After an official reveal at Star Wars Celebration Japan, new details on Star Wars: Zero Company have been revealed. One of the interesting things about the game is its setting, as the events of Zero Company will unfold during the Clone Wars. While the galactic civil war has been explored in detail, Zero Company will focus on the hidden stories of that conflict and the covert operations that took place. Thematically, the game draws upon Star Wars stories like the Clone Wars animated series, Rogue One, and its prequel series Andor, as well as classic World War II movies like the Dirty Dozen."The Clone Wars offers us a lot of the tools we need mechanically for the game, which is great," Bit Reactor creative director Greg Foertsch explained in an interview with GameSpot. "But it's also interesting, we haven't seen that kind of zoom level in the Clone Wars, and so it's a pretty unique spot to land that also offered a lot of great options for us from a game design perspective, to tell a really great story with some great mechanics added to it. That really opened the door for us to do a lot of things."LucasFilm Games producers Orion Kellogg and Kelsey Sharpe added that the Clone Wars era allowed for "all sorts of places in that zone" where original stories could be told. The nuanced storytelling of the Clone Wars was a big influence on Zero Company, alongside the boots-on-the-ground atmosphere of Rogue One. Films like the Dirty Dozen also inspired the idea of how the Zero Company squad comes together, but as Sharpe noted, the first Star Wars film still stands as the guiding light for the game.Continue Reading at GameSpot

Gears of War: E-Day already looks poised to be a "reset" of sorts for the series for more than one reason, but with Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago at the forefront of its narrative, it's reasonable to expect some extensive character development between the two of them. Gears of War: E-Day places Marcus and Dom right in the heart of Emergence Day — arguably the most important event in Gears of War history — as they attempt to navigate the sudden Locust Horde invasion and guard the planet Sera from destruction. Given the nature of the event, it's bound to be a deep and emotional journey for the franchise's most beloved friendship.

Go back 30 or 40 years, and video game cover art had some clear issues. It didn’t always follow precise style guides. It was frequently made in a vacuum by someone who had no idea what the game looked like. It relied on limited concept art, data, and technology. And it often sold a fantasy that didn’t accurately represent the game inside the box. Yet the lack of those things led to thousands of amazing illustrations that we’d never have gotten otherwise, with many sticking in players’ heads as strongly as the games themselves. And last year, Bitmap Books released The Art of the Box, collecting more than 350 of them. The 564-page book spotlights 26 illustrators, many of whom made their names on early game box art. As part of an effort to spotlight game-related books and documentaries, Polygon is running an email interview series with the people behind them. Check out the full list to read up on an Immortality book, a Street Fighter 2 documentary, and others. Below, Bitmap Books founder Sam Dyer discusses The Art of the Box, his love of classic game artwork, and what went into tracking down the illustrators and their work. Polygon: I love the concept of the book and how it spotlights the illustrators as much as the work itself. Where did the idea start for this one? Sam Dyer: The Art of the Box was an idea I had way back at the beginning of Bitmap Books. I’ve always loved art in general, and some of my strongest memories of games as a child are the actual cover art of games. Those powerful images of opening Batman on xmas day with that awesome gold logo, or seeing rows and rows of games in the local newsagent will stay with me forever. With the general move to non-physical in the gaming industry, it felt like the perfect time to capture the art of creating a game cover, and design a book that would preserve this dying art forever. The idea really started to progress after the premature passing of artist Bob Wakelin. The sad truth is that none of us are getting any younger, and it felt like the perfect time to make The Art of the Box happen. Teaming up with long-time collaborator Steve Jarratt, who would take care of the editorial, meant that I could wholly focus on the design and acquiring images, which made taking on the project much less daunting. Did you have any specific criteria for which illustrators you chose to include? Quality was the main one, but the biggest challenge was finding artists that: a) wanted to be involved, and b) had high-res scans of their artwork. We decided very early on that we wanted the art to appear in its original form, before the logos, text and flashes were added. This way, it can be seen as pure art, in its rawest form. These restrictions really made it tricky to get a roster of artists to contribute, but after months and months and emailing (and begging!) we got there in the end. I’m really proud that the final book showcases 26 artists, including Bob Wakelin, Steve Hendricks, Ken Macklin, Tom DuBois, Steinar Lund, Marc Ericksen, Julie Bell, and Susumu Matsushita, among many others.  I know there’s a decent-sized collector’s market for original versions of these pieces. Did that help or hurt in any specific ways when you were hunting for images for the book? I was aware of the collector’s market for video game art, however there was (for a variety of reasons), a reluctance from some collectors to share these images for the book. Of course, this is absolutely their right as the owners of the original art, but it did mean that certain artists could not be featured as sadly, they didn’t keep high-res images of their art before it was sold. Saying that, some collectors such as Nicola Ferrarese were huge supporters of the project, and offered access to their collection, and were very generous with their time. Were there any images that were particularly difficult to track down for other reasons? Any interesting stories there? There’s not one particular image, but more generally, we ran into issues when an artist was supplying us with images, but there were gaps because they had not photographed an artwork before the original was sold. In these instances, we had to try and locate the image by reaching out into the community, and also lots and lots of internet research. In very rare instances where we hit a brick wall, we worked with the excellent Gary Arnott and Jefferson Taylor who very respectfully (with the original artist’s approval) helped to restore [and] enhance lesser quality images so they were sufficient for the book.   Personal favorite piece in the book? Golden Axe (home computer ports) by Dermot Power is a favourite. I have always been a fan of Dermot’s comic book and video game work, and seeing the full size Golden Axe piece in all its glory was amazing. As a child, I only saw a small cropped version on the game box, so to see the level of detail in the full piece was pretty staggering. I also love the fact that it was painted directly onto black board, which gives it an incredible richness and dark mood, suiting the game really well.

