text:
Cluster-Handbook/ARM-Cluster (German)

ARM-Cluster (German)
Wir erklären, wie wir ein einfachen Cluster aus 5 Banana Pis gebaut haben und ob sich günstige ARM-Rechner als Clustereinheiten lohnen. (Jonas Gresens, Lennart Bergmann, Rafael Epplee)

Projektziel
Das ursprüngliche Ziel war der Bau einen lauffähigen Cluster aus Einplatinencomputern (wie z.B. Raspberry Pis). Das ganze Projekt dient daher als Machbarkeits- bzw. Brauch- barkeitsstudie von einem kostengünstigen Cluster auf Basis der ARM-Architektur, insbesondere im Hinblick auf Stromeffizienz und Softwareunterstützung. Ein Anwendungsszenario für einen solchen Cluster wäre beispielsweise die Ausführung von Tests im kleineren Maßstab auf echter Hardware. Es war geplant, CoreOS als Betriebssystem und Docker zur Organisation der Anwendungen zu verwenden, da diese Kombination einen einfachen beständigen Betrieb des Clusters versprechen zu schien. Zum Schluss sollte der Cluster, samt aller zugehöriger Hardware, in einem, für Serverschränke genormten, Plexiglas-Gehäuse Platz finden, damit er in das Cluster-Rack der Arbeitsgruppe eingebaut werden kann.

Board
Als Erstes mussten wir uns Gedanken über die Wahl des Einplatinen-ARM-Computers machen. Dazu haben wir die verschiedenen Boards mit einander verglichen:

Mit vier Kernen á 2 GHz, 2 GiB DDR3 RAM und Gigabit-Ethernet ist das Cubieboard4 unschwer als das Leistungsstärkste der vier aufgeführten zu erkennen. Der Preis von 100 ist für die Leistung zwar komplett angemessen, für unser Projekt jedoch etwas zu hoch, sodass das Cubieboard4 leider aus der engeren Auswahl fiel. Anders beim BeagleBone Black, hier passt der Preis von nur 55,00Euro, leider kann das Board leistungstechnisch nicht mit den beiden anderen verbliebenden Boards mithalten. Mit nur einem Kern und 512 MB RAM, steht es klar hinten an. Der Raspberry Pi 2 (Modell B) besitzt zwar einen Preisvorteil gegenüber dem Banana Pi M2, hat dafür aber auch nur DDR2 statt DDR3 RAM und eine 100 MHz niedrigere Taktfrequenz. Ausschlaggebend war am Ende die höhere Netzwerkdurchsatzrate des Banana Pi M2, der mit 1000Mbit/s aufwarten kann. Wir haben uns für fünf Banana Pis entschieden, vier Compute-Nodes und ein Head-Node.

Weitere Komponenten

 * SD-Karten - Da die meisten nötigen Komponenten des Clusters nur auf dem Head installiert werden sollten, haben wir für diesen eine 32GB Micro-SD-Karte besorgt und für die Nodes, auf denen eigentlich nur die Berechnungen stattfinden sollen und nicht viel installiert sein muss, vier 8 GB Karten.
 * Switch - Wir haben uns für einen D-Link DGS-10008D Switch entschieden, ausschlaggebend waren hierbei das Gigabit LAN sowie die 8 Ports, so dass alle Compute-Nodes + Head-Node gleichzeitig am Switch, und dieser auch noch am Internet angeschlossen werden kann.
 * Stromversorgung - Ein Banana Pi soll bei Höchstleistung nicht mehr als 5 Watt benötigen, deshalb haben wir uns bei der Stromversorgung für einen USB-Port von Logilink entschieden, der 50 Watt Leistung bringt und sechs USB-Anschlüsse hat. Damit hatten wir über die Dauer des Projekts auch keine Schwierigkeiten, was den Energieverbrauch angeht.
 * Case - Unser Cluster hat noch kein Case in dem die ganze Hardware unterkommt, allerdings gibt es ein 3D-gedrucktes Case in dem sich die Banana Pis befinden, sodass diese nicht lose herumliegen. Das Case ist ursprünglich für Raspberry Pis gedacht, die Maße des Banana Pis sollen laut Hersteller aber gleich dem der Raspberrys sein. Wie wir leider herausfinden mussten entspricht dies nicht ganz der Wahrheit, die Banana Pis sind etwas größer. Das Case musste daher von Hand angepasst werden. Die Banana Pis passen nun hinein, sitzen aber nicht so gut und fest wie es Raspberry Pis tun würden.

OS
Eines unserer primären Ziele war es, die Anbindung neuer Compute Nodes so einfach wie möglich zu machen. Zusätzlich sollte der Cluster für eine breite Menge an Anwendungen zur Verfügung stellen. Für solche Anforderungen bietet sich CoreOS besonders an:

 * Verteiltes,automatisches Konfigurationsmanagement über etcd (inklusiveIP-Adressen- Vergabe)
 * Isolierte Umgebungen mit individuellen Abhängigkeiten für jede Anwendung über Container (rkt)
 * Anwendungsverwaltung á la Slurm über fleet

Leider wird die ARM-Architektur, wie wir schnell herausfanden, (noch) nicht von CoreOS unterstützt. Somit entschieden wir uns gegen CoreOS und beschlossen, die Lösung für unsere Anforderungen auf einer anderen Ebene als dem Betriebssystem zu suchen. Auf den Banana Pis läuft nun die Raspbian-Distribution, zu finden auf der offiziellen Banana-Pi-Homepage.

Verkabelung
Der Aufbau des Clusters ist verhältnismäßig simpel. Die 5 Banana Pis werden, sowohl Head als auch Compute Nodes, direkt mit dem Switch verbunden. Vom Switch geht ein Netzwerkkabel in das umliegende Netzwerk. Der USB-Port liefert über 6 Ausgänge Strom, durch 5 davon werden die Banana Pis versorgt, an den 6. wird der Switch angeschlossen.

