title: Biomass

text: When combusted in combustion facilities with the same heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency, oven dry wood emits slightly less CO per unit of heat produced, compared to oven dry coal. However, many biomass-only combustion facilities are relatively small and inefficient, compared to the typically much larger coal plants. Further, raw biomass (for instance wood chips) can have higher moisture content than coal (especially if the coal has been dried). When this is the case, more of the wood's inherent energy must be spent solely on evaporating moisture, compared to the drier coal, which means that the amount of CO emitted per unit produced heat will be higher.


title: Biomass

text: Some researchers (e.g. the research group Chatham House) therefore argue that "[...] the use of woody biomass for energy will release higher levels of emissions than coal [...]." Likewise, the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences argues that for smaller scale utilities, with 32% conversion efficiency for coal, and 20-25% for biomass, coal emissions are 31% less than emissions from wood chips. The assumed moisture content for wood chips is 45%. Assumed moisture content for coal is not provided.


title: Biomass

text: Hektor et al. argue that the moisture problem is efficiently mitigated by modern combustion facilities. Cowie et al. argue that stack emissions for biomass and coal is the same when biomass is co-fired with coal in large power plants, and that torrefied biomass has a higher conversion efficiency than low-rank coals. Wood pellets combusted at Drax in the UK (the world's largest biomass power plant) have 7% moisture, and when combusted the plant has a higher conversion efficiency than what is average for coal plants in the UK (38.6 vs. 35.9%). Stack emissions were 2% higher than the UK average for coal in 2015. When emissions from the wood pellet supply chain is included (the pellets are shipped to the UK from the USA), Drax claims that emissions are reduced by over 80%, compared to coal.The bioenergy consultant group FutureMetrics argue that wood pellets with 6% moisture content emits 22% "less" CO for the same amount of produced heat, compared to sub-bituminous coal with 15% moisture, when both fuels are combusted in facilities with the same conversion efficiency (here 37%). Likewise, they state that "[...] dried wood at MC's [moisture content] below 20% have the same or less CO emission per MMBTU [million British thermal units] as most coal. Wood pellets at under 10% MC result in less CO emission than any coal under otherwise equal circumstances." However, when raw wood chips are used instead (45% moisture content), this wood biomass emits 9% "more" CO than coal in general, for the same amount of produced heat.


title: Biomass

text: Taking into account the existing, small-scale biomass combustion facilities, IEA Bioenergy estimate that forest biomass on average produce 10% more CO than coal, and the IPCC estimates 16%. Both research groups argue however that focusing on gross emissions misses the point, what counts is the "net" climate effect from emissions "and" absorption, taken together. IEA Bioenergy concludes that the additional CO from biomass "[...] is irrelevant if the biomass is derived from sustainably managed forests."


title: Biomass

text: In the context of CO mitigation, the key measure regarding forest sustainability is the size of the forest carbon stock: "The core objective of all sustainable management programmes in production forests is to achieve a long-term balance between harvesting and regrowth. [...] [T]he practical effect of maintaining a balance between harvesting and regrowth is to keep long-term carbon stocks stable in managed forests." The IPCC defines sustainable forestry in a similar manner, while including ecological, economic and social criteria.


title: Biomass

text: Globally, the forest carbon stock has decreased 0.9% and tree cover 4.2% between 1990 and 2020, according to FAO. IPCC states that there is disagreement about whether the global forest is shrinking or not, and quote research indicating that tree cover has increased 7.1% between 1982 and 2016. The IPCC writes: "While above-ground biomass carbon stocks are estimated to be declining in the tropics, they are increasing globally due to increasing stocks in temperate and boreal forests [...]."


title: Biomass

text: Some researchers seem to want more than "just" sustainably managed forests; they want to realize the forests "full" carbon storage potential. For instance the EASAC writes: "There is a real danger that present policy over-emphasises the use of forests in energy production instead of increasing forest stocks for carbon storage." Further, they argue that "[...] it is the older, longer-rotation forests and protected old-growth forests that exhibit the highest carbon stocks." Chatham House argues that old trees have a very high carbon absorption rate, and that felling old trees means that this large potential for future carbon absorption is lost. In addition, they argue that there is a loss of soil carbon due to the harvest operations.


title: Biomass

text: In Europe, 25% of all forests are protected, including 89% of the primary/old-growth forests. The new version of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), introduced in 2021, extended its sustainability criteria from liquid biofuel production to also include solid (and gaseous biofuels), which is more likely to be produced from forest biomass.


title: Biomass

text: Stephenson et al. agree that old trees absorb more CO than young trees, because of the larger leaf area in full grown trees. However, the old forest (as a whole) will eventually stop absorbing CO because CO emissions from dead trees cancel out the remaining living trees' CO absorption. The old forest (or forest stands) are also vulnerable for natural disturbances that produces CO. The IPCC writes: "When vegetation matures or when vegetation and soil carbon reservoirs reach saturation, the annual removal of CO from the atmosphere declines towards zero, while carbon stocks can be maintained (high confidence). However, accumulated carbon in vegetation and soils is at risk from future loss (or sink reversal) triggered by disturbances such as flood, drought, fire, or pest outbreaks, or future poor management (high confidence)." Summing up, IPCC writes that "[...] landscapes with older forests have accumulated more carbon but their sink strength is diminishing, while landscapes with younger forests contain less carbon but they are removing CO from the atmosphere at a much higher rate [...]."


title: Biomass

text: EU's Joint Research Centre write that the measured effects of harvest and replanting on soil carbon is "[...] slight in the short term, with carbon decreases concentrated in the forest floor and near the soil surface and carbon increases occurring in the deep mineral soil layers." The JRC also argues that "[w]hole-tree harvesting for biomass production has little long-term effect on soil carbon stocks if surface soil layers containing organic material (O horizon) are left on site, nutrients are managed, and the site is allowed to regenerate [...]." The IPCC state that the current scientific basis is not sufficient to provide soil carbon emission factors.


title: Biomass

text: The IPCC argues that the net climate effect from conversion of unmanaged to managed forest can be positive or negative, depending on circumstances. The carbon stock is "reduced", but since managed forests grow faster than unmanaged forests, more carbon is "absorbed". Positive climate effects are produced if the harvested biomass is used efficiently. There is a tradeoff between the benefits of having a maximized forest carbon stock, not absorbing any more carbon, and the benefits of having a portion of that carbon stock "unlocked", and instead working as a renewable fossil fuel replacement tool, for instance in sectors which are difficult or expensive to decarbonize. When put to work, this carbon moves from the forest carbon pool into forest products and energy carriers, then via combustion into the atmosphere, and then back to the forest via photosynthesis. For each roundtrip, it displaces more and more of the fossil fuel carbon that is normally used in heat production, industry production and electricity production. After some roundtrips, the amount of displaced carbon far exceeds the amount of locked-away carbon: "The biomass produced cumulatively across subsequent rotations can far exceed the biomass produced in the no-bioenergy scenario, thus constituting ‘additional biomass', delivering cumulative net GHG savings that exceed the GHG cost of forest carbon stock reduction [...]." Said differently: "If the forest is allowed to continue to grow, biomass energy will be replaced with fossil fuels and wood products will be replaced with alternate materials." Miner argue that "in the long term, using sustainably produced forest biomass as a substitute for carbon-intensive products and fossil fuels provides greater permanent reductions in atmospheric CO than preservation does."


title: Biomass

text: Summing up the above, IEA Bioenergy writes: "As the IPCC has pointed out in several reports, forests managed for producing sawn timber, bioenergy and other wood products can make a greater contribution to climate change mitigation than forests managed for conservation alone, for three reasons. First, the sink strength diminishes as conservation forests approach maturity. Second, wood products displace GHG-intensive materials and fossil fuels. Third, carbon in forests is vulnerable to loss through natural events such as insect infestations or wildfires, as recently seen in many parts of the world including Australia and California. Managing forests can help to increase the total amount of carbon sequestered in the forest and wood products carbon pools, reduce the risk of loss of sequestered carbon, and reduce fossil fuel use."


title: Biomass

text: The IPCC argues that sustainable forest management "[...] aimed at providing timber, fibre, biomass and non-timber resources can provide long-term livelihood for communities, reduce the risk of forest conversion to non-forest uses (settlement, crops, etc.), and maintain land productivity, thus reducing the risks of land degradation [...]." The connection between economic opportunities in forestry and increased forest size is emphasized by other researchers as well. However, Cowie et al. argue that in some situations, "[...] such as high latitudes where forest productivity is very low, greater abatement may result from retaining and enhancing forest carbon stocks than harvesting forests for wood products including bioenergy, especially if the GHG savings from bioenergy use are small [...]." They also argue that forests that produce income for private forest owners are unlikely to be protected. When forest products are in "demand" and forests therefore are managed for timber production, the most realistic no-bioenergy scenario is not forest protection but continued timber production without residues collection and utilization. In this case, the residues will instead decay on their own or be incinerated, which in both cases produce emissions without any fossil fuel displacement effect. The most realistic no-bioenergy scenarios in case of "low" demand for forest products is land use change to natural forests (with increased risk for wildfires), or clear-cutting to prepare for agriculture or urbanization.


title: Biomass

text: Possibly strengthening the arguments above, data from FAO show that most wood pellets are produced in regions dominated by sustainably managed forests. Europe (including Russia) produced 54% of the world's wood pellets in 2019, and the forest carbon stock in this area increased from 158.7 to 172.4 Gt between 1990 and 2020. In the EU, above-ground forest biomass increases with 1.3% per year on average, however the increase is slowing down because the forests are maturing. In 2020, the forested area covered 39.8% of EU's total land area. Likewise, North America produced 29% of the worlds pellets in 2019, while forest carbon stock increased from 136.6 to 140 Gt in the same period.


