Review: Sniper Elite 4 – The Nazi-Slaying Series’ Best Entry Comes To Switch
Rebellion’s Sniper Elite 4 was released to some high praise back in February of 2017, and is widely regarded as the best entry in the long-running series to date; it’s a fun and flexible sniper’s paradise with ten lengthy campaign missions set across the largest, most varied and vertical levels that crack Nazi skull-exploder Karl Fairburne has ever had to contend with. There’s plenty for ace-assassins to chew on in this one, with a hefty fifteen-hour story that’s fully playable in both solo or co-op and a variety of multiplayer modes, all of which arrives here on Switch in fine form. This is a port that is easily equal to its predecessor with nary a bug or framerate drop in sight, leaving you free and unfettered to get right down to the very important business of slo-mo smashing fascist’s jaws through their lungs in glorious X-Ray vision.
Sniper Elite 4 picks up in the immediate aftermath of the events of the third game in the series, with gruff central protagonist Fairburne landing in Italy to investigate a mysterious Nazi weapon. No sooner have Karl’s leaden boots landed on the soft sand of San Celini than a plot involving desperate resistance groups, giant railguns, the Sicilian Mafia, backstabbing, double-crossing and enormous Nazi facilities begins to unfurl. This is easily the biggest Sniper Elite to date, with impressively large levels in which to get down to the rather worryingly addictive business of making an absolute mess out of your fascist foes.
The core gameplay remains much the same as previous efforts in the franchise, with Fairburne’s main party piece – the slow motion, X-ray destruction of heads, hearts, lungs and other quite delicate areas of anatomy – still very much the centre of proceedings. Choosing to stealth as much of these enormous, enemy-infested environments as possible, you’ll employ a multitude of tricks and traps; teller mines, tripwires, grenades, TNT, booby-trapped corpses, satchel charges and so on to bend your surroundings to your advantage. Beyond lining yourself up for plenty of the game’s signature slo-mo sniper shots, you can rig objects to explode, quietly shoot large crates down upon the enemy and trigger glorious chains of explosions that take out multiple Nazi troops by targeting a munitions cache or the gas tank of a large convoy vehicle.
Passing planes and loud machinery will drown out the sounds of your gunfire, enabling you time your shots and move through areas undetected, and a new addition here also sees you provided with very limited stocks of suppressed ammo for your rifle – a precious resource that enables you silently despatch the enemy as you please. If you’ve played any previous Sniper Elite game you’ll know the drill well enough, but here the fun has been added to with smarter and more reactive enemy AI and a more versatile Fairburne who can now hang out of windows or off ledges and clamber around walls and up pipes in order to get a better vantage point from which to scope out and tag enemies with his trusty binoculars. There’s a fresh level of flexibility that has the positive knock-on effect of making being discovered and “going loud” a much more viable alternative than it ever was in previous entries in the franchise.
Indeed, where once we’d stick resolutely to keeping ourselves hidden at all times, save-scumming our way through tough assignments, being spotted in Sniper Elite 4 isn’t as frustrating as it was in the past. Karl has a bevvy of new moves that allow for quick and nasty CQC kills when up close and personal, and the AI is such that you can toy with your opponent, making a real ruckus, taking out a bunch of baddies with your Thompson and then quite easily – at least on medium difficulty settings – vanishing into thin air again. In fact, making a big bunch of noise here – something we were once so terrified of doing in these games – is a tactic we started to use to our advantage, drawing the enemy into our pre-planned death mazes of tripwires and traps, giving them a little tease with some automatic fire before going ghost again to mop up the scene from long-range. It’s good fun.
There are now also night time missions which allow you to snipe out light sources and, overall, this fourth entry in the franchise does a cracking job of providing plenty of opportunity for experimentation throughout its great big meaty levels. And these really are some meaty levels. You can easily spend upwards of an hour on each scenario – much more if you decide to attempt to ghost the whole thing or complete the laundry list of side objectives and collectable-gathering that’s available in each and every area. As you play you’ll rank up, earning XP for pulling off outrageous kills – there’s nothing quite like the glory of a very long range, slow-motion double headshot to make you feel like a proper hero – and giving you points to use towards locking more an more pistols, machine guns and beautiful great big sniper rifles.
Sniper Elite 4 also gives you plenty of options with regards to fine-tuning its difficulty to suit your needs. You can make things as simple and automatic as you choose with your shots finding their targets easily, or you can have wind-speed, velocity and distance all play a huge role. The red indicator that helps you line up a shot as you hold R to empty your lungs and focus can be switched off entirely – something that really does up the ante – and the game even provides you with a shooting range where you can get to practising some completely unaided, super long-range ball-blasters.
Of course, true to series form, there are a few rough edges here and there – it really wouldn’t feel like a Sniper Elite game without some, if we’re honest – and enemies, smarter though they are, are still quite easy to manipulate into doing your bidding if you plan well in advance. The writing and characters are also still dull and forgettable, and the whole thing lacks the level polish and pizzazz of comparative titles such as Metal Gear V. This is also a supremely one-note affair that doesn’t really switch up its agenda for the entirety of its campaign, and what you’ll be doing in the first mission, you’ll be doing in the tenth in terms of gameplay mechanics. However, when those gameplay mechanics revolve around something so consistently satisfying, grotesque and hilarious as watching a Nazi’s internal organs contort and rupture in glorious X-Ray vision as he’s hurled into the air via a large explosion, it’s genuinely quite hard to complain.
