The first time you see it, your brain doesn’t register it as a keycap. It looks more like a diorama ripped straight out of a Pixar-directed sci-fi short – complete with a lone astronaut, and some sufficiently advanced quantum tech, all sealed in resin like they’re cryogenically frozen for your desk. That’s the Dwarf Factory Astrovert Quantum-ixer Spacebar. And calling it “just” a spacebar would be like calling the Millennium Falcon a cargo ship. This 6.25U artisan slab isn’t trying to be discreet. It demands attention, and frankly, earns it. Dwarf Factory’s MO has always leaned into visual storytelling, and the Quantum-ixer continues that trend with unapologetic whimsy. The SAR3 profile makes it ergonomically familiar if you’re already swimming in Cherry MX-compatible gear, but ergonomics are arguably beside the point. You’re not slamming this $99 artifact into your keyboard for WPM gains. You’re doing it because it lights up like a moonlit spaceship hangar when your RGB kicks in. Designer: Dwarf Factory Dwarf Factory doesn’t really do one-off designs. They build universes. The Quantum-ixer spacebar is the final chapter in their Astrovert series, and it plays like the climax of a well-paced space opera. According to them, this piece is the technological leap the Astrovert crew needed – essentially, the device that stabilizes their jumps through space-time. It’s less of a decorative flourish and more like the mission-critical core of their interstellar saga. The astronaut, the sidekick, the bizarre apparatus – they’re all locked in, mid-adventure, frozen inside resin like a scene from a comic book panel. This isn’t an homage to sci-fi; it’s an artifact from it, rendered in the same obsessive detail that defines everything Dwarf Factory touches. There are four colorways, each with its own visual flavor. T-800 channels a brutalist, chrome-heavy vibe – dark and industrial, almost noir. The 94B feels cooler and more clinical, with icy blue tones. PickIE takes a more playful turn, leaning into candy-colored optimism, while 14512F lands in deep-space territory with its moody purples and inky blacks. All of them look like artifacts pulled from different galaxies, unified by their surreal attention to detail. If your keyboard has backlighting (especially RGB) the translucent elements let that light filter through like some unholy alien core reactor. Sure, the spacebar has always been the most iconic key and never really needed labeling or backlit text, so something as whimsical as the Quantum-ixer feels appropriate for the keyboard. Why keep that piece of real estate empty? Why keep it boring? When you could, instead, outfit it with sci-fi tech? The spacebar fits like a dream on Cherry MX switches and clones, holding a 6.25u layout that’s standard for most mechanical keyboards. That SAR3 profile gives it a slight sculpt, comfortably sitting under your thumbs without disrupting the rhythm of your board. It’s plug-and-play in the most interstellar sense. Each one ships in a kraft box with stickers, finger gloves, and even a loose stem tightening kit, which somehow makes the whole thing feel like you’re unboxing lab equipment or a prop from a cyberpunk film. It’s silly. It’s self-aware. It’s perfect. At a glance, it might seem excessive to drop nearly a hundred bucks on a single keycap, but this isn’t about function anymore. It’s about expression. Dwarf Factory’s Quantum-ixer doesn’t improve your typing speed or enhance your workflow. What it does is transform your workspace into a miniature cosmos – something you interact with every day, but now through the lens of fantasy, imagination, and a little weirdness. And maybe, just maybe, that bit of storytelling is worth the splurge. The post The Most Ridiculously Cool Spacebar Ever Made Looks Like Some Quantum Alien Tech first appeared on Yanko Design.

