You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here The Nintendo Switch 2 is a beast of a handheld that can support Nvidia DLSS, ray-tracing and other modern rendering features. While the console’s handheld display supports VRR (variable refresh rate) technology to smooth out inconsistent framerates, the console’s Docked Mode output does not. Just weeks ago, Nintendo removed mentions of VRR support in Docked Mode from its official website for the upcoming console. However, Digital Foundry has now confirmed that developers have been informed of the feature’s absence when connecting the console to a TV. Nintendo Switch 2 loses VRR in Docked Mode In a recent video, Digital Foundry lead Richard Leadbetter confirmed the curious VRR decision in a deep breakdown of the Nintendo Switch 2 components. Backed by a source of developer documentation, it’s stated that the Dock simply doesn’t support VRR. “As far as Switch 2 developers are concerned, VRR, right now at least, is indeed a function of the internal display only and that there is no support at all right now for VRR over HDMI,” Leadbetter explained.” The respected journalist and video games analyst explained that the dock included with the Nintendo Switch 2 might not support the technology due to its older HDMI port. “The best theory that we have for this is that the dock’s Display Port to HDMI connector doesn’t support standard HDMI VRR, but whatever is the cause, we really hope to see Nintendo provide some sort of solution in due course.” With the constrained specifications of the Nintendo Switch 2, VRR support is a fantastic option. As 120Hz screens become more common, 40fps modes are offering great experiences for titles that can’t hit 60fps. For the Switch 2, this type of mode will be possible in Portable Mode, but not in Docked Mode. If this is indeed a hardware issue, the only way to actually bring VRR to Docked Mode would be with a revised dock sometime in the future which would split the user base. Would Nintendo be comfortable doing this? Well, judging by the company’s past, probably not. Subscribe to our newsletters! By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime. Share

iOS 18 brought a major change to Apple’s Calendar app: you can now see all your reminders alongside calendar events. But there’s one change that would make the feature even better. iOS 18 Calendar app’s ‘all or nothing’ Reminders integration needs more options I’ve written before about how happy I am to see the Reminders app get integrated with Calendar. It’s a feature I’ve wanted for years, since pairing calendar events with reminders means I can get an accurate overview of my day at a glance. But there’s one main shortcoming in Calendar’s current implementation. In iOS 18, you get only two options for integrating reminders: you can show all scheduled reminders on your calendar or you can hide reminders altogether For some users, showing all reminders in the Calendar app might work fine. But for me, and I suspect many others, it’s less than ideal. It would be great if Calendar let you enable or disable certain Reminders lists, that way you’re not clogging your calendar up with reminders that are irrelevant. Fantastical, an excellent third-party calendar app, lets you pick and choose which Reminders lists show up on your calendar. I really hope iOS 19 brings the same functionality to Apple’s Calendar app. Do you wish you could customize which Reminders lists appear inside Calendar? Let us know in the comments. Best iPhone accessories Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

TNW Backstage is going Double Dutch this week — in more ways than one. In the second episode of our new podcast, which goes behind the scenes of TNW Conference and the tech shaping our world, we’re joined by two special guests. Both of them are based in — you guessed it — the Netherlands. Together, they brew a distinctively orange blend of tech and humour, which has become a TNW trademark. One of them is content creator Derek Mitchell, the mind behind comedy brand Let’s Double Dutch. Mitchell’s viral videos exploring culture and identity in the Netherlands have earned global acclaim. His wildly popular sketches have now racked up over 250 million views. In TNW Backstage, we revisit his appearance at last year’s conference. During the talk, Mitchell reveals how he found his voice online — and how you can too.The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! Now, you may be wondering why a comedian was appearing at a tech conference. Well, there’s no one better to explain than this week’s second guest: Boris, the co-founder of TNW. Boris drops by TNW Towers to explain how humour fuels startup ideas — and lightens the load of tech work. He also looks back at memorable moments from TNW Conference. Among his favourites are a risky rib at Amazon’s CTO, wakeboarding through Amsterdam canals, and, um, cow poop bingo. (It’s another Dutch thing, apparently.) Our