Facebook has started testing a feature that gives users a way to place voice and video calls from within the main app itself, according to Bloomberg. Like with any of the social network's experiments, it will only be available to a limited number of accounts. But those who do get access to the test will be able to call friends on the platform without having to fire up the Messenger app.
As the publication notes, this looks like a move Facebook is exploring to further streamline its services that include Messenger, which became a separate app in 2014, and WhatsApp. Connor Hayes, director of product management at Messenger, told Bloomberg that it's meant to reduce the need to jump back and forth between the company's main app and its Messenger service.
Facebook already has plans to unify its messaging apps. In September 2020, it enabled the ability to chat and send messages between Instagram and Messenger, and the social network previously said that WhatsApp would also get inter-app messaging capabilities. The company tested putting a simpler version of Messenger within the main app last year, as well. That's something the social network been considering since at least 2019 when Jane Manchun Wong found an experimental feature that takes users straight to a "Chats" section when they tap on the messaging icon. Currently, doing so automatically opens the Messenger app.
Hayes told the publication that Facebook now considers Messenger as a service instead of a standalone app. We may see more of its technologies across the company's other apps in the future — in fact, Instagram, Oculus and Portal devices already use Messenger's technology for voice and video calls. "You’re going to start to see quite a bit more of this over time," he said.
Oculus is rolling out an update to its Quest VR headsets that includes several tweaks and improvements. The highlight is the ability to auto sync your saved photos and video files directly to the Oculus mobile app. That way, you can manage and share those in-game captures when you're outside of the headset.
The feature can be activated by opening the Files App from your Quest app library and selecting the cloud icon in the top-right corner of the panel. Your saved files will then be available in the the “Synced Media” section under the Devices tab in the mobile app. Oculus says that media will be unsynced and automatically removed from the app after 14 days.
The improvement is the latest aimed at saved media. In the v29 update earlier this year, Oculus introduced a Browser app that let you download and upload files to websites, making the task more seamless than plugging the headset into a PC.
Additional features include the option to gift games directly from the headset — a process that was previously limited to browsers or the Oculus mobile app. You can now also interact with your Facebook and Oculus friends from the People tab in Messenger.
Finally, Oculus is changing up its fitness-oriented Move feature. It's moving to weekly workout goals instead of daily ones, which will be viewable on the redesigned calendar. Keeping the focus on long-term targets, you'll now see revised suggested calorie goals and move minutes. Plus, you'll be able to share your workout stats to Facebook, including Groups, Messenger, and your timeline.
EA won't be filing any lawsuit against other developers that use the patented accessibility mechanics it uses in its games. The video game giant has announced that it's making a Patents Pledge, which gives rival developers free access to any of its accessibility-related technologies. While not all gameplay mechanics are patented, some companies have taken to making sure competitors aren't legally allowed to use their technologies. Critics condemn the practice, accusing the companies of stifling creativity and innovation in the industry. EA at least won't be suing anybody that incorporate its accessibility features in their games, including Apex Legends' "ping" system.
The feature gives players in the same team a way to communicate with each other without using voice chat. They can simply tap buttons to tell their teammates where they are on a map, to alert others of a threat or to tag targets. Supposedly, Epic Games borrowed Apex's ping system for Fortnite. The Patents Pledge also covers at least four more EA features, three of which make video games more accessible to players with vision issues. Those technologies, already in use in the Madden NFL and FIFA franchises, can automatically detect colors and then modify their brightness and contrast to make them more visible.
The last patent in the five EA specifically mentioned covers a technology allowing players with hearing issues to modify or create their own music. EA says it will add any future accessibility patents to the pledge and that it hopes the move can "encourage others to build new features that make video games more inclusive."
Chris Bruzzo, EA's EVP of Positive Play, Commercial and Marketing, said in a statement:
"At Electronic Arts, our mission is to inspire the world to play. We can only make that a reality if our video games are accessible to all players. Our accessibility team has long been committed to breaking down barriers within our video games, but we realize that to drive meaningful change, we need to work together as an industry to do better for our players.
We hope developers will make the most of these patents and encourage those who have the resources, innovation and creativity to do as we have by making their own pledges that put accessibility first. We welcome collaboration with others on how we move the industry forward together."
Starlink has already shipped 100,000 satellite internet terminals before it has even achieved global coverage. SpaceX chief Elon Musk has revealed the figure on Twitter, where he also listed the 14 regions where the service is currently available. "Our license applications are pending in many more countries. Hoping to serve Earth soon!" he said in a follow-up tweet.
