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(Probably because the teams now have more than just two active pilots) In WipEout 2097 the player can only select a team, instead of a particular pilot, with one ship representing the team. Pirhana relocates to Brazil in 2115, while in the same year Quirex is renamed to Quirex Research and Developement 2097 Pirhana make their first appearance in the game series, even though the team has already been funded in 2044 and appeared in the 2048 A.G.R.C. In 2095, the team Goteki 45 was funded, though does not appear in the game, as well as Icaras (2109) and Assegai Developements (2113). WipEout 2097 takes place in the F5000 AG Racing League (2085-2115). Mirroring the trend of many PlayStation games early in the console's life, Wipeout 2097 offered only a console link-up section requiring players to have access to a link cable, two television sets, two PlayStation consoles, and two copies of the game. The lack of a split screen two player option on the PlayStation version was seen as a serious flaw by many gamers. This weapon causes a quake to thrust a destructive wave down the track that damages the ships it smashes into. The biggest weapon introduced in Wipeout 2097 was the Quake Disruptor, which has been a series hall mark ever since. Each craft had a shield energy quota, and when this quota reached zero-either from damage sustained from weapon attacks, or impact from other craft or the edges of the circuit-the craft would blow up. Aside from the usual tactical aspects of racing, Wipeout 2097, unlike its predecessor, offered the chance to eliminate competition (or at least subdue them temporarily) by the use of weapons. The gameplay doesn't differ much from the previous game, except for new ships, weapons, tracks and one additional team (Pir-hana). WipEout 2097 was released on Playstation in 1996, following several releases in 1997 (PC), 1997/98 (Sega Saturn), 1999 (Amiga) and 2002 (Mac OS). Each team has two pilots to choose from and features different ships with different handling.ĭuring the racing series in 2056 AG Systems pilot Daniel Chang becomes the first fatality in AG-Racing history, which leads to the F3600 series being suspended for two years for investigation purposes. The F3600 Championship features a total of 4 teams and 7 tracks (the seventh track is unlocked after finishing the game). The F3600 Racing Series was the first official international racing championship held by the Anti-Gravity Federation, a federation formed by Pir-hana to host races and championships around the world. WipEout's F3600 AG racing series (2052-2084) takes place in the year 2052, two years after WipEout 2048's unofficial A.G.R.C. By piloting their craft over power-up pads found on the tracks, the player can pick up shields, turbo boosts, mines, shockwaves, rockets or missiles, to protect the player's craft or disrupt the competitors' craft. It features a fast-paced, arcade racing experience. The game received a good rating both from the community and critics, who gave it an average rating of 8/10. While the game was sold in stores, there were also Playstation Setups in various night-clubs that focused on electronic music to show off their original target audience. WipEout was the first game of the franchise and an immediate success. The game was put up on PlayStation Network in 2007. One year later WipEout also got released on Sega Saturn, lacking a few visuals, but running a little faster than its Playstation counterpart. 7.2.2 Expansion tracks (available as DLC)ĭeveloped by Psygnosis and originally released on Playstation and PC in 1995.6.2.2 Expansion tracks (available as DLC). These prompts appear after almost every stage, which is quite annoying. The game is overly pushy about asking you to invite your friends to play or liking the game’s Fan Page. With all of that being said, Solitaire Tales comes with an additional flaw outside of the game’s monetization. These individual power-ups really aren’t that expensive, all things considered, and players are given one free Joker in each level regardless. Four completely separate power-ups cost nothing but cash, as they might shuffle the cards on the board, flip all cards face up, or instantly remove two cards from the board. Solitaire Tales is monetized in the expected fashions, as power-ups can be purchased with real money after all of your coins have been used, and you can also purchase additional Jokers in each level on the fly for cash. Since so many of the stages past Level 20 are so hard to complete with one star, let alone three, you’ll need to get used to the idea of replaying stages over and over again until you eventually luck out and earn more than one star on each. Stars aren’t just for comparing against your friends, as you’ll need them in bulk to unlock additional chunks of levels. These coins can be used to purchase power-ups, like extra cards in the deck, extra Joker cards, and so on. These blitz-style levels are few and far in between, but all levels, regardless of type, reward players with stars, coins, and points as they’re successfully completed. This mode also includes Joker cards that allow for the placement of any next card, regardless of number, and key cards that unlock additional decks so that you can play more cards at once. The first click removes the cobweb, but also removes the sequential card from the deck: stopping chains in their tracks and adding more difficulty to each stage than was already there by default.