deerstalker
https://www.geek.com/games/beyond-blue-will-make-you-care-about-earths-oceans-1820234/?source
We actually know more about the surface of the moon and Mars than we do our very own oceans. Even in 2020, our knowledge of this strange environment where life originated remains paltry. It’s difficult getting people interested in the ocean, especially since most humans never actually get to experience it. Thankfully, we have video games that can give us a greater appreciation for such an incredible place. In this case, E-Line Media’s Beyond Blue.
For those who may not know, E-Line is an indie game developer. The studio got on many people’s radar thanks to its 2014 title, Never Alone. The atmospheric platformer centered on an Alaskan native and featured many aspects of that culture. It even went so far as to have mini-documentaries that spotlighted what life is like for Alaskan native communities. Never Alone reached over four million gamers worldwide thanks in large part to its reverence for the source material.
It is because of Never Alone that the BBC reached out to E-Line, as CEO and co-founder, Michael Angst, explains.
“We got a call from the BBC who had played Never Alone while they were in the process of making one of their high-end nature series called Blue Planet 2,” says Angst. “They invited us to do a fictional game about the ocean. We met the scientists that helped the BBC make Blue Planet 2 and we also got access to all of the footage shot over the multi-year production for the series. We used that both as reference for the game as well as for creating mini-documentaries, that you unlock while playing the game. That was really the genesis of Beyond Blue.”
Beyond Blue is a narrative adventure game. While the main draw is exploring the deep ocean, players will get pulled in by the emotional journey of its protagonist: Mirai.
“It’s part story, part open exploration,” said Angst. “It’s not exactly an open world but you can swim around and find creatures and collect information on them. You play the game through the eyes of a young female scientist, Mirai, who is supported by two other scientists. It tells the story of what the ocean might be like and what might be important to both scientists and our planet in 10 to 15 years, which is where the game is set.
“The goal is trying to balance exploration and collection with a narrative. We put a lot of work into the art quality. A lot of work into the feel and the movement of the creatures. We also spent a lot of time with scientists trying to have a simple story but one that could get at both the human element as well as some of the science of the ocean.”
One of the scientists is oceanographer Dr. Samantha Joye. Dr. Joye was involved with the “Deep” episode of Blue Planet 2 and led one of the filming expeditions to the Gulf of Mexico. It was through her involvement with the BBC that she met the E-Line folks. Though she had never played a video game before, she was more than eager to work on Beyond Blue.
“I was not familiar with Never Alone so the first thing I did when they contacted me was to play it,” says Dr. Joye. “That was enough to convince me that this style of game had the potential for making a big impact. Not just getting people to play a game but teaching them about the ocean and hopefully inspiring some to become either ocean explorers or ocean advocates. Hopefully, everyone who plays will become an ocean advocate. It’s an opportunity to reach an audience in a very unique way and have a big impact. This game has a lot of potential to change the way people think about and see the deep ocean. It’s been fantastic to be a part of that.”
E-Line, along with Dr. Joye, made sure Beyond Blue was a true representation of the ocean. This includes not only the environment but the animals that inhabit it.
“All the creatures are based on real-world creatures,” says Angst. “We made a significant attempt to get their models and their movement to be very representative of the creatures. The behaviors and the kind of things you study about the creatures are of real interest to scientists. What we’re going for is something that, if a scientist looked at it, would say was very representative. Not just of why a particular creature is important, but why that creature moves and is interesting to people.
“We put a lot of effort into what the creatures represent, why we chose particular creatures and tried to have a diversity of intelligence. We tried to show some relatedness between the creatures. And we tried to show their social and cultural aspects; not just how fast they swim or watching a shark rip things apart all the time.
“I would say it’s a quieter story. A gentler story. It’s a little more about the connectivity between creatures and humans than it is necessarily getting down to the food tree or food web.”
