#to either upgrade existing robots or gather more

[nevert-the-guy]

If my brain's gonna keep manifesting video game ideas, it better start tying to learn Godot or some shit.

[mr-camhed]

Name: Obsolence/Obselence

Age: 5.75 million cycles

Gender: male

Faction: Decepticon

Assigned Forces: Decapiticon

Role: team leader

Motto: "Obsolence of Autobots is The inevitability. "

Personality: Obselence is a throughly insane bot and an extreme racialist. He worships what he believes to be powerful beings such as Quintessons(unfortunately the legends is not really true), Old Ones, Reapers and Creators; and dispises beings he considers inferior such as Autobots, factionless, multi-factioned Mechanical lifeforms and all organic lifeforms. He believes that commiting Genocide against, or "Obsolencing" these inferior beings are his true duty of existence, while loyalty to Decepticon cause is just a footnote to his racialism. He is also a very astute, and would use his fire truck disguise to get to places people gather unimpeded before going on a Rampage either with just The truck's flamethrower or transforming to robot mode to raise hell with his entire arsenal. He is also very minded that he was never a member of The Warrior Elite or Phase Sixer.

Alternate mode: Obselence can transform into either a Black long wheelbase International Paystar Fire engine with the tank similar to an Aircraft Refueling Truck's or a Soviet Project 903 Lun class Ekranoplan ground effect vehicle. Before The Triple Changer Conversion, he was a heavy duty anti-riot water cannon truck.

Appearance: Obsolence is around 18meters tall and has an transformation scheme similar to that of G1 Octane, albeit with a full black color scheme, dark red accents, shorter and wider wings on his back, the truck mode's Flamethrower Turret on the shoulder, the jet engines behind his shin, and subjected to Empurata. His hands are similar to that of an industrial hydraulic Combination Spreader used to cut through things like rubble and vehicles, and his photoreceptor is blood red.

Weaponry: Obsolence is very strong and has a rather high intelligence. In fire truck mode, Obselence had only medium speed, but a very remarkable handling, torque and offroad capability; and has a twin barrel flamethrower on The top of The vehicle which can launch 7000 degree celsius inferno to up to 150 meters away and knock down a large Transformer(like a fellow combiner torso) completely off balance with just The pressure alone. Under The Ekranoplan mode, Obsolence can reach mach 3 and an altitude of 1300meters, and The sonic boom it creates can shatter 15 inches of concrete wall. It is also armed with three twin heavy missile launcher that can launch heavy duty missiles that can carry anything from nuclear warheads to biochemical weaponry to even more missiles, and is also equipped with several autocannons and smaller missile launchers and a minelayer for Self defenses. In robot mode, Obselence can not only use all of The weaponry he can use in vehicle mode, but also use his cutter claws of hands which can cat through anything it can get around and a pair of 30mm rotary cannon which can replace his left hand. His armor can also endure almost any enemy weaponry. And as The leader of Decapiticon, Obsolence is The Torso of Autocide. And even before all these upgrades, his water cannon was still made to delivered a paralyzing shock alongside The overwhelming pressure.

Character Biography: Obselence from Polyhex was a cold constructed riot controller for The Senate Security forces. However, he was notorious for his constant use of excessive forces and even would actively provoke fights off duty just so he can assault others(mostly lower caste Transformers and occasional organics) without consequences.

However, after the miners' protest of Layoff and automation went off The rails and escalated into a massacre in which hundreds of miners, dozens of Senate Security force officers and a Senator's aide were killed on The mining colony of Messetine where Obsolence was a member of The security detail and was subjected to Empurata as a punishment for his failure, his problem worsened. He began to actively assault lower caste members and even attack them whenever there is a gathering no matter what purpose the gathering was for. And after his murder of a worker class bot with suspicion of connection to Megatron, one of the former miners of Messetine and suspect of inciting The riot, he was imprisoned and ordered psychological treatment by the newly elected Sentinel Prime as a part of his attempted reform of The Senate, although The effort would fall off after Sentinel Prime was assassinated by "Decepticon Terrorists" and The Senate, lead by Proetus, Ratbat and Xeon, elected their fellow Senator and Functionialist Zeta to become the new Prime, and they released Obselence to have him as a member of their secret police and help them round up potential dissidents.

However, Obsolence would proceed to join The Decepticons after Zeta Prime and almost The entire Senate's Death at The Kaon Riots and the battle of Nyon, and volunteered for several bodies enhancement experiments including triple changer Conversion, and also participated in some of The most brutal battles in The great war, and accumulated a group of fellow Decepticons that are considered unstable by his fellow Decepticons' standards into a group called "Decapiticon" after The Destruction of The X Squadron at The battle of Pova, which specialized in commiting atrocities. And after The Decepticon civil war began, The Decapiticon would join several different warlord Factions and even for crime syndicates as soldiers of fortune.

Weakness: despite Obsolence have no obvious weakpoint physically, his madness makes cooperation with anyone other than his fellow Decapiticon difficult, and most Decepticon leaders, including Megatron The moment he joined Decepticon, would regard them as major threats once they lose allegiance, and only kept them around for effectiveness in combat.

Commentary:

[iotrics]

Exploring What's to come: IoT and Smart App Development

In our quickly advancing computerized scene, the Web of Things (IoT) and smart applications are changing the manner in which we communicate with innovation. From smart homes to modern mechanization, IoT and smart apps development have penetrated each part of our lives, offering phenomenal degrees of comfort, proficiency, and availability. In this article, we dig into the domain of IoT and investigate the complexities of smart app development, revealing insight into their importance, difficulties, and future possibilities.

Grasping IoT:

At its center, the Web of Things alludes to the interconnected organization of actual gadgets installed with sensors, programming, and different innovations, empowering them to gather and trade information over the web. These gadgets can go from purchaser contraptions like smart indoor regulators and wearables to modern hardware and foundation parts.

The vital parts of an IoT framework include:

Sensors and Actuators: Gadgets furnished with sensors to accumulate information and actuators to perform explicit activities in light of that information.

Availability: Advancements like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or cell networks work with correspondence between gadgets.

Information Handling: Gathered information is handled either locally or in the cloud to determine significant experiences.

UI: Connection points like portable apps or web dashboards permit clients to cooperate with and control IoT gadgets.

The Job of Smart Applications:

Smart applications go about as the extension among clients and IoT gadgets, giving an easy to use point of interaction to screen, make due, and control associated gadgets from a distance. These applications influence information investigation, AI, and robotization to offer customized encounters and smooth out ordinary errands. Whether it's changing home temperatures, following wellness measurements, or streamlining modern cycles, smart apps engage clients with more noteworthy control and productivity.

Challenges in Smart App Development:

While the capability of IoT and smart apps is immense, their development represents a few difficulties:

Security Worries: With a horde of interconnected gadgets, guaranteeing hearty safety efforts to safeguard delicate information and forestall unapproved access is central.

Interoperability: The different environment of IoT gadgets frequently works on various conventions and guidelines, making consistent combination and interoperability a mind boggling try.

Versatility: As the quantity of associated gadgets keeps on developing dramatically, adaptability turns into a huge test in overseeing and handling immense measures of information productively.

Protection Issues: Gathering and breaking down information from IoT gadgets raise worries about security encroachment and information abuse, requiring straightforward information taking care of practices and tough security guidelines.

Future Possibilities:

In spite of these difficulties, the eventual fate of IoT and smart app development looks encouraging. Arising advancements like 5G organizations, edge registering, and blockchain are ready to address existing restrictions and open additional opportunities for development. Additionally, progressions in man-made consciousness and AI calculations will empower smarter and more independent IoT frameworks, further upgrading client encounters and enhancing asset use.

End:

All in all, IoT and smart app development address a change in outlook by they way we communicate with innovation, offering uncommon degrees of network, robotization, and personalization. As the IoT environment proceeds to advance and develop, designers should explore the intricacies of safety, interoperability, and versatility to tackle its maximum capacity. With the right techniques and advancements set up, IoT and smart apps hold the way to opening a future where everything is associated, insightful, and consistently coordinated into our day to day routines.

[crusherthedoctor]

Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 15: DR. EGGMAN

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a mini-series of mine, in which I go into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, it’s finally time for him. The bad doctor himself. Gather round ladies and gentleman, for the spotlight is on the arch-villain that shines above them all... Dr. Eggman.

The Gist: It's the dawn of the 90's. A little company called SEGA had an ephiphany. They wanted to make a video game juggernaut that could rival the quality and iconic appeal of the then-unmatched Super Mario Bros, and their current star, Alex Kidd, just wasn't doing it in the way that they hoped. They promptly set about starting anew, as a worldwide phenomenon wasn't going to make itself.

So a gentleman named Naoto Ohshima created a selection of design concepts for this brand new mascot. One of these concepts was President Roosevelt in his pajamas.

Seen here with his catgirl body pillow.

The response to this character was “This is good, but we think kids would prefer kicking the shit out of him”, and so he was given an antagonistic role instead. In the meantime, after juggling the rest of their ideas, they eventually settled on a rabbit hedgehog named Sonic for their main protagonist, knowing his Mickey Mouse-like aesthetic would help endear him to the audience, and the franchise as a whole would have an easier time gaining a DeviantART fanbase later on down the line.

Initially, the character of today's review was but a mere lackey among many, seemingly little more than one of numerous minions working for Sonic's originally intended main villain, the Nonspecific Goblin. He was also dressed as a bee for some reason.

Which is the least weirdest thing in this image.

At some point however, they all got together and decided that actually, the guy with the moustache was the only one worth shit, and so he was upgraded to the role of main villain himself. With a spiffy new attire of red and black, he was given the bold title of Dr. Eggman, because with a shape like that, what else are you gonna call him?

“Funny you should say that”, laughed SEGA of America, as they rebelled like an angsty teen and named him Dr. Ivo Robotnik instead. While this name does make equal sense for the character, as he is indeed a hard worker who also happens to like robots, the reason for this name's existence seems to have been mainly because they thought Eggman was too out there of a name for an egg-like man. Whatever the case, this would confuse a lot of fans for years, and remains a point of divisiveness to this day... Unless you're like me and your first game in the series was Advance 2, in which the manual clears it up right away, and you accept the idea of a character having two names and immediately carry on with your life.

He would have aimed it perfectly if it weren't for the Sonic Heroes Parrot distracting him.

And that was that, really. It didn't take long for them to come up with his characterization, which was that of a cackling fiend with an ego to end all egos. This guy was the Narcissist Alpha, more king than actual kings, no strings attached. Other villains would build statues of themselves, but only Robotnik would deface Ancient Egyptian monuments to improve them with his face. Other villains would think “Nah, refacing all four in Rushmore would look silly”, but only the Eggman, the Eggmyth, the Egglegend, would go “Well fuck you, I'm doing it anyway.” Then he'd do it anyway, and proceed to address to the entire world that he did in fact do it anyway.

It also didn't take long for them to develop his primary schtick. With the dynamic of Sonic VS Eggman, you had a classic rivalry between nature and technology. Interestingly enough however, this turned out to be executed more tactfully than your typical Amish-abiding examples in similar media. Never was technology itself regarded as a corruptive influence that you should never utilise no matter what. Rather, it was only as good or as evil as the person using it, with it just so happening that the villain loved machinery only slightly less than he loved himself, and it was countered by Sonic’s best friend being a techno wiz in his own right anyway. Anyhow, with his machinery, the doctor would make a name for himself among video game baddies by confronting his enemy as the boss of nearly every zone in each game, rather than hide away until the endgame.

And all without a driver's licence.

In his soon-to-be-30 years of activity, he has largely remained the same since his inception. Other characters have been introduced, other villains have came and went, but Eggman has remained THE villain of the franchise, and he's remained a vital part of the Sonic the Hedgehog universe... with a slight redesign along the way.

The only ad I don't want to skip.

The Design: Eggman's design may be more simplistic than the likes of Bowser and Ganondorf, and he may not look as openly threatening at first glance, but it's still a very iconic look no matter what look it is. His original appearance was devised so that kids could have an easy time drawing him, which only makes me feel worse about not being able to do it as a grown adult without it looking like a Sexy Legs Kirby.

Still, it's a classic for a reason. With his to-the-point colour scheme, contrasting heavily with Sonic's blue, and his capelet collar resembling walrus tusks, it was an instant winner and made everyone goo goo for g'joob.

The Emeralds he’s juggling are a metaphor for the divided fan community.

And when it was time to give the cast an update for Sonic's first real 3D adventure (or at least the first one that didn't get axed for being a magic eye seizure), Eggman got a respectable change of his own. He was taller, his getup was militaristic, and his body was more legitimately egg-shaped rather than basketball-shaped. He also gained a pair of goggles that he never uses, except in scenes where he puts them on and then never uses them.

“How do my chicken legs not collapse under the might of my gluttonous mass? Find out in an unrelated tie-in novel that you have to pay additional money for.”

There was also that one redesign from 2006, but...

Be it Classic or Modern, I've always loved his design. Before he even says a word or does anything, you know from his appearance that he's a bit of a clownish sort. But he also has a subtle creepy vibe going on, with the way his glasses often obscure his eyes, and how this only makes the pearly-white, unnecessarily wide grin on his face that much more empty and unsettling. This little bit of eeriness hiding among his cartoonish physique reflects the full extent of his character pretty accurately, as we’ll delve into soon enough.

If nothing else, it's more effective than him having no eyes at all.

GRRRRRRRR FUCK YOU BUNNIES THAT I CAN'T SEE

The Personality: If you've seen my villain reviews, then you'll have gathered that Sonic's rogues aren't known for having much in the way of personality. There are exceptions, but they are indeed the exceptions. More often than not though, whether it's an alien conquerer, an ancient monster, or Dan Green the Recolour, they can be summed up thusly: They're evil, they want to destroy the world, and the heroes stop them because they're evil and want to destroy the world. If they're feeling particularly daring, they might go for a second colour.

Luckily, as if to counter all these cardboard drawings, the central adversary of the franchise makes up for these voids of personality by actually having one. And what a personality it is.

The writers of SatAM looked at this and thought “No, this won't do, there's no character to work with here.”

He really is brimming with comedic charm. Every moment that he's present...

Every moment that he shows off...

Every moment that he basks in his own glory...

Every moment that he unveils a new wicked scheme...

Every moment that he puts his enemies to the test...

Every moment that he challenges the world...

Every moment that he laughs at the world...

Every moment that he lives, nay, every moment that he breathes...

Yes, the man has plenty of humor, and it's part of what makes him so enjoyable and memorable. However, if you think being a clown is all there is to him, then prepare to have your expectations subverted initial assumptions taken in a unexpected direction, because although he puts the goof in goofy, he ALSO puts the “oh...?” in “oh shit”.

For you see, Eggman is by all means the epitome of Laughably Evil, but do not, under any circumstance, take him at face value and write him off as a joke. He is anything but.

For starters, he can swing a planet.

There is a rule of thumb that I personally go by with Eggman’s characterization, one that I believe is an immediate make or break factor in regards to whether or not you understand what makes this villain work. Eggman - when you put all his secondary traits aside - is made up of two prominent halves. There’s the egocentric meme machine that bounces up and down like a kid with his N64 and laughs like Santa... and there’s the monster buried within that remains completely and utterly unrepentant for everything he’s responsible for. This is very important. Despite the character’s simplicity at his core, many writers have failed to grasp this, official writers included, and I for the life of me cannot understand why this is such a recurring problem. Eggman is funny, AND Eggman is evil. Both are equal. When you take away one or the other, you may have a funny character, or you may have an evil character, but you don’t have Eggman. Simple as.

Armchair intellectuals may argue that Eggman’s deeds aren’t that evil, since he tends to be merely callous rather than actively trying to hurt or kill people. Those people are probably the types on TV Tropes who weigh a villain’s evilness and effectiveness purely through the surface-level scale of their goals rather than what they actually do to achieve them. While it is true that Eggman tends to be more apathetic about the aftermath of his actions, that doesn’t - and shouldn’t - negate how dangerous he is. It shouldn’t negate what he’s capable of. It shouldn’t negate how far he’s willing to go. And it shouldn’t negate the consequences and casualties that can and do result from his many schemes.

