When we hear about hoverboards these days we think of those handleless Segways that people ride around the place rather than walking, even when you can’t use them legally in public in the UK. Why not look at something a little different then? Like the original idea of a hoverboard, one that can actually fly!
Typically real hoverboards that actually float use magnetism to propel themselves off the ground, with the Lexus Slide being a prime example. If you followed French Jet Ski champion, Franky Zapata, though you would know that there is something completely different available now, let us introduce you to the Flyboard!
Designed as a single person hoverboard, the device is untethered and is powered solely by jet thrust created by a miniature jet turbine engine. Demonstrating the device with speeds of up to 55 kilometers per hour (that’s 34 miles an hour!) and a height of up to 30 meters the Flyboard has enough petrol is its user’s backpack for 10 minutes of continuous flight!
While it may seem like a dream, and until more details are revealed that’s all the device is; the device could be seen as the next step for single person aerial transport. While this isn’t the first time someone’s created a device that lets them fly, famously inventor and aviator David Mayman flew around the Statue of Liberty while using his JB-9 jetpack, the race is surely on with Mayman even challenging Zapata and his hoverboard to a race!
Amazon recently announced their powerful Lumberyard game engine yesterday. Packing a number of powerful features building on the CryEngine, it is also completely free for developers to use, with the only costs occurring should the developer wish to make use of any cloud services provided by Amazon. Of course, such a tool wouldn’t be released without any controls on its use, whether to protect Amazon’s interests or otherwise.
Checking the small print reveals that Amazon has placed restrictions on the acceptable use of the Lumberyard game engine. Contained in clause 57.10 of the AWS Service terms, it is stated that “The Lumberyard Materials are not intended for use with life-critical or safety-critical systems, such as use in operation of medical equipment, automated transportation systems, autonomous vehicles, aircraft or air traffic control, nuclear facilities, manned spacecraft, or military use in connection with live combat.”
Seems pretty sensible, after all using a game engine for many of those purposes would be foolhardy and potentially dangerous. However, should humanity be at risk of a zombie invasion with naught but a game engine to save themselves, Amazon have us covered in the second half of the clause.
“this restriction will not apply in the event of the occurrence (certified by the United States Centers for Disease Control or successor body) of a widespread viral infection transmitted via bites or contact with bodily fluids that causes human corpses to reanimate and seek to consume living human flesh, blood, brain or nerve tissue and is likely to result in the fall of organized civilization.”
Very niche case for allowing deviation from the terms and conditions, but it’s nice to see Amazon have both humanity’s best interests (and humour) in mind when providing their service. Makes you wonder what other hidden gems are contained within the countless T&C documents that exist for services both online and in reality.
Game developers can choose from a huge array of tools including Unity, Unreal Engine 4, Game Maker Studio and more! The latest addition comes from Amazon and allows for complex visuals to create absolutely breathtaking AAA releases. The Lumberyard engine adopts an open source philosophy meaning it’s free to download, and features a comprehensive editor. Furthermore, the source code is deeply integrated with AWS and Twitch to provide unlimited possibilities. It’s important to note that the source code is fully customizable, and there’s no seat fees, subscription fees or requirements to share revenue. The only payment comes from the AWS services you choose to use.
In regards to Twitch functionality, Amazon claim the engine:
“…is integrated with Twitch so that you can build games that engage with the more than 1.7 million monthly broadcasters, and more than 100 million monthly viewers on Twitch. With Amazon Lumberyard’s Twitch ChatPlay, you can use a drag-and-drop visual scripting interface to create gameplay features in as little as minutes that let Twitch viewers use chat to directly impact the game they are watching in real-time. And, the Twitch JoinIn feature within Amazon Lumberyard helps you build games that let Twitch broadcasters to instantly invite their live audiences to join them side-by-side in the game, with a single click, while others continue to watch.”
The source code is native C++ used on over 90% of PC and console development projects. This should make the engine extremely easy to use to those with industry experience. On another note, Amazon’s Lumberyard includes an exclusive free version of Audiokinect’s advanced sound engine and authoring tool for PC games. This means you can create rich and professional soundscapes for a wide range of titles. Overall, this is a wonderful set of tools, and it’s great to see this being provided at zero cost. If you’re a professional developer, or wanting to hone your skills, it’s certainly worth a look!
