Crytek have just released CryEngine 5.6 featuring over 1000 changes and improvements including several developers for the game Hunt Showdown. There are a number of new features in this release including new project management features directly in the Sandbox editor, a new AI Behavior Tree tool, area lights, ragdoll physics and ADX2 support. Details of the release from the CryEngine blog:
This major release packs in over 1,000 changes and includes production-proven features which have been used to deliver Hunt: Showdown. The entire team here at Crytek would like to thank the entire CRYENGINE community for all the feedback and suggestions that have helped shaped the direction of development. This engine is for you, and we couldn’t have done this without you.
CRYENGINE 5.6 is designed to put more power in your hands and make game creation quicker and easier. We’re sure you’ll agree that it marks a big step forward for the engine. As you know, work doesn’t stop, and we’re already looking at the roadmap for CRYENGINE 5.7. Make sure you keep your thoughts and feedback coming as it really does make a difference.
The full release notes are available here, additionally Crytek have released a short video trailer showcasing the new features available here. You can learn more about this release in the video embedded below.
Now that’s it’s officially out in the open, it’s time to talk about rerolling in Pokemon Masters. For those new to “gatcha” mobile games, ‘re-rolling’ means restarting your game account to get the most out of the starting resources these games use to hook you in, including gems and the Pokemon themselves.
You want to pull either multiple 5-star units, or at least one of the top-tier units before settling into your account to give you the easiest time going forward after the easy gems start to dry up.
We’ll get to the ‘why’ you want to reroll in a moment, but actually deleting your account to start the reroll process is fairly easy. To do so, just tap the menu in the bottom right of the main game screen, and tap the Account button in the bottom right corner of that. You’ll want to hit Delete Account and go through the motions.
After a bit of waiting around, you’ll be tossed back to the start-up screen where you can tap in to start fresh.
Why You Should (or Shouldn’t) Reroll in Pokemon Masters?
Rerolling in Pokemon Masters is a tougher sell than most other games of its kind, as there’s very little incentive to save copious amounts of gems, and virtual no safety net against bad luck. It’s a practice that can quickly suck the fun out of a game, but if you’re planning to play Pokemon Masters for a long while, rerolling is something to consider.
The main ‘pro’ is the potential early game advantages and value for your time investment. With how little free gems the game tosses at you early on, it’s tempting to aim for the best sync pair scout draws you can get and simply restart and repeat the process if it doesn’t go well. Since you’ve just started, you don’t have to worry about lost progress.
It’s suggested to aim for around 4-5 single scouts before rerolling. If you don’t get a 5-star unit during this initial burst, delete your account and start fresh. It costs 300 Gems to perform a single pull and 3000 for a 10 pull, meaning there’s absolutely no reason to do a 10 scout for anything more than the sake of convenience.
That’s why it’s instead recommended to stick to re-rolling after 4-5 pulls – which costs around 1200-1500 gems. You can earn this much by:
Reaching Chapter 2 in the Story Campaign.
‘Launch Celebration Present’ of 1000 Gems & Launch Celebration Log-In Bonus of 200 Gems
General Log-In Rewards e.g. 100 gems
Linking the account to your Nintendo Account for a bonus 600 gems.
If you don’t manage to pull a top-tier 5-star character in this opening window, you may want to consider re-rolling to try your luck again.
Between August 29th, 2019 and 28th November, 2019, players will get be allowed to use a special Sync Pair Scout pull where, if you do the 10-pull, you are guaranteed a 5-Star Sync Pair on the 10th pull (regardless of what happens in draws 1 through 9). As far as we can tell this is a one-time only deal, and the big catch is that you have to use gems you spent real-money on to do the Scouting. We’re not sure how the game can tell the difference at the moment, since there’s only one Gem pool displayed on the UI.
But now let’s talk about why pulling a 5-star isn’t actually that big a deal…
Pokemon Masters Pull Rates & Rarity Guide
In the current build of the game, 5-star rates are 7% per pull. But it isn’t quite so simple. There are only five 5-star units in the box (the game has 11 in total right now), cutting those odds to 1.4% for any specific 5-star unit. According to Reddit user Applepie38 the chances of coming out of 10 pull with all 5-star units is an astronomically low 0.000000003% or 0.000000004% during a guaranteed 5-star summon banner.
