![]() In late 2007, PlayFirst launched a new Diner Dash product, Diner Dash: Hometown Hero. It is clear that companies like PlayFirst need a better way to monetize a hit product like Diner Dash. Only a handful of games can reach the level of success of Diner Dash and none of PlayFirst’s other products came anywhere close to that level of success. This was very much the classic business model for the casual game industry.Īlthough Diner Dash was a success it is also clear that the classic casual game business model of trying to get consumers to pay $20 to download and own a game they can play for free online is limited. If they want to buy the game they pay $20. Consumers can download a free trial version that allows them to play for a limited time. The original Diner Dash is available for free online with advertising. ![]() While Diner Dash games are available at retail, the core business has been online distribution. In a three year period from 2005-2007, PlayFirst claims the Diner Dash games had over 200 million downloads and generated over $35 million in customer spending. Eidos even published a version of the game for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. Diner Dash has been spun off into several sequels, including a version featuring Spongebob Squarepants. Diner Dash had an emphasis on character and storytelling and it proved a big hit with adult females. In other words, PlayFirst would provide the funding, marketing, sales, and distribution support necessary to build a solid branded product line.Īlmost immediately PlayFirst had a hit on its hands when it launched Diner Dash in early 2005. The goal was to work with developers to build brands based on characters, story and, most importantly, original IP. PlayFirst’s mission was to play the role of a more traditional publisher. The primary revenue stream for developers was the handful of customers willing to pay an average of $20 to download and own games that were available for free online. ![]() There were some big hits such as Bejeweled, but many casual game products looked very much like commodity products simply designed to drive traffic and deliver the eyeballs needed to sell advertising. At the time the casual game market was led by the large portal sites that specialized in aggregating games from many different small developers. PlayFirst is a venture-funded company launched in 2004 as an online casual game publisher with $5 million in initial funding.
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The free version is ad-free and the app is pretty good without the extras that expire without a subscription. I’d like to see more of this because it’s a good compromise between the old method where you buy an app and pay for major upgrades at a discount, and the new renewing subscription model that forces you to pay for upgrades whether you want them or not. One of the best things not mentioned in the product description is that there are well written instructions in the app for all the features there’s no guesswork. It fixes all the things wrong with all the other break timers I’ve tried, plus adds a lot of extra features without cluttering the UI. I’m super-critical of software design, and I’m impressed with Time Out. If you neglect or forget to take your eyes off the screen or get up to move around a bit, this app is for you! There’s been a lot of recent health research proving that taking frequent breaks is necessary for those who spend significant time in front of a computer. You can display a notification, play a sound, speak some text, run a script, and more. What's more, you can optionally perform various actions before, during or after breaks. While in a break, a progress bar shows how long till it is over, and buttons are available to postpone or skip the break if you can't be interrupted right then. These themes can be edited if desired, using standard HTML. The app features customizable break themes, with several variations to show during breaks. You can configure how long each kind of break lasts, and how long between breaks, and the breaks can be set to count backwards when you take a natural break, e.g. You can change, disable or remove either kind of break if desired, and add new kinds of breaks, e.g. Time Out comes with two kinds of breaks: a "Normal" break, typically for 10 minutes every hour, so you can move about and relax, plus a "Micro" break: a very brief pause of typically 15 seconds every 15 minutes, so you can remember not to tense up too much for long periods. It will gently remind you to take a break on a regular basis. The human body isn't built to sit in one position for endless hours, gripping a mouse or typing on the keyboard. You care about what you are doing, so can sometimes