Air travel has become the norm within today’s fast past society, from the extremely affordable ticket prices coupled with the package holiday’s that have become part of many people’s yearly quest for adventure. But, what is next for air travel? Can it be developed to the point whereby consumers are able to fly to for example Australia from the UK in less than 22 hrs?
Well, a potentially sizeable development is on the horizon after Orbital in conjunction with NASA has developed and preliminarily tested what is known as a “3D printed hypersonic engine combustor at NASA’s Langley Research Centre in Virginia”. This could potentially facilitate air travel at amazing speeds of up to 3,425 mph (5,500km/h) or 4.5 times the speed of sound, which is fast.
Below is an image of a concept hypersonic plane which has been modelled within design software that is used for the purposes of aerodynamics, it certainly looks fascinating for a ground level design. The combustor was created through a manufacturing process known as “powder bed fusion” (PBF). Within this is a layer of “metal alloy powder that is printed before a laser fuses areas together based on the pattern which is fed into the machine by a software program”
The combustor has as you would expect been put through a series of hypersonic flight conditions over the course of 20 days. Orbital have also stated that one of the most complex parts with which to develop is the Scramjet combustion system which needs to maintain stable combustion within an extremely volatile environment. This technique could also have the potential to be used within future versions of NASA’s X-43 experimental hypersonic aircraft which is pictured below alongside the Langley Research Centre in Virginia.
In case you’re wondering, the definition of a Scramjet is an air-breathing aircraft that carries only “hydrogen fuel, the aircraft pulls the oxygen needed and burns it from the atmosphere; this is instead of the traditional method of fuel and the required oxygen to provide acceleration”
These developments could pave the way for a future whereby consumers could, in theory, be whizzing around the globe by hypersonic power.
I don’t think this gentleman will be on the Christmas lists of Shell or BP anytime soon, anyway, a car mechanic from India has claimed to have designed a new and rather a cheap way of fuelling a car and it arrives apparently in the form of water.
The gentleman in question goes by the name of Mohammad Raees Markani who has been modifying an “800 cc engine” for the last five years. He believes to have found a new alternative form of eco-transportation by using a mix of water and carbides (a compound composed of carbon)
Below is a video of this apparent achievement, amazingly, a one-litre mix of this potion costs around 2p. Mr Markani explained that his car “runs on acetylene gas” which is formed from a chemical reaction between calcium carbide and water. He also stated that he needed to make various changes to the engine with the aim of helping the performance of the car.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIWpLTVIFSo
If true, it’s astonishing considering Mr Markani has never been to school and also cannot read or write, it has also been noted that he began to experiment with various techniques around 5 years ago and has since made an efficient engine that runs on water.
Various high-profile companies are said to be interested and Mr Markani is open to offers, if they meet his one condition, this is, any plant or factory that is established in order to manufacture vehicles that utilize this technique will need to be built in his hometown of Madhya Pradesh. Mr Markani explained that he wants “things to change in my hometown”
It will be very noteworthy to follow the development of this project and if true, could be a turning point for both eco-friendly vehicles and also the environment, well, until we run out of the water that is.
Well, I did not expect to see this in 2016, Rolls Royce are known for the final word in automotive luxury and this is perfectly conveyed by the companies expensive fleet of vehicles that are transported to international clients. Rolls Royce is synonymous for innovation and if these reports come to fruition, consumers could be feasting their eyes on an SUV edition.
Below is an image to convey this potential vehicle, it’s not exactly subtle, various reports state that it will be named “Cullinan” after a non-carbonado gem-quality diamond and will be limited to 1000 units worldwide.
As for specs, reports suggest it may be “equipped with the Rolls-Royce Phantom V12 engine with the same specifications”as well as a four-wheel drive system which will bring benefits to the overall travel of the vehicle. As for the design, it will be compelling to note both the weight and also handling of this potential saloon considering it will have all the bells and whistles for comfort, I also wonder what the Miles to gallon ratio of fuel will be?
