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The First Game Metaverses
Believe it or not, there have been metaverses before Meta. Let's take a look at some of them!
While the metaverse might have only recently entered the limelight, the concept has existed for a long time. The term "metaverse" was in fact coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 science fiction novel, Snow Crash. He used the term to describe a virtual reality-based world that would take the place of the internet.
Given that the term has been around for a while, naturally, there have been attempts at creating this virtual world. Let's look at some of the video games which have defined how the term metaverse is understood today.
Dubbed as the first metaverse, Second Life is a virtual world that has been around since 2003. Unlike the other entries on this list, it is not a playable game with any specific objectives. Instead, the world is just a place for people to adopt digital avatars, explore and interact with each other. Within Second Life, you can create your own content and even trade goods and services using Linden Dollar, the in-game currency.
Despite being an 18-year-old game at this point, Second Life has over 200,000 daily active users and more than 2 billion user-generated assets. It has a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$600 million dollars.
Another thriving metaverse that already exists is the game Minecraft. Created in the mid-2000s, Minecraft was originally a browser extension that allowed people to build whatever they wanted using blocks within a virtual space. The game allows anyone to create their own metaverse based on their vision without the need for fancy tech devices, like VR headsets, to enter.
The game still continues to facilitate virtual worlds for its over 126 million monthly users. It has generated US$415 million in revenue in 2020.
Roblox is a platform where users can access and create a wide variety of games. Much like the previous entries, Roblox isn't focused on new technology but rather makes it possible for you to use existing game tech to create an immersive experience.
Founded in 2004, the platform largely has a younger user base and boasts over 24 million experiences (aka user-created worlds and games) for users to dive into. One of the key features of the platform is that while all the games are free, users can choose to buy special items in exchange for an in-platform digital currency called "Robux". Developers receive a cut of these purchases and can make as much as US$1 million a year through them.
As of this year, the platform has 47 million daily active users and 9.5 million developers. The platform's developer community has made over US$130 million in 2021, and the platform itself has made US$509 million in revenue in the previous quarter of the year. The platform has also gained significant attention from sportswear giant Nike, which created its own metaverse, Nikeland, on it. Nikeland is a space where users can play games, interact with each other and dress their virtual characters in exclusive Nike clothing.
Despite the popularity of metaverses, the road ahead may not be smooth. For instance, the Second Life virtual world has seen allegations of Ponzi schemes using in-game currency and child grooming. This displays the possibility of similar incidents happening on other platforms, highlighting the importance of content moderation on metaverses. Considering its young user base, Roblox has been proactive in combating this hurdle with over 4000 moderators and a content filtering algorithm. What we can take away from these games are lessons on what needs to be considered when creating a metaverse that will stay relevant over the years.
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The Tokyo Environmental Public Service Corporation and the Kyushu Environmental Evaluation Association, being the pertinent verification organization, compiled the report on the results of verification testing on the FY 2007 Pilot Project of the ETV in the field of VOC treatment technology (for medium and small-scale establishments.) The Ministry of the Environment of Japan (MOE) approved the report.
The Project of the ETV is a program launched by MOE in FY 2008 for the purpose of trial implementation of advanced environmental technologies and objective verification of their performances based on the experience of the Pilot Project of the ETV from 2003. For details, please refer to the following website of the ETV of Japan: (http://www.env.go.jp/policy/etv/en/index.html).


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Evil Silence neither Admonishes Sin nor Challenges Falsehood.
Silence in the Face of Clear Evil is Evil Silence, Cooperating in the advance of Falsehood and Sin.
Vic Biorseth, Sunday, June 17, 2018
From one day to the next, I never know what's going to light my fire and get me going on any particular topic. But something's been cooking in the back of my mind for a long time, regarding the problem of how to get through to the leading "secular" conservative voices of the seemingly moral TV, radio and print pundits and commentators of our day. They talk a moral game, and they even wax Christian on occasion, but when it comes to certain third-rail topics, they either clam up or they "tolerate" what is clear falsehood and sin, as if it were somehow not falsehood or sin.
Well then, what is it?
This is Father's Day. Is homosexuality, for instance, something Fathers should recommend to their children, or something Fathers should warn their children against? Where does the "Good Father" stand on that particular issue? And if he stands on the clearly immoral side of it, does he really deserve to wear that "World's Greatest Dad" T-shirt his children bought him?