Netzwerk
Die Topologie unseres Clusters ist, wie im vorigen Abschnitt bereits zu erahnen, etwas ungewöhnlich. Bei den üblichen Clustern ist die Head Node über ein Interface an das umliegende Netzwerk und über ein anderes an den Switch und damit die restlichen Compute Nodes angebunden. Das bedeutet, dass jede Kommunikation von den Compute Nodes nach außen über die Head Node geht. Oft wird diese Topologie genutzt, um ein lokales Netzwerk zwischen den Compute Nodes aufzubauen und Kommunikation der Compute Nodes nach außen zu unterbinden. Die Head Node vergibt in diesem Fall über DHCP lokale IP-Addressen an die Compute Nodes. Diese Herangehensweise vereinfacht sowohl das Management der Compute Nodes als auch die Zugriffskontrolle auf den Cluster. Da ein Banana Pi allerdings nur einen Netzwerk-Anschluss hat, verwendet unser Cluster eine leicht abgewandelte Version dieser Topologie, wie die Abbildung zeigt. Über den Switch sind alle Nodes mit dem umliegenden Netzwerk verbunden. Statt zwei echten Netzwerk-Interfaces hat die Head Node ein virtuelles Interface, das die Verbindung zum lokalen Netzwerk darstellt. Dieses Setup funktioniert zwar, verlässt sich allerdings darauf, dass die Compute Nodes sich nicht zufällig über die direkte Verbindung an das umliegende Netz von einem anderen DHCP-Server eine IP-Addresse besorgen. Um dem Vorzubeugen, sind die Compute Nodes in unserem Fall auf der Blacklist des äußeren DHCP-Servers eingetragen und werden von ihm ignoriert. Als DHCP-Server auf der Head Node verwenden wir dnsmasq, in dessen Konfigurationsdateien die einzelnen Compute Nodes über die Option dhcp-host per MAC-Addresse mit einer festen IP assoziiert werden.

NFS
Da wir fast alle Daten mölichst zentralisiert auf der Head-Node speichern, verwenden wir NFS um diese den Compute-Nodes über das Netzwerk als POSIX-kompatibles Dateisystem zugänglich zu machen:

 * Auf der Head-Node läuft der NFS-Server, der /srv und /home bereitstellt.
 * Auf jeder Compute-Node läuft ein NFS-Client, sodass die home-Verzeichnisse auf dem Head per fstab auf den Compute-Nodes gemountet werden können und die Compute-Nodes ihre lokalen Packages mit dem Golden Image auf dem Head synchronisieren können.

Golden Image
Cluster setzen sich aus mehreren einzelnen Rechnern zusammen und sind daher in ihrer Administration deutlich aufwändiger als ein einzelnes System. Um diese dennoch möglichst einfach zu halten, wird für alle Compute-Nodes nach Möglichkeit die gleiche Hardware verwendet und sämtliche Software der Compute-Nodes (inklusive Betriebssystem) zentral gespeichert und übers Netzwerk bereitgestellt. Das auf der Head-Node gespeicherte Systemabbild wird als “Golden Image” bezeichnet und stellt den gemeinsamen aktuellen Zustand aller Compute-Nodes dar. Durch das Golden Image müssen effektiv nur noch zwei verschiedene Systeme administriert werden, was die Skalierbarkeit des Cluster-Setups drastisch steigert indem es den Aufwand für die Verteilung von neuer Software und deren Konfiguration konstant hält. Die Compute-Nodes der meisten handelsüblichen Cluster booten per PXE direkt das, im Netzwerk bereitgestellte, Golden Image. Banana Pis können jedoch nicht per PXE über das Netzwerk gebootet werden, weil ihr BIOS so konfiguriert ist, dass es den Bootloader auf der SD-Karte benutzt, weswegen wir einen kleinen Umweg gehen mussten:

 * Die SD-Karte einer jeden Compute-Node enthält ein komplett lauffähiges System, das beim Einschalten gebootet wird.
 * Alle Daten auf der SD-Karte stammen aus dem Golden Image. Die Installationen unterscheiden sich nur in ihrem hostname.
 * Wir verteilen Änderungen am Golden Image nicht direkt beim Reboot, sondern indem wir semiautomatisch per Skript die lokale Installation mit dem Golden Image synchronisieren.
 * Die SD-Karten neuer Compute-Nodes können ebenfalls per Skript mit dem aktuellen Zustand des Golden Image geflasht werden, sodass der Cluster einfach erweiterbar bleibt.

Skripte

Im folgenden werden unsere drei selbstentwickelten Skripte zur Verwaltung und Nutzung des Golden Image vorgestellt:

create-local-installation.sh

 * Komplett neue Installation des aktuellen Golden Image für eine neue/kaputte Node
 * Ausführung auf einem extra Gerät (z.B. Laptop) mit SD-Karten-Slot
 * Funktionsweise: erzeugt neue Partitionstabelle, erzeugt Dateisysteme, kopiert Bootloader, kopiert Inhalt des Golden Image mit rsync über NFS von der Head-Node

update-local-installation.sh

 * Aktualisierung der lokalen Installation auf einer bereits installierten Node
 * Ausführung auf der laufenden Compute-Node
 * Funktionsweise: kopiert alle geänderten neuen Dateien mit rsync über NFS aus dem Golden Image

start-chroot.sh

 * Wrapper-Skript für die Administration des Golden Image per chroot-Environment
 * Ausführung auf der Head-Node, nur eine Instanz gleichzeitig möglich
 * Funktionsweise: mounten aller benötigten Partitionen, starten einer bash im chroot für den Nutzer

Container
Trotz unserer Entscheidung gegen CoreOS gefiel uns die Idee der Anwendungsisolierung über Container. Im Gegensatz zu virtuellen Maschinen bringen Container weniger Performanceeinbußen mit sich, was uns bei der ohnehin schon unterdurchschnittlichen Leistung der Banana Pis besonders gelegen kam.