With an entire campaign playable in glorious co-op mode and a pretty hefty multiplayer suite (that we sadly couldn’t access for this review) there’s certainly plenty for eager sharpshooters to sink their teeth into here and, as we mentioned, this is a Switch port that’s every bit as successful as that of Sniper Elite 3. Those all-important gyro-controls are present, correct and perfectly implemented and performance is strong across both handheld and docked modes. Graphically there’s been a downgrade, as expected, but it’s not a particularly harsh one. This is still a very pleasant game to look at, especially in portable mode, with every single lung puncturing, skull-shattering, testicle twisting slo-mo moment perfectly preserved for your delectation.
Conclusion
Sniper Elite 4 is the best entry yet in this long-running franchise with great big meaty missions stuffed to bursting point with Nazis to snipe and stab in glorious slo-mo X-ray vision. There’s a new-found flexibility to the gameplay, with Karl now able to shimmy and scurry vertically around levels and enemy AI that’s much more up to the task than in previous iterations. There may be some slightly rough edges, with duff writing, naff characters and gameplay that doesn’t change much from start to finish but, overall, this is playful sniper’s paradise that lands on Switch in a truly impressive port. It’s time to dust off that M1903 Springfield, find a nice vantage point and get to blowing great big bloody holes in fascist heads. The perfect antidote to 2020.
This past N7 day, BioWare VP and Studio GM Casey Hudson announced that the next installment of the Mass Effect series is in the works in a blog post. Today, three new images from the upcoming game were posted online.
The images originated from the newly-released Bioware: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development coffee table book, and were subsequently posted on Tumblr.
Today's images saw the first image of the new game presented in the N7 Day blog post make a return: a ship on a shiny planet surface with four crew members walking beside it while two suns hang above them. The outline of one crew member appears to be an Angaran, the alien species native to Andromeda. This stoked ever-present speculation that the new Mass Effect will possibly be continuing its story in the Andromeda galaxy, and the newly posted images have added a bit of fuel to those speculations.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-18-2020, 08:15 AM - Forum: Windows
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Azure Hybrid Benefit now generally available for Linux
Coinciding with this week’s Kubecon and Open Azure Day virtual events, today we’re announcing the general availability of Azure Hybrid Benefit functionality for Linux customers, allowing you to bring both your on-premises Windows Server and SQL Server licenses, as well as Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) subscriptions to Azure.
During the preview period, over 1,500 Linux virtual machines have already been migrated to Azure using the new Azure Hybrid Benefit capabilities, helping to significantly reduce the costs of running enterprise Linux workloads in Azure.
While previous Bring-Your-Own-Subscription cloud migration options available to Red Hat and SUSE customers allowed them to use their pre-existing RHEL and SLES subscriptions in the cloud, Azure Hybrid Benefit improves upon this with several capabilities that are unique to Azure and makes enterprise Linux cloud migration even easier than before:
Applies to all Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server pay-as-you-go images available in the Azure Marketplace or Azure Portal. You don’t need to provide your own image.
Save time with seamless post-deployment conversions—there’s no need for production redeployment. You can simply convert the pay-as-you-go images you used during your proof of concept testing to bring-your-own-subscription billing.
Lower your ongoing operational costs with automatic image maintenance, updates, and patches—Microsoft maintains the converted RHEL and SLES images for you.
Enjoy the convenience of unified user interface integration with the Azure CLI, providing the same UI as other Azure virtual machines, as well as scalable batch conversions.
Get co-located technical support from Azure, Red Hat, and SUSE with just one ticket.
Combine with recently announced Red Hat and SUSE support for Azure shared disks to lift-and-shift failover clusters and parallel file systems—like Global File System.
Fully compatible with Azure Arc, providing end-to-end hybrid cloud operations management for your Windows, RHEL, and SLES servers in one solution.
“We’re pleased to have worked closely with Microsoft to bring Red Hat Enterprise Linux to Azure Hybrid Benefit,” said Gunnar Hellekson, senior director, Product Management, Red Hat Enterprise Linux at Red Hat. “Giving customers more, and easier, choices as to where and how they run the world’s leading enterprise Linux platform and the foundation for our hybrid cloud portfolio is especially beneficial today, as organizations evolve digital transformation initiatives in response to dynamic global conditions.”
“Azure Hybrid Benefit for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server will give our joint customers improved flexibility and ease of use when running SUSE Linux on Azure,” said Rachel Cassidy, SVP Global Channel & Cloud at SUSE. “Whether used with mission-critical workloads like SAP on SUSE Linux, or high-performance computing, Azure Hybrid Benefit for SUSE Linux will help customers simplify, modernize and accelerate their infrastructure and make running SUSE Linux on Azure more cost-effective than ever.”
