Semblance is Now Available on Steam and is 10% off!*
Semblance is an innovative platformer with deformable terrain, set in a beautiful minimalist world. It’s a game that asks, what if you could deform and reshape the world itself? Semblance takes the idea of a ‘platform’ in a platformer and turns it on its head.
*Offer ends July 31 at 10AM Pacific Time Website: LINK
Save 50% on No Man’s Sky during this week’s Midweek Madness*!
Also, check out the new update No Man’s Sky NEXT, which brings a full Multiplayer experience to No Man’s Sky!
*Offer ends Thursday at 4PM Pacific Time
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Today’s Deal: Save 25% on The Council!*
Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!
*Offer ends Thursday at 10AM Pacific Time Website: LINK
Mu is a very simple-to-use Python editor and IDE (integrated development environment) and this week, version 1.0 was released!
Mu is designed to be as user-friendly and as helpful as possible for new Python programmers, presenting just the tools that are useful, such as:
Mu is intended to be not the only Python IDE you’ll ever need, but the first one — the editor that helps you start your coding journey, but not necessarily the one you finish it with. So when you’re ready, you will have the skills and confidence to move on to using a more advanced Python IDE.
You can use Mu in a number of modes; modes make working with Mu easier by only presenting the options most relevant to what you’re using Mu for:
Mu version 1.0 is available now for Windows, macOS, Linux, and the Raspberry Pi’s official operating system Raspbian! And to help new Python programmers get started, we have created a guide to Getting Started with Mu for all these operating systems.
Mu is the brainchild of Nicholas Tollervey, who has worked tirelessly to create Mu. I recently met up with him and some of the Mu team at the world’s first Mu-“moot” to celebrate this release:
Nicholas Tollervey on Twitter
World’s first Mu-moot. 🙁
One of the inspirations for Mu was the keynote presentation at EuroPython 2015 given by Raspberry Pi’s Carrie Anne Philbin. She talked about the barriers to children getting started with Python, including the lack of an suitably easy-to-use IDE:
Carrie Anne Philbin – Keynote: Designed for Education: A Python Solution
Carrie Anne Philbin – Keynote: Designed for Education: A Python Solution [EuroPython 2015] [23 July 2015] [Bilbao, Euskadi, Spain] The problem of introducing children to programming and computer science has seen growing attention in the past few years. Initiatives like Raspberry Pi, Code Club, code.org, (and many more) have been created to help solve this problem.
Raspberry Pi has provided support for the project, helping to take Mu from its first implementation as a micro:bit programming tool to a general-purpose and simple-to-use Python editor and IDE!
You can find installation instructions as well as tutorials on Mu’s website.
Website: LINK
Today’s Deal: Save 75% on Marvel: Ultimate Alliance!*
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*Offer ends Thursday at 10AM Pacific Time Website: LINK
What is CoderDojo?
CoderDojo is a global network of free informal clubs for young people aged 7-17 to learn how to code and create with technology. There are more than 1400 active Dojos in 75 countries, regularly attended by 40000 young people.
Seven years ago today, on 23 July, James Whelton and Bill Liao held the first-ever CoderDojo session in Cork, Ireland. When that first group of volunteers and young people (Ninjas) came together to learn how to make a website, design a game, or write their first program, they never imagined how far the CoderDojo movement would go. But the message of CoderDojo and its values of openness, inclusivity, creativity, and community have resonated with many thousands of people and continue to encourage them to get involved to learn and to volunteer.
Founders of CoderDojo James Whelton and Bill Liao
Since that first Dojo session, the movement has become truly global: there are now more than 1900 Dojos in 95 countries around the world. And not only CoderDojo clubs have developed, but also a fantastic, welcoming, worldwide community of volunteers, and a foundation that provides it with support and resources and is part of the Raspberry Pi family.
As if running and growing the network of Dojos wasn’t enough, our community also runs wonderful events: CoderDojo volunteers started the Coolest Projects showcase in 2012 as a way for Ninjas to come together and share the projects they have created.
