E3 2018: The Last Of Us 2 Adds Exciting Depth To Combat--And To Ellie
Sony debuted gameplay for The Last of Us Part II during its E3 2018 press conference. What Sony and developer Naughty Dog showed is just as gruesome as the previous trailer for the sequel; on top of a man getting eviscerated, we see Ellie perform a number of brutal takedowns and kills. It's definitely a lot to take in all at once, and it's also cinematic--it can be hard to tell what's pure combat and what's a cutscene-like transition.
While at E3 2018, we had a chance to speak to co-directors Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau about the game. They gave us insight into what exactly we're seeing in the trailer in terms of combat, and as it turns out, much of what looks cinematic--Ellie's perfectly timed dodges and pulling an arrow out of her shoulder--is actually within your control. That looks to be a key component in framing and shaping the intense violence in The Last of Us Part II, as well as something that can add greatly to Ellie as a character.
"In classic Naughty Dog style, we always try to contextualize animations, so the dodge and shoot play away from the arrow is a different animation from when the blade is about to hit her," Newman said when asked about the variety of movements seen in the new gameplay. "There's an extremely complicated system that goes into making each of her dodges."
"Every strike has its own dodge based on the angle, how high it is, different things [like that]," Margenau added. These dodges in particular make certain combat sequences in the trailer look scripted, but the co-directors say that this movement is mapped to a specific button.
We also asked about what looks like a healing mechanic, when Ellie vaults over a store counter and then pulls an arrow out of her shoulder before continuing. But Newman and Margenau said that this is an entirely new mechanic separate from healing. A lot of it has to do with the new bow-and-arrow enemies, which didn't appear in the original Last of Us, and what happens when one of their arrows becomes lodged somewhere on Ellie's body.
"It's not distinctly a healing animation [in the trailer], it's a particular status effect," Newman said. "You'll notice in the lower right, there's a little arrow icon, and it's like you're afflicted with 'arrow-ness.' It disables your listen mode and it totally screws up your aim, so you have to try and find a safe spot to take the arrow out."
This status is specific to arrows. The co-directors did not give other examples of similar mechanics, but they did talk a bit more about the returning listen mode, which the arrow status impacts. "We're looking at ways to refine it... we're always trying to balance against how much information we give the player in a stealth scenario," Margenau said. "We've got some cool ideas to make it more grounded, more realistic."
All of this points to an involved style of combat with more factors to consider than in the original game, and that in turn says a lot about Ellie. Ellie in The Last of Us is young, naive, and learning how to survive; Ellie in Part II is an experienced killer with a lot of anger behind her strikes. Learning about who she's become is one of the most enticing things about The Last of Us Part II, and combat seems to be a huge part of that.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 06-16-2018, 08:49 AM - Forum: Lounge
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E3 2018: Bethesda Doesn't Have Plans For Battle Royale
E3 2018 has seen a few battle royale-related announcements. During EA's press conference, DICE revealed that Battlefield V will have a battle royale mode, and Nintendo revealed Fortnite on Switch without its original Save the World mode. Bethesda, on the other hand, did not mention anything about battle royale modes for any games during its E3 2018 press conference.
Bethesda did announce DLC for last year's Prey that introduces a new multiplayer mode. Called Typhon Hunter, it pits five Mimic players against one human player. In the spirit of new modes coming to existing Bethesda games, we asked Bethesda Global Senior Vice President Pete Hines whether the publisher had any battle royale plans up its sleeve. Short answer: no.
"We definitely have nothing battle royale-related," Hines said. "We tend never to want to follow anybody else into a space; we didn't go chasing after Facebook gaming when that was the big trend. Just because battle royale is popular doesn't mean it's a good fit for us or our studios."
He continued, "If somebody comes up with a thing that's battle royale or battle royale-esque that they think is unique or different or cool, it's probably something we'd consider, but we tend not to go chasing after trends. We want to be pushing ourselves to offer different experiences and do new things."
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 06-16-2018, 08:49 AM - Forum: Windows
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Watch the ForzaRC 2018 Series 1 Playoffs live this weekend
This weekend, June 16 – 17, Series 1 of the Forza Racing Championship (ForzaRC) 2018 heads into its final lap with the ForzaRC 2018 Series 1 Playoffs. Broadcast live from Seattle, home of Turn 10 Studios, some of the best drivers from around the world will compete for the title of Series 1 Champion, a $75,000 prize pool and the opportunity to move a step closer to the Forza Racing World Championship 2018 this October.