title: Biomass

text: Carbon stock decreased from 94.3 to 80.9 Gt in Africa, 45.8 to 41.5 Gt in South and Southeast Asia combined, 33.4 to 33.1 Gt in Oceania, 5 to 4.1 Gt in Central America, and from 161.8 to 144.8 Gt in South America. Wood pellet production in these areas combined was 13.2% in 2019. However, Chatham House argues that "[f]orest carbon stock levels may stay the same or increase for reasons entirely unconnected with use for energy."


title: Biomass

text: Some research groups still argue that even if the European and North American forest carbon stock is increasing, it simply takes too long for harvested trees to grow back. EASAC for instance argues that since the world is on track to pass by the agreed target of 1.5 degrees temperature increase already in a decade or so, bioenergy from sources with high payback and parity times make it harder to achieve that goal. They therefore suggest that the EU should adjust its sustainability criteria so that only renewable energy with carbon payback times of less than 10 years is defined as sustainable, for instance wind, solar, biomass from wood residues and tree thinnings that would otherwise be burnt or decompose relatively fast, and biomass from short rotation coppicing (SRC).


title: Biomass

text: Cowie et al. argue that "[...] a 10-year payback time as a criterion for identifying suitable mitigation options is inconsistent with the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, which requires that a balance between emission and removals is reached in the second half of this century [...]." They also argue that emissions from bioenergy is fundamentally different from emissions from fossil fuels, since the former are circular and the latter linear. Biomass is compatible with the current energy infrastructure, so it works today, while proposed alternatives with low emissions "[...] may be restricted by immature development, high cost or dependence on new infrastructure."


title: Biomass

text: Chatham House argues that there could be tipping points along the temperature scale where warming accelerates. Cowie et al. argues that tipping points are an uncertainty, but a global tipping point seems unlikely "[...] if warming does not exceed 2°C [...]." The IPCC argue that while there are "[...] arguments for the existence of regional tipping points, most notably in the Arctic [...]", there is "[...] no evidence for global-scale tipping points in any of the most comprehensive models evaluated to date in studies of climate evolution in the 21st century."


title: Biomass

text: An important presupposition for the "tree regrowth is too slow" argument is the view that carbon accounting should start when trees from particular, harvested forest stands are combusted, and not when the trees in those stands start to grow (see Temporal system boundaries, above.) It is within this frame of thought it becomes possible to argue that the combustion event creates a carbon "debt" that has to be repaid through regrowth of the harvested stands.


title: Biomass

text: When instead assuming that carbon accounting should start when the trees start to grow, it becomes impossible to argue that the emitted carbon constitutes debt. FutureMetrics for instance argue that the harvested carbon is not a debt but "[...] a benefit that was earned by 30 years of management and growth [...]." Likewise, Lamers & Junginger argue that "owners" of existing intensively managed, even-aged forests probably will consider the plantation establishment year as the logical start year for carbon accounting, and that harvesting redeems a carbon credit rather than creating a new debt. However, from a "policy maker's" perspective, [...] the main question is rather whether he/she should incentivize harvest for bioenergy or not." In other words, "[...] what is important to climate policy is understanding the difference in future atmospheric GHG levels, with and without switching to woody biomass energy. Prior growth of the forest is irrelevant to the policy question [...]." If this line of reasoning later is applied to new forest plantations planted on "empty" land areas as well (for instance agricultural or marginal lands), the onset of carbon accounting will shift from the planting event to the harvest event, for instance after the second rotation.


title: Biomass

text: As mentioned in Spatial system boundaries above, some researchers limit their carbon accounting to particular forest stands, ignoring the carbon absorption that takes place in the rest of the forest. Other researchers include the whole forest landscape when doing their carbon accounting. FutureMetrics for instance argues that the whole forest continually absorbs CO and therefore immediately compensates for the relatively small amounts of biomass that is combusted in biomass plants from day to day. Likewise, IEA Bioenergy criticizes EASAC for ignoring the carbon absorption that is happening in the forest landscape, noting that there is no net loss of carbon if the annual harvest is smaller than the forest's annual growth.


title: Biomass

text: IPCC argue along similar lines: "While individual stands in a forest may be either sources or sinks, the forest carbon balance is determined by the sum of the net balance of all stands." IPCC also state that the only universally applicable approach to carbon accounting is the one that accounts for both carbon emissions and carbon removals (absorption) for managed lands (e.g. forest landscapes.) When the total is calculated, natural disturbances like fires and insect infestations are subtracted, and what remains is the human influence.


title: Biomass

text: Researchers also discuss the use of roundwood vs. logging residues. Roundwood is defined by the EU's Joint Research Centre as all woody material removed from the forest, and logging residues is the parts that would most likely remain in the forest in the case of no demand from bioenergy. 20% of the felled biomass is currently left in the forest as logging residues. Residues include tree tops, branches and stumps, but also pre-commercial thinnings (small, thin, young trees cleared away for increased productivity of the whole forest stand), salvage loggings and trees cleared away for fire hazard control. Stemwood is a type of roundwood; according to the JRC's definition the stem of the tree is cut at a height of 15 cm above ground, and extends in a straight manner up to a point where the diameter of the stem should be minimum 9 cm. See footnote for full definitions of roundwood, stemwood, fuelwood, salvage loggings, pulpwood and sawnwood. In general, residues and cascaded wood (wood products that are combusted for energy at the end of their service life) is seen as maximizing "the positive climate impact of bioenergy". In Europe, approximately 20% stemwood is used for bioenergy, with the rest from logging residues, processing residues and post consumer wood. At least half of the stemwood is sourced from short rotation coppice forests, which have low payback/parity times and provides ecosystem services.


title: Biomass

text: Chatham House argue that it would be better if some of the biomass defined as roundwood (most notably stems) was "not" harvested and used for wood pellets, as this would increase the growing carbon stock in the forest. They also argue that "[...] trees that would not qualify as high-quality sawtimber could nevertheless be used for pulp, panels or laminated products." In other words, it would be better if this low-value biomass was used as raw material for other products than for wood pellets, since carbon is stored for a longer period of time in the former case. Chatham House also argues that all available sawmill residue is already being used for pellet production, so there is no room for expansion. For the bioenergy sector to significantly expand in the future, more of the harvested pulpwood must go to pellet mills.


title: Biomass

text: Cowie et al. argue that approximately 20% "[...] roundwood (also referred to as stemwood), such as small stems from forest thinning [...]" is used for wood pellets in the USA. However, the use of stemwood from short-rotation forests have short parity times, and in long-rotation forests, the stemwood used for wood pellets usually consists of by-products from sawnwood production (thinnings or irregular/bent/damaged stem sections from larger trees.) Sawnwood production provides over 90% of foresters income and is the main reason forestry exist. Without a market for the low-quality stem sections or thinnings, they would have been left in the forest to decay, or been incinerated at roadside. Cowie et al. also argue that using thinnings for bioenergy strengthens the carbon displacement effect of harvested wood products, since the thinning practice help produce more sawnwood.


title: Biomass

text: Likewise, FutureMetrics argues that it makes no sense for foresters to sell sawlog-quality roundwood to pellet mills, since they get a lot more money for this part of the tree from sawmills. Foresters make 80-90% of their income from sawlog-quality roundwood and only 10-15% from pulpwood, defined as a.) the upper part of the stem that is too thin or too bent to be used for sawnwood production, plus branches, and b.) tree thinnings. This low-value biomass is mainly sold to pulp mills for paper production, but in some cases also to pellet mills for pellet production. Pellets are typically made from sawmill residues in areas where there are sawmills, but also from pulpwood in areas without sawmills. Lamers & Junginger argue that the "[...] higher economic value for timber and cellulose [pulp] products makes large-scale use of whole-trees for energy purposes highly unlikely wherever there is regional competition for the fiber." According to EU's Joint Research Centre, both the bioenergy sector, the wood panel sector and the pulp sector "[...] are all dependant on the demand for sawnwood, and they compete for the same feedstocks."


title: Biomass

text: According to Cowie et al., "[...] the perceived attractiveness of specific forest bioenergy options is influenced by the priority given to near-term versus longer term climate objectives." IPCC for instance states that forest carbon emission avoidance strategies always give a short-term mitigation benefit, but argue that the long-term benefits from sustainable forestry activities are more important:


title: Biomass

text: Similarly, addressing the issue of climate consequences for modern bioenergy in general, the IPCC states: "Life-cycle GHG emissions of modern bioenergy alternatives are usually lower than those for fossil fuels [...]." Consequently, most of IPCC's GHG mitigation pathways include substantial deployment of bioenergy technologies. Limited or no bioenergy pathways leads to increased climate change or shifting bioenergy's mitigation load to other sectors. In addition, mitigation cost increases.