terrifically talented head of content, Oliviana Bailey, then gives a sneak peek at the fun and games at this year’s events. It’s a distinct break from the debut episode of the podcast, which explored the evolving data security landscape — and Meta’s controversial “pay or consent” model — with Ron de Jesus, the world’s first Field Chief Privacy Officer. But the contrast encapsulates the two sides of TNW Conference: serious business and festival vibes. You can check out both episodes of the podcast here. To celebrate its launch, we’re also offering an exclusive discount on tickets for TNW Conference, which takes place on June 19 and 20. You’ll find the offer hidden in each episode of TNW Backstage. Thanks for reading — and now, for listening too. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletter Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week. Also tagged with

This article contains spoilers for Andor season 2 episodes 10, 11, and 12 and Rogue One. It feels like the Tony Gilroy-created Andor Star WarsAndor season 2 would tie directly with the start of Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Though we all know how that tragic tale goes, the fact that a number of Andor’s major players are nowhere to be seen in the 2016 war epic had us worrying about their fates. After the shocking death of Kyle Soller’s Syril Karn during the Ghorman Massacre of episode 8, the final arc of episodes quickly whittled down the Andor cast to make room for the Rogue One crew. The inclusion of Ben Mendelsohn’s Orson Krennic, Forest Whitaker’s Saw Gerrera, and Diego Luna’s titular Cassian AndorRogue One, the same couldn’t be said for Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen Rael and Anton Lesser’s Lio Partagaz. However, it’s arguably Andor’s greatest villain who gets a fate worse than death.  Denise Gough’s Dedra Meero seemed like the perfect little Imperial drone after being raised in an Imperial Kinder-block and being molded into a high-ranking supervisor in the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB). Unfortunately, this put her on a collision course with Krennic, who’s never been afraid to show he’s only looking out for himself. Things started to unravel in Andor episode 10, and after having dispatched ISB mole Lonni Jung (Robert Emms), Luthen set about erasing his existence as the Rebel spy known as Axis. It was too late for Luthen, but when Dedra arrived at his antiquities shop to confront him, things didn’t go the way she’d planned. It’s here that Dedra unveiled the Imperial N-S9 Starpath Unit that had put her on Luthen’s trail four years earlier. It’s her obsession with Axis that brings her here, and just like Syril’s vendetta against Cassian Andor sealed his fate just a few episodes earlier, she’s the architect of her own downfall. Luthen was never going to go quietly, but having achieved his goal of spreading the rebellion across the galaxy, he tries to take his life by stabbing himself with a Nautolan bleeder. Although he survives his injuries, the fact that a smug Dedra thought she could take him in and claim the glory for himself by making an unsanctioned arrest attempt without backup has riled Krennic. Things only got worse when Krennic learns Lonni had accessed Meero’s files regarding the Death Star, and although she bats off his (incorrect) assumption that she’s a Rebel spy, the catalogue of errors sees her sent to one of the Narkina moons where Cassian was locked up in season 1.  Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Gilroy expanded on how Meero served as an unwilling way for the Rebels to access the information on the Death Star, which ultimately catapults the story into Rogue One. “The whole ISB is coming to an end. If you think about it, if that was the CIA or any intelligence bureau,” mused Gilroy. “With those kinds of breaches and that kind of disaster happening simultaneously, it would be a cleaning of house. So she’s definitely going to go down.” Speaking to TV Line, Gough described how she was “so happy” for the audience for Dedra to end up where she is. Discussing how she’s left locked up in an Imperial prison, Gough cheered: “It’s so gratifying” to see Dedra’s location because we know what goes on in Narkina 5. Saying it’s “a perfect little button at the end of this season. You can’t have a character like that just get away with [the things she did].” As for the idea that Dedra could’ve gone the way of so many other iconic Star Wars villains, she concluded, “I’m glad she wasn’t killed. I’m really glad that we get to see her in that uniform, in that Narkina 5 [cell].” Soller similarly reflected on Dedra’s indefinite incarceration, saying how it’s poignant to see “someone who’s been so about control being put into the ultimate controlled space.” Star Wars has a habit of killing off its villains, with everyone from Emperor Palpatine (twice) to Count Dooku getting their comeuppance. Darth Maul (twice) and Jabba the Hutt all met their makers, while Grand Admiral Thrawn faced a similarly dismal fate to Dedra when he was marooned in space – although he returned in Ahsoka to presumably be killed further down the line. Just like how Syril, Partagaz, and eventually Krennic were chewed up and spat out by the system, Dedra’s fate was written in the stars as the Emperor put his plans for the Death Star into play. Even though the repeated imagery of Meero feeling choked after she was assaulted back in the season 1 finale had some believing we’d get a last-minute cameo from Darth Vader to kill her off with one of his iconic Force chokes, she gets a much better send-off.  