The Last Of Us Part 2 Features An NPC Companion For Ellie
The Last of Us Part 2 writer and co-director Neil Druckmann announced that Ellie will be accompanied by an NPC in the upcoming game. So far the only gameplay of Ellie we've seen is of her fighting solo against a murderous group of enemies, but apparently that isn't representative of the full game. The news broke during a Buzzfeed interview.
Druckmann didn't confirm who the NPC would be, saying, "Well, so, Ellie used to be an NPC, but she's the protagonist in this story, so the player is controlling Ellie. It's safe to say with the game that we made in the past that there will be some NPC with you in this story, even though we're not showing [the NPC] in this demo."
Fans are already beginning to hope that Ellie's companion will be Mina, the woman she kissed in the E3 2018 trailer. However, it could also be Jessie, Mina's ex, who spoke to Ellie at the beginning of the same trailer and seems to patrol on the outside of the protective community like Ellie does. We doubt that Part 2 will pull a switch on the original game's dynamic and make Joel the accompanying NPC, but anything's possible at this point. It might be one of the women from that unsettling Paris Games Week trailer we got last year, or someone we haven't even been introduced to yet.
The Last of Us Part 2's release date hasn't been announced, but we know that the game is launching on PS4. Read up on everything we know about Part 2 so far, and check out our pre-order guide if you already know you want to buy the game.
Cluster computers constructed of Raspberry Pi SBCs have been around for years, ranging from supercomputer-like behemoths to simple hobbyist rigs. More recently, we’ve seen cluster designs that use other open-spec hacker boards, many of which offer higher computer power and faster networking at the same or lower price. Farther below, we’ll examine one recent open source design from Paul Smith at Climbers.net that combines 12 octa-core NanoPi-Fire3 SBCs for a 96-core cluster.
SBC-based clusters primarily fill the needs of computer researchers who find it too expensive to book time on a server-based HPC (high performance computing) cluster. Large-scale HPC clusters are in such high demand, that it’s hard to find available cluster time in the first place.
Research centers and universities around the world have developed RPi-based cluster computing for research into parallel computing, deep learning, medical research, weather simulations, cryptocurrency mining, software-defined networks, distributed storage, and more. Clusters have been deployed to provide a high degree of redundancy or to simulate massive IoT networks, such as with Resin.io’s 144-pi Beast v3.
Even the largest of these clusters comes nowhere close to the performance of server-based HPC clusters. Yet, in many research scenarios, top performance is not essential. It’s the combination of separate cores running in parallel that make the difference. The Raspberry Pi based systems typically use the MPI (Messaging Passing Interface) library for exchanging messages between computers to deploy a parallel program across distributed memory.
BitScope, which is a leader in Pi cluster hardware such as its Bitscope Blade, has developed a system with Los Alamos National Laboratory based on its larger BitScope Cluster Module. The Los Alamos hosted system comprises five racks of 150 Raspberry Pi 3 SBCs. Multiply those 750 boards by the four Cortex-A53 cores on each Pi and you get a 3,000-core parallelized supercomputer.
The Los Alamos system is said to be far more affordable and power efficient than building a dedicated testbed of the same size using conventional technology, which would cost a quarter billion dollars and use 25 megawatts of electricity. There are now plans to move to a 4,000-core Pi cluster.
Most clusters are much smaller 5-25 board rigs, and are typically deployed by educators, hobbyists, embedded engineers, and even artists and musicians. These range from open source DIY designs to commercial hardware rack systems designed to power and cool multiple densely packed compute boards.
The 96-core cluster computer recently detailed on Climbers.net is the largest of several cluster designs developed by Nick Smith. These include a 40-core system based on the octa-core NanoPC-T3, and others that use the Pine A64+, the Orange Pi Plus 2E, and various Raspberry Pi models. (All these SBCs can be found in our recently concluded hacker board reader survey.)
The new cluster, which was spotted by Worksonarm and further described on CNXSoft, uses FriendlyElec’s open-spec NanoPi Fire3.
