Huginn Daily

Thursday, June 4, 2026

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• Cyprus congratulates five countries on election to UN Security Council

  The foreign ministry on Wednesday congratulated Austria, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe on their election as non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

  In a post on X, the ministry wished the five countries success during their term on the UN body responsible for maintaining international peace and security.

  “Congratulations to Austria, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe on their election as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. Every success in their work,” the ministry said.

• Cleanthous Foundation funds art psychotherapy programme for adolescents

  The Cleanthous Foundation is funding a series of art psychotherapy sessions for adolescents receiving treatment at the adolescent inpatient unit (Tene) of Archbishop Makarios III Hospital, aiming to support young people’s mental health and wellbeing through creative expression.

  The programme is being delivered by two specialised art therapists and offers hospitalised teenagers an alternative way to communicate and process their experiences through art, colour and creativity. According to the foundation, the sessions provide a space for self-expression, connection and creative engagement during what can be a challenging period of treatment.

  The initiative is intended to benefit not only the adolescents participating in the programme but also their families, highlighting the importance of a holistic approach to mental healthcare. The foundation said supporting projects that promote the health and wellbeing of children and young people remains one of its key priorities.

  Through initiatives such as this, the foundation said it aims to provide meaningful support to children and families facing difficult circumstances while helping strengthen mental health services for young people in Cyprus.

• Dangerous road collision hotspots identified by police

  Forty-eight locations have been identified across Cyprus with a high number of fatal, serious and other road collisions and are increasing surveillance and enforcement measures to improve road safety, police said on Wednesday.

  Police said the locations were mapped as part of ongoing efforts to analyse collision data and implement targeted measures aimed at reducing road accidents.

  The classification of each site as a high-risk area was based on the number of road collisions recorded annually.

  Analysis of data covering the period from 2023 to 2025 revealed 48 collision hotspots across the island.

  19 are in Nicosia district, 14 in Larnaca, eight in Limassol, five in Paphos and two in Famagusta.

  Police said increased patrols and monitoring will be carried out at the identified locations to reduce risks and improve compliance with traffic regulations.

  All relevant government departments and services have been informed of the findings so that any necessary interventions or infrastructure improvements can also be considered, authorities added.

  Police urged drivers to remain vigilant, obey traffic laws and exercise personal responsibility to help improve safety for all road users.

  Nicosia district (19)

  • 28th October Avenue between Asomatou and Paleon Patron Germanou streets
  • Stassandrou–Pindarou–Androkleous junction
  • Limassol Avenue, Aglantzia
  • Salaminos, Stasinou, Archbishop Makarios II and Eugenias & Antoniou Theodotou avenues junction
  • Athalassa Avenue and Petrou Eliade Street junction
  • Museum, Lord Byron and Nehrou avenues junction
  • Metochion, Agios Prokopios and Delphin streets junction
  • Larnacos Avenue and Digeni Akrita Avenue junction
  • John Kennedy Avenue between Ormeniou and Zappeiou streets, Palouriotissa
  • Athalassa Avenue between Souliou and 28th October streets
  • Limassol–Megalou Alexandrou roundabout, Latsia
  • Iroon Avenue, Engomi
  • Vasileos Pavlou, Griva Digeni and 25th March avenues junction
  • Eugenias & Antoniou Theodotou avenues and Pindarou & Roikou streets junction
  • Larnacos Avenue with Katharis and Nikou Georgiou streets
  • Pouliou Kapota Avenue and Aigaios Street junction
  • John Kennedy, Markou Drakou and Digeni Akrita avenues junction
  • RIK and Limassol avenues junction
  • Spyros Kyprianou, Iosif Hadjiiosif and Dimitriou Vikelas avenues junction

  Limassol district (8)

  • Franklin Roosevelt, Demokratias and Alexandria avenues junction
  • Vasileos Georgiou Avenue and Stymfalidon Street junction
  • Vasileos Georgiou Avenue and Panagiotis Tsangari Street junction
  • A6 motorway near Erimi
  • Spyros Kyprianou and Omonia avenues junction
  • Archbishop Makarios III Avenue and Agias Zoni Street junction
  • Archbishop Makarios III Avenue and Ioannis Polemis Street junction
  • Trion Ierarchon and Piraeus streets junction

  Larnaca district (14)

  • Grigoris Afxentiou, Archbishop Makarios III and Athens avenues junction
  • Spyros Kyprianou Avenue with Alexandrou Panagouli and Platres streets
  • Vasos Lyssaridis, Faneromenis, Nikos and Despinas Pattihi avenues roundabout
  • Archbishop Makarios III, Grigoris Afxentiou and Athens avenues with Vasileos Pavlos Square
  • A5 motorway near Kofinou exit
  • Kotza Tepe, Umm Haram and Touzhane streets junction
  • Venetian Tower Street and road to Faros, Pervolia
  • Paidias and Christofi Eleftheriou streets junction, Oroklini
  • Papanikoli Avenue and Vasiliou Avgerinou Street junction
  • Artemis Avenue, Stadiou, Leonidas Kioupi and Louki Pieridi streets roundabout
  • Kalo Chorio roundabout
  • Mazotos–Alaminos road between the 3rd and 4th kilometre
  • Famagusta Avenue roundabout, Livadia
  • Konstantinou Kalogera Street

  Paphos district (5)

  • Europe, Giannos Kranidiotis and Egnatia avenues junction
  • Agapinoros and Pandoras streets junction
  • Apostolou Pavlou, Gladstonos and Nikodimos Mylonas streets junction
  • Ampelokipon, Kefallinias and Autokratoros Theofilou streets junction
  • Empa, Christos Kkelis and Dimitraki Adamou avenues junction

  Famagusta district (2)

  • Stadiou Street, Ayia Napa, between Monopetra and Almyrou Nerou streets
  • Sotira–Liopetri road between the 2nd and 3rd kilometre
• EU launches OceanEye initiative as US scales back ocean monitoring programmes

  The European Commission on Wednesday unveiled OceanEye, a new initiative aimed at strengthening Europe’s role in global ocean monitoring, with Fisheries and Oceans Commissioner Costas Kadis saying the announcement comes at a crucial moment as the United States retreats from key international scientific programmes.

  Speaking at the launch, Kadis referred to what he described as “extremely worrying signals from across the Atlantic regarding the dismantling of ocean observation systems”, adding that in the current circumstances, “for the EU to become a leader in ocean observation is not an objective in itself, but a necessity”.

  According to reports, the US administration is moving to shut down the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a deep-sea monitoring network valued at around €320 million that has served as a major source of global climate data over the past decade.

  “The OceanEye initiative could not have been announced at a better time,” Kadis said. “We see that the US administration is no longer placing emphasis on these activities. As a result, there is a gap, and we will try to cover part of that gap through this initiative.”

  He added that efforts to build international backing would begin immediately.

  “Starting tomorrow, we will begin our efforts to attract support from third countries, like-minded nations, international organisations and philanthropies in order to support the international alliance we are creating,” he said.

  “By covering at least part of the gap that will be created by the US approach, I believe the ocean becomes even more valuable in the current geopolitical context.”

  Kadis also criticised Washington’s decision to scale back ocean monitoring programmes.

  “I read the article yesterday and I truly regret this decision,” he said, noting that the network’s annual budget of €48 million was small compared with the value of the data it generated. He described the move as part of a broader withdrawal by the United States from international scientific cooperation.

  Research Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva said she viewed the development not only as a challenge but also as “a huge opportunity for the European Union to lead”, arguing that Europe “can lead in technology” and help create companies worth trillions of euros.

  She also stressed the strategic importance of ocean monitoring.

  “The ocean is certainly an environmental and economic asset, but it is also a security asset,” she said.

  Zaharieva announced that new technologies developed under the initiative would incorporate “dual-use and security-by-design principles” from the outset, aimed at protecting critical infrastructure from sabotage and foreign interference.

  “We want to make our continent the world’s leading power in secure and responsible ocean intelligence solutions,” she said.

  She added that the ocean monitoring market is currently valued at between €10 billion and €20 billion, growing by between five and 10 per cent annually, while supporting a broader business ecosystem worth up to €90 billion.

  “Every euro invested in ocean monitoring systems generates a return of between five and six euros in economic and social benefits,” she said.

  OceanEye forms part of the EU’s 2025 Oceans Pact and is structured around four pillars. These include stronger governance through a future Oceans Act expected by the end of 2026, global leadership through an international alliance supporting the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), the development of a fully operational digital twin of the ocean by 2030, and initiatives to strengthen public engagement and skills through a New European Bauhaus laboratory for ocean, coastal and island communities.

  The Commission has committed €92 million through Horizon Europe to support the initiative, including €50 million for GOOS, €12 million for data systems and €30 million for innovation through the European Innovation Council. Member states, partner countries and private organisations are also being invited to contribute additional funding and monitoring infrastructure.

• RescEU firefighting aircraft already stationed in Cyprus ahead of fire season

  Two RescEU firefighting aircraft have already been deployed to Cyprus’ European Regional Firefighting Hub, which is expected to be officially inaugurated later this year, a European Commission official said on Wednesday.

  Speaking at the House of the European Union in Nicosia, European Commission Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) communications chief Zacharias Giakoumis said the aircraft would be operational from June 15 until October 31 as part of the EU’s preparations for the 2026 wildfire season.

  Giakoumis said the Commission’s firefighting readiness plan for this year includes 27 aerial assets – 22 aircraft and five helicopters – as well as 787 firefighters from 14 countries who will be pre-positioned across six countries. For the first time, European firefighters will also be pre-deployed to Cyprus, with 15 expected to arrive during the first half of the summer season.

  He added that the regional hub in Cyprus will eventually host six aircraft of the same type, one of which will be dedicated to training. Further details on staffing and equipment are expected to be announced during the inauguration ceremony, the date of which is currently being discussed between the European Commission and President Nikos Christodoulides.

  According to Giakoumis, the centre will serve a wider regional role, including cooperation with non-EU countries and the development of operational capabilities through joint exercises and other activities.

  The RescEU aerial fleet will be available for deployment through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism between June 15 and October 31. The European Commission covers the full cost of stationing the aircraft, including personnel expenses, as well as transport costs when assistance is requested.

  Giakoumis noted that Cyprus has activated the Civil Protection Mechanism 12 times since 2001, including seven times for wildfires between 2016 and 2025. Over the same period, Cyprus has also provided assistance to other countries through the mechanism on 15 occasions.

  Looking ahead to this year’s fire season, he said conditions across Europe up to the end of April were close to the 20-year average. However, forecasts for the Mediterranean and southern Europe point to above-average temperatures during July, August and September, increasing the risk of severe wildfires.

• Cyprus ready to enhance cooperation with Kazakhstan

  Cyprus stands ready to strengthen cooperation with Kazakhstan, particularly in business, connectivity, energy, investments and tourism, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday.

  Christodoulides also attended the official inauguration of the Cyprus embassy in Astana, in a move described as a milestone in strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.

  Christodoulides, who is on an official visit in Astana, held a private meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and signed a number of memoranda of understanding (MoU) in “important fields”, including in higher education, scientific research, culture, sports, innovation, digital governance and information technologies.

  These agreements, he said, were not simply technical arrangements, but “tangible proof of our shared ambition to transform the great potential of our bilateral relations into a more structured and substantive framework of cooperation”.

  Christodoulides said it was “a true pleasure, as well as a distinct honour to be in Kazakhstan today – a distinct honour because I have the privilege of being the first ever president of the Republic of Cyprus to visit Kazakhstan”.

  Tokayev reaffirmed the mutual will to enhance cooperation and supported constructive diplomacy and stability through dialogue.

  The Kazakhstani president decorated Christodoulides with the medal of the order of friendship for promoting international cohesion, coexistence and cooperation among nations.

  He furthermore said he had invited Cyprus to participate in the TransGas project concerning, as the island was considered an international shipping centre.

  Tokayev pointed out that over 400 companies with Cypriot capital were operating in Kazakhstan.

