How do Video Game Graphics Work? This is likely why GPUs costs so much!

The link below is to a video that explains quite well, with illustrations, how realistic and responsive 3D scenery and objects are generated. Yes, the bulk of the work performed today is done by 3rd party gaming engines like the Unreal Engine and others. So from a developer point of view, they don’t really have to get their hands dirty any more with the nitty-gritty mathematics.

But if you consider the number and complexity of calculations made for each pixel (as the video explains) and then multiply that by the number of pixels on the screen, and the number of screen refreshes every second, it becomes quite mind-blowing. It is no wonder that GPUs are so powerful and cost more than the rest of the PC all combined.

Watch youtu.be/C8YtdC8mxTU?si=6iNQX3…
#Blog, #gaming, #GPU, #technology

The StepWell Saga: first South African cellphone game for mental health aimed at youngsters

Mental health among South African youngsters is a serious concern. As part of a wider project to improve mental health policy and services in South Africa generally, the Foundation for Professional Development (FPD) has launched an innovative attempt to reach youth where they are at – playing games on their phones.

FPD secured a pioneering grant from Grand Challenges Canada (funded by the government of Canada) to develop Africa’s first serious game dedicated to mental health, entitled The StepWell Saga – Stronger Together.

As per edutainment theory, the game is not explicit about its mental health messages. These come through in the character dialogue and gameplay activities that teach skills like problem-solving, strategy and teamwork, and develop mental resilience — while also being fun to do. It challenges the player to think critically and promotes the importance of relationships in facing life’s challenges.

I really like the idea behind this game, and it looks like the reviews are pretty good. It is just sad that I see it is geo-restricted for South African accounts only (I personally really detest geofencing). It is however available for both Android and iOS, as well as in the Huawei store.

See techcentral.co.za/the-stepwell…
#Blog, #gaming, #mentalhealth, #southafrica, #technology

Arbeitgeber suchen Gamer: So nutzt ihr eure Videospiel-Skills bei der Jobsuche

#gaming #targetingarbeitgeber

So viele Arbeitgeber suchen inzwischen nach Gamern – wie du das nutzen kannst

Beim Videospielen können sich einige Fähigkeiten herausbilden, die inzwischen von vielen Arbeitgebern gesucht werden.

Bis März 2025 soll die “Switch 2” erscheinen, deswegen hatte niemand bei der gestrigen #Nintendo-Direct mit etwas neuem gerechnet. Nintendo hat alle überrascht und bringt ein neues #Zelda-Game auf der “alten” #Konsole am 26.09.24 heraus. Ein 2D Abenteuer im Stile von Link’s Awakening. Eine große Besonderheit bei diesem #Spiel ist, man spielt und bewegt zum ersten Mal ZELDA. ♥ Das dürfte ein großartiger Spaß werden. Ich freue mich darauf. :-)

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRxHN-uoDFM

#The-Legend-of-Zelda #Echoes-of-Wisdom #TheLegendOfZelda #EoW #Zelda #Nintendo #Switch #Game #Gaming #YouTube #Video #Wikipedia ☮️

Retired engineer discovers 55-year-old bug in Lunar Lander computer game code | Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/06/retired-engineer-discovers-55-year-old-bug-in-lunar-lander-computer-game-code/

physics simulation flaw in text-based 1969 computer game went unnoticed until today.

This is crazy
#gaming #space

Retired engineer discovers 55-year-old bug in Lunar Lander computer game code

A physics simulation flaw in text-based 1969 computer game went unnoticed until today.

10 of the most useful apps available on Steam

Whether you’re a casual gamer or a hardcore PC enthusiast, you must have heard of Steam. As one of the biggest digital game distribution platforms, Steam has a huge library of games spanning several genres. For those who like gaming on the move, you may also be familiar with the Steam Deck, a highly-capable gaming handheld designed by Valve, Steam’s parent company.

However, there’s a lot more to Steam than games and handhelds. If you’ve ever ventured into the unending list of apps available on Steam, you may have noticed an odd software or two among the thousands of action, RPG, and other titles. Many of these apps are incredible for gamers, and in the linked article below, they cover some of the most useful software on Steam to improve your gaming experience.

