You will help jump start our transition to Unreal for AAA console games. You should have deep experience or specialty in at least one area, and strong working knowledge of all client systems — graphics, ai, physics, animation, game rules, audio, ui, i/o, and tools. You should have strong opinions about what goes in cpp and what goes in blue print. You should be able to communicate the “right” way to do things in Unreal to the team.
Requirements:
Shipped a high quality Unreal project in the last 5 years
Voodoo knowledge of UE4
5+ years of games or simulation experience in C++ or C#
Experience on mid- to large teams
Plus – broad knowledge and passion of current generation shooting games
Links to the titles you worked on with a description of which features you owned
Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.
Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.
So strong, in fact, that Raiser Games and U-Play Online have revealed that a brand new set of DLC is now available for free on Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC. The news comes alongside a seemingly unrelated celebration trailer which you can check out above, and we have all the details you need about the DLC itself below:
The Fashion Channel offers players new ways to create content for their channels: from creating their own look, to tailoring any aspect of their everyday lives. As soon as their popularity rises accordingly, players will get invited to exclusive events where they will meet some of the world’s hottest celebrities. Will you become the world’s next big fashionista?
In Youtubers Life Fashion Channel DLC you can:
– Buy and design your own outfits: you will have to combine different styles and colours, always keeping in mind how they suit the time of the year! – Tailor every aspect of your personal life: you can design new outfits, experiment with makeup styles and even get creative with your own haircuts! – Create fashion videos: once you tailor your first outfits you will be able to record a variety of videos about them. Start getting those totally deserved subscribers! – Attend fashion events to become a celebrity – but be careful, because you need to dress properly if you want to make it to that fashion magazine cover! – Become the next top model: Pick the best outfit and share the runway with the world’s top models!!
If you haven’t heard about this one before and want to check it out, you can download the game from the eShop for $29.99 / £26.99. With this new DLC being free, you’ll be able to play through all of the content mentioned above at no extra charge.
Have you always wanted to be a YouTuber? Think you could give our very own Alex and Zion a run for their money? Let us know in the comments.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-09-2019, 07:57 AM - Forum: Lounge
- No Replies
Nintendo Surprise Launches New Switch Game The Stretchers
Surprise, surprise, Nintendo has stealth released a new Switch game from Little Nightmares developer Tarsier. Called The Stretchers, this whimsical puzzler tasks you with ferrying patients to the hospital in a race against the clock. It's published by Nintendo, and it's out right now on the Eshop.
The gameplay looks like a curious mix between Crazy Taxi and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, as you control two medics in charge of scooping up "dizzy" patients on a stretcher and navigating to an ambulance so you can dump them in the back and set off, crashing through fences, walls, and into other vehicles. Let's just say they're not the safest ambulance drivers.
The Stretchers is clearly designed with co-op in mind; the Switch's two Joy-Con's providing easy access to local multiplayer. But it can be played solo as well, which is where the Brothers vibes come from.
Unreal Engine have just released Unreal Engine 4.24 preview 1. Preview 1 releases are always among the most interesting as you can see all the major new features that are going to be in the next version of Unreal Engine, although like all preview/beta releases, it should not be used in production.
Inertial Blending (Beta). Creates a natural procedural transition between poses. It is based on bone velocities and momentum from the outgoing pose.
Animation Blueprint Linking (Beta). An extension to the sub-instance system allowing for dynamic switching of sub-sections of an animation graph, enabling multi-user collaboration and memory savings for vaulted or unavailable items.
Audio Updates:
Stream Caching (Beta). A feature enabled at cook time that significantly changes the way audio is loaded and released from memory. When enabled, almost all compressed audio data is separated from the USoundWave asset and automatically divided into separate chunks.
Audio Synesthesia (Beta). The Audio Analyzer module and Audio Synesthesia plugin expose extracted audio analysis data to be used for gameplay scripting via Blueprint. This enables designers to drive animations, effects and other elements tightly coupled to sounds being played in game.
Audio Mixer on by Default. The new audio mixer, as first announced at GDC in 2017, will now be enabled by default in 4.24. The audio mixer in UE4 uses a common software audio renderer across all platforms. This not only provides feature parity across all our platforms, it also extends the audio feature set in a wide number of areas and prepares UE4 for continued audio innovation.
