title: Kaunas

text: The city of Kaunas has a number of parks and public open spaces. It devotes 7.3% of its total land acreage to parkland. Ąžuolynas (literally, "Oak Grove") park is a main public park in the heart of Kaunas. It covers about 63 hectares and is the largest urban stand of mature oaks in Europe. To protect the unique lower landscape of Kaunas Reservoir, its natural ecosystem, and cultural heritage Kaunas Reservoir Regional Park was established in the eastern edge of Kaunas in 1992. By the initiative of a prominent Lithuanian zoologist Tadas Ivanauskas and biologist Constantin von Regel the Botanical Garden was founded in 1923. It serves not only as a recreational area for public, but also serves as a showcase for local plant life, and houses various research facilities. In addition, Kaunas is home to Kaunas Zoo, the only state-operated zoo in all of Lithuania.


title: Kaunas

text: Lithuania's premiere last resting place formally designated for graves of people influential in national history, politics, and arts is Petrašiūnai Cemetery in Kaunas. It is also the burial site of some signatories of the 1918 Act of Independence. There are four old Jewish cemeteries within city limits.


title: Kaunas

text: On 23 September 2018, Pope Francis visited Kaunas' Santakos Park as part of a tour of the Baltic states.


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas Mint produced coins of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 17 October 1665 to 15 January 1667 during the reign of Grand Duke John II Casimir Vasa. While during the interwar period, another Kaunas Mint was established in 1936 and produced coins of the Republic of Lithuania.


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas is a large center of industry, trade, and services in Lithuania. The most developed industries in Kaunas are amongst the food and beverage industries, textile and light industries, chemical industry, publishing and processing, pharmaceuticals, metal industry, wood processing and furniture industry. Recently information technology and electronics have become part of the business activities taking place in Kaunas. In addition, the city also has large construction industry which includes, but is not limited to commercial, housing and road construction.


title: Kaunas

text: Primary foreign investors in Kaunas are companies from the Sweden, United States, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, and Russia.


title: Kaunas

text: Head offices of several major International and Lithuanian companies are located in Kaunas, including largest Generic Pharmaceuticals producer in Lithuania "Sanitas", producer of sportswear AB "Audimas", one of the largest construction companies "YIT Kausta", JSC "Senukai", largest producer in Lithuania of strong alcoholic drinks JSC "Stumbras", Finnish capital brewery JSC "Ragutis", JSC "Fazer Gardesis", JSC "Stora Enso Packaging", producer of pharmaceuticals, and the only producer of homoeopathic medicines in Lithuania JSC "Aconitum". Its geographic location causes Kaunas to be considered one of the largest logistics centres in Lithuania. The largest wholesale, distribution and logistics company in Lithuania and Latvia JSC "Sanitex", as well as a subsidiary of material handling and logistics company Dematic in the Baltics have been operated in Kaunas. Currently, Kaunas Public Logistics Centre is being built by the demand of national state-owned railway company Lithuanian Railways.


title: Kaunas

text: The "Margasmiltė" company currently has been working on a project that concerns exploitation of Pagiriai anhydrite deposit. The project includes mining of anhydrite, a mine with underground warehouses, building the overground transport terminal, as well as an administrative building. The Pagiriai anhydrite deposit is located south from the downtown of Kaunas, at a distance to the southwest from the Garliava town. The resources of thoroughly explored anhydrite in the Pagiriai deposit amount to 81.5 million tons.


title: Kaunas

text: The Lithuanian Central Credit Union—national cooperative federation for credit unions established in 2001, is located in Kaunas. At present the Lithuanian Central Credit Union has 61 members.


title: Kaunas

text: There are also some innovative companies located in Kaunas, such as leading wholesaler of computer components, data storage media "ACME group", internet and TV provider, communications JSC "Mikrovisata group", developer and producer original products for TV and embedded technologies JSC "Selteka". Joint Lithuanian-German company "Net Frequency", based in Kaunas, is a multimedia and technology service provider. Kaunas is also home to R&D department of Dassault Systemes producing world-leading modeling tools software CATIA. A LED lighting assembly plant was opened in Kaunas by South Korean company LK Technology in February 2011. JSC "Baltic car equipment" is one of the leaders in Baltic countries, in the field of manufacturing electronic equipment for automobiles. It also specialises in development of new telemetry, data base creation, mobile payment projects. Kaunas Free Economic Zone established in 1996 has also attracted some investors from abroad, including the development of the new 200 MW Cogeneration Power Plant project, proposed by the Finnish capital company Fortum Heat Lithuania. Before its disestablishment, Air Lithuania had its head office in Kaunas. Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant is the largest one in Lithuania.


title: Kaunas

text: Some notable changes are under construction and in the stage of disputes. The construction of a new landmark of Kaunas—the Žalgiris Arena—began in the autumn of 2008. It was completed in August 2011. Currently discussions are underway about the further development of the Vilijampolė district on the right bank of the Neris River and the Nemunas River, near their confluence.


title: Kaunas

text: In October 2017, an automotive parts and technologies manufacturer Continental AG decided to invest over 95 million euros to build a new factory in Kaunas, which is the largest direct investment from a foreign country.


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas is also known for its programmers, as they developed a software for the American billionaire Robert Pera's Ubiquiti Networks product NanoStation, therefore the company established a R&D division Ubiquiti Networks Europe in Kaunas.


title: Kaunas

text: 1897 Russian census revealed the following linguistic composition in the city (by mother tongue, out of 70,920):


title: Kaunas

text: Today, with almost 94% of its citizens being ethnic Lithuanians, Kaunas is one of the most Lithuanian cities in the country.


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas city municipality council is the governing body of the Kaunas city municipality and is responsible for municipality laws. The council is composed of 41 members (40 councillors and a mayor) all directly elected for four-year terms.


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas International Airport (KUN) is the second-busiest airport in Lithuania and fourth-busiest airport in the Baltic states. In 2016, it handled 740,448 passengers (in addition to 2,488 tons of cargo), down from the peak of 872,618 passengers in 2011. An Irish low-cost airline Ryanair announced Kaunas Airport as their 40th base and first in Central Europe in February 2010. The smaller S. Darius and S. Girėnas Airport, established in 1915, is located about south of the city centre. It is one of the oldest still functioning airports in Europe used for tourism and air sports purposes and now hosts the Lithuanian Aviation Museum.


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas is served by a number of major motorways. European route E67 is a highway running from Prague in the Czech Republic to Helsinki in Finland by way of Poland, Kaunas Lithuania, Riga (Latvia), and Tallinn (Estonia). It is known as the Via Baltica between Warsaw and Tallinn, a distance of . It is the most important road connection between the Baltic states. Kaunas also is linked to Vilnius to its east and Klaipėda, on the Baltic Sea, via the A1 motorway and Daugavpils (Latvia), via E262(A6) highway.


title: Kaunas

text: The construction of the Kaunas Railway Tunnel and Railway Bridge across the Nemunas river helped move goods from the eastern part of Russian Empire west to the German Empire and Kaunas grew rapidly in the second part of the 19th century. The oldest part of Kaunas was connected with Žaliakalnis neighbourhood in 1889. The city increased once more when it was connected by bridges with Aleksotas and Vilijampolė districts in the 1920s.[2]


title: Kaunas

text: Since Kaunas is located at the confluence of two rivers, there were 34 bridges and viaducts built in the city at the end of 2007, including:


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas is an important railway hub in Lithuania. First railway connection passing through Kaunas was constructed in 1859–1861 and opened in 1862. It consisted of Kaunas Railway Tunnel and the Railway Bridge across the Nemunas river. Kaunas Railway Station is an important hub serving direct passenger connections to Vilnius and Warsaw as well as being a transit point of Pan-European corridors I and IX. Some trains run from Vilnius to Šeštokai, and, Poland, through Kaunas. International route connecting Kaliningrad, Russia and Kharkiv, Ukraine, also crosses Kaunas. The first phase of the Standard gauge Rail Baltica railway section from Šeštokai to Kaunas was completed in 2015.


title: Kaunas

text: There used to be a hydrofoil route serving Nida port through Nemunas and across Curonian Lagoon. It has been repeatedly discontinued and reopened, so the most current status is unclear. The company still exists and have its boats in working condition.


title: Kaunas

text: The public transportation system is managed by "Kauno viešasis transportas" (KVT). There are 14 trolleybus routes, 43 bus routes. In 2007 new electronic monthly tickets began to be introduced for public transport in Kaunas. The monthly E-ticket cards may be bought once and might be credited with an appropriate amount of money in various ways including the Internet. Previous paper monthly tickets were in use until August 2009.


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas is also one of the major river ports in the Baltic States and has two piers designated for tourism purposes and located on the banks of Nemunas river and Kaunas Reservoir—the largest Lithuanian artificial lake, created in 1959 by damming the Nemunas near Kaunas and Rumšiškės.


title: Kaunas

text: In 2015, "Kauno autobusai" bought four Van Hool AGG300 to serve the mostly populated 37th route. These are the longest buses used in the Baltic states. The bus station in Kaunas underwent reconstruction for six months and reopened on 23 January 2017. It is the largest and most modern bus station in Lithuania. In 2017, "Kauno autobusai" began planning to cardinally upgrade the trolleybuses and buses park till the end of 2019. The new Mercedes-Benz minibuses were introduced on 2 September 2019. The first new trolleybuses Škoda 26Tr Solaris were publicly introduced on 30 September 2019. In November 2019, "Kauno autobusai" signed a contract for 100 new model units of MAN Lion's City 12 hybrid electric buses, which replaced over half of city's old buses.


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas public transport has a mobile app "Žiogas" () which allow to purchase and activate digital tickets using a smartphone. After reaching the E-ticket card's monthly fee (28 Eur), the remaining trips are free of charge until the end of the month.