  “In our discussions today with the president, we confirmed our strong political will to further strengthen relations between Cyprus and Kazakhstan. Relations that continue to grow stronger – politically, economically and strategically,” Christodoulides said.

  He added that they “also underlined the importance of maintaining regular exchanges at all levels, because sustained political dialogue is essential to building trust and delivering tangible results”.

  The two presidents also discussed the “significant opportunities” that exist in the fields of trade, investment and economic cooperation where Cyprus and Kazakhstan possess “complementary advantages that can bring our peoples and economies even closer together”.

  “Kazakhstan continues to strengthen its role as a major economic and transport hub in Central Asia, and Cyprus, as a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone, offers stability, predictability and a fully EU-aligned business environment – a reliable gateway to Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean,” Christodoulides pointed out.

  He explained that this was the reason the two presidents “also explored opportunities for enhanced cooperation in areas such as financial services, shipping, ICT, FinTech, logistics and renewable energy, as well as closer cooperation with the Astana International Financial Centre – an important platform for investment and business synergies”.

  “And when speaking about synergies, I would be remiss not to highlight the launch of direct air connectivity linking Larnaca with Astana and Almaty. This is a substantial development in our efforts to bring our people closer together and to open new avenues for tourism, trade and broader business cooperation. And I am very pleased that yesterday, my delegation and I arrived in Astana with the inaugural direct flight from Larnaca,” he added.

  They also discussed the important step they took in establishing resident embassies in Astana and Nicosia in 2025.

  Speaking at the official inauguration of the Cyprus embassy in Astana Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus and Kazakhstan had coordinated the simultaneous opening of diplomatic missions in Nicosia and Astana, demonstrating their shared commitment to deepening cooperation.

  He added that the presidents of both countries had provided clear political direction for advancing bilateral relations and described the opening of the embassy as the beginning of a more ambitious and forward-looking partnership. The ceremony was also addressed by Cyprus’ ambassador to Kazakhstan, Petros Nakouzis, and Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Cyprus, Nikolay Zhumakanov.

• Gesy marks seven years of operation

  Gesy on Wednesday celebrated its seventh birthday, with officials focusing on the numbers that the national health scheme has helped.

  Notable developments during the seventh year include a new reimbursement procedure for cross-border healthcare and coverage for physiotherapy services.

  “The system is now maturing and stabilising,” said Ifigenia Kammitsi, the director general of the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO).

  The system now has over 1 million official beneficiaries and developments include a new registry of patients with multiple sclerosis and new clinical guidelines for hypertension and osteoarthritis.

  During the period from June 2025 to May 2026, a total of 839,955 people visited their personal doctors. Additionally, 676,458 people visited specialist doctors, 541,456 people underwent laboratory tests, and 335,380 people used radiology and diagnostic centre services.

  The HIO conducted 850,000 audits of compensation claims, up from roughly half a million last year. Problematic claims totalling €19 million were identified and recovered.

  An actuarial study conducted by the International Labour Organisation projected Gesy’s finances will be sustainable until at least 2033, which is one year more than projected last year.       

• Akel backs Stefanos Stefanou for House presidency

  Akel’s central committee on Wednesday unanimously endorsed party secretary-general Stefanos Stefanou as its candidate for the presidency of the House of Representatives.

  The decision was taken during a plenary session of the committee, which met to discuss the upcoming election for a new House president.

  According to an announcement by the party, members were briefed on contacts and initiatives undertaken by the leadership in recent weeks, as well as discussions held at political bureau level. The committee approved the party’s handling of the issue to date.

  Akel reiterated that, as a matter of principle, it would not engage in dialogue or maintain contacts with the far right, while ruling out any cooperation with Disy.

  In a statement, the committee said Stefanou possesses the political and parliamentary experience, seriousness and democratic outlook required for the position.

  It added that his candidacy has already secured the backing of two parliamentary parties, Akel and Alma.

  The central committee instructed the political bureau to continue consultations with other parties, formally promoting Stefanou’s candidacy and exploring the possibility of broadening support for his bid. It was also decided that Giorgos Loucaides will continue in his role as the party’s parliamentary spokesman.

  The political bureau was also authorised to assess developments and make final decisions regarding the stance of Akel’s parliamentary group during the vote in the House.

  The party said it remained committed to representing the interests of the Left, progressive forces and society at large, following what it described as the momentum generated by its electoral success on May 24.

  Akel pledged to continue working towards what it called democratic and progressive change, while seeking to build a majority capable of delivering a progressive government in 2028.

• Prosecutions ‘not a given’ as Videogate report heads to AG’s office

  The criminal investigation into the Videogate affair is entering its final stage, with independent criminal investigator Andreas Paschalides expected to submit his findings to attorney-general George Savvides on June 16, while legal experts stress that any decision on criminal proceedings will ultimately rest with the legal service.

  Speaking on Wednesday, lawyer Simos Angelides said public discussion surrounding the anticipated findings should not assume that prosecutions will automatically follow, even if the investigator identifies evidence of criminal offences.

  “It is not a given or automatic that if a finding is made by the criminal investigator that there is indeed evidence of some criminal offences, that a case will proceed,” Angelides said.

  He explained that the legal service would be required to undertake its own independent assessment of the evidence and determine whether any offences are sufficiently established to justify further action.

  Angelides also argued that the findings should be made public once the process is completed, stating that transparency would allow the public to assess both the investigator’s conclusions and any subsequent decisions taken by prosecutors.

  The report will conclude a month’s long investigation launched after the publication of a video in January which appeared to show conversations involving former chief of staff, and Christodoulides’ brother-in-law, Charalambos Charalambous, former energy minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis and Cyfield chief executive Giorgos Chrysochos concerning ‘pay-to-play’ patronage of donors, campaign financing and a €150 million investment linked to the Vasiliko power plant.

  Charalambous resigned from his position, while First Lady Philippa Karsera stepped down as chair of the now disbanded Social Support Agency after references to the organisation appeared in the published material.

  From the outset, the president rejected the allegations and described the video as “a product of fabrication, distortion and a hybrid attack”.

  Those appearing in the footage similarly maintained that the material had been selectively edited and presented out of context.

  The Israeli private intelligence company Black Cube publicly confirmed that it was behind the operation which produced the recordings.

  The company stated that it was “proud to have uncovered corruption carried out by Cyfield in Cyprus” and confirmed that it had cooperated with Cypriot authorities during the investigation.

  The criminal inquiry subsequently expanded to include examination of the origins of the recordings, the circumstances surrounding their publication and the authenticity of the material circulated online.

  Authorities secured the complete archive, comprising approximately 30 hours of recordings, for forensic and evidential examination.

  Paschalides has declined to discuss the substance of the investigation while it remains active.

  “It is a case that is under investigation. The legal issues that are raised are very delicate,” he remarked.

  According to Angelides, the scope of the inquiry extends beyond the recordings themselves and encompasses potential offences including corruption, influencing public officials, bribery, abuse of power and possible money laundering.

  “We should also see what the reason was Black Cube itself was hired to make this video, what was the exchange, what was the goal,” he said.

• Trozena: EOA Limassol to inspect development for compliance

  Officials from the Limassol district local government organisation (EOA Limassol) are expected to visit Trozena within the coming days to determine whether the investor has complied with instructions to halt works in areas where irregularities were identified, EOA president Yiannis Tsouloftas said on Wednesday.

  The inspection follows concerns surrounding a large-scale development in the environmentally sensitive Trozena settlement, which falls within the Natura 2000 protected network. Uriel Kertsz, the investor behind it told the Cyprus Mail that he discovered Trozena by accident and through curiosity, “I was driving down the small roads. I saw the place and fell in love.”

  Tsouloftas said an inspection carried out by the organisation had revealed a number of works being undertaken without the required planning permits.

  “On May 25, 2026, EOA sent a letter calling for the suspension of all works requiring a building permit,” he said.

  He added that a deadline had been given for compliance and that officials would return to the area shortly afterwards to verify whether the instructions had been followed.

  At the same time, and with the agreement of the Environment Department, the organisation has requested that the project’s architects submit a comprehensive master plan outlining the entire development.

  “The aim is for the full development to be presented and examined by the two competent authorities as a whole for approval,” Tsouloftas said.

  He added that, once the master plan is submitted and assessed, all individual applications related to the project will be examined on the basis of that overall framework.

  This abandoned village has in recent weeks become the centre of a multifaceted debate touching on foreign investment, environmental protection, public access and national identity. The project under scrutiny is not just a minor renovation as planning documents show a substantial redevelopment: 64 rooms, 16 restored structures, with capacity for 132 visitors. There are plans for a winery, a large restaurant, wellness facilities, reception areas, glamping infrastructure, and vineyards: a holistic wellness retreat.

• Limassol mayor defends cycle lanes, blames public works for design issues

  Limassol’s mayor Yiannis Armeftis acknowledged that the city’s new cycle lanes may look “unsightly” but are essential for promoting alternative transport.

  He stated that the municipality will address issues and suggest improvements.

  The project, overseen by the department of public works, follows a sustainable urban mobility plan approved by both past and current councils.

  This addresses residents’ complaints about the protective barriers along cycle lanes on streets such as Thekla Lysiotis, Emmanouel Roidis, Nikos Pattihis and near the court, where concerns about aesthetics and road impact have been noted.

  Armeftis said the aim of the project is to promote safer cycling and reduce reliance on private cars.

  “The city’s traffic problem cannot be solved when 90 per cent of the people travel in private cars,” he said.

  He added that the protective barriers, often described as “pasalakia”, were installed to ensure cyclist safety, even if they affect the visual character of the streets.

  However, he acknowledged public concern over aesthetics.

  “There is certainly an issue of unattractiveness,” he said, adding that the municipality would assess how the infrastructure could be improved or adjusted.

  “We will see how this can be made more attractive and, if there are excesses, we will try to change them or even remove them where necessary,” he said.

  He stressed that once the department of public works completes its interventions, the municipality will evaluate the situation on the ground and implement corrective measures.

  These could include widening pavements, adjusting street layouts, or creating short-term parking spaces to ease pressure on local businesses.

  “We listen to the public, we take their concerns into account, and we are here to help shopkeepers,” he said, adding that transition projects inevitably come with difficulties.

  Armeftis stated that the cycle lane network should be part of a wider mobility strategy, which includes planned one-way systems and pedestrianisation south of Makarios avenue.

  He claimed some critics politicise the issue, with reactions often coming from groups resistant to changes in the city centre, unfairly targeting municipal leadership.

  Despite the criticism, he said, the municipality remains committed to delivering practical solutions.

  He said 23 proposals have already been submitted to the authorities, with additional plans under preparation for wider improvements to the road network.

  “Our goal is not theory but solutions,” he said, adding that traffic congestion in Limassol requires structured planning and coordinated action with state authorities.

• ‘Lenient’ drug sentence upheld for 26-year-old

  A 26-year-old man sentenced to 14 years in prison for possession of over 32kg of cannabis saw his appeal rejected on May 29, with the appeals court pointing out that the sentence was not excessive but actually quite lenient given the quantity of drugs and the role the appellant played in the case.

  It was made public on Wednesday that the appeals court dismissed all three arguments in the appeal and upheld the initial sentence passed by the Limassol criminal court in full.

  The case concerned two individuals who admitted to conspiracy to commit a crime, illegal possession of cannabis and drug trafficking. All offences had been committed in early 2023 in Limassol and had been uncovered during a police drug squad operation.

  The police had found 25.8kg of cannabis and 6.46kg of cannabis resin.

  Both defendants had been sentenced to 14 years in prison each.

  The appellant, who was the second defendant in the case, presented three main reasons to appeal. He said the criminal court had not taken into account that the drugs had been found in the first defendant’s flat and storage facility, that it had not considered his young age and that 14 years was an excessive sentence.

  However, the appeals court deemed that the conclusions of the court of first instance were fully justified and that both defendants had played a significant role towards personal gain.

  It also said the appellant was well aware of the nature and scale of the illegal activity.

  As regards his young age, the appeals court said it had already been taken into account by the criminal court, along with the necessity of imposing strict penalties as a deterrent due to the “disastrous consequences” of such behaviour.