Editor Updates:
Variant Manager Improvements. The Variant Manager allows editing and control of a variant system. It can be used in car configurators or other customizable product experiences. The variant manager also has potential for TV & broadcast applications, where users can switch between created scene setups at runtime.
Datasmith for Alias Wire Support Improvements. Alias Studio is a product design software used for surface modeling.
Sun and Sky Actor. We modified the existing Sun Positioner plugin to wrap a directional light, a sky light, and the newly introduced Atmospheric Sky created by the rendering team. The goal is to provide a workflow similar to the HDRI Backdrop actor added to 4.23, where users are provided with self contained functionality into a single actor.
Extended Editor UI Layouts. You can now create, save, load, export, and import multiple Editor UI layouts—even across different machines or devices. Team members can create specific Editor layouts that improve their workflow, and share these layouts with everyone on the team. .
New Project Workflow. The new project creation dialog has been completely redesigned! Instead of the dialog with tabs, there is now a New Project wizard. This simplifies the workflow for creating projects by breaking it up into smaller steps that are easier to understand.
New Toolbars for Chaos Fracture Plugin (Experimental). The UI for the Chaos Fracture Plugin has been updated! We have moved the Fracture and Cluster tools from the Modes panel into two toolbar palettes. These two palettes are designed to naturally progress through the phases of creating a destructible mesh.
Datasmith Improvements for 3ds Max, SketchUp, CAD, AxF
Dev Tools
AutoSDKs (Beta). The AutoSDK feature enables customers to distribute target platform SDKs while configuring them for the Engine on demand. UnrealBuildTool, AutomationTool and the Unreal Editor are all designed to work seamlessly with AutoSDK — the switching between SDKs is handled by UnrealBuildTool, which is invoked by the other tools.
BuildAgent Tool (Beta). BuildAgent is a utility for managing agents on a build farm. It supports fast cleaning of Perforce workspaces using locally stored information about file timestamps, as well as fast switching of workspaces using a local cache of files addressable by MD5 digest. It also includes functionality for parsing errors and warnings from build steps and propagating them to UnrealGameSync to display for users.
Geometry Updates:
Modeling Mode (Experimental). We have implemented a new Editor Mode that allows users to create and edit static mesh assets directly in the main 3D viewport using existing Actors/Components that are placed in the world. This does not replace the Static Mesh Asset Editor, but is a separate set of tools that are focused on interactive 3D modeling.
Modeling Mode Sculpting Tools (Experimental). Sculpting Tools are a subset of the Modeling Tools Editor Mode. We know that this kind of tool is of particular interest to artists, so we wanted to give you some details! The feature is a simplified version of 3D sculpting found in DCC tools like Mudbox or ZBrush. The basic concept is the same: you click and drag on your mesh to push the vertices around.
Mobile Updates:
Auto-instancing on Mobile (Experimental). We are planning to support the auto-instancing feature of the HLR on mobile devices for improved performance due to reduced draw calls. This functions the same as desktop auto-instancing, but it uses a texture instead of a buffer due to limitations on Mali devices, which can only support a buffer of 64 kb.
Android App Bundles. Android App Bundles are a new upload format for the Google Play Store that defers APK generation and signing to Google Play itself. Google’s Dynamic Delivery system then provides an APK optimized for a user’s device configuration automatically. As of 4.24, we will be supporting App Bundle builds through the Unreal Engine.
Networking Updates:
Network Engine Test Suite. In 4.24, we added automated testing features to the EngineTest project for networked features. We added a FunctionalNetTest to this project so we can create tests designed to make sure that different areas of networked games behave properly. With it, developers can test network features such as replication and RPCs between server and clients. This allows for testing with both Listen Servers and Dedicated Servers.
DTLS Support (Experimental). The DTLS packet handler component uses OpenSSL to implement a DTLS (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6347) based encryption scheme for network traffic. It provides two different approaches for accomplishing this goal, encryption based on pre-shared key values (similar to the existing AES packet handler), and a system based on exchanging self-signed X509 certificates.
Steam Sockets (Experimental). SteamSockets is a networking plugin that takes advantage of the new Steam network protocol layer that was introduced recently into the Steamworks SDK. This plugin empowers a project to take advantage of some of the finer benefits of Valve’s network functionality to provide a smoother (and safer) online experience for players when using Steam.