The open source cluster design includes Inkscape code for laser cutter construction. Smith made numerous changes to his earlier clusters intended to increase heat dissipation, improve durability, and reduce space, cost, and power consumption. These include offering two 7W case fans instead of one and moving to a GbE switch. The Bill of Materials ran to just over £543 ($717), with the NanoPi Fire3 boards totaling £383, including shipping. The next biggest shopping item was £62 for microSD cards.
The $35 Fire3 SBC, which measures only 75x40mm, houses a powerful Samsung S5P6818. The SoC features 8x Cortex-A53 cores at up to 1.4GHz and a Mali-400 MP4 GPU, which runs a bit faster than the Raspberry Pi’s VideoCore IV.
Although the Fire3 has only twice the number of -A53 cores as the Raspberry Pi 3, and is clocked only slightly faster, Smith’s benchmarks showed a surprising 6.6x times faster CPU boost over a similar RPi 3 cluster. GPU performance was 7.5x faster.
It turned out that much of the performance improvement was due to the Fire3’s native, PCIe-based Gigabit Ethernet port, which enabled the clustered SBCs to communicate more quickly with one another to run parallel computing applications. By comparison, the Raspberry Pi 3 has a 10/100Mbps port.
Performance would no doubt improve if Smith had used the new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, which offers a Gigabit Ethernet port. However, since the B+ port is based on USB 2.0, its Ethernet throughput is only three times faster than the Model B’s 10/100 port instead of about 10 times faster for the Fire3.
Still, that’s a significant throughput boost, and combined with the faster 1.4GHz clock rate, the RPi 3 B+ should quickly replace the RPi 3 Model B in Pi-based cluster designs. BitScope recently posted an enthusiastic review of the B+. In addition to the performance improvements, the review cites the improved heat dissipation from the PCB design and the “flip chip on silicon” BGA package for the Broadcom SoC, which uses heat spreading metal. The upcoming Power-over-Ethernet capability should also open new possibilities for clusters, says the review.
Hacker board community sites are increasingly showcasing cluster designs — here’s a cluster case design for the Orange Pi One on Thingiverse — and some vendors offer cluster hardware of their own. Hardkernel’s Odroid project, for example, came out with a 4-board, 32-core Odroid-MC1 cluster computer based on an Odroid-XU4S SBC, a modified version of the Odroid-XU4, which won third place in our hacker board survey. The board uses the same octa-core -A15 Samsung Exynos5422 SoC. More recently, it released an Odroid-MC1 Solo version that lets you choose precisely how many boards you want to add.
The Odroid-MC1 products are primarily designed to run Docker Swarm. Many of the cluster systems are designed to run Docker or other cloud-based software. Last year Alex Ellis, for example, posted a tutorial on creating a Serverless Raspberry Pi cluster that runs Docker and the OpenFaaS framework. Indeed, as with edge computing devices running modified versions of cloud software, such as AWS Greengrass, cluster computers based on SBCs show another example of how the embedded and enterprise server worlds are interacting in interesting new ways using Linux.
Master Builder: Building Tips for Fortnite (On Mobile)
By Collin MacGregor12 Jul 2018
Fortnite is perhaps the biggest video game in the world right now. Thanks to its addictive take on the battle royale genre, thousands of players drop onto this colorful island in an attempt to be the last man standing. While this formula is nothing new, Fortnite’s unique building mechanic allows users to construct geometrical masterpieces in order to block bullets, gain a height advantage, or just traverse the environment.
However, this can be quite tricky on the mobile port as the controls are not as fluid. Even though building is not as common on this version, it’s still critical that users master this skill when taking the fight on the go. Here are some tips to help improve your building in Fortnite’s mobile version.
How to Build
For the unfamiliar, you are only able to build in Fortnite’s mobile version if the tool button is pressed. This can be found in the middle of the screen to the right of your inventory. The icon is of a hammer and wrench but will swap to one of a gun when you change to the building menu. Once you’re in the building menu just select which of the structure types you want to make. Then all you need to do is tap the screen to build that item of your choice.
Pick the Right Sensitivity
When you start Fortnite the sensitivity will be set to 40. This is a generally good sensitivity, but we don’t recommend going any higher than 45. Playing on a mobile device can be difficult since it’s difficult to precisely aim or place structures. Don’t ratchet up the sensitivity too high otherwise you’ll have a harder time playing. We found that between 35 and 40 is the sweet spot, but you will want to fiddle with it until you’re comfortable. There is no perfect sensitivity, spend some time experimenting with different settings.