SpaceX launched Starlink as a beta service in late 2020, offering potential testers at the time the chance to be the first ones to it for $99 a month. The terminal itself isn't included in the monthly fee: Starlink sells its starter kit with the user terminal or antenna dish, its stand and power supply, as well as a WiFi router for an additional $499, which customers will have to pay up front. You can see what the terminal looks like in the image above, showing a dish installed on the roof of a school in Chile.
Starlink was designed to serve customers in remote locations where internet options are typically limited or even non-existent. Perhaps that's why customers are willing to pay the rather steep upfront cost. According to CNBC, the company reported having 90,000 users in July, indicating that it signed up 10,000 more customers within just a few weeks.
The service uses thousands of small satellites in orbit to provide internet connection to its customers. SpaceX already deployed almost 1,800 satellites for the Starlink constellation, but it has plans to launch up to 42,000 small internet satellites in the future. Company president Gwynne Shotwell previously said that Starlink will be able to offer continuous global coverage once all the deployed satellites reach their operational orbit, which could happen as soon as September.
This article is about switching to a smaller keyboard (with fewer keys), why you might want to, and how to reintroduce the functions of missing keys in a way that capitalises on your own muscle memory.
When talking about computer keyboards, there are two main ways to subdivide or categorise what’s available: layout, and size. While these are overlapping concepts, it’s easy enough to understand the differences by way of examples.
Layouts are, broadly speaking, how the keys are arranged — QWERTY being a popular layout for most people who’ll read this, whether in its US-style ANSI arrangement or the international ISO style instead. There are many more layouts, including AZERTY, DVORAK, COLEMAK, WORKMAN, and so on. These all intersect to varying degrees with the needed key layouts for languages other than English (such as JIS), creating a rich matrix of possibilities. It’s the other primary categorisation that I really want to talk about here, though; that of size.
On Monday mornings, I send out a story via email: ultra-brief tales of 1,000 words or more, usually in genres including science fiction, horror, and the supernatural. Those stories collectively are called Once Upon A Time. I’ve also published four ebooks and one paperback anthology of those stories so far.
I’d love to have you as a subscriber to the weekly free story. You can subscribe via email here, or use the form below. Unsubscribe any time, from the link in every issue.
In this tutorial, you will learn the first steps on how to beautifully flourish your calligraphy. You will learn how to add flourishes to your calligraphy letters, and a few tips that will help your flourishing journey.
Looking to be inspired by beautiful modern calligraphy fonts? Check out this font and many others over at Envato Elements.
Flourishing is a tool used by calligraphers and letterers alike to embellish their calligraphy. Flourishing can make the plainest of words look the most extravagant. You just need to know where to put them.
Flourishing is a way to decorate your calligraphy letters and add that extra flair to your calligraphy.
Flourishing is all about having fun and turning something that may be a little plain into a more elaborate and eye-catching piece. You want to avoid overcrowding your calligraphy words or calligraphy letters.
Calligraphy Flourish Examples
Typically, you would put a flourish above or below a word, at the beginning or the end of the word, on the ascender/descender strokes, and on the crossbar of the letter “t”.
Before we jump into this tutorial, it’s best to keep in mind these handy tips and tricks to make your flourishing journey as smooth as possible…
Always warm up before flourishing. You wouldn’t run a marathon before warming up, and the same rules apply here. You want to get into the right head space for the task ahead, and you don’t want your hand rusty.
Use a pencil first. This way, you can erase any mistakes or lines you are not very fond of.
Use your whole arm to flourish, not just your fingers. If your hand and arm are too stiff, your flourishes will not look as smooth as they could.
Do not go too slow when flourishing; you need a continuous, steady flow.
Flourish singular letters before complete words. It can be a little intimidating trying to flourish a whole word at one time, so by seeing how you can flourish one letter in many ways, eventually it’ll be easier to tackle a longer word.
Use a sheet of tracing paper to sketch out your flourish designs. This way, you can see what looks best and what you like most.
Balance your flourishing. You do not want the top, bottom, or side to look too heavy or empty. This draws the eye away from your beautiful writing!
Avoid crossing two thick lines. This makes your flourishing look heavy and unbalanced.
Change the angle of your paper if necessary. There’s no point trying to put your hand and wrist in awkward positions to get the perfect swoosh; move the paper around and you’ll see how easy flourishing can be.