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas has two funiculars: Žaliakalnis Funicular and Aleksotas Funicular. Both are from 1930s. Aleksotas Funicular works every day from 7am to 7pm (a break from 12pm to 1pm). Žaliakalnis Funicular works from Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm.


title: Kaunas

text: Sports in Kaunas have a long and distinguished history. The city is home to a few historic clubs such as: LFLS Kaunas football club (est. 1920), LFLS Kaunas baseball club (est. 1922), Granitas Kaunas (handball club, EHF Cup champions in 1987), Žalgiris basketball club (est. 1944, EuroLeague champions in 1999).


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas is home to some historic venues such as: the main stadium of the city—S.Dariaus ir S.Girėno Sporto Centras (total capacity after renovation 15,315), which is also the home stadium for soccer clubs from Kaunas and the Lithuanian national football team established in 1923, and Kaunas Sports Hall, completed in 1939 for the Third European Basketball Championship. S.Dariaus and S.Girėno Stadium is also used as the only large athletics stadium in Lithuania.


title: Kaunas

text: Ice hockey was first played in Lithuania in 1922. The first Lithuanian ice hockey championship composed of four teams (LFLS, KSK, Kovas, and Macabi) was held in Kaunas, in 1926.


title: Kaunas

text: In July 1938 Kaunas, together with Klaipėda (where sailing and rowing competitions were held), hosted the Lithuanian National Olympiad that gathered the Lithuanian athletes from all around the world.


title: Kaunas

text: The university status Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education, founded during the Interwar period, is the only state-supported institution of tertiary physical education in Lithuania. The National Football Academy—the national centre for the training of the best Lithuanian young players of football was established in Kaunas in 2006.


title: Kaunas

text: BC Žalgiris is based in Kaunas. Žalgiris is considered as one of Europe's strongest basketball clubs and plays in the EuroLeague. Žalgiris plays its home games at Žalgiris Arena, the largest indoor arena in the Baltics. The arena, which aside from sports also hosts concerts, was built in time for the European Basketball Championship of 2011 and hosted the tournament's knockout stage. The arena is used to host sports games as well as concerts. The city is also the birthplace or childhood home of many of the country's top basketball stars, among them Arvydas Sabonis, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Linas Kleiza, Donatas Motiejūnas and Šarūnas Jasikevičius.


title: Kaunas

text: Nemuno žiedas is the only in Lithuania motor racing circuit, situated in Kačerginė, a small town near Kaunas.


title: Kaunas

text: A round of the UIM F2 World Championship is held by the site of the old Kaunas Lagoon pier every year. The powerboat race is organised by Edgaras Riabko who also competes in the event.


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas is often referred to as a city of students; there are about 50,000 students enrolled in its universities. The first parochial school in Kaunas was mentioned in 1473. A four-form Jesuit school was opened in Kaunas in 1649. It was reorganized into a college in 1653. The oldest still functioning institution of higher education is Kaunas Priest Seminary, established in 1864.


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas has also a large number of public and private basic and secondary schools, as well as kindergartens and nurseries. Kaunas also has numerous libraries. The most important is the Kaunas County Public Library. It was established as the Central Library of Lithuania in 1919. A part of its collection was transferred to Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania in 1963. Now the Kaunas County Public Library holds more than 2.2 million volumes in its collection and functions as a depository library of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.


title: Kaunas

text: Kaunas is best known for the Kaunas Jazz Festival, International Operetta Festival, Photo Art Festival "Kaunas photo" or Pažaislis Music Festival, which usually run from early June until late August each year. The open-air concerts of the historical 49-bell Carillon of Kaunas are held on weekends. Probably the longest established festival is the International Modern Dance Festival, which first ran in 1989.


title: Kaunas

text: A minor planet 73059 Kaunas, discovered by Lithuanian astronomers Kazimieras Černis and Justas Zdanavičius, in 2002, is named after the city of Kaunas.


title: Simon Collins

text: Simon Philip Nando Collins (born 14 September 1976) is a British-Canadian drummer and the former lead vocalist of the progressive rock band Sound of Contact. Collins is the son of English drummer and singer Phil Collins and Collins' first wife, Andrea Bertorelli. He is the brother of actress Joely Collins and paternal half-brother of actress Lily Collins. Reviewers have compared his vocals to those of his father.


title: Simon Collins

text: Collins was born on 14 September 1976 in Hammersmith, London, England. He is the eldest son of English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins and his first wife, British-Canadian citizen Andrea Bertorelli. He moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1984, when he was 8 years old, after his parents' divorce. He lived with his mother, Andrea, and his sister, Joely, in nearby Richmond between the ages of 8 and 11. In September 1987, they moved into an estate purchased in Vancouver's Shaughnessy neighbourhood with assistance from their father, a decision described by Andrea Collins as a means to a better education for Collins and his sister and for the sake of other lifestyle considerations. In 1991, Simon's parents were involved in a court battle at the Supreme Court of British Columbia to gain possession of the estate, owing to a misunderstanding of the terms of ownership of the home. Their father had previously placed the estate in an irrevocable land trust in 1987, however, to be owned by both children jointly in adulthood. Their father succeeded in retaining control of the estate until Simon's twentieth birthday, as the judge ruled in October 1991 he was not old enough to sign his half of the estate to his mother as she had intended. Collins completed his secondary education at Vancouver's Point Grey Secondary School.


title: Simon Collins

text: He first became involved with music when he was five after his father purchased for him a Tama drum kit. Collins practised drumming by playing along with music albums in his parents' record collection as well as when accompanying his father while on tour with Genesis. Collins' experiences on tour allowed him to be mentored by his father and by the band's touring drummer, Chester Thompson. Though he had a percussion instructor when he was ten, Collins preferred drumming to artists such as Stewart Copeland, Gavin Harrison, and Keith Moon over his formal lessons in jazz drumming. Simon made his first onstage appearance alongside his father at the age of 12, performing drums on "Easy Lover." He also appeared onstage for a performance during the Seriously, Live! World Tour.


title: Simon Collins

text: In his early teens, Collins learned to play the piano and began to develop songwriting and singing skills. While he played drums in numerous hard rock bands beginning at age 14, Collins wanted to pursue singing, songwriting, and diversity in music styles, including pop, progressive rock, rock and roll, punk, grunge, and electronica. According to Collins, he did not wish to spend his life "drumming to other people's music." His early compositions were rejected by the heavier rock bands he played for because of their pop style.


title: Simon Collins

text: In his late teens, Collins worked part-time as a disc jockey in Vancouver's rave scene. His experiences in rave culture inspired a collaborative documentary project with his sister Joely called "Summer Love".


title: Simon Collins

text: Collins developed a passion for astronomy and social issues during his youth, and frequently revisits these themes in his music.


title: Simon Collins

text: Prior to the beginning of his solo career, Collins was a member of the local punk band Jet Set. Collins was signed by Warner Music Group following a release of demo tapes he had recorded in 2000. It was at this time that Collins moved from Vancouver to Frankfurt, Germany, where his debut album "All of Who You Are" was released. The album saw 100,000 copies sold in Germany and three singles were released off it: "Pride", "Money Maker" and "Shine Through". The album's sales have been attributed to the success of the single, "Pride." A second single, "Shine Through", was co-written by Collins and Howard Jones.


title: Simon Collins

text: In 2003, Collins left Warner Music and returned to Vancouver to start his own record label, Lightyears Music. On the Lightyears label two years later, Collins released his second album, "Time for Truth". He played a variety of instruments on the album in addition to providing the majority of the vocals. In 2007, he recorded a cover of Genesis' "Abacab" track "Keep It Dark," as a tribute to Genesis, with keyboardist and co-producer Dave Kerzner. During production of "Keep it Dark", Collins met Kevin Churko, who mixed and mastered the recording; Collins later had Churko work with him on the production of his third album, "U-Catastrophe".


title: Simon Collins

text: "U-Catastrophe", released in 2008 on iTunes, became Collins' first North American recording project. The album's first single, "Unconditional", debuted on the "Billboard" Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart at No. 30 in September 2008. It later peaked at No. 12 on "Billboard" in November 2008 and charted on the Canadian Hot 100 in the same month. Kerzner, Kelly Nordstrom, and Steve Hackett were featured on "Fast Forward the Future"; Phil Collins appeared on "The Big Bang".


title: Simon Collins

text: In late 2009, Collins approached Kerzner with the idea of forming a new band. After bringing the idea to musicians Matt Dorsey and Kelly Nordstrom, the four of them began working together at Greenhouse Studios in Vancouver. The band, known by December 2012 as Sound of Contact, included Collins on lead vocals and drums, Kerzner on keyboards, Dorsey on bass, and Nordstrom on guitar. The band's debut album, "Dimensionaut", was released in May 2013. Soon after the release of "Dimensionaut", Nordstrom left the band; Kerzner left in January 2014. Both rejoined the group in April 2015 and, subsequently, Sound of Contact began working on their second album.


title: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro

text: Ronald J. Ortiz-Magro Jr. (born December 4, 1985) is an American television personality, best known as one of the eight main cast members of the MTV reality series "Jersey Shore".


title: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro

text: Ortiz-Magro worked in real estate for his father before becoming part of MTV's reality show "Jersey Shore" in August 2009. The show premiered on December 4, 2009, and ran for six seasons before ending in 2012.


title: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro

text: Ortiz-Magro made an appearance at TNA Wrestling's "Impact Wrestling" on October 26, 2011, in Macon, Georgia. The first episode, which aired November 3 of that year, saw Ortiz-Magro and Eric Young get beaten down by Robbie E and Rob Terry, which built to a tag team match the following week, where Ortiz-Magro pinned Robbie E for the win.


title: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro

text: Ortiz-Magro and his "Jersey Shore" co-stars appeared in the 2012 film "The Three Stooges". He has also appeared in Xenadrine ads.


title: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro

text: In 2018, he became part of the main cast in the MTV reality television series "". On May 13, 2021, Ortiz-Magro announced that he was stepping back from the show to focus on his mental health.


title: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro

text: On April 11, 2018, he appeared in the seventh episode of the third season Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry.


title: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro

text: Ortiz-Magro was in an on-off relationship with his "Jersey Shore" co-star Sammi Giancola from 2009 to 2016. The couple split up in May 2016.