The subject has been on my mind for years, really, but I never found a good "hook" to use to really get at the issue. A stab at it here and there in various articles, but nothing with real punch that got right to the point and gave it justice. Well, the inimitable Michael Voris broke the ground for me with the video below, addressing those of our Spiritual Fathers who, we hope, are still moral but timid. But how can we tell whether they are timid or evil if they don't even speak up? Well, we can't. And that's the problem.
The Deafening Silence from Those On High
Michael, being Michael, comes right up front and hits the Bishops in the face with it, naming them by name, calling them out, challenging their silence in the face of evil inside the Church. And he's right. Silence, in the examples he uses, is Evil. it is cooperation with the Evil One. The silence of these Bishops advances Evil in the Church, and through the Church, advances Evil in the World.
Catholic luminaries from Saint Catherine of Siena, Pope Felix III, Pope Pius V, Pope Pius X, Pope Pius XII, etc., have testified to the evil of holding one's tongue when confronted with evil. That's not what we're here for. It is a Father's duty to get his children into Heaven.
Whether or not they are Catholic, whether or not they are any denomination of Protestantism, whether or not they "practice" any faith, I wish such American conservative heroes as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and all other talk-radio heroes of like mind would watch the video above, and pretend Michael was talking to and about them, instead of to and about all those silent Catholic Bishops.
Because the exact same principle applies.
To deny it is to deny Reality. Science. Nature. And Truth.
Many millions look up to the big conservative commentators as Father Figures, and follow their lead, and emulate them, and pass on to others whatever they learn from them. In a way, they are shepherds of flocks, and Fathers of people they never even met. So where are they guiding these flocks?
Are they silent, too, when the subject is controversial?
Or are they convinced of the now common error that homos are born, not made, and there's nothing to be done about it, because it's a permanent condition over which the homo has no power.
But that's bull. There is no real science behind it. Scientism, yes; real science, no. No one is born homosexual. Even hermaphrodites are either XX or XY, chromosome-ally speaking. There is no such thing as a "gender" other than male or female, and no one is ever born to be permanently homosexual.
We're talking hard scientific fact here, and yet we're the ones who are roundly condemned as science deniers. And nature deniers, often by people who deny their own nature.
It isn't just talk show hosts. You would be hard pressed to find a Senator, a Congressman, a President, a Supreme Court Justice, a Judge, a Lawyer, an Employer, a Human Resources Official, etc., etc., etc., who is not convinced of the need for and the validity of such unconstitutional nonsense as homosexual rights and gender rights.
Nor would you easily find any among these unwitting homo-champions who would not say something like, "Many of my closest friends are homosexual", or, "We have many homosexual employees", or, "I have no problem at all being in close association with homosexuals".
What does a child think about it when he hears his Father say that?
That homosexuality is OK. Dad has no problem with it; why should I? Homosexuality is now normalized in culture, because all the adults, all the Fathers, either didn't say anything about it, or, went along with it, or, participated in it.
Everyone, President Trump included, is quick to jump on the pop-culture bandwagon and proclaim or protect the extra special "rights" of homos.
But it's all crap. It was all conjured into being by Cultural marxism, incorporated into Marxocratism, educationally indoctrinated into generations of children through Marxocratic education, and regularly propagandized through the Marxocratic Fake News Media.
The Marxocrat Party is anti-American, and everything it stands for opposes Constitutional America. And yes, that includes homo rights and gender rights and all sorts of other anti-Christian and anti-Science errors, falsehoods and pure simple Evil.
It took a long time to be "normalized" as it is, nevertheless, homosexuality is not normal, not natural, not virtuous, not good, and not worthy of acceptability in polite company. That doesn't mean they should be condemned or punished in any way, but that their condition should not be publicly celebrated, or even accepted.
It comes down to one question: who are we? What kind of people are we?
So the challenge to our radio talk show heroes, Rush, Glenn and Sean in the lead, is to properly "Father" their vase audiences.
To be a good Father, you can't stand there with one foot in your Church, or in you highly moral Belief System, and the other foot in the enemy camp. You, more than your listeners, are supposed to know right from wrong. You are the moral example for others to follow.
Since the death of Bishop Sheen, in all likelihood, you can influence more Christian Americans than any living Bishop.
Look at the video above with new eyes.