Celebrating Coolest Projects International 2018
Coolest Projects is a world-leading showcase that empowers and inspires the next generation of digital creators, innovators, changemakers, and entrepreneurs from across the globe.
This year, more than 1000 young coders showcased what they have built at the international Coolest Projects event in Dublin, with regional events taking place in Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, the UK and, in two months’ time, in North America.
Passionate CoderDojo community members also saw the importance of meeting each other and sharing experiences of running their Dojos, so they decided to create an event to bring community members together: DojoCon gives volunteers from around the world the opportunity to gather in person, make friends, and learn from each other to better run and develop their Dojos. Regional DojoCons have been held in Toscana (Italy), Perth (Australia), and Osaka (Japan), along with numerous smaller mentor meetups that offer more localised support and friendships.
And MegaDojos have enabled groups of hundreds of young people to meet up for a day and code together, also providing the chance for newcomers to get involved and try a variety of technologies.
In regions where the concentration of Dojos and the drive to create more clubs are high, CoderDojo community members have formed regional bodies to provide focused support for growth.
“We are located in a city in Italy hit by the earthquake in 2016. We do not have a lot of places to meet. But every month, with a lot of work, we organize a CoderDojo, and the happiness in the children’s eyes is all we need!” – Dojo champion, Macerata, Italy
This highlights the grass-roots nature of the movement, and the passion that people involved have to achieve our goal of every child worldwide having the opportunity to learn to code and to be creative with technology in a safe and social environment.
Since 2011, community members have created and shared learning resources, and translated content at home and in organised hackathon events to help more young people learn to program. Following on from these resources developed in Dojos, two CoderDojo books have been released and translated into ten languages to help even young people in areas where Dojos haven’t cropped up develop the skills to be tech creators.
The CoderDojo Foundation is implementing initiatives to encourage diversity in all Dojos, such as the CoderDojo Girls Initiative, which was inspired by and shares the outstanding work that Dojo volunteers around the world already do to encourage more girls to become Ninjas and learn to code.
Since CoderDojo began, we’ve had eight girls attending Dojos be named European Digital Girl of the Year. Ninjas have been nominated for the BAFTA Young Game Designers award and won regional robotics challenges. They’ve travelled to the European Parliament to show MEPs a thing or two about coding. Ninjas have coded in libraries, tech-hubs, nursing homes, hotels, community centres, children’s hospitals, under trees, and on buses!
CoderDojo has encouraged cross-collaboration and intercultural learning. For example, Ninjas in Japan made 1000 origami shuriken to share with Ninjas attending this year’s Coolest Projects International in Dublin, and young people and volunteers in Dojos in Argentina and Belgium worked together to enter the European Astro Pi Challenge. And on community calls, volunteers from different continents, who would never have the opportunity to talk to each other otherwise, ask each other questions and offer each other advice.
“CoderDojo provides Ninjas with a positive, safe space for them to exercise their brain and to work on various projects. The sense of recognition and achievement among the young people is amazing. [Where our Dojo is located] is considered a disadvantaged area with a high level of poverty, substance misuse issues, and unemployment. Having such a positive space like CoderDojo for the young people of this community is acting as a prevention factor to the issues. Our young people are continuously learning, exploring, building relationships, and increasing their chances at a better quality of life.” – Dojo mentor, North Dublin, Ireland
Over the past seven years, thousands of amazing volunteers and supporters around the world have enabled 200000 young people to be technology creators. In 2017 alone, volunteers gave an incredible 290000 hours to support Ninjas to gain the confidence and skills to create with code!
☯CoderDojo☯ on Twitter
It was amazing celebrating our 7th birthday today. Well done in particular to all the young people who attended, those who shared what they were working on with the Duke & Duchess of Sussex, to their parents/guardians, & all the volunteers for their support thoughout the day!♥️
But it’s not just time they give, volunteers have contributed their enthusiasm, creativity, and love to create a generous and fun community! We would not have reached this seventh birthday without all the champions, mentors, and other volunteers who are the backbone of the CoderDojo movement, so thank you! We hope, with all your help, to continue to inspire young coders around the world.