  “The wretchedness of the victims, as well as the loss of lives, mainly of young people, requires the drastic intervention and participation of the judiciary in the universal effort to curb the modern scourge of drugs,” the appeals court said.

• Four jailed in Limassol human trafficking case

  The Limassol criminal court sentenced two 34-year-olds to five years in prison on Wednesday after finding them guilty of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

  Two other defendants, aged 29 and 50, received prison terms of 18 months and nine months respectively.

  Police said the offences were committed between August 2022 and May 2023.

  The case came to light following information received by the office for combating human trafficking, which identified a 24-year-old victim of sexual exploitation.

  According to the court’s findings, the offences formed part of an organised trafficking network operating across both government-controlled areas and the north, with investigators identifying a syndicate involving around 200 members.

  The court treated the organised nature of the operation as an aggravating factor when determining sentence.

  The two women admitted charges including sexual exploitation of an adult, exploitation of a sex worker, money laundering and operating a brothel.

  One of the women also admitted withholding personal documents, while the other admitted theft and common assault.

  The younger male defendant admitted to participating in the sexual exploitation of the victim, while the older male defendant also admitted to exploiting a sex worker.

  The court heard that one of the principal defendants arranged the victim’s travel to Cyprus, secured her passport and flight arrangements and provided instructions before her arrival.

  Upon meeting the victim, she confiscated her passport and later arranged photographs and videos used to advertise sexual services online.

  The court found that she acted as the victim’s ‘madame’, controlling her appointments, collecting payments and determining the victim’s share of earnings.

  Evidence presented during the proceedings showed that the victim’s residency documents and mobile phone access were restricted and that threats were made against both the victim and her family abroad if she refused to comply.

  The court further heard that the second woman supervised the victim for a period, posted online advertisements and took possession of personal belongings.

  She was also found guilty of assaulting the victim.

  In sentencing, the court said neither woman was considered the mastermind of the wider operation, though both played significant roles in exploiting the victim’s vulnerable position.

  The court found that the younger male defendant assisted in creating and posting online advertisements for the victim’s sexual services and received proceeds from the activity.

   The older male defendant acted as a driver, transporting the victim to locations and receiving a share of the proceeds.

• Papadakis to sue Drousiotis after ‘Sandy’ allegations collapse

  Former MEP and deselected Alma candidate Demetris Papadakis announced on Wednesday that he will pursue legal action against Makarios Drousiotis, following police conclusions that the allegations were unsupported by evidence.

  The development came hours after police-chief Themistos Arnaoutis confirmed that investigators had found no evidence to substantiate allegations involving sexual abuse, corruption, blackmail, surveillance and interference in state institutions.

  Police concluded that disputed messages and audio recordings central to the claims were “false and fabricated”, while the legal service directed further examination of potential offences connected to “the creation, publication and public dissemination” of the material.

  In a statement, Papadakis said the outcome of the investigation came as no surprise.

  “From the very beginning, I declared that the messages concerning me were fabricated and had no connection to reality,” he said.

  “Unfortunately, I fell victim to a major political conspiracy, the implications of which should be fully investigated,” he said.

  The former MEP added that his priority was restoring his reputation after allegations which contributed to his removal from the electoral ballot of the political movement Alma ahead of the parliamentary elections.

  “For me, what matters most is preserving my personal dignity and my name from all this conspiracy,” he said.

  In April, Alma removed Papadakis from its election list after allegations published by Drousiotis linked him to disputed messages connected to wider claims surrounding a former Supreme Court judge.

  Papadakis consistently denied the allegations and maintained that the material was fabricated.

  A month later, Alma leader Odysseas Michaelides publicly acknowledged that the movement may have treated Papadakis unfairly, stating that “it is not excluded that we did Papadakis an injustice”.

  “I will insist until the end for a full investigation of the case so that all those involved are identified,” Papadakis said. He confirmed that he is already in contact with his lawyers to initiate proceedings against Drousiotis and “any person who is shown to be behind this scheme”.

• MEPs demand accountability for rape survivors of Turkish invasion

  The European Parliament’s Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee on Wednesday adopted a resolution condemning sexual violence committed during the Turkish invasion of 1974, calling for accountability and support for survivors.

  The resolution was approved by 28 votes to four, with one abstention, following a committee mission to Cyprus and months of examination of testimony relating to women affected by the conflict.

  MEPs drew attention to the “lasting impact of wartime sexual violence on Cypriot women and girls”.

  The resolution states that survivors endured “forced displacement, family separation, trauma, social stigma and psychological consequences”, while describing sexual violence as “a weapon of war” and “a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions”.

  The committee called for recognition of survivors, accountability for crimes committed and comprehensive support for victims and their families.

  It urged the EU to strengthen assistance to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) and “expand access to trauma counselling, psychological care and intergenerational healing programmes”.

  MEPs also backed calls for full reparations for victims and endorsed plans for a monument in Nicosia dedicated to women who suffered sexual violence during the conflict.

  The resolution further supports formal recognition of survivors’ testimonies and experiences.

  The text renews support for the resumption of UN-led reunification negotiations and calls for “the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus”.

  Greek MEP Eleonora Meleti said the resolution fulfilled a commitment made to survivors during the committee’s visit to Cyprus and ensured that their experiences would be acknowledged at European level.

  “The suffering and resilience of Cypriot women and girls must be recognised,” she said, adding that “the Cyprus issue is inseparable from the principles of international law and European values”.

  In March, Cypriot MEP Loukas Fourlas delivered a European Parliament report on rape and sexual violence during the 1974 invasion to Antonio Guterres in New York, urging greater recognition and support for survivors.

  That report documented testimony from women who suffered abuse during the conflict and called for international action to ensure that such crimes are neither forgotten nor overlooked.

  Advocacy groups and researchers have long argued that many survivors remained silent for decades, leaving the full scale of wartime sexual violence difficult to establish.

  According to estimates cited in academic research and survivor testimonies, the Turkish armed forces employed sexual violence during Operation Attila as a tactic of war, with figures suggesting that up to 1,500 Greek Cypriot women and children were subjected to rape, gang rape and related abuses.

  Researchers have argued that such violence contributed to the forced displacement of civilians and was used to instil fear in local populations, accelerating the Greek Cypriot population’s flight southwards.

  The scale of abuse was so significant that the Orthodox Church temporary lifted the ban on abortion in the aftermath of the war.

  Scholarly work has also referenced claims that sexual violence was enacted by TMT militants in retaliation to historic intercommunal violence witnessed in the early 1960s.

• Sports tourism can expand sustainability

  Cyprus and European Union officials highlighted on Wednesday the potential for sports tourism to expand travel, promote wellness and expand sustainability.

  The future of sports tourism and broader policy areas was the subject of a two-day international conference in Nicosia with a focus on sustainable sports tourism, regional and community impacts, destination marketing, public-private-community partnerships and technological innovation.

  The conference comes less than a month after the EU sports ministers adopted conclusions from the Council of the European Union that sports tourism is a contributor to sustainable development.

  Local leaders said that taking a structured approach to sports tourism is in line with the priorities of the Cyprus presidency of the EU.

  Sports tourism encompasses people travelling to major sporting events, including international tournaments, marathons and youth competitions. It also includes travel with the goal of physical activity itself.

  “This includes walking trails, cycling routes, outdoor recreation, community sport experiences,” Glenn Micallef, the European sports commissioner told delegates in a pre-recorded address.

  According to Micallef, highlighting opportunities for physical activity can allow people to discover less visited regions and encourage more off-peak season tourism.

  Officials emphasised that sports tourism is connected to policy areas beyond the economy.

  Kostas Koumis, deputy tourism minister, also argued that sports tourism can help make Cyprus a year-round destination. He hopes to incentivise international sporting events to come to Cyprus.

  “Above all, sports tourism is a bridge of reference connecting people and cultures,” Koumis said in his opening remarks.

  Education Minister Athena Michaelidou said in her opening remarks that sports tourism can promote physical and mental wellbeing, social inclusion, sustainable development, and community resilience.

  Vassos Koutsioundas, acting head of the Cyprus Sports Organisation, echoed Michaelidou’s view.

  He described sports tourism as a “strategic tool” that “develops responsibly, strengthens territorial cohesion, supports good jobs, promotes healthier lifestyles and raises the visibility of our regions.”

  “And at the centre of all sits one principle, sustainability,” Koutsioundas said.

• MPs to vote for new parliament leader electronically for first time

  For the first time ever in Cyprus, elections for the new House president will be electronic.

  Diko MP Zacharias Koulias, as the eldest, presided over a meeting on Wednesday to inform the political parties of the new procedure, which will take place on Thursday afternoon.

  The 56 new MPs, elected on May 24, will have screens in front of them and will simultaneously select the candidate of their choice.

  To be elected, a candidate must secure 29 votes, which is 50 per cent plus one vote.

  If no single candidate manages to be elected in the first round, a second round will be held with the two candidates who secured the most votes.

  In the event that one candidate passes into the second round with the most votes but the two next have received an equal number of votes for the second round, elections will be held to determine which of the two will pass into the second round. If they again receive the same number of votes, there will be a draw.

  If in the second round both candidates secure the same number of votes, then there will be a draw.

  The new parliament regulations also stipulate the election of a deputy president and a deputy of the deputy. The deputies, who will not be elected on Thursday, will represent the House president when absent.

  The procedure began on Tuesday, when the MPs were informed of the new system.

  Koulias said the 56 MPs would be announced by name and sworn in, and then the voting for the House president will commence.

  The candidates will be proposed and once they accept the candidacy voting will begin.

  Koulias said the presiding MP can allow a break between each voting session to give time for deliberation between the parties and MPs.

• EU effective returns of illegals a ‘landmark agreement’, says migration minister

  Deputy migration minister Nicholas Ioannides welcomed the European Union’s new deal to enable faster return procedures for irregular third-country migrants, speaking of a “landmark agreement” that strengthened the credibility of the EU’s migration policy.

  “The swift conclusion of this file within a tight timeframe reflects the commitment of the institutions to establish a set of EU rules on effective returns as part of a holistic migration system,” he said.

  Ioannides, emphasising the significance of the agreement for frontline member states such as Cyprus, said that the new agreement sends “a clear message” that irregular entry could not lead to long-term residence in the EU.

  “Effective returns contribute to decongesting national asylum systems, protecting social cohesion and preventing abuse of asylum procedures,” he said.

  Highlighting the wider meaning of the agreement, he underlined that an effective return policy was a necessary element of a functional migration and asylum management system in the EU.

  The provisional agreement is set to complete the new European pact on migration and asylum which enters into force on June 12, 2026.

  “Together with the new pact, the return regulation strengthens the European effort to better manage migration flows, take and implement decisions more quickly, protect those who are truly entitled to international protection and effectively return those who do not have the right to stay,” Ioannides said.

  The new regulation stipulates the creation of so-called “return hubs” in third countries for illegal migrants, with the hubs set to serve either as the migrant’s final destination or as transfer centres to facilitate the return to their home country or another third country.

  In addition, it establishes strict obligations for illegally residing migrants, making it obligatory for them to leave the concerned member state and cooperate with local authorities, while setting out consequences for those who do not comply with these provisions.

  These consequences include a reduction in allowances or benefits or refusal to grant incentives to promote voluntary return. Furthermore, member states may impose criminal sanctions including imprisonment where nationally applicable law allows.

  According to the EU Council, so-called “return countries” can be any third country with which a relevant agreement has been concluded, however must respect international human rights standards and principles of international law including the principle of non-refoulement.

  This means that respective third countries will not be allowed to deport migrants to territories where they are likely to face threats to their freedom of life or other human rights violations.

  Moreover, the new regulation will introduce a “European Return Order (ERO)”. This form will require member states to insert the key elements of the return decision.

  “This will facilitate mutual recognition in the future, as member states will have the necessary information to recognise another member state’s return decision,” the EU Council said.

  Unaccompanied minors will be excluded from the agreement, however, the regulation foresees special measures for individuals who pose a security risk.