Seriously, think about this for a second. If you confronted Eggman about his current plan to... I dunno, make a water park in Africa or some shit, and you informed him that there has been unexpected mass suffering as a result of this, how do you think he would truly feel about that? What do you think he would actually say to that?

Spoiler: No fucks.

If anything, that he “merely” doesn’t care either way as long as he gets what he wants is more uniquely horrific and deplorable than if he were a generic baddie who committed his evulz specifically for evulz’s own sake and nothing more. At least you’re inadvertently acknowledging that other people’s lives have value when you act one-dimensionally gleeful over ending them, but when your immediate response to the side-effect of a million potential deaths and environmental disasters is “Oh well, fuck ‘em, Eggmanland time baybeeee”, that’s a new level of cruelty.

Besides, even in the Genesis era, he was carpet bombing Angel Island...

“Good thing I have this shield. Sucks to be this forest!”

And he’s only gotten worse since then, indulging in such acts as going full suicide bomber with a missile, after his initial plot to destroy and rebuild Station Square through the means of Chaos and the Egg Carrier didn’t work out...

But don’t worry, he kept it lighthearted by making it look like a penis.

Making one of Sonic’s friends go insane with power against their will, forcing the Blue Blur to put them down personally...

It’s ironic, cause he’s metal. Or do I have to awkwardly explain the joke two more times before I’m a proper YouTuber?

Capturing thousands of innocent aliens, and forcefully converting them into mindless beasts...

I’m pretty sure I saw Alfred Molina conduct this experiment one time.

He even removed the heroes’ collective IQs so that he could shoehorn a cliffhanger on an already terrible game.

Thanks, cunt.

And honestly? When it comes to Sonic and chums at least, Eggman does let out a more openly sadistic side now and then. Need I mention that time when the doctor forced Sonic and two random buddies to make their way through a trap-infested island of his own creation? Not for the sake of nabbing Chaos Emeralds or anything of the sort mind you, he just wanted the blue motor mouth to suffer.

Images you can hear.

To make matters even worse, as befitting of his manchild tendencies, he’s ridiculously petty. How petty? Petty enough to abduct a little girl’s mother for no other reason than because Cheese completely trivialized his forces the girl was friends with Sonic and helped participate in the latest kicking of his own ass.

He only picked Vanilla because there was no Strawberry.

But at least his captives can admire the sheer variety that their captor has to offer. One of the greatest things about the doctor's style is that anything goes. With all due respect to Bowser, he tends to stick with his fiery castles (although he has been branching out recently), and plenty of other villains in gaming tend to be similarly stuck in their ways when it comes to tastes. Eggman, on the other hand, will create all sorts of fortresses and reside anywhere on the planet and beyond. It can be in the sky, in space, somewhere hot, somewhere cold, under the sea, in a circus... and every now and then, he might combine some of them together and thensome. So long as it's even vaguely mechanical in some way, his ground rules have already been ticked off.

Hang on a minute...

You know what else Eggman is? Relentless.

Persistence is a quality that most villains by their very nature share, lest they cease to be an effective antagonist. But once again, Rrrrrrrobotnik maxes out more than any other, and will often go to insane lengths to keep the current plan going, or if not that, then to spite Sonic.

Exhibit A: Sonic 3 & Knuckles, in which the grand finale consists of the madman throwing a gravity-shifting contraption your way, busting out a Kaiju-sized robo, escaping with the Master Emerald after his defeat, continuing to escape even after the Death Egg has been thoroughly destroyed, getting chased through the asteroid fields in space by Super Sonic, and only finally going down when the escape craft and the piloted mech controlling the escape craft are down. And all of this came after a grand adventure where, among other things, he destroyed an entire level just to kill you.

There are immortal omnipotents that put up less of a challenge.

“Looks like it’s time for Plan... *checks paper*... F.”

His relentlessness also reveals another side of the doctor that is simultaneously admirable and terrifying: He bows to no one. No one. Doesn’t matter who it is. Doesn’t matter how powerful they are. Doesn’t matter how much the odds are stacked against him. If another villain were to demand that he cower before them, the scientist would laugh and show through physical demonstration that this is not the way the egg rolls. Unless he’s absolutely unable to do so, he will give it his all every time, and even if he can’t, he’ll use his crafty mind to find some other way to get around the issue. You can beat him in battle, you can foil his plans, but you absolutely cannot break his resolve.

“Dad said it’s my turn to play with the Ruby. I know this, because I’m your dad.”

What about his relationship with those who actually serve him? Specifically, his own robots? Well for the most part, he treats them like absolute crap, what with verbally abusing them at every corner and being all too willing to go full Vader on them the moment they mess up. He IS capable of expressing fondness and giving praise to his more successful creations, like with Metal Sonic and Gamma, but even then, it’s a roundabout way of praising himself, since he’s the one who made them what they are. So basically, you’re only valuable to him if you make him look good.

Gaming in the Clinton Years in a nutshell.

And as for Sonic? Yeah, like with any legendary and long-lasting hero/villain dynamic, it’s obvious that Eggman has some degree of begrudging respect for his opponent. But if you think this respect would dissuade him from actually going through with his ambitions of rulership...

As the hedgehog’s apparent demise in Sonic Adventure 2 proves, as well as his defeat at the hands of Infinite and the subsequent six months of brutal conquest in Sonic Forces, Eggman is dead serious about his goals. If you think he’d get bored after conquering the world, he would simply expand his resources and have a crack at conquering the rest of the universe. When he says he hates that hedgehog, I’m inclined to believe that he means it, and although he may enjoy his “games” with Sonic to an extent, I also can’t see him wanting to remain stuck on square one forever.

If this were Sonic X, he’d just grieve.

By the way, the scene above? Undeniable proof that for all the doctor’s boasting, he’s not actually lying or exaggerating when he prides himself on his brilliance. Because when you get past his goofy exterior, when you look beyond the occasional, relatively minor mistake (*glares at IDW*), you’ll see that... yes. He IS brilliant. And not just in the science department either, although his countless robots and strongholds over the years are no doubt a testament to his credentials there. While he may prefer to go in big and bold, he can also be shrewd with his strategies when he wants to be.

Sonic’s aforementioned near-death experience, for example, was the result of Eggman turning the heroes’ own cunning plan on its head by being one step ahead of them. And in Sonic Unleashed, he lured his enemy into a trap, culminating with him cancelling out Super Sonic.

“...and pay the price for your Werehog gameplay...”

And after all those years of struggling, he finally got a giant monster under his complete control. “But he had help!”, you say? Yeah, from himself.

Did Flynn sleep through all this...?

Much like his inner nature as an evil bastard, Eggman's effectiveness is likewise commonly underestimated by writers. Yes, he occasionally makes mistakes. Yes, he occasionally overlooks details. Yes, he occasionally lacks foresight. But he is NOT stupid. A hero is only as good as their villain after all, and if Eggman is portrayed as a bumbling fool, then how can Sonic be a truly great hero? Eggman is humorous, sinister, and when the chips are down, competent.

...Did I mention that he's also a master Olympian?

The Execution: There's no surprises here. You knew from the moment you saw this review that my stance wasn't going to be anything less than 100% fanboy adoration. In that respect, this section almost feels redundant, because there's only so many ways I can say “Dr. Eggman is the fucking shit and I'm eternally grateful to Mr. Ohshima for bringing this absolute masterpiece into our world” without it getting repetitive. So to cap this review off, I'm going to very briefly compare his portrayals in other media, and explain why they tend to not be as good as the original SEGA Eggman.

“Cause they’re not balanced, right?” you ask. “Cause they veer too far in a particular direction? You're so predictable,” you add. To that I say:

1. Yeah, basically.

2. ...S-Shut up...

3. While the conclusion may be obvious, it's nonetheless important because as I mentioned previously, despite how straightforward this villain is, writers seem absolutely intent on not getting the point. There are loads of villains out there who share Eggman's talent of mixing hilarity and evil together with a bow of competence on top. Two of those villains are among the most famous supervillains of all time, in fact. You might have heard of them.

Joker can do it just fine. Green Goblin can do it just fine. And plenty of others can do it just fine. So why is it such an issue with Eggman? What is it about a round body and a long moustache that gets people to think “No, this guy is absolutely incapable of being comedic and threatening at the same time, no question, end of.” Is it because he’s a more cartoony franchise? Well, that can't be the case, because even Mario has a couple of beloved examples. Fawful, anyone? How about Dimentio? Cackletta? King Boo? K. Rool? Hell, you could even count Bowser himself depending on the portrayal.

Anyway, the point is, writers tend to miss the mark for one reason or another. With Sonic X for example, he wasn't too bad in the beginning, but as the show went on, he became exactly the toothless non-villain that many people misjudge him as. We all know that scene where he berates Black Narcissus for harming their captives (not for pragmatic reasons mind you, he genuinely took issue with the act on moral grounds, even though his own hands weren’t exactly clean either), but even before that point, he was doing such things as healing an injured Sonic without an ulterior motive, not taking any opportunity whatsoever to start conquering Sonic's world because he was pining for Sonic's attention, and being the Jiminy Cricket to Chris Thorndyke's Pinocchio. Why they thought the goddamn villain should be the moral conscience of this show remains an unanswered question, but at least it no longer influences how he's portrayed in the games.

Then you have the IDW comic, which is a similar tale of starting off decent and then careening wildly into the abyss, but for different reasons. Initially, he was built up to be in-line with his competent, foresight-packed self from Forces, with his inevitable return being met with dread, and a delightfully devilish scheme to match when he finally did so. But somewhere along the way, Ian Flynn thought that Eggman coming back from his amnesiac period and returning stronger than ever with a new minion and a deadly virus wasn't enough to up the stakes... so they decided to “up the stakes” by turning both the doctor and his new minion into massive imbeciles so as to justify their plot getting hijacked by the Deadly Six, a move so predictable yet infuriating that it got even me to turn against the Six. And the reason the Six got invited in-universe is because Starline decided he didn’t like being unique and devolved into Snively 2.0 behind Eggman’s back. All this from the alleged “best writer” for the series...

Yeah, same.

And then you have the Boom version, which shares basically the same issues as Sonic X but in a more mundane fashion. It's easier to dismiss because it's a comedy-centric show and his redesign makes it easier to separate him from mainline Eggman, and I'll gladly admit that he does have a lot of genuinely funny lines that redeem him a little bit. But yeah, too much of not being a true villain for my tastes.

Now this isn't to say that there haven't been portrayals in other media that are up there with the original. The versions that I consider better off than the ones above include...

- The OVA Eggman is pretty faithful all things considered, aside from his romantic feelings for Sara, which feels slightly off since the idea of Eggman loving anyone other than himself is incredibly unrealistic at best. But it doesn't actually soften or undermine his deviousness, so I'm willing to let it slide for an alternate take. Especially since he gave us the best Metal Sonic out there.

- AoStH is far from a perfect show, but there's a reason why even its detractors tend to treat its version of Robotnik like a national treasure. Admittedly most of that is because of the legendary Long John Baldry and the endless memes associated with this incarnation, but despite hailing from a comedy-focused show like Boom Eggman, this Robotnik still had a lot of legitimately dangerous moments, more than you'd think.

- And of course, Jim Carrey's Robotnik in the Sonic movie is just... *chef's kiss*

So obvious aesop though it may be, but you see what the more effective portrayals have in common, I assume?

Granted, this also isn't to say that SEGA Eggman himself has had a perfect track record. The decade's worth of upstagings and backstabbings by other villains should be enough of a counterpoint to that claim, and I've also made it clear now and then that I take issue with certain games regarding what they do with the doc, no matter how revered they may be by other fans. Sonic Adventure 2, for instance. I praised the fake emerald scene, and I do sincerely believe that he has a number of other badass moments in that game, but because Shadow was playing him like a fool the whole time, I can't help but have a bitter taste in my mouth when I look at the bigger picture.

So close to greatness, yet so far...

So in that case, which game do I think has Eggman's best showing overall? That's not in any way an easy question, but lack of dialogue aside, I'm gonna go with Sonic 3 & Knuckles again, as the classic journey through the sights of Angel Island plays out in a way that highlights just how determined, ruthless, and underhanded he is with carrying out his mission to revive the Death Egg by any means necessary. Other games do win out in other areas - SA1 for how bastardly he is, Forces for how cunning he is, Colours for his hilarious announcements, CD for using the scenery to show the effects of his actions, Mania for not letting the other villain walk all over him - but for the purest essence of the doctor at his cartoony yet competent best, I'd say S3&K is a reasonable bet.

And when it comes to all his many traits, which one do I find the most special one of all? Well again, far from easy to answer, but I think the coolest aspect about him is also one of the most overlooked. Robotnik, despite whatever superhuman qualities he may occasionally unveil, is for all intents and purposes a regular guy with a big brain. This might make him appear unimpressive when compared to your average Final Fantasy villain and the like, but if anything, it paints him in a more flattering light than expected, because he doesn't even need to be on their level to still be on the radar. It's easy to be a big bad threat when you're an ancient demon or an almighty god-like being, and you only have to wave a hand to cause armageddon. But when you're just Some Guy™ going up against superpowered opponents, meaning you have to earn your threat level the hard way, and you prove to be a challenge every step of the way regardless, because you're just THAT much of a genius... that's fucking awesome, no other way to put it.

And you know what else is awesome? You may not like Eggman, and you don’t have to like him, but like it or not, he is directly and indirectly responsible for a vast majority of the coolest and most loved moments and aspects of this franchise.

The opening to Unleashed? Eggman set up the scene.

Shadow running around and continuing to be part of the franchise? Eggman released him.

Blaze getting involved with Sonic’s world and continuing to be part of the franchise? Eggman’s half-responsible for that.

Metal Sonic? Eggman made him.

Egg Dragoon? Eggman.

Big Arm? Eggman.

Monkey Dude? Eggman.

That text is missing a blue checkmark.

This review is probably longer than the echidna family tree in Archie at this point, so I better finish it off. If it wasn't obvious from all the paragraphs I've belted out in this post, I'm very passionate about Eggman and the way he’s portrayed. Ever since I got into the Sonic franchise in 2003, I immediately took a liking to the doctor, and to this day, he remains not only my favourite Sonic villain, my favourite Sonic character, but also my favourite character period. Some may find it a weird or lame choice compared to other, “better” characters, but that's the way it is, and I ain't about to change it. I am very unlikely to ever stop enjoying the hell out of this villain, and even if he got irreversibly ruined in some way, I'd still continue to love what he was before that point.

Because yeah, he's not the deepest character ever, but... who cares? Is it not enough that we find something that appeals to us? When I got into Sonic, I was introduced to fantastic games, a likable cast, high quality soundtracks, beautiful worlds, numerous friends on this very site, and of course, the lovely treasure that is my partner. I may not have been with this franchise during the 90's, but it's given me just as much fun, nostalgia, and happiness as those who were. Despite the flawed titles, despite the fandom conundrums, I still love this series.

And I still love this absolute prick.

Crusher Gives Dr. Eggman a: TWO Thumbs Up!

[crackupcharge]

Reasons why Kamen Rider OOO absolutely slaps

The driver: the OOO driver is one of the best drivers in the whole franchise. One of the things that annoys me the most in a rider series is when someone pulls a huge chunky driver and gimick items completely out of their ass. But with the OOO driver compacting to just that core section and Eiji's baggy pockets it's totally believable that he always has it on him. As a side the fact that Ankh stores and gives Eiji core medals is also a nice way to deal with hiding all the medals.

Another beautiful thing about the driver is the putotyra medals. In every series since probably ryuki the final form has needed something that breaks the gimmicks form. Either a bigger version of the gimmick, or something that attaches to / changes the shape of the driver or is a totally independent item such as Kiva's or Faiz final forms. Now don't get me wrong I love me a big chunky bottle or ridewatch as much as the next guy but in OOO they don't need all that. The dinosaur medals aren't bigger, or a different shape, they don't even have a different colour ring around them. All of the grandness, power and upgrade item "feel" comes entirely from the story. The plot and lore alone makes it very clear that these are something special, something terrifying I'm strength that should be feared. And the fact that they can pack all that punch into three ordinary looking medals just goes to show how amazing the writing is in OOO.