“A lot of my role was making sure the stories were grounded in science and keeping it true to our knowledge base so that everything is foundational and factual and actually correct and we’re not talking out of our rear ends,” says Dr. Joye. “We made sure everything is balanced and reasonable. I think that makes compelling storytelling and gameplay but it also means that what you’re learning are actual environmental lessons that are relevant for today’s world and our future world.”
Beyond Blue takes place 10 to 15 years in the future. Though it is a video game, E-Line resisted the urge to inject fantastical technology into it. However, it did include one piece of tech that is still experimental at best.
“All the technology represented in the game is technology that we have right now,” says Angst. “In most cases, we’re looking at its miniaturization or its utilization in a much less friction-full way. For instance, we have scanning and being able to get lots of different visual elements of a creature. This includes audio elements, chemical signatures, and biological signatures. We have a drone shaped like a manta ray go around the creature and scan in. Every dimension of that sensing technology currently exists in some devices. We just put them all on one drone and have it as a gameplay mechanic.
“I would say the one place we took the biggest leap, from a technological perspective, is where Mirai can take her sub and where she can take her suit. We came up with a suit that has advanced breathing techniques that allow her to go deep down. We hint at some materials that would allow her not to get crushed at extreme depths. It’s based on relatively loose science. This was something we discussed with the scientists; whether to go to these deep places as the diver or go in a sub with a drone camera. They pushed us hard to put the person in the game even though that might be a leap from a technical perspective. Seeing the scale of a human against these creatures, feeling like you’re there physically and witnessing it directly, feeling vulnerable, brought an element to the game that we thought was special.”
“They stayed very true to what we know,” says Dr. Joye. “One thing we didn’t want to do was get into a position where we were speculating or being hyperbolic or over-playing some point. We wanted to make sure everything was actual and real and very firmly grounded and rooted in science. That’s very important because it gives the game a level of credibility and realism that we wanted to capture and provide to the players. For me, that was really important because I want what people learn and take from this to be factually accurate.
“The only thing that was a bit of a stretch was liquid breathing. There were actually trials for that in the ’70s but it didn’t go anywhere. There are problems with it. It’s unlikely but it’s not impossible, I suppose. In the game, it was important for Mirai to be in the system as a scuba diver. We didn’t want to have her in a mini-sub. That’s not really a concession. That was to make it something really different. If I could dive into the deep ocean in some kind of a single bodysuit, I would do it because I think you would get a feel for the system that you couldn’t any other way. So that’s why it was done that way.”
At the time of this writing, humans are damaging the ocean because of our industrious society. This is something that won’t end soon; especially during the time Beyond Blue takes place. Dr. Joye explains how they extrapolated what the oceans will be like in the near future.
“A lot of the thinking around that evolved from what I’ve witnessed myself in the past 15 years. For example, 20 plus years ago when I was doing my Master’s thesis, I worked in the Bahamas on San Salvador island. Back then, the corals were very different than they are now. You’ve had so many bleaching incidents and storm damage–it’s just not the same. It’s not the same system. So you extrapolate that into the future.
“When I started working in the deep ocean 20 years ago you would occasionally come upon some human refuse. Once I came upon a refrigerator. I’ve come upon many lawn chairs or a can or a bottle. Now what you see is plastic.
“A lot of the change over time is based on what we’ve actually witnessed. We’ve seen this transition from A to B. What’s the transition from B to C going to be in the next 15 years? It was based on observations of change in the system that we’ve already seen and assuming it’s not going to get worse but stays on that trajectory. That may not be a safe assumption. It may get worse instead of staying on the same trajectory.”
It’s clear Beyond Blue is going for something different and meaningful. While it is still an enjoyable video game experience, Angst and Boyes hope it touches people on a deeper level and gets them to think more about our oceans.
“The ocean is a wonderful, beautiful, mysterious place that also serves a critical function to our planet,” says Angst. “We want you to feel moved by the personal story and the wonder of it and come away feeling enough emotion that you care a little more about the health of our planet and the ocean.”
