Dr Mike Jelinek joins ADAPT ONEDiscover the bold designs of concept artist Dr Mike Jelinek.https://adapt.one/editorial/link/212/Dr+Mike+Jelinek+joins+ADAPT+ONE/

Tuesday, November 19th, 2024Posted by Jim ThackerBiteTheBytes releases World Creator 2024.3html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Originally posted on 21 April 2024. Scroll down for the World Creator 2024.3 update.BiteTheBytes has begun its World Creator 2024 releases, the latest annual series of updates to the GPU-based terrain generator.World Creator 2024.1 adds a new rivers system, carving river valleys through terrain, plus Polygon Layers for raising or flattening terrain, three new filters, and a bridge tool for Blender 4.1.World Creator 2024.2 adds a 3D stamping system and support for MatCap materials.World Creator 2024.3 adds new snow and debris Simulation Layers, a new Shape Layer for 3D primitives, plus new filters and distributions.Pricing and licensing for the software has also been updated, changing the prices of perpetual licenses, and re-introducing rental-only subscriptions.A procedural GPU-based terrain generator used by leading games and VFX studiosA GPU-based terrain generator combining procedural and manual editing workflows, World Creator has been used by artists at games and VFX studios including Blizzard Entertainment, Crytek, Blur Studio and Cinesite.The software began life as a plugin for the Unity game engine, before evolving into a standalone application in 2017, and becoming independent of Unity with 2022s World Creator 3.Artists create terrain using a layer-based workflow, sculpting or stamping the basic 3D forms, and generating linear land forms like mountain ranges, rivers and roads along vector paths.The terrain can be modified using a large set of filters, including those mimicking the effects of erosion and sediment deposition, previewing the results using World Creators built-in ray tracing renderer.Users can export terrain to DCC applications and game engines in 3D formats like OBJ, FBX and glTF, or as 2D texture maps, including height maps and flow maps, with support for 32-bit EXRs.New rivers system carves river valleys based on slope angle and water flowThe main new feature in World Creator 2024.1 is the new Rivers system.As the name suggests, it carves river valleys through terrain, with users able to generate the rivers automatically, from hand-placed source points, or from scratch for greater control.The width, depth and sinuosity of the river is determined by the slope of the terrain at each point along its length, and by flow parameters controlling the throughput of water.Users can also modify the results with parameters to control river and valley shape, and overall settings to control branching, lake formation and sea level.Other changes: Polygon Layers, new filters and performance updatesOther key changes include the return of Polygon Layers, for creating custom raised or flattened areas in terrain.The feature was previously available in World Creator 2, where it was known as Shape Layers.There are also three new filters, Hexagons, Squeeze and Rocky Layers.Under the hood, performance has been improved, and for users of non-NVIDIA GPUs, there have been fixes for all AMD issues.The Bridge Tools the integration plugins for DCC applications have also been updated, with a new plugin for Blender 4.1.BiteTheBytes puts its changelogs in its customer portal, so you can only view them if youre an existing user, but you can find more details of the new features in the online documentation.Updated 22 June 2024: BiteTheBytes has released World Creator 2024.2.Key changes include a new 3D stamping system: the Model Shape Layer can be used to import a 3D mesh and place it into terrain as a 2D projection, as shown above.The update also adds support for MatCap materials, which can be used for terrain visualization via the updated Fast Render mode.There is also a new render mode, Textured Render, intended for low-end GPUs. It shows terrain colors, but is not ray traced.In