Density Archives

AppWizard

June 8, 2025

Rust’s recently added rainforest is so dense the developers changed how resources spawn because players couldn’t find them: ‘The jungle was a bit too good at being a jungle’

The latest update to Rust has introduced a new rainforest biome that features dense vegetation and presents unique gameplay challenges, including predators like crocodiles and tigers. Facepunch Studios has warned players about the dangers in the jungle, emphasizing the need for vigilance due to potential ambushes. Players have found resource gathering more difficult due to the jungle's density. This update is part of a series of enhancements, including real-time food cooking, craftable pies, bee grenades, and a primitive mode with pre-industrial tools.

AppWizard

June 5, 2025

New flagship smartphone makes PC gaming on mobile smoother than ever

RedMagic is set to launch its flagship gaming phone, the RedMagic 10S Pro, in global markets after its unveiling in China. The device features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Version chipset and a dedicated RedCore R3 Pro gaming chip, allowing for enhanced gaming performance with up to 120FPS. It includes an advanced ICE-X cooling system with Liquid Metal 2.0 technology, which improves thermal management. The phone has a 6.85-inch BOE custom AMOLED 1.5K display with a 144Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, alongside a 7,050 mAh battery supporting 80W wired charging. The camera system consists of a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and a 2-megapixel camera, plus a 16-megapixel front camera. Pricing for the RedMagic 10S Pro starts at €649 for the 12/256GB model and goes up to €999 for the 24GB/1TB model. Pre-orders will be available from June 12 to 17, 2025, with general sales starting on June 18. The phone will be available in various regions, including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, GCC countries, Latin America, and the Middle East, with some countries receiving it at a later date.

AppWizard

June 4, 2025

How to build a creeper farm in Minecraft | Esports News

In Minecraft, players can build a Creeper farm to obtain a reliable source of gunpowder, which is essential for crafting TNT, fireworks, and splash potions. To construct an efficient Creeper farm, players need to gather materials such as building blocks, wooden trapdoors, carpet, cat mobs, slabs, campfires or magma blocks, chests, and hoppers. The construction steps include: 1. Choosing a location elevated above sea level or over the ocean to reduce other mob spawns. 2. Creating a flat spawning platform with solid blocks, attaching trapdoors to restrict spawns to creepers, and placing carpets to prevent spider spawns. 3. Positioning domesticated cats at the center of each platform to scare creepers into the trap zone. 4. Installing campfires or magma blocks at the base to eliminate creepers and using hoppers to collect loot. 5. Adding multiple layers of platforms to increase spawn rates and using trapdoors to guide creepers off the platforms. 6. Illuminating or slabbing nearby caves to prevent unwanted mob spawns. With careful planning and execution, players can establish a self-sustaining farm for a steady supply of gunpowder.

AppWizard

May 26, 2025

This new Android launcher is my new must-have app for foldable phones

Foldable smartphones often face software limitations, particularly with launchers, leading users to choose between restrictive first-party options and inadequate third-party alternatives. Octopi Launcher has emerged as a promising solution, recently launching in beta on the Play Store. It offers unique configurations tailored to both the smaller cover screen and the larger display of foldable devices, allowing users to customize layouts for different orientations and purposes. Users can create up to four distinct layouts, with options for portrait and landscape modes, and can easily set up new layouts with intuitive prompts. Octopi excels in widget management, allowing independent sizing of widgets and app icons without compromising icon size. It supports overlapping and stacked widgets, enhancing visual appeal. The app drawer offers customizable options, including traditional icon shapes or tiles that display app names. While Octopi is impressive, it is still in development, with limitations in its gesture library and basic search functionality. It is best suited for foldable phones, although it can still benefit traditional devices. Overall, Octopi Launcher is tailored for heavy customizers and shows promise for future updates.

AppWizard

May 14, 2025

Minecraft snapshot 25w20a explained: New features and updates – The Times of India

Minecraft snapshot 25w20a introduces the ability to craft saddles using three pieces of leather and one iron ingot. It also features a new music disc titled “Tears,” composed by Amos Roddy, along with five ambient tracks for various biomes. Players can now use shears to remove saddles, horse armor, harnesses, and carpets from animals, but not if the mob has a rider or if the player is crouching. Saddles will no longer be found as loot in structures, replaced by leather. Visual updates include fog effects on 3D HUD elements and reduced fog density during thunderstorms and rain. Additionally, players using Minecraft Realms will see new region indicators on the loading screen.

