Plans for Square Miles tallest tower backed for the second time almost a decade after scheme was first proposedSource: DBOXThe building will form the apex of the Citys main tower clusterThe City of London has approved Eric Parrys plans for the building that will form the apex of the Square Miles main cluster of towers.Councillors voted 16 in favour and seven against the 74-storey 1 Undershaft scheme, which will be the tallest building in the City and joint tallest in the UK with The Shard, at a planning committee meeting this morning.The Citys approval comes five months after a decision on the scheme, designed for development manager Stanhope and developer Aroland, was deferred by councillors due to concerns over loss of public realm at St Helens Square, a plaza at the foot of the proposed tower.Councillors decided this morning that a series of revisions to the proposals including a reduction in the buildings footprint aiming to save more public space had addressed concerns raised at the previous hearing in July.A strongly worded objection by the chairman of neighbouring occupier Lloyds of London, which had been posted the day before the previous hearing, was also withdrawn ahead of this mornings meeting.It is a major step forward for a scheme which has been in play for nearly a decade, with early plans for a replacement first emerging in January 2015 before receiving planning approval the following year. This scheme was never started and a heavily revised proposal by Eric Parry was submitted last year.The tower will replace the existing 28-storey 1960s St Helens building with the latest plans containing 154,000 sq m of office space, a 2,500 sq m public garden cantilevered out of the 11th storey and a viewing gallery for the Museum of London on the top two storeys.Design changes since July have also introduced a controversial 12.5 metre-wide and seven metre-high digital screen at the base of the tower which would show a rolling programme of sporting and cultural events from 7am to 10.30pm.Source: DBOX1 Undershafts neighbours include the Lloyds Building and the CheesegraterShravan Joshi, chairman of the Citys planning and transportation committee, described 1 Undershaft as a truly remarkable building that will contribute to the Square Miles targets for 1.2 million sq m of new office space by 2040 and its ambition to become a cultural and tourist destination.As another, much needed office development gets approved in the City of London, it speaks to the confidence that global investors have in the London real estate market and the UK economy more widely, he said.Im particularly pleased that we will be able to work with the London Museum to open the uppermost floors of 1 Undershaft to schoolchildren and local communities, a classroom in the sky, developing another inclusive, unique visitor destination that makes the Square Mile the best place to live, work, play and invest.Stanhope chief executive David Camp said:With our track record of delivering some of Londons most notable buildings, were hugely excited as we move into the next phase of redevelopment.The application had been recommended for approval ahead of this mornings meeting despite a series of objections from neighbouring occupiers and heritage groups including Historic England.The governments heritage advisor has maintained strong opposition to the plans due to their impact on nearby grade I-listed assets including the Lloyds building and the loss of open space at St Helens Square.It said in comments published last week that the most recent design changes made the scheme arguably worse than the proposals tabled in July because of the introduction of the digital screen, which it said would dominate the square and considerably change its character and function.The Universities Superannuation Scheme, a 90bn pension scheme which occupies several adjacent buildings, also said last month that the screen would create an environment of surveillance in the square due to the increased security measures it would require to prevent vandalism.But it was confirmed this morning that Lloyds of London chairman Bruce Carnegie Brown, who said in July that the scheme would rob the City of a really important convening space, has withdrawn his objection following meetings with the project team.Now the City has approved the latest version of the plans they will head to the Greater London Authority for further assessment and finally to secretary of state Angela Rayner for final sign off.The consultant team for the project includes WSP as multi-disciplinary engineer, Aecom on costs, DP9 on planning, FMDC on facades, David Bonnett Associates on accessibility, Tavernor Consultancy on townscape and Space Syntax on urban design.

The 156-unit energy efficient scheme forms part of the councils wider efforts to increase affordable housing supplySwansea Councils application for 156 affordable homes designed by BDP in the Bonymaen community has been given the green light.Source: BDPCGI image of the housing scheme on Brokesby Road, SwanseaThe housing scheme is set to be developed in four phases along Brokesby Road, providing a mix of one-bedroom flats, two-bedroom bungalows and three and four-bedroom houses. All units are designed to lifetime homes standard, meaning they are adaptable as the needs of residents change, such as for wheelchair use.The energy efficient timber frame homes will be highly insulated, solar-powered and heated by ground source heat pumps.Meanwhile, public green spaces, play areas for children and active travel routes form part of the wider proposal. As required in Wales, sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) also feature in the plans, aiming to manage rainwater and promote biodiversity.Andrea Lewis, deputy leader and cabinet member for service transformation, said: This is major step forward in our aims of creating more affordable housing in the city, adding to our existing housing stock.We have thousands of people on our waiting lists, some of whom are at risk of being homeless and we are committed to doing all we can to prevent this from happening.This is part of a significant investment by the Council - more than 55 million has been pledged towards housing for 2024/25 and we have committed to spending 250 million during the next five years.The council is currently repurposing a council-owned former community youth centre inBlaenymaes into four council residences and has completed similar transformation schemes at the formerPenlan and Eastside District Housing Offices.