Knowing that Dedra is presumably forced to help finish the Death Star or construct the second Death Star when the first is destroyed is equally ironic. It’s a tragic arc akin to Cassian helping build the weapon that will kill him in Rogue One, but more than this, Dedra will likely never know what happens to the ISB or the Empire. Taking Andor and Rogue One as a complete story, the high body count leaves a handful of characters like Dedra, Bix (Adria Arjona), Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau), and Vel (Faye Marsay) alive when Rogue One’s credits roll. Whereas the others get something of a happy ending, Dedra’s is far from it.  While leaving Dedra on one of the Narkina moons leaves the door open for her to return further down the line, there’s no need to. What happens to these prisons in the aftermath of the Empire’s fall is also unknown, but leaving her to rot Both seasons of Andor are available to stream on Disney+ now. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!

Apple's gearing up for WWDC 2025, and the company's Apple Developer application has been updated as part of the preparations.Apple has updated its Developer app ahead of WWDC 2025.On Wednesday, the iPhone maker released an update for its official Developer app. Aside from bug fixes and "various enhancements," the updated application will offer access to WWDC 2025 videos and consultations, as well as a new assortment of WWDC-related stickers.Apple's next annual Worldwide Developer Conference is set to begin with a keynote video on June 9, 2025. It's where the company will update its next-generation operating systems, namely iOS 19, macOS 16, visionOS 3, and watchOS 12, among others. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Afro Samurai Complete Steelbook Bundle (Blu-ray) $28 (was $40) See at Amazon The Complete Afro Samurai Manga Slipcase Set $25 (was $40) See at Amazon Amazon has a great deal on the collectible Blu-ray box set featuring Afro Samurai: The Complete Series and the 2009 sequel film, Afro Samurai: Resurrection. Released last November with a retail price of $40, Afro Samurai's Steelbook Blu-ray bundle is discounted to $28 right now.Afro Samurai is one of the coolest anime of all time, and the recently released edition comes with an appropriately stylish steelbook case featuring artwork for the show on one side and the film on the other. This Director's Cut features interviews with the cast, discussions with RZA, behind-the-scenes features, and more. You can also grab The Complete Afro Samurai Manga Slipcase Set for only $25 (was $40) at Amazon.Continue Reading at GameSpot

Figma announced 'Sites' at Config 2025, which lets users create simple static websites from designs. Imagine a website generator like Framer or Webflow, but embedded inside Figma.The buzz is serious. Sites could become the de facto tool for quick marketing campaigns or small personal websites. But what if you need Sites to integrate with your existing design systems, custom components, and production code?Figma SitesFigma Sites is a visual developer tool similar to Webflow or Framer. It's focused on letting designers build websites without coding or leaving Figma.Its greatest strength is its integration with the Figma ecosystem. For designers already comfortable with the platform, Sites offers a path to deploy a design as a live website quickly.Easy interactivity and AI-enhanced codeFigma Sites includes numerous presets for everyday website interactions and effects. For instance, you can add a hover effect to a button or a typewriter effect to a text block.A future version of Sites will also include an AI tool for generating code.Responsive design and hands-off infrastructureFigma Sites can also display your design in desktop, tablet, and mobile layouts side by side. The preview version (press shift + space) and the published version are both fully responsive websites.Press the Publish button in the top-left corner once you’re ready to deploy the design into a working website. After some quick validations (it can even help with auto layout), Figma Sites will deploy your project to a generated URL. For a fee, you can wire up a custom domain.Coming soon: CMS and Code LayersRight now, Figma Sites translates your design into HTML and CSS. The team's future