addition, there are 10 new noise types, available as Distributions and Filters.Updated 19 November 2024: BiteTheBytes has released World Creator 2024.3.Its a sizeable update, adding two new Simulation Layer types one for snow, and one for debris and a new Shape Layer type for 3D primitives.There is also a new Erosion filter for Sediment Flows, five new Effect filters (Chipped, Scatter, Shore/Beach, Strata, Kuwahara), and four new distributions (Sea Level, Filter Change, Melt, Occlusion).The update also improves workflow for creating gradient/sat-map materials, and makes terrain generation about 15% faster than in the previous release.Pricing: new perpetual license prices and subscription plansSince the release of World Creator 2024.2, BiteTheBytes has also changed the pricing and licensing for the software.Previously, pricing was based on number of staff, with Professional licenses, for studios with up to five employees, costing $289, and Company licenses, for larger studios, costing $1,289.That has now changed to a revenue-based model, with Indie licenses, for users with revenue under $100,000/year, costing $149. Terrain is capped at 4,096 x 4,096px resolution.Professional licenses are now for users with revenue under $500,000/year, and cost $249.98, while Enterprise licenses now cost $1,699.98. By default, prices include 12 months maintenance, although it is possible to cancel this.BiteTheBytes has also re-introduced subscriptions, with rental costing $119.88/year for Indie users, $179.88/year for Professional users, and $1,289.88/year for Enterprise users.Availability and system requirementsWorld Creator 2024.3 is available for Windows 7+ only. Integration plugins are available for Blender 2.93+, Cinema 4D R25+, Houdini 19.0+, Unity 2020+ and Unreal Engine 4.26+.For users with revenue under $100,000/year, perpetual Indie licenses cost $149.98, and are limited to 4K resolution. Rental costs $119.88/year.For users with revenue under $500,000/year, perpetual Professional licenses cost $249.98. Rental costs $179.88/year.For users with revenue over $500,000/year, perpetual Enterprise licenses cost $1,699.98. Rental costs $1,289.88/year.Read an overview of the new features in World Creator 2024 on the product websiteHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.Latest NewsChaos ships Corona 12 Update 1 for 3ds Max and Cinema 4DArchitectural renderer gets new live link to Chaos Vantage, better volumetric caustics, and new AI-based render upscaling system.Wednesday, November 20th, 20245 key features in Blender 4.3Now available: read our pick of the new features in the open-source 3D software, from Grease Pencil 3 to updates to Eevee and Cycles.Tuesday, November 19th, 2024BiteTheBytes releases World Creator 2024.3Big update to the real-time terrain generator adds new snow and debris simulation tools, and changes pricing and licensing.Tuesday, November 19th, 2024Free tool: Reallusion's Blender Auto Setup pluginNewly rebranded plugin transfers 3D characters, shaders, rigs and animation from Character Creator and iClone to Blender.Monday, November 18th, 2024Download VFX Assets' free 2D Cloud Textures PackGet 125 free cloud textures on black backgrounds for background compositing in VFX or motion graphics projects. Commercial use.Sunday, November 17th, 2024Create perfect topology for animated charactersNew Gnomon Workshop tutorial reveals how to create 3D characters with animation-friendly, production-ready topology in Maya and ZBrush.Saturday, November 16th, 2024More NewsEphere releases Ornatrix 3 for Cinema 4DMaxon releases Red Giant 2025.2 and Universe 2025.1Nekki releases Cascadeur MobileUnreal Engine 5.5: discover 10 key features for CG artistsBlackmagic Design releases Fusion Studio 19.1Blackmagic Design releases DaVinci Resolve 19.1Get the Blender Studio's free Brushstroke Tools for BlenderFoundry releases Mari 7.1 in betaScene Group releases Cavalry 2.2Maxon releases ZBrush for iPad 2025.1Foundry discontinues ModoEpic Games to share new free assets on Fab every two weeksOlder Posts

