Let’s incorporate this into the example above (we’ll leave the cell blank if there’s an error) and see what happens: Syntax: =IFERROR(original_formula, value_if_error) IFERROR allows you to set a default value should the formula result in an error. If the statement evaluates to FALSE, they’re highlighted red. I’ve added some conditional formatting so wherever the IF statement evaluates to TRUE, the cells are highlighted green. However, we only want to go after keywords that are likely to bring in 500+ visitors per month (assuming we have a #1 ranking).Īccording to this study, #1 rankings in the US (desktop searches only) have a 29% CTR, roughly. Let’s assume, hypothetically, that we have a strong site capable of ranking #1 for any of these keywords. Here’s an example spreadsheet containing a list of keywords with their respective estimated search volumes ( note: these were gathered using Keyword Explorer): Syntax: =IF(condition, value_if_true, value_if_false) This is super simple it’s used to check if a condition is true or false. No matter what kind of SEO work I’m doing in Google Sheets, I find myself using these three formulas (almost) every time: In this short section, I’m going to share three basic must-know formulas. In this post, I’ll introduce you to 10 Google Sheets formulas and show how you can use them for everyday SEO tasks. a Site Explorer export), automate follow-ups for outreach campaigns, and much more. Google Sheets can be used to scrape data from websites, create semi-automated SEO workflows, manipulate big data sets (e.g. I’m sure most of you are somewhat familiar with Sheets (if not, it’s basically just like Excel, but cloud-based and completely free) and know just how powerful it can be when it comes to collaboration.īut, its capabilities reach far beyond collaboration. Excel has always been a favorite tool amongst SEOs, but now there’s a new, potentially more powerful kid on the block: Google Sheets.
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Results however are exactly the same as before, Uchi outdamaged Blacksteel.īear in mind this is only the results from my Tests only. The swordsman was a master of a rare technique, traces of which can be observed in this weapon's strong attack. This shiny black blade is thick, but shorter than the typical katana. Best Katana Ds2Black Dragon Sword is a pretty rare drop from the black dragon. In-Game Description A short katana wielded by the swordsman and distinguished guest of High Lord Wolnir. 4 Mohweli 1:11pm Ricard's Rapier and Drakeblood Greatsword. The Black Blade is a katana in Dark Souls III. netThe Blacksteel Katana is a katana in Dark Souls II. 3 Baka the Neko Over Heaven 1:04pm Go spear, they're not the single most OP weapon in the game. Cz blacksteel has too big delay during r2s, so it can be punished ez in pvp. < 1 2 > Showing 1 - 15 of 16 comments Juice Machine 9:25pm Originally posted by Turhaturpa: I want to make a Ninja like character, but the low weapon durability and dmg against heavily armored enemies make me kinda worried that I'd be wasting my time.Note that all the tests were done on Aldia Keep's Ogre after the Ogre did that Sit Slam Attack.Įspecially for Blacksteel, I decided to test it twice since I can't believe it deals less damage than Uchi despite having higher AR. Uchigatana, Hunters Blackbow, and Pates Spear are what I run on my dex build. disturbing.ĢH R1 on each Weapons with 20STR and 50 DEX, RoB+2 and Flynn Ring with 10 VIT and TDR: When you purchase through links on oKatana is Sanyos answer to. With the 1.08 Calibration, the Chaos Blade overpowers Blacksteel significantly.īut after looking at the stats, I decided to do some Damage Tests on 3 different Katanas, which are later shown below, against our beloved rather-cheap big dude, Ogre. The Blacksteel Katana is a katana in Dark Souls II. Black Steel Katana: With a fast and reliable moveset, high scaling, and good range, the Black Steel Katana is the best Katana in Dark Souls 2. So as you've all know, there are 2 Katanas that are very tempting considering its scaling, and that's Blacksteel Katana and the Chaos Blade. Talk to me about the Dark Souls 2 Katanas - Dark Souls II - Giant Bomb Dark Souls II Game. Out of all the Dexterity-oriented weapon classes in Dark Souls 2, the Katanas are most known for their speed. Filtersĭark Souls 3 Wheel And Deal Fashion Souls Dark Souls Mods Dark Souls One Bros Dark Souls Help Dark Souls PvP Demon's Souls Bloodborne Trophy Requestsīlazemalefica on Tumblr for letting us use their fan art of Jester Thomas in our footer! Blacksteel Katana Ds2 Blacksteel Katana infusion question. The Best Katanas In Dark Souls 2 - Game Rant. | Please use /r/DarkSouls3 for DS3 content. Blacksteel Katana Ds2 The katana is made of 1060 carbon steel, it features an iron tsuba, brown scabbard, black cord handle with white ray-skin wrap and. For this reason, players should stick to using this one in the. No spoilers in the title please! | Confused about SotFS? Click here. MISES A JOUR / The News: Pour aller directement aux nouveautés: clic sur la petite souris Vous êtes notre em visiteur depuis la création du site le. Despite the cool name, the Black Steel Katana is lacking in the base damage department though has great stats for everything else. No AI-generated content or artwork.