improvement, "Code Layers,” will take a user prompt and transform it into React and Tailwind CSS.Another future improvement is a CMS feature inside Figma Sites. This would allow users to manage their website content more efficiently. The idea of a fully integrated design-to-publish tool with an internal CMS is very appealing.Going from Figma to website to complete applicationSimple site builders are great for getting something online, but aren’t great at creating fully integrated applications that mesh with an existing codebase. This is a familiar problem.The challenge lies in moving beyond a static page built with HTML and CSS. What happens if you need this new site to use the Next.js framework and the App Router patterns that your team has adopted? Can you leverage your company's custom components? Is there a way to add complex user interactions? These limitations become significant hurdles for any product beyond a basic landing page or marketing campaign.Visual Editor: stepping beyond simple sitesBuilder.io's Visual Editor satisfies this larger need. Figma Sites gets you something fast without ever leaving the Figma ecosystem. Visual Editor gets you something nearly as fast, but it connects designs directly to your production codebase on one canvas.The core idea is different. Visual Editor is for feature-rich applications where your existing production codebase and design systems are first-class citizens.Figma Sites was engineered to transform a Figma design into a static site using no third-party tools and the most minimal toolchain possible. Visual Editor was engineered to transform designs into production applications at the enterprise scale:Figma-like precisionVisual Editor gives you a familiar, precise visual editing experience, but you're building interactive applications, not just static mockups. Use prompts to generate UI, then fine-tune it visually. The output isn't just a picture; it's code that works.Solving handoffsImport Figma designs with a click, and Builder translates them into interactive code using your component library. The CLI deeply integrates with your specific framework and codebase patterns, generating clean, maintainable code that developers want to work with. It respects your tech stack.On-brand generation, every timeStop worrying about brand drift. Because Builder understands your codebase, it uses your actual design system context—your colors, typography, spacing, and components—automatically ensuring everything generated is consistent and on-brand. No more manual checking.Dual workflows (develop & publish)Builder offers flexibility. Developers can use it to build new UIs that integrate directly with application code. Marketers or designers can use the 'Publish' workflow to create and update content visually using pre-built components, without needing a developer or a new deployment. This addresses the content bottleneck, too.Smashing workflow silosVisual Editor provides a unified canvas for design, development, and content updates. It fits into existing developer workflows (like Git) rather than trying to replace them, enabling better collaboration across the entire digital team.Getting started with Visual EditorReady to see the difference? You can try Visual Editor and experience how it connects to a real codebase.Open the Visual Copilot Figma plugin. Install it from the Figma Community if you haven't already.Select a layer or design in your Figma file that you want to bring into Builder.io.Click the "Export Design" button within the plugin.Click the "View Code in Builder" button. This will open your design directly in the Builder.io Visual Editor.(Optional) Enhance in the Visual Editor: Use AI prompts or manual controls to add interactivity, connect data, or refine the design within Builder.Generate code with the CLI: Copy the provided CLI command from Builder.io and run it in your local project's terminal. The CLI will analyze your codebase and generate the integrated, production-ready code components.The best way to understand the power of Visual Editor is to experience how it generates code that uses your components and fits your workflow.ConclusionFigma Sites is a big step forward for Figma. If you already work with the platform, you get all your favorite Figma features and a near-frictionless path to simple, real websites.Sites fills an essential market need. But you might find the tool underpowered if your team faces the challenges of integrating designs with a complex codebase, maintaining brand consistency across an extensive application, or enabling collaboration between large, diverse teams. In those cases, Builder's Visual Editor is the enterprise-grade solution. It provides a robust, integrated visual development environment that respects your code and scales with your product.Further reading Introducing Visual Copilot: convert Figma designs to high quality code in a single click.Try Visual CopilotGet a demo