title: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro

text: On December 26, 2017, he announced that he and his girlfriend, Jen Harley, were expecting a baby girl. Their daughter, Ariana Sky Magro, was born in April 2018. In late April 2018, it was reported Ortiz-Magro and Harley had ended their relationship. In January 2019, he entered a month long rehabilitation program for alcohol and depression. In June 2018 and May 2019, Harley, who has made a career as realtor and also appeared on "Jersey Shore" when she was romantically involved with Ortiz-Magro, would be arrested following physical altercations she had with Ortiz-Magro when he visited her in Las Vegas. In February 2019, Ortiz-Magro and Harley had developed what "Us Weekly" characterized as an "on-off" relationship. However, it was later revealed that Ortiz-Magro had filed a police report alleging Harley had given him physical injuries after domestically assaulting him in January 2019, a few days after a reported altercation at a New Year's Eve Party. On October 4, 2019, Ortiz-Magro was arrested in Los Angeles and charged with felony domestic violence after a physical altercation with Harley.


title: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro

text: In November 2020, it was revealed that Ortiz-Magro had started a new relationship with Saffire Matos whom he met in February. On April 22, 2021, Ortiz-Magro was arrested in Los Angeles, on new felony domestic violence charges. At the time of this arrest, Ortiz-Magro was on probation as a result of his October 2019 domestic violence incident. In June 2021, Ortiz-Magro and Matos became engaged. Around June of 2022, Ortiz-Magro called off his engagement with Saffire but continues to focus on his mental health and his daughter.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is a 2004 action role-playing video game developed by Troika Games and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows. Set in White Wolf Publishing's World of Darkness, the game is based on White Wolf's role-playing game "" and follows a human who is killed and revived as a fledgling vampire. The game depicts the fledgling's journey through early 21st-century Los Angeles to uncover the truth behind a recently discovered relic that heralds the end of all vampires.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: "Bloodlines" is presented from first- and third-person perspectives. The player assigns their character to one of several vampire clanseach with unique powers, customizes their combat and dialog abilities, and progresses through "Bloodlines" using violent and nonviolent methods. The selection of clan affects how the player is perceived in the game world and which powers and abilities they possess; this opens up different avenues of exploration and methods of interacting with or manipulating other characters. The player can complete side missions away from the primary storyline by moving freely between the available hubs: Santa Monica, Hollywood, downtown Los Angeles, and Chinatown.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Troika's 32-member team began developing "Bloodlines" in November 2001 as an indirect sequel to the previous year's "". Troika used Valve's Source game engine, then in development, which was used for Valve's own "Half-Life 2". The game's production was turbulent, as the design's scope exceeded the available resources, and the team was left without a producer for nearly a year until Activision appointed David Mullich to the role, where he found designs and levels unfinished or abandoned. After three years in development with no end in sight and running over budget, Activision set a strict deadline for completion, and "Bloodlines" was released incomplete in November 2004.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Released in competition with "Half-Life 2" and several other titles, "Bloodlines" sold fewer than 80,000 copies during its initial release, which was considered a poor performance. It divided critics at the time; although they praised the game's writing and scale of choice, they criticized its technical flaws. It was Troika Games' last production before its failure in early 2005, when it could not secure additional projects. The game has a cult following as a rarely replicated example of gameplay and narrative, and contemporary reception recognizes it as a flawed masterpiece. Since its original release, "Bloodlines" received post-release support from fans, supplying unofficial fixes and re-adding unused content. A sequel, "", is in development.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: "Bloodlines" is an action role-playing video game optionally presented from the first- or third-person perspective. Before the game begins, players create a male or female vampire character by selecting a vampire clan and configuring available points in three areas—Attributes, Abilities, and Disciplines (vampiric powers)—or by answering questions, which create a character for the player. The player can select one of seven vampire clans: the powerful Brujah, the decadent Toreador, the insane Malkavian, the aristocratic Ventrue, the monstrously-deformed Nosferatu, the blood-magic-wielding Tremere, or the animalistic Gangrel.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: The player builds their character by spending acquired points to increase their ratings in the three areas. The points spent on Attributes and Abilities combine to determine a player's success or effectiveness in performing tasks such as using firearms, brawling, and lock-picking; for example, determining how accurate or how far the player can shoot or if they can hack a computer. Attributes are represented by physical (strength, dexterity, and stamina), social (charisma, manipulation, and appearance), and mental (perception, intelligence, and wits). Abilities are talents (such as brawling and dodging), skills (such as firearms and melee), and knowledge (such as computers and investigation). The player is initially assigned points to spend in the three areas, with the amount they can spend determined by clan; for example, the Brujah can spend the most points on physical and skill attributes. During character creation, each upgrade costs one point. The upgrade cost increases as the game progresses. Each ability can be raised from zero to five, and it is impossible to accrue enough experience points to complete every skill (allowing the player to specialize or balance their character). Experience points are gained by completing quests, finding items, or unlocking secret paths rather than killing enemies and are used to increase or unlock the character's statistics and abilities. The game features a main story and optional side quests that can be completed at any time; the player can move between the available areas at will to revisit locations, characters, or merchants.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: The player's clan affects their skills and powers. Although the attractive Toreadors receive bonuses for seduction and persuasion, opening additional dialog options, they are physically weak; the Nosferatu are forced to travel in the shadows or through sewers to avoid alerting humans but receive bonuses to their intelligence and computer skills, which enables access to more information. The Malkavians have different dialog options, reflecting their inherent insanity. Upgrading some skills provides additional dialog options; attractive and charismatic characters seduce to get their way, aggressive characters threaten, and others persuade their targets to cooperate.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Ranged combat is first-person, with character points assigned to the firearms skill determining the shot's accuracy and how long it takes to target an opponent. Melee combat is third-person, with access to weapons such as katanas and sledgehammers for melee combat, or pistols, crossbows, and flamethrowers for firearm combat. If a player sneaks up on an opponent, they can perform an instant kill; weapons provide unique instant kill animations. The player can block attacks manually or automatically by leaving their character idle. They can use stealth in missions by sneaking past guards and security cameras, picking locks, and hacking computers to locate alternative routes.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Each clan has specific Disciplines, which can be used in combat and to create approaches to quests. Although some powers overlap clans, no two clans share the same three Disciplines. More physical vampires can enhance themselves to become fast and lethal killers or summon spirit allies to attack their foes; others can mentally dominate their targets to force their cooperation or render themselves invisible to hide from detection; and others can boil their opponent's blood from afar. The ability Blood Buff (which temporarily upgrades physical abilities) is common to all vampires. Several abilities can be active at the same time. Blood is a primary currency in "Bloodlines", used to activate Disciplines and abilities. It is drained with each use and can be replenished by drinking from rats, visiting blood banks, or drinking from humans by attacking or seducing them; the player can feed on enemies during combat. Drinking from innocents for too long can kill them, costing a character humanity points.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Players are penalized for using certain vampiric abilities in front of witnesses; exposing their existence loses masquerade points, although additional masquerade points can be earned from quests and other actions. Violating the masquerade five times draws the ire of vampire hunters and loses the game. The player has humanity points, representing the vampire's humanity. Some actions cost humanity points; a low humanity score alters available dialog options to become more aggressive and increases the chance of entering a frenzied state and embarking on a killing spree when the vampire's blood is low. A large amount of damage can also trigger this frenzy. Like masquerade points, losing all humanity points ends the game, with the vampire becoming a mindless beast. Some areas, known as Elysium, prevent the use of Disciplines or weapons. Players can recruit a ghoul, Heather, as a customizable servant who gives them blood, gifts, and money.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: "Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines" takes place in four areas of 21st-century Los Angeles: Santa Monica, Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles, and Chinatown. Set in the World of Darkness, the game depicts a world in which vampires, werewolves, demons, and other creatures shape human history. A code binds the vampires to maintain their secrecy (forbidding the use of vampiric abilities in front of humans) and avoid unnecessary killing (to preserve the vampire's last shreds of humanity). The vampires are divided into seven clans of the Camarilla, the vampire government, with distinctive traits and abilities. The Toreadors are the closest to humanity, with a passion for culture; the Ventrue are noble, powerful leaders; the Brujah are idealists who excel at fighting; the Malkavians are cursed with insanity or blessed with insight; the Gangrel are loners, in sync with their animalistic nature; the secretive, untrustworthy Tremere wield blood magic; and the monstrous Nosferatu are condemned to a life in the shadows to avoid humanity. The clans are loosely united by their belief in the Camarilla's goals and opposition to the Sabbat: vampires who revel in their nature, embracing the beast within. The Anarch Movement is a faction of idealistic vampires opposed to the Camarilla's political structure, believing that all vampires should share power.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: The main character of "Bloodlines", whom the player controls, is an unnamed fledgling vampire who is transformed at the start of the game and belongs to one of the clans. The fledgling is employed by Sebastian LaCroix (voiced by Andy Milder), prince of Los Angeles' vampires. The fledgling's travels through the vampire world bring them into contact with other undead creatures such as the deformed information broker Bertram Tung, the anarch Smiling Jack (John DiMaggio), and the dissociative Voerman sisters, Jeanette and Therese. Chinatown is controlled by the Kuei-Jin, Asian vampires led by Ming-Xiao, who do not require blood and consider themselves superior to the other vampires.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: The game begins with the player character, an unnamed human, being killed and resurrected as a fledgling vampire. The fledgling and their sire are brought before the Camarilla for this unauthorized act. The sire is executed by order of LaCroix; the fledgling is spared the same fate by the intervention of the anarch Nines Rodriguez and employed by the prince.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: LaCroix sends the fledgling to Santa Monica to help his ghoul, Mercurio, destroy a Sabbat warehouse. Following their success, the fledgling travels to downtown Los Angeles, meeting separately with Nines, LaCroix, and Jack. LaCroix tasks the fledgling with investigating a docked ship, the "Elizabeth Dane", for information about an Ankaran sarcophagus rumored to contain the body of an Antediluvian, one of the oldest and most powerful vampires. Their arrival would herald Gehenna, the vampire apocalypse. The fledgling discovers that the sarcophagus seems to have been opened from within.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Increased Sabbat activity coincides with the disappearance of the Malkavian chief, Alistair Grout. At Grout's mansion, the fledgling sees Nines leaving and discovers Grout's remains in the mansion with vampire hunter Grünfeld Bach, who denies involvement in Grout's death. Learning about Nines' presence at the mansion, LaCroix tells the other chiefs to approve Nines' execution. The fledgling is sent to the Museum of Natural History to recover the sarcophagus but finds that it has been stolen. Jack later suggests to the fledgling that LaCroix wants the sarcophagus to drink the blood of the ancient within, gaining its power.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Believing that Gary, the Nosferatu chief, has stolen the sarcophagus, the fledgling is sent to Hollywood to find him; after locating a captured Nosferatu for Gary, he reveals that the Giovanni vampire clan stole the sarcophagus. The fledgling infiltrates the Giovanni mansion and finds the sarcophagus guarded by the Kuei-Jin, who claim their leader, Ming-Xiao, has allied with LaCroix. The locked sarcophagus is returned to LaCroix's tower, and Beckett, a vampire scholar, tells the fledgling that the only person who can open it has been abducted by Bach to lure LaCroix. The fledgling kills Bach and learns that the sarcophagus' key has been stolen.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: The fledgling returns to LaCroix, learning that the Sabbat tried to steal the sarcophagus to destroy it and prevent Gehenna, and kills the Sabbat leader to disperse his followers. The fledgling is met by Ming-Xiao, who offers an alliance. Ming-Xiao reveals that she has the key, and LaCroix killed Grout to prevent his powerful insight from unveiling LaCroix's plans; Ming-Xiao disguised herself as Nines at the mansion to frame him. Denying Ming-Xiao's claims, LaCroix rescinds the blood hunt on Nines and entrusts the fledgling with recruiting the anarchs to punish the Kuei-Jin for murdering Grout. The fledgling finds Nines hiding in Griffith Park, and they are then attacked by a werewolf, and Nines is badly injured. The fledgling escapes with Jack, who reveals that LaCroix has issued an execution on the fledgling for framing Nines on orders from Ming-Xiao.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: The ending varies, depending on whom, if anyone, the fledgling allies with. If the fledgling supports LaCroix or Ming-Xiao, each sends the fledgling to kill the other. LaCroix opens the sarcophagus to be killed with the fledgling by hidden explosives; Ming-Xiao betrays the fledgling, chaining them to the sarcophagus and sinking it into the ocean. Supporting the anarchs, or no one, makes the fledgling kill Ming-Xiao and maim LaCroix, who is killed after he opens the sarcophagus. If the fledgling opens the sarcophagus, they die in the explosion. If the fledgling is a Tremere, they kill Ming-Xiao; Tremere leader Maximillian Strauss replaces LaCroix, and the sarcophagus is stored. Each ending has Jack watching from afar with the mummy taken from the coffin and the enigmatic taxi driver who transports the fledgling between locations, who says, "The blood of Caine controls our fate ... Farewell, vampire."