push yourself too far, or over-strain yourself. It is very easy to fall into bad habits when using a computer for hours on end. Easy break reminders, with flexible customization if you want it. What does Time Out - Break Reminders do? You deserve a break. Licence: Free Download for MacOS - server 1 -> Free ![]() This sequence of events causes the sprite slot of the second sprite to be stored in Yoshi's mouth, but the sprite itself is not in Yoshi's mouth. However, after the tongue grabs this second sprite, but before it enters Yoshi's mouth, Mario must be knocked off Yoshi, similar to in an eat-cancel glitch. The second tongue should touch a different sprite (not necessarily one Yoshi can normally hold in his mouth), and the sprite slot of that sprite must be set up carefully to make the rest of the glitch work. To perform a stun glitch, the first tongue should grab a sprite which Yoshi can store in his mouth, such as a Koopa shell. ![]() The first tongue comes during the powerup animation, and the second after the first ends. In 96 exit speedruns (and other categories where applicable), only the jumping method is commonly used, and the other two methods are generally thought of as obsolete.Īs the name suggests, when a double-tongue is performed, Yoshi sticks his tongue out twice. If you do have a falling powerup but the jump method is not possible, a third option is to duck under the powerup, and release Down to un-duck on the same frame that X/Y is pressed to activate the tongue this also eliminates the frame-perfect timing but the inputs can not be done as reliably as the jump method. With this alternative method, Mario will be airborne for much of the duration of the double-tongue, and so the relevant sprites must be positioned differently for it to work. This requires pressing both buttons on the same frame, but the timing window is much more lenient to get the double-tongue this way. Normally this requires frame-perfect timing of the X/Y press, however, if the powerup is falling toward Mario (such as the case of a fire flower dropped from reserve), an alternate method is also possible, by pressing Y (or X) and B on the same frame, while the powerup is just above Mario's head. To accomplish this, X or Y must be pressed on the same frame that a powerup is collected. To do this, Yoshi needs to release his tongue on the same frame that the game freezes due to a powerup (or, in principle, powerdown) animation. The first step in this trick is to perform a double-tongue glitch. ![]() The double-tongue is successfully executed in Groovy If you are starting fresh, you’ll encounter them throughout your adventures. If you’ve beaten the game and continue to roam the universe, you’ll run into lances with the new mech mixed in. The Heavy Metal DLC, like the previous two, integrates tightly with a new campaign, or into your existing one. Across the board, the mechs and weapons fold in nicely with those already present. In theory this is best used on light mechs as they’ll be able to move furthest, but it can also be used on medium mechs that can handle a little dustup and still move a moderate distance, such as the new Rifleman. While not an official lore weapon, it appears to charge itself through the internal workings of the mech’s fusion engine, charging additional energy the further your mech travels. The most interesting weapon, however, is the COIL Beam. Inferno missiles are for those who like to shut down mechs with a rain of fire. Ultra Autocannons come in the usual 1, 5, 10, and 20 variants, conveying a longer range and faster fire rates than its standard cousin. The LB-X is a shotgun-like ballistic weapon that is absolutely brutal at medium to close range. Farming them from enemies is slow going, but they occasionally appear in stores, and most of them are very worth the search. These advantages combine to create new engagement opportunities for even the most seasoned Mechwarrior.īeyond the titular heavy metal there are eight new weapons to equip on your lance. The Rifleman has a rangefinder suite that, when combined with long range weapons, reduces attack penalties and let’s them see further. The Assassin lives up to its name by ignoring evasion bonuses the enemy racks up through movement. Meanwhile, the Archer has a pair of LRM-20s stock, as well as a module to tighten the spread of your missile salvo, causing extra damage to stability when they land. ![]() Since there are no infantry in the game, it loses some of its luster, but the support weapons onboard get a bit of a buff. By way of example, the Vulcan has a close quarters combat (CQC) focus, with a bonus to melee attacks. The mechs in Heavy Metal come with specializations that can be real tide turners in battle. You brought