Docker

Da Docker momentan die beliebteste Container-Implementation darstellt, begannen wir hier mit unseren Installationsversuchen. Docker verwendet einige neue Features des Linux-Kernels, die in der offiziellen Raspbian- Distribution für den Banana Pi nicht enthalten sind. Die exzellente Arch-Linux-Distribution für ARM2 unterstützt diese out of the box, da der restliche Cluster des DKRZ allerdings komplett auf Debian-basierten Systemen läuft, wurde beschlossen, für einfachere Maintenance auch auf unserem Cluster ein solches System zu verwenden. Auch auf Raspbian soll es möglich sein, Docker zum laufen zu bringen, allerdings braucht man dort einen selbst kompilierten, neueren Kernel. Im Prinzip kein Problem - leider brauchen die Banana Pis einen speziellen, eigenen Kernel vom Hersteller LeMaker3. Der Quelltext wurde erst vor kurzem von LeMaker bereitgestellt und ist noch bei Version 3.4, während Docker mindestens Version 3.10 braucht. Nach einer Menge Recherche und einem fehlgeschlagenen Versuch, einen aktuellen Linux-Kernel auf einem Banana Pi zu kompilieren, gaben wir also neben CoreOS auch Docker auf.

rkt

rkt ist eine alternative Container-Implementierung, entwickelt vom CoreOS-Team. rkt hat zwar keine offizielle Unterstützung für die ARM-Architektur - das hinderte uns allerdings nicht daran, das Projekt selber zu kompilieren. Dabei kam dann heraus, dass rkt leider auch (noch) keine 32-bit-Systeme unterstützt, was das Projekt auf den ARMv7-Prozessoren der Banana Pis nicht lauffähig macht.

systemd-nspawn

Nach unseren Versuchen mit Docker und rkt legten wir unsere letzte Hoffnung auf das systemd-initsystem. Das hat seit einiger Zeit eine minimale Container-Implementierung, genannt systemd-nspawn. Ursprünglich für schnelle Tests von systemd selber gedacht, enthält es inzwischen die grundlegendsten Features und hätte für unsere Zwecke vollkommen gereicht. Gegen Ende unseres Projekts fingen wir damit an, systemd testweise auf einem Banana Pi zu installieren (unsere Version von Raspbian verwendete noch klassische initscripts). Die Installation endete jedoch jedes mal mit einem nicht bootenden Banana Pi, einer unbrauchbaren Raspbian-Installation und einem zeitaufwändigen neuflashen der SD-Karte. An diesem Punkt des Projekts hatten wir leider nicht mehr genug Zeit, um diesen Fehler zu beheben.

Installierte Software
Nachdem unseren Cluster endlich lauffähig war, wollten wir die tatsächliche Leistungsfähigkeit der Banana Pis mit der HPL-Benchmark testen. HPL benötigt eine MPI- und eine BLAS-Bibliothek, die wir daher ebenfalls installieren mussten.

MPI
Der “Message Passing Interface”-Standard (MPI) beschreibt den Nachrichtenaustausch zwischen einzelnen parallel Prozessen, die gemeinsam an der Lösung eines Problems arbeiten. MPI legt dabei kein konkretes Protokoll oder Implementierung fest, sondern beschreibt die Semantik der verschiedenen Arten von Kommunikations-Operationen und ihre API, sodass die eigentliche Nutzung des Standards eine MPI-Implementierung benötigt. Anfänglich wollten wir OpenMPI oder MVAPICH2 nutzen, die jedoch aus verschiedenen Gründen beide nicht funktionierten:

 * OpenMPI ließ sich nicht vollständig kompilieren, da es auf ARM nicht lauffähigen Assembler-Code enthielt und der Portierungsaufwand sich vermutlich nicht gelohnt hätte.
 * MVAPICH2 funktionierte bis zu einem bestimmten Systemupdate einwandfrei, danach ließ sich jedoch der ”libpmi“-Header nicht mehr finden.

Aus der Not heraus entschieden wir uns daher dazu ein schon vorkompiliertes MPICH2 aus den Paketquellen unserer Distribution zu benutzen, da wir an dieser Stelle davon ausgingen, dass sich die Wahl der MPI-Implementierung für unseren Cluster wenn überhaupt nur sehr gering in der gemessenen Leistung widerspiegeln würde.

OpenBLAS
Die “Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms” (BLAS) sind eine Sammlung von Routinen für grundlegende Vektor- und Matrix-Operationen. Das von uns genutzte OpenBLAs ist eine optimierte BLAS-Bibliothek und musste zur Nutzung auf den Banana Pis neu kompiliert werden. Das Kompilieren von OpenBLAS auf dem Pi hat ca. 1 Stunde gedauert. Die besten Messergebnisse haben wir mit einer Version ohne Threading (mittels USE THREADING=0) erzielt.

HPL
Die “High-Performance Linpack”-Benchmark ist ein Programm zur Messung der Fließkomma-Rechenleistung eines (verteilten) Computer-Systems. HPL misst die Leistung des Systems in GFLOPS indem es ein dichtes $$n*n$$-System von linearen Gleichungen $$(Ax = B)$$ löst und errechnet die Leistung in GFLOPS. Wie OpenBLAS mussten wir HPL speziell für unser System kompilieren, damit es möglichst effizient an die verfügbare Hardware angepasst ist.

Messergebnisse

HPL hat vier verschiedene Hauptparameter:

 * $$N$$ gibt die Höhe und Breite der Matrix an, das Problem wächst quadratisch mit $$N$$
 * $$NB$$ ist die Nachrichtengröße bei der Kommunikation zwischen den Prozessen
 * $$P$$ und $$Q$$ beschreiben die Aufteilung der Matrix auf das Prozessgitter

Die vier Kurven zeigen das Verhältnis der gemessenen Performance mit verschiedenen vielen Compute-Nodes und Problemgrößen: Der schwache Speedup (bei gleich großem Problem pro Kern) ist in Anbetracht der verwendeten Hardware überraschend gut (ungefähr 2.8 bei 3 verwendeten Compute-Nodes) Die Entwicklung des starken Speedups (bei fester Problemgröße trotz steigender Anzahl der Kerne) zeigt jedoch, dass sich der verwendete handelsübliche Switch nicht für HPC eignet, da mit steigender Zahl an Compute-Nodes die Leistung einbricht. Leider konnten wir keine Leistungsdaten für weitere HPL-Runs mit größerem $$N$$ auf 4 Nodes messen, da es technische Probleme gab:

 * bpi4 schaltete sich bereits nach wenigen Minuten unter Volllast ab.
 * bpi-head konnte nicht als Ersatz verwendet werden, da er die gleichen Symptome zeigte.