AI and enhanced design templates make good graphic designers more essential than ever.Continue reading on UX Collective »

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.If you’ve been eyeing premium wireless earbuds but don’t want to shell out big bucks, this deal on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 earbuds might catch your attention. Originally priced at $279.95, they’re now going for $89.99 on Woot—but only for two weeks or until they're sold out. Plus, Prime members get free standard shipping, while others will have to pay $6 (just a heads up—this sale is only available in the contiguous U.S., and free shipping isn’t available for Alaska, Hawaii, or PO boxes). You also get a two-year Sennheiser manufacturer's limited warranty, so there’s some peace of mind if anything goes wrong. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 Earbuds $89.99 at Woot $279.95 Save $189.96 Get Deal Get Deal $89.99 at Woot $279.95 Save $189.96 These IPX4-rated earbuds come with four pairs of ear tips (XS to L) and three sets of stability fins, which help keep them in place, especially if you plan to use them at the gym. The controls are built into the capacitive outer panels of each earbud and are said to be quite responsive. That said, the touch controls can be a bit too sensitive—accidentally pausing or skipping tracks when you’re just adjusting the earbuds is a common issue. Battery-wise, you get seven hours per charge with an extra 21 hours from the case (decent, but expect less if ANC is on). Charging is convenient since the case supports both Qi wireless charging and USB-C.Its Bluetooth 5.2 compatibility ensures a stable connection while its 7mm dynamic drivers cover a wide frequency range of 5Hz to 21kHz, delivering deep bass without distortion, clear mids, and balanced highs. The sound quality is impressive with AAC, AptX, AptX Adaptive, and SBC supported (which should work well for most users), but audiophiles might notice the absence of LDAC support. Active noise cancellation (ANC) here is solid but not the best. It handles low rumbles (like plane noise) well but struggles with higher-frequency sounds (like chatter and clanking dishes), as noted in this PCMag review. You can tweak the EQ, adjust ANC settings, customize touch controls, and more using the Sennheiser Smart App.If water resistance is a priority, the Jabra Elite 7 Pro (Renewed, $129) offers a higher IP57 rating, making it more durable against dust and water. And if you’re after stronger ANC, the Sony WF-1000XM4 (Renewed, $134.99) might be a better pick.