  Such could include entry bans exceeding the usual maximum period of ten years, an indefinite entry ban for special security cases or detention in prison.

  For instance, member states may issue an entry ban that exceeds the usual maximum period of ten years or even an indefinite entry ban for security cases, and they may also impose detention in prison.

  The regulation will start being implemented immediately after the date of entry into force.

• Sword of Damocles hangs over Drousiotis as Sandy case sent to legal service

  Journalist Makarios Drousiotis faces legal scrutiny after police concluded on Wednesday that allegations levied in the ‘Sandy’ case were unsubstantiated and that the legal service will now assess potential criminal offences regarding both the creation and dissemination of false material.

  According to sources close to the investigation, authorities are examining possible legal action against Drousiotis, with police expected to seek prosecutorial guidance in the coming days and before the Anti-Corruption Authority publishes its findings into separate allegations Drousiotis has made in his book on former President Nicos Anastasiades, Mafia State, on June 15.

  The police have outright rejected Drousiotis’ extensive allegations involving sexual abuse, corruption, blackmail, surveillance and a nefarious cabal operating esoterically within state institutions, concluding that the material examined by investigators was unsupported by witness testimony, forensic evidence and official records.

  Police chief Themistos Arnaoutis said investigators found no evidence to substantiate the allegations made against public officials and other individuals named in the case.

  While the legal service determined that no offences were established against those accused in the allegations, police confirmed that further examination would now focus on potential offences connected to “the creation, publication and public dissemination” of the disputed material itself.

  Sources familiar with the investigation indicated that police consider the inquiry largely complete and are awaiting prosecutorial directions on the next procedural steps.

  Drousiotis responded to the police findings shortly after the press conference, rejecting the conclusions and accusing authorities of predetermining the outcome of the investigation.

  In a social media post, he suggested attention should now turn to the forthcoming findings of the Anti-Corruption Authority’s investigation into Mafia State.

  “We’ll see you after the announcements about Mafia State. That’s what’s bothering them,” he wrote.

  Drousiotis himself has criticised the police investigation and dismissed the conclusions regarding the authenticity of the disputed material.

  “In the end, neither Europol nor the FBI helped“, he wrote.

  He further alleged that the outcome announced by police mirrored positions previously expressed by former president Nicos Anastasiades, who has repeatedly denied allegations contained in Mafia State and is pursuing legal action against the journalist.

  “The outcome was identical to what Anastasiades, who still controls the system, had announced,” Drousiotis claimed.

  Questioning the police findings, he argued that investigators had accepted the explanation that a single individual was responsible for creating the disputed communications and supporting material.

  “Thus, a woman, without specialised knowledge, claimed that she fabricated hundreds of SMS, Viber and Signal messages with an application, with names, phone numbers and events with details that she was not able to know,” he wrote.

  Drousiotis also criticised the timing of the police conclusions, arguing that investigators had finalised their findings before the publication of the Anti-Corruption Authority’s report.

  “Arnaoutis was in a hurry to complete the police investigation. He did not even wait for the report, in case it spoiled the scenario,” he wrote.

  The authority’s investigation into Mafia State was launched following the publication of the book, which alleges systemic corruption, abuse of power and undue influence involving former president Nicos Anastasiades and other senior officials.

  Anastasiades has consistently rejected the allegations and has pursued legal action against Drousiotis.

  According to authority chairman Harris Poyadjis, the inquiry has involved more than 200 meetings and hearings, the examination of over 100 witnesses in Cyprus and abroad and the review of hundreds of pieces of evidence comprising thousands of pages of documentation.

  The investigation has cost the state in excess of €1 million.

  Should any criminal wrongdoing be identified, the relevant material will be forwarded to attorney general, George Savvides, for further consideration.

  Importantly, the authority has previously sought to draw a distinction between the Sandy affair and the Mafia State investigation.

  Speaking earlier this year, Poyadjis stated that developments relating to Sandy would “in no case” affect the examination of allegations contained in Mafia State.

  Nevertheless, investigators examining the Sandy allegations had already identified a series of discrepancies in material submitted as evidence before Wednesday’s police findings were announced.

• 6,000 animals still to be culled as FMD vaccinations continue

  The culling of about 6,000 animals affected by foot-and-mouth disease is still pending Dimitris Epaminondas, president of the Pancyprian Veterinary Association said on Wednesday.

  He added that the second phase of the national vaccination programme should finish in the next two to three months.

  He said the measures were discussed at an expanded meeting held at the presidential palace, where authorities reviewed the ongoing response to the outbreak and agreed on further steps to contain the disease.

  Epaminondas said the planned culling follows European Union regulations, which require the removal of animals in confirmed infected units.

  He stated that the president had ordered the immediate culling of animals in affected units to enhance containment and surveillance within 10-kilometre protection zones around new cases in Nicosia and Limassol.

  Approximately 70,000 animals have already been culled since the outbreak began, with a further 6,000 still awaiting the procedure.

  “These will be carried out as soon as possible once suitable burial sites are identified and the necessary teams are ready,” he said.

  Epaminondas stressed that the safety of personnel involved in the culling operations remains the top priority.

  He said operations will not proceed without police presence to ensure security and coordination on the ground.

  “The protection of the personnel carrying out the killings is the most important criterion,” he said.

  He mentioned measures to prevent the illegal movement of animals to occupied areas, highlighting that enforcement will depend on stricter monitoring at crossing points and the ceasefire line by police and military, along with higher fines for violations.

  He said effective compliance by livestock farmers would be crucial for the success of these measures.

  On vaccination efforts, Epaminondas said the programme is progressing in line with vaccine availability.

  He confirmed that additional doses are expected in the coming weeks, with 500,000 doses for ruminants such as cattle, goats and sheep due by the end of the week, and a further 500,000 doses for pigs expected later in the month.

  He said these deliveries would allow completion of the second phase of the vaccination campaign, covering the entire animal population nationwide.

  “We will probably even have quantities left for a third booster dose,” he said.

  However, he noted that some livestock units have not yet completed full vaccination, while others are still awaiting second doses.

  “Realistically, we will need another two to three months to complete the second phase of vaccination,” he said, adding that full coverage depends on logistics, distribution schedules and farm-level access.

  Epaminondas concluded that sustained coordination between veterinary services, police authorities and livestock farmers will be essential to bring the outbreak under control and complete the vaccination programme effectively.

Github

• GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code, May releases

  VS Code continues with weekly stable releases. This changelog covers releases v1.120 through v1.123, the releases we shipped throughout May and early June 2026.

  In May, we made the Agents window available in VS Code Stable as a preview, giving users an agent-first experience focused on completing tasks rather than editing code. We also improved support for remotely controlling longer-running, more complex agent sessions.

  VS Code supports bring-your-own-key (BYOK) models, letting you use your own language model API keys. This month, we expanded BYOK to air-gapped environments and added controls to specify which models handle utility tasks like commit message generation.

  Agents window

  • Agents window in Stable (preview): Work agent-first across multiple projects with a dedicated surface for faster navigation and change review.
  • Remote agents (preview): Run sessions on remote machines over SSH or Dev Tunnels, with sessions continuing even when the client disconnects.
  • Agent Host Protocol (AHP): Continued investment in an open protocol for synchronizing agent session state across multiple clients.
  • Session preferences persist in new sessions: New sessions keep your recent choices, including agent harness and isolation mode.
  • Sessions and Git flow improvements: New sessions can pull base branch updates before the agent starts edits, the Agents window refreshes Git state automatically after commits, syncs, and related operations, and agents can trigger tasks on remote machines.
  • Session sync: Chat sessions now sync automatically to your GitHub account, giving you a searchable history of your work across machines and workspaces.
  • Chronicle: Use /chronicle commands to query past sessions, generate standup reports, and get personalized productivity tips.
  • Multiple sessions side-by-side: Open more than one agent session at the same time in the Agents window. Drag, Alt-click, or use Open to the Side to compare or review work in parallel.
  • Retry network-dependent commands in sandbox: Terminal commands that require network access are automatically retried with broader network permissions, while keeping filesystem protections in place.

  Language models and BYOK

  • Air-gapped BYOK: Bring-your-own-key models can run in isolated environments without GitHub authentication.
  • Custom Endpoint provider: Add endpoints compatible with chat completions, responses, or messages from one provider flow.
  • Model picker by provider: Find and switch models more easily in multi-provider environments.
  • BYOK token visibility: The context window now reports real token usage for bring-your-own-key models.
  • Reasoning effort controls: Configure thinking effort directly from the model picker to balance quality, latency, and cost.
  • Configurable utility models: Choose which models handle titles, summaries, rename suggestions, commit messages, and intent detection.

  Terminal safety and efficiency

  • Expanded terminal output compression: More verbose output patterns from tests, builds, linters, Docker, and package managers are compressed before reaching the model to optimize token usage and help reduce costs.
  • Command risk assessment (experimental): Terminal confirmations include AI-generated risk levels and short safety explanations.
  • Sensitive prompts stay in terminal: Passwords, passphrases, PINs, and verification codes are entered directly in the terminal and are not shared with the LLM.
  • Better background command UX: There are now clearer running-state indicators in chat, plus automatic cleanup of completed background agent terminals to help save resources on your machine and keep things more manageable.
  • Agent-aware terminal commands: The VSCODE_AGENT environment variable lets CLIs adapt behavior for agent-initiated commands.

  Also new

  • Integrated browser: Adds device emulation to test your website’s responsiveness. New screenshot options let you capture the viewport, a selected area, or the full page and attach any of them as chat context to help reproduce and explain UI issues. You can also save favorite pages for quick access alongside open tabs.
  • HTML file preview: Preview local HTML files directly in the integrated browser without installing an extension. Right-click a file in the Explorer or editor tab and select Open in Integrated Browser.
  • Search only in changed files: There’s a new search panel toggle that can scope results to locally modified, uncommitted files.
  • Markdown preview improvements: Mermaid diagram rendering and YAML front matter display are now built in, without requiring separate extensions. You can also view Markdown diffs as rendered preview instead of raw source when opening files from Source Control.
  • Quick suggestions default tuning: Experience reduced noise when inline completions are available.
  • Issue reporter wizard: New issue filing flow with support for screenshots and video recordings.
  • Accessibility and UX updates: Ongoing improvements across editor surfaces.

  Happy coding!

  Join the discussion within GitHub Community.

  The post GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code, May releases appeared first on The GitHub Blog.

Reddit

r/gamedev

• I made a Narrative-Driven RPGM game in 2 days. Here’s how I failed it.

  After sitting down with my first game ever, Homecoming made in RMMZ. I came to the disappointing, but enlightening conclusion that I had failed the game’s potential in numerous areas.

  The Game’s Strength
  As a beginner game dev with only about 1 or 2 weeks of experience with the RPGM engine; I knew that I did not understand how to make skills, states, items and balance them. I couldn’t make maps, I couldn’t draw assets; there was only one thing I could do and I made sure to do it right. Writing.

  So.. what did I make the player do at the very start of the game?
  A boring bossfight .·°՞(つ ≧□≦)つ՞°·.

  Even though I promised myself to focus solely on the story. In an impulsive moment, driven by the need to make the skills look special. I designed some crude, simple skills and pretended they were interesting. I forgot my game’s strength in favour of something more visible.

  Bugs, errors, bugs, errors
  It was the first time I’d ever try to upload anything to itch, let alone RPGM. If you don’t know, RPGM when exported can have a lot of unused files. Thankfully, the engine has a ‘clean/clear up unused files’ button that can magically keep everything I need while removing what I don’t annnnnnd it’s gone.

  It deleted some of the stock assets I was using. Thankfully, I made another copy of the game beforehand. But in order to properly to clean up the unused files. I had to go pay for a plugin, which was fine since I’ll be using a lot more from now on.

  That wasn’t the end of my issues though however… audio bugs, map breaks, audio bugs, map breaks. I reuploaded the game at least 20 times before everything was finally functional.

