[{"u":"/2025/05/14/UGO-PRESENTATION/","t":"we all love starting games. but finishing them? that’s where the real challenge begins. 📺 watch the video walkthrough: table of contents 🚨 why projects die 🔧 what changed for me 🧰 building the ultimate gamedev organizer ✅ what ugo actually does 🎯 who ugo is for 🎬 watch & try it yourself ❓faq 🚨 why so many game projects die let’s be honest: starting a game is exciting. ideas come fast. prototypes appear in hours. but finishing? that’s where motivation crashes, scope explodes, and projects quietly disappear into your archive folder. after years of repeating that cycle, i asked myself the tough question: is it really about talent and time — or is it about methodology? because when i was a software engineer, i could pass the delivery phase of digital products successfully. 🔧 what changed for me what changed wasn’t my skills or tools. it was how i organized everything: i stopped improvising i started scoping clearly i broke features into user stories, user stories into tasks i estimated real durations i started logging progress daily that’s when i finally saw real progress. so i built myself a system — one i could rely on. and i used it to ship a full project from idea to release. that project? ugo itself.😁 🧰 building the ultimate gamedev organizer (ugo) ugo stands for ultimate gamedev organizer. it’s a notion system i built to help indie creators: set realistic scope track tasks and deadlines structure production into milestones use agile sprints in a simple, dev-friendly way avoid burnout while still finishing their game initially, i made it for me. but i realized others were struggling with the same things. so i turned it into a template anyone can use. ✅ what ugo actually does here’s what’s inside the system: 📁 para doc organization (projects / areas / resources / archives) 📅 agile board with custom filters for sprint progress, teams, tags 📝 user story breakdowns with time estimates 📊 backlog views by feature group, priority, and milestone 🧠 daily logs to reflect on progress and log dev time 🧮 actual vs. estimated time tracking 🎯 goal → milestone → task structure 📂 asset tracker and cross-linked documentation 🧭 marketing checklist, release roadmap, and project timeline no fluff. just a system to help you stay on track — and actually ship. 🎯 who ugo is for ugo was built for: 🧑‍💻 solo developers who start fast but struggle to finish 🧠 studio teams who want clarity for smooth collaboration, even under time pressure 🎓 game dev students or hobbists looking for pro structure it’s flexible enough for one-person projects, and scalable for studio-size tasks. 🎬 watch & try it yourself if this resonates, check out the full video where i explain: how to align goal, resources, and action my process from chaos to completion how ugo helps stay focused, trackable, and motivated 🎥 watch the full walkthrough here and if you want to try it: 🆓 try the free version — get tgo on gumroad 💼 grab the full template — get ugo on gumroad get more game dev insights like this get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe 💬 what’s your system? i’d love to know — how do you organize your game dev process? what’s helped you stay on track and actually finish? feel free to reach me on discord or email me at guillaume.escarieux@mineogames.com. let’s build better games — and finish them too. ❓ faq what is ugo? ugo (ultimate gamedev organizer) is a notion-based productivity system designed specifically for game developers. it helps manage scope, tasks, documentation, sprints, time tracking, and more — all in one place. can ugo help me finish my game? that’s exactly what it’s for. ugo is built to move you from “endless prototyping” to actual release. by structuring your backlog, sprint planning, and time tracking, it keeps you grounded and focused through the full production cycle. i’m a solo developer. isn’t this overkill? not at all. ugo is made for solo devs too. in fact, it was originally created by one. everything is flexible and scalable — use only what you need, and hide the rest. what’s the difference between ugo and tiny gamedev organizer? tiny gamedev organizer (tgo) is a free, simplified version of ugo — great for game jams, fast prototyping, or students starting out. ugo is the full version, designed for longer or more complex projects with more structure. 🆓 try tgo here → get tgo on gumroad do you have a real example of ugo in action? yes — we used ugo to plan and ship our global game jam 2025 project, furotako. it helped us stay organized during tight deadlines, from task tracking to post-mortem review. 🎮 read the full story → furotako: game jam post-mortem"},{"u":"/2025/03/03/VLOG-GGJ2025-FUROTAKO/","t":"🎥 watch the full experience! want to see how we built a game in just 48 hours? from concept to last-minute disaster, watch the vlog here. let’s break down these two days of pure creativity, caffeine and chaos! bear with us to witness the final nerve-wracking moments 😨. table of contents 🎥 watch the full experience! 🛠 day 0 – arrival & team formation what is a game jam? brainstorming & game concept project setup 👾 day 1 – development begins task assignments biggest challenges the moment we knew the game would be fun progress so far ⏳ day 2 – the final stretch & the disaster last-minute additions & the final push then… disaster struck game jam fail: what to do when your game won’t launch? 