ĥ.) Do not discuss cheats or mods that negatively affect online play.Ħ.) No sales, sales links, directing to sales, soliciting donations, or advertisements whatsoever.ħ.) Self promotion posts are allowed once per week with community participation.Ĩ.) Memes, screenshots, and video clips should follow the subreddit guidelines.ĩ.) No trolling, karma farming, rage posts, or other low-effort submissions. | Please use /r/DarkSouls3 for DS3 content.1.) Please be respectful, do not harass others.Ģ.) Content must pertain to Dark Souls 1.ģ.) NSFW and otherwise crass content is not allowed.Ĥ.) All fan-art must be OC only. No spoilers in the title please! | Confused about SotFS? Click here. 1.) Please be respectful, do not harass others.Ģ.) Content must pertain to Dark Souls 1.ģ.) NSFW and otherwise crass content is not allowed.Ĥ.) All fan-art must be OC only. Yet, even before the “Coming Soon” sign appeared, Rao tells me, the owner of the building disappeared. Twelve years ago, the same strip mall was a busy hub for Hayward’s Fiji Indian community, which emigrated in the late 1980s after a series of political coups in their home country. Amy Osborne/Special To The Chronicle Show More Show Less Amy Osborne/Special To The Chronicle Show More Show Less 8 of8 Saras Rao, chef and owner of Curry Corner on Thursday, Novemin Hayward, Calif. Amy Osborne/Special To The Chronicle Show More Show Less 7 of8 Saras Rao, chef and owner of Curry Corner on Thursday, Novemin Hayward, Calif. Amy Osborne/Special To The Chronicle Show More Show Less 6 of8 Saras Rao, chef and owner of Curry Corner, helps a customer on Thursday, Novemin Hayward, Calif. Amy Osborne/Special To The Chronicle Show More Show Less 5 of8 The decaying strip mall where Curry Corner is located on Thursday, Novemin Hayward, Calif. Amy Osborne/Special To The Chronicle Show More Show Less 4 of8 Phil Hendricks leaves Curry Corner with take away food on Thursday, Novemin Hayward, Calif. Amy Osborne/Special To The Chronicle Show More Show Less 3 of8 An empty storefront in decaying strip mall where Curry Corner is located on Thursday, Novemin Hayward, Calif. Amy Osborne/Special To The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of8 Saras Rao, chef and owner of Curry Corner, prepares take away dishes for a customer on Thursday, Novemin Hayward, Calif. 1 of8 Graffiti and boarded up windows cover most of the decaying strip mall where Curry Corner is located on Thursday, Novemin Hayward, Calif. Best Way to Convert MOV to MP4 on Windows 10 and 11Ĭisdem Video Converter is a robust program that supports making conversions between 600+ video and audio formats. Thus, you’d better use a dedicated converter to convert MOV to MP4 if you want to enjoy the video without incompatibility issue. However, changing the file extension manually cannot change the embedded codecs, bitrate, frame rate, etc. This way can help you turn an MOV file to an MP4 file easily. Hit on “Yes” from the popped-up warning to make the change.Change the file extension to end with.Slowly double-click on the new file to enter the editing state.Make a copy of the original MOV file by tapping “Ctrl+C” and “Ctrl+V”.Come to the Folder Options window, uncheck the box of "Hide extensions for known file types".Launch file explorer, click on “Options” under “View” tap.Multifunctional: can also rip DVDs and download videos from 1000+ websites.Offer a built-in player to play the added videos and preview the editing result.Diverse customization features are builted to edit the file such as trimming, cropping, rotating, adding color effects, etc.Merge multiple files into one large file.30X faster speed are applied to convert MOV files to MP4 without quality loss.Can also convert MOV to MKV, AVI, WMV, MP3 and other 600+ media formats.Feel free to use any of your preference.Cisdem Video Converter Best MOV to MP4 Converter for Windows 10/11 Handbrake is just one example of a free software. Drag your ".mov"-file to the Adapter window and select MP4 as "Output Settings".It is available for both Mac and Windows. Because MP4 is a subset of the QuickTime standard, you can change a MOV file to a MP4 format by simply changing the extension. Change the extension “.mov” to “.mp4”.This needs to be enabled to change the extension. Check the “File name extensions” on the map header.Open your computer map and select the corresponding MOV file.To convert MOV to MP4, you can either download a software or use your computer's default settings. This includes MOV, the format for Apple's QuickTime. Other video formats must be converted to any of the supported file formats. If you try to upload any other format however, the OnSign TV platform will display an uploading error message. OnSign TV supports several video formats, such as MKV, AVI, MP4, MPG and MPEG. 