title: Biomass

text: IEA Bioenergy argue that an exclusive focus on the short-term make it harder to achieve efficient carbon mitigation in the long term, and compare investments in new bioenergy technologies with investments in other renewable energy technologies that only provide emission reductions after 2030, for instance the scaling-up of battery manufacturing or the development of rail infrastructure. The National Association of University Forest Resources Programs recommends a time horizon of 100 years in order to produce a realistic assessment of cumulative emissions.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: The Koenigsegg Jesko is a limited production mid-engine sports car produced by Swedish automobile manufacturer Koenigsegg. Introduced at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, the car succeeds the Agera. The name "Jesko" is a tribute to the company founder's father, Jesko von Koenigsegg.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: The Jesko is primarily built as a high-performance track-focused car with an emphasis on high aerodynamic downforce and precise handling. The Jesko Attack and Jesko Absolut are both road legal worldwide.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: The engine is a development of the 5.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine used in the Agera. It has four valves per cylinder each with a bore and stroke of and a compression ratio of 8.6:1. The engine has a power output of at 7800 rpm and of torque at 2700 to 6170 rpm on normal gasoline and has a power output of and of torque at 5,100 rpm on E85 biofuel.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: Changes from the Agera's engine include the use of a new 180-degree flat-plane crankshaft that saves and increases the redline from 8,250 rpm to 8,500 rpm. The Jesko also utilises active rubber mounts from the Regera that reduce engine vibrations in the cabin. The two large turbochargers are equipped with a 20-litre air tank made from carbon fibre, coupled with an electric compressor which feeds pressurised air to the turbochargers at a pressure of in order to reduce turbo lag. The engine has pressure sensors for each cylinder in order to achieve real time cylinder monitoring for the multipoint fuel injection system.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: The engine is mated to an in-house developed 9-speed multi-clutch transmission called the "Light Speed Transmission (LST)" by the manufacturer. The new transmission has a weight of and it is at least 50% shorter in length than the previous 7-speed dual-clutch unit. It has 9 forward gear combinations using a layout with an input shaft with 3 fixed gears which is mated to a secondary shaft with 3 gears fixed to the output shaft and 3 clutched gears mated to the input shaft and an output shaft with 4 clutched gears (one set is used for reverse which mates directly to the input shaft), allowing the transmission to change gears without an interruption in power delivery due to the speedy nature of clutch actuation and overlap between the clutches opening and closing. The engine's crankshaft is mated directly to the LST and uses the rotating mass of the transmission components in place of a traditional flywheel. The transmission has a shift time ranging from 20 to 30 milliseconds. It also has an overdrive mode called "Ultimate Power on Demand" that is designed to skip directly to the optimal gear depending on user input, rather than down or upshifting sequentially to that gear.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: The transmission is controlled by an onboard computer which uses engine and road speed data to engage a gear. Gears are selected by the driver either using the shift paddles mounted on the steering column or the gear selector.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: Unlike its predecessors, the high-downforce Attack variant of the Jesko has Koenigsegg's 'Triplex' dampers at the front and the rear combined with traditional Öhlins dampers. A horizontal rear damper prevents the rear from pressing on the ground during hard acceleration. The front dampers stabilise the car at high speeds while active rear wheel steering ensures further stability at all performance levels.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: The carbon body tub used in the Jesko is longer and wider from that of its predecessor in order for more passenger room. The tub has been redesigned and incorporates an aluminium monocoque structure for increased rigidity.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: The car comes standard with forged aluminium centre lock wheels, with diameters of 20 inches at the front and 21 inches at the rear. Lighter carbon fibre wheels are available as an option, weighing at the front and at the rear. The tyres are Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2's with codes of 265/35 20 for the front and 345/30 21 for the rear. Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tyres dedicated for track driving are also available as an option. The braking system uses ventilated carbon-ceramic discs.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: The use of a redesigned monocoque improves leg and headroom in the interior of the Jesko when compared to previous Koenigsegg models. Though weight saving is a priority for interior features, the car is still equipped with amenities such as a climate control system, an infotainment system with a 9.0-inch screen, Apple CarPlay and USB phone charging. The car has unique screens mounted in the steering wheel spokes and a 5.0-inch screen mounted behind the steering wheel displaying vital information to the driver. The seats will be made from hollow carbon fibre but will be electrically adjustable.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: The Jesko shares Koenigsegg's 'Autoskin' capabilities from the Regera, allowing for remote operation of doors and the hood. It is also possible to hydraulically lift the front and rear axles of the car to give additional ground clearance. The doors have been redesigned so that they open further outward and have more ground clearance while open. The roof has screws in order to ensure it remains in place during high speed driving.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: Production of the Jesko will be limited to 125 units, with 40–50 units being produced each year. Unlike its predecessors, the Jesko will be homologated worldwide. It was announced in March 2019 that all the build slots of the Jesko were sold out.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: The Jesko will be offered in either a high-downforce Attack or low-drag Absolut configuration, with subtle differences between the two variants. The Attack variant, as shown at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, comes equipped with the dual front and rear 'Triplex' damper system and added aerodynamic features for track use. Due to this dual suspension setup, it is not possible to store the Targa roof in the front of the car, although this is possible in the Absolut as it will not have a front 'Triplex' damper system or front hood air dam. In July 2021, Koenigsegg revealed the first pre-series production Jesko and claimed that the first Jesko customer cars are slated for delivery in spring 2022. , no customer cars had been delivered.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: The Jesko Attack is the high-downforce, default version of the Jesko. This variant has a large rear-wing and a large carbon fiber front splitter that Koenigsegg claims to generate of downforce at , at and at its top speed.


title: Koenigsegg Jesko

text: Unveiled online alongside the Gemera on 3 March 2020, the Jesko Absolut is a high speed version of the Jesko. The rear wing on the Jesko Attack is replaced by two rear fins which enable a reduction in downforce from to and a drag coefficient of . The front splitter and side winglets are removed and the front louvers are smoother with the rear wheels featuring removable covers for high speed stability. The vehicle is also slightly elongated featuring a rear extension which adds of additional length. The engine and transmission remain the same as the Jesko Attack. 3,000 hours were spent on the aerodynamic analysis while an additional 5,000 hours were spent design and engineering work of the Absolut. The Absolut will be priced higher than the Jesko due to the development work taken to lower the drag coefficient. The Jesko Absolut is claimed by the manufacturer to have a top speed in excess of , with theoretical spеeds as high as in the right conditions.


title: Coldplay discography

text: British rock band Coldplay have released nine studio albums, six live albums, 11 compilations, four video albums, 18 extended plays, 41 singles, 13 promotional singles, four charity singles and 64 music videos. According to Parlophone, their first eight albums have sold a combined total of 100 million copies worldwide as of May 2021, making them the most successful band of the 21st century and one of the best-selling artists of all time. They are also the act with most number-one albums in the United Kingdom without ever missing the top and achieved 10 million-selling singles in the country. Meanwhile, Nielsen SoundScan reported in 2015 the band have sold over 18.2 million albums and 33.6 million songs in the United States.


title: Coldplay discography

text: In 1998, Coldplay independently released "Safety", their first extended play. It was succeeded by "The Blue Room" after they signed with Parlophone in 1999. During the same year, "Brothers & Sisters" debuted at number 92 in the UK Singles Chart. In March 2000, "Shiver" was made available as the lead single for "Parachutes". It was their first song to reach the Top 40, being followed by "Yellow", which peaked at number four and is considered the band's breakthrough hit. In July 2000, the album was released to immediate success domestically, in New Zealand and Australia, eventually turning into a sleeper hit record in France, Germany, Italy and the United States as well. As of 2020, Parachutes have sold 13 million copies worldwide.


title: Coldplay discography

text: The band's second studio album, "A Rush of Blood to the Head", was released on 26 August 2002 and experienced much stronger sales in comparison to its predecessor, topping the charts of 11 countries around the world. Coldplay promoted the record with singles "In My Place", "The Scientist" and "Clocks", which have all entered the UK Singles Chart Top 10. Their third studio album, "X&Y", was then released on 6 June 2005 upon considerable anticipation, earning the third biggest sales week of United Kingdom's history at the time, reaching number-one in 32 countries, and becoming the year's best-selling record. With 737,000 copies sold, it debuted atop "Billboard" 200 and remained on region for three weeks, marking the longest stay for a British group since The Beatles between 2000 and 2001. Lead single "Speed of Sound" was an international Top 10 hit as well.


title: Coldplay discography

text: On 12 June 2008, Coldplay released "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends". It also earned the distinction of being the biggest album of the year worldwide, topping the charts of 36 countries and having the biggest digital sales of the decade. The title track, "Viva la Vida", was their first number-one song in the United Kingdom and United States, as well as the first British group track to achieve the feat since "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls in 1997. The band's fifth studio album, "Mylo Xyloto", was then made available on 24 October 2011 and followed the success of its predecessors by going number-one in 34 countries, while "Paradise" became the biggest rock song of the year and their second chart-topper in the United Kingdom. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), it was the best-selling album of 2011 by a group.


title: Coldplay discography

text: Coldplay later repeated the achievement on "Ghost Stories", which arrived on 19 May 2014. The band's seventh studio album, "A Head Full of Dreams", marked the shortest gap between two of their records, being released on 4 December 2015. Although mostly kept from number-one around the world by Adele's "25", it had a resurgence in sales following their Super Bowl 50 halftime show performance, eventually selling over six million copies. Its companion piece, "Kaleidoscope EP", included a live version of "Something Just Like This", which was the third best-selling song of 2017 worldwide and their most successful single to date. "Everyday Life" was then released on 22 November 2019, peaking at number-one in 12 countries. Two years later, "My Universe" was made available and Coldplay became the first British group in history to debut atop "Billboard" Hot 100. The band's ninth studio album, "Music of the Spheres", arrived on 15 October 2021 and earned the biggest sales week of the year in the United Kingdom upon release.


title: Smooth Criminal

text: "Smooth Criminal" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on November 14, 1988, as the seventh single from his seventh album, "Bad" (1987). It was written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. The lyrics address a woman who has been attacked in her apartment by a "smooth criminal". The refrain "Annie, are you OK?" was inspired by Resusci Anne, a dummy used in CPR training.


title: Smooth Criminal

text: The music video for "Smooth Criminal", which premiered on MTV on October 13, 1988, is the centerpiece of the 1988 film "Moonwalker". The 1930s setting and Jackson's white suit and fedora pay tribute to the Fred Astaire musical comedy film "The Band Wagon". In the video, Jackson and the dancers perform an apparently physically impossible "anti-gravity lean".


title: Smooth Criminal

text: "Smooth Criminal" reached number seven on the "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming the sixth top-10 single from "Bad". It reached number two on the "Billboard" Hot Black Singles chart. It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song reached number one in Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands, and Spain.


title: Smooth Criminal

text: Retrospective reviews have described it as one of Jackson's best songs. "Rolling Stone" wrote that it was "his best blend of R&B groove and rock edginess, and a turning point in his shift toward darker, harder-edged material". It has appeared on numerous greatest hits albums and was performed on all of Jackson's solo tours. "Smooth Criminal" was re-released in 2006 as a single as a part of Jackson's "" boxset.