🚀 join the adventure ❓ faq 🛠 day 0 – arrival & team formation what is a game jam? a game jam is a 48-hour game development challenge where teams must create a game from scratch based on a surprise theme. these events test your creativity, teamwork, and urgency skills. team of stangers i arrived at the école de design de nantes on friday evening for my first-ever in-person global game jam. the energy in the room was electric, with over 100 people buzzing with excitement. i had teamed up in advance with two talented artists—a 3d artist and a 3d animator—but given the scale of the event, we saw an opportunity to expand our team with more diverse skills. while enjoying some pizza, we mingled with other teams and ended up merging with a group that brought essential ux/ui design, concept art, and sound design skills to the table. our final 7-person team was now complete! brainstorming & game concept the game jam theme was revealed: “bubbles.” the best practice for a game jam is to avoid wasting time finding a game idea. our minds raced through different hypotheses: 🍾 champagne escape – playing as a bubble of champagne trying to break free from a bottle. 🚢 bubble cannon – a ship shooting at airborne enemies with bubbles as ammo. 🏃‍➡️ bubble rush(our final choice) – a bath toy jumping on bubbles to escape the tub. we chose the last one because it struck the perfect balance between fun, simplicity, and feasibility within 48 hours. the variety would come from level design and creative obstacles rather than overly complex mechanics. project setup with our game idea locked in, we needed a proper indie game development workflow. i jumped into setting up the project structure: initialized a github repository for proper version control. created a notion workspace using ugo to manage tasks, documentation, and references. set up a figma board for concept art and ui mockups, natively integrated inside notion. initialized the unreal engine 5.5 project using the third-person template to kickstart development. by the end of the night, we had: a clear game concept and visual references. our first prototype: a sphere that lets the player bounce, forming the foundation of the bubble jumping mechanic. 👾 day 1 – development begins the night was short, but at least we were guaranteed some sleep with the location closing from midnight to 8 am. game jam tip: don’t sacrifice sleep and eat; it won’t help your brain function at its full potential. while eating our breakfast, we brainstormed several ideas for the game, but furotako stood out. 🐙 “tako” means octopus in japanese. 🛁 “furo” means bath—a perfect match for our bathtub escape concept! the name clicked instantly, and we knew it had branding potential. from there, noé and manuel designed the logo to feature the main character—our little bath-time octopus—right in the text. it captured the fun, quirky spirit of the game perfectly. 🎨✨ by the way, let me introduce you to the team! role assignments we divided responsibilities to keep production smooth: manuel delahaye – concept art & 2d art hugo dubot – 3d modeling & animation & game feel guillaume escarieux(me) – programming & integration jwhy – 3d modeling & rigging & animation victor malbet – game design & level design noé – game design & ui design carla zafimahova – music & sound effects the moment we knew the game would be fun the real magic happened when we: implemented the bubble-jumping mechanic, making it feel responsive & fun 🎮 saw the octopus animated for the first time in maya 🐙✨ contemplated the procedural sponge made in houdini🧽 listened to the joyful unique soundtrack, setting the perfect mood 🎶 biggest challenges git issues: we ran into version control problems due to unperfect usage, which slowed us down (fixing merge conflicts and remaking lost content…). time management: as the only full-time developer, i had to balance my own tasks while helping the team with technical difficulties and formation. it was challenging to stay productive while constantly switching contexts. progress so far by the end of day 1, we had: a playable prototype with bubble jumping that pops out. some props mechanics like floating shampoo, gliding soap and sinking sponge. i mean, there are just cubes at the moment 😚 some early-level design with a giant bathtub with real water from ue5. all concept art finalized, and some 3d models. the music track. ⏳ day 2 – the final stretch & the disaster jwhy surprised us by modeling the duck police officer (the villain) overnight. last-minute additions & the final push with just a few hours left, we scrambled to polish everything: final obstacle gameplay mechanics implemented (bath balls, siphon with drain, baby’s hand crushing down randomly, duck patrolling…) every game asset was being integrated—logo, cover, and 3d objects with collisions. sound design came together, adding satisfying bubbling pops, octopus jumps, and hits. your browser does not support the audio element. but time was flying. we were deep into crunch mode, barely looking at the clock. then… disaster struck it was time to deliver the game, and we rushed to finalize everything. then we hit a huge problem— the menu didn’t work. no way to start the game. 