Spawning (video gaming)

In video games, spawning is the live creation of a character, item or mob. Respawning is the recreation of an entity after its death or destruction, perhaps after losing one of its lives.

All player characters typically spawn at the start of a round, whereas some objects or mobs may spawn after the occurrence of a particular event or delay. When a player character respawns, they generally do so in an earlier point of the level and get some kind of penalty. The term "spawning" is used almost exclusively in games where this happens frequently.

The term was coined by id Software within the context of its game, Doom.

Spawn points

Spawn points are areas in a level where players spawn. In levels designed for team play, these points are usually grouped so that each team spawns in their own tight area of the level. Spawn points are typically reserved for one team at any time and often have the ability to change hands to the other team. Some games even allow spawn points to be created by players; using a beacon for example in Battlefield 2142. "Odd" spawn points cause the player to be spawned as if actively entering the game world, rather than merely appearing there.

Spawn (comics)

Spawn is a fictional character, an anti-hero that appears in a monthly comic book of the same name published by Image Comics as well as annual compilations, mini-series specials written by guest authors and artists and numerous cross-over story-lines in other comic books. Created by writer/artist Todd McFarlane, the character first appeared in Spawn #1 (May 1992). Spawn was ranked 60th on Wizard magazine's list of the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, 50th on Empire magazine's list of The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters and 36th on IGN's 2011 Top 100 Comic Book Heroes.

The series has spun off several other comics, including Angela, Curse of the Spawn, Sam & Twitch, and the Japanese manga Shadows of Spawn. Spawn was adapted into a 1997 feature film and portrayed by Michael Jai White, an HBO animated series lasting from 1997 until 1999, and a series of action figures whose high level of detail made McFarlane Toys known in the toy industry.

Publication history

Spawn enjoyed considerable popularity upon its initial release in the 1990s. Comic book collecting was enjoying a marked upswing at the time, fueled by the speculator boom looking for the next hot book that would jump in value after its release. McFarlane had enjoyed superstar status among comic fans with his work on Spider-Man, which had featured McFarlane's name prominently as both writer and artist. McFarlane's subsequent break with Marvel and the formation of Image Comics was seen by many as a sea-change event, changing the very way in which comics were produced. Wizard, on May 2008, rated "The Launch of Image Comics" as No.1 in the list of events that rocked the Comic Industry from 1991 to 2008.

SPAWN

SPAWN, the Salmon Protection and Watershed Network, is a project of the Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN), a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit environmental organization.

SPAWN's stated mission is to "protect endangered salmon in the Lagunitas Creek Watershed and the environment on which we all depend." SPAWN uses a multi-faceted approach to accomplish their mission including grassroots action, habitat restoration, policy development, research and monitoring, citizen training, environmental education, strategic litigation, and collaboration with other organizations and agencies.

Lagunitas Creek Watershed

The Lagunitas Creek Watershed in Marin County, California has been identified as the most important spawning and rearing habitat for wild coho salmon left in California. Coho in the Central California Evolutionarily Significant Unit (CCCESU) are a Federal and State listed Endangered Species considered to be "in imminent danger of extinction."

Despite having the best run of wild coho left in the State, estimated at up to 30 percent of the State’s total in 2007, only on average 500 adult salmon currently return each year to spawn here. The Lagunitas Creek Watershed is also important habitat for federally listed steelhead and California freshwater shrimp.

Entropy (arrow of time)

Entropy is the only quantity in the physical sciences (apart from certain rare interactions in particle physics; see below) that requires a particular direction for time, sometimes called an arrow of time. As one goes "forward" in time, the second law of thermodynamics says, the entropy of an isolated system can increase, but not decrease. Hence, from one perspective, entropy measurement is a way of distinguishing the past from the future. However in thermodynamic systems that are not closed, entropy can decrease with time: many systems, including living systems, reduce local entropy at the expense of an environmental increase, resulting in a net increase in entropy. Examples of such systems and phenomena include the formation of typical crystals, the workings of a refrigerator and living organisms.

Entropy, like temperature, is an abstract concept, yet, like temperature, everyone has an intuitive sense of the effects of entropy. Watching a movie, it is usually easy to determine whether it is being run forward or in reverse. When run in reverse, broken glasses spontaneously reassemble, smoke goes down a chimney, wood "unburns", cooling the environment and ice "unmelts" warming the environment. No physical laws are broken in the reverse movie except the second law of thermodynamics, which reflects the time-asymmetry of entropy. An intuitive understanding of the irreversibility of certain physical phenomena (and subsequent creation of entropy) allows one to make this determination.

Entropy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

"Entropy" is the 18th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Plot synopsis

The Trio, riding ATVs, pursue two vampires through a cemetery; one of them throws a tree branch at Andrew, causing him to fall off and the others to crash. The vampires encounter Buffy and they fight. One vampire drops the mysterious disk that the Trio were after; Warren snatches it and the Trio escapes, unseen by the Slayer. As Buffy fights, Spike seizes one of the vampires and offers to stake him, provided that Buffy agrees to tell the Scooby Gang about their sex life. Buffy rejects the deal and stakes both vampires without Spike's help. She dares Spike to spill the beans; since her friends have forgiven her attempt to kill them a little dalliance is unlikely to make them hate her.

Xander mopes alone at his apartment but eventually can't stand it anymore and leaves. As he walks away, Anya watches him from behind some bushes.

The next day, Willow waits for Tara outside of her classroom and the two talk and plan a coffee date. Buffy and Dawn stroll downtown, but there are very few stores where Dawn can show her face: she has confessed to shoplifting at most of them. They chat about all of the things Dawn stole and how they're working to remedy the whole problem.

Entropy (Hip Hop Reconstruction from the Ground Up)

Entropy (Hip Hop Reconstruction from the Ground up), is a B-side of 12" vinyl record that coupling of Asia Born and DJ Shadow and the Groove Rubbers. This was released 1993 from Solesides.

Samples of The Entropy

The Third Decade, Our Move

Count & Estimate

Paul Rutherford

Paul Rutherford (born 8 December 1959, Liverpool) is an English musician and the former backing vocalist, dancer and occasional keyboardist with 1980s pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood (FGTH), one of the group's two gay singers.

He was born in Liverpool, but as a child during the 1960s moved to the Cantril Farm district, where future footballer Micky Quinn and future comedian Craig Charles were among his neighbours. He attended St Dominic's Roman Catholic school in Huyton along with his twin sister.

Rutherford joined FGTH in 1980. He sang backing vocals to Holly Johnson and also danced and provided some keyboard parts to the band's output.

He emerged from the 1970s punk scene on Merseyside founding initial fame with St.Helen's band The Spitfire Boys.The Spitfire Boys released a single "British Refugees/Mein Kampf". He later teamed up with Johnson in a new band which went on to dominate the UK Singles Chart in 1984. He frequented and performed at the Seven Dials Jazz Club in London.