And then move your self and your surrogate children out of any passive or active acquiescence to Evil, and into the virtuous life.
It's the most important Make America Great Again thing to do.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A business creates its website in order to promote itself and reach to the masses. A well designed and equipped website is a key to a successful business. Many features have been developed in order to make the business more accessible to the clients. Shopping cart, Comment box, Suggestion box, Enquiry form are some of the features that help connect the clients to the business. The most recent development is the Live Chat Option on the website.
Direct or Live chat with the clients can help your business to grow swiftly. It is provided for client's convenience and is used for pre-sales enquiries as well as for customer support. This enables the clients to clear their doubts and also complain about the products. It is a faster means of getting response from the clients and the clients can receive solutions at the earliest. But there are various pitfalls associated to it that have to be avoided. We give you tips that will help in making your live chat a useful option.
>> Response time should be faster: The customers enquiring about a product should not be made to wait for long. The reply should be fast as any delay might end up in losing a customer. The delay might occur due to various reasons like multi tasking of the operator, network problem, etc. but that should not affect the chat.
>> Avoid using canned text : Canned text is the pre-constructed responses that are made in order to save time. In a hurry wrong text is sent, which leads to confusion. The client loses interest in the chat.
>> Browser compatibility : The software used for the live chat should be properly tested. Many live chats are slow and at times carry various broken links that leads to slowing down of the process.
>> Email transcript is a must : Every live chat conversation should carry an email transcript at the end. It helps the user to get back to the business whenever needed and does not have to repeat his needs or complaints as the data is stored in the message thread.
Live chat if used in a proper manner is an important tool for business marketing. Live chat software should be bought from recognized firms only. Also, above mentioned tips shall help a business use its Live Chat effectively and make best out of it.


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Syria: At least 1 Iranian-linked terrorist eliminated, 4 wounded in alleged Israeli strikes
by BtNews · March 5, 2020
BREAKING: At least one Iranian-linked terrorist was eliminated and four others were wounded in alleged Israeli strikes targeting weapons depots belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guards terror group in south-west Syria.
Israeli fighter jets fired several missiles from over Lebanese airspace towards the central area of Syria, the state-run SANA news agency reported.
According to Arab reports, at least one Iranian-linked terrorist was eliminated and four others were wounded in two strikes.
At least eight missiles were fired at the airport near Homs and several other targeted areas in Quneitra, near the Israeli border.
Israeli jets were spotted flying over Sidon in Lebanon a few minutes previous to the attack.
https://btnews.online/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Israeli-fighter-jets-bomb-Iranian-terror-targets-in-Syria.mp4
Earlier this week, the IDF thwarted a sniper attack near the Syrian border in the northern Golan.
"We identified an attempted sniper attack from Syria toward the Golan Heights in northern Israel. In response, our soldiers just targeted the vehicle involved in the attempted attack", the IDF Spokesperson's Unit tweeted.
Israel has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria in recent years, most of them aimed at arms shipments to be headed from Iran to its Shiite proxy Hezbollah.


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Home / Motion / Hendrik Eising, General Manager District 8 SCBD Jakarta : A New Height of Elegance and Prestige
Hendrik Eising, General Manager District 8 SCBD Jakarta : A New Height of Elegance and Prestige
Sri Utami
A collaborative partnership of two different industries.
Towering prominently over Jakarta's prime SCBD, District 8 is one of the largest and most luxurious mixed-use developments comprising premium offices, world renowned high-end apartments, hotels and branded residences, famous serviced apartments and a lifestyle mall. Discover an awe-inspiring architectural design, world class facilities, refined hospitality and a whole new level of sophistication that defines the very essence of District 8 at every turn.
On this occasion, we interviewed Hendrik Eising, the General Manager of District 8 SCBD Jakarta, to share more about the luxury mixed-use development.
Q: Could you describe the current and future development plans for District 8?
A: Since the beginning of 2017, the buildings have been delivered in stages. District 8 is being developed by the Agung Sedayu Group and is the largest and most prestigious mixed-use development in SCBD. It is an estate with up to 50,000 square meters and with more than 780,000 meters of high quality building design. District 8 comprises a combination of the 8 best high-rise complexes with a combination of offices, apartments, hotels, serviced apartments and a lifestyle mall.