Niagara Updates:
System Overview (Beta). There is a new tab in the Niagara Emitter and System Editor, which gives a high-level overview of the system or emitter being edited. The System Overview panel combines the pan-and-zoom Graph node view with compact versions of the Emitter Stack. With this new panel you get something which feels similar to the Cascade editor, but matches the form, elements and style of Niagara.
Online & Media Framework Updates:
Pixel Streaming Updates (Beta). PixelStreaming plugin was re-architected to resolve various quality-related issues and for general improvement, plus adding features requested by current customers:
Fixed video encoding artifacts.
Improved streaming over limited bandwidth network connections like mobile networks.
Add “Freeze Frame” feature to Pixel Streaming API – to show a static image (either custom or automatically generated) and pause streaming by user request, e.g. to avoid wasting network traffic on user inactivity.
Added encoding support for AMD GPUs.
Early implementation, and not completely on par with NvEnc
Upgraded WebRTC version to release 70.
As an ongoing initiative, integrated PixelStreaming with UE4 Media Framework. This allows basic Pixel Streaming playback inside UE4.
Open World Updates:
Landscape Blueprint Brushes and Landmass Plugin (Beta). Up until now Landscape data could be imported and/or edited from the Landscape Editor Mode only. This new feature opens the Landscape data to Blueprints. It is now possible to assign Blueprint Brushes to the new Landscape Edit Layers. Those Brushes have a Render event that can be implemented in Blueprint that allows the user to inject landscape data (Height data and/or Weightmap data) into the Edit Layer.
Rendering Updates:
Ray Tracing Features Updates (Beta). We have a number of new improvements to highlight – some are:
New RTGI method that delivers faster results. (Experimental)
Enable it using r.RayTracing.GlobalIllumination.EnableFinalGather 1. It supports a single bounce and samples per pixel should be set to 8.
Improved instancing support for Instanced Static Meshes and Hierarchical Instanced Static Meshes with improved efficiency for large worlds.
Multi-view support for Virtual Reality devices and split-screen. (Experimental)
NOTE: denoiser support is not yet in Preview 1. It will come later in the preview releases.
World Position Offset support for Static Meshes (enabled with per-Actor setting)
Improved multi-bounce ray traced reflections with better support for area shadowing in reflections using samples per pixel greater than 1. We’ve also added support for SSR fallback when using the command r.RayTracing.Reflections.Hybrid.
Niagara VFX support for Ribbons.
Screen Space Global Illumination (SSGI) (Beta). We’ve added beta support for dynamic global illumination as a screen space effect. Currently, it can be enabled using r.SSGI.Quality. Use a value between 1-4 to choose a quality level. It’s intensity and tint color can be adjusted using the Post Process Volume > Rendering Features > Global Illumination category.
Material Layers (Beta). Will enable you to combine your Materials in a stack giving you similar functionality to Material Functions except that is supports the creation of child instances. Existing documentation on this feature can be referenced here.
New Atmosphere Fog Component. We have a new AtmosphereSky component which adds a physically based Earth-like atmosphere. It can be used to create exotic worlds and provides a ground view with and aerial perspectives, including ground to space views for planetary atmospheres.
Burley Subsurface Scattering. We’ve added the Burley algorithm to the SSS Profiles Asset. This method is more physically accurate and aims to improve the quality of skin shading and simplifying setup using physically based material properties. This SSS model targets high-end skin rendering with cleaner, more accurate falloff.
Enable it in the SSS Profile Asset.
The Editor Preview Level should be set to Cinematic
It requires Temporal Anti-Aliasing to be enabled.
For existing content using the standard SSS Profiles, it should require minimal changes to your existing content.
Hair and Fur Rendering and Simulation (Experimental). We have experimental support for hair rendering and simulation. In 4.24, you’ll be able to import your Alembic (.abc) groom from an external DCC application, create and setup your hair using the Groom component in UE4, Author and Edit your Material in UE4, and use Niagara to set up hair physics with some adjustable settings.
Runtime Virtual Texturing Improvements (Beta). We’ve continued to improve process and add useful updates to the RVT workflow for 4.24. These are some of the improvements coming this release:
Added settings for more refined control of your RVT through the RVT Asset.
Added RVT Material Types. We now have four options compared to the two in the previous release.
Added different RVT Base Color and Normal Storage settings for encoding.