  There’s no secret sauce.
  The game had a compelling narrative. But strip that away and you essentially just have an RTP asset-flip with nothing interesting going for it. Although it’s realistic given my deadline, it just didn’t have anything that could make it standout.

  What next?
  Well, I’m about to enter another RPGMaker jam, this time 30 days. I’ve gathered the assets I need, drafted a new story; thought of a special mechanic, and made countermeasures in anticipation for issues that the first game faced. The silver-lining is that I learned a lot from deploying and publishing this game.

  Uh.

  Thank you for reading, („• ֊ •„)੭

  submitted by /u/Unregistered-Archive
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• Chasing Steam Deck Verified: How we halved our GPU load and doubled battery life (Native Linux / Unity 6.3)

  Hey everyone, Dan here.
  I’m the Tech Lead for Spooker. We’re currently chasing that magic Steam Deck Verified tag and spent the last few days doing a deep dive into optimization.

  I wanted to share our exact process and the steps we took to profile and fix our bottlenecks. Hopefully, this helps some of you optimizing your own native Linux builds!

  The Baseline (Before Optimization)

  To set the stage, we’ve been pretty hardcore about performance from day one. We use Addressables for manual memory load/unload, mipmap streaming for textures, and audit our code religiously. Instead of heavy loops, our codebase is reactive, using R3 and VContainer for injection, alongside zero-alloc libraries like UniTask to keep our footprint low.

  Despite all that, here is where our Steam Deck (64GB LCD) was sitting:

  • FPS: Solid 60
  • GPU: 90% at 1520mhz
  • CPU: 40% at 1949mhz
  • VRAM: 2.9 GB
  • RAM: 6.9 GB
    

  While 60fps is great, sitting at 90% GPU meant we had zero headroom. If we pushed the graphics any harder with new features, it would overflow and immediately drop frames.

  Win #1: The CPU Drop

  Before tackling the GPU, we made one quick change: we ripped out Amplify Imposters and replaced it with the new automatic LOD system in Unity 6.3. Amplify is a great package, it just wasn't working well with our use case

  Result: Immediate CPU drop from 40% down to 15–20%. Huge win right out of the gate.

  The Big Hunt: Profiling the 90% GPU Bottleneck

  We ran a bunch of different tests in isolated builds to figure out exactly what was choking the GPU. Here is the exact order of operations we followed:

  1. Turned off post-processing: No change.
  2. Set Render Scale to 0.5: HUGE drop. This immediately told us we were likely Fill Rate or Pixel Shader bound. We confirmed this by capping the frame rate from 60 to 30fps, which yielded a similar reduction in GPU load.
  3. (Side note on STP/FSR: We could have just slapped on upscaling here, but that’s a band-aid. If we fix the root cause, STP/FSR becomes either totally unnecessary or just extra icing on the cake).
  4. Forward+ vs. Forward: We toggled to Forward rendering to see if the Steam Deck was choking on compute operations. No change.
  5. The "White Material" Test: We replaced every single material in the game with a basic white material. This confirmed we were specifically Fill Rate Bound—meaning we were choking on memory bandwidth, overdraw, or textures.
  6. Frame Debugger - The Rogue Camera: Fired up the Frame Debugger and got an instant hit. A render texture camera was turning on at the wrong point and staying active. It was a minimal impact given our setup, but a free win is a free win. Fixed.
  7. Frame Debugger - The Main Culprit: The debugger caught 59 draw calls sitting squarely between SSAO and Decals. Decals aren't amazing on mobile hardware anyway, and our SSAO settings in the URP asset were absolutely maxed out.
  8. The Fix: We completely disabled decals (we don't actually need them and will replace them with quad/sphere shaders later). Then, we aggressively optimized the SSAO settings down to what we actually needed for our visual style.

  Result: This was the first time we moved the needle on the GPU. It dropped from a stubborn 90% down into the low 70s%.

  The Final Squeeze

  Since we had momentum, we went through and trimmed the fat everywhere else we could:

  • Bloom: Turned High Quality Filtering OFF. Not necessary for our look.
  • Opaque Textures: Downsampled Opaque to 4x box. This was a fantastic tradeoff with minimal visual impact (math came out to roughly 256k pixels down to 64k).
  • Terrain Holes: Turned OFF. We don't even use Unity terrain, but the tooltip claims it speeds up builds. I'm slightly dubious, but what the hay, why not?
  • Lighting/Reflections: Turned OFF MainLightShadows, Reflection Probes, and Reflection Probe Atlases. We simply didn't need them for our scenes and we already had shadows disabled on individual lights

  The End Result (After Optimization)

  Here is where the Steam Deck is sitting now:

  • FPS: Still a rock-solid 60
  • GPU: Comfy 55% – 70% (at a much lower 830mhz)
  • CPU: 15% – 20%
  • VRAM: 2.4 GB (Down 0.5 GB)
  • RAM: 6.4 GB (Down 0.5 GB)

  The Best Part: The Steam Deck battery reporting at 100% charge jumped from approximately 2 hours to 4.5 hours.

  Overall, we are incredibly happy with this. Taking the time to actually isolate the bottleneck instead of just throwing FSR at the problem gave us massive thermal and battery gains. Just as a reminder, we are not using Proton for this; we opted for a native Linux build.

  Hopefully, this diagnostic checklist helps some of you squeeze a few extra hours of battery life out of your own projects!

  submitted by /u/DantheDev_
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• I'm looking for feedback on my first trailer so I know what to improve when I eventually replace it.

  I needed to make a trailer to put my game demo on Steam, so I made this today. Right now the game is in pretty early development and is lacking a lot of visual variety which I definitely think the trailer suffers for. But I'm also looking for any other feedback. What did I do wrong in this trailer? What should I do better next time? submitted by /u/BellaInTheGame [link] [comments]

• DOMINATION devlog1 RFC clouds

  Hey there! I just put out my first devlog and I'd like some feedback on my clouds, thanks! submitted by /u/teh_mICON [link] [comments]

• My team and I have been having large amounts of struggle of finding a 5th person to help with art, and I need to know if I'm doing something wrong?

  Okay, so I started making a JRPG about 7 months ago, and have since accrued a team that frankly, I love. There's an artist, animator, and composer. All of them are lovely people and extremely talented, and I'm very lucky to work with them every day!!

  That being said, as a team we've had a lot of struggle with finding someone to help out with art, and I'm honestly fed up after a third person has just left without much warning, especially after doing like one thing then sitting silent for a month, promising that they would do something soon, then never delivering.

  I don't think it's a problem of the quality of the game, nor are we a hostile environment to work in. We're hobbyists mostly, and take this as a way to destress and have fun making a game.

  We came to the realization that our artist could not handle the workload by himself, at least not for us to make the game that was originally planned. So we cut down on scope, and decided that it would be much faster if we found a designated pixel artist, so the main artist could continue on concept art and such.

  We found a first guy. He made a couple sprites, then was silent for months. We find another guy, who does one thing, then leaves us. People reach out, then ghost us.

  This is what we've been using as our little showcase (we could show off more, but a lot of placeholders make the actual gameplay look quite unfinished).

  As a team of four, we could make the game that we want to make at our current scope, just with more development time. Which I'm not exactly opposed to, but also I would hate to overwork everyone.

  Essentially, is this a common issue? It's just odd to me that the original 4 came together so easily, and have worked together well, and then when it comes to one more, it just all falls apart. Is it something to do with people being intimidated by joining a project late? I don't understand the reason behind it, and honestly it's tiring searching for new people, constantly trying to prove that they should choose our project over everyone else's.

  (Not trying to whine about any of this, I understand that if you aren't into a project, and don't want to do it, you should leave. Just wish people were better at communicating that...)

  submitted by /u/SobbleBoi323
  [link] [comments]
• I got SCAMMED by "Bigeik" Turkish marketing agency. HELP!

  Hey everyone!

  Lately, I have released a horror game that didn't do well. only sold about 60 copies and I was desperate for help, content creators don't play my game and such. I was desperate, and I have found a marketing agency called "Bigeik" they do have influencers under their names. I talked to them and they asked for money in advanced and 20% commission of all sales from Turkey and after I have paid the money, The manager (Odin) kept sending me that he is busy and after, and he needs just more time. and after an entire month, he blocked me.

  What do you think I can do? any advise?

  submitted by /u/Ali_Mattar
  [link] [comments]
• Struggles and questions about how to survive developing games, and how to best approach gaining a community.

  A bit about me because it might be relevant, I've worked in AAA studios for the past 10 years, and was laid off late last year. I've been making small prototypes and games for fun in my own time for the better part of these 10 years, but without any released products or expectations, it was mostly to learn to code (I'm a Senior Animator).

  Since then, I decided to give solo dev'ing a shot. Within 4 months I released a very small scoped narrative game on Steam (~1h long), and it was mostly to learn the ropes. Setting up a Steam page, finding a developer name and setting up the domain / emails, and just getting a feel for this.

  After I released this game (which only sold 200 copies), I jumped onto a larger project, for which I almost have a vertical slice ready. I think its a strong idea but I'll have to wait for playtester feedback before knowing for sure.

  But I'm at a point where I have some major concerns.

  First, making a game is crazy hard, we all know this, and I just don't understand how devs have the time or patience to maintain social media accounts. I dread it. But all the successful small devs who do this for a living seem to have ongoing youtube channel business', post on socials multiple times per week, have an ongoing fanbase which allows any game they launch to gain at least some minimal amount of traction. Whats the point of me even spending all this time working on games if posting it on socials once its released will be seen by no one?

  Second, I've always believed that smaller games are generally better for solo devs, but I also can't help but think that most audiences prefer paying for a game that will last longer than 1h. I'm starting to question if my current project should be put on hold, I'm estimating it'll be ~4hs long, and will take me ~2 years to finish. My vertical slice is very close to feature complete, whats left is mostly narrative, writing, and a whole lot of polish (and I've been in this industry long enough to know that the last 10% is 90% of the work, I plan accordingly).

  I keep thinking that I'm putting too many eggs in one basket, that I could be releasing 4 smaller games at a small price point, and instead pool half of my energy into building up my socials. I might be completely wrong here but it seems like having active social media accounts with a dedicated following significantly increases your chances of success by a wide margin.

  I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything, so I figured I'd ask you fine folks, as I'm sure I'm not the first to hit this wall. Am I overestimating how important socials are? And if I wanted to generate a source of income from this, even if its not enough to live on, would you recommend I stick to my bigger project or focus on gamejam scoped games that I could polish and release at 6 month intervals at lower prices?

  submitted by /u/0rionis
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• Tasting Games - Naomi Clark

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h0CHrQE794

  NYU Game Center Lecture Series Presents Naomi Clark Tasting Games Thursday, March 3, 2016

  “Well, I guess it’s a matter of taste.” With phrases like these, we manage to avoid many exasperting arguments over what’s “better,” instead leaving room for individual preferences and aesthetic leanings. But deep in the privacy of your own heart, late at night, don’t you sometimes suspect your enemies of having BAD taste? Or worse still — of having NO taste at all? What are we talking about when we talk about taste, particularly in games? And whose fault are matters of taste when they go sour, anyway? Naomi Clark conducts a quasi-scientific investigation.

  Why are we so quick to blame designers when games defy our expectations?

  In this talk, Naomi Clark reframes video game taste through the lens of culinary history and brain science, arguing that players are currently trapped in a "Gut Pleasure Singularity", where market forces optimize for immediate satisfaction over artistic intent.

  She breaks down the tension between innate preferences we’re born with, versus cultivated tastes that require effort, proposing that games should be seen as exercise machines for our decision-making capabilities rather than just content consumption.

  Clark introduces a framework of essential "flavors", like 'uncertainty' and 'context', that designers can intentionally mix or omit, challenging us to move beyond nostalgia and expand our palates rather than reinforcing existing habits.

  The discussion also goes into how the industry’s lack of cultural history leads to short-sighted critiques, and navigates the balance between commercial viability and creative integrity.