My name is Esteban Maldonado and I’m a developer advocate for Unity. My job is to spread the word about Unity Gaming Services and create new educational material so developers can get started with the tools for their own multiplayer development journey.One of those solutions is Netcode for GameObjects (NGO), a first-party, mid-level networking library built for the Unity game engine. A netcode solution is essential in any multiplayer development project.One of the responsibilities of a developer advocate at Unity is to create sample games that showcase our tools, and an NGO sample was assigned to me – Galactic Kittens.However, although I’ve had my good share of professional gigs in the games industry, I personally have little experience making multiplayer games – so this was going to prove to be not just a learning opportunity for developers who use the sample, but also a learning experience for me making the game in the first place.Together with my team, we fleshed out the concept of Galactic Kittens – the difficulty level of the sample, the basic mechanics, the character abilities (which were later removed), and more.In order to tackle this sample game project, I joined forces with the talented team at Bromio in order to make this sample game come to life with polished art assets, music and SFX, and programming support. Our combined goal was to provide developers with a simple, beginner-friendly introduction to building a multiplayer game in Unity with Netcode for GameObjects.In this blog, I’ll cover the development journey for Galactic Kittens, from prototype to stable release, and how you can leverage this sample to start your own multiplayer project.Before I dive into its development, here’s a quick overview of our new sample game Galactic Kittens. This sample is a 2D co-op space adventure designed to help you learn some basics of multiplayer networking.The sample is meant to teach you necessary techniques to get started with multiplayer development, such as:Network session management, with automatic scene switchingBasic 2D movement synchronization, including changes in sprite sheetsSpawning game objects at runtime, on server sideTransferring ownership of the main players from the server to its clientVFX creation across all connected clientsHow to play sound effects and music to all clientsCommunicating player and game stats (health, enemies defeated, etc.) and displaying them on the game’s UIYou can learn more about Galactic Kittens on our website, or download the sample directly from GitHub to get started exploring the code.While I didn’t have too much experience making multiplayer games, Unity does have many public resources to help users get started with using NGO.With these resources, I started very simply by familiarizing myself with basic network concepts and terminology, using our Unity Multiplayer documentation. Next, I followed the Hello World project tutorials and studied available bitesize samples to start getting some results.After some trial and error, I was able to make a simple base prototype from scratch.At this point, there was no custom lobby, no real UI, no real connection management – you get the picture. The prototype was just two equal ships (with three Hit Points each) that moved around the screen and shot a cube bullet when you pressed the spacebar. It was just enough to show object spawning and movement synchronization across clients.It was a start, but I knew that Bromio would help us reach the finish line and turn this into a workable sample.After my initial progress, I started working with Bromio on fleshing out the prototype into something more production-ready. Like me, they did not have much experience making multiplayer games, but they took on the challenge and helped us reach our goal.In order to work more efficiently, we broke down the game into isolated components to start development in parallel – with artists working on assets and programmers working on the core logic of the game.Here’s a peak at the evolution of the art style in Galactic Kittens.Meanwhile, Bromio’s main developer and I were discovering fun and challenging aspects of making Galactic Kittens into a functioning game sample.One of the biggest challenges in development was connection management and character selection. We had to store the data of the characters in separate ScriptableObject files, which you will see when you download the project.These files contain the necessary information about each space explorer, including which sprites (player and ship) to show on the UI and the prefabs that should be spawned for each player once the gameplay scene starts.On the character selection screen, a big challenge was to make sure to acknowledge the event of a client disconnecting and to handle that event through the UI.We decided that users should not be able to pick the same character, in order to show how developers could actually do this in their own games. (It's actually easier to let players pick the same character since there’s no additional restriction.)The next challenge for connection management was the event of players disconnecting in the middle of a game session. This meant not only that the game had to adapt to players leaving, but also had to block other players from entering while a game is in session. We decided to make the connection manager only allow for new connections to come in while the host instance is on the character selection screen. This is not a one-size-fits-all solution – other games may allow for players to join late in an ongoing session, while other games may not – it’s up to developers to decide what’s best for