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Built as a reimagining of id Software’s 2016 “Doom Eternal,” “Dark Ages” diverges significantly while still echoing the essence of its lineage. Whereas the 2020 iteration focused on speed and evasion, “Dark Ages” emphasizes a staunch, grounded approach. If the previous game revolved around eliminating foes one at a time, this installment empowers players to obliterate hordes of demons simultaneously. The frantic, rapid-fire nature of “Eternal” gives way to a brute force mentality in “Dark Ages,” where smashing through enemies becomes the primary strategy. The essence of ripping and tearing is still prevalent, with an emphasis on raw power.
At the heart of “Dark Ages” lies a combat system reminiscent of the original 1993 game, drawing inspiration from slowly launched projectiles from iconic enemies like Imps, Kakodemons, and Hell Knights. This new chapter intensifies those encounters, featuring an array of foes that hurl fireballs, floating orbs, and energy barriers, all while straying from the traditional two-dimensional arena.
The interdimensional battlefield shimmers with energy.
Photo: ID Software
Players must navigate these new challenges as they control slower, heftier slayers of doom. Shields play a crucial defensive role against various projectiles, not only blocking attacks but also reflecting some back at their origin. Successfully countering projectile attacks catches opponents off guard and opens them up for “glorious kills.” Although brutal, these maneuvers are generally less intricate than in earlier games, often reduced to straightforward punches and kicks.
While many demons follow easily recognizable attack patterns, the most formidable adversaries engage in fierce close-range duels. These confrontations occur within expansive arenas, where smaller foes swarm around larger ones, often shielded by rows of undead minions. ID Software has introduced several innovative weapons to tackle these hellish legions, including railroad spike launchers that absorb demons and shotguns that deliver devastating close-quarter firepower.
The scale is remarkable.
Photo: ID Software
This captivating reformulation of core combat mechanics provides as much enjoyment in mastering its rhythm as it does in witnessing its destructive consequences. However, the slower pace and limited toolset may not evoke the same adrenaline rush at its peak as previous entries.
This slower pacing is amplified by the expansive design of “Dark Ages.” With 22 levels that are often open-ended, players can choose their battles and discover secrets in their preferred order. Yet, despite the impressive scale, the traversal can become monotonous, resulting in a feeling that the game may not fully capitalize on its combat potential.
ID Software tries to counteract the slow tempo by incorporating diverse gameplay mechanics. Certain maps allow players to pilot a massive mech named Atlan, delivering impactful punches to colossal demons, while others introduce aerial maneuvers atop dragons. While these elements bring novelty, they tend to lack significant depth, recalling the mandatory vehicle sections prevalent in early 2000s shooters.
Nonetheless, I appreciate the experimental nature of “Dark Ages.” The developers seem committed to exploring new directions, striving not to rely solely on past successes like some other franchises. Their goal appears to be redefining shooter mechanics with every new release. While “Dark Ages” may not reach the heights of previous ID Software titles, it remains a well-crafted and thoughtfully designed shooter that delivers heavy hitting moments.
Scientists at the University of Michigan say the twisted shape of the nanostructured filaments allows them to generate bright, twisted light.
Planck's law ignores, but does not prohibit, circular polarization of blackbody radiation (BBR). BBRs consisting of nanostructured filaments with twisted shapes made of nanocarbon or metal have strong ellipticity between 500 and 3000 nanometers. The submicrometer-scale chirality of these filaments meets the dimensional requirements imposed by the fluctuation dissipation theorem, which requires symmetry breaking between absorption and emissivity according to Kirchhoff's law. The resulting BBRs exhibit emission anisotropy and brightness that are 10–100 times superior to conventional chiral photon emitters. Image credit: Lu others., doi: 10.1126/science.adq4068.
“When producing twisted light using traditional methods such as electroluminescence or photon emission, it is difficult to generate sufficient brightness,” said Dr. Jun Lu, a researcher at the University of Michigan.
“We gradually realized that there is actually a very old way of producing these photons, which does not rely on the excitation of photons and electrons, but is similar to the light bulb that Edison developed. .”
“Every object that has some heat, including yourself, constantly emits photons in the spectrum associated with its temperature.”
“If an object is the same temperature as its surroundings, it will also absorb the same amount of photons. Since black absorbs all photon frequencies, this is idealized as blackbody radiation.”