If this vehicle comes to pass then it will be interesting to see both how fast the clientele snaps up this new design and also the types of luxurious locations where they will in doubt be shipped to, you can just imagine someone wrecking it after crashing that front end.
November 16th, 2007. Crytek releases the first in what would become a series of games called Crysis. Featuring soldiers, who using advanced armour and weapons, act to defend our planet against both human and alien threats with speed, strength and stealth. With customizable weapons and large open world environments allowing the player to dictate how they not only approach but also execute their missions. While it received two sequels, the original Crysis was received favourably by gamers and technological enthusiasts alike. The reason for the warm reception was not only the gameplay but also the graphics the game brought, allowing advanced graphics on an open world map, an experience people can bring back to their PC’s thanks to a selection of mods.
Rubber-De-Flubber’s screenshots (Above) show off the detail and depth of the trees while FantasyGamer’s (Below) expands on this showing everything from grass and leaves to the very ground.
The Janitor shows off the grass and trees while DSOGaming brings us the action and ships interior.
Unreal shows us that water in games doesn’t have to just be blue, with immersive detail meaning you could stare at the sea coming back and forth and enjoy the peaceful scenes rather than the warfare that is going on behind you.
Mods can bring games back to live, and graphical updates don’t hurt when dealing with games that prided themselves so much on their graphic at their release. Might be time to reinstall Crysis and have a go at reliving some memories.
Fallout 4 has finally been released and received widespread acclaim among RPG fans. However, technical analysis shows the console versions can drop to 20 frames-per-second, and the game suffers from noticeable bugs. Any relatively modern PC is capable of reaching higher framerates, and provide a smooth, fluid experience. Many PC gamers opt for a high refresh rate 1920×1080 panel over a 60Hz 2560×1440 or 4k monitor as they prioritize gameplay over image quality.
Unfortunately, Fallout 4’s engine ties the running speed to the framerate. As a result, the game at high refreshes dramatically speeds up by approximately 20-30 percent. This makes it an unplayable mess and illustrates how the engine has remained largely unchanged from Bethesda’s older titles. Clearly, 120-144hz gamers are a niche, but this doesn’t excuse poor programming. This personally would not effect me as I use a 3440×1440 60Hz monitor, but I can see it becoming a major problem for people using monitors like the ASUS ROG Swift.
I’m not entirely sure this can be fixed via a patch because it’s an integral component of how the engine has been coded. Furthermore, it won’t be given a priority as most people are using 60Hz monitors at 1920×1080 or less.
Do you think there is a noticeable difference going from 60Hz to 144Hz?
Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s release is less than 24 hours away and players have begun to pre-load the game. As with any last minute pre-order, it’s important to adopt a skeptical attitude and research the performance from first hand accounts. Unfortunately, due to embargoes, key information is usually kept secretive and it’s difficult to make a decision as an informed consumer. In an ideal world, people shouldn’t pre-order video games but this isn’t a realistic notion given the huge array of pre-order incentives and heavy marketing policy.
In the case of COD: Black Ops III, the developer has been surprisingly transparent regarding the game’s features and answered a number of key concerns. Firstly, the game will support SLI and ultra high resolutions:
Additionally, the engine is more GPU bound which means the CPU overhead should be reduced. Although, this doesn’t mean there won’t be a CPU bottleneck on older chips. In most cases, the performance drop on should be minimal if you’re running a relatively modern CPU from the last 5 years.
@fresh_muffins GPU power is more important in this engine.
Other notable features include mod support, user-created maps, dedicated servers and reduced mouse lag. When combined, this seems like a fantastic PC release which is surprising given Call of Duty’s history. However, only time will tell if this works properly throughout the game’s user-base.
Tired of that same modded scene which features a variety of classic game characters running around a field? Here’s something much cooler and with much more detail than that wave of recent attempts! Keen modder and YouTuber, Ioannis Papazis has been tinkering in Unreal Engine 4, recreating the Kakariko Village from Zelda Ocarina of Time and the end result is simply stunning!
Of course, this is far from a total remake of the game and it’s missing a few details, most notable are the complete lack of NPC’s and chickens. However, every building and tree is right where you would expect it to be and while the original barely compares visually, it’s still immediately recognisable to anyone who has played this iconic RPG.
