1.
LucasArts
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LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game publisher and licensor. Until 2013, it was also a game developer. LucasArts is best known for its graphic adventure games, as well as based on the Star Wars. Its headquarters are located in San Francisco, California and it was founded in May 1982 by George Lucas as Lucasfilm Games, the video game development group of his film company, Lucasfilm. Lucas initially served as the companys chairman, during a 1990 reorganization of Lucas companies, the Lucasfilm Games division was renamed LucasArts. LucasArts was acquired by The Walt Disney Company through the acquisition of its parent company Lucasfilm in 2012, on April 3,2013, Disney halted all internal development at LucasArts and laid off most of its staff. However, LucasArts remained open so that it could retain its function as a licensor, development of games based on the Star Wars license will be performed by Electronic Arts, through an exclusive license, for the core gaming market. Disney Interactive Studios retained the ability to develop, and LucasArts retained the ability to license the franchise for the gaming market. Development of video based upon other Lucasfilm properties will now be assumed by Disney Interactive Studios or licensed to third parties. The company was founded in May 1982 as the game development group of Lucasfilm Limited. Lucas wanted his company to branch out into areas of entertainment. The Lucasfilm Games Group originally cooperated with Atari, which helped fund the video game groups founding, the first results of this collaboration were unique action games like Ballblazer in 1984, and Rescue on Fractalus. In 1984, they were released for the Atari 5200 under the Lucasfilm Games label, versions for home computers were not released until 1985, by publisher Epyx. Lucasfilms next two games were Koronis Rift and The Eidolon and their first games were only developed by Lucasfilm, and a publisher would distribute the games. Atari published their games for Atari systems, Activision and Epyx would do their computer publishing, Maniac Mansion was the first game to be published and developed by Lucasfilm Games. The early charter of Lucasfilm Games was to make experimental, innovative, Habitat, an early online role-playing game, was one such title. It was only released as a beta test in 1986 by Quantum Link, Quantum Link could not provide the bandwidth at the time to support the game, so the full Habitat was never released outside of the beta test. However, Lucasfilm Games recouped the cost of development by releasing a sized down version called Club Caribe in 1988, Lucasfilm later licensed the software to Fujitsu, who released it in Japan as Fujitsu Habitat in 1990
2.
Video game music
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Video game music is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was limited to simple melodies of early sound synthesizer technology. With advances in technology, video game music has now grown to include the same breadth and complexity associated with television and film scores, while simple synthesizer pieces are still common, game music now includes full orchestral pieces and popular music. Music in video games can be heard over a title screen, options menu. Today’s soundtracks can also change depending on a player’s actions or situation, Video game music can be one of two options, original or licensed. In order to create or collect this music, teams of composers, music directors, today, original composition has included the work of film composers Harry Gregson-Williams, Trent Reznor, Hans Zimmer, Josh Mancell, Steve Jablonsky, and Michael Giacchino. The popularity of game music has expanded education and job opportunities, generated awards. At the time video games had emerged as a form of entertainment in the late 1970s, music was stored on physical medium in analog waveforms such as compact cassettes. Such components were expensive and prone to breakage under heavy use making them less ideal for use in an arcade cabinet, though in rare cases. Sound effects for the games were also generated in this fashion, an early example of such an approach to video game music was the opening chiptune in Tomohiro Nishikados Gun Fight. The first game to use a background soundtrack was Tomohiro Nishikados Space Invaders. It had four descending chromatic bass notes repeating in a loop, though it was dynamic and interacted with the player, the first video game to feature continuous, melodic background music was Rally-X, released by Namco in 1980, featuring a simple tune that repeats continuously during gameplay. The decision to any music into a video game meant that at some point it would have to be transcribed into computer code by a programmer, whether or not the programmer had musical experience. Some music was original, some was public domain music such as folk songs, Sound capabilities were limited, the popular Atari 2600 home system, for example, was capable of generating only two tones, or notes, at a time. As advances were made in technology and costs fell, a definitively new generation of arcade machines. This was further improved upon by Namcos 1982 arcade game Dig Dug, Dig Dug was composed by Yuriko Keino, who also composed the music for other Namco games such as Xevious and Phozon. Home console systems also had an upgrade in sound ability beginning with the ColecoVision in 1982 capable of four channels. However, more notable was the Japanese release of the Famicom in 1983 which was released in the US as the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985
3.
Peter McConnell
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Peter N. McConnell was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Peter studied music as an undergraduate at Harvard University in the 1980s under Timothy Vincent Clarke, Curt Cacioppo, in Harvard McConnell befriended the future LucasArts composer Michael Land, who composed many of the companys titles, and worked with him at the audio company Lexicon. McConnell and Land co-invented iMUSE, LucasArts patented interactive music system, during his time at LucasArts, McConnell composed many soundtracks for games such as those in the Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and Star Wars series. McConnell left LucasArts in 2000, but contributed to Escape from Monkey Island, since then, McConnell has composed scores for Psychonauts, Sly 2, Band of Thieves, Sly 3, Honor Among Thieves, and Kinectimals. McConnell is one of the members of G. A. N. G. He is also known live-action music performer, playing the electric violin, in 2013, McConnell returned to the Sly Cooper franchise to score the fourth game, Sly Cooper, Thieves in Time, which was released in February of that year. Also, for the first time ever, McConnells entire score was released on iTunes to accompany the release of the game. Recently, McConnell has worked on the Double Fine titles Broken Age, McConnell has also been announced to return to score the upcoming Psychonauts 2, set to be released in 2018. Sony Psychonauts, Double Fine Sly 3, Honor Among Thieves, Sucker Punch/Sony The Bards Tale, Vivendi Universal Games, Inc. TIE Fighter, Balance of Power, LucasArts Star Wars, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, LucasArts Star Wars, Yoda Stories, LucasArts Afterlife, LucasArts Shadows of the Empire, dance of the Dead, The Adventures of a Composer Creating the Game Music for Grim Fandango. Skywalker Symphony Orchestra Triumphs at Game Audio Network Guild Awards, san Francisco, American Federation of Musicians of the U. S. and Canada. SFP, Sound for Picture – Music Centerstage In Game Releases, Double Fine, Back in the limelight with a new publisher, new digs, and a multi-platform strategy, Tim Schafers Psychonauts looks to change the face of gaming one neurosis at a time. New York, Ziff-Davis Media Inc.78, digital Archeology, How Double Fine, Disney, Lucasarts and Sony Resurrected Grim Fandango. Archived from the original on January 28,2015, the Score, Grim Fandango composer Peter McConnell. Archived from the original on January 28,2015, Grim Fandango no estaba tan muerto. Peter McConnell On Sly Cooper, Grim Fandango, And The Future of Games, archived from the original on March 27,2013. Así suena el tema de Hearthstone al estilo MIDI retro – PC, archived from the original on January 28,2015. Archived from the original on 2013-06-16, archived from the original on January 28,2015
4.
Star Wars: Jedi Knight (series)
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Star Wars, Jedi Knight is a first-person shooter and third-person shooter video game series set in the fictional Star Wars expanded universe. The series focuses primarily on Kyle Katarn, a former Imperial officer who becomes a member of the New Republic. The Jedi Knight series began in 1995 with the release of Star Wars, Dark Forces for DOS, Macintosh and this was followed in 1997 by Star Wars Jedi Knight, Dark Forces II for Microsoft Windows, in which Katarn learns the ways of a Jedi. In 1998, Star Wars Jedi Knight, Mysteries of the Sith was released as a pack for Dark Forces II. In 2002, Star Wars Jedi Knight II, Jedi Outcast was added to the series, Jedi Outcast was developed by Raven Software and powered by the id Tech 3 game engine. It was released for Windows, Mac, Xbox and GameCube, Star Wars Jedi Knight, Jedi Academy followed in 2003 on Windows, Mac and Xbox. It was powered by the game engine as its predecessor. Jedi Academy was the first game in the series where the player does not control Katarn at any point, the games in the Jedi Knight series have received generally favorable reviews. Multiple publications have commented on the quality of the series as a whole, the use of the lightsaber in the series, a prominent gameplay element in all but the first game, has received specific praise for its implementation. Star Wars, Dark Forces was developed and published by LucasArts, and released in North America on February 28,1995 for MS-DOS and Macintosh and it was the first officially produced first-person shooter set in the Star Wars universe. Star Wars Jedi Knight, Dark Forces II was again developed and published by LucasArts, Star Wars Jedi Knight, Mysteries of the Sith is an expansion pack for Dark Forces II. Developed and published by LucasArts, it was released on February 24,1998 for Microsoft Windows, the expansion includes a single-player mode and fifteen multiplayer maps. Star Wars Jedi Knight II, Jedi Outcast was developed by Raven Software for the PC and Mac, the PC version was released in North America on March 26,2002, the Mac version on November 5, and the Xbox and GameCube versions on November 19. Star Wars Jedi Knight, Jedi Academy was developed by Raven Software for the PC and Mac, LucasArts published the PC and Xbox versions in North America, Activision published them in Europe, and Aspyr published the Mac version worldwide. Jedi Academy was released on September 16,2003 for Mac, on September 17 for Windows, the Jedi Knight series is composed primarily of first/third-person shooter gameplay elements, with a number of variation on the norms of the genre within each game. All of the use a level based system which contains a series of objectives that must be completed before the player can continue. From Dark Forces II onwards, the games have included lightsaber combat and the use of Force powers, which have been tweaked and modified as the series has progressed. For combat, the player may use fists, explosive land mines and thermal detonators, as well as blasters and other ranged weapons, with the gameplay leaning more towards ranged combat
5.
