cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/32745702

Can I be the first to say:

NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I guess the writing was on the wall considering the game has been in development hell for many years, but I still look back at the original announcement trailer and think about how cool this game could have been. It was essentially sold as Minecraft but better - with proper combat, better exploration, powerful dedicated modding tools, and more. It was to be created by the creators of probably the biggest Minecraft server ever, which meant they understood the ins and outs of the game and what it needed to improve.

What a shame. At least we got Vintage Story.

Can I be the first to say:

NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I guess the writing was on the wall considering the game has been in development hell for many years, but I still look back at the original announcement trailer and think about how cool this game could have been. It was essentially sold as Minecraft but better - with proper combat, better exploration, powerful dedicated modding tools, and more. It was to be created by the creators of probably the biggest Minecraft server ever, which meant they understood the ins and outs of the game and what it needed to improve.

What a shame. At least we got Vintage Story.

Lots of fantastic changes coming in 4.5, some of which are a long time coming.

My personal highlights:

• Proper SVG support and text scaling
• Tilemap chunking which boosts performance and stops glitching in-between tile seams
• Variadic arguments in functions
• In-editor translation previews
• Windows exports no longer need rcedit to change the icon/metadata!
• Build profile now properly detects everything in your game, giving you a file to exclude all the nodes and features not used to easily reduce binary size
• Emission shape gizmos on 2D particles (finally)
• Screenreader support
• Recursive focus modes and mouse passthrough for Control nodes
• Borderless fullscreen mode on Windows finally doesn't have a 1px outline
• Deep duplicates of resources finally work, previously anything in collections like arrays wouldn't get duped and you had to go through them manually
• Lots of optimizations for the web

I recently finished the game Tunic, which is sort of like A Link to the Past + Fez + Dark Souls... And it's amazing!

I actually owned the game soon after release but bounced off of it due to being busy with work, picked it back up the past few weeks and finally sat down and enjoyed it. Despite looking like a straightforward and cute adventure game, it gets REALLY deep the further you go in. There's so much to discover and the game gives you just enough hints on what to do and where to go.

Tunic ticks all the boxes for me. The graphics are gorgeous, the combat is fun, the world is fun to explore and rich with secrets, and progression was very satisfying.

The most unique part of the game is that you slowly find pages of an instruction manual containing maps of areas and secrets, explanation of mechanics, and guides on how to play... except it's all written in an alien language, so you have to figure out what it's telling you by paying attention to all the pictures and context clues.

Understanding the manual is a bit rough at first but lead to so many "A-ha!" moments when you try something and it actually works. It even foreshadows future bosses and things you'll encounter before they happen which is brilliant. My best advice to someone just trying the game: Pay attention to the manual, seriously!

I won't spoil any more than that, but I really wish more people talked about this game. It's not for everybody, the game is intentionally vague and needs some critical thinking if you're not following a guide, but I think it's absolutely brilliant if you're into exploration and discovery. One of the most unique games I've played in ages.

Recently bought a used Switch 1 as people were getting rid of them to buy the new one, but I found out that mine came with an insane amount of drifting.

Opening it up was a pain in the ass and pretty scary, but I managed to fix it by putting a card over the metal plate on the left (to apply pressure under the joystick as many people online instructed)... And it worked!

It used to drift all the way to the left whenever I let go of the analog stick, but now it snaps firmly back to the center. Just wanted to put out a PSA that if your Joycon is drifting, it's very fixable. All you need is the right screwdriver and being very careful when lifting up each piece.

Just saw this interesting article by the Witchfire devs on creating big games with small teams. Really interesting read!