the wrong tonnage to the fight. Let’s talk about some of the bonuses these mechs bring with them. All that said, if this expansion pack only brought a wider variety of steel to the mix I’d feel underwhelmed. For me, the Annihilator is best when it’s armed as a Wolf Dragoon (more on that in a moment) with a complement of four AC-10s, and four Medium Lasers. The Phoenix Hawk brings back warm memories of BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk’s Inception, and the Rifleman lives up to its name. The Flea is hard to keep alive, but damn is it fast, whereas the Archer may be slower, but packs a tremendous payload of missiles. Heading back to the mech list, there is a solid mix of light, medium, heavy, and assault mechs to serve all portions of the campaign arch. While some mechs are all but useless at stock loadouts (Looking at you, Awesome), the Bull Shark can deal some serious damage at nearly any distance, and with the Thumper, it can do it in an area of effect. Closing distance, the stock loadout is a pair of ER Medium Lasers, with LB-10X and Ultra AC/5s on each arm. In terms of armaments, the Bull Shark reaches out and touches its foes from a hell of a distance with the Thumper Artillery Piece. It looks like it combines some of the best elements of a King Crab, Awesome, and a dash of Goliath for taste. Sporting a reverse-jointed articulation, this monster sports an aggressive profile, and has weapons to match. I could describe them, but I really want to focus on the Bull Shark.Īt 95 tons, the Bull Shark fits in nicely with your assault lance. All of these are pen-and-paper known (if not rare) mechs that we’ve seen in other games (both tabletop and videogames) over the last three and a half decades. The seven mechs you’ll now encounter as part of any normal outings are the 20 ton Flea, 40 ton Vulcan, 40 ton Assassin, 45 ton Phoenix Hawk, 60 ton Rifleman, 70 ton Archer, and a 100 ton Annihilator. With 35 years of legacy to build on, it’s time to get up close and personal with some of the best classic mechs and weaponry to ever hit the Periphery.īefore we get to the fresh campaign content, there are eight mechs added to the roster with Heavy Metal - seven you’ve seen before, and one built entirely for this expansion. ![]() ![]() Call it, Heavy Metal! Rounding out the final DLC for Harebrained Scheme’s giant stompy mech tactical game, Battletech, we finally get our hands on some of the mech designs we’ve been clamoring for since the game launched in November of last year. ![]() CAD 29.99CAD 40.00 TACTO II FG/AG Soccer Cleats Big Kids, Fresh Yellow-Parisian Night. We tried to use hook-and-loop fasteners (like Velcro) to hold everything in place, but none of the brands or adhesives we tried worked. BETA SQUAD FOOTBALL SLIP N SLIDE CHALLENGE Aj Shabeel 1.17M subscribers Subscribe 156K Share 11M views 1 year ago Worlds Largest Slip and Slide Football Match and Tournament With BetaSquad. Cool Cat V Kids Slides Big Kids, Peacoat-Puma White. Pro tip: You can glue or epoxy the noodles in place to keep the pool intact, but this makes disassembly harder when it comes time to put it away.Kids Umbro Heritage Black Soccer Logo Slides L 6. For added support, I placed the box that holds my coiled hose against one corner to hold the structure in place-you can use anything you have handy. Shop Umbro Kidss Shoes - Sandals & Flip Flops at up to 70 off Get the lowest price on your. Laying the noodles on top of one another can help eliminate those leak areas. If youre tired of the same old 'strap-over-foot' slide designs, it might be time time to get a little weird with it. Soccer Shin Guards for Kids Youth, Shin Guard and Shin Guard Sleeves for Boys and Girls for Football Games EVA. Make sure that there are no folds or channels in the plastic where water can escape. Best Slip And Slide Soccer Field Guidance. Boys Sandals: Shop Easy Slip On Kids Sandals For Summer Kohls Enjoy free shipping and easy returns every day at Kohls. We built our pool by rolling a pair of pool noodles into the plastic at the end of the slide and butting them as tight to the last two of the track as possible. This works best if the slide ends on flat ground. ![]() ![]() Soccer Shin Guards, Slip and Slide Protective Soccer Gear for Youths and. To recycle the water, you’ll need a pool at the end of your slide. kids soccer goal Exercise in fun and play anywhere with our portable kids. If you use something like a hose box to keep the pool in place, make sure there’s no way anyone can slide into it. ![]() Place the cut sides up on a large baking sheet (8, Target ). Brush the cut sides lightly with olive or canola oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus 2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon. Cut