Game engine
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A game engine is a software framework designed for the creation and development of video games. Developers use them to games for consoles, mobile devices. The process of development is often economized, in large part, by reusing/adapting the same game engine to create different games. In many cases game engines provide a suite of development tools in addition to reusable software components. These tools are provided in an integrated development environment to enable simplified. Game engine developers attempt to pre-invent the wheel by developing robust software suites which include many elements a game developer may need to build a game, most game engine suites provide facilities that ease development, such as graphics, sound, physics and AI functions. Gamebryo, JMonkey Engine and RenderWare are such widely used middleware programs, however extensibility is achieved, it remains a high priority for game engines due to the wide variety of uses for which they are applied. Some game engines only provide real-time 3D rendering capabilities instead of the range of functionality needed by games. These engines rely upon the developer to implement the rest of this functionality or assemble it from other game middleware components. These types of engines are referred to as a graphics engine, rendering engine. This terminology is used as many full-featured 3D game engines are referred to simply as 3D engines. A few examples of engines are, Crystal Space, Genesis3D, Irrlicht, OGRE, RealmForge, Truevision3D. As technology ages, the components of an engine may become outdated or insufficient for the requirements of a given project. Since the complexity of programming a new engine may result in unwanted delays. Such a framework is composed of a multitude of different components. The actual game logic has to be implemented by some algorithms and it is distinct from any rendering, sound or input work. The rendering engine generates 3D animated graphics by the chosen method, before hardware-accelerated 3D graphics, software renderers had been used. Game engines can be written in any programming language like C++, C or Java, though language is structurally different
6.
Computing platform
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Computing platform means in general sense, where any piece of software is executed. It may be the hardware or the system, even a web browser or other application. The term computing platform can refer to different abstraction levels, including a hardware architecture, an operating system. In total it can be said to be the stage on which programs can run. For example, an OS may be a platform that abstracts the underlying differences in hardware, platforms may also include, Hardware alone, in the case of small embedded systems. Embedded systems can access hardware directly, without an OS, this is referred to as running on bare metal, a browser in the case of web-based software. The browser itself runs on a platform, but this is not relevant to software running within the browser. An application, such as a spreadsheet or word processor, which hosts software written in a scripting language. This can be extended to writing fully-fledged applications with the Microsoft Office suite as a platform, software frameworks that provide ready-made functionality. Cloud computing and Platform as a Service, the social networking sites Twitter and facebook are also considered development platforms. A virtual machine such as the Java virtual machine, applications are compiled into a format similar to machine code, known as bytecode, which is then executed by the VM. A virtualized version of a system, including virtualized hardware, OS, software. These allow, for instance, a typical Windows program to run on what is physically a Mac, some architectures have multiple layers, with each layer acting as a platform to the one above it. In general, a component only has to be adapted to the layer immediately beneath it, however, the JVM, the layer beneath the application, does have to be built separately for each OS
7.
Microsoft Windows
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Microsoft Windows is a metafamily of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft. It consists of families of operating systems, each of which cater to a certain sector of the computing industry with the OS typically associated with IBM PC compatible architecture. Active Windows families include Windows NT, Windows Embedded and Windows Phone, defunct Windows families include Windows 9x, Windows 10 Mobile is an active product, unrelated to the defunct family Windows Mobile. Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20,1985, Microsoft Windows came to dominate the worlds personal computer market with over 90% market share, overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced in 1984. Apple came to see Windows as an encroachment on their innovation in GUI development as implemented on products such as the Lisa. On PCs, Windows is still the most popular operating system, however, in 2014, Microsoft admitted losing the majority of the overall operating system market to Android, because of the massive growth in sales of Android smartphones. In 2014, the number of Windows devices sold was less than 25% that of Android devices sold and this comparison however may not be fully relevant, as the two operating systems traditionally target different platforms. As of September 2016, the most recent version of Windows for PCs, tablets, smartphones, the most recent versions for server computers is Windows Server 2016. A specialized version of Windows runs on the Xbox One game console, Microsoft, the developer of Windows, has registered several trademarks each of which denote a family of Windows operating systems that target a specific sector of the computing industry. It now consists of three operating system subfamilies that are released almost at the time and share the same kernel. Windows, The operating system for personal computers, tablets. The latest version is Windows 10, the main competitor of this family is macOS by Apple Inc. for personal computers and Android for mobile devices. Windows Server, The operating system for server computers, the latest version is Windows Server 2016. Unlike its clients sibling, it has adopted a strong naming scheme, the main competitor of this family is Linux. Windows PE, A lightweight version of its Windows sibling meant to operate as an operating system, used for installing Windows on bare-metal computers. The latest version is Windows PE10.0.10586.0, Windows Embedded, Initially, Microsoft developed Windows CE as a general-purpose operating system for every device that was too resource-limited to be called a full-fledged computer. The following Windows families are no longer being developed, Windows 9x, Microsoft now caters to the consumers market with Windows NT. Windows Mobile, The predecessor to Windows Phone, it was a mobile operating system
8.
North America
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North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
9.
First-person shooter
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The first-person shooter shares common traits with other shooter games, which in turn fall under the heading action game. From the genres inception, advanced 3D or pseudo-3D graphics have challenged hardware development, the first-person shooter has since been traced as far back as Maze War, development of which began in 1973, and 1974s Spasim. 1998s Half-Life—along with its 2004 sequel Half-Life 2—enhanced the narrative and puzzle elements, in 1999, Half-Lifes mod Counter-Strike was released and, together with Doom, is perhaps one of the most influential first-person shooters. GoldenEye 007 was a landmark first-person shooter for home consoles, while the Halo series heightened the consoles commercial and critical appeal as a platform for first-person shooter titles. In the 21st century, the shooter is the most commercially viable video game genre. Several first-person shooters have been popular games for eSports and competitive gaming competitions as well, first-person shooters are a type of three-dimensional shooter game, featuring a first-person point of view with which the player sees the action through the eyes of the player character. They are unlike third-person shooters, in which the player can see the character they are controlling, the primary design element is combat, mainly involving firearms. A more important key difference is that first-person light-gun shooters like Virtua Cop often feature on-rails movement, the first-person shooter may be considered a distinct genre in itself, or a type of shooter game, in turn a subgenre of the wider action game genre. Following the release of Doom in 1993, games in this style were commonly termed Doom clones, in time this term has largely been replaced by first-person shooter. Wolfenstein 3D, released in 1992, the year before Doom, has credited with inventing the genre. There are occasional disagreements regarding the design elements which constitute a first-person shooter. For example, Deus Ex or BioShock may be considered as first-person shooters, some commentators extend the definition to include combat flight simulators where the cockpit or vehicle takes place of the hands and weapons. Like most shooter games, first-person shooters involve an avatar, one or more ranged weapons, and a varying number of enemies. Because they take place in a 3D environment, these tend to be somewhat more realistic than 2D shooter games. First-person shooters played on computers are most often controlled with a combination of a keyboard. This system has claimed as superior to that found in console games. It is common to display the characters hands and weaponry in the view, with a head-up display showing health. Often, it is possible to overlay a map of the surrounding area, first-person shooters often focus on action gameplay, with fast-paced and bloody firefights, though some place a greater emphasis on narrative, problem-solving and logic puzzles
10.
Multiplayer game
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A multiplayer game has several players, who may be independent opponents or teams. Games with many independent players are difficult to analyse formally using game theory as the players may form coalitions, the term game in this context may mean either a true game played for entertainment, or a competitive activity describable in principle by mathematical game theory. John Nash proved that games with several players have a solution provided that coalitions between players are not allowed. He won the Nobel prize for economics for this important result which extended von Neumanns theory of zero-sum games, such a stable strategy is called a Nash equilibrium. If cooperation between players is allowed, then the game is more complex, many concepts have been developed to analyze such games. While these have had partial success in the fields of economics, politics and conflict. In quantum game theory, it has found that the introduction of quantum information into multiplayer games allows a new type of equilibrium strategy which is not found in traditional games. The entanglement of playerss choices can have the effect of a contract by preventing players from profiting from betrayal, board games – A played on a game board with set rules
11.
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
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Star Wars Jedi Knight, Dark Forces II is a 1997 first-person shooter video game developed and published by LucasArts for Microsoft Windows. It was made later re-released on Steam in September 2009, the game is set in the Star Wars fictional universe and is a sequel to the 1995 game Star Wars, Dark Forces. Jedi Knight was very well received by critics, the storyline in Jedi Knight follows Kyle Katarn, who first appeared in Dark Forces. Katarns father had been murdered by a Dark Jedi over the location of The Valley of the Jedi, Jedi Knight adds some technical and gameplay improvements over its predecessor. It uses a powerful game engine that supports 3D acceleration using Direct3D5.0. Jedi Knight also includes a mode that allows players to compete over the internet or a local area network. On January 31,1998, Star Wars Jedi Knight, Mysteries of the Sith was released as an expansion to Jedi Knight. The game was a success and as a result, the next game in the series followed in 2002, Star Wars Jedi Knight II. Jedi Knight is primarily a first-person shooter, although it does offer the choice of a third-person view, the game consists of twenty-one levels with objectives which the player must complete before being able to continue to the next level. There are weapons available in each level and after three, the player has the use of a lightsaber, along with the Force. In addition to being a weapon, the lightsaber is also a useful tool for the player, providing light in dark areas, deflecting incoming blaster fire. There are three types of Force powers, light, dark and neutral, light Force powers provide nonviolent advantages such as being able to restore health or persuade enemies to ignore the player. Dark Force powers are violent and give the ability to throw objects or choke enemies, neutral powers enhance athletic abilities such as being able to jump higher or run faster. There are fourteen powers in total, four of each type, players earn stars to allocate toward Force powers by completing specific levels. By finding all the secrets in a level, players can gain one bonus star to use. Between levels, the player can choose which Force powers to enhance by allocating stars to that power, stars cannot be reclaimed from powers later on. Some levels contain puzzles that may use of the Force to overcome. There are a variety of hostile and non-hostile NPCs within each level with whom the player can interact, other enemies include monsters and vehicles
12.