If sitting at your desk leaves you battling back pain, shoulder tension or waning focus, a standing desk could be the game changer you need. While it wont replace a gym session for weight loss, research shows standing desks can help regulate blood sugar levels after meals, ease discomfort from prolonged sitting and improve overall focus.We put popular brands like Eureka, Ikea, Branch and Uplift to the test, evaluating everything from height adjustability and ease of assembly to quality and price. Whether youre seeking better ergonomics, a boost in productivity or just the flexibility to stand while you work, our top picks will help you find the perfect desk to fit your needs. Our Picks Great for WFH offices and commercial spaces Branch standing desk View details $699 at Branch Furniture View details Best budget standing desk Ikea Trotten standing desk View details $340 at Ikea View details The best executive standing desk Eureka Ark ES executive desk View details Additional 5% off CNET exclusive applied at checkout on Ark Standing Desk Models $1,600 at Eureka View details The best standing gaming desk money can buy SecretLab Magnus Pro XL View details $949 at Secret Lab View details Best small standing desk Branch Duo standing desk View details $499 at Branch Furniture View details Best for easy installation Uplift Standing Desk V2 View details $539 at Uplift View details Best four-leg desk Branch Four Leg Standing Desk View details $949 at Branch View details Table of Contents What is the best standing desk?In our testing, I found one desk that stands out among the others, the Branch Standing Desk. It has a mid-level price tag and high-end build quality, the Branch fits most people's standing desk needs perfectly. It has four programmable heights, and the base is so sturdy the desk feels solid even at full extension. CNETBest standing desks of 2024 Photo Gallery 1/1 $699 at Branch Furniture Pros - Lightweight and premium feeling materials - Quick and easy assembly - Can be assembled solo if needed - Memory of four heights - Cable tidy - Color options Cons - Generic look - Very business feeling Type ElectricHeight Range 26"-52"Desktop Size 48" x 30" or 60" x 30"Lift Capacity 275 lbsStorage Space NoneWarranty 10 years 9.2 $699 at Branch Furniture At first glance, the Branch standing desk looks pretty generic, but the level of craftsmanship is apparent on closer inspection. All of the materials feel premium with a weight that only comes from good engineering.Putting it together was simple and only took about 30 minutes, though I think having two people would reduce that significantly. It was also extremely well packaged -- something that Branch does with all its products -- so it was in top shape once I had it all together.The Branch desk can remember four separate heights and has a handy cable door at the back to keep your desk clear and tidy. The desk can feel a little too business-like, but if you choose one of the warmer woods and the grey legs it will likely fit into your home office better.If you are furnishing an office then the Branch desk and Verve office chair from our best office chairs is a great combination.-- James Bricknell CNET Score Breakdown 9.2 /10 SCORE Overall Rating 9.2 Material Quality 9.5 Motor Capability 9 Wibble Wobbles 9.5 Ease of Use 8.5 Ease of Construction 9.5 8.8 $340 at Ikea The Ikea Trotten is an excellent option when you need a larger standing desk but don't want to spend too much money. This simple sit-stand desk nails the basics. This standing desk option is relatively easy to install, but I did need help screwing in some stubborn hardware -- and flipping over the completed desk after finishing the setup. The Trotten measures 47.25 by 27.5 inches. It has a sturdy, easy-to-clean work surface made of particleboard and fiberboard, as well as a steel base for a stable standing desk.This adjustable standing desk model doesn't have electric controls to raise or lower the desk height, but the manual hand crank (which can be mounted on the right or the left side), was easy to turn for adjustments. When you're done using it, you can slide it back under the desk. CNET Score Breakdown 8.8 /10 SCORE Overall Rating 8.8 Material Quality 8.5 Motor Capability 9.5 Wibble Wobbles 8.5 Ease of Use 8.5 Ease of Construction 9

Yellowstoneis back on TV, and another show co-created by Taylor Sheridan could also have your attention.Landman, the latest addition to Sheridan's Paramount Plus slate, premiered on the streaming service in November. Describedby Paramount Plusas "a modern-day tale of fortune-seeking in the world of oil rigs," the West Texas-set series stars big names like Demi Moore and Jon Hamm. Billy Bob Thornton plays the lead -- Tommy Norris -- an oil company crisis manager. The show is based on the podcast Boomtown, from Texas Monthly and Imperative Entertainment, and is co-created by Boomtownhost and writer Christian Wallace.Though Yellowstone season 5, part 2 shares a release month with Landman, you won't find Yellowstone on Paramount Plus. Part 2 is currently airing on Paramount Network, and prior seasons (plus season 5, part 1) are streaming on Peacock. However, Paramount Plus is the place to find the following shows that involve Sheridan: 1923, 1883, Mayor of Kingstown, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Special Ops: Lioness and Tulsa King. If you're excited about Landman -- the next series to join that list -- here's a full episode release schedule.Read more: Taylor Sheridan's Big Oil Drama 'Landman' Is Fueled by Humor and HeartbreakHow to watch Taylor Sheridan's LandmanYou can watch the first five episodeson Paramount Plusnow. In the US, one new installment will arrive every Sunday through Jan. 12 and will be available to stream by 3 a.m. ET/midnight PT.See below for dates.Episode 6, Beware the Second Beating: Dec. 15Episode 7: Dec. 22Episode 8: Dec. 29Episode 9: Jan. 5Episode 10: Jan. 12Paramount Plus'summer price hike brought the monthly price of Essential from $6 to $8 (for new subscribers -- the price didn't rise for existing subscribers). New and existing subscribers now pay more for Paramount Plus With Showtime, which is $13 per month instead of $12. The streamer's annual plans didn't increase. Sarah Tew/CNET Apart from the addition of Showtime programming, there are a few key differences between Paramount Plus Essential and Paramount Plus with Showtime. You won't see as many ads if you have the Showtime plan, and the offering also lets you stream your local live CBS station and download titles for offline viewing. Read our Paramount Plus review. See at Paramount Plus

