View allAll Photos Tagged level
I've started playing Defense Grid recently (I'm quite late to the party, but it was on steep discount on Steam recently), and I've been enjoying it a lot. This is a map of the final level of the main story campaign of the game. I drew it out because I want to get this level right, and it's a testament to the Tower Defense genre that that's something games like this make me want to do: not just scrape up a win, but to think through how to really exploit the games mechanics to win elegantly.
Tower Defense is a genre spawned to the best of my knowledge (and exploded into popularity in any case) by the cutesy-but-deep flash classic Desktop Tower Defense; you play by spending resources to place various kinds of defense towers (e.g. assault towers like guns, lasers, or flamethrowers, plus support towers that slow enemies down or improve overall efficiency) in order to try and kill off the enemy before it can sneak back off the map. In Defense Grid, the bad guys specifically want to sneak off the map with your valuable "energy cores". If they make off will all 24 of them, you lose. There are a lot more than 24 enemies.
So, the map: there's two entrance/exits points in the bottom left; any given bad guy is going to come in through one of those two gates, and then leave (if he's still alive) through the same gate, carrying (if I don't do my job right) one or more of my energy cores. The cores are stored in the upper right of the map, where I've drawn a couple of concentric circles.
The dark-outlined squares of the map are where the action will take place; the dotted bridges between them are roads the enemy can march from square to square on, and to which I can do nothing. In the large squares, black holes are gaps in the map where the enemy can't walk (and where I can't build anything); dotted tiles are bits of terrain where the enemy can walk but where I can't build anything.
That leaves the white tiles: those are the spots where I can build towers. Enemies can't walk through a tower, nor can they sneak between two adjacent towers, even if they're only adjacent at a diagonal. By placing towers, I can force the enemy to go in one direction instead of the other.
This is what makes Tower Defense games interesting: the game is as much about redefining the map as it is about shooting the bad guys. If I were to willfully allow the bad guys to march unfettered across the map, they'd take a fairly direct route to the cores and then back out again. That'd be more or less true even if I threw up a lot of defense towers but did so without a plan.
And it may well be possible to win without a good plan. But a good plan is the whole attraction. I don't just want to manage to blow up some bad guys; I want to exploit the geography of this map to make the reshaped map itself do the work of dooming the invaders, and to do it elegantly. I want to lay out my gun towers just so, so the enemy has to take a long, winding march around the map, so that I can accomplish as much defense with as few resources as possible.
A game that can get me excited about planning -- to the point of pulling out some graph paper and drawing up a map by hand as step one -- is a game that's doing something right.
High-level guests, solemn speeches and warm applauses. All this was present on Tuesday afternoon at the ceremony surrounding Parliament’s historic vote in favour of the Paris climate agreement and the signature paving the way for it to enter into force.
Read our press release here:
www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/20160930IPR44535
This photo is free to use under Creative Commons licenses and must be credited: "© European Union 2016 - European Parliament".
(Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives CreativeCommons licenses creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
For bigger HR files please contact: webcom-flickr(AT)europarl.europa.eu
Members of the Wisconsin National Guard's 54th Civil Support Team assess the situation during a hazardous material spill scenario on Saturday (May 14) in Jefferson County. The scenario was the opening event of Vigilant Guard 2011, a large-scale disaster response exercise designed to test National Guard capabilities developed since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and also since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Vigilant Guard shows how local, state and federal agencies would collaborate in response to a real emergency. Wisconsin National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Andy Poquette
Guest Room at Avista Hideaway Resort & Spa, Phuket
All guestrooms and suites are stylish in design and generously spacious with a luxurious contemporary Thai ambiance. Avista Hideaway Resort & Spa offers 149 guestrooms with a minimum of 54sqm. Of living space with high ceilings, a wide range of modern amenities and individual balconies. Guests can choose the level of luxury and style that perfectly suits their needs including Grand Family Rooms, Club Rooms, Jacuzzi Suites and Pool Villa Suites with their own private pools. Our Avista Club Rooms and all Villa Suites boast an on-call butler service to cater to guests needs.