Pokemon Masters Tier List – What are the best Sync Pairs?
While most units 5-star are very strong in their own right, the prevalence of type advantages helps make a case for just about any unit in the game. They all have their uses with the right team composition backing them up, and pulling one over another is bound to just end up helping you through a slightly different area of the game.
Here’s some general tier list advice:
Brendan/Treeko is currently considered the best of the lot.
Kris/Totodile were the only 5-star sync pair capable of evolving as of the beta, but she has since been joined by Lyra/Chikorita.
Blue/Pidgeot expected to be a powerhouse worth aiming for at launch.
All in all, while re-rolling is certainly possible in Pokemon Masters, it won’t carry much weight in the absence of guaranteed 4-star or above pulls – which is what we’re hoping to see after the initial 5-star launch banner. Rerolling is something for hardcore players to consider, but we highly suggest just playing at the game at your leisure.
The perception of this may very well change over time as power creep sets in, but right now, rerolling in Pokemon Mastersis not recommended in general. Just have fun and don’t worry about losing hours of your life to RNG min/maxing.
Pokemon Masters is free-to-play and can be downloaded on iOS & Android.
Configuring a Server-side Blazor app with Azure App Configuration
July 1st, 2019
With .NET Core 3.0 Preview 6, we added authentication & authorization support to server-side Blazor apps. It only takes a matter of seconds to wire up an app to Azure Active Directory with support for single or multiple organizations. Once the project is created, it contains all the configuration elements in its appsettings.json to function. This is great, but in a team environment – or in a distributed topology – configuration files lead to all sorts of problems. In this post, we’ll take a look at how we can extract those configuration values out of JSON files and into an Azure App Configuration instance, where they can be used by other teammates or apps.
Setting up Multi-org Authentication
In the .NET Core 3.0 Preview 6 blog post we explored how to use the Individual User Accounts option in the authentication dialog to set up a Blazor app with ASP.NET Identity, so we won’t go into too much detail. Essentially, you click the Change link during project creation.
In this example I’ll be using an Azure Active Directory application to allow anyone with a Microsoft account to log into the app, so I’ll select Work or School Accounts and then select Cloud – Multiple Organizations in the Change Authentication dialog.
Once the project is created, my AzureAD configuration node contains the 3 key pieces of information my app’s code will need to authenticate against Azure Active Directory; my tenant URL, the client ID for the AAD app Visual Studio created for me during the project’s creation, and the callback URI so users can get back to my app once they’ve authenticated.
Whilst this is conveniently placed here in my appsettings.json file, it’d be more convenient if I didn’t need any local configuration files. Having a centralized configuration-management solution would be easier to manage, as well as give me the ability to keep my config out of source control, should there come a point when things like connection strings need to be shared amongst developers.
Azure App Configuration
Azure App Configuration is a cloud-based solution for managing all of your configuration values. Once I have an Azure App Configuration instance set up in my subscription, adding the configuration settings is simple. By default, they’re hidden from view, but I can click Show Values or select an individual setting for editing or viewing.
Convenient .NET Core IConfiguration Integration
The Azure App Configuration team has shipped a NuGet package containing extensions to ASP.NET and .NET Core that enable developers the ability of using the service, but without needing to change all your code that already makes use of IConfiguration. To start with, install the Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfigurationNuGet package.
You’ll need to copy the connection string from the Azure Portal to enable connectivity between your app and Azure App Configuration.
Once that value has been copied, you can use it with either dotnet user-secrets to configure your app, or using a debug-time environment variable. Though it seems like we’ve created yet one more configuration value to track, think about it this way: this is the only value you’ll have to set using an environment variable; all your other configuration can be set via Azure App Configuration in the portal.
Using the Azure App Configuration Provider for .NET Core
Once the NuGet package is installed, the code to instruct my .NET Core code to use Azure App Configuration whenever it reads any configuration values from IConfiguration is simple. In Program.cs I’ll call the ConfigureAppConfiguration middleware method, then use the AddAzureAppConfiguration extension method to get the connection string from my ASPNETCORE_AzureAppConfigConnectionString environment variable. If the environment variable isn’t set, the call will noop and the other configuration providers will do the work.