their experience.We wanted to keep gameplay simple, with no complex AI or fancy behavior logic for the enemies or meteorites that players see. This way, we could provide a full game sample without taking away focus from showing users how to use the NGO library.As such, there are two main types of enemies and one meteorite obstacle: Space Shooter Space Ghost MeteoriteBoth enemies choose a random movement pattern, while the Space Shooter enemy is the only one that actually shoots back enemy lasers. Please refer to ourdeveloper guide for more information on how these enemies are built and how you can add your own logic.By the time we worked on the boss battle, all of the lessons learned from implementing the game’s lobby, player spaceship behavior, and simple enemies helped us to quickly build the final boss battle experience.One particular challenge was timing the warning alarm that you hear and see before the boss enters. In the end, we sent events with client and server RPCs in order to signal that the regular play experience was over and the final boss battle was about to begin.The behavior of the boss is structured as a finite state machine (FSM) that randomly selects which set of attacks to throw at the connected players. To do this, we used a C# class called BossController, which handles the transition from one boss state to another. Check the developer guide for information about the code behind this battle, and how you can add your own boss states.The #1 resource that helped us succeed in our mission to build this sample game was joining the Unity Multiplayer Networking Discord server and asking questions to the community. Here, we were able to actually speak with other developers who are making multiplayer games and also speak with Unity multiplayer service creators. The collective pool of knowledge was more than enough to help us reach the finish line.Working at Unity means I get to collaborate alongside networking savvy people who work hard to develop helpful resources and documentation that’s designed to assist everyone get started with multiplayer development. The Unity multiplayer documentation site came in handy many times – from familiarizing myself with basic networking terminology to dealing with latency to actually coding with NGO.We're definitely excited about Galactic Kittens. We’d like for you, and future NGO users, to use this sample as a step in the right direction toward your multiplayer learning journey. Please feel free to reach out in the Discord server or forums to ask questions or provide feedback and suggestions.One of the things I’m eager to learn is how to add object pooling to a multiplayer game sample. This is the technique that lets you pre-allocate the necessary memory for objects that get spawned repeatedly during a game session. In an earlier experiment, I tried this technique in an offline Unity project and it can definitely make an improvement to your game’s run-time efficiency. We’ve applied this technique to Boss Room and other UGS samples as well.If you’re starting out on your own multiplayer journey, then there are a lot of resources that my team at Unity provides to help make it easier for you.I would recommend starting at the Netcode for GameObjects page, where you can familiarize yourself with the package. Next, you can explore NGO through the Galactic Kittenssample or take small steps with bitesize samples.Once you’re on your journey, I recommend joining the Unity Multiplayer Networking Discord server and checking out the forums. And, if you feel like Galactic Kittens is too simple or not enough of a challenge, I would definitely encourage you to check out Boss Room, which is a complete 3D sample game that takes NGO development to a production-ready level.For taking your game online, Unity Gaming Services can help you even further – whether you’re looking to add the Lobby or Matchmaker services, voice and text chat with Vivox, or even hosting solutions like the P2P Relay service or Game Server Hosting. Happy creating!To find out more about recent trends and the future of multiplayer, read the 2022 Unity Multiplayer Report, which aggregates the results of over 1,500 survey responses across the US, UK, Japan, and Korea.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Windows 11 KB5058502 is out with a new Copilot shortcut, Push to Talk, and more Taras Buria Neowin @TarasBuria · May 15, 2025 13:45 EDT Microsoft is rolling out a new Windows 11 23H2 Release Preview build for Windows Insiders. KB5058502 with build number 22631.5409 is now available with the ability to remap the Copilot key and the Win + C shortcut. There is also Push to Talk to Copilot, a new FAQ section in the Settings, and other changes. Here is the changelog: Gradual rollout The following features and improvements might not be available to all users because they will roll out gradually. Text bolded in brackets indicate the area of the change being documented. [Copilot] New! You can open Copilot on Windows with Win + C. You can personalize your Copilot key and Win + C experience at any time with the existing “Customize Copilot key on keyboard” under Settings > Personalization > Text input. For Enterprise users, see Updated Windows and Microsoft 365 Coplot Chat experience. New! To open the Press to talk with Copilot on Windows, hold the Copilot key or Win + C for two seconds if you don’t have a Copilot key. Press Esc or stay silent for a few seconds to end the call. You can also use Alt + Spacebar to talk with Copilot on Windows. This feature enables you to interact with Copilot using your voice, providing instant responses while you