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V-boat

The V-boats were a group of nine United States Navy submarines built between World War I and World War II from 1921 to 1934 under authorization as the "fleet boat" program.

The term "V-boats" as used includes five separate classes of submarines: large, fast fleet submarines (V-1 through V-3), large long-range submarines (the minelayer V-4 and two submarine cruisers V-5 and V-6) and three medium-sized submarines (V-7 through V-9).

The successful fleet submarines of World War II (Tambor-class submarine through Tench-class submarine) were descended from the last three, especially V-7, though somewhat larger with pure diesel-electric propulsion systems.

Originally called USS V-1 through V-9 (SS-163 through SS-171), in 1931 the nine submarines were renamed USS Barracuda (SS-163), USS Bass (SS-164), USS Bonita (SS-165), USS Argonaut (SM-1), USS Narwhal (SS-167), USS Nautilus (SS-168), USS Dolphin (SS-169), USS Cachalot (SS-170), and USS Cuttlefish (SS-171), respectively. All served in World War II, six of them on war patrols in the central Pacific. Argonaut was lost to enemy action.

Background
In the early 1910s, only 12 years after USS Holland (SS-1) inaugurated the Navy's undersea force, naval strategists had already begun to wish for submarines that could operate in closer collaboration with the surface fleet than the Navy's existing classes, which had been designed primarily for coastal defense. These notional "fleet" submarines would necessarily be larger and better armed, but primarily, they would need a surface speed of some 21 kn to be able to maneuver with the 21-knot battleships around which the battle fleet was built. This was the designed speed of the Delaware-class battleship and later battleships, including the standard-type battleships that were under construction and proposed in 1913.

In the summer of 1913, Electric Boat's chief naval architect, former naval constructor Lawrence Y. Spear, proposed two preliminary fleet-boat designs for consideration in the Navy's 1914 program. In the ensuing authorization of eight submarines, Congress specified that one should "be of a seagoing type to have a surface speed of not less than twenty knots". This first fleet boat, laid down in June 1916, was named USS Schley after Spanish–American War hero Winfield Scott Schley. With a displacement of 1106 LT surfaced, 1487 LT submerged, on a length of 270 ft, Schley (later AA-1, and finally T-1) was twice as large as any previous U.S. submarine. To achieve the required surface speed, two tandem 1000 hp diesel engines on each shaft drove twin screws, and a separate diesel generator was provided for charging batteries. Although Schley and two sisters authorized in 1915—USS T-2 (SS-60) (originally AA-2), and USS T-3 (SS-61) (originally AA-3)—all made their design speed of 20 kn, insoluble torsional vibration problems with their tandem engines made them very troublesome ships, and they were decommissioned in 1922-1923 after a service life of only a few years. As the engines were clutched together, perfectly synchronizing operation of the engines was impossible.

In 1916, well before the T class debacle transpired, Congress authorized 58 coastal submarines and nine additional "fleet" boats. Three of the larger 800 LT coastal boats eventually became competing prototypes for the long-lived, 51-member S class. The nine "fleet boats" became the "V-boats", built between 1921 and 1934, and in fact, they were the only U.S. submarines produced in that period. Although V-4, V-5, and V-6 were the largest US non-nuclear submarines ever built, only V-1 through V-3 were designed to reach a speed of 21 knots.

V-1 through V-3—the Barracudas
The first three V-boats were funded in fiscal year 1919, laid down at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in October and November 1921, and commissioned somewhat less than a year apart between 1924 and 1926. Significantly, V-1, V-2, and V-3 were the only members of the class designed to satisfy the Navy's original "fleet boat" requirement for high surface speed. These were large and powerfully engined submarines, displacing 2119 LT surfaced and 2506 LT submerged on a length of 342 ft. The propulsion plant was divided between two separate engine rooms—forward and aft of the control room—with two 2250 hp main-propulsion direct-drive diesels aft, and two independent 1000 hp diesel generators forward. The latter were primarily for charging batteries, but to reach maximum surface speed, they could augment the mechanically coupled main-propulsion engines by driving the 1200 hp electric motors in parallel. This partial diesel-electric propulsion system foreshadowed the later successful all-diesel-electric submarines, although nearly 10 years of development were required before it was reliable. The three boats were partially double-hulled and fitted forward with buoyancy tanks inside a bulbous bow for better surface sea-keeping. They were armed with six 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, four forward and two aft with 12 torpedoes, plus a 5-inch (127 mm)/51 caliber deck gun.

Unfortunately, the first three V-boats had poor operational performance. Designed for 21 kn on the surface, they only made 18.7 kn, and also failed to make their submerged design speed of 9 kn. As built, they were somewhat too heavy forward, which made them poor sea boats, even after replacing the original deck guns with smaller 3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber models to save weight in 1928. Moreover, both the main propulsion diesel engines and their original electric motors were notoriously unreliable, and full-power availability was rare. Renamed Barracuda, Bass, and Bonita in 1931, they were decommissioned in 1937, and only the imminence of World War II provided a reprieve, in preparation for which they were recommissioned in September 1940. Just before Pearl Harbor, the three boats were transferred to Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, and each made a number of defensive war patrols (without seeing any action) off the approaches to the Panama Canal.

All three boats were overhauled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in late 1942 and early 1943, and converted to cargo submarines by removing both torpedo tubes and main engines, thereby leaving them solely dependent on their diesel generators for propulsion. Because this rendered the boats severely underpowered, they apparently never served operationally in their cargo-carrying role, but instead were relegated to training duties at New London until just before the end of the war in 1945. After decommissioning, Barracuda and Bonita were scrapped, and Bass was scuttled as a sonar target near Block Island, Rhode Island.

V-4—Argonaut
Displacing 4164 LT, submerged, V-4—later USS Argonaut (SM-1)—was both the largest submarine the Navy ever built before the advent of nuclear power and the only U.S. submarine specifically designed as a minelayer. Her configuration, and that of the following V-5 and V-6, resulted from an evolving strategic concept that increasingly emphasized the possibility of a naval war with Japan in the far western Pacific. This factor, and the implications of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, suggested the need for long-range submarine "cruisers", or "strategic scouts", as well as long-range minelayers, for which long endurance, not high speed, was most important. The design was possibly influenced by the German "U-cruisers" of the Type U-139 and Type U-151 U-boat classes, although V-4, V-5, and V-6 were all larger than these. Funded in fiscal year 1925, laid down at Portsmouth in May of that year, and commissioned in April 1928, V-4 was 381 ft long overall and carried four 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes forward and two 40 in mine-laying chutes and their associated mechanical handling equipment aft. Two 6-inch (152 mm)/53 caliber deck guns were equipped, the largest deck guns ever on a US submarine. Considerable engine room volume was sacrificed to achieve an internal payload of 60 specially designed Mark XI moored mines, and consequently, the main propulsion diesels were limited to a total of 2800 hp, yielding only 15 kn on the surface.

The V-4 was a significant boat in that it was the first submarine in the USN to incorporate welding in its construction. All submarines prior to V-4 were of all-riveted construction. Engineers at Portsmouth Navy Yard, led by Navy welding expert James W. Owens, experimented with welding for the first time during her construction. Welding was used in non-critical areas such as the superstructure, piping brackets, and support framing. The rest of the V-4's construction, including the pressure hull, was riveted or bolted. The rest of the V-class, to some extent, incorporated welding into their construction.

An over-large, under-powered, and one-of-a-kind submarine, Argonaut was never particularly successful, but stayed in commission all through the 1930s. Early in World War II, she was re-engined at Mare Island to increase her main propulsion output to 4800 hp, and additionally received two external stern torpedo tubes and two stern deck stowage tubes. Despite having never laid a mine in anger, her mine-laying gear was stripped out at this time to prepare for conversion to a troop-carrying submarine. Then, at Pearl Harbor, the conversion was completed. In that guise, and accompanied by Nautilus, she participated in the US Marine assault on Japanese-held Makin Atoll by Carlson's Raiders in August 1942. In transferring to Brisbane, Australia, late that year, Argonaut was diverted to a war patrol near Bougainville in the northern Solomon Islands, and was lost with all hands on 10 January 1943 after attacking a heavily defended Japanese convoy.

V-5 and V-6—Narwhal and Nautilus
In their overall appearance and dimensions, V-5, later Narwhal and V-6, later Nautilus were similar to Argonaut and constituted "submarine cruiser" counterparts at least partially inspired by German success with long-range submarine commerce raiders of the Type U-139 and Type U-151 U-boat classes in World War I. Endurance, sea-keeping, increased torpedo capacity, and large deck guns were emphasized at the cost of high speed; and originally, a small scouting seaplane was to be carried in a water-tight hangar abaft the conning tower. The Navy had experimented with seaplanes on submarines with a prototype hangar installation on USS S-1 (SS-105) during the mid-1920s. However, the resulting increase in scouting capability was significantly offset by several additional dangers to the host submarine, and the initiative was dropped.

The two double-hulled boats displaced 2730 LT on the surface and 3900 LT submerged on a length of 370 ft. They displayed prominent "surface-ship" characteristics, notably high freeboard and an expansive deck structure. Each was powered by two 10-cylinder, two-stroke, 2350 hp MAN diesel engines (designed by the German firm that built engines that powered many German U-boats of World War I, the rights to which the U.S. Navy purchased to build domestically for their own submarines). They also had a pair of smaller 450 hp diesel-powered generators for charging batteries or augmenting the main propulsion engines on the surface. On trials, the two boats achieved nearly 17.5 kn surfaced and 8 kn submerged, and their claimed endurance was 18000 mi at 10 kn. In addition to the customary torpedo tubes—four forward and two aft with 24 torpedoes (eight external) —they (and Argonaut) carried two 6-inch (152 mm)/53 caliber deck guns, the largest ever mounted on U.S. submarines.

