[ANN] Gosu 0.7.8, also: Ludum Dare timed gamedev compo this weekend!

[Julian Raschke]

Hi,

first, I want to announce the newest version of Gosu, the free 2D game
development library for Ruby and C++.

Version 0.7.8 features:
* Working font fallbacks, i.e. chars outside of the selected/default
font can be used. No more worrying about which font contains Kanji
characters or pictograms, just use UTF8 and be amazed at the correct
output.
* Mac, Windows: In addition to system fonts, all of Gosu's text system
can use .TTF files referenced by filename, effectively allowing you to
bundle your own fonts with your game. (On OS X, .OTF files should work
just fine, too.)
* Another cool Chipmunk/RMagick demo by Robert Sheehan is included.
* The Ruby port has gotten the same support for RGB/HSV conversions
that the C++ version had for a while.
* Bugfixes.

It is available via `gem install gosu` on OS X and Windows, but also
on http://code.google.com/p/gosu/, which is also the place to go for
documentation.

*

Second, I would like to mention the Ludum Dare X competition here, an
48 hour, solo game development competition. The website has moved once
again to http://www.imitationpickles.org/ludum/.

For those who are new to the concept: There are three rounds of theme
voting (the second one is currently open). The results of the last
round will only be visible when voting is over, which is Friday
evening in US time zones. From then on, you have 48 hours to write a
game around the chosen theme, completely from scratch. Every
participant then gets to vote on all the other entries, and virtual
trophies are given for being among the top entries.

The competition website shows some of the innovative entries from the
past compos, but even if you end up with a buggy game and programmer
art, you probably have learnt a lot about productivity and time
management. Oh, and if you're like me, you had fun With a range of
Ruby gamedev libraries being available, this should be a nice weekend.

Julian

 

[energinen]

Hi,

first, I want to announce the newest version of Gosu, the free 2D game
development library for Ruby and C++.

Version 0.7.8 features:
* Working font fallbacks, i.e. chars outside of the selected/default
font can be used. No more worrying about which font contains Kanji
characters or pictograms, just use UTF8 and be amazed at the correct
output.
* Mac, Windows: In addition to system fonts, all of Gosu's text system
can use .TTF files referenced by filename, effectively allowing you to
bundle your own fonts with your game. (On OS X, .OTF files should work
just fine, too.)
* Another cool Chipmunk/RMagick demo by Robert Sheehan is included.
* The Ruby port has gotten the same support for RGB/HSV conversions
that the C++ version had for a while.
* Bugfixes.

It is available via `gem install gosu` on OS X and Windows, but also
onhttp://code.google.com/p/gosu/, which is also the place to go for
documentation.

*

Second, I would like to mention the Ludum Dare X competition here, an
48 hour, solo game development competition. The website has moved once
again tohttp://www.imitationpickles.org/ludum/.

For those who are new to the concept: There are three rounds of theme
voting (the second one is currently open). The results of the last
round will only be visible when voting is over, which is Friday
evening in US time zones. From then on, you have 48 hours to write a
game around the chosen theme, completely from scratch. Every
participant then gets to vote on all the other entries, and virtual
trophies are given for being among the top entries.

The competition website shows some of the innovative entries from the
past compos, but even if you end up with a buggy game and programmer
art, you probably have learnt a lot about productivity and time
management. Oh, and if you're like me, you had fun With a range of
Ruby gamedev libraries being available, this should be a nice weekend.

Julian

Can't install gosu by 'gem install gosu' it asks me the version I want
to install, I select the latest and then it gives me error 'Permission
denied - /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/cache/gosu-0.7.8-universal-
darwin-8.gem' what to do?

 

[Kosmo]

Can't install gosu by 'gem install gosu' it asks me the version I want

to install, I select the latest and then it gives me error 'Permission
denied - /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/cache/gosu-0.7.8-universal-
darwin-8.gem' what to do?

No problem, I forgot to run the command in admin mode, always forget
that Macs are actually protected.

 

[Julian Raschke]

Can't install gosu by 'gem install gosu' it asks me the version I want

to install, I select the latest and then it gives me error 'Permission
denied - /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/cache/gosu-0.7.8-universal-
darwin-8.gem' what to do?

On OS X, you need to call it as 'sudo gem install gosu'.

 

[Julian Raschke]

And a mini-announcement:

Version 0.7.8.5 just followed. Should be available on gem real soon.
(Waiting for RubyForge sync...)

Changes:
* Audio interface extended (played sounds can be stopped, their volume/
pan/speed can be changed while playing)
* SDL_mixer (read: Linux) port of Gosu::Audio is now almost as good as
the FMOD one (except playback speed can't be set)
* Right-click detection on OS X was fixed
* HSV functionality was seamlessly integrated with the existing
Gosu::Color class (sorry for the first, kludgy interface!) - I hope
this change of interface was quick enough to not break any serious
code.

Happy coding! And good luck if any of you participate in the Ludum
Dare too.

Julian