Added two new RVT Asset actions through the context menu for “Find Material Using This” and “Fix Material Usage” to streamline workflows when creating or fixing RVT Assets and their references.
Ability to build a Streaming Virtual Texture from your RVT from its low resolution mips. This makes it more efficient to make use of both Streaming and Runtime Virtual Textures together to save memory.
Tied RVT to Scalability options for along with console variables to tune RVT settings per-project and/or per-platform.
Virtual Production Updates:
Pro Media Export (Beta). Currently, the export to disk capabilities from Sequencer is limited and does not address the production needs. We are adding Pro media codec support for Avid DNXHR to sequencer export to better integrate with film pipelines and TV Pipelines.
3D Text (Experimental). As Unreal Engine becomes used in the Broadcast industry there have been a number of requests to support Geometry based 3D Text.
nDisplay QoL – Revised Architecture for Pawn, GameMode & Inputs. We have a number of improvements to highlight:
Pawn – We were forcing users to use a custom nDisplay Pawn – nDisplay would not properly work with regular Pawns or Character Classes.
GameMode – Must be using a Custom nDisplay Game Mode. We’re getting rid of that as well.
Consequences – Adding rotations via rotation components vs the controller
XR Updates:
OpenXR (Beta). A new UE4 plugin that utilizes the new OpenXR standard to support a wide range of VR and AR devices through a single plugin.
Magic Leap Update. We’ve updated the Magic Leap integration with support for their latest 0.22 SDK. This required updating almost the entire surface area of the plugin and brings us from a relatively old 0.19 integration up to what they are currently publicly shipping.
Be sure to check the complete forum post for a list of fixes and breaking changes in this release. Check out the video below to see Unreal 4.24 preview 1 in action, including how to enable and use the new mesh modeling and sculpting tools.
There hasn’t been anything really worth reviewing this week, hence a lot more news bits and our usual run of features. Michael’s submitted a tips guide for GWENT, which we’ll run next week – I didn’t really feel like it was something worth rushing to review. I’ll also be trying out the new Hearthstone mode properly next week when the global beta starts. Had to re-download the game as I haven’t played in forever, but should be interesting to see Blizzard’s interpretation of an Auto Chess mode, even if it does look like a lazy man’s game of Hearthstone.
Honestly, there wasn’t much this week that really caught our eye or seemed worth shouting about. If you’ve spotted anything we missed, do let us know and I can update the column.
One thing that did catch my eye was an iOS-only game called Boolitaire (there is a game on android with the same name, but I don’t think it’s the same game). It’s a spooky-themed twist on Solitaire that seems to combine resource management with tactical card play. We’ve always had a soft-spot here on PT for games that do interesting twists on established concepts, and at $1.99 there are much worse ways to spend your money. We haven’t been able to try it out ourselves though, so here’s a gamepaly video from App Unwrapper:
New Apple Arcade Games
We don’t normally run dedicated updates for Apple Arcade but we just happened to get a press release through for these new additions. What’s more, Apple Arcade is now officially up to 100 games! Huzzah!
We’re not going to go into detail on all of them, but the first five of the six new additions include:
Takesahi & Hiroshi – An Adventure about… making a game? I think?
Guildings – A story-driven narrative adventure about going on a quest.
Marble it Up: Mayhem! – An Action/Platformer about playing with Marbles.
Sociable Soccer™ – A Sports management game that uses card mechanics, and has multiplayer.
Discolored – A first-person exploration/adventure game.
BattleSky Brigade: Harpooner – a scolling shoot’em-up game in the BattleSky Brigade series.
And without further ado, the official 100th game to land on Apple Arcade is…..
UFO on Tape: First Contact
Genre: Action
What would you do if a real UFO descended from the clouds? Run screaming? Or grab your iPhone and start recording?! The highly anticipated sequel to the award-winning iOS 2010 release, UFO on Tape puts you in the hot seat as you speed through the countryside in hot pursuit of visitors from outer space.
App Updates
Bridge Constructor Portal
Bridge Constructor Portal has received its first piece of DLC, nearly two years after it released onto mobile. Called Portal Proficiency, this add-on adds 30 new levels, and lets you construct bridges and choose where to place the portals.
Star Traders Frontiers
Another huge update for Star Traders – this one adds the 7th Story Era, which comes with new simulation rules, Rumors, Conflicts, and Contact actions/mutations. Enemy AI Captains also now finally use the new Carrier ship type introduced earlier in the year. There’s plenty more changes and additions as well, so make sure you check out the full update (taken from the Steam entry) to find out more.