🫢“why leaving that part to the very end?” i scrambled to fix it, pushing past the deadline, and after some quick debugging, i finally got the menu working. relief… or so i thought. then came the next disaster— the game wouldn’t launch. at first, i thought, “okay, normal bug, easy fix.” but no. 💀 panic mode activated. the rest of the team stood behind me, watching as i tried to fix it. meanwhile, other teams were already presenting their games on the giant screen. we tried everything: ✔️ exporting a new build. → didn’t work. ✔️ i ran it on my pc. → it was too slow. ✔️ we moved it to another pc via usb. → crash. ✔️ tweaked unreal settings & re-exported. → still crashed. finally, one version launched on my pc. not great, but at least we had a playable build. game jam fail: what to do when your game won’t launch? we stepped onto the stage. i thanked everyone on the mic (atlangames, the school of design, my team), feeling a mix of exhaustion and pride. we hit “play” in front of the entire audience. 💥 black screen. fatal error. silence 😨. we tried another pc—the one we had already tested before. crashed again. the audience waited. the tension was unbearable. there was only one pc left in the team that hadn’t been tested yet. this was it. our last shot. we plugged in the usb, booted up the game, and hit “play.” 🔥 bam. it worked.✨ the audience loved it—cheering at every near-miss jump, laughing at the duck cop boss, and groaning in disappointment when the octopus sank. it was an insane rollercoaster, but we survived the game jam. furotako was alive. 🎮🐙 🚀 final thoughts & lessons learned after 48 hours of madness, here’s what i took away: ✅ test early, test often. we underestimated the final export—never again. ✅ organizing saves time. using ugo for planning kept everything smooth, even when time was tight. ✅ crisis management is a real skill. game jams are a trial by fire for problem-solving. ✅ big teams work better - if structured properly. despite being seven people, we delivered all planned features thanks to clear roles and processes. ✅ have fun during the process. even if we hadn’t ended shone, we’d earned a new game and new friends in just a weekend! would i do it again? 100%. but next time, i’ll prepare the tools and project in advance with pre-made menus. it will be mandatory to package the game regularly to avoid experiencing that same level of stress! 🔥 join the adventure 🎮 play furotako now on gamejolt 🎥 watch the whole journey in the vlog 🚀 consider ugo to organize and ensure your own project’s success receive future gamedev stories by email get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe faq ❓ what is a game jam? a game jam is a short-time event (usually 48h) where teams create a game from scratch based on a surprise theme. ❓ how do you survive a game jam? by finding a game idea fast, planning well, keeping your scope small, not avoiding sleep nor eating, testing your game early and managing stress efficiently."},{"u":"/2024/02/20/NOTION-MAKE-WINDMILL-TMETRIC/","t":"table of contents introduction old workflows goodbye clickup, hello notion centralize data with windmill.dev managing time with tmetric automations with make conclusion useful links 🎥 prefer the video format? watch my feedback on youtube: introduction 🛸 project management is an important element, and not even a video game studio can be exempt from it. it’s complicated enough as it is, so if we could use a unique tool on a daily basis, it would be easier. find out how i optimized task tracking without spending a penny more. or how i went from notion, clickup and harvest to simply notion and tmetric. and finally, what role automation can play with tools such as make or windmill.dev. interested in learning more about it? let’s dive right in! an example of task previews before and after using both notion and clickup. old workflows before finding my current setup, i used clickup (paid plan) for task management, harvest (free plan) for time tracking, and notion only for documentation and note taking (free plan). although these tools worked reasonably well together, switching between different apps was cumbersome, and some limitations were apparent even within clickup’s paid small team plan. as a result, i looked for a more flexible, versatile, and integrated solution tailored to my needs. goodbye clickup, hello notion 👋 using make (previously known as integromat), an automation tool that lets you build your own scenarios, i managed to move my entire database from clickup to notion automatically. it required simply mapping the corresponding information between the two platforms. the migration process in action: different paths are taken depending on whether or not the tasks already exist, preventing duplicates. thanks to notion’s customization of databases, i was able not only to replicate many features present in clickup, but to go even further by interconnecting tasks with documentation, dashboards etc. to build my space in notion, i followed the p.a.r.a. method, which organizes content by dividing them into: 🚧projects: projects respond to a 🏆goal, itself segmented into 📍milestones. 