To see a demonstration of Azure Hybrid Benefit and how it works for Red Hat and SUSE, check out this video:
Learn more about Azure Hybrid Benefit. For additional information about how Azure Hybrid Benefit applies for Linux, you can read more here.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-18-2020, 08:15 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Two-Drink Minimum
Two-Drink Minimum
The crowded room fell uncomfortably silent. The Eliksni server placed a metal cup of liquid on the table as though issuing a challenge.
Crow raised the drink and sniffed at it. If it was poisoned, it was mild. He took a swig, grimaced at the bitterness, then took another.
Across the room, the big Eliksni Captain slowly brought his lower arms up to rest on the table, leaving his weapons holstered. He clucked in approval and the tension drained from the room. The Eliksni who brought the drink scuttled back behind the bar, and soon the air filled once again with the series of staccato clicks and thumping that passed for music in the Empty Tank.
Glint flitted out of Crow’s hood and scanned the contents of the cup. “It certainly isn’t good for you,” he said, “but this much won’t kill you. What does it taste like?”
Crow took another sip. “Hmm. I’d say engine coolant, paraffin, and a kind of smoky chalk at the end.” He stood, smiled, and raised his cup to the Captain. “It’s terrible!” he shouted over the noise of the bar.
“Cro-oww!” the Captain barked back, his harsh voice unused to human speech. He pounded a fist against the Spider insignia on his own chestpiece before returning to his drink.
“Surprised he knew my name,” Crow said to Glint as he sat back down. “Getting on my good side won’t get him on Spider’s, but at least I get free drinks.”
“Word about your heroics on the Moon traveled quickly,” Glint said.
“I would have killed the High Celebrant if Osiris hadn’t gotten in the way,” Crow grumbled. “Then we’d see some real gratitude. Still…”
He swirled the foul drink in his cup. “I saved Osiris—the Osiris,” he said. He seemed pleased with himself. “That ought to count for something with those Guardians in the City. Is he one of their leaders?”
“No,” said Glint. “Osiris’s relationship with the Vanguard appears to be complicated.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me,” sighed Crow. “What about that Guardian? Are they anyone important?”
Glint thought for a long moment. The Guardian hadn’t said anything yet, but if Crow was going to work alongside them, he would be one errant comment away from learning the truth—and from the worst possible person to tell him.
“They have several notable achievements,” Glint said carefully.
“Well, that’s something,” nodded Crow. “And now they’ve both heard of Crow.”
“You’ve certainly taken to the name,” Glint said. Despite the noise in the bar, he kept his voice soft.
Crow shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”
“You really have,” Glint said. He was silent for a moment. “You never heard the things they said to me while I was reviving you.”
Crow saw the single scuffed panel of Glint’s shell, bulging with wires, and looked away. He wiped his hands on the rough fabric of the cloak Spider had given him. They had suddenly become sweaty.
“It’s just a name,” Crow said dismissively. “You told me before you’d had other names.”
Glint didn’t move; he hung in the air above the table. “Not like this.”
Crow leaned forward. “I don’t understand,” he said. He gave Glint a gentle nudge. “Explain it to me. Please.”
Glint tensed in the air, then acquiesced and hovered closer to Crow. His voice was soft and kind.
“I never truly had a name,” he said. “There were things people called me, but you named me. So when I hear ‘Glint,’ I think of you.”
Crow nodded, then realized what Glint was about to say next. His face twisted in anguish.
“I didn’t get to name you,” Glint said. “Baron Spider did.”
“Oh, Glint—” Crow blurted, and reached out with both hands as if he could smother the very idea inside the little Ghost. Glint blinked rapidly in confusion.
Crow cupped Glint in his hands and exhaled, long and slow.
“Glint,” he said calmly. The Ghost cocked his head.
“Spider picked my name, yes. It’s probably a jab at who I used to be, some cruel little joke—maybe I was eaten by crows.” Glint started to speak but Crow held up his hand. “I know, you can’t tell me. But I don’t think he meant it as some grand compliment.”
Crow looked down, his voice low. “When you came along, I was dead. Before that, I think I was even worse.”
“Then you found me. Chose me. And early on,” Crow took an agonizing sip of his drink and was grateful when it made his eyes water, “it was hard. I wouldn’t have made it through that without you—and I don’t mean because you kept bringing me back to life.”
Crow spread his hands wide above the grimy table. “To me, all of this—this place, this cloak, this terrible drink—is because of you. You’re the reason I’m here, Glint. I don’t need a name to remind me of that.”
Glint’s eye flashed rapidly as he processed the new information, then glowed steadily. “I understand,” he said.
A crash shook the walls of the Empty Tank. The blast doors at the entrance tore loose from their housing and a massive Cabal Centurion stormed into the bar, weapon drawn, severed Eliksni heads hanging from his waist as bounties.
“Where is the Crow?” he bellowed.
“Right here,” shouted Glint, and Crow stood, pushing his chair away.
**
After the smoke cleared, the Eliksni Captain clucked again and waved, making the universal gesture: another drink for him—on me.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-18-2020, 08:15 AM - Forum: Minecraft
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Bedrock: 1.16.100
A new Minecraft update is here with a lot of changes, bug fixes, and good things for content creators (add ons and map makers that is). For those of you on the Switch version please hang tight until 5pm GMT to have those multiplayer issues solved.