Funded in 1926 and commissioned in 1930, V-5 and V-6 emerged as too large and unwieldy for fully successful operation: slow to dive, hard to maneuver, and easy to detect. Nonetheless, as Narwhal and Nautilus, they served usefully in the 1930s, and just before World War II Nautilus was modified to carry 20000 USgal of aviation gasoline for refueling seaplanes at sea. Early in the war, each was re-fitted with four 1600 hp General Motors diesels and four additional external torpedo tubes (two bow and two stern), and despite their age and inherent design flaws, they went on to compile enviable war records.

Narwhal completed 15 successful war patrols and Nautilus 14, and between them, they are credited with sinking 13 enemy ships for a total of 35,000 tons. Somewhat more serendipitously, their large size made them useful for carrying both troops and cargo on covert missions. Thus, Nautilus joined with Argonaut in transporting Carlson's Raiders to Makin Atoll, and then with Narwhal, landed a strong detachment of the US Army's Alaskan Scouts on Attu in the Aleutian Islands, preparatory to the main landing that regained that island from the Japanese in May 1943. For the final two years of the war, the two boats were devoted almost exclusively to clandestine insertion and retrieval operations behind enemy lines, particularly in preparation for the U.S. campaign to retake the Philippines.

With the end of the war in sight, Narwhal and Nautilus were withdrawn from service in April and June 1945, respectively, and sold for breaking up soon thereafter. Narwhal's 6-inch (152 mm) guns are retained as a memorial at the Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut.

V-7—Dolphin
The penultimate design in the V-boat series was laid down at Portsmouth in June 1930 as V-7 and was launched as USS Dolphin (SS-169) two years later. With her name changed while she was still on the building slip, she never officially carried the name V-7 during her commissioned life. With a length of 319 ft and a displacement only a little more than half that of her three predecessors (1718 LT surfaced, 2240 LT submerged), Dolphin was clearly an attempt to strike a happy medium between those latter ships and earlier S-class submarines, which were little more than large coastal boats. The general arrangement of propulsion machinery was identical to that of V-5 and V-6, but even with a surface displacement of only 1,718 tons, Dolphin' s scaled-down main engines—rated at 1750 hp each—could only just deliver the surface speed of the larger ships, and her endurance and torpedo load-out were much reduced. The torpedo armament was six 21-inch (533 mm) tubes (4 bow, 2 stern), with 18 torpedoes. A 4-inch (102 mm)/50 caliber deck gun was equipped. Dolphin's size and weight were nearly ideal for the range and duration of the war patrols that became customary in the Pacific during World War II, and the war-time Gato, Balao, and Tench classes had similar dimensions. Portsmouth continued the experiments with welding that were begun on V-4, 5, and 6, and expanded it to include portions of the internal framing, tanks, and outer hull.

Early in the war, Dolphin made three patrols from Pearl Harbor without notable distinction, and her deteriorating material condition soon restricted her to training duties, first in Hawaii, and then at New London, Connecticut, for the duration of the war. She was decommissioned in October 1945 and sold for scrapping a year later.

V-8 and V-9—Cachalot and Cuttlefish
Even before V-5 and V-6 had been completed and V-7 laid down, submarine officer opinion had begun to shift in favor of smaller boats similar to Germany's 1,200-ton SMU U-135 design from World War I. Then, when the London Naval Treaty of 1930 for the first time imposed international limits on total submarine tonnage, the incentive to build smaller ships became especially compelling. The restrictions of the London Naval Treaty were a factor in the disposal in 1930 of T-1, T-2, and T-3, which had been laid up for nearly a decade. By special agreement, Argonaut, Narwhal, and Nautilus were exempted from the treaty limitations.

An extensive study was conducted to determine the optimum submarine size under the treaty restrictions, factoring in total force, endurance, and percentage of the force that could be maintained on station far from a base, as in a Pacific war scenario. The result was the two smallest V-boats, Cachalot (originally V-8) and Cuttlefish (originally V-9), funded in fiscal year 1932. At 271 ft overall and only 1130 LT surface displacement, Cachalot and Cuttlefish were even smaller than the T-boats of 15 years earlier. The engineering plant consisted of two innovative, compact Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg (MAN)-designed, BuEng-built main diesels, supposedly capable of delivering 1535 hp each, plus a single diesel generator rated at 440 hp. Although the boats approached 17 kn on trials, the new MAN engines failed repeatedly from excessive vibration and were replaced in 1938 by General Motors diesels with reduction gearing. The armament was similar to Dolphin: six 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern), with 16 torpedoes. A 3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber deck gun was equipped, a decrease in gun caliber that would persist through early World War II. In the 1930s it was felt that a larger gun would encourage submarine captains to fight on the surface against superior anti-submarine ships, but eventually war experience showed that a larger gun was needed.

The Navy assigned Cuttlefish to the Electric Boat Company, the first submarine contract award to a private yard since the last of the S-class in 1918. Accordingly, Cuttlefish differed from her Portsmouth-built sister, Cachalot, in many respects, including more spacious internal arrangements, and the first installation of air conditioning on a U.S. submarine. Electric Boat expanded on the use of welding with their boat, with much of the outer hull being welded, but with the internal pressure hull still riveted. Moreover, Cachalot and Cuttlefish served as the first test beds for the Mark I Torpedo Data Computer that revolutionized underwater fire control in the mid-1930s.

Unfortunately, because small size severely limited their speed, endurance, and weapons load, neither boat was successful under the conditions of the Pacific War. Each did three scoreless war patrols in the central and western Pacific, and Cachalot did one in Alaskan waters, but by late 1942, it was clear both were out-classed and worn out, and they finished the war at New London as training ships. The two were decommissioned in October 1945 and broken up several years later.

Submarines
In 1920, the Navy adopted a hull number scheme that distinguished between coastal and general purpose boats, designated "SS"; and fleet boats, designated "SF." Accordingly, T-1 through T-3 were originally designated SF-1 through SF-3, and V-1 through V-7 were designated SF-4 through SF-10. The system was changed to designate V-boats as "SC" (cruiser submarines) before V-8 and V-9 were ordered. In 1931 all received names, and all except V-4 were redesignated in the "SS" series. V-4 was also designated SM-1 at one time, as a "submarine mine-layer".

title: V-boat


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Jean-Antoine Roucher

Jean-Antoine Roucher (February 22, 1745 - July 25, 1794), was a French poet.

Roucher was born in Montpellier, the son of a tailor. His epithalamium on Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette won him the favour of Turgot, and a salt-tax collectorship. His poem, entitled Les Mois, appeared in 1779, was praised in manuscript, but critically lambasted until the 19th century. The malicious wit of Antoine de Rivarol's mot on the critical failure of the poem, "Cest le plus beau naufrage du siècle," reflects the fact that one of the most elaborate passages describes a shipwreck.

Roucher was a disciple of Voltaire, and a friend of the French Revolution, but he remained moderate in his opinions. He presided over an anti-Jacobin club, and denounced the tyranny of the popular demagogues in supplements published with the Journal de Paris in 1792. He was arrested on October 4, 1793, and, accused of being the leader of a conspiracy among the prisoners at Saint-Lazare. He was sent to the guillotine on the same tumbril as his friend André Chénier, on July 25, 1794.

In 1790, Roucher had translated Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. His letters from prison were edited by his son-in-law under the title of Consolations de ma captivité (1797), and his death was made the subject of an 1834 tragedy by his playwright brother Claude Roucher-Deratte, a voluminous writer.

Honours
In 1847, botanist Planch. named a genus of flowering plants from Nicaragua to southern Tropical America, in the family Linaceae, Roucheria in his honour. Then in 1921, botanist Hallier f., named a genus of flowering plants from Cambodia, Vietnam and Borneo, (also in the family Linaceae) Indorouchera in his honour, with the 'Indo' prefix.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Jean-Antoine Roucher


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Akiba Rubinstein

Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1 December 1880 – 14 March 1961 ) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Rubinstein was granted the title International Grandmaster in 1950, at its inauguration.

In his youth, he defeated top players José Raúl Capablanca and Carl Schlechter and was scheduled to play a match with Emanuel Lasker for the World Chess Championship in 1914, but it was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I. He was unable to re-create consistently the same form after the war, and his later life was plagued by mental illness.

Early life
Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein was born in Stawiski, Congress Poland, to a Jewish family. He was the youngest of 12 children, but only one sister survived to adulthood. Rubinstein learned to play chess at the relatively late age of 14, and his family had planned for him to become a rabbi. He trained with and played against the strong master Gersz Salwe in Łódź and in 1903, after finishing fifth in a tournament in Kyiv, Rubinstein decided to abandon his rabbinical studies and devote himself entirely to chess.

Chess career
Between 1907 and 1912, Rubinstein established himself as one of the strongest players in the world. In 1907, he won the Carlsbad tournament and the All-Russian Masters' tournament, and shared first at Saint Petersburg. In 1912 he had a record string of wins, finishing first in five consecutive major tournaments: San Sebastián, Pöstyén, Breslau, Warsaw and Vilna (All-Russian Masters' tournament), although none of these events included Lasker or Capablanca. Some sources believe that he was stronger than World Champion Emanuel Lasker at this time. Ratings from Chessmetrics support this conclusion, placing him as world No. 1 between mid-1912 and mid-1914.