TNW Backstage is going Double Dutch this week — in more ways than one. In the second episode of our new podcast, which goes behind the scenes of TNW Conference and the tech shaping our world, we’re joined by two special guests. Both of them are based in — you guessed it — the Netherlands. Together, they brew a distinctively orange blend of tech and humour, which has become a TNW trademark. One of them is content creator Derek Mitchell, the mind behind comedy brand Let’s Double Dutch. Mitchell’s viral videos exploring culture and identity in the Netherlands have earned global acclaim. His wildly popular sketches have now racked up over 250 million views. The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!In TNW Backstage, we revisit his appearance at last year’s conference. During the talk, Mitchell reveals how he found his voice online — and how you can too. Now, you may be wondering why a comedian was appearing at a tech conference. Well, there’s no one better to explain than this week’s second guest: Boris, the co-founder of TNW. Boris drops by TNW Towers to explain how humour fuels startup ideas — and lightens the load of tech work. He also looks back at memorable moments from TNW Conference. Among his favourites are a risky rib at Amazon’s CTO, wakeboarding through Amsterdam canals, and, um, cow poop bingo. (It’s another Dutch thing, apparently.) Our terrifically talented head of content, Oliviana Bailey, then gives a sneak peek at the fun and games at this year’s events. It’s a distinct break from the debut episode of the podcast, which explored the evolving data security landscape — and Meta’s controversial “pay or consent” model — with Ron de Jesus, the world’s first Field Chief Privacy Officer. But the contrast encapsulates the two sides of TNW Conference: serious business and festival vibes. You can check out both episodes of the podcast here. To celebrate its launch, we’re also offering an exclusive discount on tickets for TNW Conference, which takes place on June 19 and 20. You’ll find the offer hidden in each episode of TNW Backstage. Thanks for reading — and now, for listening too. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletter Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week. Also tagged with

We’re happy to announce that we’ve launched a new technical e-book, Create modular game architecture in Unity with ScriptableObjects, which provides best practices from professional developers for deploying ScriptableObjects in production.Along with the e-book, you can download a demo project from GitHub inspired by classic ball and paddle arcade game mechanics. The demo shows how ScriptableObjects can help you create components that are testable and scalable, while also being designer-friendly. Although a game like this could be built with far fewer lines of code, this demo shows ScriptableObjects in action.This post explains the benefits of ScriptableObjects, but doesn’t cover the basics or general coding in Unity. If you’re new to programming in Unity, head over to Unity Learn, which offers helpful introductory tutorials. The first chapter in the e-book also offers a solid primer.Let’s look at six ways you can benefit from using ScriptableObjects in your projects. Want to know more? All of these examples are explored further in the e-book and demo project.Although many of the techniques shared here can also be achieved using C# classes, one of the main benefits of ScriptableObjects is the accessibility to artists and designers. They can use ScriptableObjects to configure and apply game logic in a project without having to edit the code.The Editor makes it convenient to view and edit ScriptableObjects, enabling designers to set up gameplay data without heavy support from the developer team. This also applies to game logic, such as applying behavior to an NPC by adding a ScriptableObject (explained in the patterns below).Storing data and logic on a single MonoBehaviour can result in time-consuming merge conflicts if two people change different parts of the same Prefab or scene. By breaking up shared data into smaller files and assets with ScriptableObjects, designers can build gameplay in parallel with developers, instead of having to wait for the latter to finish setting up the gameplay in code before testing it.Issues can arise when colleagues with different roles access the game code and assets at the same time. With ScriptableObjects, the programmer can control what part of the project is editable in the Editor. Additionally, using ScriptableObjects to organize your code leads naturally to a codebase that’s more modular and efficient to test.Christo Nobbs, a senior technical game designer who specializes in systems game design and Unity (C#), contributed to The Unity game designer playbook, and is the main author of a blog post series on designing game systems in Unity. His posts, “Systems that create ecosystems: Emergent game design” and “Unpredictably fun: The value of randomization in game