Articles by ksmith

How Will The Universe End?

There are many theories regarding how the universe will die. The most widely accepted of these theories is called “Heat Death.” Heat Death is the result of the death of stars; stars like our sun are slowly using up the fuel stored inside of them and eventually this fuel will run out. When this happens, the star stops producing heat and light, resulting in a frozen and dark Earth. We will most likely be dead long before this happens. The sun is increasing in brightness by about 10% every billion years. This will result in the Earth eventually becoming too hot for anything to live. The oceans will boil, and water will no longer exist in liquid form. We could theoretically survive this by moving to a planet farther from the sun, but that would only last until the sun becomes a Red Giant. A Red Giant is what the…


Retro doesn’t mean bad – why you should play old games.

   A common mindset about old games is that they are “outdated” or antiquated. This is rarely true. Many old games shaped the gaming industry into what we know it as today and invented technology even used outside of video games. Any time you see a 3-Dimensional graphic on a screen, that only exists because of the invention of 3D graphics. BSP is a method of 3D rendering made by Id Software and is used to render almost any 3D environment digitally. This technology was first seen in DOOM, a very, VERY famous game by Id Software. Old games are unique, in the 1990’s video games were still new and game developers were figuring out what they wanted to do. Game developers would improvise and experiment. This resulted in very interesting gameplay and themes, and amazing stories. Today, game developers want to make something unique, the problem is that almost everything…


Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Tips & Tricks

Here are some tips and tricks for the video game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Please note: this is not a basic introduction to the game, you must have at least been exposed to the game for this to be helpful. Air Attacks: Unless you’re a very skilled player, you’re probably going to get launched into the air at some point during a match. Fortunately, the Smash developers created a way for you to counter on your fall downward: air attacks. If you press (A) while in the air, your character will perform an attack. Forward air (fair) and up air (u-air) attacks are mainly used for offense, while down air (dair) and back air (bair) attacks are used for defense. Timing: I cannot stress the importance of this enough. You don’t need to worry about mastering air attacks or parrying unless you have your fundamentals down first. Smash attacks, jabs,…


Is “Apex: Legends” Worth the Hype?

As many of you know, Apex: Legends is the new battle royale on the market. Before release Apex gained a lot of hype, and with new features, gameplay elements, and amazing graphics it met and surpassed my expectations. Some of the new features are original and some are new to battle royale. This includes things like respawn beacons. After someone dies, instead of being out like most other battle royales, another player on your team can collect your player “banner” and bring it to a respawn station where they can bring you back to life. When respawned you will not keep any items you had before death, which is understandable. The main new element, completely new to battle royale, is character choice. Different characters have special abilities to aid in battle and passives that help the player in different ways depending on the character. For example, Bloodhound’s passive is to…


New Paladins Update Just Released!

Paladins has just released a huge update to the game. A whole new event and map are now included under the name “End Times.” The story goes that the Paladins have finally tracked the Magistrate to the desert (explaining the new map called “Shattered Desert”) where shards of the shattered moon fell. (The Moon was destroyed in an event that has not yet been explained). The Paladins are trying to catch the Magistrate, but mysterious fractures in space have started appearing. This has added an interesting play mechanic involving portals. In the End Times event you collect chrono shards by completing achievements in the End Times game mode such as getting 1,000,000 damage, or earning 900-point control time (both of these achievements are not an easy feat). By earning chrono shards one can unlock limited time items including emotes, poses, sprays, skins, and death stamps. This update has also announced…


2019 Overwatch League Preview

The Overwatch League (OWL) will start on February 14. Twelve teams from around the world will compete to be the top team and win the Overwatch League 2019 championship. The OWL will start with the regular season. The regular season is divided into four stages, each consists of ten matches. Each team will play 40 matches in all. Each stage is a different game mode: assault, assist, hybrid, or control with unique map types. Whichever team wins the majority, wins the match. If it is a tie, they play a tiebreaker on a control map. The Title Match happens on the last Saturday of each stage. The second and third place teams compete for the chance to take on the top team of the stage. After the regular season, six teams qualify for the playoffs. The teams that placed first for each division and the next top four teams qualify…


Results of Russian Experiment to Domesticate Foxes

   We don’t know much about how dogs and cats were domesticated. We have never recorded the process of the domestication of a wild animal. The fact that we have successfully orchestrated the domestication of foxes is amazing. There are very few domesticated foxes in the world, they are part of a 60-year-old Russian experiment by Dmitry Belyayev involving a process that could be described as evolution. Dmitry chose, out of a large selection of wild foxes, the foxes that showed the least aggression towards humans. Those friendly foxes were allowed to breed, then the same process was applied to the offspring. This process continued and eventually 70% of the foxes had reached a high level of friendliness. This meant that the foxes showed no fear or aggression towards humans whatsoever unless provoked. This was a breakthrough and even after Dmitry died in 1985, the experiment continued. The experiment is…


Rare Eclipse: Super Blood Wolf Moon!

On January 20th/21st, 2019, a very special celestial event happened in our skies. A Super, Blood, and Wolf Moon.  A Supermoon is when the moon is closest to the Earth, when it can look up to 35% bigger. A Blood Moon is when the Moon is perfectly in the shadow of the Earth, which causes the light from the sun to be filtered through our atmosphere, which makes the Moon look bright red. A Wolf Moon is the first full moon in a year. This event is very special because every one of these events happened at the same time. The first Full Moon of 2019, lining up perfectly with the shadow of the Earth, coming closest to the Earth in its orbit. This is a Lunar Eclipse, very different from the well known Solar Eclipse. A Lunar Eclipse is when the Earth is in between the moon and the…


Holiday Gaming Gift Guide

If you want the best game to give someone for them to get the most enjoyment and fun out of it, you have to make sure you pick the right game. Just choosing the most popular game isn’t always enough. You need to make sure you get the game to fit what they enjoy and like to do. This list will have a description under each game as well as a suggestion of what games it is like and what type of gamer to give it to. Red Dead Redemption 2 I haven’t played Red Dead Redemption 2, but the reviews are exceedingly positive. It is a game for someone who likes story, action, and beautiful graphics. Red Dead Redemption 2 will keep you busy for a very long time; the game’s story is very long. Similar games to Red Dead Redemption 2: Far Cry 5   Forza Horizon 4 Forza…


Announcing…Explosive Chickens!

Announcing the development of a new game by a fellow student! Explosive Chickens! The development of this game is taking place in the Makerspace by me, Konrad Smith. I plan to make this game purely in unreal engine, and I hope to release this game publicly once it is finished. Explosive Chickens is so early in development that there isn’t even an alpha, there isn’t even a player model, don’t expect to play this game any time soon.   What is Explosive Chickens? Explosive Chickens is going to be a multiplayer game. 20 people dropped into a small arena with intense music playing, fighting to be the last one standing using only stupid and inefficient weapons of mass destruction. Every weapon is some silly form of explosive, from explosive chickens to disco mines, and even taser teddy bears. The game is purposely confined into a small area to make sure…


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