In the world of games AI is set to revolutionise the realm of sports simulations by transforming real athletes' movements and tactics into highly realistic virtual experiences. Using advanced machine learning and computer vision, AI analyses athletes' performances, capturing everything from their movement speeds to their shot accuracy, and integrates these insights into game simulations.

You can witness this amazing R&D AI breakthrough by watching this video on YouTube. This AI technology will start to blur the lines between virtual and real sports, enhancing how fans engage with their favourite games and play against realistic versions of their favourite sport stars.

The same technology could (and will) be used for all manner of motion detection to further refine how games feel and look.

Humans tend to learn by watching other humans, now the computers are doing it too!

When GameGuru MAX Early Access on Steam we gave ourselves four goals to complete before we could confidently say we had a solid V1 product. These were:

  • To fix all the bugs
  • Improve the performance
  • Ensure stability
  • Achieve a high compatibility with the majority of PCs identified on Steam

We are pleased to report that all four goals have been met, and we now have a fully featured, fast and stable game maker ?

That is not to say things will stop in any of these areas, but we can say that the bug list frequently enjoys single digit counts, performance is very much improved and stability niggles such as the AMD Black Screen have been resolved.

In terms of compatibility, and according to Steam statistics, we currently cater for 85% of all Steam users PCs that meet or exceed our minimum specifications.

Aside from general maintenance, there are a few areas we are still looking to improve, such as the current project system and the community collaboration features.

We are well into testing our Steam Workshop Support and look forward to opening that up to all contributors soon, and we are keen to start working with users who have a game nearing publication, as the first games out the gate will be showcasing what GameGuru MAX can do.

If you are interested in seeing some of these games, we have a Work-In-Progress channel on our DISCORD channel featuring games being created by the community. For more general development news, tune into our monthly live YouTube broadcast that takes place on the last Saturday of every month at 7pm BST, where you can learn about the latest progress and ask your game making questions.

GameGuru Classic continues to enjoy a relatively bug free existence; currently showing no outstanding bugs in the GitHub issues board and there’s another update planned for June.

As always, you are most welcome to check out the repository containing the source code and contribute.

The most recent community contribution was from Preben, who added performance improvements for animation and LUA logic, and which became part of the recent March update. For more details on these additions take a look at the GitHub page

Over ten years ago we created a programming tool called AppGameKit Classic to help make apps and games for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android - using a cross-platform easy-to-use language. Along the way, we have seen some amazing creations, including a few of our own that reached the No.1 spot on both Apple and Google stores.  Our most recent success story has been the Driving Test Success 4in1 Theory Kit app, which has maintained the #1 place for six years running on both stores, a testament to the power of AppGameKit!

All good things must come to an end and, after a decade of providing support and updates, we must retire AppGameKit Classic to make way for its successor AppGameKit Studio.

On 22 May we'll be removing AppGameKit Classic from sale on Steam and focus all remaining development resources on supporting AppGameKit Studio, with quarterly updates and more frequent commits on the newly created GitHub repository.

For those who are firmly of the belief that AppGameKit Classic is the ultimate solution for your needs, fear not, you will still be able to run the product, even though it will no longer receive updates or be sold on Steam.  Your existing Steam version is not DRM-linked to your Steam account and you can run AppGameKit Classic from its local location in the Steam folder and from a Desktop icon; and you can continue to use the programming language to make apps and games. The only issue you will face is that as newer requirements are imposed by Apple and Google, and to a lesser extent Microsoft, you will find it increasingly difficult for the binaries you export to be accepted onto the app stores and marketplaces of the future.

If you choose to transition your projects over to AppGameKit Studio, and to recognise the support you have shown AppGameKit Classic over the years, we are offering a special discount via a Steam complete-the-bundle offer if you own Classic and want to buy Studio.

We want to say a massive thank you to everyone who used AppGameKit Classic over the years, and we hope to greet you anew over in AppGameKit Studio land and continue to help you create cross-platform apps!

As mentioned above we have now finalised the new GitHub repository, the home for the AppGameKit Studio source code AND your base for contributing to the product.

Plus, we’ve just released the April update which includes upgrades to both the Android API and Apple API versions. These upgrades are designed to allow you to continue to publish your Google and Apple apps and updates before these respective platforms switch off support for older versions.

As developers in the mobile space will know, these platform upgrades happen all the time and so we have scheduled regular updates for AppGameKit Studio to keep up with the latest published requirements.

If you are encountering any issues during this transition, please do post details on our GitHub issues board so we can look into the issue.

This month’s guest developer is Gabriele (aka SampeyFS Gaming)

Gabriele is based in San Giorgio di Lomellina, Italy and has been working with GameGuru Max for the last three years, after moving over from GameGuru Classic.

Gabriele works out of Studio Ascolese Games where his focus is on creating RPG video games.  His games include Winter Forest and The Hermit of the Forest  and he is currently working on ‘Desert Survival’ - an Egyptian-style, survival RPG, video game. It’s based around the story of a soldier whose helicopter develops a fault and falls into the desert. He lands near a small village, near the pyramids, where he will have to look for help. The game is about surviving in the diversity of climate and temperatures, amongst enemies.

The next step is to publish a beta version of Desert Survival, possibly in Early Access.

You can find Gabriele on Discord as SampeyFSGaming, on Twitch and on Facebook

And finally….just a reminder that our newsletter is published every two months but in between times you can join the conversation on Discord at:

Fans of AppGameKit can follow us on Itch.io too