Unfortunately, many of the apps are Windows/macOS only, even though OBS Studio for example does install on Linux. But nevertheless, there are some useful apps to be found within Steam.

See xda-developers.com/useful-stea…
#Blog, #gaming, #steam, #technology

South African Military Vehicles in War Thunder

War Thunder is a highly realistic battle game where players can choose from a number of armoured vehicles, tanks, ships, helicopters and planes represented for different countries. The player chooses a country and vehicle type, and works their way up from tier 1, progressing to higher tier vehicles as they gain battle experience. The vehicles are incredibly detailed and have characteristics that are closely resemble their real-world counterparts. An exception is often the premium vehicles that can be bought as they can have some enhanced features e.g. slightly faster turret rotation speed than the real-world vehicle. But each online battle tries to match players and similar vehicle tiers to ensure good game play.

I mentioned briefly in the video about World of Tanks which is another very popular tank battle game. Whilst World of Tanks focuses more on a faster-paced arcade type game with numerous points needed before knocking out an enemy vehicle, War Thunder can eliminate an enemy tank with just a single shot if it is very well placed. War Thunder has larger maps, more vehicle types, and plays at a slightly slower pace.

What to me is very interesting is it is the only online game I’m aware of that has a variety of South African military vehicles in it including the Eland, Ratel, Rooikat, Olifant tank, and even the Rooivalk attack helicoptor. The Ratel, for example, is considered to be the very first true wheeled ICV (Infantry Combat Vehicle) top enter military service anywhere in the world, and for its time was one of the best ICVs anywhere. It is regarded by most military analysts as the grandfather of all subsequent ICV designs. The Ratel became the backbone of the then SADF (now SANDF) mechanised battalions and served with distinction during 12 of the 26 years of the South African Border War.

Note though what War Thunder shows as the G6/Eland, is actually the G6 Rhino Self-Propelled Howitzer-Vehicle with 155mm artillery gun. The real Eland is a 4-wheel drive armoured car with a 60mm or 90mm quick-firing gun.

See youtu.be/SqWPcCSt7BE
#Blog, #gaming, #southafrica, #technology, #warthunder

Take Control Of MS Flight Sim With Your Smartphone And This Open-Source App

Anyone with more than a passing interest in flight simulators will eventually want to upgrade their experience with a HOTAS (Hands On Throttle-And-Stick) setup that has buttons and switches for controlling your virtual aircraft’s assorted systems, which are well supported by games such as Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS). But a traditional HOTAS system can be a bit of an investment, so you might want to thank Vaibhav Sharma for the virtualHOTAS project that brings a configurable HOTAS interface to your phone — just in time to try out that Dune expansion for MSFS.

The phone’s orientation sensors are used as a joystick, and on the screen, there’s both sliders and buttons you can use as in-game controls.

What’s interesting with this is that there is no app installed on the phone, so it should work with Android and iOS. The app is an open-source Python app running on the computer, and the computer accesses it via a browser URL. Also, as it is a general interface, it will likely work as a general-purpose interface for other projects as well.

See hackaday.com/2024/06/01/take-c…
#Blog, #gaming, #opensource, #technology

Jumblie is a challenging browser-based open-source puzzle game to guess the four words of the day

The game has a theme word for each day, so keep that in mind when guessing the words. It is more challenging than Wordle because there are no hints apart from the theme word. So, if one of the words is ‘landing’ and you guessed ‘land’ there is no confirmation you’re getting warm at all.

How to play it: There are exactly four words hidden amongst the letters, and all letters are used exactly once. The words will always be between 4 and 9 letters long. Click on the letters (or type them on your keyboard) to spell a word. When you have a word you want to submit, click the “Submit” button. If the word is one of the daily words, it will be added to your found list of words. Find all four words as fast as you can! Each successful word is assigned a colour, so a red word will mean the shortest word is taken, so don’t try to guess more words with that same length of letters.

