Plot — Gears of War 3 Wiki Guide
Gears of War 3 takes place 18 months after Gears of War 2 and the sinking of Jacinto. The COG has fallen, but the survivors found refuge in Port Farrall. After 7 weeks the Vectes Naval Base was discovered and the survivors moved there. Soon, the surviving Lambent started to invade the surface of and overrun Vectes, forcing the humans to go back in Port Farral. After numerous attacks from the Lambent and the appearance of several Lambent Leviathans, everyone split up into groups and headed to different locations. Some chose to take haven on Imulsion rigs. Others stayed on the grounds of Sera, and defended against the Lambent, and Locust threat.
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One of the locations is the Raven’s Nest, a common settlement for the human refugees, made out of an Imulsion Rig, and some connected ships. It became a home for many people including Marcus Fenix, Anya Stroud, Jace Stratton, and Dominic Santiago, who left but eventually returned the day the Nest was attacked.
During the attack, Marcus secured the landing site for Prescott, who gave him a message from his father. Although the message isn’t clear, and with Baird no where to be found, Anya promises to decode it and find out more. The ship is eventually attacked by a Lambent Leviathan, and Lambent Stalks. The Gears take to the defense of the Raven’s Nest, but their attempt proves futile.
While Marcus and the rest are on Raven’s Nest, Cole, Baird, Sam and Carmine fly to Hanover, home to Cole’s former thrashball team (Hanover Cougars), looking for supplies. While searching through the city they find that the Lambent have resurfaced, bringing with them several new threats. They continue to fight through until they come across a camp of Stranded who all recognize Cole. They tell them to make their way to the Hanover Stadium where their boss is. Once they get to the stadium, Cole finds his old locker and has a surreal moment. It is interrupted by a Lambent Stalks breaking through the stadium floor.
He grabs a bomb and scores a touch down, blowing up the stalk, but it doesn’t mean they’re in the clear. The stadium is still under attack and they flee to the roof to zip-line to Centennial Bridge.
As they cross the bridge they come across another Stranded outpost. This one starts firing on them, and they soon find out it’s actually the Locust. Since the Hollow was flooded, the Locust have become stranded and savage too. Cole intercepts a transmission from Marcus saying that Raven’s Nest is under attack from a Leviathan and asks Cole for help. Baird gets the idea to use caged tickers to blow up the Leviathan and asks Marcus to lure the Leviathan under the bridge. Marcus manages to do so, and Cole releases the tickers, killing the Leviathan but also blowing up Raven’s Nest and Centennial Bridge, plunging the heroes deep into the water.
After the ship is destroyed, Prescott is mortally wounded. Before he dies, Prescott provides Marcus with an encrypted key with the location of a secret base known as Azura, where Adam Fenix is being held.
Baird remembers working on a disc for Colonel Hoffman, whilst he was at Vectes, that he could never crack. Thinking that Prescott’s key is the way to do it, they decide to head off for Hoffman’s last known position, Anvil Gate. It is a huge military base from the Pendulum Wars, but contact with the base had been lost some time before. Marcus doesn’t care, so he decides to go there anyway, taking Dom, Cole and Baird with him.
The group has to travel across the wastelands, where they discover a new type of Locust, the «Savage.» They are the Locust who believe that their queen has died and are forced to live above ground. The COG soon encounter the Locust queen, Queen Myyrah, whom they previously thought to be dead. Marcus and his team hijack a Locust gas barge to travel to Anvil Gate by air, stopping along the way to rescue Dizzy. They arrive at Anvil Gate and help Hoffman defend against a Locust onslaught, and even manage to defeat a Lambent Berserker. Afterwards, they review the encrypted key to find the location of Azura but discover it is protected by a man-made Maelstrom, preventing arrival by air and above surface water.
Hoffman notes the location of a submarine in the ruins of Char, a nearby city, but they will need fuel. Dom suggests traveling to Mercy, where an Imulsion filling station is located, which also happens to be where his dead wife, Maria, is from. Marcus, Dom, Sam, Anya, Jace and Dizzy head for Mercy while Cole and Baird go look for reinforcements.
At Mercy, the COG discovers a crazy old man that is trying to destroy the Imulsion fuel supply line, seeing as the Stranded were now suffering from an unknown illness caused by their work on the fuel. They discover that humans have become Lambent from Imulsion poisoning, and fear the infection may spread beyond Mercy. While making their way towards the fuel pump, Dom momentarily separates from the squad to leave his COG tags where Maria’s family is buried. Upon activating the fuel pump, the squad is ambushed. When the squad comes to be surrounded by Lambent forces and are on the brink of death, Dom sacrifices himself by driving a truck into the storage tanks, incinerating the Lambent in the explosion and allowing Marcus and the others to escape.
His death seems to affect Marcus the most, and leaves the rest of the squad sensitive to how Marcus is feeling. They decide to press on with their goal and head to Char, Adam Fenix still needed their help.
