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Monthly update (July)
🕑 Added 2017-08-10 10:15:36 +0000 UTCWritten by Any Key, BeefEX, Brick, Haddicus and Kenney
July was a busy month at our studio and in the Pixeland community seeing the release of Asset Forge and community involvement in the newest Ludum Dare fueling a lot of the action. This blog post will now become a regular thing written by the community. We hope that this will allow new or less frequent community members to get a quick synopsis of activity and feel more involved. Lets get to it!
Game assets
Patreon supporters ($5.00+) now have access to the new Graveyard Kit which includes gravestones, coffins, and other spooky models. The final version of this package is in the works which will add characters just like the other available kits.
The Castle Kit which was previously exclusive to patrons has now been released to the public and can be shared with anyone.
Kenney Jam
Game jams offer a wide variety of challenges. Short time spans, asset creation, sleepless nights, loads of caffeine – the list can go on. With Kenney Jam the assets are taken care of – you’re welcome, programmers!
During the last weekend in August (25th – 27th), we will be hosting a game jam that will feature only assets created by us. These assets include packs from bundles, individual releases and Patreon exclusives. Asset Forge and Kenney Studio creations are prohibited.
There will not be voting at the end, as the goal for everyone is to produce a playable game! There are already over 250 people whom have signed up for the jam, and you can too, on itch.io.
View the announcement video here!
Asset Forge
After months of development we've released the long awaited 2D/3D asset creation tool Asset Forge. In July Asset Forge saw not only it's initial release but also a number of bug fixes and added features. We're already working on the next update which will be free for everyone that has purchased either the Standard or Deluxe edition.
There are two editions of Asset Forge available via Itch.io. Both are functionally identical with Deluxe including additional blocks. Both editions are available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Users who purchase the Standard edition can upgrade to Deluxe for the difference in price, additionally owners of Kenney Studio and Patreons who pledge $5.00 or more get a non-stacking discount.
For additional information visit the official website.
Made with Unity
The Japanese website Made with Unity published an article on Asset Forge which will promote the tool among Japanese developers. One of these developers has uploaded a video that glances over all features and shows off some community created block sets. Awesome!
Asset Forge creations
Asset Forge has been out for just under a month and the community has already produced a number of creations, both models and block sets. Here's just a small sampling of what's been made for and using Asset Forge;
Teddyoh released his expansion Untracked pack making it one of the first large kits to drop into Asset forge and work with the existing blocks. This kit represents a large expansion on the built in Vehicles pack and adds Truck, Bus, and Tank components as well as additional bumpers and wheels.
SaturnDesigns put out a Wood Furniture and Bar Pack adding a lot of interior items to Asset Forge for those that download and install it. This kit includes a number of furniture pieces, tables, stools, barrels, and more items to decorate your models.
whjvandijk on the Itch.io board posted a render of a Massive Castle made in Asset Forge. No word on the number of blocks used to make this.
Visit the Itch.io Community Projects Board to see more custom blocks and creations made by Asset Forge users.
Jam Entries using Asset Forge
Fred of CasualGames.nu built an infinite driving game for Ludum Dare using some Asset Forge blocks and has also created the first known instance of an Asset Forge model take advantage of being blocks by blowing the player into it's consitutant parts when crashing
Guilb also made an entry for Ludum Dare using Asset Forge, this time as the major asset building application. In Coffee Hero: Powered by Coffee it's your job to keep a group of devs caffinated and awake.
More Mountains created a game called PowerPlay during Ludum Dare, he made some models himself in Cinema 4D with Asset Forge being the tool for choice for creating most assets. In this PowerPlay you play as the last rugbyman in a world overridden by robots, which definitely sounds interesting.
Humble Bundle
Humble Bundle is currently running a deal on books which feature Kenney assets on the covers and in samples. You'll have to drop at least $8 to receive one of the books, see the deal here.
Mini guide
Rather draw your own 2D sprites instead of using some of our assets? We've published a tiny tutorial that'll show you the steps we take to draw such a sprite. It's available on Instagram (swipe to continue the tutorial)
Resources
The community has shared some great resources which you may find useful, a short list:
- EmpireWorld has shared a 2D platformer asset pack that includes GUI elements, a player sprite, enemy and some environmental bits. Completely free!
- CrowdForge is a site for setting up or finding a team for game jams or other projects. There's a special page set up for Kenney Jam! At CrowdForge you pick your jam, mark the roles needed and filled, and write a short description for others. You can also look for an exisiting team and choose one that you'd like to join. View the Kenney Jam listings here
- Brick Astley shared a page outlining the use of shaders in Unity to swap colors within a sprite and add variety without having to create a new sprite for each color combination you want to use.
Discord
Want to be part of the community? The Pixeland Discord chat is open to everyone and if you're a Patreon supporter and pledge $5.00 or more you have access to an exclusive channel. Feel free to join!