December 14, 20245 min readCreating Mirror Life Could Be Disastrous, Scientists WarnBreakthroughs in synthetic biology could create mirror versions of natural molecules, with devastating consequences for life on EarthBy Simon Makin Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty ImagesA category of synthetic organisms dubbed mirror life, whose component molecules are mirror images of their natural counterpart, could pose unprecedented risks to human life and ecosystems, according to a perspective article by leading experts, including Nobel Prize winners. The article, published in Science on December 12, is accompanied by a lengthy report detailing their concerns.Mirror life has to do with the ubiquitous phenomenon in the natural world in which a molecule or another object cannot simply be superimposed on another. For example, your left hand cant simply be turned over to match your right hand. This handedness is encountered throughout the natural world.Groups of molecules of the same type tend to have the same handedness. The nucleotides that make up DNA are nearly always right-handed, for instance, while proteins are composed of left-handed amino acids.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Handedness, more formally known as chirality, is hugely important in biology because interactions between biomolecules rely on them having the expected form. For example, if a proteins handedness is reversed, it cannot interact with partner molecules, such as receptors on cells. Think of it like hands in gloves, says Katarzyna Adamala, a synthetic biologist at the University of Minnesota and a co-author of the article and the accompanying technical report, which is almost 300 pages long. My left glove wont fit my right hand.The authors are worried about mirror bacteria, the simplest life-form their concerns apply to. The capability to create mirror bacteria does not yet exist and is at least a decade away, they write, but progress is underway. Researchers can already synthesize mirror biomolecules, such as DNA and proteins. At the same time, progress has been made toward creating synthetic cells from nonmirrored components. In 2010 researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) in California installed synthetic DNA into a cell to create the first cell with a fully synthetic genome.Further breakthroughs would be required to create mirror life, but they are achievable with substantial investment and effort. Were not relying on scientific breakthroughs that might never happen. I can draw you a list of things that need to happen to build a mirror cell, Adamala says. Its not science fiction anymore. Adamala previously worked toward creating mirror cells, but she now fears that if mirror bacteria are created, the consequences could include irreversible ecological damage and loss of life. The articles authors, who include experts in immunology, synthetic biology, plant pathology, evolutionary biology, and ecology, as well as two Nobel laureates, are calling for researchers, policymakers, regulators and society at large to start discussing the best path forward to better understand and mitigate the risks the authors identify. Unless evidence emerges that mirror life would not pose extraordinary dangers, they recommend that research aimed at creating mirror bacteria should not be conducted.The initial enthusiasm for creating mirror versions of bacteria began with simpler imaginings. Researchers considered the prospects of working with mirror versions of proteins and other molecules Proteins and other moleculesMany immune system mechanisms also rely on handedness. T cells, responsible for recognizing foreign invaders, for example, might fail to bind to something with the wrong handedness. So these therapies could also avoid triggering immune reactions in patients. A mirror peptide will not be readily degraded, which is why they could be great as therapeutics, says co-author John Glass, a synthetic biologist at JCVI. We see absolutely no reason to prohibit this.A potential application of mirror bacteria is might be bioreactors, biological factories that use cells or microorganisms to manufacture various compounds, such as antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals. Bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) can wipe out bacteria-based bioreactors, costing huge amounts of time and money, but it is likely they wouldnt infect mirror bacteria, because they wouldnt recognize their molecules. Similarly, natural predators, like amoebae, which consume normal bacteria, would fail to recognize mirror bacteria as food.It is these supposedly advantageous properties that gave rise to the scientists concerns. All the practical applications that drew us into this field are the reasons were terrified of it now, Adamala says. The ability to evade immune responses could allow bacteria to cause lethal infections as they multiply unchecked. Unlike viruses, bacteria dont need to interact with specific molecules to infect an organism, and mirror bacteria could infect a broad range of hosts, including humans, other animals, and plants. And a lack of predators could enable mirror bacteria to spread widely through ecosystems.Many of the authors initially thought mirror bacteria would not survive outside of a lab, given the lack of mirror nutrients, Glass says, but the report concludes that there are enough nutrients that would nourish mirror bacteria to sustain them. The researchers discuss possible biosafety measures, such as developing mirror phages viruses that could infect and kill mirror bacteria, but conclude that they are not likely to be a sufficient defense. None of the [authors] have been able to come up with a countermeasure we think would be