Yevhen Romanov

Manifold Garden is an indie first-person puzzle video game developed by American artist William Chyr. It was released on Windows, macOS, and iOS on October 18, 2019. The player must navigate an abstract series of structures that appear to repeat into infinity, while solving a progression of puzzles. Ports for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One were released on August 18, 2020. An upgraded version of the game was released for Xbox Series X and Series S as a launch title on November 10, 2020, and an upgraded PlayStation 5 version released on May 20, 2021.

Gameplay

In Manifold Garden, the game environment repeats itself such that players who fall from a platform fall into another instance of the same structure

The game takes place in a "universe with a different set of physical laws" where the player can manipulate gravity, being able to "turn walls into floors". The player must solve puzzles using the world's geometry in addition to devices within the architecture of the world. To aid the player, the world's tone takes on one of six colors depending on which direction they have manipulated gravity. Several facets of the game's world may only be interacted with when the gravity is oriented directly, with these objects sharing one of the six colors.

The game's worlds frequently appear to repeat into infinity into all directions. Because of this, many puzzles revolve around falling off a ledge from a lower part of a structure to land back on the top of the next version of that structure below. Later puzzles will involve growing trees and natural elements to bring life back to the "sterile" world.

Development

Creator William Chyr had a passion for large-scale artwork and was previously known for massive balloon sculptures. Seeking to change his work with sculptures, and finding other mediums cost-prohibitive, he decided to move to a video game with no space limitations. Work on the game started in November 2012. Further he wanted to make a puzzle game that he felt he could finish as a player, having learned that after playing through The Witness that there had been an entire section of puzzles he had missed there.

The game was originally known as Relativity, after the M.C. Escher print Relativity upon which it was based, before it was re-revealed as Manifold Garden. Chyr observed that some have called the game taking place in non-Euclidean geometry, but he asserts Manifold Garden uses "impossible geometry" in Euclidean space, employing a method of world wrapping in three-dimensional space to make the world appear infinite. This often required rendering more than 500 times the typical geometries that a 3D game engine would provide. The game engine still supports the use and rendering of non-Euclidean portals, with the player able to see through a portal into a different level, and with possible recursion if other portals are in view. Chyr attributes the capabilities of the engine to their graphics programmer Arthur Brussee.

A core part of Chyr's design for the game was to leave it absent of any explicit instructions, using an initial puzzle that required the player, in order to activate a button across a chasm, to jump into the chasm and land on the other side as a result of falling through the game's repeating geometries. His team early on had discovered that playtesters would often become confused in walking around the various levels, combined with the shifting changes in gravity. To help, they designed each outdoor level to appear unique so that players could immediately recognize the setting, and strategic use of windows and other visibility features so that players could have a sense of a reference point with respect to gravity. Chyr had used about 2000 hours of professional playtesting through the game's development to make sure players could navigate the game world and solve the puzzles.

Chyr worked on the game on his own for the first three years, circa 2015, at which point he brought on additional staff to help build out the game with a stronger focus on finishing the game. He had become concerned at this time by industry fears of a possible "indiepocalpse" due to possible oversaturation of indie games and was not sure if Manifold Garden would reach completion. By April 2018, the development of the game had been ongoing for five years. Chyr stated then that he may leave game development after it is released, due to art games not being financially sustainable. He estimated that the game would have to sell at least 40,000 units to be successful and not a "total disaster" financially. He stated that a lack of experience cost him a year or two of development time, and the development time was protracted by its scope, which was realistically large enough to require three developers. At that point, he and the other developers on the game were not taking a salary outside cost-of-living to maximize the amount of funding they had been able to get. Sometime before release, Chyr signed a year-long exclusivity deal with the Epic Games Store, as well as with Apple Inc., which helped to finance the completion of the game as well as seeing it through the period after release.

The game's inspirations include video games Starseed Pilgrim, Antichamber, Infinifactory, Portal, Fez, and The Witness. Chyr was also inspired by the films Inception, Blade Runner, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, the books House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski and Blame! by Tsutomu Nihei, and the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and Tadao Ando. The game was also intended as a metaphor for the last 400 years of physics discoveries.

The game was released on October 18, 2019 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and for iOS devices through Apple Arcade. Versions for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One were released on August 18, 2020.

