![]() ![]() So while things may feel familiar to what you used to play, the game will still be a fresh experience full of discovery and experimentation. This isn't a minor touch-up either, as every character was fairly significantly re-balanced along with new and adjusted mechanics added to battles. The biggest change to the game is the gameplay itself actually.Ītlus decided to update the new home version of Ultimax to the final patch found only in Japanese arcades previously, so this experience will be brand new to pretty much everyone in the West. Ultimax's release on modern systems is on the surface much more of a straightforward port of the PS3/Xbox 360 versions than a full on remaster with tons of new content added, but that doesn't tell the full story. There's more single-player content to spend your time with than most fighters released today too, but what does the new package provide that wasn't already there before? The action, while frenetic, is fluid and satisfying with so much room for player expression within every character, and it feels just as good as it did nearly 8 years ago. For the purposes of our review, I'll be largely focusing on the new bells and whistles added to the updated port of Ultimax that players familiar with the series (or genre) can expect and look forward to as well as what the game has to offer to those looking to jump in for the first time.Īs a fighting game spin-off of the Persona RPG series, Ultimax is still absolutely oozing with style, personality and great presentation although it won't be your cup of tea if you prefer slower, more methodical series in the fighter genre. ![]()
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![]() I have to say that this converter, is by far THEE best i have ever used. And checkbox for adding to iTunes while converting. Variety of choices for audio quality, file extension type and multiple cpu core choice. I just want to congratulate you for the MediaHuman Audio Converter. The mp3s sound loud, clear, fresh and have a punchy bass. I converted AIFF files to mp3 and they sound much better than converted with my old iTunes. The GUI is simple and selfexplaining, very clever! Also thanks for implmenting CBR at 320kbps. Hi Folks, I just wanted to let you know that your Audioconverter is truly excellent. Having struggled with all the major "recommended" freewares available, I can say without a doubt that yours is just the best for the task. Your software is just making it a breeze. I have more than 10Gb of WMA files to convert to MP3. I don't have any money to contribute, but I wanted you guys to know how much I appreciate your software. It is absolutely my goto software for any media conversion. I just wanted to tell you folks how much I like it. I have been using your product for a couple years now. I know it is freeware, but couldn't resist a small donation when I saw how beautifully written the software was. That is a truly great product, much better than Switch, which I thought too expensive to pay for. I just wanted to thank you for this software's existence - I used to use QuickTime 7 (and it was clunky!) to convert audio, but when Apple made it slightly harder to get QuickTime Pro I sought out MediaHuman Audio Converter, and have never looked back.I have used it to successfully convert most of my FLAC collection to ALAC in order for it to be playable on my Ipod. First of all, I love your audio converter.Thanks for the fantastic audio converter! I have a number of AACs that I needed to make to MP3 and this is doing it perfectly. ![]() ogg so I can take my show on the road with Traktor.
![]() ![]() Like this, almost all of the bosses have some sort of arena mechanic, whether they be area-of-effect attacks, bullet hell projectiles, or something even meaner. Sure, the ice boss uses ice attacks, but it uses the arena as a weapon, too. Eldest Souls also plays with the mechanical expectations Souls veterans expect. Good thing, too, because no boss has more than three attacks or so per phase, and they’re not hard to avoid once you know the dodge timing.Įach boss plays into its aesthetic quite well, using something as simple as “the darkness boss” and turning it on its head in new and exciting ways. Some use familiar aesthetics - ice, darkness, shapeshifting, and so on - but all of them have a few tricks up their sleeves. There are 10 of them all told, and each is unique in both design and mechanics. There are no standard enemies, and the world is essentially empty except for one save point per area, several NPCs, and key item pickups scattered about.īosses, then, are generally good. Eldest Souls Review: Made With LoveĪs a boss rush game, the only enemies you fight in Eldest Souls are bosses with big health bars. None of this is a dealbreaker, but it did make for some frustrating moments during my playthrough. ![]() The storytelling and world also aren’t as engaging as you might find in more narrative-focused Souls-likes. Some wonky hitboxes and a few questionable design choices hamper the experience. The main issues arise in the gameplay, which is sadly the worst place for them to appear. Couple it with high quality (though not award-winning) pixel art and good music, and Eldest Souls makes for a tightly built game that’s worth your time. There’s also the genre’s trademark storytelling on display here it's opaque, mysterious, and littered about the world rather than spoonfed to the player. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Now they cost half that, and for another few years won't ask for another penny from you, letting you pump money into buying games. My PS3 cost me €600 at launch and hasn't needed one single upgrade. New GPUs are out every few months and CPUs update with just as much haste. Windows 7 has made a giant leap in that regard too.Įither way, the ultimate argument is that PC gaming is more difficult to get to grips with. I use Macs for the most part and they're great for being easy and quick. Wireless video will be huge, but already the trend seems to be to have your console plugged into the TV via HDMI and use the PC in the corner as a media hub with a large hard drive.Īs for PCs being as easy to boot up and use, they are. I can see PCs becoming as easy as consoles to boot up. I can see wireless video transmission taking off, meaning that your PC in the bedroom can be accessed through your living room TV easily, when you want to play on a big screen with your friends around.Īlso, computer manufacturers are really working hard on making PCs which boot up into what you want to do quickly. Maybe an upgraded iPhone is the answer with something that slim but still quite big in length and bredth. Like no-one wants to make calls with a PSP-sized item but people don't want to watch TV on a small mobile TV. I also see phone/mp3/video integration but there's a trade-off for size of the item. Plus I can't stand using a keyboard and mouse for gaming (which is remedied by getting a controller LOL) I agree that it's not hard to install/play games on PCs but with all the tweaks and patches etc etc most people will just say **** that and get a console. I find PCs very pernickety and less accessible than a console.īut I agree that the medium of gaming and TV/movies will become melded together (I can imagine buying internet TV packages for use on your TV - meaning you can subscribe to eg America's live ESPN channel while being in Ireland -alot of german channels are free on the net if you're in germany now) but PC's won't kick out consoles because consoles are easier to use. With consoles, you stick in the cartridge (or disc, nowdays lol) and you're ready to rock. I thought consoles were only invented because PCs require you to "do lots of stuff" before you can play the game. ![]() ![]() ![]() 3 in the American League in walking only 3.06 per nine innings with a reliever on the mound. Tampa Bay's relief corps has a 3.36 ERA this season, and the Rays are No. That includes 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings and a 1.08 WHIP this season.īeeks is stellar with a 1.76 ERA on the road, and he can hand the ball to an effective bullpen. The 28-year-old left-hander may not stay in the game long as an opener, but he has a 2.91 ERA since the beginning of the 2020 campaign and a 2.70 ERA in 2022. The Rays also project well in the pitching department for Monday's game, beginning with Jalen Beeks to start the game. 2 in the American League with 55 stolen bases, and Tampa Bay also has 11 triples already this season. Tampa Bay's team speed is impressive and puts pressure on the opposition. Here are several MLB odds and betting lines for Rays vs. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model's picks. Rays, and just locked in its picks and MLB predictions. Now, the model has set its sights on Red Sox vs. Anybody who has followed it has seen profitable returns. This is the same model that pegged the 2021 Atlanta Braves at 10-1 as one of three best bets to win it all last season. and it is 271-232 on top-rated MLB money-line picks since the start of the 2021 season, returning well over $500 for $100 players. The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every MLB game 10,000 times. Rays picks, you need to see the MLB predictions and betting advice from SportsLine's advanced computer model. The total number of runs Vegas thinks will be scored, or the over-under, is 9.5 in the latest Rays vs. Boston is 44-35 after a win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.Ĭaesars Sportsbook lists Boston as the -115 money-line favorite (risk $115 to win $100) for this 1:35 p.m. Fenway Park showcases the AL East matchup on Independence Day, with the Rays bringing a 43-36 record. The Rays are on a three-game winning streak, and Tampa Bay begins a three-game road set against the Boston Red Sox. The Tampa Bay Rays seek to sustain an upward trajectory on Monday with a challenging matchup. ![]() ![]() The KAP-40 has poor penetration power, like the other pistols. While it can be used at such ranges, it'd be unwise to engage with the KAP-40 beyond 21 meters. The KAP-40 is not intended to be useful at longer ranges. The KAP-40's damage profile makes the KAP-40 hit hard up close, but not as hard at medium to long range. In Hardcore game types, the KAP-40 is a one hit kill up to 21 meters. The KAP-40 has no headshot multiplier, so headshots will serve no benefit. At any range between 21 and 32.5 meters, the KAP-40 will deal 24 damage, taking 5 shots to kill, and the KAP-40 will deal nineteen damage at any range beyond 32.5 meters, which is a six hit kill. At any range between 7.5 meters and a little over 21 meters, the KAP-40 will deal 33 damage, taking 4 shots to kill. At any range outside of 7.5 meters, the KAP-40 will deal 45 damage, taking three shots to kill. The KAP-40 has the worst damage profile out of all the pistols. In Multiplayer, the KAP-40 is unlocked at level 43, alongside the Ballista, and is fully automatic, outside of One in the Chamber, where it is semi-automatic instead. One is given to the player in " Dispatch" to kill Tian Zhao. The KAP-40 is also used in the Strike Force missions by the SDC as a sidearm, and by the SEALs as a default sidearm. It is also used by LAPD officers, whose KAP-40s seem to be restricted to semi-automatic use.