Its been a while and we have two snapshots to catch up on.  I hope everyone is well and healthy and enjoying the new features and changes.  I don’t know about you guys, but I’ll be playing Pigstep in my house nonstop.  You should listen for yourself!

• Added bastion remnants
• Added ruined portals
• Added chain blocks
• Added a new music disc titled “Pigstep” by Lena Raine which can only be found in bastions

BASTION REMNANTS

What’s made of blackstone and full of Piglins and Hoglins? Bastion remnants!

• ​Added 4 separate bastion remnant types: bridge, Hoglin stable, housing units, and treasure room
• You can find these sizable structures in all biomes in the Nether except the treacherous ash-dusted towers of basalt deltas
• Explore, loot, and conquer a bastion remnant to call it your home… but beware, Piglins don’t take kindly to intruders stealing their things

RUINED PORTALS

Shattered remains of ancient nether portals. Wonder who built them?​

• They can be found in any overworld or nether biome
• Some are hidden underground, under the sea, or buried in sand

• Increased the amount of lava pools to make the deltas more “deltary”
• The Piglin banner pattern can now be found in bastions

• Added a button in the GUI that generates a jigsaw structure starting from the jigsaw block, using given generation depth.
• Expanded the max size per axis of Structure Blocks from 32 to 48
• Added a JMX MBean to monitor dedicated server tick times

JMX MONITORING

It is now possible to monitor the server tick times though JMX.
The rationale for this is that JMX is a well known and supported monitoring technology with existing integrations and tools.

This enables server admins to hook alerts and graphing tools using ordinary JMX clients and dashboards.

ENABLING JMX MONITORING

• A new flag enable-jmx-monitoring has been added to the server.properties file which if set to true will expose an MBean with the Object name net.minecraft.server:type=Server and two attributes averageTickTime and tickTimes exposing the tick times in milliseconds.
• In order for enabling JMX on the Java runtime you also need to add a couple of JVM flags to the startup as documented here.

• MC-37557 – Sometimes a minecart sound plays/subtitle shown when loading a world
• MC-91163 – Certain subtitles show up when the player is too far away to hear the sound
• MC-154617 – Server hangs on stop due to rcon
• MC-171020 – New nether biomes don’t work properly in buffet worlds
• MC-175919 – Villagers sometimes stop farming
• MC-177136 – All compasses and lodestone compasses point to the same target, regardless of what type of compass it is
• MC-177238 – Windows symbolic link in saves/ is no longer followed as of 20w14a
• MC-177253 – Running a set_attributes function throws java.lang.NullPointerException if it contains an undefined attribute
• MC-177316 – Lodestone compass in item frame does not update after turning
• MC-178368 – When rotating a lodestone compass is put in the item frame the compass don’t work

• Added an Entity Distance scale option ranging from 50% to 500%
• Difficulty and game rules can now be changed from “Create World” screen

• Improved Smithing Table UI
• Ruined Portals now spawn less frequently
• Renamed “Soul Fire Torch” and “Soul Fire Lantern” to “Soul Torch” and “Soul Lantern”
• Tweaked Bastion Remnant loot
• Walls now create posts under more things, like pressure plates and banners
• The “Singleplayer” button will jump directly to “Create World” screen if there are no worlds to select

• Chat component style can now select font
• Block storage format in chunks slightly changed to speed up various tasks (rendering, pathfinding, world generation, etc)
• Full range of Unicode characters is supported (some may know what that means ?)
• Added the attribute command

WORLD SAVE FORMAT

• Saving level.dat now uses randomly-named temporary files (instead of using level.dat_new every time)
• player/*.dat are now saved in a way similar to level.dat (including leaving .dat_old files)

BLOCK STORAGE

BlockStates in Sections elements no longer contain values stretching over multiple 64-bit fields. If number of bits per block is not power of two (i.e. single 64-bit value can’t fill whole number of blockstates) some bits will not be used.