District 8's two apartment blocks, named Infinity and Eternity, total 740 units while the three office towers are the 60 storey Treasury, 57 storey Prosperity and 40 storey Revenue, already open and in operation.
The Langham Hotel and Residences will be opened in the later part of 2019. Langham is globally well established and known for luxury lifestyle in prime locations.
The Oakwood Hotel and Apartments will be opened in quarter one of 2020. Oakwood, with its award winning portfolio, is also globally renowned for residences which allow tenants to live life in style.
The Marketplace, a lifestyle mall, will open in the second half of 2019 and will provide food, entertainment, fashion and cinema in a four storey building.
All eight elements of District 8 connect to the ground, with eight different entrances and exits. District 8 has been built with lots of Feng Shui value involved, including the names and meanings. signage curves, and most importantly, 88 imported Bodhi trees planted around the estate.
Q: What makes it different from any other CBD?
A: The uniqueness is the luxury, mix-use estate that is interconnected, aiming to establish a new level of service for all owners and tenants. All products and services offer better use of technology and focus on tenants' relations to ensure everyone's needs and comforts are well taken care of.
Q: What are the opportunities?
A: District 8 will soon have 5000 people coming and going on a daily basis. Large, in-buildings and in-numbers open up opportunities for all markets. It is "living, working and playing" with all that prestigious premium services and facilities can offer.
Q: How do you see travel and business as a lifestyle in the future?
A: District 8 is setting a new level of lifestyle, a new level of products, new level of market, new level of service, premium materials are being used, big spaces, all coming together to create a feeling of well being.
Business-wise, it's a work/living place under one roof with the necessary services to cater to all potential markets requiring premium and up-market facilities, making sure there is a good return on investment. The main objective is to deliver a one-stop service to all owners and tenants and an example of this is the client lounges in the apartment area that allow business meetings to be conducted more easily.
Om Ham Retreat & Resort: Holistic Recharge
Mercure Jakarta Gatot Subroto: Beyond Urban


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City Falling Short on Promise to Feed All Seniors in Need, Non-Profit Says
By Michael Herzenberg New York City
UPDATED 6:20 AM ET Apr. 17, 2020 PUBLISHED 5:29 PM ET Apr. 16, 2020 PUBLISHED 5:29 PM EDT Apr. 16, 2020
"The city is failing the seniors, a lot," 70-year-old Flora Tittley said. She told NY1 she registered with the city Department For ehe Aging for meal deliveries last month.
"April 20 will be three weeks that I signed up personally, myself, and the lady told me it will be delivered on Wednesday," Tittley said. "But I didn't receive anything."
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She lives in the Isaacs Public Houses on the Upper East Side. Tittley used to eat at least one free meal a day downstairs at the Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center.
When the coronavirus first emerged, the meals were distributed outside instead. Then, on March 30, the city said it would deliver the meals to seniors' homes so they would not have to go there at all.
The problem is Isaacs Center staff and residents say those city deliveries are inconsistent and wrapped in red tape.
So the center continues to distribute so-called grab-and-go meals, even though Khristel Simmons, the center's director of food and nutrition services, confirmed that it is what the city told them not to do when NY1 asked.
"What are we gonna tell people? You can't have any food this week," she said.
Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center Director of Food and Nutrition Services, Khristel Simmon.
The Isaacs Center says it also had to increase its Meals on Wheels deliveries each day to 900 from 550 because the city is not providing the services it promised its clients.
"Imagine you receive a phone call and there's a senior on the other line and they're crying and they're like, 'I can't leave my house. I don't have any food. I don't know what to do.' Your heart starts to break," Simmons said.
The center's executive director says he knows of 390 seniors near the center who want food and are still waiting for city deliveries.
"I don't know the level of malnourishment people are experiencing, but we do know the desperation people are experiencing," Executive Director Greg Morris said.
He says the city has been working off of its database of seniors-in-need that it collects from providers around the city without actually asking the providers for their input about who needs what.
"It's as if the knee-jerk reaction was, get food out without pausing to ask providers with many years of service to seniors who know best."
Morris said they were never asked to help by de Blasio administration. "Think about it this way," he said, "I have a kitchen, I was never asked to serve more meals. I should be feeding those in public housing."
The kitchen at the Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center.
"The quality and quantity of the food has been different depending on the borough," Morris added. "Some folks are getting sandwiches, some folks are getting entrees, some folks are getting apples and nuts as a meal when it looks more like a snack."