Available In-Room Amenities:
• 42 inches LCD TV
• Individually controlled air conditioning
• High speed internet
• IPod docking station
• DVD player
• Desk
• Electronic in-room safe
• Mini bar and refrigerator
• Coffee and tea making facilities
• Hairdryer
• Spacious bathroom with separate bath tub and shower plus quality bathroom amenities, bathrobes and bath room slippers
High-level segment H.E. Mr Ibrahim Elmirghani
State Minister of Communications & Information Technology,
Sudan
© ITU/E. DOMINGUEZ
Gracias por la visita, comentarios, premios, invitaciones y favoritos.
Por favor, no use esta imagen en su web, blogs u otros medios de comunicación sin mi permiso explÃcito.
© Todos los derechos reservados.
Thanks for the visit, comments, awards, invitations and favorites.
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission.
© All rights reserved
Pulsa "L" y la veras mejor.
Press L (or just click image) to see it on a dark gray background
albertolamasdiaz@gmail.com
Sorting my photos, I've just started looking back at last January's ! Here's one to send a chill down the spine of Somerset farmers
Hoy level crossing in 2014 following the addition of the half barriers, the road signals had been replaced with LEDs a few years earlier.
Assignment: PCA 35 View from the ground floor
Deadline:August 3, 2008
Image Tag: pca35
From: me and them
Mission:
The ground floor... there's nowhere to go but up! This time around shoot whatever you want, but what's important is where your camera is: ground level. Be it the kitchen floor, an open field or hiding underneath a church pew, your perspective is going to be that of a mouse, a fairy, an ant, or anything else similarly relegated to the world of the small. Try to find a subject that is really complemented by your earthly perspective.
For those engineering types in the group who need precision (including yours truly), you don't need to have your camera exactly in contact with the ground. Let's say no more 3 inches from ground to camera base. Get those elbows dirty!
WIT
I loved this assignment. I'm always looking for unusual angles on scenes and enjoyed getting my knees dirty on this one (or wet, as by the riverbank!). As my photostream reflects, I took a lot of photos and considered long and hard which one to post here. Some resulted in great perspective conundrums (trolley.carriage baskets at the supermarket). Others showed flowers - and weeds from a different pov. Even my other half's booted feet were taken after we'd been fishing. All in all, as I said, I enjoyed the journey.
This shot is on one of my last journeys to the bus station after work! I liked the reds in this shot, also the #8 bus to nowhere. Lucky for some or not? Yellow parallel lines lead us up to the scene - and the tilt (sorry Farkled!) - was really necessary to get the bus and building more in shot. Minimal PP afterwards.
K8
When cruise boats go from Aswan to Luxor or from Luxor to Aswan they must pass through the Esna Lock's at the site of the Old Dam on the Nile River
Taken @Esna, Egypt
High-level segment Mr Robert Strayer
Deputy Assistant Secretary and Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy
United States
© ITU/E. DOMINGUEZ
Notice the equal height at which all the trees were severed. They were not severed near the ground level as they normally should be.
I think whoever did this, did it during the flood in the spring of 2006, when the water level probably reached the height of the remaining tree trunks you can see in this picture.
The water level being so high, they were able to get to the trees in boats and they severed them were the surface of the water was at the time.
After severing the trees, they must have taken advantage of the fact that wood is floatable and simply towed the tree trunks to the destination.
This might have been done by proper forestry authorities, not necessarily by thieves, but even so, I still think it was plunder.