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: The development of "Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines" began at Troika Games in November 2001. The developers wanted to put a role-playing game in a first-person setting, believing that the genre had become stale. Troika approached publisher Activision with its idea; Activision suggested using the "Vampire: The Masquerade" license used a year earlier in Nihilistic Software's "", which had experienced sufficient success to merit a sequel. Instead of developing a sequel to "Redemption", the development team researched the White Wolf property, including the game's rules and storylines. Troika was a small game studio with five developers and a total staff of thirty-two (including lead writer Brian Mitsoda, who joined the team less than a year after development began). Although some preliminary designs and levels were completed, much of the work was abandoned or redeveloped.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Troika wanted to make a 3D game but was uncertain whether to build a new game engine or license an existing one and whether to use first- or third-person. At that time, the Source game engine was being built by Valve. Valve employee Scott Lynch approached Troika about using the engine, and it was the first external team to use it. Troika chose Source for its facial animation and lip-synching system since it wanted players to speak to the characters face-to-face. Since the engine was in development with "Bloodlines" and Valve's own "Half-Life 2", Troika was working with unfamiliar code and tools, forcing it to write code to compensate for the unfinished engine and with only a single source of technical support. Troika developed a lighting system to create distinctive, moody illumination for the nighttime setting, a particle system for the special effects accompanying the vampire Disciplines, and a cloth system for clothing flow. Source lacked its later artificial intelligence (AI) coding, and Troika's code worked poorly with the Source engine.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Many central plot elements existed before designer Brian Mitsoda's involvement: the prince, the anarchs being upset, aspects of the Gehenna storyline, and Jack and the sarcophagus as a major subplot. The designers broadly tied the overarching story into each hub and level. Each designer controlled their assigned section of the game and worked with a small team, enabling quick decision-making and ease in keeping plot elements consistent. Mitsoda became the primary writer for many of the characters and their quests, dialog, and side content in the game, such as emails, which helped retain a consistent narrative. He was given freedom with respect to the script, with no restrictions on language or content, and could rewrite characters when he thought his initial draft was weak. Although Troika developed the story, it is inspired by White Wolf's "Time of Judgment" novels about a vampire apocalypse. "Bloodlines" story was accepted as canonical by White Wolf, with the game serving as a prequel to "Time of Judgment" and including characters from the White Wolf game, such as Jack. Discussing character design, Mitsoda said he tried to disguise the need for characters who point a player in an appropriate direction:


