Lossless Scaling
This piece of software is an absolute godsend. I love it and love whoever made it.
I game and work on the same computer. For work, I have a 4k monitor, which is great because it gives me tons of desktop space for all of the different windows I need. For gaming though, the 4k monitor is a real detriment: my video card (a gtx 1060) is pretty capable at 1080P but rendering at 4k (4x the number of pixels), more modern games have to be put on the lowest possible settings in order to run, if they can be run at all. I could could run a game in 1080P, sure, but in order to have it fill my 4k screen it would need to be upscaled, which made everything look blurry and not that great. The thing that frustrated me the most about this though was that, in theory, I should be able to game at 1080p on my 4k monitor without needing to upscale at all. Since 4k is exactly 4x the resolution of 1080p, the display should be able to just quadruple each pixel, making each 1080p pixel correspond with a box of 4 pixels on the 4k screen, effectively making the 4k monitor output a native 1080p image. The algorithm is extremely basic, almost nothing, so you’d think this would be an easy feat. However, in what I’m sure is an effort to force the obsolescence of older video cards by their manufacturers, this simple task was not supported by either of the major gpu manufacturer’s drivers (nvidia has recently added this feature to their new RTX gpus, but the feature is still not available in any of their older cards, nor the gtx 16xx series). I spent literal years googling and keeping track of forum threads, waiting for a solution to arrive.
– Real player with 2009.7 hrs in game
“Lossless Scaling” is a brilliant utility that enables essential functionality that we should be able to expect from the Nvidia and AMD GPU drivers (but presently cannot): the ability to upscale our games to modern displays without lossy, blurry degradation. This is the missing option from your GPU driver control panel.
If you understand what this tool does, you probably already realise it’s great – at this price, just grab it, have fun, and thank the developer for making this available.
For everyone else, here’s a little more information. I see two main usage examples for this utility: 1.) playing contemporary 720p or 1080p games on your new 4k Display and 2.) playing classic/old/emulated games on your modern display (1080p, 1440p, and/or 4k). Both of these case uses apply to me. Like many of you, I have a shiny new 4k monitor for my all-purpose primary work & gaming display, but my PC is a few years old and sporting a mid-range GTX 1060 gpu. Not all games upscale well above the resolution they were originally designed to support (commonly 1080p), and not all systems are powerful enough to render your games at full, native 4k resolution - and “Lossless Scaling” is a utility to help you out here.
– Real player with 72.1 hrs in game
Quixer
I’ve used this for precisley 27 seconds and realized it’s one of the greatest things ever… In fact: Steam is literally telling me “You need to have used this product for at least 5 minutes before posting a review for it (1 minutes on record)”
Given the fact that I’m on the computer a lot - web apps, windows apps, discord, youtube, vlc… All of these things together become a nightmare to equalize their levels on the fly, and windows is of little help. When I simply held ctrl then adjusted volume for the app I was in… Game changer.
– Real player with 607.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Utilities Indie Games.
On launch Quixer added that functionality that windows should have offered allowing the user to set up hotkey to increase, decrease, or mute the volume of the currently open program.
Since then (in less then a month) the regular updates have changed this from a simple (and great looking) fix of missing windows functionality, into a legitimately powerful tool for controlling audio.
– Real player with 347.3 hrs in game
VoiceAttack
This is a steal and the feature list is “What Doesn’t It Do?”
Aside from making custom voice commands quickly and making or downloading a Star Trek-style fake AI for spaceship games, this darn thing comes with a full C### editor and compiler so you can program it to do ANYTHING.
The UI is mouse-driven menu-based visual coding of programs or macros that can be triggered by any combination of voice, mouse, keyboard or controller inputs… including combos to get many many commands from few keys…
– Real player with 3461.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Utilities Flight Games.
This….is…the best software….I have ever owned.
Seriously.
I use this primarily for Elite Dangerous, and with a little work have created a semi-sentient AI which talks to me and I can talk back to. However, it can be used for ANY program on your computer, and you can create multiple profiles that you can switch to as you switch programs.
