text:
Saudi Arabia reported five new MERS-CoV cases over the past 2 days, one of them fatal, and three of the illnesses appear to be linked to a healthcare-related cluster in Dumah Al Jandal in the country's northwest.
One of the other two patients had indirect contact with camels and another had primary exposure to the virus, reflecting a mix of ways people contract Middle East respiratory coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia.
Health worker, household contacts among latest cases
In its regular update yesterday, Saudi Arabia's ministry of health (MOH) reported two new cases, one of which involves a 25-year-old female healthcare worker in Dumah Al Jandal who has an asymptomatic infection. The woman, who is an expat, acquired her infection in the healthcare setting, the MOH said.
So far it's unclear if her illness is related to another MERS-CoV case reported from the same city on Aug 2, that one in a 51-year-old man who was hospitalized in critical condition. An investigation revealed the man had primary exposure, meaning he probably didn't contract it from another patient.
Today the MOH reported two more cases from Dumah Al Jandal, both of them Saudi boys who are listed as household contacts of an earlier confirmed case. One is a 16-year-old who has symptoms and the other is a 12-year-old who is asymptomatic.
Other cases include a fatality
In its report yesterday, the Saudi MOH reported a fatal case involving a 38-year-old Saudi man from Najran in the far south of the country. The patient had an underlying health condition and had primary exposure to MERS-CoV.
In today's update, the MOH said an infection has also been confirmed in a 50-year-old Saudi man from Hayel in north central Saudi Arabia. The man's condition is listed as critical, and authorities say the source of the virus was indirect contact with camels.
The new illnesses and deaths lift Saudi Arabia's overall MERS-CoV total to 1,698 cases, 686 of them fatal. Nine people are still being treated for their infections.
Riyadh hospital outbreaks over
In its monthly update recapping MERS-CoV activity in the previous month, the World Health Organization's Eastern Mediterranean regional office (WHO EMRO) said that for July, six lab-confirmed cases were reported, five from Saudi Arabia and one from the United Arab Emirates. Three of the infections were fatal.
No new healthcare-related illnesses or additional hospital outbreaks were reported in July. In the three earlier-reported Riyadh hospital outbreaks, the latest case was confirmed on Jun 17. Now that more than two incubation periods have passed, officials said the outbreaks are now considered to be over.
So far the demographics of cases reported in 2017 don't show a change from cases reported since 2012 when the virus was detected for the first time in humans. Adults ages 50 to 59 are still most at risk for contracting primary infections, with those ages 30 to 39 most at risk for secondary infections. For deaths after primary exposure, the risk is highest in adults ages 50 to 59, and fatalities in secondary exposure are highest in older adults, those ages 70 to 79.
Due to improvements in infection prevention and control practices in hospitals, the number of hospital-related cases declined significantly in 2015 and 2016, the WHO said.
Globally, as of the end of July, the WHO had received reports of 2,045 MERS-CoV cases, 773 of them fatal, for a case-fatality rate of 35.8%.
See also:
Aug 6 Saudi MOH update
Aug 7 Saudi MOH update
Aug 2 CIDRAP News scan "Saudi Ministry of Health confirms 3 new MERS cases"
July 2017 WHO EMRO MERS-CoV situation update


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Regional Coordinators for D&D Adventurers League
What is the D&D tabletop RPG without players and DM's? The game needs people to bring it to life and the D&D Adventurers League needs the same thing! We need your help to bring the D&D Adventurers League experience to new players and old alike. Read the details then fill out the form below to apply. Applications will be open until Thursday August 7th at 11:59pm. Those chosen will be notified on Monday August 11th, just in time for GenCon!
Regional Coordinators
Regional Coordinators (RCs) are volunteers who will help DM's, players, and store/convention organizers participate in the D&D Adventures League on a local level. RCs help promote D&D Adventurers League play by facilitating the organization of public events and by representing the D&D Adventurers league with an enthusiastic, positive presence in a respectful and approachable manner. These individuals will help out the community manager by maintaining event groups on Facebook and Google+ that participants can interact with for information and discussion on events within certain defined regions. If you're passionate about organizing and facilitating D&D play, maybe you could help out!
Regional Areas
The following are the regional areas and the states/countries they contain. If your country is not included in a regional area the D&D Adventurers League Community Manager is considered the regional coordinator for your area. United States:
- Northeast – all of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states as far south as MD and west to PA.
- Southeast – the southern states to include VA and WV in the north, as far west as AR and LA.
- Great Lakes – IN, IL, MI, OH, WI
- Plains – IA, MN, MO, ND, NE, KS, SD
- Southwest – AZ, NM, OK, TX
- Rocky Mountains – CO, ID, MT, UT, WY,
- Far West – AK, CA, HI, NV, OR, WA.
- Eastern – all provinces ON and east.
- Western – all provinces MB and west, as well as the 3 territories.
Europe (includes UK)
Asia-Pacific (mainland Asia and South Pacific, Australia and NZ)
Latin America (Mexico and everything south of it, includes Carribean)
RC Responsibilities/Scope:
Underlying mission-
- Promoting D&D Adventurers League play.
- Facilitating D&D Adventurers League public events through social media (primarily Facebook).
- Representing the D&D Adventurers League community with an enthusiastic, positive presence in a respectful and approachable manner.
1. Network and coordinate with gaming stores that are affiliated with the D&D Adventurers League to promote a fun gaming experience
a. Distribute information to stores about running D&D Adventurers League Events.
i. Instructions on how to schedule events through WPN and WER
ii.Instructions on how to download Epic & Expeditions through DNDAL.com
2. Utilize social media to promote attendance and DM recruitment
a. Manage a Regional Facebook Group entitled: D&D Adventurers League REGION NAME
b. Manage a Regional Google+ Community entitled: D&D Adventurers League REGION NAME
3. Coordinate and assist (when possible) convention organizers within the region to promote a positive play experience.
a. Distribute information to stores about running D&D Adventurers League Events
b. Act as D&D Organizer for local conventions if available
c. Assist convention organizers with obtaining D&D Adventurers League content
4. Keep timely and appropriate contact with the D&D Adventurers League Admins to address play issues or express ideas to improve play
5. Assist in organizing playtest groups for upcoming content and routing promising potential designers to the D&D Adventurers League admin staff
6. Provide timely and appropriate player/owner feedback to the D&D Adventurers League Admins about adventure content and ideas to enhance the play experience
- About 2 hours a week
- Must DM at least 3 slots of reportable games in a year.
- Must attend a major convention in your region or if in the US must attend one of GenCon, Winterfantasy, or Origins
- Be part of the core group that determines the future of the D&D Adventurers League
- D&D Product given when attending cons with a major Wizards presence at Wizards of the Coasts discretion
- D&D Adventurers League swag
Robert Adducci
Latest posts by Robert Adducci (see all)
- Reflections on my time as a D&D Adventurers League Admin - December 31, 2017
- Reflections on DMQuests, Factions, and other successes and failures - December 30, 2017
- Reflections on Organizing D&D and Community Involvement - December 29, 2017

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Brand: Filter King Filter size: 24x36x1 Actual Size: 23.5 x 35.5 x 1 1-Inch Filter MERV 8 Filter Rating Protection From: Pollen, Dust, Mold, Dust Mites, Bacteria, Pet Dander, Smoke, Viruses Residential / Commercial Use
Filter King 24x36x1 size air filters are necessary tools used by your air systems to keep incoming airflow clean. The air systems in your home have no real way of pumping in good air over the dirty or polluted. Air filters in the systems are able to keep incoming airflow clean by trapping irritants and harmful particles in a tight mesh weaving. The process keeps the air inside your home safe and healthy to breathe by raising overall air quality. However, the filters become dirtier over time and less effective as they are covered in more and more particles.
Dirty air filters only become a bigger problem over time as they grow dirtier and less capable of processing fresh air flow. Without fresh air, your home will suffer from issues of uncomfortable and unsafe dryness, along with stagnation. The air systems throughout your home also face issues of straining as they attempt to push airflow through into your home. The difficult process is liable to cause expensive mechanical damages in a system and a rise in energy billing over time.
Filter King offers new 24x36x1 size air filters ready for installation upon their arrival at your home. We deliver new air filter regularly, with orders of two or more being shipped out to your home for free. We also have a subscription option to have your air filters arrive regularly at the rate that you need. The filters themselves have MERV rating of eight and block out irritants like:
The furnace filters in your home air systems are necessary to keep incoming heated airflow clean and clear of irritants. These filters will eventually become so dirty that the airflow becomes blocked and temperatures begin to build up. The heat will continue to build up until the system faces mechanical damage that may lead to costly repairs over time. Your home will also have inconsistent temperatures from room to room when heating is not coming in correctly. Order new air filters now and keep the airflow coming in without any problems.


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Let us help you with your Healthcare SEO Strategy
Gone are the days when people used to rely on yellow pages for the healthcare marketing. People now share deep love for googling their symptoms; surely, it says a lot. Ever thought how can you be found in the local pack? The answer is "Via SEO". Improve your healthcare firm's online ranking by investing in healthcare SEO and benefit from enhanced lead generation.
73% of people use the internet to search for treatment. 77% of people search the web for potential healthcare providers before booking an appointment. Unless your business pops up in your client's search results, you will lose out on business, big time!
Our experts are here to guarantee that something like this doesn't happen. We improve your search engine rankings, make sure that your business receives the consistent visibility and help you in getting a prominent spot on the organic listings.
SETalks can help generate revenue and establish credibility
We keep up with changing SEO trends to deliver relevant, impactful and effective solutions. Leverage on our years of expertise to boost your business.