EA and Lucasfilm shared first look at Star Wars Zero Company, a new single-player strategy game set in the Star Wars universe, at Star Wars Celebration in Japan. The game was originally announced in 2022 as one of three new Star Wars titles being developed or co-developed by Respawn Entertainment, the studio behind Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor, including a new first person shooter and another entry in the Jedi series. There isn't a firm release date yet, but Star Wars Zero Company will be available on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 in 2026. "In Star Wars Zero Company, players will step into the shoes of Hawks, a former Republic officer, to command an elite squad of cunning operatives through a gritty and authentic story set in the twilight of the Clone Wars," according to a press release published alongside the announcement trailer. Star Wars Zero Company was born out of a collaboration between Respawn and a new studio called Bit Reactor. The inspiration the game clearly draws from XCOM: Enemy Unknown and other Firaxis strategy games didn't happen by accident. Bit Reactor's staff includes some former Firaxis' employees, and the founder and creative director of Bit Reactor, Greg Foertsch, was a senior art director on XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2. "Our vision for Star Wars Zero Company is grounded in gameplay design pillars that weave in the immersive Star Wars galaxy with engaging turn-based tactics gameplay," Foertsch said in a statement. "It’s our aim to deliver a game with an original Star Wars story from the Clone Wars era that has meaningful outcomes from player choices, and deep turn-based tactical combat with an approachable and cinematic presentation." Striking some kind of balance between the mass appeal of Star Wars and the niche expectations of strategy and tactics fans has always been the goal of Zero Company. In an interview with PC Gamer in 2024, Foertsch and Bit Reactor's lead animator Hector Antunez (another XCOM alum) suggested that they wanted their Star Wars game to have the cinematic storytelling of Respawn's games without missing out on a satisfying strategy experience. "I don't think that complexity equals depth," Foertsch said, "and I think that that's really what we're focused on. Differentiating that nuance between those two things."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/star-wars-zero-company-looks-like-xcom-with-jedi-and-droids-135850369.html?src=rss

Shrinking is officially back in production – here’s everything we know about the third season of Apple’s hit therapy series.

Despite launching during the pandemic, Partiful survived to become a popular app for event planning among Gen Z users. It's now also competing against Apple.