Added a new Achievements screen design and brand new achievement artwork
Over a dozen new Character Creator items have been added and can be unlocked with achievements
Sea Turtles now play a sound when they lay eggs
Dolphins will now dry out at the same rate as they do in Java Edition; 120 seconds
Undamaged Mending items will no longer prevent damaged Mending items from being repaired (MCPE-80156)
Basalt can no longer be destroyed by Ghast fireballs (MCPE-75252)
Basalt blocks now take slightly more time to destroy
TNT no longer activates when a Redstone Torch is placed directly on it (MCPE-81258)
Various improvements to the Crafting Screen experience when using a controller
Cobblestone is now shown as the default ingredient for stone tools (MCPE-71843)
Items in the inventory will no longer move into the crafting grid when hovering over recipes
The selected recipe will no longer be cleared when changing tabs, even if you don’t have all the necessary ingredients for that recipe
Picking up items while the cursor is hovering over a recipe now updates to the recipe’s new index
Crimson and Warped Stems/Hyphae are now in their correct Creative inventory groups (MCPE-74611)
Nether and Warped Wart blocks are no longer in an unfolding section in the creative menu
Structure Blocks
Removed the name field from the structure block 3D Export screen
Fixed incorrect chunk position calculation for block changes that occur during the Structure Block preview window
Structure loading/saving no longer affects ticking blocks in nearby chunks
Fixed the Reset button not re-rendering the wireframe bounding box
User Interface
Added Noto Sans font license button and pop-up dialog to Profile section of the Settings screen
Updated splash texts and loading screen tips (MCPE-85381)
Fixed system language settings for Simplified and Traditional Chinese not honored by the game
Fixed an issue that meant the block highlight/selection box was extending above blocks
Time played now displays correctly on the Achievements screen (MCPE-66331)
The Beacon container interface no longer shuffles items around the inventory slots when trying to quick-move items from the inventory while the hotbar is full
Pressing the ‘Leave Boat’ button on touch devices will no longer make the player hit a passenger or destroy the Boat (MCPE-78113)
A button icon has been added to the NPC dialog screen to show which gamepad button to press to close the window (Education Feature)
The hovered slot data is now cleared properly whenever the cursor is moved off an item slot. This way the gamepad helpers are correct when not hovering over an item slot
The item name text that appears when the player changes the hotbar selection now anchors from the bottom. This way when it grows, it will not overlap with the hotbar (MCPE-79566)
Fixed the ‘Profile’ button in the Pause Menu not being sized correctly
“Ride Exit” hint now clears action bar messages (MCPE-75097)
The Smithing Table screen now contains the hammer icon and user interface elements appear correctly when using the “Pocket” UI profile setting (MCPE-79541)
Grindstone no longer shows a result unless it changes the item (MCPE-54256)
Fixed navigation problems between Featured Items, Achievement Rewards, Emotes, and the Dressing Room (MCPE-89179)
Change Gamertag and Manage Account buttons on the Settings screen now open xbox.com URLs on iOS and Android
The Dressing Room now shows cached items when not connected to the internet
Commands
Fixed a crash could occur when using the ‘/fill ‘ command to fill huge amounts of blocks with Portal blocks
Text and background for the title command (Title, Subtitle, and Actionbar) have been adjusted and spaced out
Fixed a bug where a request queued with ‘/schedule’ would not clear out when executed and would execute when re-entering a level
Added to the ‘/schedule on_area_loaded’ command with an overload that allows you to track a circular area, by specifying a center and a radius. Also added serialization for the queue of requests
Fixed issues with the ‘/schedule’ command that would consider an area loaded before it was actually loaded, and the command now respects which dimension it is queued in
For Map Makers and Add-On Creators
Updated Template Packs
Updated templates for 1.16.100 with new resources, behaviors, and documentation are available for download
Fixes
Fixed particles when using animation controllers to play particles and switching to a different state that also plays particles
Striders now have a separate texture mapping for each leg, and their leg textures are properly mirrored
Pitch written in ‘sound_definitions.json’ is now correctly played (MCPE-49430)
FMOD music channel now sets its priority to 0 when music is played to prevent FMOD virtual channel from stealing it when a regular sound is played in game (default priority is 128)
Villagers/Zombie Villagers once again correctly spawn as a baby when using the summon command to summon them with the event “minecraft:entity_born”
Attempting to load a custom material that is not defined no longer causes a crash. A proper content error is now thrown
Commands
Added ‘/structure’ command that allows saving and loading of structures without having to use Structure Blocks
Added the ability to animate the placement of a structure with the ‘/structure’ command
Added the ‘/music’ command, allowing creators to play and control custom music
Added ‘/playanimation’ command that allows you to run a one-off animation. It assumes all variables have been setup correctly for the animation to run
Added ‘/camerashake’ command to enable a camera shaking effect
Added ‘/ride’ command that allows you to make entities ride other entities, stop entities from riding, make rides evict their riders, or summon rides and riders
Added ‘/clearspawnpoint’ command that allows you to clear a player’s spawn point
Added ‘/event’ command that can be used to trigger an event on an entity
Using the ‘/spawnpoint’ command will no longer affect Players that are sleeping (MCPE-91565)
Older command versions using ‘/execute’ now use the proper position for command selectors when calculating the radius
Data-Driven Blocks