Although the filament of a tungsten bulb is much warmer than its surroundings, the law that defines blackbody radiation (Planck's law) provides a good approximation of the spectrum of photons that a tungsten bulb transmits.
The photons we see as a whole look like white light, but when we pass light through a prism, we see a rainbow of different photons inside.
This radiation is also why it appears bright in thermal images, but even room-temperature objects can appear dark because they are constantly emitting and receiving blackbody photons.
Usually, the shape of the object that emits radiation is not much considered. In most cases, objects can be imagined as spheres.
However, while the shape does not affect the spectrum of different photon wavelengths, it can affect another property: polarization.
Photons from a blackbody source are typically randomly polarized, and their waves can oscillate along any axis.
New research reveals that blackbody radiation can also be twisted if the emitter is twisted on the micro or nanoscale, with the length of each twist similar to the wavelength of the emitted light.
The strength of the twist of light, or its elliptical polarization, is determined by two main factors. One is how close the wavelength of the photon is to the length of each twist, and the other is the electronic properties of the material (in this case, nanocarbon or metal).
Twisted light is also called “chiral” because the clockwise and counterclockwise rotations are mirror images of each other.
The study was done to demonstrate the premise of a more applied project that the Michigan team wants to pursue: using chiral blackbody radiation to identify objects.
They envision robots and self-driving cars that can see like a mantis shrimp, distinguishing light waves in different directions of rotation and degrees of twist.
“Advancing the physics of blackbody radiation through chiral nanostructures is at the heart of this research. Such emitters are all around us,” said Professor Nicholas Kotov of the University of Michigan.
“For example, these findings could be important in helping autonomous vehicles tell the difference between a deer and a human. Deer fur curls differently than our fabric, so even though the wavelengths are similar, Helicity emits a different light.”
The main advantage of this method of producing twisted light is its brightness, which is up to 100 times brighter than other approaches, but the light contains a wide spectrum of both wavelengths and twists.
The authors have ideas on how to address this, including exploring the possibility of building lasers that rely on twisted light-emitting structures.
They want to further explore the infrared spectrum. The peak wavelength of blackbody radiation at room temperature is approximately 10,000 nanometers or 0.01 millimeter.
“This is a noisy spectral region, but elliptical polarization could potentially enhance the contrast,” Professor Kotov says.
This fall marks 10 years since we launched the Guardian Long Read. Looking back now, it’s hard to remember how counterintuitive this idea was at the time. At the time, readers were still increasingly willing to read things longer than a few hundred words, or even 140 characters. Creating a space in the Guardian dedicated to publishing multiple 5,000 (or more) words a week, many of which take months or even years to produce, is a strange project. It seemed like. Thankfully, our readers aren’t, and we’ve learned a lot about everything from the “brutal, paranoid and failed” Home Office and the fight against Islamic State to the strange world of competitive farming and the rise of hygge. They embraced our deeply researched stories.
Just a few months after launching The Long Read, our audio team had the bright idea to start the Audio Long Read Podcast. The idea was simple: get a good voice actor to read the article. That was it. We found that our listeners loved it. (A few years ago, I met Ed Miliband briefly and he said he likes to listen to podcasts when he swims in the pool.)
Since then, we’ve created well over 1,000 audio long reads. If you spend 12 hours a day doing nothing, it would take you about two months to listen to everything. While we wholeheartedly support this way of spending your time, we’ve selected just five of our favorites below.
We also have a range of 10th-anniversary content available in our audio long-form feed, and earlier this week, we began a roundtable discussion between editors about the section’s past, present, and future. And over the next 10 weeks, the podcast will be highlighting some of our favorite audio long reads from each year, along with new introductions from authors.