Playground Mode is Your Best Friend
The single best mode to learn how to build is the new Playground Mode. Unlike the traditional battle royale modes, you can just run around the entire island by yourself. Resource gathering is increased and all of the loot llamas spawn across the map. This means you can quickly gather resources and just practice building different types of structures. It’s a great way to not only familiarize yourself with the controls but practice constructing cover quickly.
We strongly recommend you go into Playground Mode and just learn to build. It will help commit making certain structures to muscle memory and give you a better chance in battle. This is also a wonderful place to work on your aim, quickly swapping between weapons, or getting a general handle on the movement controls.
Be Practical, Not Fancy
During battles in Fortnite some players get in the habit of trying to produce excessively elaborate structures in order to turn the tide of battle. While there’s nothing wrong with this on other platforms, building on Fortnite mobile is fairly awkward. A lot of this is thanks to users needing to use three fingers at the same time if they want to build, look, and move at the same time. Because of this, sometimes it’s better to just stand still and quickly construct a small base around you.
One of the best structures to get into the habit of quickly assembling is made up of four walls and a ramp. Despite seeming quite basic, it offers a decent amount of protection and gives a height advantage in a battle. If you use the Turbo Building feature, then you’ll be able to quickly spin in a circle to produce four walls. Then place down a ramp and jump at the same time. If done correctly you’ll land on top of the ramp as it’s building.
As your confidence in building increases, you’ll be able to quickly assemble a tower like this. Just remember if someone blows up the bottom then the entire structure will collapse. Keep this in mind so you don’t fall to your death if the base is blown up.
Use the Environment
Another great way to turn the tide of a battle is by building up to or extending a structure already in the environment. Quickly constructing a ramp up to a roof and then throwing down several walls can reinforce your position. This is especially true for dropping into suburban locations like Pleasant Park or Retail Row, where getting onto a roof will let you see around the entire area. In places like Tilted Towers, you can use floors to quickly build bridges between structures. Use this to close the gap in fights or shift locations if you are getting pushed.
In firefights try to make use of natural boundaries to block a foe’s sightlines. Building isn’t always reliable on mobile, so use the world around you to take cover. Once this happens you can quickly construct some cover or a small base so when you enemy pushes they will be at a disadvantage. A single ramp and a wall to connect it to can make a big difference in a fight. It will reduce your visible hitbox and let you fire down at your opponent.
Use Turbo Building
Turbo Building is a unique feature that allows players to quickly construct a structure without needing to tap for each piece. To enable Turbo Building go to the settings and then make sure that Turbo Building is switched to ‘On.’ After this, all you have to do is double tap and hold down to continuously build the structure of your choosing. This is essential for quickly assembling a building if someone jumps you or if a person is destroying your building. Being able to just hold down your thumb and spin to build four walls will give you a needed speed advantage in a fight.
However, the Turbo Building mechanic is also great for just traversing the environment. It’s easy to make a mistake and tap the screen at the wrong time when building a tall ramp or bridge. This can not only mess up your rhythm but kill you via fall damage. Always use the Turbo Building mechanic when constructing multiple structures of the same type. It may take a bit of time to get into the habit of using this mechanic, but make sure to practice during every match.
What would your building tips on mobile be? Let us know in the comments!
Hot on the heals of the tier 2 source release, a new version of AppGameKit was just released, V2018.07.12. This release contains many new fixes, as well as updated HTTP functionality, a bump to Google Play Services version and a change from Google Cloud Messaging to Firebase Cloud Messaging, due to the upcoming discontinuation. If you are interested in learning more about AppGameKit, be sure to check out our review.
The second week of July has arrived, and so have some new titles. We're here to give you the skinny on everything new coming to Netflix this week, spanning both movies and TV shows (including some Netflix Originals).
There are a ton of Netflix originals coming out in July, and this week is no exception. For movies, a new film called How It Ends which follows a man trying to survive a mysterious apocalyptic event, so that he can travel to Seattle and save his girlfriend.
