Release N51

content/news/051/index.md

@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@
 title = "This Month in Rust GameDev #51 - May 2024"
 transparent = true
 date = 2024-06-03
-draft = true
+draft = false
 +++
 
 <!-- no toc -->
 
 <!-- Check the post with markdownlint-->
 
-Welcome to the 51th issue of the Rust GameDev Workgroup's
+Welcome to the 51st issue of the Rust GameDev Workgroup's
 monthly newsletter.
 [Rust] is a systems language pursuing the trifecta:
 safety, concurrency, and speed.
@@ -34,14 +34,8 @@ Feel free to send PRs about your own projects!
 - [Engine Updates](#engine-updates)
 - [Learning Material Updates](#learning-material-updates)
 - [Tooling Updates](#tooling-updates)
-- [Library Updates](#library-updates)
-- [Popular Workgroup Issues in GitHub](#popular-workgroup-issues-in-github)
 - [Other News](#other-news)
-- [Meeting Minutes](#meeting-minutes)
-- [Discussions](#discussions)
-- [Requests for Contribution](#requests-for-contribution)
-- [Jobs](#jobs)
-- [Bonus](#bonus)
+- [Misc. Links](#misc-links)
 
 <!--
 Ideal section structure is:
@@ -67,6 +61,29 @@ If needed, a section can be split into subsections with a "------" delimiter.
 
 ## Announcements
 
+### Survey Results
+
+Last month, we asked you to fill out a survey to help us improve the rebooted newsletter. Thanks to 52 of you, we've got [some data][survey-data] now! 
+We analyzed the results in [this blog post][survey_results]. The biggest takeaways are:
+- People are generally excited about the newsletter
+- The current frequency of the newsletter is good
+- Readers do not want anything in the newsletter generated by AI
+- Contributing to the newsletter could be easier. If you've got ideas on how to make this happen, please [let us know](https://github.com/rust-gamedev/rust-gamedev.github.io/issues/1519)!
+
+You can visit the [blog post][survey_results] to see the full results and some nice plots. 
+We will discuss how to act on this feedback next month and keep you updated on the changes we make. 
+
+Thanks to everyone who participated!
+
+[survey-data]: https://github.com/janhohenheim/rust-gamedev-statistics/tree/main/jan-hohenheim-2024
+[survey_results]: <https://gamedev.rs/blog/survey-2>
+
+### Email Subscription
+
+Last month, we announced that we would add an email subscription option to the newsletter. 
+Unfortunately, we did not manage to implement this in time for this issue because the volunteer responsible, Jan Hohenheim, had some personal issues to deal with.
+He will work on this feature for the next issue, and we hope to have it ready for you then.
+
 ## Game Updates
 
 ### [Way of Rhea][wor]
@@ -92,8 +109,8 @@ You can support development by [purchasing Way of Rhea on Steam][wor], or
 
 ### [Untitled Pixel Wizard Game][pixel-wizards]
 
-[![A target being destroyed by a rudimentary flame thrower spell](untitled-pixel-wizards-game.gif)][pixel-wizards]
-_A deadly foe meets their end._
+[![A target being destroyed by a rudimentary flame thrower spell](untitled-pixel-wizards-game.gif)][pixel-wizards]  
+_A deadly foe meets its end._
 
 [Untitled Pixel Wizard Game][pixel-wizards] is a local-multiplayer [Noita]-like platformer about
 killing baddies using spells powered by pixel physics.
@@ -104,9 +121,9 @@ rigid bodies; see [Bridging Physics Worlds][pixel-wizards-bridging-physics-world
 This month:
 
 - [Tilemapping via LDTK][pixel-wizards-tilemapping]: levels got just a tiny bit prettier.
-- [Level Progression][pixel-wizards-levels]: players learned to die, and levels link together.
+- [Level Progression][pixel-wizards-levels]: players learn to die, and levels link together.
 - [Architectural Ruminations][pixel-wizards-arch]: reflections on using Rust for game development,
-  prompted by LogLog Games's '[Leaving Rust gamedev after 3 years]'.
+ prompted by LogLog Games's _[Leaving Rust game dev after 3 years]_.
 - [Target Practice][pixel-wizards-targets]: the first "enemy" was added to the game.
 