Have fun and play around!
1. Warm-Up Exercises for Calligraphy Flourishes
Step 1
To warm up, we will be practising the basic strokes of modern calligraphy. Go ahead and practise these for a couple of lines.
We learnt these strokes in the “Making your own font” tutorial and the “Intro to modern calligraphy” tutorial. Have a look at those if you need a refresher on how to do them. These strokes are important for the foundations of flourishing.
Pay special attention to the oval stroke, as flourishing is typically based on this shape. In the loops and curves, you should be able to fit ovals.
Step 2
Some more practice… make a continuous compound curve stroke. This is good for control. Try this for a couple lines.
Step 3
Sometimes, our calligraphy calls for big flourishes. Starting from the dashed line, arc up to the top line and then over into a slightly curved downstroke, looping to the left and up to the top line. Without lifting your pen, repeat the stroke.
Step 4
Starting at the bottom line, make a slightly slanted upstroke toward the dashed line and loop over to the left. Then, without lifting your pen, make an upstroke to the top line and come back down to the bottom line. Play around with the sizing of your loops. This helps with your flow.
Step 5
Starting below the dashed line, make a downstroke and go up and over, round in an oval shape, and cross your lines, ending at the dashed line. Repeat this a few times, slightly changing the shape.
Step 6
You can practise these monoline shapes with a pencil or pen before moving on to a brush pen. Once you’ve done that, you can trace over them with a brush pen, perfecting your light and heavy strokes.
2. Practice Basic Stroke Flourishes
Step 1
Now that we are all warmed up, we can begin to flourish some of the basic strokes of modern calligraphy. Here is a simple flourish: a flourished downstroke. You wouldn’t typically flourish a letter that has a downstroke in the middle of a word—use it more for a single lettered word or at the end of a word.
Starting at the dashed line, make a downstroke and, instead of keeping the same heavy pressure all the way to the bottom line, alleviate some of that pressure as you approach the bottom line, surpassing it and then coming back up, above the dashed line with the same light pressure you would need for an upstroke. To finish, continue that line, adding heavy pressure across to the left and finishing with a slight flick (beginning of an upstroke—immediate transfer from heavy to light pressure.)
Here’s an example of this downstroke flourish on the calligraphy letter “a”.
Step 2
This downstroke flourish is like the one we just did. It’s just a bit more elaborate. Starting from where we left off in step 5, continue the upstroke and loop up and over to the right, coming down.
Step 3
This too is a downstroke flourish, meaning it begins with a downstroke. Like the other two downstroke flourishes, begin right at the dashed line with your downstroke coming past the bottom line and, as you approach the second solid line, alleviate the pressure, making a line to the right that sits above the solid line. Loop up and over to the left, adding little pressure past the solid line, and loop up and over all the way round.
Step 4
This can be called an upstroke flourish for now as it starts with an upstroke.
Starting at the bottom line, make a slightly curved upstroke to the right, crossing over the dashed line and looping over to the left, and then with added pressure come down in a relaxed “c” shape, passing the dashed line a little and curving up.
This flourish can be added to the crossbars, ascenders, and descenders of letters.
Step 5
This is an ascender flourish. Instead of starting like a usual ascender stroke (see the mastering calligraphy series on how to do this stroke), we are going to start just below the top solid line, coming down to the bottom solid line starting with light pressure, and as you get closer to the bottom line, add pressure to your downstroke. Then, where we started our first stroke, curve down with light pressure to make a loop, crossing that downstroke and looping up and in.
Step 6
This stroke is similar to the previous one, even though it may look very different. Make a downstroke from the top solid line to the bottom solid line, starting with light pressure and getting heavier as you approach that bottom line. Then, from the top of that stroke, curve down slightly to the dashed line and, with light pressure, loop up and to the right, making a slightly curved line.
Here’s an example of this ascender flourish on the calligraphy letter “h”.
Step 7
Starting like the previous step, make a downstroke. Then loop down, but instead of closing that gap or crossing over that first stroke, we will be looping up and to the right, making the same upstroke flourish that we did in step 8.
Step 8
This flourished descender stroke is just like step 5, just in the opposite direction.
Here’s an example of this descender flourish on the calligraphy letter “y”.
3. Adding Flourishes to Your Calligraphy
Step 1
Here we have the word “Flourish”. It has no added flourishes for now. Go ahead and write out a word you would like to add some flourishes to.