What’s amazing is that this was simply a personal project, but credit where credit is due, this is incredible work. Of course, I would love to see the whole game brought to life like this as it’s a clear example of how an HD remake of the game would be absolutely freaking awesome.
Enjoy the video below and let us know in the comments section, which classic games would you love to see brought back to life like this?
NASA holds the current record for most fuel efficient drive, with its HiPEP (High Power Electric Propulsion) system. The idea of an Ion drive is that it uses electricity and a material to propel ions out of a funnel in order to focus the created momentum, and with the HiPEP allowing 9,600 (+/- 200) seconds of specific impulse the drive is a pretty strong contender for space travel. Seems like its record could be destroyed though according to a student newspaper Honi Soit.
The paper states that the new drive developed by Sydney PhD Student Paddy Neumann, which reports stating that its specific impulse reporting up to 14,690 (+/- 2000), almost one and a half times the record held by NASA.
What is more impressive about the drive is that NASA’s HiPEP system uses xenon gas, while Neumann’s drive can run on a range of metals, the best results are apparently achieved using magnesium, a metal that is commonly found in space junk and could be used to power the system using old satellites left in orbit.
With the possible ability to not only help clean up space but also create a new and more powerful engine that could soon be used to power the craft of the future, not bad Mr Neumann, not bad at all.
Unity has been steadily gaining in popularity with developers, as it’s very easy to work with and from my own experiences pretty easy to learn too. It’s quite VR friendly, meaning a lot of new and existing developers have been tempted by what it offers, especially those toying around with tech demos for Oculus Rift and the plethora of VR devices that are soon to be released.
The latest incarnation, Unity 5, is putting up solid competition against the likes of Unreal Engine, Frostbite and many others, but the battle just took an interesting turn as Frostbite’s senior graphic programmer, Sébastien Lagarde, who has been with DICE for two years, is now leaving DICE behind to join Unity as their Director of Rendering Research.
This is bad news for DICE, who will now need to replace Lagarde, but it’s obviously very good news for Unity and no doubt good news, in the long term, for the who use Unity technology. Who know’s, maybe one day Unity will be even better than Frostbite, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Today is my last day at Frostbite. It have been 2 incredible years in the rendering team. I wish the best to all the awesome talent there!
If you haven’t noticed, Google has recently launched a new logo with the aim of integrating all its services into one banner and to also add compatibility for the multitude of devices which are available on the market today. One aspect which is compelling is the comparable size of the corporation’s new logo which stands at a tiny 305 bytes which is far lower than the colossal 14,000 bytes of its old design.
But, why was the old logo so large and why should I care? The evidence is surprisingly interesting than it might sound. Firstly, the old logo implemented a complicated Serif font which used Bezier curves, this meant that 6 letters had a combined total of 100 anchor points which added a total of 6KB or 6,380 bytes, although when compressed the total size which plummeted to 2KB or 2,145 bytes.
As you can see below, comparing a simplified version of the new logo with that of the previous one really conveys the difference, for example, the new logo can be constructed entirely of circles except for the lower case “g”, below are the stats concerning the new logo
10 circles (2 each for the capital G and lower case g, 2 for each O, and 2 for the e)
5 rectangles (2 for the capital G, 1 for the lower case l, 2 for the e)
1 shape made with 7 anchor points (the descender on the lower-case )
It seems the search giant is aiming for more minimalist design which is far less complicated than the old approach. It is also worth noting that Google pumps around substantial amounts of data every second of every day, even a lower size logo would make a difference to its servers and also to the end consumer, think data caps etc. A logo is there to primarily and quickly be identifiable to the consumer, it’s there to instantly catch the corner of the eye and, therefore, the design can be simpler, after all, now that Google have built up their brand to such a huge extent, it’s difficult to miss them.