Other games to receive updates this week:
Pokemon Masters has received an update that adds in new story story chapters, and the ability to swap Pikachu out for a Torchic.
Hearthstone received its new Auto Chess mode this week – it’ll be available for everyone to play on Monday.
Only a few sales we felt worth highlighting this week:
Star Traders: Frontiers is currently at its best price this year to date at $3.99 on both iOS and Android. This is an excellent sci-fi sandbox RPG, and well worth checking out, especially with the new update!
Night of the Full Moon, which has never been that expensive anyway at $0.99 is currently free on iOS and Android. It’s got several DLCs/IAPs, but it’s still a pretty good solitaire card game.
The excellent strategy card game Age of Rivals is down to $1.99 again, but only on iOS.
Space Grunts is also discounted (since Space Grunts 2 is imminent), but it’s not the best price it’s been, so beware of that.
Seen anything else you liked? Played any of the above? Let us know in the comments!
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-09-2019, 01:28 AM - Forum: Windows
- No Replies
Standing up for every Dreamer
They came to the United States as children, brought into the country undocumented by parents with dreams of a better life. Many were so young when they arrived that they have no recollection of their place of birth. We call these young people Dreamers – students, employees and military soldiers who aspire to make the country where they have lived most of their lives a permanent home.
In 2012, the United States created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to protect these young people from being deported. Yet just five years later, the program was rescinded, putting close to 700,000 DACA recipients at risk of being banished from the only home they’ve ever known.
More than five dozen of these DACA recipients at risk are Microsoft employees. These young people contribute to our company and serve our customers. They help create our products, secure our services, and manage our finances. And like so many young people across our nation, they dream of making an honest living and a real difference in the communities in which they reside. Yet they now live in uncertainty.
We’ve told our Microsoft Dreamers that we will stand up for them along with all the nation’s DACA recipients. We’ll represent them in court and litigate on their behalf. That’s why we joined Princeton University and Princeton student Maria De La Cruz Perales Sanchez to file one of the three cases challenging the DACA rescission that will be heard on Nov. 12 by the United States Supreme Court. We will be there in person, along with a group of our employees, to show our support for DACA recipients.
For Microsoft, the decision to bring this case was straightforward. We believe Dreamers are worth protecting. The case speaks to the impact the rescission has on our business, company, employees and the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers across the country. It also has a broader impact on the country’s flow of talent and innovation economy, a perspective that we share with Princeton. Like all research- and innovation-focused organizations, both Microsoft and Princeton depend on the ability to attract talent from around the world. It’s essential not just to us, but also to our country’s ability to compete on the world stage.
Amidst this broader discussion, we also need to remember the individual stories of Dreamers and the contributions that they make. While the number of Dreamers is large, every number is a person and each person is an individual. In short, behind each number there is a unique and important story.
For example, one of the nation’s Dreamers is a young woman, a Microsoft service and security engineer, who was born in Mexico and brought to the U.S. at the age of 4. She thought she was an American citizen until the day, years later, when she asked her mother to sign a permission slip for a school experience in Japan. That was the day that, with tears in her eyes, her mother told her she could never leave the country because she would not be allowed to come back. Inspired by her mother’s sacrifices for her and her siblings, in 2012 she followed her passion for technology through DigiGirlz, a program supported by Microsoft YouthSpark that gives girls the opportunity to learn about careers in technology. After years of commitment, further coursework, and unending grit, she is now building the next chapter of her story at our headquarters in Redmond with our Microsoft 365 team, thanks to DACA. At a time when cyber-attacks are increasing, she is using her skills and experience to help protect our customers across the country and around the world.
Another one of our employees is a Dreamer and software engineer who was born in Tepic, Mexico, and brought to the U.S. when he was only four months old. Growing up in Los Angeles, he and his family lived close to the poverty line for most of his childhood. He excelled in school and earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from California Polytechnic State University. His talents led to multiple offers for engineering roles at top technology companies, and we are thrilled that he is now part of our software development team near Seattle. Today he works to enhance productivity and performance for Azure, the cloud platform that is empowering customers of all sizes across the country – including government agencies – to transform their work. He is part of the team that helps make this transformation possible.