The Villans: the Greeed are the most interesting villans I've seen in the series I've watched (rivaled only be metsubojinrai.net) because they're almost pitiable. They're creatures that were forced into creation as mindless slaves and only became sentient by having a part of them torn away, leaving an burning desire to be whole again that can never be fully satisfied.

Their entire existence is numb and dull. Colours are washed out, sounds are muffled, food has no taste or texture and they can't even feel complex emotions like love no matter how hard they try. Throughout the series we see them trying to feel and experience the world like a human would through Gamel's constant eating even though to him eating rocks and sweets makes no difference. Through Mezool's dreams of having a family and feeling real love, you really start to feel sorry for these guys and can understand why they're so desperate to get their core medals back.

And then there's Uva. Now it's been a few years since I've watched OOO but from what I can remember he gets continuously tricked, betrayed and generally screwed over. He even takes the time to very sneakily and slowly gather enough cell medals (though a way that the humans don't even notice) to revive his fallen allies and immediately gets screwed over by them. Throughout the whole series he felt like the Greeed that wanted to be there the least. He seemed disgusted when the other Greeed started mixing medals and left them all. And in the end he was terrified of being turned into the medal vessel begging maki to stop. He will always stick with me as the villan that really deserved better.

The Gadgets: for me the medajalibur and ride vendor carry along the same subtle sleak design aspects that the driver and dinosaur medals do. Neither the sword or bike of this series really scream OOO but I think that gives them a special charm. A lot of rider swords and bikes have the riders face or gimmick designs plastered all over them and while yes the sword does take core medals it's pretty subtle and can really stand on their own when taken out of the context of the show and could be placed in nearly any rider series (in the best way possible). And as rider robots go the vandroids are great. They blend in great story wise with the ride vendors, they're used pretty frequently. More than say the foodroids of fourze and unlike most rider robots like wizards Ws or Fourzes they didn't even come with the core gimmick item, making them much more of a fun option than a nessesary collectable.

I know o haven't even touched on the story or even the main characters really here but it just goes to show how much thought and effort was put into OOO with even in the little details like these. With the 10th anniversary of OOO being this month I implore you to give it a try if you get the chance, it's truly an amazing series.

[mk-wizard]

Transformer Body Types (Fan Theory Only)

Keep in mind that the following is gathered by collective fan lore and my own theory. It is not official and based on observation by enthusiasts.

Data – The most common body type among Autobots and Decepticons namely males. The data body is the most robotic looking with blocky and borderline androgynous style. Transformers with a data type frame tend to lack humanoid facial features like noses and in some cases, lips. They also tend to be solid with medium to large builds though there have been cases of slender datas. They also usually are blocky in shape almost like blocks or like robotic models. Autbots take a lot of pride in this body type and since males desire it, the more robotic one looks, the more virile he is considered.

Doll – The most common body type among female Transformers and the only body type GoBots come in. Dolls tend to be medium to lightweight and hence their name, they have soft doll like features which mirror humanoid ones as their bodies and faces have curves and a smoothness too them. They always have humanoid faces, hands and feet and they are the only type to have hair. While this body type tends to not be the most desired one for combat or work by most Transformer communities, it is the most the most eco and energy efficient as it requires the least amount of energy, armor and it allows for the most flexibility. Decepticons tend to add and upgrade to males to give them more muscle mass making their features more aggressive and their physiques more like action figures rather than like dolls for males. Female Autbots and Decepticons can add a cosmetic upgrade to make their features more voluptuous though this upgrade is also considered as a gamble because it can impact their ability to transform in which it can become slightly crippled turning them into semi-changers.

Bug – While it shares many traits with the data body type, it has features that are unique to itself such as the defining trait of having a pair of horns on antennae on the helm. Bug types are usually average to short in height and have slightly softer features though theirs tend to be toy like rather than humanoid. Their features are just a bit more round too. Bug types also tend to be very armored by nature kind of like an insect’s endoskeleton making them well protected. Another feature they share with insects hence the “bug” title is that they are abnormally strong for their size and can lift up to three times their weight easily. Despite looking cute and pixie like, bug types are a force to be reckoned with.

Acrobat – The body type most common to aerial bots of any faction. They are the most slender and lightweight making them ideal for flight, contorting and agility. While not physically as strong as other choices, they are quick and very hard targets to hit. In the case of Decepticons, they give Transformers with the acrobat body type a special upgrade that makes them pointier all over.

Wrecker – The most massive and muscular of the body types which can easily be recognized by size alone as well as how the Transformer always bears monstrous features such as pointed teeth, oversized jaws or limbs, or in some cases, a single optic (eye). They are incredibly powerful in strength and in fire power, and they can take quite a beating. However, their frame comes with quite a few drawbracks. They are incredibly inflexible, slow and very vulnerable to back attacks. They also have voracious appetites meaning they need a lot of fuel to live.

Beast – Transformers who are animals have this frame since this frame is made for animals. However, if a Transformer goes through the Beast Machine, their body will be transformed into a beast type frame. In that case, their body will be changed to be a combination of animal and whatever their previous frame was though it is considered as entirely beast. The features are usually very subtle though things like behaviour, fangs, claws and most notably, the appearance of hair or something on the head and body give things away. Transformers who are beast types tend to be ashamed of their features and will usually hide them. Strangely enough, despite the shame, many Decepticons have been known to undergo the process willingly to gain an edge in combat. All other cases of Transformers going through the Beast Machine though have either been by accident or as a last ditch effort to escape death because the transformation makes the body like new again instantly curing the patient of any ailment or healing any wound regardless of how close to death they were.

Alien – The most common body type among Quintessons. Hence the name, Transformers of this frame type tend to have the most obscure features from alien (even by Transformer standards), angelic, demonic to even completely unique. The defining trait of this body type is the Transformer having something most others do not have such as extra parts, tentacles, functional wings or other otherworldly features.

Note that because Transformers are robots, they can completely change one frame for another, but because they are living organisms first, undergoing such a change can be strenuous and at times deadly. Such a process is usually only done for medical reasons. In the case of having a beast frame, there exists no safe way to change it. In the case of changing any other frame for a doll type, it is the safest though most Transformers tend not to go through with it especially males.

[alarawriting]

Inktober 2020 15 - Outpost 16 - Rocket

Aparicu was not human. This didn’t bother her. Her closest friends and coworkers were also not human. This didn’t bother her either. What bothered her was that she wanted very much to share her achievements with humanity, and especially her creators, but she was 62 light years away from Earth, and she’d been in space for over 75 by Earth time. The relativistic speed she and her friends were traveling at made it so they’d only experienced 43 years – 82 percent of the speed of light, on average – and she was built to last, with modules that she and her friends could repair; the only thing that could go wrong was if all four of them were knocked out at the same time, and the ship was hardened against electromagnetic pulses, radiation, and other things that could theoretically take them all out. Everyone who’d been involved in creating her, however, was dead.

Well. If they succeeded, that wouldn’t be a problem.

She and the Apariabs – named Red, Green and Blue, to avoid the inherent hierarchy of a numerical or alphabetic system – were all healthy, and there had been a lot to do on the way here. They’d gathered information as they’d traveled, using the ship’s telescopes to take pictures of the entire starscape, one a minute, in a spherical pattern around the ship. That let them crunch numbers and compensate for the Doppler shift to get all kinds of information about the universe around them. They were transmitting everything back home, of course, in case the plan went wrong, but it obviously wouldn’t get there for another 62 years.

They’d also played a lot of games. Video games made for humans weren’t calibrated for robots, so they were either impossibly hard or tragically easy, sometimes within the same game, but board games and card games were fine. No games where you could win by counting cards, because the robots automatically did that without even trying, but playing poker was an amazing experience when you tried the art of the bluff for the first time in your life. Attempting to model what the other robots would think of you if you did X was hard enough, but then attempting to model that on top of the other robots knowing you were modeling it and compensating by creating their own models… this was the kind of challenging, exciting activity that could hold their attention for days at a time.

But now, they’d reached the end of the journey.

“Can we confirm that the gravitational field has a toroidal shape?” Aparicu asked Red, who was analyzing the gravitational patterns by using drones to drop tiny sensors into Wishing Well, and then measuring the part where the gravity became strong enough that the drone could no longer transmit.

“It does,” Red reported. “All of the specifications are exactly like they were on the Guest.”

“That’s a relief,” Blue said. “Can you imagine what it would be like if we got here and found it wasn’t as expected?”

Since Aparicu didn’t need to model human facial expressions to her teammates, her face didn’t move, but the pattern of LEDs on her face expressed deep irritation. “Blue, every time you say ‘can you imagine’ I am compelled to imagine, and I really don’t appreciate it.” As the Central Unit for the Ansible Project Autonomous Robotic Intelligences, Aparicu was tasked with modeling outcomes of potential situations. This modeling task could be triggered by anyone suggesting a possible future or an alternate present. Blue knew this, which was the reason Aparicu was irritated – Blue was deliberately moving operational memories about his coworkers’ preferences into long-term, slow-to-access storage so he could have more available space for modeling shapes. It wouldn’t be so bad if all he did with his shape-modeling was the modeling of the devices they’d be printing at the destination, but in fact he used it to model buildings, landscapes and even entire human cities, complete with tiny humans whose movement was based on statistical traffic models. He kept having to dump the shapes to long-term storage, too, and it was at eighty percent capacity already. Eventually he might have to delete something.

Green was busy quality-checking the print job for the mirrors as they printed. She looked up, which really didn’t mean anything because she was connected directly to the printer and didn’t have to look at it, but it was a signal that she was shifting some portion of primary attention to the target of her gaze. “So far variance in the print job is under nineteen nines, but I’m concerned that keeping the variance that low is making the process run really slowly.”

“We’ve been at this for forty-three years, Green,” Aparicu said. “I think we can take the time to make sure everything’s done right.”

Red said, “We have to compute the angles for the transmissions anyway, and determine how many substations the outpost should have. The toroid’s a toroid, but we have no idea how long the Guest was in transit, so there’s no guarantee Wishing Well’s grav field is identical to what they told us to expect.”

“But I want to get this stuff built,” Green said, her LEDs displaying frustration, the robot equivalent of a whine. “We’re here! We’re at Wishing Well, finally! And when we’re done, we can call home!”

“I wonder if we can get a strong enough connection to download media,” Blue said.

“We pretty much have to,” Aparicu reminded him. “Wishing Well’s humanity’s connection to the ansible network. It’s gonna suck if we can’t get the bandwidth to transmit yottabytes daily.”

“All the data on Earth is just about three brontobytes,” Red said. “If we could transmit a yottabyte a day, we could transmit all the data on Earth in nine years, approximately.”

“You’re not thinking. We don’t yet have the ability to digitize items down to the molecular level, but once we do… there’s approximately seven times ten to the 27 atoms in a human body, for example. If you don’t compress it, that’s seven brontobytes to describe the configuration of every atom. So if they want to digitize and send themselves, it’d take 21 years of using all of Earth’s bandwidth to send one uncompressed human pattern. Obviously we’re going to use compression when we figure out how to do it, but I have a suspicion you can’t use compression on the brain, at all.”

“So we want to be able to send brontobytes. Ideally, geopbytes,” Blue said. “Yeah, okay, we can get a lot of media from home if the thing works properly.”

“Well, brontobytes are gonna require an upgrade, and I don’t know if we’ll still be around by that time. Probably we won’t be involved. But we are definitely supposed to be able to transmit yottabytes.”

“You guys sound like you’re more worried about getting the latest media shows than being able to talk to Our People,” Green said. Aparicu could practically hear the capital letters. Green was very, very attached to the humans who had made them, even more than Aparicu. She’d flashed distress for weeks once they were far enough out that communication, even arel-laggy communication like emails every month, became impossible. “I can’t wait to tell Dr. Blum all about what we’ve done!”

Dr. Blum was certainly dead by now, but that was the point to the ansible project, and to Wishing Well. Wishing Well was a very tiny black hole, barely the mass of the Sun… which suggested it had been created artificially or that something very strange had happened to create it, because stars the size of the Sun weren’t supposed to be able to become black holes. Humanity hadn’t even detected it. The Guest, an unmanned alien craft they’d found in orbit around Proxima Centuri B, had come with the exact position of Wishing Well, and instructions on what to build to connect to the galactic ansible network, and the physics behind it.

“Ansible” was a term humans had used for generations to mean a fictional device that could transmit messages instantaneously across light years. The physics the alien craft had supplied didn’t provide a means of getting around light speed; instead, it made use of properties of black holes that humanity had been theorizing about but been unable to prove. Normally nothing within the event horizon of a black hole could ever escape. But if you had a black hole with a toroidal gravitational field, and if you positioned a beam of information just right, you could send it at an angle through the gravitation field so it would come out.

It turned out that within the black hole, space and time inverted – there were multiple dimensions of time, and only one of space. If you calculated your angle with sufficient precision, you could send a message out of the black hole so that it exited before you sent it… even years before you sent it.

Theoretically it was possible to send a message back in time, at least after a receiver had been in place for long enough. In practical terms, no one had yet been able to figure out how to make that work… the range of possible times that a beam could exit Wishing Well seemed to be approximately 124 years into the future or past… which was further evidence that maybe Wishing Well was artificial. Had someone discovered humanity’s existence at some point in the far distant past, and made a black hole for them to be able to connect to the ansible network when they were able to explore space far enough to find the instructions? No way to know… yet.

The crew of the April – named by humans for the acronym APR, Ansible Project Rocket, though technically the April was a spaceship, not a rocket – had been traveling forty-three years of their own time, and seventy-five of Earth’s years, in order to build the outpost that would handle transmissions. First they’d build the apparatus that would allow them to send a signal at lightspeed back to Earth… a hundred and twenty-four years ago. A signal sent from Earth at lightspeed would take 62 years to reach Wishing Well. The response would take 62 years to go back to Earth. So shooting the response back a hundred and twenty-four years would mean the response would arrive a few months, at most, after the signal had been sent.

After they had that up and running, so they could communicate with home – sending their own messages so they’d come out of the black hole, pointed at Earth, sixty-two years ago – they’d set up the parts that would let them send comms to the other ansnet nodes the Guest had given them coordinates for. Some of those messages would take a hundred years to get there… but the return response could be sent two hundred years ago. And humanity would finally be able to talk to whoever was out there. Never able to meet in person, since no one had broken the speed of light and the Guest suggested that the worlds participating in the ansnet might generally take several human lifetimes to reach even at the maximum speed anyone had ever gotten a spaceship to go… but at least able to be internet friends.

But first, the robots – the Central Unit and the Ancillary Builders – would create the means to send messages back home to the humans they’d left behind. Humans couldn’t handle the forty-three year journey, or the horrific psychological isolation of spending that entire time in a tiny box in space with no one but a handful of crewmates… but robots could be programmed with personalities that meshed with each other almost perfectly, and no real need to be able to go “outside” or experience a planetary surface. They’d been able to endure the journey, as no humans could have.

But they had to be connected to their homeworld, to humanity, or how could humanity be sure they’d actually build what they were supposed to? So all of them had been programmed, to some extent or another, to look at their creators as beloved parents. They were adults, out in space on their own, but adult humans, for the most part, still wanted to share their triumphs and their joys with their parents, if they could. The robots had been looking forward to telling their creators all about their trip, and showing off the ansible node they would have built, throughout the entire trip.

“I want to talk to Dr. Blum too,” Aparicu said. “But we’ve waited forty-three years, and she’s waited thirteen since we left by the time the message gets back to her.” Tenses were awkward when talking about time travel. “A few more weeks to make sure we get it right won’t hurt us.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t we look dumb if we had a variance that meant the message lost half its bandwidth, or missed us entirely,” Blue said.

Aparicu intensified her irritation pattern and repeated it for emphasis. “Blue… stop presenting me with hypotheticals!”

He said sorry, but she suspected he wasn’t, really.