Added documentation for block event responses and re-organized block documentation
Blocks that have ticking components will now clear their pending ticks from the ticking queue upon removal
Added the ‘on_player_destroyed’ trigger component
Made data-driven blocks pathable with disabled collisions
Added the BlockDisplayNameComponent to allow display names to be configured in the localization table
Added support for parsing and performing the following event responses:
Added the ‘set_block_at_pos’ event response
Spawn Loot
Set Block
Added support for the ‘on_interact’ trigger component
Added support for the ‘on_player_placing’ trigger component
Also added MoLang queries for ‘cardinal_block_face_placed_on’ and ‘cardinal_player_facing’ for getting placement context
Data-Driven Block Models
Added the first pass of the new data-driven block tessellation pipeline
Added the “minecraft:geometry” component to allow using a block model for rendering
Added the “minecraft:unit_cube” component to allow using a default unit cube for rendering. Unit cubes get some extra effects like ambient occlusion and face removal
Added the “minecraft:material_instances” component to allow mapping faces and material_instances in a geometry file to an actual material
Fixed smooth lighting and ambient occlusion with new data-driven blocks
Placement Filter
Added “minecraft:placement_filter” component which allows you to set conditions for where this block can be placed. This component will also kick in whenever neighboring blocks change and pop its loot if it is no longer in a valid location
Added serialization to Block Descriptor
Added static anyMatch functions to BlockDescriptor to compare a list of BlockDescriptors against: Block*, BlockLegacy, or BlockDescriptor
Added a function to compare two BlockDescriptors. This covers: matching blocks, any tag of either descriptor match, block states with matching permutations
Changed the BlockDescriptor BlockLegacy member variable to a Block* so we can set the block states during deferred block resolution and get the block with the states set
Removed all the existing Block* json parsing
Schema
Split ‘allowed_blocks’ into ‘use_on’ and ‘dispense_on’
‘use_on’ specifies what blocks an entity placer item is allowed to be used on, omit to allow all blocks
‘dispense_on’ specifies what blocks an entity placer item is allowed to be dispensed on, omit to allow all blocks
Execute Command
Added support to item json events for the ‘execute_command’ keyword. It supports both a string and string array format, where the string is the command intended to run. Commands are compiled at load time and executed after add/remove_mob_effect and teleport actions, but before other triggers for events. Commands will be segmented in sequence and randomize nodes as expected
Run Command
Added support to entity json events for the ‘run_command’ keyword alongside the current add and remove keywords. It supports both a string and string array format, where the string is the command intended to run. Commands will be run after component groups have been added and removed, and will be segmented in sequence and randomize nodes as expected
Updated the following components to parse and use BlockDescriptor instead of Block*
BlockBreakSensorComponent
BlockListEventMap
BreathableComponent
BreedableComponent
BuoyancyComponent
EntityPlacerItemComponent
PreferredPathComponent
SeedItemComponentLegacy
Updated the following features to parse and use BlockDescriptor instead of Block*
NoSurfaceOreFeature
OreFeature
SingleBlockFeature
Updated the following goal definitions to parse and use BlockDescriptor instead of Block*
GoalDefinition
RaidGardenGoal
VanillaGoalDefinition
Updated the following surfaces code to parse and use BlockDescriptor instead of Block*
MesaSurfaceAttributes
SurfaceMaterialAdjustmentAttributes
SurfaceMaterialAttributes
Updated the following tests to reflect the changes from updating code to use BlockDescriptors
BuoyancyComponentServerTests
FeatureHelperTests
NoSurfaceOreFeatureTests
OreFeatureTests
SingleBlockFeatureTests
Updated the following trees to parse and use BlockDescriptor instead of Block*
AcaciaTreeCanopy
AcaciaTreeTrunk
FallenTreeTrunk
FancyTreeCanopy
FancyTreeTrunk
MegaPineTreeCanopy
MegaTreeCanopy
MegaTreeTrunk
PineTreeCanopy
RoofedTreeCanopy
SimpleTreeCanopy
SimpleTreeTrunk
SpruceTreeCanopy
TreeHelper
Actors
Squid rendering is now data-driven
All types of minecarts are now data-driven
The ‘minecraft:behavior.controlled_by_player’ goal is now data-driven
Physics component’s ‘has_gravity’ field is now used to decide whether a mob should apply water gravity, if the mob does not have a navigation component
Spatial Bandwidth Optimizations are now exposed through a component, “minecraft:conditional_bandwidth_optimization”
Spatial Bandwidth Optimizations are now utilized by every actor using “minecraft:conditional_bandwidth_optimization”
Added the selector component to raw text, which can be used to print entity names in commands such as ‘tellraw’ and ‘titleraw’
Pathfinding will now account for the “minecraft:scale'” component
Updated BrewingStand, ButtonBlock, ChestBlock, EnderChestBlock, SlabBlock, and SoulSandBlockblock types to allow path-finding and navigation (MCPE-47075)
Updated Actor Properties. Two fields that were invalid and appeared in some vanilla content will now give a content error. The field “value” on “minecraft:can_fly” and the property “minecraft:foot_size” should simply be removed from any entity files
The ‘MoveToLiquidGoal‘ has been changed to use data for its target block
Strider now correctly executes the ‘move_to_liquid’ goal
Made boats use the Buoyancy component. Added two new components, the “inside_block_notifier” component, which fires specified events when the actor enters or exits specified blocks, and the “out_of_control” component, which sets a corresponding actor flag, in order to make this possible
Exposed new data parameters to control the behavior of Drop Item For Goal. This includes: “seconds_before_pickup”, “cooldown”, “minimum_teleport_distance”, “max_head_look_at_height”, “teleport_offset”, and “entity_types”. Check out the new Actor component documentation!
