Welcome to Seeking Dawn, a multiplayer survival VR adventure that takes you far beyond the solar system. Step into the shoes of a soldier discovering a hostile planet, where predators roam free and enemies are ruthless.
Nick Rye, the "King of the Skies" is ready to go - literally - above and beyond, to discover uncharted territories. Once you're stranded on the red planet, your mission is simple: stop the Martian Arachnid invasion and get back home safely.
Fortnite Season 5 Battle Pass: Free V-Bucks, Skins, Price, And How It Works
With a new season in Fortnite: Battle Royale comes a new Battle Pass. Season 5 is officially live, and with it, we have the Season 5 Battle Pass. For those already familiar with past versions, the basics of how it works have not changed dramatically--you'll play, complete challenges, rank up, and earn rewards--hopefully including the sought-after level 100 skin, Ragnarok. There are a variety of new skins available along with other cosmetic rewards, and we've also gotten a new category of item called "toys" that you can obtain and then play with during a match.
There are, however, some key differences with the Battle Pass to be aware of. One of changes is great news for those who don't want to pay for any V-Bucks to spend on the Battle Pass but still want new things to do each week. Here's everything you need to know about the Season 5 Battle Pass, including its price, changes to challenges, and the skins you can unlock.
How Does The Battle Pass Work?
The Season 5 Battle Pass operates much as it did in the past. As you play, you level up your profile, which rewards you with Battle Stars. These Battle Stars in turn rank up your Battle Pass, thus unlocking a variety of rewards. These rewards are divided into two tiers: A small number obtainable by all players, and those that are reserved for Battle Pass owners. You don't have to purchase the Battle Pass right away in order to avoid missing out; you can buy it mid-season and retroactively earn the premium rewards based on the tier that you've already reached.
However, there is is a benefit to grabbing the Battle Pass sooner rather than later. Among the premium rewards you'll receive are XP bonuses, both for playing in general and those for playing in a party with friends. Because leveling up with XP translates into Battle Stars (thus ranking up your Battle Pass), it's in your interest to grab the Battle Pass early and benefit from those bonuses. Purchasing the Battle Pass also gets you access to all challenges throughout the season (more on those in a moment), which are an easy way to earn Battle Stars and rank up further.
How Much Does It Cost?
As in the past, the Battle Pass costs 950 V-Bucks, a premium currency obtained with real-world money. Buying the smallest available bundle (1,000 V-Bucks) costs $10, leaving you with 50 V-Bucks to begin saving toward purchasing a skin, cosmetic, or a future Battle Pass. There is no option to buy the Battle Pass directly with real-world money, as had been the plan at one point. That said, it is arguably an excellent value due to the way the Battle Pass rewards you with further V-Bucks (something we dive into further below).
Everyone Gets (Some) Challenges For Free
Weekly challenges have been a big highlight of past Battle Passes. By purchasing one, you'd receive a set of seven new objectives to complete each week, which in turn allowed you to rank up your Battle Pass more quickly and earn rewards. Those without the Battle Pass could still earn a very select number of rewards, but they only had access to a single set of seven Starter challenges for the duration of the season.
For Season 5, there are no Starter challenges. Instead, each set of weekly challenges has been broken up into free and premium sections. These objectives offer up either five or 10 Battle Stars, with the latter being reserved for Hard-difficulty ones. Each week will have one Hard challenge for free players, while the other two are reserved for Battle Pass owners. Notably, the 5k XP bonus available each week is reserved for Battle Pass owners; you have to complete four challenges in a given week to unlock this, meaning it's only possible with access to the week's full suite of challenges.
You Still Get Free V-Bucks
As noted above, the Battle Pass costs 950 V-Bucks, but that arguably pays for itself if you play routinely. Among the premium rewards available in the Battle Pass are V-Bucks--every six to 10 tiers, you'll earn 100 free V-Bucks. (There are also two 100 V-Buck rewards in the free reward tier, at ranks 18 and 34.) By reaching rank 58, you'll have earned 1,000 V-Bucks, which is more than you'll have spent on the Battle Pass in the first place.
There's an additional 500 V-Bucks still to be earned after that, though doing so will require a fair amount of playtime. Epic estimates earning every reward in the Battle Pass takes from 75-150 hours, but if you play regularly and complete a lot of challenges, it shouldn't be hard to earn back most or all of what you invest in the Battle Pass.
