The private equity giant is considering investing as the video app works to follow a law that requires it to separate from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, by next week.

The Swedish retailer H&M said it is exploring the use of artificial intelligence in producing digital twins of models.

Proposedlegislation seeking to ban all Chinese nationals from studying in the United States has caused alarm in architecture schools and around higher education, adding to a climate of fear on campuses that has cropped up rapidly with the start of the new Trump Administration.Currently, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) estimates that 15% of all students enrolled in National Architectural Accrediting Board(NAACB)-accredited architecture degree programs while another 7% of all faculty at ACSA member schools identify as either Asian of East Indian.Representative Riley Moore of West Virginia introduced the bill in February under the auspices of national security. Some have likened it to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

With the Early Access release of Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone earlier this month, weve been quite curious about how developer The Farm 51 will continue to work on the game. Marketing manager Barbara Szymanska was kind enough to answer some of our burning questions about various things, including the new games focus on RPG mechanics over its predecessors survival horror vibes, and even the development of the console versions down the line.You seem to be placing a much greater emphasis on the open world action RPG aspect of the experience with Chernobylite 2 compared to its predecessor. What made the team want to pursue such an expanded scope?The first game was always an RPG and we never attempted to create a shooter. In our vision Chernobylite 2 is an expansion of all the ideas behind Chernobylite 1 we just gave more freedom and more ways of playing. The key aspect of the first game was to let you experience your Chornobyl adventure in any way you want, so in the second part youre getting new tools and ways of playing. In Chernobylite 1 we did not have the resources to build a fully open world, but thanks to Unreal Engine 5, new tools and technologies as well as a great and experienced team we were able to face this challenge and create a massive open world and let you play freely in any way you want without limits of specific missions and locations."The first game was always an RPG and we never attempted to create a shooter."The original game was already noted for its non-linear choice and consequence driven storytelling. As you move forward with the more ambitious Chernobylite 2, is that another area where players can expect the game to double down on what the original did?Non-linear storytelling and branching has always been our teams DNA. We designed consequences to players choices both in Get Even and in Chernobylite so its natural that in Chernobylite 2 the story will be non-linear as well. The sequel will have multiple endings and a branching narrative just as complex.Can you walk us through how the games progression and customization systems will work? How varied players can expect character builds to be in Chernobylite 2?The player will be able to decide what is the path of developing his character, and we give many tools to do that. At top of it, there is Planewalking, the special feature of the game that allows you to have more than one character at your disposal.The RPG mechanics in Chernobylite 1 were quite conservative because we were hesitant to venture too far into unfamiliar territory. Now, were no longer afraid. In Chernobylite 2, youll be able to spend experience points on unlocking one of 45 skills (which all will make a real difference in gameplay), and developing one of six character attributes (such as strength or intelligence), which will impact specific combat elements, unlock hidden dialogue options, grant access to previously unreachable areas, and improve proficiency with various equipment and weapons. So as you see, the players freedom to build their character is very significant.Will pacifist/non-combat builds and options be viable in the game?The players will have a lot of freedom on how they want to play. In most cases they will have a chance to resolve conflicts diplomatically, however, some missions require fighting so sometimes you will have to pick up your weapon. Still, builds focusing on persuasion and diplomatic approach to make sense."The RPG mechanics in Chernobylite 1 were quite conservative because we were hesitant to venture too far into unfamiliar territory. Now, were no longer afraid."How will you be maintaining the horror elements and atmosphere of the original in a game where the player has a lot more options and choices available?Chernobylite 1 was more of a survival horror RPG, but this time we decided to go deeper in the RPG aspect and designWith Chernobylite 2 being built on Unreal Engine 5, can you tell us what the engine will enable you to achieve with the game from a visuals and technical perspective?Were striving to make full use of all the engines features world partition (a system for building an open world), PCG (a system for generating realistic foliage), Metahuman (the entire workflow for character creation and animation), and Lumen (a comprehensive lighting system). These systems allowed us to achieve very good quality and a large scale of the project despite the small size of our team.Roughly how long is an average playthrough of the game?A tough question, as everyone plays differently. 50 hours? Maybe more Were still in development and were going to work and expand the game during Early Access so these numbers may change.Do you have any plans to bring Chernobylite 2 to the Nintendo Switch successor down the line?For now on were focusing on PC release and later on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Its too soon to say more about other platforms but we cannot rule out anything. It just depends not on if, rather than when. We did eventually release Chernobylite 1 on Nintendo Switch. The same may happen to Chernobylite 2 one day but, again, we dont have specific plans for that at the moment.Given that you have experience working with all the current-gen consoles, I was hoping to pick your brain on some of the differences between them. For instance, where their GPUs are concerned, the PS5 clocks in at 10.28 teraflops, behind the Xbox Series Xs 12 teraflops. In real terms, however, how much of an impact does that difference have during development?It is too soon to answer this and the following questions regarding consoles at this moment. Currently, were focusing on PC Early Access release and delivering the best game quality. A lot may change during this period so any specific answers about console edition technical aspects will be fortune telling.Weve proven to release Chernobylite 1 on various platforms regardless of their technical differences in the past, so we believe that we can do it again. Were happy to discuss the details when its closer to console release."For now on were focusing on PC release and later on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S."The Xbox Series S features lesser hardware compared to Xbox Series and Microsoft is pushing it as a 1440p/60 FPS console. Have you faced any problem while developing for it?Chernobylite is working well on all platforms its been released. Today its too soon to share details regarding console editions for Chernobylite 2. First we have to focus on Early Access on PC.