🎨areas: the various major areas in which we operate 📁resources: specialized sub-sections of a domain 📁resources: specialized sub-sections of a domain 🪔archives: so that completed elements do not pollute but can be consulted. 💡you can find various notion templates implementing this method online too. by consolidating everything into one platform, i saved myself from having multiple software opened at once. then, i added formulas to display the data according to my preferences and created views essential to my daily routine. calendar view. gantt chart view with dependencies. kanban view with columns according to progress. managing time with tmetric ⏱️ since native time tracking isn’t available in notion, i tried several options and ultimately decided upon tmetric. its browser extension makes it easy to record time spent on each task straight from the notion interface. time tracking becomes effortless when there is a button readily accessible on the notion page. automations with make 💰 automations aren’t included in the free tier of notion, but make offers a cost-effective solution. when it comes to automations, make has incredible potential. while i utilize just a fraction of its capabilities, they have been sufficient enough to streamline my workflow significantly. here’s an example of an automation i made: whenever a new task gets created in notion, make assigns the same project as its parent task automatically. this saves manual intervention and ensures consistency across related tasks under their designated category in notion filters. two separate branches handle cases involving child tasks differently than standalone ones. centralize data with windmill.dev ⚙️ during my search for automation solutions, i discovered windmill.dev, a fantastic alternative to make specifically designed for developers. with its ability to call apis directly, manipulate data using typescript, show log outputs, and self-host for unrestricted usage, windmill.dev goes beyond standard connectors. thanks to windmill.dev, i connected notion and tmetric to store all tracked data directly inside notion. this flow takes a specific date input; otherwise, it defaults to yesterday’s tasks. the duration is then added to the respective notion task (so i could exploit it). conclusion 🌟 combining notion, windmill.dev, and tmetric led me to cancel my subscription with clickup and gain greater flexibility and control over my data. 🟣 ask any questions, give any feedback or simply say hi on our discord 👇. 📧 stay tuned for more productivity tips like this by subscribing to our newsletter 👇. 🤝✨ if you’re interested in collaborating regarding automations, please contact us through guillaume.escarieux@mineogames.com. looking forward to connecting! 🤝✨ useful links notion tmetric make windmill.dev clickup harvest receive productivity hacks by email get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2023/03/27/OCR-IN-GREENSHOT/","t":"the power of ocr for productivity introduction ocr, or optical character recognition is a technology that enables the conversion of scanned, handwritten or printed text into digital format. ocr has numerous benefits, especially when it comes to productivity. by using ocr, you can save a lot of time by eliminating the need for manual data entry. in this blog post, we will discuss the importance of ocr for productivity and how adding ocr to greenshot can help you save time. ocr and productivity ocr can be a game-changer when it comes to productivity. it can help you save time and increase efficiency by automating tedious tasks such as data entry, taking note from presentation slides, etc… instead of typing out text from a scanned document, you can scan it and use ocr to convert it into digital format. this process not only saves time but also reduces the risk of errors that can occur during manual data entry. ocr can also help businesses streamline their workflows. instead of manually processing invoices or receipts, ocr can automatically extract data from these documents and enter it into the appropriate fields. this reduces the workload of employees and helps businesses process documents faster. adding ocr in greenshot’s greenshot is a powerful screenshot tool that allows you to capture screenshots, annotate them and share them with others. the tool had an ocr feature to extract text from screenshots. but this feature is no longer working in later versions of windows because it requires an old microsoft sharepoint version installed. a workaround is to use another ocr tool as a custom plugin inside greenshot. capture2text is a free and effective tool that could do the job. install capture2text by downloading and just inzipping the folder open greenshot menu by right click on its tray icon > preferences… go to the plugins tab select external command plugin and click on the configure button add an entry for one block output ocr to clipboard - oneblock path_to_capture2text_cli.exe -i \"{0}\" --clipboard add an entry for output with breaking line ocr to clipboard - linebreak path_to_capture2text_cli.exe -i \"{0}\" --clipboard -line-breaks then when you take a screenshot of a document (for example a video here), you can select one or the two new options to add the text content to the clipboard. just ctrl+v and the text is