“As the champion, the Dojo is the thing in my life I am most proud of, and that I look forward to each week. It is the most meaningful thing that I do, and seeing all the kids having a great time with their friends each week, and enjoying the learning experience, is truly fulfilling. It makes me wish I was young again to have such an opportunity to learn and be cool with all the great kids involved. It re-ignites my own passion for technology, which sometimes is easy to forget!” – Dojo champion, Kildare, Ireland
If you would like to start a fun, inclusive coding club for 7- to 17-year-olds in your local area, then find out more about setting up a Dojo here.
Website: LINK
Today’s Deal: Save 60% on Pure Farming 2018!*
Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!
*Offer ends Tuesday at 10AM Pacific Time Website: LINK
Today’s Deal: Save 80% on Men of War: Assault Squad 2!*
Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!
*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time Website: LINK
Today’s Deal: Save 25% on Dragon Cliff!*
Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!
*Offer ends Friday July 27th at 10AM Pacific Time Website: LINK
In this tutorial from The MagPi issue 71, Mike Cook takes us through the process of building an oscilloscope using a Raspberry Pi and an Arduino. Get your copy of The MagPi in stores now, or download it as a free PDF here.
The oscilloscope is on the wish list of anyone starting out with electronics. Your author used to tell his students that it was your eyes, making electricity visible. Unfortunately, they are quite expensive: from a few hundred pounds to up to £5000 and beyond. However, by using an Arduino and some software on the Raspberry Pi, you can make a passable beginner’s oscilloscope.
Last September, in The MagPi #61, there was an article outlining the way the Raspberry Pi and the Arduino could be used together. We at the Bakery have been doing this for some time: we first had a major project in the Raspberry Pi Projects books by Andrew Robinson and Mike Cook. The big advantage of the Arduino from a signal processing point of view is that there is minimal interruption from the operating system and you can gather data at a constant uninterrupted rate. This is just what we need for making an oscilloscope. The idea is that the Arduino gathers a whole heap of voltage samples as fast as it can and stores it in memory. It then transfers that memory to the Raspberry Pi, again as fast as possible. The Pi plots the data and displays it, then the software allows measurements to be made on the samples.
So you can measure the time and voltage difference, known as a delta, between any two points on the samples. You can even display the frequency that the ‘time delta’ corresponds to by taking its reciprocal. These are features found in expensive oscilloscopes. We have also built in a trigger function; this is to synchronise the onset of the rapid data gathering with the occurrence of a positive transition on the input signal through a specified voltage. The result is that regular waveforms can look stable on the display.
The schematic of the Arduino data acquisition module is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Schematic of the Arduino acquisition module
You will notice that it is quite simple. It consists of three potentiometers for the oscilloscope’s controls and an AC coupled biased voltage input.
The capacitor ensures that no DC components from the input get through and gives a modicum of protection against overvoltage. The reference voltage, or ground, is similarly biased as +2.5V above the Pi’s ground level.
The use of a BNC socket for the input ensures that you can use this with proper oscilloscope probe leads; these normally have an X10 switchable attenuator fitted, thus allowing voltages of +/- 25V to be measured. Full construction details can be found in the numbered steps.
The BNC socket has a flat on each side of the thread to prevent it rotating with the twisting force it will be subjected to upon connecting any probe. We did this by first drilling an 8mm hole for the flats and then enlarging the hole with a circular file on each side to allow it to fit. An 8×12mm hole was filed opposite the USB connecter to allow access.
The software, or sketch, you need to put into the Arduino is shown in the Gather_A0.ino listing, and is quite simple. Normally an Arduino of this type will take samples at a rate of 10 000 per second — or as we say, a 10k sample rate. This is not too good for an oscilloscope, but we can increase this sample rate by speeding up the A/D converter’s clock speed from the default rate. It does not appear to affect the reading accuracy too much. By making this change, we can speed up the sample rate to 58k. This is much better and allows useful measurements to be made in the audio range.