"It has to be fixed, because these seniors will starve," warned Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.
Brewer says there are two main problems: the city is making seniors re-register for food deliveries every two days, and to do that they must call 311, which is overwhelmed.
Brewer tested the system several times after hearing reports from seniors that they weren't able to register: "We were told the system is over capacity and I could not as a senior myself register."
Others say 311 instructs them to call providers in their area, but the de Blasio administration has told providers to instruct people in need to call 311.
"It is very frustrating," Tittley said about waiting for food.
In desperation, she reached out to a nephew in New Hampshire for a package of food. It may arrive quicker.
"This is going to be three Wednesdays now … and I'm still waiting," said Tittley.
NY1 asked the de Blasio administration about all of these issues and received this statement:
"New York City is standing up an enormous and wide-reaching effort to ensure no New Yorker goes hungry, serving around 4.5 million meals since this crisis began - including well over 100,000 per day delivered at home to people who cannot go out, including seniors. Food pantries are our critical allies in this effort, and, in partnership with the City Council, we recently announced $25 million to help them stay open and operational. Capacity for the Emergency Home Food Delivery program will continue to grow. While we are developing new ways to utilize senior center and food pantry resources, the best way for a senior who cannot go out to get connected to services is to call 311 and say 'Get Food.'"


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Gears of War development history / Overclockers.ua
Написано авторомYara 25.08.2022 Оставьте комментарий к Gears of War development history / Overclockers.ua
At E3 2018, Microsoft announced three games from the well-known Gears of War shooter series at once. Gears Pop and Gears 5 were released last year, and Gears Tactics will be released in April 2020, promising to transfer the familiar universe to the turn-based strategy genre.
This year the series will be 14 years old, and, quite possibly, a new look at the line will just open Gears of War a second wind.
Gears of War (2006)
The first part of Gears of War was born in the office of Epic Games under the direction of Cliff Blesinski. At that time, the company had already managed to leave a noticeable mark on the industry, as the author of the Unreal Engine and the successful line of Unreal shooters.
In 2000, Epic Games began to create Unreal Warfare, which was supposed to be a spin-off of Unreal, but still the main resources of the company went to the development of Unreal Tournament 2003 and Unreal Championship. When the developers were able to focus on Unreal Warfare, they decided to completely rework the concept of the title and present it in the original universe, thus launching the Gears of War story.
First, impressed with the Unreal Engine 3's abilities, Bleszinski decided to switch to a third-person view, moving the camera over the character's shoulder, as in Resident Evil 4.
Secondly, while playing paintball with friends, the game designer realized that modern shooters lack a cover system that would add realism and force players to act tactically. Implementing this idea, Blesinski focused primarily on the Kill Switch and Bionic Commando of 1988, in which the hero methodically moved from platform to platform, reaching his goal.
"Gears of War is a tactical yet fast enough title. Players can attack enemies from the flank, throw grenades or go ahead. Orders can be given to members of the squad so that they attack specific targets in the places you need, "Blesinski said.
As for the plot, the developers promised to present the players with characters and a world that they cannot ignore. The story, revolving around the themes of redemption, paranoia, fidelity, and the destruction of beauty, was supposed to be a new word in the genre, as a rule, pushing the plot into the background.
The events of Gears of War take place on the fictional planet Sera, where humanity is at war with the Locust, which appeared as a result of interaction with the radioactive liquid «Imulsion», used as a source of energy. The player takes on the role of convicted soldier Marcus Fenix, one of the members of the Delta squad, with whom the main character will contribute to the battle against the enemy.
John DiMaggio was called in to voice Phoenix, who provided the voice for characters such as Bender from Futurama and Jake from Adventure Time.
In order not to get lost among other representatives of the genre of that time, the developers vetoed the addition of laser weapons and aliens to the game. Moreover, Blesinski wanted to introduce more human characters to the players, as well as get rid of any images of skulls in the game. The rest of the designers did not share his opinion, and as a result, the skull logo became one of the hallmarks of the series.
Interestingly, according to Blesinski, one of the main inspirations for Gears of War was the Legend of Zelda series. The game designer claims that he built the universe and the plot of the shooter, keeping the Japanese line in his head, and also compiled the Phoenix's arsenal, focusing on Link's inventory. As a result, the favorite element of the arsenal among the players turned out to be a bayonet chainsaw, which came with an assault rifle and allowed sawing enemies in two.