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: You need a character to pose a problem or give out a quest or be a barrier of some kind. I don't like to make the [character] outright say "I need you to do X, then I'll give you Y" ... – it makes the character into an automated quest kiosk. I like the characters to come off like people actually do – they don't say "hi" when strangers come knocking, they say "who the hell are you?" or they're expecting you and know more than they let on, or they don't care. I don't like my [characters] to be standing around as if their lives begin when the character starts talking to them and end when the player leaves.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Single-purpose characters needed a distinctive personality trait to quickly establish them with the player, rather than serving as a disposable item, while major characters had to reflect the player's progression and actions through the game. Mitsoda wrote the characters by thinking about whom each character was, assigning them motivations determining why they were where they were, what they thought about the player, and what they wanted from them. Following a suggestion by fellow writer Chad Moore, the Malkavian player character has a dialog script distinct from that of the other eight clans; Mitsoda said it was one of the simpler aspects of the development cycle. He wrote the Malkavian script last, with time running out on development, and the overwork and lack of sleep contributed to what Mitsoda considered an unhealthy state of mind, ideal for writing insane dialog. He wanted to highlight their madness without making it comical. Since the story is set during the Camarilla's takeover of Los Angeles, the team simplified the plot by only allowing the player to belong to one of the LA-based clans.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Troika co-founder Jason Anderson's research on "Vampire: The Masquerade" source material and fansites found that the game's main attraction was character interaction and involvement in the vampire societies, not statistics and powers. Troika tried to remain faithful to the pen-and-paper role-playing game, hoping not to alienate the game's fans, but rules designed for multiple players did not translate well to single-player computer game design. The team attempted to discover which elements could work equally well in pen-and-paper and computer games. However, although much of the character system and attributes were translated, not all the attributes (such as "knowledge of law") made sense in the computer game. Of 30 pen-and-paper abilities, 15 reached the final design.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Another difficult area was feats. Although common feats worked well, with a random chance of success or failure, uncommon ones would appear to fail more often. To avoid this, randomization was replaced by a degree of difficulty in accomplishing the feat. Although pen-and-paper falling damage is random, the computer game bases damage on the distance of the fall. The team's biggest challenge was adapting disciplines. The pen-and-paper version may require a little blood that requires a long time to use or have no blood cost and can be used at will; upgraded disciplines had additional requirements considered too confusing for a computer game. Troika attempted to equalize the disciplines, keeping the effect intact and normalizing the cost, so a first-level power requires one blood point, a second-level two points, and so on. To balance the clans, the aristocratic Ventrue were only allowed to feed on noble blood, though this was changed to allow them to feed on lower-class humans, receiving less blood. During character creation, the game had an optional character biography with unique positive and negative characteristics (increasing one ability while limiting another). This was removed from the released game; Activision felt there was insufficient test time, and removing it was a more stable option.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: The team's previous experience was with turn-based combat games, and it struggled to develop a real-time combat system affected by customizable attributes and abilities that provided feedback to the player on how those statistics affected the battle. It initially found that by adhering too closely to the White Wolf source material rules for guns, where the effectiveness of a shot is determined in a contest between the player's skill and the opponent's defense, the firearms seemed broken; the player would not hit where they aimed. Troika found it difficult to mesh the available factors in a real-time setting. Melee combat had to deal with various melee weapons and animations and adjust for melee-on-melee and melee-on-ranged combat.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Troika used first-person perspective to immerse the player in the setting, interacting face-to-face with the characters and seeing their facial reactions to the player. It chose to follow a single character to aid the immersion, creating the isolation of a vampire unable to trust any other character. This aided the story and compensated for the technical issues of allowing multiple player characters.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Choice is a significant aspect of the game, requiring a non-linear design to accommodate the customized characters. Level design began with a list of factors such as Disciplines, stealth, and feats. Each area had to be viable for a shooting character (sufficient ammunition), a discipline-focused character (sufficient blood sources to keep the powers fueled), and a melee specialist (to reach enemies without being killed), with stealth options and option combinations. Level design began with a focus on stealth, considering the positioning of guards and the character's potential stealth capability at that point in the game. Then direct, combat-heavy, and dialog paths were added. The amusement arcade area was to feature playable versions of Activision arcade games such as "Pitfall!", though the idea was abandoned due to time constraints.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Director Leonard Boyarsky considered the animation system important in the team's choice of the Source engine. The integrated "faceposer" tool allowed Troika to customize facial animations, expressions, gestures, and lip-synching, eliminating the need to explain what a character was doing. Every non-player character required a voiceover, which helped Troika define its characters more quickly. The engine had a physics system permitting new features, such as monsters hurling corpses at the player or dying characters realistically crumbling into pieces, instead of requiring pre-built animations. Although Troika had ignored first-person engines due to technical limitations, such as a low polygon count and limited texture memory, as the technology improved, it thought it could create a real-time action game without sacrificing the immersion and story of a role-playing game.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Describing the choice of developing a game based on the existing White Wolf property over creating their own, Boyarsky said that although an original property lacked the constraints of an existing one, the downside was that it had not been tested and could be rejected by its potential audience; an existing property was proven. Troika tried to stay as close as possible to the White Wolf rules while reducing the number of abilities and disciplines to those relevant to "Bloodlines" gameplay.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Activision introduced the game in May 2003, but in October, Valve experienced a security breach in which hackers stole the source code for "Half-Life 2". The breach required new security implementations for the engine, delaying both games; the release of "Bloodlines" was postponed until early 2005. Until May 2004, Troika and Activision said that the game would feature a multiplayer component and modes, including a team of vampires against a team of vampire hunters, with the ability to upgrade characters between rounds. The team was left without a producer by Activision for over a year before David Mullich was assigned to the project. With no producer oversight, Mullich found the game's design incomplete, game levels created and abandoned, and several technical issues, including problems with code for the proposed multiplayer option. The Source multiplayer code was in its infancy, increasing its development time, and the idea was abandoned.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: In addition to problems with the Source engine, the designers found that the game's scope exceeded their resources. "Bloodlines" has several playstyles, requiring different interfaces, animations, and artificial intelligence for stealth, melee combat, and first- or third-person capability. Compared to contemporary first-person shooters, with 10 to 20 animated character models, "Bloodlines" had over 150 characters with 3,000 unique animations, in addition to boss characters, with their movement styles. The designers underestimated the time required to develop and improve these systems. The game's scope suffered from content not being removed when necessary; other components would be endlessly refined without being finalized, preventing the developers from focusing on other parts of the game system. All content additionally required approval by White Wolf and Activision.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: After three years of development, the game was progressing slowly, and it was unknown when it would be finished. Activision set a series of deadlines for the project's development to ensure Troika had sufficient time to effectively test the game, though these milestones were repeatedly extended, and "Bloodlines" eventually ran over budget. In 2003 Activision intervened, ordering that the game be ready for release in the next few months and even advancing more money to Troika to complete its work on "The Temple of Elemental Evil" for Atari, freeing the Troika team to work on "Bloodlines" exclusively. Activision eventually issued an ultimatum that the project be finished within months, on September 15, 2004. Troika delivered a version of "Bloodlines" on the required date; due to its scale, the game underwent three weeks of testing. Activision decided that the game was suitable for release but was contractually bound to withhold "Bloodlines" until after the debut of "Half-Life 2" in November 2004. Troika convinced Activision to use the delay to fund further development; the additional budget was insufficient to pay all of Troika's staff, and some employees worked unpaid to complete the project. This version underwent another three weeks of testing to become the final release code; the game was still unfinished when Activision forced its release. "Bloodlines" creative director Jason Anderson blamed Activision, saying that the publisher took the game from Troika without providing enough time to test and polish it. Conversely, Boyarsky defended Activision for supporting Troika as the project exceeded its budget and schedule. During the nearly four years of development, Anderson estimated that the team worked overtime for all but two months.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: The game's original score was composed and produced by Rik Schaffer. Troika licensed many songs for the game, and posters for real bands are featured on the walls of the game's clubs. The soundtrack was released as a limited edition CD to customers who pre-ordered the game through Best Buy. It features nine tracks by artists including Daniel Ash, Chiasm, Tiamat, Darling Violetta, Genitorturers, and Lacuna Coil. "Bloodlines", performed by Al Jourgensen and Ministry, was composed and performed specifically for the game. Activision chose the licensed tracks without input from Troika. The song "Angel" by Massive Attack was used as a placeholder on the game's menu screen. Troika could not obtain the rights to use the song in the finished game and tasked Schaffer with creating something similar.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: "Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines" was released on November 16, 2004, in competition with "Half-Life 2", "", "Halo 2", and several other titles. Valve's contract for Troika's use of the Source engine guaranteed that "Bloodlines" could not be released before "Half-Life 2" and could not be introduced to the public until after the announcement of "Half-Life 2", over eighteen months after development began. In February 2004, the game was scheduled for release in spring 2005, partially to avoid competing with "Half-Life 2" and the competitive Christmas period, before Activision moved the date to November 2004. Activision obtained model Erin Layne to play Jeanette in promotional material for the game. Layne worked with "Bloodlines" artist Tim Bradstreet for a day to provide the poses chosen by Activision to represent Jeanette in the game's posters, clothing, and other items.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Despite generally favorable reviews, "Bloodlines" initial release sold 72,000 copies and earned approximately US$3.4 million in sales, below Troika's other games, "" (234,000 units, $8.8 million) and " The Temple of Elemental Evil" (128,000 units, $5.2 million). In comparison, "Bloodlines" release competitor "Half-Life 2" had sold 6.5 million copies by 2008. "Bloodlines" relative failure contributed to the demise of Troika Games.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Shortly after its debut, most development staff were laid off; the remaining staff tried to patch "Bloodlines" and develop game concepts to secure funding to keep Troika in business. Troika, unable to obtain further funding from Activision or other publishers, released its employees in two waves: the first in November 2004, followed by the remaining staff in December, except for its three founders, Anderson, Boyarsky, and Tim Cain. Some employees worked without pay to fix the game. When the company closed in February 2005, it had secured no other game development deals. That month, Boyarsky confirmed that Troika had not been working on a patch for the game since most of its staff had been gone since December 2004.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: In a 2006 interview, Anderson said that although Troika Games' library had been critically well received, consistent technical issues had marred the perception of the company's games, contributing to Troika's difficulty in obtaining new projects. In 2013, Mitsoda said that "Bloodlines" was released at "the worst possible time - most people didn't even know we were out ... fans and the Troika [developers] are always going to wonder what the game could have been like with another six months." In a 2017 interview, Boyarsky echoed Mitsoda's sentiments, saying that a further three to six months of development time could have allowed Troika to address many technical flaws, but he was unsure that they could have resolved larger issues. He said, "I feel the second half of the game isn't as good as the first. I feel like we devolved into relying too much on combat at the end." Boyarsky noted that it was impossible to know if the fixes would have made "Bloodlines" more successful or if it would have remained a niche product. He said, "it might have been too early for people to appreciate it, but we'll never know."


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: The game's fans have created unofficial patches to address "Bloodlines" technical problems and restore missing and incomplete content. After experiencing problems with the first versions of an unofficial patch created by Dan Upright, analytical chemist Werner Spahl continued patching the game from version 1.2 with permission and instructions. The game community tested Spahl's patches, providing reports on bugs and spelling errors. Although the game's complexity meant that repairing one aspect often broke another, as work on the patches progressed, Spahl began restoring removed and incomplete content in the game files, adding quests, items, weapons, and characters, with fan help to provide voice acting, models, and reinstating whole levels. Spahl contacted former Troika staff for insight into their intentions for cut content. A library area, for example, was restored after Mitsoda told Spahl only that "it was somehow connected to a main character and a Sabbat boss, and was meant to look like the real-world [Los Angeles] library." A fan traveled to the real library to gather notes on its layout and co-developed the in-game area with Spahl. Schaffer also provided Spahl with unreleased scores from the game. The changes altered the original game so much that some of the game's fans criticized Spahl. This resulted in two patch versions: a basic version, fixing the game's technical issues, and a "plus" version with the additional content. As of 2019, the game has over 15 years of post-release support. The patches are also included in the game version sold on the GOG.com distribution service.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Boyarsky voiced his support for unofficial patches, saying, "they've found the stuff that we hoped people would find about the game, in terms of the different paths you can take and how it played differently for every class." Boyarsky said that while he would have preferred that the game was more successful at launch, that people were still playing and modifying it made Troika's efforts feel more "worthwhile". Schaffer released a remastered version of his score through Milan Records in October 2019, including eight previously unreleased tracks. The score could be purchased on compact disc, digital download, and a blood-red vinyl record version with a marbled, black smoke effect housed in a custom sleeve.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: "Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines" received a mixed response, with reviewers praising its writing and presentation and criticizing its technical problems. The aggregating review website Metacritic provides a score of 80 out of 100 (based on 61 reviews).