There are so many more stories like those, within and beyond Microsoft. For us, this fight is not just about our employees. It’s also about the potential impact of DACA rescission on the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers, on businesses across the country, and on the innovation economy that is central to the nation’s prosperity. Roughly three-quarters of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies have confirmed that they employ Dreamers.
While we are the only company among the plaintiffs of the consolidated cases now before the Supreme Court, we know we represent employers of all sizes in making the case to uphold DACA. Last month, more than 140 companies and associations showed their support in a brief filed before the Court. They wrote about the serious harm that would be inflicted on the economy if we were to lose the contributions of Dreamers.
While the case before the Supreme Court is of fundamental importance, we also appreciate that it is insufficient in addressing the permanent needs of the nation’s Dreamer population. The only path to stability for Dreamers is a pathway to citizenship. And citizenship in this case can only come from Congress.
We also recognize that the Dreamers are one part of the broader immigration challenges we face as a nation. We are committed to constructive steps to attract and retain talent that helps fuel innovation and grow our economy for the benefit of every American. This includes reducing the green card backlog and constraints on high skilled visas. Innovation has been vital to the nation’s history. It needs to be equally fundamental to the country’s future – a future that requires creating more opportunities for those born in the United States as well as long-lasting solutions that support individuals like the Dreamers that have come as children from other nations
The Cockpit series continues to focus on some of the tools users and administrators can use to perform everyday tasks within the web user-interface. So far we’ve covered introducing the user-interface, storage and network management, and user accounts. Hence, this article will highlight how Cockpit handles software and services.
The menu options for Applications and Software Updates are available through Cockpit’s PackageKit feature. To install it from the command-line, run:
sudo dnf install cockpit-packagekit
For Fedora Silverblue, Fedora CoreOS, and other ostree-based operating systems, install the cockpit-ostree package and reboot the system:
On the main screen, Cockpit notifies the user whether the system is updated, or if any updates are available. Click the Updates Available link on the main screen, or Software Updates in the menu options, to open the updates page.
RPM-based updates
The top of the screen displays general information such as the number of updates and the number of security-only updates. It also shows when the system was last checked for updates, and a button to perform the check. Likewise, this button is equivalent to the command sudo dnf check-update.
Below is the Available Updates section, which lists the packages requiring updates. Furthermore, each package displays the name, version, and best of all, the severity of the update. Clicking a package in the list provides additional information such as the CVE, the Bugzilla ID, and a brief description of the update. For details about the CVE and related bugs, click their respective links.
Also, one of the best features about Software Updates is the option to only install security updates. Distinguishing which updates to perform makes it simple for those who may not need, or want, the latest and greatest software installed. Of course, one can always use Red Hat Enterprise Linux or CentOS for machines requiring long-term support.
The example below demonstrates how Cockpit applies RPM-based updates.
OSTree is used by rpm-ostree, a hybrid package/image based system… It atomically replicates a base OS and allows the user to “layer” the traditional RPM on top of the base OS if needed.
Because of this setup, Cockpit uses a snapshot-like layout for these operating systems. As seen in the demo below, the top of the screen displays the repository (fedora), the base OS image, and a button to Check for Updates.
Clicking the repository name (fedora in the demo below) opens the Change Repository screen. From here one can Add New Repository, or click the pencil icon to edit an existing repository. Editing provides the option to delete the repository, or Add Another Key. To add a new repository, enter the name and URL. Also, select whether or not to Use trusted GPG key.
There are three categories that provide details of its respective image: Tree, Packages, and Signature. Tree displays basic information such as the operating system, version of the image, how long ago it was released, and the origin of the image. Packages displays a list of installed packages within that image. Signature verifies the integrity of the image such as the author, date, RSA key ID, and status.
The current, or running, image displays a green check-mark beside it. If something happens, or an update causes an issue, click the Roll Back and Reboot button. This restores the system to a previous image.
Applications
The Applications screen displays a list of add-ons available for Cockpit. This makes it easy to find and install the plugins required by the user. At the time of this article, some of the options include the 389 Directory Service, Fleet Commander, and Subscription Manager. The demo below shows a complete list of available Cockpit add-ons.
Also, each item displays the name, a brief description, and a button to install, or remove, the add-on. Furthermore, clicking the item displays more information (if available). To refresh the list, click the icon at the top-right corner.