Īpart from these levels, there’s also a timed level type that’s a jaw-dropping copy and paste from Solitaire Blitz, as players are asked to clear large columns of cards in the same “one number higher or lower” fashion, with a timer line that adds more time to the clock as the cards above the line are cleared. Another obstacle that’s even worse is when cobwebs are placed on some cards, forcing you to use them twice in a chain before they’re actually removed from the board. Given the random dealing of the cards in each level (even when you replay stages), failing stages only becomes more likely over time. Other obstacles are added to levels as players move along, like card limits that will only allow you to complete stages if you’ve collected all of the gold key cards, or removed all but “X” number of cards from the board. Others are face down, limiting the amount of strategy you can really have. Cards are placed in pattern templates, perhaps allowing you to see the cards that are underneath, but you can only actually click on those at the top of each pile (like Mahjong). These cards are outlined in gold, so you always know which ones to aim for. While there are multiple kinds of levels in Solitaire Tales, the most basic level will have you clicking on cards to remove them from the board at the top of the screen, with the goal being to remove all of the “key” cards therein. Following in that same vein is Solitaire Tales on Facebook, a game that starts strong, but quickly suffers from pushy and even deceptive friend invites, and a skewed level difficulty that makes it hard to progress. A pushy take on pyramid solitaire that encourages paying in order to progress.įollowing the success of games like Fairway Solitaire and Solitaire Blitz, the pyramid genre of solitaire games has regained a ton of popularity, as the incredibly accessible game type simply asks players to click on cards one number higher or lower than the card on the deck. We've only just scratched the surface of what is possible with the launch apps. Any setlist you create on your iPhone can be displayed on your watch in a subtle, yet readable fashion-no more set lists taped to the floor or to the back of the speakers! I'm looking forward to the day where Setlyst lets you rearrange songs in the set, and updates your bandmates with the new song order! What to Expect You can manage songs and sets right from the watch. Setlyst is an organizational tool for anyone in a band who has to 'call out' songs. Trust Algoriddm to have a DJay 2 controller app available for Apple Watch on the day of launch! It feels at home on the watch and is easy to figure out without much effort. DJay 2 does a great job of following the Apple Watch paradigm of navigation. There is also a crossfader integrated into the watch app that allows you to transition between songs remotely. You can queue up songs right from the watch, and see all of the necessary metadata such as tempo and key for either song in your virtual 'deck'. More Than a MetronomeĭJay 2 from Algoriddim received a hearty upgrade that enables an amazing companion app for the Apple Watch. It's great for finding the perfect tempo for your song before you even start recording, or to jot down on your chart to recall later. You can tap out a tempo, see the BPM, and you get a detailed calculator of what your chosen tempo breaks down to in standard time. The interface is very OS9 inspired, and it is extremely simple to use. TapTheBeat is a tempo calculator with a fun retro style. Pro Metronome on Apple Watch has a great interface, but doesn't yet support hacptic feedback. You can control the tempo of the iPhone metronome, tap out tempo, and even control the setlist of tempos you have queued up. I am a fan of the interface, it makes the most out of the limited space on the watch case and it eschews skeumorphism. Pro Metronome added quite a bit of control to their watch app. The watch feels more like a 'companion' to the main app in this case, but it works and I found it convenient. The watch will also give you visual feedback at a device appropriate size. On the iPhone, you can see a complete conducting pattern of the current time signature and tempo. Maestro is a visual and audio metronome app. As a musical director of many projects, this would be a great way to keep track of tempos for upcoming songs. When the whole 'haptic feedback' system was unveiled, I was even more excited at the prospect of a silent metronome that 'tapped' my wrist and was otherwise completely hidden from the rest of the world (none of the metronomes I've tried yet utilize haptic feedback-fingers crossed it's coming soon!). The first thing that popped into my mind when Apple Watch was first announced was that I could have a discreet, wearable metronome. Here is a look at the first batch of useful apps for musicians. The first thing I did was open the Apple Watch store on my iPhone and load it up with every music app I could find. Like