Initially, Gears of War was supposed to be a PC exclusive, but when it became known that Halo 3 would not be released until 2007, Microsoft needed a strong title that would support the popularity of the Xbox 360 in 2006.
After signing a contract with Epic Games, Microsoft tried to reduce the level of violence of the shooter by removing the chainsaw from Gears of War. Fortunately, Blesinski, who had been trying to find a place for such a weapon since 1997, was able to convince the publisher to keep it in the game, for which he was rewarded with enthusiastic screams from fans during the first demonstration of the title.
Despite the fact that the developers threw their main forces into the story campaign, Gears of War offered the players a strong multiplayer, which was gaining more and more popularity with each part. A two-player co-op was also available, in which Phoenix's friend Dominic Santiago acts as the second hero.
Gears of War was released on November 7, 2006 and was subsequently named «Game of the Year» by multiple gaming publications. Of course, critical acclaim was reflected in sales — in the first two months, Microsoft sold three million copies of the title. Among other things, Gears of War managed to take the status of the most popular game on Xbox Live from Halo 2.
Gears of War made its way to PC in 2007, offering players additional maps and an expanded campaign.
Gears of War 2 (2008)
In the second part, Epic Games wanted to qualitatively expand the lore of the series and invited Joshua Ortega, the author of several novels and comics. The writer helped add drama to the stories of the main characters, as well as come up with a worthy sequel in general, because the first part ended with a cliffhanger. Six months after the events of the first part, the Locust Queen Mirra again gathered an army and this time struck at the coalition from underground.
Although in terms of gameplay, the sequel was not far from the original, the elements already familiar to the players interacted with each other even better. This also applied to AI enemies, which constantly forced them to change tactics and use different weapons.
The arsenal of heroes has been replenished with new types of grenades and pistols, flamethrowers and machine guns, as well as other options for finishing off enemies. Moreover, duels on saws became possible, as Epic Games announced in the very first teaser of the game.
"It was important for us to show that the Unreal Engine is constantly evolving. We've improved character lighting, added more destructible physics objects to the map. The sequel turned out to be five times larger than the original, "Blesinski said.
Gears of War 2 boasted interesting locations where epic battles unfolded. The game, in principle, turned out to be more beautiful and cinematic than its predecessor.
Improvements have also been made to multiplayer. The developers responded to the complaints of the players and fixed some technical problems of the multiplayer, and also introduced the co-op mode «Horde», which immediately became popular, in which the players had to fend off the waves of the advancing Locust.
Microsoft released Gears of War 2 exactly two years after the release of the debut part and on the very first weekend it crossed the mark of two million sales. Unfortunately for PC owners, the publisher has decided to limit itself to the console version of the game.
After losing their last refuge in the final battle of the second part, in Gears of War 3, humanity set out to seek hope on an isolated island. Marcus Fenix will again have to fight for the future of the planet, even if it means losing people close to him.
The developers sent the Delta Force to an island filled with greenery, among other things, to demonstrate the capabilities of the next version of the engine, but later admitted that by doing so they deprived the series of its originality a little.
This time, the task of diversifying the familiar gameplay fell on the shoulders of the new Lambent enemies, who acted much faster than the standard Locust, not to mention the habit of mutating and exploding during combat.
A major upgrade to the multiplayer was four-player co-op, and the addition of «Beast» and «Capture The Leader» modes.
Five DLCs were released for the game with fresh maps and a story revolving around minor characters familiar to players from the franchise's comics.
Gears of War 3 was supposed to be released back in 2010, but Microsoft decided to push back the release to avoid unnecessary competition with Halo. Epic Games was unhappy with the situation, because if the developers had known in advance that they had much more time at their disposal, they would have planned the project differently. Instead, they had to spend an extra six months polishing the nuances of the gameplay.
Whatever the case, when Gears of War 3 finally hit the shelves, it topped Epic Games' hit list, selling three million copies in a single week.
It is worth noting that, despite Blesinski's assurances about the superiority of the title over the second part in all respects, the key mechanics of the series no longer seemed so unique to the public.
In 2012, Epic Games left Blesinski, saying that after twenty years in the industry without a vacation, he decided to temporarily quit video games.
"I've been in game development since I was a teenager and have literally matured in this business. Now, as an adult, I feel like I need a break," Blesinski explained.
