#VI Simultaneous Localization And Mapping | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

slapshot-to-the-heart · 7 years ago

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Scars

Hi folks! Here’s Part VI for our ongoing adventure with Alex and Harry, the Chaos and the Calm series. Please keep telling me what you think, good, bad, or ambivalent, I want it all- it helps me become a better writer! Please keep reblogging and liking it so more people get a chance to read it. I’m sorry this one took a bit longer to write, so I hope you all like it!

Scars

August 2019

We grow apart/I watch you on the red horizon/Your lion's heart/Will protect you under stormy skies/And I will always be listening for your laughter and your tears

“I miss you, H.” Alex sighed into her phone. He had been gone for nearly two months, and it was beginning to take a toll on her. Aside from a three-day weekend that she flew out to Nashville for, where he was touring, the couple had spent nearly all of the time apart.

“I know, love,” Harry responded. His heart ached every time he heard her like this, knowing that he was simultaneously the cause of her grief and the only way it could be alleviated. FaceTime was great and they talked on the phone nearly every day, but it did nothing to replace the ache that seemed to leave a hole in both hearts. “It’s just another week, and I’ll be back in New York. Back to you.”

Alex picked at her fingernails, an annoying habit of hers she had picked up in childhood and never been able to quit. “But that’s only for a month, and then you’re off to Europe. How long is that bit, again?”

“About six weeks,” Harry began, “but let’s not worry about that now, okay?”

“Yeah.” She let out a shaky breath, praying that he couldn’t hear her. “I didn’t realize how hard it would be. This. Us.”

“Love—” Harry started, worried.

“I’m not saying that I want out. God, I don’t want out. It’s just a lot to deal with. It’s hard to talk about a relationship when one of the people isn’t even here half the time.” Alex said. No malice was behind her voice, only a quiet sadness.

“I know, Alex. It’s hard for me being away from you and feeling like I’m constantly living out of a suitcase, but I can only imagine what it’s like for you to be juggling work and finding time for us and everything else you’re doing in the city.” Alex could imagine him running a hand through his hair, tugging at the ends like he was prone to do when stressed out.

“We’ll manage,” Alex replied, a small smile on her face.

“We always do,” Harry said. Hearing another voice in the background of the call, Alex heard Harry’s voice muffled as he responded to whoever was on his end. “Listen, love, I’ve got to get going, but I love you and I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay, H. Love you too.”

But you're miles away/You're breaking up, you're on your own/It's hard to take/I need an hour just to say hello/And I can't make the truth of this work out for you or me

The next week was hard for the both of them; as much as they tried to make time for one another, contact was confined to hurried phone calls and short texts, promising they would see each other as soon as humanly possible and that they missed each other as much as humanly possible. Alex didn’t blame Harry, not in the slightest. It was true that she might not have known exactly what she was signing up for when they decided to make a run for it, but she was stubborn as hell and willing to do whatever she could to make it work, to make them work. Even before they had started dating, it seemed that they were always a unit. It was seldom just Alex or just Harry, almost always Alex and Harry. They went to the same schools, did most of the same extracurriculars, and ran in the same circles. Alex knew that she was didn’t need Harry to complete her, that she was an independent, strong, complex person all on her own, but it was hard to figure out where exactly she fit in her world when he wasn’t around. So, to distract herself from the fact of Harry’s absence, Alex had tried to fill her time, in any way she could. She threw herself into her work, started volunteering at a local animal shelter, and took her friends up on nearly every opportunity to go out for dinner or drinks.

While she may have had less free time in her life with her newfound commitments, Alex was frustrated to find out that it did next to nothing to get the longing for Harry out of her mind. So, when he texted her, saying his plane was about to land, she breathed an audible sigh of relief. While she did rely on the subways for her primary form of transportation, it was moments like these when she was grateful that she was leasing a car. Grabbing her purse and keys from their place by the entryway, Alex locked the door and sent Harry a text. I’m on my way, can’t wait to see you, H! Love you lots. A few minutes later, she was pulling out of the apartment complex and onto the streets of Brooklyn. Google Maps had promised her it would only be a 20 minute journey to JFK, but she left herself an extra ten minutes, never trusting their predictions of New York traffic.

Flipping through her Spotify, Alex let out a small grin when it fell on Only Angel. So that’s how it’s going to be, is it? She thought. It had always been her favorite off of the album; a video of her dancing to it at a pop-up show Harry did in New York had briefly gone viral. Eventually the playlist moved on, but Alex was humming along to it all the way until she pulled into the short-term parking lot. Locking her car, she shoved the keys haphazardly into her purse and pulled out her aviators. Harry had said he wasn’t expecting too many fans or paparazzi, but she had taken to carrying around sunglasses ever since they had gotten caught off-guard by a group of photographers while in Central Park back in May. A few minutes, two elevators, and a moving walkway later, Alex arrived in the domestic terminal. She glanced at her phone, seeing a text from Harry two minutes previous telling her that he was nearly there. Wearing the green coat, he had said. Tapping a foot, Alex kept her eyes flicking between her phone and the escalator. She didn’t have to wait long. Not quite a minute later, Alex caught sight of the green pea coat she loved so much on the man she loved even more.