As far as shows, Drug Lords is getting a second season, and The Epic Tales Of Captain Underpants is coming out. There are also a few stand-up specials, like Keven Hart's Let Me Explain, and a new special from Jim Jeffries called This Is Me Now, coming to Netflix this week.
Stay tuned or check out our complete July list to hear about even more movies, TV shows, and originals coming to Netflix. If you'd like to know about everything coming to Netflix this week, check out the full list below.
Arriving to Netflix the week of July 8
July 9
Lockup: Extended Stay: Collection 1
July 10
Drug Lords: Season 2-- Netflix Original
July 12
Gone Baby Gone
July 13
How It Ends--Netflix Original Film
Jim Jefferies: This Is Me Now-- Netflix Original
Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain
Sugar Rush-- Netflix Original
The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants-- Netflix Original
July 15
Bonusfamiljen: Season 2-- Netflix Original
Going for Gold
The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale: Part 2-- Netflix Original
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-12-2018, 02:24 PM - Forum: Windows
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Minecraft Update Aquatic Phase Two available now
A whole new wave of features has drifted into Minecraft! Players on Windows 10, VR, mobile devices, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch will find the second Phase of Update Aquatic pouring into their game today, including adorable turtles, bubble columns that punish careless swimmers and a sinister new mob. Yay/yikes!
Java players, we haven’t forgotten you – the incredibly hard-working Java team are almost done putting together the Update Aquatic for your version – why not try the latest Java pre-release to experience some of the Aquatic features right now?
Here’s what’s new for Phase Two!
FULL LIST OF PHASE TWO FEATURES
Realms are now available on Nintendo Switch
The Drowned – These dangerous, underwater zombies lurk in dark, deep water and will come up to the shore at night
Sea Turtles – These gentle creatures can be found swimming in oceans and tanning on beaches. Protect their eggs so more can hatch!
Turtle Shell and Scute items
Potion of the Turtle Master
Nautilus Shells – Can be found while fishing or held by the Drowned
Conduits can now be constructed underwater and give players the Conduit Power effect. Craft them with Nautilus Shells & Heart of the Sea
Bubble Columns – Magma Blocks create downward flowing columns and Soul Sand creates upward flowing bubbles
New Achievements!
Added new commands that only affect worlds with Education Edition enabled: 1. /ability – Sets a player’s ability 2. /immutableworld – Sets the immutable state of the world 3. /worldbuilder – Toggle World Builder status of caller
CHANGES
Changed the menu background to be themed for Update Aquatic
Undead mobs will now sink in water and can walk on the bottom
Improved the steering of Boats when using keyboard and mouse by pressing W to move forward and S to reverse
Dolphins can now be given Raw Fish or Raw Salmon and will swim towards the nearest Ocean Ruins or Shipwreck
Husks that have sunk in water will now transform into Zombies and Zombies will transform into Drowned
Skeleton Horses can now be ridden underwater
Skeletons and Strays will switch from ranged to melee attacks while underwater and switch back when out of water
Coral blocks will no longer die as long as one side is touching water
Improved player swimming at the surface of water
Tridents can now be enchanted with Mending and Unbreaking
Added an animation when using Riptide in first person perspective
Slightly decreased the friction of Blue Ice
Updated the texture of the top of Kelp
Updated the texture of Cooked Fish
Updated the Riptide spin texture
Default Field of View has been reduced from 70 to 60 and can be adjusted in Video Settings
Tridents will no longer break blocks in Creative mode
The Inventory button has been moved to the top of the Store page
5 Reasons Open Source Certification Matters More Than Ever
In today’s technology landscape, open source is the new normal, with open source components and platforms driving mission-critical processes and everyday tasks at organizations of all sizes. As open source has become more pervasive, it has also profoundly impacted the job market. Across industries the skills gap is widening, making it ever more difficult to hire people with much needed job skills. In response, the demand for training and certification is growing.
In a recent webinar, Clyde Seepersad, General Manager of Training and Certification at The Linux Foundation, discussed the growing need for certification and some of the benefits of obtaining open source credentials. “As open source has become the new normal in everything from startups to Fortune 2000 companies, it is important to start thinking about the career road map, the paths that you can take and how Linux and open source in general can help you reach your career goals,” Seepersad said.