While many confuse the horror genre to be one full of just cheap thrills and jump scares, historically, the genre has been used to ask some rather thought-provoking questions. In film we got to see this with movies like Hereditary that had subtext about a host of different topics ranging from the concept of inherited sin to identity, and even in video games, weve seen the genre tackle some hard subject matter. Look no further than the seminal Silent Hill 2 or its more recent remake for an example. Karma: The Dark World is an interesting release where we get to see a smaller studio take a stab at some rather interesting and thought provoking questions through its story and gameplay.One of the first such questions Karma: The Dark World brings up is about the nature of memories. In the game, you take on the role of Roam Agent Daniel McGovern, working for the Leviathan Corporation as a peacekeeper of sorts. As a Roam Agent, you are tasked with investigating various small-scale crimes that might threaten the hegemony and power of the Leviathan Corporation. To do so, you will be exploring various crime scenes to find clues, and occasionally, your investigations might even end up taking into peoples minds and memories."I noticed just how much inspiration Karma: The Dark World takes from David Lynchs classic TV show Twin Peaks"The idea of being able to explore the minds of people is where the game is able to flex its horror muscles. While the real-world parts of Karma: The Dark World tend to be generally creepy, with a sense of dread constantly weighing you down, the minds of the various people you get to explore are where most of the games horror aspects intensify, becoming tense and oftentimes frightening. The parts of the game where you get to explore the minds of your suspects are often the most interesting, both visually and thematically.The first time I jumped into the memories of a suspect was around the time I noticed just how much inspiration Karma: The Dark World takes from David Lynchs classic TV show Twin Peaks. While the game doesnt have the campiness of the seminal show, it does feature similar surreal imagery, including a room draped in red where we get to experience some of our suspects deepest regrets.The story in Karma: The Dark World is told in a non-linear fashion. The game kicks things off by having the player wake up with no idea of who or where they are. After a short bout of exploration, we meet another person who, in a series of events, straps us into a chair and throws us into the depths of our own mind. From this point on, the game makes the protagonists role and objectives quite clear: solve crimes and, in the process, maybe even figure out the nature of the Leviathan Corporation.You will constantly be hopping between different time frames as you get further into the story, and will ultimately have to figure out the actual order of events yourself. The game does provide plenty of hints in its story through environmental clues, however. Subtlety also feels like it was not the priority when it came to the story of Karma: The Dark World. The allusions to classic dystopian fiction like 1984 is ever-present, especially considering the role the Leviathan Corporation plays in the everyday lives of the games citizens.Speaking of which, the Leviathan Corporation definitely sits right up there with the most nefarious antagonistic forces in gaming. Alongside running its dictatorship to fuel further profits, hints of how the company tends to treat regular citizens can often feel downright horrifying. An early example of this pops up when you find a letter where a person was punished for picking up something they shouldnt have, ultimately being forced to live out the rest of their life as a pipe cleaner, while also losing what is referred to as social credit."Subtlety also feels like it was not the priority when it came to the story of Karma: The Dark World."At its most basic level, the core gameplay revolves around slowly and methodically exploring crime scenes in order to find the way forward. Obstacles often take the form of puzzles that can range quite a bit in difficulty, from just needing to find a hidden vent, to figuring out the combination to a lock from environmental clues. A lot of the core gameplay structure feels like it was taken right out of a classic Resident Evil game, and unfortunately, things never really get much more complicated than that.There isnt really any combat in Karma: The Dark World, and the most youll end up running when facing down a horrifying creature as you traverse a suspects mind, and sometimes even hiding. Ultimately, the full extent of the gameplay falls under what the studio itself likes to refer to as a cinematic interactive story. Now, dont get me wrong; this is far from a walking-sim where you just get to passively experience a story happening around you. You get a lot more agency in this game, and absorbing every drop of environmental storytelling along with the main story being presented is incredibly important to enjoying the game.When it comes to atmosphere, Karma: The Dark World has absolutely nailed it. Visuals are a big part of this, and the environments are often downright gorgeous. This is especially true for the creepy parts of the game that have you enter peoples minds. Even in the real world, the dreariness of the world and the oppressive nature of the Leviathan Corporations iron fist on society feels ever-present. The audio is downright fantastic too; most of the music you get to hear tends to be diegetic with the sound probably coming out from a record player nearby. There are a few musical stings used to heighten the tension here and there, but most of the time, you mostly end up with just the environmental sounds and your own thoughts to keep you company."When it comes to atmosphere, Karma: The Dark World has absolutely nailed it."The only downside with the visuals is that the character models arent quite as polished as the rest of the game tends to feel. This even ends up being a detractor to the atmosphere when the ambient lighting cant quite cover up for the models. Most of the time, however, this tends to be a non-issue, since just about every other aspect of the visuals tends to make up for the relatively poor character models, be it through the expert use of lighting and volumetric fog effects, or even just a heavy dose of surrealism thanks to the distorted perspectives you often get to see through.Karma: The Dark World is ultimately an interesting experience. Its the rare horror game where, while youre not killing things and counting bullets by the buckets, youre also not focused entirely on hiding. Rather, investigation is the most important thing here, and the puzzle design, even if somewhat simplistic at times, goes a long way in reinforcing this idea. Pair that with some deliciously-thick atmosphere courtesy of excellent visuals and audio, as well as an intriguing story thats being told in a compelling way, and you get a horror experience that is well worth your time.This game was reviewed on PC.

