geometry Archives

AppWizard

January 7, 2026

Just when you think there’s no room for shooters to innovate, here’s one where your health is literally your framerate

FPS Quest links player health to framerate, causing framerate drops as the character takes damage. Players can upgrade weapons and manipulate the game environment to boost framerate and health, such as replacing a 3D gun with a 2D sprite or altering level geometry. One upgrade can increase framerate by 10 fps at the cost of removing structural columns, which eliminates cover. This mechanic encourages a balance between alterations and game stability.

Winsage

December 9, 2025

Windows PC gaming in 2025: Handheld innovation, Arm progress and DirectX advances

Windows has been a key platform for PC gaming, evolving significantly by 2025 with advancements in handheld gaming and performance. The ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, powered by AMD Ryzen Z2 Series processors, were introduced, enhancing handheld gaming experiences. The Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE) was launched for these devices, optimizing gaming interfaces. Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) was implemented, reducing load times by over 80% for some titles. System-level performance improvements included tuned power management and lower CPU overhead. Windows also focused on Arm devices, enabling local game installations through the Xbox PC app and expanding compatibility with the Prism emulator. Native anti-cheat support was introduced for Arm devices, enhancing competitive gaming. DirectX 12 advancements included features that improved ray tracing performance by up to 2.3×. Bluetooth LE Audio support was added to enhance audio quality for gamers. Upcoming innovations include expanding FSE to more Windows devices, further ASD support, and a preview of Auto Super Resolution for improved visuals in games.

AppWizard

November 30, 2025

Sektori developer says the response to his Geometry Wars-inspired roguelike has been ‘awesome’, but the game’s sales still leave him ‘with zero salary for 4.5 years’

Sektori, a game released in 2025, has achieved a 97% positive rating on Steam and features Geometry Wars-inspired roguelike mechanics. Developer Kimmo Lahtinen noted the game's unexpected success among a niche audience and highlighted the challenges of achieving commercial success in a competitive market. He observed a disconnect between lengthy game development cycles and the short attention spans of modern users, leading to a trend of quicker, smaller projects. Lahtinen humorously pointed out that the majority of Sektori's players are older gamers, indicating a generational divide in gaming preferences. The game's design philosophy intentionally limits explanations of mechanics to encourage player exploration, although some players expressed a desire for more clarity. Lahtinen is currently working on a patch to address minor issues, including a difficulty spike during the first boss battle.

AppWizard

November 23, 2025

This roguelike take on Geometry Wars is the best game I’ve played this month, and the latest to become a permanent fixture on my Steam Deck

November has seen the release of various notable games, including Sektori, developed by Kimmo Lahtinen, a former Housemarque developer. Sektori is a twin-stick shooter reminiscent of Geometry Wars, featuring a three-card upgrade system similar to Vampire Survivors. The gameplay involves controlling a ship shaped like an arrow in a dynamic arena filled with unique rogue polygon enemies. The game features vibrant visuals and an energetic soundtrack, demanding high focus from players due to its challenging mechanics. Players start with a shield that can withstand only three hits, and the arena's boundaries add to the difficulty. Collecting defeated enemies' triangles leads to blue upgrade tokens, which can be used to enhance the ship's abilities. Yellow "Evolve" tokens allow players to choose from three upgrades, adding strategic depth. The game includes eight card decks with unlockable abilities, and players can trigger "Rainbow Mode" by collecting letters to spell "MIRAGE." Boss encounters present significant challenges, with some balancing issues noted in the first boss fight. Overall, Sektori offers a rich and immersive gaming experience, quickly becoming a favorite among players.

AppWizard

October 18, 2025

Don’t count on Arc Raiders ever getting a first-person mode: ‘Once you start being able to put your face right up against an asset, it kind of falls apart’

Arc Raiders is a third-person shooter that has gained significant attention in the extraction genre, with strong participation in its server slam playtest. Developer Watkins has stated that the likelihood of introducing a first-person mode is slim due to the need for a fundamental reevaluation of the game's design and the technical challenges involved. The game's geometry and asset quality are designed for an over-the-shoulder view, making a first-person perspective impractical. Watkins concluded that implementing a first-person mode is "very, very implausible."