This is great, because I won’t even need to change existing – or in this case, template-generated code – I just tell my app to use Azure App Configuration and I’m off to the races. The full update to Program.cs is shown below.
// using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration; public static IHostBuilder CreateHostBuilder(string[] args) => Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args) .ConfigureAppConfiguration((hostingContext, config) => { config.AddAzureAppConfiguration(options => { var azureAppConfigConnectionString = hostingContext.Configuration["AzureAppConfigConnectionString"]; options.Connect(azureAppConfigConnectionString); }); }) .ConfigureWebHostDefaults(webBuilder => { webBuilder.UseStartup<Startup>(); });
When I run the app, it first reaches out to Azure App Configuration to get all the settings it needs to run and then works as if it were configured locally using appsettings.json. As long as my teammates or other services needing these values have the connection string to the Azure App Configuration instance holding the settings for the app, they’re good.
Now, I can remove the configuration values entirely from the appsettings.json file. If I want to control the logging behavior using Azure App Configuration, I could move these left-over settings out, too. Even though I’ll be using Azure App Configuration as, the other providers are still there.
Dynamic Re-loading
Log levels are a good example of how the Azure App Configuration service can enable dynamic reloading of configuration settings you might need to tweak frequently. By moving my logging configuration into Azure App Configuration, I can change the log level right in the portal. In Program.cs, I can use the Watch method to specify which configuration settings I’ll want to reload when they change.
The default load-time is 30 seconds, but now, should I need to turn up the volume on my logs to get a better view of what’s happening in my site, I don’t need to re-deploy or even stop my site. Simply changing the values in the portal will be enough – 30 seconds later the values will be re-loaded from Azure App Configuration and my logging will be more verbose.
Configuration Source Ordering
The JsonConfigurationSource configuration sources – those which load settings from appsettings.json and appsettings.{Environment}.json – are loaded during the call to CreateDefaultBuilder. So, by the time I call AddAzureAppConfiguration to load in the AzureAppConfigurationSource, the JSON file providers are already in the configuration sources list.
The importance of ordering is evident here; should I want to override the configuration values coming from Azure App Configuration with my local appsettings.json or appsettings.Development.json files, I’d need to re-order the providers in the call to ConfigureAppConfiguration. Otherwise, the JSON file values will be loaded first, then the last source (the one that will “win”) will be the Azure App Configuration source.
Try it Out
Any multi-node or microservice-based application topology benefits from centralized configuration, and teams benefit from it by not having to keep track of so many configuration settings, environment variables, and so on. Take a look over the Azure App Configuration documentation. You’ll see that there are a multitude of other features, like Feature Flags and dark deployment support. Then, create an instance and try wiring your existing ASP.NET Code up to read configuration values from the cloud.
Apple working with Burberry on ‘R Message’ retail messaging app
By Malcolm Owen Monday, September 02, 2019, 06:31 am PT (09:31 am ET)
Burberry has worked with Apple on a chat service called ‘R Message,’ one that allows customers to communicate with sales associates from within from the retailer’s app, allowing consumers to make appointments, receive personalized recommendations with staff members who know them, and to buy products.
R Message aims to extend how the fashion brand communicates with its most important customers. The invitation-only service will put customers directly in touch with sales associates, which will enable the customer and the staff member to build a relationship, with the customer able to receive a more personalized service, while stores can encourage more purchases down the line.
Created in partnership with Apple, R Message is relatively similar to the idea of Apple Business Chat, except rather than functioning within iMessage, the activity occurs entirely within Burberry’s R World app, reportsVogue Business.
The app will also offer numerous benefits for Burberry, with its integration with its back-end inventory system enabling not only for orders to be made, but for sales associates to see what is available and to drive sales to customers who may be interested in the items. The employee-side app also includes a newsfeed that includes company updates, advertising campaign images, and press mentions, to try and encourage store staff to use the app.
“”You’ve got highly skilled associates who know how to serve in a luxury way, but even for a great associate, there might be 10 percent extra that you can give them by giving them the right information at the right time,” said Burberry VP of digital commerce. “Customers now know much more about what they want, and to be at that service level where you can give credible advice, you need the basics.
Burberry is piloting the app at its flagship store in Manchester, with a view to rolling it out to all 431 global stores and 6,000 associates.
