firehose

GameMaker Studio Standard Edition — a game development tool that is usually priced at $49 — is free for a limited time.

To take advantage of the freebie, download the free version of GameMaker from the company's website, choose the Beta channel and pick the option to register the Standard Edition. An activation code will then be sent to your email.

GameMaker is available in different tiers. The free studio edition is the most basic version and supports Mac OS, Windows PC and Windows 8 exports. The Standard Edition, which is currently free, supports all of the above and also gives users access to the unlimited resources feature.

The Professional and Master Collection Editions are also available and support additional features like texture management, mobile testing, HTML5 support, iOS export and more. For a limited time, those who have the Standard Edition can upgrade to the Professional Edition for $50. The Master Collection is also on sale until Dec. 3.

The free version of GameMaker can be downloaded here. More information on the offer and how to claim your free copy of GameMaker Studio Standard Edition can be found on the GameMaker Blog. The blog is down at the time of writing, but a cached version of the page can be accessed here.

Fresh from constructing Mega Man toys using Kenner’s classic 3.75″ tall Star Wars figures, action figure customizer Dan Polydoris is back on the scene with a line honoring the Activision games of the Atari Era using classic G.I. Joe figures. That’s right, Polydoris has fashioned the protagonists from Pressure Cooker, Keystone Kapers, Pitfall!, H.E.R.O. and Frostbite into toys from Real American Heroes.

Posted by Polydoris as a birthday present to himself upon turning 33, the custom figures are completed with custom blister packs. Polydoris notes on his site that he took minor liberties with each character’s clothing, but otherwise stuck to their Atari pixel color schemes.

Polydoris has even shared his custom recipes for fellow action figure enthusiasts who might wish to commemorate their favorite Activision Atari games with customs of their own. It’s not too difficult to track down most of these pieces on auction sites, garage sales or brick and mortar stores, but it’ll certainly take some skill to replicate his handiwork.

[Via Chicago Toy Collector]

Even the most talented and prolific cartoonists can hit hard times.

Case in point: Usagi Yojimbo creator Stan Sakai is in need of some financial help after his wife, Sharon, who has suffered from a debilitating illness for quite a while now, had a long stay in the hospital. Sharon’s back home now, but she needs 24-hour in-home care and several costly medications. The Cartoon Art Professional Society, a group of comics creators, has organized an effort to help.

Comic creators who wish to contribute original art to a benefit auction led by CAPS Vice President Tone Rodriguez should fill out this form and send it to the address listed or call 310-365-8457 (the number on the form is incorrect).

The organization is also accepting donations via PayPal at this link, which Sakai fans and supporters can contribute to directly.

In its nearly 30 years of publication, Usagi Yojimbo has been a shining example of an independent comic created and published following a single creator’s vision. Sakai’s influence on decades of creators can’t be understated, and his commitment to Usagi Yojimbo and his other works, such as the soon-to-be-recollected The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy, is unique in any industry.

In the overwhelmingly male comic book industry, it has been a challenge for some editors and readers to see the ever growing number of talented women currently trying to make a name for themselves. With that in mind, ComicsAlliance offers Hire This Woman, a recurring feature designed for comics readers as well as editors and other professionals, where we shine the spotlight on a female comics pro on the ascendance. Some of these women will be at the very beginning of their careers, while others will be more experienced but not yet “household names.”

Today we’re featuring penciller Delicia Williams. Williams is both an artist and a comics scholar, and is currently working on a graphic novel adaptation of author Stephen Graham Jones’ Demon Theory.

ComicsAlliance: Do you work on paper or digitally?  Why?

Delicia Williams: Old school pencils and paper. It’s the way I’ve always drawn, it’s familiar to me…and I’m stubborn. I never made the leap to digital because of the re-training eye factor: shifting focus from hands to monitor. I will eventually figure out some sort of hybrid method, I think because I’d like to add the crispness of inking without fear of smudging (lefty).

CA: What’s your background/training?

DW: The standard art classes in elementary, middle and high school. I read a lot of mythology and fairy tales as a kid (the uncensored, bloody versions) and over the years it seemlessly flowed into collecting comics. Training-wise, I taught myself dynamic anatomy by tracing over Andy Kubert’s work when he was pencilling X-Men in 1993 and once I felt I could take off the training wheels, I started creating my own characters and drawing those. When I attended university as an English major, I fell into drawing comic books again, which caught the eye of my English professor, who helped me get in contact with an author and led me to pursue research into comic book adaptations. *whew*

CA: How would you describe your creative style?

