Knowledge is Power - Learn Digital Design

In just a few years, the 3D graphics of video games, movies, and television have improved tremendously. Comparing the character models in the recent Crash Bandicoot or Spyro The Dragon remakes with their originals is like night and day. Likewise, famous characters such as Mario, Master Chief, and Agent 47 have seen similar improvements from […]

Strategy games have been an important part of video game history, and have certainly evolved over time. With the success of titles such as Armello, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and Xcom 2, it is clear that the market for the strategy game genre is still going strong to this day. But what separates a boring […]

There has never been a better time to learn technological skills, especially through an online learning platform. Always wanted to learn something like HTML and make your own game? Learn full-stack web development and create your very own web page? Luckily, there are quite a few different outlets out there to hone your tech skills. […]

One day you decide to play Dark Souls. You’ve heard of things like fake difficulty, making the game much harder than other RPGs, but maybe that’s an exaggeration. You’re making your way through a level when all of a sudden, an enemy comes out of nowhere and attacks—pretty standard stuff. However, this time, the enemy […]

Introduction Video games have been known to have some of the most breathtaking modern visuals in any medium, only rivaled by technological advances in film. Although seemingly being debated all the time, we firmly believe that video games are art. I mean, the whole thing is made up entirely of art. Well, okay, it’s a […]

While there are a ton of options when it comes to designing your own game, which engine do you choose? What if you don’t want to get all mixed up learning a new coding language that seems way too complicated? Why not explore your options in HTML5? That’s right, and you can still make some […]

Card games are and have always been immensely popular. You can see the wildly different iterations of old favorites like Go Fish and Apples to Apples even today. Building on a proven formula is a tried and true method. Like video games and other forms of interactive media, card games have evolved with the times. […]

What It Means to Draw Video Games If you’re reading this, chances are, you are of the camp that believes video games are art (they are!). To prove our point, we’ll tell you about how video game art has some striking parallels with the world of traditional and classical art. While game graphics and art […]

It’s a night like any other. You have nothing to do, so you decide to fire up your console (or PC) of choice. You choose an open-world game that you hear great reviews about. It was advertised as having excellent ‘game immersion.’ Okay, sounds good. Next thing you know, it’s 3 in the morning. Where […]

A game that we have all been dying to play is about to come out. The hype has never been more palpable. Preorders are through the roof, people are talking in online forums, and YouTubers get early copies to make videos about it. The game finally comes out, and people enjoy it. However, after a […]

In 2009, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released. It was then the most expensive video game ever developed. With a 50 million dollar development budget, a 200 million dollar marketing budget redefined what it meant to develop games. Why Does It Cost So Much? How did games like Grand Theft Auto V and […]

You may think that having the most current console will give you the best visuals. While that technically may be true, are you getting the most out of your visual gaming experience? Monitors and displays are capable of some genuinely staggering visual heavy lifting these days, and to better experience gaming, you need to find […]

What Is Video Game Marketing? If you have ever seen a trailer for a game, movie, or show (and the chances are good that you have), then you have taken part in the marketing process. But how? Marketing is the culmination of the different practices and strategies to advertise a product or brand. While you […]

What Is AI? Artificial intelligence and games go together like peanut butter and jelly, mac and cheese, or whatever perfect food combination metaphor works best. Without artificial intelligence, games we love wouldn’t even be functional. How long do you think that you’d be able to play the Witcher 3 with the monsters and humans not […]

Introduction What Is Photogrammetry? Although it sounds fancy, photogrammetry merely is compiling a bunch of detailed information about structures or an environment based on multiple recording techniques. The specific form of photogrammetry that we’re interested in is 3D scanning. There are two types of photogrammetry: aerial and terrestrial. Aerial is when the area is scanned […]

How to Make A VR Game With the impressive rise of things like Oculus Rift and other headsets from VR companies, virtual reality gaming may well be a large cornerstone of gaming in the near future. You may be interested in trying your hand at becoming a VR developer. Go through our guide to get […]

As games become more realistic, we are blurring the line between fantasy and reality. With each passing year, we see more and more impressive displays of graphical prowess. This is helped along in part by bump mapping. This is the graphical technique of making objects appear to have their own distinctive features, (when they really […]

Introduction to 2D Animation Some of the best games in video game history have been 2D: Early Final Fantasy titles; The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past; Castlevania, and more. It’s only natural that you would want to take part in this legendary and beloved gaming tradition. And now you can! With the […]

Character Sprites What Is A Character Sprite? A character sprite is a simple 2D video game graphic included as part of a broader environment. For example, The characters in Final Fantasy VI, The Legend of Zelda, Pokemon Red, and Castlevania are all sprites. They are 2D bitmaps included in the overall game world and move […]

Do You Need Substance Painter? If you are an artist of any stripe, Substance Painter can be an amazingly useful tool. Substance Painter focuses mostly on painting textures onto models. Substance Painter ups the ante on painting assets than you would normally get in other programs like those in the Adobe Suite of programs. If […]

What Makes A Game A Game? We play games all the time, but are we all intimately familiar with the core concepts of game elements and mechanics that make up our favorite titles? The very concept of a game is a form of play, structured to entertain, educate, or kill time. Lately, games have often […]

Picture it: you are in the middle of creating the game of your dreams. Everything seems to be going well, but you can’t for the life of you figure out how to have players save their game progress. If you are anything like us, you compulsively save after every significant game event, (and sometimes create […]

What is Games ‘User Experience’ (UX) …and How Does It Help? When you boot up your computer, click on your browser of choice and begin scrolling through social media, what sticks in your mind? Is it incremental new features? The colors? Is the app or website you are using easy on the eyes? All of […]

While playing classic games like Minecraft can be visually stimulating, the lengths to which someone can spice up the graphics are impressive. For Lord of the Rings fans out there, people used mods and texture packs to create a life-sized replica of the Mines of Moria, a staggeringly large underground environment seen in the franchise. […]

When choosing a game engine, the future game developer must pick something that works for them. Are you more into big-budget blockbusters with brain-busting action and a bevy of brilliant visuals? Maybe choose something with impressive horsepower like the Unreal Engine. However, if you are just starting out, there are quite a few options to […]