He caught sight of her just after, a huge, genuine smile appearing on his face. WIth just a little extra spring in his step, he hoisted his duffel onto his shoulder, nearly tripping off of the escalator at the bottom. Grinning, Alex took a few steps towards Harry, and he met her halfway.

“I missed yeh so much,” Harry said, his words muffled by her hair.

“Not half as much as I did,” Alex responded.

And as soon as I can hold you once again/I won't let go of you, I swear

Taking Harry’s duffel from him, they began to exit back towards the parking lot. There were only about a dozen fans milling about, and both Harry and Alex were grateful for the relative peace and quiet. He loved his fans and were incredibly grateful for all that they had given him, but it had been a long few months and there was nothing he wanted more than to snuggle with Alex back at his apartment. After a few minutes of speaking with the fans and photos taken, Harry and Alex were finally on their way to her car. He caught her up on the past week while walking— one of his crew had gotten absolutely smashed after a show and had ended up singing Celine Dion on top of a table, apparently. Alex told him about an adorable puppy she was working with at the shelter, a beagle that “gives me even more kisses than you do, H.” Alex turned onto the freeway, headed to Harry’s apartment. They had already decided she would sleep over that night; neither could bear having to say goodbye too early.

NPR was playing on the way back, and Alex turned the car off right in the middle of what she was sure was going to be a thrilling story about a newfound species of Angolan beetle. Once again taking Harry’s bag over her shoulder, she followed him into the elevator, realizing that she hadn’t brought a bag of her own. She supposed she didn’t even need one, really. She had gotten ‘a drawer’ a few months into the relationship, and bits and pieces of her wardrobe and belongings had migrated over into his apartment. She was sure there were a few outfits, positive at least one toothbrush— she had a bad habit of misplacing them— and a box of tampons under the sink, should she need them. Shrugging almost imperceptibly and smiling at her absolute dream of a boyfriend, she stood to the side of the entryway as he opened the door.

“Home,” he said dramatically, dropping the handle of his suitcase and spinning around slowly, arms out.

Alex laughed. “Come on, babe, let’s get you unpacked.” Harry had a bad habit of leaving his clothes in his suitcase, and Alex knew if she didn’t get him to do it right then, they might stay in until the European leg. Groaning good-naturedly, Harry followed her into his room, where they set his luggage on the bed and began to unpack.

The TV flicked as Alex snuggled against Harry’s side, trying to keep her eyes open as the clock struck 11. “You’ve never watched Lord of the Rings?” He had asked incredulously, before shaking his head and slipping the DVD in.

“I wish we could stop this moment and just stay here forever,” he whispered, gently stroking her loose curls.

Alex’s head turned to face him, her eyes blinking in an effort to stave off the tiredness that was threatening to overtake her. Shit, Harry thought. She wasn’t meant to hear that. Nope.

“Me too, H.” Alex said softly. “I don’t know, and this is me being honest, I don’t know if I’ve ever been as happy as I am when I’m with you, when I’m in your arms. You have this weird, almost magical ability to make me forget all of the stress in my life, everything that’s bothering me, even if it’s only for a moment.”

“You never told me that before.”

Alex gently kissed his neck. “I didn’t know if it could scare you, and the last thing I wanted to do is make you want to run. God, I don’t know what I’d do if you did.”

Harry took a shaky breath. Alex meant so much to him, so was so incredibly valuable to him that he didn’t think he’d ever be able to properly express it. She was the lighthouse that pointed him back home when he flew off-course, the rock that kept him grounded and humble when the bright lights of the stage threatened to overtake him, and the one person he knew he always, always wanted to come home to. He knew so clearly how he felt about her, and hearing that she felt just as strongly meant more to him than he could say. “I’m all in, Alex. I’m in it for the long haul.”

She leaned her head back on the crook of his neck. “Good. Because I am too.”

We live through scars this time/But I've made up my mind/We can't leave us behind anymore

As the movie ended, Harry folded up the blankets while Alex threw the spent popcorn bags into the garbage can. She finished before he did, and was already rummaging for her clothes as he came into the bedroom.

“H, have you seen the top that goes with these?” She asked, holding up a pair of flannel pajama bottoms.