SEO made affordable
Our customized strategies don't just align with your SEO needs but are also designed to suit your budgetary requirements. We help you connect to the right prospects by targeting the specific keywords that the locals of specific area search the most. The cost-effective solutions we provide will help you gain the top spot in search engine rankings without being a financial burden.
Transparency is our core value
Join our SEO specialist on the journey and see first-hand how they transform your online presence for the better. We deliver a comprehensive report and monitoring to keep you in the loop.
An experienced SEO team
We have the pros of the industry. Whether it's knowledge about healthcare or the latest SEO techniques, our experts are well-versed on them all.
Make sure your patients find you via SETalks SEO services
Outrank competing for healthcare services by employing our top-notch SEO services. Here at SETalks, we create a customizable SEO strategy specifically for your business by providing the following services.
Comprehensive website review
We first begin by assessing your current website's position in the market. Analysis of your existing site, keyword usage, and competitors provide our specialists with clear objectives. An actionable plan is then created to fix your weaknesses and preserve your strengths.
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We conduct a thorough analysis of keywords and identify the top performing healthcare keywords. We strengthen your visibility game by registering your name in all the business listings and by getting more positive reviews about your healthcare business. Once we find out the relevant keywords, we formulate a content marketing strategy to incorporate those keywords in your content.
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Basic SEO improvements establish the foundation for the future customized strategy. During the on-site optimization, your website's code, structure, and architecture are altered, if required. For instance, meta tags and title tags are added. Page speed is improved. The code of the site is changed to make it more search-engine friendly.
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Keyword rankings change; competitors get better and algorithm updates occur. This is why our experts don't give up on your campaign after implementing it. Instead, we closely monitor it to detect anomalies and react immediately with the required changes.
SETalks is a leading SEO company. Our healthcare SEO services are one of the best in town. Join our growing portfolio of customers by contacting our SEO experts today!
Frequently Asked Questions
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Healthcare SEO guarantees that you get a top position on search pages. This translates to better reach, and hence more patients.
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Is your SEO designed explicitly for healthcare firms?
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No. 80 Wing RAAF
No. 80 Wing was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) wing of World War II. The unit was formed on 15 May 1944 and eventually comprised three squadrons equipped with Spitfire fighter aircraft. The wing's headquarters was absorbed into the newly formed No. 11 Group on 30 July 1945.
|No. 80 Wing RAAF
Group Captain Caldwell (fourth from left) talking to No. 452 Squadron Spitfire pilots at Morotai in January 1945
|Royal Australian Air Force
|Three flying squadrons
|Part of
|Australian First Tactical Air Force
|World War II
|Clive Caldwell
Glen Cooper
|Aircraft flown
The wing was established to provide fighter protection for an Allied offensive from Darwin in northern Australia into the eastern Netherlands East Indies (NEI). This operation was effectively cancelled in June 1944, however, leaving No. 80 Wing without a clear mission. The unit remained at Darwin until it moved to Morotai in the NEI between December 1944 and March 1945. Due to the small number of Japanese aircraft remaining in this area the Wing's aircraft were mainly used in the ground attack role. From May 1945 to the end of the war two of No. 80 Wing's squadrons participated in the Borneo Campaign.
In early 1944 General George Kenney, the commander of the Allied air forces in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA), adopted a goal of landing forces at Selaru Island in the eastern NEI and establishing a bomber base there. Accordingly, in early March, Air Vice Marshal William Bostock, who led RAAF Command, presented Kenney with a proposal for the RAAF to contribute two fighter wings and several ancillary units to this operation, which at the time was scheduled for 15 June. One of these wings would be equipped with P-40 Kittyhawks and the other with Spitfires.[1] In March Group Captain Clive Caldwell, the RAAF's highest-scoring flying ace of the war, reluctantly accepted command of the projected Spitfire wing after his request for a transfer to Europe was rejected by Chief of the Air Staff Air Vice Marshal George Jones. In a meeting between Jones and Caldwell, Jones stated that the wing would have the highest priority for supplies and equipment.[2]
No. 80 Wing was formed at Darwin, Northern Territory on 15 May 1944.[3] It initially comprised No. 452 and No. 457 Squadrons, which were transferred from No. 1 Wing.[1] Both of these squadrons had seen extensive combat over Europe and northern Australia and were based at Sattler Airfield near Darwin.[4][5] The squadrons were equipped with Spitfire Vc aircraft at the time of the wing's establishment, but received superior Mark VIII Spitfires between June and August.[6]
General Douglas MacArthur, the commander of Allied forces in the SWPA, decided on 6 June to postpone the Selaru operation until after Allied forces landed in the Philippines. This was not communicated to No. 80 Wing, however, and Caldwell continued to develop plans for its involvement in the Selaru operation until late August.[7] The effective cancellation of the operation left No. 80 Wing without a clear mission, and its pilots were left with nothing to do other than train. In September Air Commodore Alan Charlesworth, the commander of North-Western Area, reported to Bostock that the wing's morale could drop if it was not either given an active role or transferred to southern Australia.[8] During the same period No. 80 Wing's pilots observed that No. 1 Wing's Spitfires were making occasional strafing attacks on Japanese positions in the NEI and sought approval to conduct similar operations. Caldwell did not agree to this, however, as be believed that the risks associated with flying Spitfires to the edge of their range to attack unimportant targets outweighed any benefits to morale.[9]
In mid-September Bostock gained the agreement of Kenney's headquarters to deploy No. 80 Wing to the recently captured island of Morotai in the NEI as part of a redeployment of RAAF units in the SWPA.[10] While this raised morale within No. 80 Wing, it had only a short time to prepare to move overseas. On 8 November Caldwell received orders to begin the movement to Morotai as soon as possible, and he visited the island late that month. During this visit he observed that it was likely that supply shortages would impede the wing's operations.[11] No. 80 Wing's headquarters left Darwin on 9 December and No. 452 Squadron departed on 15 December. During the squadron's trip to Morotai that day, three Spitfires were destroyed or damaged as a result of landing accidents at Merauke, New Guinea.[12] As expected, living facilities at Morotai were initially very basic, and Caldwell traded liquor for the services of US engineer units to improve the wing's camp site.[13]
The wing began flying night defence patrols shortly after No. 452 Squadron arrived at Morotai.[14] At the time Morotai was a major Allied base and had been attacked by Japanese aircraft on multiple occasions.[11] During the night of 24 December a Spitfire shot down a Japanese bomber over the island.[14] This proved to be one of the last Japanese raids on Morotai, and no further interceptions were made. The lack of aerial opposition meant that No. 80 Wing's aircraft were increasingly used to strafe Japanese positions near Morotai.[15] During January 1945 the wing flew 84 ground attack sorties, losing three Spitfires in the process.[15][16] The lack of opportunities for aerial combat disappointed No. 80 Wing's pilots and contributed to a decline in their morale.[17]
No. 80 Wing completed its move to Morotai in March. No. 457 Squadron's Spitfires left Darwin on 6 February and arrived on the island two days later. Later that month No. 79 Squadron joined the wing at Morotai.[18] This squadron had previously operated Spitfires in New Guinea and nearby islands before withdrawing to Darwin in January 1945 to receive Mark VIII Spitfires.[19] The final ship carrying No. 80 Wing personnel and equipment from Darwin arrived at Morotai in early March. Wing Commander Bobby Gibbes, who had been appointed No. 80 Wing's wing leader in October 1944, held temporary command of the unit for several days in late March while Caldwell made a trip to Manila.[11][20] On 31 March Wing Commander Glen Cooper assumed command from Caldwell, who had reached the end of his appointment and was disillusioned with how No. 80 Wing had been used.[21]
Dissatisfaction with the tasks being undertaken by the First Tactical Air Force (1TAF), of which No. 80 Wing was part, led to the "Morotai Mutiny" in April 1945. On 19 April, Caldwell, Gibbes and six other senior 1TAF officers attempted to resign in protest against what they believed was the misuse of fighter aircraft in ground attack operations against isolated Japanese positions.[22] While no action was taken against these officers, Caldwell and Gibbes were later court martialled for selling liquor.[23]
From May No. 80 Wing units participated in the Australian-led Borneo Campaign. No. 457 Squadron was attached to No. 81 Wing and deployed to Labuan on 18 June as part of the Operation Oboe Six landings in the Brunei Bay region. The squadron provided air defence and flew close air support sorties alongside No. 76 Squadron, and shot down a Japanese aircraft on 20 June.[24][25] In April No. 452 Squadron was attached to No. 78 Wing and took part in the landing at Tarakan in May.[26] Delays in repairing Tarakan's airfield meant that it did not see any combat until 30 June. The squadron subsequently supported the landing at Balikpapan in July, and one of its Spitfires shot down a Japanese aircraft in the early hours of 24 July.[27] During this period No. 79 Squadron remained at Morotai and continued to fly ground attack sorties against Japanese positions on the nearby island of Halmahera.[28] On 30 July 1945 No. 80 Wing Headquarters was absorbed into the newly formed No. 11 Group. While it was intended that the wing's three flying squadrons would come under the command of this group, in the event it only took operational control of No. 79 Squadron before the war ended.[29]
A memorial plaque for No. 80 Wing was unveiled at the Australian War Memorial on 29 November 2013.[30]
- ^ a b Alexander (2006), p. 159
- ^ Alexander (2006), pp. 159–160
- ^ Alexander (2006), p. 161
- ^ "452 Squadron RAAF". Australian Military Units. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
- ^ "457 Squadron RAAF". Australian Military Units. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
- ^ Alexander (2006), pp. 162–163
- ^ Alexander (2006), p. 163
- ^ Odgers (1968), pp. 246–247
- ^ Alexander (2006), pp. 164–165
- ^ Odgers (1968), p. 297
- ^ a b c Alexander (2006), p. 166
- ^ Alexander (2006), pp. 168–169
- ^ Alexander (2006), pp. 172–173
- ^ a b Alexander (2006), p. 171
- ^ a b Alexander (2006), p. 175
- ^ Odgers (1968), p. 384
- ^ Odgers (1968), p. 388
- ^ Odgers (1968), p. 396
- ^ "79 Squadron RAAF". Australian Military Units. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
- ^ Alexander (2006), p. 178
- ^ Alexander (2006), pp. 175–177, 180
- ^ Odgers (1968), pp. 443–444
- ^ "Wg Cdr Bobby Gibbes". The Telegraph. 25 April 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
- ^ Odgers (1968), p. 472
- ^ Waters (1995), p. 110
- ^ Odgers (1968), p. 453
- ^ Odgers (1968), pp. 487–489
- ^ Thomas (2009), pp. 86–87
- ^ Odgers (1968), p. 478
- ^ "80 Wing Royal Australian Airforce Plaque Dedication Ceremony". Events. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
- Alexander, Kristen (2006). Clive Caldwell, Air Ace. St. Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-74114-705-0.