Project Files: https://www.patreon.com/posts/116352294 . This is the 129th episode of the new tutorial series on Action RPG game using Gameplay Ability System. Here we will add add gauntlets to the character's modular armor system we have implemented. Gauntlets will add small amount of defence to the character and there will be difference classes of gauntlets with different attributes. Later on when the character has multiple gauntlets collected, player will be able to switch gauntlets through the inventory UI. Animations are sponsored by: https://www.ramsterzanimations.com/ https://www2.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/greatsword-anims Full Playlist : Action RPG series with gameplay ability system: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNTm9yU0zou7XnRx5MfBbZnfMZJqC6ixz // ! https://www.patreon.com/codelikeme Patrons will have access to project files of all the stuff I do in the channel and other extra benefitsJoin this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClb6Jh9EBV7a_Nm52Ipll_Q/join Like my facebook page for more content : https://www.facebook.com/gamedevelopersclub/ Follow me on twitter : https://twitter.com/CodeLikeMe2 Follow me on reddit : https://www.reddit.com/user/codelikeme #CodeLikeMe #unrealengine #ue5 #ue4 #indiegamedev

This marble tablet weighs 115 pounds and measures two feet tall. SothebysTheoldest-known stone tablet featuring an inscription of the Ten Commandments is going to auction, where experts think it could sell for between $1 million and $2 million. The1,500-year-old marble slab was discovered in 1913 during a railway excavation along the southern coast of what is now Israel. Dating to between 300 and 500 C.E., it was unearthed near the locations of early synagogues, mosques and churches.On December 18, Sothebys will sell the tablet, which features 20 lines of Paleo-Hebrew script. It stands about two feet tall and weighs 115 pounds. This is the first time its been on the market since 2016, when it brought in $850,000.We understood how powerful the object was, and we were really thrilled to be able to offer it for sale to the public, Sharon Liberman Mintz, Sothebys international senior specialist of Judaica, books and manuscripts, tells ARTnews Karen K. Ho.This is really one-of-a-kind, she adds. Its one of the most important historic artifacts that Ive ever handled. Sotheby's estimates that the tablet could sell for between $1 million and $2 million. SothebysHowever, for many years after the artifacts discovery, no one understood the extent of the tablets historical significance. Per Sothebys, someone once used it as a paving stone at the entrance of their house. The inscription, which faced upwards, sustained damage as guests walked on it.Some of the letters of the central part of the inscription are blurredbut still readable under proper lightingeither from the conditions of its burial or foot traffic while it was resting in the courtyard, David Michaels, director of ancient coins for Heritage Auctions, toldCNNs Georgia McCafferty in 2016.In 1943, its circumstances finally changed. Y. Kaplan, a municipal archaeologist, bought the slab and realized that it was a rare text known as a Samaritan Decalogue. It was made by theSamaritans, an ancient group whose beliefs are rooted in the Old Testament. Unlike Jews, however, they believe that Gods dwelling place is Mount Gerizim in the present-day West Bank, rather than Mount Zion in Jerusalem.Most of the text on the marble reflects biblical verses familiar to both Christian and Jewish traditions, per a statement from Sothebys. However, it only lists nine of the commonly known commandments, leaving out Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain. In its place is a directive to worship at Mount Gerizim. According to Sothebys, the tablet may have once appeared on display in a Samaritan synagogue or private home.This remarkable tablet is not only a vastly important historic artifact, but a tangible link to the beliefs that helped shape Western civilization, says Richard Austin, Sothebys global head of books and manuscripts, in the statement. To encounter this shared piece of cultural heritage is to journey through millennia and connect with cultures and faiths told through one of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Ancient Civilizations, Archaeology, Artifacts, Auctions, Bible, Christianity, Historical Documents, History, Israel, Judaism, Religion, Religious History, Rituals and Traditions

Adobe's SlimLM, a breakthrough AI system, brings advanced document processing directly to smartphones without the need for cloud computing, offering enhanced privacy and reduced costs for businesses.Read More