everyone else who woke up in the middle of the night to pre-order, I was incredibly excited to see that box arrive from Cupertino on April 24. There are impressions, reviews, and detailed reports pouring in from everywhere-but we're going to look at what this new piece of wearable technology means for musicians and DJs. It's here! Whatever side of the fence you might be on with the Apple Watch, you can finally get your hands on one and decide for yourself with a quick trip to the Apple store. In Photoshop, use the Blur> Lens Blur filter to accomplish the same effect. The difference between the aperture settings produces the difference in the “depth of field,” the distance from the lens that remains in focus. We only made 3 focal planes in this example, imagine whats possible with your composites and a little creativity.The image on the left was shot at f/16 and the image on the right used an aperture of f/5.6. Isn’t it amazing? You can now focus in your photo, just like you would with a camera.Īdjust your focus and blur, now you have a very realistic depth of field effect. Now you should begin to see a nice background blur.Ĭlick on Set Focus Point and try clicking on the person and then on the background. Under Depth Map Source choose your Depth Map (alpha channel) Choose the one you made, (alpha1) or “ premade” that I made for you.Ģ. Go to the layers panel and duplicate the background (for safe keeping) We are working on the new background layer. This is where we use the depth map to create our blur. Turn the eye off in the alpha channel if it’s still on. Return channel view to normal: Click on RGB in the channels panel. Press Cmd/Ctrl+V to paste the depth map into the channel Press Cmd/Ctrl+C to copy the contents of the Smart Object layer.Ĭlick the + to create a new Alpha channel. Right-Click and choose Convert To Smart Object This is a better option than merging, because we can go back and change the layers if we need to. (Click top desired layer, hold Shift and click bottom desired layer to select layers) Next– Turning all the layers into a depth map //ġ. You should see a gradient like the one shown here. Start from the feet and drag up to the guide. Press the D key to reset the colors to Black and White.Ĭhoose the gradient tool if it isn’t still selected. Add a guide so you can see where the gradient should end. The second part is deciding where the ground blends off into the background. There are a couple of things that are essential, so it doesn’t look like our person is floating in the air.įirst of all, the shade of gray on the ground must match the same shade at the feet. Now we are going to blend the ground into the background. Your image should look like the one on the left. (This can be found at the top of the gradients under basics, its the second gradient preset).ĭrag the gradient for the right to add a darker gradient to the cars. The solution is to change the gradient to foreground to transparent. The problem is, if we apply the same gradient, it will replace the gradient we just made on the left. We also want to apply a gradient to the cars on the bottom right of the arch. You will see the marching ants.ĭrag the gradient from the left to the opening of the arch as shown in step (2) on the left.ģ. Cmd/Ctrl+Click on the layer thumbnail to load the selection.
If you want to see the applet work, visit Sun's website at, download and install Java VM and enjoy the applet. This applet requires Sun's Java VM 2 which your browser may perceive as a popup. If you discover a nice starting configuration, I'll be happy to incorporate it into the applet with due references. For example, the English variant consists of 33 holes while the typical diamond variant consists of 41 holes. The number of holes depends on the board variant. When it's checked, you either set or remove pegs from the board. Peg solitaire is a one-player game played on a board with holes and pegs. You may try creating your own starting configuration by selecting Design your own. You are able to retract as many moves as you made in a single game. Do not be afraid to experiment during the play: you can always backtrack by pressing the Undo button. (In the applet, there is a normally disabled checkbox Center to indicate the goal.) Configurations are selected from a combobox at the lower right corner of the applet. In others, to end up with a single peg at the center of the board. In some, the goal is to reverse the starting configuration. Other starting configurations are available. Therefore, the goal for this configuration is to end up with a single peg in the middle of the board. At the beginning, you are presented with the standard configuration where just one peg - the central one - is missing. The goal of a regular game is to reverse a starting configuration: Positions with pegs must become empty while empty positions should be filled with pegs by the end of the game. Then you click at the square (hole) to which you want the peg moved. To move a peg, you select it first by clicking on it once. The peg that has been jumped over is removed. Pegs (red circles in this implementation) are allowed to jump over adjacent (vertically or horizontally) pegs. Peg Solitaire (also known as Hi-Q) has