- Odgers, George (1968). Air War Against Japan 1943–1945. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 3 – Air (reprint ed.). Canberra: Australian War Memorial. OCLC 246580191.
- RAAF Historical Section (1995). Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History. Volume 2 Fighter Units. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. ISBN 0-644-42794-9.
- Thomas, Andrew (2009). Spitfire Aces of Burma and the Pacific. Osprey Aircraft of the Aces. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-422-0.
- Waters, Gary (1995). OBOE – Air Operations Over Borneo 1945. Canberra: Air Power Studies Centre. ISBN 0-642-22590-7.


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We can blame it on the weather/our ovens/distractions etc but for some of us it was a bit more Brassed Off than Bake Off..
However, what some lacked in perfection was more than made up for in taste and sheer enjoyability!! And we have to remind ourselves that it's NOT a competition...
Colin's poster on the gate-post attracted some interest from villagers passing by who are more used to us leaving signs saying: "Fraises/Cerises/Tomates, Servez Vous S.V.P"
Once again the ingenuity applied to the theme - "French Picnic" - and range of cakes on offer was outstanding...
I'm naming no names but this cake really "rose" to the occasion - unlike some others (they shall also be nameless!)
In fact, in the left background of the above photo you may possibly make out the label "Cake Catastrophe!" It's creator likened it to the San Andreas fault but then again, cream covers a multitude of geological features!
Below is another example of a near disaster being turned into a creative opportunity. The intended topping didn't! So instead of wasting it, it was blitzed and made an attractive sprinkling to decorate this now showstopper of a cake.
Again, in the background of the above photo, you can see the meticulous attention to detail to create "arches" of icing, precisely arranged around the cake; it is NOT, as the unkind among you may think, simply runny icing!
The winner of the baking book was delighted, and is now looking forward to choosing and baking his contribution to the next CCC. We are all very happy for him!
Which leaves me with one last thing to say; and that is to send our heartfelt thanks and love to each and every one of the Loire Valley CCC for the early celebration they gave us for our wedding in under two weeks time. Their gift was perfect and, as I type, its root ball is soaking ready for planting later today..
Wedding photos will follow as and when - possibly!!


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Presteaming is a well-established technique in pulp mills, which improves cooking liquor impregnation by removing air from within and between chips. The aim of the study was to investigate how conditions during steaming affect the subsequent kraft cook and properties of the obtained pulp. It was found that higher pressure and temperature during chip presteaming led to increased degradation and dissolution of hemicelluloses. Lower refinability and tensile index was obtained for pulps cooked after presteaming at high pressure and for a long time.
Studies on strength delivery and related fields have so far concentrated on finding the locations in the mill where fibres are damaged and what the damages consist of. However, fibres will invariably encounter mechanical stresses along the fibreline and in this thesis a new concept is introduced; the vulnerability of fibres to mechanical treatment. It is hypothesised that fibres with different properties have different abilities to withstand the mechanical forces they endure as they are discharged from the digester and transported through valves, pumps and various washing and bleaching equipment.
In the thesis, results are presented from trials where pulps with significantly different hemicellulose compositions were high-intensity mixed at pH 13, 70°C and 10% pulp consistency and pulp strength evaluated. By varying alkalinity and temperature, pulps with different carbohydrate composition could be obtained. High alkali concentration and low temperature resulted in high glucomannan content and low xylan content, whereas cooking at low alkali concentration and high temperature rendered a pulp with low glucomannan and high xylan content. The high alkalinity pulp was stronger, determined as tear index at given tensile index. The pulp viscosity was also higher for this pulp. However, when the pulps were subjected to high-intensity mixing, the high alkalinity pulp lost in tear strength and the re-wetted zero-span tensile strength was substantially reduced. The pulp cooked at high alkalinity was thus interpreted as being more vulnerable to mechanical treatment than the pulp obtained by cooking at low alkalinity.
Another pair of pulps was manufactured at high and low sodium ion concentrations, but otherwise with similar chemical charges. The pulp obtained by cooking at low sodium ion concentration became stronger, evaluated as tear index at a given tensile index and the curl index was substantially lower, 8% compared to 12% for the pulp cooked at a high sodium ion concentration. The viscosity was 170 ml/g higher for the pulp manufactured at low sodium ion concentration. When the pulps were subjected to high-intensity mixing, the tear strength of the pulp manufactured at high sodium ion concentration was reduced. The re-wetted zero-span tensile index decreased also after mixing. The pulp obtained by cooking at higher sodium ion concentration was thus interpreted as being more vulnerable to mechanical treatment than the pulp manufactured at lower sodium ion concentration.
In the thesis, two reasons for the low strength delivery of industrially produced pulps compared to laboratory-cooked pulps are put forward. Since the ionic strength of mill cooking liquor systems is much higher than is normally used in laboratory cooking, this can partly explain the difference in strength between mill- and laboratory-cooked pulp. A higher sodium ion concentration was shown in this thesis work to give a pulp of lower strength. Secondly, it is suggested that the difference in retention time of the black liquor in laboratory cooking and continuous mill cooking systems can explain the difference in tensile strength between laboratory-cooked and mill-produced pulp. The black liquor in a continuous digester has a longer retention time in the digester than the chips. This gives a longer time for the dissolved xylan to degrade and, as a consequence, the xylan deposited on the mill pulp fibres will be more degraded than the xylan deposited on the laboratory-cooked pulp fibres.
In the thesis, results are also presented from studies using different strength-enhancing chemicals. The fibre surfaces of bleached never-dried and once-dried pulp were modified by the polyelectrolyte multilayer technique using cationic and anionic starch. Although the pulps absorbed the same amount of starch, the never-dried pulp reached a higher tensile index than the once-dried pulp. When the starch-treated never-dried pulp was dried and reslushed it still had higher tensile index than the never-dried untreated pulp. The starch layers were thus able to counteract part of the hornification effect. The never-dried starch treated pulps were subsequently dried, reslushed and beaten. Pulp with starch layers had a better beatability evaluated as the tensile index obtained after given number of PFI revolutions than dried untreated pulp. Hence, there is a potential to increase the tensile index of market pulp by utilising the polyelectrolyte multilayer technique before drying. Addition of CMC to bleached mill pulp and laboratory-cooked pulp increased the tensile strength to the same degree for both pulps. CMC addition had a straightening effect on the fibres, the shape factor increased and this increased the zero-span tensile strength also.
A pulp yield increase up to 2% can be achieved by impregnation with a liquor containing 2 M effective alkali ( EA) concentration instead of 1 M. The yield increase is due to higher cellulose and glucomannan contents in the pulp, which can be rationalized by less yield loss by peeling, as impregnation is more effective at an elevated EA level. A rapid loading of chips with alkali can be realized due to a high diffusion rate. When the temperature becomes higher in the cooking stage, enough alkali is available for delignification reactions without the risk of alkali depletion in the chip core, so that the delignification is more homogeneous.
Bleached softwood kraft pulps were coated with one to three layers of starch, which lead to tensile strength improvement. The strength increase was larger when a never-dried pulp was treated compared to treatment of a once-dried pulp, although equal amounts of starch were adsorbed in both cases. When the never-dried, starch-treated pulp was dried and subsequently reslushed, its tensile strength was higher than that of the never-dried reference pulp. It also required less PFI beating to reach a certain tensile index. Starch-treatment can thereby be a way of improving the tensile strength and beatability of market pulp.
The term hyperalkaline polysulphide pulping is used to denote a process utilising a polysulphide pretreatment step at high alkalinity. The stabilising effect of polysulphide on carbohydrates is enhanced by higher alkali concentrations. The high alkali concentration in the stabilisation stage also increases the delignification rate in the subsequent cooking stage. In order to keep the alkali at a high level, hyperalkaline polysulphide pulping employs two pretreatment stages. In the first stage, the alkali charge is aimed to neutralise the acids formed of the wood components. The succeeding stage is the actual hyperalkaline polysulphide stage. It has a noticeably higher alkali concentration, thus promoting an efficient carbohydrate stabilisation by the polysulphide. The hyperalkaline polysulphide pretreatment makes it possible to obtain a pulp with high viscosity and yields good bleachability and good strength properties. The pulps however, need more beating energy to reach a high tensile strength than kraft and normal polysulphide pulps.
