New Fallout 4 mod revisits the best game in the series

A new mod is bringing the best of the fan-favorite Fallout 2, which first launched in 1998, to the latest release in the series.
Known as Project Arroyo, the new mod offers a full recreation of the iconic RPG, outfitted in the gameplay style of the 2015 open-world role-playing game. While the mechanics, movement, and lighting remain from Fallout 4, the style and locations from Fallout 2 have been faithfully rendered.
As it usually stands, the two regular versions of the game don’t have a lot in common. Although set in the same universe, Fallout 2 leaned towards a darker color scheme for its post-apocalyptic adventure, while Fallout 4 is more lighthearted in comparison. Fallout 2 also had parts presented in an isometric perspective, with turn-based combat, where Fallout 4 is seen from the first-person or third-person perspective of the player character.
Return to Fallout 2 with Project Arroyo mod
Nonetheless, many fans still yearn for the days of Fallout 2 – and now Project Arroyo would mean you can fully revisit it and its locations within Fallout 4. A two-minute trailer showcases some of the first areas to get the treatment, highlighting how much has already been achieved.
For example, already the Temple of Trials’ Aztec appearance has been replicated in full, complete with the big stone head from the game’s starting area making its return.

While the locations have been rendered with great attention to detail, Fallout 4’s lighting engine does appear to struggle with some of the gritter stylistic aspects of Fallout 2.
The insertion of the earlier game into the fourth also reveals how far the games have come in terms of scale, with Fallout 2’s locations appearing much smaller on the more modern map.
There’s no confirmed release date for Project Arroyo but there are several important dates on the Fallout calendar that the mod release could coincide with. For example, the Fallout TV show debuts on Amazon Prime Video on April 12, 2024. While the mod likely won’t be finished that early, the reveal of a trailer suggests we could likely expect more news in the coming months.
Featured image: ConstructVOD via IGDB
The post New Fallout 4 mod revisits the best game in the series appeared first on ReadWrite.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on New Fallout 4 mod revisits the best game in the series

Apple’s Jony Ive and OpenAI’s Sam Altman seek funds for new AI personal device

Former Apple design lead Jony Ive and current Open AI CEO Sam Altman are sourcing funding for a new “artificial intelligence-powered personal device”.
Sources speaking to The Information state that the duo are working together on the new device. Exact details are not yet known but it reportedly won’t look anything like a smartphone.
Plans for this new venture have been underway since the fall of 2023 but now funding is being sought to bring it to reality. Already, the lofty circles that Ive and Altman come from within the tech world are gathering attention from some of the biggest names in technology investment.
Ive and Altman seek billion-dollar investment for personal device
According to these sources, Ive and Altman are aiming to raise at least $1 billion for the new company, which is not yet named. A few of the investors currently in talks include previous OpenAI investor Thrive Capital, SoftBank CEO and super-investor Masayoshi Son, and venture capital firm Emerson Collective.
With Altman and Ive both coming from tech giant backgrounds, they already have the personal connections to at least start talks with some of these giant names from the industry. This could bring that lofty goal of $1 billion initial investment considerably closer.
What’s more, their backgrounds directly feed into the little we know about the device. Coming from Apple, Ive has experience in personal devices. Indeed, Apple itself is rumored to be incorporating AI more directly into the software of future smartphones.
For Altman, AI has been his bread and butter for a while now, not just through OpenAI as the founder of ChatGPT, but also through various other AI ventures that the CEO has been investing in and aiding. As it stands, there is no sign that either Apple or OpenAI would get directly involved with the new personal device company.
Featured image: Flickr licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DEED
The post Apple’s Jony Ive and OpenAI’s Sam Altman seek funds for new AI personal device appeared first on ReadWrite.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Apple’s Jony Ive and OpenAI’s Sam Altman seek funds for new AI personal device

Solana Meme Coin ‘Smog’ Launches Airdrop Season 2 Community Quests

Popular solana-based meme coin Smog (SMOG) has officially kicked off the second season of its community quests as part of its ongoing airdrop campaign.
This latest announcement marks a new chapter in the Smog ecosystem, as token holders can now continue engaging in various activities and trading challenges to earn airdrop points and rewards via the Zealy platform.
How Does the SMOG Airdrop Work?
The SMOG airdrop operates on a straightforward principle – token holders can accumulate “XP points” through a range of community-based task on Zealy.
These tasks include buying and staking SMOG tokens, participating in quests, leaving comments, and engaging with the Smog community across platforms like Twitter, Discord, and Telegram.
The inaugural season of the SMOG airdrop campaign was a resounding success, utilizing a gamified approach to drive community engagement and awareness for the project, which now boasts over 118,000 holders.