effective enough to save the biosphere from these organisms, Glass says.Not everyone agrees that mirror bacteria pose such huge risks. Id argue a mirror-image bacteria would be at a gross competitive disadvantage and isnt going to survive well, says Andrew Ellington, a molecular biologist at the University of Texas at Austin, who develops synthetic organisms. He is unconvinced that raising an alarm so far in advance of any threat, or even the existence of technology that could be used to directly create it, is appropriate. This is like banning the transistor because you're worried about cybercrime 30 years down the road, Ellington says. He is also concerned governments and regulators may not respond as the authors expect, potentially stifling beneficial research. Im not particularly worried about a mostly unknown threat 30 years from now versus the good that can be done now, he says.While the exact risks may be uncertain, what is certain is that any threat remains remote. The technologys not here yet, so the risk scenarios are hard to tell, but this paper can start that discussion, says Sarah Carter, a science policy biosafety consultant based in California and former JCVI policy analyst, who works on biosecurity and policy implications of emerging biotechnologies. So I applaud this group for looking into the future and drawing attention to this.

December 13, 20244 min readStorm-Hunting Planes Are Taking on Atmospheric Rivers to Improve ForecastsBetter forecasting would help communities prepare for the extreme weather from atmospheric rivers that causes an average of $1 billion in damages a year on the West CoastBy Chelsea Harvey & E&E NewsA resident looks over a flooded road on November 22, 2024, in Forestville, California. A powerful atmospheric river brought heavy rains and wind to the San Francisco Bay Area for several days. Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesCLIMATEWIRE | New England was still recovering Friday from a bout of extreme weather that dumped rainfall across the region and left tens of thousands of residents without power.The midweek storm, fueled by a weather system known as an atmospheric river, produced wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour and likely gave Providence, Rhode Island, its wettest winter day on record with as much as 5 inches of rain, according to preliminary reports.Atmospheric rivers arent new to meteorologists, but they are notoriously difficult to predict.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Like their earthbound counterparts, atmospheric rivers move massive amounts of water. They can carry through the air a volume of water vapor thats equivalent to more than 10 times the water flow at the mouth of the Mississippi River.The extreme moisture goes hand-in-hand with heavy cloud cover, which is a big reason its hard for satellites to accurately observe them and for meteorologists to develop forecasts.But now scientists say theyre making strides in predicting their behavior.Researchers with the National Weather Service and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego have teamed up on a project known as the Atmospheric River Reconnaissance Program, or AR Recon.The program skirts the satellite issue by collecting direct measurements from buoys and in the ocean and from special instruments dropped by planes including NOAAs weather-monitoring G-IV jets and the Air Force Reserves famous Hurricane Hunters.The on-site data already have led to marked improvements in atmospheric river forecasts. Models using these measurements have shown as much as a 12 percent improvement for forecasts in Central California and a 6 percent improvement for the continental United States as a whole.These improvements are moving the needle for the first time ever in the last couple of decades, said Vijay Tallapragada, a senior scientist at NOAAs Environmental Modeling Center.Tallapragada is a co-principal investigator with the AR Recon program alongside Marty Ralph, director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at Scripps.The advances in forecasts are a big deal especially for the West Coast, where research suggests atmospheric rivers cause an average of $1 billion in damages each year.Accurate information on the timing and location of an atmospheric rivers landfall and the amount of moisture its carrying also helps western water managers strategically release supplies from their water reservoirs in advance, reducing the risk of damaging floods.Plans for expansionThe AR Recon program kicked off in 2016 with three aircraft missions. These flights are carefully plotted by scientists in real time each winter as weather systems develop, with aircraft directed to fly in patterns specially designed for atmospheric river data collection.The program has continued to expand in the years since, now launching dozens of flights each winter. This year will mark its most ambitious season yet.From early January through early March, two Air Force Reserve aircraft will be stationed in California and fully assigned to AR Recon, while a NOAA jet will be stationed in Hawaii. And two more aircraft will be stationed in Japan for the first time from late January through mid-February to collect new observations in the western Pacific.Ships and planes also will deploy around 80 drifting buoys across the ocean this season. And scientists will release weather balloons from stations in Washington and California for additional measurements.In future seasons, AR Recon scientists plan to expand their work and deploy flights from the Gulf of Mexico and the East Coast.And theyre starting a new partnership with U.S. universities this year too aimed at expanding weather balloon observations across the country. The pilot will kick off this winter with five university partners, with the goal of expanding to 25 universities by February 2026.The program also will rope in European partners for a one-month experiment in early 2026, flying European aircraft alongside U.S. aircraft for improved data collection over the Atlantic.At the moment, atmospheric river forecasts are most accurate about three to five days out, Tallapragada noted. The programs goal is to