Stardock Magazine: February 2017

This edition of Stardock Magazine brings you an editorial from Brad Wardell, Object Desktop, Merging the Singularity, Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade and more. Stardock Magazine February 2017 By Brad Wardell (@draginol) Contents: • Editorial • Object Desktop status report • Merging the Singularity • Handles: Your oldest enemy • Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade • Why do video games look...like video games? Feedback: The feedback thread is [here](=/aHR0cDovL2ZvcnVtcy5zdGFyZG9jay5jb20vNDgxODA2Lz91dG1fc291cmNlPXNkbWFpbCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPXNkbWFnJnV0bV9jb250ZW50PUZFRURCQUNLJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1TdGFyZG9jayUyQk1hZ2F6aW5lJTJCRkVCMjAxNw==). You can follow me on Twitter [here](=/aHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0dGVyLmNvbS9kcmFnaW5vbD91dG1fc291cmNlPXNkbWFpbCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPXNkbWFnJnV0bV9jb250ZW50PUJSQURUV1QmdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPVN0YXJkb2NrJTJCTWFnYXppbmUlMkJGRUIyMDE3). I will also be at GDC. Editorial Sorry about missing January's issue. I'm getting older and slower. I recently had to get reading glasses which I am wearing now to type this to you. Most of January was spent doing business planning for 2017 which, at Stardock, is always an interesting challenge as I have what amounts to two management teams: One for the games and one for the software. As some of you know, most of Stardock's income comes from the software. Over the years, the corporate sales side of the business has sort of taken priority over the consumer side. A big reason for that is the way the market has changed. Back in the 90s, we sold Object Desktop for OS/2 for $89.95 per box (and it came in a box with floppies). Now, software routinely sells for $5. Thus, a lot of the updates to our consumer facing software has come thanks to sales to corporate customers. This year, we are working on two new products for Object Desktop. One involves virtual desktops and the other...well it does not involve virtual desktops. We are also planning our update to [WinCustomize.com](=/aHR0cDovL3d3dy53aW5jdXN0b21pemUuY29tLz91dG1fc291cmNlPXNkbWFpbCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPXNkbWFnJnV0bV9jb250ZW50PVdJTkNVU1RPTUlaRSZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249U3RhcmRvY2slMkJNYWdhemluZSUyQkZFQjIwMTc=) which is badly in need of a refresh. On the game side, we have two studios working on four games: [Star Control: Origins](=/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3RhcmNvbnRyb2wuY29tLz91dG1fc291cmNlPXNkbWFpbCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPXNkbWFnJnV0bV9jb250ZW50PVNUQVJDT05UUk9MJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1TdGFyZG9jayUyQk1hZ2F6aW5lJTJCRkVCMjAxNw==), Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade, Ashes of the Singularity and an unannounced new game for this Fall. Needless to say, it's going to be a busy year. [smile] Object Desktop Status Report A lot of the work on Object Desktop continues behind the scenes as we work to ensure things aren't getting broken by the Windows 10 Insider builds. [Object Desktop Screenshot](=/aHR0cDovL2RyYWdpbm9sLnN0YXJkb2NrLm5ldC9pbWFnZXMyMDE1L1N0YXJkb2NrLU1hZ2F6aW5lLUZlYnJ1YXJ5LTIwMTdfREU3Ri9pbWFnZS5wbmc-dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1zZG1haWwmdXRtX21lZGl1bT1zZG1hZyZ1dG1fY29udGVudD1PRE5USU1HJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1TdGFyZG9jayUyQk1hZ2F6aW5lJTJCRkVCMjAxNw==) Besides the two new products we plan to add to Object Desktop this year, we have major updates planned for DeskScapes and SkinStudio planned. We really want to see desktop customization start to make a comeback once people start to standardize on Windows 10. [www.objectdesktop.com](=/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5vYmplY3RkZXNrdG9wLmNvbS8-dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1zZG1haWwmdXRtX21lZGl1bT1zZG1hZyZ1dG1fY29udGVudD1PRE5UVVJMJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1TdGFyZG9jayUyQk1hZ2F6aW5lJTJCRkVCMjAxNw==) Merging the Singularity Early last year, Stardock released its much anticipated next-generation real-time-strategy game, Ashes of the Singularity®. The sales were much stronger than anticipated and a lot of users requested features that would greatly increase the depth of the game. Since we didn't want the base game to become too complex, we decided to create a separate program: Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation. [Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation Screenshot](=/aHR0cDovL2RyYWdpbm9sLnN0YXJkb2NrLm5ldC9pbWFnZXMyMDE1L1N0YXJkb2NrLU1hZ2F6aW5lLUZlYnJ1YXJ5LTIwMTdfREU3Ri9Fc2NfU1M0LnBuZz91dG1fc291cmNlPXNkbWFpbCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPXNkbWFnJnV0bV9jb250ZW50PUFTSEVTSU1HJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1TdGFyZG9jayUyQk1hZ2F6aW5lJTJCRkVCMjAxNw==) Historically, creating multiple SCUs for different user bases has worked very well for us. Keep the standard version true to its original vision and price it for the masses and create a "Pro" version for those who want the more sophisticated one and price it higher. However, this metaphor has not worked very well on the games side for a variety of reasons, the biggest being the nature of how PC games are distributed (either via Steam or GOG) where each SCU has its own page and forum and different SCUs can't play with each other. For last few months, I've been surveying the user base on what they think we should do and the overwhelming consensus is that we should merge the games back into a single game. The question is: Which game? Weighing in development time, opportunity costs and customer goodwill we decided the best path was the one that would make the most customers happy: Merge them into Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation and give everyone who bought the base game a free copy of Escalation and then give those users who have already paid to upgrade to Escalation a season pass to all the Escalation DLC. This merging should occur soon (or may even happen by the time you read this). While some may question the idea of giving away what amounts to millions of dollars worth of free licenses, my view comes from owning a software company for over twenty years: Happy customers equals future sales. Long-term customer loyalty trumps short-term profits. [www.ashesofthesingularity.com](=/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hc2hlc29mdGhlc2luZ3VsYXJpdHkuY29tLz91dG1fc291cmNlPXNkbWFpbCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPXNkbWFnJnV0bV9jb250ZW50PUFTSEVTVVJMJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1TdGFyZG9jayUyQk1hZ2F6aW5lJTJCRkVCMjAxNw==) Handles: Your oldest enemy If your computer is starting to run slowly, before rebooting it try checking for how many handles a given program is using. [Handles Screenshot](=/aHR0cDovL2RyYWdpbm9sLnN0YXJkb2NrLm5ldC9pbWFnZXMyMDE1L1N0YXJkb2NrLU1hZ2F6aW5lLUZlYnJ1YXJ5LTIwMTdfREU3Ri9pbWFnZV8zLnBuZz91dG1fc291cmNlPXNkbWFpbCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPXNkbWFnJnV0bV9jb250ZW50PUhBTkRMRVNJTUcmdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPVN0YXJkb2NrJTJCTWFnYXppbmUlMkJGRUIyMDE3) To do this, bring up task manager (ctrl-shift-tab), go to Details and then add the Handles column. Anything over 10,000 handles should give you pause. The more handles a program uses, the slower it will make your PC no matter how much memory or how fast your CPU is. Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade After a ten-year hiatus, I am back in the coding/design chair of Galactic Civilizations®. It's good to be back. I technically started back in November, working on what became version 1.9 and more recently 2.0 of Galactic Civilizations III. My long-time friend and colleague, Paul Boyer, remains lead designer but my job is to get in there and start doing "my thing" to the game. This Spring, we'll be releasing a major expansion pack to Galactic Civilizations III called Crusade. To learn more on that, here are the DEV DIARIES: • [DEV 1: Introducing Crusade](=/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zdGFyZG9jay5jb20vY29tbXVuaXR5L2FydGljbGUvNDgxNjExL0NSVVNBREUtRElBUlktMS1JbnRyb2R1Y2luZy1HYWxhY3RpYy1DaXZpbGl6YXRpb25zLUlJSS1DUlVTQURFP3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9c2RtYWlsJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09c2RtYWcmdXRtX2NvbnRlbnQ9Q1JVU0FERURFVkRJQVJZMSZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249U3RhcmRvY2slMkJNYWdhemluZSUyQkZFQjIwMTc=) • [DEV 2: The Civ Builder](=/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zdGFyZG9jay5jb20vY29tbXVuaXR5L2FydGljbGUvNDgxNzM2L0NSVVNBREUtRElBUlktMi1UaGUtQ2l2aWxpemF0aW9uLUJ1aWxkZXI-dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1zZG1haWwmdXRtX21lZGl1bT1zZG1hZyZ1dG1fY29udGVudD1DUlVTQURFREVWRElBUlkyJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1TdGFyZG9jayUyQk1hZ2F6aW5lJTJCRkVCMjAxNw==) [www.galciv.com](=/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5nYWxjaXYzLmNvbS8-dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1zZG1haWwmdXRtX21lZGl1bT1zZG1hZyZ1dG1fY29udGVudD1BU0hFU1VSTCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249U3RhcmRvY2slMkJNYWdhemluZSUyQkZFQjIwMTc=) Why