[In this reprinted #altdevblogaday in-depth piece, game programmer Simon Yeung looks at using software rasterizers for occlusion culling, and xplains the math behind the clipping of triangles.] Software rasterizers can be used for occlusion culling. Some games such as Killzone 3 use this to cull objects. So I decided to write one myself. The steps are first to transform vertices to homogenous coordinates, clip the triangles to the viewport, and then fill the triangles with …
The QR Codes of Fez make your life easier — if you have access to a QR Code Reader. If you don’t, this particular achievement and Anti-Cube Collectible might just leave you baffled and confused. Worry no more, because the Game Front Video Team has unlocked the cube for you, and posted a video guide to solving this puzzle on Game Front’s Channel on Youtube. Check out even more awesome videos there, but if you’re here for that Cryptographer Achievement, just keep scrolling down.
For a deep look into Fez, check out our text and video walkthrough. To get a look at even more secret, tips, tricks, and guides browse over to the Fez cheats page.
Cryptographer Achievement Guide
Mitchell’s Advice:
In order to get this achievement, you need to find a special QR code, scan it, and enter the sequence of buttons it tells you.
You can find the QR code by heading toward the top of the world map. From the first warp gate, enter the Tree Entrance and keep following the main path until you reach the location of another warp gate.
Press the triggers in this order: RT, RT, LT, RT, LT, LT, LT, RT
Fez can get very meta at times. The first achievement available to you is also one of the strangest for any game, but that’s what Fez calls the norm. Take a quick look at the achievements of Fez, and you’ll see a strange code. Learn how to unlock this simple achievement, and how you’ll find an easy Anti-Cube Collectible, with our video and text guide right here. If you think this is trippy, just wait to see what Fez has in store for you later. For now, enjoy the help Game Front’s Video Team is here to provide below.
This weekend’s Mass Effect 3 multiplayer event has drawn the usual crowds, but Resurgence isn’t going down quite as well as previous Operations. Brenna Hillier reports from the frontlines.
Mass Effect 3′s multiplayer is something of a surprise hit. Fans were understandably dubious of a horde-like experience tacked onto a single player epic, but the improved shooter mechanics and strong design have proved a lasting success for those keen to get more Mass Effect in their lives. It’s not just value-added for gamers, either; although there’s DLC to come, BioWare just closed off a trilogy which has been at the forefront of gamer consciousness for five years. This is the natural point for interest in the brand to switch off, and by keeping bums in seats with multiplayer, the developer has an increased chance of holding onto its fanbase.
As such, it’s in everybody’s interests for the multiplayer experience to develop and evolve, and with the free Resurgence pack, Mass Effect 3 has gained a new lease on life – or rather, should have.
I was really hoping to bring you an in-depth account of the new content today. The additional classes look cool, and I’m looking forward to trying the new weapons out. A pair of maps represents a significant expansion to the line up, and they’re sufficiently varied and interesting that it’s a delight to explore them. Unfortunately, on the three occasions I’ve fired up Mass Effect 3′s multiplayer since the pack’s release, I’ve been unable to really try anything out, thanks to a plethora of game-breaking glitches.
Hand me the bug spray
Pre-Resurgence Mass Effect 3 had its share of in-game technical issues. A couple of old favourites include shuttles that hang around through a whole match; weapon firing effects that display at inappropriate times; amusing AI foibles; and ladders that adamantly refuse to be climbed. But apart from the ladder issue, they were largely cosmetic; post-Resurgence, things have gotten nasty, with a whole new catalogue of problems.
There’s the one where my abilities stop working altogether, that’s a frustrating one. The one where enemies disappear and reappear a few metres away in a Shrodinger’s Cat state of uncertainty as to their life status is pretty entertaining for kill stealing Vanguards like myself, except when the Brute you’ve just dropped appears behind you and stabs you in the back. The one where a sound effect repeats endlessly at high volume is not too great, either.
Note: those are the lesser issues. I’m particularly angry about the one where my screen freezes for two seconds out of every 15 seconds but the action continues without me, and the one where I drop out, my game crashes, and I have to restart my PC to even load a match.
However, I think the one that takes the cake is when you snap to cover, only to appear on top of it – regardless of the height of the obstacle – and then zip crazily back and forth between the two surfaces. The character slows to a crawl, as if running against a wall nobody else can see, making it difficult to move to a flat space – and when you do, movement speed will not increase. I took a video of this one, and unfortunately stopped it before the part where I fell into the underworld for the remainder of the match – thank goodness I was in the LZ.
Since the pack’s launch, I have been unable to complete a match without seeing one of these problems occur, and issues I noted before its release seem to have increased in frequency. Is it something to do with the extra influx of new players? Or is Resurgence just broken? I’m pretty sure it’s the second one, because I know I’m not alone.
