Gamedev
Game Development Industry Digest #41
What happened in the gaming industry this week? RPG Maker VX went free on Steam, Nintendo revised Switch sales forecasts, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero sold 5 million copies, and more: at General Arcade, we’re here to keep you in the loop with our Weekly Game Development Industry Digest, whether you’re a gaming enthusiast or a developer.
Hold your horses rookie game developers! The RPG Game Maker VX is now FREE on Steam for a limited time until 10th February 2025. For a beginner game enthusiast, this tool helps to simplify game creation with its built-in assets. Since it rarely goes completely free, now would be the best time to grab it.
Game Development Industry Digest | DEVsday #40
The game development industry is always buzzing with exciting updates, fresh ideas, and innovations. At General Arcade, we’re here to keep you in the loop with our Weekly Game Development Industry Digest, whether you’re a gaming enthusiast or a developer.
Blender Powered The Award-Winning Movie: Flow
Blender has enabled the creation of an award winning short film, Flow. What’s noteworthy is that the director of Flow has appreciated its cost-effective, integrated workflow and its ability to produce a cinematic quality of visuals.
Game Development Industry Diges | DEVsday #39
The game development industry is always buzzing with exciting updates, fresh ideas, and innovations. At General Arcade, we’re here to keep you in the loop with our Weekly Game Development Industry Digest, whether you’re a gaming enthusiast or a developer.
Captain Blood is Coming on May 6th!
Look out for Captain Blood as it’s finally set to hit your consoles on May 6th, 2025. Originally developed by Seawolf and remastered by General Arcade, this pirate themed game involves hand-to-hand combat using epic combos, pirate weapons, and engaging in ship battles. Definitely looking forward to this one!
From Gamer Girl to QA Engineer at General Arcade
At General Arcade, every game we work on goes through rigorous testing, refinement, and improvement. One of the minds leading this critical process is Elle, our QA Engineer, and a gamer girl. Her keen eye for detail ensures every game we deliver meets the highest standards.
Here’s her story:
Elle’s love for technology began at a young age, eventually leading her to pursue a degree in Computer Science with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Being a QA Engineer, Elle is dedicated to ensuring that every game we create meets the highest standards. Her day-to-day involves identifying bugs, running regression and smoke tests, and verifying every technical and performance aspect of a game. Right now, she’s working on Captain Blood, a project that recently had an exciting demo release on Steam.
Andrei B.: The Mind Behind General Arcade’s Game Production
It’s 2025, and we’re thrilled to continue our series of interviews with the incredible minds behind General Arcade. Meet Andrei B., our Production Director with a career spanning over two decades in the IT industry, Andrei’s path to game production has been shaped by a combination of his expertise in management and his ability to navigate both the technical challenges and the human aspects of game development.
“With over 20 years in various IT roles, I never specifically aimed to enter the game development industry, but the prospect always intrigued me. Game development is notoriously difficult to break into from the outside; even similar positions require skill sets that diverge significantly from other IT sectors. My entry was a combination of experience, circumstances, and my background as a seasoned manager.
The QA Engineer Behind Your Favorite Ports
Putra’s foray into the technology sector began with a distinguished academic background in Information Technology, earned with Honors from the University of Technology Mara in Shah Alam. Inspired by his love for gaming, he set his sights on the gaming industry and joined General Arcade as a QA Engineer. Here, he’s making waves by ensuring the quality of the games we port to various platforms. His job involves testing games, hunting down bugs, and making sure everything meets industry standards. A typical day for Putra involves addressing technical requirements for PlayStation while collaborating closely with the development team to report issues and verify fixes, all aimed at enhancing the overall gaming experience.
Best Programming Books # 3 | Algorithms, Coding Practices & GameDev
Our dedicated professionals at General Arcade are always looking to expand their skills while sharing their insights with others.
Dmitrii S., one of our exceptionally skilled software engineers, emphasizes the importance of mastering programming fundamentals and honing problem-solving abilities for coders.To support this journey, Dmitrii has shared some of his favorite programming books for both newcomers and experienced talents to explore and enhance their knowledge.