 [pixel-wizards]: https://slowrush.dev
@@ -116,38 +133,39 @@ This month:
 [pixel-wizards-arch]: https://www.slowrush.dev/news/architectural-questions/
 [pixel-wizards-levels]: https://www.slowrush.dev/news/level-progression/
 [pixel-wizards-tilemapping]: https://www.slowrush.dev/news/tilemapping/
-[caspark]: https://github.com/caspark/
-[Leaving Rust gamedev after 3 years]: https://loglog.games/blog/leaving-rust-gamedev/
+[Leaving Rust game dev after 3 years]: https://loglog.games/blog/leaving-rust-gamedev/
 
 ### [mirr/orb]
 
-![mirr/orb](mirrorb.png)
+![mirr/orb](mirrorb.png)  
+_A typical level and its UI_
 
 [mirr/orb] by [syn9]
 is a puzzle game about bouncing lasers off mirrors to activate orbs.
 
-The game was created in 9 days using syn9's Rust mini game framework (mgfw) and released on May 27th.
+The game was created in 9 days using syn9's Rust mini game framework [mgfw] and released on May 27th.
 
 This release contains 110 levels which pull from 870 available puzzle layouts.
 
 [mirr/orb]: https://syn9dev.itch.io/mirrorb
 [syn9]: https://twitter.com/Syn9Dev
+[mgfw]: https://github.com/Syn-Nine/mgfw
 
 ### [CyberGate Playground][cybergate-shorts]
 
-![Improved Hammer Destruction](cybergate.gif)
+![Improved Hammer Destruction](cybergate.gif)  
 _Shooting a Hammer against a Floating Wall and Destroying part of it_
 
 CyberGate Playground is a multiplayer browser game where players claim territory
 by painting the environment in their color, with the goal of overpowering opponents.
 
 The past few months' updates include:
-- Flying with butterfly-like mechanics;
-- [Fusion Upgrade:][cybergate-fuse] Combine hammers, balls, dices, to multiply their powers;
-- Hammer destruction made more challenging and interesting, with upgrades enabling deeper wall penetration;
-- Improved Strength and Weight system, and calculate their impact on character movement and abilities;
-- Added an 'Owned Upgrades' menu using `yakui` crate, giving a neat overview of all acquired upgrades;
-- Many other UI / gameplay improvements based on player feedback;
+- Flying with butterfly-like mechanics
+- [Fusion Upgrade:][cybergate-fuse] Combine hammers, balls, and dice to multiply their powers
+- Hammer destruction made more challenging and interesting, with upgrades enabling deeper wall penetration
+- Improved strength and weight system, and calculate their impact on character movement and abilities
+- Added an 'Owned Upgrades' menu using `yakui` crate, giving a neat overview of all acquired upgrades
+- Many other UI / gameplay improvements based on player feedback
 
 Rust's ownership and strongly typed features played a crucial role in allowing the gameplay code to scale 
 to more complex and detailed mechanics while retaining correct, clean, and bug-free code.
@@ -161,23 +179,46 @@ If you're interested in the game's progress, join the [Discord server][cybergate
 
 ## Engine Updates
 
-### [Macroquad]
+### [Macroquad Newsletter]
 
-![quad-gl](twiq_3d_helmet.gif)
+![quad-gl](twiq_3d_helmet.gif)  
 _"Basic" 3d rendering (gltf helmet)_
 
 [@Fedor](https://github.com/not-fl3/), creator of [*Quad], a game engine written in Rust, is starting a [This week in Quads](https://macroquad.rs/twiq) newsletter.
 
-Overall polish, developer experience, performance optimization and basic 3d visualization have been worked on.
+This month overall polish, developer experience, performance optimization, and basic 3d visualization have been worked on.
 