Subscription Management
Subscription managers allow admins to attach subscriptions to the machine. Even more, subscriptions give admins control over user access to content and packages. One example of this is the famous Red Hat subscription model. This feature works in relation to the subscription-manager command
The Subscriptions add-on can be installed via Cockpit’s Applications menu option. It can also be installed from the command-line with:
sudo dnf install cockpit-subscriptions
To begin, click Subscriptions in the main menu. If the machine is currently unregistered, it opens the Register System screen. Next, select the URL. You can choose Default, which uses Red Hat’s subscription server, or enter a Custom URL. Enter the Login, Password, Activation Key, and Organization ID. Finally, to complete the process, click the Register button.
The main page for Subscriptions show if the machine is registered, the System Purpose, and a list of installed products.
Services
To start, click the Services menu option. Because Cockpit uses systemd, we get the options to view System Services, Targets, Sockets, Timers, and Paths. Cockpit also provides an intuitive interface to help users search and find the service they want to configure. Services can also be filtered by it’s state: All, Enabled, Disabled, or Static. Below this is the list of services. Each row displays the service name, description, state, and automatic startup behavior.
For example, let’s take bluetooth.service. Typing bluetooth in the search bar automatically displays the service. Now, select the service to view the details of that service. The page displays the status and path of the service file. It also displays information in the service file such as the requirements and conflicts. Finally, at the bottom of the page, are the logs pertaining to that service.
Also, users can quickly start and stop the service by toggling the switch beside the service name. The three-dots to the right of that switch expands those options to Enable, Disable, Mask/Unmask the service
To learn more about systemd, check out the series in the Fedora Magazine starting with What is an init system?
In the next article we’ll explore the security features available in Cockpit.
Relive Your Personal Pokémon Memories With This Online Journey Builder Tool
We bet this takes some of you back!
The Pokémon Company has released a quirky new tool on its official Japanese website, allowing fans of the series to relive their favourite moments from the last couple of decades.
You can access the tool right here; the whole thing is in Japanese, but you’ll just about be able to get by with the standard (if pretty poor) translation tool available within the Google Chrome browser. Fans are asked to select the regions they’ve discovered – so whether you started playing Pokémon way back in the old days with Red and Blue, or much more recently with Sun and Moon, you’ll definitely be covered.
From there, it’s a simple case of choosing highlights from each game such as your starter Pokémon, memorable battles, and memorable story scenes. Once you’re done, a shareable video will be created which you can post to your social media platform of choice. You can also generate a standard URL for your video, so feel free to grab those and post them in our comment section below.
Get started by hitting that big yellow button…
You’ll notice that the end of the video also adds in a few scenes from the upcoming Pokémon Sword and Shield, which we’re sure plenty of you will be tucking into next week. Can you believe the games are out in exactly a week’s time?
As we mentioned before, make sure to share your videos with us below and tell us all about your favourite Pokémon memories.
Gallery: A Closer Look At Nintendo’s Barmy New Comedy Puzzler, The Stretchers
A few hours ago, we shared the news that The Stretchers – a new Nintendo-published game – appeared out of nowhere on the Japanese eShop. It’s now making its way to other regions worldwide (Europe can download it as we write this), and we have a bunch of new screenshots and some extra information to share with you.
The game is a comedic puzzle co-op title developed by Tarsier Studios and published by Nintendo. You’ll find it available on the eShop for £17.99 and it looks to be a rather quirky affair. Here’s a description straight from Nintendo, as well as those screenshots we promised:
Players can take on the role of two medics by sharing Joy-Con with a friend or set off alone to rescue troubled civilians, known as Dizzies, in all kinds of wacky ways.
To rescue Dizzies, players will drive to each scene in their ambulance, and this is where the chaos begins: break through walls, soar through the sky and face other wild perils on the way to each rescue. Once they’ve arrived, players will need to cooperate to pile Dizzies up on their stretcher (or grab them by the limbs) and bring them back to their trusty ambulance, dodging dangers and cracking conundrums along the way. Furniture can be moved to block zapping lasers, wrecking balls can destroy walls, and more. Finally, after another thrill-filled road trip back, rescued Dizzies can be cured, just in time for another call to action!
Players can pass a Joy-Con to team up with a friend to avoid traps, find bonus treasures and solve puzzles together, all while helping those who need a hand. Solo players can also go it alone, controlling both medics at the same time.