improve those forecasts to the seven-to-10 day range, a time period that will give emergency officials and water managers more time to plan for heavy precipitation events and try to mitigate flood risks.I think it is possible with concerted efforts across multiple agencies and the assets that we have, Tallapragada said. The plan is to make significant advancements in our prediction technologies and bring the big changes in the stagnant precipitation forecast skill.The threat of atmospheric rivers recently has drawn the attention of lawmakers. Last year, Congress passed the Atmospheric Rivers Reconnaissance, Observation and Warning Act through the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024, requiring winter season monitoring of atmospheric river systems off the West Coast.And U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced a new bill in November known as the Improving Atmospheric River Forecasts Act, which would require NOAA to establish a new observation and forecasting program within the National Weather Service.For the past several years, California communities have witnessed firsthand the ongoing threat of destructive flooding caused by intense and frequent atmospheric river storms, Padilla said in a statement. California scientists have led the way in improving our understanding of these storms, and this bipartisan bill will strengthen forecasts to both reduce flood risks and bolster our water supply and drought resilience.Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2024. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is shaping up to be one of my favourite games of all time, capturing the look and feel of the classic movies - and its rendering plays a big part in that. The standard game ships with a form of ray-traced global illumination, but Machine Games has gone one step further for the PC version, delivering a full ray tracing upgrade. This turns an already great-looking game into an even better one, often bridging the gap between RTGI and full offline rendering. It has its limitations - which we'll go into - but overall, it's a spectacular upgrade. Yes, it can be demanding on hardware, but you can still enjoy the lion's share of the benefits on RTX 4070-class hardware at 1440p resolution.The nature of full RT is that it automatically 'fixes' a lot of the issues in the standard game renderer and one of the most glaring is its shadows - or more specifically, the cascaded shadow maps cast from the sun or the moon. Moving forward and backward in the game shows big visual discontinuities, flipping between blocky shadow map representations very close to the camera in a highly distracting way. Full RT fixes that, greatly enhancing shadows quality, realism and detail.The 'popping' shadow map cascade problem disappears completely, while also reducing aliased noise in the shadows close up to the player camera, most obviously seen in the jungle sections. Without full RT, shadow maps cannot resolve final detail from the trees, so details pop in and out of existence on each frame. RT shadows present all the detail from the leaves and branches above, with full soft shadow detail and none of the awkward aliasing or popping found in the base game. Also, the basic nature of RT tech ensures you get accurate penumbral effects: shadows close to the casting object are sharp, becoming more diffuse the further away from the object they are.We can write about the enhancements of full RT - but really, you've got to see it all in action, so here you go!Watch on YouTubeSmall detail also benefits: Indiana Jones and Great Circle has a lot of high quality geometry and often, objects in the game are either excluded from the shadow map pass or they are far too small for the shadow map to resolve correctly or accurately. RT sun shadows, on the other hand, are calculated on a per-pixel basis, giving each and every rivet, blade of grass or little trinket perfectly sharp and accurate self-shadows, capable of dramatically increasing the object's apparent quality and material look.Full RT is also transformative on glass rendering. Without it, glass reflections are wholly rendered via static cube maps - basic approximations of the scene, with a very low resolution and often misaligned with the environment, looking 'wrong'. Full RT option handles reflections, giving all the glass surfaces in the game sharp ray-traced reflections that resolve the issue, rendering the correct visual information in the scene. The world looks a lot more alive in comparison and glass takes on a new sheen, literally. There is not too much glass scattered across Dr Jones' world-trotting adventure, but it is there often enough for it to be an appreciated upgrade over the base game's cube maps.Perhaps the largest upgrade to the visuals comes from the change to indirect lighting, both diffuse and specular. Specular lighting is essentially both glossy and rough reflections and diffuse lighting means the lighting that bounces around a scene, brightening up dark areas. A combination of systems are stripped out and replaced with path-traced indirect lighting which carries out multiple bounces and also has a system for caching results to accumulate even more. The base game's screen-space reflections, cube maps and a contribution from the RTGI work well enough - but there are obvious limitations. All reflections must be mirror-like, for example, which doesn't look right on rougher surfaces. Materials can also look much more flat than they should, which you'll see demonstrated to remarkable effect in my video embedded on this page.