Exposed new data parameters to control the behavior of Harvest Farm Block Goal, including “max_seconds_before_search”, “search_cooldown_max_seconds”, and “seconds_until_new_task”. Check out the new Actor component documentation!
Added error checks to parsing of Minecraft shareables items. Displays content log if item name is invalid or the array is empty
Fog
Created ‘/fog’ command for managing active fog settings for players; these fog settings override fog driven from the client such as biome location of player camera
Updated “biomes_client.json” to link each biome to a fog definition identifier
Added child object “volumetric” which contains “density” and “media_coefficients” objects. These hold the data values used for the volumetric fog
Record Item Component
Items can now be made records to play music in Jukeboxes
Component Variables
sound_event – A string value correseponding to a sound event in the game code. This string must be one these for music to play: “13”, “cat”, “blocks”, “chirp”, “far”, “mall”, “mellohi”, “stal”, “strad”, “ward”, “11”, “wait”, “pigstep”
duration – A float value that determines how long particles are spawned from the JukeBox Block, should approximately match length of sound event
comparator_signal – An integer value that represents the strenght of the analog signal, used by the Comparator Block
Examples
When added to JukeBox Block this will play the sound clip of “record.chirp”
Renamed items to be consistent with the list of Java Edition items
Created RepairableItemComponent that data-drives how an item is repaired in game
Items can now override their display name with a localized ‘value’. If a value is not supplied, the component will stay with its default name. If the value supplied is not in the localization file, the display name will be the value string
Added a Lock in Inventory component that can be applied to an item via the ‘/give’ and ‘/replaceitem’ commands. This prevents the item from being removed from the player’s inventory, dropped, or crafted with
Example of use: `/give @s apple 1 0 {“item_lock”: {“mode”: “lock_in_inventory”}}`
Added a Lock in Slot component that can be applied to an item via the ‘/give’ and ‘/replaceitem’ commands. This prevents the item from being moved or removed from its slot in the player’s inventory, dropped, or crafted with
Example of use: ‘/give @s apple 1 0 {“item_lock”: {“mode”: “lock_in_slot”}}’
Added a Keep on Death component which can be applied to an item via the ‘/give’ and ‘/replaceitem’ commands. This component prevents the item from being dropped when the player dies
Example of use: ‘/give @s apple 1 0 {“keep_on_death”: {}}’
Item Icon Component
Items now have an easy way to set the icon for an item for displaying in the user interface
Component Variables
“texture”: Full path to icon image to use as item’s icon. No default
“frame”: Molang script to be executed at runtime to determine the icon’s current frame. Can be a constant, defaults to: 0
“legacy_texture_id”: The name of the texture used on legacy items. No default
“legacy_frame”: Molang script to be executed at runtime to determine the icon’s current frame. Can be a constant, defaults to: 0
Item Parsing
‘any_tag’ functionality added to several actor components. In addition to representing items as item names in json they can now be represented as a set of tags
Examples:
“item”: {“any_tag”: “food”}
“item”: {“any_tag”: [“food”, “wood”]}
“bribe_items”: [“emerald”, {“any_tag”: “stone”}]
Components and fields that can now use ‘any_tag’ functionality:
‘minecraft:ageable’
‘minecraft:breedable’ breed_items
‘minecraft:bribeable’ bribe_items
‘minecraft:giveable’ items
‘minecraft:healable’ items
‘minecraft:tamemount’ feed_items and auto_reject_items
‘minecraft:equippable’ accepted_items
Technical Changes
Item names of the format “minecraft:item.someitem” no longer need the “item.” portion and it will be ignored
Added Entity Movement Prediction
Changed LegacyCubemap from opaque to transparent (MCPE-94275)
Added ‘decrement_count’ event response for items
‘minecraft:behavior.send_event’ Changes
‘minecraft:behavior.send_event’ no longer uses -1 in ‘max_activation_range’ as a value to indicate unlimited range, the default has been changed to 32
Added content log warnings for when ‘min_activation_range’ and ‘max_activation_range’ is less than 0
Added content log warnings for when ‘min_activation_range’ is greater than ‘max_activation_range’
‘minecraft:behavior.summon_entity’ Changes
‘minecraft:behavior.summon_entity’ no longer uses -1 in max_activation_range as a value to indicate unlimited range, the default has been changed to 32
Added content log warnings for when ‘min_activation_range’ and ‘max_activation_range’ is less than 0
Added content log warnings for when ‘min_activation_range’ is greater than ‘max_activation_range’
Fixed a difference with the default return type of the script function, which differed from the usual return type (No ID)
Added new BlockRaycastComponent that can override the AABB used for outlines and raycasting
Added new BlockCollisionComponent that can override the AABB used for entity collision
Added new BlockPropertyComponent that can replace the blockProperties : Unwalkable, Infiniburn, PreventsJumping, Immovable, BreakOnPush, OnlyPistonPush and BreaksWhenHitByArrow