You can also click the Reshuffle button to rearrange the letters, which can help spark some ideas.

If you’re struggling, you can give up after at least 5 incorrect guesses. It also has an option to share your results by copying them to the clipboard to paste into whatever social network service you use.

See jumblie.com/
#Blog, #gaming, #jumblie, #puzzle, #technology

Netris is an open-source and self-hosted alternative to GeForce NOW, inspired by Stadia

It’s a cloud gaming platform where the latest titles and your beloved classics are always just a click away, ready to be played on any device you own.

Imagine the freedom to dive into your favourite gaming worlds on a lazy sofa Sunday with just your tablet, or firing up a quick session on your phone during your commute. That’s the kind of seamless, barrier-free gaming experience Netris offers.

They’re about bringing gamers together. Netris is a community, a place where you can share epic gaming moments with friends and family, thanks to our social-first features.

Netris is pioneering the use of QUIC technology for content delivery, which means Netris games appear better and run more smoothly, even if your internet connection isn’t top-notch. Think of it as streaming your favourite HD movie effortlessly on a modest Wi-Fi connection – that’s the power of QUIC making every pixel count without gobbling up your data.

Their platform is designed from the ground up to be socially orientated, allowing users to easily share their gaming experiences, victories, and memorable moments. It’s like having a virtual game night, every night, where the distance doesn’t dampen the fun and camaraderie. They have Reddit as well as Discord communities online.

There’s no need to buy your favourite games all over again. Simply connect your Steam account to their service, and voilà – your personal gaming library is ready to stream. Using their platform means you don’t need your own Nvidia GPU. You’re free to switch between self-hosting and using their cloud service whenever you like, without losing your game progress.

To use their cloud hosting there is a free tier which is limited to 720p 30fps with stereo sound, and public only parties. The paid tiers get you a lot more. It is accessible from any Chrome-based browser, including Edge, Chrome, Brave, and Arc.

See github.com/netrisdotme/netris
#Blog, #gaming, #Netris, #opensource, #technology

IGN Are Damaging Gaming

Mass consolidation of media is bad! IGN Entertainment - the entity that own IGN - have gobbled up many of their competitors.

The Fall of Independent Gaming News Sources Is Fast Approaching

#News #AI #Gaming #Reporting #News #GamingNews #IGN #ZiffDavis #BellularGamingNews #CorporateOverreach

The Real Reason The Video Game Industry is Collapsing (The Death of Xbox and Decline of Triple A)

Video Essay

#BreakfastVideo #Gaming #GamingIndustry #ComputerGames #VideoGames

Splendide !

Symphonic Gamers Orchestra - Super Mario World / Super Mario 64 Suite (JAGMO) - YouTube ⬅️ URL principale utilisée pour la prévisualisation Diaspora* et avec plus de garantie de disponibilité.

URL Invidious FDN ⬅️ URL théoriquement plus propre : moins de pistage mais moins de garantie de disponibilité dans le temps.

#musique #jeuvidéo #vgm #ost #mario #supermario #supermarioworld #nintendo #snes #n64 #supernintendo #nintendo64 #orchestre #concert #concertorchestral #gaming

‼️ Clause de non-responsabilité v1.0

#MichaelJackson
#Sega
#Megadrive
#retrogaming
#videogames
#jeuvideo
#gaming

Wolf Grid is an OpenSim World With AI Integration and Other Innovations

Seems this virtual world is only 3 years old, but it already has a landmass larger than Second Life’s. The reason could also be that land is cheaper than Second Life and there is the assistance of AI for generating the landscapes versus Second Life which is more manually done. Its land parcels are also a lot larger, so there is a lot more to explore in each area you end up in.

At first glance it really looks very similar and in fact you can use the same viewer. Just note, you cannot use the dedicated Second Life viewer for Phoenix Firestorm, you need to use the OpenSim version.

I’d certainly say though that Second Life’s destination guide is way more complete and interesting. Yet when I found Hobbiton I must say it was perfectly beautiful to be in. The Avatars are dressed in mesh objects so have lots of detail and movement.