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The improvement to material quality can be substantial: polished hardwood floors now look a lot more like the real deal, showcasing very subtle reflections of bright light sources, like the sky. It's the same with marble, which looked OK at grazing angles, but just didn't look right when viewed full-on. Full RT's perspective-correct reflections alleviate that issue completely. The impact to metal rendering in particular can be astonishing: in the standard game, metal surfaces tend to look shallow and dark, so all of the glorious artefacts look dull on inspection. With full RT, metal objects reflect themselves and nearby objects. Brass, silver, and gold look much more visually distinct as opposed to looking very much the same. Multi-bounce reflections from the indirect lighting option really aid the visuals, pushing some more mundane scenes from looking 'videogamey' due to the materials being dull, to looking quite spectacularThe differences in diffuse lighting are also transformative. The standard RTGI system is based around a grid of probes that extend from the camera origin. These probes then 'send out' ray from the probe's perspective into the world around it. It's good enough to create some great results, but it's not per-pixel in nature like full RT, so it can be prone to light leakage in a variety of ways, while the amount of light bounces is also reduced, impacting fidelity. Again, the video showcases some of these scenarios quite effectively. Turning on the path-tracing, lighting is evaluated on a per-pixel level, cleaning up the errors. The fact that so many more objects are contained within the BVH structure (the geometry being traced against) adds massively to the realism, particularly evident in the more dense scenes like the jungle. Along with looking more natural, it also greatly increases contrast. This is especially apparent if you compare to Xbox Series X, where even fewer objects are traced against than PC with full RT on, the game looks generationally different in such scenes.So the game looks a good deal better, but not everything is better as the full RT implementation in Indiana Jones isn't quite as comprehensive as that seen in Cyberpunk 2077 or Alan Wake 2. It does look better nearly everywhere, but in some areas, the differences are much smaller because there is still some left-over rasterisation in some unexpected areas. Shadows and direct lighting not from the sun are still rasterised and using shadow maps. Indoor areas often exhibit the same shadow map 'acne' and issues in the base game. So, shadows 'pop' their level of detail quality, light leaks through objects not properly accounted for and there are even non-shadow casting lights. Indiana Jones isn't using RTXDI or ReSTIR Direct Lighting, so some lighting is still going down the rasterisation path.Before the arrival of full RT, it was all about the standard PC version and those all-important optimised settings - and here they are!Watch on YouTubeAnother issue is that bodies of water still use screen-space reflections. There are no RT reflections here, which looks very strange indeed. Then there are some more bizarre issues. Indiana Jones as the player character is seen in reflections, but curiously, his hair is not! And where hair is visible, it just looks wrong - the hair on Indy's hands, for example, just isn't presenting correctly. The last oversight is that cloth in the game does not seem to have light permeate it to the other side. This looks like an oversight and not a technical limitation, as the vegetation for the game does show lighting and shadow transmission perfectly with the path tracing on.It's also important that DLSS ray reconstruction is added to the game. Right now it's using Nvidia's NRD denoiser, which is fine but has issues. Reflections in movement can smear and exhibit lag. Reflections in reflections can be a bit unstable too. This is far from a disaster but I am pretty sure ray reconstruction would do a much better job and may even improve performance. If these negative points here put you off, wait for further patches as I expect they will be addressed.On the flip side, the concessions made to the full RT implementation result in a 'lighter' game than Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2. The majority of the b-roll in the video I created uses DLSS quality mode on an RTX 4090 with no frame generation - which simply wouldn't be possible in, say, Alan Wake 2. The only exception to this is in the jungle area, which is heavier and required me to drop to DLSS performance mode - again, with no frame generation. How does the game scale down? Well, VRAM is an issue so an RTX 4070 with 12GB of memory, the texture cache option will need to drop high or medium to get decent performance. Even with texture cache concessions in place, you still need DLSS performance mode to get good frame-rates - but the hit to quality is too high. RT sun shadows are the most transformative effect in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle's full RT feature set - and you can run that just fine, even on an RTX 4070. | Image credit: Digital FoundryFor this class of hardware, I'd be recommending 1440p resolution in DLSS quality mode with the full RT setting on medium. You'll get RT sun shadows and a boost to the game's base default RTGI. Above that, the high full RT setting adds in single-bounce RT reflections, which replace SSR and cubemaps with RT reflections, greatly aiding indirect lighting quality and the quality of materials like metals. For a 4070 though, the combination of RT sun shadows and the image quality from DLSS quality mode is still great and will run at 60fps, even in the jungle areas.One final thing. In our initial coverage, we complained about cutscene animation issues. The latest patch notes suggest it has been fixed, but it's definitely still there. In numerous cutscenes in the Vatican and thereafter, many of the cinematics played out with many animations still running at 30fps. It still looks pretty bad and definitely needs developer attention.I'll level with you: I was disappointed when the early access version of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle failed to ship with full RT features, but it's here now and I'm highly impressed by the presentation. An already stunning game is further transformed and while the totally uncompromised experience running at 4K resolution is going to require some serious hardware, RT is scalable and it's still possible to get an elevated experience on more mainstream-level kit like an RTX 4070. There are improvements to be made and issues to fix, but the full RT experience in this game is simply beautiful and I highly recommend checking it out if you have the means.