Local area network
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By contrast, a wide area network, not only covers a larger geographic distance, but also generally involves leased telecommunication circuits or Internet links. An even greater contrast is the Internet, which is a system of globally connected business, Ethernet and Wi-Fi are the two most common transmission technologies in use for local area networks. Historical technologies include ARCNET, Token ring, and AppleTalk, the increasing demand and use of computers in universities and research labs in the late 1960s generated the need to provide high-speed interconnections between computer systems. A1970 report from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory detailing the growth of their Octopus network gave an indication of the situation. A number of experimental and early commercial LAN technologies were developed in the 1970s, Cambridge Ring was developed at Cambridge University starting in 1974. Ethernet was developed at Xerox PARC in 1973–1975, and filed as U. S, in 1976, after the system was deployed at PARC, Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs published a seminal paper, Ethernet, Distributed Packet-Switching for Local Computer Networks. ARCNET was developed by Datapoint Corporation in 1976 and announced in 1977 and it had the first commercial installation in December 1977 at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. The initial driving force for networking was generally to share storage and printers, there was much enthusiasm for the concept and for several years, from about 1983 onward, computer industry pundits would regularly declare the coming year to be, “The year of the LAN”. In practice, the concept was marred by proliferation of incompatible physical layer and network protocol implementations, typically, each vendor would have its own type of network card, cabling, protocol, and network operating system. Netware dominated the personal computer LAN business from early after its introduction in 1983 until the mid-1990s when Microsoft introduced Windows NT Advanced Server, of the competitors to NetWare, only Banyan Vines had comparable technical strengths, but Banyan never gained a secure base. During the same period, Unix workstations were using TCP/IP networking, early LAN cabling had generally been based on various grades of coaxial cable. This led to the development of 10BASE-T and structured cabling which is still the basis of most commercial LANs today, while fiber-optic cabling is common for links between switches, use of fiber to the desktop is rare. Many LANs use wireless technologies that are built into Smartphones, tablet computers, in a wireless local area network, users may move unrestricted in the coverage area. Wireless networks have become popular in residences and small businesses, because of their ease of installation, guests are often offered Internet access via a hotspot service. Network topology describes the layout of interconnections between devices and network segments, at the data link layer and physical layer, a wide variety of LAN topologies have been used, including ring, bus, mesh and star. At the higher layers, NetBEUI, IPX/SPX, AppleTalk and others were once common, simple LANs generally consist of cabling and one or more switches. A switch can be connected to a router, cable modem, a LAN can include a wide variety of other network devices such as firewalls, load balancers, and network intrusion detection. LANs can maintain connections with other LANs via leased lines, leased services, depending on how the connections are established and secured, and the distance involved, such linked LANs may also be classified as a metropolitan area network or a wide area network
13.
Steam (software)
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Steam is a digital distribution platform developed by Valve Corporation, which offers digital rights management, multiplayer gaming, video streaming and social networking services. Though initially developed for use on Microsoft Windows operating systems, versions for OS X, mobile apps with connected functionality with the main software were later released for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices in the 2010s. The Steam platform is considered to be the largest digital platform for PC gaming. By the end of 2015, the service had over 125 million registered accounts, the success of the Steam platform has led to the development of a line of Steam Machine micro-console, as well as SteamOS, a Valve developed fork of the Debian operating system. Valve decided to create a platform that would update automatically and implement stronger anti-piracy. Valve approached several companies, including Microsoft, Yahoo. and RealNetworks to build a client with these features, Steams development began in 2002, with working titles for the platform being Grid and Gazelle. It was first revealed to the public on March 22,2002, at the Game Developers Conference, to demonstrate the ease of integrating Steam with a game, Relic Entertainment created a special version of Impossible Creatures. However, the game was not released on Steam until 2015, Valve partnered with several companies, including AT&T, Acer, and GameSpy Industries. The first mod released on the system was Day of Defeat, the Steam client was first made available for public beta testing in January 2003 during the beta period for Counter-Strike 1.6, for which it was mandatory to install and use. At the time, Steams primary function was streamlining the patch process common in computer games. Steam was a component for all other games. 80, 000–300,000 gamers tested the system when it was in its beta period, the system and website choked under the strain of thousands of users simultaneously attempting to play the latest version of Counter-Strike. In 2004, the World Opponent Network was shut down and replaced by Steam, the online features of games which required World Opponent Network ceased to work unless they were converted to Steam. Around that time, Valve began negotiating contracts with publishers and independent developers to release their products, including Rag Doll Kung Fu and Darwinia. Canadian publisher Strategy First announced in December 2005 that it would partner with Valve for digital distribution of current, in 2002, the managing director of Valve, Gabe Newell, said he was offering mod teams a game engine license and distribution over Steam for US$995. Valves Half-Life 2 was the first game to require installation of the Steam client to play and this decision was met with concerns about software ownership, software requirements, and issues with overloaded servers demonstrated previously by the Counter-Strike rollout. During this time users faced multiple issues attempting to play the game, although digital distribution could not yet match retail volume, profit margins for Valve and developers were far larger on Steam. Large developer-publishers, including id Software, Eidos Interactive, and Capcom, by May that year,13 million accounts had been created on the service, and 150 games were for sale on the platform
14.
Kyle Katarn
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Katarn was originally a member of the Galactic Empire, before becoming a mercenary for hire. He regularly worked for the Rebel Alliance and later became a member of the New Republic as well as a skilled Jedi and an instructor at the Jedi Academy, second only to Luke Skywalker. Katarn has been received by most critics, with GameSpot including him in a vote for the greatest video game character of all time. As a mercenary, he worked for the Rebel Alliance. The game begins shortly before the events of the film A New Hope, the plans would eventually be forwarded to Princess Leia, leading to the destruction of the Death Star. One year later, Katarn is employed to investigate the Dark Trooper project, after several adventures, Katarn terminates the Dark Trooper Project and kills its creator, General Rom Mohc, aboard his flagship, the Arc Hammer. Star Wars Jedi Knight, Dark Forces II takes place one year after the events of the film, 8t88 also tells Katarn of a data disk recovered from Morgan after his death which can only be translated by a droid in Morgans home. After 8t88 leaves Katarn to be killed, Katarn escapes, tracks down 8t88 and he then heads to his home planet of Sulon and has the disk translated. The disk contains a message from Morgan, telling Katarn his must pursue the ways of the Jedi, Katarn also learns that seven Dark Jedi are attempting to use the power found in the Valley to rebuild the Empire. Kyle eventually kills all seven Dark Jedi and saves the Valley, Star Wars Jedi Knight, Mysteries of the Sith, an expansion pack for Dark Forces II, takes place approximately five years later. The game focuses on former Imperial assassin Mara Jade, who has come under Kyles tutelage as she trains to be a Jedi. During this period, while investigating Sith ruins on Dromund Kaas, Kyle comes under the influence of the Dark Side of the Force, Star Wars Jedi Knight II, Jedi Outcast is set three years after Mysteries of the Sith. Feeling vulnerable to fall to the Dark Side, Kyle has chosen to forsake the Force and has returned to his former mercenary ways. Whilst on a mission for Mon Mothma, Kyles partner, Jan Ors is apparently murdered at the hands of two Dark Jedi, Desann and Tavion, determined to avenge her death, Katarn returns to the Valley of the Jedi to regain his connection to the Force. Taking back his lightsaber from Luke Skywalker, he out to track down Desann. After escaping from a trap with Lando Calrissians help, Katarn heads to Cloud City and interrogates Tavion, Katarn spares Tavions life and stows away on Desanns ship, the Doomgiver. After rescuing Jan, Katarn defeats the military scientist, Galak Fyyar, Katarn enters the Academy and defeats Desann. After the battle, he tells Luke Skywalker that he is going to stay a Jedi, confident of his strength and dedication to the Light Side
15.
Star Wars: Dark Forces
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Star Wars, Dark Forces is a first-person shooter video game developed and published by LucasArts. It was released in 1995 for DOS and Apple Macintosh, the storyline is set in the Star Wars fictional universe and follows the character Kyle Katarn, a mercenary working on behalf of the Rebel Alliance. He discovers the Empires Dark Trooper Project, which involves the development of a series of new battle droids. Dark Forces uses the Jedi game engine, which was developed specifically for the game, the engine adds gameplay features to the first-person shooter genre which were uncommon at the time of release, including level designs with multiple floors and the ability to look up and down. Critics gave very favorable reviews to the DOS and Macintosh versions of Dark Forces, the PlayStation version was criticized for having poor graphics and slow frame rates, reducing playability. A sequel to Dark Forces, Star Wars Jedi Knight, Dark Forces II, Dark Forces is a first-person shooter. Dark Forces follows a central storyline outlined in mission briefings and cutscenes, each mission includes specific objectives which are related to the story. Dark Forces gameplay expands on the FPS standards set by Doom in 1993 and these include the ability to look up and down, duck, and jump. A variety of power-ups are made available to the player, including health, shields, weapons, the game also features several non-combat items to aid the player. The head lamp illuminates the area in front of the player, ice cleats provide traction in icy areas, and an air mask protects the player from areas with toxic atmosphere. Many inventory items are powered by batteries which can be found around the levels, for combat, the player may use fists, explosive land mines and thermal detonators, as well as blasters and other ranged weapons. Gameplay leans towards ranged combat, although some enemies have melee attacks such as punching, biting, all player weapons except the fist require ammunition, which can be collected in power-ups. Many weapons also offer an alternate fire mode, the player has health and shields which are damaged by enemy attacks and some environmental hazards, and may be replenished through power-ups. The storyline in Dark Forces follows Kyle Katarn, a mercenary employed by the Rebel Alliance, before the game begins, Katarn was a student learning the skills required to follow in his fathers career of agricultural mechanics. While he was studying at an academy, he was told by officials that Rebels had killed his parents, the pain from this caused him to enlist in the Imperial army. Subsequently, Katarn met Jan Ors, a Rebel working undercover as an agent in the Empire. Ors uncovered the information about Katarns parents death, that the Empire was behind it. The Empire eventually discovered that Ors was working for the Rebels, Katarn helped her escape, thus ending his career with the Empire
16.