david wolf The Guardian Editor-in-Chief’s Long Read
This week’s picks
Tom Kerridge and Chris Stark, hosts of the podcast Proper Tasty Pub Quiz Photo: Daniel Billinghurst
Margate murder case Audible, all episodes now available Sheridan Smith and Joanne Froggatt lead the cast in this dangerously gluttonous untrue crime drama. A serial murder case occurs once every 10 years, and as a forensic psychologist, detective, and local newspaper reporter discuss the case, it becomes clear that not everyone’s testimony is reliable. Although the story is scripted, it sounds like a convincing true crime story, thanks to the actors’ deft direction and a refreshingly understated realism. Hannah Verdier
Single women in your area Wide range of weekly episodes available Prepare for contagious hysteria. In this raucous giggle-fest, hear comedians Harriet Kemsley and Amy Gledhill grapple with being single in your 30s. Is true love lurking on rodeo night? How can I find a partner who will please my picky 2-year-old daughter? Is true love washing someone’s skid-marked pants? All will be revealed. Alexi Duggins
The Secret World: Alphayed, Harrods Predator BBC Sounds, all episodes now available This Mohamed Al-Fayed expose series may be a little stilted in narration, but the victims’ astonishing testimonies are truly heart-wrenching. Hearing the stories of staff who have had their crotches grabbed, been raped, or had their ovaries checked by an in-house doctor is horrifying and a testament to the courage of those who speak out. advertisement
from now on Wide range of weekly episodes available Presenter Lisa Phillips is a former model who was abused on Jeffrey Epstein’s private island when she was 21 years old. Here she shares her story and uses it to help other abuse survivors. Part confessional, part interviews with guests, including former cult members, it transforms from the confessional of a brave soul into a deeply insightful psychological help book. advertisement
correct delicious pub quiz Wide range of weekly episodes available Every week, award-winning chef Tom Kerridge and broadcaster friend Chris Stark invite you to take part in a pub quiz at Kerridge’s gourmet bar, The Butcher’s Tap and Grill in Chelsea. Celebrity guests will be answering questions and giving food talks, with the first few episodes starting with Jamie Redknapp and Pixie Lott. Holly Richardson
There’s a podcast for that
Dapper Laughs, Jimmy Carr, Dave…a “joke” era phenomenon explored in a long-running Guardian series in 2017. Illustration: Guardian Design Team
this week, charlie lindler choose the best five Guardian audio long text readingfrom Archie Brand’s essay on the rise and fall of ‘jokes’ to Michael Aylwin’s shocking account of his wife’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
era of jokes Archie Bland’s 2017 read takes us back to the heyday of LadBible and Dapper Laughs. So we examine the era of brash and gory comedy and ask what it was all about. Archie meets a group of “party pilgrims” who take a night boat from Ayia Napa to Syria, tracing the history of youth magazines and interrogating the pinnacle of this strange culture. Richard Keys and Andy Gray are questioned over their departure from Sky over sexism. A comment that, in the immortal words of “Kesey,” was “just a joke.” “Is it time to get off the banter bus?” the piece asks. Yes, of course, but this great piece is worth riding one last time.
For more from Archie, sign up for our inaugural newsletter here
How a dazzling creative wife in her 40s recovered from Alzheimer’s disease In August this year, Guardian journalist Michael Aylwin wrote a remarkable article about his wife Vanessa and her battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Aylwin considers Vanessa’s early signs of dementia, her strength as the disease ate away at her, and recalls how their relationship changed as it took hold. This is a tough, must-read book that reveals the truth about the disease, the strain it places on marriages, and the damage that can be done by not speaking up about its effects. Michael’s description of his “dazzling and creative” wife and her “cruel and unanswerable” degradation is even more moving when heard in his own words.
My 4 miscarriages: Why is pregnancy loss so mysterious? This 2020 full-length book explores perhaps the most personal burden of all: fertility. After experiencing four consecutive miscarriages, journalist Jenny Agg explores the words we use to describe losing a pregnancy, the circumstances of miscarriage care, and what she could do to change what happened to her. I decided to investigate whether there was anything I could do. Agg gracefully writes, “To become pregnant again after a previous miscarriage is to live at the crossroads of two lives,” and Emma Powell matches her in a gripping reading of her profound words. . Additionally, Agg delves deeper into the urgent need for better miscarriage treatment on this 2021 episode of Today in Focus.
How sandwiches consumed Britain Believe it or not, there was a time before Pret a Manger, Greggs and Tesco meal deals. Lunch used to be something completely different. So how did we arrive at the sandwich monoculture? Author Sam Knight traces the packaged sandwich back to its roots in the 1980s, and how Marks & Spencer’s Egg and Cress Triangle came to be in the 80s. We look at how it has grown into a £billion industry, where ‘sandwich people’ have come to pre-empt and often dictate what people eat for lunch. Knight reads this episode’s story with the same sense of wonder and whimsy with which he wrote the original.