Harry crossed to his dresser, pulling open the top shelf and handing her the shirt that was folded inside. “Yeh left it here after we packed for this last leg of the tour. Think you were a bit pressed for time,” Harry said, remembering the moment with a grin. Alex took the shirt gratefully, moving into the adjacent bathroom to brush her teeth and wash up. Walking up to the doorway, he thought carefully about his next words. “When do yeh think you’ll bring over the rest of your things, love?” Harry said slowly, looking at the mirror in an effort to gauge her reaction. She stopped brushing for a moment, a bit of foam from her toothpaste dropping into the sink. Washing out her mouth, Alex put her toothbrush back in the drawer and turned to Harry.

“Are you asking me to move in with you, Harry?” Alex said carefully. She was near-positive she hadn’t misinterpreted his question, but didn’t want to respond wrongly and make a fool of herself.

Harry nodded once. “Why not? I know your lease is up at the end of the month. You’ve already got a key, plenty of your things over here, and it’s closer to the subway line; it’ll be half the time to work.” The reasons seemed to tumble out of his mouth, and as they did, Harry realized just how much he wanted this, just how much he wanted to share this part of his life with Alex as well.

Alex reached up, resting one hand on his cheek. “You sure about this, babe? I know it’s a massive commitment.”

Harry nodded, leaning into her touch. “Wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t positive, love. So…,” he trailed off, “what do you think?”

“I think I’d better call my landlord and tell her I won’t be renewing my lease.”

“Hey, Lex?” Harry said, rolling over on his bed— their bed now, he remembered— just as she was dozing off.

“Yeah, H?” Alex asked sleepily.

“What do you think about coming along for the next leg of tour?”

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arkhet · 4 years ago

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thatxxibgdrgn-blog · 4 years ago

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All you need to learn about self localization and mapping

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keepingupwithamm · 4 years ago

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amariejewelry · 4 years ago

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schraubd · 7 years ago

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David's Personal Top Ten Video Games

This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time. It is a personal list, reflecting the games that have stuck with me the most over the years. I'm not enough of a gamer to claim it is anything comprehensive, and it has a strong bias to the sorts of genres that I like. Nonetheless, I'd stack these games against any that have been made in my lifetime. Anyway, without further adieu ....

Honorable Mentions:

Portal 2: How can a game with virtually no “dialogue” (if that means conversations between two characters) have some of the best spoken lines in all video game history? I have both the original and a capella versions of the Turret Opera on my iTunes (yes, I have “Still Alive” as well).

Railroad Tycoon II: A brilliant simulator that makes you actually feel like a turn-of-the-century robber baron (by far, the game is most fun to play when set in the late 19th century). If every man goes through his “trains!” phase, this was mine. As in real life, I am not good at playing the stock market.

Horizon: Zero Dawn: Robot dinosaurs! Incredibly, Horizon: Zero Dawn takes a core concept that sounds like word association from an over-caffeinated twelve-year boy and makes an entirely serious game about it—and it works. It works so well, in fact, that I loved it despite the fact that the plot and entire world-building background centers around my single greatest phobia (no, not that—being alive for the extinction of humanity).

10. Sid Meier’s Gettysburg: I find it odd that very few games have sought to replicate Gettysburg’s spin on an RTS—focusing combat around regiments rather than individual units and prioritizing morale over raw numbers. But the thing I like best about Gettysburg—and sadly it’s mostly unique too—is in how it concentrates on controlling territory (and terrain). Many RTS games, for me, might as well have a blank screen over 80% of the map between my base and my opponent’s base. You build up your force, and then try to swarm your opponent before he or she swarms you. But in Gettysburg, the goal of missions is not “wipe out your opposition”. It’s to capture and hold a ridge, or dig in and hold an exposed farmhouse.

My only critiques are that I want this game to be bigger. I want it to encompass dozens of map spanning the entirety of the Civil War. I want to be able memorize even more obscure Union and Confederate generals and wonder if they really were “mediocre” or if that was just a game balance decision. The random battle generator is okay, but this game screams for user-created expansions which I’ve never been able to find.

9. Crimson Skies: A pulpy fun flight simulator taking place in an alternate history 1930s where America has fractured and Zeppelin travel rules the day. The game doesn’t hesitate to lean into its concept (phrases like “broad” and “floozy” abound), and it does a great job world-building in a relatively short period of time. Somehow, I could meet an enemy “ace” for the first time in the middle of a mission and yet still feel like we had a history of epic dogfights together of which this was only the latest. Meanwhile, each of the locations the game takes you to (Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest, Hollywood, the Rocky Mountains, and New York City) are a blast and a half.

