Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual event that brings together the biggest names in the game development industry to share the latest in cutting-edge games and technologies. This year 2 standout themes really stole the show, AI and the Metaverse *shudders in buzzwords* so let’s break down the biggest announcements from this year’s event from the big 2 game engines.
Unity AI:
Unity is one of the industry-leading game engines powering some of the best indie game titles such as Cuphead, Ori and more. It’s widely praised for being easy for beginners to pick up while being able to produce complex games and other experiences. With the recent advancements in OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot technology, more and more developers have been using it to help with pair programming, world creation and even to create smarter NPC characters within their experiences.
Unity understands this sort of technology could be the future for developers and games alike, they announced they were building an open and unique AI ecosystem that will put AI-powered game- development tools in the hands of millions of creators. Allowing developers to more quickly create and deliver amazing real-time 3D content and experiences for billions of users around the world.
Cryptic right? What does this mean? Well, we do not fully know until the tools are released to developers later this year, but some creators have already taken the power of OpenAI’s Chat model into unity through the open source tool such as AI Command ( https://github.com/keijiro/ AICommand ) that allows developers and artists alike to evolve quicker, through a simple command like ‘spawn 10 boxes with rigid bodies’ we can generate this in fewer clicks! What could take 5 mins could take as little as 20 seconds. Going as far as to create scripts on objects with specific commands all through the power of AI.
But outside of AI for developers these same chatbots could also be used within games directly to create some of the most intelligent NPCs we have ever seen, many assets already leverage this such as this ( https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/ai/chat-gpt-for-games-ai-integration-248841 ) but having these tools fully maintained and powered by Unity could absolutely be the future of both games, simulations and even training.
I will of course be covering these tools in much more detail in the coming months as we discover more about their uses and power so check back regularly for the latest.
Unreal Editor For Fortnite (UEFN)
Epic games are one of the industry leaders when it comes to game development with their Unreal Engine that powers some of the biggest games such as Metro 2033, ARK and of course Fortnite.
One of the biggest barriers to entry for many developers young and old with Unreal Engine is its steep learning curve and complexity, with a large range of tools that can be daunting even for the most seasoned of developers. but aside from its apparent high bar of entry its tools are industry- leading and are many developers go to for creating visually stunning and immersive worlds
That’s where UEFN comes in, a stripped-down but just as powerful tool for building games and experiences directly for Fortnite, think creative mode 1.0, on steroids. The engine will still have many of Unreal Engine 5’s powerful tools and workflows such as modelling, texturing, terrain generation, and even custom asset importing. Alongside these powerful tools comes a new cut- down and simpler UI to allow accessible development and creation for everyone from teenagers all the way to seasoned developers.
With the editor you will get access to over 4 years of Fortnite content to aid in world and game mode building from characters, guns and buildings to customize your map and rules. But perhaps more importantly the tool allows for custom asset importing meaning it’s completely possible for developers to create maps that visually are worlds apart from the Fortnite style we have come to know and love. A perfect example of this was the Forest Guardians demo which looked nothing like the cel-shaded style of Fortnite running directly within the game.
Alongside the development tools, the testing tools are just as powerful, because the editor talks directly with Fortnite upto 5 players can join the live development session as players on any platform experiencing the game/level as the player would without having to reload of build the game! this
UEFN is being launched alongside a new programming language, Verse (a Language based on JavaScript which should feel familiar to many developers while still being easy to pick up for beginners), and Creator Economy 2.0 which is a whole new way for Fortnite island creators and developers to earn a portion of Fortnite’s Item Shop purchases based on engagement with their published content.
These tools make it abundantly clear Epic’s future for Fortnite, a fully connected metaverse. Where users can create and generate some of the most visually appealing worlds and game modes to have ever graced Fortnite and the metaverse space. As the tool evolves more coverage will be given surrounding UEFN and its ecosystem.
NFT’s and the Blockchain, Is this really the future?:
The ideas of using NFT’s and other blockchain technologies in video games is nothing new, a great example of this is Blankos Block Party which uses the Polygon network to allow players to purchase and collect playable skins that could be saved in the box (similarly to Pop Vinyl figures) and sold for a profit or ‘opened’ and played with over time.
Even with these technologies being around for a while it didn’t stop a veteran of the game development space ‘Maple Story’ from taking to the stage this year to discuss how they plan to use the blockchain in their future plans in a rather misguided way.
As a bit of background, MapleStory is a sidescrolling MMO grind fest that has been running since 2003 and still has an active community to this day though they have made a bit of a name for themselves as a ‘pay to win’ game.
Nixon (Maple Story’s developers) gave a rather baffling and hilarious example of buying a Bored Ape NFT and then placing it in the game would allow a player could hop around MapleStorys map, looking like an ape. This is of course a rather gimmicky use case for blockchain technologies but
does show just how connected web features such as NFT’s could transcend a digital image and become an integral part of all of WEB3’s infrastructure moving forwards.
perhaps more interestingly though was their pitch to move away from cash stores within their games to a blockchain-style storefront where weapons and gear will drop from monsters that players defeat, and each region will have NFT rewards, this is in a similar vain to World Of Warcraft or Diablo 3’s approach to items and storefronts. To me though this does raise the question ‘What’s the advantage of this being on the blockchain?’ adding real-world value to items and selling/ collecting for wealth is nothing new, World Of Warcraft has been doing it for years with their Auction House, the only real advantage I see with running this through a blockchain is that its easier to follow where item ownership is going and has been.
Unless we start to see a real advantage to blockchain technology in games outside of being an overly complicated database, I see this being a fad that will die just as quickly as the fidget spinner.