Upon reaching Char, Marcus tells the squad that they are continuing on, so Dom’s death was not in vain. In Char, they find ash husks of the civilians killed when the Hammer of Dawn strikes fell, frozen forever in their final moments. As they progress, an unknown figure, the same color as the ash husks, begins setting off traps to scare them off. They find the «ash man» and when they reach his outpost, and the «ash man» fend off both Locust and Lambent. Grateful for the help, he takes them up to see the boss. This is where they encounter Aaron Griffin, CEO of Griffin [[Imulsion] Corporation. Griffin’s confrontational with the COG, and explains that the people who were turned into ash by the Hammer strikes were his friends, employees and family. Griffin takes Dizzy hostage to ensure that the COG will help get a cable car, that had not returned to base, back.
On their way to get the cable car, the squad mentions that Char seems to be city that suffered the most from the Hammer strikes, and that it couldn’t have been an easy decision; Anya, here notes that she was in the room when the decision was made, and that it wasn’t easy, hinting that she feels somewhat responsible for happened to the city. The squad completes the task, but on their way back, find that Queen Myrrah has been following them. They help Dizzy and Griffin fight off any remaining Locust and then part ways with Griffin. The COG escape and eventually make their way to the naval base, where the submarine is located. After repairing and refueling it, they set off for Azura.
After slipping under the Maelstrom, they find Azura is fashioned as a large resort. As they fight off the Locust that are also trying to get to Adam, the COG discover that Prescott had ordered the construction of Azura and brought the world’s elite to it prior, to try and save them from the Locust. Adam is able to contact the team via the security cameras on the island, and explains he has a cure to stop the Lambent, but needs the COG help to execute it.
Marcus and his team fight through the Locust to shut down the Maelstrom generator with Adam’s instructions, allowing Cole and Baird to arrive with ground and air support.
As Lambent forces start invading the island, the COG make their way to a hotel where Adam is being kept. En route, they face Myrrah, who reveals that Adam had been working with her for twenty years and refuses to let them help him complete his plan. After dispatching Myrrah and thinking her dead, the squad reaches Adam’s room. After a brief reunion and hearing news about Dom, Adam explains that Imulsion is a parasite, adapting itself to both Locust and human bodies to create the Lambent, and it is evolving quickly. Adam has developed an energy wave that functions like a neutron bomb, destroying any cell infected by Imulsion. Though this will kill the Lambent, it will also kill the Locust troops; Adam had been in contact with Myrrah for over twenty years trying stave off the effects on the Locust and to discover a cure that would not harm them, but could not find it in time.
Adam also reveals that he knew about E-Day and it was his fault because he couldn’t cure the Imulsion problem and the Locust were forced out of their home. He gives Baird a disc with all his research and notes on it, saying it will answer all questions.
Marcus and his squad escort Adam to the roof of the hotel where the energy generator for his cure sits. The COG defend against Myyrah’s attack as the machine powers up. Eventually, the machine reaches full power, sending waves of energy across Sera, killing all Locust and [[[Lambent]]. Adam reveals that he will die shortly as well, having infused himself with Imulsion to test his cure, and tells Marcus to live his life to the fullest before he is turned to ash and crumbles. As Marcus agonizes over the loss of his father, Myrrah, still alive from the last attack, blames Marcus for what Adam failed to do. Marcus stabs Myrrah with [[Dominic Santiago|Dom’s] knife, killing the Locust Queen. As COG forces celebrate the end of the war, Carmine (who had helped give air support during their ascent to Adam Fenix) is shown to have survived the helicopter crash, and Baird and Sam show hints of the possibility of a future relationship.
Meanwhile the celebration, Marcus continues to mourn the loss of his family, but Anya reminds him of his father’s last words and that now, thanks to them, they have a tomorrow. Anya and Marcus keep holding hands, and watch the sunset beyond the waves of water.
The Story of Gears of War 3 was written by author Karen Traviss. She has written four Gears of War novels as well. According to the game’s design director Cliff Bleszinski, Karen Traviss «understands the characters better than anyone.» One of themes of Gears of War 3 is Marcus’ suffering. The design director says, «Marcus suffering equals a good game.» *
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/video-game-news/8774203/Gears-of-War-3-interview-Cliff-Bleszinski.html
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In This Wiki Guide
Gears of War 3
Epic Games
Rating
ESRB: Mature
Platforms
Xbox 360
Cocaine Bear — Official Trailer
On a rampage for blow and blood.
Meet Cocaine Bear. Check out the oddly comical yet extremely terrifying trailer for Cocaine Bear, an upcoming movie starring Keri Russell, Margo Martindale, Ray Liotta, Alden Ehrenreich, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Kristofer Hivju, Kahyun Kim, Christian Convery, Brooklynn Prince, and Scott Seiss.Inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner’s plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it, this wild thriller finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500- pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of cocaine and gone on a coke-fueled rampage for more blow … and blood. Directed by Elizabeth Banks (Charlie’s Angels, Pitch Perfect 2) from a screenplay by Jimmy Warden (The Babysitter: Killer Queen), Cocaine Bear is produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, The Mitchells vs. The Machines) and Aditya Sood (The Martian) for Lord Miller, by Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman (Pitch Perfect franchise) for Brownstone Productions, and by Brian Duffield (Spontaneous).
