Issue #394: Zoom, Spine, and level generation

Issue #394 - July 23rd 2021

If you have anything you want to share with the HTML5 game development community please let me know by sending an email to andrzej.mazur@end3r.com.
I'm also open for related sponsorship opportunities and job listings.
 

Articles:

Zoom adds games to video meeting service
Addition of third-party apps framed as "a critical component in Zoom's transition from an app to a platform".
Brendan Sinclair at GamesIndustryBiz

Veteran Borderlands 3 devs leave Gearbox
The game’s creative director and others are heading to a new project elsewhere.
Ethan Gach at Kotaku

Playdate is a throwback to the simple days of Game Boy, for better and worse
Before you pre-order the Playdate, learn if it’s a good fit for you.
Chris Plante at Polygon

The game store cold war is heating up
Until the Epic Games Store announced in late 2018 that it would take a 12% cut of game revenue, industry seemed locked-in to a store cut of 30% for PC, mobile, and console.
Michael Hudson at VentureBeat

Think, fight, feel: how video game artificial intelligence is evolving
AI in games has long been geared towards improving computer-controlled opponents. Will it soon create diverse characters we can talk to instead of just shoot?
Keith Stuart at The Guardian
 

Tutorials:

Phaser platformer series #18: question mark box
When our hero hits the question mark box from underneath, the mushroom power up will appear and then race off to the left or right. See also #19: one-way platforms.
Tom Harrison at Digitherium

Serious Scramblers HTML5 prototype built with Phaser and TypeScript update: simulate continuous collision detection
The purpose of Continuous Collision Detection (CCD) is to detect collisions of fast moving bodies that would otherwise be missed.
Emanuele Feronato's blog
 

Tools:

Spine 4.0 is here
 

Resources:

Level generation and style enhancement — deep learning for game development overview [PDF]
 

Demos:

Wood toy

Keep snailing
 

Podcasts:

Newgrounds #57: future of web games
 

Games:

Oddbods: Looney Ballooney

Body Guard