Die Instabilität der Pis bei großer Hitze stellt ein großes Problem für einen tatsächlich intensiv genutzten Pi-Cluster dar.

SLURM
SLURM steht für Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management und ist ein Open Source Workload Manager, der auf vielen Clustern und Supercomputern rund um die Welt verwendet wird. SLURM wird dazu verwendet, einzelne Jobs möglichst effizient auf die Knoten des Clusters zu verteilen. Obwohl wir uns sehr bemüht haben, gab es im Laufe des Projekt wesentlich mehr Komplikationen als wir erwartet haben und so fehlte uns am Ende die Zeit dafür, SLURM komplett in den Cluster zu integrieren.

Aktueller Stand
Zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt haben wir einen zwar nicht optimalen aber funktionierenden Cluster. Wir benutzen ein Golden Image, mit dessen Hilfe es ein leichtes ist, alle Knoten auf den selben Stand zu bringen, und durch welches der Cluster einfach um zusätzliche Knoten erweiterbar ist. Die Netzwerkeinbindung ist noch suboptimal, da Compute-Nodes in manchen fällen eine IP aus dem Internet, statt von der Head-Node beziehen, wo durch sie von dieser nicht ansprechbar sind. Auf der positiven Seite, kann der Cluster mit nutzbaren MPI-Libraries, sowie lauffähigem HPL aufwarten, womit ausführliche Leistungstests möglich sind. Die Banana Pis befinden sich in einem eigens dafür 3D-gedrucktem Case, welches leider ein bisschen klein geraten ist.

Weiterführende Arbeit
Die Lösung Netzwerk-Problematik wären statische IPs, sodass keine Knoten mehr eigenwillig auf IP-Suche gehen können. Für eine möglichst vollständige Integration in den WR-Cluster müssten nur noch ein paar wenige Softwarepakete hinzugefügt werden:

 * miit SLURM bleibt das (vom WR-Cluster) gewohnte UI zur Nutzung des Clusters erhalten.
 * auf dem WR-Cluster wird LDAP zum Zugriff auf die Home-Verzeichnisse der Nutzer verwendet und wird daher zwingend auf dem Pi-Cluster benötigt um die Problematik mehrerer Home-Verzeichnisse pro Nutzer zu umgehen.
 * das Monitoring-Tool Ganglia ist zwar im allgemeinen optional, sollte aber auch vorhanden sein, da es wie SLURM ebenfalls zur gewohnten UI gehört.

Außerdem fehlt für den Einbau in diesen Cluster ein Plexiglas-Gehäuse in dem die ARM-Computer sowie das gesamte Zubehör, einige LEDs und Lüfter Platz finden.

Der Banana Pi
Nach einiger Erfahrung mit dem Modell “Banana Pi” möchten wir hier einen kurzen Überblick über Vor- und Nachteile des Modells geben. Da wir aus der Perspektive des HPC an dieses Projekt gegangen sind, waren für uns die Hardware-Aspekte bei der Planung besonders wichtig. Im Besonderen versprach der Banana Pi durch das Gigabit-Ethernet eine problemfreie Kommunikation zwischen den Compute Nodes, auch mit den für HPC üblichen großen Datenmengen. Tatsächlich konnten wir in unseren Benchmarks auch keine Probleme mit der Kommunikationslast erkennen. Zusätzlich ergaben unsere Vergleiche mit einem Raspberry Pi 2 Modell B gerade mal einen Performanceunterschied von etwa 300 MFLOPS. Schnell mussten wir jedoch feststellen, dass die eher kleine Community undd as Ökosystem um den Banana Pi einige Probleme mit sich bringen. Zum einen mussten wir feststellen, dass es tatsächlich verschiedene Hersteller gibt, die alle von sich behaupten, den “offiziellen” Banana Pi zu fabrizieren. Mit jedem dieser Hersteller kam eine leicht andere Dokumentation mit vielen fehlenden Stellen. SD-Karten-Images für den Raspberry Pi funktionieren mit dem Banana Pi nicht; Es bleibt unklar, ob es eine tatsächlich offizielle Seite mit offiziellen Linux-Distributionen gibt. Lange Zeit war der modifizierte Linux-Kernel für den Banana Pi nicht quelloffen; Nach viel Druck aus der Community wurde der Code dann doch veröffentlicht. Leider ist das letzte stabile Release dieses Kernels noch bei Version 3.4. Das machte unter Anderem das kompilieren eines eigenen Kernels für die Docker-Installation unmöglich.

Andere Vor- und Nachteile
Eine der Fragen, die wir mit unserem Projekt beantworten wollten, war die Frage nach der Stromeffizienz der Banana Pis, insbesondere im Kontext des High Performance Computing. Leider enttäuscht der ARM-Cluster in dieser Hinsicht. Wenn wir eher konservativ von einem Verbrauch von 5 Watt (unter voller Last) ausgehen, entspräche das bei unseren Benchmarks ungefähr $$1/4$$ GFLOPS pro Watt. Laut der TOP500-Liste sind Werte im Bereich von 2 GFLOPS pro Watt der aktuelle Stand der Technik. Trotz des geringen Preis eignet sich ein Cluster aus Banana Pis nichtmal gut für das Testen von Programmen in kleinem Maßstab, da die ARM-CPU nicht alle Befehlssätze einer x86(64)-CPU unterstützt und daher für Probleme bei der Kompilierung sorgt - die Nutzung eines virtualisierten Clusters (z.B. via Vagrant) ist deutlich komfortabler. Im Allgemeinen kann man also sagen, dass sich ein ARM-Cluster unserer Erfahrung nach hauptsächlich lohnt, um in einem möglichst realistischen Szenario Aufbau und Installation eines Clusters zu üben. Die Skripte zur Verwaltung der verschiedenen Nodes funktionieren exzellent und können ohne Probleme in jedem Projekt, das mit mehreren Pi-artigen Computern arbeitet, zur einfachen Administration verwendet werden.

title: Cluster-Handbook/ARM-Cluster (German)


text:
Cricket/Players

Cricket is played by two teams of eleven players. Each teams players are able to bat and face the fielding teams bowling attack. Two batters at a time are on the field one at each end of the wicket.