“There are butterfly effects that we might not be able to predict right now that are going to come into play down the road,” says Dr. Joye. “I think it makes the player aware of human impacts on this part of the world that we don’t see or think about most of the time. It makes us realize there are problems that need to be recognized, identified, managed, and dealt with. We can make a difference by taking action and doing our part.
“The ocean sustains us. We are all integrally connected to the ocean whether we realize it or not. I think this game makes that connection for the player. I hope it empowers them to get involved and learn more about how they can make a difference for the future sustainability of the oceans. I think it will because it touches a nerve. It is impactful in a way that few types of entertainment are. E-line will live up to their motto ‘games for change’ with this one because I think it will inspire a lot of people to get involved and make a difference and probably create more than a few young explorers in training.”
Beyond Blue will release on Steam, PS4, and Xbox One sometime this year.
We actually know more about the surface of the moon and Mars than we do our very own oceans. Even in 2020, our knowledge of this strange environment where life originated remains paltry. It’s difficult getting people interested in the ocean, especially since most humans never actually get to experience it. Thankfully, we have video games that can give us a greater appreciation for such an incredible place. In this case, E-Line Media’s Beyond Blue.
For those who may not know, E-Line is an indie game developer. The studio got on many people’s radar thanks to its 2014 title, Never Alone. The atmospheric platformer centered on an Alaskan native and featured many aspects of that culture. It even went so far as to have mini-documentaries that spotlighted what life is like for Alaskan native communities. Never Alone reached over four million gamers worldwide thanks in large part to its reverence for the source material.
It is because of Never Alone that the BBC reached out to E-Line, as CEO and co-founder, Michael Angst, explains.
“We got a call from the BBC who had played Never Alone while they were in the process of making one of their high-end nature series called Blue Planet 2,” says Angst. “They invited us to do a fictional game about the ocean. We met the scientists that helped the BBC make Blue Planet 2 and we also got access to all of the footage shot over the multi-year production for the series. We used that both as reference for the game as well as for creating mini-documentaries, that you unlock while playing the game. That was really the genesis of Beyond Blue.”
Beyond Blue is a narrative adventure game. While the main draw is exploring the deep ocean, players will get pulled in by the emotional journey of its protagonist: Mirai.
“It’s part story, part open exploration,” said Angst. “It’s not exactly an open world but you can swim around and find creatures and collect information on them. You play the game through the eyes of a young female scientist, Mirai, who is supported by two other scientists. It tells the story of what the ocean might be like and what might be important to both scientists and our planet in 10 to 15 years, which is where the game is set.
“The goal is trying to balance exploration and collection with a narrative. We put a lot of work into the art quality. A lot of work into the feel and the movement of the creatures. We also spent a lot of time with scientists trying to have a simple story but one that could get at both the human element as well as some of the science of the ocean.”
One of the scientists is oceanographer Dr. Samantha Joye. Dr. Joye was involved with the “Deep” episode of Blue Planet 2 and led one of the filming expeditions to the Gulf of Mexico. It was through her involvement with the BBC that she met the E-Line folks. Though she had never played a video game before, she was more than eager to work on Beyond Blue.
“I was not familiar with Never Alone so the first thing I did when they contacted me was to play it,” says Dr. Joye. “That was enough to convince me that this style of game had the potential for making a big impact. Not just getting people to play a game but teaching them about the ocean and hopefully inspiring some to become either ocean explorers or ocean advocates. Hopefully, everyone who plays will become an ocean advocate. It’s an opportunity to reach an audience in a very unique way and have a big impact. This game has a lot of potential to change the way people think about and see the deep ocean. It’s been fantastic to be a part of that.”
E-Line, along with Dr. Joye, made sure Beyond Blue was a true representation of the ocean. This includes not only the environment but the animals that inhabit it.