Īt the end of " Judgement Day", Section will take a KAP-40 from the corpse of a Merc and use it to kill two other Mercs who are protecting Raul Menendez, one of which may be DeFalco if he has survived up to that point. In " Cordis Die", Section has a KAP-40 but loses it during the crash it is picked up by Johnson, who dies afterwards. ![]() The player can complete a challenge for this mission by obtaining five headshots during this sequence. One with a Reflex Sight is used to dispose of the Mercs on the dance floor of Club Solar during a slow-motion sequence later in the mission. ![]() The KAP-40 is unlocked for the player's use following the completion of " Fallen Angel", and equipped with a Suppressor is the recommended secondary weapon in the mission " Karma". KAP-40s are scarce throughout the campaign. The KAP-40 is used by the Mercs as a sidearm. Incorporates recoil-mitigation technology." - Description Kard_upgraded_zm " Fully automatic pistol. ![]() ![]() ![]() She'd rather discuss her music and her attempts to reignite the '60s Youthquake movement, epitomized by Edie Sedgwick. She refrains, then, from mentioning Peaches Geldolf, her close friend with whom she appeared earlier this year on a track by Cory Enemy called, “ Closer to You.” I've connected with amazing people, but I hate exploiting things,” she says. New York DJ Venus X, co-founder of the GHE20G0TH1K parties and this year's Fashion Week darling, wanders by. Meanwhile Alia Rose Brockert, the late Teena Marie's daughter, walks by and tells Phlo she's going for food. She knows Odd Future's Mike G from her short stint at Crenshaw High School he's hanging out at the shoot today. Though she doesn't like talking about them, Phlo has a number of influential friends from the music industry. Instead, at 17, she found herself drawn to behind-the-scenes work as a stylist to several Def Jam artists and an editor for Persona magazine. You're willing to do whatever to get that point.” 'Cause you wanna be the best at that stuff. Struggling with weight loss, and eating disorders. “I wasn't gonna ruin my self-esteem to make it happen. ![]() She did some modeling, but says she lacked the “desperation” necessary for the profession. She dropped out of Hamilton in the 11th grade. She began bouncing around, with various friends' parents taking her in. When she was 15 her mother decided she didn't want to deal with her anymore, she says. I got bullied in a rougher part of the streets, and it made me a really real person with a backbone.” After getting in a fight, she was kicked out, and transferred to Hamilton High School. Not mixed or diverse cultures like where I had come from. “It's very aggressive, a lot of black people there. But her mother moved, and she enrolled in Crenshaw High School. She first went to Downtown Magnets High School in Fashion. She was shy, she says, but sang in the church choir because her grandfather was the pastor. She identifies with Jim Morrison, and on Crown Gold, covers “Riders on the Storm.”īorn Elijiah Finister in Oakland, Phlo Finister is the daughter of a half Portugese, half black mother and an Irish father. Her EP has an ominous air, and not just from its sampling of Tupac's “Hail Mary.” Minor keys dominate, and her voice is thick with longing. She'll erupt suddenly into laughter, but then clouds will churn in her eyes. Not at all - in fact, there's something intriguing about her. “Am I boring you?” she asks, her eyes fixing on something faraway. We're speaking about her career when she suddenly becomes distracted. ![]() They're shooting the video for “Shades,” a song from her Crown Gold EP that was released a few weeks ago. Right now she's in the backyard of former Interscope executive David Airaudi's house, whose company is also the home of Odd Future. The 20-year-old L.A.-based R&B singer has a sleekly feminine, almost demure Mod look in the video for her single “ Bang Bang,” a cover of the Cher original over Mobb Deep's “Shook Ones Pt. With her gold wire-rimmed sunglasses, she's Aaliyah, circa 1994. Her boxers are puffed out of the approximately size 38 jeans that pool around her ankles. She's wearing Tims and a tight, cropped Tommy Hilfiger tank. Phlo Finister's hair is black and stick-straight. ![]() ![]() ![]() Nothing cuts through the sweet collective vibe like the obnoxious glare of a cellphone screen.