During the first decade of the 20th century, the playing field for competitive chess was relatively thin. Wilhelm Steinitz, the first universally recognized world champion, died in 1900 after having been largely retired from chess for several years, Russian master Mikhail Chigorin was nearing the end of his life, while American master Frank Marshall lived on the other side of the Atlantic, far from the center of chess activity in Europe. Another promising American master, Harry Nelson Pillsbury, had died in 1906 at just 33. In the pre-FIDE era, the reigning world champion handpicked his challenger, and Emanuel Lasker demanded a high sum of money that Rubinstein could not produce. In the St. Petersburg tournament in 1909, he had tied with Lasker and won his individual encounter with him. However, he had a poor showing at the 1914 St. Petersburg tournament, not placing in the top five. A match with Lasker was arranged for October 1914, but it did not take place because of the outbreak of World War I.

Rubinstein's peak as a player is generally considered to have been between 1907 and 1914. During World War I, he was confined to Poland, although he played in a few organized chess events there and traveled to Berlin in early 1918 for a tournament. His playing after the war never regained the same consistency as it had pre-1914. He and his family moved to Sweden following the Armistice in November 1918, where they stayed until 1922, and then moved to Germany. Rubinstein won at Vienna in 1922, ahead of future World Champion Alexander Alekhine, and was the leader of the Polish team that won the 1930 Chess Olympiad at Hamburg with a record of thirteen wins and four draws. He also won an Olympic silver at the 1931 Chess Olympiad, again leading the Polish team.

Rubinstein came in fourth place in the London 1922 tournament, after which the new world champion Jose Raul Capablanca offered to play him in a match if he could raise the money, which once again he was unable to do. At Hastings 1922, he came in second place, followed by a fifth-place finish at Teplitz-Schönau late in the year, and then won in Vienna brilliantly. This triumph, however, was soured when Austrian border guards impounded most of the prize money he had won. Rubinstein closed out 1922 with another appearance at Hastings, which he won, but his tournament record during 1923 was disappointing as he came in just twelfth place at Carlsbad and tenth at Maehrisch-Ostrau.

His first tournament of 1924, at Meran, saw him come in third. He attempted to participate in the New York tournament that spring but was excluded from the event due to a limited number of available slots, all of which were filled. Rubinstein's 1925 tournament record was reasonably good, but his year-end appearance in Moscow saw him come in 14th. His record in 1926 was fair but not outstanding. That year, the Rubinstein family moved to Belgium permanently.

In 1927, Rubinstein visited his birthplace in Poland, where he won the Polish Championship in Łódź. He embarked on an exhibition tour of the United States in early 1928; although a match with reigning US chess champion Frank Marshall was proposed along with an international tournament, it never materialized. He tied third with Max Euwe at Bad Kissingen and then delivered a poor performance in Berlin. Rubinstein had his best post-WWI showing during 1929, when he dominated the Ramsgate tournament in Britain and had excellent showings at Carlsbad and Budapest. He won Rogaška-Slatina.

As the 1930s started, Rubinstein contested the San Remo tournament, coming in fourth. He played well in a few Belgian events that year, and then third place at Scarborough. His performance at Liege was weak, possibly due to exhaustion. He skipped Bled 1931 despite an invitation, played well at Antwerp, but came in dead last at Rotterdam. This was the last major chess event he participated in.

Mental health problems and later life
After 1932 he withdrew from tournament play as his noted anthropophobia showed traces of schizophrenia during a mental health breakdown. In one period, after making a chess move he would go and hide in the corner of the tournament hall while awaiting his opponent's reply. Regardless, his former strength was recognized by FIDE when he was one of 27 players awarded the inaugural Grandmaster title in 1950.

It is not clear how Rubinstein, who was Jewish, survived World War II in Nazi-occupied Belgium. Chess historian Edward Winter has written on the subject. Citing a number of Rubinstein's peers in the chess world and people who were close to him, it seems that Rubinstein spent the war in a sanatorium. He cites a story about Rubinstein that has, since the war, been published in various books and articles, with varying details: "Nazi investigators once descended on the place and asked Rubinstein, "Are you happy here?" "Not at all", Rubinstein replied. "Would you prefer to go to Germany and work for the Wehrmacht?" "I'd be delighted to", Rubinstein replied. "Then he really must be barmy", the Nazis decided", but Winter quotes Rubinstein's biographers as saying "Most stories concerning Rubinstein are at best half truths, which have become so embellished over time that they bear little resemblance to what actually transpired", before adding "That is indisputable."

Rubinstein was also a well-known coffee drinker, and was known to consume the hot beverage in large quantities before important matches. Unlike many other top grandmasters, he left no literary legacy, which has been attributed to his mental health problems. He spent the last 29 years of his life living at home with his family and in a sanatorium because of his severe mental illness. Rubinstein is a tragic, mentally ill character in the novel The Lüneburg Variation about chess masters, obsession and revenge, by Italian writer Paolo Maurensig. However, while in the mental clinic Rubinstein was visited by Alberic O'Kelly on a number of occasions and he provided the latter with some chess guidance.

Legacy
He was one of the earliest chess players to take the endgame into account when choosing and playing the opening. He was exceptionally talented in the endgame, particularly in rook endings, where he broke new ground in knowledge. Jeremy Silman ranked him as one of the five best endgame players of all time, and a master of rook endgames.

He originated the Rubinstein System against the Tarrasch Defense variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined: 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 (Rubinstein–Tarrasch, 1912). He is also credited with inventing the Meran Variation, which stems from the Queen's Gambit Declined but reaches a position of the Queen's Gambit Accepted with an extra move for Black.

Many opening variations are named for him. According to Grandmaster Boris Gelfand, "Most of the modern openings are based on Rubinstein." The "Rubinstein Attack" often refers to 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 0-0 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.Qc2. The Rubinstein Variation of the French Defence arises after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 (or 3.Nd2) dxe4 4.Nxe4. Apart from 4.Qc2, the Rubinstein Variation of the Nimzo-Indian: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3. There are also the Rubinstein Variation of the Four Knights Game, which arises after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Nd4, and the Rubinstein Variation of the Symmetrical English, 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Nc7, a complex system that is very popular at the grandmaster level.

The Rubinstein Trap, an opening trap in the Queen's Gambit Declined that loses at least a pawn for Black, is named for him because he fell into it twice. One version of it runs 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 c6 10.0-0 Re8 11.Rc1 h6 12. Bf4 Nh5? 13. Nxd5! Now 13...cxd5?? is met by 14.Bc7, winning the queen, while 13...Nxf4 14.Nxf4 leaves White a pawn ahead.

The Rubinstein Memorial tournament in his honour has been held annually since 1963 in Polanica Zdrój, with a glittering list of top-flight winners. Boris Gelfand has named Rubinstein as his favourite player, and once said, "what I like in chess ... comes from Akiba."

Notable games

 * Hermanis Mattison vs. Akiba Rubinstein, Carlsbad 1929, (C68), 0–1 This game contains a rook and pawn ending that seemed "hopelessly drawn" but was won by Rubinstein. The editor of the tournament book said that if this game had been played 300 years earlier, Rubinstein would have been burned at the stake for dealing with evil spirits.
 * George Rotlewi vs. Akiba Rubinstein, Lodz 1907, Tarrasch Defense: Symmetrical Variation (D02), 0–1 This game contains an attacking combination that was called "perhaps the most magnificent ... of all time" by Carl Schlechter.
 * Akiba Rubinstein vs. Emanuel Lasker, St.Petersburg 1909, Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Variation (D30), 1–0 This game ends in a position where Lasker has no good moves (zugzwang).

 * Akiba Rubinstein vs. Karel Hromádka, Moravská Ostrava 1923, King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation (C30), 1–0 A game full of tactics and pieces in which Rubinstein beat former Czech champion Karel Hromádka.
 * Akiba Rubinstein vs. Carl Schlechter, San Sebastian 1912, 1–0 Capablanca called this game "a monument of magnificent precision".
 * Akiba Rubinstein vs. Milan Vidmar Sr., Berlin 1908, 0–1 This game was the sensation of the tournament, in that Vidmar defeated Rubinstein, the winner of six previous tournaments. Vidmar employed the then novel Budapest Gambit. The game featured a spectacular King hunt, with the White King fleeing from e1 to h5. White resigned on move 24, one move shy of checkmate.

Personal life
In 1917, Rubinstein married Eugénie Lew. They had two sons, Jonas in 1918 and Sammy in 1927. For a time, they lived above the restaurant that Eugénie operated. After she died in 1954, Rubinstein lived in an old-people's home until his death in 1961 at the age of 80. He reportedly still followed chess in his final years; his sons recalled going over the games of the 1954 Botvinnik–Smyslov world championship match with him.

title: Akiba Rubinstein


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X-COM: Genesis

X-COM: Genesis was a Windows strategy video game in development in the X-COM series. It was being developed by MicroProse' Chapel Hill studio, then working for Hasbro Interactive who had bought out MicroProse. Production took place in the original MicroProse offices, and the game was planned "sometime for 2001". X-COM: Genesis was never completed due to the closure of the Chapel Hill MicroProse studio.