Added new BlockQueuedTickingComponent that triggers events for a block on a range of time set by the creator
Added new BlockRandomTickingComponent that triggers events for a block randomly
Added a Rotation Component that allows a block to rotate. The component only allows axis-aligned rotations
Adds the base implementation of the CraftingTableComponent
Allows the creation of custom crafting tables
Currently only supports 3×3 grids
Animations
Added a new ‘loop_delay’field to skeletal animation files that controls how to wait between each iteration of a looping animation
Fixed a bug where ‘start_delay’fields in skeletal animations were being used for both the initial delay before playing an animation and for inter-loop delays
MoveTowardsRestrictionGoal
This goal has been removed in favor of the two new child goals that make the behavior clearer. The behavior works the same, but is now separated out properly into the two goals
MoveTowardsDwellingRestrictionGoal
This goal is for Actors that are part of the Village construct
The “DwellerComponent” is necessary for this goal
MoveTowardsHomeRestrictionGoal
The “HomeComponent” is necessary for this goal
Exposed a new data parameter for the range at which the Actor will stay within in relation to their home: “restriction_radius”
Send Event Goal
“minecraft:behavior.send_event” no longer uses -1 in ‘max_activation_range’ as a value to indicate unlimited range, the default has been changed to 32
Added content log warnings for when ‘min_activation_range’ and ‘max_activation_range’ is less than 0
Added content log warnings for when ‘min_activation_range’ is greater than ‘max_activation_range’
Added a new json field ‘look_at_target’ which allows and disallows entities to turn and face their target
Updated the ‘format_version’field in geometry, particles, and animation files to behave as entity behavior files do. That is, you no longer need to specify a specific version for it to be accepted, instead you can just specify the version of the release you are targeting
Today sees the release of Sniper Elite 4 on Nintendo Switch, and developer Rebellion has shared a new launch trailer to celebrate.
The Switch version of the game boasts a number of exclusive new features, perhaps making it just as enticing for those who’ve played it before on other platforms as it will be for those who will be jumping in for the first time:
Switch exclusive features:
• Motion aim with gyroscopic controls • HD rumble support – feel your heartbeat and bullet impacts! • Local play – play in co-op or multiplayer with up to 4 players on the same network! • Pro Controller support – take your precision up a level
Sniper Elite 4 offers: • An expansive campaign set in WW2 Italy • Genre-defining sniping featuring advanced ballistics and boundless strategy • Trademark X-Ray kill cams, including melee and explosive takedowns • Iconic WW2 weaponry; sniper rifles, pistols, SMGs, traps, grenades and more • Upgrade and customize your skills and weaponry as you progress • Tactical traversal mechanics; climb, hang, shimmy and leap across maps! • Co-op and multiplayer modes across local wireless and online play • And much more
The game’s available to buy at retail and on the eShop, where you’ll find it waiting for you priced at £34.99 / $39.99. Our full review is now live, so make sure to give that a read if you’d like to hear our thoughts before buying.
Thinking of giving Sniper Elite 4 a go? Tell us below
Remember when Square Enix teased something related to its popular Nintendo DS RPG The World Ends With You not so long ago? It turned out to be an anime, but now the company is back with another tease.
A new teaser site opened today, complete with a countdown. A link to the site was shared by Square Enix’s 1st Production Twitter account, which is also using one of the pins from The World Ends With You as its Twitter avatar. There’s nothing more to go on, outside of some cool music, but this is sure to get chins wagging, especially when you consider how popular the game is.
Originally released on the DS in 2008, The World Ends With You was updated for Switch in 2018. What do you think this tease could be related to?
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-18-2020, 08:15 AM - Forum: Lounge
- No Replies
PS5 Firmware Update Improves Performance, Out Now
Sony has released the first firmware update for its recently launched PlayStation 5, bringing "system performance" improvements with it.
The patch notes for system update 20.02-02.25.00 don't specifically state what areas of the console are being addressed, simply stating, "This system software update improves system performance." The entire download is just shy of 900MB and is available to download now.
The PS5 launched in the US, Canada, and other regions on November 12, with the launch in Europe taking place this Thursday, November 19. Since launching the console has had numerous reports of widespread issues, ranging from bugs preventing PS5 game downloads and requiring a format to numerous instances of technical issues with the console's Rest Mode. Many GameSpot employees have encountered these issues personally, too.
We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!