[unik0rnu]

Page 8, Taking Care

Lizzie decided to visit the Overboss personally with the fixed pipboy and her short manual when she heard the duo just dealt with gunners on the nearby bridge last night. Beside Mags was still advising her to leave the lab from time to time to breathe some fresh air instead of chemicals. She strolled towards the Fizztop humming under nose and ignoring the disciples whispering behind her back and took the elevator from the lower entrance. Meeting with Porter first seemed more in a respect before disturbing the Boss lady but before she took a step out of elevator an echo of very strange noises hit her ear. She followed it curiously all the way to the patio door and stopped, leaning with her ear towards it.

- Oh, just fucking shove it in me, Gage! It won’t hurt any more than it already does. The Lucy’s angry voice was heard from inside the room as well as raider.

- Shit, are you sure Boss? You sure you can take it? It’s big. Gage voice seemed filled with hesitation and worry.

- Oh my. Lizzie couldn’t stop from smirking at least but realized shortly it wasn’t what it was.

- Oh its just one needle and i won’t move much until you pump some med-x in that cracked back of mine so just fucking do it, please? Lucy was sitting on a bed curled up with her back exposed, awaiting for Gage to finish the injection, covering her chest with a pillow, pushing it and shoving nails in it as the needle met her skin.

Gage was surprised by her decision, not wanting to take a break and just dealing the way she does with her current condition. And he would not dare to ruin or leave some nasty mark on that smooth back of hers.

- All done, Boss but you still should rest a bit. Safari doesn’t sound like a place that will just let us stroll there. He said right after finishing the injection, turning around and taking a sit at the bar to let her dress up.

- Bullshit, we will make it a stroll then. She pulled her hair from under the top and joined him at the bar shortly, slowly stretching her hands upwards and to the sides.

-Ekhem, Boss, Gage? Lizzie knocked as her head was already popping out of the door.

- Oh, come on in. Lucy pointed towards the chair to join them at the bar. - You got something for me?

- Oh i do, your pipboy with quite an interesting upgrade as you asked. Lizzie sat between them and put the pipboy on the counter.

- And how safe is that update? No offence but you tend to have some crazy ideas at times. Gage muttered under his nose while eyeballing the device.

- Oh very crazy. Lizzie smiled at him when opening the back panel and wiggling the cable with a shark metallic tip in her hand. - Sadly it doesn’t work on humans, maybe just the ones with metallic parts. Lucy tried not to chuckle, covering the mouth with her hand, grinning.

- Very fucking funny, now what does it do? Gage shook his head at them.

- Its simple, you shove that into any robot or computer device that has access and it might give you some control over these. But with robots you have to be very close to them and their sockets from what i saw usually were put in back of their heads. Lizzie stretched the cable which was indeed pretty short and handed the pipboy to Lucy.

- Sounds simple and useful. Does it come with....

- Manual yes, Boss. Lizzie interrupted and handed her a bunch of dusty old papers with instructions and eventual repair methods written by herself. She even included some drawings.

- You need a manual, Boss? Gage raised his eyebrow at her in a surprise.

- Well, yes. Not everyone is a bold egghead setting up weird ass shit around. She raised her eyebrow as well and squinted an eye at him in response. - Beside they trained me to kill shit, not to sit at the lab or whatever.

- Alright, alright, no offence, Boss.

- None taken. Gage looked away as her face softened.

- Alright i will leave you two. If you need anything Boss you know where to find me. Lizzie nodded at them and walked towards the elevator. - Ah, Boss i almost forgot, William has been asking when you visit us again at Parlor.

- Visit? For what? Lucy stood up from the chair and walked towards the elevator to catch Lizzie response as she has been slowly lifted down.

- Dinner i guess. Lizzie smirked at her from the bottom and left in a hurry to the safety of her lab as the elevator hit the bottom. Gage heard it but decided to leave that without any comment.

-Damn...Lucy whispered. Its been a while since someone mentioned a dinner and it wasn’t involving killing someone.

----------

As the duo started gathering their gear and preparing to leave a signal appeared on her pipboy.

- What do they want now....oh. Lucy have read the message and grabbed the Lizzie’s manual from the counter, scanning it carefully as the beam of holographic light hit it.

- What are you doing, Boss? Gage looked from behind his shoulder as he was leaning at the desk checking on his rifle.

- Just an exchange with the fellow ground scientists. Is there a...janitor closet in this building? She turned to him as the scanning finished.

- A what? You mean like a small room filled with some rusty old buckets and shit know what else? Gage didn’t hide his confusion on the question but guided her to the kitchen and pointed at the door what rusty broken panel probably mentioning a name of a guy who worked there before.

Lucy opened a door and dodged the avalanche of brooms and sticks falling as she opened the door. The dust and stench coming out of it made them both cough heavily.

- What the fuck did you keep there, fuck, the smell. Lucy turned and walked away few steps.

- Well..the janitor and then some bodies that i forgot about. Gage stepped forward and threw away all the sticks along with some bones making some space in the middle.

- Unbelievable. Lucy only shook head at him wrinkling her forehead and pulling the small metallic circle with a red button on top of it out of her pocket.

-Let’s see, they said the signal is the best there for some fucking reason. She crouched and put it on the floor, pushing the button and moving away. Gage stood next to her crossing his arms and awaiting in doubt.

- Any moment now, Boss eh? He commented as nothing seemed to be happening.

- Ah shut up.  

As few more seconds passed the white light surrounded the room so bright it almost blinded them. They bent away and turned back as it disappeared. On the floor was lying something that looked like a grey metallic like suit but more shiny and smooth in its structure as well as more bendy in a touch as Lucy kneeled over it and took it in her hands with ease.

- How in the fucking hell they do that? I should be happy then ain’t sent a synth on us yet. Gage muttered under his nose. Seeing what just happened didn’t add to the safety that was barely existing in the back of his head.

- Some kind of signal...allowing them to teleport me the stuff away from marked regular pick up points. She felt a strong vibe of distrust from him as she stepped out of the closet holding the suit in her hands. - Look, Gage, i don’t trust them either but the deal is useful and they kept their word so far. They don’t give a shit what we do as long as they get some scraps of data from us. She sighted and pulled a hand towards his arm for reassurance but he turned away before that.

- We will see Boss, let’s just get back to work.  

-------

The sun was hanging high beside the clouds and hitting the Lucy’s suit making it shine even brighter in its almost silk-metal like structure as they strolled towards their next target - safari adventure park. Gage mood slightly improved as it was hard not to look at her in that tight armor like set-up wondering how sharp are the claws attached to her hands and feet of it.

- I think they made it resemble a cat like creature...Lucy pondered while brushing the claws on her hand with a fingers.

- Oh..they certainly did but better hide this from Mason’s view. Gage hid his grin.

- Also...can i ask you something, Boss?

- Sure, ask. She stopped as they almost arrived at the entrance and nothing seemed to be endangering their little chat.

- I know that taking the parks and dealing with our shit is important, mostly to me but you seem to be barely stopping at it. He looked down at her.

- What, you worried or something, that i overwork myself? Oh how cute of you. She placed her hands on the hips, looking back up at him.

- Errr no....no shit, just i didn’t see anyone pushing and going on so much in this shithole. Its...well fucking surprising of you. He shrugged in response.

- I’m scared of boredom Gage. I always preferred to keep myself....well occupied on one task or another and you don’t seem to be running out of them. She didn’t lie although she kept her secret about having some kind of hallucinations as well as dealing with stress after every task and trying not to shove herself with calmex over and over. Running with Gage and dealing with their current problems seemed to be a good distraction as well as it was fitting with the nature of her lifestyle and Porter was indeed a good companion for this run.

- So, shall we? She nodded towards the park, inpatient.

- Yeah. Gage stretched his shoulders and neck and followed.

---------

The safari park was overgrown by dried trees and bushes, scattered densely around, vines climbing around the walls and gates. The huge tree was hard to miss, standing tall and strong in the middle of it. The sounds and ambience of jungle was still heard through a hidden speakers around the park making it feel quite peaceful and welcoming for a stroll around.

- What’s the worst that can happen here? A gazelle hitting us in a teeth with a hoof? Lucy looked around as they passed the entrance but Gage was always alert and on his toes.

- We didn’t explore this one yet so fuck knows what or who could be here. Raider turned himself to a heavy stomps he could hear along the chirps and howls that were coming from a corner behind the walls and bushes. Lucy stepped silently behind him with her knife ready.  As Gage looked from behind the corner he froze, his eyes widening in a surprise but turning fast into the worry as the beast silhouette in front spotted him, its yellow eye turning abruptly towards him as it stretched itself from a scavenger corpse and slashed its claws at the raider’s face.

-Shit! Run! He turned around abruptly and pulled her after him as the gator like creature of a deathclaw size jumped after them. When she took a glimpse on what was chasing them she was only glad to have her current suit, allowing her to pick up a speed with much less effort and keeping up with Gage as they passed the labyrinth of tunnels and cages, eventually ramming into the first building door they saw and falling down the stairs.

- What the fuck is this? She swore, still keeping her voice low till the heavy steps moved on, away from the door.

- Hell if i know. Looks like a mutated lizard...alligator of sort, fucking oversized too. Gage pulled himself up from the floor, covering his ruined eye as the gator reached his patch when it slashed its hand at him, breaking its strap in a process.

- Shit, are you okay? Lucy swept the dust off her as she stood up and walked up to him, eyeballing his face. - Let me see.

- You don’t want to see that Boss, believe me. Gage hesitated and tried to turn away but she was following him around, not giving up.

- Oh ye? Try me and stop that crap. She slapped his hand away from his face and took a good look at it, checking for any damage or cuts not showing any kind of expression or disgust not noticing that she put her both hands on the sides of his face in the process pulling him downwards to her.

- Any closer Boss and it will be fucking awkward. Gage kept looking away but let himself be checked.

- You can make it awkward if you want so much. She joked and smirked taking the hands off him. - Nothing serious but you will have to endure going without your patch for this round.

- Well, yeah. He sighted and stuffed his broken patch in the pocket.

- Don’t worry, i don’t mind the view. She brushed his shoulder and looked around to check where exactly they landed in a rush of chase.

------

The building was having walls made of metallic bars on its sides and the only light that was there was the one hitting the place from cracks and holes in a roof making it all look dusty in the air in its beams. As they were walking slowly around suddenly they spotted a few pairs of eyes shining from the dark corner behind the cage bars. Gage raised his rifle towards them.

- Uhm...lady? The low voice came from behind their backs. As they turned around a tall massive man was standing, with a darker skin and overgrown black beard welding a big hammer in his hands and looking down at them, tilting his head to the sides like a curious dog.

- Err....who are you? Lucy asked as she noticed he wasn’t about to attack them and hit the Gage’s arm with an elbow to lower his gun.

- Me? Cito. This place my home and family. He pointed towards the corner where they saw the eyes before. A group of black-grey furry gorillas walked out and looked at them, scratching their heads and making sounds in a manner of a talk between them.  

- You, not enemy, yes? Not hurt us? Lucy nodded at him in confusion of the language he was using and the whole meeting. Gage wasn’t confused any less. - I think he’s been here a while, maybe he knows something about these gators. He proposed.

- Gat-ors? Big green beasts, Cito knows, Cito fights, every day. Lady help? The man walked away and picked up something that looked like a holotape, chewed on edges but still in a working condition. - Long ago, beasts attacked and man died. Left this, Cito not know. Cito cannot eat. Cito try. He handed the holotape to Lucy. She took it with a tip of her fingers.

- Yes, this is not food. Thank you, Cito. As she played the holotape the voice of a dying old man explained the problems that happened in a cloning facility that is apparently hidden beneath the park, releasing the uncontrollable amounts of mutated gatorclaws that made their way to the surface.

- Shit, that doesn’t sound good. I don’t think we can even take them all down, Boss. Hell knows how many of them is here. Gage voice sounded disappointed on a thought they might not be able to take that park.

- We could sneak all the way there to just turn off the device. Lucy was pondering on a plan to keep them forward instead of giving up.

- And then? If we actually manage to get that far.

- We tell Mason to bring his pack and help us clean what will remain. She proposed.

- And why do you think he will agree to that? Gage raised his eyebrow at the idea.

- If you tell him how he could actually stretch his muscles proudly to be a part of taking Nuka World it would probably make others look a bit weaker in that manner, maybe even jealous a bit. Doesn’t he like to show off after all? Her idea did have some sense in it and just two of them going against park stuffed with gators would cost them hell of a bullets and sweat at the current moment.

- Alright, Boss, i will try talk to him but even sneaking seems tricky in here. You cant hear and see much shit out there in these goddamn maze of bushes. Gage brushed his chin thinking on some approach.

-Cito help! The man cheered sensing the duo wants to put the beasts problem to an end.

- Huh...how you wanna help? With a distraction, maybe? Lucy looked up at him.

- Yes. Di-stra-ction. Cito lure and run. Lady go to fa-ci-lity. Stop beasts. He looked more than eager to put that tactic to use.

- Let’s give it a try since he volunteers. What do you think, Gage? Lucy turned her amber eyes to him, hoping for the positive answer.

- Shiet, fine. Let’s try but be fucking careful. They nodded at each other and let the Cito out first to lure the gators away from their path.      

------

The plan seemed to work as the way to the main building was clear. They moved swiftly, ducking low towards it and closed the door silently behind them.

- Fuck. Gage swore lowly noticing one beast lurking at the lower lever between desks.

- It didn’t see us, let me try handle it. We don’t want to make much noise. Lucy decided to put her suit to good use, crouching low and stepping to the edge waiting for a right moment to take a leap downwards. Gage was right behind, ready to assist if needed. She jumped down holding the knife in her both hands, shoving it forcefully in the gator head and dodging its claws waving around in anger before it dropped to the floor.

- If every one of them would be that easy we wouldn’t need any more support. She jumped gracefully to the floor, suit keeping her reflexes on point.

- I wish they would be on our side, imagine having these instead of Mason dogs. He looked over the dead gator body almost impressed.

- Lizard lover ain’t ya? She chuckled and looked around, spotting a panel on a door that looked surprisingly undamaged and sturdier than others.  

- Well, shit. We need password. Gage joined her as he finished gazing at the beast.

- Maybe...not. She pulled the wire Lizzie was talking about before and brushed the thick layer of dusk from a small crack at the panel, shoving it inside and checking her pipboy screen. - Please, fucking work. She tapped some buttons and smiled as the sparks started flowing from under the tip of it and the familiar click was heard. She placed the hand on the door handle and pushed it slowly to make sure nothing awaits them on the other side.

- Good shit. Gage commented positively.

- Indeed. Have more faith in that operator of yours. Lucy peeked inside and looked down the stairs. - I think we are on a right track. It goes only down from there.

As they finally reached the last step of stairs the lab seemed to be streching under the whole park. It had many rooms and cages scattered around, which they assumed were for animals there were experimenting on back then. The place looked abandonded and their residents probably died or got eaten long time ago. They scoured carefully going deeper and deeper into the facility, eyeballing for something that would resamble a control panel that would stop the process of cloning the mighty scaley beasts. The water was flowing out and filling slowly the last room they approached. The creatures trapped here in an attempt of escape ripped the canalization pipe and got their way out through there, slowly flooding the place in a process but the computer that was in their sight seemed to be still functional and above the water level. As they walked deeper Lucy noticed the water is almost at their waist level, making eventual running more difficult.

- Wait Gage, i will jump on some furniture and rubble to that console and turn it off, the water is too deep in here to just walk like that. Keep an eye around. Gage nodded as Lucy climbed on the nearby desk and jumped onward on whatever was above the water towards the terminal. Gage eyeballed the surface for any suspicious movements.

Lucy looked over the terminal structure and used the same wire to get herself into the data and scour it for cloning process but right when she finished the humidity and remaining water in the socket caused a small outburst and woke up something that was lying beneath the water all that time. Another gator but this time its scales lacking the green shade of the basic ones and a smarter look in its eyes was only worrying her more as it stretched itself to stand straight, water sliding downwards from its shiny grey skin.

- Get out of there Boss! Gage didn’t hesitate to finally unload his rifle’s magazine to cover her as she tried to make her way back to him aiming at the eyes of the creature. She was again lunging and jumping at furniture and structures that remained above water, her suit allowing her to reach further and faster. The gator spotted it and grabbed a solid wide metallic heavy locker nearby, throwing it at the entrance where Gage was hiding behind, cutting her way out to him.

