruffsl/CtrlAssist/discussions/15

#RustLang #LinuxGaming #Accessibility #OpenSource #CtrlAssist

I posted here a couple years ago about my indie game, now it's finally releasing! Please check it out and wishlist on steam if it looks like your kind of game.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3993180/No_More_Mages/

cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/Bside/p/1540475/indie-studio-released-10000-game-assets-to-help-devs-avoid-ai

Two-person indie studio Chequered Ink launched a pack of 10,000 game assets to "give budding developers an alternative to AI", which includes over 9,000 graphics for platformers, RPGs, puzzle games, board games, and more, as well as over 700 sound effects.

When Zork arrived, it didn’t just ask players to win; it asked them to imagine. There were no graphics, no joystick, and no soundtrack, only words on a screen and the player’s curiosity. Yet those words built worlds more vivid than most games of their time. What made that possible wasn’t just clever writing, it was clever engineering.

Beneath that world of words was something quietly revolutionary: the Z-Machine, a custom-built engine. Z-Machine is a specification of a virtual machine, and now there are many Z-Machine interpreters that we used today that are software implementations of that VM. …

I'm pretty new to Multi-User Dungeons so i'm not sure this question makes sense. It seems like every MUD engine i've seen that mentions a day/night cycle makes no mention of localized time, or it being day in one part of a large world and night in another part at the same time.

I'm considering trying to make my own MUD, and this (along with localized weather) is something i'd want it to have. If no engine supports this, how hard should i expect it to be to make this work in an existing engine?

Is there anything else i should know, since i currently don't have much experience in anything more complicated than Inform6?

Hey everyone.

I thought I'd share my extra game prototype keys here, as they would be more likely to be used by those who make game prototypes.

I'm not 100% sure these are all on Steam still, but they're free to try out. So have at it.

PLEASE comment on which game key you claimed so I can scratch it off.

I Have No Idea What I'm Doing -- VR game prototype 9MBIR-IP8QE-LHZDK

Kiln -- game prototype 6BRRR-IV6Q2-R75D7 ... 6HVIA-AJAV4-PQY2Z ... 677LM-6Z636-HGQBM

The Gods Must Be Hungry -- game prototype 9M23Q-GYW4C-W6J4M

Enjoy

Rocketwerkz CEO Dean Hall and Floating Point Origin Interactive founder Felipe Falanghe sound downright giddy when they talk about the new C# framework named "Brutal." During a recent call with Game Developer, the brains behind DayZ and Kerbal Space Program couldn't stop making random asides to each other about what they've pulled off with the tool and how they've inspired each other's work.

Their joy was infectious because once you understand how Brutal functions, you realize every new feature is a bona fide accomplishment even for this pair of seasoned developers. "It's called Brutal for a reason," Hall said after Felipe compared working with it to the experience of sitting on a bar stool while all your friends using engines like Godot are sitting on a comfy couch.

CONTROL_MAP = { # Movement & Basic Actions 'Up_Arrow': {'action': 'MOVE_UP', 'type': 'movement'}, 'Down_Arrow': {'action': 'MOVE_DOWN', 'type': 'movement'}, 'Left_Arrow': {'action': 'MOVE_LEFT', 'type': 'movement'}, 'Right_Arrow': {'action': 'MOVE_RIGHT', 'typ...

🎮 Game_1 – Pygame Prototype This issue introduces the first playable version of Operation Free Passage – Strait of Hormuz Simulator. Below is the complete Python code (v1.0) for discussion, testing, and iteration.

🧩 Full Code ```python import pygame import sys i...

Is it possible for a kid to develop games ? I mean not the computer wizkid, but the average one who is simply fond of playing computer games ??