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: The game has been called a flawed masterpiece by critics. The scale and variety of choice and effect was highlighted by reviewers as "Bloodlines" greatest success, including the variety of clans, with specific dialog options, and the specific reactions from other characters, each with their own clan loyalty and bias. "GameSpy" called it a nearly flawless classic role-playing game; "The New York Times" described it as brilliant but unfinished. "Eurogamer" praised its "effortlessly intelligent" script, saying that "no other game has come close. Nothing's even tried". VideoGamer.com opined that at its best, "Bloodlines" stands among the greatest RPGs of the preceding five years, although its technical problems should be remembered. According to HonestGamers, the game "may not be polished and may end with a sigh instead of a shout, but for its ambition alone it deserves stream after stream of compliments." Reviewers compared it to other successful role-playing games, including "Fallout", "", "", "", "", and "Deus Ex"; Eurogamer described "Bloodlines" as "Deus Ex" with vampires.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: "IGN" appreciated "Bloodlines" rewarding exploration outside the main story, and "The New York Times" and "GameSpy" praised its "wonderfully imaginative" missions. Reviewers noted that later parts of the game were disappointing, delivering repetitive combat-focused missions with regenerating enemies, abandoning dialog and stealth and punishing players who build characters with more social skills than combat abilities. "GameSpy" said that it had never seen a role-playing game so affected by player actions with everything, from clan choice and character build to actions in missions, influencing future options and dialog.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Its writing was consistently praised by reviewers. The narrative was considered deep, successfully using White Wolf's "Vampire: The Masquerade" content. "Eurogamer" said that it had the best script the website had ever seen in a video game, and others described it as a superbly crafted tale of conspiracies, underworld subterfuge, fun and intrigue. Reviewers appreciated the use of adult themes, such as sex and death, in the storyline of a contemporary video game, which no other games had tackled with similar effectiveness. The mature themes succeeded without being gratuitous or exploitative, and were explored honestly and intelligently by a knowledgeable writer. The game's characters were praised for their memorable, developed personalities, with most major characters possessing their own backstory and presented as living people instead of ciphers. Its ending had a mixed response, with some reviewers appreciating their ability to choose one of the game's four endings (adding an incentive to replay the game) and others considering the ending anti-climactic.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: "GameSpot" and "GameSpy" called the dialog sharply written, with many memorable lines. "Eurogamer" noted that the characters' frequent use of vulgar language worked; written as real people, such language fit their character rather than giving the game an adult veneer. The website appreciated the breadth of dialog options, allowing the player greater control of how to play their character. "PC Zone" opined that the quantity of well-written dialog did not guarantee quality; many player choices seemed to have little effect on a conversation's outcome, and the best response was often the most obvious. The voice acting was repeatedly praised for the actors' quality and the amount of voice work, due to the many dialog options.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Much of "Bloodlines" criticism focused on technical problems when it was released, undermining the game experience or making it unplayable. Several reviewers noted errors which closed the game and typographical errors in on-screen text. Others cited frequent, sometimes-lengthy load times encountered while moving between hubs and entering or exiting buildings and areas. "GameSpot" called the game's artificial intelligence poor, often causing enemies to rush at an armed player, fire at them from too great a distance to be effective or become immobilized while waiting for the player's next attack. "IGN" noted that stealth broke the AI, allowing traps to be triggered and leaving the assailants standing still, unable to locate a hidden player. "GameSpy" said that the Source Engine was "Bloodlines" greatest weakness; although the RPG aspects were the game's strong suit, features of the Source Engine, such as first-person shooting, were where it stumbled.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: The combat was also criticized. Reviewers called it poor, clumsy and unsatisfactory, complaining that "Bloodlines" favors melee combat; firearms were weak, unwieldy and slow, even for characters specializing in guns. "PC Zone", however, called the first-person shooting entertaining and challenging. Although melee combat was criticized as sluggish and difficult due to enemy attacks interrupting the player's, reviewers considered it overpowered; according to "GameSpot", a boss character was killed with melee weapons on a first attempt after the repeated failure to do so with a gun. The "New York Times" found the unavoidable combat in the last part of the game to be so difficult that they had to cheat to succeed. Stealth was criticized, with "IGN" noting that even with low stealth skill it was possible to sneak around many enemies and feed from a guard without alerting another guard next to them. "GameSpot" opined that some of the best missions were stealth-based, as combat was more straightforward.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: In 2004, "IGN" named "Bloodlines" the Best PC RPG of that year and "GameSpy" called the "Ocean House Hotel" quest the Level of the Year. In 2005, "Computer Gaming World" called it the Role Playing Game of 2004, saying that it offered "a deep, balanced character creation system, a truckload of interesting quests, a good story and great NPCs to interact with." "Computer Games Magazine" nominated "Bloodlines" for its 2004 "Best Writing" award; the award went to "Half-Life 2".


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: "Bloodlines" is considered a cult classic. Retrospective critiques continue to praise the game's narrative and degree of choice. In 2009, an article in "Rock, Paper, Shotgun" declared: "The sense of sorrow comes from the realization that there's nothing like ["Bloodlines"] on the horizon ... why should there be so few games like this? Oh right, because it's so very hard to do ... the lack of games comparable to "Bloodlines" is one of the great tragedies of our time." "Eurogamer" called the game inspirational, with an unmatched level of narrative detail. In 2010, "The Escapist" called "Bloodlines" a flawed masterpiece which could have been a genuine masterpiece with more time, money, and staff; although great games may inspire awe, it instead created a devoted fan base which continued to develop the game.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: In 2006, "PC Zone" listed "Bloodlines" the seventh-best PC game which people were unlikely to have played, calling it the "best buggy game ever released". In 2007, the game was 80th on "Computer & Video Games" list of its top 100 games, and 86th on "PC Gamer"s 2014 list of the same; it also appeared in "PC Gamer"s 2015 edition (moving to 63rd), 2017 edition (moving to 42nd), and 2021 edition (moving to 93rd). In 2008, bit-tech listed Jeanette as the second-best non-player video game character. In 2011, "Rock, Paper, Shotgun" called "Bloodlines" one of the most important PC games of all time ("it signposts a direction to a future of games that we were denied"), listing it as one of the 122 Best PC Games Ever. "Cinema Blend" called it one of the most underappreciated games of the decade. In 2011, "Official Xbox Magazine" called it one of the ten PC franchises it wanted on the Xbox 360 console. In 2013, "PC Gamer" named it one of the 100 Best Horror Games on PC, and "PCGamesN" called it the seventh-best PC role-playing game. In 2014, "Bloodlines" was 90th in "Empire"s readers' poll of the 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time, and "Maximum PC" chose it as one of the games they wanted to be remastered for contemporary game systems.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: In 2015, "Rock, Paper, Shotgun" listed "Bloodlines" as the PC's 19th Best RPG and 15th Best Horror Game. In 2017, the game was listed 42nd on "IGN"s list of the Top 100 RPGs of all Time, "Den of Geek" named it one of the 20 Video Games that Deserve Remakes, and "PC Gamer" named it one of the best role-playing games of all time. In 2018, "USGamer" named it the 22nd best RPG of All Time, summarising that "for all of its bugs and questionable gameplay choices... the raw strength of its design still has the power to grab fans." "PC Gamer" highlighted the haunted "Ocean House Hotel" as a "high point of unexpected horror", comparing it to the Shalebridge Cradle level from "" (2004) and Ravenholm from "Half-Life 2" (2004). In 2020, "Rock, Paper, Shotgun" named it the 44th-best RPG for PC.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: In a November 2004 interview, Boyarsky said that although the team would like to pursue a "Bloodlines" sequel, the decision was Activision's. Before their closure, Troika had begun development of a workable prototype based on another of White Wolf's tabletop role-playing games, "", set in the same universe as "Vampire: The Masquerade". According to Boyarsky, the prototype was one small area built using assets taken from "Bloodlines", and allowed the player to play as a werewolf, or a human capable of turning into one.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: Paradox Interactive obtained the rights to "Bloodlines" in 2015, following their purchase of White Wolf. Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester confirmed that a sequel was possible, stating "when the time is right I guess a sequel will find its place in the market." "" was announced in March 2019. Developed by Seattle-based Hardsuit Labs, the game is written by "Bloodlines"s lead-writer Brian Mitsoda, and Cara Ellison. Set in Seattle, "Bloodlines 2" casts the player as a fledgling thinblood vampire with relatively weak abilities, who was turned as part of a masquerade-violating "mass embrace" of humans. The game is in development as of 2021.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

text: A 2018 actual play web series, entitled "L.A. by Night" aired from 2018 to 2021. "L.A. by Night" is set in the aftermath of the events of "Bloodlines", and featured many returning characters from the game. Initially developed by Geek & Sundry, Paradox took over production in 2020 for the show's fourth and fifth season. Jason Carl - otherwise responsible for the "Vampire: the Masquerade" metaplot, including elements of "Bloodlines" - acted as storyteller for the show.


title: Alex Wagner

text: Alexandra Swe Wagner (born November 27, 1977) is an American journalist. She is the host of both "Alex Wagner Tonight "on MSNBC and Netflix's "The Mole" reboot, as well as the author of "FutureFace: A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging" (One World/Random House). She was a contributor for CBS News and is a contributing editor at "The Atlantic". Previously, she was the anchor of the daytime program "Now with Alex Wagner" (2011–2015) on MSNBC and the co-host of "" on Showtime. From November 2016 until March 2018, she was a TV co-anchor on "CBS This Morning Saturday". She has also been a senior editor at "The Atlantic" magazine since April 2016.


title: Alex Wagner

text: After serving as a fill-in host for both "The Rachel Maddow Show" and "All In with Chris Hayes" on MSNBC, she began hosting "Alex Wagner Tonight" on August 16, 2022.


title: Alex Wagner

text: Alex Wagner was born and raised in Washington, D.C. Her mother, Tin Swe Thant, is an immigrant from Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar (Burma), who became a naturalized U.S. citizen before attending Swarthmore College. Her father, Carl Wagner, from Lansing, Iowa, was of Luxembourger and Irish descent. He was a prominent Democratic Party political consultant who co-chaired Bill Clinton's presidential campaign. She attended Woodrow Wilson High School (renamed Jackson-Reed in 2022) and graduated from Brown University in 1999, having studied art history and literature. Wagner was raised Roman Catholic.


title: Alex Wagner

text: Wagner has worked as the cultural correspondent for the Center for American Progress. From 2003 to 2007, she was editor-in-chief of "The Fader" magazine, covering music and cultural movements from around the world. She also served as executive director of Not On Our Watch Project, an advocacy organization focused on mass atrocities and human rights violations.


title: Alex Wagner

text: Wagner then became the White House correspondent for "Politics Daily", a political news magazine under AOL News. She moved to "The Huffington Post" after it was acquired by AOL.


title: Alex Wagner

text: As an analyst on MSNBC, Wagner appeared on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" and "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell".


title: Alex Wagner

text: On November 14, 2011, Wagner began hosting "Now with Alex Wagner" weekdays (originally at noon ET, but later at 4 PM ET). On July 30, 2015, MSNBC President Phil Griffin announced that the series had been cancelled in an effort to transition the network's daytime programming to more breaking news reporting and less political commentary and opinion. The next day the program aired its final episode. MSNBC later announced that Wagner would host a weekend program, but those plans were later abandoned.


title: Alex Wagner

text: On April 26, 2016, "The Atlantic" announced that Wagner was leaving MSNBC to join the magazine as a senior editor. In addition to writing for "The Atlantic", Wagner would moderate events with AtlanticLIVE and help with developing video and TV projects with The Atlantic Studios.


title: Alex Wagner

text: In November 2016, Wagner replaced Vinita Nair on "CBS This Morning Saturday". March 17, 2018 was her last appearance on "CBS This Morning Saturday" as she confirmed she would be leaving that show to co-host "" for Showtime, replacing Mark Halperin.