A sequel, High Road to Revenge, was released on Xbox and leaned a little too hard into the arcade-y elements (power-ups, automatic evasive maneuvers with the press of a button, and so on). But the original PC game was just right—planes flew exactly like how someone who knows nothing about planes thinks planes fly, which is just perfect. You felt like an ace pilot because of your skill (even though behind the hood the game is really holding your hand). Piloting a gyrocopter through half-built New York City skyscrapers, or a prototype single-engine through the Hollywood "O", is great. Doing it to evade local security, then doing a loop and turning both guns on them -- well, that's the cat's meow.

8. Mass Effect (Trilogy and Andromeda): As far as I’m concerned, the definitive space opera (even muscling out Halo). Fabulous voice acting (listening to Martin Sheen play evil Jed Bartlett is one of the great joys of my life) and memorable plot lines pair with a morality system that at least inches away from “basically decent person or utter asshole.” The universe feels genuinely alive, like there’s an ecosystem and civilization that you’re very much apart, but also moves in your absence.

I can’t really separate out the core trilogy games from one another (each sequel seemed to simultaneously step slightly forward and back), which is not I think an uncommon position. What may be more uncommon is that I think Andromeda stands right in there with the core series. Yes, it was disappointing that it took us to a brand new galaxy and only gave us two new species (while eliminating many of the more backgrounded Milky Way aliens). But I was much more disappointed that there will be no DLC or sequels to continue the story and tie up loose ends.

7. N and N++: There can’t be any serious controversy that N is the greatest Flash game ever made. While Flash demands simplicity, N is not so much simple as it is elegant. It is the perfect balance of speed and control, thoughtfulness and twitch-trigger reflexes, serene relaxation and butt-clenching tension. Once you master the floaty physics and the unique enemy styles, you will truly feel like a ninja—stripped to its core essence and deprived of all the usual but unnecessary bells and whistles. A virtually unlimited supply of levels guarantees you endless gameplay.

And so it is unsurprising that N was one of the rare flash games that made a successful jump to a full true game (in the form of N++), one that has a strong claim on being the greatest platformer ever made. The developers were wise not to disturb the basic formula: run, jump, and slide around a level, dodge obstacles and traps that will kill you instantly, reach the exit. Repeat ad infinitum. But N++ adds just a splash of additional flavors and spices into the mix. A perfect trip-trance soundtrack that sets the mood perfectly (and may single-handedly stave off keyboard-smashing frustration). A few new enemy types that deepen the game without ruining its austere grace. And perhaps most importantly, it adds a bunch of extra, semi-secret challenges (which can be used to unlock still more levels) waiting for the very best-of-best players.

Of all the games on this list, I might be in absolute terms “best” at N++ (there are a non-trivial number of levels in the game where I have a top 100 or even top 10 score on the global leaderboards). And yet there is not the slightest chance that I will ever perfect this game, or even come close to it. Nor is there any chance I will become permanently sick of it. A simple concept, executed brilliantly. The perfect N++ level is also the perfect description of the game.

6. Final Fantasy IX: The question was never whether a Final Fantasy game would make this list, only which one. I’ve long had a soft-spot for FFIX, which I feel is often overlooked inside the series (in part because even on release it seemed players were already looking ahead to the Playstation 2). Yet it’s hard to find fault in Final Fantasy IX as an emblem of a straight-forward JRPG. It has a moving story, fun gameplay, beautiful music, loads of quests to do and places to explore, a fabulous supporting cast (Vivi might be my favorite Final Fantasy character ever written), and a lead character you don’t want to punch (*cough* Final Fantasy X).

Final Fantasy IX is often described as “nostalgic”, and despite the fact that it was only the second game in the series I had ever played, I got that feeling instantly. Try listening to the soundtrack for “Frontier Village Dali” without feeling a little melancholic. You don’t even have to have played. But I recommend that you do.

For the record, my ranking of Final Fantasy games that I’ve played goes: IX, VII, XII, XV, X, XIII.

5. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood: One difficulty in judging games within a series is how to compare an earlier game which still had some rough edges but represented a quantum leap forward versus a later game which didn’t do anything super-novel but tweaked the formula to perfection. That, in a nutshell, is the difference between Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. Now, for me, this is an easy call for idiosyncratic reasons—I played AC:B before AC II, and so I experienced the former as both the perfected model and the quantum leap forward as compared to the original game. But I respect that for those who played the series in order, this is a harder call.

What should be easy for anyone is to agree that together, Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood represented the AC series reaching its full potential. Ezio continues to be the best protagonist the series has seen to date. Renaissance Italy likewise is the ideal setting for both AC’s vertical and horizontal platforming elements and its shadowy-conspiracy/secret-history plotline. As a franchise, Assassin’s Creed really launched the parkour/open-world exploration genre, and Brotherhood was the first game where every single element of what that genre could be came together. Other more recent games have been tons of fun (Black Flag and Syndicate are I think highlights), but these two games are the reason this series is so iconic.