Cotton Capital: Repulsion – How slavery research came under criticism As part of The Guardian’s 2023 series examining the paper’s founder and its historical links to slavery, Samira Shackle will be reviewing a series of articles taking place at universities and other public institutions. We delved into similar studies and the harsh backlash that accompanied them. Shackle meets intrepid historian Nicholas Bel Romero and accompanies him on his quest to understand Cambridge’s troubled past. It’s not just about how scholarship drew from slavery, but, in Shackle’s words, “how that scholarship may have reinforced, validated, or challenged race-based thinking.” . Important parts of your report will be more convincing in audio format. To learn more about the Cotton Capital project, visit the project homepage or sign up for our 15-week newsletter series.
Why not try it…
Dig deeper into unusual hobbies, from Warhammer to wild turkey conservation. Niche that meets you.
deserterThe New York Times’ new “audio feature” features Sarah A. Topol’s epic report on a fugitive Russian military officer, narrated by Liev Schreiber.
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We’re only halfway through the year, but Tactical Breach Wizards is already a contender for best video game title of 2024. Both ridiculously ridiculous and patently practical, the game’s name nicely reflects the intent of this magic-infused, turn-based tactics game. Commanding a SWAT team of wizards battling through puzzle-like scenarios with guns and spells, Tactical Breach Wizards blends decade-old jokes with a desire to solve the problems endemic to the genre that inspired it.
“This comes from playing a lot of XCOM, especially XCOM 2,” says Tom Francis, director of Suspicious Developments and creator of the acclaimed titles Gunpoint and Heat Signature. “I love the game in a lot of ways, but it’s also incredibly frustrating because so often you misunderstand or don’t understand the rules, and end up losing irreplaceable soldiers or suffering devastating losses.”
Francis wanted to create a tactical game that focused on encouraging experimentation rather than punishing players. His solution was to let players rewind their turns to try new approaches to each situation. But the game still lacked a theme to accompany the concept. So Francis recalled a conversation he had while working as a journalist at PC Gamer: “We were joking that it would be really interesting if there was a serious military game like Call of Duty. [where] The people were all in tactical gear, but some were just wearing robes and hats.”
Thus was born Tactical Breach Wizards, combining Francis’s rewinding ideas with a variety of characters who are more like magical police, from freelance storm witches to riot priests, each with their own unique abilities to experiment with in different ways. One example is the Naval Seer. Blessed with the ability to see one second into the future, the Seer can also throw time-boosting grenades that provide bonus actions to teammates. Another is the Necro Medic, a necromancer who heals characters and replenishes their “mana” by killing and resurrecting them. “She rewinds your body, your body goes back to how it was an hour ago,” Francis says. “When she resurrects you, you get your mana back.”
According to Francis, these characters first appeared as puns, but gradually became central to the game. In fact, Tactical Breach Wizards doesn’t have the free-form structure and base building of XCOM, but instead has a linear story that explores each character’s personality and motivations. “I wanted to know who these characters were,” Francis said. “They each feel like they have a story.” He likens the storytelling approach to Mass Effect 2’s loyalty missions, saying, “To me, that was the most interesting thing about the game.”
Additionally, the Tactical Breach Wizard storyline, according to Francis, ” [on] Unlike works like Tom Clancy or Call of Duty, the game also aims to subvert the authoritarian morality of such fiction. “I don’t like those stories, there’s not a lot of criticism or self-examination,” he says. In Tactical Breach Wizards, the characters you command aren’t state enforcers, but thugs and outcasts battling a coalition of elite organisations, including religious military dictatorships and private military companies. “I didn’t want them to just be soldiers in a national army,” he explains. “You need a compelling reason to commit acts of violence.”
Tactical Breach Wizards has been in development for six years, which is a big investment for a small team. Luckily, you don’t have to be a naval seer to notice the positive signs. The game is high on Steam’s “wishlist” charts, and Francis says the recently released demo has been met with positive reactions from players. “There are some people who laugh when you say ‘Tactical Breach Wizards,'” he says. “I knew those people existed, but I didn’t realize how many there were. I’m very happy.” [that] A lot of people understand that.”