We used an Arduino Nano and soldered the header pins to it. Then we took a 14 hole by 19 strips piece of stripboard and drilled some holes to fix it to the base of the box. You might want to make this longer than 19 strips if you are not using surface-mount resistors on the underside. Fit header sockets to the stripboard and break the tracks on the underside between the two rows.
So, first, the trigger function is optionally called and then the samples are gathered in and sent to the Pi. The trigger function has a time-out that means it will trigger anyway after one second, whether it sees a transition on the input signal or not. Then the three pots are measured and also sent to the Pi. Note here that the samples are ten bits wide and so have to be sent as two bytes that get joined together again in the Pi’s software.
Also note the use of the double read for the pots, with a bit of code between each. This ensures a more stable reading, as the input capacitor of the Arduino’s sample and hold circuit needs time to charge up, and it has less time than normal to do this due to the speeding up of the D/A. It does not affect the waveform samples too much, as in most waveforms one sample voltage is close to the previous one.
We then drilled three holes for the pots, and added the small slots for the anti-rotation lugs. Then we fitted the pots and wired them up using the diagram above. This is the view from inside the lid of the box; if you’re worried about touching the side of the box with your soldering iron, consider soldering them before attaching them to the box.
At the end of the transfer, the Arduino sits in a loop waiting for an acknowledge byte from the Pi so it can start again. This acknowledge byte also carries the information as to whether or not to use a trigger on the next sample.
Add the resistors and capacitors to the stripboard and wire up the BNC socket. Solder this up before mounting, otherwise you will melt the plastic. Remember to thread the central wire through the ground washer, crinkle washer, and nut before soldering it. Add labels Trigger, Time, and Volts to the knobs.
Finally, before each buffer full of data is gathered, pin 13 on the board is lit, and turned off after. This is so that we could time the process on a commercial oscilloscope to find the sample rate — something you will not have to do if you use the recommended AVR-type Arduinos running at 16MHz.
The software for the Raspberry Pi is written in Python 3 and used the Pygame framework. It proved to be a lot more tricky to write than we first imagined, and is shown in the Scope.py listing. Python 3 uses Unicode characters by default, and allowed us to display the delta (Δ) and mu (μ) Greek characters for the difference and the time. The code first sets up the non-display part of the window; this is only drawn once, and then parts of it are updated when necessary. Depending on what type of Arduino you have, it can show up as a different USB port; we found that ours showed up as one of two ports. Comment out which one is not applicable when defining the sampleInput variable at the start of the listing.
Finally, we cobbled together a 168×78 pixel logo for the top-left corner, using a piece of clip art and fashioning the word ‘Oscilloscope’ from an outlined version of the Cooper Black font. We called it PyLogo.png and placed it in an images folder next to the Python code.
The oscilloscope samples at 58 kHz, which in theory means you can measure waveforms at 29 kHz. But that only gives you two samples per cycle, and as the samples can be anywhere on the waveform, they do not look very good. As a rough guide, you need at least ten points on a waveform to make it look like a waveform, so that gives a top practical frequency of 5.8 kHz. However, by using the Time Magnify options along with the Freeze function, you can measure much higher frequencies. The time and voltage cursor lines let you find out the values on any point of the waveform, and by clicking the Save functions, the current cursor is replaced by a dotted line that is fixed, and measurements can be made relative to that. The oscilloscope in action can be seen in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Taking measurements on a swept signal
Note that pressing the S key on the keyboard produces a screen dump of the display.
There are lots of ways you can take this project further. A simple upgrade would involve you having a second data buffer to allow you to display a saved waveform to compare against the current live one. You could also add a lower-speed acquisition mode to see slower waveforms. You can go the other way and use a faster Arduino so you can see the higher frequencies. This oscilloscope is AC coupled; you could add a DC coupling option with a switch potential divider and amplifier to the front end to extend the range of voltages you can measure. All these improvements, however, will need changes to the software to allow the measuring to take place on these wider-range parameters.