Ten Ways to Get Ready for Xbox Series X|S We’re just around the corner from the launch of Xbox Series X, our fastest, most powerful console ever, and Xbox Series S, featuring next-gen performance in our smallest console ever. With that in mind, we wanted to offer some tips to make sure you’re ready to play the latest and greatest games on the day you bring… Read more
Dirt 5 Launch Day – Revealing the Past, Present, and Future of the Off-Road Racer It’s here! It is launch day for Dirt5 on Xbox One – and oh my, what a journey it’s been… It seems like an eternity ago that the plans for Dirt 5 were put in place, and the incredible development team at Codemasters Cheshire went to work on bringing this game to life. You know the coolest thing about it? From that… Read more
Xbox Game Pass for PC Presents: Signature Rigs Episode 1 Welcome to Signature Rigs, the series brought to you by Xbox Game Pass for PC – where we build signature, one-of-a-kind gaming rigs for some of your favorite people to help them discover their next favorite game. Our host, Justine Ezarik (aka iJustine), interviews some amazing people interested in PC gaming… Read more
Reignite the Chase in Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered, Available Now on Xbox One Race and chase solo or with your friends in this timeless experience remastered for today’s hardware with fresh graphics and gameplay. Bolt down the winding roads of the stunning Seacrest County in up to 4K/30 FPS or 1080p/60 FPS and with additional visual improvements making up a much crisper, more living world… Read more
Exclusive: Hands-on with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on Xbox Series X Following the successes of Assassin’s Creed Origins and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey during the current console generation, Ubisoft will be kicking off the next generation on November 10 with a new Assassin’s Creed title (be sure to check out the deep dive trailer above). Assassin’s Creed Valhallawill bring some of history’s most… Read more
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Achievements Revealed Next week, fans will be able to live the life of a Viking raider in 9th century England with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the latest entry in Ubisoft’s beloved action-adventure series. The game is coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X and will be available as a launch title, optimized for both of the next-gen consoles… Read more
You’re Ready to Power Your Dreams – Is Your TV? Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will be releasing imminently, capable of game-changing visual upgrades including super high framerates, low latency, and stunning HDR enhancements. But is your TV ready to receive all that the new generation has to offer? With that in mind, we figured that now would be the perfect time… Read more
What to Expect During the Xbox Launch Celebration Next week, gamers around the world will be able to jump into the next generation of gaming with the release of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. We’re very excited about the launch of our latest and greatest consoles, and used it as an excuse for celebrations, both live and virtual, around the globe… Read more
Switch ‘N’ Shoot Blasts onto Xbox One with Exclusive Content Just one button. What could be simpler? Indie developer Matt Glanville, the lead designer of Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty, challenges players to answer that question with Switch ‘N’ Shoot, which is available now on Xbox One with exclusive content. I got to know Matt as a co-exhibitor in the indie zones of a series of events across the UK… Read more
Pre-order Poker Club Today for Xbox Series X I’m back in the dealer’s chair again to talk about Poker Club, our next-generation poker game for Xbox One and Xbox Series X. I’m really excited to announce that Poker Club is available to pre-order right now for just £19.99/$24.99 on the Xbox Store, ahead of release on November 19. What’s more, with Smart Delivery, once you purchase… Read more
Apple TV and Your Favorite Streaming Apps Available on Xbox Series X|S at Launch We know our players love to catch up on the latest shows or listen to their favorite artists on their Xbox consoles when they aren’t gaming. At Xbox, our goal is to make the transition from playing games and streaming media on Xbox One to Xbox Series X|S as seamless as possible, so that you’re not missing out on the… Read more
Twin Mirror is Now Available for Pre-order – Dive into the Music Behind the Game Having now been working on Twin Mirror for over a year as cinematic director at Dontnod Entertainment, the game has raised various different challenges, both daunting and exciting. One of the most enticing ones to work on however was the game’s musical aspect. Twin Mirror being a narrative video game, my goal as cinematic director… Read more
New DC Universe Online Episode: Long Live The Legion Ready for a 31st century experience in DC Universe Online? For the first time, players will join forces alongside the founding members of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the new event and episode, Long Live the Legion. Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad’s lives are in danger. Even with magnetic, mind, and electrical manipulation… Read more
New Class Guardian Update & The Prestige Edition Release Omua’s dark blood runs cold through the snow-capped mountains, and trickles with the melted snow across the land where the dragon’s tooth lay. Plagued by the dragon’s curse, she sought respite in the form of revenge – to return the Holy Flame. From her anguish, a new class descends… Read more
This is Jeopardy! PlayShow, Let’s Meet Today’s Contestants… You! Hello, Xbox Wire readers. With “Jeopardy!” celebrating its wildly successful 36th season, and our game just winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Media, we’re excited to bring Jeopardy! PlayShow to Xbox One and Windows 10 PC as an Xbox Play Anywhere title. It’s a brand-new way to play America’s favorite… Read more
Next Week on Xbox: November 10 to 13 Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows 10 PC as well as upcoming Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC titles and soon-to-be released ID@Xbox games! You can get more details on the games below and click their profiles for pre-order details… Read more
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-18-2020, 05:49 AM - Forum: Lounge
- No Replies
Video: Why Survios builds new tech for games like Battlewake
In this 2019 XRDC talk, Survios’ Alex Silkin discuses how the company makes VR innovation a key component of game development in games like Battlewake.
In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.
Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.