Xylan dissolved during kraft cooking and later redeposited on fibre surfaces has been demonstrated to affect paper strength properties. Earlier studies have demonstrated that it is the xylan characteristics, rather than simply the amount of xylan, that influence the strength-enhancing effect of xylan. To use xylan optimally, it is useful to understand xylan's beneficial characteristics and how cooking conditions affect them.
In this study, spruce chips were kraft cooked under various cooking conditions and the xylan in the black liquor was characterized. We found that dissolved spruce xylan had a much higher amount of bound lignin than found in previous studies of xylan dissolved from hardwoods. The ionic strength of the cooking liquor affected the amount of dissolved xylan as well as the uronic acid content of the xylan.
The tensile strength levels of industrially produced pulp and corresponding laboratory-cooked pulps were investigated. The industrial pulp had a lower tensile strength, which could not be explained by fibre form or fibre strength.
It was concluded that bonding strength was the limiting factor for the tensile strength of the industrial pulp. The industrial pulp, despite of its higher hemicellulose content, had a lower surface charge. The xylan precipitated onto the fibres during the industrial cook was probably more degraded and consequently with lower degree of polymerisation and fewer charged groups.
The tensile strength levels of industrially produced pulp and corresponding laboratory-cooked pulps were investigated. The industrial pulp had a lower tensile strength, which could not be explained by fibre form or fibre strength. It was concluded that bonding strength was the limiting factor for the tensile strength of the industrial pulp. The industrial pulp, despite of its higher hemicellulose content, had a lower surface charge. The xylan precipitated onto the fibres during the industrial cook was probably more degraded and consequently with lower degree of polymerisation and fewer charged groups.
Two pulps of different hemicellulose content were subjected to high-intensity shear forces in a laboratory mixer to damage the fibers. The, ability of the fibers to resist the mechanical treatment was evaluated by comparing their strength that of undamaged pulps. The study showed that pulp produced at high hydroxide ion concentration, which resulted in lower xylan and, higher glucomannan content, was sensitive to mechanical treatment. The pulp strength decreased, evaluated as tear versus tensile index and as rewetted zero-span tensile index. Pulp with a higher xylan and lower glucomannan content could be subjected to mechanical treatment without losing strength.
A study was undertaken in order to investigate the influence of ionic strength during pulping (measured as sodium ion concentration) on pulp strength (evaluated as tear index vs. tensile index) and on the pulps ability to resist mechanical damage. Sodium chloride was added to the cooking liquor in order to control the ionic strength during the laboratory kraft cooking of soft-wood. The strength properties were compared to a conventional laboratory pulp, pulped at an ionic strength equal to that originating solely from the cooking chemicals added.
It was shown that the ionic strength of the cooking liquor had an impact on pulp strength. Tear index at a certain tensile index decreased at higher ionic strength. The fibre strength, measured as rewetted zero-span tensile index, also decreased. Furthermore, high ionic strength during cooking rendered the fibres more vulnerable to mechanical damage.
Unbleached softwood kraft pulp was fractionated in hydrocyclones into a fine fraction, enriched in earlywood fibers, and a coarse fraction, enriched in latewood fibers. The response to individual bleaching chemicals and the bleachability in bleaching sequences of the pulp fractions was studied. The light absorption coefficient, light scattering coeffient, and brightness were higher in the unbleached fine fraction than in the coarse fraction. Hydrogen peroxide managed to reduce the light absorption coefficient of the earlywood enriched fine fraction more efficiently than that of the latewood enriched fraction. In the TCF-sequence the light absorption coefficient of the fine fraction was reduced to the level of the coarse fraction at a given consumption of bleaching chemicals. In the ECF-sequence the difference in light absorption coefficient remained between the fractions. At a given consumption of bleaching chemicals, the fine fraction had higher brightness than the coarse fraction, 2%- and 1%-units on the ISO-scale in the TCF and ECF bleaching sequence, respectively.
When pulp is separated into fibre fractions on the basis of size, the smallest fraction obtained is called fines. Primary fines are found in cooked pulp not subjected to beating and secondary fines are created in the cause of beating. Fines have higher lignin and metal ion contents than the fibre fractions of the pulp. In this study, the effect of the primary fines on cooking and bleaching has been investigated. The results showed that removal of the primary fines during cooking had no positive effect on the delignification. The pulp viscosity at a certain kappa number and the H-factor to reach this kappa number were the same, regardless of whether or not the primary fines were present. However, the primary fines had a profound effect on bleaching when a QP sequence was used. An increase of approximately 2 ISO-brightness units was obtained by removing the primary fines prior to bleaching. Pulps with and without primary fines showed no significant difference in metal ion content or light scattering coefficient. The light absorption coefficient was, however, higher in the pulp with fines. The improved bleachability of the pulps without fines was therefore probably caused by differences in lignin content and in the lignin structure rather than by differences in metal ion content.
To investigate how the number of charged groups affects the refinability of pulp, different levels of fibre charge were introduced to fully bleached softwood kraft pulp by bulk carboxymethylation. The chemical compositions of the fibres thus remained similar and the effect of the charge could be evaluated. The pulps were refined in a PFI-mill. The introduction of additional charges clearly resulted in a higher refinability in terms of a higher WRV for a given energy input. However, the increase in swellability was not accompanied by a corresponding increase in tensile index. The highly charged pulps suffered severe damage to the fibre wall during refining, showing that the combination of high charge levels and mechanical forces cause destruction of the fibre wall, which inhibits paper strength development.
The effect of surface carboxymethylation of industrial and laboratory-cooked pulp was studied regarding attached amount, fibre properties and paper sheet strength. The strength development was compared with the effects of PFI beating. Attachment of CMC was shown to be equally effective with industrial pulp as with laboratory-produced pulp. The attachment level was 100% for both pulp types and no difference in paper strength enhancement could be detected. CMC attachment had a small impact on sheet density, especially compared to PFI beating. Moreover, surface carboxymethylation was shown to increase the shape factor, reduce the number of kinks per fibre and to increase the rewetted zero-span index. This straightening effect of CMC was interpreted in terms of an increase in carboxyl group repulsion on the fibre surface and is probably a factor contributing to the increase in paper strength. Differences in fibre curl between industrial and laboratory-cooked pulp decreased when CMC was attached to the fibre surface. This may explain why no differences in CMC efficiency could be detected.
Extended impregnation kraft cooking is a demonstrated improvement of the kraft pulping process and offers a way to use softwood more efficiently. We demonstrate the possibility of producing Norway spruce (Picea abies) kraft pulp using a new cooking concept, producing a pulp that can be defibrated without inline refining at kappa numbers of approximately 90. The cooking concept uses the differences in reaction rate between the diffusion and consumption of hydroxide ions in the prolonged impregnation step. Lowering the impregnation temperature will favour the diffusion of cooking chemicals over neutralization reactions, thereby improving chemical distribution throughout the chips. Impregnation conditions in combination with cooking temperatures lower than those of conventional kraft pulping are demonstrated to produce pulp with a narrower kappa number distribution and comparable strength properties at a considerably higher yield.
By varying cooking temperature, alkali charge, ionic strength, and cooking time in Kraft pulping of spruce chips, pulps ranging between kappa numbers 20-80 were obtained. The unbleached Kraft pulp fibers were subjected to mechanical peeling in order to separate the surface material from the bulk of the fibers and the carbohydrate composition and lignin content of the two fractions were analyzed. As expected, the lignin and xylan contents were higher on the fiber surface than in the fiber wall. The percentage of xylan on the fiber surface was fairly constant, independent of different pulping conditions or degree of delignification. The lignin proportion on the fiber surface gradually decreased with decreasing kappa number. At a given kappa number, pulping at a higher temperature resulted in less lignin on the fiber surface, probably because of the higher solubility of lignin at higher temperature. Cooking at lower alkali charge also resulted in lower lignin content on the fiber surface at a given kappa number. In this case, there was more time available for degradation of the surface lignin since the lower alkali charge resulted in longer cooking time needed to reach a certain kappa number.
The potential of seven kraft cook materials to become functional char materials and fuels is investigated. Thermogravimetric analysis was used to study the thermal properties while a model-free isoconversional method was used to derive kinetic rate expressions. Black liquor precipitates had lower thermal stability (20-60 K lower) than pulps and spruce wood and the precipitates decomposed in a wider temperature range, producing chars with similar or higher thermal stability than char from pulps, but lower than those from spruce wood. Samples suitable to produce char were identified based on char yield, devolatilization rate and charring temperature. The highest char yield (46%), achieved from a precipitate, was more than twice as high as that from spruce powder. Under the studied conditions none of the materials had a pyrolysis process that for the whole conversion range could be described with a single set of kinetic parameters. The apparent activation energy varied between 170-260 kJ/mol for the pulps and 50-650 kJ/mol for the precipitates. The derived kinetic parameters were validated by predicting the conversion at a heating rate outside the range used for its derivation and at quasi isothermal conditions. Both these tests gave satisfactory results in good agreement with experimental data.
The authors regret that the original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in Table 5. The correct Table 5 and associated text is given below. "The rapeseed hemicellulose films presented here had strain-at-break values of 70% (C) and 90% (H), even with no added plasticizers (Table 5)." The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Polymeric hemicelluloses were extracted by autohydrolysis and alkali from a biomass feed consisting of the stems of rapeseed straw according to a full statistical factorial screening design. Water extraction yielded fractions rich in galactoglucomannan, while alkaline extraction yielded primarily xylan. The extracted galactoglucomannan and xylans had similar molecular weights, while the yield of xylan was higher than the yield of galactoglucomannan. The extracted hemicellulose fractions also contained some lignin (7-15%) and traces of Ca, K, Na, and Si. Free-standing films were prepared from the hemicellulose fractions with different xylan:galactoglucomannan ratios. The rapeseed xylan films showed strain-to-break values >60% without any added plasticizers.