Dmitrii S.: A Comprehensive Guide for Aspiring and Experienced Programmers
From Malaysia to the US and back: The New Star Of Our Team
Sacchin’s journey into the tech world started with his dad’s nudge, who also studied in the US. Following his dad’s lead, he chose the cool DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Washington. Sacchin thrived there, learning heaps about computer science and game development, setting the stage for his future career.
After graduating, Sacchin joined The Forge in San Diego, California, as a Graphics Programmer, where he quickly moved up the ranks to become a Senior Graphics Programmer. His time at The Forge was marked by big contributions to major projects, which fuelled his passion for game development.
Best Programming Books # 2 | Algorithms, Coding Practices & GameDev
Our team of experts are committed to continuous learning and knowledge sharing. One of our Software Engineers, Denis, has a unique approach to programming that focuses on simplicity and strategic problem-solving. He believes that understanding how people think is essential in programming, as it begins in the mind rather than on a computer. While technical skills like programming languages and mathematical methods are important, the core of programming lies in the mental process and problem-solving abilities. Drawing from years of experience and a passion for mentoring, Denis has curated a list of best programming books that act as essential resources for those looking to advance their programming skills, especially in game development and C++ programming.
GTA Vice City Stories | WidescreenFixesPack
In the ever-evolving world of gaming, the allure of classic games remains strong. For Sergey, this allure became a mission to enhance and modernize beloved old titles. Through his project, WidescreenFixesPack, Sergey has made significant strides in improving the quality of life for gamers who cherish these timeless classics.
Learn more about the project here: GitHub
Sergey’s story:
Basically, it’s when you want to play an old game, but something isn’t working, it won’t launch, or you just want to improve some Quality of Life (QoL) aspects. So, you sit down and figure out what can be done, and if it’s not too complicated, you create a plugin that works like an official patch, usually without replacing any game files.
There are also projects (plugins) for modern emulators of old consoles, like PPSSPP. I made QoL updates for my favorite, GTA Vice City Stories, since the game is only available on PSP and PS2. These updates include improved controls, script fixes for 60fps, right-stick camera support, and more.
There are many different plugins, so it’s hard to encapsulate the entire project. Nevertheless, this project led me to meet Gennadii Potapov. In 2013, Gennadii reached out to me, lacking the source code, and proposed a QoL update with widescreen support for Marc Eckō’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. At that time, we couldn’t implement everything, but in 2022, a huge fan of the game from Australia contacted me, questioning why the game’s UI elements disappeared at 4K resolution. I’d never tested it at 4K, so I got intrigued.
I ended up rewriting the entire plugin from scratch and suggested to Gennadii that we update the 2013 version in the official release, which we did.Best Programming Books # 1 | Algorithms, Coding Practices & GameDev
Some great programming books recommended by our former team member Aleksandr Novikov which are perfect for those short on inspiration and time.
Grokking Algorithms by Aditya Y. Bhargava
This was one of my first programming books. It’s an easy and fun read to grasp basic data structures and algorithms.
Code Complete by Steve McConnell
A classic that demonstrates good coding practices, no matter the language. I’ve re-read it multiple times (though selectively).
General Weekly #16
The game development industry brings something new all the time. General Arcade shows the most interesting releases, updates and news of the past week, which are recommended reading for both industry veterans and novice developers.
Updates/releases/news
4A Games releases SDK for Metro: Exodus
A set of tools for creating mods for Metro Exodus will help you create absolutely any type of modifications.
General Weekly #8 09.27.22
The game development industry brings something new all the time. General Arcade shows the most interesting releases, updates and news of the past week, which are recommended reading for both industry veterans and novice developers.
Updates/releases/news
Unity announces new tools for developing multiplayer games
Access to Netcode for GameObjects (NGO) 1.0, which goes hand in hand with new multiplayer solutions from Unity Gaming Services, including game server hosting (Multiplay) and Matchmaker. These tools, combined with examples and tutorials, will speed up the development of multiplayer games on Unity.