Robin Fisichella (Ma) will executive produce.Cocaine Bear will open in theaters on February 24, 2023.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey — Official Trailer
Check out the unsettling trailer for this violent new take on a beloved childhood classic. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey sees Piglet and Pooh embark on a twisted rampage after being abandoned by their friend, Christopher Robin. Journey into 100 Acre Wood as you’ve never seen it before.Directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield and starring Maria Taylor, Amber Doig-Thorne, and Danielle Scott, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is coming soon.
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Build a Data Loop in Minecraft (Ft. WildEngineering)
The Xbox Direct Delivered the Optimism Xbox Fans Have Waited For
Gears of War 3 – Destructoid
Love it or loathe it, Gears of War has come to define what this generation of gaming is all about. Whether one extols the virtues of competitive gaming and the Xbox Live model that had Gears at its vanguard, or bemoans the slew of “brown and grey” shooters that Epic’s blockbuster franchise paved the way for, one simply cannot deny that the series is a true icon.
Gears of War 3 is the long-awaited conclusion of one of this generation’s most defining sagas, and Epic wants to end big. With more modes, more features, and a longer campaign than ever before, Gears of War 3 aims to be the ultimate way to end Marcus Fenix’s journey through the Locust-ravaged world of Sera.
It’s been quite the ride.
Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360)
Developer: Epic Games
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Released: September 20, 2011
MSRP: $59.99
Gears of War kept its multiplayer and its narrative campaign traditionally distinct, while Gears of War 2 blurred the lines slightly with its cross-pollination of Achievement progress. In Gears of War 3, the barriers have truly been broken down. As soon as the player enters the game, they start a “session,” in which all progress is tracked, and all activity is registered toward the ultimate goal of gaining experience, leveling up, and collecting unique bonuses.
Whether one plays the campaign, a competitive multiplayer match, or one of the more exotic modes, all progress is combined, with a full “lobby” experience permeating the entire game. Unlike other titles that keep modes fenced off in their own neat little playpens, Gears 3 wants to make every little action part of one immersive, unifying experience, and it’s a goal that has been achieved with total success.
Diving into the campaign sees players joining Delta Squad some time after the events of Gears 2, with the Locust apparently drowned in their warrens and the Imulsion-tainted “Lambent” mutants casting a dark shadow over humanity. To detail what happens would be to tread into major spoiler territory, as Gears of War 3‘s story ties up almost every loose end, not least of all the mystery of Marcus’ father, Adam Fenix, and his unique relationship with the Locust. While a few questions remain unanswered, Gears 3‘s conclusion feels just like that — a conclusion.
Everything about the game, from its intense action sequences to its surprising and poignant moments, feels like the true end of a trilogy.
I’m one of the rare folks who enjoy Gears of War more for its narrative campaign than its multiplayer modes. While I enjoy the various deathmatches, I’ve always loved Gears‘ story as a simple, unpretentious action romp. It is with slight disappointment, then, that I feel Gears 3‘s campaign falls a little flat. It is by no means bad, but after two incredible games, Gears of War 3 feels like a comparatively less thrilling affair, and while I could name any number of memorable sequences from the first two titles, I am hard-pressed to name a truly standout moment from Gears 3. It’s fun to play, tightly scripted, and decently paced, but it’s lacking the special “something” that I found so endearing in the series.
Make no mistake, being the weakest entry in the Gears of War trilogy is by no means a horrible thing to be.
Even as the least compelling game, it is still highly polished, consistently fun, and superbly put together. Certainly, the inclusion of four-player co-op is a very welcome addition — although the lack of a game list and subsequent need to guess what level and difficulty setting people are playing is a big hassle — and there are all manner of new toys, such a huge machete that slices foes to pieces and the Silverback mech suit that can rattle off machine gun fire or be used as a stationary rocket turret. One must also praise the big boss battles that occur throughout the course of the game, including a long-awaited rematch with the Corpser.
Truly, Gears of War is still a fun experience. Its biggest problem is that it had two very tough acts to follow, and while it does a most admirable job of attempting to meet its own high standards, it was perhaps destined to fall just a tiny bit short of the mark. It doesn’t help that the game replaces the Locust as the core enemy — instead choosing to focus on the aforementioned Lambent.
While the Lambent act like Locust in many ways, their bizarre mutations and tendency to explode at any given moment changes the way they’re fought, and not in a positive manner.