Development
The development team consisted of MicroProse veterans and new hires to help with the workload. Some of the new hires were video game industry veterans, but some were new to game development. A substantial number of the new hires came from the freshly shutdown EAI game development studio in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Chapel Hill development team, just after finishing X-COM: Interceptor, had completed converting the original X-COM games from DOS to Windows (using DirectX). Wanting to return to gameplay of the original games, the team began developing a storyline that was conducive to squad-based missions, the highlight of the original games. The creepy atmosphere, frighteningly powerful aliens, base building and research were all allotted for in the new version. Genesis would be a 3D real-time strategy game. The real-time gameplay was tentative—if using it didn't convey the same atmosphere and feel as the original, it would be replaced with a turn-based implementation. As a precaution, the game designer Dave Ellis had provided for a feature where players could easily stop the action and issue commands to their units.

In mid-1999 the team started developing a 3D engine from scratch. The engine used Direct3D to take advantage of hardware acceleration, but also had a software 3D engine for those computers without 3D cards. The team developed a "Geoscape", a view of Earth from orbit, that far surpassed the implementation in previous versions. The original game had a flat-shaded, rather blocky representation of the Earth. Genesis had a smooth globe on a background of stars. With the mouse, the user could turn the Earth and when doing so, could see the Sun and Moon pass by in the background. A translucent covering of clouds swirled above the tranquil blue, green and brown planet surface below. The team built a level editor to allow the artists to build levels for the "Battlescape"—the areas where battles against the alien invaders would take place. The artists created an urban environment with a filling station, warehouse, an apartment building, attached parking garage, a park, a burning trashbin and streetlights that cast pools of light. Floating above it all was a blimp with floodlights streaming earthward. Standing in formation outside their aircraft were the X-COM soldiers, shifting on their feet, looking left to right. Zooming in closely, one could even see their chests huff as they breathed. By simply pointing and clicking, the soldiers could be commanded to move from place to place. All action was in real-time.

Once at this point, the programmers busied themselves adding more features to the engine, refining current features and implementing AI. Meanwhile, Dave Ellis was busy developing the game design and the artists were producing concept art. In the studio's main conference room, one entire wall was covered with original sketches and color treatments of illustrations. The facing wall was covered in colored Post-it notes depicting the player's possible paths through the game. Technology trees, base discoveries and pivotal events were all represented.

The studio was notified of the project's cancellation on December 7, 1999, as part of a range of cuts including several other games and an updated version of Atari's Combat. The Chapel Hill Hasbro Interactive studio was closed on January 7, 2000. The remaining Hasbro Interactive studios were closed shortly thereafter and Hasbro sold their remaining assets to Infogrames (Atari). In 2005, Take-Two Interactive acquired the rights to the X-COM series from Atari. Previous employees of the studio later formed a new studio called Vicious Cycle Software, developing a new 3D engine and a technology demo. Dave Ellis, leveraging contacts at Mattel, arranged for a demonstration of the demo to Mattel's management. Vicious Cycle would go on to make a Robotech game for Mattel to be published for the newly released PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

title: X-COM: Genesis


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Damasio's theory of consciousness

Developed in his (1999) book, "The Feeling of What Happens", Antonio Damasio's theory of consciousness proposes that consciousness arises from the interactions between the brain, the body, and the environment. According to this theory, consciousness is not a unitary experience, but rather emerges from the dynamic interplay between different brain regions and their corresponding bodily states. Damasio argues that our conscious experiences are influenced by the emotional responses that are generated by our body's interactions with the environment, and that these emotional responses play a crucial role in shaping our conscious experience. This theory emphasizes the importance of the body and its physiological processes in the emergence of consciousness.

Damasio's three layered theory is based on a hierarchy of stages, with each stage building upon the last. The most basic representation of the organism is referred to as the Protoself, Core Consciousness, and Extended Consciousness. Damasio's approach to explaining the development of consciousness relies on three notions: emotion, feeling, and feeling a feeling. Emotions are a collection of unconscious neural responses that give rise to feelings. Emotions are complex reactions to stimuli that cause observable external changes in the organism. A feeling arises when the organism becomes aware of the changes it is experiencing as a result of external or internal stimuli.

Protoself
According to Damasio's theory of consciousness, the protoself is the first stage in the hierarchical process of consciousness generation. Shared by many species, the protoself is the most basic representation of the organism, and it arises from the brain's constant interaction with the body. The protoself is an unconscious process that creates a "map" of the body's physiological state, which is then used by the brain to generate conscious experience. This "map" is constantly updated as the brain receives new stimuli from the body, and it forms the foundation for the development of more complex forms of consciousness.

Damasio asserts that the protoself is signified by a collection of neural patterns that are representative of the body's internal state. The function of this 'self' is to constantly detect and record, moment by moment, the internal physical changes that affect the homeostasis of the organism. Protoself does not represent a traditional sense of self; rather, it is a pre-conscious state, which provides a reference for the core self and autobiographical self to build from. As Damasio puts it, "Protoself is a coherent collection of neural patterns, which map moment-by-moment the state of the physical structure of the organism" (Damasio 1999).

Multiple brain areas are required for the protoself to function. Namely, the hypothalamus, which controls the general homeostasis of the organism, the brain stem, whose nuclei map body signals, and the insular cortex, whose function is linked to emotion. These brain areas work together to keep up with the constant process of collecting neural patterns to map the current status of the body's responses to environmental changes. The protoself does not require language in order to function; moreover, it is a direct report of one's experience. In this state, emotion begins to manifest itself as second-order neural patterns located in subcortical areas of the brain. Emotion acts as a neural object, from which a physical reaction can be drawn. This reaction causes the organism to become aware of the changes that are affecting it. From this realization, springs Damasio's notion of “feeling”. This occurs when the patterns contributing to emotion manifest as mental images, or brain movies. When the body is modified by these neural objects, the second layer of self emerges. This is known as core consciousness.

Core consciousness
Sufficiently more evolved is the second layer of Damasio's theory, Core Consciousness. This emergent process occurs when an organism becomes consciously aware of feelings associated with changes occurring to its internal bodily state; it is able to recognize that its thoughts are its own, and that they are formulated in its own perspective. It develops a momentary sense of self, as the brain continuously builds representative images, based on communications received from the Protoself. This level of consciousness is not exclusive to human beings and remains consistent and stable throughout the lifetime of the organism The image is a result of mental patterns which are caused by an interaction with internal or external stimulus. A relationship is established, between the organism and the object it is observing as the brain continuously creates images to represent the organism's experience of qualia.

Damasio's definition of emotion is that of an unconscious reaction to any internal or external stimulus which activates neural patterns in the brain. ‘Feeling’ emerges as a still unconscious state which simply senses the changes affecting the Protoself due to the emotional state. These patterns develop into mental images, which then float into the organism's awareness. Put simply, consciousness is the feeling of knowing a feeling. When the organism becomes aware of the feeling that its bodily state (Protoself) is being affected by its experiences, or response to emotion, Core Consciousness is born. The brain continues to present nonverbal narrative sequence of images in the mind of the organism, based on its relationship to objects. An object in this context can be anything from a person, to a melody, to a neural image. Core consciousness is concerned only with the present moment, here and now. It does not require language or memory, nor can it reflect on past experiences or project itself into the future.

Extended consciousness
When consciousness moves beyond the here and now, Damasio's third and final layer emerges as Extended Consciousness. This level could not exist without its predecessors, and, unlike them, requires a vast use of conventional memory. Therefore, an injury to a person's memory center can cause damage to their extended consciousness, without hurting the other layers. The autobiographical self draws on memory of past experiences which involves use of higher thought. This autobiographical layer of self is developed gradually over time. Working memory is necessary for an extensive display of items to be recalled and referenced. Linguistic areas of the brain are activated to enhance the organism's experience, however, according to the language of thought hypothesis, language would not be necessarily required.

Criticism
Damasio's theory of consciousness has been met with criticism for its lack of explanation regarding the generation of conscious experiences by the brain. Researchers have posited that the brain's interaction with the body alone cannot account for the complexity of conscious experience, and that additional factors must be considered. Furthermore, the theory has been criticized for its inadequate treatment of the concept of self-awareness and its lack of a clear method of measuring consciousness, which hinders empirical testing and evaluation.

Formalistic Elements
Theories of emotion currently fall into four main categories which follow one another in a historical series: evolutionary (ethological), physiological, neurological, and cognitive.

 * 1) Evolutionary theories derive from Darwin's 'Emotions in man and the animals'.
 * 2) Physiological theories suggest that responses within the body are responsible for emotions.
 * 3) Neurological theories propose that activity within the brain leads to emotional responses.
 * 4) Cognitive theories argue that thoughts and other mental activity play an essential role in forming emotions.

Note that no current theory of emotion falls strictly within a single category, rather each theory uses one approach to form its core premises from which it is then able to extend its main postulates.

Damasio's tri-level view of the human mind, which posits that we share the two lowest levels with other animals, has been suggested before. For example, see Dyer ( www.conscious-computation.webnode.com ).

Dyer's triune expansion is compared to Damasio's-

1. sensorimotor stage (c.f. Damasio's Protoself)

2. spatiotemporal stage (Core-Consciousness)

3. cognolinguistic stage (Extended Consciousness)

An important feature of Damasio's theory (one that it shares with Dyer's theory) is the key role played by mental images, consciously mediating the information exchange between endocrine and cognitive.

Ledoux and Brown have a different view of how emotion is connected to general cognition. They place emotionality on a similar level as that of other cognitive states. (In fairness, both Dyer's and Damasio's models concur on this point, ie that emotionality is not isolated to a particular layer within the tri-level framework).

Earlier less sophisticated models placed the emotions strictly within the Limbic circuits, where their primary role was to consciously respond to, as well as cause responses within, the hypothalamus, the interface between intentional mind states and metabolic (endocrine) body states.