Mara Jade
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Mara Jade Skywalker is a fictional character in Star Wars expanded universe books, comic books, and computer games. She is the wife of Luke Skywalker and mother of Ben Skywalker, in the different video games, she is voiced by Heidi Shannon, Edie Mirman and Kath Soucie. Mara Jade was introduced in Timothy Zahns Heir to the Empire, Zahn imagined Jade as a strong, complex female character, which he found was lacking in the Star Wars universe. While competent, she is also flawed, when the Thrawn Trilogy ended in 1993 with The Last Command, Zahn thought it was the last book for which he would develop the character. When Zahn was asked to write another novel, he established two goals, to end the war between the New Republic and the Empire, and to get Luke Skywalker and Mara together, although Lucasfilm initially resisted the idea of Luke marrying Mara, they eventually acquiesced. But theyre both women who are strong without sacrificing their femininity, a balance which I think some authors have trouble writing. Bear in mind too, that Leia was one of the first people in the New Republic who decided Mara could be trusted, in a 1998 Star Wars Insider poll of fans favorite Star Wars characters, Mara Jade was the only expanded universe character to break the top 20. Mara Jade is introduced as smuggler Talon Karrdes second-in-command in Heir to the Empire, the novel establishes that she was previously an Emperors Hand—a special agent—for Emperor Palpatine. Several stories depict Jade before the events in Heir to the Empire, showing her training under Palpatine, the Thrawn trilogy depicts Maras first confrontation with Luke Skywalker, whom she has sworn to kill to avenge Palpatines death. In doing so, she took Anakin Skywalkers blue lightsaber, and used it instead of Lukes green lightsaber, Luke recognizes in Mara an underdeveloped affinity for the Force, although she initially resists Jedi training, she eventually becomes a Jedi Master. Luke and Mara develop a bond in Zahns The Hand of Thrawn Duology, he proposes marriage. She delivers a son, Ben, during The New Jedi Order series, in the Legacy of the Force series, Mara becomes suspicious of her nephew, Jacen Solo, when he sends Ben on several ethically dubious missions. Upon learning that Jacen has become a Sith apprentice, Mara vows to kill him and she later appears as a Force ghost, first to Ben and then to Luke, in Revelation. She also appears as a Force ghost to Cade Skywalker in the Legacy comics, Mara was portrayed by model Shannon McRandle on several cards in the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. Meeting her was also an objective in the now defunct massively multiplayer online game Star Wars Galaxies. She is a character in Star Wars, Masters of Teräs Käsi. Star Wars Jedi Knight, Mysteries of the Sith, Star Wars, Empire at War and Star Wars and she also narrates the Imperial campaign in Star Wars, Galactic Battlegrounds. Mara Jade was chosen by IGN as the 19th top Star Wars character, UGO Networks called the character the seventh top Star Wars Expanded Universe character, calling her complex
17.
Star Wars expanded universe
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The Star Wars expanded universe is a collective term for all Star Wars fictional material produced by Lucasfilm or officially licensed by it. This restructuring left the Star Wars theatrical films, the Clone Wars animated film, a number of works have subsequently been produced, including the Rebels animated TV series, the 2015 film The Force Awakens, and multiple novels and comic book series. Fosters 1978 novel Splinter of the Minds Eye was commissioned by Lucas as the basis for a potential sequel to Star Wars should the film prove unsuccessful. A Star Wars comic book series from Marvel Comics ran from April 1977 to May 1986, former Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter credited the titles strong sales for saving Marvel financially in 1977 and 1978. Marvels Star Wars series was one of the top selling titles in 1979 and 1980. The material was used as a resource by some novelists that followed, StarWars. com wrote in 2014 that the novel jumpstarted a publishing program that endures to this day and formalized the Expanded Universe. It introduced, among others, the popular characters Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade and this so-called Thrawn trilogy is widely credited with revitalizing the Star Wars franchise. In The Secret History of Star Wars, Michael Kaminski suggests that this renewed interest was a factor in Lucass decision to create the prequel trilogy. Around this same time, Dark Horse Comics acquired the Star Wars license and launched a number of series set after the film trilogy. In 1999, Star Wars book publishing moved from Bantam Spectra to Del Rey Books, New Jedi Order, set 25 to 30 years after the original films, introduced a new threat, the Yuuzhan Vong, a powerful alien race attempting to invade and conquer the entire galaxy. The bulk of Expanded Universe storytelling explores the time period after Return of the Jedi, subsequent novels and comics were set before, concurrent with, and after the events of these works. In 2004, USA Today reported that over 1,100 Star Wars titles had been published, including novels, comics, non-fiction, then-president of Lucas Licensing, Howard Roffman, estimated that there were more than 65 million Star Wars books in print. He said, The books are a way of extending the fantasy of Star Wars, the movies have had a really profound effect on a couple of generations. Star Wars has become a cultural touchpoint, and our fans are avidly interested in exploring more stories, the animated television series Star Wars, The Clone Wars ran from 2008 to 2014 and was set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Lucas discussed ideas for a sequel trilogy several times after the conclusion of the original trilogy, in October 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion. In April 2014, Lucasfilm rebranded the Expanded Universe material as Star Wars Legends, the companys focus would be shifted towards a restructured Star Wars canon based on new material. The announcement called these works the immovable objects of Star Wars history and it was also made clear that a planned Star Wars sequel trilogy, and subsequent works developed within the restructured canon, would not be based on Legends material but could possibly draw from it. Lucas had previously used the character Aayla Secura, introduced in 2000 in the Star Wars, Republic comic book series, in Attack of the Clones
18.
3D modeling
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In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional surface of an object via specialized software. The product is called a 3D model and it can be displayed as a two-dimensional image through a process called 3D rendering or used in a computer simulation of physical phenomena. The model can also be created using 3D printing devices. Models may be created automatically or manually, the manual modeling process of preparing geometric data for 3D computer graphics is similar to plastic arts such as sculpting. 3D modeling software is a class of 3D computer graphics used to produce 3D models. Individual programs of this class are called modeling applications or modelers, three-dimensional models represent a physical body using a collection of points in 3D space, connected by various geometric entities such as triangles, lines, curved surfaces, etc. Being a collection of data, 3D models can be created by hand, algorithmically and their surfaces may be further defined with texture mapping. 3D models are used anywhere in 3D graphics and CAD. Actually, their use predates the use of 3D graphics on personal computers. Many computer games used pre-rendered images of 3D models as sprites before computers could render them in real-time, today, 3D models are used in a wide variety of fields. The medical industry uses detailed models of organs, these may be created with multiple 2-D image slices from an MRI or CT scan, the movie industry uses them as characters and objects for animated and real-life motion pictures. The video game industry uses them as assets for computer and video games, the science sector uses them as highly detailed models of chemical compounds. The architecture industry uses them to demonstrate proposed buildings and landscapes in lieu of traditional, physical architectural models, the engineering community uses them as designs of new devices, vehicles and structures as well as a host of other uses. In recent decades the earth science community has started to construct 3D geological models as a standard practice, 3D models can also be the basis for physical devices that are built with 3D printers or CNC machines. Almost all 3D models can be divided into two categories, solid - These models define the volume of the object they represent. Almost all visual models used in games and film are shell models, solid and shell modeling can create functionally identical objects. Shell models must be manifold to be meaningful as a real object, Polygonal meshes are by far the most common representation. Level sets are a representation for deforming surfaces which undergo many topological changes such as fluids
19.