Road Trip And Drift Take Are The New Blockbuster And Carbide Challenges
One of Season 4's wrinkles to the Battle Pass was the introduction of Blockbuster and Carbide challenges. These are back for Season 5, but with new names: Road Trip and Drift, respectively. Both of these require you to purchase the Season 5 Battle Pass to complete.
Road Trip challenges task you with completing all seven challenges from any single week. The reward is a loading screen which--if Season 4 is any indication--will lead you to a secret Battle Star that ranks up your Battle Pass by one tier. There are seven Road Trip challenges in total, and by completing all of these (meaning you fully complete seven weeks of challenges), you'll earn a bonus reward that looks to be a Legendary skin. We won't be sure of what it is until at least the seventh week of challenges are live.
Drift challenges are similar to Carbide, in that you're basically just asked to play a lot. This time around, however, rather than being asked to reach a certain level, you're tasked with gaining a certain amount of XP--from 10,000 up to 200,000. Each of the five challenges offers a new style option for the Drift skin, an outfit which you'll receive for free as soon as you buy the Battle Pass. If you complete four of the five Drift challenges (meaning you've earned 100,000 XP total), you'll also receive the Rift Edge harvesting tool, an alternative for the pickaxe.
What Are The Rewards?
You'll immediately get a handful of rewards for purchasing the Battle Pass, including the aforementioned Legendary Drift skin, as well as as the Epic Huntress skin. You also get access to all challenges and an immediate XP bonus, as well as five free Battle Pass tiers for Season 6's Battle Pass.
By ranking up the Battle Pass, you'll earn a variety of skins, V-Bucks, sprays, emoticons, gliders, harvesting tools, back blings, loading screens, emotes, contrails, and XP bonuses. There's also a new type of item, toys, that allow you to play around with others during a match. These include a golf ball and a basketball. You can see every single reward available in our rundown, or check out all of the skins and cosmetics here.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-16-2018, 02:37 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Japan is taking steps to legalize paid esports tournaments
Laws aimed at illegal gambling have long prevented Japanese esports events from offering cash prizes, but the country is looking to change that through a licensing program that exempts some players from those very laws.
As Bloomberg reports, this is both a shifting moment for Japanese esports competitors and for game companies themselves. Developers and publishers in Japan stand to make a significant amount of money by selling tickets, advertising, broadcast rights, and merch for major esports competitions. Until now, Japan was closed off to those opportunities.
The Japanese government will issue a select few licenses to a “few dozen players” that rank well in an esports event this weekend. Those licenses then permit those players to compete in paid video game events in the future.
This weekend’s event will see players will compete for professional licenses in Winning Eleven 2018 (AKA Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 in the West),Call of Duty: WWII,Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, and Tekken 7, along with the smartphone games Puzzle & Dragons and Monster Strike.
Lawmakers formed an esport-centric coalition last year called the JeSU to handle matters relating to Japan’s esports industry late last year, following rumblings that competitive video games could be featured in future Olympic events. The licensing program in the fruit of that committee’s efforts, and mirrors programs in place for professional golf, baseball, and tennis.
“This is the first big step,” JeSU vice president Hirokazu Hamamura told Bloomberg. “What’s really important for the esports movement is whether our players can become stars. And I think that’s coming.”
Join the Hunt for the Savage New Warframe in The Sacrifice on Xbox One
We didn’t think it was possible. Building, testing, and launching The Sacrifice on Xbox One in three weeks? All while in an intense crunch mode for TennoCon, our third-ever Warframe convention in two days? We must believe in miracles, ‘cause the incredible Warframe console team made our dream a reality, and The Sacrifice is now live on Xbox One!
The third in Warframe’s Cinematic Quest storyline, The Sacrifice follows the Apostasy Prologue (revealed last December), with a foreboding vision that will take you on the hunt for this seemingly savage new Warframe. When progress on Umbra was finally revealed at TennoCon 2017, players were crying with overwhelming joy (okay maybe not physically crying; I like to imagine), but they were ecstatic! The three-year wait for the Umbra Warframe was finally happening, and it was worth the wait. The Sacrifice answers questions left unanswered in The Apostasy Prologue, but also leaves players with entirely new questions.
You should know that The Sacrifice is for all Warframe players, but it is available deeper into the game than, say, Plains of Eidolon. Only Tenno who have been through the roller coaster of The Second Dream, The War Within, Chains of Harrow, and the Apostasy Prologue will be able to learn the plight of The Lotus, Ballas, and more.