What we've been playing - advent calendars, tricksy trials, and ages of dragonsA few of the things that have us hooked this week.Image credit: Eurogamer Feature by Robert Purchese Associate Editor Additional contributions byTom Phillips, and Victoria KennedyPublished on Dec. 14, 2024 13th DecemberHello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing over the past few days. This week, we admire temporary rule-changes in a game, we play a real-life advent calendar somehow, and we push to the end of a long fantasy adventure.Catch up with the older editions of this column in our What We've Been Playing archive.Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Xbox Series XThis week I've been looking at my Xbox version of Spotify Wrapped - the thing that lets you see how much time you've spent playing games this year and which games you played the most - and while my favourites weren't too much of a surprise (an egregious amount of Fortnite and another 90 hours of Baldur's Gate 3, standard) I was taken aback by the amount of time I'd already put into Dragon Age: The Veilguard.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Watch on YouTubeTo be clear, I have not yet finished The Veilguard. I fully intend to, and maybe next week when I have some time off I finally will, but right now, going by Eurogamer's handy list of main missions, I think I'm only probably around half-way. And I'm already at 45 hours. Have I really spent nearly two days playing? I mean I guess so - I've put in an hour or so a night for a lot of the past month. But what have I actually been doing? Is everyone else taking this long?I think I'm playing The Veilguard slowly, not just in the short length of my play sessions squeezed around life's other bits and bobs, but also physically in how I move around its world. I do fast travel, obviously, because actually going through the Crossroads and finding the right Eluvian portal to each area would be ridiculous. But when I do find myself walking through those areas, I am actually walking, compared to so many other games where I feel compelled to run.The Veilguard is beautiful, and its large areas are smartly designed to funnel players to specific places while maintaining a sense of freedom. This isn't open-world, or whatever Inquisition was, where you can run up a hill and find nothing much worth your time when you get there. The Veilguard's areas feel curated, their limited spaces enhanced by a great view whenever you're on the way to something specific.Plus, of course, I'm doing all the sidequests. I have a fairly good idea where the game is heading - I can see the faction reputation bars that need filling and I am something of a completionist, especially when it comes to BioWare games. So, yes, 45 hours in and probably another 45 to go. But that's fine - I'm enjoying my walking! I don't really want it to end.-Tom Path of Exile 2, PC In I go. Wish me luck? | Image credit: Eurogamer / Grinding Gear GamesI'm smitten by Path of Exile 2 (as you'll no doubt have gathered from my Path of Exile 2 early access review). There's so much good thinking across the game. Something I'm currently alternating between loving and being frustrated by are the Trials of the Sekhemas, which are trials you must complete in order to earn your ascendancy - your class specialisation - because they show so much of what the game is about.Number one: they have a cool setting. The Trials are housed in a mysterious temple that's carved into a dark canyon, the braziers of which light up as you walk past, as all furnishings in cool temples are wont to do. There's little to no explanation of how it works when you get there, which is maybe an early access thing or maybe a Path of Exile 2 thing - it's hard to tell (I'm totally okay with it being the latter). You just talk to an equally mysterious NPC - who you recently fought in battle - and head in. It's eerie, it's dark, it's foreboding.Number two: the Trials change the rules, and I adore this. ARPGs can become switch-off games when things get too repetitive, so finding a way to mix things up works really well.There's loads of information in this Path of Exile 2 trailer.Watch on YouTubeThe Trials flip the game into a kind of Roguelike where you have to complete alternating trial-types across a series of rooms, that you plot your route through on an adjoining map, all of it culminating with a boss fight at the end. But here, instead of losing only health in the normal way, you also lose Honour, which is a resource specific to the Trials. And should your Honour reach zero, you will fail. It doesn't matter if you have a full health bar - you will fail and have to start again.Therefore, you have to be much more careful and respectful of enemies. You can't rely on recharging shields or health potions to get you through; once Honour depletes, it's very hard to top back up, and you'll need as much of it as possible to take on the boss at the end.I still haven't beaten the first trial - these things scale right up into the endgame by the way. It's taken me numerous runs to really understand how it works and how best to approach each room and what the boons (buffs) do and what the afflictions (debuffs) do, and something about being a melee character makes the final boss encounter really tricky. But I'm getting closer - it's slow going but I'm getting there.But I'm enjoying it - that's the key thing. I'm learning, and that's what Path of Exile 2 is about. I've been forced to learn more about how enemies work and where I'm taking damage - damage I didn't even used to notice. In essence, the game has found a way to teach me more, and I love that.