Here in the UK the consumption of digital products grew ever larger in 2020 with 80% of films, music and games supplied digitally. The pandemic was a major driver, forcing the lockdown population to learn what “Zooming” was all about, binge watch the latest block busters, fill their entertainment void with Mandalorian II & Frozen II on Disney+, the Premier league games on Amazon Prime, and a myriad of games on Steam, XBOX, PlayStation, Switch and phones. It’s amazing how every aspect of our lives is so reliant on digital platforms.

We’re also very lucky to be able to communicate with friends and family via a plethora of social media and messaging services. With services like Amazon and online grocery shopping, we can carry on as normal, staying home and safe. Previous pandemics would have been a lot more unbearable without these wonderful digital services and products we take for granted!

Just take a moment and think how good we have it today ?

We released our first Alpha dev build of the year of GameGuru MAX at the end of January, having ramped up efforts on the development planning for 2021 and ensuring that the first build we release ticked many more boxes.

At the end of 2020 those who had pre-ordered got to see an early version of our new installer which aims to smooth the process of installing the latest version of GameGuru MAX and allow easy updating as we release new builds.

This new 'tiny' installer is designed to use the auto-update system as part of its installation process, ensuring you get the latest and verified files. No more downloading and installing, only to find the software asks you to download another patch and install that too.

We are releasing a good cadence of builds this month to bring you updates to GameGuru MAX development; builds that have been designed, approved and tested so you don't have to worry about bugs. For those that do occur we are introducing a bug tracking system, built right into the software, so you can let us know right away and we can place top priority on fixing them ready for the next release.

Thanks for joining us on our GameGuru MAX journey so far and we look forward to bringing you some amazing things in 2021!

We have scheduled four bug-fixing updates for 2021, the first of which will released in March. Our target is to completely eliminate all bug reports on the GitHub issues board. We did this three times in 2020 and hope we can continue to ensure we have a zero bug count at each update release.

As promised, we continue to make sure GameGuru Classic is fully supported while we work on GameGuru MAX development.

If you are looking for extra content for your next game-making project, here are some of the great promotions we are running in February:

Finally, some great news from our community, the irrepressible Duchenkuke from TheGameCreators forums, and author of the excellent ‘Cold Contract’ has released a new masterpiece into Steam Early Access. The game is "Dark Skies - The Nemansk Incident" and it has received some great reviews and looks to do well on Steam. This game was essentially written by one person, with a little help from his forum friends, and looks totally awesome! Definitely worth checking it out here on Steam and giving Duchenkuke your support!

A new maintenance update to AppGameKit Classic will be released this month. Also this month, February 11th sees the Lunar sale kick in so look out for AppGameKit Classic with 70% off and don't miss the great DLC deals on Giant Asset Pack 1, Visual Editor and Shader Pack, which are all 60% off for the next week!

Don't miss this chance to grab a great deal on AppGameKit Studio - it's discounted 60% during the first half of February. The Particle Editor DLC will also be discounted with 55% off for most of February - and remember that it can be used in conjunction with GameGuru MAX too!

We're also releasing a new maintenance update this month too for AppGameKit Studio, so keep your eyes peeled for that ?

This month we have a look at the artistic work of Wizardofid (aka Martin Olivier). A long-time member of TheGameCreator forums and a freelance artist that has brought to life the Death Valley and Cold War asset packs, released on Steam as DLC's.

Wizardofid has been hard at work bringing new content to both the store and Steam. His latest project takes us to the dark, damp underbelly of the sewers. This project has been in development for several months now and contains some interesting and exciting new assets.

Wizardofid says, “I love creating indoor scenery and with every new project I always try and create new and exciting environments never seen before in GameGuru. Now with GameGuru MAX it’s possible to create assets to take terrain and water into account.”

“The new integrated Wicked engine in GameGuru MAX has made creating indoor environments even better with the new and improved dynamic lighting system. PBR shading has also dramatically improved since the introduction of Wicked engine. The terrain and water system is no different and should make for some interesting and exciting game levels.”

“With the backward compatibility of assets and levels created in GameGuru Classic, AAA graphics and assets are just around the corner. Setting up and using assets in GameGuru Max is no different to Classic and will be straightforward and easy, whether you are making a game or just goofing around for fun.”

When asked what features he would like to see in GameGuru MAX Wizardofid says. “Without a doubt it would have to be real-time texture changes and the ability to create a grouped entity by combining various assets parts and saving out the end result. The feature I am most happy about is the flashlight that now casts shadows”.

We look forward to seeing what new assets Wizardofid adds to the new projects he is currently working on. If you would like to follow and comment on the project he is currently working on, you can follow all the exciting progress on TheGameCreators Forum