We’ve got an exciting weekend of racing lined up with competition beginning tomorrow, June 16 at 9 a.m. PDT with the first day of playoffs. Throughout the day, drivers will race their way through the quarterfinals and into the semi-finals, with the field narrowed to just 12 drivers by the end of the day. The playoffs will continue for these drivers on Sunday, June 17 at 11 a.m. PDT as they head into the finals. Tune in all weekend to catch the action live, unlock in-game rewards and influence the day’s races through in-stream voting on our Mixer stream at watch.ForzaRC.com.
In addition to the weekend’s racing competition we’ve got even more excitement lined up for those tuning in:
Celebrating 24 Hours of Le Mans
As many racing fans will know, this week is host to the Automobile Club de l’Ouest’s (ACO), 24 Hours of Le Mans. In celebration, we’ll be putting a spotlight on the famous track during our Series 1 Playoffs. Famed for its raw speed and punishing effects on drivers in the world’s most famous endurance race, Le Mans will prove to be a test for all of the ForzaRC competitors. For those not familiar with the track, we have a special introduction hosted by legendary motorsport broadcaster, ForzaRC guest commentator, and “Voice of Le Mans” John Hindhaugh as well.
Special Guest Panel
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to have a career in esports or to be a professional streamer? How about starting your own streaming or esports career? Tune into our Mixer stream at watch.ForzaRC.com on Sunday, June 17, as special guests Celeste Anderson, Trisha Hershberger, and Steve “SuperGT” Brown join us, live on stage, to speak to these questions and more.
Voting and Rewards
Tune in to the playoffs livestream at watch.forzarc.com and you’ll have the chance to directly impact which cars and tracks are used during the event. Will you choose day or night? Sunshine or rain? The Ford or the Audi? The choice is yours (and the rest of chat) to make!
Anyone tuning in during the livestream at watch.ForzaRC.com will also have the chance to unlock awesome in-game rewards for Forza Motorsport 7. Just log into your account and participate in the in-stream quests to unlock a variety of in-game gear, including the new ForzaRC 2018 Series 1 Playoffs driver suit!
For those tuning in to ForzaRC for the first time and looking to catch up on all the excitement before the playoffs, check out the Series 1 recap on the official ForzaRC YouTube channel.
Participate in ForzaRC 2018
Interested in joining the competition? It’s not too late! Visit ForzaRC.com to register and you’ll be ready to compete when ForzaRC 2018 Series 2 begins on July 9! Not quite ready to compete at the ranked level? No problem, we’ve got activities for drivers of all skill levels in Forza Motorsport 7 with more to come all season long.
Catch every minute of this action-packed event beginning tomorrow, June 16 at 9 a.m. PDT and Sunday, June 17 at 11 a.m. PDT on our Mixer stream at watch.forzarc.com. For more information, head over to ForzaRC.com and follow us on Twitter for the latest news and updates. We hope to see you there!
Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn is what the original game should have been an instant classic. We're talking Streets of Rage meets Street Fighter meets Devil May Cry. It's a modern day take on the classic beat 'em up. Play as Shaquille O'Neal learn hundreds of moves and battle techniques, take on thousands of enemies with dozens of cool melee weapons, battle bosses in dynamic arenas, master cool finishing moves and play with your buddies in COOP mode or against each other in player vs player combat.
In Shaq Fu, dozens of unique and varied enemies await which require careful use of tactics. The game also features destructive environments, awesome power ups and a series of well-designed, beautiful levels with interesting progression. This is all tied together by what very well might be the story of the century, a performance worthy of an Oscar, by the Big Diesel, in his battle against a villain for the ages the mysterious Black Star Ninja.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 06-16-2018, 02:27 AM - Forum: Lounge
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E3 2018: How Fallout 76 Intends To Stop People From Being Jerks
During Bethesda's E3 2018 press conference, we learned a lot more about what kind of game Fallout 76 is shaping up to be. In addition to seeing a trailer with gameplay details, we also learned that Fallout 76 is an always-online multiplayer game. You can still play solo, but the other characters you encounter in the game are other human players.
This setup opens Fallout 76 to some issues, though, namely how people will behave toward other players. How do you prevent someone from targeting you and trying to ruin your game? We spoke to Bethesda Senior Vice President about the online nature of Fallout 76 and how Bethesda aims to preempt potential issues.
"When you see a person in the world, they're a real person, and now you have to figure out [what role they play]...maybe they're being super helpful, maybe they're wandering the world as a trader and just trading with people, maybe they're being a bad guy and they're part of a raider group," Hines said. "[We allow] for that sort of tension but with systems in place that keep it from being abusive. So you can't be harassed by somebody who just keeps chasing you around the world and keeps killing you over and over again; the game literally doesn't allow that to happen to you."