delicata squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Vegan Cassoulet with Delicata Squash and Roasted Garlic Recipe. You can keep them whole and stuff them, slice them and toss them into salads or bowls, spice them up with a variety of seasonings or combine them with other veggies and ingredients to make an awesome side dish, appetizer or even dessert. How to Bake a Delicata Squash Whole Preheat the oven to 375F. Air Fry for 15 minutes or until fork tender. Toss with the olive oil, salt and pepper and place on the air fryer pan. Cut the squash in half top to bottom and then slice into 1 1/2' 2' slices across. After they are roasted literally the sky is the limit as to what you can do with them. Wash the outside of the squash well and then slice the ends off. The most popular way to cook these precious little squash is to roast them. Go Crazy with the Seasonings… As you’ll see in the recipes below Delicata squash really is a blank canvas and just begging to be gussied up with a variety of spices like cinnamon or a little smoked paprika, parmesan, maple syrup… they are the perfect foil for both sweet and savory seasonings.With that said you’ll want to keep an eye on them and turn them at least once or twice during cooking to make sure that lovely golden color doesn’t get too dark and you end up with charcoal. The goal is to get a little color on those babies. Heat Is Your Friend… When you are roasting most vegetables you’ll want your oven to be set to at least 400 degrees.When shopping, choose winter squash that feels heavy for its size, with no soft spots. ![]() Slice the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Many squash varieties can be swapped out easily for another. Line a large baking sheet with parchment, lightly spray with oil. Or you can slice the halves into half moon shapes, toss with oil, seasonings and spread out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Because squash is high in fiber, it's more filling than other vegetables, and it can be used to bulk up stews, grain- and greens-based salads, quesadillas, pizzas, baked pastas, casseroles, and gratins. If the plan is to stuff the squash or puree it, you can roast the halves whole by brushing with oil, seasoning and placing them flesh side down on a baking sheet or dish. Cut and Seed It… The first thing to do is cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds (remember no peeling required!) The seeds are edible, so you can save them to roast later if you want. ![]() Tour lengths were determined by theatre commanders, so the policy in Europe was different than Asia, the Mediterranean was different than the Middle East and so forth. Yes, in 1943 the USAAF in Europe determined that heavy bomber crews would be rotated home after 25 missions over enemy territory after first trying a one-year tour or a tour consisting of a pre-determined number of flight hours. I'd recommend reading The Nuremberg Raid by Martin Middlebrook and Aircrew by Bruce Lewis. One aircrew earned the nickname 'Grandad' aged 24! They were treated very poorly - stripped of rank and given the most menial and distasteful tasks, cleaning toilets etc.Īlso of note is the youth of these men, which is all the more astonishing given their responsibility and the fact that they were charged with operating the most expensive and technologically advanced machines yet devised by mankind. I have to say that I am somewhat in awe of the men who volunteered for Pathfinder and 617 duty, considering the chance of surviving an ordinary tour of 30 missions unharmed was only 24%.Īircrew who refused to fly had their records marked with LMF for Low Moral Fibre. The Pathfinder squadron required 45 missions for a first tour in addition to any previous missions - and most of those selected for pathfinder duties would often be a fair way through the first tour to begin with (Bruce Lewis gives an example of a crew who flew all but 2 missions before volunteering for 617 Squadron, and that meant starting from zero all over again). These were called 'milk runs' and generally brand new crews or crews almost at the end of their tour tended to get more milk run missions, for obvious reasons.Īpart from that, milk runs were pretty unpopular as you needed to complete so many of them to constitute a tour. If you were forced to return to base without entering hostile airspace, this wouldn't count at all.įurthermore, missions like dropping mines in the North Sea, or missions that didn't involve entering German airspace would only count for 1/3rd of a mission. The definition of a mission wasn't always clear cut. ![]() This would be followed by a spot of leave and a six month stint flying non-operational duties (flying as an instructor and so forth), followed by a subsequent tour of 25 missions. Yes, unfortunately I can't comment on the USAAF tours, but in the RAF a first tour was 30 missions. However, Vonc explains that you cannot easily cache the effect, as the Unfolder changes the number of points and the number of polygons by default, and the PLA cache needs them to be the same.