Step 2
With the help of tracing paper, you can sketch out your design and see how it fits with your word. If you are not too keen, you can just try again. If you’re happy with it, you can fully commit and use it for your finished piece.
Step 3
When you are ready, you can do your flourish in pen on your finished piece, as shown below.
You’ve Just Learnt How to Flourish Your Calligraphy Letters!
At first, flourishing can seem daunting, but once you break it down, you see that it is quite simple. The key is experimentation and fun!
Now you can add that extra va va voom to your calligraphy, whether that be in a card, an invitation, or a framed quote.
5 Fun and Beautiful Flourishing Fonts From Envato Elements
Now that you have learnt the basics of flourishing, and you are all set with the tips and tricks of the trade, I leave with you some of the best calligraphy flourishing fonts that Envato Elements has to offer.
Romantic is a fun and loving script font. This script font is perfect for display, T-shirt design, craft, quotes, signs, and more. This modern calligraphy font comes with uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation, and multilingual characters.
Amalia is a modern calligraphy font with beautiful flourishes. It is an effortlessly charming font and is perfect for printed cards, invitations, packaging, clothing, and promotions. It comes complete with multilingual and ligature support, and full sets of punctuation and numerals.
Stasya is a swirly, flourishing decorative script font. It is modern, super elegant, and the perfect font choice for wedding stationery, branding, logos, and more. This decorative font is complete with both uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation, symbols, alternates, and ligatures, and it also has multilingual support.
Calathea is an elegant and flowy calligraphy font. This font is the perfect choice for projects such as wedding stationery, crockery design, and many more. This font is complete with lower and uppercase letters, punctuation, numbers, web fonts, ligatures, 584 glyphs, and multilingual support.
More Calligraphy-Related Tutorials
Still looking to broaden your calligraphy writing horizons? Check out the following content:
In this tutorial, you will learn how to add swirls and borders to your calligraphic pieces. Calligraphy borders and swirls are a way to embellish and decorate your calligraphic pieces, whether that be an invitation, a menu, or an addressed envelope. Calligraphy swashes, swirls, borders and ornaments will really take your work up a notch.
Looking to add calligraphy borders and swirls to your digital creations? Head on over to Envato Elements where you can find several calligraphy-inspired resources, such as this calligraphy ornaments pack.
To loosen up, we are going to make some big loops. Start from the dashed line, arc up to the top line, and then continue over into a slightly curved downstroke looping to the left and up to the top line. Without lifting your pen, repeat the stroke.
Step 3
Starting at the bottom line, make a slightly slanted upstroke toward the dashed line and loop over to the left. Then without lifting your pen, make an upstroke to the top line and come back down to the bottom line. Play around with the sizing of your loops. This helps with your flow.
Step 4
Starting below the dashed line, make a downstroke and go up and over, round in an oval shape, and then cross your lines, ending at the dashed line. Repeat this a few times, slightly changing the shape.
2. How to Add Calligraphy Borders to a Menu
Step 1
To help with sketching out a calligraphy border swirl for a piece you are designing, you can measure out the height and width you would like for it to fit the space it will be occupying.
Step 2
Tracing paper comes in really handy for designing and sketching calligraphy swirls and borders. Take a sheet of tracing paper and put it over your final piece to which you want to add a decorative calligraphy border. Then play around with a calligraphy swash that you like. I am going with the one I’ve measured out.
Step 3
Before you draw your swirl border on your project, you can sketch it out in pencil first, and then trace over the pencil lines with your brush pen. Remember to play with heavy and light strokes to get some variety in your design. Wait a few minutes for the ink to dry, and then erase the pencil markings.
Voila!
3. How to Add Decorative Calligraphy Embellishments to an Envelope
Step 1
Here’s an example of how to embellish an otherwise plain addressed envelope. The recipient’s address is over on the right, the sender’s address is in the top left corner, and the stamp is in the top right corner. That leaves us with a big gap in the bottom left.
Taking a piece of tracing paper, play around, have fun and sketch out a design to fill the gap. Use what you have already learnt in this tutorial.
This design is a lot more elaborate than the menu example.
Step 2
Then sketch out your design in pencil onto your envelope. See how it fits and amend any mistakes or parts you aren’t too keen on. I’ve decided that I need more heavy, pressured strokes in my design, so the final piece is a little different to the tracing paper design. But that’s what is so great about using tracing paper; you don’t have to commit to a design you’re not fond of!