He continued, "Death isn't supposed to be a super negative thing. You don't lose your progression, you don't lose all your stuff, somebody can't kill you and then take everything in your inventory [and then you have to] start over."
The question remains how PvP will function exactly, but Hines emphasized that it's not a dog-eat-dog world. "Think of PvP more like issuing a challenge to somebody as opposed to just, 'no matter what I want to do to somebody, I can,'" he explained. "The game only lets that go so far before you can basically say, 'I don't want to participate in this challenge anymore.'"
Hines compared PvP in Fallout 76 to fighting a Deathclaw in Fallout 4. If you attempt to kill a Deathclaw and die, when you respawn, you can either decide to try again or move on and do something else. "That should kind of be how it works for any human person," he said. "They can't keep coming after you, just like that Deathclaw wouldn't come running across the map and keep chasing you."
Hines also emphasized that Bethesda plans to continue supporting and tweaking these systems as time goes on. It remains to be seen how they work, or if intrepid players figure out ways to circumvent the rules in place, but the upcoming (but currently undated) beta is a good time to test how they work.
Fallout 76 is set to release on November 14, 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. For more on Fallout 76, see our roundup of all the Bethesda news.
The Linux operating system includes a plethora of tools, all of which are ready to help you administer your systems. From simple file and directory tools to very complex security commands, there’s not much you can’t do on Linux. And, although regular desktop users may not need to become familiar with these tools at the command line, they’re mandatory for Linux admins. Why? First, you will have to work with a GUI-less Linux server at some point. Second, command-line tools often offer far more power and flexibility than their GUI alternative.
Determining memory usage is a skill you might need should a particular app go rogue and commandeer system memory. When that happens, it’s handy to know you have a variety of tools available to help you troubleshoot. Or, maybe you need to gather information about a Linux swap partition or detailed information about your installed RAM? There are commands for that as well. Let’s dig into the various Linux command-line tools to help you check into system memory usage. These tools aren’t terribly hard to use, and in this article, I’ll show you five different ways to approach the problem.
I’ll be demonstrating on the Ubuntu Server 18.04 platform. You should, however, find all of these commands available on your distribution of choice. Even better, you shouldn’t need to install a single thing (as most of these tools are included).
With that said, let’s get to work.
top
I want to start out with the most obvious tool. Thetop command provides a dynamic, real-time view of a running system. Included in that system summary is the ability to check memory usage on a per-process basis. That’s very important, as you could easily have multiple iterations of the same command consuming different amounts of memory. Although you won’t find this on a headless server, say you’ve opened Chrome and noticed your system slowing down. Issue the top command to see that Chrome has numerous processes running (one per tab – Figure 1).
Chrome isn’t the only app to show multiple processes. You see the Firefox entry in Figure 1? That’s the primary process for Firefox, whereas the Web Content processes are the open tabs. At the top of the output, you’ll see the system statistics. On my machine (a System76 Leopard Extreme), I have a total of 16GB of RAM available, of which just over 10GB is in use. You can then comb through the list and see what percentage of memory each process is using.
One of the things top is very good for is discovering Process ID (PID) numbers of services that might have gotten out of hand. With those PIDs, you can then set about to troubleshoot (or kill) the offending tasks.
If you want to make top a bit more memory-friendly, issue the command top -o %MEM, which will cause top to sort all processes by memory used (Figure 2).
The top command also gives you a real-time update on how much of your swap space is being used.
free
Sometimes, however, top can be a bit much for your needs. You may only need to see the amount of free and used memory on your system. For that, there is the free command. The free command displays:
Total amount of free and used physical memory
Total amount of swap memory in the system
Buffers and caches used by the kernel
From your terminal window, issue the command free. The output of this command is not in real time. Instead, what you’ll get is an instant snapshot of the free and used memory in that moment (Figure 3).
You can, of course, make free a bit more user-friendly by adding the -m option, like so:free -m. This will report the memory usage in MB (Figure 4).
Of course, if your system is even remotely modern, you’ll want to use the -g option (gigabytes), as in free -g.