NVIDIA is releasing freely-available hardware interface documentation to assist in the development of the open-source NVIDIA Linux driver (Nouveau). The documentation made public at this point primarily covers Maxwell, Pascal, Volta, and Kepler generations of NVIDIA graphics as more is being worked on — obviously the latest-generation Turing we’d certainly like to see sooner rather than later. When asking about open-source Turing documentation, I hear it’s a work-in-progress. (Source: Phoronix)
A previous article discussed password management tools that use server-side technology. These tools are very interesting and suitable for a cloud installation. In this article we will talk about KeePassXC, a simple multi-platform open source software that uses a local file as a database. The main advantage of this type of password management is simplicity. No server-side technology expertise is required and can therefore be used by any type of user.
Introducing KeePassXC
KeePassXC is an open source cross platform password manager: its development started as a fork of KeePassX, a good product but with a not very active development. It saves the secrets in an encrypted database with AES algorithm using 256 bit key, this makes it reasonably safe to save the database in a cloud drive storage such as pCloud or Dropbox.
In addition to the passwords, KeePassXC allows you to save various information and attachments in the encrypted wallet. It also has a valid password generator that helps the user to correctly manage his credentials.
Installation
The program is available both in the standard Fedora repository and in the Flathub repository. Unfortunately the integration with the browser does not work with the application running in the sandbox, so I suggest to install the program via dnf:
sudo dnf install keepassxc
Creating your wallet
To create a new database there are two important steps:
Choose the encryption settings: the default settings are reasonably safe, increasing the transform rounds also increases the decryption time.
Choose the master key and additional protections: the master key must be easy to remember (if you lose it your wallet is lost!) but strong enough, a passphrase with at least 4 random words can be a good choice. As additional protection you can choose a key file (remember: you must always have it available otherwise you cannot open the wallet) and / or a YubiKey hardware key.
The database file will be saved to the file system. If you want to share with other computers / devices you can save it on a USB key or in a cloud storage like pCloud or Dropbox. Of course, if you choose a cloud storage, a particularly strong master password is recommended, better if accompanied by additional protection.
Creating your first entry
Once the database has been created, you can start creating your first entry. For a web login specify a username, password and url in the Entry tab. Optionally you can specify an expiration date for the credentials based on your personal policy: also by pressing the button on the right the favicon of the site is downloaded and associated as an icon of the entry, this is a nice feature.
KeePassXC also offers a good password / passphrase generator, you can choose length and complexity and check the degree of resistance to a brute force attack:
Browser integration
KeePassXC has an extension available for all major browsers. The extension allows you to fill in the login information for all the entries whose URL is specified.
Browser integration must be enabled on KeePassXC (Tools menu -> Settings) specifying which browsers you intend to use:
Once the extension is installed, it is necessary to create a connection with the database. To do this, press the extension button and then the Connect button: if the database is open and unlocked the extension will create an association key and save it in the database, the key is unique to the browser so I suggest naming it appropriately :
When you reach the login page specified in the Url field and the database is unlocked, the extension will offer you all the credentials you have associated with that page:
In this way, browsing with KeePassXC running you will have your internet credentials available without necessarily saving them in the browser.
SSH agent integration
Another interesting feature of KeePassXC is the integration with SSH. If you have ssh-agent running KeePassXC is able to interact and add the ssh keys that you have uploaded as attachments to your entries.
First of all in the general settings (Tools menu -> Settings) you have to enable the ssh agent and restart the program:
At this point it is required to upload your ssh key pair as an attachment to your entry. Then in the “SSH agent” tab select the private key in the attachment drop-down list, the public key will be populated automatically. Don’t forget to select the two checkboxes above to allow the key to be added to the agent when the database is opened / unlocked and removed when the database is closed / locked:
Now with the database open and unlocked you can log in ssh using the keys saved in your wallet.
The only limitation is in the maximum number of keys that can be added to the agent: ssh servers do not accept by default more than 5 login attempts, for security reasons it is not recommended to increase this value.
Video: Digital Foundry Takes A Look At Final Fantasy VIII Remastered
One other game fighting for your attention on the Switch this week is Final Fantasy VIII Remastered. It was originally released as a PlayStation title in 1999 and the new version is now available on multiple platforms including the Switch.