For example, if single block state takes 5 bits, highest 4 bits of every 64-bit field will be unused. That also means slight increase in storage size (in case of 5 bits, from 320 to 342 64-bit fields).

ATTRIBUTE

Adds modifies attribute on single entity. Possible syntax:
Parameters:

• attribute <target> <attribute> get [<scale>] – get total value of attribute
• attribute <target> <attribute> base set <value> – sets base valye
• attribute <target> <attribute> base get [<scale>] – get base value
• attribute <target> <attribute> modifier add <uuid> <name> <value> add|multiply|multiply_base – adds modifier (fails if modifier is already present)
• attribute <target> <attribute> modifier remove <uuid> – removes modifier
• attribute <target> <attribute> modifier value get <uuid> [<scale>] – get value of modifier
• target – single entity (note: only players, armor stands and mobs have attributes)
• attribute – name of attribute (like minecraft:generic.max_health)
• name – string (in optional quotes) describing human-readable name of modifier
• value – floating point value (note: certain attributes have limits on final value, so your change might not be noticeable)

CHAT COMPONENTS

HOVER EVENT ARGUMENT

• style.hoverEvent parameter now has parameter contents, with contents depending on type:
• For show_text – chat component
• For show_item – either item id or object with fields id, count and tag (with last one being serialized NBT)
• For show_entity – object with fields: id (UUID), name (chat component) and type (entity type resource location)
• Old style value argument is now deprecated (but still supported)

COLORS

color property can now contain RGB value prefixed by #. For example #55ff55 will result in the same color as green.

CUSTOM FONTS

Chat component style now supports font property, which is resource location for font in resource pack. No entry is equivalent to minecraft:default.

FONTS

• Force Unicode option now switches between normal and alternative font (called uniform.json) – no reload needed

• MC-1601 – Breaking a Furnace will not give you the experience for the smelted things inside
• MC-5410 – In creative mode, flying down is stopped when brushing up against ladders or vines.
• MC-31032 – Using only one empty map doesn’t increase minecraft.used:minecraft.map
• MC-46417 – Sprint particles are generated in spectator mode
• MC-56373 – Selector and score text components don’t work on hoverEvents
• MC-94535 – Flying and holding CTRL really close to the ground, emits walking particles
• MC-96319 – Mob pathfinding AI does not regard some blocks as obstructions and is unable to pathfind on top of them
• MC-100195 – Player retains 1-block hitbox if entering a minecart/boat while swimming or when flying with elytra or a riptide trident
• MC-114544 – Kicked by “Flying is not enabled on this server” while sleeping
• MC-120572 – /recipe crashes the game
• MC-126244 – ‘/locate’, explorer maps, and treasure maps can cause extreme TPS lag, even leading to a complete server freeze if structure generation is turned off
• MC-149704 – Sneaking / crouching twice makes player sprint
• MC-169514 – Tamed parrots cannot be renamed unless they are flying
• MC-171561 – Only one player can access shulker box at a time
• MC-174359 – Piglins prefer using an unenchanted gold item instead of an enchanted gold item
• MC-175113 – Rain prevents entities from burning in fire
• MC-175186 – Respawning doesn’t check if the “respawn block” is the correct one for the dimension
• MC-175998 – Striders are moving very fast between two blocks or when diagonally running into blocks
• MC-176029 – Right clicking a lodestone with a stack of compasses converts the whole stack
• MC-176060 – Recipe book doesn’t load the entire empty map recipe anymore
• MC-176104 – Dropped compasses always point up
• MC-176116 – Saddle texture on Strider is backwards
• MC-176521 – Pressing space while the recipe book button is highlighted in crafting interfaces doesn’t toggle the recipe book
• MC-177346 – Compass in a mob’s hand does not point to correct location if mob turns
• MC-177776 – Netherite ingots are not sorted properly with other ingots
• MC-177780 – Shulkers cannot be opened while playing closing animation anymore
• MC-177796 – Blackstone walls are in the “Building Blocks” category instead of “decoration Blocks” category, unlike all other walls
• MC-177862 – Polished blackstone button and pressure plate in incorrect area in creative inventory
• MC-177885 – Invisible Horses show patterns
• MC-177997 – Baby zoglins still use the same attack damage as an adult
• MC-178086 – Flying close to the ground with soul speed over soul blocks speeds up player and generates soul particles
• MC-178093 – Piglins with full inventories won’t pick up gold ingots to barter even though you can still right-click to barter with them
• MC-178259 – Game crashes when an iron golem with the attack damage attribute set to 0.5d
• MC-178316 – Dispenser plays “dispensed item” sound when attempting to charge a full respawn anchor instead of “dispenser fails”
• MC-178630 – TNT eyeheight changed
• MC-178797 – Barrier blocks generate in bastion remnant
• MC-178955 – Badlands are viewed as a mountainous biome for Ruined Portals
• MC-179542 – Basalt Delta Blocks Override Nether Bricks in Fortresses

HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed is Now Available on Steam and is 25% off!*

4 Player Cooperative First-Person Shooter. Play as a team of Action Figures or fight against each other in PvP. Build defenses, earn XP, unlock new levels and protect the HYPER-CORE!

*Offer ends May 4th at 10AM Pacific Time

Wooga CEO and founder Jens Begemann is departing the company at the end of June after 11 years at its head.

Begemann founded the studio back in 2009 alongside Patrick Paulisch and current CTO Philipp Moeser. The German developer has since made its name as a developer of free-to-play, and recently story-driven, mobile games.

The company was ultimately acquired by Playtika (reportedly for over $100 million) in late 2018, and Begemann notes in an interview with PocketGamer that the stability and success Wooga has seen since that acquisition is part of the reason he’s announced plans to exit.

“I’m an entrepreneur at heart. Wooga is strategically set in the right direction and I miss the early days. I had that realization. I wanted to be more involved with that. Secondly, I wanted to have more time for my family,” says Begemann. “As a founder, I think it’s best to leave when things are going better than ever.”

Nai Chang, Google’s previous global head of games on growth consulting, is set to take over as Wooga CEO following Begemann’s departure in June.

By Tom McCaren, Senior Audio Designer and Valentin Goellner, Audio Designer at Creative Assembly

One of the main challenges in creating the audio for strategy games, especially the Total War series, is in creating compelling soundscapes that not only set the mood, but also enhance the visual aesthetic and bring the world to life. All while remaining interesting and immersive to players, even after hundreds of hours of play.

Total War: Three Kingdoms is set in China, a country that is as vast as it is diverse. It is a country rich in history and full of breath-taking scenery, so we wanted to reflect this with the audio. To achieve this, we created many new audio systems for Total War: Three Kingdoms to help us ensure that the sound remains vibrant, feels responsive to player actions and has a level of authenticity that surpasses previous Total War games.

Three Kingdoms is the first Total War game to have a continuous day and night cycle, where players can experience an entire 24-hours within a single turn. This was a challenge as it meant creating an audio system that would allow for the ambiences used at the various times of day to blend with each other seamlessly across the entire map, while also sounding coherent and believable.

In a Campaign, players will hear not only the sounds of the wildlife across the map changing over the course of the day, but the sounds of the settlements as well.

Early in the morning, only a minimal amount of activity will be audible within settlements, with the chattering sounds of a few small groups of inhabitants starting their day. As the day progresses, the crowds start to gather and gradually increase in size right up until the early afternoon, when the streets and markets are at their busiest. Players will be able to hear traders trying to sell their wares and tools and weapons being made in workshops for workers and armies. As the day moves on into the evening, the crowds begin to dwindle and gradually become quieter as the inhabitants go home for the night.