If you need memory totals, you can add thet option like so: free -mt. This will simply total the amount of memory in columns (Figure 5).
vmstat
Another very handy tool to have at your disposal is vmstat. This particular command is a one-trick pony that reports virtual memory statistics. The vmstat command will report stats on:
Processes
Memory
Paging
Block IO
Traps
Disks
CPU
The best way to issue vmstat is by using the -s switch, like vmstat -s. This will report your stats in a single column (which is so much easier to read than the default report). The vmstatcommand will give you more information than you need (Figure 6), but more is always better (in such cases).
dmidecode
What if you want to find out detailed information about your installed system RAM? For that, you could use the dmidecode command. This particular tool is the DMI table decoder, which dumps a system’s DMI table contents into a human-readable format. If you’re unsure as to what the DMI table is, it’s a means to describe what a system is made of (as well as possible evolutions for a system).
To run the dmidecode command, you do need sudo privileges. So issue the command sudo dmidecode -t 17. The output of the command (Figure 7) can be lengthy, as it displays information for all memory-type devices. So if you don’t have the ability to scroll, you might want to send the output of that command to a file, like so: sudo dmidecode –t 17 > dmi_infoI, or pipe it to the less command, as in sudo dmidecode | less.
/proc/meminfo
You might be asking yourself, “Where do these commands get this information from?”. In some cases, they get it from the /proc/meminfo file. Guess what? You can read that file directly with the commandless /proc/meminfo. By using the lesscommand, you can scroll up and down through that lengthy output to find exactly what you need (Figure 8).
One thing you should know about /proc/meminfo: This is not a real file. Instead /pro/meminfo is a virtual file that contains real-time, dynamic information about the system. In particular, you’ll want to check the values for:
MemTotal
MemFree
MemAvailable
Buffers
Cached
SwapCached
SwapTotal
SwapFree
If you want to get fancy with /proc/meminfo you can use it in conjunction with the egrep command like so: egrep –color ‘Mem|Cache|Swap’ /proc/meminfo. This will produce an easy to read listing of all entries that contain Mem, Cache, and Swap … with a splash of color (Figure 9).
Keep learning
One of the first things you should do is read the manual pages for each of these commands (so man top, man free, man vmstat, man dmidecode). Starting with the man pages for commands is always a great way to learn so much more about how a tool works on Linux.
Learn more about Linux through the free “Introduction to Linux” course from The Linux Foundation and edX.
E3 2018 News: Everything From The Press Conferences
After a hectic week of reveals and announcements, E3 2018 is finally drawing to a close. But while we may be coming up on the end of this year's expo, the past week has been filled with exciting news. We got to see seven major press conferences in the days leading up to E3, which brought us a ton of reveals, from a new Cyberpunk 2077 trailer to the unveiling of Resident Evil 2 and an extended gameplay sequence from The Last of Us: Part II.
In all, E3 2018 was packed with news, gameplay demos, and trailers, giving us a much clearer look at what lies ahead for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC in the near future. To make it easier to catch up on the announcements from this year's expo, we've put together a roundup of all of the biggest news from each press conference, which you can find below.
Apple, Oprah Winfrey sign multi-year deal for TV programming
By Mike Wuerthele Friday, June 15, 2018, 10:19 am PT (01:19 pm ET)
Apple and Oprah Winfrey have teamed in a long-term partnership to develop programming and original content for what will likely become Apple’s streaming video service.
There is almost nothing known about what will be published. Apple’s statement on the matter is short, only saying that “Winfrey and Apple will create original programs that embrace her incomparable ability to connect with audiences around the world.”
Winfrey had her own television channel, OWN, that is run by her own Harpo Studios, in conjunction with Discovery, Inc. She sold the majority of her stake in the network to Discovery in December 2017, but is still the CEO of the network.
In February 2015, OWN was available to over 70 percent of the US households with cable or satellite service.
The terms of the deal are unknown. The content will likely be tied to the ongoing efforts Apple has undertaken to develop video content —few of which have borne any fruit as of yet, with the released ones not being particularly successful.
In August of 2017, Apple was said to be investing $1 billion in unique content and programming. Apple’s rumored budget is roughly what Amazon spent in 2013 when it launched its first original shows. It’s still, however, about half what HBO spent in 2016, making it unlikely that the company will directly tackle industry stalwarts, at least at first.
Since then, Apple also reportedly provided a blank check to Drake for his own shows and movies, and signed a deal with “Star Trek” and “Battlestar Galactica” reboot alum Ronald D. Moore for a new space drama. It is also reportedly paying $5 million per episode on a ten-episode season of “Amazing Stories,” a revival of the Amblin Television and NBCUniversal science fiction anthology.
Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine studio is linked to three projects tied to Apple. The first show is as of yet untitled, but features Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston in a drama based on morning show production.
