GameGuru MAX News

The winners of the GameGuru MAX Real World Game Making Competition are:

[h2]1st Place[/h2]
Yogesh Namdev takes first place with his game 'Indian Strike Force'!

The game uses height map data from the Jammu and Kashmir region in India. The game includes an intro video to show the heightmap and has great gameplay and level design. The judges felt it was a well-prepared game that stuck to the focus of the competition and is a great demo game too.
[h2]Well done to Yogesh - he wins the top prize of $250![/h2]

[h2]2nd Place[/h2]
In a close second place is Dave Tummey with his game based around the famous Horseshoe bend in the Grand Canyon.

This modern-day combat game demo makes great use of the height map to set the scene of the game. 
[h2]Well done to Dave who wins $100![/h2]

[h2]3rd Place[/h2]
Game-maker Ali Abdulrahman is awarded third place with his game based in the Amazon rainforest.

This moody game has great atmosphere and exciting combat sequences.
[h2]Congratulations to Ali who wins $50![/h2]

[h2]4th Place[/h2]
Seasoned community member Gary Trickett took the competition to a whole different level with his game Special Delivery.

His unique take on the use of height maps and the out of the box gameplay was a pleasant surprise to the judges.
[h2]Gary wins $50 for his 4th place game![/h2]

[h2]5th Place[/h2]
In the final winning slot is Martin Oliver with his game based on the great wall of China.

Using new assets to construct the level, the game immerses you into a convincing environment.
[h2]Martin wins $50![/h2]

A MASSIVE well done to all our winners and to everyone else who submitted entries. Thank you and we hope you all enjoyed making games with GameGuru MAX.

With the agreement of the game developers we plan to release the Demo Games in future versions of GameGuru MAX so you'll be able to play through them yourself :-)

[h2]Marketplace Released![/h2]
The main development this week has been the addition of a new Marketplace section!
It can be called up from a number of places from within GameGuru MAX:

• From the Level Editor drop down Edit menu
  
• After clicking "Add" in the Level Objects window you'll see a button at the base of the screen titled "Get More Objects"
  
• When you are editing a sound source, say for example an audio zone, when the sound library appears you see a button titled "Get More Music and Sound"
  

The Marketplace offers a number of different sources from where you can search for new content for your games.

• GameGuru MAX - this column shows the latest Game Kits made and published by TheGameCreators -  currently there's the new Aztec Game Kit and the Booster Pack 
  
• Game Creator Store - here you'll see some example models that are available for free or to purchase from The Game Creator Store. One such FREE model is the AIKO character that has been updated to today's graphical fidelity! You can easily grab her and add her into your GameGuru MAX games so it's well worth signing up to the store if you don't yet have an account. Once you have purchased or downloaded free content from the store, you will be able to access from a new "Purchased" category in the Object Library (just below the Showcase category)
  
• Sketchfab - this popular web site offers thousands of high quality assets from different artists. Some of TheGameCreator's items on this store are featured in the Marketplace and we encourage you to check out their website for ideas for your projects. Many items can be downloaded and then imported for use within GameGuru MAX
  
• Import Your Own - This takes you to the GameGuru MAX 3D model importer, allowing you to bring in your own models and add them to your MAX library

The Sound section of the Marketplace looks like this:

• Game Creator Store - takes you to the independent Game Creator store where you can browse music and sounds
  
• Shockwave Sound Store - adding a great music track to your game can really transform it. This website offers thousands of music tracks that you can buy and use in your games. TheGameCreators have used them for their own video presentations and can highly recommend them
  
• Import Your Own - if you have your own music and sound files then use this to add them to your MAX library

[h2]Plus a host of misc fixes[/h2]

• Fixed issue of standalone crashing when no PERLIN script
  
• Small fix to restore project filters
  
• To avoid adding drown logic to ALL behaviors, a global function is that characters will lose health quickly when their heads go below the water line, ultimately killing them via damage received.
  
• LUA - fix for labelled dropdowns not displaying the correct number of values
  
• LUA - fix for floats specified with a range not having a slider
  
• Removed limit on camera shake
  

Finally, today is the deadline for the Real World Game Level Competition. Don't be late, get your entries in NOW! Read details on how to submit HERE

Today's new build of GameGuru MAX has some cool new features and we've released a brand new Game Kit! 
Alongside today's new build of GameGuru MAX we've launched a fantastic new Aztec Game Kit. It has over 270 high quality game ready assets with which you can make your own Aztec game! It has characters, buildings, switches, doors, items, sounds, music and much more!

To give you a taste of the quality and the new melee gameplay we've added a free teaser map and some of the assets into the core of GameGuru MAX!