When a strong laser pulse hits a steel alloy, the material briefly melts where it is irradiated, forming a small magnetic region.Credit: HZDR / Sander Munster
The research team has shown that ultrashort laser pulses can magnetize iron alloys. This discovery has great potential for applications in magnetic sensor technology, data storage, and spintronics.
To magnetize a steel nail, simply stroke its surface several times with a bar magnet. But there is a more unusual method. it is, Helmholtz – Zentrum Dresden – Rossendorf (HZDR) Some time ago, a certain iron was discovered. alloy It can be magnetized with ultrashort laser pulses. The researchers are currently working with the Laser Institute of Mitweida University (LHM) to further investigate this process. They found that this phenomenon also occurs in different classes of materials. This greatly expands the range of potential applications.The working group will publish its results in a scientific journal Advanced functional materials.
Groundbreaking discovery in magnetization
An unexpected discovery was made in 2018. When the HZDR team bombarded a thin layer of iron and aluminum alloy with ultrashort laser pulses, the nonmagnetic material suddenly became magnetic. Explanation: Laser pulses rearrange the atoms in the crystal so that the iron atoms are closer to each other, forming a magnet. The researchers were then able to demagnetize the layer again using a series of weaker laser pulses. This allowed them to discover how to create and erase tiny “magnetic spots” on surfaces.
However, the pilot experiment still left some questions unanswered. “It was unclear whether the effect only occurs in iron-aluminum alloys or in other materials,” explains HZDR physicist Dr. Rantei Bali. “We also wanted to track the process over time.” For further investigation, he collaborated with his Dr. Theo Pflug at LHM and colleagues at the University of Zaragoza in Spain.
Flipbook using laser pulse
Experts especially focused on iron-vanadium alloys. Unlike iron-aluminum alloys, which have a regular crystal lattice, the atoms in iron-vanadium alloys are more randomly arranged, forming an amorphous glass-like structure. To observe what happens during laser irradiation, physicists used a special method called the pump-probe method.
“First, we bombard the alloy with powerful laser pulses to magnetize the material,” explains Theo Pflug. “At the same time, he uses a second, weaker pulse that is reflected off the material surface.”
Analysis of reflected laser pulses reveals the physical properties of the material. This process is repeated several times to continually lengthen the time interval between the first “pump” pulse and subsequent “probe” pulses.
As a result, time-series reflection data are obtained, which can characterize the processes induced by laser excitation. “The whole procedure is similar to creating a flipbook,” he says Pflug. “Similarly, a series of individual images that animate when viewed in succession.”
rapid dissolution
Results: Although they have a different atomic structure than iron-aluminum compounds, iron-vanadium alloys can also be magnetized by lasers. “In both cases, the material melts for a short time at the point of irradiation,” he explains Rantej Bali. “This causes the laser to erase the previous structure and create small magnetic regions in both alloys.”
Promising results: Apparently, this phenomenon is not limited to a particular material structure and can be observed in a variety of atomic arrangements.
The team also tracks the temporal dynamics of the process. “At least we know on what time scale something will happen,” explains Theo Pflug. “Within femtoseconds, a laser pulse excites electrons in the material. After a few picoseconds, the excited electrons transfer their energy to the nucleus.”
Consequently, this energy transfer causes a rearrangement into a magnetic structure, which is then stabilized by rapid cooling. In follow-up experiments, the researchers aim to observe exactly how the atoms rearrange by examining the magnetization process with powerful X-rays.
Perspectives towards applications
Although still in its early stages, this research already provides a first idea of possible applications. For example, one could place small magnets on the chip surface via a laser. “This could be useful in producing highly sensitive magnetic sensors such as those used in vehicles,” he speculates Rantej Bali. “It could also have applications in magnetic data storage.”
Moreover, this phenomenon seems to be related to a new type of electronics: spintronics. Here, instead of electrons passing through transistors as usual, magnetic signals must be used for digital computing processes, providing a possible approach to future computer technology.
Reference: “Laser-Induced Positional and Chemical Lattice Reordering Generating Ferromagnetism” by Theo Pflug, Javier Pablo-Navarro, Md. Chabad Anwar, Markus Olbrich, César Magén, Manuel Ricardo Ibarra, Kay Potzger, Jürgen Faßbender, Jürgen Lindner, Alexander Horn. Lantei Bali, November 21, 2023, Advanced functional materials. DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202311951
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