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Put your meter on the 20 volt DC setting. To find out if the isolator is sending charging current to your batteries, start your engine and check the voltage at the center post that comes from the alternator. In the photos of this article we used a more expensive Fluke multimeter. It includes a diode test function as well. A low cost Harbor Freight model is shown to the right. You will need a multimeter to do measure the voltage. There will be some voltage drop across the isolator. It will allow current to flow from the alternator to each battery, but will not allow any current to flow the other direction. The isolator is like 2 one-way valves for electricity (which are called diodes). The isolator (Dodge shown) in the photo has the middle wire going to the alternator, the top wire going to the engine battery, the bottom wire to the house battery. The isolator on a Chevy will have 4 posts (an additional smaller post), while the isolator on a Dodge will have 3 posts. It will lead to one of the terminals of the isolator. If you don’t know what your alternator looks like, follow the big wire from the positive (+) terminal of your engine battery. It will lead to the center binding post of the isolator. If you have trouble finding the isolator follow the big electrical cable from the alternator. Location will vary from an obvious spot on the firewall to practically hidden under the engine battery. The isolator will be mounted under the hood, close to the alternator. We will assume you have lead-acid batteries (either AGM or wet cell), which have a fully charged resting voltage of about 12.7 volts. Since our Class B has an isolator, we will describe how to find out if the isolator is the source of your charging problem. If you find you have a problem with either your house or vehicle battery getting charged, it is important to check your isolator or separator. Unlike an isolator, a separator will draw some current while idle. In addition to charging both batteries from the alternator, the battery separator allows both house and vehicle batteries to be charged when you are plugged into shore power. However this article will not discus how to test a separator although the process is similar. Shown at the right is a battery separator. The job of these devices is to charge both house battery and the engine battery, yet to keep the batteries separate or isolated from each other so you will not deplete your engine battery if you run your house battery too low (and vise versa). Alternator power flows normally through an isolator or a separator. Your alternator will charge both your engine battery and your house battery. The easiest and fastest way to charge your battery is to drive. If you camp without electrical hookups it is important that you keep your batteries in good condition and that they get charged. Battery Separatorīatteries are vital to RVers. Or you can spend a lot more on a more versatile multimeter. A basic multimeter from Harbor Freight can do what you need for $5.99. Your will need a multimeter (sometimes called a VOM or Volt Ohm Meter). It is important to be able to do some basic troubleshooting yourself to fix the problem. Note that even if you have two (or more) house batteries we will use the single term battery in this article. Nearly every motorhome owner will at sometime experience a charging problem with their house battery. In the moment, it can be easy to justify these internal pulls - “This email is too important to wait,” or “It took less than a minute to check my Twitter it isn’t a real distraction.”īut those small interruptions add up! It isn’t just the time you lose on distractions, it also takes time and energy to refocus your attention. While it would be nice to blame technology for everything, recent studies suggest over half of all workday distractions are self-inflicted - meaning we pull ourselves out of focus. Yet, the constant stream of information pouring in via emails, team chats, and social media notifications demands more and more of our attention. If you’ve ever been interrupted when you were in a flow state, you know how difficult regaining focus can be. Don't worry about the outcome - just take it one pomodoro at a time. It keeps you hyper focused on the one next thing you need to do rather than get overwhelmed by the enormity of what you're taking on. That procrastination-busting strategy is exactly what the pomodoro technique asks you to do: break down your big tasks, projects, or goals into something you only have to do for the next 25 minutes. Doing something small for a short period of time is a whole lot