4. Might and Magic VI: The same problem posed by AC2 versus Brotherhood emerges with Might and Magic VI and VII—except here, I did play them in order. Like the previous entry, I do think that VII ultimately improves upon the formula set out in Might and Magic VI. It’s more versatile, has more replay value, a touch more balanced (and that’s not getting into ArcoMage) … all in all, probably a better technical game.

But Might and Magic VI is for me iconic—it may well be the first RPG I’ve ever truly loved (and given the way this list is stacked in that direction, that’s saying a lot). Virtually all the things that characterize what I love in games today, it had in at least skeletal form. Open world exploration? Check: It was the first game where I felt like I was a true pathfinder—meticulously crawling over every corner of the map to find each obscure bandit’s cave and goblin fortress. To this day I still have the lay of the land in Enroth basically memorized. Overly detailed worldbuilding text to read? Absolutely: my obsessive-streak came out in reading every single artifact description, conversational option, and quest backgrounder (it is canon that Enroth, and the entire planet it resides upon, was blown up in a magical explosion—a fact I’m still resentful towards 3DO for long after it disappeared into bankruptcy). Slight genre-bending? The splash of Sci-Fi onto the fantasy setting was delightful to discover for someone who had never played any of the prior entries in the series. And some of the music—well, the White Cap theme is a thing of beauty, and on my computer “Adagio in G Minor for Strings and Organ” is still listed as “Church Dungeon Music.”

3. Heroes of Might and Magic III: If comparing earlier, more revolutionary games against newer more polished ones presents a problem in the Assassin’s Creed and Might and Magic series, it presents no trouble at all in Heroes of Might & Magic. That’s because the third installation in the series both represented a huge jump forward from what came before and is unquestionably the best entry in the overall sequence.

Sure, some of the expansions are a bit goofy, but they still work—sharpshooters and enchanters are massively overpowered, but they’re generally used in missions that would otherwise be impossible. But the main campaign is fabulous—a surprisingly intricate and interwoven plot that bridges Might and Magic VI and VII compliments outstanding strategy gameplay. And that doesn’t even get into the acre of standalone maps provided, plus countless more available on the web thanks to a map editor so intuitive, even I can use it (I’m terrible with map editors).

As a result of all of this, Heroes III is maybe the only game on this list that can compete with N++ regarding infinite replayability. This is fortunate, because—given the fact that Heroes III was a full-budget release and was not supposed to be “simple”—it ages incredibly well. Even the graphics hold up (no need for that remastered remake—which doesn’t even include the expansions!).

2. Witcher III: As you may have noticed, this list has a strong bias towards RPGs. My preference is toward “Western” RPGs (which have a go-anywhere/do-anything exploration mentality) compared to “Japanese” RPGs (which are more linear and story-driven), but Witcher III does an incredible job of synthesizing the best of both. It has a huge open world to explore, one that feels alive and dynamic—but there is also an incredibly rich story filled with deep, well-written characters (of which Geralt—the player character—is but one).

Gameplay-wise, Witcher III really hits the perfect balance. I simultaneously felt like the biggest bad-ass in the room, but also like a single slip in concentration or bit of overconfidence and my corpse would unceremoniously end up at the bottom of whatever cave I was in. But Witcher III particularly stands out in how it subverts certain common RPG tropes. You are a hero, but you’re not particularly well-liked. You’re a powerful warrior, but you’re still ultimately treated as a pawn in larger political machinations. Your interventions do not always save the day, and sometimes don’t even make things better. If a mission starts with a villager worrying that their beloved has gone missing, nine times out of ten that person has been devoured by a monster well before you ever get there. While many games claim to place the hero in difficult moral dilemmas, Witcher III is a rare case of following through (some games might give you the choice to let a trio of witches eat a group of kids whom you recently played hide-and-seek with, but few make it so that might actually be the more moral of the options in front of you). There’s even a quest where you help a knight rescue a lady in distress from a curse, then lecture him that he’s not entitled to her romantic attention as a reward (talk about a timely intervention in the video game genre!). Over and over again, the game reinforces the message that being really powerful and doing “the right thing” isn’t enough to fix a fundamentally broken system.

Most impressive is the emotional impact that Witcher III dishes out. Sometimes this is a result of rich character development that pays off over the course of the entire game (as in “The Last Wish” quest). But sometimes it shows up in even relatively minor sidequests—the epilogue of the “Black Pearl” quest was one of the more brutal emotional gut-punches I’ve experienced in a video game. Ultimately, this was a game where one always felt like each character was a person—they were imperfect, they had their own interests, hopes, dreams, strengths and foibles, and while you were a little better with a sword and gifted with some preternatural abilities, you were still only one player in a much bigger narrative. As a result, Witcher III might well be, in my estimation, the perfect RPG.