Emotionality is demonstrably a global mind state, just like consciousness. For example, we can be simultaneously aware of (low-level) a pain (low-level) in our body, and an idea (high level) that enters our imagination (working memory). Likewise, our (low-level) emotional reaction to a painful workplace injury (fear, threat to well-being) can coexist with our (high-level) feeling of anger and indignation at the co-worker who failed to follow safety guidelines.

Substantive Process
A careful reading of Damasio's work reveals that he distinguishes his theories from those of his predecessors, in how the formalistic elements interact with each other in a dynamically integrated system. E.g, the suggestion of a dynamic neural map ultimately posits that we are the instantaneous configuration of a neural state in the present moment, rather than the supporting biological construct. I.e., our conscious identity is the software, not the hardware, even though our unique hardware constrains how we operate as the software.

Need for consciousness and qualia
A common criticism stems from the fact that both knowing and feeling can be processed with equal success without conscious awareness, as machines, for instance, do, and those models do not explain the need for consciousness and qualia.

title: Damasio's theory of consciousness


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Talk:X-COM: Genesis

Artwork
I have a whole CD filled with concept art for the game (I was one of the original developers, Chris Nash). I'll post some when I get around to it. I just have to decide which ones are best and deserve space in the article. Most are pretty large, so they'll have to be resized (I'll let the Wiki software handle it). —Frecklefoot 18:24, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)

 * Okay, added some concept art. I probably overdid it. :-S Is there something else that users would like to see? Vehicles? Weapons? Plants? Buildings? More aliens (there are a bunch)? Bad guys (human, but bad). Just let me know—like I said, I have a whole CD full of this artwork.

 * If someone has a problem with me posting this stuff (legality), let me know. I am under the impression that since the development was written off as a loss, there is no problem with posting them. —Frecklefoot 03:33, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)

 * Five years have passed, but is there a chance that we'll see any of those concept arts? — J. 11.11.09 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.254.130.182 (talk) 03:33, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

More art?
Hell, yes! I was one of the many fans waiting for the game, so if I can't play it, I'd love to see what it would have looked like.

 * Woah! What happened to all the image formatting? Even the versions in the article history look screwy.  Is this a temporary thing or do all the images need to be fixed?

 * As far as more art goes, I don't think I can fit anymore in the article! After the image placement gets fixed, maybe I can fit a few images in.  What do you prefer?  Ships?  Heroes?  Buildings?  Weapons? —Frecklefoot 03:13, Jun 6, 2004 (UTC)

Okay, I fixed the placement some, but I couldn't get the caption text to display. It shows up as the alternate text. Maybe someone better with the image markup can fix it. But I still need to know what kind of art everyone would like to see. I can't put it all up. Cast your votes here. —Frecklefoot 03:22, Jun 6, 2004 (UTC)

 * How about a Sectopod? I would love to see what they might have look like in X-COM: Genesis!
 * Or how about some new alien ships designs? :)

Okay, I don't know when I'll get around to this, but I will eventually. You might want to consider getting an account and signing your posts (with three or four tildes, thus: ~ ). It's easier to communicate with someone by their handle than via an IP address. :-) —Frecklefoot 20:45, Jun 8, 2004 (UTC)

The Axe
This section was written in a highly unencyclopaedic form, reading more like a piece of fiction or a opinion piece from a tabloid newspaper. If someone could rewrite the section that is commented out from the article, that would be great. 220.238.67.41 (talk) 02:02, 4 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Section had about a dozen facts in it. Cut out the prose.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.252.94.243 (talk) 02:10, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

title: Talk:X-COM: Genesis


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Talk:XCOM

X-COM: Genesis
I just wrote the X-COM: Genesis article. For those interested, hop on over and take a look. —Frecklefoot 18:25, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)

UFOpedia
Maybe it is wroth a mention on the X-COM page that the in-game description of objects is called "UFOpedia" - another "-pedia" like WikiPedia :) If enough UFO/X-COM fans get here the UFOpedia can be "replicated" here and in addition it will have the personal opinions of the people about the usability of weapons, smartness of different alien types, etc. Also the pictures of the UFOpedia in X-COM3 (Appocalypse) were in a regular viewable format (JPG or whatever), so they can be easily used here (depending on copyright conditions, etc.) --Alinor

 * First off, please sign your posts. You can do this with 3 or 4 tildes (  or ~ ).  The second form is preferred, as it adds a timestamp.

 * Next, the UFOpedia is not a "-pedia" like wikipedia. It isn't editable, it is just for reference.  Wikipedia can be edited by anyone at anytime.  That is what makes it so unique and compelling.

 * Next, we don't want personal opinions about usuability of weapons and smartness of aliens. POV--or "point of view"--and opinion is something wikipedians work hard to prevent in articles.  Quoting from Dragnet "Just the facts, ma'am."  In fact, the things you mentioned are already documented in several online websites devoted specifically to the X-COM universe.

 * If you want to start a wiki on X-COM, go ahead. The Wiki software is free and downloadable.  You can create your own UFOpedia hosting your own site.  But, please, don't do it here. Peace. :-)   — Frecklefoot | Talk 16:28, Nov 15, 2004 (UTC)
 * OK :) Alinor 19:20, 15 Nov 2004 (UTC)

X-COM: Alliance
I just wrote the X-COM: Alliance article. For those interested, hop on over and take a look. But whatever you do, don't edit it at all! Just kidding ;-)  Of course, edit as much as you like. :-)   — Frecklefoot | Talk 19:06, Jan 10, 2005 (UTC)

Why is there a description here?
Doesn't seem to make much sense that there's a description on the first game in the series, since there's already an article for the aforementioned first game? Hell, its copy-pasted from that one (well, before I removed the fanboi praise and put in some criticisms that have been around since forever). I'll be editing it to remove first-game specific praise, and modify the rest so it focuses on the series-wide specifics. Scumbag 20:33, August 2, 2005 (UTC)
 * My fault, I think. I originally added the description way back when before there was a separate article for the first game, and when I saw that it had been duplicated I was at a loss of what to do and went on my way. --Kizor 02:32, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

"Tips for the game"
Is this really necessary? I've not seen anything like thisd on other game entries...

 * It borders on Fancruft, but I didn't delete it because it does border. It might be more appropriate for an X-COM Wikibook Strategy Guide, but I don't think there is one right now.  If one does spring up, we should move it to there and link to the WikiBook from here.   — Frecklefoot | Talk 16:48, August 25, 2005 (UTC)

 * How do I create a wikibook? Marco 10:33, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

 * And if the tips bug you, see this discussion about the alien ship images in the X-COM: UFO Defense article!  — Frecklefoot | Talk 16:51, August 25, 2005 (UTC)
 * On examination, those are quite vital clues. I'd say their usefulness makes them appropriate. --Kizor 14:13, 22 October 2005 (UTC)

Useful or not, these would seem to be original research. Wikipedia isn't supposed to be a strategy guide. I think they should be moved here. --Misterwindupbird 05:12, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

I have 3 Tips then:

 * Go the OTHER way around.
 * Never be satisfied with your current financial and equipment status.
 * Always plunder and sell Alien technology.Remember,you are the low-tech guerilla,they are the slow,fat imperialist army--Turkish Legacy 19:49, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

That's all.And I slap Sectoids like monkeys.

Independent research carried out by a bunch of fat hairy geeks I know suggest that in Apocalypse it's best to wait and stockpile alien tech because a) the gangs and cops will use them once you sell them b) the price will go down by 50% after you sell for the first time and c) you don't really need to except on expert level. Rolinator 07:23, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

Dedicated Wiki
Thought I might throw in a quick note - a dedicated UFO-wiki-pedia has been built, as well as a more "classic" UFOpedia.

- Bomb Bloke

"Playing Under Windows XP"?
I'm not overly sure that this should be included in this article. It's very specifically referring to Enemy Unknown, and possibly should be merged with that article instead. I'm considering putting a merge tag up.

Any thoughs? Mouse Nightshirt 22:57, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

 * Well, it's not exactly encyclopedic. Wikipedia is not an instruction manual, but that section is just a how-to. Furthermore, it would appear to be original research. The links to downloads and further instructions are unnecessary. Additionally, as you pointed out, it does appear to only be to the Collector's Edition of the first game. -- User:Rasd

 * Agreed, pull it. This would be better placed in a wiki dedicated to the game, like the doom wiki is for doom-related info not suitable here. -- Jon Dowland 22:37, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Reasons X-Com was Discontinued
What happened?

 * Well, while not really an authority, I was a programmer for X-COM: Genesis and senior staff at the Chapel Hills Hasbro Interactive (HI) studio. What happened was that Hasbro decided they didn't want to be a video game developer.  Several theories exist for this:

 * Hasbro felt there were too many video games on the market and didn't feel they could compete (while they totally dominate the board game market, they were a rather small presence in the video game market).
 * Hasbro was horrified to find that a video game could take from 18 to 36 months to develop. They're accustomed to bringing a game from the brainstorm stage to on the shelf in ~six months.
 * An accounting scandal left HI bankrupt and Hasbro shut it down rather than pull them out of the red.

 * All of these are unsourced, but a letter from the then-head of HI lends the most credit to the first theory. But that's what happened to HI, not X-COM.

 * There were two X-COM games in development when HI was shut down: X-COM: Genesis and X-COM: Alliance. Both were cancelled when HI was shut down.  HI sold the X-COM property to Atari (who was Infogrames at the time), along with the rest of their properties, including computer game versions of Clue for example.  They acquired all the source code for the games and other assets, such as concept art.