For the complete project code, download the free PDF of The MagPi issue 71, available on The MagPi website.
Website: LINK
Guts and Glory is Now Available on Steam!
A game about father and son riding their bicycle through obstacle courses of death, and other fun family experiences.
Website: LINK
Save up to 85% on Double Fine titles this Weekend*!
*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time.
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Save up to 75% on Saints Row titles and Agents of Mayhem this Weekend*!
*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time.
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Pool Panic is Now Available on Steam!
Pool Panic is an unconventional billiards game with something new around every corner. It’s the world’s least realistic pool simulator! Website: LINK
Rejoice! It’s time for a new issue of Hackspace magazine, packed with things for you to make, build, hack, and create!
Tools: they’re what separates humans from the apes! Whereas apes use whatever they find around them to get honey, pick pawpaws, and avoid prickly pears, we humans take the step of making things with which to make other things. That’s why in this issue of HackSpace magazine, we look at 50 essential tools to make you better at making (and by extension better at being a human). Take a look, decide which ones you need, and imagine the projects that will be possible with your shiny new stuff.
In issue 9, we feature Konichiwakitty, known as Rachel Wong to her friends, who is taking the maker world by storm with her range of electronic wearables.
Alongside making wearables and researching stem cells, she also advocates for getting young people into crafting, including making their own wearables!
Remap is a fantastic organisation. It’s comprised of volunteer makers and builders who use their skills to adapt the world and build tech to help people with disabilities. Everyone in the maker community can do amazing stuff, and it’s wonderful that so many of you offer your time and skills for free to benefit people in need.
The band Echo and the Bunnymen famously credited a drum machine as a band member, and with our tutorial, you too can build your own rhythm section using a Teensy microcontroller, a breadboard, and a few buttons.
And if that’s not enough electro beats for you, we’ve also got a guide to generating MIDI inputs with a joystick — because keyboards and frets are so passé.
Having shiny new stuff on its own isn’t enough to spur most people to action. No, they need a reason to make, for example total mechanical dominance over their competitors. Offering an arena for such contests is the continuing mission of Tim Richardson, who along with Mike Horne created Pi Wars.
In its five-ish years, Pi Wars has become one of the biggest events on the UK maker calendar, with an inspired mix of robots, making, programming, and healthy competition. We caught up with Tim to find out how to make a maker event, what’s next for Pi Wars, and how to build a robot to beat the best.
Do you ever lie awake at night wondering how many strangers on the internet like you? If so (or if you have a business with a social media presence, which seems more likely), you might be interested in our tutorial for a social media follower counter.
This build takes raw numbers from the internet’s shouting forums and turns them into physical validation, so you can watch your follower count increase in real time as you shout into the void about whether Football’s Coming Home.
In this issue, you can also:
All this, plus a bunch of reviews and many, many more projects to dig into, in Hackspace magazine issue 9.
If you like the sound of this month’s content, you can find HackSpace magazine in WHSmith, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and independent newsagents in the UK. If you live in the US, check out your local Barnes & Noble, Fry’s, or Micro Center next week. We’re also shipping to stores in Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, Belgium, and Brazil, so be sure to ask your local newsagent whether they’ll be getting HackSpace magazine. And if you’d rather try before you buy, you can always download the free PDF.
“Subscribe now” may not be subtle as a marketing message, but we really think you should. You’ll get the magazine early, plus a lovely physical paper copy, which has really good battery life.
Oh, and 12-month print subscribers get an Adafruit Circuit Playground Express loaded with inputs and sensors and ready for your next project.