  Key Themes:

  * Expectations vs. Intent * Taste Hierarchies * Game Flavors * Brain Science and Impact * Industry Critique

  submitted by /u/Platz
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• Bezi Mega Jam: I asked what game jam prizes devs wanted. Here’s what I managed to pull together

  A little while back, I made a post asking what kinds of game jam prizes would actually excite developers beyond cash: https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1sz2rin/what_prizes_would_actually_excite_you_in_a_game/ The feedback was pretty clear. People still like cash, obviously, but the prizes that seemed to resonate most were the ones that could help developers keep building after the jam ends. Conference access. Useful tools. Hardware. Asset support. Career opportunities. Things that feel less like a token reward and more like a push toward the next step. So, I took that feedback and helped pull together the first Bezi Mega Jam around that idea. Jam page: https://itch.io/jam/bezi-mega-jam-1 The short version Bezi Mega Jam 1 is a game jam with prizes meant to help move your dev career forward. The prize pool is currently $12,000+ and includes: GDC Festival or Digital passes Synty store credit Synty discount codes for all participants An iPad Pro M5 13" + Apple Pencil Pro Bezi Ultimate Cash prizes A few important format notes up front: Bezi is optional for the Mega Jam. There is no required engine. The core jam is open to developers using the tools and workflows that make sense for them. There is an optional Bezi-related prize track, but it is not required to participate or win the other prize tracks I want this jam to be as accessible as possible. Prize pool breakdown Prize track Prize Value Road to GDC GDC Festival Pass or GDC Digital Pass for each winning team member, up to 3 people Festival Pass: $1,199 each / Digital Pass: $799 each Community Choice: 1st Place $800 cash + 1 month of Bezi Ultimate $800 + subscription Community Choice: 2nd Place $400 cash + 1 month of Bezi Advanced $400 + subscription Community Choice: 3rd Place $300 cash + 1 month of Bezi Pro $300 + subscription Bezi Challenge 1 year of Bezi Ultimate for each winning team member, up to 3 people ~$5,184 total value Best Devlog (Bezi Challenge) Cash prize $500 Synty Challenge $250 Synty Store Credit for each winning team member, up to 3 people ~$750 total value Synty participant bonus 30% off Synty Store discount code for all participants Available to all participants Fan Art iPad Pro M5 13" + Apple Pencil Pro ~$1,428 value Total prize pool Cash, GDC passes, Synty prizes, hardware, and Bezi subscriptions $12,000+ Full prize details The cash prize pool is larger than our regular monthly jams, but I really wanted the focus of the Mega Jam to be broader than cash. Cash is helpful, and it absolutely still matters, but the bigger goal was to build a prize pool around things that could help developers continue building after the jam ends. GDC passes One of the clearest pieces of feedback from the original thread was that conference access can be more meaningful than another software subscription, especially for developers who are trying to build connections, learn from the industry, or get their work in front of more people. That is why GDC sponsored the jam with GDC passes as part of the prize pool. The winning team for the Road to GDC track can receive passes for up to 3 team members. Each winner can choose either a GDC Festival Pass, listed at $1,199, or a GDC Digital Pass, listed at $799. To be transparent, the in-person passes do not cover travel, hotels, or food. I know that limits how useful they are depending on where someone lives, which is why digital passes are also part of the prize pool for people who are unable to travel. The value is different depending on how someone attends, but both can be meaningful. Attending GDC in person can create real networking opportunities, meetings, hallway conversations, and industry access that are hard to replicate online. A digital pass still gives developers access to talks, sessions, the GDC Vault, and industry knowledge they may not otherwise be able to afford, without asking them to take on the cost of travel. Synty asset prizes A lot of developers mentioned that useful assets, marketplace credits, or production-ready resources would be more valuable than tools that force people into a new workflow. That feedback made a lot of sense to me. That is why Synty sponsored the jam with the Synty Challenge. The winning team receives $250 in Synty Store Credit per team member, up to 3 people, for a total value of about $750. Synty is also providing a 30% off Synty Store discount code for all participants. Synty assets felt like a strong fit because they can help developers move faster on future projects without needing to build every environment, prop, or character asset from scratch. For a lot of small teams and solo developers, access to high-quality asset packs can make the difference between an idea staying on the shelf and actually becoming something playable. iPad Pro M5 13" + Apple Pencil Pro For the fan art challenge, I wanted the prize to be something artists would actually care about and use. A few people specifically called out hardware as a stronger prize than subscriptions, especially for artists. The iPad Pro M5 13" + Apple Pencil Pro, listed at about $1,428 in value, felt like the right direction because it is a physical tool someone can keep using beyond the jam. Whether they are sketching, concepting, painting, storyboarding, or adding another flexible device to their creative workflow, it felt like a prize that could continue being useful after the event ends. Also worth noting: the fan art track does not allow generative AI art. That track is meant to celebrate human-created artwork, and a process video is required for eligibility. Bezi Ultimate Bezi Ultimate is also included, but I want to be clear about something again: Bezi is optional for the Mega Jam. There is an optional Bezi-related prize track, but the core jam does not require Bezi. It also does not require Unity or any other specific engine. For the Bezi Challenge, the winning team can receive 1 year of Bezi Ultimate for each team member, up to 3 people, with a listed total value of about $5,184. The goal is not to force people into our workflow. The goal is to host a strong jam, make the event open to as many developers as possible, and give people a reason to try Bezi if they are interested. Cash prizes Cash is still included because people were very clear about that too. The Community Choice prizes include: 1st Place: $800 + 1 month of Bezi Ultimate 2nd Place: $400 + 1 month of Bezi Advanced 3rd Place: $300 + 1 month of Bezi Pro Bezi Challenge: Best Devlog: $500 - Posted to our Discord server. Cash is flexible, immediate, and useful. The point was never to replace cash entirely. The point was to combine cash with prizes that may also help developers take another step after the jam, whether that means attending GDC, getting assets for their next project, using new tools, or supporting their workflow in a more practical way. A note on the regular Bezi Jams This Mega Jam is separate from our regular monthly Bezi Jams. Over time, the regular monthly Bezi Jams will likely move in a similar direction, with Bezi usage becoming an optional prize track rather than a hard requirement. Baby steps. If you want to get involved before September and get to know the Bezi community, our regular Bezi Jams run monthly. Bezi Jam 11 starts June 19: https://itch.io/jam/bezi-jam-11 Where this goes next This is also only the first Mega Jam. The plan is to run these twice a year, learn from each one, and keep improving the format. I want each version to get better, both in terms of prizes and in terms of making the event useful for developers at different stages of their journey. And if I have the opportunity to add more prizes before September, I will. The current prize pool is already over $12,000, but I am going to keep looking for ways to make it stronger. Huge thanks to GDC and Synty for sponsoring the jam and helping make this prize pool possible. Thanks again to everyone who gave feedback on the original post. A lot of it genuinely shaped how I approached the prize structure. Would love to hear what people think now that the first version is live. submitted by /u/KevinDL [link] [comments]

• Leave yourself a map. Even if you don’t think you need one.

  Did a major reworking of a core system and it’s finally good. I’m working within my own engine. Needed to update the content publishing pipeline to allow campaigns to be version updated and synced rather than read only.

  Absolute nightmare. I’m using Firebase and mostly local rules, but my code has spread a bit wide so getting all the parts to agree with each other is rough work.

  Everything’s working now and it’s fantastic but this is your reminder to document an outline of your code structure somewhere and remember to update that as it grows. It can get out of hand if you aren’t paying attention. A change that should have taken perhaps an hour instead took six to resolve all the conflicts in logic between the code the ui and the database.

  submitted by /u/Any_Struggle_6166
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• VisionSync Optimization

  Unreal Engine 5 Manuel Culling System submitted by /u/MemoryDangerous4528 [link] [comments]

• after 3+ years of development, we came to a terrifying realization: Battle Royales need a lot of players

  our team recently made the difficult decision to stop developing the battle royale mode in our game Scramble Knights after almost 3 years of work.

  we had over 26k+ players on steam join our playtests and currently sitting on 30k WL. feedback was strong, and for a long time we genuinely believed we could make it work (smoking dank hopium)

  years ago when we started, the dream was simple: build a massive online zelda-inspired BR world. imagine a huge hyrule with 64 links running around trying to save the princess. we wanted to reach for the stars.

  but after four playtests and lots of discussion with the team and community, we just weren't comfortable with having to build our entire future around sustaining a massively high CCU as a live service

  at the same time, we realized the things ppl were most excited about weren't actually the battle royale game mode. it was the exploration, progression, dungeons, loot, social spaces, worldbuilding, and adventuring together with friends. so we're pivoting scramble knights into a shared online adventure rpg.

  the good news is that almost none of the work is being thrown away. the combat, enemies, progression systems, networking, content, and world all carry forward. we're not totally yeeting 3 years of dev, we are just changing how people interact with this world

  we made a deep dive video here (reasoning + our journey here):
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fio4dK0DDvs

  Steam post:
  https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2379350/view/708899110030148099

  curious if anyone here has had to majorly pivot their game last minute? would be interested to hear how other studios handled this

  - Eddie

  submitted by /u/eddietree
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• If you were judging a game competition, what kind of project would you eliminate first?

  I've been looking through a bunch of cocreate pitch submissions and other game funding programs lately, and honestly a lot of the projects seem pretty decent on the surface.
  Say you're a judge and you have to go through hundreds of submissions, but only have a few mins to look at each one.
  What makes you lose interest almost immediately?
  An idea that's been done a million times before?
  Visuals that just don't grab your attention?
  A team that seems way too ambitious for what they're trying to build?
  If you've judged competitions, pitched games, or been involved in funding programs before, what do you think separates the winners from everybody else?

  submitted by /u/MaterialSea5749
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• Best software for animating Daggerfall/Might And Magic 7-8 style sprites?

  I don't mean sprites like you see in Dwarf Fortress(Og) or Terraria but almost ''photoreal''(For the time especially) looking sprites that can be found in Daggerfall or specifically later Might and Magic titles.I'd prefer Free/open source if not it's fine. It's for a simple 2d or 2d in 3d(like Daggerfall or Might and Magic like I've said) type of game I am planning to make using either Gdevelop(if it's going to be pure 2d) or either Defold/Godot etc.

  Anyone who've had experience with animating sprites and by animation I mean stuff like. A character (Sprite) touches other sprite and a ''filter'' or fx on the sprite char triggers so let's a npc punches another in the chest and that npc triggers an animation that looks like he's hit etc. I actually want to have ''physics'' like fx(Not actual physics not even bone-controlled physics necessarily but think of it as a shader or filter that ''wiggles'' the area that got punched etc).Now that of course depends on the engine more than the sprite animation tool but've ı just wanted to give extra detail.

  So anyone knows a good app for this use case all I've came across is Libresprite and Aseprite but they look specifically built for pixelated graphics rather than my usecase.

  submitted by /u/Lanky-Tumbleweed-772
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• I hate that so many youtube videos have titles that lead you to think it’s an interesting analysis of game mechanics of a particular game, but then they just give you a braindead retelling of the game’s progression.

  I’m sure other people have noticed this. Every once in a while a video actually does go into interesting analysis, but holy crap it’s mostly slop.

  submitted by /u/adimeistencents
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• Game dev made me realize my desk setup is part of the work.

  I used to think my setup only mattered for performance. Good PC, decent monitor, keyboard that does not annoy me, enough space for notes and references. That kind of thing. But after spending longer sessions working on a small project, I am realizing the physical side matters way more than I expected. When I get locked into fixing bugs, tweaking animations, testing the same thing over and over, hours disappear fast. Then I stand up and my back feels like I aged ten years during one build. The funny part is that I will spend ages optimizing a workflow, folder structure, tools, plugins, shortcuts, all of it. But I have been sitting in the same basic chair and pretending it is not part of the problem. Game dev already has enough friction. Debugging, scope creep, motivation, learning new systems, trying not to rebuild everything from scratch again. A bad physical setup just adds one more quiet problem in the background.I am starting to think the boring stuff like chair height, monitor position, breaks, and sitting posture matters more than people admit.

  submitted by /u/Then_Heron_939
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• Good Ending: I found a job and I just dropped the release trailer for my game

  For a long time I was stuck in the classic loop of sending CVs, refreshing LinkedIn, waiting for replies that never came, and trying not to go insane in the process.