So, how does the remaster compare to the original? The experts over at Digital Foundry had a look at this latest iteration, as handled by Dotemu and Access Games. As thrilling as its return is, it’s not everything it could be based on closer inspection of the PS4 release. The remaster takes steps in the right direction but also takes a few steps back when compared to the PlayStation original.
There are three major advantages if you opt with the remaster. High-definition reworks of all the character models in the game, boosters – to speed up the gameplay, turn off random encounters and increase HP and limit breaks – and enhanced resolution, although the frame rate isn’t quite up to scratch. Get the full rundown in the video above.
Be sure to check the Nintendo Life review of the Switch version, which we said was a “fun and enjoyable romp through the weirder side” of the Final Fantasy series, that was once again bolstered by the HD presentation and inclusion of helpful quality of life features.
How has your experience with Final Fantasy VIII Remastered been so far? Leave a comment below.
PSA: Log In To Destiny 2 On PC To Save Your Silver
We're quickly nearing the migration of Destiny 2's PC version from its current home on Battle.net to its new home on Steam. That move gets completed on October 1 with the launch of Shadowkeep, and Bungie has already suggested players link their accounts to Steam now to facilitate the transfer. There's another caveat, though: If you're already a PC player, you should log in before October 1 for a bit of housekeeping.
In its most recent This Week at Bungie blog, the developer noted that it has stopped selling Silver, Destiny 2's premium currency, on Battle.net ahead of the move to Steam. If you don't already own any Silver on PC, you don't have to worry--when the Steam transfer goes through, you'll be able to buy Silver as normal. But if you already own some Silver on PC that you purchased from for the Battle.net version, you're in danger of losing it in the migration.
"Players should be aware, however, that all in order for recent Silver purchases to successfully transfer to Steam, players MUST log in to Destiny 2 on Battle.net before October 1 to claim their purchased Silver," Bungie wrote on the blog.
Easy enough, but the October 1 deadline means it's worth popping into Destiny 2 sooner rather than later to make sure your premium currency transfers successfully. While we're in a bit of a dead period awaiting the launch of Shadowkeep, there's a community event taking place on Mars this week that encourages players to take part in Nightfall Strikes and Escalation Protocol events. There's also another Iron Banner event coming before the end of the Season of Opulence and the start of Destiny 2 Year 3.
Unity have just released Unity 2019.3 beta. A few minor changes have had a major impact on the user experience, including a new UI font and icons making HiDPI support easier while cleaning up the UI. Additionally the LWRP or Lightweight Render Pipeline has been renamed to the Universal Pipeline (HDRP remains the same), the package manager is improved with the ability to show assets as well as download directly from Git.
The last beta release of the 2019 cycle, Unity 2019.3b, is here and it comes packed with new features, improvements, and a completely refreshed interface. Download it to get an early look at these highlights as well as to explore the new Input System, post-processing in the Universal Render Pipeline (formerly LWRP), physics updates, faster in-Editor iteration times, and the debut of ray tracing in Unity.
They are also running a giveaway for NVIDIA GeForce 2080 RTX GPU, check the above link for details. The full release notes are available here or watch the following video for more details and to experience the updated UI in action.
Even the most long-form mobile game can be viewed as disposable without post-release support. Whether it patches, content drops or genuine ‘expansion’ content, a game that gets ignored by developers is a game that gets ignored by the players.
But there’s plenty of contention about what this should look like – The Trese Brothers have a long history of supporting their games for free for years after it launches, as Star Traders: Frontiers has proven. Others try to release smaller content drops through paid-for IAPs, some good, some bad. If you look at Ticket to Earth, that released with most of the game missing, and it’s only recently that it’s finally taking a more ‘complete’ shape. ‘Live’ games like Hearthstone rely on expansions and new content as the body relies on blood.
Still, it can still be easy to overlook a game, new content or no, as we move on to the next new thing and mobile’s relentless release cycle continues apace. We’ve decided to look at six games with excellent post-release content you should take note of.
Hearthstone
A feature on game expansions just has to start with the collectible card game, Hearthstone (Does it tho?-ED). The game’s phenomenal popularity may be past its peak but designers Blizzard certainly know a thing or two about keeping their loyal followers hooked.