Rapeseed straw consists of a hard epidermis that is rich in hemicellulose and lignin and a sponge-like interior that consists mainly of cellulose. The stems were subjected to water, alkali or acid as extraction medium. The effects of the extraction conditions were quantified using severity factors and by comparing the effects of different extraction pHs, temperatures and times. Extraction with alkali resulted in a higher yield, 47 g/100 g straw in, compared to water, 6 g/100 g straw in, or an acidic, 5 g/100 g straw in, extraction process. An increase in temperature improved the extraction yield; in particular, more xylan was extracted at an elevated temperature and higher alkalinity. However, at high alkalinity, increased extraction temperatures led to a reduction in the recovery of glucomannan. The highest molecular weights (similar to 35,000 g/mol) of the extracted hemicelluloses were obtained using extraction procedures with 1.5 M NaOH at 110 degrees C and autohydrolysis at 150 degrees C. While these two parameter settings had very similar severity factors, extraction under basic conditions afforded an extract rich in xylan and low in lignin content, whereas autohydrolysis generated a glucomannan-rich extract.
The composition, molecular weight (MW), and chemical structure of technical lignins as byproducts of pulping influence their application in terms of physical and chemical properties, reactivity, and performance. It is important to know how the analytical data of technical lignins are influenced by the wood species and the parameters of pulping. The present study focuses on kraft pulping and how the wood species (eucalyptus, pine, and spruce) and variable cooking times influence the characteristics of dissolved lignins. The black liquor (BL) was recovered after three different cooking times and the precipitated lignin was characterized by total acid hydrolysis including the determination of the acid insoluble part (Klason lignin, KL) and the sugars in the hydrolysate, elemental analysis, 31P NMR spectroscopy, analytical pyrolysis (Py-GC/MS), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), thermogravimetry (TG), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results indicate that the phenolic OH content, MW and glass transition temperature increased with longer cooking times for the softwood (SW) lignins. These lignins had also a higher MW (M-w 5500-8000 g mol(-1)), than the eucalyptus lignin (M-w 2200-2400 g mol(-1)). Eucalyptus lignin had higher sulfur content compared to SW.
The effect on kraft cooking proceeded by an impregnation stage performed at 130 degrees C for 30 min was compared to kraft cooking following prolonged impregnation at 105 degrees C for 60-120 min. The alkali consumed during impregnation varied depending on the temperature and time of the impregnation stage. In order to study the impact of the impregnation stage on the subsequent kraft cook, the initial concentration of effective alkali was adjusted to be initially the same in all cooks before cooking for 180-290 min. The alkali consumed in the impregnation stage affected the alkali profile of the cooking stage. The more alkali consumed in impregnation, the lower the demand in cooking. Higher alkali consumption in the impregnation stage also led to faster delignification in the cooking stage. Prolonged impregnation resulted in 1-1.5 percentage points higher yield compared to the reference case. The yield increment was due to a higher cellulose retention. Although the impregnation time was prolonged from 30 min up to 2 h, the higher delignification rate and higher yield only decreased the production rate with 11% compared to the reference.
Combined peracetic acid and chlorine dioxide bleaching stages of unbleached and oxygen delignified hardwood and softwood kraft pulps were compared with conventional chlorine dioxide and peracetic acid stages as to kappa number and viscosity reduction, selectivity and reduction of hexenuronic acid content. The combined stages were more efficient in kappa number reduction than those with only chlorine dioxide. Part of the increased kappa number reduction was due to an improved degradation of hexenuronic acid. The stages where chlorine dioxide was added before the peracetic acid (DT) showed a higher selectivity than those in which the chemicals were added simultaneously (D+T); in turn, the latter were more efficient than the "pure" chlorine dioxide (D, D-0) and peracetic acid stages (T). However, peracetic acid and chlorine dioxide seemed to react with each other, leading to the degradation of both bleaching chemicals. The mechanisms and practical implementation of these bleaching sequences are discussed.
The aim of the study was to investigate the possibility to use spruce xylan more efficiently by possible relocation of dissolved xylan with certain characteristics from the first part of the kraft cooking to the later part, when precipitation occur. The characteristics of re-located xylan was controlled by replacing half the black liquor (BL) at a late stage of a kraft cook, with the same amount of black liquor containing spruce xylan with known molecular weight and content of uronic acid (UA). Pulp with addition of xylan with high amount of UA groups responded strongly on beating, resulting in improved tensile strength. It is proposed that the best effect of xylan on tensile strength occurs when the xylan penetrates some distance into the subsurface of the fiber wall. Both low molecular weight (M-w) and a high degree of substitution decreases the tendency of xylan to aggregate, which enables the dissolved xylan to penetrate some distance into the exposed fiber surface. Upon beating, this xylan will be exposed thus facilitating improved fiber-fiber joint formation, which leads to increased tensile strength.
The possibility to use xylan from agro waste in order to improve the strength properties of spruce kraft pulp was examined. Xylan was extracted from wheat straw and rice husks, by subjecting the agro waste to kraft cooking. The extracted xylan was subsequently used at the end of a kraft cooking process of spruce, by replacing half of the black liquor with dissolved spruce xylan with white liquor containing agro waste xylan. The strength tests performed on the obtained softwood kraft pulps showed that even a small amount of rice husk or wheat straw xylan deposited on softwood fibers had a positive effect on the tensile index of the paper at given sheet density.
The delignification response in cooking and the impact of bleaching on earlywood and latewood were studied. Spruce earlywood and latewood chips were pulped by the kraft process and subsequently treated with one bleaching chemical at a time. In cooking, latewood required a higher alkali charge to reach the same kappa number. No difference in the light absorption coefficient between the different fiber types was observed. After oxygen delignification the earlywood fibers had a higher light absorption coefficient at the same kappa number. The difference in light absorbing material was maintained when bleaching was performed with chlorine dioxide, ozone, and peracetic acid. Hydrogen peroxide decreased the light absorbing structures in the earlywood to the same level as for latewood. The earlywood pulp had a higher brightness at a given kappa number than the latewood. The higher brightness remained through all bleaching operations and was primarily due to a higher light scattering ability.


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|'Bonnie Boy' Gaucho sporting a nice mop! His look will change completely once the shearer has done his job.
|Fergus showing off his fringe and hoping that the photographer has a carrot in his jacket pocket (mind you any old snack would do!)
|An interesting shot of Fidget's 'tutu' of guard hairs around his lower neck. If you magnify the photo you'll see what I mean! He'll benefit from a fringe trim too.
|A bad hair day or just a new style? Faro's fringe is a number of different shades but still a lovely colour. It will be a pity for him to lose this curly mop.


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I want to get the boss attack system finished. It is the same as the zombies but with more flair. I want the fights to be fun exciting and as different as possible. This means Rot Gut will hear you in another room. Let out a bostful comment and slide through a door into your room. I want him to then cast a ranged attack or two to debuff you if it hits. Then Boast again and charge you. Then while in close he may boats and hit you with a big attack. Or just slice and dice you. This all works with a switch based action system. When updated he will start in the sleep mode. Then when you get close enough or trigger something. He will wake up and start in your direction just like the other monsters. Then his mode is switched to CHASE. During chase it checks to see if you both are sharing a room if so then he may move to RANGED_ATTACK_READY mode where he charges up a skill to be used. Then moves to RANGED ATTACK mode that does the firing. The old charge effect is killed and the projectile generated. The last step is he is moved back to CHASE mode then pursues you again. Every now and then going into a TAUNT mode to poke a little fun at you. Off to work!
Month: May 2009
Saturday again! =)
Only a few hours here before a soccer game. I am going to finish up the boss functionality hopefully so Rot Gut and his friends will be able to hack and slash to their hearts content. He looks really good in game I will try to get a video of a bunch of him in action this weekend. Off to work. Thought I would toss this tip in. A long time ago I wanted to add smoothing to my skeletal animations. So I took all of 20 minutes to add it with a spring system… so simple no idea why I waited so long. Simply (position bone wants) = (Position Currently) * 0.1f + ((position boneneeds to be next frame) * (time ratio to next frame) + (position bone was last frame) * (inverse time ratio to next frame)) ) 0.9f. Done it will always smooth over.. now it is not a sin wave but it is working great for now and does not add to many operations.
I need names for bosses!
Dig it?
If you have more then one suggestion for boss names please enter it in a comment!. I have started out with some names I have picked out. These are named bad guys that have done evil things in the story arc and will be required to be dealt with by the quest manager. Their loot will be better then average also. Basically these zombies are constructed from entire bodies or pieces of people that have been dragged into the depths or dug up from underground to get their bodies as a resource for the Necromancer Below. Thanks! Just post in a comment below additional suggestions! You should not have to register to comment.
1st Tier Names:
Rot Gut
Remnants of Sean Meyer
The Meat Merchant
The Cleaver
Rot Gut 3 HOURS CONCEPT TO IN GAME… I am a bit proud of that.. surely not done but that is a fast content pipeline!