title: Smooth Criminal

text: "Smooth Criminal" evolved from an earlier song written by Jackson, "Al Capone" (named after real life gangster Al Capone), released on the 2012 reissue "Bad 25". It is in the key of A minor, and Jackson's vocal spans from G to C. The lyrics describe a narrator who finds a bloodstained carpet and an unconscious body. The chorus refrain, "Annie, are you OK?", was inspired by Resusci Anne, a dummy used in cardiopulmonary resuscitation training. Trainees learn to say "Annie, are you OK?" while practicing resuscitation on the dummy.


title: Smooth Criminal

text: "Smooth Criminal" peaked at number seven on the "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming the sixth top 10 single from "Bad". It is certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. The song reached number one in Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands and Spain and the top 10 in Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland and the UK.


title: Smooth Criminal

text: Jackson asked Vincent Paterson to conceive a concept for the short film. Paterson listened to the unfinished song and came up with the concept of a 1930s gangster club. Vincent Paterson, who was a lead dancer in the music videos for "Beat It" and "Thriller", co-choreographed the "Smooth Criminal" video with Jackson and Jeffrey Daniel of the soul music group Shalamar. The video and Jackson's white suit and fedora pay tribute to the Fred Astaire musical comedy film "The Band Wagon", particularly the "Girl Hunt Ballet" (itself inspired by the novels of Mickey Spillane) scene. The video, directed by Colin Chilvers, was shot between mid-February and April 1987 at Culver City, California, and in the backlot at Universal Studios Hollywood and premiered on MTV on the night of October 13, 1988.


title: Smooth Criminal

text: In the video, Jackson and the other dancers perform a lean that appears physically impossible. The dancers lean forward 45 degrees with their backs straight and feet flat on the floor, and hold the pose before returning upright. The lean moves the body's center of mass further than it can support. The illusion was achieved using cables and a harness. In October 1993, Jackson's team patented a method of performing the lean in concert using specially designed shoes that hook into pegs that rise from the stage. Even with the shoes, the move requires good athletic core strength.


title: Smooth Criminal

text: The video won Best Music Video at the 1989 Brit Awards and the Critic's Choice awarded Jackson the "Best Video" award and the People's Choice Awards for "Favorite Music Video" for that same year.


title: Smooth Criminal

text: In 2019, American television personality Kim Kardashian bought Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" fedora, which still had his makeup on it, for her daughter North West.


title: Smooth Criminal

text: The style of clothing as well as mannerisms Jackson portrayed were reused in the numerous adaptations of the video game "Michael Jackson's Moonwalker". The song serves as the background music for the "Club 30s" stage, the nightclub seen in the music video, that appears in the game. The video is the centerpiece of the 1988 film "Moonwalker".


title: Smooth Criminal

text: Jason Elias of AllMusic wrote that "Smooth Criminal" was "a gorgeous and exhilarating record ... [it] presents Michael Jackson at his most captivating and it never fails to impress". "Rolling Stone" named it the sixth best Jackson song, writing that it was "his best blend of R&B groove and rock edginess, and a turning point in his shift toward darker, harder-edged material." In a retrospective review of "Bad", "Newsweek" wrote: "[Smooth Criminal] is a sleek, exhilarating action sequence of a song that's unlike anything else in Jackson's catalog ... an urgent and inspired highlight. "Bad" is at its best when it explores the darker, more paranoid side that began to consume Jackson's life in the late '80s, and this song captures that impulse." "Entertainment Weekly" wrote: "If there was one song on "Bad" that truly captured the sense of artistic freedom that Jackson felt after "Thriller", it was this track ... This is pop music as suspense drama."


title: Smooth Criminal

text: The Croatian duo 2Cellos performed the song in a viral YouTube video. They later performed it in the "Glee" episode "Michael".


title: Smooth Criminal

text: In May 2001, American rock band Alien Ant Farm released a cover version of "Smooth Criminal" as the second single from their second studio album, "Anthology" (2001). According to lead singer Dryden Mitchell, the band would play a few riffs of the Jackson song while warming up before gigs and audience members would request them to play the entire song. This positive feedback encouraged them to record their own rendition of "Smooth Criminal" and include it on "Anthology".


title: Smooth Criminal

text: The cover became a number-one hit on the US "Billboard" Modern Rock Tracks chart and was also a number-one hit in Australia for eight weeks. In Europe, it reached number three in the United Kingdom and charted within the top 10 in ten other countries. Alien Ant Farm's 1999 album "Greatest Hits" includes a hidden track named "Slick Thief", which is an early version of "Smooth Criminal".


title: Smooth Criminal

text: The music video was directed by Marc Klasfeld. It references various Jackson music videos, including the "Smooth Criminal" video itself.


title: Bootstrap (front-end framework)

text: Bootstrap is a free and open-source CSS framework directed at responsive, mobile-first front-end web development. It contains HTML, CSS and (optionally) JavaScript-based design templates for typography, forms, buttons, navigation, and other interface components.


title: Bootstrap (front-end framework)

text: , Bootstrap is the 14th most starred project (4th most starred library) on GitHub, with over 161,000 stars.


title: Bootstrap (front-end framework)

text: Bootstrap is an HTML, CSS and JS library that focuses on simplifying the development of informative web pages (as opposed to web applications). The primary purpose of adding it to a web project is to apply Bootstrap's choices of color, size, font and layout to that project. As such, the primary factor is whether the developers in charge find those choices to their liking. Once added to a project, Bootstrap provides basic style definitions for all HTML elements. The result is a uniform appearance for prose, tables and form elements across web browsers. In addition, developers can take advantage of CSS classes defined in Bootstrap to further customize the appearance of their contents. For example, Bootstrap has provisioned for light- and dark-colored tables, page headings, more prominent pull quotes, and text with a highlight.


title: Bootstrap (front-end framework)

text: Bootstrap also comes with several JavaScript components which do not require other libraries like jQuery. They provide additional user interface elements such as dialog boxes, tooltips, progress bars, navigation drop-downs, and carousels. Each Bootstrap component consists of an HTML structure, CSS declarations, and in some cases accompanying JavaScript code. They also extend the functionality of some existing interface elements, including for example an auto-complete function for input fields.


title: Bootstrap (front-end framework)

text: The most prominent components of Bootstrap are its layout components, as they affect an entire web page. The basic layout component is called "Container", as every other element in the page is placed in it. Developers can choose between a fixed-width container and a fluid-width container. While the latter always fills the width with the web page, the former uses one of the five predefined fixed widths, depending on the size of the screen showing the page:


title: Bootstrap (front-end framework)

text: Once a container is in place, other Bootstrap layout components implement a CSS Flexbox layout through defining rows and columns.


title: Bootstrap (front-end framework)

text: A precompiled version of Bootstrap is available in the form of one CSS file and three JavaScript files that can be readily added to any project. The raw form of Bootstrap, however, enables developers to implement further customization and size optimizations. This raw form is modular, meaning that the developer can remove unneeded components, apply a theme and modify the uncompiled Sass files.


title: Bootstrap (front-end framework)

text: Bootstrap, originally named Twitter Blueprint, was developed by Mark Otto and Jacob Thornton at Twitter as a framework to encourage consistency across internal tools. Before Bootstrap, various libraries were used for interface development, which led to inconsistencies and a high maintenance burden. According to Otto:


title: Bootstrap (front-end framework)

text: After a few months of development by a small group, many developers at Twitter began to contribute to the project as a part of Hack Week, a hackathon-style week for the Twitter development team. It was renamed from Twitter Blueprint to Bootstrap and released as an open-source project on August 19, 2011. It has continued to be maintained by Otto, Thornton, a small group of core developers, and a large community of contributors.


title: Bootstrap (front-end framework)

text: On January 31, 2012, Bootstrap 2 was released, which added built-in support for Glyphicons, several new components, as well as changes to many of the existing components. This version supports responsive web design, meaning the layout of web pages adjusts dynamically, taking into account the characteristics of the device used (whether desktop, tablet, mobile phone).


title: Bootstrap (front-end framework)

text: On August 19, 2013, Bootstrap 3, was released. It redesigned components to use flat design and a mobile first approach. Bootstrap 3 features new plugin system with namespaced events. Bootstrap 3 dropped Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 3.6 support, but there is an optional polyfill for these browsers.


title: Bootstrap (front-end framework)

text: Otto announced Bootstrap 4 on October 29, 2014. The first alpha version of Bootstrap 4 was released on August 19, 2015. The first beta version was released on August 10, 2017. Otto suspended work on Bootstrap 3 on September 6, 2016, to free up time to work on Bootstrap 4. Bootstrap 4 was finalized on January 18, 2018.


title: Bootstrap (front-end framework)

text: Bootstrap 4 supports the latest versions of Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari (except on Windows). It additionally supports back to IE10 and the latest Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR).


title: Diablo III

text: Diablo III is a hack-and-slash action role-playing game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment as the third installment in the "Diablo" franchise. It was released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in May 2012, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in September 2013, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in August 2014, and Nintendo Switch in November 2018. Set 20 years after the events of "Diablo II", players choose to play as one of seven character classes – Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer, Witch Doctor, or Wizard – and are tasked with defeating the Lord of Terror, Diablo, as in previous games in the series.


title: Diablo III

text: An expansion pack entitled "Reaper of Souls" was released for PC in March 2014. It was released for consoles as part of the Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition version in August 2014. The "" pack was released for the Windows, macOS, and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in June 2017. Diablo III: Eternal Collection, combining "Reaper of Souls" and "Rise of the Necromancer", was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in June 2017, and for the Nintendo Switch in November 2018.