very simple rules. The update itself comes with a total of 15 new levels for you to crash and smash your way through plus the usual hidden goodies. Below you will find our highscore Power-Up walkthrough video strategies for Angry Birds Friends 2023 Tournament T1214, which started on Monday March 20th, 2023.To compete head on over to Facebook or download the Angry Birds Friends app for iOS or Android. He is a friend of Mighty Eagle, The Mighty. So for those looking to get their Angry Birds fix you can find the 21MB download on the Android Market. The Mighty Dragon is a mighty creature, that only appears in the Angry Birds Seasons update Year of the Dragon. The seasonal update is again, free, but ad sponsored. The Angry Birds are celebrating the start of the Year of the Dragon, but the piggies are trying to scare them away from their eggs! Luckily the Angry Birds have some help – the Mighty Eagle has transformed into the fearsome Mighty Dragon!Īs a New Year’s present to our fans, the Mighty Dragon is available for free! For this episode only, everyone can use the Mighty Dragon to destroy levels and earn special achievements. Can’t wait to see what they have stored for April Fools.įireworks popping, lanterns glowing, red envelopes bursting with money – it’s Chinese New Year! This holiday is China’s biggest and longest festival, a time for feasting with family and friends, setting off fireworks, and having fun. Essentially it is the Mighty Eagle in Dragon form. The coolest addition however comes in a form of a fish kite that you hurl towards the pigs that summons a dragon and promptly wipes the devious smile off those greedy pigs. You’ll find yourself flicking birds over rooftops, fireworks, and paper lanterns over the oriental back drop. While the story might not be of epic proportions, the charming visuals and addictive gameplay that you’ve come to know and love returns. The update continues the never ending struggle of the lovable birds against the ever greedy pigs. In celebration of Chinese New Year, Rovio has released an update to their cash printing hit, Angry Birds Season, aptly named “Year of the Dragon”. After I use up my birds, I can use that Mighty Dragon to get. I think you may just have a whole new appreciation for the film.It seems that Rovio has no plans in stopping the onslaught of Angry Birds for the New Year. I love the new Year of the Dragon episode that was just released. Those of you that have seen it, watch it again with the mindset previously described. Only then make a judgment on the quality of the film. So if you haven't seen the movie, rent it, watch it, then watch it again, and maybe a few more times, and look for all the generic parallels to everyday life. Again I must reiterate: I think FF Coppola did a bang-up job on this entire production, as did the cast and crew, but the sum of the movie exceeds the individual efforts ten-fold. The subtle sub-text that permeates the entire movie has way too much to it to have been planned and portrayed instead, it seems to have 'grown' itself, like some wild flower in the middle of a vegetable garden. Mighty has visited Santas workshop according to the Christmas comic. Coppola, whom I believe is one of the best directors of all time, I think he transcended his original intent of the movie, and probably didn't even realize it until after the movie was released. In a previous instalment of Angry Birds Seasons, titled Year of the Dragon, Mighty is replaced with the Mighty Dragon, which works the same way. Hmmmmmm.Draw any parallels between this and things you see every day? With the deepest respect to Mr. They (Big Brother) sent him out to do the job, he does it too well, without adhering to the accepted "standards" of death and destruction (Am I the only one who's troubled by the fact that we have 'standards' for death and destruction?), so they send the "Conformity Police" out to eliminate the individual. Brando represents the individual that has his own way of getting the job done. The answer is this: Forget the war, forget the brutality.This is a classic story of society protecting itself from those that refuse to fall in line with the status quo. "Why would you like a film that's so confusing?" ask many of my associates. Having seen Apocalypse Now approximately 30 times, and having recently dissected it on DVD (how did we ever live without those magical digital machines?), I can say without hesitation that I am one of those who have a very special place in my heart for this film. Everyone either loves it, or they hate it. As I peruse through the hundreds of comments that loyal readers of the IMDB have posted on this film, I find it very interesting how few ,"middle of the road" comments there are. Uh, these niggas lookin' like these niggas know me (know me) Uh, ay, Booka put the switch on for me broski (broski) Rich O be cappin' but you know that brodie, yeah Get out the streets, bitch, you touchin' 30, uh (touchin')ĭeeski been trappin', he just touched a 30, uh (touched a-) I'm smokin' weed, I don't fuck with dirty, uh (fuck with dirty)Ĭan't trust a E, 'cause these bitches dirty (bitches dirty) He be to himself but he'll catch a murder (catch a murder) Opps be threatenin' me in my DM, we ain't never worried (we ain't never worried)īleed, free Lil Steve, yeah, I concur (concur) Yeah, you ain't like that, you ain't catch a murder Sneaky talkin' like you like that, now you actin' turtle (on gang) With all that rah-rah, like you like that, come around, you nervous (on gang) Got foenem' G-locks, they be clutchin' every time they servin' (gang) I popped a Perc' and drunk a gallon, man, that hurt my stomach (man, what?)