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Crisis | 9 British Comics That You Should Read

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Crisis was a left leaning political British comic that was published by Fleetaway to see if politically aware comics could sell in the UK. It was initially science fiction based, and began with the story Third World War (which I will get to later) but later branched out into other genres and mediums.

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As I mentioned in my last entry, Garth Ennis wrote for Crisis, in particular he wrote the story True Faith which followed an angry widower in his campaign to destroy churches in order to get revenge on God. Due to the complaints that it received from Christian groups Fleetaway removed it from sale after only two months. The irony that a publisher that prided itself on being politically aware and actually about political topics caved in and censored its own comic should not be lost on anyone. What was even more humorous was that it was published in the United States, a far more Christian country than the UK, with no issue whatsoever.

blankPat Mills (creator of 2000 AD) wrote the aforementioned Third World War which launched in 1988 with the debut of Crisis. Third World War was interesting in that it dealt with a black female protagonist, which was not common in British comics; she was a rebel deserter in a future world war that had been caused by global corporations desperate attempts to gain natural resources.  Eve returns to a Britain which has become a racist, privatised police state. It’s not the best story that Crisis has to offer (I’m getting to that one shortly), and it’s Orwellian allegory of Margret Thatcher’s England is not a particularly new one (V for Vendetta used a similar allegory but more in depth), however it is a good starting point if you’re looking to collect old stories from Crisis.

As for what I think is Crisis’ best story? Well…

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We live in a world in which The New Adventures of Hitler exists.

Written by Grant Morrison this wonderfully titled series was a satire based on the claims of Hitler’s sister in law Bridget Dowling, that Adolf Hitler had lived with her and her family in Liverpool from 1912 – 1913. Of course this being quite a funny concept, Grant Morrison ran with it creating a comedy series, which proved to be more than a little controversial.

Some claimed Grant Morrison to be a Nazi for writing a comedy about Hitler, which is of course ludicrous, writing about a person doesn’t mean that you agree with that person… besides we’ve already established in my column that Grant Morrison is in fact the Devil himself, not a Nazi.

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Still the Devil, still looking into your soul.

What is perhaps most confusing is not just that people mistook Morrison for a Nazi, but people actually applied serious thought to a comic in which singer-songwriter-douche bag Morrissey lives in Hitler’s wardrobe:

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In all honesty my real fear is that I’ve peaked now that I’ve talked about The New Adventures of Hitler and that I won’t be able to get any better than that… I’ll have to find a way.

 

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Artificial Intelligence

Gaming models are created by Auctoria using generative AI

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Aleksander Caban, co-founder of Polish VR game developer Carbon Studio, noticed a major problem in modern game design several years ago. He manually created rocks, hills, paths, and other video game environment elements, which was time-consuming and laborious.

Caban created tech to automate the process.

In collaboration with Michal Bugała, Joanna Zając, Karolina Koszuta, and Błażej Szaflik, he founded Auctoria, an AI-powered platform for creating 3D game assets. Auctoria, from Gliwice, Poland, is in Startup Battlefield 200 at Disrupt 2023.

Auctoria was founded on a passion for limitless creativity, according to Zając in an email interview. It was designed to help game developers, but anyone can use it. Few advanced tools exist for professionals; most are for hobbyists and amateurs. We want to change that.”

Using generative AI, Auctoria creates various video game models. One feature generates basic 3D game levels with pathways, while another converts uploaded images and textures of walls, floors, and columns into 3D versions.

Like DALL-E 2 and Midjourney, Auctoria can generate assets from text prompts. Or they can submit a sketch, which the platform will try to turn into a digital model.

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All AI algorithms and training data for Auctoria were developed in-house, according to Zając.

She said “Auctoria is based 100% on our content, so we’re not dependent on any other provider.” It’s independent—Auctoria doesn’t use open source or external engines.

In the emerging market for AI game asset generation tools, Auctoria isn’t alone. The 3DFY, Scenario, Kaedim, Mirage, and Hypothetic startups create 3D models. Even Nvidia and Autodesk are entering the space with apps like Get3D, which converts images to 3D models, and ClipForge, which generates models from text descriptions.

Meta also tried tech to create 3D assets from prompts. In December, OpenAI released Point-E, an AI that synthesizes 3D models for 3D printing, game design, and animation.

Given the size of the opportunity, the race to market new solutions isn’t surprising. According to Proficient Market Insights, 3D models could be worth $3.57 billion by 2028.

According to Zając, Auctoria’s two-year R&D cycle has led to a more robust and comprehensive toolset than rivals.

“Currently, AI-based software is lacking for creating complete 3D world models,” Zając stated. “3D editors and plugins offer only a fraction of Auctoria’s capabilities. Our team started developing the tool two years ago, giving us a ready-to-use product.”

Auctoria, like all generative AI startups, must deal with AI-generated media legal issues. Not yet clear how AI-generated works can be copyrighted in the U.S.

However, the Auctoria team of seven employees and five co-founders is delaying answering those questions. Instead, they’re piloting the tooling with game development studios like Caban’s Carbon Studio.

Before releasing Auctoria in the coming months, the company hopes to raise $5 million to “speed up the process” of creating back-end cloud services to scale the platform.

Zając stated that the funding would reduce the computing time required for creating worlds or 3D models with Auctoria. Achieving a software-as-a-service model requires both infrastructure and user experience enhancements, such as a simple UI, excellent customer service, and effective marketing. We’ll keep our core team small, but we’ll hire more by year’s end.”

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Syphon Filter on PlayStation Plus Premium: Dark Mirror and Ape Academy 2 Have Awards

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Even though trophy support for older games on PS Plus Premium isn’t always great, you can always count on Sony’s first-party games to have it.If you like collecting these digital trinkets, you’re in luck, because today’s big PlayStation Plus update includes two classic games that can now be used to earn Trophies.

Each trophy list for Ape Academy 2 and Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror includes the platinum cherry on top. You can look at their respective listings here and here if you’re interested.

The list for Dark Mirror appears to be quite simple—you can basically earn them all by finishing the game. The trophies in Ape Academy 2 appear to be a little more complicated, requiring you to complete particular objectives in card battles and advance to specified rankings. Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem too difficult, so we’re looking at a couple of quite simple platinums.

Ridge Racer: Type 4 is this month’s other premium classic game; sadly, it does not offer trophies. But it makes up for it by being a complete banger.

However, will you be obtaining some of these trophies with a nostalgic flavor?

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Beautiful New Book Teaches About the Art of Horizon Forbidden West

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This year, Sony produced some truly outstanding work, releasing four high-profile games on the PS5 and PS4 (not to mention the numerous PC ports). The earliest of these, Horizon Forbidden West, arrived in February of 2022 and got the year off to a strong start. One of Aloy’s sophomore journey’s greatest strengths, among the many other things we like about it, is its excellent art direction. The Art of Horizon Forbidden West allows you to now delve deeply into the game’s visuals.

This coffee table book, which was published by Dark Horse Books, contains 200 pages of concept art and developer commentary. It provides an inside look at the process used to develop engaging characters and settings, and Forbidden West is certainly not lacking in either.

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There will be two editions of the book: standard and deluxe. Both are hardback books, with the deluxe edition having pages with metallic edges and a unique slipcase. These are now up for pre-order and will go on sale on April 25, 2023.

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