Buggy game updates are something we have to live with as gamers; it is all but financially and logistically impossible to find and eliminate the kinds of issues which become apparent when they hit the wild. The certification processes which mostly protect us from such patches also mean we’re going to be waiting a while for a fix, and that’s something BioWare can’t be happy about – especially as we’re right in the middle of what is likely to be one of the busiest weekends the game has seen since launch.
Resurgence of interest? More like resurgence of the heavy criticism dogging Mass Effect 3 for weeks now. What should have been a wonderful opportunity for good press has turned into a PR disaster for BioWare and EA, and a personal disaster for many gamers who put aside time for some serious gaming sessions.
It might please those of you annoyed by the constant drumbeat of GAMING IS KILLING OUR KIDS YOU GUYS that not everyone with an audience thinks it’s so. Noted parenting expert Scott Steinberg, best known for penning the Modern Parent’s Guide series, has a new book in the series out – The Modern Parents Guide to Kids and Video Games – and surprise surprise, it largely comes out in favor of the dreaded video games that are supposedly ruining the youth of America.
After a perfunctory acknowledgement that the decline of physical activity in favor of electronic means of entertainment might be cause for concern (we agree!), he says “the truth that audiences seldom hear is that the vast majority of software titles are perfectly safe and fun for families, and capable of impacting them in positive ways.” And rather than trying to scare the hell out of parents, the new book offers them tips on topics like picking the right video games for your kids to play, use of parental controls and video game ratings, setting house rules and limits, and addressing concerns about online safety and virtual violence. Shockingly, this seems to suggest it’s the parents job to determine what’s best for their kid and gradually bring them into adulthood, rather than forcing the rest of us to babyproof the world.
If you’re a parent and this sounds interesting, the book is available for free download.
Get ready for a torrent of licensed Skyrim-meme products, everyone. Skyrim players know of course that Fus Ro Dah is the spell required for the Dragon Shout. After Skyrim trailers featuring the spell were launched in advance of the game’s release last fall, Fus Ro Dah quickly became a hilarious (yet not that well known) meme, though one sadly overshadowed by everyone taking an arrow to the knee. Of course, it still continues to be the meme that keeps on memeing, and will likely be the one that lives on immortal. So it makes sense that Bethesda corporate parent ZeniMax, no doubt aware of the fact that people like me constantly wish we could make the spell work in real life, would want to lock that expression down asap.
ZeniMax has filed 6 trademark applications utilizing Fus Ro Dah. These applications cover a range of products and services ranging from instruction manuals, software and unspecified ‘entertainment services’. But the most important applications are no doubt those filed for licensed merch:
Serial Number: 85589291
Bags, namely, backpacks, duffel bags, knapsacks, book bags, athletic bags, and cosmetic bags, sold empty
Serial Number: 85589296
Toys and action figures; playing cards, dice, and board games; bobble-head dolls; sporting equipment
So get ready to blow some money on an official dragon shout hoodie very soon. To tide you over, here’s my personal favorite Fus Ro Dah video, demonstrating the full, awesome power of penguins.
Nekro appears to have found the happy medium between hellish gore and shiny-happy creatures, and it wants to share this balanced, horrifying world with ours: All developer darkForge needs is $ 100,000, preferably from its Kickstarter.
Nekro is a top-down, randomly generated action title where players are a powerful necromancer who subsists on blood and creates other demonic beings, such as Punge, a Boomer-like character with gigantic, menacing teeth who explodes poison on enemies.
DarkForge’s Kickstarter has already raised $ 15,000 and has 18 days left to collect the remaining $ 85,000. If pus, possession and poltergeists are your thing, go check it out.
In celebration of the 5th Anniversary of The Lord of the Rings Online, Turbine is searching for the one LOTRO fan to rule them all in order to reward him or her with a trip to the developer’s studio in Boston, plus a lifetime LOTRO membership and 1,000 Turbine points.
To do so, they’ve started a fan video contest in which LOTRO players are asked to throw an anniversary party, re-enact their favorite quest line, or build a monument for LOTRO out of snow — in-game or out-of-game.
All submissions will be judged on creativity and chosen by the Turbine Team. One daily winner will receive 500 Turbine Points each day throughout the contest and have their video showcased on the site.
[In this reprinted #altdevblogaday in-depth piece, game programmer Simon Yeung looks at using software rasterizers for occlusion culling, and xplains the math behind the clipping of triangles.] Software rasterizers can be used for occlusion culling. Some games such as Killzone 3 use this to cull objects. So I decided to write one myself. The steps are first to transform vertices to homogenous coordinates, clip the triangles to the viewport, and then fill the triangles with …