Artificial intelligence (video games)
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In video games, artificial intelligence is used to generate intelligent behaviors primarily in non-player characters, often simulating human-like intelligence. The techniques used typically draw upon existing methods from the field of artificial intelligence, however, the term game AI is often used to refer to a broad set of algorithms that also include techniques from control theory, robotics, computer graphics and computer science in general. Video game AI has come a long way in the sense that it has revolutionized the way humans interact with all forms of technology and this, for example, is true in first-person shooter games, where NPCs otherwise perfect aiming would be beyond human skill. Game playing was an area of research in AI from its inception, one of the first examples of AI is the computerised game of Nim made in 1951 and published in 1952. In 1951, using the Ferranti Mark 1 machine of the University of Manchester, Christopher Strachey wrote a checkers program and these were among the first computer programs ever written. Arthur Samuels checkers program, developed in the middle 50s and early 60s, work on checkers and chess would culminate in the defeat of Garry Kasparov by IBMs Deep Blue computer in 1997. The first video games developed in the 1960s and early 1970s, the first notable ones for the arcade appeared in 1974, the Taito game Speed Race and the Atari games Qwak and Pursuit. Two text-based computer games from 1972, Hunt the Wumpus and Star Trek, enemy movement was based on stored patterns. The incorporation of microprocessors would allow more computation and random elements overlaid into movement patterns, galaxian added more complex and varied enemy movements, including maneuvers by individual enemies who break out of formation. Pac-Man introduced AI patterns to maze games, with the added quirk of different personalities for each enemy, karate Champ later introduced AI patterns to fighting games, although the poor AI prompted the release of a second version. First Queen was a tactical action RPG which featured characters that can be controlled by the computers AI in following the leader. Games like Madden Football, Earl Weaver Baseball and Tony La Russa Baseball all based their AI on an attempt to duplicate on the computer the coaching or managerial style of the selected celebrity. Madden, Weaver and La Russa all did extensive work with game development teams to maximize the accuracy of the games. Later sports titles allowed users to tune variables in the AI to produce a player-defined managerial or coaching strategy, the emergence of new game genres in the 1990s prompted the use of formal AI tools like finite state machines. Real-time strategy games taxed the AI with many objects, incomplete information, pathfinding problems, real-time decisions, the first games of the genre had notorious problems. Herzog Zwei, for example, had almost broken pathfinding and very basic three-state state machines for unit control, later games in the genre exhibited more sophisticated AI. Later games have used bottom-up AI methods, such as the emergent behaviour, façade was released in 2005 and used interactive multiple way dialogs and AI as the main aspect of game. Games have provided an environment for developing artificial intelligence with potential applications beyond gameplay, examples include Watson, a Jeopardy. -playing computer, and the RoboCup tournament, where robots are trained to compete in soccer
20.
Third-person shooter
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Third-person shooter is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. A third-person shooter is a game structured around shooting, and in which the player can see the avatar on-screen in a third-person view, a 3D game type that has grown to prominence in recent years, especially on consoles. It combines the elements of the first-person shooter with the jumping and climbing puzzles of a 3D platformer. Third-person shooter games almost always incorporate an aim-assist feature, since aiming from a camera is difficult. Most also have a view, which allows precise shooting and looking around at environment features that are otherwise hidden from the default camera. These games are related to first-person shooters, which also tie the perspective of the player to an avatar. Thus, the third-person perspective allows the designer to create a more strongly characterized avatar. In contrast, a first-person perspective provides the player with greater immersion into the game universe and this difference in perspective also affects gameplay. Third-person shooters allow players to see the surrounding the avatar more clearly. This viewpoint facilitates more interaction between the character and their environment, such as the use of tactical cover in Gears of War. As such, the perspective is better for interacting with objects in the game world, such as jumping on platforms, engaging in close combat. However, the perspective can interfere with tasks that require fine aiming. Third-person shooters sometimes compensate for their distinct perspective by designing larger, the boundaries between third-person and first-person shooters are not always clear. For example, many third-person shooters allow the player to use a first-person viewpoint for challenges that require precise aiming, the first-person shooter Halo, Combat Evolved was actually designed as a third-person shooter, but added a first-person perspective to improve the interface for aiming and shooting. The game switches to a third-person viewpoint when the avatar is piloting a vehicle, metroid Prime is another first-person shooter that switches to a third-person perspective when rolling around the environment using the morph ball. Alexander R. Galloway writes that the real-time, over-the-shoulder tracking shots of Gus Van Sants Elephant evoke third-person shooter games like Max Payne, silpheed, a forward-scrolling third-person space combat game by Game Arts, was an early example of a fully 3D polygonal shooter. Konamis run and gun shooter Contra featured several third-person shooter levels where the player trudges through indoor enemy bases, devastators also featured various obstacles that could be used to take cover from enemy fire, as well as two-player cooperative gameplay. A similar shooter released that year was Cabal, which inspired many of its own Cabal clones, such as NAM-1975
21.
The Force (Star Wars)
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The Force is a metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the Star Wars fictional universe. It is wielded by characters in the films and in many of its spin-off books, games. In the story, the Jedi utilize the light side of the Force, the Force has been compared to aspects of several world religions, and the iconic phrase May the Force be with you has become part of the popular culture vernacular. George Lucas created the concept of the Force to address character and he also wanted to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young audiences, suggesting a belief in God without endorsing any specific religion. He developed the Force as a religious concept, distill the essence of all religions, premised on the existence of God and distinct ideas of good. Lucas said there is a choice between good and bad, and the world works better if youre on the good side, the power of the Force of Others is kept secret by the Jedi Bendu of the Ashla, an aristocratic cult in the second draft. The second draft offers an explanation of the Force of Others and introduces its Ashla light side. The Ashla and Bogan are mentioned 10 and 31 times, respectively, in the second draft, Luke Starkillers mission is to retrieve the Kiber Crystal, which can intensify either the Ashla or Bogan powers. The films shorter third draft has no references to the Ashla, Lucas finished the fourth and near-final draft on January 1,1976. Producer Gary Kurtz, who studied comparative religion in college, had discussions with Lucas about religion. Kurtz told Lucas he was unhappy with drafts in which the Force was connected with the Kiber Crystal, Lucas and screenwriter Leigh Brackett decided that the Force and the Emperor would be the main concerns in The Empire Strikes Back. The focus on the Emperor was later shifted to the film, Return of the Jedi. Lucas based the concept on symbiogenesis, calling midi-chlorians a loose depiction of mitochondria, and its really a way of saying we have hundreds of little creatures who live on us, and without them, we all would die. They are necessary for us, we are necessary for them, using them in the metaphor, saying society is the same way, says we all must get along with each other. After selling Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, Lucas said his biggest concern about the future was the Force being muddled into a bunch of gobbledegook. When writing The Force Awakens with Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams respected that Lucas had established midi-chlorians effect on some characters ability to use the Force. Abrams retained the idea of the Force having a light and a dark side, Star Wars Rebels producer Dave Filoni cites several influences on how the Force is used in the show. Filoni credits the films for better developing the concept of the Force
22.
Blaster (Star Wars)
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The blaster is a science fictional energy weapon that appears in the Star Wars universe. Lucasfilm defines the blaster as ranged energized particle weaponry, many blasters mirror the appearance, functions, components, operation, and usage of real life firearms. In the films, the design of the rifle was based on the Sterling submachine gun. Lucasfilms prop department added a scope and a nozzle to the pistol. The blaster made for the 1977 film A New Hope was lost, the blaster was subsequently used as a prop in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Functional Sterlings firing blank cartridges were used in scenes with the laser bolt added later in post-production. Ben Burtt, a designer who worked on the Star Wars films. Burtt hit the guy-wire of an AM radio transmitter tower with a hammer, like in Ran, color-coding and an onscreen sense of direction of blaster fire are used to depict opposing forces. In the Star Wars original trilogy, rebels employed red blaster fire and often attacked from the left, while the Empire employed green blaster fire and attacked from the right. In Star Wars, Episode II – Attack of the Clones, the film of the prequel trilogy, the color. In that film, the Republic employed green and blue fire and attacked from the right, while the villains employed red blaster fire. The effects of a blaster on a target were portrayed more or less the same in every part of the Star Wars series. Since blaster bolts consist of light or particle based energy, the bolts would burn through the flesh of a target, with some even exploding against their target, the latter effect was usually from a blaster with greater size. Blasters have also shown to utilize plasma bolts as ammunition. As of The Force Awakens, these bolts can rupture and damage flesh with little to no burning, causing bleeding injuries, for example, on Jakku, Poe Dameron shoots a Stormtrooper with a blaster, which causes heavy bleeding resulting in the troopers death. In many modern showings of blaster fights, someone hit by a blaster has cinders, additionally, some blaster bolt hits cause a flash of bright light on the target. In Attack of the Clones, Geonosians were shown to have sonic or concussive blasters and cannons that could crush, disruptor weapons also exist, but as powerful blasters capable of disintegrating a target by breaking down molecular bonds in the target. The inner workings of blasters essentially create particle beams to inflict damage, when the trigger is pulled, the blaster chambers a small volume of the fictional Tibanna gas into a gas conversion enabler
23.
Lightsaber
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A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured in the Star Wars universe. A typical lightsaber usually consists of a metal hilt that projects a brightly lit energy blade, the lightsaber is the signature weapon of the Jedi Order and their Sith counterparts, both of whom can use them for close combat, or to deflect blaster bolts. Its distinct appearance was created using rotoscoping for the original films, the lightsaber first appeared in the original 1977 film A New Hope and has since appeared in every Star Wars movie. In 2008, a survey of approximately 2,000 film fans found it to be the most popular weapon in film history, in its most prominent showing, the lightsabers energy blade can cut, burn, and melt through most substances with little resistance. It leaves cauterized wounds in flesh, but can be deflected by another lightsaber blade, the blade has even been used as a tool to weld metal substances. Other times, the lightsaber has been shown to cause bleeding wounds in the flesh, some exotic saber-proof materials have been introduced in the Expanded Universe. An active lightsaber gives off a distinctive hum, which rises in pitch, bringing the blade into contact with another lightsabers blade produces a loud crackle. There are several precedents in science fiction for a sword of pure energy that can cut through anything, notably, Edmond Hamiltons story Kaldar. It was reprinted in one of Donald A, isaac Asimovs Lucky Starr series, The force-blade is a short shaft of stainless steel which can project a force field that can cut through anything, making it the most vicious weapon in the galaxy. Asimovs force-blade expands on his invention of a penknife with a force-field blade. Gordon R. Larry Nivens Ringworld, Louis Wu uses his flashlight laser as a sword of indefinite length, M. John Harrisons The Pastel City, the energy baan are used by the Methven, an order of knights sworn to protect their empire. For the original Star Wars film, the film prop hilts were constructed by John Stears from old press camera flash battery packs, the full sized sword props were designed to appear ignited onscreen, by later creating an in-camera glowing effect in post-production. The blade is a rod which was coated with a Scotchlite retroreflector array. A lamp was positioned to the side of the taking camera, set Decorator Roger Christian found the handles for the Graflex Flash Gun in a photography shop in Great Marlborough Street, in Londons West End. He then added cabinet T-track to the handles, securely attaching them with cyanoacrylate glue, adding a few greebles, Christian managed to hand-make the first prototype of a lightsaber prop for Luke before production began. George Lucas decided he wanted to add a clip to the handle, due to lack of preparation time, Christians prototype and a second spare were used for the shooting in Tunisia, where Star Wars filming began. It was discovered, however, that the effect was greatly dependent on the rods orientation to the camera. Because of this, the glow would be added in post-production through rotoscoping, korean animator Nelson Shin, who was working for an American company at the time, was asked by his manager if he could animate the lightsaber in the live action scenes of a film
24.