“All the creatures are based on real-world creatures,” says Angst. “We made a significant attempt to get their models and their movement to be very representative of the creatures. The behaviors and the kind of things you study about the creatures are of real interest to scientists. What we’re going for is something that, if a scientist looked at it, would say was very representative. Not just of why a particular creature is important, but why that creature moves and is interesting to people.
“We put a lot of effort into what the creatures represent, why we chose particular creatures and tried to have a diversity of intelligence. We tried to show some relatedness between the creatures. And we tried to show their social and cultural aspects; not just how fast they swim or watching a shark rip things apart all the time.
“I would say it’s a quieter story. A gentler story. It’s a little more about the connectivity between creatures and humans than it is necessarily getting down to the food tree or food web.”
“A lot of my role was making sure the stories were grounded in science and keeping it true to our knowledge base so that everything is foundational and factual and actually correct and we’re not talking out of our rear ends,” says Dr. Joye. “We made sure everything is balanced and reasonable. I think that makes compelling storytelling and gameplay but it also means that what you’re learning are actual environmental lessons that are relevant for today’s world and our future world.”
Beyond Blue takes place 10 to 15 years in the future. Though it is a video game, E-Line resisted the urge to inject fantastical technology into it. However, it did include one piece of tech that is still experimental at best.
“All the technology represented in the game is technology that we have right now,” says Angst. “In most cases, we’re looking at its miniaturization or its utilization in a much less friction-full way. For instance, we have scanning and being able to get lots of different visual elements of a creature. This includes audio elements, chemical signatures, and biological signatures. We have a drone shaped like a manta ray go around the creature and scan in. Every dimension of that sensing technology currently exists in some devices. We just put them all on one drone and have it as a gameplay mechanic.
“I would say the one place we took the biggest leap, from a technological perspective, is where Mirai can take her sub and where she can take her suit. We came up with a suit that has advanced breathing techniques that allow her to go deep down. We hint at some materials that would allow her not to get crushed at extreme depths. It’s based on relatively loose science. This was something we discussed with the scientists; whether to go to these deep places as the diver or go in a sub with a drone camera. They pushed us hard to put the person in the game even though that might be a leap from a technical perspective. Seeing the scale of a human against these creatures, feeling like you’re there physically and witnessing it directly, feeling vulnerable, brought an element to the game that we thought was special.”
“They stayed very true to what we know,” says Dr. Joye. “One thing we didn’t want to do was get into a position where we were speculating or being hyperbolic or over-playing some point. We wanted to make sure everything was actual and real and very firmly grounded and rooted in science. That’s very important because it gives the game a level of credibility and realism that we wanted to capture and provide to the players. For me, that was really important because I want what people learn and take from this to be factually accurate.
“The only thing that was a bit of a stretch was liquid breathing. There were actually trials for that in the ’70s but it didn’t go anywhere. There are problems with it. It’s unlikely but it’s not impossible, I suppose. In the game, it was important for Mirai to be in the system as a scuba diver. We didn’t want to have her in a mini-sub. That’s not really a concession. That was to make it something really different. If I could dive into the deep ocean in some kind of a single bodysuit, I would do it because I think you would get a feel for the system that you couldn’t any other way. So that’s why it was done that way.”
At the time of this writing, humans are damaging the ocean because of our industrious society. This is something that won’t end soon; especially during the time Beyond Blue takes place. Dr. Joye explains how they extrapolated what the oceans will be like in the near future.
“A lot of the thinking around that evolved from what I’ve witnessed myself in the past 15 years. For example, 20 plus years ago when I was doing my Master’s thesis, I worked in the Bahamas on San Salvador island. Back then, the corals were very different than they are now. You’ve had so many bleaching incidents and storm damage–it’s just not the same. It’s not the same system. So you extrapolate that into the future.
“When I started working in the deep ocean 20 years ago you would occasionally come upon some human refuse. Once I came upon a refrigerator. I’ve come upon many lawn chairs or a can or a bottle. Now what you see is plastic.