To begin with, Blizzard released an alternating sequence of new card sets and original adventures, with about three sets being published each year. However, since the extra cards available in the adventure expansions took a considerable effort to earn it was noted that they were not having the desired impact on the meta-game. Blizzard changed tack by deciding to limit future expansions to themed card sets. However, they also recognised that many players enjoy the single-player challenges and so they introduced new quests and missions alongside the new card sets.
The League of Explorers is probably the best adventure add-on to date, not only is it an entertaining single-player story but it also contains several ground-breaking cards, including the first ones to feature the discover mechanic. The choice of best card expansions is pretty subjective, I must confess to having not played for a while, but I have a soft spot for Journey to Un’Goro, which has plenty of strong but not too powerful cards and many possibilities for interesting card combos.
Ticket to Earth is a clever mix of a tile-matching puzzler and turn-based tactical combat. The immaculate presentation and highly addictive battles make this one of my all-time favourites. Upon its initial release, some two and a half years ago, the big issue was the lack of content. Back then, only the first of the promised four episodes were available, which took only a few hours to complete.
The good news is that Robot Circus have kept their promise to release the remaining three episodes at no extra cost. The not so good news is that it seems to be taking them longer to complete than George R.R. Martin’s latest epic. However, although Robot Circus can hardly be accused of rushing the release of the extra content, the wait has been worth it.
The two new episodes that have so far been released are of an equally high standard, with new missions, playable characters and enemies to contend with. Throw in a load of new-fangled powers to learn and a brand-new crafting system and you will quickly realise that Robot Circus have not been resting on their laurels.
Now, we just need the final episode to find out what happens to Rose, Wolf and the rest of the gang.
Ticket to Ride was one of the first modern board games to make its way over to mobile. In spite of the passing years, it is still a polished and competitive app.
If you have grown tired of expanding your railroad empire across North America then there is an atlas worth of new maps to try out. Enjoy the unique topological challenges of mainland Europe or Asia. Or focus on the challenges of individual countries like Great Britain, Germany or India, each with their unique rule additions, such as advanced technology and stocks and shares.
Other tabletop games that also have a range of interesting additional content include Carcassonne and Ascension, both of which have been covered in more detail in our comprehensive guides.
Warbits may look cute and cuddly but dig a little deeper and you will find a perfectly balanced and challenging turn-based tactical game that can hold its own against Nintendo’s venerable Advance Wars series of games.
A free update added a new challenge mode, with a generous helping of thirty new missions across three categories; skirmish, puzzle and veteran. with the ultra-hard veteran levels only becoming available when you earn a platinum medal in the corresponding skirmish level.
There is no shortage of deck-building card games available, but when Pocket Tactics’ 2019 Game of the Year gets some additional free content it is advisable to sit up and take note.
Meteorfall has received two substantial updates. The first, Necrodude, includes a new hero who has the power to summon the dead. Also included are 25 new cards as well as opportunities to increase the strength of your deck. The Demon update includes a new difficulty level, with progressively more challenging levels and even more cards.
Not long to wait until the expansion for Through the Ages is released, but in the meantime why not revisit another of designer Vlaada Chvátil’s classics. Galaxy Trucker is a real bitter-sweet experience. You spend the first half of the game manically grabbing tiles and constructing your spanking new spaceship, only to watch it get blasted to pieces in a brutal journey towards your destination.
One of the many great things about Galaxy Trucker is the brilliantly designed single-player campaign. Alien Technologies adds a further 42 single-player missions, which together with 15 new types of technology tiles really extends the game’s longevity. These new tiles include boosts to weapons and shields and fancy new cabins for paying guests. One unique add-on is the space catapult. This rather sadistic addition allows you to fling cargo or indeed crew members into space to repel asteroids. If that isn’t enough, there are also new aliens to sign-up to your crew. Well worth purchasing for anyone who wants to keep on truckin’.
Honourable Mention: Star Traders Frontiers
Star Traders Frontiers enjoys a near-weekly schedule of minor-content drops. It’s harder to quantify in the same way as we’ve done above as it’s just an endless series of patches – the Trese Brothers have yet to really explore anything remotely resembling a full-on ‘expansion’. But their dedication to supporting their work post-release should not be ignored.
Do you have any recommendations for games that have excellent expansion content? Let us know in the comments below!