Avatar (computing)
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In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the users alter ego or character. An icon or figure representing a person in a video game, Internet forum. It may take either a form, as in games or virtual worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums. Avatar images have also referred to as picons in the past. It can also refer to a text found on early systems such as MUDs. The term avatar can also refer to the personality connected with the name, or handle. Common avatars may be Internet memes, the word avatar originates in Hinduism, where it stands for the descent of a deity in a terrestrial form. The earliest use of the avatar in a computer game was the 1979 PLATO role-playing game Avatar. The use of the avatar for the on-screen representation of the user was coined in 1985 by Richard Garriott for the computer game Ultima IV. In this game, Garriott desired the players character to be his earth self manifested into the virtual world, Garriott did this because he wanted the real player to be responsible for the characters in game actions due to the ethical parables he designed into the story. Only if you were playing yourself Garriott felt, could you be judged based on your characters actions, the term avatar was also used in 1986 by Chip Morningstar in Lucasfilms online role-playing game Habitat. Another early use of the term was in the pen and paper role-playing game Shadowrun, in Norman Spinrads novel Songs from the Stars, the term avatar is used in a description of a computer generated virtual experience. In the story, humans receive messages from an alien galactic network that wishes to share knowledge, the humans build a galactic receiver that describes itself, The galactic receiver is programmed to derive species specific full sensory input data from standard galactic meaning code equations. By controlling your sensorium input along species specific parameters galactic songs astral back-project you into approximation of total involvement in artistically recreated broadcast realities, the use of avatar to mean online virtual bodies was popularised by Neal Stephenson in his cyberpunk novel Snow Crash. In Snow Crash, the avatar was used to describe the virtual simulation of the human form in the Metaverse. Some forums allow the user to upload an image that may have been designed by the user or acquired from elsewhere. Other forums allow the user to select an avatar from a preset list or use an algorithm to extract one from the users homepage. Some avatars are animated, consisting of a sequence of images played repeatedly
25.
Luke Skywalker
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Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. The character, portrayed by Mark Hamill, is an important figure in the Rebel Alliances struggle against the Galactic Empire. The now non-canon Star Wars expanded universe depicts him as a powerful Jedi Master, husband of Mara Jade, in 2015, the character was selected by Empire magazine as the 50th greatest movie character of all time. On their list of the 100 Greatest Fictional Characters, Fandomania. com ranked the character at number 14, Luke Skywalker was initially called Anakin Starkiller, and went through multiple design changes. The character was at one point designed as a 60-year-old grizzled war hero, later as a Jedi Master, the last name Starkiller remained for the first few months of production, Hamill on-camera using the name Luke Starkiller the sole time he referred to himself during filming. Starkiller was dropped due to what Lucas called unpleasant connotations, after Hamill was involved in a car accident, the Wampa attack at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back was written in to explain his facial injuries. An alternative ending pitched by George Lucas for Return of the Jedi was Luke assuming his fathers role as Darth Vader after the latters death, though Lawrence Kasdan favored the idea, Lucas ultimately declined, since the films were made for children. Another conclusion to the featured the character disappearing into the wilderness akin to Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns. During the filming of the original Star Wars trilogy, George Lucas informed Hamill that he would be needed to reprise the role when he was middle aged, Lucas further explained that his role as Luke would be handing Excalibur to the next generation. Hamill had no reaction at the time, as he thought of making Star Wars films decades in the future as an abstract concept, Hamill learned of the sequel trilogy over the summer of 2012 at a Star Wars celebration during lunch where Lucas told him one was in development. Hamill recalled shaving his beard to portray The Trickster in The Flash, Hamill attended meetings for script readings, and helped conceal Lukes role in the film, instead of dialogue, he read stage directions. Abrams said it allowed him to remain involved and that his reading helped make an experience for everyone. In the prequel film, Star Wars, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Luke is born to Senator Padmé Amidala along with his twin sister, Luke Skywalker lives on a moisture farm on Tatooine with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Luke takes his first steps toward his destiny when he buys the droids C-3PO, when R2-D2 goes missing, Luke goes out to find him and encounters Obi-Wan Kenobi, an old hermit. Luke discovers that R2-D2 contains a message for Obi-Wan from Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan beseeching him to help her defeat the Galactic Empire, Obi-Wan says that he and Lukes father were once Jedi Knights, and that his father was murdered by a traitorous Jedi named Darth Vader. Obi-Wan presents Luke with his fathers lightsaber and offers to him to Alderaan and train him in the ways of the Force. Luke changes his mind when he returns home to find that Imperial stormtroopers have killed his aunt, Obi-Wan deactivates the tractor beam and he later sacrifices his life in a duel with Vader so that Luke and his friends can board the Falcon and escape. During the films battle scene, Luke joins the Rebel Alliance in attacking the Death Star
26.
Darth Vader
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Darth Vader, also known by his birth name Anakin Skywalker, is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. The character was created by George Lucas and has been portrayed by numerous actors and his appearances span the first six Star Wars films, as well as Rogue One, and his character is heavily referenced in Star Wars, The Force Awakens. He is also an important character in the Star Wars expanded universe of television series, video games, novels, literature and comic books. Originally a Jedi prophesied to bring balance to the Force, he falls to the side of the Force and serves the evil Galactic Empire at the right hand of his Sith master. He is also the father of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa, grandfather of Kylo Ren, Darth Vader has become one of the most iconic villains in popular culture, and has been listed among the greatest villains and fictional characters ever. The American Film Institute listed him as the third greatest movie villain in history on 100 Years. 100 Heroes and Villains, behind Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates, however, other critics consider him a tragic hero, citing his original motivations for the greater good before his fall to the dark side. After the success of the original Star Wars, series creator George Lucas hired science fiction author Leigh Brackett to write the sequel with him and they held story conferences and, by late November 1977, Lucas had produced a handwritten treatment. The treatment is similar to the film, except that Vader does not reveal he is Lukes father. In the first draft that Brackett would write from this, Lukes father appears as a ghost to instruct Luke, Lucas was disappointed with the script, but Brackett died of cancer before he could discuss it with her. With no writer available, Lucas had to write the next draft himself, in this draft, he made use of a new plot twist, Vader claiming to be Lukes father. According to Lucas, he found this draft enjoyable to write, the new plot element of Lukes parentage had drastic effects on the series. Anakin battled Kenobi on the site of a volcano and was badly wounded, meanwhile, Kenobi hid Luke on Tatooine while the Galactic Republic became the tyrannical Galactic Empire and Vader systematically hunted down and killed the Jedi. This change in character would provide a springboard to the Tragedy of Darth Vader storyline that underlies the prequel trilogy, after deciding to create the prequel trilogy, Lucas indicated the series would be a tragic one depicting Anakins fall to the dark side. He also saw that the prequels could form the beginning of one story that started with Anakins childhood. This was the step towards turning the film series into a saga. For the first prequel, Star Wars, Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Movie trailers focused on Anakin and a one-sheet poster showing him casting Vaders shadow informed otherwise unknowing audiences of the characters eventual fate. The movie ultimately achieved a goal of introducing audiences to Anakin
27.
Boba Fett
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Boba Fett is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. In The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, he is a bounty hunter hired by Darth Vader and he was also added briefly to the original film Star Wars when the film was digitally remastered. Star Wars, Episode II – Attack of the Clones establishes his origin as a clone of the bounty hunter Jango Fett raised as his son. His aura of danger and mystery has created a following for the character. Boba Fett first appeared at the September 20,1978, San Anselmo Country Fair parade and he also appears in Marvel Comics Star Wars newspaper strip. Bobas first canon appearance was in The Empire Strikes Back as the major villain behind Darth Vader. Fett tracks the Millennium Falcon to Cloud City, where Vader captures its passengers and tortures its captain, wanting to collect a bounty on Solo, Fett confronts Vader about whether Solo will survive carbon freeze. Vader promises that the Empire will compensate Fett if Solo dies, after Solo is determined to be alive, in the digitally remastered Special Edition version of the original Star Wars, Boba Fett briefly appears outside the Millennium Falcon while Jabba confronts Han Solo. The 2002 film Star Wars, Episode II – Attack of the Clones revealed that Boba Fett is an unaltered child clone whom Jango Fett raises as his son, Boba helps Jango escape from Obi-Wan Kenobi, but later witnesses Jangos decapitation by Mace Windu. Boba Fett also appears in the CGI animated series Star Wars, Boba is featured during the second-season finale, and later the fourth season. In the 2017 novel Star Wars, Aftermath, Empires End, in November 2016, Disney announced that the contract with Josh Trank was terminated due to Josh Tranks behavior on the set of Fantastic Four. It was reported that the film was still in stage of development at Lucasfilm with the film being filmed in London, Boba appears extensively in the non-Star Wars canonical Star Wars Legends expanded universe of novels, comic books, and video games. The young adult Fett book series released after Clones depicts Fett taking his fathers ship, some Expanded Universe stories released before Attack of the Clones depict other accounts of Fetts origins. These stories include him being a stormtrooper who killed his commanding officer, a leader of the fabled Mandalorian warriors, and Jaster Mereel, karen Traviss novel Bloodlines, published four years after Clones, states that Fett seeded some of these false backstories himself. Various video games and books depict Fetts work as a bounty hunter, for which he charges famously expensive fees and that he undertakes only when the mission meets his harsh sense of justice. K. W. Jeters Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy depicts Fett as more communicative than in the films because the books plots require Fett to show an ability to convince people as well as kill them. Works such as Dark Horse Comics Dark Empire series describe Fett escaping from the Sarlacc and he would have occasional run-ins with Han Solo and his family over the years, before fighting against the Yuuzhan Vong and becoming the leader of the Mandalorians. In the Legacy of the Force series, Jaina Solo asks Fett to train her to help her defeat her corrupted brother and ends up helping fight against Jacens troops
28.