Anne Grimdalen: Spelende beertjes (1956)
De Spelende beertjes zijn symbolisch voor de hartelijke banden tussen Rotterdam en Oslo. In 1951 kreeg de Maasstad van de Noorse hoofdstad (voor de eerste maal) een kerstboom, een traditie die tot 2014 voortduurde. In 1956 besteedde de net nieuwe Lijnbaan aandacht aan Oslo met een tentoonstelling die werd geopend door de burgemeester van Oslo. Toen de tentoonstelling sloot, kreeg de Vereniging Winkelpromenade van de Noorse ambassadeur dit beeld van twee spelende beertjes aangeboden van de Noorse beeldhouwer Anne Grimdalen. De vereniging schonk het weer aan de Rotterdamse burgemeester Van Walsum, die het werk een definitieve bestemming gaf op de gloednieuwe winkelstraat. Het is een vrolijk beeld dat weliswaar op een sokkel staat, maar toch zo dichtbij de grond dat het lijkt of de beren samen ravotten over de grond. Het bevindt zich op ooghoogte van kleine kinderen, die het werk vaak bijzonder aanspreekt. De twee bronzen dieren vormen samen een compacte bal, waarvan de vorm terugkeert in het ronde plateau waar ze op steunen.
Anne Grimdalen: Playing Bears (1956)
The Playing Bears are symbolic of the warm ties between Rotterdam and Oslo. In 1951, the Maasstad received a Christmas tree from the Norwegian capital (for the first time), a tradition that continued until 2014. In 1956, the newly built Lijnbaan paid attention to Oslo with an exhibition that was opened by the mayor of Oslo. When the exhibition closed, the Vereniging Winkelpromenade was offered this statue of two playing bears by the Norwegian sculptor Anne Grimdalen by the Norwegian ambassador. The association donated it to the mayor of Rotterdam Van Walsum, who gave the work a permanent destination on the brand new shopping street. It is a cheerful statue that stands on a plinth, but is still so close to the ground that it seems as if the bears are romping around together on the ground. It is at eye level with small children, who often find the work particularly appealing. The two bronze animals together form a compact ball, the shape of which is repeated in the round plateau on which they rest.
A study of children aged 3-6 shows executive function and reading readiness skills are more negatively affected by lead exposure in boys than girls.
healthnews.juicyworldnews.com/uncategorized/medical-news-...
children, girls, lead, levels, study
Albert Hall
North Circus Street
Nottingham
History
The original Albert Hall was started in 1873 as a Nottingham Temperance Hall. Watson Fothergill, a local architect won the commission and the builders were Richard Stevenson and Field Weston.
The hall was opened on 26 September 1876[1] by the Mayor of Notitngham even though it was unfinished. The entrance hall and corridors were unfinished, and the gas lighting was of a temporary nature.
On completion the building cost around £15,000 (equivalent to £1,338,900 in 2019),[2]. It was the largest concert hall in Nottingham and a major venue for political rallies but it had frequent financial crises. It was put on the market in 1901 and was bought by a syndicate of local businessmen for £8,450 (equivalent to £924,130 in 2019),[2], opening as a Wesleyan Methodist mission in September 1902.
Although the outstanding debt was a millstone, the work of the mission went from strength to strength until 22 April 1906, when fire swept through the building.[3] The Methodists then realised that the Hall was under-insured. This time, a prominent local Methodist, Albert Edward Lambert, who had been responsible for Nottingham Midland Station was asked to produce a plan. His new Albert Hall Methodist Mission was built in the style of an Edwardian Theatre or Music Hall and, in the practice of temperance halls, concerts and other events were staged in the building.
The new Hall was dedicated on 17 March 1909[4] and officially opened on 15 September 1910[5] by Lady Florence Boot, wife of Jesse Boot of the Boots pharmacy chain. It had cost £40,000 (£4,113,340 in 2019).[2]
The Hall continued to be used as a Methodist mission and remained the city's largest concert venue until 1982.[6] The congregation then merged with that at Parliament Street Methodist Church.
Nottingham City Council purchased the Albert Hall in 1987 and a major refurbishment was undertaken. A new floor was inserted at the level of the front of the circle to reduce the volume of the main hall, and thus created a new separate ground floor hall. The building was linked with the adjacent Nottingham Playhouse and the bar block of the theatre was updated at the same time to allow the creation of a multipurpose centre. The work was completed in 1988 and Her Royal Highness Diana, Princess of Wales unveiled a plaque on 23 February 1989 to commemorate the refurbishment.
The Nottingham Playhouse managed the Albert Hall until July 1990 when the Nottingham City Council leased the building to the Albert Hall Nottingham Ltd for use as a commercial conference and entertainment Venue.