Gears of War: Judgment (2013)
Judgment is the first title in the line that was no longer handled by Epic Games. Instead, the game was developed by Polish fans of first-person shooters People Can Fly, who once gave the Painkiller and Bulletstorm industries. By the way, it was People Can Fly who developed additional content for the PC version of Gears of War.
While Gears of War put a clear emphasis on furious action, players love the series, including for its story, and in Judgment, which is a prequel to the line, it was served in very small portions.
"The story potential of any shooter is quite limited. Considering the fact that the player is looking at the barrel of the machine 99% of the time, it will not be possible to tell too much, "said Tom Bissell, one of the game's scriptwriters.
The game's plot takes the player to a court hearing where Lieutenant Damon Byrd and several of his men are interrogated. Each memory represents one level, and each of them must be cleared of the Locust.
The locations turned out to be much smaller than the open levels of the previous parts, but each of them offered a certain challenge, such as poor visibility, time limits, or a ban on the use of a particular weapon.
The gameplay has also undergone changes from all sides, adding speed and arcade to the game. In multiplayer, People Can Fly introduced entirely new modes, but reduced co-op to two players.
Given all the changes, after the release, the public refused to look at Judgment as a full-fledged title in the line. However, its replay value and fast gameplay won over the players and allowed the publisher to sell a million copies in the first six months.
In January 2014, Epic Games sold the rights to the Gears of War franchise to Microsoft, as a result of which the development of the fourth part was entrusted to Black Tusk Studios, which was soon renamed The Coalition.
One of the main producers of the series, Rod Ferguson, took over the team, thus becoming the only member of the original team who continues to work on Gears of War. Prior to that, Ferguson had worked at Irrational Games, where he developed BioShock Infinite.
The debut project of The Coalition was a remaster of the very first title of the line, which was released for Xbox One and PC in 2015 under the name Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. As a bonus, the title was accompanied by a beta version of the multiplayer of the fourth part.
In fact, Epic Games had been developing Gears of War 4 for six months before the release of Judgment, but later shifted focus to other projects. The company handed over all the developments to The Coalition, although the latter basically developed its own ideas.
However, it was Epic Games who came up with the plot plot, according to which the events of the title develop 25 years after the third part. This time, the main characters are the deserters of the coalition, the son of Marcus JD and his friends Damont Walker and Kate Diaz.
If at first JD is opposed by the minister of the coalition and her army of robots, then the conflict becomes more interesting when the Locust appears on the scene again.
Gears of War 4 is the first in the series to use Unreal Engine 4, which allowed the developers to please the players with large spectacular locations with destructible environments. In addition, the gameplay is affected by various weather conditions, such as a strong wind that develops into a storm with lightning strikes.
Critics praised the series as a reboot of sorts, praising the younger characters and the lighter tone of the game in general.
Gears 5 (2019)
Rather than continue with JD's story, The Coalition decided to expand on the supporting character Kate Diaz by introducing a female character as the series' main protagonist for the first time. Diaz will have to delve into his origins while fighting the Locust, who has found a way to turn the coalition's robots against their creators.
"In Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road, Max himself is only an intermediary, and the main character of the film is Furiosa. In Gears of War 4 we did something similar, linking most of the missions to Kate's storyline. Obviously, she was supposed to be the main character of Gears 5, "Ferguson explained.
Also, Microsoft decided to remove «of War» from the name this time, because fans have already called the series simply «Gears» for so long. In multiplayer, the developers offered a co-op for three, as well as the ability to create your own maps.
Critics warmly received Gears 5 and called it a worthy continuation of the franchise, but the developers got it again for the lack of serious innovations. The game surpassed the fourth installment in sales and became the most successful title on Xbox Game Pass.
It is known that the development of Gears Tactics instead of The Coalition was taken up by the British studio Splash Damage, which helped to collect the first multiplayer for the last parts of the series. The game will be a prequel to the entire line and will tell about the very first stages of the war with the Locust and its leader Ukon.
As for Gears 6, the title hasn't been officially announced yet. However, the developers have already made it clear that they want to surprise players in the sixth part. After the release of Gears 5, the art director of the game said:
«After watching The Handmaid's Tale, I was so impressed with the composition, symbolism and color work that I knew we needed to find a way to do the same in Gears 6.»
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