The fielding side are allowed all eleven players on the pitch at the same time. One fielder acts as a wicket keeper, keeping the ball from going to the boundary, placed behind the batsman facing the bowled balls.

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

title: Cricket/Players


text:
Super Mario 63/Level designer

The level designer allows creating custom stages using tiles and items.

Basics
The name of the course, the music, the background image, and the tile size of the course can be adjusted in the "Course info" menu that is located under the "File" menu.

Tiles that can be placed in the grid include grounds and walls with textures used throughout the game, breakable boxes with coins, cannons, lava, and more. Each tile has a width and height of 30 units. Items such as various types of coins, platforms, hazards, water with selectable length and depth, F.L.U.D.D. jet packs, and water bottles for them, can be placed anywhere within tiles.

If red coins and silver stars are used, all of at least one type need to be collected for the shine sprite to appear. The number does not have to be eight and five respectively, as it is in the game's main adventure.

Many items and large stages can slow down the frame rate. This can be prevented by dividing the stage using the "horizontal level transition" item. Only the active section rather than the entire stage is loaded. A level can have multiple transitions, though each transition has to have a minimum distance from each other and from the level edges. Vertical level transitions, as used in the main game, have not been implemented in the level designer.

After building a course, it can be tested using the "Test Course" option in the "File" menu, and exited using backspace.

Export and import
There are "Save Course" and "Load Course" menus in the "File" menu. Courses can be saved into and loaded from the Flash player's local storage, for which three slots are available. They can also can be exported and imported through code.

The game uses a very space-efficient custom mark-up language for code. Here is an example stage built from only 2492 bytes of code:

 50x31~0*29*2K2M0*29*2K2M0*29*2K2M0*29*2K2M0*29*2K2M0*29*2K2M0*29*2K2M0*29*2K2M0*29*2K2M0*29*2K2M0*29*2K2M0*29*2K2M0*29*2K2M0*26*3d*5*0*30*3d0*4*3d*25*03d0*4*3d0*8*4u0*14*3d03d0*4*3d03d*4*0*3*4u0*14*3d03d0*4*3d03d03d0*4*4u0*14*3d03d0*4*3d03d03d03d*3*4w4u*5*3d*5*0*6*3d0*4*3d03d03d03d0*8*3d0*3*3d*5*03d*2*0*4*3d03d03d03d0*3*3d0*4*3d03d0*5*3d03d2M0*4*3d03d03d03d0*3*3d0*2*3d03d03d*5*03d03d2M0*4*3d03d03d03d0*6*3d03d03d0*3*3d03d03d2M0*4*3d03d03d03d03d0*2*3d0*3*3d03d03d03d03d03d2M0*4*3d03d03d03d03d0*2*3d0*5*3d03d03d03d03d2M0*4*3d03d03d03d0*10*3d03d03d0*3*3d2M0*4*3d03d03d03d*2*03h3d*6*3h3d03d03d*2*03d*2*2M0*4*3d03d03d0*2*3d03d0*7*3d03d0*2*3d03d*2*2M0*4*3d03d03d*2*03d03d03d*5*03d03d*2*03d03d*2*2M0*4*3d03d0*2*3d03d03d0*5*3d03d0*2*3d03d0*2*3d2M0*4*3d03d*2*03d03d03d0*3*3d03d03d*2*03d03d*2*03d*2*0*4*3d0*2*3d03d03d03g3d*4*03d0*4*3e0*10*3d0*2*3d03d03d0*3*3d0*3*3d3h3d*2*3O3e3d*6*0*4*3d*2*03d03d03d0*3*3d03d*3*0*7*3f0*7*3g3d03d0*7*3d0*5*3d*5*0*2*3h3d*2*0*7*3d0*7*3d*2*0*5*3d0*4*3d*2*0*8*3h3d4u*2*3d0*5*3d0*10*3d*2*02M3d*8*0*2*3d*2*4u*4*3d*10*03d*2*02M920*29*2M920*3*3h3d*24*2M*2*929\9]9R92*2*97*17*4x4z0*3*2d2M*2*929\9]9N92*2*970*21*2f2h2M929\9]9N92*2*970*22*2K2M929\9]9N92*2*970*22*2K2M929\9]9Q92*2*970*22*2K2M929\9]9O92*2*970*22*2K2M929\9]9O92*2*970*22*2K2M929\9]9O92*2*970*22*2K2M929\9]9O92*2*970*22*2K2M~1,1489,51,0,0,Left|38,479,125,0,800,900|3,1327,50|3,1136,655|3,977,496|3,1168,466|6,1138,11|66,1013,566,1|66,940,625,1|40,1198,291,1071,82|3,819,849|2,624,688|2,817,623|2,716,495|2,789,433|2,656,399|3,978,240|2,748,207|3,528,368|4,1071,957|56,620,146,1|56,750,147,1|56,877,145,1|62,945,143,1|62,690,147,1|62,497,239,1|38,395,821,0,100,140|55,1138,562,1|18,672,907,-1,0|18,785,849,0.5,0|3,658,817|73,1203,290,This%20is%20the%20remake%20of%20a%20stage%20I%20originally%20created%20in%202010%2C%20but%20I%20discovered%20the%20text%20file%20with%20the%20code%20blank%2E%20%0DSaving%20failed%20somehow%20apparently%20back%20then%2E|77,559,211|77,882,785|77,718,883|77,624,337|77,1068,881|3,1168,913|73,1232,930,When%20working%20on%20any%20project%2C%20do%20not%20forget%20to%20create%20a%20revision%20history%2C%20as%20described%20%3Cu%3E%3Cb%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fen%2Ewikiversity%2Eorg%2Fwiki%2FFile%5Fmanagement%23Revision%5Fhistory%22%3Ehere%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fb%3E%3C%2Fu%3E%2E|79,497,844,200|40,724,897,1073,912|80,1073,751,30|76,1071,799|75,1519,71|80,1134,911,3|40,23,902,15,15|81,112,528,1|2,784,782|5,1071,974|4,1008,958|4,1554,17~7~5~Swim%2C%20swim%2C%20before%20you%20drown%21