Website: LINK
Durch ein Softwareupdate werden die Sprachbefehle für Amazon Alexa über die Logitech Harmony-Fernbedienung intuitiver und natürlicher
Dank eines Softwareupdates des Logitech Harmony Skills für Amazon Alexa werden Sprachbefehle künftig noch einfacher. Nutzer müssen beispielsweise nicht mehr „Alexa, schalte den Fernseher ein mit Harmony“ sagen, wenn sie eine Logitech Harmony Hub-basierte Fernbedienung zur Steuerung ihrer Alexa-fähigen Geräte mit ihrer Stimme verwenden. Mit dem neuen Harmony Smart Home Skill kann der Zusatz „mit Harmony“ künftig weggelassen werden und Alexa versteht den Befehl trotzdem.
Auch Folgebefehle mit Kontextbezug sind durch das kostenlose Softwareupdate möglich. Nachdem sie beispielsweise ihren Smart TV mit der Logitech Harmony und ihrer Stimme gestartet haben, können Anwender mit einfachen Befehlen fortfahren wie „Alexa, mach lauter“ oder “Alexa, schalte auf Kanal 3“.
Das kostenlose Softwareupdate optimiert die Kommunikation über den Sprachassistenten von Amazon mit der Logitech Harmony Fernbedienung und ermöglicht es Nutzern und allen Familienmitgliedern, ihr Heimkino und ihre Unterhaltungsmedien mit intuitiveren Sprachbefehlen zu steuern.
Ab dem 12. Juni können Logitech Harmony-Besitzer den neuen Harmony Smart Home Skill im Amazon Alexa App Store aktivieren. Der neue Skill wird unter der Bezeichnung „Harmony“ mit einem blauen Logo zu finden sein. Der bisherige Skill wird in „Harmony-Zweites Hub“ umbenannt. Logitech empfiehlt seinen Kunden, immer die aktuellste Software-Version zu nutzen und den neuen Harmony Smart Home Skill zu aktivieren. Für weitere Informationen besuchen Sie www.myharmony.com/de-de
Source: Logitech Press Release
In our latest resource, we show you how to create a website and use it to document your coding projects.
Search the web with the right key words for your programming conundrum, and you’re bound to find someone who has written software to address a question that’s at least similar to yours. And not only that, they’re also making their software freely available under an open source license, and writing documentation to help you use their code. How awesome is that?!
Many people who write code are eager to share their programs and allow others to use and remix them according to their own needs. This is why the open source community is so inviting for makers, especially those who want to make projects that are yet beyond their ability to build from scratch.
So unless you plan on turning your code into a money-making commodity, you’re writing scripts that you can share with others. By adding clear, supporting online documentation to your code, you’ll help people all over the world to not only use your software but to also understand what everything does and become better programmers themselves.
In our latest resource, we show you how to use docstrings to automatically create documentation for your Python code. Then, we walk you through using Sphinx to build a website showcasing this documentation and any example scripts you want to share with the world.
You’ll learn how to create supporting documentation to guide users through elements of your code, add multiple pages to your website, and use themes to costumise the site’s layout and make it stand out.
You can find the resource here, and our full list of free resources here on our projects site.
We’ve also recently released a new Sense HAT music player project, along with a resource teaching basic Raspberry Pi terminal navigation skills with a fun game to find all the Pac-Man ghosts.
Website: LINK
Der DLC Lost On Mars setzt die unheimlichen Abenteuer im Far Cry 5-Season Pass fort und lässt Spieler als Nick Rye gemeinsam mit Hurk zum Mars reisen, um eine Alien-Bedrohung auszuschalten. Lost on Mars kann eigenständig als DLC, als Teil des Far Cry 5-Season Passes, oder als Teil der der Gold Edition erworben werden.
Far Cry 5: Lost on Mars teleportiert den Wahnsinn der Reihe aus dem beschaulichen Hope County hinauf auf den roten Planeten. Dort müssen Nick Rye und Hurk die futuristische KI ANNE wieder in Betrieb bringen, da sie die letzte Verteidigungslinie der Menschheit ist. Den Spielern stehen dabei neue Waffen aus dem Arsenal der Außerirdischen zur Verfügung, darunter:
Blaster of Disaster: Eine Einzelschuss-Raumkanone hergestellt aus zuverlässiger Alien-Technologie
Hellfire: Feuert 15 Laserbälle ab, die schwere Schäden verursachen.