Įarlier this year, Jack White announced all phones would be banned at his upcoming gigs. There’s something about the warmth of jostling bodies all moving together that creates this feeling of being one tiny part of a bigger thing. Great music transports you out of your small life and taps you into something larger. ![]() Sensing my frustration, my date told me to ignore it, but it’s not that easy. I even shot a quick video:īut in what situation is it OK to come to a gig and reply to an email about an online shopping order? To hold your phone up in front of someone else’s face to film five minutes of video that looks and sounds like utter shite and will never be watched again? To stream a minute of the performance over Facebook live (fine), but then spend the rest of the gig replying to every comment that rolls in?Īnd yet these are all things I’ve seen: at Neil and Liam Finn’s beautiful family gig in a tiny Paekakariki Hall at The Opera House for both Fleet Foxes and Aldous Harding in the second row at Nadia Reid and – as Nick Bollinger tells it – up front at one of Marlon Williams’ recent shows, where a kerfuffle broke out between an older audience member and the younger one he’d ordered to ‘put that bloody cellphone away’, which was thankfully diffused by Marlon himself.Īt Kendrick, I came pretty close to quoting a pertinent song at the woman on her phone. In fact, one of my favourite moments at that Kendrick show was when just about every person there turned on their phones’ torches and waved them in unison. So long as the artist is cool with it, I don’t see any problem with people taking photos or shooting a quick Insta vid to spark FOMO in their mates. It’s not the first time someone’s ruined the mood with a too big, too bright screen, but the fact it was Kendrick and the person spent 20 minutes scrolling through Spotify made it the most baffling.įor the record, I’m not one of those hysterical types calling for phones to be banned from all concerts, galleries and restaurants. This happened at Kendrick Lamar last week. All around you fans are rapping along, throwing their hands up, screaming in anticipation of the drop… and the person next to you is on their phone. ![]() Imagine you’re in a packed stadium, watching one of your favourite musicians tearing it up on stage. RNZ Music’s Melody Thomas lays down the rules for using your phone at a concert. These days, when people wave their hands at a gig, more often then not there’s a phone in them. ![]() ![]() While city and society management consume most of the ruler’s time, at some point exploration of outside world is necessary to understand its history and present state. Here optimization and resource management often clash with empathy and thoughtful decision-making. Leader’s tactical skills face challenges, frequently questioning morality and the basic foundation of what we consider an organized society. The city ruler has to manage both the inhabitants and the infrastracture the citizens live in. In an ultimately frozen world, people develop steam-powered technology to oppose the overwhelming cold. "(.) decisions push your morality to its limits for the sake of productivity, which could make for an captivating, draining adventure when the game releases later this year." "In a steampunk ice age, the only thing that can be crueler than the bitter cold are the decisions you have to make to keep your people alive." "(.) this is a game about finding reasons to survive rather than just the means to go on living." We know that different people look for different experiences and that's why there are 3 modes to play in Endless Mode – Endurance, Builders and Serenity.Enhance your Frostpunk experience - buy Season Pass now to save 30% on all DLCs and get the Frostpunk soundtrack for free. Play on 8 various maps, with different terrain, weather conditions and challenges to face. There may be people out there, and their fate lies solely in your hands.įrostpunk Endless Mode grants you unlimited replayability for the game. Expeditions, while risky, can bring you valuable intel, precious supplies and grow your society's population. While New London is your main focus, there is much more to the world than what lies within the limits of your city. It all depends on your management and leadership skills. Providing a highly advanced infrastructure with self-powered automatons, airships, and other technical wonders is difficult, but achievable. React to current events, but don't forget about the long term and investing in development and technological progress. Your people put their faith in you, but their devotion is not limitless. Some of your decisions will seem small – like deciding the fate of a troubled citizen or meeting the demands of a newborn faction – but be aware that the sum of your doings can lead to unexpected results. Whichever you choose, remember: there's no turning back. or show them a way of compassion and faith? Reach for extremes or try to find a fair balance. If you reach a turning point, do not hesitate to determine the path of your people. Maintain their hope and contentment – the moral condition of your society is as important as securing the basic means to keep them fed and safe. ![]() Decide on their working routine, healthcare, food provision and other crucial aspects of everyday life. What decisions will you make to ensure the survival of your society? What will you do when pushed to the limit? And who will you become in the process?