Once you’re happy with your pencil sketch, trace over with your brush pen. I’ve decided to leave out a few lines from my initial design on the tracing paper. This embellishment is a little more elaborate than that of the menu because we’re working with a larger gap and shape.
Now You Know How to Add Decoration to Your Work
It may seem a little intimidating trying to add calligraphy swashes, borders and ornaments to your work, but it’s quite simple once you understand how to approach it.
Assess the space your embellishment will be going in, and play around with how you can fill it. I have a flourishing tutorial coming out soon that may help with this, so check it out.
5 Cool and Elegant Calligraphy Embellishment Fonts From Envato Elements
Now that you know where to start with your calligraphy embellishing, borders, and swirls, it’d be a good idea to check out the fun and beautiful fonts that you’ll find on Envato Elements.
Lunchbox is a hand-drawn typeface with many customizations available. There are over 1,500 different characters, making it perfect for all your lettering needs.
Want to add some extra charm to your calligraphy letters? Try Advertis, a beautiful font that’s full of flourishes and swirls. It’s perfect for invitations, wedding stationery, cards, and more. It also includes a PDF guide to help you along the way.
Khatija is an elegant modern calligraphy/copperplate hybrid font. There are 2,484 letters to choose from, and an array of floral ornaments. This font supports 27 languages.
Check out this beautiful handmade script and sans serif font. It’s perfect for all kinds of projects such as crockery design, logos, and wedding stationery.
Blue Angel is a fun typeface complete with three styles and ornaments. This is a great font for design projects, graphic design, posters, and clothing.
More Calligraphy-Related Tutorials
Still looking to broaden your calligraphy writing horizons? Check out the following content:
You can't escape viral TikTok songs. They're everywhere, and you're bound to hear them over and over again if you spend time on any social media platform. If you actually like listening to TikTok earworms, you can now also listen to them on SiriusXM. The satellite radio service has launched TikTok Radio, a full-fledged music channel dedicated to viral hits from the platform that's now available in vehicles, on desktop, connected devices and on the SXM app.
According to the companies, the channel will sound like a radio version of the platform's "For You" feed. In fact, some of TikTok's most popular creators will be presenting music and sharing stories about the viral hits you can listen to. They named Billy (@8illy), Cat Haley (@itscathaley), HINDZ (@hindzsight), Lamar Dawson (@dirrtykingofpop) and Taylor Cassidy (@taylorcassidyj), in particular, though the channel will feature more creators in the future.
One of the shows you can look forward to is The TikTok Radio Trending Ten, which will have the creators presenting the current most popular songs on the platform. It will stream every Friday at 3PM ET with replays throughout the weekend. You can also listen to it anytime through the SXM app. DJ Habibeats (@djhabibeats) and DJ CONST (@erinconstantineofficial) will also serve as the channel's resident DJs and will mix trending hits live simultaneously on TikTok and Tiktok Radio every Fridays and Saturdays starting at 7 PM ET.
Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer of SiriusXM, said in a statement:
"Our groundbreaking new channel with TikTok is a first-of-its-kind, capturing the pulse of the global music culture, vibrancy and vitality found on the entertaining social platform and recreated as a full-time music channel on live national radio and our streaming platforms. The creators, who are also presenting the music on TikTok Radio, are deeply involved in the channel and will reflect the unique sound and personality of TikTok that is so enmeshed with today's music culture and community. TikTok creators will be delivering new audio experiences for our listeners as they tap into the latest music trends on TikTok."
Earlier this week, Facebook introduced tools to help people in Afghanistan lock down their accounts. Clubhouse, the social audio app, is doing the same thing. The company announced on Twitter that it was proactively making some changes to the privacy settings for users in Afghanistan. Specifically, for users who "haven't been active," Clubhouse is hiding their photo and bio and making it harder to find the accounts in search.
Users are free to then add back any information they feel comfortable sharing, and they can also reach out to support to make their account "more discoverable." As noted by The Verge, Clubhouse says that all the actions it is taking are reversible, and that these changes won't affect users' followers. The company also says that users can use pseudonyms rather than real names for safety purposes.
This move comes about a month after Clubhouse came out of beta and opened its service to everyone. More crucially, it comes as the Taliban has taken control of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan; the militant organization is using social media to help change perceptions. The US still considers the Taliban a terrorist organization, and as such Facebook has banned all content from the group. There hasn't been a similarly straightforward statement from Clubhouse, but it's clear the company is thinking about how to protect its users in the region.
