This article was originally published on GameDevDigest.com

Happy Halloween. Enjoy another issue of game dev stuff.

Classic 3D videogame shadow techniques - In the real world, shadows simply exist but in games they are both engineered and designed. They must run well but also look good. I find this relationship fascinating and I’m going to show you why.
30fps.net

Effective ways to use gore in your game - How can you use gore to support the backbone of your game, whilst meeting the expectations of modern players who want grisly grim guts and blood? Artists from Sumo Digital break down the ways they’ve used and created gore in games to support storytelling, authenticity and gameplay.
gamedeveloper.com

I got +15,000 wishlists in Steam Next Fest - Here's a full marketing breakdown. - I just participated in Steam Next Fest. It started off slow, but some good foundational work really brought it home in the end. Going to break it down here.
old.reddit.com

9 things I learned pitching my game to publishers - From the author of How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself
valadria.com

Videos

Great Horror Game Design w/ Sam Barlow & Chantal Ryan - Unity HallowStream - Join Unity Host Jackson Stevens, and guests Sam Barlow and Chantal Ryan to learn about game design elements that make horror games GREAT!
Unity

A quick guide to the Asset Manager in Unity - Unity Asset Manager simplifies the complexities of 3D digital asset discovery, management, and transformation. It offers a central and secure place to find and store the assets they create and collaborate using your favorite tools.
Unity

Escape Unity Animator Hell!! - In this Unity tutorial, we'll reveal a simple trick to escape the chaos of the Unity Animator! Say goodbye to the unmanageable spiderweb of transitions and unlock the secret to a cleaner, more efficient animation workflow.
Ketra Games

The Secret to Creating Stunning Low-Poly Game Optimized Textures - Blender tutorial - Create amazingly warm and rich textures for your games using gradient textures that are optimized for game engines.
Grant Abbitt (Gabbitt)

Stack-Based Finite State Machine (Push Down Automata) - State Machine fundamentals are taken to the next level with Stack-Based Push Down Automata (PDA), where we explore the power of stack-driven control in game systems. In this video, you’ll learn how a PDA can manage complex behaviors by allowing states to push, pop, and peek through a stack of layered contexts, adding flexibility to any character or game system with historical depth.
git-amend

Assets

NV3D Publisher Sale - Save 50% on assets get a free gift in this week's Publisher Sale.

NV3D is dedicated to creating smart, useful 3D assets. They aim to simplify game development with ready-to-play models to help bring your projects to life quicker. Check out the Shatter Stone series to help you flesh out your game's mining mechanics or the Wild Harvest series to give your farming and gathering features a boost.

PLUS, get Shatter Stone: Starter Pack for FREE with code NV3D
Unity Affiliate

Art Game Sound - This a collection of websites that contain either free, public domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0), or royalty free game assets that don't require attribution. I can't guarantee that any of the content from these websites is actually Public Domain, CC0, or royalty free, they providing content and claiming it is either of those things. Make sure to read the license agreement of any of assets you plan to use in your projects and give attribution if required.
artgamesound.com

RestaurantGame3DUnity - Simple Hamburger making game like Overcooked in Unity3D
KaganAyten Open Source

unity-texture-packer - Utility to combine color channels from different textures into a single output.
andydbc Open Source

UnityWiseGit - Simple but powerful git integration for Unity 3D
NibbleByte Open Source

SystemFontLocalization - Auto generate fallback font asset by system font (OS font) in runtime.
eviltwo Open Source

OutlineNormalSmoother - A unity plugin that automatically calculates smooth normals for outline.
JasonMa0012 Open Source

Lumi - Lumi is a Unity Engine light detector, created to facilitate stealth and horror genre games.
karoliso Open Source

Cavern - Object-based audio engine and codec pack with Dolby Atmos rendering, room correction, HRTF, one-click Unity audio takeover, and much more.
VoidXH Open Source

Preview Generator (FREE) - A Generator for thumbnails/previews/icons/sprites from 3D models in Unity. It has a Custom Editor for generating the texture and an in-game component that allows you to create the sprites from a RenderTexture.
Stellar Giant, Inc. Affiliate

Unity-Voxel-Tracer - Work in progress voxel tracer. This is intended to be an offline solution for generating lighting/volumetrics.
frostbone25 Open Source

collider-visualizer - collider-visualizer
karashinasou Open Source

Unity-Animation-Compression-Keyframe-Reducer - Keyframe Reducer in Unity
txtxj Open Source

UnityNuGet - Provides a service to install NuGet packages into a Unity project via the Unity Package Manager
xoofx Open Source

VehicleNoiseSynthesizer - VNS is an opensource free audio addon primarily designed for Unity to simulate vehicle sounds based on engine rpm similar to a granulator.
ATG-Simulator Open Source

aaaa-rp - A Scriptable Render Pipeline (SRP) featuring modern high-fidelity rendering techniques.
Delt06 Open Source

com.lurking-ninja.dependency - Simplified dependency Injection for Unity utilizing SourceGeneration making it as performant as possible.
LurkingNinja Open Source

Super Game Asset Bundle [+7,000 Assets] For Godot, Unreal, and Unity - So many assets, so little time. Game developers, build your worlds with the Super Game Assets Bundle for Unreal, Godot, and Unity—featuring 7,000+ audio, visual, and environmental assets. This high-quality bundle features a truly diverse collection of themed assets ranging from medieval to cyberpunk. Create the next great RPG or action game with the Super Game Assets Bundle and help support Direct Relief with your purchase!
Humble Bundle

Design With CorelDraw & Perfect With AI - CorelDRAW for novices and professionals. Master one of the most widely adapted design programs with our CorelDRAW 2024 Bundle. Get amazing software like Corel Painter 2023, PaintShop Pro 2023, and Vision FX. Learn professional graphic design software with vector, technical illustration, and CAD software options to design logos, posters, drafting, and more. Level up your creative skills and help support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals today!
Humble Bundle

Unity-SerializeReferenceExtensions - Provide popup to specify the type of the field serialized by the [SerializeReference] attribute in the inspector.
mackysoft Open Source

Spotlight

COVEN - COVEN is a hyper-violent retro FPS where your path of vengeance will take you across time and space. Destroy your enemies and eat their flesh.

[You can get the demo on Steam and follow them on Twitter]
Gator Shins

My game, Call Of Dookie. Demo available on Steam

You can subscribe to the free weekly newsletter on GameDevDigest.com

This post includes affiliate links; I may receive compensation if you purchase products or services from the different links provided in this article.