-[Macroquad]: https://github.com/not-fl3/macroquad
 [*Quad]: https://www.patreon.com/posts/on-buses-and-101117631
 
+### [Fyrox 0.34][fyrox-release]
+
+![Fyrox editor](fyrox-editor.png)  
+_The improved Fyrox editor UI_
+
+[Fyrox] got a huge update this month. For those who don't know, Fyrox is a game engine written in Rust that is especially notable for sporting a Unity-like editor.
+
+[This release][fyrox-release] includes code hot reloading, project exporter, assets preview generation, UI prefabs, GLTF support, static and dynamic batching, 
+keyboard navigation, animation support for UI, editor style and usability improvements, and many more.
+
+[Fyrox]: https://fyrox.rs
+[fyrox-release]: https://fyrox.rs/blog/post/fyrox-game-engine-0-34/
+
+### Bevy 0.14 WIP
+
+![Bevy repeated textures](bevy_rep.png)  
+_One of the upcoming features in Bevy 0.14 is easier texture repetition for GLTF objects_
+
+The 0.14 release of [Bevy] nears completion, but the team is still working on detailed
+release notes and the migration guide. If you want to help, you can grab one of the [open documentation issues][bevy-docs-issues].
+
+[Bevy]: https://bevyengine.org/
+[bevy-docs-issues]: https://github.com/bevyengine/bevy-website/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+sort%3Aupdated-desc+label%3AA-Release-Notes
+
 ## Learning Material Updates
 
 ### Xkcd Machine
 
-![XKCD Machine](xkcd_machine.gif)
+![XKCD Machine](xkcd_machine.gif)  
 _A small part of the XKCD Machine_
 
 Chromakode released a detailed [blog post][xkcd_machine_blogpost] about their implementation of [xkcd "Machine"][xcd_machine_playable].
@@ -192,11 +233,11 @@ Machine is written in React/Typescript, and uses [Rapier][xkcd_rapier]: a physic
 
 ### [Rusty Playdate]
 
-![The Playdate console](playdate.png)
+![The Playdate console](playdate.png)  
 _The Playdate console_
 
 [Rusty Playdate] ([GitHub][Rusty Playdate], [Mastodon][Rusty Playdate Masto]) by [@boozook](https://github.com/boozook)
-is the large set of crates with bindings, cargo-plugin and toolset for the full cycle of creating games for the [Playdate handheld console][playdate].
+is the large set of crates with bindings, cargo-plugin, and toolset for the full cycle of creating games for the [Playdate handheld console][playdate].
 This is a fairly new console reminiscent of a GameBoy with a crank handle geared towards indie games.
 
 The current release sports the following notable improvements:
@@ -213,20 +254,14 @@ _Discussions: [GitHub][Rusty Playdate Gh-disc], [Matrix][Rusty Playdate Matrix].
 [Rusty Playdate Matrix]: https://matrix.to/#/#playdate.rs:matrix.org
 [playdate]: https://play.date/
 
-## Library Updates
-
-## Popular Workgroup Issues in GitHub
-
-<!-- Up to 10 links to interesting issues -->
-
 ## Other News
 
 <!-- One-liners for plan items that haven't got their own sections. -->
 
 ### Bevy rustunit meetup #3
 
-![Bevy meetup youtube extract](bevy_rustunit_meetup_3.jpg)
-_Bevy meetup youtube extract, showing its 3 participants._
+![Bevy meetup YouTube extract](bevy_rustunit_meetup_3.jpg)  
+_Bevy meetup YouTube extract, showing its 3 participants._
 
 [Rustunit][rustunit] has hosted its 3rd unofficial online [Bevy Engine][bevy] meetup on April 19th with the following topics:
 - Intro / Code of Conduct
@@ -240,8 +275,8 @@ and join [the meetup group][rustunit_bevy_meetup_event] to get notified of futur
 
 ### Bevy rustunit meetup #4
 
-![Bevy meetup youtube extract](bevy_rustunit_meetup_4.jpg)
-_Bevy meetup youtube extract, showing its 4 participants._
+![Bevy meetup YouTube extract](bevy_rustunit_meetup_4.jpg)  
+_Bevy meetup YouTube extract, showing its 4 participants._
 
 [Rustunit][rustunit] has hosted its 4th unofficial online [Bevy Engine][bevy] meetup on May 24th with the following topics:
 - Francois - Catching Rendering Regressions on all Platforms
@@ -254,7 +289,6 @@ and join [the meetup group][rustunit_bevy_meetup_event] to get notified of futur
 [rustunit_bevy_meetup_4_youtube]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnE_nINEs2M
 [rustunit]: https://rustunit.com/
 [rustunit_bevy_meetup_event]: https://www.meetup.com/bevy-game-development/
-[bevy]: https://bevyengine.org/
 
 
 ### RustNL
@@ -264,12 +298,12 @@ and join [the meetup group][rustunit_bevy_meetup_event] to get notified of futur
 While the conference was not specific to game development,
 organizers contacted rust game development communities
 to showcase games developed in Rust between talks,
-which you can [watch on youtube][rustnl_games_youtube].
+which you can [watch on YouTube][rustnl_games_youtube].
 
