[alert]Sorry for the long break I have been very busy with college and other events the last couple months hopefully we will return to at least one post a month. Also I hope everyone one had a good new years unfortunately I missed the 1 year anniversary of the website but I do have something planned that will maybe be done in the future.[/alert] Recently with the problems we have seen with the trustworthiness of Unity, many have escaped to the game engine that is Godot. Today I am going to take a look at it, compare it with Unity, and look at some code examples with it.   Understanding Godot Godot is an open-source, cross-platform game engine that boasts a user-friendly interface and a powerful set of features. Developed by a passionate community, Godot has gained traction due to its transparency, active support, and the absence of licensing fees. With support for 2D and 3D game development, Godot provides a robust foundation for developers to bring their visions to life. Differences There are many…

[admonition]I am no where near a expert in Linux and this guide should be taken with a grain of salt. This guide is meant to be a jumping off point where I point you more in the places of where you should research information about Linux and Arch (I personally recommend the arch wiki), and I am in no way promoting Arch over other distros as I do not want to open that can of worms.[/admonition]   Linux has been becoming a more and more viable operating system for those who spend a lot of their computer time playing computers or doing things you might believe is Windows specific. With the pioneering of Valve's Proton and the improvements made to Wine, you can run almost everything from Windows on Linux. In this guide I am going to go over what you need to do to get into Linux and some advise related to Linux based off my experiences.   Choosing the Right Linux Distribution Linux has a bunch of different options for what you want…

The recent events of Unity in which they have decided to prioritize their short term income versus the long term income creates a dangerous expectation where Unity can continue to increase their prices without needing to check into the community and taking its feedback properly. After the introduction of their install fees many game developers have been complaining about not only the extra fee (which punishes those who run on a free to play model, or who works with a subscription service) but also violates the trust of the community. Here's a quick look at the policy: Some have mentioned that the install cost may go over their estimated revenue for their game. The Risks Many may be thinking why it would matter to make a small addition to the pricing change of games but you may remember that this system is based off installs of a game. This means that game developers are at risk for: Piracy: Pirated copies are likely to still count as an install. Subscription Services: Joining a subscription service means…

Threads is a new social media by Meta which is just a copy of Twitter using Mastodon as a base. Threads accounts are based off Instagram accounts in the same way that YouTube accounts are based off Google accounts, except that without even entering threads Meta already created you a ghost Threads account that people can follow request. While this approach may seem novel, it has raised concerns within the user community regarding privacy and consent. Some argue that the creation of ghost accounts without explicit user permission infringes upon their autonomy and control over their online presence. On the other hand, proponents of this feature view it as a convenient means to kick-start user engagement and facilitate connections on the platform. Restrictions It is essential to acknowledge the valid concerns surrounding privacy and consent that arise from the creation of ghost accounts. In an era where data protection and user rights are paramount, social media platforms must prioritize transparency and user control. To address these concerns, Meta must provide clear and comprehensive options for…

A few days ago the Nintendo eShop for the WiiU and 3DS closed permanently. But that does not mean that the 3ds is a brick, far from it. Enter homebrewing.   Homebrewing Homebrewing is very simple on the 3ds, in fact, one of the most simple consoles to soft mod. But you may not know what homebrewing is. Homebrewing can be defined as cracking through a system's security in such a way that allows you to execute custom code. This typically refers to gaming consoles as personal computers and most other computational devices allow you to run custom code anyways. What of it? You might be wondering, okay, I can run custom code on my 3ds easily, but what is the point? The point of homebrewing your 3ds is that it allows you to do things that were previously impossible or restricted by Nintendo's proprietary software. The 3ds can handle emulators for some more classic games like GBA, NES, and SNES. You can also install custom themes and back up your game saves. One of…

ChatGPT has been really popular lately. After it came out many have worried that it may replace a lot of jobs (like writing articles like this one) but luckily there have been a lot of AI detection services going around and generally, ChatGPT writes really stiffly. That does not mean that you can't use ChatGPT to help you in your next creative project.   What is ChatGPT? ChatGPT is an AI text generator that is trained to understand and respond using human-like text. This uses data across the internet so it has references and knowledge of almost everything before 2021. This is due to the fact that ChatGPT has read through the entirety of Wikipedia and a lot of other major sources like stack exchange. Coming up with topics ChatGPT is pretty smart and you can ask it to come up with topics for you. You can also give it previous information like other things you have written. While not all of these ideas might not be in your interest, there might be a few…

Factory-style games are renowned for their addictive gameplay. These types of games typically involve starting with nothing, then building up to a factory that builds things millions of times faster than you can do by hand. But the main problem that happens with them is that you start at 9 am, build a few things, look up, and it's 8 am! How does this happen? The core of the game lies in its game loops, which are defined as the parts of the game that make up the central gameplay experience.   The Game Loop A game loop is defined as the parts of a game that make up the core of the game. An example of a gameplay loop would be in Pacman, you try to gather all the dots in a stage while avoiding the ghosts. There can be more than one game loop in a game and games that are more complex typically have more than simpler games. A popular staple of the factory-type game is Factorio. The game loop in Factorio…

iTunes is a terrible program. If you haven't tried to use it in the last few years, let's say it might as well have never been updated. While the Apple Music program proceeds it on macOS and iOS, Windows and Linux are left picking up a scrap of an unusable program. That's where Cider comes in. Cider is an open-source version of Apple Music that works on all desktop platforms. It has the ability to load in your own plugins and has a nice shiny UI to boot. [caption id="attachment_163" align="alignnone" width="405"] A screenshot of Cider's UI[/caption] Features Cider has a lot of the missing features from Apple Music that iTunes never had. Excluding those, Cider has the following features. Podcasts Cider combines the features of Apple Music with the Podcast App, allowing you to listen to podcasts in the same application that you listen to your music. Just like the podcast app, Cider lets you download podcasts and listen to them offline if you would prefer. Remote The feature is currently in beta, but…

Some ideas randomly filter in and out of my head. One of them that would not go away was the procedural generation of materials. I wanted to create a way that a computer would consistently generate the same material, with a random name, toughness, sharpness, and some fantasy stats like magic conductivity. The Beginning Starting out I had to define all of the variables I wanted to use. These changed over time, but this is what I have currently: Code snippet of all defined variables. Created in Carbon. I needed a lot of variables that are static. These are all of the lists from prefix to sentenceAddatives.These allowed me to choose random phrases and mash them together for the description generation. Or mash syllables together for name generation.From top to bottom, the variables do: tier alters values to become bigger, basically if something a higher-tier material, it will be better num is currently not in use due to its use being moved to another file (I need to grab the information from the other file)…

Recently I received a drawing tablet. For those who are unfamiliar, they allow you to draw on your computer. But after getting it I was unsure of which software to use. So today I am going to break down all of the software that I have tried recently and tell you what is good and what is bad about each. I will also be breaking down which operating systems they work on, and their prices. Clip Studio Paint Since I got a Wacom tablet I was given a 2-year license to Clip Studio Paint PRO, so most of my experience will be with that version. Clip Studio Paint is one of, if not the most, popular drawing software for those interested in Japanese-styled drawing. Created in Japan, over half of all art uploaded to Pixiv(a popular art-sharing platform) was created using Clip Studio Paint. Clip Studio Paint is available on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. I have yet to test if Linux can wine it. They also have an up to 6-month trial if you…