Kent has a background as a guitarist in several black metal bands. Since 2012, he has produced electronic music inspired by cyberpunk culture and from movies such as Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and The Running Man. He uses a variety of software synths in his productions, such as the emulators of old vintage synths like the OB-X or the CS-80. Since his debut EP Night Driving Avenger he has released five full-length albums, the latest of which is Lustful Sacraments on the Blood Music label, and has performed several live shows. Several of his tracks were featured in the 2012 game Hotline Miami and its 2015 sequel Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. Perturbator's EP Sexualizer was released in part to officially release the song "Miami Disco" and as a way to thank the developers of Hotline Miami. The success of the Hotline Miami games resulted in a greater amount of exposure to a mainstream audience.

Perturbator released his fourth full-length album The Uncanny Valley on 6 May 2016 through Blood Music on a range of formats including Digibook CD, vinyl, and cassette tape. The album was met with generally positive reviews, with MetalSucks and Bloody Disgusting both writing in praise of it. Some versions of the album also included a bonus EP, with Kent writing that "The first three songs complement the themes covered within The Uncanny Valley, and the final track—'VERS/US'—is a demo from The Uncanny Valley writing sessions that fits the mood and atmosphere of the album but didn't quite make it into the final cut." Bloody Disgusting gave the album 5/5 and wrote that The Uncanny Valley "is sure to not only please fans of the genre but also win over newcomers."

Kent became interested in music in part due to the influence of his parents, who are journalists and rock music critics. His parents were themselves musicians and had a tech trance band when they were young, which influenced Kent to take an interest in synthesizers.

Kent also has a side project called L'Enfant De La Forêt and his own label called "Music of the Void".

In 2019 Kent appeared in the documentary film The Rise of the Synths, appearing alongside various other composers from the Synthwave scene, including filmmaker John Carpenter who also narrated the film which explored the origins and growth of the genre.

Discography

Adapted from AllMusic, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Google Play Music, and official website.

Studio albums

Terror 404 (May 2012, self-released)

I Am the Night (December 2012, self-released)

Dangerous Days (June 2014, Blood Music / Telefuture Records)

The Uncanny Valley (May 2016, Blood Music)

Lustful Sacraments (May 2021, Blood Music)

EPs

Night Driving Avenger (March 2012, self-released)

Nocturne City (August 2012, Aphasia Records)

The 80s Slasher (October 2012, Collaboration with Protector 101, Aphasia Records)

LA Cop Duo / Selections (March 2013, Collaboration with Protector 101, Revolving Door Records)

Sexualizer (June 2013, Aphasia Records)

The Uncanny Valley – Bonus (May 2016, Blood Music)

New Model (September 2017, Blood Music / Music of the Void)

Excess EP (2021, Blood Music)

Compilations

B-sides and Remixes, Vol. I (November 2018, Blood Music)

B-sides and Remixes, Vol. II (November 2018, Blood Music)

Singles

"She Moves Like a Knife" (January 2014)

"She Is Young, She Is Beautiful, She Is Next" (March 2015)

"Assault" (April 2015)

"Tactical Precision Disarray" (December 2016)

"Vantablack" (August 2017)

"Body/Prison" (October 2018 with HEALTH)

"Excess" (February 2019 with She Past Away)

"Death of the Soul" (February 2021)

"Dethroned Under A Funeral Haze" (April 2021)

Music videos

"She Is Young, She Is Beautiful, She Is Next" (2014, directed by Jarkko Kinnunen & Sami Rämä)

"Sentient" (2016, directed by Valenberg)

"Venger" (2017, directed by David Fitt & Federico Pelat)

"Death of the Soul" (2021, directed by Metastazis)

A city (2011 pop 270,039) at the confluence of the Psol River and the Sumka River and an oblast center.

Sumy was founded by Cossack Herasym Kondratyev from Stavyshche, Bila Tserkva Regiment on the bank of the Psel River, a tributary of the Dnieper. The date of its foundation is a subject of discussion (in 1652 or 1655). In 1656–58 at the site of Sumyn early settlement, under the leadership of Muscovite voivode K. Arsenyev, there was built a city-fort that consisted of a fort and a grad (town). In the 1670s it was expanded by adding a fortified posad (craftsmen town), after which Sumy became the biggest fortress of Sloboda Ukraine. From 1658 Sumy was a center of the Sumy Cossack Regiment (military unit and local administrative division). In the 1680s around Sumy started to form unfortified suburbs.

