GameGuru MAX: December 2025

[h2]December 2025 Zero Bug Update[/h2][p]We are pleased to announce that for the first time since starting the development of GameGuru MAX, we achieved a zero bug count on the issues board. There are a few bugs still awaiting more information to determine if they are real or imagined, but we have never had a zero count on the outstanding reports before, and it's great to have hit this milestone![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]If you have Steam auto-update activated, you will receive the latest update the next time you log into the Steam client and launch MAX from there. Now that we've mostly eliminated all legacy reports, it's time to transition to the next phase of development: reliability. It's not enough that we've fixed all the known bugs; we now need to reinforce the tool and the games exported so that they perform well and meet expectations in the real world. The good news is that several large-scale MAX game projects are underway that actively find edge cases involved in finishing and publishing a game, and we will be using this feedback to make MAX stronger.[/p][p]This release represents several months of focused work and the final push that allowed us to reach a zero outstanding bug count on the issues board:[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][h3]Core Gameplay & Standalone Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Fixed long-standing issues with starting underwater, swimming arms, and player start positions being affected by gravity.[/p]
• [p]Resolved multiple standalone-only problems including missing quest images, custom explosions and sounds, particle effects, video playback, and music volume control.[/p]
• [p]Doors, collisions, bullet holes, lights, fog, probes, and underwater detection are now consistent across single and multi-level games.[/p]
• [p]Prevented cases where older or corrupt level data could cause crashes during export or gameplay.[/p]

[h3]AI, Navigation & NPC Improvements[/h3]

• [p]Navmesh generation is now full-level and higher quality, no longer dependent on camera position during generation.[/p]
• [p]Navmesh debug view now follows the camera, making AI navigation easier to inspect across large levels.[/p]
• [p]NPC behaviour has been refined extensively: better patrol logic, melee and ranged switching, cover usage, flashlight logic, threat states, neutral allies, and death triggers.[/p]
• [p]Default NPC movement speed adjusted to remove unintentionally comical walk animations introduced by earlier performance upgrades.[/p]

[h3]Behavior System Expansion & Polish[/h3]

• [p]Added new behaviors such as Entity In Zone, Mesh Sensor, Communicator, WPE Activator, and enhanced resource nodes with multi-spawn support.[/p]
• [p]Major internal fixes across dozens of existing behaviors including quests, weather, day/night, oxygen, stamina, food, carry objects, ladders, turrets, traps, vehicles, aircraft, and HUD interfaces.[/p]
• [p]Many behaviors now support external triggers, optional globals, better prompts, and more predictable logic flow.[/p]

[h3]Editor & Workflow Improvements[/h3]

• [p]Fixed freezes, crashes, and UI issues when saving, loading, duplicating, or grouping large levels.[/p]
• [p]Improved handling of custom HUDs, custom fonts, storyboards, loading screens, and title screens in the project system.[/p]
• [p]Added resolution emulation and scaling tools to preview how games look on widescreen and ultrawide displays.[/p]
• [p]Reduced editor “not responding” moments by improving threading, memory handling, and background processes.[/p]

[h3]Visuals, Effects & Audio[/h3]

• [p]Added and refined blood damage shaders, environmental reflections, decal handling, and bullet hole controls.[/p]
• [p]Particle systems gained better placement controls (X/Z offsets), preview support, and export reliability.[/p]
• [p]Fixed long-standing sound slot issues and improved looping and transition logic for music and storyboards.[/p]

[h3]Performance & Memory Management[/h3]

• [p]Improved DDS conversion and texture handling to reduce VRAM usage, especially in large levels.[/p]
• [p]Freed GPU memory between level loads to improve performance and prevent slowdowns in extended play sessions.[/p]
• [p]Faster loading for decals, storyboards, objects, and editor thumbnails.[/p]

[h3]Under-the-Hood Refactoring[/h3]

• [p]Large-scale cleanup of legacy code, unused functions, and old conditional paths to improve maintainability and reduce future bug risk.[/p]
• [p]Improved crash logging now produces full crash dumps for faster diagnosis and resolution.[/p]
• [p]Multiple safeguards added to prevent deadlocks, freezes, and hard-to-reproduce edge-case crashes.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]General Observations[/h3][p]2025 has been an exciting year for GameGuru MAX, not least its transition of development from TGC to DBS. To hit a zero bug count, even for a few days, is a great way to end the year on a high note. The general feeling internally is that we can start to look tentatively at helping get a few good games out the door and out into the world. As they say, the proof is in the pudding, and maybe in 2026, we can start enjoying the fruits of a lovely game-making pie :)[/p][p]As this may be the last long-form announcement of 2025, we wish you a very merry festive holiday and look forward to bringing you more updates and news throughout 2026. Happy Game Making!![/p][p][/p]