In the latest installment of Nintendo's "Ask the Developer" series, the team behind "Mario & Luigi: Brothership" discusses the development of the first new game in the series in nine years. The game, set in the world of Concordia, marks a shift to 3D graphics, a decision influenced by the technical expertise of Acquire Corp, known for their work on "OCTOPATH TRAVELER." The collaboration aims to blend the classic "Mario & Luigi" feel with modern advancements, reviving the series with fresh elements while maintaining its core appeal.
Aquaplus has announced that the remake of the romance adventure game ToHeart will be released in Japan for the Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam in spring 2025. The game, which originally gained popularity as a school romance story, will feature characters rendered in full 3D. The remake includes contributions from character designer Tatami Honjou and voice actors Kana Ichinose and Hina Youmiya. The opening theme song, "Feeling Heart," will be performed by YURiKA. Pricing details have been provided for both digital and physical versions.
Prison Architect 2, the sequel to the popular prison management simulator, is set to release on March 26, 2024, on PC, Xbox Series X and S, and PlayStation 5, featuring 3D graphics, multiple floors, sandbox construction, Career mode, and an inmate connection system. Priced at $39.99 / £34.99 / €39.99, the game promises advanced simulation systems and deeper player control, marking a significant evolution from its predecessor.
A collaborative project called Backup Ukraine, developed by the Danish UNESCO National Commission and Polycam, is enabling anyone with a smartphone to scan and capture high-quality 3D models of heritage sites, democratizing the process of preserving cultural heritage. This is made possible by the rapid progress of 3D capture and graphics technologies, driven by the drop in cost of cameras and sensors, the use of artificial intelligence for constructing 3D assets, and the proliferation of computing power. New rendering techniques like gaussian splatting are gaining attention for their ability to generate highly detailed and textured 3D assets. The shift towards 3D content is aligned with the future of spatial computing, and the hope for a real-time 3D map of the world. Additionally, 3D memory capture is seen as a powerful application, allowing people to preserve and revisit important places and moments.
Epic Games has released Unreal Engine 5.2, which includes a new Procedural Content Generation framework for populating large scenes with assets, a new way of authoring materials called Substrate, and improved virtual production workflow with an iOS app. The update also provides native support for Apple Silicon and includes a new ML Deformer sample to shape realistic 3D characters.
Nvidia Graphics Research will debut 20 research papers at SIGGRAPH, highlighting generative AI, 3D graphics, and neural physics. The papers include generative AI models that turn text into personalized images, inverse rendering tools that transform still images into 3D objects, and neural physics models that use AI to simulate complex 3D elements with stunning realism. The research advancements presented this year at SIGGRAPH will help developers and enterprises rapidly generate synthetic data to populate virtual worlds for robotics and autonomous vehicle training.