At the end of the 17th century, Sumy played a role of collection point of Muscovite troops during the Crimean campaigns of 1687 and 1689. During the Great Northern War, from December 1708 to January 1709 the city was the Stavka (headquarters) of Muscovite Chief of Commander headed by Tsar Peter the Great. Established under the leadership of Prince A. Shakhovskoy, in 1734–43 in Sumy was located the Commission on streamlining the Sloboda Cossack regiments. From its establishment and until the liquidation of Cossackdom in Sloboda Ukraine in 1765, the Cossack officer family of Kondratyevs had a great influence over the city.

Following the liquidation of Cossack community in 1765, Sumy Cossack Regiment as an administrative division was turned into Sumy Province of the newly created Sloboda Ukraine Governorate and the city of Sumy became its center. In 1780 Sumy was turned into a centre of Sumy uyezd. In 1786-89 the city was reformed by removing its city fort vallums. After a period of stagnation (1765–1860s), Sumy began to transform into a big industrial and trade center with the Paul's Sugar-Refining Factory (est. 1869 by I.Kharytonenko) and the Sumy Engineering Workshops (est. 1896, producing equipment for sugar refineries). With the construction of a railroad Vorozhba – Merefa, in January 1877 in the city was built the Sumy train station. A great contribution in development of Sumy made various families of philanthropists industrialists, the most famous of which are Kharytonenkos.

During the Revolution of 1905, Sumy was one of several areas which became famous throughout Russia for in effect having established an independent peasant republic; the Sumy Republic was established by a peasant union.

During the German occupation of Ukraine during World War II (1941–1944), Sumy sustained heavy damage and was occupied from October 10, 1941 to September 2, 1943. After the war, the destroyed parts of the city were rebuilt. Sumy has been a twin town of Celle, Germany since January 17, 1990.

Sumy is located in the northeastern part of Ukraine within the Central Russian Upland and in the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. It is located on the banks of Psel River.

Due to its relatively close location, the city's weather is similar to Kharkiv. Sumy's climate is a warm-summer humid continental (Köppen: Dfb) with cold and snowy winters, and hot summers. The seasonal average temperatures are not too cold in winter, not too hot in summer: −6.9 °C (19.6 °F) in January, and 20.3 °C (68.5 °F) in July. The average rainfall totals 513 mm (20 in) per year, with the most in June and July.

Trends show an increase in the fall in precipitation in the coming decades.

Sumy places of interest

Churches

Holy Resurrection Cathedral (1702) - the main Orthodox church of Sumy, the oldest stone building in the city, and a great example of Ukrainian baroque. The architecture of this two-story cathedral repeats the traditional forms of Ukrainian wooden church architecture - it is similar to the Cossack churches. Initially, the cathedral was part of the town’s defensive system. Nezalezhnosti Square, 19.

Transfiguration Cathedral (1776-1788) - a majestic church located on a pedestrian street in the heart of Sumy uniting in its appearance elements of Renaissance, Baroque, and Classicism. The height of the bell tower with chimes is 56 meters. Soborna Street, 31.

Trinity Cathedral (1901-1914) - one of the most beautiful churches in Sumy and Ukraine built in the style of classicism with baroque elements, similar to St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia. Troitska Street, 24A.

Museums

Art Museum. Sumy Regional Art Museum named after N. Onatsky is located in the building of the former State Bank built in the early 20th century. Paintings created by Italian artists of the 17th-19th centuries are of the greatest interest.

There are also paintings made by such famous artists as Shishkin, Kuindzhi, Levitan, Savrasov, Vasnetsov, Serov, Kotarbinsky, Aivazovsky. Pokrovskaya Square, 1. Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 (Thursday - 16:00). Day off: Friday.

Sumy Regional Museum (House with Caryatids) (1889). On the pylons of the second floor of this picturesque building you can see four caryatids (sculpted female figures) that support the balcony.

The exposition presents items from archaeological excavations of Early Slavonic and Old Russian monuments, rare materials on the history and nature of the Sumy region. Herasima Kondratieva Street, 2. Opening hours: 9:00-17:00. Day off: Monday.

House-Museum of A.P. Chekhov. The museum was opened in the manor of the noble family of Lintvarev (the 18th-19th centuries). In 1888-1889, the writer lived in the western wing of the manor. Chekhov used his impressions of life in Sumy in several of his stories and plays.

You can see the restored interiors of the living room and dining room, guest rooms, and “Antosha’s room”, which served Chekhov’s bedroom and study room. Chekhova Street, 79. Opening hours: 10:00-17:00 (Thursday - 16:00). Day off: Friday.