In this custom stage, Mario has to find nine red coins in an underwater maze. Each coin provides air to prevent drowning, therefore Mario has to be quick enough. Easter eggs that are leftovers from development are hidden within the stage.

Scrolling and placing
Multiple tiles can be placed easily by holding down the mouse and scrolling using the arrow keys. The speed of scrolling is adjustable in the movement settings found under "View" in the top left menu.

Multiple items can be placed without re-selection by holding ↑Shift while clicking.

In-game
In-game, the screen scrolls to the shine sprite (the first placed one if there are multiple) after all of either silver stars or red coins are collected and back to the player after its activation animation. Note that vertical scrolling is locked while Mario/Luigi is suffering for few seconds after a lava or fire burn.

Few elements from the main game have not been implemented in the level designer, including breakable vertical logs (found on the third floor of Bowser's castle), toxic haze (from "Hazy Maze Cave"), spinning hearts that refill health, wind (found in "Tall Tall Mountain"), cannon boxes that float on water and switch-adjustable water levels (found in "Wet Dry World" and "The Cave of Empuzzlement"), heavy black balls that roll down hills (found in "Bob-Omb Battlefield" and "Tall Tall Mountain"), and the background used in "Wet Dry World". The spinning lava wheel from "Lethal Lava Land" and disappearing tiles under a cage in "The Edge of Mushroom Kingdom" have also not been implemented, though that level of customization would be difficult to implement in a level designer. A spinning heart can be simulated through an invincibility star with a short timeout, as that refills health as well.

A climbable wall can be simulated through a thin vertical layer of water protruding from it.

F.L.U.D.D.
When Mario/Luigi wears a F.L.U.D.D., indicators for water and power appear at the lower right corner. Both are necessary for its operation. The water can be thought of as a fuel tank, and "power" is the short-term endurance, which is 5% of the water tank capacity.

For filling the F.L.U.D.D.'s water tank (indicated with blue 2.5D bar and percentage meter), besides touching normal water, water bottles can be used, where a small bottle refills 15% and a large bottle half of the tank.

The power of F.L.U.D.D. is indicated as a red vertical bar. Touching the ground refills it immediately, collecting a blue coin fills up a half, and stomping a bullet bill fills up a quarter. The rocket and turbo F.L.U.D.D.'s also slowly refill power while airborne with released throttle (space bar or C ). F.L.U.D.D. power observaböy also refills in the background while no F.L.U.D.D. is activated, which could be of use when bouncing on a flying penguin and rocket and turbo are unavailable.

Demo stage:  50x100~0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M0*98*2K2M~1,63,3036,0,0,Right|82,66,3113|83,66,3114|84,66,3115|4,111,3053|4,141,3024|4,176,2990|4,210,2952|4,243,2920|4,257,2853|4,339,2829|4,432,2798|4,495,2741|4,559,2666|4,608,2596|4,644,2532|4,667,2461|4,656,2496|4,717,2532|4,726,2494|4,734,2457|4,703,2410|4,754,2358|4,840,2331|4,927,2319|4,1003,2318|4,1032,2293|4,1069,2248|4,1100,2207|4,1127,2150|4,1138,2124|4,1155,2079|4,1172,2039|4,1203,1994|4,1259,1964|4,1291,1934|4,1298,1899|4,1300,1872|4,1297,1829|4,1297,1785|4,1298,1739|4,1298,1672|4,1298,1620|4,1298,1575|4,1298,1519|4,1297,1449|4,1299,1394|4,1298,1349|4,1360,1342|4,1420,1343|4,1487,1340|4,1517,1322|4,1523,1283|4,1492,1265|4,1446,1261|4,1396,1263|4,1349,1264|4,1298,1263|4,1256,1251|4,1250,1293|4,1262,1293|4,1275,1293|4,1253,1307|4,1263,1307|4,1270,1306|140,1261,1195,1,0|4,1250,1118|4,1264,1117|4,1278,1116|4,1265,1146|4,1264,1086|4,1249,1054|4,1265,1054|4,1275,1054|4,1264,1026|4,1253,992|4,1262,991|4,1274,991|4,1266,958|4,1265,923|4,1265,907|4,1265,896|4,1264,860|4,1266,848|4,1264,836|4,1265,794|4,1265,784|4,1265,773|4,1264,752|4,1238,752|4,1200,751|4,1171,752|4,1138,751|4,1108,750|4,1070,752|4,1042,752|4,1011,752|4,1008,719|4,1008,688|4,1018,663|4,1046,637|4,1069,614|4,1093,586|4,1083,550|4,1067,479|4,1074,513|4,1047,470|4,1008,468|4,969,470|4,934,469|4,905,444|4,877,425|4,851,404|4,826,394|4,805,383|4,788,377|4,761,367|4,726,365|4,673,365|4,698,364|4,658,365|4,622,365|4,590,364|4,552,364|4,519,363|4,490,361|4,462,361|4,433,360|4,402,360|4,370,361|4,338,360|4,302,360|4,272,360|4,237,360|4,212,359|4,176,360|4,146,338|4,110,319|4,107,289|4,106,255|4,106,213|4,109,179|4,128,150|4,152,123|4,172,98|4,191,75|4,215,59|4,253,43|4,298,44|4,335,41|4,383,42|4,418,42|4,473,42|4,517,41|4,577,40|4,619,21|4,656,9|4,714,8|4,789,7|4,856,7|4,923,7|4,977,7|4,1023,7|4,1069,7|4,1153,7|4,1108,7|34,1187,51,1,0|34,1333,27,1,340|34,1040,28,1,20|6,1200,13|5,114,3084|75,1361,1392|71,499,3095,Both,0,2,0.5,0,4,1|71,530,3096,Both,0,2,0.5,0,5,1|71,564,3096,Both,0,3,0.5,0,3,1|68,479,2511,1|67,687,2673,1|71,597,3096,Both,0,4,0.5,0,6,1|71,1551,3092,Both,0,5,0.1,0,0,1|81,1551,3109,60|81,-19,3109,5|45,13,404,90,100,100,-1,-1,0,0,0|45,1518,1293,270,100,100,64,92,0,0,0~5~1~Try%20getting%20up%20there%20twice%21