DW: Cartoonish-realism. I like my reality to be rubbery and slightly off, either through character facial features or by playing with the panels that keep the beat. If there is an emotion to cultivate, the first place I draw it is eyes and the spine, and everything else ripples out from there.

I also have a habit of leaving visual hints in drawings that the eye can zip to and piece together in it’s entirety after a read through, or two.

CA: What are you currently working on?

DW: Currently, I am working with author Stephen Graham Jones (Least of My Scars, Ledfeather, The Last Final Girl, Growing Up Dead in Texas, etc.) on a graphic novel adaptation of his 2006 novel Demon Theory.

CA: Approximately how long does it take you to pencil a 20-page issue? 

DW: Depending on the level of detail, I can pencil a page per day.

CA: What is your dream project?

DW: I’m in it now. It seems like adapting novels into graphic novels sets my brain alight. It also helps that Stephen is fun to work with; he’s a pretty twisted writer- in a good way, fast with feedback, and soooo flexible with his novel. Working on Demon Theory has definitely brought out my macabre side. Now, I can draw a mangled corpse, severed limbs and blood splatter — no problem.

My dream project would involve adapting a novel or script using fantastical/grotesque elements. Side note: working on the same project with/occupying the personal bubble space of anyone from list in the next question would also be a dream…

CA: Who are some comic creators that inspire you?

DW: Andy Kubert (he was the first), Chris Bachalo, Amanda Conner, Emily Carroll, Sam Kieth, Gabriel Bá.

CA: What are some comics that have inspired you either growing up or as an adult?

DW: I’ve got long and short boxes filling up my closet, but the comics that, after reading, made me immediately pick up a pencil and try to become better: X-Men #21, Phalanx Covenant event, Age of Apocalypse event, Betty and Veronica (I was so very young), A Contract with God, Courtney Crumrin, The Pro, The Maxx.

CA: What’s your ideal professional environment?

DW: I’d prefer to be around other artists, but that doesn’t happen too often. All I need at the moment is natural light and an angled table, otherwise I’m not picky. Sometimes I work better with music, or without. Sometimes an idea bubbles up, I tuck it away for later and am so grateful to be inspired that by the time pencil hits paper, I couldn’t care less where I am. My poor poor spine.

CA: What do you most want our readers and industry professionals to know about your work?

DW: Comic books and graphic novels have been a part of my life since I was 13. The artists, inkers, and writers of these stories kept me sane through my formative years, and functionally odd for the rest of it. I have no regrets.

I also recently wrote a research presentation for the USC Aiken and Columbia campuses on “Creating Intertextuality with Visual Rhetoric: Adapting a Novel into a Graphic Novel” that won first place, and a gold medal. That’s how much I nerdcrave comics. I am happiest and most sure of my career direction when I can look at a finished, pencilled comic page and everything clicks into place.

CA: How can editors and readers keep up with your work and find your contact information?

DW: I can be contacted through Facebook and Stephen Graham Jones also posts updates about the Demon Theory comic book on his site.

If there is a woman you’d like to recommend or if you’d like to be included in a future installment of this feature, drop us a line at comicsalliance-at-gmail-dot-com with “Hire This Woman” in the subject line.

Microsoft's decision to release Halo 4 last year made it impossible for the company to bring out a new Halo title for the launch of Xbox One, corporate vice president Phil Spencer told Kotaku, explaining the lack of Master Chief in this year's launch window line up.

"A couple of years ago we had the discussion of: 'Should we do Halo at launch and not do Halo 4 last year?'" said Spencer.

"But I was committed to getting Halo 4 done last year, and there was no way we were going to turn around with 343 a full Halo game in a year. So that was the plan we set on. I feel good about that."

In order to create a new title in the series in time for the launch of the new console, Microsoft would have had to begun development in 2010, he added; However, allowing developer 343 Industries to ship their internally developed project first was the priority.

"Unlike some franchises that manage through 1,000 people, Halo is 343 and that team obviously has tight control.They are our Halo team," he explained.

"A discussion around having a Halo game at launch, a true Halo at launch, meaning like a Halo 4 or 5-size game, would have been something we'd have had to start two or three years ago. We had the discussion, and we thought having Halo 4 come out when it came out from 343 and having them really land their first full version of Halo that they developed internally would be great for the 360 customers, great for 343 in shipping something."