design” provide interesting examples of how designers can use ScriptableObjects.Modularity is a general software principle which can be implemented in C# without using ScriptableObjects. But, as mentioned above, ScriptableObjects help promote clean coding practices by separating data from logic, which is a first step toward modular game code. This separation means it’s easier to make changes without causing unintended side effects, and improves testability.ScriptableObjects excel at storing static data, making them handy for configuring static gameplay values like items or NPC stats, character dialogue, and much more. Because ScriptableObjects are saved as an asset, they persist outside of game mode, making it possible to use them for loading in a static configuration that dynamically changes at runtime.While changes to ScriptableObject data do persist in the Editor, it’s important to note that they are not designed for saving game data. In that case, it’s better to use a serialization system, such as JSON, XML, or a binary solution if performance is critical.MonoBehaviours carry extra overhead since they require a GameObject – and by default a Transform – to act as a host. This means you need to create a lot of unused data before storing a single value. A ScriptableObject slims down this memory footprint and drops the GameObject and Transform. It also stores data at the project level, which is helpful if you need to access the same data from multiple scenes.It’s common to have many GameObjects which rely on duplicate data that does not need to change at runtime. Rather than having this duplicate local data on each GameObject, you can funnel it into a ScriptableObject. Each of the objects stores a reference to the shared data asset, rather than copying the data itself. This can provide significant performance improvements in projects with thousands of objects.In software design, this is an optimization known as the flyweight pattern. Restructuring your code in this way using ScriptableObjects avoids copying values and reduces your memory footprint. Check out our e-book, Level up your code with game programming patterns to learn more about using design patterns in Unity.A good example of how ScriptableObjects can simplify your code is to use them as enums for comparison operations. The ScriptableObject can represent a category or item type, such as a special damage effect – cold, heat, electrical, magic, etc.If your application requires an inventory system to equip gameplay items, ScriptableObjects can represent item types or weapon slots. The fields in the Inspector then function as a drag-and-drop interface for setting them up.Using ScriptableObjects as enums becomes more interesting when you want to extend them and add more data. Unlike normal enums, ScriptableObjects can have extra fields and methods. There’s no need to have a separate lookup table or correlate with a new array of data.While traditional enums have a fixed set of values, ScriptableObject enums can be created and modified at runtime, allowing you to add or remove values as needed.If you have a long list of enum values without explicit numbering, inserting or removing an enum can change their order. This reordering can introduce subtle bugs or unintended behavior. ScriptableObject-based enums don’t have these issues. You can delete or add to your project without having to change the code every time.Suppose you want to make an item equippable in an RPG. You could append an extra boolean field to the ScriptableObject to do that. Are certain characters not allowed to hold certain items? Are some items magical or do they have special abilities? ScriptableObject-based enums can do that.Because you can create methods on a ScriptableObject, they are as useful for containing logic or actions as they are for holding data. Moving logic from your MonoBehaviour into a ScriptableObject enables you to use the latter as a delegate object, making the behavior more modular.If you need to perform specific tasks, you can encapsulate their algorithms into their own objects. The original Gang of Four refers to this general design as the strategy pattern. The example below shows how to make the strategy pattern more useful by using an abstract class to implement EnemyAI. The result is several derived ScriptableObjects with different behavior, which then becomes a pluggable behavior since each asset is interchangeable. You just drag and drop the ScriptableObject of choice into the MonoBehaviour.For a detailed example showing how to use ScriptableObjects to drive behavior, watch the video series Pluggable AI with ScriptableObjects. These sessions demonstrate a finite state machine-based AI system that can be configured using ScriptableObjects for states, actions, and transitions between those states.A common challenge in larger projects is when multiple GameObjects need to share data or states by avoiding direct references between these