Systems | Development | Analytics | API | Testing

A 3D mesh for an elevator button with millions of triangles was added to a AAA game. No one flagged it. Nothing caught it. By the time anyone noticed the effect on performance, the artist had moved on, the asset was buried under dependencies, and the team was three months from shipping.

Imagine that your studio has spent four years and $100 million developing an ambitious open-world game. Hype is sky-high, presales have already covered production costs, and profitability seems guaranteed on day one.

With thousands of titles competing for a sliver of player attention, the margin for technical error in the modern gaming market has evaporated.

For gaming studios, the traditional manual testing and player beta period remains part of QA, but its limitations in the face of modern gaming’s scale and complexity can threaten a brand’s very existence.

Architectural visualization, or archviz, has shifted rapidly from static 2D renders to immersive 3D experiences that have transformed how architects, designers, and developers communicate their vision. Using this technology, a development team can “walk” clients through hyper-realistic replicas of an office headquarters or residential complex well before ground is ever broken.

In part one of this series, we started developing a simple Flappy Bird clone game using the DragonRuby game development toolkit. We didn't come very far, though — we stopped after integrating player input to keep our plane afloat. In this second and concluding part, we'll implement the remaining simple game mechanics. We'll also take a brief look at interfacing with an HTTP server and publishing our game on itch.io.

The DragonRuby Game Toolkit is a powerful, cross-platform 2D game engine that allows you to create fun game titles while staying in your favorite developer-friendly language. What's not to love? In this post, we are going to cover the basics of game development with DragonRuby. We will use a "Flappy Bird" clone to explain the fundamental concepts. But before we get started, let's address two initial concerns you might have about DragonRuby right off the bat.

In an age of unprecedented video game popularity, the digital realm has emerged as a pivotal centre for entertainment, social engagement, and immersive enjoyment. This trend is reflected on a massive scale, with the global gaming population projected to reach 3.32 billion players worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic further expedited this growth.

Unreal Engine 5 is a cutting-edge game engine with real-time rendering capabilities, an extensive asset marketplace (Fab), and advanced features (such as Nanite and Lumen) that enable teams to create hyper-realistic characters and photorealistic digital environments. Unreal Engine's ability to create immersive stories and experiences has made it valuable to a wide range of industries—including gaming, media and entertainment, architecture, automotive design, and more.

Last week, industry leaders gathered at the Game Technology Summit during GDC 2025 to explore emerging trends and challenges in game development. The panel discussion, moderated by Jase Lindgren (Sr. Solutions Engineer and P4 Evangelist, Perforce), featured insights from Colin Walder (Engineering Director, CD PROJEKT RED), Joshua Orellana (Head of Animation and Games, Halon Entertainment), and Matt Ellis (Game Dev Advocate, JetBrains).