Halo 4 launched last year, making $300 million in its first week. A new game in the series is confirmed to be in development for Xbox One.

Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mark Udall (D-CO), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), all members of the US Select Committee on Intelligence, have come out time after time as outspoken voices in the ongoing NSA surveillance scandal. Only last week, the trio expressed their disappointment with the agency's tracking program, and backed an EFF-led lawsuit that aims to put an end to the surveillance. Now, in a New York Times op-ed, the group again called for an end to all indiscriminate collection of the American public's data, stating that the trust lost by the spying program can be rebuilt.

"Only by ending the dragnet collection of ordinary Americans’ private information can this trust be rebuilt."

In the spirited piece, the senators reiterated their contention that the massive collection program known as PRISM in no measurable way benefited national security, stating that its usefulness was "greatly exaggerated." They also take the recently passed FISA bill to task for enabling "some of the most constitutionally questionable surveillance activities now exposed to the public eye," lionizing their own Intelligence Oversight and Surveillance Reform Act. Their bill, which would end bulk surveillance and appoint a "constitutional advocate" to attend FISA meetings to defend privacy, is still in committee.

Senators Wyden, Udall, and Heinrich publish the piece at a time when Congress and administration official are struggling to address the NSA backlash. While Senate passed an "NSA Improvement" bill last month that aimed to limit surveillance activity, it's in fact unable to affect any real legal change. The senators' editorial puts added pressure on legislature to bring about more substantive reform.

Call of Duty: Ghosts' latest patch on Windows PC includes support for Nvidia's PhysX and Apex technologies, the latter of which gives Riley the dog much more realistic fur, reports DSOGaming.

Apex gives Riley, as well as the other canines in Ghosts — wolves and attack dogs — fur that dynamically reacts to everything in the game environment. According to DSOGaming, the fur technology can be used even by players who have AMD graphics cards. However, the PhysX features in Ghosts, which include improved particle effects, are exclusive to Nvidia GPUs. You can see the Apex fur in action in the screenshot above, courtesy of the Guru3D forums.

Ghosts developer Infinity Ward also patched the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions of the game today. The title updates for PS3, PS4 and PC provide performance improvements, crash fixes and solutions for a host of other minor issues. You can check out the full patch notes for all three platforms here.

Foreign airports and train stations can often be confusing places to find your way around. Perhaps with that in mind, Google today launched an interactive map featuring Street Views of over 65 mass transit hubs. The map features some locations you may have already explored, like Emirates' A380 or London's Gatwick Airport, alongside some new sites across Europe, South America, and Asia.

Today's map is described as a first effort to map global transit locations, featuring 16 international airports, more than 50 train and subway stations, museums, and a Hong Kong cable car station. Google plans on adding more transit Street Views as it continues on its quest to map the world.

Careful with your language if you use that "Record Voice" option.

Since the Xbox One launched worldwide last Friday, a growing number of users have taken to forums and message boards complaining about not being able to use Xbox Live services “because of your past behavior,” as the system itself puts it. Many users seemed confused about the specific reasons behind these 24-hour temporary bans, attempting to tie the enforcement back to their use of profanity in the Upload Studio or Skype apps.

Microsoft has clarified to Ars Technica that clips uploaded to Xbox Live through Upload Studio are subject to the same Code of Conduct that governs activity elsewhere on the service, such as when playing in online matches. That means “excessive profanity as well as other Code of Conduct violations will be enforced upon and result in suspension of some or all privileges on Xbox Live,” a Microsoft representative told Ars in a statement. “We take Code of Conduct moderation via Upload Studio very seriously. We want a clean, safe, and fun environment for all users… We remain committed to preserving and promoting a safe, secure, and enjoyable experience for all of our Xbox Live members.”

That’s all well and good, but the precise line where profanity becomes “excessive” seems to be catching many Upload Studio users by surprise, as does the fact that their in-game commentary is subject to any restrictions at all. There also seems to be a bit of a double standard at work in punishing user-provided profanity in clips, but placing no such restrictions on profanity coming from in-game cut scenes that could be part of those same clips. It seems a bit silly that users could be banned for spewing curse words in a voice-over of a curse-laden game like Battlefield 4 (and to be fair, access to these gameplay clips can be blocked with parental controls based on the game’s ESRB rating).