title: Super Mario 63/Level designer


text:
A Traveler's Guide to the World of Pokémon/Real life locations

In the Pokémon series, particularly in early games, several real life locations are mentioned.

United States of America
Lt. Surge is said to be an American.

Guyana
Mew is said to originate in Guyana.


text:
User talk:Marcus Alanius

Great work
Came here to say great work on the Super Mario 63 wikibook 2005-Fan (discuss • contribs) 19:16, 17 July 2021 (UTC)

 * Thanks, much appreciated! Marcus Alanius (discuss • contribs) 19:24, 17 July 2021 (UTC)

title: User talk:Marcus Alanius


text:
Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...d5/2. e4/2...dxe4/3. Nc3/3...Nf6

= Blackmar-Diemer Gambit (BDG) =

3. Nf6
Black has developed his knight, to prevent White from taking the black pawn on e4.

Win chances
White 43%, Black 39%, Draw 18%.

Next move probability
f3 87%, Bg5 10%, Bc4 1%, all other moves less than 1%.

Theory table
.

'''1. d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6'''


text: World Stamp Catalogue/Malaysia/1966

title: World Stamp Catalogue/Malaysia/1966


text:
Traditional Abacus and Bead Arithmetic/Appendix: Abbreviated operations

Introduction
This chapter is special in the sense that its content is not directly related to the traditional method of the abacus, but it is an interesting resource to shorten arithmetic operations, both with the abacus and in written calculation. We include it in this book because we make sporadic use of these abbreviated operations throughout it.

Some arithmetic books of the pre-computer era included a chapter on abbreviated operations. The motivation is the following. Suppose we measure the side of a square and we obtain $l= 864\, \text{mm}$ and we want to calculate its area $S$

$$S = {l}^2 =l \cdot l= 864\cdot 864= 746496\,\text{mm}^2$$

a result with 6 digits, but if we have measured the side of the square with a measuring tape that only appreciates millimeters, what we can say is that the value of the side is between $863.5 $ and $864.5$, that is:

$$l=864.0\pm 0.5\,\text{mm}$$

So that $S$ will be a value between $${863.5}^2=745632.25$$ and $${864.5}^2=747360.25$$. This means that we only know with certainty the first two digits of the result S (74) and that the third digit is probably a 6; the rest of the digits of the multiplication are meaningless (we say they are not significant) and we should not include them in our result. We should write:

$$S=746\cdot {10}^3\,\text{mm}^2 = 7.46\cdot {10}^5\,\text{mm}^2$$

being $746$ the significant figures of our result. So if only three of the six figures in the product $864\cdot 864$   are significant, why calculate all six? This is what abbreviated operations are for.

In this chapter we will follow the examples that appear in Matemáticas by Antonino Goded Mur hereinafter simply Matemáticas, a small Spanish manual, and see the way these calculations can be done with the abacus.

Multiplication
"Write the product of the multiplicand by the first figure of the multiplier, write below the product of the multiplicand without its last figure by the second of the multiplier, below the product of the multiplicand without its last two figures by the third of the multiplier and so on."

Example from Matemáticas:

On the abacus this problem can be dealt with in several ways, for example, using Kojima’s Multiplication Beginning with the Highest Digits of the Multiplier and Multiplicand, explained in his second book, where he says:

"As the operation starts by multiplying the first digits of the multiplier and multiplicand, it is convenient for approximations."

We can also try  multifactorial multiplication or the like; for instance

But we can also use multiplication methods starting with the last multiplicand digits as modern multiplication:

And even traditional multiplication by clearing first and then adding the partial products shifted one column to the left

Division
"The first digit of the quotient is found as usual, the remainder is divided by the divisor without its last digit, the new remainder by the divisor without its last two digits and so on."

Example from Matemáticas: As can be seen, the potentially infinite sequence of long division steps in which a new quotient figure is obtained is replaced by a finite sequence of divisions by a shrinking divisor in which we obtain only one digit of the quotient. This can be done using our favorite division method; for example, using traditional division and traditional division arrangement:

Square root
"The current method is followed until half the figures of the root have been exceeded, obtaining the next digits by dividing the remainder followed by the periods not used by the double of the root found, followed by as many zeros as periods have been added."

😖 hard to read, right? Also in Spanish …

Example from Matemáticas: Withouth going into details, this way of shortening the square root obtention can be justified in several ways, for example using Taylor series development or Newton's method, perhaps not the simplest way but that is interesting to mention especially for what comes below about cubic roots.

In what follows the process will be illustrated using the Half-remainder method (半九九法) as explained in chapter: Square root, which requires changing remainder into half-remainder and double of the root into simply the root in the Matemáticas paragraph above. Note that the second phase, the division, can be done in the form of an abbreviated division since it only makes sense to obtain a limited number of figures from its quotient. As a consequence, obtaining the last figures from the root costs progressively less work and time; so we can call this division the accelerated phase of root extraction.

Cube root
"The current method is followed until half the figures in the root have been exceeded, obtaining the next digits by dividing the remainder followed by the periods not used by the triple of the square of the root followed by as many zeros as the periods have been added."