easier to face than trying to take on a big project all at once. Still too hard? Try just sitting down to edit a paragraph. For example, instead of sitting down to write novel, sit down to write for 5 minutes. Luckily, studies have also shown an effective way to break out of the avoidance cycle: shrink whatever it is you're putting off down to a tiny, unintimidating first step. So we turn to Twitter or Netflix instead to boost our mood, if only temporarily. It's uncomfortable to stare down a big task or project - one you may not be sure how to even do or one involves a lot of uncertainty. Rather, we put things off avoid negative feelings. Research has shown the procrastination has little to do laziness or lack of self-control. Here's what makes the method uniquely suited to boosting productivity: Making it easy to just get started The arbitrary silliness of using a tomato as a stand-in for units of time belies the Pomodoro Technique's serious effectiveness when it comes to helping people get things done. The Pomodoro technique is all about getting your mind in the zone to finish your tasks. If the system seems simple, that’s because it is. Keep an "Overlearning" project in Todoist with a list of tasks you can quickly choose from the next time you find yourself with pomodoro time to spare. For example, you could spend the extra time reading up on professional journals or researching networking opportunities. Use the rest of your time for overlearning, or improving skills or scope of knowledge. The rule applies even if you do finish your given task before the timer goes off. Cirillo recommends that you track interruptions (internal or external) as they occur and reflect on how to avoid them in your next session. In the event of an unavoidable disruption, take your five-minute break and start again. A digital task manager like Todoist is a great place for these, but pen and paper will do too. Any ideas, tasks, or requests that come up should be taken note of to come back to later. The pomodoro is an indivisible unit of time and can not be broken, especially not to check incoming emails, team chats, or text messages. For example, "write rent check," "set vet appointment," and "read Pomodoro article" could go together in one session. Any tasks that will take less than one Pomodoro should be combined with other simple tasks. Sticking to this rule will help ensure you make clear progress on your projects. If a task requires more than four pomodoros, it needs to be divided into smaller, actionable steps. The 25-minute work sprints are the core of the method, but a Pomodoro practice also includes three rules for getting the most out of each interval:īreak down complex projects. When your session ends, mark off one pomodoro and record what you completed.Īfter four pomodoros, take a longer, more restorative 15-30 minute break. Set your timer for 25 minutes, and focus on a single task until the timer rings. Though Cirillo went on to write a 130-page book about the method, its biggest strength is its simplicity: Encouraged by the challenge, he found a tomato (pomodoro in Italian) shaped kitchen timer, and the Pomodoro technique was born. Feeling overwhelmed, he asked himself to commit to just 10 minutes of focused study time. Cirillo was struggling to focus on his studies and complete assignments. The Pomodoro Technique was developed in the late 1980s by then university student Francesco Cirillo. Take the quiz Explore on your own What is the Pomodoro Technique? Get a personalized recommendation based on your workstyle and goals. Find out which productivity method fits you best It's understandable why he would feel sympathy for his friends, of course, but by opposing government oversight simply because he feels badly for them, he forgets that just because he knows them and the audience (in a sense) knows them doesn't mean that the billions of denizens in the Marvel Cinematic Universe know them on the same personal level. Nevertheless, if they existed in the real world, they would be criminals, so when Iron Man switches his views after seeing them incarcerated, the change of heart seems short-sighted rather than noble. We know these characters, we like them, and we recognize their good intentions, so it's painful to see them treated like criminals instead of heroes. Even when the government acts justly - such as when we see it imprison Falcon, Hawkeye, Ant Man and Scarlet Witch, all of whom are undoubtedly guilty of breaking the law - it's still discomfiting to see this in action. Once the government gains power over superheroes, it quickly deprives them of their civil liberties, denying the arrested superheroes legal counsel, interning Scarlet Witch without trial, and ordering the assassination of a character (the Winter Soldier) whose innocence would save his life if only his civil liberties were being respected. On a more profound level, though, "Captain America: Civil