  So instead of sitting around frustrated, I kept putting my energy into my game, Shippin.

  While looking for work I kept learning new stuff, improving the game little by little, posting progress online, talking to people, sending messages to recruiters, and just trying to stay consistent even when it felt pointless.

  And somehow, everything aligned at the same time.

  This week I released the final demo for the game, dropped the release trailer with the launch date announcement… and I also got a job opportunity with a really nice flexible team.

  Feels weird seeing things finally move after feeling stuck for so long.

  I guess this is just a reminder to keep working on your stuff even when it feels like nobody is watching. Sometimes opportunities show up all at once.

  submitted by /u/Method_Boring
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• Where can I find ambient royalty free music that doesn't have a beat

  Something you could possibly fall asleep too

  submitted by /u/Pie-314159
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• BA in Gaming Industry 2026

  Hi everyone!

  I'm starting my first BA role next week and looking for advice from experienced BAs.

  My background is in mobile development, so this is my first BA role and my first time working in the gaming industry. The company develops Web3 games and also takes on custom game projects for clients.

  For those who have worked in gaming, what do you wish you knew when you started?

  I'm particularly interested in:

  * What to focus on in the first few months
  * Common mistakes new BAs make
  * How game development differs from traditional software projects
  * Any resources, tools, or communities you'd recommend

  Would love to hear your lessons learned, tips, or things I should watch out for.

  Thanks!

  submitted by /u/Real_Proof_5134
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• Am I overthinking?

  New developer here. I'm currently developing a 3D game and I've come to a bit of a mental block i'm struggling to overcome.

  I've come to a state in my game where a lot of the baseline features are done, but I dont have animations yet and this is the part i'm struggling on. I've been trying to find placeholder animations just to tie over until I get something more concrete made but to that end I've had no luck. I want to add more features but making them without an animation to work with in editor is proving to be a real challenge.

  Obviously in the grand scheme of things i'm more than certain i'm overthinking it all but I wanted to reach out to the wider community to see if anyone has been in a similar position before and if so, how you overcame it?

  submitted by /u/kirynthelad
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• I interviewed The Game Bakers's devs: prototypes, wireframes and dev insights

  ⚠️ Audio FR / EN subtitles (manual) Every time I play a game I love, I start picking it apart: how did the dev do that? Recently I loved Cairn, a game made by an indie studio based in Montpellier (The Game Bakers) so I reached out to ask if I could interview members of their team and they said yes. We talked tools and workflow: Photoshop & Figma for art, heatmaps at low cost, playtesting when you don't want to leak and don't have yet a big community, LD iteration and tools, programming constraints, and some practical advice on reverse-engineering as a small team doing a bit of everything. Pretty sure it could be interesting for any game developpers submitted by /u/Key_Sock_4083 [link] [comments]

• How do you guys go about getting assets for your game?

  I’ve hit a stand still. I’ve programmed a bunch of mechanics for my game. It’s gotten to a point where looking at a box glide around on the ground and “do things” is not acceptable anymore. I could add more mechanics but without any visual feedback I’ll never get a feel for the game.

  So I ask you guys, do you make your own assets? Pay for them? I’m making a 2.5D fighting game so I need 3D models and crisp animations. I dont think I’m incapable, but I’m a programmer so jumping down the 3D modeling and animation rabbit hole where I have no skills will take an eternity, putting my game on hold for months potentially.

  Just looking for advice because I was on a roll building up all these systems and gameplay mechanics until now.

  submitted by /u/KAYTACHI
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r/rust

• Rewrote engine in rust - running Qwen 14B on M3, insane
  submitted by /u/No-Rush7874
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• I would like to introduce Segmark.

  It's been in my trunk for awhile. I've only just uploaded it.

  Segmark is my own flavor of Markdown, and is based on Pulldown CMark.

  What makes it different are colon alignments in media and headers, similar to tables.

  And speaking of media, audio and video are compatible.

  I have constructed my own folder-based format call MDEB (Markdown Ebook).

  https://codeberg.org/VulpesPhantasma/segmark

  submitted by /u/Suspicious_Word3776
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• An inference engine for NLP models in pure rust

  I built a pure Rust inference engine for NLP models. This first version only has inference for NER, but it's completely extensible to other architectures.

  The main stack used was: ort (onnx runtime), tokenizers, tokio, reqwest, and clap.

  The code downloads the model from the repository if onnx is available, caches it, performs inference on an input string, and returns the output plus two main metrics (softmax probability and logit from ort).

  The latency is good to start with:

  real 0m0.708s

  user 0m0.328s

  sys 0m0.232s

  This is my first time working with NLP model inference in Rust. I welcome any feedback.

  An inference engine for NLP models.

  submitted by /u/an4k1nskyw4lk3r
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• automatic file organizer in rust

  My inspiration for this project was because I was downloading Pokémon ROMs and I was too lazy to organize the ROM files by categories, so I thought it would be really cool and useful an automatic file organizer that would work like this: the user adds rules/extenoses or prefix of files of interest and tells which action the program should perform according to what the user chose, for example, move delete rename and there may be other things that can be added, but the point does not come to my mind now. I am having a lot of difficulty in daemonizing the tool and in mecher in so many apis at the same time. I am an amateur programmer and I'm humble enough to ask for help from someone more experienced in helping me with this, so if anyone wants to help me with this project I'll leave my email available and the repository link too (if you want some form of different communication I'm open to suggestions)

  https://github.com/hentZ1/Solaris

  [zhtyz12@gmail.com](mailto:zhtyz12@gmail.com)

  submitted by /u/Linux_Pattoie
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• dyncollections - a bunch of collection types which allow to get a value with concrete type in collection of trait objects

  Hello Redditors. While working on my side project I have had a need for such type of collections and after implementing them I decided to separate them into their own crate because I couldn't find something similar on crates.io.

  AI usage disclaimer

  I have not used any generative AI while making this crate. Everything was done with intention to gain more knowledge about how to design an API. All unsafe code was thought out and inspired by implementation of Any in the standard library.

  Motivating example

  The need for something like this came to me while implementing a 3D raymarching. With this technique all objects are rendered based on function which calculates a distance from point to said object. So for example, having a Sphere and Cube structs they will implement a RayMarch trait and will be stored in some sort of Scene collection, so renderer will iterate over them and render them. That's great, but now I want to change some properties of objects to create animations. That's the problem solved by such collections!

  dyncollections has a DynSet type which is kind of similar to Vec<T> except it will store dyn RayMarch objects but we'll be able to get references to Sphere and Cube back.

  ```rust use dyncollections::{dynamify, DynSet};

  // Our structs and trait trait Raymarch { ... }

  struct Sphere { ... } impl Raymarch for Sphere { ... }

  struct Cube { ... } impl Raymarch for Cube { ... }

  // We must use provided macro on trait to use it inside DynSet. It implements necessary boilerplate trait for us. dynamify!(Raymarch);

  let mut scene: DynSet<dyn RayMarch> = DynSet::new();

  // Every push call returns a key which allows us to get concrete type back let sphere = scene.push(Sphere { ... }); let cube = scene.push(Cube { ... });

  loop { let cube = scene.get_mut(&cube).unwrap(); // Edit cube parameters

  renderer::draw(&scene); 

  } ```

  Links

  Github - https://github.com/ModernType/dyncollections crates.io - https://crates.io/crates/dyncollections

  Feedback, suggestions and critique are very welcome, considering this is my first work which I publish to public))

  submitted by /u/ModernTy
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• Learning Python after Rust as a beginner: Anyone else miss strict types?

  Many community members criticized me for choosing Rust as my first programming language. Recently, I started learning Python to better grasp programming logic, but I ran into a bit of a cultural shock. Python hides a lot of the low-level details I got used to in Rust—things like explicit references, strict data type contracts, and specific types like i32 or &str. Because of this, I've decided to continue learning Python alongside Rust rather than switching entirely.

  submitted by /u/Fabulous_South523
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• Why I'm not using Rayon for my game engine
  submitted by /u/The-Douglas
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• How do you use unstable_features on rustfmt with Rust stable channel? And what are your favorites?

  ``` style_edition = "2024" max_width = 100 use_small_heuristics = "Max"

  group_imports = "StdExternalCrate" imports_granularity = "Crate" reorder_imports = true

  wrap_comments = true normalize_comments = true

  reorder_impl_items = true condense_wildcard_suffixes = true enum_discrim_align_threshold = 20 use_field_init_shorthand = true

  format_strings = true format_code_in_doc_comments = true format_macro_matchers = true ```

  I prefer to use these but 9/14 are unstable features.

  1. Should I not use these?
  2. Should I have to use nightly to use these?
  3. Can I use these even on stable channel?

  I am also agree with Linus Torvalds, default choices are "bass-ackwards garbage".

  PS. Go having gofumpt more stricter go fmt. Do we have similar cli or quite recommended rustfmt.toml setup in Rust?

  submitted by /u/dumindunuwan
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• Tessera Engine Atmosphere, Real Time Shadows, PBR

  More updates on my game engine, written in pure rust

  watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu3pCkfi2Ek

  any feedback welcome or questions

  https://preview.redd.it/nolf4xvay35h1.png?width=2559&format=png&auto=webp&s=6912b0b93fb8a2b69456c6c1934ae3a96fdba609

  submitted by /u/NoodleSlays
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• /u/burntsushi health update
  submitted by /u/masklinn
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• Project Ideas for Undergrads related to Systems

  We're doing a college minor project (3 members) and want to work on something systems-related in Rust.

  The problem we're running into is that a lot of project ideas seem to boil down to "reimplement X" (write a shell, database, allocator, filesystem, TCP stack, etc.). They're harder to justify academically because the end result is often just a simplified copy of an existing system.

  We're looking for project ideas where there's a clear reason for the design, such as:

  * Solving a specific limitation of existing software

  * Exploring a novel tradeoff

  * Targeting a niche environment or workload

  Ideally something challenging enough to count as systems work, but where we can answer "Why does this exist?" with something better than "because we rewrote it."

  Has anyone done a systems project that had a genuinely interesting research/design angle rather than being a straight reimplementation? I'd love to hear ideas or experiences.

  submitted by /u/cetinpajamas
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• Advice on programming language choice for Physics simulations

  I am a Physicist working with my supervisor's simulation spaghetti code written in C (8000+ lines, one .C file, almost all global variables, 3 letter variable names, comments as version control) and I was thinking of rewriting it's logic and numerics in another programming language trying to stick to that programming language's style.

  I am a programming noob overall, I have some Python experience from plotting and analyzing data, I have some experience with Julia programming using (as a tinkerer) libraries like ParallelStencil.jl and KernelAbstractions.jl and also some C experience from looking at, using and modifying that bad C code. I have no formal code training apart from 1 or 2 week-long workshops.

  I always hear that Rust's appeal is memory safety but my simulation code isn't important from a security point of view. So, is memory safety still relevant for my use-case? I see many projects like Ironbar (waybar functionality), Zed editor that are written in Rust and aren't security oriented, so am I missing something about it's strengths?

  What other advantage does Rust give me over Julia?

  I am leaning mostly towards Julia currently because it enables me to write code focusing mainly on the Physics and the Numerics while the GPU backend stuff is abstracted away with libraries like KernelAbstractions.jl. Is there any other programming language that I should be considering?

  EDIT: I left out some important detail, folks are assuming the original C code is performant, it's not. It's naively parallelized with OpenMP and doesn't scale past 16 cores, it has barely any scaling past even 8 cores.

  I have already experimented with porting a simplified 2D code from naive C (written by the same author in the same style) to naive Julia (with me just winging it) using KernelAbstractions and I already got 5x the performance of the C on a Titan V GPU. The original code is CPU only and can't do multi-node runs.