pasted! somehow magical 🧙‍♂️ you can create as many options as you want if copying to the clipboard does not suit your needs. conclusion ocr is a powerful technology that can help you save time and increase productivity. by using ocr, you can automate tedious tasks and streamline your workflows. combining capture2text and greenshot is a great addition to the tool and can help you extract text from screenshots easily. this feature is easy to use and can save you a lot of time, especially if you need to extract text from multiple screenshots. if you are looking to increase your productivity, consider using ocr in greenshot! subscribe to the newsletter to receive productivity tips like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2023/01/26/ATLANGAMES_RECAP_2022/","t":"the video game industry is thriving, and it’s great to see associations like atlangames promoting indie studios. as a member of the atlangames video games studio cluster, we’re excited they showcased our game, vermin exterminator, in the 2022 recap video (at 4:34 🎥). if you want to witness some appealing gameplay, check out the video here! subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2022/03/17/GDWC-2021-FINALIST/","t":"mineo games participated in the game development world championship for the first time in 2021. this online contest aims to enlighten indie developers’ work worldwide. we presented vermin exterminator in the best vr prototype category, competing with about a hundred participants. we worked to make the game more immersive by adding some new enemies skins and weapon effects.🐀🐍🕷🦟🔥 watch the new vermin exterminator gameplay video: the jury liked our game because they selected us to be in the top 5 finalists. we were both surprised and proud. 🙀😚 relieve the finalist announcement and the backstory of the game’s creation: the reveal during the virtual award show was an intense moment.🤪 relive the award show on twitch : even though we didn’t win first place, it was an incredible experience.😛 subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2022/01/28/ATLANGAMES_RECAP_2021/","t":"shark hunt has been showcased in the atlangames 2021 recap video! things get spooky at 3:34 🥶 atlangames is a video games studio cluster i’m part of. it is releasing to see associations like these creating events and promoting the video games industry. subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2021/11/20/FIRST-EXHIBITION-SDJV72/","t":"mineo games was invited to participate in the salon de la flèche 2021 exhibition. due to covid, some things were different from usual… first thing, the location was unique: the city of la fleche’s cinema 🎞. it was the perfect occasion to reveal shark hunt 🦈 to the public! for that we made a special reveal trailer that would be projected at the event: and to have a demo, we worked hard to integrate the fight with the shark and correct a lot of bugs in time 🥵. we had built a stand on the theme of shark hunt: special decorations like warning signs, oysters with pearls, shark head, pencil cup… we even provided shark-shaped candies to treat players’ taste buds 🍬! we also prepared business cards and posters showing qr codes linking to mineo games social networks and patreon page. we organized a game that recalls shark hunt’s gameplay to win prizes 🎲. people may plunge their hand into the bag and pick up a pearl to participate, and each pearl color allows you to win a different prize. black pearl = shark anti-stress white pearl = mineo games pencil blue pearl = shark stickers silver pearl = mineo games coaster during the show, i participated in an interview 🎤 with other actors in the video games industry. we talked about what brought us to jump into our passion job, what excites us in the upcoming technologies,… it felt like both a daunting and fantastic experience!😛 relive the round table here: can you guess who came? the special guest this year was marcus, a famous french video games journalist. he is a funny guy and a vr enthusiast. it was nice to talk with him and watch him play shark hunt, and his encouragement cheered me up a lot! 🤗 watch the video of marcus playing shark hunt: many players came to try shark hunt and face their fear 😱; even children weren’t afraid! watching players apprehending the game and getting them feedback was much helpful. 🙏 what did i learn? a point to improve would be the testing preparation phase. it took a lot of time and repetition to teach everyone the gameplay and controls of the game. 😣 mainly everything was new for me as it was my first exhibition as an exhibitor. i realized the hardness of the task: talking to many people at the stand and on stage is very tiring. overall, this first exhibition has resulted in a step up for mineo games 🚀. a success that motivates to continue with passion! 