“A lot of the change over time is based on what we’ve actually witnessed. We’ve seen this transition from A to B. What’s the transition from B to C going to be in the next 15 years? It was based on observations of change in the system that we’ve already seen and assuming it’s not going to get worse but stays on that trajectory. That may not be a safe assumption. It may get worse instead of staying on the same trajectory.”
It’s clear Beyond Blue is going for something different and meaningful. While it is still an enjoyable video game experience, Angst and Boyes hope it touches people on a deeper level and gets them to think more about our oceans.
“The ocean is a wonderful, beautiful, mysterious place that also serves a critical function to our planet,” says Angst. “We want you to feel moved by the personal story and the wonder of it and come away feeling enough emotion that you care a little more about the health of our planet and the ocean.”
“There are butterfly effects that we might not be able to predict right now that are going to come into play down the road,” says Dr. Joye. “I think it makes the player aware of human impacts on this part of the world that we don’t see or think about most of the time. It makes us realize there are problems that need to be recognized, identified, managed, and dealt with. We can make a difference by taking action and doing our part.
“The ocean sustains us. We are all integrally connected to the ocean whether we realize it or not. I think this game makes that connection for the player. I hope it empowers them to get involved and learn more about how they can make a difference for the future sustainability of the oceans. I think it will because it touches a nerve. It is impactful in a way that few types of entertainment are. E-line will live up to their motto ‘games for change’ with this one because I think it will inspire a lot of people to get involved and make a difference and probably create more than a few young explorers in training.”
Beyond Blue will release on Steam, PS4, and Xbox One sometime this year.
Writer: Zeb Wells / Artist: Stephen Segovia / Color Artist: David Curiel / Marvel Comics
Give an army of comic book creators a batch of quasi-immortal versions of all the mutants in X-Book history and you’re bound for some wild mashups. I’ve been particularly curious about personalities like Apocalypse given prominent leadership roles. They’ve been at the most, menacing but seem to be keeping any evil tendencies under control. It’s been a little disappointing though. Surely there has to be a bunch of traditionally antagonistic mutants that are not on board with the pacifist laws of Krakoa. Enter the Hellions.
These are a group of mutants ranging from violence inclined to violently unstable. The mutants in charge are looking for somewhere to put such colorful characters like the animalistic Wild Child, the tantrum-prone Orphan-Maker, and the sociopathic Empath. My favorite outburst of violence was Scalphunter’s. He was a part of the Marauders that infamously slaughtered the Morlocks, and they did not forget. An unexpected addition was Havoc. In a mission he starts to lose control, maimed, and almost murders a few anti-mutant extremists. The source of this instability is unclear but worries his brother, Cyclops. Now, who’s to be trusted to watch over his dear little brother and lead the missions of a group of anti-social killers under Mr. Sinister’s command. Psylocke, of course.
I’m going into this series with no expectations. If they become a big happy family, I’m probably going to find it unrealistic. If they end up killing everything in sight and get “exiled,” I’m going to be disappointed by the bleakness.
I am grateful, though, that the creative team took this task on. The comic itself was well done; introducing the team and ending with the foreseen antagonist. All the props to Segovia and Curiel. The art in this book is crisp. Wells is kind of wild with his Mr. Sinister. An asshole joke and a catcalling joke in one panel. I was amused at this “lovable jerk” Sinister dialed up to 11. If the latest X-Force was not violent enough for you, this series promises to be right up your alley.
8 “Not-So-Subtle Threats of Violence” out of 10
Reading Hellions? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.
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The post Review: Hellions #1 isn’t Here to Play Nice appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Earlier this month, LeToya Luckett and hubby Tommicus Walker revealed that they are expecting their second child. Now, the couple has shared the baby’s gender.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the couple was unable to host an in-person gender reveal party, so Luckett took to Instagram Live to share the news with family, friends, and fans.
“In an interest to keep our friends & family safe, @tommicuswalker and I decided against having a gathering to reveal the sex of our little one. Instead, we’re choosing to have an online reveal party!!!”