The Season one airdrop saw participants complete millions of quests to earn XP points and climb the leaderboard. These tasks were designed to help promote the Smog project across the crypto space, ranging from visiting the official website, to following their social media accounts, retweeting or liking posts, or sharing content on platforms like TikTok.
Most of the quests were automatically reviewed, allowing users to earn XP points immediately after completion. However, a select few tasks required manual review, meaning participants had to wait a short period before their rewards were credited.
The airdrop’s core objective was to incentivize widespread participation and drive publicity for the SMOG token. The more XP a user accumulated by completing tasks, the higher their position on the leaderboard – and the greater their potential rewards at the end of the campaign.
We can say that Season 1 of the SMOG airdrop was a decent success. Over nine million quests were completed on Zealy, generating significant buzz and awareness for the project within the crypto community. The gamified approach, coupled with the diverse range of engagement tasks, proved to be an effective strategy in onboarding new users and rewarding the platform’s most active participants.
As the SMOG ecosystem now transitions into Season 2, the community awaits the next phase of airdrops and quests, building upon the strong foundation established during the inaugural campaign.
To participate, users need a Solana-compatible wallet, such as Phantom, and can acquire SMOG tokens by swapping SOL, USDT, or BONK on platforms like Jupiter DEX aggregator or Birdeye. SMOG can also be purchased via the smogtoken.com website.
Prominent YouTuber Bullish on SMOG
The popular crypto YouTube channel 99Bitcoins, with over 707,000 subscribers, has released a bullish video on the new Solana meme coin. The channel’s host, Umar, expressed enthusiasm for the project, describing SMOG as “absolutely pumping” and “taking the Internet by storm.”
Umar began by highlighting how SMOG is different from the typical dog or cat-themed meme coins, noting that it has a unique dragon logo and branding. He stated that this uniqueness, combined with the fact that 2024 is the “Year of the Dragon,” could give SMOG “crazy upside potential.”

The analyst went on to provide a detailed overview of SMOG’s key features and upcoming plans. He emphasized the project’s “fair launch” on platforms like Jupiter DEX and the SMOG website, where users can buy and stake SMOG tokens to earn a 10% OTC discount.
Umar also discussed the token’s strong tokenomics, with 50% of the supply allocated to marketing, 10% to centralized exchange liquidity, 5% to decentralized exchange liquidity, and 35% to airdrops. Shortly after the video Smog was listed on MEXC.
Particularly noteworthy were Umar’s comments on the impending “greatest airdrop in history” that SMOG launched on the Solana chain. He urged viewers to “buy and hold Smog to earn airdrop points and qualify for the bounty,” emphasizing the potential rewards for engaged community members.
Throughout the video, Umar expressed boundless optimism for SMOG’s future, stating that the project could “take over the Internet” and that it represents a “great opportunity” for investors to get in on the ground floor of a promising Solana-based meme coin.
SMOG Meme Coin Price Prediction – Key Factors
Since its launch in February, SMOG has already reached an all-time high of $0.36 and over $240 million market cap, which is much higher than its current price of around $0.15. The token’s market capitalization now sits at approximately $120 million. Several factors suggest SMOG could potentially continue to see upward momentum in the future, following this correction:

Meme coins on Solana remain highly popular, with projects like WIF, BONK and SLOTH continuing to dominate global meme coin sector.
The SMOG airdrop provides a solid utility case, as token holders can earn rewards and gain exclusive community access.
Smog’s marketing efforts have been aggressive, with the token featured on numerous major crypto media outlets, further driving awareness and adoption.

Conclusion
The launch of Smog’s Season 2 Community Quests on the Zealy platform marks an exciting new phase for this Solana-based meme coin. By engaging with the community and earning XP points, token holders can look forward to a range of airdrop rewards and exclusive opportunities within the Smog ecosystem.
While the project’s future performance remains to be seen, the combination of its branding, community-driven approach, and aggressive marketing strategy suggests that SMOG may have the potential to continue its upward trajectory in the months ahead.
Related

Top Meme Coins To Watch In 2024
How This Meme Coin Crypto Wallet Turned $221 into $197,961

The post Solana Meme Coin ‘Smog’ Launches Airdrop Season 2 Community Quests appeared first on ReadWrite.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Solana Meme Coin ‘Smog’ Launches Airdrop Season 2 Community Quests

Beeper Took On Apple’s iMessage Dominance. Now It’s Been Acquired

The app that turned green chat bubbles blue has been acquired by Automattic, the parent company of WordPress and Tumblr.

Posted in Business | Tagged | Comments Off on Beeper Took On Apple’s iMessage Dominance. Now It’s Been Acquired

Intel unveils latest AI chip as Nvidia competition heats up

Intel is looking to take market share from current leader Nvidia, which has an estimated 80% of the AI chip market

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Intel unveils latest AI chip as Nvidia competition heats up

Intel Vision 2024 Offers New Look at Gaudi 3 AI Chip

Two variants of Xeon 6 processors are coming later this year, Intel announced at the Intel Vision 2024 conference.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Intel Vision 2024 Offers New Look at Gaudi 3 AI Chip

Google Cloud Next 2024: New Data Center Chip and Chrome Enterprise Premium Join the Ecosystem

Some Google Cloud customers will be able to run instances on the Arm-based Axion chip later this year.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Google Cloud Next 2024: New Data Center Chip and Chrome Enterprise Premium Join the Ecosystem

As AI accelerates, Europe’s flagship privacy principles are under attack, warns EDPS

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has warned key planks of the bloc’s data protection and privacy regime are under attack from industry lobbyists and could face a critical reception from lawmakers in the next parliamentary mandate. “We have quite strong attacks on the principles themselves,” warned Wojciech Wiewiórowski, who heads the regulatory body that […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on As AI accelerates, Europe’s flagship privacy principles are under attack, warns EDPS

Meta confirms that its Llama 3 open source LLM is coming in the next month

Meta’s Llama families, built as open-source products, represent a different philosophical approach to how AI should develop as a wider technology.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on Meta confirms that its Llama 3 open source LLM is coming in the next month

WordPress.com owner Automattic acquires multi-service messaging app Beeper for $125M

The deal, which was for $125 million according to sources close to the matter, is Automattic’s second acquisition of a cross-platform messaging solution.
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Posted in Tech | Tagged | Comments Off on WordPress.com owner Automattic acquires multi-service messaging app Beeper for $125M