What else can we tell you without spoiling the goods? The Sacrifice update includes several quality of life additions. Exalted weapons such as Excalibur’s Exalted Blade and Valkyr’s Talons are now moddable in the Arsenal; you can show off your fashion frames in a new Captura scene based on The Sacrifice or emblazon your profiles with a new Umbra Profile Glyph, and if you like free things, you can use this promo code, OLDFRIEND, for a free Orokin tea set decoration and a 3-day Affinity Booster until July 20, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. ET at warframe.com/promocode. Also, we’ve taken the first step in revamping Warframe’s UI by adding a few customizable UI themes, updated vendor menus (like Baro, Syndicates, etc.), new UI sounds across all menus, and more.
We said from the beginning with Umbra that we wanted to give players a lore-driven narrative behind him, and not just an Excalibur skin. Finally, we’re able to share that story and I’m overjoyed that we’re able to make it happen before TennoCon 2018! We eagerly await your reactions, questions, and excitement, and I personally can’t wait to word-vomit lore theories with you on Xbox One @ 1!
Video: Learn More About Octopath Traveler In This Detailed Overview Trailer
Octopath Traveler has been one of the most anticipated Switch releases since its original announcement. Still, there’s likely a number of individuals out there who are confused as to what all the fuss about or aren’t even fans of the JRPG genre.
If you are one of those people, perhaps the trailer above might convince you the Nintendo published title is worth your time. It’s a brief but comprehensive overview highlighting the eight travelers, path actions and the finer points of the battle system.
Have you got your hands on Octopath Traveler yet? Are you enjoying it or are you unsure if it’s right for you? Tell us below.
Dota Plus: — * Added a new Summer Terrain * Added a new Plus in-game prediction charm, grants you increasing amounts of shards for correct predictions in a row (10/20/30/40/50 for 1/2/3/4/5x, 50 for subsequent) * Added a new feature to let Plus members spectate their friends’ games live, seeing only what their friend’s team can see. You can join in any time the game is ongoing. * Added dozens of new Hero Quests * Playing Turbo games now grants half the normal hero xp for wins/losses, rather than none. * Added a new global Hero Trends page * You can now purchase some Tools for shards in the Plus Rewards store.
* Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause Plus guides to get stuck and not work. * Improved the item/ability/lane suggestions * Plus item suggestions now default to the first suggestion, with a button to examine alternatives. * The full popular items list is now shown even when you have a specific sequence selected. * Suggested items that have already been purchased are now greyed out, to improve readbility.
* Added the Plus Hero Badge to the Post Game screen. * The Profile screen now shows your Plus Hero Badge and Relics
General Changes: — * Ranked Roles: Added a new type of report function that can be used during the picking phase for players that don’t adhere to the selection they queued for. Does not consume normal reports. * Trivia: Added a button that lets you disable playing trivia sounds automatically.
* Turbo: Added an ability that lets you toggle the couriers auto deliver behavior. * Turbo: Courier will deliver gems and other shareable items picked up from your teammates. * Ctrl-alt clicking HP bars now correctly messages raw HP/Mana values of the target to the rest of your team. * Fixed a variety of consistency issues with alt-click modifier messages not being worded from the point of view of the person sending them. * Fixed a bug that caused AFK abandons to be assesed earlier than intended in cases where the player was AFK during the pick phase and was forced to a random hero. * Monkey King’s Disguise now uses the correct bounty rune model for 5 minute runes. * Minimap icons for Viper and Slardar have been updated to their remodeled verison. * Enabled custom minimap icons for Primal Split Brewlings * Added a custom minimap icon for Arc Warden’s Tempest Double * Refresher cast sound effect now audible to nearby teammates and enemies.
* Custom Games: Fixed the lobby list connection sort not working correctly * Custom Games addoninfo.txt: “HeroGuidesSupported” setting is now defaulted to truebv * Custom Games addoninfo.txt: Added a new setting “ShouldForceDefaultGuide” which will cause default_* files to be utilized (if none is defined it will use the default from the base game) * Custom Games Lua API: Linked several missing modifier properties * Custom Games Lua API: Added function “SetUseDefaultDOTARuneSpawnLogic” to let custom games opt into the current set of rune spawning rules (previously it was forcing usage of an older rule set ) * Custom Games Lua API: Added “SetPowerRuneSpawnInterval” and “SetBountyRuneSpawnInterval” functions to customize rune spawn intervals (works with either the current or backwards compatible ruleset of rune spawning) * Custom Games Lua API: Added several functions for asking for basic stats on units on the server “GetBaseAttackRange”, “GetStatusResistance”, “GetEvasion”, “GetSpellAmplification( bool bBaseOnly) ”
Metal Gear Movie Director Celebrating Series' Anniversary With Art
The long-anticipated Metal Gear Solid movie is still coming along slowly, but the director is signaling that the project is very much on his mind with a celebration of the series' 31st anniversary. He sent out a note marking the date, and promised he'll be dropping 31 days of fan art with "some surprises along the way."