Lego and UNICEF unveil game design toolbox to help promote children's wellbeing in digital playRITEC-8 framework designed in partnership with over 35 games companies News by Marie Dealessandri Deputy Editor Published on Nov. 20, 2024 Lego and UNICEF have released a set of design guidelines targeting game developers to better promote children's wellbeing during digital play.The Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) toolbox is targeting game designers, with the end goal being to provide "practical tools to create digital experiences that actively promote experiences considerate of wellbeing."RITEC is a research project co-founded by the Lego Group and UNICEF that involved over 780 children in 18 countries, which demonstrated that digital play can have a positive impact on a child's wellbeing. Research was conducted in partnership with the Western Sydney University, the University of Sheffield, New York University, City University New York, and the Queensland University of Technology."If designed well, games can help children to regulate their emotions, feel connected to others, and find joy"The RITEC toolbox includes, among others, guidelines to design games focusing on the eight "wellbeing outcomes" that children can get out of digital play: autonomy, competence, emotional regulation, relationships, creativity, identities, diversity, equity & inclusion, and safety & security.Known as the RITEC-8 framework, it was designed in partnership with over 35 gaming companies from 15 countries."Designing for wellbeing is about allowing children to experience a sense of control, have freedom of choice and experience mastery and feelings of achievement," the announcement highlighted. "If designed well, games can also help children to regulate their emotions, feel connected to others, and find joy in creating and exploring as well as acting on new ideas. These types of experiences are vital for children's wellbeing and can even support their development."The RITEC design toolbox also includes "a summary for executives highlighting the business case of designing for wellbeing," and "a shared vocabulary for game designers to discuss both children's needs and desires for wellbeing, as well as online gaming features to promote it," among others.These resources are free and can be found on UNICEF's website.

'Presented in a step-by-step format, this book helps the reader understand how the game design skills that are acquired through creating tabletop games can be used when designing video games.'

Chris Kerr, News EditorNovember 19, 20243 Min ReadImage via RemedyAt a GlanceRemedy is going all-in on self-publishing but claims the approach will require a change in mindset.Alan Wake and Control developer Remedy claims self-publishing will drive the studio create games for a wider audience.Outlining the company's five-year strategy during a Capital Markets Day presentation, Remedy CFO Santtu Kallionp said ditching the publisher-funded model isn't just about securing a bigger chunk of revenue, but rather changing how Remedy approaches development."With the publisher funded model, the way Remedy has approached building our game concepts and business cases can be explained in the following way. [...] It starts by Remedy creating a captivating creative pitch and game concept, which includes a budget ask," said Kallionp."Then we would have taken that out and sold it to a potential publisher. Once a publisher has bought the concept it is the publisher's responsibility to try and position [the title] and try to find a big enough audience for that game. Often publishers, especially if they are platform holders, have strategic platform interest, making them more willing to take risks on creative projects with unknown commercial upsides."Kallionp explained that with its previous titles, especially projects funded by publishers, Remedy didn't prioritize building a game with a huge target audience in mind. Instead, the company was more focused on creating a compelling concept that would attract interest (and investment) from prospective partners.That's going to change. Now that Remedy intends to fund development and self-publish its titles (with help from select partners like Annapurna Pictures and Tencent), Kallionp said the company will need to be "more strategic" when thinking about that intended audience. He explained the studio will need to understand from the get-go whether a concept will be capable of attracting a large playerbase, because it's now Remedy's "sole responsibility" to ensure its projects become commercially viable.Remedy expects entire organization to buy into new publishing modelKallionp said Remedy's approach to self-publishing is shaped by three guiding principles. Firstly, the Finnish studio wants to build a "focused internal team" that owns the critical publishing areas and can achieve operational scale and global reach by working with key partners.Secondly, he emphasized that Remedy will only publish its own gameslargely because it wants "publishing to be closely integrated with our development teams throughout the life cycle of our games." Finally, he said everyone involved with production must understand "how we are publishing our games [and] how we are marketing out games," because all employees are driving towards the same end goal.Kallionp noted that Remedy is still expanding its self-publishing team, which is split into six key units each with their own leader, and hopes to grow the division to just over 20 people. If the company can realize its vision, Kallionp believes Remedy will deliver lucrative hits and nurture expansive player communities."By publishing our games ourselves, we get to build closer integrations between game development and publishing to help align our games with a large enough target audience. We will also get closer closer to our players, as we are responsible for making the key decisions regarding updates and fixes based on player feedback and analytics," he added."And finally, self-publishing will push and motivate the whole organization to think more commercially, as we are solely responsible ourselves for the financial success or failure of our games."Read more about:Remedy EntertainmentTop StoriesAbout the AuthorChris KerrNews Editor, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, andPocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like