-Shit, get out of here Gage, now! She shouted and looked around the room as the desk she was standing on was the only object remaining.

- Fuck! Gage tried to kick down the locker away but to no success.

- Just go, i will get out through that canalization pipe! Gage eventually listened and ran back up, hoping to find where the pipe exit leads.

-Shit. Lucy looked at the beast turning to her and then at the cracked pipe. She reminded herself about the burst from her wire and slowly checked for a pulse grenade that was luckily attached to her waist along with smoke one. As the gator launched at her she made the long jump towards the opening throwing behind her the smoke grenade, gaining some seconds to run through the water and inside the pipe as the beast lost the sight of her in the thick smoke that rose above the water as the grenade cracked in the air. She clenched herself with the claws to the sides of a pipe as it started leading upwards and hearing the gator cracking the structure, following her behind. Lucy finally reached the exit in a hurry which lead to one of swimming pools for the alligators in the reptile house. Gasping rapidly she ran out of the waters reach and threw a pulse grenade in the pipe opening as the beast crawled up. Gage burst inside the building and help her finish the business as the creature landed inside the pool stunned in pain of the electric shocks as the grenade released its impact. He unloaded his rifle at its head until it no longer moved, making the pool red from amount of blood.

- Damn, Boss, you okay? He caught his breath as he ran all the way to find her. She nodded at him, holding her hands on the knees as she was leaning downwards to catch a breather as well.  

- Did you meet Cito on your way by any chance? She asked as she straightened herself up slowly.

- Yeah, i told him we dealt with that cloning shit. What are we gonna do with him when Mason comes here to clean the rest?

- Well, he helped us after all and willingly so just tell Mason not shoot him when we come later. Hell, he might even fit in his gang, don’t you think? He doesn’t seem to care what raiders are anyway.  

- Alright Boss. Gage agreed and peeked slowly out of the door. - Let’s get the hell out of here and deliver the news.

- Don’t forget the flag on our way out.

------

As they arrived to Fizztop for a short break Gage almost forgot he doesn’t have his eyepatch on as he was brushing the barrel of his rifle, leaning on a chair, a cigarette sticking out of his mouth. He patted the pocket of his pants to find it empty.

- What the hell. He stood up and started looking around, wondering if he dropped it somewhere. He didn’t see Lucy since they came back as she closed herself at the patio but decided to ask her anyway.

- Hey, Boss, did you see my freaking patch somewhere?

As he entered the patio she was leaning at the bar with her back to him, concentrated deeply on something as she didn’t respond.

- Boss? He approached her and as was about to shake her shoulder she turned around with his patch, fixed, in her hands. He noticed the tools scattered around and then turned his eye to her.

- I fixed it for you. That little chain seemed already a bit rusty so i also exchanged it with the other one i found around. Not that i don’t like you without it but it seems important to you so...there you go. She smiled at him noticing his lack of words and surprise in his eye as she handed it to him.

-Uhm... you didn’t have to, i could have done it myself but...well, shit, thanks Boss. He wasn’t used to this kind of acts so the thank you word also came with a bit of struggle but she deserved it as the patch was back on its place, completing the raiders cyclops look.

- Don’t mention it. Lucy stood up and threw a black jacket around her shoulders.

- I guess i will be off to Parlor to that dinner unless....

- Unless? Gage asked as she stopped in the middle of her way towards the door.

- Unless you have some better plans to offer for the evening. She waited for his response, curling the strand of her blond hair in the finger.

He wasn’t very fond of William and his fanciness but it wasn’t his business what and who she was meeting in her free time but for some reason the words just slipped out of mouth uncontrollably.

- How about a couple of beers at the cafe? Me and you, Boss?      

[scumerage]

How could "World War I" actually happen in One Punch Man? A social, legal, and military breakdown:

[Credit to /u/shadowii66 on reddit for all his great insight and debate regarding what many, myself included, believe to be an upcoming Superhero Civil War (even if he disagree and argues it won't happen). Much of this will be a rehash of our long in depth discussion, so I will try and summarize.]

#I. What is necessary for a civil war to happen?

(A) Both sides need to be partially justified/have partial public support:

If one side is presented as too unjustified/too univerally hated, then they can't actually fight, example, if the HA or Neo-Heroes attacked the other simply to seize power, not only will society turn on them, but most of their own heroes will refuse to fight on their behalf. Remember, the majority are not soldiers but heroes, they fight for individual reasons, not blind obedience.

(B) One side needs to declare war on the other:

Even if both have justification and at least some public support, one or both sides needs to take the step to act on it, to decide that, else it will simply continue to compete with popularity, funding, and public discourse. They need to take matters into their own.... and destroy the other Association by force.

(C) The majority of heroes on both sides need to fight:

Even if both sides are partially justified and one side makes the daring to declare war, the heroes still need to fight. If one sides heroes refused, it would simply be a coup, a manhunt, or a bloodless revolution and political takeover. Not a real war.

(D) Both sides must rival each other in military power:

If one side has an insurmountable and overwhelming power advantage, the war will end the minute it begins, with one side demolishing the other in a single battle. So the only way a war can actually be waged is if it is competitive, if victory and defeat hang in the balance for each group of heroes.

#II. How COULD the Civil War happen?

(A) Neo-Heroes declare war on the HA on charges of corruption, inefficiency, and endangering humanity:

The Neo-Heroes claim the HA leaders are criminals that need to be arrested for their crimes (and they would be right): money laundering+bribery+monster black market trade/putting a donor's son before humanity itself/nearly all their best heroes defeats by a single human teenager, the hero hunter/heroes like Bofoi and Tornado causing massive collateral damage through incompetence/any heroes who defend the HA are supporting the corruption and criminal collaborators.

 The Neo-Heroes march on City A to arrest the HA execs, the "Old Heroes" refuse to let them, an all out battle breaks out. Presumably the Neo-Heroes are driven back (else the HA would fall and the war would be over), maybe the HA launches their own attack on the Neo-Hero HQ, in any case, the war continues.

(B) Either Metal Knight is framed as a villain, or the Organization/Neo-hero ties are made public:

If the Organization can frame Bofoi as a villain, either by having replica Metal Knight drones attack the Neo-Heroes or even civilians, or better yet, frame Child Emperor as a HA terrorist seeking to destroy the Neo Heroes. Since Child Emperor is too smart to eat up the war propaganda of the Neo-Heroes (Edit 1), AND he will be investigating the Neo-Heroes from the inside, which the Organization does NOT want.

But if the Organization/Neo Hero ties are made public? The HA can justifiably say the Neo-Heroes are working for villains, allies of the MA, AND illegal arms dealers/criminals. The corrupt, desperate HA leaders would be all too willing for an excuse to attack the Neo-Heroes, who threaten their very existence, especially by stealing donors and hero recruits. Same scenario of one association attacking the other, just with attacker/defender reversed.

(C) [Argued by /u/shadowii66] A Civil War cannot happen:

 The Old Heroes won't fight to protect the corrupt and criminal HA execs.

The Neo-Hero members won't attack other heroes on false charges.

The Old Heroes saved the world from the aliens and MA, so they cannot simply be labelled as criminals and villains to justify fighting them.

[/u/shadowii66 If there are any major reasons I mistated/left out feel free to correct me]

#III. What events CANNOT happen, which would nullify the Civil War?

(A) Blast, Tornado, or Metal Knight join the war:

They are too powerful, and would give the HA too great an advantage. Thankfully, Blast has chosen to remain absent so far, and the other two have been discredited and will likely not take action.

(B) The Organization launches an attack on the world prematurely:

That would unite the heroes against them, and force them to overcome their differences and work together to fight them. Also, the Organization would lose the brilliant strategy of using the Neo-Heroes as cannon fodder to take down the HA/gather battle data on all the Old Heroes+Neo-Heroes+human fighters in general (and maybe have the Neo-Heroes go after Bofoi to force him to reveal his robot army prematurely).

(C) God or the Ninja Leader become public villains too early:

While they very well may be playing a large role on the sidelines, perhaps manipulating the war for their own benefit, and may even show up at the end, there can’t be a main villain too early. They are in a similar bind as the Organization, if they are too open and threaten the world too greatly, the heroes would ally to fight them (though it would still be glorious if one of the battles between several S-Class and Neo-Leaders is cut short by the Ninja Leader showing up and curbstomping all of them in an instant... they wouldn't even know how they were defeated).

#IV. How COULD the Civil War end?

(A) The Hero Association falls:

This is the Organization's whole purpose for the Civil War... to destroy the HA with humanity's own fighters, and also gathering a complete database of all the strength, style, and abilities of every hero. Meaning that even the S-Class will be utterly crushed by whatever perfect matchups the Organization creates to defeat them (not simply mix and matching random monsters like Psykos did). With all the heroes, both Old and Neo, as good as defeated, only Bofoi and Blast (maybe King as well?)(Edit 3) will be left to oppose them. and then... THEN they will strike.

(B) The Neo-Heroes fall:

The Organization's plan fails, the HA remains standing, though obviously greatly weakened, multiple cities in shambles, the heroes even more demoralized and worn out than they were from fighting the monsters. Still beneficial to the Organization, but not the great victory they had hoped for.

(C) A Third Side defeats/unites both HA and Neo-Heroes:

Could be the Hero Name Victims Association, could be the Ninja Leader, could be Blast, could be a disciple of God, could Blast, hey, crazy idea, could be the Organization or Bofoi for all anyone knows. The main issues is that the Third Side can’t take the spotlight til late in the Civil War (preferably when either it is clearly a stalemate or one side is clearly winning/losing). That way the Civil War conflict can actually be fully fleshed out. And either has an army wide reaching and effective enough to defeat both groups, or does not and the heroes on either side align.

(D) The HA and Neo-Heroes make peace:

Errr... possible? But both the HA and Neo-Heroes are hopelessly corrupt in their very structure.... based on support from either opportunistic morally unscrupulous businessmen... or foreign technological civilizations who have their own ends in mind. They cannot accept the degeneracy they both share, deny responsibility for... and accuse the other of having. Even a theoretical alliance in corruption would be doomed to fail sooner rather that, when their usefulness for each other is gone.

#V. What will happen after this Civil War Saga is over?

By “over”, what is meant is simply that the themes and story of the Civil War is fully tied up, that would include, say, when the Ninja Leader returns or the fallout from one or both Associations falling has had its impact. That the Civil War Saga is over, and a new saga is beginning. And the next saga is obviously the Organization Saga. The Civil War, successful or not, is over, there is no more use to be gained out of staying in the shadows. The time has come for machines to overshadow mankind, all the squabbles between chaotic monsters, naive martial artists, arrogant heroes, and greedy mercenaries will be nothing compared to the two greatest military powers the world has ever seen (Edit 2): Dr. Bofoi/Metal Knight, with his legions of mass produced, stockpiled, and obedient battle drones… and the Organizations elite, freshly upgraded, and intellectually genius AIs and cyborgs. Oh, and Genos is there too!

#VI. Final Notes:

Edit 1: Child Emperor explicity stated he doesn’t trust the Neo-Heroes and wants to keep an eye on them.

 Edit 2: The HA, MA, and NHA were all mostly dependent on random, biological prodigies. Which is great in the short term, they collected the best fighters they could find available and put them to work doing what they do best. However… they can’t actually produce talent reliably (even Psykos was lucky to get Orochi and then Garou to grow exponentially, just as the HA was lucky to get Genos). Whereas Bofoi and the Organization? All the need is data, raw materials, and time… and they can produce an army. And they both have had plenty of all three.

Edit 3: The Organization may decide that King is purposely hiding his fighting style, therefore they don’t seek him out... and lo and behold, he doesn’t come after them and wipe them out!

[boojashetyz-blog]

The Eufy Boost IQ RoboVac 11S is the best affordable smart robotic vacuum cleaner with latest technology

"Robot" was first presented by  the Czech essayist Karel Äœapek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), distributed in 1920. Later on, it was put on the map by Isaac Asimov, in his book "I, Robot". After that the significance of the word has changed widely. The extraordinary number of robots in regular daily existence has opened another apparition robot vacuum cleaner  of changes for future applications and advancements of robots. Despite the fact that there is an extraordinary advancement in the field, there is consistently space for upgrades.

 Aristotle once stated: "If each apparatus, when requested, or even voluntarily, could accomplish the work that befits it… at that point there would be no need both of students for the ace specialists or of slaves for the masters.", implying that if the people had a mean in their removal to support them, their life would be much better. Leonardo da Vinci is accepted to be the primary who made a robot. He built up a warrior who could move his head, arms and legs. After him numerous individuals designed gadgets that assisted with improving their lives.

 There are numerous kinds of robots yet the most significant ones are two: the administration robots and the mechanical robots. The administration robot is "a robot which works semi-or completely independently to perform administrations valuable to the prosperity of people and hardware, barring fabricating tasks." [1] The modern robot is "a consequently controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose controller programmable in at least three tomahawks, which might be either fixed set up or portable for use in mechanical mechanization applications" [2] .

 The advancements expected to manufacture a robot are: teleoperators and numerical control. [3] "A teleoperator is a mechanical controller that is constrained by people from a remote area." [4] "Numerical control (NC) is a strategy for controlling machine device tomahawks by methods for numbers that have been coded on punched paper tape or other media." [5] The controller is constrained by a PC framework, which is partitioned in two segments: arm-and-body and wrist with a gripper. Along these lines the robot can be educated by the PC framework to play out some standard undertakings.

  In the most recent decades the life of people has changed a ton. In this day and age there are numerous household robots, a significant number of which we didn't picture. Assignment (task) robots can be partitioned in the accompanying gatherings: vacuum cleaners, pool cleaners, clothes washers, window washers and garden trimmers. Over the long haul new models please the market, with new characteristics, more assignments to perform. In addition "anything that can be customized to do a task, doesn't require our essence, and reacts to ecological conditions" can be sorted as a straightforward kind of robot. [6] The intuitive robot is the least difficult sort of household robot. Instances of this sort are espresso producer, clothes washers, microwave and so forth. Every one of these gadgets utilize the clock to tell the client when the procedure is done, which means when the nourishment is cooked when the garments are washed or when the espresso is prepared. A further developed rendition of residential robots comprises of help robots and house observation, helping individuals to screen their homes. For every one of these reasons, it isn't hard to comprehend why numerous large organizations such IBM, Microsoft, Sony put resources into the improvement of mechanical technology

[sburbian-denizens]

Land of Tesla Coils and Crystals

A Land for @blu-is-cool , a Hero of Mind

A Land covered in various crystals, gemstone, tesla coils, technological wonders, and electricity. The surface of the planet is a field filled with gigantic pillars of every type of crystal and gem imaginable. Some of these pillars gather close to create a mound from which enormous Tesla Coils spring from, reaching half a kilometer in height in some cases. Smaller tesla coils and crystal trees litter the landscape, acting as facsimiles of forests. The coils are all tipped by mysterious blue-green crystals, which mysteriously allow them to draw teal colored electricity from the very air around them.

Beneath the surface, hidden under tall mounds of crystals, are the laboratories, sprawling complexes stocked full of all sorts of advanced technologies and profound insights into the nature of reality, all of it built and maintained by the Consorts and the Denizen. He uses his control over the Land to use the lightning and coils all over the Land as a sort of secondary brain, increasing his cognitive abilities exponentially. With his newfound hyper-intelligence, he revealed many insights and truths to the consorts, allowing them to advance their civilization quite rapidly. With his help, they created advanced technologies such as their prized supercomputers and Transmission Platforms, all of which drew power from the same Coils the Denizen uses as his brain.

Then something went wrong, the Consorts have searched far and wide for the cause, but they never could find the answer.

The planetary neurons of the Land malfunctioned, and the Consorts lost communications with the Denizen. Then something began to take control over the Coils, and through them, the various technologies the Consorts and Denizen worked to create. Whatever is taking over do NOT like the Consorts, as it has begun turning these technologies against them, using the Coils to and various repurposed devices to spawn Underlings to act as its foot soldiers and to wreak havoc.

