We're talking some serious freebie goodness here folks. Wolfgang Engel, editor of the ShaderX book series, has worked out the release of his original ShaderX books for free in PDF format. Yea, the entire contents of both Shader Programming Tips and Tricks with DirectX 9.0 and Introductions and Tutorials with DirectX 9.0. Great stuff - head over to the news announcement for download links.
IndieZen Radio
In case you missed it a while back, I gave a quick mention to this start-up internet radio station called IndieZen meant to cover independent game development. I know, you may be asking yourselves what the connection is here and honestly I was a little unsure of the feasibility of such an endeavor myself. But the folks at IZ are pushing forwards and have asked for GDNet's support. Insomuch as I had never heard of an online radio station dedicated to indie gaming (though I don't much listen to radio of any sort anyways these days) despite my early misgivings I find this to be quite an interesting project, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this all pans out.
Right now we're working out how to get the daily news broadcast over the air. Over time, as IZ produces their own series of on-air interviews with various indie developers, we'll be helping out with additional content - maybe even a GDNet podcast?
Currently the track list is varied around popular rock, some techno mixed in - work is underway to get some of the more popular game music tracks playing now that companies are releasing more music these days.
Like I said, no idea how this will turn out but I'm now interested in finding out.
Facebook and LinkedIn continue growth
I'm so pleased by the continued growth of both the Facebook page and LinkedIn group. We currently have 322 Facebook fans and still counting, while the relatively newer LinkedIn group is already up to 43 members and, like Facebook, growing every day. LinkedIn will be releasing a much better Group Directory very soon, so the GDNet group will hopefully be a lot easier for people to find.
Still, despite having over 300 fans I'm kinda bummed no one has submitted any sort of fan pictures or videos whatsoever. How about posting up your desktop or workspace shots? Those are recurring themes in the Lounge. If someone wants to dig up the GDNet trading card game thread and send me the images (I'd do it if I had the time - maybe this weekend) I'll make an album for them. There are plenty of other image Lounge threads that we can pull up too (no, not Pictures of You :P)
The "Secret Project"
Okay, so it's fair to say that a lot of people have deduced the reason for this thread. What I find somewhat disappointing though is that no one has seemed to do the simple sleuthing necessary to prove it. Or, if they have, they've kept it to themselves. I was kind of hoping to not have to announce it officially myself - and I'm still not going to yet - it'd be more fun if someone from the community did it, IMO. Yea, sorry - no cake tho. Or pie. Just satisfaction.
Anyways that's why this sitrep is so late. It takes so much longer to read something (or in this case, a lot of somethings) when you have to look for mistakes.
New Articles
- Games as Art? - Chris Crawford, game design veteran who founded the Game Developers Conference and left game industry to pursue his interactive storytelling Storytron project, addresses the current debate on whether or not games are art.
- Perforce review - We review the latest version (still in beta, actually) of Perforce's commercial Source Code Management system
- Nintendo Wii Flash Game Creator's Guide review - Another top-tier game console with an easy way to create content without entry barriers? Learn how here.
New Events
We got a new one - but act quick if you're in Germany!! :P
- Dusmania 10 @ Rodgau, Germany [Conference] - 7/19/2008 to 7/20/2008
As usual, if you have an event that's not listed in our Events Calendar, let me know! - drew@gamedev.net
edit: yey, still shows up as Wed on my calendar.