Not that it means anything in the game industry =P…. hehe.. Today hopefully I get to stay at work on this project and my other projects do not get wonky-jawed. I want to get back to that named creature today. Get one done and fill in the rest. I find the best way to develop a game is to get a small segment of it complete. Then test the LIVING CRAP out of it not only for systems stresses, failures, and bugs but of course to be sure it is fun. That is the current goal. Get tier one done!. That includes 0-5 level creatures, 3 Named creatures, quest generation systems, AI, collision, level generation, game play mechanics, and many other items done. This way before I replicate, increase, and improve upon tier 1 for the next 5 tiers I will have a solid foundation to build on. Now back to work finishing the combat piece I was working on and over to the named npc so I can get to the final piece for tier 1 (the quest generator that ties into the story arc system). Hope everyone has a great Friday! I will try to post a shot before I head out for the day. Hopefully of a named npc in game.
Update: NUMBERS ON HEADS!! .. lol so important.. its in finally.. Lots of life jumped in the way today but I still got a lot done. Now time for a beer. (Then back to work =) )
If anyone has a flux capacitor I could use it. This time thing is getting old ;). I plan on tightening up the combat some more now that all systems are talking together now. That should not take that long as it is just number tweaks. I need to go back an correct a deviation from my design doc. I created a bunch of skins for just about the same bad zombie model. I need to create at least one zombie for level 1 – 5. These zombies all share parts. Thus I make 5 hands or whatever for the 16 slots and 5 * 5 * 5 …. LOTS of combinations. I have 3 different models created with 2 different skins for each model so 6 very different looking characters then all of them are color shifted a little bit. Today I want to create the first named creature. I plan on making a good number of these. They are total one offs. The downside is it takes a lot of time the good side is the freedoms are huge. They can be really boastful and fun characters to take on. Good stuff. So off to work more updates later. I will try to create a screen a day as I work. Some days are all code however and pictures of code just aren't all that pretty =).
Thanks iPoneLife for the notice. Today combat.
Zombie party.
Low Level Damnation Machine about to rework my gut.
OWACH.. getting head smacked by the zombie so my screen gets tossed to the side.
Update: The new skills are in and you can see them surrounding the screen as always no art is final.
Typed on my iphone please excuse typos. Thanks iPhoneLife for the notice. I feel the more people the more input. Today I hope to finalize tier ones skills and combat. I have a huge head start as it stands now and I just need to get it finished. Combat works by the aiunits. You are also an aiunit but are ignored in several places as your faction decides what damages you. So when any unit chooses to attack they send a pointer to themselves over to the aicombataction function. It looks at the skill and does any npc specific effects. Then to the main combat fubction that performs the actions for player and AI. For example, a holy bolt being fired from an AI unit will first trigger a shooting effect then create a projectile in the scene. The projectile points to the attacker and on hit processes it's skill hit effect on nearby bad guys. Damage is calculated and handed out. It is all pretty simple at the high level. I will add more later and a new screen but for now to work I go. Please tell your friends about this project the more the merrier.
Update: OK leveling is now in I have decided on the equations for now. The hitpoints and energy systems work. AI will not use energy currently just a firing rate of its skills. That may change as we go , however with 20 zombies and bots possibly attacking you at once I really want everything as light as possible to not effect frame rate. Now to the tier 1 skills that is level 1 – 10. There are 6 skills per tree per tier. With two slots open for skills you picked up as drops or bought at bazaar. So that means 12 base skills non swappable and 2 skills dropped. I will work on the dropped skills last. Currently, as far as skills for the first tier the faith tree I have schedules with: ( Straight cut and paste from the design doc.)
VERY PRELIMINARY please comment if you have any ideas. These are going to be play tested soon and I am sure changed.
1) Fast Swipe : A broad arcing shot that can effect up to 3 characters withing 1 meter in front of you. +3 damage. Cooldown -1% per point, 6 energy + 3 energy per point
2) Stab: A straight shot effecting one target in front of you. +2 Damage per point and 3 energy + 1 per point
3) Block: Use your shield to increase your armor by 25% while up and a 5% chance per point block all damage. 10 Energy.
4) Strong Swipe:A broad arcing shot that can effect up to 3 characters withing 3 meter in front of you. +1 Damage. Cooldown -1% per point, 6 energy + 3 energy per point
5) Slice: Requires 5 points in Stab. A slicing shot effecting one target in front of you. +1 Damage per point and 3 energy + 1 per point. A 2% chance to cause bleed per point.
6) Stun: Requires 5 points in Block. Temporarly stun the target with a blow to the head. 0.5 Seconds per point, 8 energy + 4 per point. Holy Shock: Requires 5 points in minor heal or spark. Short Stun spell that has a 10% chance per point to stun the target for 0.25 seconds per point.
1) Holy Spark: Flashes the local area with your energy doing 2 damage + 2 per point to all targets in 1 meter, 8 energy + 4 per point
2) Holy Dart: Sends a bolt of holy energy towards your target. On impact its damage radius is 0.25 meters. 4 damage +2 damage per point. 4 energy + 2 energy per point.
3) Minor Heal: Heals you for up to 10 points of health +10 per point, 20 energy + 10 energy per point.
4) Holy Shock: Requires 5 points in minor heal or spark. Short Stun spell that has a 10% chance per point to stun the target for 0.25 seconds per point.
5) Holy Bolt: Requires 5 points in minor heal or spark. Sends a bolt of holy energy towards your target the impact radius is 0.25 meters per point. 2 damage +1 damage per point. 8 energy + 2 energy per point.
6) Lesser Heal: Requires 5 points in minor heal . Heals you for up to 30 points of health plus 12 per point, 25 energy + 15 energy per point
Back to work.. 😉 I want to have all these operational today.
Monday..no wait Tuesday =)
(Same video just keeping it at the top)
(Character screen with 16 individual slots LOTS OF TEMPORARY ART HERE 😉 )
The bots went in amazingly well yesterday. They use the same pathing system as all the AI Units and are just another AI unit with a different model that does not skeletally update. They are fun to run from as they spray the room with magical bolts of death and whisper sweet nothings at you ;). Today I need to change the bolts to calculate their facing rotation instead of being fed it (due to inaccuracy for speed trade offs ). Then I need to make the zombies generate their flesh from the flesh palettes. After that is finished I am moving to the game play mechanics. I will describe that system when I get there.
Since I have not gone into detail on the pathing system I will describe here. The system works by creating a set of 3d triangles that have no T intersections. This means no edge may have a vertex from another triangle on it. Then each triangle will store which edge to leave from to get to any triangle in the mesh. This is in a small bit shifting system that is VERY low in memory foot print. To generate these paths I leave at each edge and keep going out but not allowing to back track until I hit a dead end or I achieve the target triangle. I do this from each edge and choose the shortest path. Store it and go. At load time this is very quick to do I could generate and store it but with all the changes I am doing and speed of development I just did not want to invest the time. After each triangle knows how to get to all the other triangles in this very light mesh I find the triangle closest to each possible door. I store that. So now the AI knows how to get me if I am in the room by what triangle I am on and they also know which triangle to achieve to exit into a room in my direction. Good stuff!
P.S. Any suggestions or comments are welcome! =) AND PLEASE excuse any poor grammar/typing/thoughts I am interested in speed not typographical accuracy on this blog 😉
Well that went a LOT faster then I thought it would so GREAT. IT is time to finish the game play mechanics. Here is the plan. Each character has a character sheet structure. That contains the skill they currently have as passive or active on them along with their base stats, modified stats, and current stats. The base stats are your base level stats and passive skills / items. Everyone is the same as far as level stats. You build your character through skills chosen or picked up along with all the equipment you have. Currently I have 14 slots on each character. All slots can be different IE each hand has a specific glove (right left) and that goes for the arms and legs to. So each hand, lower arm, upper arm, etc have their own slot right and left. Each item is constructed from its name. IE the Saintly Shining Iron Sword of Destruction has a saintly hilt, a shining mid hilt, and a Iron Blade. The Destruction tag should be a special effect if frame rate allows nearing the end of production. Each piece of armor has the same. The first two tags might be spikes or jewels in the armor. But they are visible. This allows for absolutely countless combinations of armor sets and abilities. So using the items the bonuses are added up at load or when an item is changed and stored in the base stats. These are the maximum you can currently get with passive skills and items. The modified skills are created from the base stats. When an active or temporary skill or "buff" hits you it will alter the modified stats and when it is removed it will use the base stats to return you if need be. It all depends on the effect. The modified are the maximum that stat can be. The current stats are the current level of your stats. If you get hit your current HP is reduced. If you get healed you can build to a max of modified HP. If you get a STR drain it effects current STR and you can heal to a top STR of modified STR. Each time an effect is applied I have to look at all the current effects in the link list and add up the stats again with the base stat to create the modified stat (the base stats save time so I do not have to process 16 different pieces of armor for each buff). A link list will be used and a max of 4 ACTIVE self buffs and 4 ACTIVE debufs will limit the time it takes to calculate this. This is also too keep screen clutter to a minimum buffs and debufs will be shown at the top of the screen. 4 left and 4 right. If a high rank buff or debuff hits you the lowest rank debuff or buff is removed. If I had more horsepower and screen space then this little device has this would not be an issue. So it is time to roll the sleeves up again and get at it.


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Tag Archives: PS1
How Crash Bandicoot Hacked The Original Playstation | War Stories | Ars Technica
Ars Technica – For today's episode of War Stories, Ars Technica sat down with Naughty Dog Co-founder Andy Gavin to talk about the hurdles in bringing the original Crash Bandicoot to gamers around the world. When Andy and his partner Jason Rubin made the decision to bring the action platforming genre into three dimensions, it required living up to their company ethos of "leaving no stone unturned" in the search for memory – even if it meant hacking Sony's library code.
Nintendo PlayStation Up for Auction at $350,000!
The Nintendo PlayStation console is currently up at auction and is at $350,000!
PS3 Test system – Plays PS1, PS2 & PS3 Games (All Regions) + Developer Tools. Is it WORTH IT?