  EDIT 2: Thanks for all your input, I understand Rust's strengths better now. It's a great tool if you build large projects and want fine control and good tools to manage that fine control.
  I have decided to stick with Julia's ParallelStencil.jl library which allows for writing a code that would run on CPUs, NVIDIA GPUs and AMDGPUs with the option to add multi-GPU capability with the library ImplicitGlobalGrid.jl.
  The downside to an equivalent code in C++ is the 2-3 minutes Julia wastes with it's JIT compiler on first run. But for a simulation that's going to run close to 10 hours, that's fine.

  submitted by /u/eviley4
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• amnosia - a simple cli tool that helps with your amnesia!

  ever forgot something because you even forgot to pull up your todo list, reminders, or whatever?
  Then amnosia is the perfect tool for you!

  it's intended purpose is to open whenever a terminal session starts...

  Just learn 3 commands, and you'll remember everything you want!

  more info on github!

  Github: https://github.com/GennaroBiondi/amnosia

  submitted by /u/BiggestLover102
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• Rust Maintainer spotlight: Tiffany Pek Yuan (@tiif)
  submitted by /u/Kobzol
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• How I took my Rust GUI from 135 MB to 30 MB by ditching the GPU

  Last week, I released the first version of rproc, a system monitoring tool inspired by Windows 11 task manager but for linux.

  People on this subreddit told me about Mission Center and 'Ressources' that are very close in terms of UI and capabilities.

  I noticed they all consume between 180MB to 250MB of RAM. rproc still managed to get a lower footprint of only 130MB using egui.

  But I wanted to go further and rewrote the GUI with Claude Code help. Completely migrated from egui to slint. I now have 30MB (no GPU monitor) and 50MB (with GPU monitor).

  87% less RAM usage than Mission Center !

  Wrote an article explaining how it works.

  submitted by /u/TryallAllombria
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• silence-interrupter: for when you need that adrenaline kick

  This is an excellent tool for every developer if I may say so myself.

  A command-line program that plays random "brainrot" audio effects within the random time range of your choice.

  You can configure both the randomness time range and audio gain.

  Here are some interesting combinations:

  normal usage (put this as a background service) sh silence-interrupter --range 10m..30m

  stimulationmaxxing (USE RESPONSIBLY!!!) sh silence-interrupter --range 0..1s --gain 10.0

  make your friend feel like they are insane (put this as a background service) sh silence-interrupter --range 1h..8h --gain 0.01

  https://github.com/sermuns/silence-interrupter

  https://crates.io/crates/silence-interrupter

  submitted by /u/Sermuns
  [link] [comments]
• I'm building a GPU-native editor in Rust + WebAssembly

  Demo: https://demo.darkly.art/

  GitHub: https://github.com/darkly-art/darkly

  After making digital art for 10 years, and trying GIMP, Krita, and Photoshop, I wanted to make my dream editor.

  Everything including the compositor and node-based brush engine is from scratch. Many features still need to be added, but the core functionality is there - layers, masks, brush engine, hotkeys, settings, etc.

  When I started I knew nothing about GPU programming, shaders, or compositing. The compositor especially was really challenging, since the first thing I learned, is that AI is not capable of writing an efficient compositor without significant help (oh the horror, I have to actually **understand my software??**). There are lots of pitfalls, which I've kept a tally of for posterity.

  However by far the hardest part was the brush stroke stabilizer. I wanted to have that smooth, addicting Procreate-like feel to the brushes, and since I couldn't find any open source project that had done it, it took a lot of trial and error to get right. Ultimately, since a large portion of the stroke has to be re-rendered every frame, I ended up having to write much of it in WGSL.

  I haven't announced this on socials yet, so you guys are the first to to see it. Hope it's useful to someone!

  submitted by /u/the-techromancer
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• Learning Rust (for fun) because sick of AI

  Yo guys, to give you a bit of background: I’m not a developer. I’m an IT project manager who enjoys programming for fun and for automating my workflows. I use Python and Bash almost exclusively.

  Over the past year, I’ve started to feel that improving my Python skills doesn’t make much sense for me anymore, because I can simply ask AI to do it and, after some time and debugging, I usually get the result I wanted. That’s great for the efficiency of my work, but it doesn’t really satisfy the joy of solving problems myself.

  And that brings me to the reason why I started learning Rust: for fun and for problem-solving. I’m currently going through "The Rust Book" and, at the same time, working on Advent of Code 2025 so I can learn Rust in practice.

  My question is: do you have any recommendations on what to focus on, what to avoid for now, and how to approach learning Rust? Sure, I know the usual advice: build a CLI tool, make something I actually use and understand, and so on. But I’m more interested in the kind of advice that only clicked for you after hundreds of hours of using Rust.

  submitted by /u/Informal-Baseball209
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• Akaganite: Rust on Gaming Consoles
  submitted by /u/b4zzl3
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r/golang

• Build from scratch technologies in Go - resources

  A lot of people suggest to get better understanging of programming recreate technology from scratch. For Go the most know for me resources with this kind aproaches are:

  Writing an interpreter in Go - Thorsten Ball

  Writing a compiler in Go - Thorsten Ball

  Build Your Own Database From Scratch in Go. From B+Tree To SQL - James Smith

  Do you know similar books or free online courses about how build something from Scratch using Go?

  submitted by /u/pepiks
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• The Go Playground with AI support for code assistance

  Run Go Online (1.21, 1.26) submitted by /u/anish2good [link] [comments]

• Compression for Go web servers in 2026: brotli vs zstd, shared dictionaries, streaming

  I wrote about compression in Go web servers. It covers: precompressing static assets choosing brotli vs zstd for dynamic content shared dictionaries (dcb/dcz) dictionary training streaming compression (Disclosure: I'm the author of one of the libs benchmarked: go-brrr) submitted by /u/watman12 [link] [comments]

• How to kill/timeout a hanging goroutine when the code might be malicious (job queue)

  I'm building a job queue project.

  Where I'm launching the job processing part as a goroutine.

  Turns out I have no way(at least using goroutines) to truly kill the processing part if it hangs past a certain threshold.

  I want to be able to kill that "process/goroutine".

  I know one way to achieve this is to periodically check for ctx.Done(), but assuming a "malicious" job handler implementation(that's outside of my control), that wouldn't cut it.

  How can I go about achieving that?

  Thanks!

  submitted by /u/arush_builds
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• We’re building Constellation: an open-source GraphQL engine written in Go, compatible with Hasura

  Hi everyone,

  At Nhost, Hasura has been the core of our GraphQL layer for years. It’s been a great piece of engineering and a huge part of what made Nhost possible.

  We recently started building Constellation: an open-source GraphQL engine written in Go, designed to be a near drop-in replacement for Hasura Community Edition.

  The goal is to read existing Hasura metadata, generate a compatible GraphQL schema per role, and serve the same /v1/graphql API for the core query, mutation, and subscription path.

  It currently:

  • reads Hasura metadata
  • generates a Hasura-compatible GraphQL schema
  • supports queries, mutations, and subscriptions
  • supports permissions
  • supports relationships
  • supports remote schemas
  • supports cross-source relationships
  • is already serving production traffic at Nhost

  Why Go?

  We wanted a smaller and more predictable runtime profile, simple concurrency primitives, fast startup, easy deployment, and a codebase that would be straightforward to operate as part of our infrastructure. We also wanted to make the engine easier to reason about internally, with small interfaces, and a connector-oriented architecture for supporting different data sources over time.

  In our current production comparison, Constellation uses roughly 90% less memory than Hasura for the same workload: around 15 MiB vs. Hasura’s ~180 MiB. Latency is also looking good: under 40ms vs. Hasura’s 60–80ms spikes in the same production window.

  We’re being careful with those numbers because they come from raw production dashboards, not a carefully crafted benchmark. Still, the resource difference is large enough that it meaningfully changes how we can operate GraphQL at Nhost.

  It is still early. Today, Constellation runs alongside Hasura, and Hasura still owns metadata authoring. Several Hasura features are not implemented yet, including Actions, Event Triggers, Cron Triggers, REST endpoints, allowlists, query collections, inherited roles, native queries, and computed fields.

  We’re sharing it now because we’d love feedback from people running real Hasura projects, but also from Go developers interested in the architecture of GraphQL engines and query planning.

  Happy to talk about implementation details, architecture decisions, and why we chose Go for this.

  GitHub: https://github.com/nhost/nhost/tree/main/services/constellation

  submitted by /u/nunopato
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• I almost reverted a working Go optimization because my benchmark said it did nothing

  submitted by /u/BgA_stan [link] [comments]

• Native Go file sql

  I want to use sql in my app, but I want it to be afile based sql db like sqlite. The closest native Go sql driver for sqlite is the modernc one, but it still ties you to C.

  Are there native Go implementations of a Go sqlite or other file based sql db out there that are in widespread use?

  submitted by /u/yankdevil
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• Go programming workbook

  Hi, if you're learning Go or want to improve your skills, I've created a workbook with small projects to help you practice concurrency, error handling, OOP, and more.

  I'm still working on it, so the list of projects will keep growing.

  I published a workbook on GitHub along with my implementations: https://github.com/ole-techwood/AGPWorkbook

  submitted by /u/cs_gazeta
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• fedit v1.8.0 — zero-dependency CLI + MCP server for surgical file edits (anchor-to-anchor ranges, negative line indices, quiet mode)

  **fedit v1.8.0 — a zero-dependency CLI + MCP server for surgical file edits (anchor-to-anchor ranges, negative line indices, quiet mode)**

  I've been building fedit for over a year — a line-oriented file editor written in Go, single binary, zero deps. The MCP server is built directly into the binary so Claude Desktop / Cursor can call it as a tool instead of rewriting whole files.

  v1.8.0 adds three things:

  **Anchor-to-anchor ranges (`-match` + `-endmatch`)**

  Target a block by content, not line numbers, on `show`, `replace`, `delete`, `move`, `copy`:

  ```

  fedit -file deploy.yaml -op replace -match "# staging" -endmatch "# end staging" -textfile new.yaml -v

  fedit -file main.go -op delete -match "// BEGIN deprecated" -endmatch "// END deprecated" -v

  fedit -file server.go -op show -match "func handleLogin(" -endmatch "^}"

  ```

  Combines with `-nth N` for repeated patterns.

  **Negative and colon line syntax**

  ```

  fedit -file app.log -op show -line -5: # last 5 lines

  fedit -file config.go -op show -line -1 # last line

  fedit -file main.go -op delete -line 8:+2 # lines 8-10

  ```

  **Quiet mode (`-quiet`)** — exit code only, no stdout on success. Clean for CI pipelines.

  ---

  The codebase has 15 operations, block-aware targeting for 10 languages (Go, Python, JS/TS, Rust, Java, C#, Ruby, PHP, HCL/Terraform, Nix), a streaming engine for large files, and sub-line extraction (`-extract`, `-get`, `-wdelim`). The MCP layer exposes 14 tools.

  We also ran a benchmark — Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini on 7 realistic editing tasks against files of 565–1196 lines. Gemini passed all 7 raw output tests but failed 6/7 fedit patch tests due to line number hallucination. ChatGPT truncated 6/7 raw outputs. Content-anchored ops (`-match`/`-endmatch`) are immune to the drift problem entirely.

  ```

  go install github.com/amalexico/fedit@latest

  ```

  https://github.com/amalexico/fedit

  AI disclosure: Claude assisted with code and docs.

  submitted by /u/Character-Chicken522
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• Go 1.26.4 is released

  You can download binary and source distributions from the Go website:
  https://go.dev/dl/

  View the release notes for more information:
  https://go.dev/doc/devel/release#go1.26.4

  Find out more:
  https://github.com/golang/go/issues?q=milestone%3AGo1.26.4

  (I want to thank the people working on this!)

  submitted by /u/MarcelloHolland
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r/rust_gamedev

• Repercussion 3 - A game about cave exploration written in 3* days

  Rust libraries used: hecs for ECS RustAllegro for IO This time around I decided to code it without AI, and instead re-learned how to write macros to reduce code duplication. submitted by /u/SiegeLordEx [link] [comments]