Tatooine
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Tatooine orbits two main sequence binary stars and it has three moons, Ghomrassen, Guermessa and Chenini. Its G-type twin stars heat its surface, making water and shade hard to come by, the planets lack of resources, brutal heat, and decentralized population have made governing the planet nearly impossible. The planet fell into the clutches of the Hutts, a clan of gangsters, since Tatooine was beyond the reach of the Galactic Republic, the Hutts presided over the lawless planet with little outside interference. When the Galactic Empire subsumed the Old Republic, the new regime established only a token presence on Tatooine, Jabba remained the assumed ruler of Tatooine until his death in the Battle of Carkoon. Its name is derived from a city in Tunisia, Tataouine near to where various scenes were filmed, most were planted by an exiled Ithorian. Bestine, the capital of Tatooine, is situated far west of Mos Eisley near the south-western Dune Sea and it was also one of the earliest settlements on the planet but never thrived economically, sharing the same problems as many other settlements on the dry world. The Galactic Empire eventually established its base of operations here and placed its regional governor in the citys Main Hall and it is featured prominently in Star Wars, Galaxies. The Dune Sea is a sandy desert, near the cities of Anchorhead, Mos Eisley. It is inhabited solely by Tusken Raiders, Jawas, wraids, dewbacks, moisture farmers often have many moisture vaporators located in the Dune Sea to collect the scarce water vapor from the air. The Great Pit of Carkoon is located within the Dune Sea and it is a large hollow in the desert sand created by the Sarlacc, a large omnivorous creature that uses the pit to capture prey. The Great Pit of Carkoon is the site of a skirmish that takes place between Luke Skywalker and the forces of Jabba the Hutt, the Hutt crime lord and most of his minions were killed during the battle. Jabbas Palace is located in the known as the Dune Sea and was home to the gangster high boss and crime lord. It is introduced as the setting of the beginning of Return of the Jedi. Jabbas palace is also the setting in Tales From Jabbas Palace, edited by Kevin J.0 and Lego Star Wars III. The palace was originally a monastery built by the mysterious Bomarr monks, Jabbas Palace is very much infamous for bounty hunters, mercenaries, rogues, thieves, and many other known assassins to claim rewards. The Jundland Wastes occupy most of Tatooines temperate area, a region known for its numerous cliffs. Obi-Wan Kenobi lived in a dwelling on the edge of the Jundland Wastes after he took the infant Luke Skywalker to live on a moisture farm with relatives to hide the boy from Darth Vader. This area is also a level in the video games LEGO Star Wars II, The Original Trilogy, LEGO Star Wars, The Complete Saga and Star Wars, Luke Skywalker spent his first nineteen years living with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru on a moisture farm
29.
Star Wars (film)
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Star Wars is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. The first installment in the Star Wars film series, it stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, and Peter Mayhew co-star in supporting roles. The plot focuses on the Rebel Alliance, led by Princess Leia, and its attempt to destroy the Galactic Empires space station and this conflict disrupts the isolated life of farmhand Luke Skywalker, who inadvertently acquires a pair of droids that possess stolen architectural plans for the Death Star. Star Wars was released theatrically in the United States on May 25,1977 and it earned $461 million in the U. S. and $314 million overseas, totaling $775 million. It surpassed Jaws to become the film of all time until the release of E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial. When adjusted for inflation, Star Wars is the film in North America. It received ten Academy Award nominations, winning seven and it was among the first films to be selected as part of the U. S. Library of Congress National Film Registry as being culturally, historically, at the time, it was the most recent film on the registry and the only one chosen from the 1970s. Its soundtrack was added to the U. S. National Recording Registry in 2004, today, it is often regarded as one of the best films of all time, as well as one of the most important films in the history of motion pictures. It launched an industry of tie-in products, including TV series spinoffs, novels, comic books, and video games, the films success led to two critically and commercially successful sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. A prequel trilogy was released between 1999 and 2005, followed by a trilogy beginning in 2015. In 2016, Rogue One was released as a prequel to the original Star Wars film. The galaxy is in the midst of a civil war, spies for the Rebel Alliance have stolen plans to the Galactic Empires Death Star, a heavily armed space station capable of destroying an entire planet. Rebel leader Princess Leia has the plans, but her ship is captured by Imperial forces under the command of the evil Darth Vader, before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in the memory of an astromech droid, R2-D2, along with a holographic recording. R2-D2 flees to the surface of the desert planet Tatooine with C-3PO, the droids are captured by Jawa traders, who sell them to moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars and their nephew Luke Skywalker. While cleaning R2-D2, Luke accidentally triggers part of Leias message, the next morning, Luke finds R2-D2 searching for Obi-Wan, and meets Ben Kenobi, an old hermit who lives in the hills and reveals himself to be Obi-Wan. Contrary to his uncles statements, Luke learns that his father, Anakin, Obi-Wan tells Luke that Vader was his former pupil who turned to the dark side of the Force and killed Anakin. Obi-Wan then presents to Luke his fathers weapon – a lightsaber, Obi-Wan views Leias complete message, in which she begs him to take the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan and give them to her father for analysis
30.
Bespin
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Bespin is a fictional planet, a gas giant in Star Wars films and books. The planet was first seen in the 1980 feature film The Empire Strikes Back, since its introduction, Bespin has gained more specific characteristics in the Star Wars expanded universe. In The Empire Strikes Back, Bespins floating city Cloud City hovers suspended by an anti-gravity pod and it is home to several million individuals, including humans and Ugnaughts. The planet is a gas giant that is about 73,000 miles in diameter, like most gas giants, it has a solid core that consists of metal followed by layers of metallic gases. Many of the layers of gas are poisonous, and the pressure and temperature are far above what a human could tolerate, but from approximately 93 to 112 mi down from outer space, there is a habitable layer known as the Bespin Life Zone. This layer has an atmosphere with the temperature and pressure that makes it ideal for human life. It is in this layer that Cloud City is located, according to fictional smuggler Han Solo, his starship the Millennium Falcon barely made it there when travelling from another star system, he had to use the ships hyperdrive to complete the journey. Lando Calrissian, the owner of the Millennium Falcon, administered Cloud City. During the Galactic Civil War, Darth Vader captured Cloud City after blackmailing Calrissian into turning over Han Solo, but after the Battle of Endor the planet and cloud city was liberated from the empire by the New Republic. List of Star Wars planets and moons Bespin in the StarWars. com Databank Cloud City in the StarWars. com Databank Bespin on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki
31.
The Empire Strikes Back
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The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay, with George Lucas writing the films story, the film is set three years after Star Wars. The Galactic Empire, under the leadership of the villainous Darth Vader and the Emperor, is in pursuit of Luke Skywalker, while Vader chases a small band of Lukes friends—Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, and others—across the galaxy, Luke studies the Force under Jedi Master Yoda. When Vader captures Lukes friends, Luke must decide whether to complete his training and become a full Jedi Knight or to confront Vader, following a difficult production, The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21,1980. The film ranks #3 on Empires 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time and it became the highest-grossing film of 1980 and, to date, has earned more than $538 million worldwide from its original run and several re-releases. When adjusted for inflation, it is the sequel of all time. The film was followed by a sequel, titled Return of the Jedi, in 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance has been driven from their base on Yavin IV by the Galactic Empire. The Rebels, led by Princess Leia, have set up their new base on the ice planet Hoth, the Imperial fleet, led by Darth Vader, continues to hunt for the Rebels’ new base by dispatching probe droids across the galaxy. While investigating a meteor strike, Luke Skywalker is injured and captured by a wampa. He manages to escape from its cave with his lightsaber, the ghost of his late mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, instructs him to go to the Dagobah system to train under Jedi Master Yoda. He is found by Han Solo, who kills his tauntaun, Han and Luke make it through the night and are rescued by a search party. On patrol, Han and Chewbacca discover the meteor Luke had planned to investigate is actually a probe droid, the Empire launches a large-scale attack, using AT-AT Walkers to capture the base. Despite heavy resistance, the Walkers destroy the shield generator. Han and Leia escape on the Millennium Falcon with C-3PO and Chewbacca and they hide in an asteroid field, where Han and Leia grow closer, and eventually, kiss. Vader summons bounty hunters, including the notorious Boba Fett, to assist in finding the Falcon, Luke, meanwhile, escapes with R2-D2 in his X-wing fighter and crash-lands on the swamp planet Dagobah. He meets a creature who is revealed to be Yoda, after conferring with Obi-Wans spirit. Yoda trains Luke as a Jedi and raises his sunken ship from the swamp with the power of the Force, after evading the Empire, Han sets a course for Cloud City, a floating colony in the skies of the gas giant planet Bespin
32.