In 2016 Zoe Adamovicz cofounded Neufund a blockchain-based platform for investors which has raised $14 million to date.

This year Adamovicz also cofounded blockchain platform Founders Bank.

Adamovicz advises the German and Maltese governments and sits on the Innovation Board advising the Minister of Digitalization in Germany.

The entrepreneur has held positions at Deloitte, Fox Entertainment Group, and the Nasdaq-listed Digital Turbine Inc.

Adamovicz studied computer engineering, cultural science and informatics at university.

The Panzerkampfwagen IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161.

The Panzer IV was the most numerous German tank and the second-most numerous German fully tracked armoured fighting vehicle of the Second World War; 8,553 Panzer IVs of all versions were built during World War II, only exceeded by the StuG III assault gun with 10,086 vehicles. Its chassis was also used as the base for many other fighting vehicles, including the Sturmgeschütz IV assault gun, the Jagdpanzer IV self-propelled anti-tank gun, the Wirbelwind self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, and the Brummbär self-propelled gun.

The Panzer IV saw service in all combat theatres involving Germany and was the only German tank to remain in continuous production throughout the war. It was originally designed for infantry support, while the similar Panzer III was to fight armoured fighting vehicles. However, as the Germans faced the formidable T-34, the Panzer IV had more development potential, with a larger turret ring to mount more powerful guns, so the two switched roles. It received various upgrades and design modifications, intended to counter new threats, extending its service life. Generally, these involved increasing the armour protection or upgrading the weapons, although during the last months of the war, with Germany's pressing need for rapid replacement of losses, design changes also included simplifications to speed up the manufacturing process.

The Panzer IV was partially succeeded by the Panther medium tank, which was introduced to counter the Soviet T-34, although it continued to be a significant component of German armoured formations to the end of the war. It was the most widely exported tank in German service, with around 300 sold to Finland, Romania, Spain and Bulgaria. After the war, Syria procured Panzer IVs from France and Czechoslovakia, which saw combat in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The Panzer IV was the brainchild of the German general and innovative armoured warfare theorist Heinz Guderian.

The Caldwell machine gun was designed by Thomas F. Caldwell of Melbourne, who moved to the United Kingdom to bring his invention to the notice of British Army authorities. The weapon was in appearance similar to the Maxim gun, but came with two barrels, capable of working in conjunction or separately with a discharge of 500 rpm. It used pan magazines containing 104 rounds, instead of the belt feed of the Maxim gun which was prone to jamming.

As reported at the time:

"The Caldwell Machine Gun Company's invention of a quick-firing machine gun was recently sent to London in charge of Captain O. H. Moss and the inventor (Mr. T. F. Caldwell). The directors have now received information from their representatives and Messrs. Light and Fulton, solicitors to the company in London, that the gun has been sold, subject to certain conditions, for £5,000 in cash, £1 per gun royalty on all guns manufactured in Great Britain, and ten per cent of the consideration received from the sale of foreign rights or licenses The manufacturers are now completing a new gun under the supervision of Mr. Caldwell, whose services have been taken over at £1,000 per annum. The new gun will shortly be submitted to the Admiralty".

Hunt: Showdown is a multiplayer first-person shooter with two gameplay modes. In "Bounty Hunt", the player plays as a bounty hunter who hunts down one or two of the game's 4 bosses to claim a bounty. Players can work on their own or with up to two other players to find clues about the monster's location in the three maps. Each map functions as a medium-sized open world filled with other environmental dangers and enemies such as Grunts, Hives, or Armoreds. As the player collects more clues, the location of the monster's lair is narrowed down. There are four monsters, including the Butcher, the Spider, the Assassin, and the new boss, the Scrapbeak. Players can use a variety of weapons ranging from shotguns to crossbows to defeat their enemies, though the amount of ammo is scarce in this game, forcing players to rely on making their shots count. They also have access to a large variety of tools such as traps and decoys. Upon killing the monster, players will collect the bounty and need to survive until they can reach one of the extraction points. The locations of these exits are randomly placed in a map. Collecting a bounty gives the player limited ability to see the approximate location of other nearby players, but also reveals the bounty-holder's location to all other players in the in-game map. Players can steal a bounty by killing a current bounty-holder, which is a core strategic component of the game. Each match supports up to 12 players.

The game's second mode, "Quickplay", is a battle royale mode that lasts for 15 minutes. In each match, the player is tasked to find an energy wellspring in a map and fend off hostile attacks.