ĭifference Map is a handy plugin that lets you apply effects to the vertex of your warp by creating a vertex map describing the effect of the deformer on each point in your model. This is a very cool effect with many options to change the way it unfolds and disappears. This tool from César Vonc unfolds an object into strips of connected polygons, similar in appearance to peeling a banana. It's easy to use, includes 120 studio presets, and has built-in support for Octane, Arnold and Redshift renders. The latest Light Kit Pro update provides a complete and fully customizable lighting solution, providing a variety of realistic lights, panels and softboxes to enhance the lighting of any scene. ![]() You just need to run the simulation and see the final results to realize that it is very special. TFD is used in movies, TV shows, and video games. TurbulenceFD is a voxel-based fluid dynamics simulation system for fire and smoke generation. It works well with text, clone arrays or cracked objects made with nitroblasts. It provides a set of over 65 presets for various animations, which can then be customized according to your requirements. ![]() GSG Transform is a handy plugin for generating keyframed animations. Its latest update also integrates with the C4D variation shader, so you can color the leaves as you like. It also comes with a stone generator and a scattering feature called Multicloner. This is ideal for creating complex shapes that remain editable and animated, such as cars, clothing, characters, packaging, or more.įorester is a procedural vegetation plugin that creates an infinite variety of grass, trees and plants. ![]() Then you need to set some values and Signal will do its job.Īs its name suggests, SplinePatch 3.0 adds spline patching to C4D, which allows you to create smooth curved surfaces from intersecting splines. It is applied as a tag to an object or deformer, and you simply drag and drop any animated value (including colors) into it. Signal is a GSG plugin designed to automate the animation process. When applied to a mesh, the Motion Stretch Deformer, as you might guess, stretches the geometry to match its movement, creating things like motion blur. The second generation from Curious Animal, also known as Daniel Fitzgerald is the Motion Stretch Deformer. By scaling these objects out of nothing, as they unfold, he was able to move them smoothly, but in a much more interesting way than simply scaling. The Scroll Roll has also proven to be ideal for growing sprouting objects and growing feathers. This nifty little tool automatically breaks objects apart and lets you blow them apart using C4D dynamics.ĭaniel Fitzgerald, developer of Curious Animal, said the Scroll Roll Deformer was designed to help create roll paper and carpet-like effects. Lazaros aka NitroMan has created many useful plugins, but Nitroblast is probably his best product. If you are friends with C4D, you will be friends with X-Particles. For example, you can simulate fabrics, smoke, fire, and liquids, and they integrate seamlessly into Cinema 4D. This amazing particle and VFX system has many useful features. Add to that the great MoGraph compatibility and you have a very useful tool for your creativity, for a small fee. ![]() It's a bit of a niche product, but Trypogen encourages creative experimentation and can actually produce wonderful and unexpected results in a very short time. It is a generator plugin that allows you to take a simple object and create something that combines advanced math processes with a random and organic nature. Here everyone will find something for themselves.įrom time to time you find plugins that don't offer the means to achieve a specific goal, but still inspire you to experiment with shapes in a 3D editor. In this article, we've rounded up a few of our favorite plugins. Split meshes with Nitroblast and then animate them with Signal. For example, how to use Turbulence FD to convey X-particles and then render them using the Hair shader. Structured Cinema 4D means not only that these plugins are well integrated into the application, but that they all fit together well.