Oh, and Gwent is ludicrously addictive. Let’s not forget that.

1. TIE Fighter: I don’t think this list has a particularly “modern” bias. Still, there’s something impressive about the number one game on this list also being the oldest by some measure. TIE Fighter originally came out in 1994, and the definitive Collector’s Edition was released in 1995. It is, to this day, one of the best games ever made. And that’s not a retrospective assessment. Star Wars: Tie Fighter holds up even played right now.

For starters, it is one of the few elements of the Star Wars universe to get the Empire right. I’m not saying that the Empire is the real protagonist of the series. I am saying that they wouldn’t view themselves as evil—as much as naming spacecraft “Executor” and “Death Star” might suggest otherwise. TIE Fighter is quite self-assured in presenting you as being a force for law and order in the galaxy, battling not just seditious rebels but pirates, smugglers, and other anarchic forces that threaten to tear civilized life apart.

Let’s start with something often overlooked in TIE Fighter: the music. It’s probably the only context that the phrase “kick-ass MIDI soundtrack” makes sense. But that’s not even the half of it. The iMuse system dynamically and seamlessly arranges the musical cues to reflect what’s going on around you in the mission—you can literally follow important mission updates (e.g., a wingman being shot down, or reinforcements arriving) simply by the way the melody shifts. I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered anything quite like it since. To this day, the number that accompanies an incoming enemy capital ship fills me with exhilarated dread.

Gameplay-wise, TIE Fighter is almost shockingly rich. The core mission requirements are challenging, but by no means out of reach. But embedded in each level are a series of secondary and secret bonus objectives. These unlock a parallel plot of the Emperor’s Secret Order—but always present a brutal risk/reward calculus. That’s not unrelated to the fact that you’re often flying, well, TIE fighters (not noted for their durability)—but the challenge extends well beyond physical peril. TIE Fighter actually gives you an “invincibility” option if you want it, and yet even with it on some of the later missions and bonus objectives will strain every piloting skill you’ve ever developed.

Most importantly, the secret objectives usually are more involved than “blow up everything in sight.” They reward initiative and exploration. Maybe your primary mission objective is to destroy a rebel space station. But just before it goes down, you spot an escape shuttle fleeing the station. Take it out? Maybe—but maybe the occupants are VIPs best taken alive. So you switch to ion cannons and disable it for capture. Yet that extra time you just spent has given the rebels enough breathing room to summon reinforcements—now an enemy cruiser is bearing down on you. Take out its missile launchers and clear path for bombers while praying that your own Star Destroyer will arrive soon to back you up. All on the fly. All while dogfighting starfighters, dodging mines, giving your wingmen orders … it’s insanely, beautifully chaotic.

Did I mention this is all happening in 1995? 90% of games released today don’t have that kind of depth or spontaneity. In terms of playability, replayability, and just plain fun, TIE Fighter stands alone, and unchallenged.

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peterpapper1309 · 5 years ago

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Patent On Visual Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM)

Learn about our patents on SLAM and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/simultaneouslocalizationandmapping_qslam-navigation-stack-activity-6696806007911280641-1DLy

#patents on Robotic and SLAM #patents on slam (simultaneous localization and mapping)#patent on visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM)#patent on Visual SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping)#patents on VI SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping)#Visual simultaneous localization and mapping #Visual SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping)

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chiaki-rinharulover · 5 years ago

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Explore the SLAM patent to learn more about it

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just-a-girl-making-gifs · 5 years ago

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The greatest supply of info on the SLAM patent

When it comes to technologies, there actually is no scarcity of different developments in addition to software application remedies that are making our everyday living a great deal more simple in a great deal of ways certainly. Undoubtedly, there are tons of different developments showing up on the market all the time, so you are mosting likely to require the absolute best source of details on the latest licenses for, let us claim, SLAM (simultaneous localization and also mapping) in addition to a few other purposeful options that are bound to alter the whole program of the future-- no much less. If that is the case, you remain in good luck.