The crowd audio varies depending on the size of the settlement, with larger cities having much larger crowds than small villages. This helps to provide a sense of contrast between settlement types and hopefully will enable players to identify these on some level by their sound alone.

We have around 3000 lines of Walla (background vocalizations) that we trigger from within settlements. These have been performed by native Mandarin speakers, something which we felt was important for authenticity. We created a modular system that triggers combinations of appropriate SFX and lines of Walla depending on certain in-game  conditions. Some of these include: the current season, settlement type, the time of day, the public order level and the district buildings that players have constructed within their settlements. This creates a huge amount of variety and enables the settlement audio to react to events and changes in gameplay conditions in real time.

Our main goal with the audio for the settlements was to make them feel alive, dynamic and responsive to certain in-game conditions for an added level of realism. For example, players will be able to hear inhabitants yawning and saying how tired they are in the evening while, during winter, players may hear inhabitants talking about how cold and hungry they are.

As players upgrade their settlements and construct more buildings within them, they’ll start to hear new sounds that are appropriate to that new building type. If players construct a school for example, they’ll hear children laughing and playing. Alternatively, if players construct an Inn, they will be able to hear a few inhabitants enjoying themselves after a few drinks once everybody else has gone to sleep for the night.

Wildlife is another element that adds a lot of flavor to a soundscape and it’s something that we leaned on heavily to create the right feel and characteristics for the sounds of the various regions and seasons. To ensure that the wildlife sounds were accurate both biologically and geographically, we undertook a vast amount of research. We gathered detailed information on many species of animals including their natural habitat, migration and hibernation behaviors, active times of day and mating seasons.

There are wildlife sounds unique to each climate region (Arid, Cold, Subtropical and Temperate) which helps to give each area its own character. Different wildlife sounds are also triggered depending on the current season and time of day. This helps to keep the soundscape interesting and responsive to changes in conditions, which makes the world feel more alive.

We aimed to make the Campaign map a calm, serene and pleasant place for the player to be. We wanted it to be a sharp contrast to the turbulent and often hectic sound of the battles. A large part of how we accomplished this was not only with the sounds that we used, but also with how they trigger in-game and how they blend and interact with one another.

We used a lot of relaxation ambience and ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) videos for reference while designing the soundscapes. This is particularly evident in some heavily forested areas during rainstorms, where you can hear the individual raindrops hitting the leaves all around you, creating an oddly satisfying sensation.

The user interface (UI) sounds in previous Total War games have generally comprised of lots of large cinematic sounds such as sword scrapes, anvil hits and so on. However, as much fun as it can be playing with big swords and other weapons in the recording studio, with Total War: Three Kingdoms we wanted the style of the audio to match the abstract visual aesthetic, keeping the UI sounds clean, minimal and refined.

To achieve this, we toned down the big weapon hits and instead opted to use original recordings of traditional Chinese instruments combined with some abstract, non-literal sounds to represent the ink effect used heavily in the UI visuals.

We also wanted the audio to tie in with the elemental theme of Wu Xing (the five-element theory of Chinese philosophy) that is present throughout the game. To do this, we created modular sound kits for each of the Wu Xing elements; Earth, Fire, Metal, Water and Wood.

We added sounds from these kits as sweetener layers to help communicate the link between some actions and the associated Wu Xing elements to the player. An example of this is when you spend character skill points. Upon clicking an elemental skill point button, players will hear a sound that corresponds to the element of the skill point that they have just purchased.

Recreating the sounds of China has been a joy. In the process we’ve managed to develop a lot of new tech, which has enabled us to deliver what we consider to be the most authentically detailed and polished sounding historical Total War game to date.

April 28, 2020 Kingdom Two Crowns is out right now on iOS, and we’ve updated this article with new information to reflect that.

The wait is over, folks. Kingdom Two Crowns is out right now on iOS, and is rolling out on Android over the course of the day. For those not in the know, it’s the sequel to Kingdom: New Lands and it expands on the original in a variety of different ways, introducing a story campaign, cooperative multiplayer, and a brand new feudal Japan setting.