title: Alex Wagner

text: In 2020, Wagner launched a podcast with Crooked Media and Cadence13 that addressed the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Alex Wagner

text: In February 2022, Wagner filled in for Rachel Maddow on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show", as well as Chris Hayes on "All In with Chris Hayes". In June, it was announced that Wagner would host a show that assumes "Maddow"s 9 PM slots on Tuesdays through Fridays as the former scaled back to Mondays only. Wagner's new show, "Alex Wagner Tonight", premiered on August 16, 2022.


title: Alex Wagner

text: She has described herself as progressive. On matters involving Israel, she believes that there is an element of "trepidation that inhibits a robust discussion about Israel in the American media" due to fears of being falsely slurred as an anti-Semite.


title: Alex Wagner

text: On August 30, 2014, Wagner married former White House nutrition policy advisor and assistant chef Sam Kass in a ceremony held at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a restaurant in Pocantico Hills, New York. The wedding was attended by then U.S. President Barack Obama and his family, as Kass had been the Obama family personal chef since Chicago. Wagner and Kass's first child, Cyrus, was born in 2017. On April 16, 2019, she gave birth to their second child, Rafael.


title: Naan

text: Naan (, , , , , ) is a leavened, oven-baked or tawa-fried flatbread which is found in the cuisines mainly of Western Asia, Central Asia, Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Caribbean.


title: Naan

text: The Persian word "nān" 'bread' is attested in Middle Persian as "n'n" 'bread, food', which is of Iranian origin, and is a cognate with Parthian "ngn", Kurdish "nan", Balochi "nagan", Sogdian "nγn-", and Pashto "nəγan" 'bread'.


title: Naan

text: The form "naan" has a widespread distribution, having been borrowed in a range of languages spoken in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, where it usually refers to a kind of flatbread (tandyr nan). The spelling "naan" has been recorded as being first attested in 1979, but dates back at least to 1975, and has since become the normal English spelling.


title: Naan

text: Naan as known today originates from Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, and South Asia. The most familiar and readily available varieties of naan in Western countries are those from South Asia. In Iran, as well as in other West Asian nations or ethnic groups in the region, from which the word originated, "nân" () does not carry any special significance, as it is the generic word for any kind of bread.


title: Naan

text: Naan in parts of the Indian subcontinent usually refers to a specific kind of thick flatbread. Generally, it is usually leavened with yeast or with bread starter (leavened naan dough left over from a previous batch); unleavened dough (similar to that used for "roti") is also used. Naan, similar to some other breads of South Asian cuisine is cooked in a "tandoor", from which tandoori cooking takes its name. This distinguishes it from "roti", which is usually cooked on a flat or slightly concave iron griddle called a "tava". Modern recipes sometimes substitute baking powder for the yeast. Milk or yogurt may also be used to impart distinct tastes to the naan. Milk used instead of water will, as it does for ordinary bread, yield a softer dough. Also, when bread starter (which contains both yeast and lactobacilli) is used, the milk may undergo modest lactic fermentation.


title: Naan

text: Typically, it is brushed with some water but in some other cultures such as those in the Indian Subcontinent, they brush ghee or butter. It enjoys a special position in the Indian cuisine as it can be used to scoop other foods and gravies or served stuffed with a filling.


title: Naan

text: A typical naan recipe involves mixing white or whole wheat flour with active dry yeast, salt, and water. The dough is kneaded for a few minutes, then set aside to rise for a few hours. Once risen, the dough is divided into balls (about 100 g or 3.5 oz each), which are flattened and cooked.


title: Naan

text: In South Asian cuisine, naans are typically flavored with fragrant essences, such as rosewater, "khus" (vetiver), or with butter or ghee melted on them. Nigella seeds are commonly added to naan as cooked in Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani restaurants throughout the UK.


title: Naan

text: Raisins, lentils and spices can be added. Naan is a natural marriage with Indian and Bangladeshi curries and gravies and can also be covered with, or served as a wrap for, various toppings of meat, vegetables, or cheeses. This version is sometimes prepared as fast food. It can also be dipped into such soups as "dal" and goes well with "sabzis" (also known as "shaakh").


title: Naan

text: In Indonesia, naan is popular in Indian Indonesian and Arab Indonesian community as well as Malay, Acehnese and Minangkabau–with other variant of "roti" like "roti canai". This dish usually locally known as "roti naan" or "roti nan" and cooked using Indonesian spices, such as garlic with local taste.


title: Naan

text: "Naan bya" () in Myanmar is sometimes served at breakfast with tea or coffee. It is round, soft, and blistered, often buttered, or with (boiled peas) on top, or dipped in (mutton soup).


title: Naan

text: The Jingzhou style of guokui, a flatbread prepared inside a cylindrical charcoal oven much like a tandoor, has been described as "Chinese naan". It is also an integral part of Uyghur cuisine, and is known in Chinese as 馕 ("náng").


title: Naan

text: After being promoted by Kandagawa Sekizai Shoukou in 1968, which is now the sole domestic manufacturer of tandoors, naan is now widely available in Indian-style curry restaurants in Japan, where naan is typically free-flow. Some restaurants bake ingredients such as cheese, garlic, onions, and potatoes into the naan, or cover it with toppings like a pizza.


title: Naan

text: Naan pizza is a type of pizza where naan is used as the crust instead of the traditional pizza dough. Chefs such as Nigella Lawson, and supermarkets such as Wegmans offer recipes for people to make their own naan pizza at home.


title: Tommy DeVito (musician)

text: Gaetano "Tommy" DeVito (June 19, 1928 – September 21, 2020) was an American musician and singer, best known as a founding member, vocalist, and lead guitarist of rock band the Four Seasons.


title: Tommy DeVito (musician)

text: DeVito was born in Belleville, New Jersey, United States, the youngest of nine children in an Italian-American family. At eight years old, he taught himself to play his brother's guitar by listening to country music on the radio. By the time he was 12, he was playing for tips in neighborhood taverns. He quit school after the eighth grade. (Belleville High made him an honorary graduate in 2007.) By 16, he had his own R&B band and was making $20 or $25 a night.


title: Tommy DeVito (musician)

text: DeVito's musical career began in the early 1950s when he formed "the Variety Trio" with his brother Nick DeVito and Hank Majewski. This core group performed under various names and changing lineups. The band expanded to a quartet and changed its name to "the Variatones" including the addition in 1954 of singer Francis Castelluccio (later known as Frankie Valli). When they were signed to a recording contract with RCA Victor, in 1956, the quartet of DeVito/DeVito/Hank Majewski/Valli had renamed themselves "the Four Lovers". Tommy and Frankie remained the only consistent members of the Four Lovers, as the group released seven singles and one album under the Four Lovers name. Their 1956 debut single, Otis Blackwell's "You're the Apple of My Eye", achieved enough national sales to appear as a minor hit on the "Billboard" Hot 100 singles chart. The single landed Tommy his first national television appearance, when the Four Lovers appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1956.


title: Tommy DeVito (musician)

text: While his brother Nick left the group, Tommy DeVito continued his musical pursuits, reforming and realigning the group. He was close friends with Joe Pesci, who introduced DeVito and Valli to Bob Gaudio. By 1960 The Four Lovers consisted of DeVito and Valli along with lyricist/singer/keyboardist Bob Gaudio and vocal arranger Nick Massi, and were mainly used as a backup band for producer Bob Crewe under contract. This is the lineup which adopted the name "The Four Seasons" (actually, they were billed numerically as the 4 Seasons), named after a bowling alley in Union, New Jersey, that had a lounge where they had auditioned. Signed by songwriter/producer Bob Crewe, the Four Seasons cut their first single under that name, "Bermuda", in November 1961. It was released by Gone Records, but did not succeed. Their next single did, in 1962 Gaudio's composition No. 1 single "Sherry". Released by Vee-Jay Records in July 1962, "Sherry" hit number one in September, the first of three consecutive chart-topping hits by the Four Seasons, the others being "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like a Man".


title: Tommy DeVito (musician)

text: Massi left the group in 1965, just before the release of "Let's Hang On!", and arranger Charles Calello played bass until a new bass player could be found, and then Joe Long joined the band and participated on many chart topping hits for the remainder of the decade and into the mid-1970s. DeVito left the group in April 1970 before the album "Half and Half" was released. He told the "Las Vegas Review-Journal" in 2009, "I had had it up to here with the traveling and changing clothes three times a day, and taking two planes and then driving 100 miles to do a date. Getting on stage and doing the same stuff—I just had it." On the last song of this album, "Oh Happy Day, Any Day Now", DeVito can be heard playing a bit of a solo on his guitar. He sold Valli and Gaudio his rights to the Four Seasons' material, name, and touring act upon leaving in 1970. The reason for his departure was originally indicated as a hearing problem, but it was later revealed that he had accrued significant debt and financial trouble through gambling.


title: Tommy DeVito (musician)

text: DeVito later explained that he had grown tired with the traveling demands, and in 1970 he moved to Las Vegas where several siblings lived at the time. He started a new life, and became a card dealer for a time. Times were tough for him for a while, as he discussed in a 2009 interview with Doug Elfman in the "Las Vegas Review-Journal". DeVito, along with fellow original Four Seasons Valli, Massi, and Gaudio, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. DeVito rejoined Valli and Gaudio (Massi had died in 2000) on stage at the 2005 Broadway opening of the documentary-style musical "Jersey Boys", a Tony Award winning hit chronicling the story of the group's early days, which was later adapted to a 2014 feature film directed by Clint Eastwood.


title: Tommy DeVito (musician)

text: DeVito died in Las Vegas on September 21, 2020, at the age of 92. His death was announced on Facebook by his friend, actor Alfred Nittoli, who stated that DeVito had recently been hospitalized after contracting COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada.