Current use
Since July 1990 the hall has been commercially run by The Albert Hall Nottingham Ltd. and is used as a conference, banqueting and entertainment venue. The venue comprises the Great Hall and a further 10 conference rooms of varying sizes. The venue attracts a wide variety of local and national conferences, whilst continuing to serve many local orchestras, schools, and voluntary organisations.
Organ
The organ was built in the Albert Hall Methodist Mission by J.J. Binns in 1909. It cost £4,500 (equivalent to £472,533 in 2019),[2] and was a gift to the City of Nottingham by Jesse Boot, 1st Baron Trent to be known as the City Organ. The Italian and Spanish walnut casework was made in the Boots shopfitting workshop in Nottingham and the carving executed by Fitchett & Woollacott.
A full restoration of the organ by Harrison & Harrison under the direction of organ consultant David Butterworth was completed in 1993. The restoration was inspired and financed by the "Binns Organ Company", a local group formed for that purpose.
The organ has been awarded a Grade 1 listing by the British Institute of Organ Studies.[12] The Grade 1 listing is for an organ of outstanding historic and musical importance in essentially original condition.
The MTA's East Side Access project is connecting the Long Island Rail Road to a newly built concourse underneath the existing lower level of Grand Central Terminal. These photos show the progress on the project as of January 25, 2012. Photo by Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin.
also known as the Common Pondhawk, is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to the eastern two-thirds of the United States and southern Ontario, Canada. The species is distinguished in that the female is bright green and the adult male has a blue abdomen with a green face and green and blue thorax.
Our first Aurora!
This shot was taken as the Aurora was getting a little quieter before surging again.
We had based the entire trip around increasing our chances to see the Aurora: Winter in March in Iceland is relatively mild and not extremely cold, and the New Moon would help us see a brighter Aurora and not blow out the foregrounds of our pictures if there was snow on the ground.
Well, our first 4 nights were very cloudy and the Aurora forecasts were very low. On the 5th night, we had been keeping track of what was supposed to be a Level 2 Aurora (on a scale from 0-9, daily forecasts viewable here), with optimistically clear skies. As night time approached, the forecast reduced to a Level 1, and by dinner time, it had been reduced to a Level 0, meaning there would be no visible Aurora. We decided to rest for a while and then go out and see the stars anyway, since they would no doubt be way brighter than at home.
At about 9:15pm local time, I decided to check the forecast again and much to our surprise, it had been changed to a Level 2! We scrambled to grab all of our photography equipment and warm weather gear and bolted out the door to one of several pre-scouted locations.
When we were driving, we saw what appeared to be clouds at first, but noting that it was supposed to be a cloudless night, we took a quick test shot and realized that what we were in fact seeing was our very first Aurora.
We got ourselves situated and for no less than 3 and a half hours in the cold across two locations, we observed at first a Level 2 Aurora which later alternated back and forth from a Level 2 to a Level 3 Aurora. When it became a Level 3, the colors were more intense, and the Aurora actually moved, sometimes fairly quickly. Frequent Aurora viewers call this phenomenon "dancing," and it is, without a doubt, the single most amazing thing that my wife and I have ever seen with our own eyes.
In addition to the incredible Aurora show we saw, the stars were out-of-this-world bright that night. With almost zero light pollution in Iceland, it is an amazing location to view the stars and the night sky. They were extremely bright and there appeared to be so many more of them than anywhere else I have ever been.
It was an absolutely breathtaking night, and although it was the only Aurora display we were really able to see while we were there, we can't wait until we have the opportunity to see another one.
Nikon D800
14-24mm f/2.8 Lens
Peedin Rd at Crystal Blvd
Single veh O/T
1 PI, trsp to WakeMed.
Pine Level FD
Selma EMS, JCEMS, Pine Level PD
113 pictures in 2013 project, number 101 "inconvenient"...one of the problems with shopping in Poole is the fact that the railway line runs straight throught the High Street!
I'm out and about a little bit, trying to walk a bit more each day
Poole 11.12.2013