You can try a free trial for 21 days (so at least try it out), but it took me all of an hour to buy this amazing gem. Knowing what I know now, I’d pay $30 and be happy, as this keeps having updates added to it and expanded. The functionality is solid, I’ve had no bugs, even with using some of the “Advanced” features.
– Real player with 630.1 hrs in game
3DMark
GET STUFFED. You removed the old achievements just because “they are excessively difficult to earn or near impossible to unlock with modern hardware” ?? What stupid logic! Who said everything should be easy? I’ve spent thousands of dollars assembling my computer and nearly a hundred hours unlocking the achievements! You never consider the feelings of those of us who have paid so much for them, do you?
BTW, according to one developer, you wanted to make new users feel “fair”. I wonder if there is such a thing as 100% fair on earth? Is your decision fair to previous users? The new achievement called “Lightspeed” requires users to have at least the performance of an RTX 3070. Is that fair to users who don’t have a high-performance RTX GPU?? Moreover, what about “Integration Nation”? Is that fair to people using AMD Ryzen processors or HEDTs?
– Real player with 416.9 hrs in game
The standard for bench marking. Period. If you want real results of what your rig can handle then spend the money to get a clear and definitive explanation of what your system can do.
The only thing that I feel is lacking is perhaps feedback on how to improve your score. As you can see I have almost an entire workweek of hours put into this because I would tweak a setting, run the bench, compare it to my previous bench, then adjust it again.
Something along the lines of “hey your GPU runs really good at 900Mhz, going any father will decrease your score” would be very helpful instead of comparing and trying to figure out why the first run was 5738 and the second one was 5724. It can become quite maddening. Then when you feel you’ve OC stable, onto the next test!~ Damn you firestrike I did so well with Timespy why you hate me so?
– Real player with 46.7 hrs in game
Dynamic Dungeons Editor
For those who don’t know, this is a complete re-do of the old Dynamic Dungeon Editor which had a some what dated feel to it.
The new DDE is built with Unity and has a much better feel to it.
If you play table top role playing games on a TV, monitor, or projector setup with people physically in the room with you (not playing remotely) this is the best software currently out.
It has a small learning curve in my opinion, but honestly anyone can use the basic features: load a map (animated or static) and start playing Dungeons & Dragons or whatever RPG your heart desires.
– Real player with 142.4 hrs in game
I originally purchased Dynamic Dungeons through Patreon and it has been a game changer for our DnD games. The ability to use a quick change map, pre-build the campaign, download or create custom props and then reveal it all slowly with fog of war is just amazing. Add to that the options for particle effects, motion background and immersive environmental sounds and you have a classy set up for your DnD gaming sessions.
I do all my creation on my robust PC and then copy the campaign over to the laptop for the session itself. We set up a 40" LCD TV on a pool table with Plexiglass on top to set out miniatures on. The players move their minis and I control NPCs, fog of war and other features from my laptop for them to view on the screen.
– Real player with 72.0 hrs in game
HANDMADE CARPROGRAM
Develop software with fun, game-like programming.
With this application, there’s no need for you to know any technical terms.
You’ll set up things like houses and tools, without using hardly any words, just like a simulation game.
This becomes an act of programming, and as a result, you’ll be able to develop software.
“Programs are toys.”
You may wonder what it means to think like a program.
Some people might even see the word in English and scream “Ahhhh! English!!! Run awaaay!!”
In that case, why not think of it as “playing with building blocks (programing)” instead?
The block structure you make runs as software. The only resource you need is this application.
I’ll say it once more.
“Programs are toys.”
Now’s your chance to assemble some toys.
This isn’t simply a program (toy).
This isn’t simply a game.
Through this toy (game), you can develop software.
Once you’ve developed something, you can use the attached CARPEXECUTABLE.exe (HANDMADE CARPEXECUTABLE)
(It is in the [C:\Program Files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\HANDMADE CARPROGRAM\CARPROGRAM] folder) to execute your creation, and even distribute it to others.
(“Sample” is in it.)