title: 20 mm caliber

text: 20 mm caliber is a specific size of popular autocannon ammunition. It is typically used to distinguish smaller-caliber weapons, commonly called "guns", from larger-caliber "cannons" (e.g. machine gun vs. autocannon). All 20 mm cartridges have an outside projectile (bullet) diameter and barrel bore diameter of . These projectiles are typically long, cartridge cases are typically long, and most are shells, with an explosive payload and detonating fuze.


title: 20 mm caliber

text: Weapons using this caliber range from anti-materiel rifles and anti-tank rifles to aircraft autocannons and anti-aircraft guns.


title: 20 mm caliber

text: Twenty-millimeter-caliber weapons are generally not used to target individual soldiers, but have targets such as vehicles, buildings, or aircraft.


title: 20 mm caliber

text: Cartridge type indicates the diameter of projectile and the length of the cartridge that holds it; for example 20×102mm is a 20 mm projectile in a 102 mm long case. Only rarely do two designers use the same case length, so this designation is usually definitive. Some cartridge types have additional letters or information about them listed. A B following the case length such as the 20X138B, indicates the cartridge has a belt which is used for headspacing. An R indicates a rimmed cartridge such as the 20X145R. An RB indicates a rebated rim, one which is a smaller diameter than the case head such as the Oerlikon 20X110RB.


title: Luke Thompson (actor)

text: Luke Thompson (born 4 July 1988) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Benedict, the second Bridgerton child, in the Netflix period drama "Bridgerton" (2020–present).


title: Luke Thompson (actor)

text: He debuted in 2013 as Lysander in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Globe Theatre, earning him Ian Charleson and "Evening Standard" Theatre Award nominations. He also appeared in the BBC One drama "In The Club" (2014–2016).


title: Luke Thompson (actor)

text: Thompson was born in Southampton and brought up in France from the age of two. His father was an engineer and his mother, a teacher. He is one of three children. He attended the Lycée International François-Ier in Fontainebleau, a French school with an Anglophone section, from 1997 to 2005.


title: Luke Thompson (actor)

text: Upon returning to England in 2006, Thompson spent a year with the Year Out Drama Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. He studied English and Drama at the University of Bristol and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, graduating in 2013.


title: Luke Thompson (actor)

text: Thompson's first professional theatre role was as Lysander in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Globe Theatre, Thompson received nominations for an "Evening Standard" Theatre Award and an Ian Charleson Award. He would also appear in the Globe productions of "Blue Stockings" as Will Bennett, "Julius Caesar" as Mark Antony, and "The Broken Heart" as Ithocles. His other stage roles include James in "Tiger Country" at the Hampstead Theatre, Orestes in the "Oresteia" at the Almeida Theatre and Laertes in the 2017 production of "Hamlet." Thompson took over the role of Edgar from Jonathan Bailey in the Ian McKellen-starrer "King Lear" in 2018 after Bailey passed on joining the West End transfer to do the musical "Company" instead.


title: Luke Thompson (actor)

text: From 2014 to 2016, Thompson played Simon in the BBC One drama "In the Club". Thompson made his feature film debut with a small role as a warrant officer in Christopher Nolan's 2017 World War II film "Dunkirk". He played Peter Hain in "Misbehaviour", a film about Miss World 1970. In 2019, Thompson was cast as Benedict, the second eldest Bridgerton sibling, in the 2020 Shondaland-produced Netflix period drama "Bridgerton", an adaptation of the novels by Julia Quinn.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Sodium sulfate (also known as sodium sulphate or sulfate of soda) is the inorganic compound with formula NaSO as well as several related hydrates. All forms are white solids that are highly soluble in water. With an annual production of 6 million tonnes, the decahydrate is a major commodity chemical product. It is mainly used as a filler in the manufacture of powdered home laundry detergents and in the Kraft process of paper pulping for making highly alkaline sulfides.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: The decahydrate of sodium sulfate is known as Glauber's salt after the Dutch/German chemist and apothecary Johann Rudolf Glauber (1604–1670), who discovered it in Austrian spring water in 1625. He named it (miraculous salt), because of its medicinal properties: the crystals were used as a general-purpose laxative, until more sophisticated alternatives came about in the 1900s.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: In the 18th century, Glauber's salt began to be used as a raw material for the industrial production of soda ash (sodium carbonate), by reaction with potash (potassium carbonate). Demand for soda ash increased, and the supply of sodium sulfate had to increase in line. Therefore, in the 19th century, the large-scale Leblanc process, producing synthetic sodium sulfate as a key intermediate, became the principal method of soda-ash production.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Sodium sulfate is a typical electrostatically bonded ionic sulfate. The existence of free sulfate ions in solution is indicated by the easy formation of insoluble sulfates when these solutions are treated with Ba or Pb salts:


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Sodium sulfate is unreactive toward most oxidizing or reducing agents. At high temperatures, it can be converted to sodium sulfide by carbothermal reduction (aka thermo-chemical sulfate reduction (TSR), high temperature heating with charcoal, etc.):


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Sodium sulfate displays a moderate tendency to form double salts. The only alums formed with common trivalent metals are NaAl(SO) (unstable above 39 °C) and NaCr(SO), in contrast to potassium sulfate and ammonium sulfate which form many stable alums. Double salts with some other alkali metal sulfates are known, including NaSO·3KSO which occurs naturally as the mineral aphthitalite. Formation of glaserite by reaction of sodium sulfate with potassium chloride has been used as the basis of a method for producing potassium sulfate, a fertiliser. Other double salts include 3NaSO·CaSO, 3NaSO·MgSO (vanthoffite) and NaF·NaSO.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Sodium sulfate has unusual solubility characteristics in water. Its solubility in water rises more than tenfold between 0 °C and 32.384 °C, where it reaches a maximum of 49.7 g/100 mL. At this point the solubility curve changes slope, and the solubility becomes almost independent of temperature. This temperature of 32.384 °C, corresponding to the release of crystal water and melting of the hydrated salt, serves as an accurate temperature reference for thermometer calibration.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Crystals of the decahydrate consist of [Na(OH)] ions with octahedral molecular geometry. These octahedra share edges such that 8 of the 10 water molecules are bound to sodium and 2 others are interstitial, being hydrogen-bonded to sulfate. These cations are linked to the sulfate anions by hydrogen bonds. The Na–O distances are about 240 pm. Crystalline sodium sulfate decahydrate is also unusual among hydrated salts in having a measurable residual entropy (entropy at absolute zero) of 6.32 J/(K·mol). This is ascribed to its ability to distribute water much more rapidly compared to most hydrates.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: The world production of sodium sulfate, almost exclusively in the form of the decahydrate, amounts to approximately 5.5 to 6 million tonnes annually (Mt/a). In 1985, production was 4.5 Mt/a, half from natural sources, and half from chemical production. After 2000, at a stable level until 2006, natural production had increased to 4 Mt/a, and chemical production decreased to 1.5 to 2 Mt/a, with a total of 5.5 to 6 Mt/a. For all applications, naturally produced and chemically produced sodium sulfate are practically interchangeable.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Two thirds of the world's production of the decahydrate (Glauber's salt) is from the natural mineral form mirabilite, for example as found in lake beds in southern Saskatchewan. In 1990, Mexico and Spain were the world's main producers of natural sodium sulfate (each around 500,000 tonnes), with Russia, United States and Canada around 350,000 tonnes each. Natural resources are estimated at over 1 billion tonnes.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Major producers of 200,000 to 1,500,000 tonnes/year in 2006 included Searles Valley Minerals (California, US), Airborne Industrial Minerals (Saskatchewan, Canada), Química del Rey (Coahuila, Mexico), Minera de Santa Marta and Criaderos Minerales Y Derivados, also known as Grupo Crimidesa (Burgos, Spain), Minera de Santa Marta (Toledo, Spain), Sulquisa (Madrid, Spain), Chengdu Sanlian Tianquan Chemical (Tianquan County, Sichuan, China), Hongze Yinzhu Chemical Group (Hongze District, Jiangsu, China), (Shanxi, China), Sichuan Province Chuanmei Mirabilite (, Dongpo District, Meishan, Sichuan, China), and Kuchuksulphat JSC (Altai Krai, Siberia, Russia).


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Anhydrous sodium sulfate occurs in arid environments as the mineral thenardite. It slowly turns to mirabilite in damp air. Sodium sulfate is also found as glauberite, a calcium sodium sulfate mineral. Both minerals are less common than mirabilite.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: About one third of the world's sodium sulfate is produced as by-product of other processes in chemical industry. Most of this production is chemically inherent to the primary process, and only marginally economical. By effort of the industry, therefore, sodium sulfate production as by-product is declining.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: The most important chemical sodium sulfate production is during hydrochloric acid production, either from sodium chloride (salt) and sulfuric acid, in the Mannheim process, or from sulfur dioxide in the Hargreaves process. The resulting sodium sulfate from these processes is known as salt cake.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: The second major production of sodium sulfate are the processes where surplus sodium hydroxide is neutralised by sulfuric acid, as applied on a large scale in the production of rayon. This method is also a regularly applied and convenient laboratory preparation.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: In the laboratory it can also be synthesized from the reaction between sodium bicarbonate and magnesium sulfate.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Formerly, sodium sulfate was also a by-product of the manufacture of sodium dichromate, where sulfuric acid is added to sodium chromate solution forming sodium dichromate, or subsequently chromic acid. Alternatively, sodium sulfate is or was formed in the production of lithium carbonate, chelating agents, resorcinol, ascorbic acid, silica pigments, nitric acid, and phenol.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Bulk sodium sulfate is usually purified via the decahydrate form, since the anhydrous form tends to attract iron compounds and organic compounds. The anhydrous form is easily produced from the hydrated form by gentle warming.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Major sodium sulfate by-product producers of 50–80 Mt/a in 2006 include Elementis Chromium (chromium industry, Castle Hayne, NC, US), Lenzing AG (200 Mt/a, rayon industry, Lenzing, Austria), Addiseo (formerly Rhodia, methionine industry, Les Roches-Roussillon, France), Elementis (chromium industry, Stockton-on-Tees, UK), Shikoku Chemicals (Tokushima, Japan) and Visko-R (rayon industry, Russia).