objects. Managing these dependencies at scale can require significant effort and is often a source of bugs. Many developers use singletons – one global instance of a class that survives scene loading. However, singletons introduce global states and make unit testing difficult. If you’re working with a Prefab that references a singleton, you’ll end up importing all of its dependencies just to test an isolated function. This makes your code less modular and efficient to debug.One solution is to use ScriptableObject-based events to help your GameObjects communicate. In this case, you are using ScriptableObjects to implement a form of the observer design pattern, where a subject broadcasts a message to one or more loosely decoupled observers. Each observing object can react independently from the subject but is unaware of the other observers. The subject can also be referred to as the “publisher” or “broadcaster” and the observers as “subscribers” or “listeners.”You can implement the observer pattern with MonoBehaviours or C# objects. While this is already common practice in Unity development, a script-only approach means your designers will rely on the programming team for every event needed during gameplay.At first glance, it appears that you’ve added a layer of overhead to the observer pattern, but this structure offers some advantages. Since ScriptableObjects are assets, they are accessible to all objects in your hierarchy and don’t disappear on scene loading.Easy, persistent access to certain resources is why many developers use singletons. ScriptableObjects can often provide the same benefits without introducing as many unnecessary dependencies.In ScriptableObject-based events, any object can serve as publisher (which broadcasts the event), and any object can serve as a subscriber (which listens for the event). The ScriptableObject sits in the middle and helps relay the signal, acting like a centralized intermediary between the two.One way to think about this is as an “event channel.” Imagine the ScriptableObject as a radio tower that has any number of objects listening for its signals. An interested MonoBehaviour can subscribe to the event channel and respond when something happens.The demo shows how the observer pattern helps you set up game events for UI, sounds, and scoring.At runtime, you’ll often need to track a list of GameObjects or components in your scene. For example, a list of enemies is something you’d need to frequently access, but it’s also a dynamic list that changes as more enemies are spawned or defeated. The singleton offers easy global access, but it has several drawbacks. Instead of using a singleton, consider storing data on a ScriptableObject as a “Runtime Set.” The ScriptableObject instance appears at the project level, which means it can store data that’s available to any object from any scene, offering similar global access. Since the data is located on an asset, its public list of items is accessible at any time.In this use case, you get a specialized data container that maintains a public collection of elements but also provides basic methods to add to and remove from the collection. This can reduce the need for singletons and improve testability and modularity.Reading data directly from a ScriptableObject is also more optimal than searching the Scene Hierarchy with a find operation like Object.FindObjectOfType or GameObject.FindWithTag. Depending on your use case and the size of your hierarchy, these are relatively expensive methods that can be inefficient for per-frame updates.There are several ScriptableObjects frameworks which offer more use cases than these six scenarios. Some teams decide to use ScriptableObjects extensively, while others limit their use to loading in static data and separating logic from data. Ultimately, the needs of your project will determine how you use them.Create modular game architecture in Unity with ScriptableObjects is the third guide in our series for intermediate to advanced Unity programmers. Each guide, authored by experienced programmers, provides best practices for topics that are important to development teams.Create a C# style guide: Write cleaner code that scales assists you with developing a style guide to help unify your approach to creating a more cohesive codebase.Level up your code with game programming patternshighlights best practices for using the SOLID principles and common programming patterns to create scalable game code architecture in your Unity project.We created this series to provide actionable tips and inspiration to our experienced creators, but they aren’t rule books. There are many ways to structure your Unity project and what might seem like a natural fit for one application may not be for another. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each recommendation, tip, and pattern with your colleagues before deploying it.Find more advanced guides and articles on the Unity best practices hub.