ĭoin' the dash inside the Lamb', that shit had make me vomit (yeah, yeah)įuck from the back, I pull her hair, she screamin' while she cummin' (she cummin') Only the family in my eyes, bitch, we got each other (yeah) I be hatin' when thеse rappers call these rappers brothers (brothers) He get away, we on his ass, where he parole at? (Parole at?) We on his ass, where his shows at? (Where his shows at?) Search for his gun, where his pole at? (Where his pole at?) Lock that door, where them bowls at? (Let's get it) I told them bitches get they lips wet (bitch, get your lips wet) Original text at /en/2434714 I remember claiming Dipset (let's get it) Ricardo was pathetic sprawled on the hall floor, not crying this time but blinking a lot and not talking either, like he was in bed that morning and he didn’t want to get up and go to school for some reason. I got up off Ricardo’s chubby back, peeled myself off that authentic, autographed blue hockey sweatshirt he wears every day with the stupid hole in it, and I wiped off my big old carpenter pants. The bell rang for English class and I’d promised Mr. That’s how it went for fat Ricardo Manzana. Grab the two lenses between your big hands and twist your wrist-just snap the part over the nose-now you can’t see anything for the rest of the day. Change that curve a hair, just a tiny, minuscule difference, and you can see near. Grind the glass this way, put in a slight curve, and you can see far. But definitely they mean you can’t see without them. Little pieces of glass stuck on your face that mean everything. They’re just glass and metal, or glass and plastic. You see them every day but you really don’t think about them, I bet. Think about a pair of glasses for a second. Meanwhile, friction is developing between him and his close friends, which all comes to a head at the end of the novel. She asks if his mother (a seamstress) would create the costumes, and he agrees but creates them himself after stealing from the drop off box for a thrift store. Through the course of the book he becomes intrigued with a girl who's an artist and is putting on a play that she wrote. It's all a little too clean to be believable, and the speed with which he opens up in his journal really doesn't ring true. He's supposedly extremely smart and gets great grades, even though he doesn't seem to do much work and tries hard to look like he doesn't care. Nevertheless, he writes about his bad his home life is but I've read about a lot worse. While he is obviously quite poor, he doesn't seem abused (maybe somewhat neglected), nor does he seem very angry. He writes about what goes on in school and at home. Tod is a bully in his high school, and has received an unusual detention: he must stay after school with his guidance counselor and write in a journal every day until the counselor agrees his sentence is complete. Whenever I am in pain, all I want is a hug from you. If you were a song, I would listen to you over and over again.Ģ2. You are the source of my joy and the answer to all my questions. I know the power of unconditional love only because of you.Ģ0. What on earth did I do to get an amazing life partner like you? You make everything seem so easy, and I love you from the depth of my heart.ġ9. Since I met you, everything has become easier for me. You are my soulmate and will always be that way.ġ7. There are so many ways to tell you how much I love you that I don't really know where to start.ġ6. The only heaven for me in this universe is right in your arms.ġ5. I always want you to be happy and cheerful. Whenever I tell you not to do something, it's because I care a lot for you. I love the way you have made my life's journey so smooth and sweet. You are the most beautiful person in my life. I didn't believe in cupids until we crossed paths. It comes naturally and I can't live without it.ġ1. I love you for who you are! Please be this way always.ġ0. I admire you for your passion, honesty, bravery, and smile. I can't help but fall in love with you repeatedly.ĩ. The love and care you show towards me have brightened up my life. Thank you for bestowing me with so much love and care, baby!Ĩ. You make my heart flutter every time you come near me. The truth is, baby, your imperfections make me love you even more!Ħ. You might think I am in love with you because you are perfect. Then, I wrote it in my heart where it will stay forever!Ĥ.No matter where I am, I always feel your love for me.ĥ. I wrote your name in the sand, but it washed away. I am so lucky to have met you and created a beautiful love journey!ģ. Blissful love stories are hard to find these days. I consider myself the luckiest girl in the world because I have the most precious jewel with me, and that's all because of you, my love!Ģ. True love is like a jewel it is rare to find. |