If you’re a retro gamer, it’s hard not to ignore the Atari Lynx. The first color hand-held it might have been, but its small library of games (under 100 official titles) and general mishandling by Atari itself earned it little more than a walk-on role in gaming history for most people. As such, the homebrew and indie scene for the Lynx is pretty thin compared to its contemporaries (the Game Boy and the Game Gear).
The system still has its fans, though, (me included) and a few dedicated folks still hold a candle for the chonky handheld, with new titles now more common than they were a decade ago. But the real rarity is the full, physical release. Here are four new games you can play on original hardware, complete with cartridge and box, just as nature intended.
For Lynx diehards, there’s one destination to gather: AtariAge. And user Fadest (real name, Frédéric Descharmes) is one of the long-standing members of the handheld’s forum there. He’s perhaps best known for his Yastuna series of puzzle games. His two new releases keep the puzzle trend, but with a shoot-em-up/adventure twist.
Descharmes began programming for the Lynx as a way to channel his enthusiasm for retro gaming while he soothed his son to sleep late at night. He came to the Lynx specifically for its technological limitations (although it was advanced for its time). “I like the NES and Game Boy, and even code for them, but in my beginner situation, the Lynx was probably the best choice when I started in 2004,” he told Engadget.
Raid on TriCity takes the classic Tetris format and introduces a shoot-em-up component. As the blocks fall, you can’t move them or rotate them, but you can shoot them away brick by brick. You score, as normal, by completing lines (and not by shooting), and some of the Tetrominoes contain power-ups or enemies/ways to die.
Descharmes already released a pay-what-you-want ROM-only version of Raid on TriCity. “Second Wave” is essentially the same game as a physical release with some new in-game perks. The two most important ones would be the addition of an EEPROM for storing progress/high scores (no retail Lynx games ever had batteries or memory like some Game Boy titles did) and a new story mode which injects some life into an otherwise pick-up-and play time killer.
As simple as the game may sound, the hybrid dynamic picks the best elements of both genres and blends them to great effect. As you see blocks falling you have to make a quick decision about whether you want to go for a complete line, or whether a power-up might be more appealing or perhaps you have to sacrifice one to get rid of a baddie behind it. Sometimes this can be a bit of a gamble if a power-up you want has blocks above it that might bring you closer to the upper threshold and thus the end of the game.
Likewise, as lines complete and bring any power-ups above it one row down, a helpful bomb can become a death sentence (bombs trigger when a line is completedtaking anything one square around it along with it — including your spaceship if you’re not careful).
The story mode isn’t exactly its own adventure, more it serves as a way to break up the game play with some narrative interludes and an element of interactivity in choosing your “path” through a network of levels. The levels themselves are really just more of the same shoot-a-block business, but it makes it feel more like making progress, and thus a game with an end to reach (rather than a high score to beat).
Fadest’s second new title is another puzzler, but this time it’s more about strategy and fortune. I say fortune, but it’s usually mis-fortune to be fair. The game looks like it’s going to be a retro space shooter at first glance, but is more akin to a card game. Each turn you’ll be presented with an item/card and can only place it one square away in any direction from your last move. But each item/card will either be a scoring opportunity or a penalty of some kind.
This simple premise is deceptively addictive. There are four main “cards” to place: A probe, an asteroid (two types!) a mine or a pirate ship. Your job is to surround the asteroids with four probes to earn points (hence the game’s name). However, the pirates have other ideas and will disable any probes adjacent to them. This not only robs you of points, but can also be fatal: mines are diffused by surrounding them with probes, and you can only have three “live” ones on the map at any time. This means an ill-placed pirate, or just a string of bad luck with many mine cards can end your mission in a snap.
The goal is simple, reach the end of the “deck” while scoring as many points as you can along the way. At first, the game feels frustrating, as if you are merely at the whim of whatever cards are in the pile. And while this is true, you soon learn some strategies to increase your chances of getting to the end and racking up some points to boot.
For me, the fun of the game is built right into that frustrating nature. Many times I was killed early on, which only stoked my desire to beat the game and make it to the end. Once you do, you find yourself wanting to then beat your own high score. As with Raid on TriCity, Asteroid Chasers can remember your high scores giving the game longer term appeal. There are also many achievements to unlock (fortunately, also remembered) which will reward you with different music and other goodies giving this relatively simple game a lot more longevity than it first suggests.