Silene flos-cuculi, commonly known as the ragged robin, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. Native to Europe and Asia, it is found along roads and in wet meadows and pastures, and has also become naturalized in parts of North America. It forms a rosette of low growing foliage with numerous stems that are 30 to 90 centimetres (12 to 36 inches) tall. The stems rise above the foliage and branch near the top of the stem, the stems having barbed hairs which point downward and make the plant rough to the touch. The middle and upper leaves are linear-lanceolate with pointed apexes. Butterflies and long-tongued bees feed on the flowers' nectar. In addition to these pollinators, the flowers are visited by many other types of insects, and can be characterized by a generalized pollination syndrome. This S.flos-cuculi flower was photographed in Niitvlja, Estonia. This picture was focus-stacked from 27 separate images.Photograph credit: Ivar LeidusRecently featured: Joseph BazalgetteMauritius ornate day geckoFrancis Scott Key Bridge collapseArchiveMore featured pictures

March 29: Boganda Day in the Central African Republic (1959); Martyrs' Day in Madagascar (1947)Mariner101461 Wars of the Roses: The Yorkists defeated the Lancastrian army at the Battle of Towton, allowing EdwardIV to secure the English throne.1882 The Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization, was founded by Michael J. McGivney in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.1974 NASA's Mariner10 (pictured) became the first space probe to make a flyby of Mercury.1999 The Chamoli earthquake, one of the strongest to hit the foothills of the Himalayas in more than 90 years, killed at least 100 people.2014 The first same-sex marriages in England and Wales took place following the passage of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013.Thomas Coram (d.1751)Emilia Baeyertz (b.1842)Sam Loxton (b.1921)Ruth A.M. Schmidt (d.2014)More anniversaries: March 28March 29March 30ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