Do you know where your drinking water comes from? In South Florida, drinking water comes from the Everglades, a vast landscape of wetlands that has long filtered the water relied on by millions of people. But as the Everglades has shrunk over the past century, the region’s water supply and water quality have become increasingly threatened, including by harmful algal blooms fueled by agriculture runoff. Now, the water supply faces another rising challenge: saltwater intrusion. [Photo: South Florida Water District/Flickr/CC BY-ND 2.0] Protecting South Florida’s water hinges on restoring the Everglades. That’s why, 25 years ago, the federal government and universities launched the world’s largest ecosystem restoration effort ever attempted. I’m involved in this work as an ecosystem ecologist. The risks I see suggest continuing to restore the Everglades is more crucial today than ever. What happened to the Everglades? The Florida Everglades is a broad mosaic of freshwater, sawgrass marshes, cypress domes and tree islands, mangrove forests, and seagrass meadows all connected by water. But it is half its original size. In the early 1900s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began installing canals and levees to control flooding in the Everglades, which allowed people to build farms and communities along its edges. The Tamiami Trail became the first road across the Everglades in 1928. It connected Tampa to Miami, but the road and canals cut off or diverted some of the natural water flow in South Florida. Since then, Florida’s economy, agriculture, and population have exploded—and with them has come a nutrient pollution problem in the Everglades. The major crop, sugarcane, is grown in a region south of Lake Okeechobee covering 1,100 square miles that’s known as the Everglades Agricultural Area. Nearly 80 tons of phosphorus fertilizer from federally subsidized farm fields runs off into the Everglades wetlands each year. And that has become a water quality concern. Drinking water with elevated nitrogen is linked to human health problems, and elevated phosphorus and associated algal blooms can cause microbes to accumulate toxins such as mercury. Healthy wetlands can filter out those nutrients and other pollutants, cleaning the water. Some of the ways the Everglades filters water contaminated with phosphorus. [Image: South Florida Water Management District] Rain falling in the Everglades percolates through the porous limestone and recharges the Biscayne Aquifer, which supplies drinking water for 1 in 3 Floridians. But wetlands need time and space to function properly, and the damage from farm pollution has harmed that natural filtering system. By the 1990s, Everglades wetlands and the wildlife they support hit a critical stress level from elevated concentrations of phosphorus, a nutrient in fertilizer that washes off farm fields and fuels the growth of toxic algal blooms and invasive species that can choke out native plant populations. The changes led to seagrass die-offs and widespread invasion of sawgrass marshes by cattail and harmful algal blooms. Degraded wetlands can themselves become pollution sources that can contaminate surface water and groundwater quality by decreasing oxygen in the water, which can harm aquatic life, and releasing chemicals and nutrients as they decay. A vast restoration campaign Congress approved the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan in 2000 to support reducing phosphorus concentrations by re-creating large wetlands areas to remove excess nutrients and reestablishing more of the natural water depth to bolster native populations. That restoration effort is making progress in reconnecting wetlands to natural water flows by rehydrating large areas that were cut off. Phosphorus levels are lower in many wetlands that now remain hydrated longer, and in these wetlands freshwater is recharging the aquifer, helping sustain the drinking water supply. However, delays in critically important components of that work have left some wetlands in degraded conditions for longer than expected, especially in regions near and downstream of the Everglades Agricultural Area, where phosphorus concentrations remain stubbornly high. An algal bloom spreads in Florida’s Lake Okeechobee, at the heart of the Everglades. [Photo: Nicholas Aumen/USGS] South Florida continues to experience harmful algal blooms from phosphorus reaching rivers and the coast, resulting in fish kills and the deaths of manatees. Red tide can shut down fishing and keep beach-going tourists away, harming local economies. This pollution is estimated to have cost Florida’s economy US$2.7 billion in 2018. The unexpected risk: Saltwater An unforeseen threat has also started to creep into the Everglades: saltwater. As sea level rises, saltwater reaches further inland, both in rivers and underground through the porous limestone beneath South Florida. Saltwater intrusion also occurs when wells draw down aquifers to provide water for drinking or irrigation. That saltwater is causing parts of the Everglades marshes, often referred to as a river of grass, to collapse into open water. The loss of these freshwater marshes reduces the capacity of the Everglades to remove phosphorus from the water. And that means more nutrients flowing downstream, contaminating aquifers and causing harmful algal blooms to form in coastal waters. The red line shows how far saltwater had intruded into aquifers beneath Fort Lauderdale as of 2019. [Image: South Florida Water Management District] Scientists have learned that marsh plants need freshwater pulses during the wet season, from April to November, to avoid saltwater intrusion. For example, saltwater intruded about one mile inland between 2009 and 2019 in parts of the Fort Lauderdale area. More freshwater is needed to push the saltwater back out to sea. However, the restoration effort was never intended to combat saltwater intrusion. Reasons for optimism Despite the continuing challenges, I am optimistic because of how scientists, policymakers and communities are working together to protect the Everglades and drinking water. I lead part of that restoration work through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research program. The effort started at Florida International University on May 1, 2000, the same year the Everglades restoration plan was authorized by Congress. Our research was used to set the levels of nutrients allowable to still protect the region’s water supplies, and we have been working for 25 years to reduce saltwater intrusion and phosphorus pollution to ensure drinking water for South Florida remains both fresh and clean. We continually use our research to inform water managers and policymakers of the best practices to reduce saltwater intrusion and pollution. As saltwater intrusion continues to threaten South Florida’s freshwater aquifer, Everglades restoration and protection will be increasingly important. Everyone in the region can help. By rehabilitating degraded wetlands, allowing for more freshwater to flow throughout the Everglades ecosystems, reducing the use of freshwater on lawns and crops, and reusing municipal water for outdoor needs, South Florida can keep its drinking water safe for generations of future residents and visitors. This is something that everyone can contribute to. Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Miami’s renowned conservationist who helped establish the Everglades National Park, often said, “The Everglades is a test. If we pass it, we may get to keep the planet.” John Kominoski is a professor of biological xciences at Florida International University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Opening ketchup – but make it fashion.