🤩 subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2021/03/30/SHARKHUNT-ALPHA/","t":"we are pleased to announce the launch of the alpha of our upcoming game shark hunt. will you dare face your fears? subscribe and dive into the game. you’ll receive a new version with last features each week and will be able to give feedback. we have at heart to take players desires into account. and we are glad that you help us build the best vr game possible! more info here subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2021/02/22/VERMINEXTERMINATOR-STEAMVR/","t":"we are pleased to announce that vermin exterminator is now compatible with steam vr. from now on, all steamvr compatible headsets can be used! it is even possible to view and customize your key mappings via the steamvr controller menu. the native oculus version is still available and includes an integrated key remapping! on top of that, there have been a lot of improvements and bug fixes: easier mappings (same key for firing and laser clicking…) added a main title screen display the chaperone center in main and loading screens in game menu auto placement to face your eyes physical menu height auto ajustment to player size click here to play feel free to give us feedback on the game, we are constantly looking for ways to improve. subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2021/01/04/MICS-UNBOXING/","t":"the first step to sound design is to have a good tool to capture audio. i named: the microphone. today i will do an unboxing of my new setups for both vlog and voice/sound recording. we will speak about different types of microphones and how to use them. then we will make some tests to see the quality of different mics. be sure to subscribe to the youtube channel so you don’t miss the next videos 😉. subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2020/11/19/NOV-CHALLENGE-GAME-1-VE/","t":"discover vermin exterminator, the game released during the vr november challenge. although having exceeded the one week deadline, we proudly announce the release of a complete vr game. and you know what? it is the best one mineo games has ever made. check the game page click here to see the whole challenge. subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2020/11/02/NOV-CHALLENGE-ANNONCE/","t":"during these hard times, mineo games does it’s best to keep you happy. this november, we take the challenge to make 1 vr game by week. you will have 4 game at the end of the month that you can play for free and vote for your favorite. subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2020/08/31/NESTGUARD-ANNOUNCE/","t":"announcing that we are currently developing a vr action game : nest guard. play as a dinosaur and fight other dinosaurs. be both organized and swift to save your precious eggs. challenge your ability to adapt because each level increases in difficulty. access the game page for more info subscribe to the newsletter to be informed regularly about our games. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2020/08/12/VERSIONING-GIT-LFS/","t":"the initial need like any software, a video games needs versioning as part of its development stack. git is the most flexible and popular version control system so we would like to use it. beware that git is not perfect yet for game dev. indeed, as it is local based, there mights be conflics on files that cannot be merged so it needs strong organization. but it is another topic. why git lfs ? the problem we would like to address today is the repository size. the git repo recommended max size is 1gb. the public git platforms block repos over 3gb in size. in practise, video games sources contain large artistic media so the limit is quickly reached. this is where git lfs (large file storage) enters. it is an open-source git extension that allows to make pointers in your repository that reference large files which are hosted elsewhere. it drastically reduces repository size. building a long-term solution the git platforms (github, bitbucket) provide for free 1gb of git lfs, which wont be enough. so we have to host the lfs files ourselves. it could be done on a local server, but the cloud is not too expensive today and it will avoid space and backup questions. i found a guide made by allan edwardes to host git lfs files on amazon web service s3. i adapted his solution to host the files on ovh object storage instead (a french provider that i trust more). it is a dotnet core application that you can find here: https://github.com/mineogames/estranged.lfs. how does it work the git repository is configured to send lfs files to git lfs server that handles the logic and then send the data on ovh object storage. the lfs server can be an application on your pc/ a server or it can be serverless with aws lambda. this guide will show how to build the stack. of course at the end, the developers will just have to clone the repo and push normally: it will be transparent to them! how to build the stack aws cli before to use a complex stack, you should simply do simple operations with ovh and amazon through the api client. ovh is s3-compatible which simplifies the process. this will include the process of creating accounts and getting credentials, etc. follow the guide whithout forgetting to do the requirements. be careful, if you use aws cli v2, a workaround described here is needed for the plugin awscli_plugin_endpoint to work. be sure that you can use the api for both aws and ovh using profiles. your .aws files should look like this: .aws/config .aws/credentials prepare the project when you are confident that you are able to work with both ovh and aws with the cli, you can build up the stack. create an object storage