Songbird Productions
If you’ve paid any attention to Atari’s handheld or the Jaguar indie scene in the last 20 years, you’ll be familiar with Songbird Productions. Not only is it a popular retailer of rare and homebrew games, its founder, Carl Forhan, is responsible for a number of Lynx titles being saved from obscurity by finding unfinished IP and seeing them through to completion, along with some original titles of his own.
One such title is CyberVirus, a first person space shooter. “In CyberVirus, I had to redo all the missions, redo the health and powerup system, and add new features to the game which were not in the original prototype.” Forhan told Engadget. I also enjoy the purity of these older, smaller machines where you have to fight for RAM and CPU cycles to do everything. It's a fun challenge for my brain, I suppose.”
This new title, as the name suggests, is a follow-up to the original CyberVirus. The first version was released almost 20 years ago and is one of the “unfinished” games that Songbird rescued. It’s also a rare first-person/3D shooter on the Lynx. Lost Missions is a collection of levels that were also in the original, developed initially by Beyond Games, and presented to Atari as a demo back in 1993.
The nine new missions see you take on a familiar cast of robotic foes as you seek to achieve your objective. This could be as simple as destroying some communication towers, but the number of enemies soon ramps up making each mission exponentially harder. You have a selection of weapons at your disposal and a semi-open 3D world to explore, not bad for a console released in 1989.
CV-TLM will appeal to fans of early first person shooters like Doom, but instead of a complex map you must navigate open terrain. Thank’s to the game’s origins, the graphics and gameplay are much nearer to those found in official releases (given that this nearly was one) compared to even some of the more ambitious homebrew titles that have emerged since the Lynx’s commercial demise.
The result is a fun, frantic shooter that deserved to make it onto shelves back in the '90s. Forhan’s given the game the next best thing in this release which comes with a slick, glossy box and a physical cartridge that’s indistinguishable from the originals (many homebrew releases, including the above are 3D printed).
The catalog of official releases for the Lynx tends to skew toward arcade titles, puzzlers and racing games. There’s a little bit of everything for sure, but adventure games and RPGs are generally lacking. Unnamed is a welcome salve, then, for fans of either of those genres. While the game is published by Songbird, it’s the work of Marcin Siwek who’s other Lynx title — Unseen— was a dark, choose your own adventure style game. Siwek’s second title is much more immersive with your onscreen character free to move around, find items and solve puzzles.
You awaken in a strange place with no memory of how you got there. Your task is to figure out why and how they find themselves in this strange world. Along your journey you find new rooms to explore and items to help you along the way. It’s a classic recipe, but one that lends itself particularly well to the handheld format.
Unnamed is refreshing, not just for its playstyle, but as a true indie game (rather than a rescued abandoned title) it has a surprising amount of depth and atmosphere. Within moments of playing, I knew that this is a game that I would truly want to “get into” and complete. As with Descharmes‘ titles, Unnamed features an EEPROM for saving progress meaning you can pick it up without having to start from scratch every time.
The graphics are a good blend of cute and sinister and the music strikes the perfect balance of ambiance without being a distraction. The challenges and puzzles to be solved are pitched just at the right level and there’s a genuine sense of wondering if you might have missed something — which might sound annoying, but I think is the hallmark of a good RPG.
As parent company GM begins its rollout of EV’s based on the Ultium battery platform, automaker Cadillac is readying its very first electric Caddy, the Lyriq, for production. With a range of over 300 miles, a starting price of $60,000 and all the bells and whistles expected from the brand, the Lyriq could be a surprise hit when it starts landing in dealerships in the first half of 2022.
Cadillac gave us an opportunity to check out the vehicle at a studio in Los Angeles and while we can’t comment on how well it drives, it does look the part. It's a Caddy with some extra bits of flair afforded to an EV including vertical headlights and taillights that are an homage to the automaker’s classic fin era. Reservations for the 2023 Lyriq will open in September. Check the video above for the full story.
This week was all about smartphones at Engadget. Cherlynn Low spent some time with the Galaxy Z Flip 3 to determine who it’s really for. Terrence O’Brien compared and contrasted the Pixel 5a against previous versions to find out where the value lies in the upgraded model. Cherlynn also put the ASUS-Qualcomm Snapdragon smartphone through its paces to see how it stacks up against mainstream devices.