Winsage

May 13, 2025

Microsoft shows off the cool Windows Start concepts we never got

Microsoft's design team explored various concepts for the Windows 11 Start menu that were not included in the final product. These concepts aimed to enhance user experience by integrating notifications and functionalities from different Windows features. Key principles guiding the designs included easy access to the app library, personal customization, maximizing utility, and maintaining familiar iconography. The team engaged with 300 Windows 11 enthusiasts and used eye-tracking heat maps for feedback. One concept featured a slide-out phone dashboard for users of the Phone Link feature, restructuring recommended apps and documents for creativity and productivity. Another concept resembled earlier Windows versions, offering an expandable list of apps and shortcuts. Some designs expanded the Start menu significantly, while one focused on app visibility and timely information like meeting reminders. None of these designs were implemented in the current version of Windows 11, with some considered cluttered or confusing. Third-party developers like Stardock Software are providing customization options through solutions like Start11.

AppWizard

May 4, 2025

Xbox Game Pass Just Quietly Added The Most Chill Way To Play God In A Classic City Builder

Anno 1800 is a city-building game by Ubisoft set in a Victorian-inspired industrial era, recently launched on Xbox Game Pass. Players colonize resource-rich islands, managing production chains and trade networks while balancing the needs of a growing populace. The console version maintains the depth of the original PC experience with a redesigned user interface that features clean menus and a radial menu system for easier navigation. The game offers a rewarding loop of expansion, optimization, and strategic planning, encouraging immersive gameplay with vibrant visuals and smooth performance. It is designed for players willing to invest time in its complexities, with a campaign mode providing a structured introduction for newcomers.

AppWizard

April 6, 2025

Dishonored and Prey’s director says ‘I could see myself working on Dishonored 3 right now’ but the chances of that happening is in the realms of ‘science fiction’

The original Dishonored is highly regarded by gamers, and Dishonored 2 is considered one of the best games ever made. However, a third installment has not been developed due to Dishonored 2's sales not meeting Bethesda's expectations. Arkane Lyon is currently working on a new title related to the Blade franchise, while Arkane Austin faced closure after Redfall's poor performance. Raphaël Colantonio, a key figure in the Dishonored series, initially preferred to explore new concepts but has become more open to the idea of Dishonored 3 after thirteen years. He mentioned that discussions about the game are still hypothetical and that multiple concepts for Dishonored 3 exist, although there are no concrete plans. After leaving Arkane, Colantonio founded WolfEye Studio and is developing an unnamed first-person action RPG that aims to maintain the immersive qualities of his previous work.

Tech Optimizer

April 2, 2025

Improve PostgreSQL performance using the pgstattuple extension

PostgreSQL is an open-source relational database management system known for its extensibility, which allows developers to enhance its capabilities through various extensions and plugins. The pgstattuple extension provides detailed statistics at the tuple level from PostgreSQL tables and indexes, revealing key metrics such as the number of live tuples, dead tuples, average length of live tuples, total free space, and percentages of free space and dead tuples. These metrics help database administrators identify potential health and performance issues, such as excessive table bloat or index fragmentation. Both Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS support the pgstattuple extension, which can be activated using the command CREATE EXTENSION pgstattuple;. Functions like pgstattuple(relation) and pgstatindex(index) can be used to analyze physical storage and index statistics. Bloat occurs when unused space is left behind after UPDATE and DELETE operations, and the autovacuum process in PostgreSQL automates the cleanup of dead tuples. However, if autovacuum fails, manual intervention may be necessary. Regular monitoring of bloat is essential for maintaining performance, and metrics from pgstattuple can help optimize autovacuum settings. The pg_cron extension can automate VACUUM operations to manage bloat proactively. Index bloat can also be detected using pgstatindex, and significantly bloated indexes can be rebuilt using REINDEX or pg_repack. Best practices for using pgstattuple include estimating bloat with check_postgres, analyzing physical storage, monitoring dead_tuple_percent, and avoiding interference on highly active tables.

AppWizard

March 26, 2025

Discord unveils brand-new overlay for PC, promises better game support and performance

Discord has released a significant update to its PC client and overlay, featuring a complete overhaul aimed at improving user experience. The overlay has been rebuilt for smoother interactions during gameplay, with a new rendering method that enhances performance and expands compatibility with a wider range of games. The desktop client now offers four themes (Light, Ash, Dark, and Onyx) and three UI density settings, along with resizable server channels and improved voice and video settings. A new widget-based overlay allows for customizable positioning of settings, and an action bar simplifies the management of voice and video controls. The update is being rolled out to PC users, and a restart of the app may be required to access the latest version.