title: Diablo III

text: The game received positive reviews, although its always-on DRM feature was criticized. The game set a new record for "fastest-selling PC game" by selling over 3.5 million copies in the first 24 hours of its release, and became the best-selling PC game of 2012 by selling over 12 million copies. As of August 2015, the number of sales had grown to over 30 million. A sequel, "Diablo IV", was then announced in 2019 and is currently set to be released in 2023.


title: Diablo III

text: Much like "Diablo" and "Diablo II", "Diablo III" is an action role-playing game with fast-paced real-time combat and an isometric graphics engine. The game utilizes classic dark fantasy elements and players assume the role of a heroic character charged with saving the world of Sanctuary from the forces of Hell. Many traditional elements of role-playing video games are present, such as choosing a character class, gaining experience and leveling up, and acquiring ever more powerful equipment.


title: Diablo III

text: As with its predecessors, the quality and attributes of equipment are randomized. In addition to base stats (such as damage and attack speed for weapons or armor points on armor) higher-quality items have additional properties such as extra damage, attribute bonuses, bonuses to critical hit chance, or sockets, which allow items to be upgraded with a gem. Magic-quality items have up to three random properties, rare-quality items have up to six, and legendary-quality items typically have up to eight with varying degrees of randomness. Set items are a subtype of legendary items which provide additional, cumulative bonuses if multiple items from the same set are equipped at once. Higher level monsters tend to drop higher level items, which tend to have higher base stats and bonuses.


title: Diablo III

text: The proprietary engine incorporates Blizzard's custom in-house physics, and features destructible environments with an in-game damage effect. The developers sought to make the game run on a wide range of systems without requiring DirectX 10. "Diablo III" uses a custom 3D game engine in order to present an overhead view to the player, in a somewhat similar way to the isometric view used in previous games in the series. Enemies utilize the 3D environment as well, in ways such as crawling up the side of a wall from below into the combat area.


title: Diablo III

text: As in "Diablo II", multiplayer games are possible using Blizzard's Battle.net service, with many of the new features developed for "" also available in "Diablo III". Players are also able to drop in and out of sessions of co-operative play with other players. Unlike its predecessor, "Diablo III" requires players to be connected to the internet constantly due to their DRM policy, even for single-player games.


title: Diablo III

text: An enhanced quest system, a random level generator, and a random encounter generator are used in order to ensure the game provides different experiences when replayed.


title: Diablo III

text: Unlike previous iterations, gold can be picked up merely by touching it, or coming within range (adjusted by gear) rather than having to manually pick it up. One of the new features intended to speed up gameplay is that health orbs drop from enemies, replacing the need to have a potion bar. The latter is replaced by a skill bar that allows a player to assign quick bar buttons to skills and spells; previously, players could only assign two skills (one for each mouse button) and had to swap skills with the keyboard or mousewheel. Players can still assign specific attacks to mouse buttons.


title: Diablo III

text: Skill runes, another new feature, are skill modifiers that are unlocked as the player levels up. Unlike the socketable runes in "Diablo II", skill runes are not items but instead provide options for enhancing skills, often completely changing the gameplay of each skill. For example, one skill rune for the Wizard's meteor ability reduces its arcane power cost, while another turns the meteor to ice, causing cold damage rather than fire.


title: Diablo III

text: As in "Diablo II", "Diablo III" gives players the choice to make hardcore characters. Players are required to first level up a regular character to level 10 before they have the option to create new Hardcore characters. Hardcore characters cannot be resurrected; instead they become permanently unplayable if they are killed. Hardcore characters are separately ranked, and they can only form teams with other hardcore characters. After dying, the ghost of a hardcore character can still chat. Their name still shows up in rankings, but the character cannot return to the game. If the hardcore character reached level 10 before dying, it can be placed in the Hall of Fallen Heroes.


title: Diablo III

text: Artisans are non-player characters (NPCs) who sell and craft. Two types of artisans can be introduced by completing a quest for each: Haedrig Eamon the Blacksmith and Covetous Shen the Jeweler. The "Reaper of Souls" expansion introduced the Mystic artisan, who can replace individual item enchantments and change the physical appearance of items. Artisans create items using materials the player can gather by scrapping acquired items and reducing them to their component parts. These materials are used to create items with random bonuses. Unlike in "Diablo II", rare and magic items can also be enhanced rather than just basic weaponry and armor. Crafting can be used to train and improve the skills of the artisans rather than create new items. When artisans gain new levels, their shop reflects their higher skill level. The process of salvaging items into materials also makes inventory management easier. Blizzard stated that this crafting system was designed so that it would not slow down the pace of the game.


title: Diablo III

text: Followers are NPC allies that can accompany the player throughout the game world. There are three followers in "Diablo III": Kormac the Templar, Lyndon the Scoundrel and Eirena the Enchantress, who each possess their own skills and background. As followers fight alongside the player, they gain new experience, skills, and equipment as they level up. Only one follower accompanies the player at a time, creating a gameplay strategy decision. Originally, followers were only going to appear in Normal mode; however, Jay Wilson stated at BlizzCon 2011 that followers would continue to be usable in later difficulty levels.


title: Diablo III

text: On August 1, 2011, it was reported that "Diablo III" would feature two types of auction houses: one where players spend in-game gold and another where players could buy or sell virtual items for real-world money. The real-money auction house was not available in Hardcore mode. Prior to release, Blizzard stated that nearly everything that drops on the ground, including gold, could be traded with other players either directly or through the auction house system. Aside from certain bound on account items, such as the Staff of Herding needed to access the Whimsyshire easter egg, Blizzard stated there would be very few items that would be bound to a particular character and therefore untradable.


title: Diablo III

text: In order to get rated in South Korea, Blizzard had to remove the real-money auction house from the Korean release of the game as the auction house violated Korean anti-gambling laws.


title: Diablo III

text: In the gold-based auction house, a flat fee of 15 percent was taken from the final sale price of an auction. The real-money auction house fees were US$1, €1 or £1 (or equivalent) for equipment (weapons and armor) and a 15 percent fee for commodity auctions, which included items like crafting materials, blacksmith and jewelcrafting plans, and gold exchange. There was an additional 15 percent "cashing-out" fee from proceeds gained selling items in the real-money auction house. While the gold-based auction house was available to any player regardless of which region they play in, the real-money auction was restricted to players on their home region. If they used the global play function to play in a different region, they would not be able to access the real-money auction house. The real money auction house was opened on June 12, 2012 (June 15 in the Americas).


title: Diablo III

text: In March 2013, former "Diablo III" game director Jay Wilson stated that he felt the existence of the auction houses "really hurt" the game. "I think we would turn it off if we could," Wilson said during his talk. But the solution is "not as easy as that". On September 17, 2013, Blizzard stated that both the gold and real-money auction houses would be shut down on March 18, 2014. Players had until June 24, 2014, to claim gold and items from the completed tab on the auction house interface.


title: Diablo III

text: Player versus player combat (PvP) was added to "Diablo III" in a limited form with the 1.0.7 patch in February 2013. The "Brawling" system provides a simple free for all area where between two and four characters can fight and defeat each other as long as they like, but without any scores or damage being tracked. Players can participate by choosing from their existing characters, with access to all of the gear and skill they have gathered from playing the game in single-player or cooperative mode.


title: Diablo III

text: PvP content for "Diablo III" had been discussed throughout the game's development, but on March 9, 2012, Blizzard announced that PvP had been delayed and would not be included with the game's release. Lead designer Jay Wilson said in a post on Battle.net that the PvP Arena system would arrive in a post-release patch; it would include multiple Arena maps with themed locations and layouts, PvP-centric achievements, and a quick and easy matchmaking system.


title: Diablo III

text: On December 27, 2012, Blizzard announced that the previously mentioned "Team Deathmatch" or "Arena" mode was canceled, because it did not have enough depth. Instead a simple PvP system would be added for the time being. That PvP mode was initially named "Dueling", and was renamed to "Brawling" before release. Although the PvP systems initially outlined were not released, Blizzard stated that they would add other full-featured PvP systems in a free future content patch. In a May 2013 interview, "Diablo III" developer Wyatt Cheng stated that the development team was looking to see how the Brawling PvP evolves, while they "continue to work on figuring out something more objective-based."


title: Diablo III

text: There are five available character classes from "Diablo III" and two from the "Reaper of Souls" expansion, for a total of seven character classes. In "Diablo III" players may choose the gender, in contrast to the previous two games where each class had a fixed gender.


title: Diablo III

text: The Archivist class was presented on April 1, 2009, following in Blizzard's April Fool's Day joke tradition.


title: Diablo III

text: All seven classes are represented in the crossover multiplayer online battle arena game "Heroes of the Storm" (2015) as playable heroes. Players can choose between Sonya (the Barbarian), Johanna (the Crusader), Valla (the Demon Hunter), Kharazim (the Monk), Xul (the Necromancer, though more in its "Diablo II" version), Nazeebo (the Witch Doctor), and Li-Ming (the Wizard).


title: Diablo III

text: The game takes place in Sanctuary, the dark fantasy world of the Diablo Series, twenty years after the events of "Diablo II". Deckard Cain and his ward Leah are in Tristram Cathedral (the same cathedral that was the setting of "Diablo") investigating ancient texts regarding an ominous prophecy. A mysterious star falling from the sky strikes the cathedral, creating a deep crater into which Deckard Cain disappears.


title: Diablo III

text: The Nephalem (the player's character) arrives in the town of New Tristram to investigate the fallen star. The Nephalem accompanies Leah to the cathedral in order to rescue Cain. After rescuing him, they learn that the only way to the fallen star is to defeat the Skeleton King. The Nephalem defeats him and finds a stranger where the fallen star landed. The stranger's only memory is of a sword that shattered into three pieces as he fell.