I feel dirty.
PlayStation PSIO – SD Flash Drive for your PS1
PSIO is a Flash Cartridge that plugs into your PlayStation's Parallel I/O Port. It allows you to instantly see your games running from an SD Card on real hardware making it the only way to genuinely play backups on your console. More Info: https://ps-io.com
English Video Transcription:
– [Metal Jesus] Hey guys, Metal Jesus here. I'm back again with a review of a cool device that was recently sent to me for the PlayStation 1. The name of this device is called PSIO by Cybdyn Systems in Australia. Now the way to think of this is like an EverDrive SD card for your PlayStation 1. Now if you're not familiar with EverDrives, those are SD flash cartridges that plug into retro gaming consoles like, oh, the original NES, a Super NES, Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, even the Game Boy. And what they do is allow you to put your backup ROMS on an SD card and then play it on original hardware. So let's go ahead and unbox this thing, and let's get into what it comes with, and also talk about the installation because that's where it's gonna make or break some people. In the box it comes with a quick start guide as well as, you'll notice here, a little printed circuit board, that is the switcher that needs to be added to the motherboard. And like I said, we're gonna get into that a little bit more here in a second. Here are some wires that you're gonna need, as well as a sticker that you can put on the back of your console if you want, and then the unit itself.
Now the PSIO plugs into your PlayStation's parallel port. What's interesting about that is that the PlayStation parallel port can actually transmit way more data quickly than that original CD ROM drive. So you immediately benefit from faster load times just using this, but I do want to mention that not every original PlayStation console had a parallel port; after a while, Sony did phase them out. So, I actually think that they're fairly easy to find, but you just need to be aware you're gonna have to have a model that has that port in the back. But let's go ahead and stop right there for a second because why would you want this. Well, there's several reasons for me, the biggest one being that you can just play a ton of games off of an SD card. So, this device supports anywhere from eight gigabytes up to about 512 gigabyte SD cards. Now, in this video here I bought a 64 gig card which holds about 100 games. Another interesting thing about this device is that it's not actually emulating the PlayStation software. The PSIO is actually an emulator of the CD ROM coprocessor, meaning that all your original video hookups work exactly as you would expect, and for me that means that I can still benefit from having an SD card but still play those awesome light gun games. Another benefit of this is that it runs all regions. I'm not a hundred percent sure how it does this, but it does mean that North American PlayStation 1, like I have right here, will actually run Japanese and PAL games and vice versa. So, if you have a PAL PlayStation 1, well, you could run NTSC games. Another issue for me, really, is just playing backups of games I already own. For instance, I have Final Fantasy 8 and it's starting to skip; it really sucks. So, playing a backup like this, it's pretty nice.
Well, let's go ahead and talk about the modification of the PlayStation motherboard 'cause that's gonna be the part that's gonna be tricky for a lot of people, myself included, actually. I haven't soldered since high school. I don't have a workbench for it. So, I actually reached out to Chris who you may remember from the RE-PC video I did a couple weeks ago. And he offered to solder and make these changes to my particular PlayStation 1, so, thank you so much Chris. What you need to do is install that tiny switchboard that came in the box. Now what that does is detects if the PSIO is plugged in or not; this allows you to use an SD card, or run your original CD ROMS if you want. So, yes, the CD ROM drive will continue to work, which is great. It's also important to know that there are several different revisions of the original PlayStation console, meaning that they have instructions on their site to help you out depending on what particular model you own. Now I know that not every gamer is gonna have the knowledge or ability to modify their console, so that makes this particular product a little bit more for the intermediate or advanced user. However, Cybdyn is aware of this and so they're actually considering offering a all-in-one solution to customers in the future if this unit sells enough, or you just do what I do and get a friend like Chris to help you out. Alright, let's go ahead and plug it in and turn it on and check it out in action. Now if it's detected correctly, the first thing you'll notice on the PlayStation screen is the PSIO words down there. Here's the main menu and pretty basic stuff, easy to read. It'll auto-detect whatever games you have already put on the SD card. There are a bunch of options you can tweak if you want to. The two that I want to highlight here is video mode. You can instantly switch between NTSC and PAL, and then if you want, you can enable Fastboot which allows you to skip past the PlayStation logos. It just speeds things up a little bit. But as you guys know, it is all about the game.
So let's go ahead and check out some games running on the PSIO. I always want to let you know that for this video I'm using the Pound Technology HD Link cables. They look great over HDMI and work well for game capture like this. I also tried to pick a mix of maybe lesser known games, dare I say hidden gems that not everyone has heard about. PSL shows some of the more obvious titles here, but like for instance Ray Tracers here. I mean, Ray Tracers is such a cool arcade racing/car combat game and it was just another excuse to play it, such a fun game and it looks and runs great here, and again, almost no load times. Any chance I get to play a Klonoa game, I will jump at, I love these games. I know I've talked about them in the past, but they're just such cool 2.5D platforming games that are unlike anything else that you play, and like I mentioned, I love this. I actually played it for a long time, capturing the footage here.
Here's a PlayStation 1 game I only recently discovered called NanoTek Warrior, such a weird name for such an awesome game. As you can see here, it's unlike anything I've played on the PlayStation 1. You're this ship flying down this tube, you move back and forth, you can jump, you can shoot. It's a crazy, fun game, and again, not a lot of people talk about it. Here's another kind of curiosity that I recently discovered. It's called, it's kind of a weird name, it's called Philosoma, Philosoma, I mean, who named that, that's so bizarre. There's got to be some sort of history behind that, but as you can see here, it is a vertical shooter, not the best one, but it is kind of a hidden gem; I mean, it's not that bad. Speed Punks is another game that I definitely notice faster loading on. This is a cool cart racing game. Don't know really much about it but it's really fun, really solid, definitely check it out.
Oh yeah, here's a really cool game called Skullmonkeys and as you can see, it has a very distinctive visual style here. That's because it's all Claymation, made by the people who made Neverhood, really rare and unusual game and super fun. Here's a game that not a lot of people talk about called Silent Bomber. This is a total surprise here because it's a really high quality third person shooting game, but it's all about laying bombs. It's actually really cool, got great graphics, too. Now let's go ahead and check out some Japanese imports. This is Gunners Heaven. This is a game that Reggie turned me on to a while ago and as you can see here, this is an awesome metal slug, run and gun style game that has lots of explosions. It's so cool. And a couple more things about this device. So, obviously you're probably curious if it supports multi-disc titles and yes it does, which is very handy if you're gonna be playing any of those RPG games and it's compatible with almost the entire PlayStation 1 library. They claim it's 99.8% and that means there's about five or 10 titles that won't work with it, although, I do have to say they are constantly working on upgrading the firmware. So, usually if you run into something and you let them know, it seems like they try to work on it.
And speaking of the firmware, while I was doing this review, I ran into a small issue that was specific to my particular console, but I reached out to the support department. They built a new version of that firmware, gave me the files and then all I had to do was dump them onto that SD card. So, the nice thing is, if you do need to upgrade your firmware or the menu or anything like that, you do it on the SD card. You don't have to do this connected to a computer, which is really nice. The other question I had is does it work with CD audio and yes it does, so, that's very cool. If a game happens to use CD audio in the background, plays flawlessly.
So, do I recommend it, how much does it cost, and where can you get it, well, the question is do I recommend it. I think it depends on who you are as a gamer, as a collector. If you like the idea of these EverDrive style SD cards, then yes, this is a no-brainer here. It works great with the PlayStation 1. It does exactly what you would expect, and probably a little bit more since you can play other regions which is really cool, but having to modify the inside of your console is not going to be for everybody. So, if you don't have a buddy like Chris that can help you with this, you might want to hold off to see if they release a version that you can just buy all-in-one. Now I mentioned that the developer of this is down in Australia, so, it sell for $150 Australian, which works out to be about $110 US, which is right around the range of other devices like this, but if you would like to know more, or check it out yourself, well, I'll put a link to their website on the screen here and also down in the video description below and I have to say, now that I have this for the PlayStation 1, I'd kinda like to get it for all my other CD-based consoles. I mean come on, the Dreamcast, that would be awesome, the SEGA Saturn, that would be killer. So, let's see if that comes in the future. I'm sure it will. Alright guys, I'd love to know what you think down in the comments below. As always, I want to thank you for watching my channel. Thank you for subscribing and take care.
PlayStation Classic Review – Great Games, Poor Emulation
This could – and should – have been a lot better. DF Retro Hardware returns with a deep dive analysis into the PlayStation Classic, its games and the quality of its emulation stacked up against every way that matters when it comes to revisiting one of gaming history's most important consoles.
I CANCELLED my PlayStation Classic Pre-order #DISAPPOINTED
I can't justify paying $100 for these mediocre PS1 games. I also share what games SHOULD have been included!