Winsage

October 18, 2025

Windows Rust-based Kernel GDI Vulnerability Leads to Crash and Blue Screen of Death Error

A vulnerability has been identified in Microsoft’s Rust-based kernel component for the Graphics Device Interface (GDI) within Windows, which can cause a system-wide crash (BSOD). The issue was discovered during a fuzzing campaign by Check Point, which revealed crashes and potential code execution risks. The vulnerability is linked to an out-of-bounds array access in the win32kbasers.sys driver during the path-to-region conversion in NtGdiSelectClipPath, triggered by a malformed EmfPlusDrawBeziers record. A proof-of-concept demonstrated that embedding a crafted metafile could lead to a BSOD from low-privilege sessions on Windows 11. Microsoft addressed the flaw in OS Build 26100.4202 through an update released on May 28, 2025. Despite being classified as a non-critical denial-of-service issue, this incident highlights the challenges of integrating memory-safe programming languages into operating systems.

Winsage

October 17, 2025

Denial of Fuzzing: Rust in the Windows kernel

Check Point Research (CPR) identified a significant security vulnerability in the Rust-based kernel component of the Graphics Device Interface (GDI) in Windows, reported to Microsoft in January 2025. The issue was resolved in OS Build 26100.4202, part of the KB5058499 update released on May 28, 2025. The vulnerability was discovered during a fuzzing campaign targeting the Windows graphics component through metafiles, revealing multiple security issues including information disclosure and arbitrary code execution. The specific bug was linked to a crash occurring during the execution of a NtGdiSelectClipPath syscall in the win32kbasers.sys driver, triggered by an out-of-bounds memory access when processing malformed metafile records. Microsoft classified the vulnerability as moderate severity and addressed it in a non-security update, implementing substantial changes to the affected kernel module.

AppWizard

October 10, 2025

AMD just announced a new ray tracing gaming GPU core, promises big speed boost

AMD is introducing a new dedicated hardware block called the Radiance Core in its upcoming Radeon gaming GPU technology, developed in collaboration with Sony. This advancement aims to improve ray tracing performance by relocating ray traversal calculations from CPU and GPU shader cores to dedicated hardware, which is expected to enhance lighting performance in gaming. The Radiance Core allows the CPU to focus on geometry and simulation while the GPU concentrates on shading and lighting, resulting in a significant speed boost. Additionally, AMD is working on other features to further enhance ray tracing performance.

AppWizard

September 5, 2025

Silksong’s speedrunning community is already at it: Dismantling the game’s mechanics like mad scientists less than a day after release

Hollow Knight: Silksong has been live for under 20 hours, and the speedrunning community is actively exploring its mechanics. Players are sharing techniques on platforms like the Hollow Knight Discord and the Hollow Knight Speedrun and Racing Community. They have discovered ways to achieve faster-than-sprinting speeds by combining jumping and sprinting, access ability-gated areas early by bouncing off flying enemies, and a tactic involving jumping off spikes that may be patched in the future. A humorous strategy involves trapping the character Moorwing beneath level geometry for repeated attacks. The community is continuously refining these techniques, with excitement growing around potential new strategies.

AppWizard

August 26, 2025

This week in PC games: a MGS3 remake, new Blumhouse horror and some freshly peeled spaceships

The Maw has consumed another Monday, and a recent article about a "bank holiday" was a public relations strategy to prevent a stock market downturn. Mark has been on a theoretical holiday since last Wednesday but is actually marooned in the Cretaceous period. James is in a state of limbo, neither at Gamescom nor back at his desk. New PC game releases include: 1. NG Y' STOOD L' SAND OT GN'TH: A cosmic horror experience. 2. Pizza Bandit: A shooter combining culinary creativity with alien defense. 3. Watertight: A free horror adventure set in a troubled submarine exploring the Titanic wreck. 4. good: A minigame collection about a teenager avoiding education. 5. The Supper: New Blood: A point-and-click adventure with a dinner party theme. 6. Pixel Starships 2: An MMO for designing and managing spaceships. 7. Eyes Of Hellfire: A haunted house experience published by Blumhouse. 8. Neon Village: A hybrid game blending match-3, town-building, and roguelike elements. 9. Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance: A revival of a classic Sega side-scroller. The author plans to work on an interview-driven feature and a piece on liminality, while James is expected to handle impressions articles and interviews. Mark may return to regular updates and a review if he escapes his situation.