Thank you quora for providing us with this information
Resident Evil 2 is one of the most atmospheric survival horror games ever conceived and it is rightfully idolized by fans of the genre. Unfortunately, the game is starting to show its age due to the clunky texture work and lack of visual sharpness. However, an indie studio called InvaderGamers decided to remodel the entire game in Unreal Engine 4. This project will be released for free and features improved lighting effects, more vibrant particles and smoother animations. The time required and programming skills needed to make an authentic remaster is staggering. I am surprised how good the remake looks despite being in such an early phase of development. The video below really accentuates how wonderful this creation could be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9CXf0PwSzc
One major caveat is this fan service project has probably been under the radar and not bound by copyright law. I’m concerned Capcom will act in a hasty manner and demand the cancellation of this venture given the recent press coverage. Another point to take into consideration is Capcom have already remastered the original Resident Evil so the sequel might already be in production. Nevertheless, Resident Evil 2 Reborn emphasizes how passionate the gaming community is and I hope this labor of love comes to fruition.
What was your favourite memory from Resident Evil 2?
Thank you PCGamer for providing us with this information.
I know that there have been a lot of movies where hackers can take control of vehicles and crash them, but can it really be done in real life? Well, a pair of hackers have just demonstrated this with a Chrysler using a zero-day exploit they found.
The hackers apparently demonstrated the hack having Wired’s Andy Greenberg in the actual vehicle. He was not told about the hack, but was warned not to panic. So, as he was travelling down a busy highway, the hackers started slowly taking control, first by turning on the air conditioning system, then the radio and finally the windshields.
As Greenberg drove on, the hackers moved to something more serious. They proceeded to cut the transmission, having Greenberg watch the RPM go up, but the car slowly losing speed. To demonstrate the hack even further, they found an empty car lot, where the hackers were able to show how they can kill the engine, apply brakes or even cut the brakes entirely. The latter apparently sent Greenberg into a ditch, as shown in the pic above.
The attack is really terrifying,since a lot of vehicles out there are vulnerable to the attack. However, the hackers stated that they plan on releasing the exploit on the Internet at the same time they are to give a talk at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas next month.
Thank you WIRED for providing us with this information
There have been a number of videos circulating on YouTube showcasing the possibilities of the Unreal Engine 4. One particular video from YouTube user, CryZENx combines the extremely impressive Kite demo with a nimble, high-definition version of Mario! Please note, the image taken is directly from the YouTube feed and has lost some sharpness in the process. However, the video itself is absolutely stunning and models a huge 3D open world in magnificent detail. For example, the leaves sway from side to side and react to the wind direction.
Other highlights include the excellent draw distance and large quantity of livestock which improves the believability of a large environment. While Mario looks a bit strange in a realistic setting, it demonstrates the potential of Nintendo’s future consoles if they invest enough money into making the systems powerful enough. On another note, demonstrations of this kind emphasize how significant DirectX 12 is to bring expansive worlds to life on current hardware. The video was created using an overclocked i7 4790K @ 4.8GHz, NVIDIA GTX 980 Ti EVGA Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ and managed to hover between 40-65 fps. While this is a high-end system, I expect optimizations using Unreal Engine 4 technology to be a vast improvement over previous engines.
Are you excited for future games to implement DirectX 12 functionality?
Thinking of upgrading your graphics card for the new Windows 10 and DirectX 12? Well, I think you should wait a bit longer. While everyone is hyped to see what devs can do with the latest DirectX version, we are forgetting the most important thing, which is the platform.
What this means is that DirectX 12 is locked to Windows 10 exclusively, which limits the platform and titles released for it. I mean sure, I am a PC gamer myself, but don’t expect everyone to switch to a PC or Xbox One just because there’s a new version of DirectX rolling out. Statistics also proved that most gamers are happy with their PlayStation 4 right now, so devs don’t really have a reason to switch their development and focus on DirectX 12, at least not until next year.
Also, another thing to take into account is that most people haven’t even upgraded to DirectX 12 compatible hardware, meaning that it will take some time until we see a lot of consumers ready for DirectX 12 games. But let’s see why it will take time to switch from the current version of DirectX to the new one, because I know most of you are wondering why it will take this long and maybe even argue that DirectX 11 was adopted faster.
When taking a look at DirectX 11, the main reason it was adopted so fast by consumers as well as developers is the next-gen platforms and native development tools. DirectX 11 got released in the same year as the Xbox One and PS4, while we also had Epic and other developers release Unreal Engine 4 with native DirectX 11 support. This meant that the tools and hardware have been out there for everyone, from big to small, to use and explore the new tech.