In a tweet, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts provided a playful CODEC scene with Roy Campbell explaining that Snake has been sent to retrieve new information about the Metal Gear Solid movie. In the meantime, he's giving us a look at concept art he's created, though the message is careful to note that this shouldn't be interpreted as hints at the film itself.
"As a thank you to fans of this franchise, that bearded director, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, will be releasing concept art he created with a series of 'next-gen artists,'" reads the message. "For the next 31 days, we will be releasing 31 pieces of art. We must stress that this is, quote, 'fan art', and is not meant to represent what is or not in the forthcoming film."
❗️Follow and retweet this thread to celebrate the 31st anniversary of @HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN's METAL GEAR with 31 pieces of never before seen nano-machine-infused-artwork.
Tune in every day for new updates. Some surprises along the way...
Today's art is a piece by Nick Foreman, showing an iconic Metal Gear mech over a dimly lit scene. Thirty more are set to follow, and Vogt-Roberts may drop a hint or two about the film given his promise of surprises.
DAY 1 of #METALGEAR31st There’s many beautiful+insane+iconic images to come...but I want to start with this piece by Nick Foreman. The bond we formed via mechs reinforced that we should be loud w/ our love of this franchise as we may find friends & collaborators in the process. pic.twitter.com/5Zj4vRsu5T
As of last year, the director was reworking the script to make it more reminiscent of the work of Hideo Kojima. To that end, he even met with Kojima himself.
Hands on with the new Apple and Blackmagic Thunderbolt 3 eGPU
Along with Thursday’s 2018 Macbook Pro refresh, Apple also announced a partnership with Blackmagic Design which resulted in a new external GPU with an 8GB AMD Radeon Pro 580 GPU —and AppleInsider has it on the test bench.
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Blackmagic says that the $699 unit should boost speeds by as much as 2.8 times on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, and up to eight times on 13-inch systems.
As with the rest of the external GPU units we’ve examined, it connects through Thunderbolt 3, and is designed to connect to an external display for maximum performance boost. However, the Blackmagic one is the first that will accelerate a Thunderbolt 3 display without relying on hacks or other hardware workarounds —more on that in a bit.
High quality design, space grey aluminum shell
The Blackmagic’s eGPU is dense, as compared to othersAppleInsider has tested. The weight is about the same, but the unit is condensed, taking less desk real estate than the Mantiz or assorted Sonnet units.
The top and bottom vents look to be plastic but are also well made, The body’s space grey anodizing matches the MacBook Pro pro quite closely.
The design is reminiscent of the 2013 Mac Pro with an intake vent at the bottom and an single large fan at the top. Unfortunately, also just like it, the eGPU lacks the ability to take an upgrade in the future.
The first eGPU to support Thunderbolt 3 displays
Monitor connectivity is provided by HDMI 2.0 for the most part. While other units have incorporated a pass-through Thunderbolt 3 port, the Blackmagic eGPU is the first to use the port to accelerate a downstream monitor, which we can happily confirm. Neither Apple nor Blackmagic mention native USB-C monitor support so that’s something we will be looking into.
Along with the Thunderbolt 3 ports we have 4 USB 3.1 ports which run at Generation 1 speeds. As such, they are limited to 5Gbps.
One omission is a DisplayPort output, meaning those that have an older display that doesn’t have an HDMI port may be out of luck. Active HDMI to DisplayPort adapters can be expensive, and problematic, and the about $90 it costs to get one probably isn’t worth the effort.
This is where the differences between USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 come in to play. Thunderbolt 3 is USB-C, but not all USB-C devices are Thunderbolt 3 —so we’re not sure yet how USB-C alternate modes which allow for easy monitor connectivity will work with the eGPU.
This all said, We do have a USB-C to DisplayPort cable and adapter on order. If the eGPU will connect to a monitor with a USB-C alternate mode, it will be the saving grace for those that need to connect with anything else than HDMI or Thunderbolt 3.
This thing is quiet!
One of the biggest complaints we’ve had with the many external graphics enclosures we’ve reviewed is the noise. Typically, you have a fan for the power supply, one to three fans on the graphics card, and another fan or two for the enclosure which results in a constant drone that doesn’t go away, and gets worse when the system is under load.