Morphinator: Mit der Kraft der Wissenschaft werden Jäger zu Gejagten – inklusive einer explosiven Überraschung
Space Jets: Völlig schwerelos über den Mars springen und auf völlig neue Art das außerirdische Terrain erkunden
Zusätzlich zum DLC haben ab heute alle Far Cry 5-Spieler in der Far Cry Arcade Zugang zu Lost on Mars-Inhalten. Karten-Ersteller können diese fortan in ihren Kreationen nutzen und so futuristische Science Fiction-Settings erstellen.
Ubisoft veröffentlichte außerdem den Soundtrack Far Cry 5: Lost on Mars, eine funky, Science-Fiction, 70er Jahre inspirierte Spaghettiwestern-Track-Liste, die vom Filmkomponisten Anthony Marinelli kreiert und aufgeführt wurde. Marinelli verwendete die Vintage-Analog-Synthesizer der Kultfilme Young Guns, Starman, War Games und Michael Jacksons Thriller, sowie Sci-Fi-Orchesterriffs, Baritongitarre, Banjo, Dobro, Wah-Gitarre und funky Basslinien, um die Spieler mit dem Groove zu fesseln. So wie es Spinnen auf dem Mars tun würden. Der Soundtrack ist hier verfügbar: https://idol.lnk.to/FarCry5_Lost_On_Mars
Source: Ubisoft Press Release
Save 40% on Spintires: MudRunner during this week’s Midweek Madness*!
Spintires: MudRunner is the ultimate version of the million-seller hit Spintires. Drive incredible all-terrain vehicles, venturing across extreme landscape! It’s not just an enhanced edition, it’s the ultimate off-road experience!
*Offer ends Friday at 10AM Pacific Time Website: LINK
Today’s Deal: Save 75% on This War of Mine!*
Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!
*Offer ends Thursday at 10AM Pacific Time Website: LINK
It’s often the unsung heroes of fantasy that have the best stories. Sure, you might be a brave warrior or wily mage, but does anyone talk to you about their troubles after the end of a hard day’s adventuring? Dungeon Brewmaster puts you in the leather boots of a fantasy bartender, mixing it up (literally) with a cast of larger-than-life characters in order to make a little coin.
We caught up with Scott Ulliman of Super77, Project Lead on Dungeon Brewmaster, to talk about libations and labyrinths. (Interview questions compiled by Gustav Spangberg.)
Give us the rundown on Dungeon Brewmaster.
Dungeon Brewmaster is a virtual reality game that fully immerses you in a magical world, much like Harry Potter or Dungeons & Dragons. Only here, rather than playing the hero, you play the barkeep at a local tavern whose every decision shapes the town around you. Your patrons don’t differ much from those in the real world, other than sometimes being eight-foot-tall Frog Ogres at the brink of war with Barbarian War Bisons… sounds like a normal happy hour to me!
Your job is fairly straight forward though – crafting up bizarre brews using various tools and ingredients. Do it right and you’ll have happy customers, but get it wrong and you may have patrons puking up any number of funky ingredients. If story telling, monsters, magic, cooking, craft brews, or specifically puking up hundreds of frog legs is your thing, then I think you will find a comfy home in the Dungeon Brewmaster’s Tavern.
With a variety of experiences in VR that involve crafting/creating food and drinks, what makes Dungeon Brewmaster unique?
We wanted to use the cooking/brewing as a pillar for story telling. When concepting the game we were drawn to the idea of bartenders who hear these wild stories or deal with weird customers. You’ll find those things in the DBM tavern, only in a much more fantastical setting. Of course, since the task at hand is still cooking and brewing, we DID want to add our own fun twists. There are currently around 30 ingredients, most of which are quite different from what you’d find in a normal kitchen… unless you have severed cyclops heads or vials of unicorn mucus in your pantry.
