Develop April: VR and Engines

Stand Out In VR: This issue features a deep-dive into the present and future of VR, plus a look at how a few of your favourite engines are evolving to help developers make better games. Freelance writer David Varela talks about his upcoming Writing for Games course and we wish Ludum Dare a happy 15th birthday. Full list below.

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Got feedback? Are you a developer who wants to get involved with future issues? Feel free to email me at jalexander@nbmedia.com. (Dog gifs always appreciated.)

Here’s a full overview of what to expect this month:

• VR Check-In: Six months on, VR is now in the eager claws of gamers. Jem Alexander investigates how developers feel about its reception and where the tech goes next.
• Save and Continue: Why are a group of industry experts trying to digitise the very history of video games? Frank Cifaldi, founder of The Video Game History Foundation, details a wildly ambitious project to Will Freeman.
• Write Place, Write Time: The games industry is a hectic place. Sometimes it’s nice to take time out to learn in a creative, diverse environment. Jem Alexander finds out how Arvon’s Writing For Games course can offer just that.
• Changing the GameMaker: As we look forward to the upcoming release of GameMaker Studio 2, Sean Cleaver speaks to the team at YoYo Games about improvements to the engine and its bene ts to education.
• An Unreal Milestone: They have twenty years of experience with their own tech. Now, to raise the game, Milestone are trying something with a new engine and a different style, as Sean Cleaver finds out.
• Culture? Shock!: The National Videogame Arcade’s Iain Simons talks about why the divide between video games and art culture might be smaller than everyone thinks.
• Dimensional Audio: Sean Cleaver speaks to Auro Technologies’ Iwan De Kuijper about their 3D audio technology and it’s use in The Farm 51’s Get Even.
• Heard About: John Broomhall talks with multi-award winning composer Austin Wintory about his latest videogame music excursion. 
• Gender Imbalance: Aardvark Swift’s Joseph Relton speaks to Women in Games’ Marie-Claire Isaaman about gender imbalance.
• Ludum Dare Turns XV: As the industry’s most famous global game jam hits an important anniversary, Jem Alexander talks to co-founder Mike Kasprzak to nd out how we got here, and where it’s heading in the future.
• Talking Heads: What would it mean for gameplay if accessible AI tech could grant NPCs the ability to answer back unscripted? The SpiritAI team might be closer to that than you expect, as Will Freeman investigates.
• A Year In The Lumberyard: Sean Cleaver catches up with Amazon Games Services vice president, Mike Frazzini, to see how the IAmazon Lumberyard engine and the company’s gaming focus has come on in the past year.