War" is the product of a culture that has been given excellent reasons to distrust state authority. Obviously the superhero genre itself can't exist if its characters are forced to report to the government like glorified police officers, so there are practical reasons for the Marvel movies to maintain a comparatively anarchic universe. Nevertheless, the movie winds up siding with him, and not only because his name is in the title. When Captain America insists that "I know we're not perfect, but the safest hands are still our own," he actually flies in the face of the spirit of democracy, subordinating the will of the people to a belief in his own superior virtue. There are unsettling real-world implications to arguing that "super" people should be allowed to change the world as they see fit without being accountable for the harm caused by their actions, even if said harm is unintentional (such as when we see Scarlet Witch accidentally blow up a building in Nigeria). Supervision is not something to be dismissed out of hand." What's more, there is an unavoidable democratic logic to the Sokovia Accords, which is based on the premise that superheroes must be held to the same legal standards as non-superpowered human beings. At one point, the android Vision (who sides with Iron Man) rebuts Captain America by pointing out that "our very strength invites challenge. It also does a commendable job of giving Iron Man's point of view a fair shake. Superman: Dawn of Justice," particularly when the latter discussed how "in a democracy good is a conversation, not a unilateral decision." Unlike "BvS," however, the new "Captain America" is well-written and a lot of fun, which makes it much easier to recommend to casual moviegoing audiences. Due to its political content and numerous superhero characters, it invites comparison to "Batman v. Very much to the contrary, it is one of the best movies to ever come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, balancing engaging action set pieces and witty dialogue with intelligent character studies and ethical debates. This isn't to say that "Captain America: Civil War" is a bad film. Yet by the end of "Captain America: Civil War," the plot has decisively sided with Captain America and forced Iron Man to come around to his position … in this writer's opinion, incorrectly so. Captain America (aka Steve Rogers) immediately opposes this on the grounds that it violates their civil liberties, while Iron Man supports it because he believes that (as another character puts it) "victory at the expense of the innocent is no victory at all." Because superheroes often cause significant loss of life and property, the argument for accountability makes a great deal of sense - indeed, it's practically self-evident. As a result, major spoilers follow this paragraph.īack to Stark: "Captain America: Civil War" tells the story of an international agreement known as the Sokovia Accords that requires superheroes to register with the government and operate only "when" and "if" a United Nations panel deems it necessary. This is a movie with a distinct social message, one that merits detailed analysis, but in order for that to happen I'll need to give away key plot points from the film. So says Iron Man (aka Tony Stark) in "Captain America: Civil War," perhaps one of the most politically nuanced films ever released as a tentpole in a blockbuster franchise. "If we can't accept limitations, we're boundaryless, we're no better than the bad guys." Rather than being square, the edges of the cuboid pattern must be ‘drafted’. instead it would have to look more like so: If, for example, you wanted to make a simple cuboid shaped pattern, you couldn’t make it a true rectangle. The draft angle is the angle you need to allow on the edges of the pattern so that you can actually pull it out of the sand. The two main additional considerations are draft angles and parting lines. Making a pattern for this method requires a bit more thought than lost foam. The pattern is essentially a duplicate of the part that you want to cast. Once you have your green sand, and have tested its consistency, before you can ‘ram up a flask’ (make the sand mold) you will need two other things: 1. I use a pump action mister sold at garden centres for misting plants (comes in handy for plastering jobs, misting concrete, and settling dust too, so is quite a useful workshop item anyway).