Special thanks to World of LongPlays: http://www.longplays.org
Background music by Metal Jesus Rocks and Ethan Meixsell
– – Hey, guys, Metal Jesus here. Now, I'm sure you were just as excited as I was when Sony first announced that they were going to be releasing a PlayStation Classic. This is going to be Sony's first foray into this mini, micro, classic market, and I was pretty pumped. I mean, this was going to be the very first 3D-based classic system, and honestly, there are a ton of great games that came out on the PlayStation 1, so like most of you, I was pretty excited to preorder this thing, which I did even though, when they first announced it, there was really only, I believe, two games that they were releasing at that time. Okay, nothing too spectacular, but again, I had faith. There are so many great games for the PlayStation 1. Then, it was, like, a month ago, or maybe it was a couple weeks ago, they announced the full 20-game lineup that is going to be included on it, and I think, like most of you, I wasunderwhelmed. Some great games were on that, but also some games that made you question, what were they thinking? Because here's the deal, and you guys know this, is that when Nintendo released the NES Classic and the Super Nintendo Classic, well, they packed those with amazing games. You could argue that they were some of the best games on those systems, so those classics are a great representation of that system. It's like a snapshot in time. Then Sony releases their 20 games that they're going to put on it, and I think most of you would agree that that is not the 20 best games that define the PlayStation 1, but again, I kept my preorder. I kept the faith. I was like, "No, no, no, no, no," I was still hyped out. I was still hyped up. I was like, "No, no, no, this is gonna be awesome. "I think it's gonna be cool." Then, in the last couple days, a lot of big media outlets and websites have got hands-on time with it in previews, and I watched pretty much all of those videos. I gotta say, my enthusiasm has pretty much waned almost completely to the point where, basically, I have canceled my preorder because I'm just not feeling it. The truth is that this device, while it has a handful of games that I think I'd actually play, but there are a bunch that I just know I won't, and actually, I think it was the GameSpot video where they were going through the list, they played most of them, and they got to Cool Boarders 2, and they're like, "How many of you "are ever going to play this game?" When he said that, I was like, "Yeah, I'm never gonna play that game." I mean, I like snowboarding games, and I'm never gonna play that one 'cause it just doesn't hold up that well. I don't know, that's just one example, but I started looking into the list, and like, yeah, how many of these games actually am I going to play? I think it's just with a heavy heart, I just have to admit that this is not Sony's best offering in a PlayStation Classic. It kinda breaks my heart.
Right off the bat, where is Crash Bandicoot? I mean, right off the bat, I was like, "This is a huge omission." I mean, the Crash games defined the PlayStation 1. It was the unofficial mascot, so it's weird that they didn't include this. Now, I have a theory as to why they didn't, but they should've had Crash Bandicoot 1, 2, and 3, maybe not all three of them, but then put on either the second or the third ones because those games are great. Now, you can argue that they did this because, well, you know, the remastered trilogy is out, and people are pumped for that. I don't buy that argument at all. We're gonna get into that with other titles that I recommend too because, again, yes, they were remastered, but the whole point of this console is to be able to go back in time and reexperience these games as they were. I know that's debatable, but I'm just saying, it would've been really cool to include the Crash games.
Now, they included Final Fantasy VII, which is great, but wouldn't it be amazing if they also would've included Final Fantasy VIII and IX? That would've been super cool. A lot of people haven't played these in a long time, and I think that just would've been amazing.
Then you need some racing games, which, of course, they have Ridge Racer and also Destruction Derby to a certain degree there, but where the hell is Wipeout? I mean, come on. Wipeout was one of the bestselling games on the PlayStation 1. A lot of people played it for the first time there. Obviously, I did as well. This should've been there. Also, too, I don't understand, Gran Turismo 1 or 2. By the way, I would probably choose the second one. I think it's just that much better. Sony could've licensed that. I don't know why they didn't. There's so much content here as well. Again, the value would've been killer.
What were they thinking? Seriously, no Tomb Raider. Now, I have the second and third one here, but most people played the original Tomb Raider on the PlayStation console. Not 100% sure why they didn't do this. I mean, maybe they had problems licensing it. I don't know, it's so bizarre, but a lot of these games are licensed and available in the PlayStation store where you can download them on your PlayStation 3, or your PlayStation 4, or your Vita. Again, I'm not 100% sure. They should have included a Tomb Raider, 1, 2, or 3, whichever one.
Now, let's talk about Resident Evil. Obviously, I think Resident Evil is a really good choice for this. I mean, a lot of people played it originally on the PlayStation 1. That makes total sense. However, I think it's a bit of a missed opportunity. Wouldn't it be really cool to have people be able to play this on your brand new PlayStation Classic, see the original, get a feel for that nostalgia, and then also, very soon after, get the remake? I mean, that, to me, just seems like perfect marketing. I think that would've been very cool. Again, I'm not poopooing the fact that they put the original on there, that's great. I'm just saying, I think it would've made more sense to put the second game on there. I think that would've been awesome.
Okay, those are some of the more obvious titles that really should've been included on that, but these are the pipe dream games. These are the ones that I think, if Sony would've included on it, would've probably peaked more people's interest. Let's go ahead and start with Silent Hill. I think this would've been a really cool addition because I don't think many people remember playing this game, and again, it's an awesome survival horror game on the PlayStation 1. It should've been there.
Obviously, they wanted to include a first-person game on there. I guess that's probably why they put Rainbow Six, but Rainbow Six, it's not gonna be very fun for a lot of people because, again, you don't have those dual analog sticks on there, so it's gonna be very hard to control. Instead, they should've put Disruptor. Disruptor is, I guess it's like a Doom clone. It's kind of like a Duke Nukem clone, but honestly, this game still plays really well on the PlayStation 1. It's not a system seller, I get it. It's definitely a hidden gem, but this would've impressed a lot of people.
Two more games that I think would've been really cool to include on this are the Fear Effect games, Fear Effect 1 and Fear Effect 2. These are such unique games. I believe they only came out on the PlayStation 1. It would've been something that I think people would've gone back and played, and rediscovered on this thing, and go, "Yeah, those are cool games." That could potentially be a system seller.
Let's talk RPGs because they obviously included Wild Arms, and they also included Persona. Those actually are pretty decent selections there. I think that people will be very happy with those. However, I would've replaced those with something different. I would've replaced them with The Legend of Dragoon because this is, it's hard to say it's a hidden gem because I do feel like people are rediscovering it, but it was exclusive to the PlayStation 1. I believe it was actually released by Sony to compete with Final Fantasy. It's a really well-made high quality RPG. Not many people have played it. I think people would've been very excited to see it on the system, and potentially would've rediscovered it or discovered it, perhaps, for the first time. The other one, by SquareSoft, is Vagrant Story, another game which I think is probably considered maybe a hidden gem. It certainly doesn't come up very often when people are talking about JRPGs back in the day, but it's an amazing game. I think that they probably could've licensed it from SquareSoft. I think that it's a game that deserves to be discovered. Had they included it on here, perhaps it would've found a new audience.
Speaking of SquareSoft, a game that I think should be in every PlayStation 1 collection is Einhander. This is an amazing 3D shooter, and again, it came out exclusive on the PlayStation 1. It's getting really expensive to buy a physical copy these days, and it's just fantastic. Again, I think that this would be a game, instead of, say, Mr. Driller, or something like that, or Intelligent Cube, which, again, don't get me wrong, those games are fun, I've played them both, but if you were to ask me, this is the game that would get people really excited if it was included on there because this is going for $50, $60, $100 sometimes. If it was included on this, I think that would be very cool 'cause more people could potentially play it. Yes, I've canceled my preorder. It's with a heavy heart that I do so, but honestly, for $100 for only 20 games, I just feel like Sony kinda phoned this in, I really do. I feel like they're just doing the bare minimum. I mean, don't get me wrong, I actually think that the console, from what I've seen in the videos, actually looks very cool, but it's just not a good value. Honestly, I'm probably not gonna play most of those games.
You know, again, I think part of the issue here is that Nintendo has set the precedence for potentially a little bit less money, you get more games and better games on their classic editions. I think Sony phoned it in. I hate to break it to you. I hate to say it, but my only thing is, is that, perhaps, it'll be hacked. I'm gonna watch the forums and the news very closely when it comes out and see if it's hacked because I think, if it's hacked, and you can build up your own personal collection, actually make a real top 20 games for the PlayStation 1, I think that would be awesome. I actually do take these classic consoles with me when I travel. It's really nice to go into a hotel room, plop down these little classic consoles, and you just have all these games instant on a TV no matter where you go. That's why I like them, that's why I use them. I don't know, guys. Am I crazy? Well, I've already canceled my preorder, so it's too late now, but am I crazy? Let me know down in the comments below. Tell me if you are a little bit disappointed as well, or you know, maybe you're happy with the game selection. Maybe you're looking forward to it. I'd love to know. All right, guys, thank you very much for watching. Thank you for subscribing. Take care.
The PlayStation Classic Does The Bare Minimum
We went hands on with the PlayStation Classic, a mini version of the 14 year old system that comes with 20 games. And while it does its job of delivering old games to your modern TV, the lack of any other features is disappointing.
The Best Way to Play Castlevania: Rondo of Blood & Symphony of the Night / MY LIFE IN GAMING
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night have most recently been re-released on PS4 in the form of Castlevania Requiem. But is this 4K version the best way to play? Let's take a look at every game and every version in the Dracula X sub-series, from PC Engine to SNES, PlayStation, Saturn, PSP, and beyond!


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Why Not Charleston?
Team Members: Row 1 (l-r) Natalie Corella, Candice Wigfield, Linda Huffman,
Natalie Gregg, Kerri Forrest
Row 2 (l-r) John Truluck, Carlisle Harrison, Charles Hudgens, Stephen Grant
"Why Not Charleston" aims at launching the Lowcountry DRC program, a cutting edge recruitment strategy that helps attract and retain top talent while promoting diversity throughout our State. As a team, the group will identify and secure local ownership of the DRC initiative, grow the critical mass of members and provide communication tools/resources to sustain its growth. Through this initiative team members hope to 1) build a diverse network of companies united in attracting and cultivating top talent in SC and dispelling negative stereotypes that exist about our State; 2) create personal connections and support through the Ambassador programs; and 3) support the economic growth of our State to ensure that businesses that launch, relocate or reside in SC are equipped with top talent from a diverse workforce.


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