In contrast, DirectX 12 currently looks like the old DirectX 10. We see a new thing added, but there’s hardly enough support for it both for development as well as hardware to run it. This is why DirectX 10 failed to deliver such a hype in the gaming industry and why developers focused more on DirectX 9 back in the day. However, we won’t see the same fate bestowed on DirectX 12 as we saw for DirectX 10, but we will see the same slow movement towards the new tech.
Thank you GamingBolt for providing us with this information
Hyundai is keeping up with the times and trying to make your car interaction experiences more impressive than ever. Earlier this year, it launched the Android counterpart, allowing users to interact with their Hyundai cars from Android devices. Now the company has shifted its focus on the latest gadget on the market, namely the Apple Watch.
Hyundai launched the Blue Link car platform on the App Store, offering all features previously showcased in the Android version. Therefore, you can start and stop the engine with just a tap, remotely lock the car’s doors and even find your car on the map. The latter are just a few examples of what the Blue Link app allows you to do, but the best part of it is the Siri integration, where you are able to interact with your car through voice commands.
Hyundai’s Blue Link app for iOS is said to be compatible with all of its cars that have the Blue Link feature. However, the approach is not that uncommon. BMW has a similar app called BMW Remote App that lets you pretty much do the same things Hyundai’s app does, while Volkswagen and Porsche apps are also available for you to make the most out of your driving experience.
The question here is, will you as a driver prefer to interact with your car from your watch or through voice commands, or do you prefer to just keep your keys in your pocket as usual?
Thank you TheVerge for providing us with this information
An Unreal Engine forum member ‘koola’ has uploaded two screenshots from his latest project, the two images look incredibly mind-blowing most photo realistic we have seen to date, this is a very good show of visual quality that will be found in games in the close future.
Koola has previously delivered some über realistic real-time architectural visualization using the unreal engine 4. taking advantages that unreal can offer such as accessibility and power, the results of his work have wowed his colleagues and garnered attention the international press and also the Unreal Team themselves at epic. earlier this year Koola became the very first recipient of the inaugural innovative project designed in Unreal Engine 4.
Another notable project that will be using Unreal Engine 4 is the gorgeous abstention, a new survival horror tittle that will take inspiration from horror greats such as the resident evil series and Eternal Darkness and silent hill, Fan can expect a real mix of mental and horror elements with intense gameplay. An acclaimed game development studio Dontnod and the publisher Focus home Interactive announced Vampyr a new role-playing game powered by the Unreal engine 4, the game is set to release on play station 4, Xbox one and the PC.
Developers are always pushing the boundaries with the photo-realism with video games and this is definitely pushing the thresholds of true photorealistic visuals in a game engine.
Do you look forward to playing video games using the Unreal Engine 4?
Thank you WCCFTECH for providing us with this information
It seems that the recent shift in the game engine market strategy is now forcing everyone licensing their own engines to comply with the times. CryTek is known for its CryEngine development platform and we all know the Crysis titles. However, the CryEngine is also licensed to other developers who want to make their games based on the latter engine.
Up until now, the CryEngine was focusing only on the Windows operating system and DirectX. But as times change and competition grows stronger, the company made a few changes. They announced that starting with CryEngine 3.8.1, developers can now ship their titles for the Linux operating system, as well as the upcoming SteamOS.
However, developers still need to do a bit of work to get them to work on the Linux OS. But this marks the beginning of a whole new CryEngine and future AAA graphics for Linux. In addition to the latter, OpenGL support will not necessarily restrict titles to be shipped for just Linux and SteamOS. We could even see support for Mac, Android, PlayStation and possibly even Nintendo.
In the end, a lot of support is now offered in engines to help developers port games. While we won’t see the same support in in-house engines, publicly available game engines such as CryEngine, Unreal Engine 4 and Unity 5 seem to start making cross-platform development a priority.
Thank you PCWorld for providing us with this information
After confirming the latest Deus Ex: Manking Divided release and giving us a taste of what the story is all about, Edios now shows us what to expect once we play the title. The developer just revealed a new in-game footage of the game, but before that, let’s review the trailer first.