If you haven’t experienced this series before, you play as a monarch who lands on the shores of a new kingdom and has to make it habitable. You begin by recruiting the locals (you literally just toss coins at them) to build, guard, hunt, and do whatever other menial task need performing. You start with literally nothing but will eventually have your very own castle, which is fully-functioning.

Your overarching goal is to fix a ship that will allow you to travel to the next island, at which point the experience starts all over again; albeit more challenging this time. But where does the challenge come from? Well, each night a variety of monstrous creatures attack your kingdom, and you have to make sure it’s well-defended. It’s a bit like a survival simulator in that sense.

Managing your budget is no small feat either. You start the game with a few coins, which you’ll quickly spend to pay the locals to build you stuff. Each time you recruit a local, build or upgrade something, or order a crafted item, you’ll spend cash. To replenish it, you need to hire hunters, invest in travelling merchants, or explore the nearby area for treasure. That is its own reward though, as the game is visually stunning in a retro kind of way.

The sequel expands on all of this by introducing a new story campaign, which challenges you to build a kingdom that stands the test of time and perhaps finishes off the monsters that plague it for good. There’s also a new cooperative mode that you can play in split screen (we’d recommend a tablet for that) or online.

There’s also a brand new setting: feudal Japan. It pretty much plays the same, but the visuals have seen a huge overhaul, with trees making way for bamboo and your buildings and characters taking on a Japanese flavour. Apparently this isn’t the only new setting we’ll get either, as Raw Fury has revealed that more are coming in future updates.

The first of these arrives today, too, in the form of Dead Lands. This expansion is a crossover with Metroidvania Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, featuring your favourite characters, which you can swap between on-the-fly, and a bunch of new mounts, which have all-new abilities. You can learn more about this expansion by reading our news article, which we’ve linked to beneath this post.

If you’re interested, you can grab Kingdom Two Crowns right now on iOS via the App Store, or keep an eye out on Google Play for when it launches in your territory. You might want to hit the pre-register button to receive a notification.

We’re just under two months away from the launch of Spongebob Squarepants: Battle For Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated, and if you consider yourself to be a superfan of the show – and perhaps, only if you consider yourself that – you might want to check out this particularly pricey limited edition.

The F.U.N. Edition, which was first revealed towards the end of last year alongside a (slightly) cheaper ‘Shiny Edition’, will release on the same day as the game itself, 23rd June. It costs an eye-watering $299.99 / €299.99 / £259.99, but does come with all of the following:

An 8″/20cm SpongeBob Figurine with Golden Spatula and flexible tongue
A 7″/18cm Figurine of Patrick
The Sandy 8″/20cm Figurine
Wallstickers
A set of Tiki Keyrings
6 Lithographs
SpongeBob SquarePants tennis socks
The Game itself

You can get a closer look at it in the video at the top of this article – that flexible tongue certainly is something, isn’t it?

If you want to add one of Switch’s most expensive limited edition games to your collection, pre-orders are available. You can grab it – or the Shiny Edition – below, assuming you’re not too fussed about your mortgage, hobbies, or food.

Please note that some links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.

Let us know if you end up treating yourself with a comment below.

We have an update on the launch of Star Wars Episode l: Racer. Unfortunately, we’ve just learned that we will have to delay the game on PlayStation 4 until May 26. The game will still launch on May 12 for Nintendo Switch.

— Aspyr (@AspyrMedia) April 28, 2020

Problem: You’re given a list of lists. Your goal is to convert it into a Pandas Dataframe.

Example: Say, you want to compare salary data of different companies and job descriptions. You’ve obtained the following salary data set as a list of list:

salary = [['Google', 'Machine Learning Engineer', 121000], ['Google', 'Data Scientist', 109000], ['Google', 'Tech Lead', 129000], ['Facebook', 'Data Scientist', 103000]]

How can you convert this into a Pandas Dataframe?