Ĭheck out the little video to see how I make green sand. A mini sand pit type thing is ideal as the large surface area lets you add water more evenly, reducing mixing or ‘mulling’ time. Other things you will want to make green with sand are: Green casting sand: 90 percent very fine beach sand, 10 percent bentonite clay. An old liquidiser does a good job here, as do scrap coffee grinders, either of which can usually be salvaged from trash if you keep your eyes open. The cat litter does require grinding to make the clay fine enough to be evenly distributed in the sand. I used cat litter, which is a very cheap source of bentonite clay (also referred to as “Fullers Earth”). Making the green sand is quite simple, but time consuming. It is used to form a mold into which is poured the molten aluminium. The ‘green sand’ in green sand casting isn’t really green, it is a mixture of bentonite clay, fine beach sand, and some water. The pattern is either a sacrificial foam shape that gets burned away by the aluminium, or a wooden shape that is used to create a hollow in the ‘green sand’. The current setup has evolved to use a shop-made propane burner plugged into the same original furnace, and a big graphite crucible from e-bay.īoth methods involve making a “pattern”, in the shape of the finished part. That lasted quite a while, but eventually burned through. To begin with I used charcoal as fuel and a stainless steel crucible – an old wine ice bucket we found in the trash. It’s really quite rough and ready made in the ‘Gingery’ lift out crucible style. My furnace is made from an old steel gas bottle lined with home-made insulating refractory cement. The DIY Propane furnace, lid off, melting some scrap aluminium.īoth methods involve heating up scrap aluminium in a DIY furnace until it melts, which is roughly 660 oC, 1220 oF. And our 100,000 square feet of adaptable event space brings meetings and celebrations to life – all in a location near Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta University, Cyber Center, shopping and cultural venues. For dining, Augustino's Italian Eatery and its lounge serve breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. The experience continues to the updated fitness center and indoor and outdoor pool. And spa-inspired bathrooms feature granite counters, a glass-walled shower with waterfall head and hand-held wand. Extendable closets hold power outlets and lots of space. Platform beds raise the quality of sleep, while multi-purpose surfaces easily flex to various functions. The focus of our hotel is on the guest, with sleek, new accommodations that transform to the meet the need and the moment. Recognized for our dramatic guest room transformation in 2016 by Marriott International, the Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center on the Savannah River waterfront deftly defines a new standard in comfort and style. With just two luxury suites, this small property is able to place its mobile suites in secluded regional destinations giving guests the experience of being out in nature.Enjoy redesigned guest rooms in downtown Augusta, GA DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Augusta provides a free transfer service to. This hotel is only a short drive from Central Augusta. The Augusta Mall and the Doctors Hospital of Augusta are both 0.8 miles away from this hotel. Among them is the ESCA Inman Valley located just 40 miles outside of Adelaide. DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Augusta is a contemporary hotel that is a 2-minute drive from Highways 20 and 520. With Australia reopening to foreign visitors this spring, its many new hotels are ready to welcome visitors. Scuba divers can explore the colorful corals at nearby Hanifaru Bay, a UNESCO World Biosphere. Its 80 all-pool beachfront and overwater villas have spectacular views of the sea. On the Raa Atoll of the Maldives, Alila Kothaifaru Maldives will open in May in time for summer visits from World of Hyatt fans. Now guests to the area can earn or redeem World of Hyatt points during their stay. This is a popular destination for adventure sports, local food trails and pilgrimage visits. Midwest and Central StatesĪ rendering of the pool deck at the new Hyatt Regency Dehradun HyattĪt the foothills of the Himalayas, the Hyatt Regency Dehradun opens this month overlooking the picturesque Malsi Forest and the majestic mountains. Halfway between Portland and Augusta, just off Route 1, the hotel will also add its own restaurant in the coming months. In Brunswick, Maine, The Federal opens this month on the site of what was the 1810-built The Daniel and Captain Daniel Stone Inn. The upscale hotel is across from Somernova business park. Just over half a mile from Harvard University, Cambria Hotel Boston Somerville will open next month between the town’s Union and Porter Squares. Tapestry Collection is one of the many brands in the Hilton Honors portfolio. Hotel Marcel New Haven, Tapestry Collection by Hilton will generate 100% of its own electricity and energy for heat and hot water by using a rooftop solar array and solar parking canopies. New extended-stay lodging is in the works for the historic Johnson Building at the corner of Eighth and Broad Street downtown. The country’s first Passive-House certified and first net-zero energy hotel will open in New Haven, Connecticut this month. Solar panels over the parking area and on the