Once the Locust do show up, they feel like old friends rather than bitter enemies, and fighting once again becomes a joy. Whenever the Lambent appeared, however, I wanted to groan just a little bit. Every Lambent fight is a repetitive affair, as one must shoot tendrils that keep spawning new enemies, before focusing on the limited pool of mutant foes that are nowhere near as satisfying to fight as the Locust. You can’t even execute them in as wide and sadistic a variety of ways, and they’re infinitely less interesting as characters. The Locust are a special breed of videogame enemy that one just loves to hate, and having them relegated to second-string villains behind a less enthralling foe is something of a letdown.
These are perhaps nitpicks from a fan who cares too much, though. At its core, this is a game with a lot of heart, if not the same amount of energy that it once had.
It’s still a game founded on simple, good old-fashioned violence, with a commitment to meat-headed, audaciously masculine action that appeals to the caveman in all of us. From chainsaw bayonets to shotguns that can make entire torsos explode, everything that has made the Gears series concurrently fun and ridiculous has been preserved. Like I said, even a comparatively weaker Gears game is still going to be gratifying.
Any misgivings one might have about the campaign, however, are more than made up for with the sheer weight of accompanying content. As well as full co-op for the story, we get two modes built entirely around team-based play — Horde and Beast.
Horde is an evolution of the mode found in Gears of War 2 — a squad of five players faces waves of Locust opposition to see how far they can get. Gears 3 ups the ante by awarding players cash during rounds, allowing them to build fortifications, set up dummy targets, and construct bases in pre-set positions.
These various structures are vital in giving players the edge against their foes, which get considerably brutal by the fifth wave. While the new additions aren’t the deepest, they add some flavor to a mode that was already damn good, and fans of survival modes will find an incredibly refined experience on offer with what Epic is calling Horde 2.0.
Beast mode takes Horde and flips the entire situation around, instead giving players control of various Locust creatures with the task of killing CPU-controlled humans in a strict time limit. Each player has a certain amount of cash that can be spent on spawning a new creature, with more deadly beasts obviously costing more cash. Starting out with simple Locust such as Tickers, Wretches and Drones, players will eventually unlock new and deadly fiends, including Kanto Priests, Butchers, and Boomers. I have a hard time picking which of the two wave-based modes I like best, but the sheer variety and vicious amusement of Beast mode certainly gives it an edge.
For most players, however, the main event is the obligatory, genre-defining Versus mode. This is where that persistent leveling system comes into play the most, as it unlocks weapon skins, playable characters, and other items for use in the robust and varied competitive arena. While Epic has not fully conceded to Call of Duty and featured a full character-creation system with sustained perks, it has offered just enough personalization to keep players fully invested for a very long time. By focusing only on subtle loadout changes and aesthetic upgrades, Epic’s done a terrific job of providing unlockable incentives without altering game balance. In fact, despite all the new playthings, Gears of War 3 keeps itself very traditional.
In some ways, this is a good thing, but it also means that old problems return. For a start, the idea of cover-based warfare is still an illusion, as Gears 3 is — like its predecessors — a game in which players roll toward each other, fire shotguns, and let luck determine who explodes first.
In fact, rather than fix this element, Epic has seen fit to actively encourage it by including a brand-new shotgun of the sawn-off variety. This one-shot firearm is incredibly powerful at close range, giving shotty fans even more reason to reduce the entire game into a roly-poly simulator. I’m not a fan of shotguns in any game, myself, but even I found myself having to resort to the same roll-and-shoot tactics, as it’s still the best way to get anything done.
There are ways to mitigate this problem, of course. All the old modes are back, and the classic capture-point gametype makes for more varied and less predictable play. The new Retro Lancer — which has a conventional bayonet and lets you run-and-stab anything in the way — is also an interesting countermeasure. In any of the straight deathmatch modes, however, the shotgun is still king, and it’s an issue that has most certainly turned me off of the competitive side of Gears. I fully recognize that, to some people, this sounds like Heaven.
Those people are horrible human beings, but they definitely have a great experience lined up.
For those less frustrated by the shotgun-flavored problems, there is a huge amount of entertainment to dive into. With a wide variety of maps, a ton of gametypes, loads of non-shotty weapons and plenty to unlock, Epic has gone all-out in providing its fans with as much stuff as it possibly can. In many ways, it feels like a love letter to the players, a way of both keeping them in the game and keeping them constantly rewarded. Yes, I am a little aggrieved by the way the gameplay turned out, but I’m still in awe at what Epic’s brought to the table.
This is true for the whole game, as well. While I have my many niggling complaints about various aspects of the game, the sum total of what Gears of War 3 is remains undeniably remarkable. Lesser games out there struggle to give customers one robust experience, but Gears of War 3 has a nine-hour story campaign with four-player co-op, two engaging wave-based co-operative modes, and a fully-fledged competitive mode with multiple gametypes and bonus content.
In terms of sheer value for money, there are few packages more worthy than this, and if fans are turned off by one mode, there’s something else to keep their spirits high.