continue your tasks. [Search on Taskbar] Improved support for web search providers in Windows Search for the EEA, including with increased discoverability. [Settings] New! Find answers to commonly asked questions about your PC and Windows 11 in the new FAQs section on the Settings > System > About. It covers topics like system setup, performance, and compatibility – all in one place. Taskbar] New! Admins can configure taskbar policies so users can unpin specific apps, ensuring they are not repinned during the next policy refresh. To turn on this feature, use the new PinGeneration option. [Voice access] Fixed: Voice access may freeze with error “working on it” when dictating. [Widgets] New! There are some new updates to the new Widgets on Lock experience for devices in the European Economic Area (EEA). In addition to accessibility and craftsmanship improvements, the Lock screen weather widget now supports customization. To configure your weather widget, go to Settings > Personalization> Lock screen and select the “Customize widget” option from the weather widget more options menu. More widgets will be customizable in the future. [Windows Share] New! Make last-minute edits such as cropping, rotating, and adding filters to images shared through the Windows Share window. New! When you drag a local file from File Explorer or your desktop, a tray appears at the top of your screen. Drop the file into a suggested app or select More… to open the Windows share window. [Input] Fixed: Voice typing won’t start from the touch keyboard when using the Chinese (Simplified) narrow layout. Fixed: When using the Symbols section of the touch keyboard, pressing the key to change pages may unexpectedly insert a character into password fields. Normal rollout This update includes the following features and improvements that are rolling out as part of this update. Text bolded in brackets indicates the area of the change being documented. [Blue screen error] Fixed: This update addresses an issue where devices encounter a blue screen error in Windows. [HoloLens] Fixed: An issue that stopped the HoloCamera app from saving pictures on HoloLens due to incorrect folder access and a related problem with Mixed Reality Capture. [Memory leak] Fixed: This update addresses an issue in the Input Service that causes increased memory usage, potentially impacting performance in multi-user, multi-lingual, and remote desktop usage. [Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA)] Fixed: This update brings profiles up to date for certain mobile operators. [Windows Shell] Fixed: This update addresses an issue when Explorer and the Start Menu stop working when a device is connected to an AAD account. [Windows Update & Servicing] Fixed: The Windows Update service stopped working when devices running Windows 11 22H2 or 23H2 tried to download the Windows 24H2 feature update through Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). You can find the official announcement here. Tags Report a problem with article Follow @NeowinFeed

Alt-Tab was among the first Windows keyboard shortcuts I learned when I first used a PC over two decades ago, right after Ctrl-C (copy) and Ctrl-V (paste). Alt-Tab opens the app switcher, which lets you quickly bring a different app to the foreground. You can use it to quickly swap between two open apps, or to cycle between all of your open apps. But what you might not know is that the app switcher can so a lot more than that. I'm here to walk you through the best tricks hidden in the commonly used Windows feature.Cycle through open appsHold down the Alt key and keep pressing Tab to open the app switcher and cycle through all your open apps. Once you release the shortcut, the selected app will come to the foreground. You can also cycle through this list in reverse order by holding Alt-Shift and pressing the Tab key repeatedly.Stop the app switcher from auto-hidingThe app switcher's temporary nature is a bit annoying sometimes. The moment you release Alt-Tab, the app switcher disappears. You can get around this by pressing Alt-Ctrl-Tab. Now, you're free to release the keyboard shortcut and keep the app switcher happily floating above all your open apps. Use arrow keys to cycle through your list of open apps, or use the mouse to directly pick the app you need. To dismiss the app switcher, simply click outside of it.If this shortcut is too difficult to press, try using the Alt key to the right of the spacebar along with Tab. So, press Right Alt-Tab and it'll also stop the app switcher from automatically hiding.Use the app switcher to quit appsOnce you have the app switcher open, you can use it to quit apps, too. Press Alt-Ctrl-Tab to open the app switcher, then move the cursor to any of the thumbnails on screen. You'll see a small X button in the top-right corner of each thumbnail. Click the X to quit that app. Alternatively, you can use the arrow keys to select any app and press the Delete key to quit the selected app.Enjoy a full-screen view Credit: Pranay Parab If a small floating window is not sufficient for you, you can make the app switcher full-screen as well. Press Windows-Tab to open the Task View, which shows a list of all open apps in full-screen. You can use this to switch to any app or to quit apps. Press Esc to leave this view.Try a third-party customization toolWhile Windows' defaults work well, you can also consider using third-party apps to customize the app switcher's theme. Both Winaero Tweaker and AltPlusTab let you change the look and feel of the app switcher. You can use these apps to change the switcher's opacity, fonts, appearance, and more.