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toomanystrings · 5 years ago

Text

The greatest source of facts about the SLAM patent

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babyboichim · 5 years ago

Text

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sonvs · 5 years ago

Text

The biggest source of facts about the SLAM patent

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tastesoftamriel · 8 years ago

Text

Into Oblivion, part 4 (a long tale by Talviel)

We looked toward the path. “Lass, better idea. Let’s climb up those rocks and skip the path altogether. I’ve got an uneasy feeling about it.” I nodded, and we scaled the rocks easily, after years of thieving. Creeping along and looking down, the area was clear so far. A few meters along, I spotted an odd cocoon-like shape dangling in a small alcove. “Bryn, look. The journal mentioned those things and how they usually contain valuable treasure.” “Lass, as I said, we don’t know the terrain and I don’t want to stir up any trouble with the locals, let’s-” “The High King wants treasure, and if we’ve come all this way, so do I.” I said decisively, and not waiting for a response, leapt down towards the pod. I slashed it open and gagged on the foul stench that emanated from it, but grinned when I found my reward. Gold, gems, some valuable jewellery, and an expensive-looking yet pleasingly lightweight enchanted helmet lay on the ground scattered with bones. I shoved them into the sack slung over my shoulder, signalling to Brynjolf that I’d be right up. All of a sudden, I heard heavy thudding footsteps rushing towards me at an alarming pace. “Lass, look out!” Brynjolf screamed, as I turned around to see some sort of gigantic frilled reptile running on its hind legs toward me. I swore and drew my sword, unable to use the Thu'um to push it away.

I ducked as the creature’s gaping maw lurched toward me, and snapped shut where my head had been just a moment ago. I stabbed low and hard at its abdomen, and it let out an infernal shriek and kicked me backwards with its strong hind legs. I stumbled, and it came towards me again. I aimed my sword at its neck, when all of a sudden I heard Brynjolf yell “Incoming!” and the creature’s head split in two. It wobbled briefly, and fell to the ground. “What in tarnation were you thinking, Vi?” he shouted at me, reeling slightly from the force of the jump. “You almost got yourself killed and we’ve only been here a moment!” “I’m sorry Bryn, that was stupid and spontaneous of me. I won’t do it again. But look!” I opened the sack to show him my loot. He whistled under his breath. “Damn right you won’t be doing it again. We spot a pod, we go down together next time, understand? I don’t know what else we’ll find, but that alone is worth at least 5000 septims, which I’m sure the High King won’t miss if we keep this up.” I nodded in agreement, and we climbed the rock wall again.

Brynjolf vigilantly kept his eyes open for any danger, while I kept my eyes trained on the path for any more pods. Luckily for us, there were was one every couple of hundred meters, and along the way we only needed to dispatch a single storm atronach and a few scamps while collecting valuable loot. So far so good. The path came to an abrupt end at the mouth of a cave, sealed by a door. Brynjolf and I glanced at each other and leapt down, blades drawn.

We pushed the stone door open, and thankfully it was smooth and didn’t make a grating sound to alert anything inside. We slipped in, crouching and sticking to the shadows as we tried to navigate the cave. All of a sudden, an ominous voice rang out, and I heard the distinctive sound of an atronach being conjured. “I know you’re here, scum. You can’t hide from me.” Brynjolf put a finger to his lips and stopped creeping, hoping that the dremora would go away. The loud stomping and groaning of a frost atronach made its way towards us, the dremora in tow. I smashed angrily at the atronach with my blade, which was enchanted with a burning spell, and it crumbled within seconds. Brynjolf was fighting off the dremora, which was frighteningly quick and cunning with a blade. I ran in to help him, and we cornered the dremora with its back facing a small pool of lava. It laughed, swiping at us with one long blow, and Brynjolf ducked and simultaneously kicked it into the lava, which was deeper than we’d anticipated. It gurgled briefly before incinerating. “Well, that takes care of that.” He said, out of breath.

We returned to creeping along the walls of the corridors, running into more scamps and a spider daedra, which we picked off easily. For our efforts though, a few more pods hung on the ceiling and we smiled as we scooped the precious loot into our sacks. “If this keeps up, lass, the High King isn’t going to have a clue if we give him just a quarter of it.” He grinned. I held up a disgusting-looking breastplate made of what looked like human skin and bone. “Well, as long as we keep finding shiny things instead of crap like this. There’s another door over there, but before we head out let’s look at the map I drew again.” We leaned over the sheaf of parchment, and I pulled out the map. “Right, the next thing should be a tower called a ‘Spindle Shrine’, whatever that means.” Referring to my notes, they said to expect a number of enemies, but that we could replenish our health at ‘blood fountains’. Brynjolf made a retching noise as he read it. “I hope that doesn’t mean it’s literally a fountain of blood.” He moaned. I adjusted my armour and the strap of my loot sack, then looked at him. “Ready to go?” He nodded, and we cautiously pushed the door open.