Palpatine
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Sheev Palpatine is a fictional character of the Star Wars franchise, mainly portrayed by Ian McDiarmid. In the original trilogy, he is depicted as the aged, pale-faced and cloaked Emperor of the Galactic Empire, as Sidious, he instigates the Clone Wars, nearly destroys the Jedi, and transforms the Republic into the Empire. He also manipulates Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker into turning to the dark side, Palpatines reign is brought to an end when Vader kills him to save his son, Luke Skywalker. The Emperor is briefly mentioned in the original Star Wars, the first film in the original trilogy, grand Moff Tarkin explains to his fellow Imperials that the Emperor has dissolved the Senate. The Emperor first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back and he appears in hologram form to address Darth Vader, his Sith apprentice. He tells Vader that Luke Skywalker is becoming a threat to the Empire. Vader convinces him that Luke would be an asset if turned to the dark side. In 1983s Return of the Jedi, the Emperor appears in person to oversee the last stages of the second Death Stars construction and he assures Darth Vader that they will together turn Luke, now revealed to be Vaders son, to the dark side. Unknown to Vader, the Emperor plans to replace his apprentice with Luke, when Vader brings Luke before his master, the Emperor tempts Luke to join the dark side by appealing to the young Jedis fear for his friends, whom he has lured into a trap. This leads to a duel in which Luke defeats and nearly kills Vader. The Emperor tells Luke to kill Vader and take his place, enraged, the Emperor attacks Luke with Force lightning. Moved by his sons cries for help, Vader throws the Emperor into the Death Stars reactor shaft, as Sidious, he influences the corrupt Trade Federation to blockade and invade Naboo. Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo flees to the planet Coruscant to receive counsel from Palpatine, after a plea for help from the senate results in bureaucratic delays, Palpatine persuades the queen to make a motion to have Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum removed from office. When Padmé attempts to liberate Naboo, Sidious sends his Sith apprentice Darth Maul there to capture her, the invasion is eventually thwarted and Maul is defeated in a lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Palpatine uses the crisis to be elected the new Chancellor of the Republic and he then returns to Naboo, where he befriends the young Anakin Skywalker, telling him that, We will watch your career with great interest. In the 2002 sequel Star Wars, Episode II – Attack of the Clones, since the Separatists are secretly building a battle droid army, Palpatine uses the situation to have himself granted emergency powers. Palpatine feigns reluctance to accept this authority, promising to return it to the Senate once the crisis has ended and his first act is to allow the creation of a clone army to counter the Separatist threat, this results in the opening salvo of the Clone Wars. With the galaxy now at war as Sidious planned, Dooku brings him the plans for a new superweapon
33.
Death Star
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The Death Star refers to any of several fictional mobile space stations and galactic superweapons appearing in the Star Wars science-fiction franchise created by George Lucas. The first Death Star was stated to be over 100 km in diameter with a volume of 7,240,000 cubic kilometers and it was crewed by an estimated 1.7 million military personnel and 400,000 droids. Its superweapon delivered enough energies on an equivalent to all the energy released by the Sun in an entire week. The second Death Star was significantly larger and technologically advanced than its predecessor. Both versions of these dwarf planet-sized fortresses were designed for power projection capabilities. George Lucas gave the task of designing a Death Star to concept artist and spaceship modeler Colin Cantwell. As it would have taken a week of work just to fill and sand and refill this depression, Lucas liked the idea, and the Death Star model was created by John Stears. The buzzing sound counting down to the Death Star firing its superlaser comes from the Flash Gordon serials, portraying an incomplete yet powerful space station posed a problem for Industrial Light & Magics modelmakers for Return of the Jedi. Only the front side of the 137-centimeter model was completed, both Death Stars were depicted by a combination of complete and sectional models and matte paintings. The Death Star explosions featured in the edition of A New Hope and in Return of the Jedi are rendered with a Praxis effect. These are depictions of the Death Star and other weapons of mass destruction within the Star Wars canon. The original Death Stars completed form appears in Star Wars, the film opens with Princess Leia transporting the stations schematics to the Rebel Alliance to aid them in destroying the Death Star. Later, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO, and R2-D2 are pulled aboard the station by a tractor beam, as they make their escape, Obi-Wan dies fighting Darth Vader, enabling the others to flee the station. Later, Luke returns as part of a force to attack its only weak point. The Death Star plans are a central plot-point in the 2016 film Rogue One, the anthology film Rogue One, focuses on a band of Rebels stealing the plans for the first Death Star prior to the events of A New Hope. The Death Star project was overseen by Orson Krennic, the Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial Military, Grand Moff Tarkin assumes control over the Death Star while Krennic investigates security breaches in the design project. It is subsequently revealed that Galen discreetly sabotaged the design by building a vulnerability into the reactor and this is the same vulnerability that Luke Skywalker takes advantage of during the events of A New Hope. After the Death Star plans are stolen from the Scarif vault Tarkin fires the Death Star laser on the base killing Krennic as well as Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor
34.
Return of the Jedi
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This list of characters from the Star Wars franchise contains only those which are considered part of the official Star Wars canon. C-3PO and R2-D2 are the characters to appear in all films to date
35.
Capture the flag
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Capture the Flag requires a playing field of some sort. Whether indoor or outdoor, the field is divided into two clearly designated halves, known as territories, players form two teams, one for each territory. Each side has a flag which is most often a piece of fabric and it is also suggested that teams wear dark colors at night to make it more difficult for their opponents to see them. If one team has the teams flag on their territory they may be tagged because they have the opposing teams flag. The objective of the game is for players to make their way into the teams territory, grab the flag. The flag is defended mainly by tagging opposing players who attempt to take it, within their own territory players are safe, meaning that they cannot be tagged by opposing players. Once they cross into the teams territory they are vulnerable. The flags are placed in a visibly obvious location at the rear of a teams territory. In a more difficult version, the flag is hidden in a place where it can only be seen from one angle and it also might have some challenge involved. For example, the flag could be hidden in the leaves up in a tree. Different versions of Capture the Flag have different rules, both for handling the flag and for what happens to tagged players. A player who is tagged may be eliminated from the game entirely, be forced to join the team, sent back to their own territory. The jail is an area of the groups territory which exists for holding tagged players and is normally towards the back of the groups territory. While tagged players may be confined to jail for a limited, predetermined time, in this version, players who are tagged remain in jail indefinitely. However, players from their own team may free them from jail by means of a jailbreak, jailbreaks are accomplished by a player running from their own territory into the enemys jail. Such action may, depending on the rules, free all jailed players or simply those who are touched by the one performing the jailbreak. In general freed players are obligated to return directly to their own territory before attempting offensive action, while returning to their own side, freed players usually, although not always, acquire free walk-backs, in which they are safe from tagging until they reach their home territory. The player performing the jail break, on the hand, is neither safe
36.
Jedi
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The Jedi /ˈdʒɛˌdaɪ/ are the main protagonists in the Star Wars universe. They are depicted as an ancient monastic and academic meritocratic organization whose origin dates back to c.25,000 BBY. The Jedi Order mostly consists of polymaths, teachers, philosophers, scientists, engineers, physicians, diplomats and warriors, by serving others, the Jedi give of themselves through acts of charity, citizenship, and volunteerism. A Jedis ideology and strict way of life as a challenge to live up to is a recurring theme in the Star Wars universe. Their traditional weapon is the lightsaber, a device which generates a blade-like plasma controlled by a crystal, the fictional organization has inspired a real-world new religious movement, Jediism. As depicted in the canon, the Jedi study and utilize the Force, in order to help, like their counterparts, the Sith, their main weapon is the lightsaber. By training the mind and the body the Jedi seek to improve themselves by gaining unfettered access to the Force while also seeking to improve those individuals, the film Rogue One suggests that it relates to the planet Jedha, source of the kyber crystals used in lightsabers. George Lucas acknowledged Jedi concepts have been inspired by many sources, the work of the mythologist Joseph Campbell, especially his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, directly influenced Lucas, and was what drove him to create the modern myth of Star Wars. The Lost Twenty was the given to a group of Jedi Masters—numbering twenty in total—who left the Jedi Order throughout its history. The first twelve of these ‘Lost Twenty’ left the Jedi Order before the Third Great Schism, these twelve Masters later became Dark Jedi who eventually founded the first Sith Empire. In the years preceding the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Dooku left the Jedi Order as a result of differences with his fellow Jedi, to commemorate these former Jedi, memorial statue busts were displayed at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. The prequel films depict the Jedi in their prime, dealing with the presence of the dark side of the Force and determined to fight their mortal enemies. Once corrupted, Vader helps Palpatine hunt down and destroy all of the Jedi, leaving very few left, such as Jedi Masters Yoda. The first person to be issued this order was Clone Commander Cody, Darth Vader led Operation, Knightfall against the Jedi Temple with the 501st Legion while the rest of the clone army around the galaxy carried out Order 66. Palpatine convinced the people of the Republic that Jedi were corrupted warmongers responsible for prolonging the Clone Wars, Darth Vader continued to hunt and execute surviving Jedi by the thousands during the first 10 years of the Empires history. The Jedi are first introduced in the 1977 motion picture Star Wars as an order of monks who serve as the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy. Obi-Wan Kenobi explains that the Galactic Empire had all but exterminated the Jedi some twenty years before the events of the film, Darth Vader is also established as the Jedis main enemy. By the end of the film, Luke is on the path to becoming a Jedi, the third film in the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi, ends with Luke redeeming Vader and helping to destroy the Empire, thus fulfilling his destiny as a Jedi