rooftop will supply all of the energy for The Hotel. While Reika can come off rather girlish, she is charming and full of personality, if sometimes a bit annoying. That isn’t to say it’s all necessarily bad, though. In essence, she embodies what constituted mid-80s anime hotness, for better or for worse. Her outfit can even get torn off at times when you miss an input. She’s flirty, generally cheerful as she giggles and skips through danger for most of the game, dolling out little quips here and there, with some shrieks of panic when in distress. Being a long green-haired gal in a half-vest top and red hot pants, she can be described as a blend of Yuri from Dirty Pair, Lum from Urusei Yatsura, and a hint of Milia from Macross. Female characterization in video games has come under a lot of fire in recent years, and Reika is still a product of her era. Well, it was sort of progressive, but not entirely 100% positive. There was no hiding that you were in control of an action heroine – a fairly progressive notion at a time when the majority of arcade games still put the player in the role of a nameless unseen pilot of a spaceship. Pac Man forebears, she was neither an animal with maternal instincts nor an abstract yellow disc constantly eating, and unlike Baraduke from the same year, her gender was upfront and on the marquee display. Not exactly a deep plot, but enough to justify the perils she’ll face throughout the interactive feature.Īs the title explicitly states, Reika is one of the pioneers of playable girls in gaming, she is at least one of the first ostensibly fully human female protagonists created specifically for a video game. Time Gal, is able to follow him to the past with her own, much-smaller time traveling medallion on her chest and a laser pistol at her side. In 4001 AD a criminal named Luda steals an experimental time machine in order to change history and seize power. The heroine’s experiences and exploits are more in line with Dexter from Space Ace than Dirk the Daring in many ways.Īt some point between the 21st century and the 41th, time travel has become a possiblity, and as Timecop, Back to the Future Part II, and Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey taught us, it is a potentially dangerous tool when placed in the wrong hands. Time Gal was one of their most memorable of FMV games. One such company was Taito, who pumped out a few unique titles with moderate success against the changing trends in the mid-80s, complete with original animation from Toei. In Japan though, a few publishers were keeping the genre alive. The little arcade nickelodeon shows had lost their luster, and their owners were going back to cheaper cabinets that didn’t require expensive laserdisc players with their high failure rates. Gamers were becoming sick of seeing the same animations over and over through the trial and error process of memorization. Even by the release of Bluth’s sequel title, its only contribution was more inputs at a faster clip with quicker reaction time, making the expensive game more of a quarter-muncher. A lot of the character and finesse that made Dragon’s Lair successful was stripped away as many titles haphazardly forced in input and battle sequences with little regard to flow. Instead many developers spliced and edited footage from films and anime into a more or less coherent mashing of stages to play through, such a Sega’s Astron Belt swiping from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Message from Space, and Battle Beyond the Stars, and Stern’s Cliff Hanger using scenes from 2 Lupin III movies: Mystery of Mamo and Castle of Cagliostro. Despite many ambitious companies wanting in on the gold rush, not all of them had the backing of an ex-Disney animator’s studio to produce the video for their games. It wouldn’t take long for the market to get flooded with similar titles and for the novelty to wear off, leaving the new genre running out of steam by the time Space Ace debuted in 1984.Īnd it wasn’t from a lack of effort – no, scratch that, it was from a lack of effort. The gimmick of basically watching a short movie with bare interactive input to keep it rolling was astoundingly lucrative, with Don Bluth’s 10 minute animated fantasy short making 32 times its million dollar budget in 8 months. Pull back the proverbial curtain and the flashy magic trick turns out simple – and expensive: a laserdisc player hooked up with a CPU with the most rudimentary of coding to change video tracks on the fly (even less so if the game itself doesn’t bother keeping score). In an era where vector graphics and digitized voices were the pinnacle of programming and memory tech, Dragon’s Lair wowed gamers with visuals and sounds straight out of a cartoon – which it essentially was. It’s easy to imagine how powerful an impression laserdisc games left on arcade visitors in 1983. |
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