Let it not go unsaid that it’s a beautiful game, as well. I mentioned at the top of this review that Gears of War 3 is considered a leader of the “brown and grey” shooter movement, but anybody who accuses the series of looking drab after this release is, quite frankly, an idiot. Epic seems to have gone out of its way to make Gears of War 3 a colorful and bright game (despite what these screens suggest), without sacrificing the war-torn grit that permeates the game’s world. The sun is out and the grass is green, but things aren’t so cheery that you’ll ever forget this is set in a very unfriendly place. Throw in a terrific musical score and suitably shouty voice acting, and you have a game with production values that are very hard to beat.
Gears of War 3 is a great game indeed, one that fans will most assuredly adore.
It does lack that unique, intangible spark that the past two games had, but that does not mean it’s a poor game in any way. I have my disappointments, but I cannot claim I had a bad time. That Gears of War 3 doesn’t quite live up to expectations is only a testament to how high Epic raised the bar in past efforts, and that it’s still a superior encounter despite any setbacks speaks highly of its enduring quality.
No matter what you think of Gears of War 3 — when it’s all said and done, if you’re a fan of the series, you’ll leave the game with no doubt in your mind that Epic Games appreciates your love.
when mechanical analog computers ruled the sea Aside from GPS-guided projectiles, the AGS digital fire control system performs the same task as the USS Iowa’s Rangekeeper Mark 8, only lighter and less manned.
The latest Zumwalt-class destroyer, currently undergoing acceptance tests, has a new type of naval artillery on board: the Advanced Gun System (AGS).
The automated AGS is capable of firing up to 10 rocket-assisted high-precision projectiles per minute against targets at a range of 100 miles.
These projectiles use GPS and an inertial guidance system to increase the accuracy of the gun to a circle of error of 50 meters (164 feet). This means that half of these GPS-guided projectiles will fall within this distance to the target. But if you take away the fancy GPS rounds, the AGS and its digital fire control system will be no more accurate than almost a century old mechanical analog technology.
I am referring to electromechanical analog fire control computers such as Ford Instruments Mark 1A Fire Control Computer and Mark 8 Rangekeeper. These machines could continuously and in real time perform calculations with 20 or more variables long before digital computers made their way into the sea. When I served aboard the battleship Iowa in late 1980s, they were still in use.
During my lifetime, several attempts were made to combine these legacy systems with or replace digital technologies.
Notable was one of them (Advanced Gun Weapon System Technology Program), which was similar to the AGS projectile with a range of 100 miles: an 11-inch dart-shaped projectile with GPS and inertial guidance, enclosed in a detachable 16-inch casing (pallet) capable of due to the large caliber of the battleship’s guns, fly almost the same distance without rocket acceleration.
So why did the Navy take the path of «digitalization» of large battleship guns? I asked this question to retired Navy Captain David Boslow, former director of the Navy Tactical Embedded Computer Program Office. If anyone knows the answer, it’s Boslow. He was instrumental in the development of the Navy Tactical Data System, the forerunner of today’s Aegis systems, the mother of all digital sensing and fire control systems.
«My committee was once assigned to study the prospects for upgrading the fire control systems of the Iowa-class battleships from analog to digital computers,» says Boslow. «We found that digitalization of computers would not increase the reliability or accuracy of the system and issued a recommendation that no changes be made.
» Even without digital computers, the Iowa could fire 2,700-pound (1,225 kg) «stupid» projectiles with deadly accuracy out to about 30 miles with a probable error diameter of 80 meters. Some of the battleship’s shells had a larger impact diameter.
But how could a box of gears, cams, racks and pins be able to perform real-time ballistic calculations based on differential equations with dozens of variables? How did the colossus with the weight of the Volkswagen Beetle manage to aim at a target beyond the horizon? And why did these metal and grease devices outperform digital systems for so long? Let’s start with a little history of battleship ballistics and Navy training films showing how analog computers work.
Trajectory
Shooting a gun from a ship is not an easy task. In addition to the usual problems faced by ballistics — calculating the power of the shot, the height of the aiming, the correction for the wind and the Coriolis effect — is added the fact that the shooting is carried out from a platform that constantly changes the pitch, yaw and position.
If you are lucky and the target is stationary, due to the number of variables, it is still comparable to trying to hit the target with a water balloon while sitting on the back of a galloping kangaroo.
Firing at targets within sight of the ship is a closed loop. We aim, calculate the relative motion of the target and other ballistic conditions, fire, look where the projectile hits, and adjust the parameters. Shooting at targets beyond the horizon is even more difficult. An observer is needed who can give accurate geographic coordinates and correct fire depending on where the projectiles hit.
In the era before the invention of gun turrets, ships fired cannons from the sides. The adjustment was mainly carried out depending on the place where the shells hit and waiting until the board, looking at the enemy, would roll up. But with the advent of dreadnoughts and battlecruisers in the early 20th century, the range and lethality of the ship’s guns increased significantly. However, now they needed much more precision.