 Special mention to the following talks, relevant to game development:
-- [Let's Build High Performance Rust UI][rustnl_kevin_boos_talk] by Kevin Boos  
+- [Let's Build High-Performance Rust UI][rustnl_kevin_boos_talk] by Kevin Boos  
 - [A Research Project on Rust User Interface Architecture][rustnl_xilem_talk] by Ralph Levien about [Xilem][rustnl_xilem_intro]  
-- [(Th)Rust for Space: Initial momentum][rustnl_michael_melchiore_talk] by Michaël Melchiore, who gave a shout out to [Bevy Engine][rustnl_bevy_engine].
+- [(Th)Rust for Space: Initial momentum][rustnl_michael_melchiore_talk] by Michaël Melchiore, who gave a shout-out to [Bevy Engine][rustnl_bevy_engine].
 
 [rustnl_main_website]: https://2024.rustnl.org/
 [rustnl_games_youtube]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLefuzE-ABU&t=7583s
@@ -279,32 +313,32 @@ Special mention to the following talks, relevant to game development:
 [rustnl_michael_melchiore_talk]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLefuzE-ABU&t=3898s
 [rustnl_bevy_engine]:https://bevyengine.org/
 
-## Meeting Minutes
-
-<!-- Up to 10 most important notes + a link to the full details -->
-
-[See all meeting issues][label_meeting] including full text notes
-or [join the next meeting][join].
+## Misc. Links
 
-[label_meeting]: https://github.com/rust-gamedev/wg/issues?q=label%3Ameeting
+### New libraries
 
-## Discussions
+- [egui_ratatui](https://github.com/gold-silver-copper/egui_ratatui): A ratatui backend that is also an egui widget. 
+Deploy on the web with WASM or ship natively with Bevy, macroquad, or eframe 
+- [bevy_ratatui_render](https://github.com/cxreiff/bevy_ratatui_render): A Bevy plugin for rendering your game to the terminal using ratatui
+- [bevy_light_2d](https://github.com/jgayfer/bevy_light_2d):  General purpose 2D lighting for the Bevy game engine. 
 
-<!-- Links to handpicked reddit/twitter/urlo/etc threads that provide
-useful information -->
+### Library Updates
 
-## Requests for Contribution
+- [Kira 0.9](https://github.com/tesselode/kira/releases/tag/v0.9.0): Library for expressive game audio
+- [Quinn 0.11.2](https://github.com/quinn-rs/quinn/releases/tag/0.11.2): Async-friendly QUIC implementation in Rust 
+- [rolt and jolt-sys 0.3.1](https://github.com/SecondHalfGames/jolt-rust/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md#v030):  Rust bindings to Jolt Physics 
+- [Hanabi 0.11](https://github.com/djeedai/bevy_hanabi/blob/v0.11.0/CHANGELOG.md): A GPU particle system plugin for the Bevy game engine.
 
-<!-- Links to "good first issue"-labels or direct links to specific tasks -->
+### Blog Posts
 
-## Jobs
-
-<!-- An optional section for new jobs related to Rust gamedev -->
+- [Architectural Ruminations][pixel-wizards-arch]: reflections on using Rust for game development,
+ prompted by LogLog Games's _[Leaving Rust game dev after 3 years]_.
 
-## Bonus
+### Videos
 
-<!-- Bonus section to make the newsletter more interesting
-and highlight events from the past. -->
+- [The Secret Behind Photorealistic And Stylized Graphics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkOkx0FiHDA): 
+Explaining the rendering techniques behind photorealistic and stylized graphics
+- [GDC: Tunes of the Kingdom](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-dPDsLTrTE): Evolving physics and sounds for ‘The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’ 
 
 ------