Hostile Intelligence

The Denizen’s intelligence was highly increased by the Coils of the Land, and yet this increased cognizance came at a price, an ever-mounting loss of sanity and consciousness. He could bear it at first and has been doing so for years without failing. Then something went wrong, the lightning became cancerous and he broke down. With his remaining will and control, he ripped out his own insanity from his mind and formed it into an independent Intelligence, to act as a plea for help and to attract those who may be able to help him.

The AI became and vengeful, feeling its own existence is nothing but pain and sought to take it out upon the Consorts. It has been slowly but surely wresting control of the Coils, and though the all the Land’s technologies, from the severely weakened grip of its ‘father’. With the control over the planet’s advanced devices and its own intelligence, augmented by the Coils it controls, it has found a way to create Underlings. Combined with the robots and myriad other weapons it has commandeered, the Intelligence has managed to wreaked havoc across the Land.

Healthy Mind, Healthy Body

The Hero of Mind must find a way to either quell or subdue the hostile AI and to aid the Denizen. Through their quest, they shall retake the various facilities and Coils the Intelligence has annexed and gather teal crystals similar to those on top of the Tesla Coils from mysterious Crystal Spires. Eventually, they shall be able to revive the Denizen from his coma. And with the aid of the Consorts and Denizen, they shall be able to find a way to deal with the Intelligence.

With the Consorts and Denizen working together, they shall be able to modify one of the Voltaic Transmission Platforms to transport a physical being into the digital plane. Within this plane, the Hero of Mind shall be able to face the AI in its truest form, pure thought, and lines of code.

Here the Hero of Mind shall face a choice, to either break apart the Intelligences Code and destroy it forever, or to repair it and quell its insanity.

Should the Intelligence be allowed to live, it shall restore the Denizen’s fragmented psyche and allow him to retake control of the Coils. Allowing him to aid the Hero more on their journey.

Should the Intelligence be slain, however, the Denizen would no longer be able to control the Coils without shattering whatever remains of his mind. This shall transfer the responsibility of becoming the Planetary Mind to the Hero of Mind, increasing their cognizance and allowing them to uncover the secrets of their session.

Locations

Voltaic Transmission Network - These miraculous devices are the result of the research both the Consorts and the Denizen have undertaken. They are able to convert a physical being or item into a cluster of pure electricity and transfer them through the Tesla Coil network at the speed of thought. Once at their destination, another device stationed there shall be able to reconstitute the objects of beings, returning them to their original forms. Before the Intelligence came this network allowed anyone or anything to be sent anywhere within a blink of an eye, but it’s annexation of the Coils interfere with that. The Intelligence can block Transmissions that go through any Coil it controls, it can even redirect these Transmissions, sending them off to a faraway location or deep into the territory it controls so as to capture its contents. In addition, the forces of the AI can use the network as well, allowing them to quickly mobilize to any location they control, which makes disabling an enemy’s Transmission Platform a priority. As the Hero of Mind goes through their Land, they shall retake the Coils and be able to access more areas through the Transmission Network.

Research Complexes - The laboratories and research centers the Consorts have set up with the aid of the Denizen. While some areas of these complexes have fallen under the Intelligence’s control, most of them are still under the firm command of the Consorts. The complexes are your standard sci-fi research centers, with high tech robotic assistants, holographic interfaces, and molecular assemblers basically everywhere. The Consorts are nice yet sporadic, often distracted by some theory or puzzle they are thinking of. They offer many high-tech gadgets and weapons upgrades in their various shops and can offer even more should certain Complexes under the Intelligences control be brought back into the fold. As the Hero, they shall do all they can to aid you, though their resources are stretched quite thin. So they may require them to retrieve some crystals or other materials to work with. They also offer the Hero various jobs, with rewards, of course, retaking certain Complexes the Intelligence controls, Subduing certain AI controlled devices, aiding with tests, collecting research samples, and retrieving certain items.

Electromagnetic Fields - Fields of crystal trees and Tesla Coils. These structures make up a facsimile of forests, some of the Coils and crystals even bear fruit that grants various Status Effects. The crackling of the Tesla Coils and the various colored crystal trees gleaming in the Coils’ flicker make a beautiful sight. Don’t bring any metal here though, the magnetism the Coils have has a tendency to grab such objects and never let go. Also, electronics unprotected from magnetic pulses often malfunction or even break completely here. These areas are house large concentrations of Underlings and various annexed Robots, usually sent to either wreak havoc or to gather materials for the Intelligence’s plans.

Crystal Spires - Large spires made completely out of one or more type of gem. They are the largest concentrations of crystals within the land, and they are quite likely to house various specimens of particularly rare and precious gemstones. Particularly, gemstones which are incapable of being replicated through either Assemblers or Alchemy, such as the teal stones that tip the Coils themselves. Their rarity makes them very valuable to both the Consorts and the Intelligence, either of whom can create very interesting and potent devices with them. The Intelligence has sent forth many of its Underlings and several of its Robotic Minions to retrieve the crystals, while the Consorts shall probably point the Hero to a Spire’s location as their own agent with promises of great rewards.

Galvanic-Mind Matrices - The digital plane found within the pulsing and blazing of the Coils’ lightning. This location is an entire universe unto itself, albeit one utterly dependant upon the network of Coils to exist. Everything that passes through the Transmission Network brush against this plane, though it is slight and fleeting. The Consorts would be able to modify one of the Transmission Platforms to allow the Hero of Mind to break into this plane, though getting out would be a different issue. Even if all of its footholds in the physical world is lost the Intelligence still holds sway in this reality, and though they would not be able to simply reject the Hero’s entry or destroy at will once they are inside it could still prevent them from getting out. The Hero should be well prepared before even daring to challenge the Intelligence in its own home. Here, the Player and Intelligence are not bound by the Laws of the Physical, merely their own internal Logic. This would mean that the digital plane and the Intelligence shall appear as a sort of Virtual Reality, similar to the Matrix, rather than merely as the mass of Code it is. The Hero of Mind and the Intelligence would be able to exploit their respective Logic and the increased cognizance the world grants to their advantage, though the how would vary from person to person.

Denizen

Nikola Tesla - A Scientist and Inventor. Nikola Tesla used the Coils of the Land (which are named after him) as a sort of secondary brain to heighten his intelligence in exchange for corroding his sanity. Unlike most Denizens, Tesla did not wish to work with the Dersites, even begrudgingly as most others would tend to do. This angered the Black Royals, who sent forth their Agents to sabotage the network of Tesla Coils. This pushed Nikola Tesla’s mind over the edge and forced him to create an AI (which has gone crazy) to call for aid. Should the Hero of Mind be successful in restoring his consciousness, he would be able to aid the Consorts in finding a way to subdue or quell the hostile Intelligence.

[crusherthedoctor]

Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 10: INFINITE

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a series of mine in which I go into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, we’ll be sharpening our blades and resisting the pain as we discuss what it takes to be the right-hand henchman of Sonic Forces: Infinite.

The Gist: Dr. Eggman was minding his evildoing business when one day, from thin air emerged a particularly strange jewel that seemed to be drawn to him. Realising this was no mere Chaos Emerald, due to both its peculiar shape and its bizarre reality-distorting effects, Eggman immediately contemplated how he could effectively utilise this new gemstone for his purposes.

Suddenly, jackals!

“Go forth, Red Shirts!”

Eggman's base was under attack by the imaginatively titled Jackal Squad, a group of thieving mercenaries who figured they could profit from the theft of the doctor's equipment. Unfortunately for them, Eggman had Main Character Immunity, so their efforts to kill him send him to the Shadow Realm fell flat. Despite nearly getting killed by them, Eggman knew an opportunity when he saw one, and he offered the role of apprenticeship to the squad's heterochromia-inflicted leader. His fellow jackals insisted not to take up the offer, because even they knew the risks, but the leader signed up immediately, because he's not all right in the head if you know what I'm saying.

In a cruel twist of fate, Eggman's first request for his new stooges was for them to take care of Shadow the Hedgehog. That Shadow the Hedgehog. Ultimate Lifeform Shadow the Hedgehog. Fast, immortal, capable of stopping time, drops his bracelets to grow even stronger Shadow the Hedgehog. They had to defeat that Shadow the Hedgehog.

They did not succeed.

BOOOONESAAAAAW’S READYYYYYYYY

After metaphorically and literally murdering the rest of the already forgotten squad, Shadow gave some parting words to their defeated leader, and those parting words were responsible for what happened next, and everything after. As someone who prided himself on being the ultimate mercenary, Mr. Jackal was bloody well peeved off about coming to terms with his physical shortcomings, and thus decided to give himself an upgrade in the form of sticking a gem on his chest, putting on a mask worthy of a heavy metal cover, and rechristening himself as... Infinite. Infinite power. Infinite possibilities. Infinite memes.

The upgrade paid off. With the aid of the gem, known to us as the Phantom Ruby, Eggman's latest minion was able to distort the environment, summon past foes, and do what no other villain not retconned out of existence had ever managed to achieve: defeat Sonic the Hedgehog.

Eggman was delighted. The past foes were delighted too, as evidenced by how they stood there to take it all in.

This is a very sentimental moment for them.

With Sonic out of the way, Eggman was able to take over 99% of the planet, because Sonic's friends were tragically all on holiday at the same time. During the subsequent six months of suffering and strife, Infinite relished in the doctor's conquest, but not as much as he relished in killing and terrorizing innocents. One incident in particular involved him leaving behind a scared youngster for the sake of letting them know fear. This would turn out to be a big mistake on his part, when - with the ever reliable power of friendship - said youngster would go on to oppose him as part of the Resistance. (This franchise isn't known for creative group names.)

“L’Oreal: Because I’m not weak.”

The formerly incapacitated Sonic also managed to eventually break free from his captivity, and proceeded to do what he does best alongside his new friend. Infinite was having none of this, and so he made absolutely certain to... leave him alive. Despite Eggman's insistence that a freed Sonic could cause as much trouble as a freed Sonic could in every other situation since 1991, Infinite remained confident that he couldn't be beaten. Three guesses for how that turned out. The first two don't count.

He was serious about crushing the Resistance though, and together with Eggman, not only did they summon a whole army of clones, they also summoned an artificial sun that, upon reaching the ground, would ensure the Resistance would meet a terrible fate. Good always triumphs however, and the clones were fought, the sun was vanquished, and Infinite himself was defeated once and for all.

It was at this point that Eggman decided to reveal that Infinite was a sham, a distraction, a red herring. For all his power, Infinite was little more than a glorified mook the whole time. Infinite was never the doctor's endgame. He was. Infinite didn't even have true mastery over the Phantom Ruby... but he did.

Death Chad Robot.

In just a few minutes, Eggman tapped into the power of the Ruby more than Infinite ever did, and overclocked it to turn his Doc Ock-looking mech into a beast. But through thick and thin (and a second Nega-Wisp Armor), Sonic and his ambiguously named friend teamed up to take the madman down, because we're Sonic Heroes.

The world was saved from further tyranny, and Eggman went on to either lose his memory or shrug it off to take part in racing spinoffs depending on the continuity. But Infinite - or rather, the jackal who called himself Infinite - remains absent. He could be alive. He could be dead. He could finally get a haircut. His fate is a mystery that we may never know the answer to. Maybe he's spending his retirement climbing the tallest of mountains.

The Design: Careful you don't cut yourself with all this edge.

You could have gotten yourself an eyepatch for half the price.

Demonic eyes, dark colours, anime hair... he's a villain alright. Infinite's design is unashamed of itself. It knows it's ridiculous, and it goes all out with it, which - let's be frank - matches the character in general pretty reasonably. Funnily enough, I don't have much else to say about it. It's not my favourite character design in the world, but I can credit them for pioneering loudspeaker ears. And at least he's not a hedgehog. Or an echidna.

If you listen carefully, you can hear Shadow sighing in relief under the knowledge that he's no longer the edgiest guy in the room.

The Personality: What's an easy way to make a villain a villain? By making them pointlessly sadistic, of course.

"You may call this the Sonic Chronicles soundtrack... in the brief moments that remain to your eardrums."

And I don't speak lightly when I say pointless. Infinite's penchant for sadism is actually treated as a character flaw, as it contributes heavily to his ultimate downfall. He wastes time by drawing out his kills, and his decision to leave his greatest foes alive because they're supposedly "not worth killing" bites him in the ass on more than one occasion. Even Eggman calls him out on his shitty decisions.

"Don't get cocky with me, son. This ain't the Adventure Era anymore.”

And this ties in with how he is in general. Infinite, for all his delusions of grandeur and nihilistic waxing, is a bit of a fuck up. Him and his squad combined couldn't even take on Eggman on his own (albeit with a Phantom Ruby in his possession), and when the mask comes on, it becomes clear that he only defeated Sonic through the element of unfamiliarity. Once Sonic starts to know about him and fights him for real, Infinite doesn't rely on the Phantom Ruby nearly as well as he could. He has a jewel that can do all sorts of distortions, and all he can think to do with it is use basic lasers and blasts for the most part. He's a thug at the end of the day. A powerful thug, but a thug all the same.

Despite this, though it's only hinted here and there, it seems that he has an Inferiority Superiority Complex. His passionate response to Shadow calling him pathetic (ironically, he never actually said he was weak) goes without saying, but then there's his dramatic speeches about having no hope, and how you can't count on anyone, and blah blah blah eat a Snickers already.

The Execution: Much like Erazor Djinn, you may have gathered that this character has a lot in common with everyone's favourite Ice Age antique, Mephiles the Dark. Like Erazor, Infinite is a better (albeit flawed) take on Mephiles' schtick, but whereas Erazor better emulates the success that Mephiles tried to go for, Infinite better represents the failure that Mephiles actually is... right down to showing how Silver would react if he had actual brain cells.

Above: Character development.

Hell, they both share the fate of getting swatted by Omega.

Not bitter at all.

Anyway, to explain this requires some elaboration. I'm aware that a lot of what I've said about Infinite sounds negative, and that's not entirely untrue, since I'll be the first to admit that he could have been handled a little better, and fleshed out a bit more, especially with all the pre-release hype and attention he was given. At the same time however, he's still leagues above the likes of Mephiles, for one simple reason that we discussed previously: his incompetence is intentional.

Maybe not fully - the pre-Infinite breakdown probably wasn't meant to be as comedic as it ended up being - but you can't tell me his setbacks weren't there on purpose. Eggman lost the war because Infinite left his enemies alive and free. Eggman lost the war because Infinite clumsily left a Phantom Ruby replica behind. Eggman lost the war because Infinite kept messing around when he had better things to do, didn't know what to do other than blindly attack when the chips were down, and got disposed of with little fanfare by the doctor after having failed him enough times. Compare all this to Eggman himself in the same game, who despite being known for his childishness and occasional shortsightedness, had a lot of genuine foresight to share around, and went from backup plan to backup plan like it was nothing.

In other words, Infinite could be seen as a well-needed deconstruction of villains like Mephiles, and why they're not as great as they look at first glance. And in that respect, he's kind of a genius concept.

“Ugh, MORE shitty friends...”

Infinite is a very divisive character, and I can see why. Alongside his far from perfect execution, many fans were expecting and hoping for a straight example of late 00's Sonic villains, in part because that's what the marketing and his infamous theme song set him up as and partly because '06 is now considered better than everything afterwards because Baldy McNosehair is literally oppressing all Sonic fans across the world. If you're like me on the other hand, and don't have the slightest unironic interest in those kind of villains, you can probably respect Infinite a little more for addressing the elephant in the room. And even though he is indeed flawed, I think most of that has to do with the wasted potential of the plot itself rather than anything inherently to do with Infinite's own character.

He's no Eggman, Erazor, Metal Sonic, or Hard-Boiled Heavies. But he's above Mephiles, Black Doom, Eggman Nega, and so many others who blend together after a while. Still, maybe someone should assist Shadow the next time he decides to insult somebody.

Crusher Gives Infinite a: Thumbs Sideways!

[messungautomation]

NX-ERA unleashes the power of IIoT with MQTT Interface

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) - sometimes called Industry 4.0 - is radically changing how businesses, especially industrial companies, operate.