This need was in line with the development of analog computers. Mechanical analog computers have been used by astronomers for centuries to predict the positions of stars, eclipses, and moon phases. The earliest known mechanical analog computer, the Antikythera Mechanism, dates back to around 100 BC. But until recently, no one thought to use computers to kill people.
To perform calculations, analog computers use a standard set of mechanical devices — devices of the same type that convert the torque generated by a car engine into the rotation of wheels, the movement of valves and pistons. Data is «input» into analog computers continuously, usually by rotation of the input shafts. The math value is tied to one full 360 degree rotation of the shaft.
In ancient Greek times, data entry was done by turning a wheel. In more modern analog computers, sensor data variables — speed, direction, wind speed and other parameters — were transmitted through electromechanical connections: synchronization signals of gyrocompasses and gyroscopic «gyro-verticals», tracking systems and speed sensors.
Constants, such as the elapsed time, were entered by special electric motors at a constant speed.
To turn shafts into a continuous set of output data from calculations, they were connected together by a set of gears, cams, racks, pins and other mechanical elements that convert movement into mathematical calculations using geometric and trigonometric principles. «Hard-coded» functions were also produced, storing the results of more complex calculations in their precision-crafted forms. Working together, these details instantly calculated a very precise answer to a specific set of questions: where would the target be when the huge bullet that I ejected from the rifled barrel 68 feet long (21 meters) reached it, and where I needed to aim to get it there. hit?
When perfectly assembled, analog computers can answer such questions much more accurately than digital computers. Since they use physical rather than digital input and output data, they can describe curves and other geometrical elements of calculations with an infinite level of resolution (however, the accuracy of these calculations depends on the workmanship of the parts and is reduced by friction and slippage).
In this case, no less significant figures are discarded, and the answers are given continuously and do not depend on the synchronized for-next calculation cycles.
Metal coding
The most fundamental part of any mechanical analog computer is its gears. Using combinations of different types of gears, an analog computer is able to perform simple mathematical functions such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Gear Ratios — The use of two gears having a specific circumference ratio is the simplest way to perform machine calculations. They can be used to increment or decrement input or output values, or to apply constant input multipliers to other calculations. For example, if you turn a shaft whose ratio to another shaft is 2 to 1, then the output shaft will turn half the number of times.
Rack and pinion systems, such as those used in driving a car, are also used in analog computers to convert rotational motion into linear output data; they geometrically move read data or components to solve other types of calculations in a ballistic problem.
You can understand how such gear systems worked in analog computers from a fragment of a 1953 Navy training film on fire control computers:
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Shafts and gears for the fire control computer.
Car differential gears are designed to make the wheels rotate at different speeds when cornering. But in analog computers, they perform a different function: they provide the ability to perform mechanical addition and subtraction. A set of differential gears mounted between two input shafts with identical gears will always make rotations that are the mathematical average of the rotations of the two input shafts; if we multiply this average by two, we get the algebraic sum of the two input values. For example, if one input shaft turned forward three times and the other turned forward once, then the differential gears would turn their associated shaft two times, that is, half of their sum — four.
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Differential gears used in analog computers.
All this is wonderful when it comes to the simplest mathematics. But for higher-level functions, such as calculating ballistic trajectory curves or the effect of the Coriolis effect on long-flying projectiles, analog computers require more complex details. Some of these functions can be performed by cams — rotating surfaces, made in such a way as to «store» the answers for a range of values. Simple cams can store response intervals that depend on a single variable, such as converting an input rotation to a trigonometric or logarithmic output using a rack-mounted pin. More complex 3D drum cams can store responses to complex two-variable functions, such as rotational volume calculations. An example is shown in this movie clip:
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Cams are stored analog calculation functions.
All of these components were well known to the makers of the first astronomical calculators, but the way they were made could not be even close to the precision that industrial age instruments could achieve. But there is another mechanical component that puts together everything needed for the complex calculations required to predict the position of a target in ballistics computing: the integrator. This is a device using various speeds of rotation of the rotary disk, used as a continuously variable differential gear.
The integrator, first developed by Professor James Thompson of Belfast in 1876, was improved by his brother Lord Kelvin as part of a «harmonic analyzer».
Lord Kelvin’s Harmonic Analyzer with disk integrators.
Lord Kelvin used a harmonic analyzer to isolate various factors that affect tidal patterns so they can be predicted in the future. The computer received two inputs: time was represented as a rotation at a constant speed, and the height of the tide was tracked from the record using a mechanical needle.
Cables and pulleys generated output by drawing a curve on a paper roller. The British Navy loved the Kelvin tide computer because it allowed historical tide data from anywhere in the world to be collected and then tables of tides could be generated in much less time. More than half a century later, Lord Kelvin’s tide computers helped plan the Allied landings in Normandy, thus contributing directly to the outcome of World War II.
With the exception of improvements to improve their reliability in the harsh environment of the sea, the fire control computers used until the late 1990s, in fact, remained functionally the same as those used by Lord Kelvin. They are shown in the video below. Hannibal Ford, who developed the Rangekeeper and Mark 1 fire control computers, invented this improved integrator, which used a pair of balls in a running gear that relayed rotational information from a turntable.