-BertieAdvent calendar, cardboardI am a small elf, working hard to get everything ready for Christmas - I can't let everyone on the Nice List down. But, oh no! In a bid to get things just so, I accidentally locked myself inside a cupboard in Santa's Workshop, and now I must find my way back out again before Christmas Day. Image credit: EurogamerThis is the premise of my advent calendar this year. It is an escape room, and every day I must solve a puzzle which will lead me to the next door (and a rewarding square of chocolate). There are no numbers on the outside of the advent calendar, which adds an extra thrill to the puzzle solving process. The only way to know if I have solved the puzzle correctly is by opening a door and seeing if the number on the inside lines up with the date.So far, the puzzles have seen me cutting up one door and rearranging the pieces to form a word, which led to the next door. Another puzzle saw me flipping the whole calendar over and using a previously removed door as a compass of sorts, which then pointed to some flags that related to different letters of the alphabet. When I found all of the letters, they spelled out a word which led me back to the front of the calendar, and to the correct door. I definitely felt like I had earned my chocolate that day.This year's advent calendar is easily my favourite advent calendar to date. It even trumps last year's coffee one, which is something I never thought I would say. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a rather curious image of a checkers board that needs my attention. Byeee!-Victoria

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereEpic Games released the Fortnite OG mode on December 6, which turned out to be a massive success. Veteran players got a chance to relive their memories, while new players were given an opportunity to play the season that was released long before they started their Fortnite journeys. Due to this, its no surprise that the mode peaked at 1.3 million concurrent players.The original mode is certainly fun and was quite challenging before Epic added bots to it. However, the Fortnite developer has a different plan. The ranked mode of Fortnite OG will come out soon and will have no bots. Epic Games revealed the release date of the ranked playlist, so lets check it out.When will the Fortnite OG Ranked mode come out?According to Epic Games post on X (formerly Twitter), the ranked version of Fortnite OG will be released on Monday, December 16. Considering that we recently got a new update, there will be no need to download a new one. Instead, the mode will be automatically added to the game and will likely be playable at 9 AM Eastern Time.The ranked mode will remove bots from Fortnite OG. Image by VideoGamerThe Ranked OG mode will have both Battle Royale and Zero Build versions. While the classic mode with building has been much more popular so far, adding a competitive version of Zero Build is certainly a step in the right direction. The OG mode with building peaked at 1.3 million concurrent players, while Zero Builds peak was at only 342,000.Besides the ranking system, the Fortnite OG Ranked mode will completely remove bots. This will make the game more challenging and will be perfect for anyone whos looking to compete against real players. Furthermore, the upcoming mode will likely feature several free cosmetic items, although this hasnt been confirmed yet. Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereBallistic is a new Fortnite mode that was released on December 11. Its in an early access phase, yet still getting hundreds of thousands of players every day. Unlike the rest of Fortnite, this features a first-person perspective. On top of this, its a tactical mode similar to Counter-Strike and Valorant, where teamwork and strategy are the key.On Friday night, Epic Games released the first balance update for Ballistic. It features two nerfs, as well as an adjustment to walking speed.Fortnite Ballistic patch notes Despite being out for only three days, the new game mode received rather big changes. This shouldnt come as a surprise, however, as Epic has been able to gather a lot of feedback thanks to the popularity of the mode. It appears that two items, Flashbang Grenade and Recon Grenade, performed much better than expected. Due to this, Epic nerfed them with the first balance update.The game developer posted Fortnite Ballistic patch notes on X (formerly Twitter), revealing all the details about it. Without further ado, these are all the changes that came out with the new update:The maximum duration of Flashbang Grenades was reducedTracking time on the Recon Grenade was reducedIncreased walking speed to match crouch speedFlashbang Grenade was nerfed in Fortnite Ballistic. Image by VideoGamerThese changes are active in both ranked and non-ranked playlists of Fortnite Ballistic. Considering that the game mode has only been out for a couple of days, we expect even more balance changes over soon. However, Epic Games will take a winter break in late December, which is why the next update may have to wait for early 2025.So far, the non-ranked version of the mode has been more popular, reaching a peak of more than 300,000 concurrent players. The ranked mode, on the other hand, peaked at approximately 169,000 players. FortnitePlatform(s):Android, iOS, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/XGenre(s):Action, Massively Multiplayer, Shooter9VideoGamerSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share