Įstablish laws that regulate the existence of your growing society. You face the task of building the last city on Earth and securing the means necessary for your community to survive. In an entirely frozen world, people develop steam-powered technology to oppose the overwhelming cold. ![]() The Official Season Pass for Frostpunk is out and complete! It grants you access to all additional content released for the game since the premiere, including three expansions (The Last Autumn, On The Edge and The Rifts), that widely broaden the main story and fill a lot of gaps in the game's universe.įrostpunk is a society survival game where heat means life and every decision comes at a price. ![]() * All 27" iMac Pros released since Late 2017Ĭheck the Frostpunk website for more detailed specifications: SEASON PASS ![]() * All 16” MacBook Pros released since 2019 To check your Mac model and when it was released, select About This Mac from the Apple menu on your menu bar. Graphics: 4GB AMD Radeon Pro 5300M, Radeon Pro 560X or betterĪdditional Notes: The game is supported on the following Macs. As the ruler of the last city on Earth, it is your duty to manage both its citizens and its infrastructure. Frostpunk is an award-winning society survival game. ![]() ![]() The result of these two is the same: Much shorter and faster output assembly, and hence better performance! Background compilationĪlas, while grouping blocks reduced total latency. Furthermore, the backend can now perform control-flow optimizations such as inlining. This approach also has a few nice side benefits: For one, jumps from one block to another (such as loops, conditionals, etc) can now be translated into plain branches in the generated assembly code, where previously it needed to be an expensive function call. This is a massive improvement - instead of way too many separate translation processes, you'll just get a single one that compiles thousands of blocks at once. This gives the JIT gets a very clear picture about how blocks are connected and hence it can compile them all in one go. It goes through all ARM instructions in the block it's about to translate, gathers a list of all branches to other blocks, and repeats the process for those blocks too. To avoid this issue, Mikage performs control flow analysis before invoking the JIT. Each block is compiled individually, which for most games could lead to thousands of separate JIT invocations during bootup alone! Analysis PrepassĮven with large JIT blocks, there is a big problem: Compilation latency. Luckily, that work has been done now and the interpreter fallback works superbly. Imagine the instruction branched to another address, yet what follows in the emitted block still refers to the old point of execution! So the compromise was to implement all control flow instructions in the JIT before this approach could be implemented, including lesser obvious ones such as `mov pc, r1` or `add pc, 40`. This allows translation to just continue afterwards without costly context switches!Ī prerequisite for this approach is that the interpreter fallback may never do any control flow. There is a good solution though: Whenever the JIT hits an unknown instruction, a fallback to the interpreter core is emitted right inside the block. If your blocks are very short (few instructions), the overhead of translation and of the generated function prologues/epilogues will be larger than if you'd run the interpreter.Ĭonsidering the sparse set of instructions translated currently, this is a real problem, and I didn't want to delay the release of the JIT just because it'd run too slow without implementing the entire ARM instruction set. ![]() groups of instructions that are translated and later executed in one go. One critical metric for good JIT performance is the length of blocks, i.e. There are many ARM instructions not yet supported by this IR generator, but luckily that need not prevent us from achieving good results. That saves us from having to translate two instruction sets at basically no cost! On top of that, there is a Thumb layer that takes care of converting Thumb instruction into something the IR generator understands. ), and some floating point operations (vneg, vmul. We are off to a good start: The instructions already covered by translation are the simple arithmetic ones (mov, add. Mikage uses LLVM IR for this purpose, since that allows us to leverage all existing, industry-proven infrastructure around the LLVM project. Now that the pieces have fallen together, let's see what the JIT has in store for us! IR GeneratorĪt a whopping 2000 lines of code, this is the heart of the JIT: It turns ARM assembly code into an Intermediate Representation (IR) which is later compiled down to AArch64 code (or x86 on the internal development version). A proper JIT requires a lot of infrastructure until it starts giving the desired speed benefits, and I didn't want to weaken the hype by announcing it in a preliminary state. This may come as a surprise, but I actually started focusing to work on this major feature back in December already, and quietly implemented feature by feature. ![]() Compatibility improvements and fixed rendering glitches aside: What good is an emulator if everything is a slideshow? I promised to tackle the framerate issues a while ago, and the first major step towards doing so has now been completed: An AArch64 JIT. ![]() |