View this post on Instagram TODAY IS THE DAY!!! In an interest to keep our friends & family safe ,@tommicuswalker and Idecided against having a gathering to reveal the sex of our little one. Instead we’re choosing to have an online reveal party!!! Please tune in TODAY at 7pm CST as we share the Joy & delight of finding out the gender of our new addition!! We’re grateful either way!! What do you think? Girl or boy?Drop a heart below!! 
A post shared by LeToya Luckett-Walker (@letoyaluckett) on Mar 27, 2020 at 9:39am PDT
So, is the couple expecting a boy or a girl? Drumroll, please…it’s a boy!
While both parents were over the moon with the news, Walker just couldn’t contain his excitement as he jumped for joy around the house. “This is so exciting. We are having a boy,” Luckett said.
Their baby boy will join the couple’s two children, daughters Madison and Gianna.
The post LeToya Luckett Celebrates Gender Reveal On Instagram Live: ‘It’s A Boy!’ appeared first on Essence.
It’s time my Slayers, time for some blood spurtin’, guts spewin’, demon killin’, guitar riff, rip and tear Doom action. That is the whole game in a nutshell. Yeah, there’s some story in there, but it’s really not important here. Doom knows what it is and is at it’s best when it focuses on that. Put on your Slayer helmet and grab your BFG as we review Doom Eternal.
When we last left Doomguy, he had just saved Mars from the demons but was betrayed and captured by Dr. Samual Hayden. Then… some stuff happens and then we pick up two years later with Doomguy having escaped, acquired his own Justice League Watchtower, and earth in the clutches of a full on demon invasion. I’m getting my gripes with the game out of the way first; it’s so abrupt where the story picks up that it feels like there was an entire game missing that was supposed to bridge the two. I know most, if not all players are not here for the story, and that’s perfectly fine. Doom has never been known for its story. But this game does have a story. It dives into the backstory of this iteration of Doomguy, it world builds with lore and codex… it just left me wanting more. I wish it was presented better and more fully, but it’s a minor gripe. We aren’t here for a bedtime story; WE’RE HERE TO RIP AND TEAR DEMONS APART!!! And this is where the game shines.
Playing Doom Eternal is a visceral and cathartic experience in the best way. The game does not hold your hand. It gives you a shotgun and pushes you off the high dive to belly flop into a pool of demons. The controls are tight, and the gameplay is challenging. When you feel like you’re getting used to all the demons, it throws another one at you to challenge your sanity. As the difficulty ramps up, so does your arsenal. The game gives you plenty of guns and mods so that you always have a fighting chance. Every gun feels polished and great to use. The game isn’t always great when it “tries” to explain how to defeat later enemies and bosses, but it never feels cheap. You always feel like there’s a fighting chance, even when it frustrates the hell out of you.
The only other complaint I have, and it’s a very minor complaint, is that the game can get a little monotonous after a while. There are some levels that are a little boring. You realize that all that this game is is running to an area, shoot everything run to next area, rinse and repeat over and over again. I got bored a few times. But that was few and far in between and it feels like the game knows when it’s starting to get boring and introduces a new gun or enemy. Again, if you’re here for Doom, you know what you’re getting into and the game knows this.
Doom Eternal is the sequel that doubles down on everything that people loved from its predecessor. It’s a fun game that works well in short burst. You bored? Kill some demons. You upset over something? Rip off a head or 10. You got cabin fever from self-quarantine? Chainsaw a few body’s into a bloody pulp. I wish they gave a story a little more care considering all the backstory and interesting lore that’s there, but Doom knows what Doom is about. If you’re a fan of Doom 2016 or Doom in general, this will be a great game for you. If you’re someone who hasn’t played Doom before but you’re interested, I would say check it out, and you’ll have a lot of fun as long as you like a lot of shooting and blood and guts. Stay inside and rip and tear the forces of hell apart.
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The post The Best at What He Does – ‘Doom Eternal’ Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.