Jess Birch @shivoa@mastodon.gamedev.place

I realise this is ultimately an extremely minor point but multiple platforms have an "automatic screenshot on achievement" function.
Putting your detection trigger between scenes mean you're giving players an archive of pics like the achievement toast on a pure black background. There has to be a better way.

Looking forward to new consoles being quiet. My launch window PS4 Pro has been slowly getting louder with age (in certain games) & the easy-access lid means I know it's not large-scale dust.
I'm at the stage where I always reach for noise cancelling headphones rather than use speakers (all other wired devices, I have headphones switched off/passive mode at home). At least the DS4 is an ok "semi-wireless" audio output - no bluetooth audio latency.

MS releasing the GW-BASIC source under MIT License has reminded me that under the initial US copyright law it would have been possible to legally leak it 10 years ago (14 years + 14 extension).
When it comes to software, this actually seems a very reasonable term for our work to be protected by government granted exclusivity. Not a lot of code from over 28 years ago is more than an academic or educational interest but much is interesting.
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/microsoft-open-sources-gw-basic/

As clocks are on my mind right now, a fun blog post from a few weeks ago about hijacking the timer calls out from Rust's standard library (for fun & jokes). https://fnordig.de/2020/05/02/rust-in-an-instant/

I know we're all hot for new hardware* but I'm not sure "modern PCs need to find an answer to new console SSD/DMA engines" is as pressing as some quotes imply. The XSX details indicate Win10 eats less (!?) RAM than console. Add in: new PC gaming systems should come with 32GB+ RAM & we hopefully see 16GB VRAM from the next GPUs - high-end PCs can probably cache (during a fat initial load) almost all stuff new consoles need to stream/decompress from SSDs.

* Like, same https://blog.shivoa.net/2020/03/next-gen-feeding-beast.html

So the Mafia "definitive edition trilogy" is a great example of platforms enforcing certain expectations.
2K, not adverse to turning a sports game into literally a casino experience, would rather not leave money on the table but the DE of Mafia 2 & 3 are free updates for existing PC customers (3 is just adding the paid DLC; 2 looks to be an engine update + some better textures, like many other remasters this generation). Only the completely rebuilt Mafia 1 is not expected to be free.

The technical explanation makes it clear that the AM4 design was flawed out of the gate when AMD advertised it as a long-life socket but knew that a limitation of some of their early CPU decisions meant everyone would only be using 16MB BIOS chips.
This is their issue & simply leaving users with no upgrade path wasn't the right call. Glad they've reversed course.

This is a very good policy change from AMD. Whatever the technical hurdles (deciding which subset of CPUs to support in an optional BIOS upgrade to make room for the new AGESA), supporting X470 customers using Ryzen 2000s upgrading to a 4000 model is a meaningful path forward.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/15807/amd-to-support-zen-3-and-ryzen-4000-cpus-on-b450-and-x470-motherboards

A medium unwilling or unable to expose us to things we aren't already familiar with is a medium that cannot teach us anything new & ultimately will stagnate into irrelevance.
While there is not an unlimited tolerance for novelty, being afraid of it is a dangerous cul-de-sac.

One of the nice things about Mastodon is that no one is trawling here to find idle chatter to turn into high-traffic headlines (which then turn into YouTube videos or massive threads on the various children of Digg) about "feuds", "lies", or other spurious readings of what are normally quite lighthearted posts or idle speculation.

TIL you can't quit the Epic Store while a game is downloading & installing (without a message implying it'll wipe anything you've downloaded so far). Also this extraordinary high load on Friday night is almost "our EU CDN is basically offline".

Realised that it's almost 7 years since I played GTA V, back when a shimmering 720p30 (down to 20fps when things heated up) was the only option.
Amazing to think that in all those years, it has continued to bother the top of the sales charts with only one major port project & some ongoing online updates.

Well, nVidia continue to walk into a fab & ask, "so what's the reticle limit size for this process?"

Looking forward to some truly stunning games being built on UE5 in 2021. We never quite got the fully dynamic geometry that UE4 initially promised but hopefully the new GI will be the last roadblock to that. Nanite sounds like it'll free up artist time while also increasing final fidelity.
Completely free up to $1m gross revenue? Indies are running out of reasons to not try it.
Epic Online Services is free for all? Middleware cross-platform games need today.

I know I'm repeating myself but the next step forward in temporal AA that can avoid the too-sharp new pixels & trails of reprojection issues is going to revolutionise how games look on PC (where players are often far closer to pixels so clearly notice current flaws).
The Unreal Engine 5 demo is full of this stuff not quite working how you'd ideally want. Hard problems but very smart people will find fast enough solutions.
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/a-first-look-at-unreal-engine-5

Seems like a lot of speculation about new console prices as everyone prepares for official announcements.
My totally unscientific method: UK's (still 5th biggest console gaming market?) collapse accidentally predicts prices again.
PS3 was $/€600 which was £425 (Europe was 60GB only).
XB1 was $/€500 or £429.
I predict the next consoles will again include a ~£425 model which means... ~$430/€470 (USD without sales tax, Euro includes it).

Ah, Sony updating the PlayStation Store website. Time to spend 15 minutes working out which things have broken (if you use reasonably secure browser settings like not just accepting cookies from anywhere & read by anyone) that prevent logins from working this time.

I know a few people who are lucky enough to be able to refuse to go to an unsafe workplace during this crisis. Even when that workplace is obviously unsafe, this has involved moving to unpaid leave. Despite there being a clear legal right to refuse to work under unsafe conditions.
We need better & universal labour rights. People should not be forced into unsafe work.

"Our gameplay mechanic (which we can't talk about yet) is so cool we even patented it" does not fill me with confidence about a game.
Ideas are cheap; execute well & first to solidify your reputation. Don't try erecting legal barriers that only hold the medium back (no pun intended).
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-makes-horror-game-the-mediums-key-fe/1100-6476952/

I know car licensing is a massive hassle (& Sony won't sell you an old version of GT because it's an order of magnitude worse than music deals) but it's still slightly surreal that Game Pass only has Horizon 4 (released after the "literally everything we make is on Game Pass" policy) while Forza is such an iconic MS brand (up there with Gears or Halo).
Also wonder why Quantum Break PC never got added now PC Game Pass exists.