 * Now Infogrames was within its rights to continue (or, actually, ressurect) development on these games, but chose not to. Theories abound on this as well, but the most popular theories are that:

 * Infogrames, at the time, didn't have the money to develop a new game on the scope of the X-COM games. They were contacting a lot of small developers to do cheap upgrades to existing games (in fact, a producer from Infogrames contacted me about doing a 3D remake of Clue (which I was lead programmer for) using existing assets).
 * Infogrames thought the property was too old to create a splash in the marketplace. While a big game in '95, it wasn't on anyone's radar in '99.

 * Several theories exist that someone actually purchased the X-COM IP and is planning to create a new game in the series, someday. I shouldn't say who I heard might've purchased it.  I, in fact, tried to buy it, but was told it wasn't for sale at the time (they hadn't sold it, but had promised it to someone).

 * So, the X-COM IP is in a state of limbo right now, and there's no telling whether it will ever be ressurected. — Frecklefoot | Talk 16:28, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

According to an interview with Dave Ellis:

"When Hasbro Interactive bought MicroProse, our studio head in Chapel Hill (Mike Denman) told all of us that we should read a book called Toy Wars by G. Wayne Miller. The book is a fascinating history of Hasbro, and concentrates on its rivalry with Mattel. When Mike read the book, he was impressed with the business skills of Hasbro and came away thinking that we were in good hands.

When I read the book, I knew we were doomed.

Among other things, the book talks about how Hasbro had tried to enter the software/video game business twice prior to the formation of Hasbro Interactive. In each case, tens of millions of dollars were poured into the effort and, when the software division didn’t turn a profit in a year or two, it was shut down.

Hasbro Interactive had had great success with the translation of Hasbro board and family games to electronic form, but these games had development cycles of 3-6 months. MicroProse games had average development cycles of 18-24 months. I knew from the start that Hasbro wasn’t prepared for these long cycles, and I knew that they’d get impatient when the profits didn’t start flowing.

In other words, I saw it coming from a long way off. I said so at the time, but not a lot of people bought it at the time.

Fast-forward to December 7, 1999. I was in my office working on the Genesis design document when Wayne Harvey, Eric Peterson, and Marc Racine walked into my office and shut the door behind them. They said, “Dave, you were right! The IS guys from Hunt Valley are here, and so is Tony Parks (vice-president of Hasbro Interactive). They’re shutting us down!”

And that, as they say, was that. We hung around to shut down (and play Quake) for another month or so and, on January 17, 2000, the doors to the Chapel Hill office were locked forever."

From http://www.thelastoutpost.co.uk/games/dave-ellis-genesis Geoff B 05:32, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Gollop Brothers interview
The interview with the Gollop brothers and Microsoft can be found in the "Ancient Games Unleashed" issue of PC Gamer that came out in 1998. I can't recall the specific issue and I don't have it with me. TFX 23:53, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Spiritual successors
Thre was a turn based squad game that came out in the 90s that very much resembled the combat part of UFO, but with nice graphics. At the time everyone commented on the resemblance. Good game, damned if I can remember the name - anybody? Greglocock 22:11, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

-JaggedAlliance2? -Fallout Tactics? -Spelcross? --ManoloKosh 22:22, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

 * I don't think that games of the same genre are necessarily "spiritual successors". Perhaps you (Greglocock) were talking about "Laser Squad"? Chronolegion 10:48, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

 * Incubation - it is more of a puzzle game, but the feeling as you play is very similar to the tactical game in UFO, and the atmosphere is great. BTW, this article inspired me to get Dosbox and replay UFO, on my shiny new laptop. Let's burn some sectoid ass. Greglocock 12:00, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I have been trying to play the Gold Edition on my Vista-powered laptop, but no luck - I can't disable DirectX because Vista requires it, and the patches do not do anything. This is not helped by the fact that the Gold Edition has problems with LCD screens. Chronolegion 12:22, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

A possible Wikipedia project?
I'm thinking of starting up a Wikipedia project page for X-COM - the game is under-represented in the encyclopaedia considering the original's impact on the genre. Articles are reasonably messy too and need some maintenance and referencing done.

If you think this project could work, give me a shout on my talk page and I'll fire up the burners! Mouse Nightshirt | talk  16:54, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Fan games
I scanned though the article, but I didn't see anything mentioning fan remakes of the games. I was wondering if that would be an appropriate thing to add. --Eruhildo 22:09, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Hacking
I was wondering if a section on hacking the games would be appropriate since I know there is a lot about it and it's pretty popular to do so. --Eruhildo 22:24, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

 * Maybe in a game book wiki, but not here. It's not encyclopedic.  Most games can be hacked. — Frecklefoot | Talk 13:55, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

 * Ok, that makes sense. Thanks --Eruhildo 18:25, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

X-COM races merging?
Came across it by chance, but for what it's worth, pretty much all the articles in XCOMRaces look ripe for a merge into one big page called "Races of X-COM" or the like, in keeping with recent trends about consolidating such articles into lists. SnowFire 19:52, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I agree, they should be merged. Though I think it would be best to have 3 separate articles (one for UFO Defense, one for TFTD, and one for Apocalypse). --Eruhildo 19:44, 21 October 2007 (UTC)
 * I've merged the races for the first two games into List of X-COM: UFO Defense races and List of X-COM: Terror from the Deep races respectively. I'll work on Apocalypse's soon. Also the X-COM1 races page is missing a lot of pictures, but I'll upload those soon. --Eruhildo 00:40, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I've finished merging the races for Apocalypse into List of X-COM: Apocalypse races and I've uploaded the pictures for X-COM1 races. Now we just need the articles to link to them... --Eruhildo 18:22, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

X-COM by Levine?
There's a rumor that Kev Levine is working on a x-com game. Take2 has the license, Levine is a big fan and there was some good 'evidence' (for the internet' sake) on Shacknews I believe. Let's see.. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/45797

And then there was this quote http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=26603 from the irrational site.

Anyway, might be worth adding? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.164.12.77 (talk) 18:10, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

 * While it appears Take-Two owns the rights to X-COM per United States Patent and Trademark Office, I saw no reliable evidence that they are planning to make a sequel. It may be true, but we can't prove it. By the way, forums generally are not considered good sources. Thanks for bringing this up though. --Eruhildo (talk) 23:05, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

IP Ownership
I see that there is a section about the rights to X-COM, but I'm not satisfied with how it looks. Right now the text is incorrect (I'll try to fix it, if internet stops nagging me finally and starts working properly again) but I think that if there is a section called Rights that it would be better if there was a kind of historical breakdown of how it exchanged hands. It's all written on USPTO. The section would then be named "X-COM IP Ownership History" or something like that. --Gibly (talk) 14:54, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

 * I don't see a problem with that, but what's "IP" stand for? I think it would be better to spell that out. When I see "IP" I think "Internet Protocol". --Eruhildo (talk) 22:15, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

 * Sorry, I forgot about this in the meantime. IP stands for Intellectual Property in this case. In case you're wondering about USPTO, that's the United States Patent and Trademark Office. I'll get on it then, but I have to admit that I'm fresh to Wikipedia editing so fixing may be in order. -- Gibly (talk) 14:53, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

 * I copyedited the section. Not bad, but some information wasn't 100% correct.  Hasbro Interactive never changed its name to Atari, but they did own several Atari IPs (Combat, for example).  Infogrames got these when the bought all of HI's stuff.  Then they changed their name to Atari.  When Infogrames bought all of HI's stuff, HI was disbanded. — Frecklefσσt | Talk 17:37, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

 * Well that was sooner than I expected. Thanks for clearing (and cleaning) things up. Just for the sake of completeness, there's a few things that may be worth further attention, which I wrote before I saw your edit.
 * I made a paragraph for each company in order to separate events. The references I used are mostly within Wikipedia articles that are linked to from the section itself. For the events concerning the transfer of the IP itself there is only one reference, the one at the end of the section. I did not know how to present it better, so I just left it like that, all of the information from the section is written there. I feel I should also add a few things to clear some things up. You will note that I did not list all the dates. This is because I think that the only important ones are transfers between companies. The rest are there because they relate to legal processes of the companies. As far as I understand, when a company changes name (for example Infogrames Interactive to Atari Interactive in 2001) all of its properties have to be bound to that new name. The same goes for mergers and other similar events. One other event that should be explained is the assignment to an entity "as agent". Unless I am mistaken, this in fact means that the owner of the trademark has given the "power" to the said agent, which is actually a law firm, to take care of the legal side of the trademark.
 * Furthermore, if you go to the USPTO web pages and search for the X-COM trademark, you will find the trademarks for each of the games in the series and two trademarks for X-COM. One of them is the one that is externally linked in the section and the other one was registered by Take Two. I do not know why Take Two registered a new one and do not see any difference between them, but both are valid. Should someone require a bit more detailed explanation on what is what on the USPTO pages for X-COM, I can write down what I know about it. --Gibly (talk) 17:56, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

X-COM on Steam
I corrected a bit of text about Terror From the Deep not being available through Steam, however I can't provide direct proof of what I wrote. The reason is that I got this information via a private message sent to one of the 2K Games representatives on the official forum (http://forums.2kgames.com/forums). Unfortunately the message also contains private parts so I can't even post it publicly. Still, what I wrote is about as official as you can get, and you can confirm it the same way I did. --Gibly (talk) 17:59, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

 * That's good enough for me. Thanks for doing that. --Eruhildo (talk) 17:51, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