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Disc-type integrator, similar to that used in the Mark 1 fire control computer, similar in function and design to the Lord Kelvin integrator.
Computer network (fire control)
The fire control «systems» of World War I were, for the most part, separate devices connected by people shouting information through telephones and speaking tubes. The only data that entered the Rangekeeper Mark I automatically was the heading of the ship, transmitted by the gyrocompass repeater. The situation changed in the next decade, when the fleets of the world became more comfortable with a novelty called «electricity».
The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 limited further development of the fleet for almost a decade, but throughout the 1920s Ford continued to improve his Rangekeeper, culminating in the 1930 Rangekeeper Mark 8. Mark 8 became the pinnacle of fire control systems for large naval artillery. This system was used on the Iowa-class battleships and controlled the 16-inch guns of all four vessels from their introduction into service during World War II until the bombing of Iraqi forces in February 1991 years during the Gulf War.
Missouri’s central gunnery post, which housed the Rangekeeper Mark 8 and its analog computing equipment. Wall-mounted switchboards allowed switching turrets and guns controlled by the system.
The Rangekeeper Mark 8 also allowed operators to manually enter data in the event of a sensor connection failure; in addition, they could change the data based on observation of shots and make other adjustments. The machine could even run without electricity thanks to the manual rotation of the flywheel. The target’s bearing and distance now came as electrical input from the artillery fire control device. The speed of the ship was transmitted automatically based on data from its speed sensor, and the wind speed was transmitted directly from the anemometer.
After «pointing» the system to the target, the Mark 8 transmitted signals through the switchboard to the gun turrets and mounts to keep them properly aimed, and then sent stabilization data to adjust the elevation of the guns in accordance with the yaw and pitching of the vessel.
The Mark 8 itself had an electromechanical network. It consisted of five cases of analog computer equipment, fastened together into a single module.
The
Mark 8 was intended for large guns, which, due to their size and rate of fire, were only used against surface and ground targets. Smaller guns, like the 5-inch .38 twin mounts on the Iowa and many smaller World War II-era warships, needed to be able to aim at faster, smaller targets in three dimensions—in other words, planes. This required much more complex calculations, which led to the creation of the pinnacle of electromagnetic analog computing: the Ford Instruments Mark 1 fire control computer.0005
Mark 1A Fire Control Computer — Computing power in 3,000 pounds of aluminum alloy.
Mark 1 weighed over 3,000 pounds (1,360 kg). Like the Rangekeeper, it received input from artillery fire control devices — electromechanically operated «turrets» with optical sensors (and later radars) that continuously transmitted bearing and distance information via electrical synchronization signals.
The computer took into account the offset between the control device and the implements controlled by it. He also needed to calculate the burning time of mechanical fuses so that the projectile exploded near the target. (However, at firing practice at 19In the 1980s, there were several cases where the Iowa hit a towed aerial target with direct fire practice, albeit unintentionally.)
Mark 1, considered the most accurate anti-aircraft computer during the war, still had some rather serious limitations. It used mechanical fuses to detonate projectiles close to aerial targets and was able to perform calculations for air targets moving at less than 400 knots relative horizontal and 250 knots relative vertical speed. Because of this, it was ineffective against jets and kamikaze attacks.
Goodbye Gears
Mark 48 Shore Attack Computer — Electrical analog system with electromechanical inputs. It had a light table for maps projecting position and target data from below.
So why have we moved away from using these mechanical masterpieces to target and detonate at all? Despite their high accuracy, mechanical analog computers had limiting factors. They are heavy and take up a lot of space. Even as they became more automated, they still required a large workforce. The torque required for their operation, including all the servos that convert electrical signals into rotation, required a lot of electricity — 16 kilowatts at peak load.
And despite their overall reliability, the biggest enemies of electromechanics are friction and mechanical fatigue. Ensuring sufficient lubrication and monitoring the wear of the fire control computer gears is a much more serious job than visiting the nearest auto repair shop for an oil change. In addition, there is the problem of «reprogramming» the analog computer. If you want to change the range of inputs they receive, or change the output to take into account new variables, then that would be like rebuilding a transmission.
For most of the applications that analog computers are designed for, this is not a problem. Over the past century, fire control variables have not changed much. The advent of jet aircraft and the need to provide longer-range bombardment of ground targets led to a new cycle of innovation in analog systems that lasted until the mid-1970s: electrical analog systems.
These electronic computing systems were not digital and performed the same functions as cam gears, but as analog electronic components. However, electronic parts were lighter and easier to maintain than full-scale mechanical systems, and allowed integration with mechanical systems using timing-like signal pins used to integrate other sensors into the overall system.
During World War II, Bell Labs developed the first all-electronic fire control computer, the Bell Mark 8. Although it never entered service, parts of its technology were combined with a modification of the Ford Mark 1, called the Mark 1A.