title: Diablo III

text: The Nephalem recovers two of the sword pieces. But Maghda, leader of the Dark Coven, recovers the third piece before the Nephalem does and tries to make Cain repair the sword. Leah, however, kills the cultists with a surge of magical power, forcing Maghda to attack Cain fatally and flee with the stranger. With his last act, Cain repairs the sword and discovers it to be of angelic origin, and tasks the Nephalem with returning it to the stranger. After freeing the stranger from the Butcher in the dungeons beneath Leoric's manor and returning the sword, the stranger's memories are recovered, and it is revealed that he is the Archangel Tyrael, the Aspect of Justice. Disgusted with his fellow angels' unwillingness to protect humanity from the forces of Hell, Tyrael cast aside his divinity to become a mortal and warn Sanctuary about the arrival of the demon lords.


title: Diablo III

text: The Nephalem, Leah, and Tyrael travel to the city of Caldeum. The Nephalem leaves to track down Maghda. At the Khasim Outpost, demons in service to Belial, the Lord of Lies, have imprisoned and replaced the guards. When the Nephalem freed them, they reclaim the outpost and the Nephalem is given access to Alcarnus, then fights and kills Maghda. The Nephalem then returns to Caldeum to rescue Leah from Belial's forces, disguised as the guards of the young Emperor Hakan II, after which they escape into the city sewers. Leah reveals that her mother, Adria (the witch of Tristram from the original game), is still alive. The Nephalem aids Leah in rescuing Adria from her imprisonment in the sewers.


title: Diablo III

text: Adria reveals that the key to stopping the forces of Hell is the Black Soulstone, crafted by the renegade Horadrim Zoltan Kulle, which has the power to trap the souls of all seven of the Lords of Hell. Leah explains that Kulle was slain before he could complete the stone, and that his severed head was sealed away. Adria instructs the Nephalem to find the head. After the head is retrieved, Leah revives the ghost of Zoltun Kulle, who agrees to deliver the Black Soulstone if the Nephalem helps him restore his body. The Nephalem ventures into Kulle's archives in search of his body, and Leah brings Kulle back to life. The Nephalem is then led into the archive's inner sanctum where the Black Soulstone is located, but is forced to defeat Kulle when he tells the Nephalem to abandon his quest. Upon returning to Caldeum, the Nephalem finds the city under attack by Belial's forces. Leah and Adria fight their way to the palace with the Nephalem, revealing Belial as having taken the form of the Emperor to deceive them, and defeat him. Leah then traps Belial's soul within the Black Soulstone, freeing Caldeum, after which she has a vision of Azmodan, the Lord of Sin and now sole remaining Lord of Hell, who is invading Sanctuary from the crater of Mount Arreat (destroyed by Tyrael in "").


title: Diablo III

text: The Nephalem travels to Bastion's Keep with Tyrael, their followers, Leah and Adria only to find it under attack by Azmodan's army. Tyrael instructs the Nephalem to aid the defenders. With that done, the Nephalem enters the stronghold, where Azmodan's forces have breached the lower levels, defeating the demon Ghom, the Lord of Gluttony. The Nephalem then destroys Azmodan's siege weapons before traversing the crater of Arreat, defeating Azmodan's consort Cydaea, the Maiden of Lust, before finally defeating Azmodan within the mountain's shattered core. Leah seals Azmodan's soul within the Black Soulstone. They return to Bastion's Keep, but find that Adria has betrayed them. Adria reveals she has been serving Diablo, the Lord of Terror, from the beginning. Adria uses the Black Soulstone to resurrect Diablo while forcing Leah to serve as his vessel. With all the souls of the Lords of Hell now within him, Diablo becomes the Prime Evil, and begins an assault on the High Heavens.


title: Diablo III

text: The Nephalem and Tyrael arrive at the High Heavens to find that it is already under attack. Imperius, the Aspect of Valor, blames the Nephalem and Tyrael for their downfall, causing Tyrael to give in to despair. However, the Nephalem remains determined to fight. The Nephalem meets Itherael, the Aspect of Fate, who instructs the Nephalem to rescue Auriel, the Aspect of Hope. Returning hope to the forces of Heaven, the Nephalem is then instructed by Auriel to close the Hell Rifts. After this is done, the Nephalem finds Tyrael, who has overcome his despair. Together, they attempt to stop Diablo from reaching the Crystal Arch, the source of Heaven's power, but not before a brawl with Izual, Tyrael's corrupted former lieutenant (thought to have been killed in "Diablo II"). Diablo is eventually defeated and his physical manifestation is destroyed. The Black Soulstone is shown falling from the High Heavens, . After the battle, Tyrael decides to rejoin the Angiris Council as the new Aspect of Wisdom, but remains a mortal, dedicated to building a permanent alliance between angels and humans.


title: Diablo III

text: Development on "Diablo III" began in 2001 when Blizzard North was still in operation, and the game was announced on June 28, 2008, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Paris, France. The original artistic design differed from that shown at Blizzard Worldwide Invitational 2008 demonstration, and had undergone three revisions before reaching the standards felt necessary by the team behind "Diablo III". It was announced that the game would be simultaneously released on both Windows and macOS platforms, and would require a constant internet connection to play, even for single-player mode.


title: Diablo III

text: The proprietary engine incorporates Blizzard's custom in-house physics, a change from the original usage of Havok's physics engine, and features destructible environments with an in-game damage effect.


title: Diablo III

text: "Diablo III"s lead designer was Jay Wilson, a former Relic Entertainment designer credited with work on "" and "Company of Heroes", as well as "" for Monolith Productions. The lead world designer was Leonard Boyarsky, one of the six co-creators of "Fallout".


title: Diablo III

text: On May 9, 2011, Blizzard announced that the game was expected to be released for external beta testing in Q3 of 2011. On September 7, 2011, Blizzard community manager Bashiok confirmed the start of the closed public beta test of the game with limited external testing by employees and their families. Testers were not restricted by a non-disclosure agreement. The open beta began on April 20, 2012, and closed on May 1, 2012. Following the beta, the game officially released for Windows and OS X on May 15, 2012.


title: Diablo III

text: On June 11, 2012, it was announced at the 2012 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference keynote that native retina display support would be coming to "Diablo III". The following day, a Blizzard representative confirmed via the official Battle.net forums Apple's statement, the ongoing work by the developer on the optimization of the game engine for its rendering on the Retina display (and technically on other similar future high-density monitors) and that this optimization was mainly for aesthetic purposes.


title: Diablo III

text: Patch 1.0.4 introduced the paragon leveling system. After reaching the level cap of 60, characters continue to accumulate experience points, gaining paragon levels (up to a cap of 100), each of which provides a bonus to core stats (making characters more powerful and durable) and magic find and gold find (increasing the quantity and average quality of loot drops). Patch 1.0.5 expanded the difficulty settings with the addition of the Monster Power system. In addition to the Normal/Nightmare/Hell/Inferno difficulty system, players can also set Monster Power at any level from 0 to 10, with each level of Monster Power increasing the damage, health points, experience point yield and loot drop rates beyond the base value for a given difficulty tier. The first PvP addition to the game was in February 2013, as part of patch 1.0.7; a simple free-for-all system called "Brawling" and multiple item crafting options.


title: Diablo III

text: For "Diablo" 20th anniversary, it was announced during BlizzCon 2016 that "Diablo III" would receive a free patch called "The Darkening of Tristram" that would recreate the original game. The patch contained a 16-level dungeon, four main bosses from the 1996 version and special graphics filters and 8-directions limited movement like the original game. The patch released on November 4, 2016.


title: Diablo III

text: On January 10, 2012, Blizzard community manager Bashiok tweeted "Yup. Josh Mosqueira is lead designer for the "Diablo III" console project" however a Blizzard spokesperson later clarified that Bashiok's tweet was only "intended as a confirmation that Blizzard is actively exploring the possibility of developing a console version of Diablo III," adding, "This is not a confirmation that Diablo III is coming to any console platform."


title: Diablo III

text: At Sony's Press Conference on February 20, 2013, Chris Metzen announced that "Diablo III" would release on both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.<ref name = "PS3/4"></ref> Activision Blizzard stated in their first-quarter 2013 earnings report, that the PlayStation 3 version of "Diablo III" would be released in 2013. On June 6, 2013, Blizzard announced that both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 port of the game would be released on September 3, 2013.<ref name="PS3/360"></ref> A PS3 version of the game was published and localized by Square Enix in Japan, released there on January 30, 2014.


title: Diablo III

text: In August 2013, "Diablo III" developers stated that they had started on the PlayStation 4 development of the game, titled "Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition", and were looking at how to best utilize the new features of the PS4 controller, such as the TouchPad and the Share button. In May 2014, Blizzard announced that "Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition" would be released on August 19, bringing the game to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The game runs at a display resolution of 1080p on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.


title: Diablo III

text: On June 27, 2017, "Diablo III: Eternal Collection", which includes all content from previous expansions, was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was later released for the Nintendo Switch as well, which included exclusive content based on Nintendo's "The Legend of Zelda" series and features Amiibo support.


title: Diablo III

text: At Gamescom 2013, "" was announced as the first expansion pack for the game. It features the fallen angel of wisdom Malthael as the expansion's main villain and is set in the city of Westmarch, which takes inspiration from many Gothic medieval locations. The expansion includes a new hero called the Crusader, an increased level cap to level 70, major improvements to loot drops including the ability to change item stats using an enchanting system, the ability to change the look of an item using transmogrification, and an improved Paragon leveling system which is account-wide and does not have a level cap. "Reaper of Souls" was released on March 25, 2014, for the Windows and macOS versions of "Diablo III". The expansion pack content was released as part of the "Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition" version for consoles on August 19 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. That edition expanded the base "Diablo III" game on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and brought the game for the first time to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. A second expansion was being worked on at the time of Reaper of Souls' release, but was later abandoned by Blizzard with the developers predominantly moving over to World of Warcraft.