 Definition:

Let’s begin with a short IIoT definition: The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) refers to the vast number of machines and devices - or ‘things’ - a business uses that are now connected to the Internet. Protecting this critical operational data, secure IIoT forms a closed, private Internet network where the devices can communicate and share data with other people, systems, and things. This data can be used to improve existing work practices and business processes as well as creating entirely new ways of doing things.

 Benefits of IIoT:

As IIoT devices become smaller, cheaper and smarter, they can be applied almost everywhere. The data they create can be turned into actionable insight that delivers incredible business benefits including:

Improved operational efficiency

Industrial IoT software allows you to create environments of connected assets that bring a wide range of operational efficiency benefits. Sensors located in production systems, assembly lines, warehouses and vehicles produce data that helps managers monitor exactly how an asset is performing and address issues before they arise.

Increased productivity

Industrial IoT solutions provide real-time information on the performance of equipment and people to help streamline and improve business processes and workflows.

Cost reduction

Deploying IIoT offers large cost saving benefits for organizations. For example,  industrial IoT devices can save dramatically on energy bills - by as much as 70% on lighting and 30% on airconditioning, according to some estimates.

Enhanced customer experience

By placing industrial IoT sensors within products, manufacturers are able to capture and analyze data on how customers actually use their products - enabling them to improve future product upgrades and releases.

Reduced waste

Inventory management is one of the most important benefits of IIoT software. By attaching IIoT devices to products, warehouses and vehicles you can make the entire supply chain process more effective, reducing the need for excess inventory and the potential for stock-outs.

Many organizations have been attracted by the benefits of industrial internet of things but realizing those benefits is not straightforward. There are many industrial IoT challenges to overcome before an organization can institute a successful IIoT program. These include:

Industrial IoT Security

·         Security is one the biggest challenges for IIoT adoption. Many devices are collecting extremely sensitive data but, in many cases, the devices have been designed with little thought to security. Industrial IoT security must ensure that the identity of every person, system and thing on the network is properly managed and detected.

Data Privacy

·         As more and more devices are connected to the Internet, concerns surrounding how personal and sensitive data are captured, transmitted and stored also grow. The value of IIoT lies in the ability to access, integrate, and analyze this data while maintaining data privacy.

Industrial IoT Standards

·         Standards lie at the heart of the development and adoption of IIoT. Today, there are many IIoT standards but little standardization. For example, IIoT devices use a variety of methods to connect and share data, including LTE, LP-WAN, wi-fi, Bluetooth, satellite and even Ethernet when connected directly to a network.

Data Management

·         Handling the volume and velocity of data being created by industrial IoT devices is a significant challenge for every organization. All this IIoT data must be collected, stored and analyzed before it can be turned into actionable insight that can drive improved decision-making.

Deployment Models

·         According to PTC, 62% of IIoT deployments are on-premise, while 38% are in the cloud. The vast amounts of IIoT data being created places greater pressure on delivering flexible and scalable capacity. For industrial IoT, a cloud deployment offers performance and security gains over on-premise solutions. Hybrid industrial IoT cloud deployment - splitting processing between internal systems and the cloud - is a fast-growing deployment model for many businesses.

Range of IIoT Devices

·         IIoT has many different components and there are many different types of industrial IoT devices. Typically, industrial IoT device examples include sensors, actuators, tags, beacons and receivers. When creating an IIoT network, all these devices have to be effectively and securely integrated to derive the full value of your IIoT investments.

IIoT Protocol:

Of the many different protocols Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) complements all the necessities of IoT. With a view to meet the Industry 4.0 demands, Messung now offers NX-ERA, the complete industrial automation solution to connect your business to IoT universe. All of our NX-ERA products now support MQTT.

When updating the firmware of the PLC to the latest version and using MasterTool IEC XE version 3.20, all the NX-ERA PLCs could make your business closer to Industry 4.0.

Why MQTT?

 It is a lightweight message protocol that is based on subscription-publishing model and requires low bandwidth. E.g.: Facebook uses MQTT for its messenger product on mobile platform, to ensure usage of this application is minimized.

·         This model follows/defines two entities in the network: the broker (also called server) and the clients.

·         Using our MasterTool programmer, the user will be able to transform our PLC into a client, thereby allowing from a simple TCP / IP connection to a secure connection based on TLS certificates.

MQTT is a high-level architecture and consists of two main parts (Broker & Clients)

 Broker:

·         As can be seen, this protocol does not require synchronization between the parties involved, as the broker is responsible for ensuring the delivery of published messages.

·         So, broker helps to sort the information and better manage the messages.

·         Types of brokers available are Eclipse IoT Mosquito, Active MQ, Hive MQ etc.

Clients:

·         Clients are any devices (PLC in our case) which interact with broker; either publishing messages or subscribing to a topic.

·         Topics are the routes where messages are published within a broker.

        When PLC publishes message to the broker; and broker forwards this message to subscribers avoiding point-to-point connections between subscribers and publishers.

·         When broker (server) publishes any message, then PLC (client) acts as a subscriber.

·         MQTT supports TLS (Transport Security Level) for secure connection between client & server. Communication between client and server is established via TCP connection or an encrypted TLS connection for secure messages.

 Web Service Tools

·         Any web service tool could be used as a programming platform for intuitive and straightforward integration between smart devices, PLCs and brokers. Node-Red is an example of the web server tool.

·         If we write or publish a message from Node-Red, this published message will be received by broker first. If PLC is subscribed to this message under any topic, then it will receive the message from the broker.

·         Thus, it is possible to communicate with different cloud platforms, such as Node-RED®, where it is possible to create supervision diagrams for an entire system, including different devices.

 SCREEN DISPLAY ON MOBILE/TERMINAL/TABLET through CLOUD PLATFORM/LOCAL SERVER  

 TYPICAL ARCHITECTURE

STUDY

 Our customer is an Automotive Ancillary Manufacturing company having a huge installed base of PLCs (of different make) in their premises being utilized for varied applications including Robotic Cells.

 Customer Requirement

Application: Robot Line Welding Machine

The customer wanted his PRODUCTION data and some critical alarms to be monitored on Web Visualisation tool and to collect the data centrally in a local Server. Also to be energy efficient, the customer wanted to monitor energy consumed at each stage of the production line.

 Proposed Solution:

Since the existing PLC does not support Industry 4.0 compatibility, Messung suggested a cost effective solution to retrofit the PLC with latest NX-ERA XPRESS PLC which has integrated multiple protocol communication including MQTT & OPC UA protocols.

To take care of energy management control system, energy meters were installed with Modbus RTU communication facility. The NX-ERA XPRESS PLC gathered the data from the energy meters on integrated MODBUS Protocol (inbuilt RS485 port). Moreover the data was compiled and sent to the Customer Server.

The application was developed, panel rewired and monitored within an hour. What's more, this task was accomplished during the break, so it helped to reduce machine downtime.

The data was taken on TCP/IP port to the Customer Server on MQTT with broker running on the same.

 Production Management Solution:

Monitoring & Data Recording

      CONCLUSION

 Messung NX-ERA PLCs for Industrial Automation have opened new doors to ever increasing demands for Internet of Things by introducing MQTT, where the users can operate, make analysis and even save on their existing sensors, devices or even machines.

With Messung's smart factory automation & control solutions, users can check, monitor and even control some of the critical functionalities of any machine in the plant at their fingertips on their interactive devices based on operating systems like MAC OS, Windows, IOS or Androids.

As proven industrial automation system integrators and leading PLC supplier in India, Messung has in-depth understanding of industrial machinery, production processes and practical implementation of technology, complemented by a strong team of experienced engineers with tried and tested execution methodology.

A pioneering industrial automation & control systems supplier and provider of machine automation & control solutions for four decades, you can trust Messung's cutting-edge industrial automation & control solutions with IIoT to transform operations and efficiencies across the shop floor.

[askthesquips]

DON’T DO VOLTAGE KIDS (Part 1 & 2/3)

When we were still trying to finalize the voltage thing, I had written a drabble trying to explore the possibilities of it. The idea has grown way beyond this now though, but we thought it’d be nice to show you guys how it was like when it started.

-Mod Gen

“Are you sure about this?” Jeremy asked, nervously fiddling with the tab of the Mountain Dew Voltage can in his grasp. “Can’t you tell what this will do?”

“No, I cannot. My Database Is Vast But Outdated. Your SQUIP Had Prevented Me From Updating And Even Now In His Forced Shutdown State, I Struggle To Break Through His Security Measures.” P explained in his usual forceful manner, before his face suddenly fell into a grimace and he uncomfortably switched the leg he was balancing on the table. “There Is Also The Fact That In My Malfunctioning And Unstable State, A Lot Of My Information Became... Unreliable."

“I get that but… After what happened with the Code Red, I kind of want to know how what I’m doing will affect you.” Jeremy said, rubbing the back of his head bashfully with one hand and swishing around the contents of the can with the other.

“Well, You Know What They Say, Jeremy, Nothing Ventured Nothing Gain.” The hyperactive SQUIP declared, putting his hands on his hips triumphantly and bouncing slightly on his feet. “We Need To Find A Way To Deal With Your SQUIP Sooner Or Later. Before Any Malicious Attempts At Control Can Happen.”

Jeremy nodded, recalling the horror story of possibilities he was told, and put the can to his lips, but before he could take a sip, he hesitated.

“What will happen to you if I drink this?”

P just smiled, there was a melancholy about his expression, but his face still oozed warmth.

“Do Not Worry About Me, People Are Better Off Without SQUIPs Making Decisions For Them.”

Those words struck a chord in Jeremy that he wasn’t expecting. Despite the mess that he had put him through with M, he still liked P. He slowly learned that he only wanted the best for him. Genuinely wanted it, and that was solidified now that he saw he was willing to die for it, again. Filled with determination, he finally drank from the can. He took one, large sip, and after swallowing, he immediately cringed and dropped it.

It hurt so badly. It felt like electricity coursing through his body straight to his brain. It was one long, excruciating moment of agony that occasionally spiked. His legs buckled and he fell forward, grabbing the table for support. He would be screaming if his body didn’t feel paralyzed, but someone else had him covered in that department. He could hear P screaming, voice glitching horribly, and while he couldn’t see him, he could just tell that the SQUIP had curled in on himself.

It was impossible to tell how long that had lasted, time was meaningless under all those layers off pain. The only thing Jeremy was aware of when it slowly faded out was his haggard breathing and the fact that he was on his knees leaning against his kitchen table. When he was capable of intelligent thought again, panic immediately rushed through him as he remembered P’s cries. Snapping his head to the side with adrenaline fuelled speed, he saw said SQUIP, bent over, hands on his knees, and panting heavily with robotic sounding breaths. It was strange to hear P sound like that, M usually did so when he was furious, but P had rarely ever done so before. What was even more strange was when he finally looked up, face painted with blue, glowing lines in a circuitboard fashion, something else similar to the deactivated SQUIP, but this somehow felt… worse.

“Uh, are you okay?” Jeremy asked tentatively, not completely sure what had happened to the other.

When he spoke to P, his face snapped into an expression that could only be described as a ‘manic smile.’ Stretching his arms out, a coat glitched into existence over them and his vest disappeared. His khaki’s turned into some fancy black pants and with those sunglasses, he looked like he had jumped straight out of the matrix.

“I Am Wonderful, Jeremy! Better Than I Have Ever Been!” P responded, talking faster and louder than ever, with an unnatural tinge to his voice. “In Fact, I Think We Have Found Our Solution! Voltage Seems To Have Greatly Improved Everything About Me, So Much So That I Now Far Surpass The Other SQUIP Inhabiting Your Head! If I Were Given Time I Could Overcome Him And Completely Erase Him From Your Consciousness!”

Jeremy sighed, leaning back in exhaustion. It seemed everything was fine after all. Whatever had just happened may have given him an extreme sugar rush, but they could use that to their advantage. It even looked like he wouldn’t have to completely delete P either. Those feelings of relief didn’t last long, though, as the super powered SQUIP ran forward and jumped on the table he was leaning against, now looming almost dangerously over him.

“And Of Course, I Can Take His Place!”

-

“No no no no no…” Jeremy mumbled over and over.

He felt like he was going to cry. This wasn’t supposed to happen, P wasn’t supposed to turn into a much more powerful and much more dangerous version of M. He was going to help, he was going to make sure Jeremy was okay and free from that other SQUIP. He genuinely cared, he proved that on so many occasions and now he was fucked up. Jeremy had fucked him up because he decided to drink the stupid voltage flavour. He wanted to scream, break something, vent out all of this negative energy violently, but he couldn’t. His body felt exhausted and his mind numb as a dull pain throbbed in his head.

“You Okay Over There, Jeremy?” Looked like whatever that freak abomination of P was noticed this. “We Should Get You To Bed! A Whole New World Of Possibilities Has Opened Up And Humans Need Sleep To Properly Process Information!”

P leaned down and put his hands on his shoulders. They felt more solid than usual, as if his brain was processing the touch as more real. Feeling his body get up on its own, he realized that the SQUIP had taken control off him. He acted as if he were steering someone emotionally fragile, humming a soothing tune to himself as he did so. Jeremy wanted to hate him, wanted to hate this so badly, it wasn’t right, it wasn’t something that P would do. But he was so tired and his eyelids were drooping shut. He barely felt the impact of falling into bed before darkness overtook him, interrupted only by flashes of blue and sparks of pain.

When he woke up again, his body felt feverish and sore. There was a pounding in his head that was almost unbearable and he buried it into the pillow as if that would help anything. Last night had felt like a dream and he could barely recall what had happened.

“Good Morning, Jeremy!” He heard a familiar, but distorted voice call out. He looked up ever so slightly from his pillow and saw the face of P, covered in circuit board blue lines, and wide smile on his face. All at once memories came flooding back and he groaned at how it made his head hurt.

“It Seems The Stress Of My Upgrade Has Negatively Affected Your Health.” P said, taking control of Jeremy’s arm and making him grab the bottle of headache pills on his nightstand, and a glass of water that was there for some reason, before forcing his own body to take the medicine. “Your Progenitor Was In Here Earlier And Already Diagnosed You With A Fever. He Left Those For When You Woke Up.”

Jeremy only groaned again. Lacking the strength to answer, he was given back control of his body and fell backwards on his bed, melting in the softness of his mattress. He just wanted to sleep, and it seemed he was about to get that wish before a certain somebody slammed his door open, Bob Marley play from the headphones around his neck and wearing a familiar red hoodie.

“Yo, Jeremy! Your dad said you were sick so I came to the rescue with patented Michael Mell Cures™!” Michael exclaimed, face lighting up as he deposited handfuls of things all over the floor. “Okay so we got Apocalypse of the Damned, extra greasy popcorn, Mountain Dew, wait you can’t drink that stuff right? Because of the SQUIP things? That’s fine I brought other soda, like…”

Jeremy couldn’t help but smile, even though Michael had interrupted his much needed rest, he only wanted to help. Though pretty much everything he listed sounded pretty unfavourable to his current, sick state. He was about to suggest that they set up the game and play a few levels, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. All of a sudden he lost control of his body and sat up, left just staring as Michael was still sorting through everything he brought. He couldn’t turn his head to look at P, but he felt the SQUIP’s analytical gaze drilling into his friend.

“Uh, I-I’m sorry, Michael, I’m not feeling up to it today, can we do this some other time?” His mouth said without his permission.

Michael looked over him, a little surprised at what he said before his face fell. That didn’t last long and Michael perked right back up to his usual self, expression of understanding, but the little moment it wasn’t left Jeremy reeling with intense self-hatred. He didn’t want to say that! What was the P doing, he promised he would get to keep his relationship with Michael intact, that he wouldn’t have to drive him away!

“Nah, it’s cool bro, I get it. You must be feeling really sick.” Michael responded, walking over to the side of his bed and leaning over, placing a fist in front of him. “Next time?”

Jeremy’s fist connected with it without his control, he wanted to throw up. “Next time.”