We found ourselves back out in the open, with a daedroth along the short path with its back turned towards us. Brynjolf used the Guild signal for ‘run’, and we sprinted to the tower in front of us as quickly as we could, slamming the door behind us. “I hope that thing can’t open doors.” Brynjolf panted, as we pressed against the door and hoped the angry pounding on the outside would go away. Thankfully, it subsided after some moments, evidently having a short attention span. Unfortunately for us, the noise had awakened a few monsters, including another daedroth that we’d just narrowly escaped. “Ah, fuck.” I grumbled, standing back-to-back with Brynjolf. “Bryn, you take the ones on the left side, I’ll take the ones on the right.” “Aye, lass.” He said, and we ran forward in opposite directions, our weapons drawn and ready. I feverishly lunged towards two spider daedra, jumping over their small clones that I’d read would paralyse upon contact, which could be fatal for me. I beheaded one and impaled the other, then froze a flame atronach with a partial Thu'um to save my breath.

I ran towards Brynjolf, who was flailing at the daedroth in annoyance. “This fucking thing won’t die!” He yelled at me. “Get out of the way!” I called out, and he nimbly ducked and rolled to the side. I steadied myself, then shouted “Yol Toor Shul!” at the creature. It screamed as it was set alight, and Brynjolf and I took the opportunity to stab through its thick hide as many times as we could. Eventually, it fell to the ground, its corpse still burning. “Why did I get the big angry lizard thing?” Brynjolf asked, blood running down his cheek from a gash on his forehead. “Daedroth,” I corrected him. “And Brynjolf, you’re the big strong hero man that saves me, the poor damsel in distress.” “Fuck off, lass. You’re a thousand times more capable than half of the Imperial army assembled at once. Well, even though you’re bleeding.” “You’re bleeding too, my hero.” I laughed, and went to investigate the corridors where the monsters had emerged from. A single pod hung from the ceiling, and at the far end of the corridor stood what I only imagined could be a blood fountain. Curious, I went to stick a finger in, then thought better of it. “Nope.” I muttered, and swilled a mouthful from a bottle of a potion of healing instead. Brynjolf stared at the fountain with distaste, before motioning for me to pass the bottle. We cut down the pod at the opposite end of the room, whooping as fine gold jewellery and polished diamonds fell out.

We climbed to the top of the tower, and were faced with what looked like two heavy control switches. They were heavily rusted, and it took both of us to pull them down one at a time. Loud grinding noises echoed through the tower and the walls shook. “I don’t know what we just did, but judging by the size of those levers I sure hope it’s that big fat gate we saw when we landed.” “If it is, let’s turn back through that cave, go back along the path, and we have our destination.” Brynjolf said. We descended the tower once more and headed back to the cave door, the daedroth outside thankfully gone. We pushed and shoved at the door, only to realise with dismay that it was stuck. “Shit, this place is working against us.” Brynjolf swore. “No way but forward I guess. Come on, Vi.” We went back inside the Spindle Shrine, opening the door that we’d ignored earlier. Hot wind lashed our faces, and we were faced with a long stone bridge, broken in the middle and too far to jump across. Brynjolf opened his sack and pulled out a long coil of rope and one of the enchanted hooks the Guild used to climb basically anywhere with security.

“Mind your head, lass.” Brynjolf warned me, and I stepped back a few paces as he assembled the rope and hook with a tight knot, then swung the rope over his head several times before throwing it to the other side. He tugged it a few times to check that it was fully secure, then waved me over to grab on tight to the rope. “I fucking hate doing this.” I moaned, squeezing my eyes shut. “Are you kidding me? This is one of the best parts about thieving! Now hold tight, we jump on three.” He said, amusement in his voice. “One…two…three!” Brynjolf shouted as he pushed us off the ledge. I screamed as we swung into open air, my hands and legs clinging for dear life onto the rope. With my eyes still closed, I began to inch my way up, hoping that it would be a short distance. I felt strong hands grip me by the arms and lift me up onto the bridge. “Bloody hell lass, they probably heard that scream all the way in Sovngarde.” He spluttered with laughter, undoing the hook and throwing the equipment back inside the bag. I pouted and turned to the door in front of us.

“Map time.” I said, digging out my parchment again. “Right. From that awful jump, it looks like we bypassed the equally awful sounding ‘Blood Well’ and ‘Caverns of the Abused’, probably missing out on some nice loot but saving our lives and time in the process. We should now be facing ‘Sigil Keep’. It’s apparently infested with dremora and other not-so-nice things, so I suggest we take a breather before heading on.” I said. We sat on the broken bridge, sharpening and recharging our blades and the hook with soul gems for the journey ahead, and I shared a potion of extreme stamina with Brynjolf to energise us. He stood up when he was ready, and pulled me to my feet. He pulled me in tight and kissed me. “Lass, thanks to you we just might make it.” He whispered in my ear, holding me tight. “Don’t hex it, we’ve still a way to go yet.” I replied, giving him a squeeze. We pushed the Sigil Keep door open and crept inside.

End of part 4

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