On top of rescuing dizzy citizens in need, the game offers several side missions that span sawing down trees, building ramps, blowing up rocks with fireworks, and even games of hide-and-seek.
Are you thinking of giving this a try? If you do, make sure to share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-08-2019, 05:26 PM - Forum: Windows
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Introducing Azure Quantum: our next step in delivering quantum impact
At Microsoft Quantum, our ambition is to help solve some of the world’s most complex challenges through the world’s most scalable quantum system.
To deliver on that promise, we’ve been working together with a global quantum community to innovate across every layer of the quantum stack – from applications and software down to control and devices.
Leading cryptographers at Microsoft Research are developing quantum-resistant public-key cryptographic algorithms and protocols to prepare customers and data centers around the world for a quantum future.
Developers are already contributing to the growing quantum community through Q# and our open source Quantum Development Kit, which today has more than 200,000 downloads.
Recently, Microsoft’s Quantum Lab located at the University of Sydney made breakthroughs in qubit control technology that allow us to scale beyond the physical limitations of current conventional systems. We now have the ability to control up to 50,000 qubits through simply three wires, a cryogenic CMOS design, and a 1cm2 chip computing at near absolute zero temperatures.
Cryo-CMOS Technology. Image on left courtesy of The University of Sydney, Louise M. Cooper.
These are simply a few examples of advancements across the stack that are bringing the promise of quantum to our world, right now. Today, we’re introducing our next step in delivering quantum impact: Azure Quantum.
Learn, build, and solve with Azure Quantum
Azure Quantum is a full-stack, open cloud ecosystem that will bring the benefits of quantum computing to people and organizations around the world. Together with our partners 1QBit, Honeywell, IonQ, and QCI, we’re assembling the most diverse set of quantum solutions, software, and hardware across the industry, in Azure.
Learn. Anyone can come to Azure Quantum to learn about quantum computing through a series of tools and learning tutorials, like the quantum katas.
Build. Developers can write programs with Q# and the QDK and experiment running the code against simulators and a variety of quantum hardware.
With one program, you’ll be able to target a variety of hardware through Azure Quantum – Azure classical compute, quantum simulators and resource estimators, and quantum hardware from our partners, as well as our future quantum system being built on revolutionary topological qubit. As quantum systems evolve, your code endures.
Microsoft Quantum stack
Delivering quantum impact today
Customers across a wide range of industries are already seeing the impact of our quantum solutions built on the tools and services available in Azure.
In collaboration with Microsoft, Case Western Reserve University created an MRI scan that takes a third of the time of a conventional MRI based on quantum solutions running on classical hardware. These advances in speed could help doctors detect diseases earlier, develop new drugs for conditions where progress is hard to measure today, or use imaging to diagnose cancers rather than relying on invasive procedures like biopsies.
OTI Lumionics develops advanced materials for OLED displays for use in next generation consumer electronics. This includes fully transparent displays that can integrate under-display cameras. Using their quantum chemistry applications with Microsoft’s quantum-inspired algorithms running in Azure, the team was able to successfully simulate Alq3, an OLED fluorescent material, with greater accuracy than typical methods available today. These quantum solutions enabled the team to achieve simulation without the need for expensive high-performance computations or a scalable quantum system. This marks a milestone in chemistry simulation that could inspire more efficient and scalable methods of materials, chemical and drug discovery across the industry.
Recently, Microsoft partnered with 1QBit and IonQ to demonstrate end-to-end quantum computing in Azure Quantum. The team collaborated with Dow and identified a problem in which the molecular energy of a ring of hydrogen atoms had to be evaluated. Using 1QBit’s problem decomposition solution expressed in Q#, the team was able to run computation in Azure against IonQ’s quantum computer based on trapped ions. This demonstrates how Azure Quantum can start to fuel innovations across the quantum stack – from applications and algorithms down to simulators and hardware. By bringing these end-to-end capabilities into one platform, the quantum community will be able to unlock new solutions that scale to even greater impact in the future.
Join the global quantum community
We’re excited to continue collaborating with developers and organizations through Azure Quantum, which will launch in private preview in the coming months. We hope you’ll sign up to become an early adopter!
With Azure Quantum, our ambition is to empower every developer and every organization to experience quantum impact at every stage of this quantum revolution – today and tomorrow.