The improved system helped track and target faster aircraft.
The Mark 1A and Rangekeeper Mark 8 also received additional electric ground target assist during the Korean War. The Mark 48 «coast attack» computer was designed specifically for «indirect fire» — shooting at targets that the ship could not see, based on information from a spotter aircraft, reconnaissance spotter or (from the end of 1980s) from a Pioneer drone. He used an existing fire control device system to aim at a known reference point (usually a feature on a map). He could also use radio or satellite navigation to determine the location of the ship. Based on the ship’s position and the transmitted target position, the Mark 48 calculated the initial fire control data, transmitting the Rangekeeper or Mark 1A data, depending on which guns were used to bombard the unfortunate target.
Legacy systems
The four Iowa-class battleships remained the only vessels to receive the Mark 48.
For the rest of the fleet, the transition to digital fire control systems began in the mid-1970s, as ship designers began to strive to create lighter vessels with more emphasis on hunting for submarines and aircraft. devices than to shoot at other ships.
The photo shows the author of the article in his youth, when he was a naval officer aboard the battleship Iowa at 1988 year. The photo was taken next to the armored citadel on the bridge, below the fire control device, of which the Rangekeeper Mark 8 was part. . Many people in my division maintained the second gun turret or one of the ship’s 5-inch gun batteries, so my interest in their device was not at all idle. I often crawled along the shell decks of the gun turret, making sure everyone was in their proper places.
During my time on board, we fired more shells from the ship’s 16-inch guns than the Iowa fired in the entire Korean War. And despite all the experimentation to add digital technology to the gun system, a single sensor, installed right before I got on board, made the guns more accurate than they had ever been.
This is a Doppler radar sensor capable of determining the speed of a projectile as it leaves the barrel.
The radar was installed after the urgent return to service of the battleship New Jersey (class Iowa) in early 1980s, when he encountered serious problems with the accuracy of guns during the Beirut crisis. The problems were mainly due to the fact that the bagged powder charges used on board the ship were mixed and their explosive profile changed.
By accurately measuring the velocity of the projectile as it left the gun during the first shot with a specific number of propellant charges, fire control personnel could figure out what it would be on other shots and change the velocity input to the computer accordingly. I have personally seen examples of this accuracy a couple of times aboard the Iowa, including a nighttime gunnery exercise off the coast of Puerto Rico near Vieques. With blank training shells, the gunners hit metal targets perfectly, and I could even see sparks flying a few miles away when hit.
The ultimate testament to battleship accuracy came during the Gulf War, when the Missouri and Wisconsin used Pioneer drones as spotter aircraft to attack Iraqi artillery batteries and bunkers. It was after the bombing of the Missouri that the Iraqi forces on Failaka Island surrendered to the drone launched from the Wisconsin, associating its low span with the imminent bombardment.
The real end of analog fire control came not because of its accuracy, but because of banal dollars and cents. For the funds that need to be spent on putting the Iowa into the sea, the Navy could equip ten Zamvolts, which, moreover, could take a double supply of fuel compared to the tanks of the battleship. At 19During the 1980s and 1990s, the Navy spent a lot of time trying to justify continuing to operate battleships, despite their cost, by trying technologies such as the Advanced Gun Weapon System Technology Program or by testing gunpowder charges with higher yields. An explosion aboard the Iowa in 1989, allegedly caused by spontaneous combustion of gunpowder made back in the 1930s, put an end to such experiments.
Ironically, analog computing technology continues to exist on the Zamvolt as part of its fire control system. Electronic analog computers are part of a radar station with a phased antenna array that provides guidance for Zamvolta missiles. However, from the point of view of the old naval veterans, the control computer cannot be with this if it does not have servos.
A stand-alone story with familiar characters — the Gears of War film adaptation will not be included in the canon of the series
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The upcoming adaptation of Gears of War will not be included in the series canon.
About this in a conversation with IGN told the head of the studio The Coalition Rod Fergusson .
«For a movie to be successful, it must first be a great motion picture, and then a Gears of War adaptation. Its events must be independent of and influence the game’s story.»
Fergusson called this move an opportunity to give the filmmakers more creative freedom and a new way of looking at the world » Gear of War «. This approach is already used in books and comics for the franchise.
«I’ve heard of other franchises where writing a story started with a huge story bible. Here’s the rule book for you, now go and figure out 700 pages of how the world of our game works. When we did this, we had two pages. I told them, «Here’s two pages of advice and do’s and don’ts. We want people to have the freedom to come up with new ideas and see things differently.
»
Despite the independent story, the events of the film will unfold on the planet Sera familiar from the games and introduce some of the key characters of the series to the audience. Whether Marcus Phoenix will be among them is still unknown, but Dave Bautista volunteered to play some time ago. The script for the tape is written by F . Scott Fraser (« Trix : World Domination «, « Autobahn «)
Read also : Mortal Kombat 11 — NetherRealm Studios has announced Kombat League Ranked Mode .
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