The second show is development of Nichelle Tramble Spellman’s “Are You Sleeping,” with the “Serial” podcast creator onboard in an advisory role, and Octavia Spencer starring. The third is a sketch comedy show starring Kristen Wiig.
More recently, Apple signed a deal with “La La Land” writer and director Damien Chazelle, and another with “The Big Sick” writers Kumail Nanjiani of “Silicon Valley” and Emily V. Gordon.
These are all thought to be part of a broader $1 billion investment in original programming, which is considerable but still a lower investment than those of its competitors, such as Netflix’s reported $7 billion on original content for 2018.
Welcome to the Weekender, your weekly look at the best new games, sales, and updates. We’ve got the release of ARK: Survival Evolved and a couple other new options to talk about, along with a wide selection of sales. Let’s get to it!
ARK: Survival Evolved is a popular desktop and console crafting/survival game set in a world where humans are not the apex predator. Dinosaurs abound and must be defeated, or tamed. A mobile version has been in the works and is now available in the App and Google Play stores and features the same basic gameplay as on other platforms. You start with nothing and must gather materials, find food, build a base, craft weapons and equipment, explore your dino-infested world, and of course fight. There’s both a single-player campaign and 50-player multiplayer matches.
The game is free-to-play with an in-game currency, amber, which allows you to buy items and food, rather than resource-gathering and crafting, as well as some special buffs. There are amber deposits throughout the world you can harvest and some of the big creatures drop it, plus you can get it for free by watching ads. It’s pretty much the usual freemium setup. There’s also a ‘Primal Pass’ that pulls the ads and offers permanent XP doubling and some other stuff for $3.99/month or $34.99 a year. As a result, the multiplayer will likely be very pay-to-win. There may be a single-player pay wall, but I haven’t reached it.
I’m a huge fan of the genre so I’ve been keen to put it through its, even with the freemium stuff. It’s not bad—the gameplay is decent and there’s quite a bit to explore, craft, and fight. The touch controls, a critical part of any mobile conversion, do feel somewhat clunky but not so bad one couldn’t get used to them. I’ve been tinkering with the single-player campaign and haven’t played long enough to determine if there is a pay wall, hopefully not. ARK: Survival Evolved pales in comparison to something like Crashlands, but if you’re looking for more crafting-survival game options on mobile it’s worth checking out.
The Talisman Digital Edition has rolled out yet another expansion, this time The Woodland Edition. It adds the Woodland Board, a new wrap-around game board, along with 103 Woodland cards, 10 adventure cards, 20 path cards, 14 destiny cards, 5 spell cards, and 5 new characters. The Woodland Edition is available now for $3 via in-app purchase.
Cartoon Craft is a simple real-time strategy game with a, well, cartoony art style. It covers all the genre bases: you start small and must gather gold and resources in order to build up your settlement and develop your military. You explore the map and go looking for enemies to fight and then beat them down in real-time combat. It’s simple and fun and worth a look for genre fans.
A heartwarming role-playing game is a bit of a rarity, but that’s what you get in To the Moon. It’s the tale of two doctors who travel through an old man’s memories in order to make his deathbed wish come true. It’s an emotional story, with great music and atmosphere to match, along with deep and powerful characters. It’s not perfect, the controls leave a little to be desired, but it will leave an impression on you.
Monument Valley 2 is the sequel to one of the bigger mobile puzzle games of all time and is a good game in its own right. The sequel brings 16 new levels full of M.C. Escher inspired architectural puzzles and is set in a different part of the same world as the original. The game is still on sale on iOS, though not Android.
If you’re ready to make some tough choices in a grim, dystopian future now’s your chance. Beholder, a game where you run an apartment building and must spy on and rat out your ‘unpatriotic’ neighbors, is on sale for a couple bucks off.
Turn-based strategy with a twist of action, Steamworld Heist was near the top of a crowded field of great games in 2016 and earned four well-deserved stars from JP. It’s also half off right now.
Highly tactical WWII naval combat game Carrier Battles 4 Guadalcanal is frequently updated with new content and updates. It’s most recent update made the game universal, so you can now play on your iPhone. If you’re a fan of hex-based, heavily tactical wargame simulators this is worth a look.
Seen anything else you like? Played any of the above? Let us know in the comments!
Awakening in a mysterious mansion, her first, frantic thoughts are:
?Where am I? And more importantly, who am I?? She encounters several young men in the same predicament trapped and missing their memories. To survive they must hunt black butterflies and claim kaleidoscope shards from the horrific monsters surrounding them.