(Icon is able to be changed too)
Create games and software of your own imagining by thinking outside the box, and then release them out into the world.
Note: CARPEXECUTABLE.exe (HANDMADE CARPEXECUTABLE) that comes as part of these files is able to be redistributed on its own. Icon changes are also possible.
You can also make image files of your creations and show them to others to receive praise.
You’re welcome to use this product for videos and livestreams!!
(Though I’m sorry to ask it, please do so responsibly.)
Manual Videos: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFj80BqaOoBFl7k-e8KtAj3Tio9t2AAYr
GameGuru
Gameguru is a rough-around-the edges, cheap, underpowered game engine. It is a spiritual successor to TGC’s previos successful endeavor: FPS Creator. FPS creator was a dream come true for wanna-be mappers and newbie game designers wanting to create their own simple little first person experiences. It worked well enough for what it was, had a super active community, and lots of mods, an easy-to-learn custom scripting language, and many successful games were made with it.
FPS Creator reloaded promised to be the upgrade everyone wanted from FPS Creator. It was gonna feature all next gen graphical features, a bigger map editor, and in general more freedom and ability. This was proposed on kickstarter where it didn’t meet it’s exorbitant asking donation, so it later was rebranded and came out as GameGuru.
– Real player with 650.3 hrs in game
Yeah, okay, GameGuru doesn’t have the best graphics around, but they have a specific look to it, so there’s that. Making the graphics look as good as UE4 and Unity however, is practically impossible. But that’s not my point, my point is GameGuru’s graphics are good enough for making games for the hecc of it.
The engine is editable to certain extents, but not really enough for hardcore coders and developers. Again, this is an engine made more for the fun of it. Making some nice $$$ is possible, but not too easy.
– Real player with 387.7 hrs in game
MOENTO - Modular Environment Toolkit
Let me start by saying that this is one of my favorite games at the moment.
I think we all have times when we just don’t know what to play, or you just want to relax and not play CS:GO against spinbotter… This is the game that fills this gap.
I randomly saw this game and instantly fell in love with the assets.
In the beginning it was a little hard to get an overview of all the buttons, but they were all pretty self understanding. After I played a little around I started working on a house. And let me tell… it is SO SATISFYING to do build anything in this game… the animations are on spot 3 I posted it on the Discord of bblessed Gamestudios and the Developer loved it… so sweet.
– Real player with 32.1 hrs in game
This is really, really awesome. Once you get used to the controls and how to work things, you can throw together pretty much anything. I give this game a 10/10
– Real player with 17.7 hrs in game
Piecewise: build chat bots with blocks
Despite being a solo dev, the developer of this software really knows what their fans want. On Friday, I had burned my hand with flaming oil and stayed eight straight hours in a neglectful “healthcare” facility that took eight hours to bandage my recently singed flesh. This left me with very limited use of my left hand, thus rendering me unable to make a chat bot by coding as it requires two hands to type. But with Piecewise, I can drag blocks onto blocks with just my mouse. This hero of a developer kept their clientele in mind, and made it so this software could easily be used with one hand. Obviously this was designed for people with limited mobility such as myself, as I cannot think of any other reason why this software should be used with one hand. These design choices lead me to believe that there is still hope left for humanity, 10/10.
– Real player with 58.5 hrs in game
Documentation is good for novices.
Product works well, no real bugs thus far.
Would recommend
– Real player with 8.6 hrs in game
SpellCaster
I’ve tested it with some games and other applications. The tool is easy to use and easy to adapt to the different applications. The recordings work quickly and properly.
For me, it makes the gaming experience even more real.
– Real player with 137.4 hrs in game
Clearly an innovation!
I am using this app for a while now and I have to say, this is the best voice app I ever used.
Yes, it is not the cheapest one, but it’s worth it.
The developer releases constant updates and listens to the wishes of the community.
Finally an App which is not using any preprogrammed words.
I like that I can use my own words.
After recording I have simply connected the words/commands with multiple keyboard buttons and that’s it! I was ready to play within 5Minutes, without writing skripts.
– Real player with 101.7 hrs in game