do video games look...like video games? [Pixar](=/aHR0cDovL2RyYWdpbm9sLnN0YXJkb2NrLm5ldC9pbWFnZXMyMDE1L1N0YXJkb2NrLU1hZ2F6aW5lLUZlYnJ1YXJ5LTIwMTdfREU3Ri9pbWFnZV80LnBuZz91dG1fc291cmNlPXNkbWFpbCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPXNkbWFnJnV0bV9jb250ZW50PVBJWEFSSU1HJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1TdGFyZG9jayUyQk1hZ2F6aW5lJTJCRkVCMjAxNw==) Ever wondered why no matter how much they try, video games always look like video games and not...real? And I don't mean real like uncanny valley real, I mean, they don't even look like a Pixar™ movie. What's the deal? This has to do with how game engines render out a scene. There are a lot of different techniques used by game engines to put something on your screen. When it comes to rendering something that is 3D (as opposed to a 2D drawn sprite for instance) how something looks is heavily influenced by how light interacts with that object in a 3D scene. If you have heard of the term "shading" or "shaders" it means what it sounds like: how an object will be shaded from light sources. Deferred rendering Most games used what we call "deferred" shading and/or lighting. The object is rendered and then the light is done in a second pass. This is kind of like taking a picture and then putting it into Photoshop® to do stuff to it (terrible analogy but you get the idea). The advantage is that it's a lot less expensive on your CPU and graphics card to do it this way because shading is relatively expensive. Example of a game that does this would be Dota® 2. The Unreal® and Unity® engines support this. CGI-style rendering There is no such thing, technically, as CGI-style rendering. But when most people think of CGI quality versus video game quality it comes down to how scenes are rendered. RenderMan 21 is probably the best known package for handling movie production. Specifically, they tend to use what is called REYES rendering (though more recently, they have begun moving to Monte-Carlo ray tracing but I split hairs). Not surprisingly, the amount of computing power you need to implement REYES rendering is far greater than deferred rendering. Since games have to do their rendering in real-time, deferred is generally preferable but at the cost that no matter how much effort an artist puts in, most people can tell the difference between deferred (when shadows and lighting are applied afterwards) versus when the lighting and shadowing are inherently part of the render. The good news is that we are starting to reach the point where we can do REYES. For example, Oxide's Nitrous® engine, which Stardock uses on its newer games, supports Object Space Lighting. Its strength is that it handles the shading before the scene is put together as pixels. This way, the shadows are inherently part of the scene and not applied afterwards. The main downside to this is that it requires a lot of GPU memory and of course, high end video cards. But for now, the reason your game doesn't look "real" or even like movie quality CGI has to do with when shadowing (shading) is being applied. [Stardock](=/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zdGFyZG9jay5jb20vP3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9c2RtYWlsJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09c2RtYWcmdXRtX2NvbnRlbnQ9U1RSTE9HTyZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249U3RhcmRvY2slMkJNYWdhemluZSUyQkZFQjIwMTc=) Stardock, 15090 Beck Road, Plymouth, MI 48170. This message was sent to [{EMAIL}](=/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3RhcmRvY2suY29tL2FjY291bnRzL3N1YnNjcmlwdGlvbnM-ZW1haWw9dHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luOTJAZ21haWwuY29t). Click here to [unsubscribe](=/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3RhcmRvY2suY29tL2FjY291bnRzL3Vuc3Vic2NyaWJlLmFzcHg-ZW1haWw9dHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luOTJAZ21haWwuY29tJmxpc3Q9MSZ1dG1fc291cmNlPXNkbWFpbCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPXNkbWFnJnV0bV9jb250ZW50PVVOU1VCU0NSSUJFJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1TdGFyZG9jayUyQk1hZ2F6aW5lJTJCRkVCMjAxNw==). If you have any questions, email [promotions@stardock.com](mailto:promotions@stardock.com?subject=Stardock%20Magazine:%20February%202017). © 2017 Stardock and Stardock Entertainment. Ashes of the Singularity is a trademark of Stardock Entertainment. Oxide is a trademark of Oxide Games. Steam and the Steam logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Valve Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and copyrights are the properties of their respective owners.