DataFrame()

Solution: The straight-forward solution is to use the pandas.DataFrame() constructor that creates a new Dataframe object from different input types such as NumPy arrays or lists.

Here’s how to do it for the given example:

import pandas as pd salary = [['Google', 'Machine Learning Engineer', 121000], ['Google', 'Data Scientist', 109000], ['Google', 'Tech Lead', 129000], ['Facebook', 'Data Scientist', 103000]] df = pd.DataFrame(salary)

This results in the following Dataframe:

print(df) ''' 0 1 2

0 Google Machine Learning Engineer 121000

1 Google Data Scientist 109000

2 Google Tech Lead 129000

3 Facebook Data Scientist 103000 '''

Try It Yourself: Run this code in our interactive Python shell by clicking the “Run” button.

DataFrame.from_records()

An alternative is the pandas.DataFrame.from_records() method that generates the same output:

import pandas as pd salary = [['Company', 'Job', 'Salary($)'], ['Google', 'Machine Learning Engineer', 121000], ['Google', 'Data Scientist', 109000], ['Google', 'Tech Lead', 129000], ['Facebook', 'Data Scientist', 103000]] df = pd.DataFrame.from_records(salary)

print(df) ''' 0 1 2

0 Google Machine Learning Engineer 121000

1 Google Data Scientist 109000

2 Google Tech Lead 129000

3 Facebook Data Scientist 103000 '''

Try It Yourself: Run this code in our interactive Python shell by clicking the “Run” button.

Column Names

If you want to add column names to make the output prettier, you can also pass those as a separate argument:

import pandas as pd salary = [['Google', 'Machine Learning Engineer', 121000], ['Google', 'Data Scientist', 109000], ['Google', 'Tech Lead', 129000], ['Facebook', 'Data Scientist', 103000]] df = pd.DataFrame(salary, columns=['Company', 'Job', 'Salary($)'])

print(df) ''' Company Job Salary($)

0 Google Machine Learning Engineer 121000

1 Google Data Scientist 109000

2 Google Tech Lead 129000

3 Facebook Data Scientist 103000 '''

Try It Yourself: Run this code in our interactive Python shell by clicking the “Run” button.

If the first list of the list of lists contains the column name, use slicing to separate the first list from the other lists:

import pandas as pd salary = [['Company', 'Job', 'Salary($)'], ['Google', 'Machine Learning Engineer', 121000], ['Google', 'Data Scientist', 109000], ['Google', 'Tech Lead', 129000], ['Facebook', 'Data Scientist', 103000]] df = pd.DataFrame(salary[1:], columns=salary[0])

print(df) ''' Company Job Salary($)

0 Google Machine Learning Engineer 121000

1 Google Data Scientist 109000

2 Google Tech Lead 129000

3 Facebook Data Scientist 103000 '''

Slicing is a powerful Python feature and before you can master Pandas, you need to master slicing. To refresh your Python slicing skills, download my ebook “Coffee Break Python Slicing” for free.

Summary: To convert a list of lists into a Pandas DataFrame, use the pd.DataFrame() constructor and pass the list of lists as an argument. An optional columns argument can help you structure the output.

Where to Go From Here?

Enough theory, let’s get some practice!

To become successful in coding, you need to get out there and solve real problems for real people. That’s how you can become a six-figure earner easily. And that’s how you polish the skills you really need in practice. After all, what’s the use of learning theory that nobody ever needs?

Practice projects is how you sharpen your saw in coding!

Do you want to become a code master by focusing on practical code projects that actually earn you money and solve problems for people?

Then become a Python freelance developer! It’s the best way of approaching the task of improving your Python skills—even if you are a complete beginner.

Join my free webinar “How to Build Your High-Income Skill Python” and watch how I grew my coding business online and how you can, too—from the comfort of your own home.

Join the free webinar now!