in ovh since the objects in object storage are not easily recognizable and not deleted automatically when a git repo is deleted, it is better to have one object storage by project. create a new private repo in bitbucket or github git lfs works only for new files pushed so it is better to start using it in a blank project. clone the game project on your pc initialize git lfs in repo with sourcetree for example (repository > git lfs > initialize repo) you need to tell git which files to handle as binary and upload to lfs by editing the .gitattributes file at the root of your repository *.uasset filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.umap filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.bmp filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.tga filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.png filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.jpg filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.jpeg filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.icns filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.ico filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.dll filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.pdb filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.psd filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.pdn filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.wav filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.mp3 filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text *.fbx filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text commit and push this file. you have now to choose if you want to host the server on your pc/ a server or if you want to use a aws lambda to be serverless. the first option is cheaper but needs to be deployed on every dev pc. the second option needs only one deployment (less effort), and is relatively cheap (pay on usage). local git lfs server to achieve this, you have to use the aspnet version of the solution: hosting\\estranged.lfs.hosting.aspnet. edit this line of startup.cs to suit to your environment (using aws_access_key_id and aws_secret_access_key of the .aws/credential file > ovh profile) services.addlfss3adapter(new s3blobadapterconfig{bucket = \"objectcontainername\"}, new amazons3client(\"myacceskeyaws\", \"myaccessecretaws\", new amazons3config { serviceurl = \"https://s3.mypublicregionlowercase.cloud.ovh.net\" })); edit this line of startup.cs to restrict access to the git lfs server services.addsingleton<iauthenticator>(x => new dictionaryauthenticator(new dictionary<string, string> { { \"useraskedbysourcetree\", \"passwordaskedbysourcetree\" } })); it can be launched in vs by choosing estranged.lfs.hosting.aspnet (not the default iis express option that doesnt work) or it can be published in folder, then launched with estranged.lfs.hosting.aspnet.exe this is a console application that is listening for http lfs requests on https://localhost:5001 in your game project root, create the .lfsconfig file to send request to the console app [lfs] url = https://localhost:5001/ commit and push this file. you now can push lfs files, enter when asked the user and password defined before the pushed file is now present in ovh object storage serverless aws lambda a prerequisite is to install the dotnet-lambda global tool from aws. a prerequisite is to have created a s3 bucket to host the lambda function elements (stack modele, code build). to achieve this, you have to use the lambda version of the solution: hosting\\estranged.lfs.hosting.lambda. clone https://github.com/mineogames/estranged.lfs on your pc edit estranged.lfs\\hosting\\estranged.lfs.hosting.lambda\\aws-lambda-tools-defaults.json to fill the variables variable name definition example lfs_username value of username to access the lfs program lfsuser lfs_password value of password to access the lfs program (avoid special characters) tezfz5615xqezef s3_access_key access key for ovh in the .aws/credentials > ovh profile istnkvsbetqxnypsipwx s3_access_secret secret key for ovh in the .aws/credentials > ovh profile istnkvsbetqxnypsipwx s3_region public cloud region of ovh object storage sbg bitbucket_workspace workspace of the game bitbucket repo leave empty bitbucket_repository name of the game bitbucket repo leave empty aws_stack_name name of the cloudformation stack lfsproject aws_shared_between_stack_s3_name name of the s3 bucket that will hold code and stack template version uploaded shared-lambda open dev console and go to hosting/lambda run the following command to create the cloudformation stack, by choosing same value as before for the lfs credentials dotnet lambda deploy-serverless stackname --template-parameters gitlfsusername=lfsuser;gitlfspassword=tezfz5615xqezef -t modele.yaml run the following command to upload the code into aws lambda function dotnet lambda deploy-function create .lfsconfig at the root of your game repository and connect it to the lambda function (endpoint found in 4. ): [lfs] url = https://9w45qpo957.execute-api.