Cherlynn Low was upfront about the Galaxy Z Flip 3 in her review. Not only is it the best foldable phone yet with a fast, large screen, neat software tricks and water resistance, but it’s also now available at a (relatively) reasonable $1,000. She says it’s basically a regular smartphone that folds in half with a satisfying snap. The stronger aluminum, refined hinge and tough screen made it the first foldable she was willing to throw into a purse without worrying about scratching. She liked the widgets available for the Cover Display window, the new color options and the Flex mode, which assisted with one-handed use.
Despite that, she still feels the Z Flip 3 is a hard sell. The battery life was woefully short and rarely lasted an entire day, and the software was a bit buggy. While most apps fit nicely on the screen, there was an occasional mismatch of aspect ratios that caused difficulties. For example, the pop-up dialogs in Settlers of Catan disappeared into the edges of the display. Plus, it was hard to find the benefit for more mainstream audiences who could purchase an iPhone or Samsung handset for the same price. For those who are nostalgic or curious enough to buy the Z Flip 3, they ‘ll find themselves with a capable device that has the best any foldable can offer.
Terrence O’Brien is quick to point out that the $449 Pixel 5a is a bit of a stop-gap: The Pixel 4a 5G was a solid offering and the Pixel 6 should be right around the corner. That being said, there’s still a few things about the 5a that make it worth considering. While the 5a keeps the same processor, RAM and camera experience as the previous version, it adds IP67 water and dust resistance and an incredible battery. Terrence said the 4,680mAh battery survived through nearly 23 hours of video play before powering down, and was still at 40 percent after 24 hours of general heavy usage.
The rest of the features on the 5a include a metal unibody with a matte texture, an upgrade to Gorilla Glass 6 and a 6.34-inch OLED panel with HDR support and 2,400 x 1,080 resolution. Terrence admits that the Snapdragon 765G processor is a bit outdated, but also says that the 5a still felt responsive and quick while reading email or playing The Elder Scrolls: Blades. However, it stuttered a few times while navigating YouTube and editing photos. The camera experience is also excellent, though the same as the features on the 4a 5G: an 8-megapixel front-facing camera, a 12.2-megapixel main lens and a 16-megapixel ultra-wide-angle. Overall, Terrence’s biggest objection to the 5a was that it was a bit boring in that it’s very close to a reproduction of the 4a 5G.
Qualcomm and ASUS teamed up to create a smartphone for fans of the Snapdragon chipset, but Cherlynn Low says it's a bit too niche to broadly recommend. With a 6.8-inch screen and weighing in at 210 grams, this is one of the heavier phones that she’s tested recently — and its looks differentiate it from the competition. Cherlynn says its rounded-rectangle body, matte blue finish and shiny red accents make it stand out, but she was less fond of the illuminated icon on the rear which can glow on and off.
The rest of the $1,499 device includes a 144Hz refresh rate display, comprehensive 5G support and rapid charging. The AMOLED panel runs at a resolution of 2,448 x 1,080 and delivers vibrant colors and deep blacks. However, the 20.4:9 aspect ratio cut off some content like the ends of longer messages in Telegram. The phone includes a pair of wireless Master and Dynamic earbuds to pair with Qualcomm’s High Dynamic Range Audio Record to support high-res 24-bit 96kHz audio. However, there were several features that had yet to be released, and the phone did tend to run hot. Cherlynn says unless you’re a big Qualcomm fan or really need the refresh rate, you’ve got better options elsewhere.
First, James Trew wants you to understand what the Loupedeck Live is: a Mac or PC control surface with multiple configurable dials and buttons. He also wants you to understand what it’s best for, which is audio- or image-editing and a workflow of dynamic profiles. When using these profiles, the Loupedeck will automatically switch to the assigned buttons and rotaries you’ve selected for that program. This means the Live is adaptive and will follow you with a variety of actions and choices as you navigate.
That puts it in contrast to the competition, the Elgato Stream Deck, which works as more of a program launcher. The Loupedeck Live offers three models of control surface with each being physically distinct and intended for different uses; James says the Live version looked good on his desk. He particularly liked the mini LCD displays on the buttons, which show what each does, and the rotary dials, which he found useful for volume control or scrolling through a list. James felt the particular strength of the Loupedeck was the large amount of native-app support it offers — not only can it be helpful for streaming, but it will also lend a hand when editing or designing a logo.