Edios revealed what the story is all about, its characters and some juicy action. But a trailer doesn’t really show what to expect when you are playing it. I mean the graphics are amazing in trailers, but what does your actual rig render when you play? Well, now we can see just that and how great its Dawn engine is.
If you are familiar with previous Deus Ex titles, then you pretty much know what to expect in terms of gameplay here too. However, Edios did mention it has improved some gameplay features that let you use stealth and combat more effectively. The developer has also confirmed that you can choose not to kill anyone throughout the story, which in turn may affect the outcome too.
As far as I know, stealth shooters do have moments when you have to kill someone at some point, but nobody at all? If they manage to pull this off, we may look at the most non-violent title we’ve seen so far.
What are we missing from today’s games? We have the hardware, they seem to match the recommended specs sheet, but we still don’t see that framerate we are hoping to achieve during gameplay. Why? I’ll tell you why. It’s all about optimization and how the game is made to use your hardware.
Fatshark, developer of Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide, looks to agree with this and licensed Umbra’s SDK to add some extra real-time graphics improvement to its title. Fatshark’s upcoming title is based on Autodesk’s Stingray engine and with Umbra’s software, they hope to achieve better visibility optimizations.
Umbra’s software looks to be an advanced Ambient Occlusion technology and if you’re not familiar with the latter, it means that it helps the engine process and render only the objects you see on your screen. That means everything that does not fit in your screen is not rendered, thus improving performance. Pretty neat, eh?
We previously came across Fatshark’s title about a month ago and it did show some promise with its 4 player co-op gameplay. Now add Umbra’s optimization to the mix and you might see something worth talking about once it gets released. Not satisfied? Watch the trailer below then.
Thank you DSOGaming for providing us with this information
Every day we use the internet to search for things. Be it for a website or news article or even a new set of clothes, yet few people know of these little tips and tricks that can help speed up your search online.
Specifics
This one is more of a pet peeve than anything else, but it does help speed up searches. When searching an online retailer people will often search terms like “red sleeveless hoodie“, but when it comes to something like “how do I change my screen brightness?” they will search for that exact sentence. The human language is complex, and to make matter’s worse, English is terrible (grammatically speaking). This means that computers struggle with understanding sentences or even a basic question, where key terms it understands. Simply removing a few words “change screen brightness” is enough to improve your search, and it means less typing for you
“Quote me”
Quote marks normally indicate speech in the English language, but to computers it means something completely different. “joystick USB” would in a search engine bring up all the pages that hold those ‘key terms’, joystick and USB. But that includes pages which include both terms or even just one, if I put the joystick in quotation marks like this, ““joystick” USB”, the search engine focuses on those speech marks. Sometimes this can make a big difference, sometimes only a little one. What this means is that the search results I want back HAVE to include joystick. Go on give it a try with something you’ve been looking for, just put one word in quotes and see if it helps
Don’t be so Negative
We’ve all done it, gone looking for something online and found that no matter what we look for there is something else popping up because it’s got part of what we are searching for in its name. Most recently I’ve been looking at purchasing a joystick and have been regularly keeping an eye on several sites to see if there are any good deals available. But if you go onto online auction sites and type in “joystick USB”, you will find that among the classic joysticks will be modern-day controllers and spare joysticks for them. By simply adding a “-” alongside something you don’t want to appear in your search most search engines will remove those items for you. “joystick USB -controller ” instantly removes anything listed under controller, ranging from XBOX and PS3 to old-fashioned arcade controllers. Be warned though, if the item you’re looking for has the term in it, it will also be removed and not appear. Who said it was all easy?
AND more?
Anyone else getting a flash back of maths and those Venn Diagrams? Don’t include A but it must contain B, where should it be? The reason for that is search engines use the same kind of logic when dealing with your searches, and adding AND is the section where two areas overlap. So meaning that if I searched “”joystick AND USB”” and results would contain both the USB and Joystick results (you can also achieve this with putting both terms in quote marks, but it is up to you how you do it).
So there you have it, several hints to help you speed up and improve your searches be they on Google, Ebay or any site with a search function. Hope these help!