With all this in mind, this is the first article in a weekly series that will cover: why it is important to obtain certification; what to expect from training options that lead to certification; and how to prepare for exams and understand what your options are if you don’t initially pass them.
Seepersad pointed to these five reasons for pursuing certification:
Demand for Linux and open source talent. “Year after year, we do the Linux jobs report, and year after year we see the same story, which is that the demand for Linux professionals exceeds the supply. This is true for the open source market in general,” Seepersad said. For example, certifications such as the LFCE, LFCS, and OpenStack administrator exam have made a difference for many people.
Getting the interview. “One of the challenges that recruiters always reference, especially in the age of open source, is that it can be hard to decide who you want to have come in to the interview,” Seepersad said. “Not everybody has the time to do reference checks. One of the beautiful things about certification is that it independently verifies your skillset.”
Confirming your skills. “Certification programs allow you to step back, look across what we call the domains and topics, and find those areas where you might be a little bit rusty,” Seepersad said. “Going through that process and then being able to demonstrate skills on the exam shows that you have a very broad skillset, not just a deep skillset in certain areas.”
Confidence. This is the beauty of performance-based exams,” Seepersad said. “You’re working on our live system. You’re being monitored and recorded. Your timer is counting down. This really puts you on the spot to demonstrate that you can troubleshoot.” The inevitable result of successfully navigating the process is confidence.
When you’re the hiring manager, you will appreciate certification. “As you become more senior in your career, you’re going to find the tables turned and you are in the role of making a hiring decision,” Seepersad said. “You’re going to want to have candidates who are certified, because you recognize what that means in terms of the skillsets.”
Although Linux has been around for more than 25 years, “it’s really only in the past few years that certification has become a more prominent feature,” Seepersad noted. As a matter of fact, 87 percent of hiring managers surveyed for the 2018 Open Source Jobs Report cite difficulty in finding the right open source skills and expertise. The Jobs Report also found that hiring open source talent is a priority for 83 percent of hiring managers, and half are looking for candidates holding certifications.
With certification playing a more important role in securing a rewarding long-term career, are you interested in learning about options for gaining credentials? If so, stay tuned for more information in this series.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-12-2018, 07:36 AM - Forum: Lounge
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PS4's Huge Mid-Year Sale Has Hundreds Of Game Discounts In The US
Good news for deal hunters: Sony is running a massive Mid-Year Sale on the US PlayStation Store, with discounts on over 800 items between now and July 17. That's a seriously big sale, significantly larger than most weekly PlayStation Store sales. So if you're looking to save money on digital PS4, PS3, PS Vita, and PSVR games, now's the time to do it. And if you're a PS Plus member, you get a bonus 10% off. Let's take a look at some of the biggest and best games that are on sale right now. [Update: In addition to what's available through the Mid-Year Sale, we've also gotten some additional PSN discounts, including a nice $20 offer on GTA V.]
To kick things off, you can grab last year's Egypt-set Assassin's Creed Origins for $36 ($30 with PS Plus). For the same price, you can get Diablo III: Eternal Collection, which comes with all the expansions that acclaimed dungeon crawler has gotten since release. Or you can kick it in the apocalypse with Fallout 4 for $18 ($15).
If you're looking for games that cost less than lunch, you can find plenty of them during the sale as well. The Zelda-like game Darksiders: Warmastered Edition is down to $6 ($2). The side-scrolling shooter Sine Mora EX is the same price. And if you haven't saved (or killed) a group of teenagers in Until Dawn yet, you can add it to your collection for $6 ($5).
Those are some of our picks for the best games in the PlayStation Store's Mid-Year Sale. You can find more below, or you can scroll through the whole big sale here.
This unique action adventure game lets you become Haimrik, a young scribe trying to make a living in a medieval town full of warriors, sorcerers, dragons and dragon-riding sorcerer-warriors. But one book changes his whole life. With the help of Masamba, a hungry lioness who will protect him while constantly trying to eat him, he?ll venture out to take on the evil king and his elite generals, the Word Warriors.
Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.
Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.