The Aztec Game Kit is discounted by 15% during it's first week launch, so grab it now if you like what you see!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1962060/GameGuru_MAX_Aztec_Game_Kit/
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



[h2]Player Swimming[/h2]

• The player swimming has been improved with realistic sound effects when walking and running in water, swimming across the surface and for when the player dives into the depths of the water
  
• Added a new Swim speed slider to the Player Start Marker Settings
  
• As part of the update to the swimming system we've added new Lua commands Start/StopAmbientMusicTrack - these operate on the previously loaded ambient tracks
  
• Added a new LUA command to check if water is enabled

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]New Behaviors[/h2]
In the Behavior library there are some new choices that offer these game making features:

• Hostage rescue - when a character has this behavior they will crouch down with their hands tied behind their back. The player can rescue them by walking up close to them to free them
  
• A new Melee combat behavior has been added too - this provides enhanced melee combat options for both the Player and the AI enemies
  
• As part of the Melee behavior, players can sneak up behind enemies and take them down with an instant attack
  
• A Play Animation behavior is now available - an imported character with just one animation can play this animation during game play

[h2]Combat Music[/h2]

• When the player gets into a combat situation it's now possible to have a music track kick in to raise the tension and make the game. The new feature can be found in the Environment Effects in the Music Tracks sub menu

Here's a look at the bug fixes and tweaks that have gone into this new build of GameGuru MAX:
[h2]Level Editor[/h2]

• Blocked nav mesh now hides the affected polygons
  
• Fix to smooth out smart object positioning when height of placement changed
  
• Fix for duplicated particles not appearing in editor or in-game
  

[h2]Undo/Redo[/h2]

• Fix for previous positions of entities moved by a single sculpt being stored across multiple undo events
  
• Fixed: CTRL+Z doesn't always undo
  

[h2]Rendering System[/h2]

• Restored the bullet hole system and fixed a bug that caused a bad grey polygon corruption
  

[h2]Weapons[/h2]

• New right click for melee attack mode added
  
• Fixed an issue with new sounds being triggered by old ammo and bullet wizz code
  
• Added slight delay before red dot appears on weapons
  
• Fix for ammo quantity specified in behavior section not matching the amount that gets collected when picked up
  

[h2]Misc[/h2]

• Fixed the importer save-path text box not expanding with the window
  
• Blocked nav mesh now hides the affected polygons
  
• Fixed the visual settings from being lost when leaving the importer
  
• Fixed an issue where a wrong tree could be placed
  
• Fixed issue of neck looking up and down even though character cannot see player
  
• Added new variable type for Dynamic Lua to directly alter corresponding eleprof variable
  

Don't forget we're running our Real World Game Level competition with cash prizes!
There's just one week to go! Read the detail HERE

Todays new build of GameGuru MAX fixes some of those pesky bugs and brings some new improvements too- including:

[h2]Combat and Logic[/h2]

• Improved movement and animation system for characters
  
• Finer control of when and at what modulation objects can rotate to follow the path
  
• Increased all weapon sound volumes slightly
  
• Fixed issue of characters jerking to the side from time to time
  
• New ability to disable flash light in player start marker
  
• Added 16 new player hurt sound effects
  
• Added camera shake when player takes damage or hurt
  

[h2]Optimisations[/h2]

• Turned on back face culling for tree trunks whilst staying off for branches
  

[h2]LUA Scripting[/h2]

• Added new LUA command GetEntityAnimationTriggerFrame
  
• Added Lua command "LimitSwimmingVerticalMovement(0)" to prevent limitation of vertical movement whilst swimming - allows ladders to work in water
  
• Fix for "SetPlayerFOV" Lua command no longer working
  

[h2]Physics[/h2]

• Added support for new collision mode "Collision Mesh" which loads in an OBJ file
  
• Now detects and hides any frame called collision_mesh and can use this for the collisionmode of 8
  

[h2]Weapons[/h2]

• Added ANIMSETOVERRIDE in GUNSPEC so weapons can determine the animation sets used by characters
  

[h2]Tutorials[/h2]

• Added built in tutorial for importing heightmaps
  

[h2]Character Creator[/h2]

• Fix for incorrect room being loaded when exiting the Character Creator and then starting it again
  

[h2]Level Editor[/h2]

• Fix for group icons becoming out of sync with the selected group
  

[h2]Importer[/h2]

• Updated the default reflectance value to 0.04
  

[h2]Misc[/h2]

• Improved initialization to fix potential crash
  
• Fix for animations not playing in test game
  
• Fix for vegetation disappearing when using undo
  
• Fix for objects moved after sculpting not being undoable
  
• Fix for gravity bug after jumping off a ladder whilst swimming
  
• Fixed the jungle trees 1 and 2 from causing a flickering issue
  

Finally, don't forget we're running our Real World Game Level competition with cash prizes!
Read the detail HERE

[h2]Calling all GameGuru MAX users - make a demo level using real world height map data and enter it into our Real World Game Level Competition![/h2]

By using the Terrain Editor height map import feature you can bring in real world height map data on which to base your game level's design.

[h2]A Grand Canyon Adventure[/h2]
To show what's possible with this awesome GameGuru MAX feature we brought in 'Ghost lol' from our great community to make us a demo level. His game uses height map data from the actual Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA!

He also created a cool intro video and used extra free-to-use assets from the SketchFab website to make the level standout - check out the gameplay video
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
If you're new to the height map feature then watch this short video that explains how it works
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Prizes[/h2]
[h3]There's $500 in cash prizes up for grabs![/h3]

[h2]Competition Rules[/h2]

• Game must be a single level game made in GameGuru MAX 
  
• Entries must be submitted by 27 May 2022 @ 11:59 UTC
  
• Game should use stock media from GameGuru MAX - if any third party assets are used they MUST be free to use
  
• All winning entries will be added to the Demo Games that come with GameGuru MAX
  

[h2]Judging[/h2]

• TGC will judge the entries and their decision will be final
  
• Recognisable and famous world locations will score better than unknown locations
  
• Only one competition entry per person
  
• Late entries will not be considered
  

Follow the competition forum HERE or join the Discord discussion HERE

Good luck!