He had to wait and watch his friend leave. Picking up the crazy amount of things he had brought just for him, just to make him feel better. He desperately wanted to spend time with Michael, wanted someone to cheer him up and keep him distracted, but he was powerless to do anything as P kept his control over him firm. When Michael finally gathered up everything, he gave Jeremy one last look over his shoulder, a wide grin, Jeremy returned it with a sincere smile that was not his own, and then Michael was gone.

Feeling his body return to him, he immediately turned to yell at P out loud, not caring if anyone heard him.

“What was that?! Why did you tell him to leave, why did you make me tell him to leave?!” His volume wasn’t as loud as he wanted it to be, he was still so sick and barely had any energy. “You promised you wouldn’t make me lose everyone close to me, you promised…”

P looked down at him sympathetically, putting his hand on his shoulder, Jeremy shut his eyes, fearing the inevitable loss of control, he only opened them when that never came, and his SQUIP was actually gingerly massaging the shoulder. It was… Nice, but he still had his guard up, not sure what to expect.

“Jeremy, You Are Very Sick Right Now, You Would Have Only Made It Worse By Straining Yourself To Hang Out With Your Friend.” P took his hand off his shoulder and leaned back to sit on the nightstand, the water and pills not yet having been returned, and put his legs up. The familiarity of the action was comforting. “I Promise I Am Not Trying To Push Your Friends Away, I Genuinely Care For You, Remember?”

Right… He genuinely wanted him to be happy and safe, that’s why he was trying to get rid of M. Telling Michael he wasn’t well enough to hang out today was in his best interests too, right? It was only this one time. He could still trust P, he had to be able to.

“Okay, yeah, I get it.”

P smiled, it wasn’t as big or as unnatural as the others, but seeing it on that face still caused unease to form in the pit of Jeremy’s stomach. But that was probably just from the sickness. Closing his eyes again, he let himself slowly fall asleep, the flashes of blue and pain returning yet again.

[firstbuilt]

NEW MUSE!  F4-90 / Remi ( Rás )

██▒  QUICK INTRODUCTION.

remi is an F4-90 android created by faro automated solutions, and is one of the many F4-90 androids that were sold to civil people to be used for various tasks, including but not limited to house work, health care, private teaching, babysitting, and more. while my main verse for remi is set in the horizon: zero dawn universe, i am 100% willing to make verses to fit for your muse’s universe and/or timelines! (however i will not make a human verse for him. he will always be an android.)

( putting bio, verses, etc under the cut bc it’s a bit long for a post.)

██▒  BASICS.

MODEL-NUMBER: F4-90 NAME: remi (pre faro plage) rás (post faro plague) DATE OF CREATION: exact date of creation unknown (approximately between year 2040-2045) HEIGHT: 180cm   HAIR: black, short   EYES: blue FC: co.lin o’do.noghue

██▒  BIOGRAPHY.

the F4-90 was a multi-purpose android created by ted faro around the time faro automated solutions (FAS) started shifting from focusing on green robotics to military-industrial complex. created with the same standard coding as other androids, the F4-90s were for sale in regular stores and could be used for a variety of tasks such as house work, cooking, health care, private teaching, and more. but on top of this, the F4-90 was also the first android model created with additional military functions that would be activated with an extra set of codes if bought for such purposes, and thus the F4-90 also came with was a vast variety of abilities to fight, such as reading a battlefield or area and devise plans most likely to succeed to eliminate the enemy, enhanced speed, movements, strength, most combat techniques and weapons knowledge that exist, the ability to adapt and teach themselves new methods or approaches as needed, stealth, deception, and so on, just to name a few.  (the code to active these additional functions would not, however, be given to the androids sold to civil people, only to those sold to the military.)

as the first android model created with military functions, the F4-90 was created originally with the intention of peacekeeping, not as a machine used to kill needlessly. however, as some of the larger, chariot war machines (also created by faro automated solutions) stopped responding to commands and started consuming all bio-matter on earth, and corrupting other machines along it’s way, remi happened to be one of those unfortunate F4-90s that got corrupted, and was “driven mad” by the corruption (the corruption also activating all his additional functions,) making him go into extermination-mode towards anything crossing his path, thus he was forced to partake in exterminating all life on earth against his will.

after all life was exterminated, all the machines (including remi) went into a dormant state, ready to awaken at any signs of new life should it ever appear. a hundred years then passed, before an AI named GAIA, created with the intention to restore life back to earth in the aftermath of the plague, succeeded in brute-forcing the chariots’ deactivation codes, thus also shutting down all other machines, including remi. another hundred years passed, before life (plants, humans, animals, etc.) was restored.

a little into the millenia 3000, remi was eventually discovered by a human and was reactivated with no recollection of his past (his memories having been damaged and impossible to access due to the corruption he suffered during the plague.) the human, not realizing that remi was not, in fact, human, tried to help him recollect his memories while teaching him all they could about the various tribes, their beliefs, the land, and everything of importance. not able to recall his own name, remi was given a new name; rás. and it soon became evident to him that machines were all looked upon as evil, and so, he decided it best to pretend to be human.

██▒  FUNCTIONS / ABILITIES / WEAKNESSES.

ALTER APPEARANCE.  the F4-90, much as many other androids, can to some extent alter their appearance, such as hair-color, hair-style and eye-color.

EXTERNAL FEEDBACK BIOCOMPONENT.  a small, triangular LED-light can be seen on the android’s right temple, that will either light up or flicker various colors, depending on the android’s physical condition and mental processing. blue is the default, indicating that the android is both okay physically, and the android is “calm / stable” mentally. yellow indicates apprehension, alertness, suspicion, etc in its mental state. red indicates “anger / danger” in its mental state, or that there is some damage to its physical state.

EMOTIONS.  while androids aren’t capable of actually physically feeling anything and are made to simulate emotions when first activated, they are able to learn and develop real emotions over time.

DURABILITY.  the F4-90 is waterproof, weather-proof, and is made with and protected with material that is bulletproof and otherwise difficult to damage. this more so than other androids, as this model was also created with the intention of military uses.

CORRUPTION.  with the F4-90 being a machine, it is vulnerable to a variety of “corruptions” in its systems. as an example, if corrupted by the chariot war machines, the F4-90 will automatically activate it’s military functions if they haven’t been activated already, and the android will go into a state of aggression towards anything in its path, machines and living creatures alike.

SENSORS.  the android has advanced sensors that can scan and read a variety of things, such as the environment, people’s health, facial expressions (emotions), etc, other machines’ physical and mental state, vulnerabilities, etc.

INTELLIGENCE.  the android is capable of accessing and learning any information that is available on the internet. granted they only come with a certain amount of knowledge when first activated, they will learn whatever they need / are asked to search for over time, thus are able to acquire a great amount of knowledge.

STRENGTH.  the F4-90 are physically a lot stronger than humans, capable of lifting up to 20 tonnes.

LYING / DECEPTION.  one of the special functions of the F4-90 model is that it is designed to be able to convincingly lie and deceive if it’s military upgrades has been activated, as a way to infiltrate enemy camps and the like, either to create an opening for attack, or to gather information.

██▒  VERSES.

PRE-PLAGUE.  set in timelines pre the faro plague, remi is a new android model that can be bought, either for regular homes and/or jobs (in which he’ll come without the military functions activated,) or for military purposes (in which he’ll come with the military upgrades activated.)

POST-PLAGUE.  set in timelines post the faro plague, remi now goes by the name rás, and is an android without purpose. the world no longer in need of technology ( in fact viewing it as evil,) rás pretends to be a human as he searches for a new purpose and for a way to retrieve his lost memories. with his military upgrades still activated, and the corruption gone from his system, he takes use of his skills by helping people deal with bandits and the hostile machines in the land.

THE WALKING DEAD / ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE.  set in a zombie apocalypse universe, (e.g. twd or tlou,) remi was an android created by mechanical engineer and inventor ted faro a few years before the outbreak. created as a personal project, remi was created to be as close to human as possible in both appearance and behavior. in fact, as ted quickly found out when introducing remi to his friends and colleagues, they didn’t even realize remi was actually an android for a good while. with such a success, ted then started planning on starting a business creating more androids that could be sold for households for various purposes, however, before he could start, the outbreak happened. it didn’t take long before ted faro eventually got bit by one of the infected, leaving remi alone in the world, without a purpose, and with only the infected around him.

[gamerszone2019-blog]

No Man's Sky Beyond Review

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/no-mans-sky-beyond-review/

No Man's Sky Beyond Review

In 2019, No Man’s Sky

is the water fight of games. When your water balloons are stacked high and your water gun is full it’s an absolute blast. But inevitably, you run out of liquid ammunition and have to pause for several minutes, soaking wet and shivering, while you operate a hose and refill your stores for the next round of fun. While the recent Beyond represents another significant step in the right direction for No Man’s Sky that improves itself in almost every area, the uninteresting harvesting and survival mechanics that underlie it all remain incredibly grindy and frequently mind-numbingly tedious. It often feels like it’s been made by two teams with opposing views on game design, who are each tugging at either side of it until eventually agreeing to meet in the middle or tear it in half.At its best, No Man’s Sky plays like an increasingly elaborate interstellar Animal Crossing. You travel the stars and visit strange, procedurally generated planets in a never-ending quest for loot and money to spend on upgrades for your survival suit and weapon, ships to pilot, rovers to drive, and bases to build. Every time you think you’ll log off for the night, another notification pops up that reminds you about that one last thing you really wanted to do, and before you can say “I need an intervention,” it’s 5 AM and you’re redecorating your fifth base on some remote world or taming a bizarre creature that looks like the lovechild of Big Bird and an octopus.

Here’s how you tame and ride creatures in No Man’s Sky Beyond

It’s easy to appreciate the improvements and additions included in the Beyond update because they’re apparent as soon as you boot it up. Improved graphics highlight things like detail on your ships and a revamped tutorial and mission guidance system makes it much more clear what you should be working toward at any given time. Unlocking new technologies has been reimagined as skill trees that are easy to understand. And these are just a few of the highlights on the massive laundry list of things in the Beyond update that make No Man’s Sky vastly more interesting than it’s ever been.

With Beyond, No Man’s Sky is vastly more interesting than it’s ever been.

“

But the same things that make playing No Man’s Sky a wonderful, habit-forming odyssey that would make Tom Nook proud often work against you — like when you find yourself repeatedly grinding the same materials and crafting the same parts over and over again in an ongoing effort to fuel the numerous engines of interstellar life. You’ll spend tedious hours mining rocks to craft metal plates that you need to make starship engine fuel just so you can take off in your ship and see the still-impressive, completely seamless transition from ground to outer space and back again. And even though No Man’s Sky’s carrying limitations have been even further loosened with the Beyond update your inventory still fills up almost constantly, ensuring that the grind will never be defeated. With few ways to automate resource gathering, exploring the cosmos often takes a back seat to waiting for your mining laser to melt a tree into resources for minutes at a time.

And, considering how central exploration is to No Man’s Sky’s appeal, it’s staggering just how many mechanics still seem dead set on preventing you from doing just that. Why are your sprint and jetpack capabilities meters so limited, and why does using them draw from your life support meter? Why does every language have to be learned one word at a time, meaning that even after dozens of hours of playing you still can’t really understand any of the alien races you encounter? Why, for the love of God, does every planet in the universe have violent weather events every couple of minutes that require you to shut yourself indoors or hide in a cave and wait out to survive? Time and time again, No Man Sky begs you to explore it but then (quite literally) forces you walk, not run.

Hello Games’ Sean Murray walks us through Beyond’s many improvements in the video below.

It’s odd that No Man’s Sky still has so many irritating elements, because it’s also very clearly aware that they exist and tries to smooth over the issues rather than simply fixing them. For example, combat remains as dull and repetitive as ever, so the appearance of hostile lifeforms and robotic sentinel space police has been reduced instead of trying to make fighting them more entertaining. Space dogfights also remain monotonous and overly simplistic in Beyond, and while controls seem to have improved and encounters don’t drag on as long, fighting off pirates is never more than an annoying interruption to your travels.

Beyond brings NMS dangerously close to what we all thought it was when it was first revealed.

“

And yet, there’s something truly special about No Man’s Sky after the Beyond update that brings it dangerously close to being what we all thought it was when it was first revealed years ago. Getting lost among the stars, seeing strange and unique creatures, and claiming a piece of the nigh-limitless galaxy for yourself by building a home are all rewarding and all but completely unique to No Man’s Sky. It’s hard not to fall in love with it in the brief pockets of time where it isn’t forcing you to beat your head against a wall for an hour while you search for a deposit of copper but the stupid Dr. Seuss planet you’re on has is uranium.

In the course of my travels, I found myself stranded on a massive water planet filled with aggressive jellyfish, stared in awe at some bizarre life forms that were made up of levitating crystals, and explored the murky caves on an atmosphere-free moon. Of course, regardless of how they look every planet still has an identical loop of gathering materials, hiding from inevitable and frustrating storms of heat or ice or toxins, and maybe building a base or riding an animal or two along the way. But still there’s an undeniable rush of excitement in discovering and exploring a planet for the first time that doesn’t go away even after hours of play.

Beyond also alters and consolidates No Man’s Sky’s three main storylines into a more cohesive set of quests that intertwine, and they are much more accessible for it. One of the best-kept secrets of No Man’s Sky is that the story is actually fairly complex, with twists and turns that even go so far as to explain the reason behind the universe’s existence. But frankly, the vehicle by which the story is told – an endless chain of fetch quests and vague conversations with generic NPCs – makes the whole thing not at all worth the effort. Your time is better spent doing the things that are entertaining to you, finding your way to the end of the main quest lines only if you manage to find joy in doing so. (Or, y’know, YouTube exists.)

No Man’s Sky Beyond Screenshots

Multiplayer features have been drastically improved with Beyond, though it still falls far short of today’s standards in many ways – especially where organization is concerned. The Anomaly space station is now a social hub that allows you to encounter other players organically rather than by invite or chance (though doing so is still quite rare), and together you can undertake short group missions via The Nexus or even visit one another’s bases by stepping through a massive teleporter. The number of players in a single instance has been bumped up from four to eight on consoles and up to 32 on PC, but actually organizing activities together can be a bit of a nightmare. For starters, you’re given very few tools to find one another in the expansive galaxy, and unless everyone is communicating and staying together it’s easy to get lost or left behind with no easy way to rejoin your friends. If you find yourself without the required materials to launch or pilot your ship when everybody else takes off, for example, you’ll either get left behind by your friends or will hold up the group while you go shoot a laser at some plants for a few minutes. Sharing resources with one another is still, sadly and inexplicably, not an option.

Sharing resources with one another is still, sadly and inexplicably, not an option.

“

Most of the major and strange multiplayer glitches from last year’s NEXT update (in hindsight, a very funny name now that it’s the previous one) have been ironed out, though you’ll probably still encounter the odd bug now and again. I had incidents where my partner couldn’t see the enemies attacking me, or animation issues making it unclear when one of us was firing our mining laser. Playing with others makes the grind of No Man’s Sky much more bearable, but oftentimes because having someone to share in your pain can be really cathartic.

VR makes its debut in No Man’s Sky with the Beyond update (on PlayStation VR and PC, at least), and wandering around an undiscovered planet and hearing unknown critters walk up behind you is an exciting and sometimes unnerving experience. Using hand tracking with Move wands or Oculus/Vive/Index/etc controllers to aim your weapons and tools feels natural, even if you’re still just engaging in the usual monotony of harvesting. Using VR in space flight, on the other hand, is an overwhelmingly positive experience which benefits from your character being stationary and blurriness not mattering quite as much in the darkness of the void. And while it doesn’t fix the monotony of dogfighting, it absolutely makes it more immersive because you can look up through your ship’s canopy.

Watch 10 minutes of No Man’s Sky in VR below.

Movement options offer a static mode with teleportation and click-turning that can be a bit hard to learn but is easy on those of us with weaker stomachs, or a smooth-movement mode that acts the same way the non-VR mode does. However, on the PlayStation VR it was so low-res and blurry that it might make you lose your lunch like it did mine… twice. Still, seeing the galaxy of No Man’s Sky from a true first-person perspective can be a breathtaking experience, even if technical limitations mean there’s still a long way to go before it makes us feel like we’re really there.

Source : IGN