title: Diablo III

text: Russell Brower wrote the original score for the game, with additional music being composed by Derek Duke, Glenn Stafford, Joseph Lawrence, Neal Acree, Laurence Juber, and Edo Guidotti. When composing for the orchestra, Brower tried to respect the Wagnerian style from the expansion to the second game in the series, "". The Overture is considered the main theme of the game and it has been performed by the Eminence Symphony Orchestra, and was released on iTunes in 2009, as a single. A similar composition was used in the cinematic teaser trailer of the game. The Tristram theme from the first "Diablo", also used in the second game, is present in "Diablo III" with some changes.. Irish choral ensemble Anúna also feature on the soundtrack. Brower stated that "Working somewhat against conventional expectations, Hell is a beautiful and seductive sound, provided by Dublin's uniquely astounding choral group ANÚNA". A full soundtrack was released on iTunes at the same time of the game's release, as well as part of the Collector's Edition of the game.


title: Diablo III

text: "Diablo III" was released on May 15, 2012. Players had the options to buy one of two retail boxed versions, a standard edition and collector's edition, or could also pre-order directly from Battle.net and download the installer in advance. On May 14, 2012, players who bought the downloadable version from Battle.net could install the rest of the game including patches. On May 15, 2012, the retail version could be bought from stores doing midnight launches such as GameStop. The "Diablo III" Battle.net servers went live at this point, people who downloaded the game could begin playing. Initially the launches were hindered by heavy server load with many users getting various errors, including the error 37 which reads; "The servers are busy at this time. Please try again later". These issues made the game unplayable for those affected, while some others experienced in-game bugs. Despite assurances from Blizzard that the problems leading to the connection errors during "Diablo III"s launch had been resolved, Eurogamer reported on May 31, 2012, that these errors were still ongoing, and had reappeared after patch 1.0.2 was released for the game. Many fans complained that the ongoing problems had caused them to lose their hardcore (permanent death) characters. In South Korea, players waited up to 36 hours to purchase the collector's edition.


title: Diablo III

text: The release was also the source of a minor controversy in Australia when retailer Game went into voluntary administration the day before the release, and so was unable to honor pre-orders or offer refunds. In response to this, Blizzard Entertainment offered affected customers credit in purchasing the digital version of the game.


title: Diablo III

text: On April 23, 2015, the game was released in China as it was approved by the Ministry of Culture. It used to be sold under the name ""Big Pineapple"" (大菠萝 "Dɑ Boluo") which sounds similar to "Diablo" in Mandarin Chinese in order to dodge the sales ban.


title: Diablo III

text: Starting at BlizzCon in October 2011, Blizzard offered an "annual pass" for "World of Warcraft", where players who signed up for a 12-month subscription to that game received a free digital copy of "Diablo III" once released, as well as guaranteed beta access for the "" expansion to "World of Warcraft" and a special "Diablo"-inspired mount called Tyrael's Charger in "World of Warcraft".


title: Diablo III

text: A demo version of the game, called the "Starter Edition", was released simultaneously with the full release. It provides a limited introduction to the game where players can complete Act 1 up to the Skeleton King boss encounter with a level cap of 13. Originally after "Diablo III"s release the "Starter Edition" was only available through a guest pass code, which was included with the boxed versions of the game. Players have the option to upgrade to the full game through their Battle.net accounts. The "Starter Edition" became available to all users a few months after release on August 15, 2012.


title: Diablo III

text: "Diablo III" received "generally positive reviews" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.


title: Diablo III

text: GamesRadar+ was positive about the game's opening act and its nods to past "Diablo" games saying "we liked what we saw". IGN was positive about the new skill system stating "Instead of gameplay like "Diablo II", where I often regretted how I allotted my ability points, "Diablo III" encourages experimentation and finding out exactly what works for your play-style. It's a vastly superior way to handle character abilities", and praised the overall gameplay, stating "the new systems really do make it a lot easier to enjoy "Diablo III"". IGN further praised the game's new gameplay design, in particular the rune and loot systems, the randomly generated levels and the game's enjoyable unpredictability. It stated the game's feel is quite intuitive and also praised the game's sound and voicing.


title: Diablo III

text: Rock, Paper, Shotgun gave mixed commentary during the game's beta period, praising the actual game itself by stating that it is much more direct than its predecessors and intuitive in its interface. However, it said the playing experience is spoiled due to lag in single-player mode caused by a lack of an offline single-player mode. Following the game's release, it reaffirmed its displeasure at the always-online DRM and offered a mixed opinion that the game was enjoyable but added "nothing new" to its genre.


title: Diablo III

text: Users have voiced criticism about the game's strong digital rights management which requires what is known as persistent online authentication, resulting in the lack of an offline single-player mode. Erik Kain, a "Forbes" contributing writer, stated that the requirement to remain online is not necessary for single-player mode and that Blizzard is abusing its position as a "juggernaut" and is setting a worrying precedent for the gaming industry. In response to questions about the lack of offline single-player, "Diablo III" senior producer Alex Mayberry said, "Obviously "" did it, "World of Warcraft" authenticates also. It's kind of the way things are, these days. The world of gaming is not the same as it was when "Diablo II" came out."


title: Diablo III

text: Gaming Blend supported the game's fanbase (referring to the user ratings on Metacritic and Amazon) and rejected counter-criticisms of the community. It claims that the gaming industry at large is far too defensive of production companies' actions, to the point of accepting backward steps in game availability. William Usher, the article's author said, "Journalists should have been acknowledging consumer distaste rather than fueling it with pro-corporate pandering." While Gaming Blend disliked the always-online DRM, it did give the game a positive review. It stated the game includes interesting opportunities for experimentation and has great appeal for replaying over and over. The review concluded the game is "smooth and entertaining". A GameArena critic questioned how Blizzard managed to "fail so spectacularly at creating reliable networking for "Diablo 3"" before going on to point out the lack of competitive multiplayer.


title: Diablo III

text: Many users criticized the art direction as it was considered too bright and colourful in contrast to the darker atmosphere of the previous releases. This led to petitions demanding Blizzard to change the design. The lead producer Keith Lee responded to these criticisms and explaining the design choices by stating that "We feel that color actually helps to create a lot of highlights in the game so that there is contrast." He also highlighted that unlike the previous games, the players explore outdoors.


title: Diablo III

text: The Black Soulstone footage won the 'Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Commercial or Video Game Trailer' award from the Visual Effects Society. The Switch version was nominated for the Freedom Tower Award for Best Remake at the New York Game Awards 2019.


title: Diablo III

text: The 2012 PC release of "Diablo III" received nominations for "Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year", "Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay", "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition" and "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design" at the 16th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. A year later at the 17th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the 2013 console version of "Diablo III" won the award for "Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year", along with a nomination for "Online Game of the Year".


title: Diablo III

text: Before its release, "Diablo III" broke several presale records and became the most pre-ordered PC game to date on Amazon. Activision Blizzard reported that "Diablo III" had broken the one-day PC sales records, accumulating over 3.5 million sales in the first 24 hours after release and over 6.3 million sales in its first week, including the 1.2 million people who obtained "Diablo III" through the "World of Warcraft" annual pass. On its first day, the game amassed 4.7 million players worldwide, an estimate which includes those who obtained the game via the "World of Warcraft" annual pass. In its 2012 second quarter report, "Diablo III" was reported to have pushed Activision Blizzard's expectations and , more than 10 million people had played the game. "Diablo III" remains the fastest selling PC game to date, and also one of the best-selling PC video games. As of the end of 2012, it had sold more than 12 million copies, and , Blizzard stated that "Diablo III" had around 1 million daily players, with 3 million unique players each month. By May 2013, "Diablo III" had been played by 14.5 million unique players. and had sold over 30 million copies worldwide by August 2015. It's unclear if the sales numbers apply just for the stand-alone game, or if they also include copies of the expansion Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls, which launched in March 2014.


title: Diablo III

text: On May 28, 2012, Blizzard Entertainment's offices in South Korea were raided by the Fair Trade Commission amid allegations that the company had breached consumer rights laws, including suspected violations of Korea's law on electronic commerce and commercial contracts. Players in Korea requested refunds from Blizzard based on their inability to play "Diablo III", but Blizzard cited the terms of sale and refused to grant these requests. Hundreds of gamers filed formal complaints with the FTC, and in June 2012 Blizzard started offering players full refunds.


title: Diablo III

text: On June 15, 2012, French consumers group UFC Que Choisir announced that it had received 1,500 complaints in four days regarding connectivity issues with "Diablo III". As a result of this, the organization asked Blizzard Entertainment to provide a permanent solution by June 30, 2012, and to "communicate completely and transparently about problems encountered in due time". They also requested that gamers be given reimbursement for any troubles they may have encountered. In addition, they asked the French government to take a closer look at games with online-only DRM. On June 28, Blizzard replied to the Que Choisir that the box for "Diablo III" clearly labelled that a high-speed internet connection was required and that most of the stability issues had been fixed.


title: Diablo III

text: The threatened legal action if Blizzard did not respond to complaints about "Diablo III"s lack of clear information on the German version of the box by July 27, 2012, regarding the always-online requirement and lack of ability to resell the digital game.


title: Metroidvania

text: Metroidvania is a sub-genre of platform video games focused on guided non-linearity and utility-gated exploration and progression. The term is a portmanteau of the names of the video game series "Metroid" and "Castlevania", with games in the genre borrowing from both series. Typically based on two-dimensional, sidescrolling platform gameplay, Metroidvania games feature a large interconnected world map the player can explore, although parts of the world will be inaccessible to the player until they acquire special items, tools, weapons, abilities, or knowledge within the game. Acquiring such improvements can also aid the player in defeating more difficult enemies and locating shortcuts and secret areas, and often includes retracing one's steps across the map. Through this, Metroidvania games include tighter integration of story and level design, careful design of levels and character controls to encourage exploration and experimentation, and a means for the player to become more invested in their player character through role-playing game elements.