After plugging the eGPU into our 2018 Macbook Pro and our LG 5K display, we started trying to figure out how to turn it until we realized it was on, and just super quiet. Apple quoted a sound level of only 18dB and they weren’t kidding.
Foregoing upgradability and designing the GPU and other components as a coherent whole allowed Blackmagic to use larger heatsinks and a single large fan which keeps everything very quiet, even under load.
As for connectivity, our LG UltraFine 5K display worked flawlessly connected to the Blackmagic Design eGPU. Now a single Thunderbolt 3 cable will allow users to connect to an external display, external graphics, have a mix of USB 3.1 and USB-C ports, and charge a laptop with 85 watts of power coming from the eGPU.
Performance
Launching Geekbench 4, our 2018 13-inch Macbook Pro with Touch Bar with Iris Plus 655 scored 32,991 in the OpenCL compute score. After plugging in the eGPU, and selecting the Radeon Pro 580 inside the device from the menu resulted in a score of 110,507, practically the same score as our top-of-the-line 2017 5K iMac with an internal Radeon RX 580 GPU.
We’ll do more testing for the full review.
Having access to a graphics card with this much performance along with the new quad-core CPUs in the 2018 Macbook Pro could mean that some 15-inch Macbook pro users could now downsize to a the smaller model. It would be more convenient when on the go, and there would be a performance gain when at the desk versus using a 15-inch with no eGPU.
This comes at a cost, though. The Blackmagic eGPU is $699. This is $200 more than the current retail price on the Gigabyte eGPU we looked at not all that long ago, for the same performance. The former is quieter, but the latter is yet smaller —but has a power brick, and is much louder.
AppleInsider has been living with eGPUs for some time, and have lived with the noise and size. So, we have a lot more testing to do to see how a setup like this works in the real world, and stacks up against other GPUs, and how it fully lines up against a 5K iMac.
Where to buy
The Blackmagic eGPU, which is available only at Apple, sells for $699 with free shipping or in-store pickup.
Tropico on iPad will live or die by its interface design
By Joe Robinson12 Jul 2018
You may remember back in mid-June that Feral Interactive are not only still working on their Rome: Total War iPhone version, but have also partnered with Kalypso Media to bring us the wonderful Tropico to iPad.
Tropico is a series of PC strategy games that put in charge of an island in the Caribbean as ‘El Presidente’ – a dictator. It’s a humorous and very charming take on the city management genre, where you must exploit your island’s natural resources as much as possible and play foreign powers against each other. You can use your profits to either improve the welfare of your citizens, or the welfare of your swiss bank account – but beware, rebels could strike at any moment.
As with a lot of management-style games, it’s how you model the interface which will be key to a game’s success on tablets. Feral have recently shared an insight into how they’ve adapted their UI for the game.
Named the ‘Dictator’s Desk’, Feral have created a bar of quick-access items that run along the bottom of the screen. In order, these are:
Intel – where notifications will be stored that demand your attention. Pretty standard.
Avatar – El Presidente exists in the game world, and you can send him places to get short-term boosts and benefits. We imagine this will be a quick-use button to deploy yourself to the map.
Edicts – A core part of Tropico is the ability to change and mould various aspects of your Government and general way of life through Edicts. Some of these will only help yourself, some will help your citizens but will come with a one-off or regular cost. Deciding what kind of nation you want to be and choosing the right Edicts is a key gameplay loop, and quite rewarding.
Overlays – Like any city-building game, being able to look at different types of information is important in knowing where to build. Knowing where the best resource deposits are, or which ground is the most fertile will help you with the placement of your economic buildings. This area will probably have several different filters you can use to help with these decisions.
Construction – Pretty much what is says on the tin. Not all buildings will be available to build – some will be gated behind Edicts, or milestones, or even minimum relationships with foreign powers. Whatever is available to build though will be found here.
Almanac – Tropico was great in the sense that it provided a lot of granular information on induvial citizens. Their name, relationship, political leanings, education level… it all feeds into the mechanics elsewhere, so keeping tabs on your populace is important. Other stats like your diplomatic relationships and the book-keeping will also be found here.
The only thing we imagine a decent UI can’t solve is the finnicky-ness of building and placement itself. Being a tropical island, the terrain doesn’t always lend itself to block or grid based building (apart from maybe residential areas) – being able to finely manipulate and place buildings to optimise resource output etc… was a key part of the game, so it’ll be interesting to see how Feral handle this particular challenge.
At the moment, there’s no concrete release date, but Tropico for iPad should be out by the end of the year.