 * Just to let someone know: I just bought Terror from the Deep via Steam, and I'm in Sweden. So the article's note saying that it can't be purchased from outside the US is incorrect. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.231.251.44 (talk) 22:30, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

 * Thanks for pointing that out, it means they changed that. I'll double check with 2K Games to see if it is now available everywhere. --Gibly (talk) 13:14, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

 * Well I just confirmed that it is available in Sweden, but it seems it's still not available in some places. I can't buy it here in Croatia, and it seems it's not available in Australia either. --Gibly (talk) 12:08, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

 * I'm in New Zealand, purchased the pack last week INCLUDING terror from the deep fyi130.195.5.7 (talk) 01:58, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

 * I'm in France and both TFTD and the XCOM complete pack are available (11 september 2008). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.203.183.139 (talk) 05:48, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

How about an X-COM article about the organization?
Or articles about the weapons and vehicles in the games (lists)? --Captain Obvious and his crime-fighting dog (talk) 22:57, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

 * I think you mean an article about the X-COM organization as portrayed in the game? Having a whole article about it I fear would amount to fancruft and would be speedily deleted.  The same goes for weapons and vehicles in the game series.  I think all we can really justify is naming them in a list. The X-COM organization can only get a few paragraphs in the main article. But this is just MHO, you can wait for others to put their $.02 in.  You can also ask about it over at the Video Games Wikiproject (on the talk page). — Frecklefσσt | Talk 12:34, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

"Code, data, or software of poor quality"? What are you btalking about? --Captain Obvious and his crime-fighting dog (talk) 13:02, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

 * Sorry, my bad. I meant to link to Wikipedia's policy on fancruft here.  — Frecklefσσt | Talk 12:28, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

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Mythos Games
Can someone make article for that Developer? The Unbeholden (talk) 08:53, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

"Series standards"
It's not for all games (actually only for the first and largely the second). --Ostateczny Krach Systemu Korporacji (talk) 19:01, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Did an article on The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge
And also on Mythos Games and ALTAR Games too. --Ostateczny Krach Systemu Korporacji (talk) 20:02, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

New X COM officially announced
Over at IGN. I am at work so cannot access it. 198.36.23.16 (talk) 17:31, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

 * Thanks for the tip. I didn't find anything on IGN about it, but did in plenty of other places.  It's going to be a FPS, though (bummer).  It will have to be added to the article now, I guess. — Frεcklεfσσt | Talk 17:59, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

New XCOM has no article still
In a meantime I'll rewrite the article now. --Asperchu (talk) 14:09, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

UFO Defense does not have a significant enough presence on this page
I came here looking for info about UFO defense. I wanted to know how it compares to other titles and such. I could find none...I'm sorry, I'm new at this but shouldn't it be mentioned more on this page? Is there anyway to setup a notification system so that I know when someone has responded? Ok, I just clicked "watch page" does this email me? Sorry that I have wandered off topic BunnyStrider (talk) 00:56, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

 * "UFO Defense" is an American name of UFO: Enemy Unknown. --194.145.185.229 (talk) 14:52, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

Pic(s) needed
The X-COM or XCOM logo (any of them, but especially the first and/or the latest). --194.145.185.229 (talk) 17:21, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

Games table
While I respect as a longtime contributor and editor, I can't fathom the recent change to the Games table. I redid it so it was sortable, a boon to any table. undid all my changes so it is unsortable and now a static list. This is my previous version and this is the version after 's change. Any other editors have an opinion on this? — Frεcklεfσσt | Talk 13:51, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

 * I don't really think it was needed, it's a short simple table and it was just making it look complicated and tl;dr. Also it was missing Android and "previously known as X-COM" was wrong (it was XCOM all along). --Niemti (talk) 16:59, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

 * I don't agree. Your current version is just as "complicated and tl;dr" as my previous version. The two shortcomings you noted could've easily been addressed with a small edit, instead of a rewrite. Now it can't be sorted by platform, name or year. I'm not going to get in an edit war over this, but I don't agree that your rewrite is better. — Frεcklεfσσt | Talk 18:03, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

 * For those interested, here is how I changed the table (click show to see).

 * It is missing some of the latest releases because I changed it before those were added. — Frεcklεfσσt | Talk 16:00, 4 June 2014 (UTC)

Spiritual Successors
"Incubation: Time Is Running Out is a turn-based combat PC game that was considered to be "what X-Com Apocalypse should have been".[44] It was developed and released by German company Blue Byte in 1997."

No, literally no one thinks that. A linear puzzle game is what Apocalypse should've been? Who in their right mind would say that? They're only related in the most superficial of ways. Either whoever said that is joking or they don't have any idea what they are talking about. Anyone who has played both games can tell you right away they are nothing alike.

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A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 10:52, 13 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Aliens are our friends (18687899400).jpg

Requested move 8 October 2020

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: Moved  (t · c)  buidhe  22:58, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

X-COM → XCOM – The series has used the "XCOM" moniker, sans the hyphen, for 5 games now - more than the running time of many entire series. While I respect that the original game used the hyphen, the page should reflect the current name of the series, which is decidedly without it. For example, Soulcalibur is not called Soul Edge. Ace Combat is not called Air Combat. And so forth. ZXCVBNM (TALK) 03:21, 8 October 2020 (UTC) —Relisted. 2pou (talk) 14:36, 18 October 2020 (UTC)  Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus. Relisting comment: I was going to complete this as an unopposed proposal, but then I saw this note at the bottom of the target: <!- need to disamb with NASA XCOM X-ray communications test (on ISS) : Neutron_Star_Interior_Composition_Explorer -> <! - also XCOM wireless Inc and other product brands (eg knives) -> Relisting to account for any WP:PRIMARYTOPIC and disambiguation considerations (there are a lot of hatnotes). Best I can tell is the knives comment refers to Kershaw Knives, but there's no mention. I have a feeling XCOM (disambiguation) will suffice, but a relist is appropriate. Courtesy ping to note poster

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, 2pou (talk) 14:36, 18 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Comment This remains the clear WP:PRIMARYTOPIC for XCOM. A hatnote would be sufficient if there is anything that needs to be disambiguated, per WP:TWODABS but if there is more a disambiguation page can be made.ZXCVBNM (TALK) 21:24, 21 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Support the only other thing we see that is called XCOM is a covered in a small section of the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer article. Also, while not the best, I did a quick Google search and the franchise was the clear winner and evidence that people typing this term are looking for the series not X-ray communication systems. At most a dabpage may be required.--76.67.169.43 (talk) 02:49, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

"Hyperworms" listed at Redirects for discussion
A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Hyperworms. The discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 March 19 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. P,TO 19104 (talk) (contribs) 18:52, 19 March 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:XCOM


text:
Pierre Louis de Lacretelle

Pierre Louis de Lacretelle (9 October 1751 – 5 September 1824) was a French lawyer, politician and writer.

He was born in Metz, the elder brother of Jean Charles Dominique de Lacretelle. He practised as a barrister in Paris. In 1784 he shared a prize for an award-winning essay with Maximilien Robespierre. Under the French Revolution he was elected as a député suppléant in the Constituent Assembly, and later as a deputy in the Legislative Assembly.

He belonged to the moderate party known as the Feuillants, but after 10 August 1792 he ceased to take part in public life. In 1803 he became a member of the Institut de France, taking the place of La Harpe. From 1806 he was a member of the Académie française.

Under the Restoration he was one of the chief editors of the Minerve française. He also wrote also an essay, Sur le 18 Brumaire (1799), some Fragments politiques et littéraires (1817), and a treatise Des partis politiques et des factions de ca pretendue aristocratie d'aujourd'hui (1819). In 1823, Bossange frères published his Œuvres complètes in 3 volumes.

title: Pierre Louis de Lacretelle


text:
User:Tedclapham

I am a British Quaker having come quite recently to the Society from a Christian tradition.

I live in London and attend Friends' House Quaker Meeting. Recently had a brief article about the 23rd Psalm printed in Quaker Monthly a have an interest in the First Testament and studies based upon it.

title: User:Tedclapham


text:
Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Mammals

New citation template for ASM Mammalian Diversity Database
I've created a new template,cite mdd, for citing ASM Mammalian Diversity Database. It uses the same module as, which will work identically, but I've updated the code to fix options that were broken when they changed the website. I thought thus was a good to to create a dedicated template with a documentation page.

For linking to species there are two approaches,:
 * 1.) using {para|id}}, optionally with either title or both genus and species. This links to the explorer page and opens very slowly This links to a new fast taxon page.
 * code 1a:
 * output 1a:
 * code 1b:
 * output 1b:
 * 2.) using the genus and species parameters, which links to the treeview page and opens the species infobox.
 * code:
 * output: *
 * There is a quirk in that their permalink has a url like  where the genus and species parts don't do anything and only the third id part is needed. Cite mdd links to this page if all three of the id, genus and species parameters are included as that should be a permalink. The genus+species variant without the id (option 2) is quicker with a better output, but would break if they changed the genus assignment. —  Jts1882 | talk 17:06, 8 December 2023 (UTC)
 * There are now links of the form https://www.mammaldiversity.org/taxon/$1 (where $1=ID) which open the species info page rapidly. The template has been updated. —  Jts1882 | talk 15:30, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

New soft-furred hedgehog (gymnures) species
There is a new paper describing new Hylomys species of soft-furred hedgehogs (gymnures) making the news today. The paper describes two new species from museum species and elevates three subspecies of  Hylomys suillus to species status. The study includes an analysis of mitochondial and nuclear DNA and used morphological and biographical considerations as part of their decision. In part, it confirms earlier studies so is likely to be accepted. It also discusses the conservation and green status, so there may be IUCN assessments in the pipeline. While we should wait on acceptance elsewhere before creating new articles, a mention of the proposal in existing articles is probably warrranted.