title: Metroidvania

text: The first "Metroid" game in 1986 established principles of the non-linear platformer that were refined through multiple iterations, with "Super Metroid" in 1994 considered to have polished the style of gameplay core to Metroidvanias. "" in 1997 is considered the defining Metroidvania game, incorporating role-playing game elements from "The Legend of Zelda" series with non-linear traversal within the "Castlevania" series; most subsequent "Castlevania" games followed its approach and refined the genre. "Symphony of the Night" assistant director, Koji Igarashi, is credited with establishing key principles of Metroidvanias through his work on other "Castlevania" games. In the 2010s, a resurgence in Metroidvanias came about due to several critically praised, independently developed games.


title: Metroidvania

text: While not the first game of its kind (see, for example, Brain Breaker released in 1985), "Metroid" (1986, Nintendo Entertainment System) is generally considered the most influential game for the Metroidvania genre. Nintendo's goal for the title was to create a non-linear adventure game to set it apart from other games at the time, requiring the player to retrace their steps while providing permanent power-ups in contrast to how other adventure games only offered power-ups with temporary effects. The series was popular, and future titles refined the exploration approach while adding more story elements to the title such as with "Super Metroid" (1994, Super Nintendo Entertainment System). "Super Metroid" refined several aspects from the previous "Metroid" games, including a diverse array of locations and adding many secrets for players to find; these secrets also enabled players to find ways to break the expected sequence that the designers had envisioned players would approach the game, making it a popular title among speedrunners. However, in retrospect, "Super Metroid" was still considered an example of a highly-polished non-linear platformer.


title: Metroidvania

text: During this time, the gothic horror-themed platformer series "Castlevania" was gaining popularity. The original "Castlevania" (1986, NES) featured discrete levels that the player completed in a sequential manner. It was followed by "Vampire Killer" (1986, MSX) and "" (1987, NES) which experimented with non-linear adventure gameplay, before the series returned to the more linear style of the original "Castlevania". Series lead Koji Igarashi found that as they continued to produce sequels to cater to fans of the series, experienced players would race through the levels, while new players to the series would struggle with some stages. To try to make a title that would be more widely appreciated across play levels and extend the gameplay time of the title, Igarashi and others on his team looked toward the ideas used by "The Legend of Zelda" series into the development of "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" (1997, PlayStation). With "Symphony of the Night", Igarashi introduced new concepts into the "Castlevania" series from "Zelda" such as a large open world to explore and the need to acquire key items to enter certain areas, elements already present in non-linear platformers like "Super Metroid". However, "Symphony of the Night" distinguished itself from prior non-linear platformers via the incorporation of console role-playing game elements with the means for the player to improve their character's attributes through an experience system. The changes for "Symphony of the Night" proved popular with players, and most subsequent games in the series would follow this formula. With the releases of "Super Metroid" and "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night", the formula these games presented would form the foundations of what are considered Metroidvanias today. "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" had also become a critical and financial success over time, establishing that there was a desire by players for Metroidvania-style games.


title: Metroidvania

text: While both series continued to develop titles in this format, the concept of Metroidvanias started to gain more traction when other parties began to develop games in the same style. "Cave Story" (2004, Microsoft Windows) was developed by Daisuke Amaya as a homage to "Metroid" and other classic games; the game was critically praised showing the scope of what one person could do, and highlighted another take on the "Castlevania" and "Metroid" games, as well as vitalizing the 2D platformer genre as a viable indie game format. "Shadow Complex" (2009, Xbox 360) by Chair Entertainment was developed based on the premise that "Super Metroid" was "the pinnacle of 2D game design". The game received highly positive reviews, and remains one of the best-selling downloadable titles on the Xbox 360 service. Due to games like these, the Metroidvania genre began to take off in both publisher-driven and independent games development. Drinkbox Studios' "Guacamelee!" (2013), Moon Studios' "Ori and the Blind Forest" (2015), and Team Cherry's "Hollow Knight" (2017) are examples of modern indie Metroidvanias that have reached critical acclaim. The genre's indie renaissance did not go unnoticed by Igarashi. In May 2015, he released a Kickstarter campaign video for "Castlevania"-influenced "" (2019), where he ridiculed big studios' dismissal of the genre while imitating "Symphony of the Night" Dracula.


title: Metroidvania

text: While the word "Metroidvania" is commonly used presently to describe games in this genre, or games that have elements of this genre, the origins of the term are unclear; Igarashi notes that he did not coin the phrase, though is grateful for the invention of the term. Igarashi noted that with "Symphony of the Night" the goal was to have exploration closer to the top-down "Zelda" approach, but with the side-scrolling nature, it was compared more to "Metroid", and believes this is how the portmanteau came about. A similar portmanteau "Castleroid" is sometimes used as well for describing this genre. Video game journalist Jeremy Parish, who manages the Metroidvania.com site that has attempted to catalog all known Metroidvania games, acknowledges he helped to popularize the term but had learned it from his former co-worker at "1UP.com", Scott Sharkey, who had used the term to describe the games in the "Castlevania" series that had adopted some elements from the "Metroid" series.


title: Metroidvania

text: The term 'Metroidvania' is most often used to refer to a platforming game that features a single large, interconnected map, generally with discrete rooms or sections. Not all areas of this map are available at the start, often requiring the player to obtain an item (such as a weapon or key) or a new character ability to remove some obstacle blocking the path forward. Often, this item is protected by a boss character, providing story-driven challenges throughout the game. Maps are non-linear, and often require the player to traverse the map multiple times during the course of the game. Weaker monsters will inhabit other parts of the level, re-spawning when the player revisits those rooms, and often can be defeated to gain health, ammunition, or experience points.


title: Metroidvania

text: Larger games generally feature save points as well as the ability to transport the player quickly between certain rooms on far sides of the map, eliminating tedious backtracking in the later parts of the game. Access to new abilities can also open up shortcuts that reduce travel time, as well as discover secrets that help to improve the character's abilities. For example, gaining access to double jump or wall jump abilities can give players more mobility, while obtaining the ability to transform into a smaller object can let the player slip through narrow corridors. As such, the genre focuses on exploration of a large world map, and advancement of the player-character abilities over time. Metroidvanias are sometimes referred to as "platform adventure games" due to this scope.


title: Metroidvania

text: Metroidvania is generally associated with game levels/maps that are laid out as two-dimensional side scrollers, with the player character moving left, right, up and down through the level. These games typically are rendered using two-dimensional graphics, but can include 2.5D-rendered games using 3D graphics engines but limiting player movement to two dimensions, such as the aforementioned "Shadow Complex", or with "Metroid Dread". The exploration and character development concepts of Metroidvanias can be used in other genres, though these games typically are not categorized as Metroidvanias. For example, the "Metroid Prime" trilogy is a first-person action adventure game that builds on the same style of exploration play as "Metroid". "Dark Souls" is a third-person action role-playing game loosely considered a Metroidvania featuring "soft locks" – obstacles in the form of boss characters that are difficult but not impossible to defeat when the player-character is starting out, and become much easier to defeat with increased experience and abilities. The third-person action/brawler "" series also uses similar concepts as a Metroidvania, with Batman collecting new gadgets to access new areas. The 2017 "Prey" was developed as a first-person-perspective immersive sim but using Metroidvania level design concepts to require the player to traverse the setting multiple times as they gain additional tools and abilities.


title: Metroidvania

text: Igarashi described what he believed were key elements in the genre. These include designing maps that encourage exploration but which still guide the player on a main path through the game and providing means where the player can be aware of where they are in the game world at any time. This can be accomplished by graphical themes through the game's world, visually unique milestones at key game point, overall map and player status information screens, and the means of moving around the map quickly. Russ Frushtick from "Polygon" observed that many modern Metroidvanias not only have these qualities, but also find a means to tell a narrative through the world's environments without necessarily relying on cutscenes or dialog.


title: Metroidvania

text: In a "1UP.com" video discussion between Parish, Sharkey, and Chris Kohler of "Wired" in 2007, the three discussed some older games that had elements associated with Metroidvanias but would not be considered true Metroidvanias, including games like "" (1987), "Legacy of the Wizard" (1987), "Adventure Island IV" (1994). They argue that such games, while having 2D platforming gameplay and power-up based progression systems, lacked good level design, which at their time had not been well-refined in the industry, and provided little or no information relayed to the player to help them to know where to go next, exemplified by the cryptic clues from "Simon's Quest". The three also agreed that as games transitioned from 2D to 3D, the true meaning of "Metroidvania" had become diluted, as 3D-based games can hide facets of Metroidvanias.


title: Metroidvania

text: The popularity of the Metroidvania genre is stated to be tied to the ease with which platformer games can be learned and mastered, while giving the player a character that they can grow over the course of the game. Many developers of independent Metroidvania titles cited the exploration as a core element of the genre that draws in players, working off the natural human instincts to explore, and giving the players the sense of discovery and self-control during the game. Donald Mustard of Chair Entertainment, the creators of "Shadow Complex", stated that a good Metroidvania helps the player come to epiphanies that enables them to progress in the game, describing an example of a ledge that is initially too high to reach, and as the player acquires abilities, will discover how they can reach that ledge on their own.


title: Metroidvania

text: From a developer's standpoint, the Metroidvania genre also provides benefits. The genre encourages tight connection between level design and game story, and can give developers opportunities to create an immersive world for the player. Level design of such games can also be challenging as to make sure the challenge to the players of the game is fair and enjoyable, and achieving this goal can be seen as a sign of a success for a developer. Thomas Mahler of Moon Studios, who developed "Ori and the Blind Forest", said that it was important to design a cohesive world with memorable settings for a Metroidvania, since "players remembering the levels is part of the core design". Large-scale development in this genre requires one change in the player's abilities to be tested more rigorously throughout all of the levels. "Ori and the Will of the Wisps" executive producer Daniel Smith said, "I don't think people generally consider how difficult it is to make a Metroidvania game. Everything is so interconnected that if you change one aspect of the game, it's just inevitable that it's going to influence the rest."