Researchers for the Oregon State University have created a new technology by combining optical tech with nanocomposite thin-films to develop a new type of cheap sensor, which is said to be fast, highly sensitive and able to detect and analyse a wide range of gases.
The sensor is said to be suited to detect carbon dioxide and may find potential use in industrial applications or systems designed to store the gas underground.
However, there are many other applications for the sensor. The researchers have filed a patent on the invention and are working in collaborating with a variety of industries to perfect and help commercialize the product.
“Optical sensing is very effective in sensing and identifying trace-level gases, but often uses large laboratory devices that are terribly expensive and can’t be transported into the field,” said Alan Wang, a photonics expert and an assistant professor in the OSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.”By contrast, we use optical approaches that can be small, portable and inexpensive,” Wang said. “This system used plasmonic nanocrystals that act somewhat like a tiny lens, to concentrate a light wave and increase sensitivity.”
The sensor works by having a metal-organic framework of thin films which can quickly absorb gases within material pores and be recycled by simple vacuum processes.
After the thin-film captures the gas molecules near the surface, the plasmonic materials act at a near-infrared range, help magnify the signal and precisely analyze the presence and amounts of different gases.
Detecting gas can also find its use in the explosive diffusion industry, with further applications seen in public places with high risk of terrorism and explosive use, such as airports or border security.
However, a lot of gases required to be monitored in the lab before the sensor can do its job in the field. Other fields that might find potential use for the technology include healthcare, automobile engines and prevention of natural gas leakage.
Thank you Phys.org for providing us with this information
Super Mario 64, one of the most, if no THE most iconic 3D platform game ever created, is still as popular now as it ever was. Roystan Ross has recreated the first level from the legendary game using Unity Engine, which is impressive in its self, but what’s even cooler is that you can play it, right now!
The level is playable in your browser thanks to Unity, although you can still download a desktop version if you so desire. There’s no plans to make any more levels of the game, as this was more a technical demonstration and personal project from Roystan to show what he through a HD remake could look like.
“I currently do not have any plans to develop this any further or to resolve any bugs, unless they’re horrendously gamebreaking and horrendously simple to fix. This project is provided as-is, and you are free to use it for any purposes you like, with the exception of selling it for profit. “
Check out some gameplay in the video below, or get right into the action and play it yourself on Roystan’s blog!
‘Free’ looks like the word everyone is using recently when it comes to technology. After we saw Epic make its Unreal Engine 4 available for free, it now looks like NVIDIA is taking the same approach with its PhysX technology by giving away its source code for free.
While some bits of the PhysX technology were available for free on Windows, the developer now has given the full source code, which means that it will include the PhysX Clothing and PhysX Destruction features.
By having the full source code free and available for anyone out there, developers will be able to take full advantage of this world-class physics effect in their games, as well as speed up the adoption of the technology in future games.
Unreal Engine 4 itself has the Clothing and Destruction technologies integrated into the engine. However, developers can now add the technology in their own game engines, should they choose not to use the UE4 engine.
The aforementioned technology has been seen in titles such as Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Bioshock Infinite, Borderlands 2, Lords of the Fallen, Monster Hunter Online, Daylight, as well as the upcoming title, The Witcher 3.
All PhysX technologies can be found in the NVIDIA GameWorks library, including the latest version of PhysX, namely 3.3.3. It is said that the latter version brings improved stability and performance, along with features such as constrained rigid body dynamics, collision detection, scene queries, character controller, particles, vehicles and much more.
Epic Games have been pushing Unreal Engine 4 hard this year and the game engine is quickly establishing its self as a graphical powerhouse. During this years GDC, Epic showed off their latest UE4 demonstration, an incredible real-time open-world environment, known as Kite Tech Demo, which clocks in at a staggering 100 square miles.
Epic’s own Francois Antoine showcased a range of weather effects, a day/night cycle and more to show off the engines impressive lighting and shadows, AI animals that react to the players and a whole lot more.
The Video you want to see starts at the 46min mark, but there’s nothing stopping you from watching the whole thing!
![Unreal Engine 4 [4.8.1] Super Mario / Kite Demo](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yWZxH2qSWu0/hqdefault.jpg)