Īs such, you can find Cinema 4D tutorials that will mention third party modifiers and effectors with their own tools. One of the best 3D modeling software packages. From filling holes in his toolbox to optimizing his workflow. Maxon Cinema 4D has a dynamic and well maintained plugin ecosystem providing all sorts of extensions for this program. ![]() You can look up the average paragraph length, average sentence length, and even the frequency of word use. Many writers aim to hit a daily word count while writing, and the Writing Statistics track that and other data. When you compile your project, you can omit parts of your file, such as the foreword, and change the formatting for the exported version without changing anything in your original pages.Īnother key feature for writers is Writing Statistics. The publication also doesn't want your foreword at the time of submission. For example, let's say you want to send a copy of a file to a publication for review, and this publication requires a specific font and line spacing. Compiling is similar to exporting a project, but it is specific to writers' needs. One of the most important features for long-form writers is the Compile function. The key to using Scrivener as efficiently as possible is to master the features you need and hide or minimize the rest whenever possible. The interface is still loaded because this app has features galore. Since its last big release, Scrivener (version 3) looks a bit fresher and lighter than it had before. The cost of Ulysses can add up, especially if you don't use the software daily.ĭue to the fact that the macOS version of Scrivener is ahead of the Windows version, my comments from this point on refer to the Mac app. Plus, with Scrivener, you pay once and don't have to think about being charged again until it's time to upgrade, and we can estimate three years for that. Ulysses has a much more charming interface that Scrivener's, although Scrivener has more tools for organizing research, creating character sheets, and doing other background work for a piece of writing. Ulysses, one of Scrivener's primary competitors, charges a recurring subscription fee of $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year. ScriptStudio also has more in store for screenwriters, and it sells for $199. Final Draft, which supports collaboration (Scrivener doesn't) and has a wealth of tools for professional screenplay writers, sells for $249. They are simpler apps designed for short-form writing, such as blog posts or articles.įull-featured writing apps cost more. ![]() These types of apps have very few features and aren't suited for long-form writing, however. There are some lightweight writing apps that cost next to nothing. Specialized writing apps don't cost much to begin with, and many of them still sell for a flat rate rather than a recurring subscription fee. In other words, if you buy the Mac app, you can install it on as many macOS machines as you need, but not Windows computers, and vice versa. You can install the desktop app on as many computers in your household as you need, although only for one platform. You sync your work across devices using an online storage service, such as Dropbox or iCloud. The iPhone and iPad apps sell separately for $19.99. If you buy a copy of the current version now, you can upgrade to version 3 for free upon its release. It was initially expected two years earlier. A blog post from Literature and Latte (the company behind Scrivener) dated November 2019 says the new Windows app is still in development (Opens in a new window) and is expected to be released in 2020. As of this writing, the Windows app is still in version 1 the company is skipping v2 to bring it up to speed at v3. The Scrivener Windows app has never been the company's main focus. (Opens in a new window) Read Our Focused (for Mac) Review Final Draft is more expensive than nearly any other app in this category, but it continues to be an industry standard in film and television. One more high-scoring writing app worth mentioning is Final Draft, which specifically caters to the needs of professional screenwriters. An alternative app that minimizes visual distractions is Ulysses, the Editors' Choice for distraction-free writing apps. While many appreciate Scrivener's treasure trove of features, others see its library, templates, corkboard, menu options, and formatting panels as potential distractions from the writing itself. Scrivener is PCMag Editors' Choice writing app for long-form writers. Considering Scrivener for Mac costs a one-time fee of only $49 (there are apps for iPhone, iPad, and Windows, too), you get a lot more than you might expect. Whether you're pounding out endnotes for a nonfiction book or crafting characters to set loose in your next novel, Scrivener gives you a place to create, edit, and organize all your work. ![]() Scrivener is the best writing app for long-form writers because it was built with their needs in mind.
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