The introduction also has a good overview of family Galericinae and discusses other recent changes, like recognition of Otohylomys for the former Hylomys megalotis. This has been accepted by the MDD (Apr 2023), but hasn't been implemented on Wikipedia. —  Jts1882 | talk 09:05, 22 December 2023 (UTC)

—  Jts1882 | talk 09:05, 22 December 2023 (UTC)

 * Thanks! I saw the primary author of the paper started the work on the Hylomys article. I cleaned it up, created some stubs, moved short-tailed gymnure to Javan short-tailed gymnure and left a disambiguation in its place, and updated a bunch of templates and listicles. Whew! That was fun. XD I only tagged some of the listicles as needing an update. I may get back to them later, but I wouldn't be upset if someone else fixed them. - UtherSRG (talk) 12:55, 9 January 2024 (UTC)
 * I see you have already created the articles, but I thought it worth noting here than the ASM-MDD now recognise the extra five species of Hylomys. —  Jts1882 | talk 14:16, 11 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Yup. They are all made. - UtherSRG (talk) 14:52, 11 January 2024 (UTC)

ASM's MDD v1.12 is now live
It's been live for a few days now. I meant to post here about this earlier. There are 115 deltas from 1.11 to 1.12, including the following new species:

Looks like about a third of the list already have at least a stub created! - UtherSRG (talk) 18:51, 10 January 2024 (UTC)

 * And one of them is Leopardus narinensis! Yes! Now I just need the IUCN to catch up to the Leopardus splits. SilverTiger12 (talk) 17:06, 11 January 2024 (UTC)
 * It would be nice, but we can at least create the articles for new species. New species would need fresh assessments before the IUCN will list them; splits could use the subspecies assessment, if it exists. - UtherSRG (talk) 17:09, 11 January 2024 (UTC)
 * I note that the species list above only includes de novo new species. There are another 38 extra species due to splits and one "revalidation". There are also some lumps. The list of changes can be got from the "Diff_v1.11-v1.12.csv" file at https://zenodo.org/records/10463715. —  Jts1882 | talk 18:16, 11 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Correct. Like I said, 115 deltas. de novo species are the easiest to deal with, as they generally don't have any impact on other articles, other than adding them to lists, so I looked for those, first. Splits and lumps are the more difficult changes to deal with, as the existing articles will need a fine attention to details. Moves from one genus to another (or from subgenus to genus) are somewhere in the middle. And yup, I'm looking directly at the CSV, too. I did the download from the MDD website. - UtherSRG (talk) 18:23, 11 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Looks like all of the additions don't meet the current standard for being added to their family/order lists (e.g. IUCN and ASM agree on a change from MSW3), though I need to check the non de novo species as well as double-check the moonrats. (I did catch the IUCN updates last month). If I'm wrong and any of these match up with our slow/conservative friends at the IUCN, please let me know! -- Pres N  20:39, 12 January 2024 (UTC)

 * I've added a manual option for the taxonbar. Just add ID to the taxobar, e.g. for the leopard: . If there is more than one wikidata item add the number to the parameter, e.g. for the lion.
 * It would be better to request an identifier on Wikidata, but my experience trying this was shall we just say discouraging. This works until someone sets it up on Wikidata.—  Jts1882 | talk 15:19, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I'll request on Wikidata. I was going to do one for IRNMG, but because that is an interim solution, the previous request was already denied. MDD should be permanent, so should be easier to get through. But yay, thanks! - UtherSRG (talk) 15:25, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Do you mean IRMNG? It already has one that is supported by taxonbar.
 * I think an identifier for MDD was requested early on but there was an issue with their permalinks. The current links of form https://www.mammaldiversity.org/taxon/1006020 look stable and load fast (unlike a previous version). —  Jts1882 | talk 15:50, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Um... not IRMNG... I misspoke but can't remember the ID db that I Was thinking of. - UtherSRG (talk) 15:55, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Ah... it was Mindat's taxon db. - UtherSRG (talk) 16:06, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Errr... nope. Not that, either. I know I was going to request a property, but it was already declined. Ah well. I'll put in a proposal for MDD when I have the time. - UtherSRG (talk) 16:08, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Proposal: here, Maculosae tegmine lyncis (talk) 16:21, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Dude. I just said I woud... and now have as well... here... - UtherSRG (talk) 16:44, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Sorry about that (you did say "when I have the time"...), Maculosae tegmine lyncis (talk) 16:46, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Yeah, so if you'd said "I have time, should I? I would have said go ahead. Please comment on yours that you support merging in the info from my proposal, since there are some additional fields I included, and some that we filled in differently. - UtherSRG (talk) 16:49, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Which location is the correct place to put an initial proposal?
 * Anyway, we shouldn't add the manual parameters for now, as this identifier should get approved and the manual parameters would need deleting. —  Jts1882 | talk 17:03, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Use Mac's proposal. That's in the right spot. I saw that when I was about to transclude into the proposal project, so I came here with my WTF. - UtherSRG (talk) 19:00, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Now I might understand the system. I hadn't noticed that the edit option on Property proposal/Natural science redirects to the proposal page. I have a bunch of new Species Files that need an ID. Do you know if there is a method to make a bulk request or must all be done separately? —  Jts1882 | talk 08:49, 22 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I don't, sorry. - UtherSRG (talk) 10:42, 22 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The identifier has been created at and I've updated taxonbar. I've added a couple on Wikidata for testing, but it will need a bot to update other mammal species. —  Jts1882 | talk 07:45, 27 March 2024 (UTC)
 * See! Not such a difficult process. :) - UtherSRG (talk) 12:22, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

Wolf Populations from Blanco and Sundseth (2023). The situation of the wolf (Canis lupus) in the European Union.
This wikipedia article List of gray wolf populations by country needs a bit of actualization. However, we do not necessarily need to remove something to add more updated information. We could showcase the progress (or decreases) made by wolf populations with estimates of populations by time.

In "Blanco JC and Sundseth K (2023). The situation of the wolf (Canis lupus) in the European Union – An In-depth Analysis. A report of the N2K Group for DG Environment, European Commission."

It is said (page 8) under the sub-section : Updated information on wolf numbers in the European Union

"In 2023, wolves have been detected across all EU Member States except Ireland, Cyprus and Malta, and there are breeding packs in 23 countries. In this analysis, about 20,300 wolves have been estimated in 2023 across the EU, a figure slightly higher than the 19,400 wolves estimated by Boitani et al. (2022) and significantly higher than the 11,193 wolves estimated in 2012. Overall, the number of wolves in the EU is increasing."

There are multiples pertinents tables and figures in this documents (such as table 2.2.1, figure 2.3.1, table 2.4.1 (NOTABLY), table 2.4.2 (Notably), and others)

I'm particularly busy with time. But I felt important to share this updated source that covers most European countries, so that one or many members could help out updating this article, in a cooperative manner. Thank you.Gimly24 (talk) 02:02, 17 February 2024 (UTC)

Grizzly bear subspecies
There's a conflict on Wikipedia regarding how many subspecies of grizzly bear there are. The intro text on the grizzly bear page (which mentions other North American brown bear subspecies besides U. a. horribilis) directly contradicts the page's taxobox (which treats all non-ABC Islands NA bears as being U. a. horribilis and lists the rest as "former subspecies now synonymized"). The pages for California grizzly bear, Mexican grizzly bear and Ungava brown bear treat them as extinct populations of U. a. horribilis, while the pages for other North American brown bears, as well as subspecies of brown bear, treat all these populations as distinct subspecies.

The approach should certainly be consistent across pages, but what approach should be taken? Miller et al. 2006 suggested that previous subspecies definitions of non-ABC Islands bears didn't line up with mtDNA, but made no specific synonymizations. I'm not aware of other recent works that explicitly support lumping of North American bear subspecies (but please link them if you know of any). Mychajliw et al. 2024 provisionally considered at least the California grizzly bear as a distinct subspecies, following ITIS and Wilson and Reeder 2005, but in the SOM acknowledged Miller et al. 2006 and highlighted that further work on grizzly bear taxonomy is needed. Personally, I think that the subspecies should be treated as separate here unless there's explicit support for lumping in the literature. What do you all think? Shuvuuia (talk) 01:24, 24 February 2024 (UTC)
 * The Handbook of Mammals of the World still recognized 14 extant subspecies, and the text seems to imply that two extinct subspecies (californicus and crowtheri) are also still valid. Ucucha (talk) 15:19, 24 February 2024 (UTC)
 * I've went ahead and made edits. If no taxonomic authority supports NA grizzly bear synonymy, and since Miller et al. 2006 does not perform an explicit taxonomic revision, I would argue it is misleading to present the synonymy as a done deal. Better to explain that things are uncertain at the moment (e.g. de Jong et al. 2023 recovered Kodiak and Alaskan Peninsula bears as within a Eurasian clade and separate from other North American bears entirely) and further work is needed. Shuvuuia (talk) 20:23, 18 April 2024 (UTC)

Requested move at Talk:Riversleigh rainforest koala
There is a requested move discussion at Talk:Riversleigh rainforest koala that may be of interest to members of this WikiProject. UtherSRG (talk) 00:20, 25 February 2024 (UTC)

title: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Mammals