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Large-scale open-world games give players options and the freedom to engage with the setting as they see fit. Mini-games are a common activity that helps players immerse themselves in the world and unwind. These types of activities offer some stand-alone fun, but for games like Star Wars Outlaws, they're aimed at feeding back into the tone of the game's space-traveling smuggler fantasy.At GDC 2025, Ubisoft Paris game designer Jean-Baptiste Siraudin took some time to detail the making of Sabacc, the Star Wars universe's take on poker. During the panel, Siraudin explained just what went into building the ruleset behind Outlaws' take on Sabacc, and how real-world playtesting and looking into Star Wars lore helped refine their spin on a mini-game aimed towards diegetic storytelling.Sleight of handAs one of the core mini-games found in Star Wars Outlaws, Sabacc gives players a chance to dive into the seedy, high-stakes experience of gambling with other scoundrels to score credits and fame. Sabacc has made notable appearances in live-action Star Wars media such as Solo: A Star Wars Story and The Mandalorian, but Star Wars Outlaws features the most fleshed and immersive opportunity to engage.According to the designer behind the Sabacc mini-game, Star Wars Outlaws presented a new version of the game called Kessel Sabacc, adding a unique ruleset and more approachable take on the Star Wars universe's most popular game.Related:"The particular thing [about Kessel Sabacc] is that we didn't have to start from scratch, the game had the long-standing legacy, existing in all sorts of media, and there's Pazaak in [Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic], which is somewhat related to it," said the game designer. "But we also had the visible references from movies and shows like in Solo: A Star Wars Story. We also had our own inspiration, of course, to create this new variant of Sabacc that's somewhat like Blackjack in terms of its simplicity and emergent choices. We also took some inspiration from dice games like 421 and Yahtzee. So basically, simple games of chance, where you still have to make micro strategic decisions."Prototyping this iteration of Sabacc before introducing it into Outlaws took some time, but they found that much of the design work came from outside the game: on a normal table. Siraudin mentioned that by building up Kessel Sabacc, the developers repurposed standard playing cards and modified their rules on the fly to narrow down their game version."So the good thing about designing a card game is that it's super easy to prototype, you can actually do it with just normal cards, and so all of those rules and decisions were made with that kind of setup, and It made our iteration really, really fast," he said. "We play-tested each version, and we would change the ruleset in real-time because it was like, 'Okay, this sucks now, let's change that.' We chose the version that we felt confident of this ruleset's inherent fun and simplicity, but it still lacked depth and strategy. We introduced shift tokens, which are action cards and a nod to the previous ruleset which included a similar shift mechanic."Related:Living that Scoundrel LifeOnce the core mechanics of Kessel Sabacc were complete, the developers began work on building up the other features and the experiencewhich was about getting players to feel like a proper scoundrel. The developers' approach to presenting Kessel Sabacc within the game world was to use diegetic storytelling and presentation to properly immerse players in the setting and get them in the mood.As the designer explained in the panel, "We want Sabacc to be part of the underworld, and especially have it fit that theme, which meant for us various degrees of discoverability."When playing Kessel Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws, protagonist Kay and her tiny companion Nix join a table and face other playerswithin the game world rather than transporting players to a separate screen or isolated space. This adds a cinematic feeling to the mini-game and makes playerss aware of the other players and their cards, as cheating and bluffing is a major part of the game. Players can even call upon their companion to sneak around the table to peek at the cards of rival playersat the risk of being seen and subsequently placed under suspicion for the rest of the round.Related:Given the nature of Kessel Sabacc and the scoundrel fantasy, it was quite appropriate to learn that the developers also played a trick on players when presenting the game. According to Siraudin, Kessel Sabacc is a 2D game, with a UI placed over the animated visuals of the scoundrels sitting at their tableall with the goal of adding a heightened sense of clarity and immersion for the mini-game."We knew that in the long run, it would benefit us [to make the pace faster] because players would be willing to engage a bit more with this activity," said Siraudin. "We talked about the game, but it's time to reveal the truth because Sabacc is actually a 2D game. Why do I say that? Because all of the gameplay and interactions you see in the game are actually on the UI layer, on top of everything else. I often said that Sabacc is truly a 2D game, which is really cool. [...] I focused on two main ideas for the UI design: the idea of it being a toy and the importance of players feeling responsive and fidgeting with it. Also, focus on clarity to create context for every choice you make."Upon release, Star Wars Outlaws earned a lot of praise for its side activities, which included the Kessel Sabacc mini-game and its underworld experience. The developers felt proud of accomplishing that, which Siraudin said was worth the effort."It was extremely difficult to get there, but I think it really paid off for us, and especially when the game was released," he said. "We saw many people online were trying to recreate their own setup, printing tokens and stuff like that. So that's when we knew that we really succeeded."