The speech-to-text (and vice versa) technology isn’t simply intended as cool tech, but to benefit the entire user community: “I have autism,” Lone explains, “and I find it easier to communicate in a virtual world than real because there are no facial expressions to get wrong. We have quite a few autistic people here, and one of the goals of this grid is to be as inclusive as possible. So that’s why we built the voice recognition and text to speech.”

They are already profitable (from only 95 landowners) so this at least means they should be around for a while. They make their money from “renting out the land” and from merchants who sell goods.

See nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2024/05/wolf…
#Blog, #autism, #gaming, #technology, #virtualworlds

Videospiele in den 90ern: 8 unvergessliche Momente, an die sich wohl fast alle Gamer noch erinnern

#gaming

Videospiele in den 90ern: 8 unvergessliche Momente, an die sich wohl fast alle Gamer noch erinnern

Wer in den 90ern mit Videospielen aufgewachsen ist, wird sich wohl an einige Momente für immer erinnern - insbesondere dann, wenn etwas zum ...

Cute #Game. 😻

Little Kitty, Big City - #Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-39kuBXyKWo
Gameplay

#Little-Kitty-Big-City is a third-person adventure video game where the player controls a black, domestic cat that is lost within a large Japanese city. The player has to navigate the cat back to its home, but they can also interact with the city and do typical cat actions, such as catch birds, jump into boxes, steal food and play with their tail. The player can also communicate with other animals in the city and may dress up in various hats.

#Little-Kitty #Cat #Caturday #Gaming #Adventure #Microsoft-Windows #Xbox-One #Xbox-Series-XS #Nintendo-Switch #YouTube #Video #Wikipedia ☮️

40 years later, Kontrabant 2 for ZX Spectrum is rebroadcast on FM in Slovenia

Software is almost impossibly easy to download, distribute, and access compared to 40 years ago. Everything is bigger, faster, and more flexible, but there’s a certain charm to the ways of diskettes and cassettes that is hard to recapture. That doesn’t mean we can’t try.

By the time you read this, it’s likely that Kontrabant 2 will have already hit the airwaves on Radio Študent in Slovenia. At 9:30 pm Slovenia time (UTC+2 in Daylight Savings Time), if you are tuned to 89.3 FM, hitting record on a cassette tape will capture a buzzing sound that will run until just over 50KB have been transmitted. If all went well, you can load the tape into your working ZX Spectrum or bring it to the Computer History Museum in Slovenia and use theirs to try it out.

The game is in Serbian, as it was originally made for what was then Yugoslavia, for ZX Spectrums mostly smuggled in from Western Europe.

My ZX81 also loaded programs from audio tape cassettes and I remember that some computer shows back then on TV also had a short audio broadcast to allow users to record the audio, and load it into the computers afterwards.

But if you don’t have the computer, missed the broadcast, and can speak Serbian, you can play Kontrabant 2 on the Internet Archive’s emulator.

See arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/05…
#Blog, #gaming, #retro, #Slovenia, #technology, #zxspectrum

Sparkasse will Gamern helfen: Diese neue Funktion soll deine Finanzen in Ordnung bringen

#gaming #sparkasse #apps

Sparkasse will Gamern helfen: Diese neue Funktion soll deine Finanzen in Ordnung bringen

In-App- und In-Game-Käufe nehmen zu.

Autant le jeu a l'air moyen, j'aime pas la direction artistique par exemple, autant sur l'OST ils avaient vraiment assuré !!!

💖🎹🎼🎸🎷🎺🥁

Double Dragon Neon OST City Streets 2 - Mango Tango Neon Jungle [+LYRICS] - YouTube ⬅️ URL principale utilisée pour la prévisualisation Diaspora* et avec plus de garantie de disponibilité.

URL Invidious FDN ⬅️ URL théoriquement plus propre : moins de pistage mais moins de garantie de disponibilité dans le temps.

#musique #jeuvidéo #vgm #ost #doubledragon #gaming #80s #années80

‼️ Clause de non-responsabilité v1.0