In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, you’ve most likely come across some Nevrons who aren’t keen on attacking you on sight. These special Nevrons will give you quests that offer some pretty nice rewards for your playthrough. One of the Nevrons is called a Hexga and they want you to collect some very special rock crystals.Suggested ReadingThe Top 10 Most-Played Games On Steam Deck: June 2023 Edition Share SubtitlesOffEnglishSuggested ReadingThe Top 10 Most-Played Games On Steam Deck: June 2023 Edition Share SubtitlesOffEnglishThe Top 10 Most-Played Games On Steam Deck: June 2023 EditionThis quest is available during your journey through the Stone Wave Cliffs. Your party should now have Sciel, along with Gustave, Lune, and Maelle.In the Stone Wave Cliffs (Editor’s note: this area is fantastic for grinding in the early game), you’ll come across a Nevron with stalagmites on their back named Hexga. They’ll ask you to find three Rock Crystals and bring them back. Luckily, these Rock Crystals aren’t far away. You may have even found all three of them before even interacting with Hexga. But in case you haven’t, here’s how to find them.1. Finding three Rock Crystals2. Should you attack Hexga?Column 1New Column1x Auto Shell Picto Find three Rock Crystals 3x Colour of Lumina Attack Hexga 1x Polished Chroma Catalyst Attack Hexga 1x RecoatAttack Hexga The closest save point to Hexga is Tides Cavern. Once you exit the cavern, you can see Hexga to your right. Talk with him and they’ll ask you to find three Rock Crystals. Go back into the cavern and take the incredibly long rope down to the lower level.Right ahead of you, you should see a glowing blue crystal. Break the crystal using your field attack and the first Rock Crystal should appear, letting you pick it up.Screenshot: Sandfall Interactive / KotakuScreenshot: Sandfall Interactive / KotakuNow, to your right, you should see a cliff that spirals upwards and goes around. Take that path and you should see a second blue crystal that’s identical to the first. Do the same thing with your field attack and pick up the second Rock Crystal.Screenshot: Sandfall Interactive / KotakuAs for the last one, go forward a bit and you should see another rope that’ll take you to an even lower level. However, a Nevron called a Rocher with a giant blue crystal will jump out and attack. Defeating the Rocher will make it drop the last Rock Crystal. With all three crystals in tow, head back to Hexga and hand them over.Hexga will stand out and step to the side, revealing your completion reward: Auto Shell Picto. This Picto is handy as it automatically applies Shell and increases your party’s defense for the first three turns of battle.If you decide to attack the Hexga, your reward is 3x Colour of Lumina, 1x Polished Chroma Catalyst, and 1x Recoat. It’s generally advised to spare every friendly Nevron throughout the game as doing so will grant you a much more substantial reward later on.During Act Three, you’ll unlock the ability to fly around with Esquie. Fly to the area next to the Spring Meadows area called The Fountain and you’ll find Blanche. If you’ve spared every friendly Nevron that provided quests throughout the game, Blanche will reward you with 100x Colour of Lumina.However, if you’ve killed any of those Nevrons, including the Hexga, Blanche will attack you. He’s definitely a challenging fight, so it’s recommended to be at least level 80 if you intend to take Blanche on. Defeating Blanche will earn you 10x Colour of Lumina and 2x Grandiose Chroma Catalyst.Screenshot: Sandfall Interactive / Kotaku100x Colour of Lumina is definitely a much better reward than the 5x Colour of Lumina gained from defeating Hexga, which is why we recommend sparing them. After receiving the 100x Colour of Lumina from Blanche, you can go back to Stone Wave Cliffs and kill the Hexga if you want.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PCs.