Sony is bringing a big new feature to the PlayStation Portal: cloud streaming. When it first launched, the device was only able to stream games from your PS5 over Wi-Fi. But as part of a new system update thats rolling out starting later today, youll be able to stream select PS5 games from the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog to your PlayStation Portal.Sony is launching the feature in beta, and youll need to be a PlayStation Plus Premium subscriber to take advantage of it. Sony says that to stream at 720p, youll need a minimum 7 Mbps connection, while 1080p quality will require a minimum 13 Mbps connection. Portal Cloud Streaming Beta Image: SonySome PlayStation Plus features wont be available to start with cloud streaming to the PlayStation Portal, including Game Trials, party voice chat, game invites for select games, 3D audio, and in-game commerce. And you wont be able to stream any PS4 games or PS3 games. Child accounts also wont be able to use cloud streaming on the Portal.The beta will be available in the following countries:Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United StatesSony launched cloud streaming on PS5 consoles last year.As part of the new PlayStation Portal update, there are changes to audio, too, including a lower minimum volume level and the ability to tweak settings of a PlayStation Link device from your Portals settings.

Following ongoing reports that Amazons generative AI makeover of Alexa is not going well, it appears Amazon may take a more practical approach to making its smart assistant more useful.According to Business Insider, Amazon is partnering with several companies to make Alexa better at doing things you might want a digital assistant to do: including calling an Uber, tackling Ticketmaster for events, booking dinner through OpenTable, and handling GrubHub and Instacart for your food delivery. Now, if this sounds familiar, it's because the likes of Uber, OpenTable, GrubHub and others already had Alexa Skills, but apparently, this is something different. These companies are reportedly being recruited to be part of the new Alexa, which Amazon has said will be a smarter, more capable voice assistant so much more capable, that the company will charge a premium for its use. Amazon wants to make the new Alexa capable of completing an entire task for a user rather than handing it off to a third party, as it largely does with Skills. BI reports that these partner companies would become the primary option for handling those specific tasks on the upgraded Alexa." So, for example, when you ask Alexa to order that pizza you got last week from that place you like, it could potentially link into your GrubHub account and order you a pepperoni and pineapple, saving you several minutes of fiddling with your phone. According to BI, the partnerships aren't final. In fact, an Amazon spokesperson told the publication that any product development process features ideas that dont necessarily reflect what the experience will be when we roll it out for our customers.The approach is an interesting antidote to the generative-AI hype around voice assistants. Theres no need to reinvent the wheel here, just make the wheel better. While the report didnt include technical details, if Amazon is partnering with companies, it may well be to leverage a much more tried-and-true solution than generative AI: APIs. Instead of unleashing an LLM-powered assistant on a service or website and telling it to execute a task for you (a model that companies like Rabbit and Humane AI have tried with limited success), Amazon could just use a smarter, more conversational Alexa to make the clunky command and control structure of API calls more seamless. While technically much less ambitious, if it makes for a smoother experience ordering your pizza via voice than with the current Alexa Skills process, thats an improvement all round. The downside is that if Amazon relies on partnerships to provide this functionality, your local pizza place may not be on that list. (Mine only just got online ordering, and it's spotty at best.) According to BIs source, Amazon expects to have around 200 partners by Q3 next year. Depending on who those partners are, this approach of let's make sure this actually works rather than heres a chatbot that might try to add pinecones to your pizza feels like a better solution.