Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
First Person Shooters (Games)

Valve Discusses Team Fortress 2's Future 135

Posted by Soulskill from the improving-and-evolving dept.
The Escapist chatted with Valve's Robin Walker about how the Team Fortress 2 team has been listening to feedback and continually updating the game to fix problems and add to the gameplay experience. Walker mentions that ideas for new classes are "floating around," and that a new mode of play will be introduced soon. "'Players have driven our entire approach to designing achievements, the way we tie unlockables to those achievements and the design of those new weapons themselves. The choices we made within the Medic and Heavy updates were very much the result of the ways that players have used that combination of classes within the game. The addition of the payload game mode came from players requesting an old Team Fortress Classic map called Hunted, and describing what they did and didn't like in that map.' ... The Scout is the next class slated for the special treatment, and Walker expects the update will be available early this year. Additionally, the team is juggling a number of side projects at the moment, including finally bringing a year's worth of the downloadable content and upgrades to the Xbox 360 version of the game. A new Payload map is in the works, more community maps are on the way and the team will soon unveil a very different new game mode."
Bug

Submission + - Using X-ray radiography to reveal ancient insects. (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by 1shooter
1shooter writes: Using a giant X-ray machine to peer into the insides of even opaque amber to reveal insects dating from the age of dinosaurs.

The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, produces an intense, high-energy light that can pierce just about any material, revealing its inner structure.
The process reveals detailed 3 dimensional images that can be used to make near perfect enlarged scale 3D models of the bugs using a "plastic printer".
Biotech

Are Aliens Living Among Us? 350

Posted by Zonk from the talk-to-one-at-the-post-office-regularly dept.
pickens writes "In recent years scientists have begun to view the existence of life outside of our solar system as ever-more likely. If life does emerge readily under terrestrial conditions, then perhaps it formed many times on our home planet. To pursue this tantalizing possibility, scientists have begun searching deserts, lakes and caverns for evidence of earth-bound 'alien' life-forms, organisms that would differ fundamentally from all known living creatures because they arose independently. Microbes have already been found inhabiting extreme environments ranging from scalding volcanic vents to the dry valleys of Antarctica. Other so-called extremophiles can survive in salt-saturated lakes, highly acidic mine tailings contaminated with metals, and the waste pools of nuclear reactors. Although 'alien' microbes might look like ordinary bacteria, their biochemistry could involve exotic amino acids or different elemental building blocks so researchers are devising tests to identify exotic microbes. If shadow life is confined to the microbial realm, it is entirely possible that scientists have overlooked it."

Feed Engadget: Fairlight's $28,000 XYNERGI keyboard makes Optimus look Minimus (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

So you thought the $1,536 Optimus Maximus keyboard was a tad expensive? Peep this: the €20,000 (about $28,000) XYNERGI programmable controller from Fairlight. To be fair, you get a hell of a lot more than just a keyboard for your 28-grand as the kit includes Fairlight's CC-1 digital media engine as well. While it's targeted at media professionals, it also integrates like a peach with Microsoft Office and all your other Windows applications. Better yet, the custom key mappings are said to "intelligently" adjust depending upon the "mode the operator is in." However, judging by the video (after the break), intelligence seems defined by your ability to find (and push) the function button.

[Thanks, Chris]

Continue reading Fairlight's $28,000 XYNERGI keyboard makes Optimus look Minimus

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Wii

Smash Bros. Gets Story-Driven Single Player Campaign 81

Posted by Zonk from the fancy-lad-takes-on dept.
If you were wondering how they could make the upcoming Smash Bros. Brawl even better than its predecessors, the official Dojo site has some great news for Nintendo fans. Via Game|Life comes the news that Brawl will feature a fully-fleshed out single-player sidescrolling campaign. Called 'The Subspace Emissary', it appears to explore the stories of the individual characters and their interactions with each other. "This time, though, we've managed to create a complete side-scrolling action game. It's storyline isn't overwrought--it's hastened along by a bunch of quick movies ... The Adventure mode also emphasizes character development. You'll see many famous characters persevering under the weight of their personal histories, shouldering their unique burdens... It's really something you won't see anywhere else." While obviously folks like Link and Mario will feature heavily, it's worth pointing out that this will be the first time in more than 15 years that Kid Icarus' Pit will get any sort of 'plot development' in a videogame.

Feed Engadget: Volkswagen conjuring up adaptive sunshade (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Transportation

Just a day after a clever Jetta owner figured out how to chart his joyrides with a Wiimote, it looks like Volkswagen has a trick up its own sleeve, too. Reportedly, the automaker is developing an "adaptive sun visor" that recognizes the position of the sun and darkens the areas that require it in order to make your drive a less squint-filled one. The technology supposedly works around curves and elevation changes, meaning that leaving your sunglasses behind may not ruin your afternoon commute. As expected, further details are few and far between at the moment, and while there's no set date (nor vehicle) for the innovative sunshade to be launched on, the sun-lovin' Eos wouldn't be a bad guinea pig.

[Via Foursprung]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Debian

Canonical Begins To Open-Source Launchpad 65

Posted by kdawson from the could-take-a-while dept.
kripkenstein writes "Canonical, the corporation behind Ubuntu, has begun to open-source Launchpad. Canonical has been criticized for not doing so earlier. The first component of Launchpad to be open-sourced is Storm, described as an 'object-relational mapper for Python.' A tutorial with many examples is available. The license for Storm is the LGPL 2.1. Inspection of the source files shows they contain the common phrase, 'either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version,' meaning that Storm is LGPLv3-compatible."

Feed Engadget: Carlos Slim edges out Bill "Fatty Fat Fat" Gates as world's richest person (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Cellphones

It was probably inevitable, with Bill Gates handing out his cash right and left, and Microsoft's stock in pretty much a holding pattern for most of the 2000's, but it's still sad to see our man Bill get knocked off the top spot on the "world's richest" list. His replacement is no stranger to tech though, Carlos Slim built his fortune in the Mexican telecom biz, and has amassed an estimated net worth of $67.8 billion, thanks to a surge in the shares of America Movil. Slim's fortune represents 8% of Mexico's gross domestic product, and whatever he lacks in geek cred he more than makes up on the streets with that entirely gangster name of his.

[Thanks, Emiliano M]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
United States

Captain America Buried in Arlington National Cemetary 314

Posted by Zonk from the lotta-weepy-spandex dept.
coondoggie writes "Earlier this year Captain America was slain as the climax to Marvel Comics' Civil War event. The renowned hero will be buried in the next issue of Marvel Comics' 'Fallen Son,' due on July 5. 'Writer Jeph Loeb has been busy working through the stages of grief in his most recent titles, according to an Associated Press story. A book centered on Wolverine dealt with denial; one with the Avengers covered anger; and Spider-Man battled depression. With the story line so relevant to present-day politics, and the timing of the latest issue so precise, it's hard not to think the whole thing is one big slam on the government.'"

Slashdot Top Deals

"Take that, you hostile sons-of-bitches!" -- James Coburn, in the finale of _The_President's_Analyst_

Close