Each Brewmaster is also equipped with tools such as a cutting knife, frying pan, alchemy table, cauldron, and a hungry trash mimic who will attempt to eat anything that leaves your hands. Just like barkeeps all over, serving up brews may be your job, but helping crazy customers with their problems is where the real tip money is at!
Is the fantasy genre new to you? What made you decide to try it out?
Our whole studio actually played an almost 20-person session of D&D once, complete with custom art and homemade potion drinks. It’s very much in our wheelhouse, even though professionally this is our first real foray into fantasy. Couching the “bar” theme in a fantasy setting also ensured we wouldn’t alienate any age groups by being too literal with alcohol or drinking references.
Besides, fantasy is just fun – we figured if we’re going to be spending so many hours testing the game, we’d rather have massive frog ogres barking orders at us instead of normal humans!
What is your personal favorite potion/poison to craft? Why?
In Act 2 of the Story mode, a big update we recently released, you get to choose between two brews: The Goddess Voice Brew or the Wee Ole’ Brew. Choosing to make one will result in a brutal war, and the other will basically throw a big party. The decision massively changes your tavern’s vibe (my favorite is definitely the party tavern). Besides those, the RootBrew Float is always an uplifting favorite!
Tell us a little bit about how players can start freestyling their own fantastical mixtures!
Story mode itself only requires you to create a handful of the hundreds of combinations possible in the game, while Freeplay mode allows much more experimentation. There are currently a ton of crazy things that can be created, and we are updating this area weekly. Certain ingredients bestow special properties to the resulting brews – we love watching players discover all sorts of weird and hilarious concoctions! We’re also working on a system to allow players to craft truly unique custom brews with any ingredient combination. I think that sort of emergent experience can really help players feel connected to the game world.
What’s the number one reason why someone should experience Dungeon Brewmaster?
We’ve put a lot of time into the look and feel of the tavern and the locals who frequent it. Dungeon Brewmaster isn’t just a game about crafting the perfect Floppy Swamp Brew; it’s about being transported into a fantastic world full of crazy stories and characters. We really wanted players to feel like they’re somewhere new, where they could really let themselves get immersed in the setting.
During the development process, was there anything that was particularly frustrating or challenging
Our studio is full of a lot of talented people, but we’re actually very new to the game scene. We started as a motion graphics house working on everything from Nike commercials to Red Hot Chili Peppers music videos.
A few years ago we began messing with our own game prototypes after-hours, which sort of snowballed into us creating mobile games and eventually turning to game development full time! Dungeon Brewmaster is our first VR game though, so the real challenge comes from working on a different platform with entirely different user experience expectations. The team has been amazing though, and we’re really happy with what we’ve got so far!
What does VR add to a game like Dungeon Brewmaster? What do you think is the ‘magic’ part of the VR experience for you?
VR is truly the heart of Dungeon Brewmaster. When you take off a VR headset for the first time, or even the hundredth time, and you have that “WOW, I forgot where I was!” moment, you understand exactly what it is that makes VR so enjoyable and unique.
That’s the magic part, losing yourself for a moment in a new world. Other mediums can do that to a certain degree, but there’s nothing like actually being there, surrounded by this incredible content. There is no better feeling than testing a game for a few hours straight, then taking the headset off and thinking “I totally forgot I was even at work.”
Finally, what does the future hold for the team? Will you continue to add new features to Dungeon Brewmaster?
We are adding so much more to the game! We recently launched an update that doubles the Story mode content and adds a ton more to do/create in Freeplay mode. We’re listening closely to player feedback and are currently working on the next big story arc, as well as a super fun surprise… multiplayer!
Info on multiplayer will come soon, but we are definitely keeping it lighthearted and completely crazy! As I mentioned previously, adding a system for players to create their own custom brews is also high on our list. Our studio (Super77) is working really hard on stuff inside and outside the DBM world, and we really can’t wait to show off what we’ve got brewing!
Thanks for talking to us, Scott – good luck with future development!
Dungeon Brewmaster is available on Viveport.
Website: LINK