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/lfs commit and push this file. it is now set up. commit and push lfs files will be visible in ovh and in bitbucket without taking space. authentication method with the current configuration, the authentication is user/password, same used by everyone. the solution allows to use github or bitbucket configuration. go to the aws console panel, open the stack, and edit the lambda function change lambda function env variables: edit lfs_username to remove value edit lfs_password to remove value add the key bitbucket_repository/github_repository and value is the repository name add the key bitbucket_workspace/github_organisation and value is the repository space edit : create a back-up plan i strongly recommend to make some backup of your data, even the cloud can get down. create some object storage containers in other datacenters. follow this method to synchronize your containes. nb: the article is not up to date: now we don’t need to precise the number of the region anymore. end word we have now an easy long-term solution that allows use to use git without worrying about size limit. it would be easier if we could have lambda functions in ovh to unify the stack. it took me some time to have this working so i wanted to share it. hope that this will help you. if you have questions, you can contact me on discord or other social media. happy coding ! don’t want to miss the next tech blog? we’ll keep you posted. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2020/07/06/QUICK-VULKAN-OPENGL-COMPARISON/","t":"introducing a new kind of blog : the technical blog (with title prefix [tech]). in these posts, we share technical studies or we detail some specific game development practises that we’ve used. when developing for oculus quest, performance is the main issue. since the quest is an autonomous headset, we rely on its snapdragon 835 chipset (samsung galaxy s8) to render a vr environment. the quest supports two graphic api : opengl es 3.1 and vulkan. which one is better ? today we are making a first comparison between the two. for the test, we used ue 4.25.1 (epic launcher) and the monitoring tool renderdoc v1.8. from the vr expansion plugin template project, we create a new virtual reality map. with renderdoc attach to the application, we capture the same situation with opengl 3.1 and vulkan. then we, take a look at the statistics: we notice that: opengl es31 is lighter that vulkan (9.58mb against 25.59mb) vulkan is faster than opengl es3.1 (101µs against 23519µs ) vulkan is mroe efficient that opengl es3.1 (draw dispatch call ratio 10.1 vs 15) to confirm these data, we cpature another picture with hands displayed again we take a look at the statistics: we notice that: opengl es31 is lighter that vulkan (18.86mb against 24.59mb) vulkan is faster than opengl es3.1 (102µs against 24216µs) vulkan is mroe efficient that opengl es3.1 (draw dispatch call ratio 10.6 vs 18.8) the situation is confirmed with the second capture. as a result of this first comparison, vulkan wins the preformance match. of course, this is not complete, but it’s a start. for example, it would be interesting to reproduce the test in a more stressful situtation (many objets, lights, particles…) don’t want to miss the next tech blog? we’ll keep you posted. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2019/11/16/OCULUS-START-UNBOXING/","t":"mineo games is now part of the oculus start program, as a partner developer! discover the unboxing of the gift package sent by oculus :) be sure to subscribe to the youtube channel to dont miss the next videos. subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2017/09/20/DUNGBEETLE-CLIP-RELEASE/","t":"breaking news! the musical clip of our video game dung beetle is released! play dung beetle here at the price you want, (even free 😉) clic to access the gamejolt page be sure to suscribe to the youtube channel to dont miss the next videos access the game page for more info subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2017/08/29/DUNGBEETLE-OFFICIAL-RELEASE/","t":"we are proud to announce the official release of dung beetle! discover the beauty of the nature and the stormy life of the dung beetle. access the game page for more info subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2017/08/08/DUNGBEETLE-S-3/","t":"w-3 before the official release of dung beetle! one of the news features : completely remade animations. access the game page for more info subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2017/06/05/DUNGBEETLE-ANNOUNCE/","t":"we are proud to present you dung beetle, our first released game! we made it in only 72h for the ludum dare 38 game jam! we were ranked 413 over 1840 ! access the game page for more info subscribe to the newsletter to receive news like this directly in your inbox. 💌 subscribe to the newsletter get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"},{"u":"/2017/04/23/MINEOGAMES-BIRTH/","t":"the mineo games official website is now live ! the adventure begins :) please stay tuned to get news about our incoming games. subscribe to receive news by email monthly get xr insights and follow the discoveries and productions from our indie journey. your privacy is our priority. you can unsubscribe at any time. email address enter the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. first name last name optional interests newsletter gaming game development and productivity subscribe"}]