😖😖

Example from Matemáticas:

This abbreviation can also be justified in several ways, including Newton's method, by the way and by far the best approximation to obtain cube roots with the abacus even though it is not a traditional technique, it is much more efficient than any traditional method and, if we use it, we can say that, in a certain sense, we are using an abbreviated method from the beginning. Nevertheless, here is an example using a traditional method: the cube root of 666. We will follow here the method explained by Cargill G. Knott (see chapter: Cube root).

Obviously, the cube root of 666 is between 8 and 9 because the number is in the range 512-728.

So we have obtained 8.7 as the root so far, leaving a remainder of 7.497. To apply the shortcut we need to form the divisor $$3\times 8.7^2$$; We will use Newton's binomial expansion to form the square and we will multiply it by three by adding twice the value obtained.

Alternatively, you can also divide twice by 8.7 and then by 3 to get the same result. Compare the result 8.733 to 3666=8,7328917

Other useful abbreviations
What follows is a completely different type of abbreviated calculation that may prove useful in practice. They are all a consequence of Taylor's theorem.

For $$a,b \ll 1$$ $$$$
 * $$(1 \pm a)(1\pm b)\approx 1\pm a\pm b$$
 * ex: $$1.005\times 0.996\approx 1.001$$
 * $$(1 \pm a)/(1\pm b)\approx 1\pm a\mp b$$
 * $$(1\pm a)^n \approx 1+n\cdot a$$
 * ex: $$1.005^3\approx 1.015,\, 0.995^3\approx 0.985$$
 * $$\sqrt[n]{1\pm a} \approx 1\pm a/n$$
 * ex: $$\sqrt[3]{1.006}\approx 1.002$$
 * $$1/(1\pm a) \approx 1 \mp a$$
 * ex:$$ 1/1.003\approx 0.997,\, 1/0.997\approx 1.003$$
 * $$1/(1\pm a)^n \approx 1 \mp n\cdot a$$


text:
User:Risean 12345/sandbox

book

title: User:Risean 12345/sandbox


text:
Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. f4/2...Bc5/3. fxe5/3...Qh4/4. Ke2

King's Gambit Declined 4.Ke2??
This is a blunder on white's part. The only other legal move would be to play 4. g3, which would force Black's queen to retreat. This move leads to checkmate if Black plays 4...Qxe4#.

Next move probability
4...Qxe4# 100%

Win probability
Black 100%, White 0%, Draw 0%. (Note: the sample size for this is very small as players rarely make this blunder).


text:
Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. d4/2...exd4/3. Qxd4/3...Nc6

White's responses
White's queen is forced to retreat. By far, the most popular move is '''4. Qe3''' – Paulsen's Attack – lining up the queen with Black's king.

Most of White's other possible queen retreats allow Black a quick d5 to at least equalize - though most disastrous would be '''4. Qc3''', allowing 4...Bb4 to win the queen with a pin.

The move '''4. Qd1''' allows d5 a few moves later in an even worse scenario than usual for White. Black then usually responds with 4...Nf6, deciding to focus on developing the other knight.

On occasion, White chooses '''4. Qa4 (mimicking the Scandinavian Main Line) or 4. Qc4''' (the Hall Variation).

Theory table
'''1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4'''


text:
User talk:Renamed user a9gjd684fg

Welcome
Welcome to Wikibooks, Bwmdjeff!

 First steps tutorial Wikibooks is for collaborative development of free textbooks.

You do not need technical skills to contribute. You can easily change most books. Please introduce yourself, and let us know what interests you.

If you already contribute at other Wikimedia projects, our Wikimedia Orientation should quickly get you started. (Would you like to provide feedback on this message?)

  Getting help   Made a mistake?   Goodies, tips and tricks
 * Read the Using Wikibooks book for a friendly introduction to the project, or our help pages for more information.
 * You can get friendly help from the community in the user assistance room or our IRC channel.
 * Upload freely licensed files to Wikimedia Commons. You may request permission to upload fair use files locally. Please include author and source information and a non-free use rationale for non-free files.
 * You can restore a previously saved version.
 * Pages should follow the  naming convention.
 * Need to rename a page? Use the move tab (is available once your account is 4 days old - until then, ask for help).
 * To request a page be deleted, add to the top of the page.
 * Was a page you made deleted? Please read the deletion policy, and check the deletion log to find out why. Also check the RFD archives if applicable. You can request undeletion at WB:RFU, or ask the administrator who deleted the page.
 * Please fill in the edit summary and preview your edits before saving.
 * Sign your name on discussion pages by typing ~~~~
 * User scripts can make many tasks easier. Look at the Gadgets tab of my preferences; check off the boxes for the scripts you want, and hit save!

Leaderboard (discuss • contribs) 17:28, 18 July 2021 (UTC)

title: User talk:Renamed user a9gjd684fg


text:
Old English/Syntax

Statement syntax
The most common word order for simple statements in Old English was as follows:

subject-verb-object

Here is a sentence which shows it:

 * God ġesēah hine : God saw him

Variations of word order is commonly more varied than in Modern English, but it is not totally flexible - there is such a thing as a wrong word order, and changes in order often change the emphasis of a sentence.

Putting the object at the start of the sentence emphasized the object:

 * Hine iċ cƿealde : I killed him
 * Þā ofet aƿearp sē mann : The person threw away the fruit

NOTE: If the subject is a pronoun, in object-emphasizing sentences, it comes before the verb. If it is a noun, it comes after the verb (as shown above).

Question syntax
To ask yes-no questions, place the verb before the subject. If there is an auxillary verb in the sentence ("can", "should", etc), then it is the one which goes at the start, and the infinitive verb may occupy any of its usual positions later in the sentence:
 * Dyde hē þæt? : Did he do that?
 * Hoppodest þū? : Did you dance?
 * Ƿilt þū cuman mid mē? : Do you want to come with me?

In "wh-" questions, the questions word usually starts the sentence, and the verb is second. Then, the subject goes before any objects.

 * Hƿæt eart þū? : Who are you?
 * Hƿone ācƿealde hē? : Who did he kill?
 * Hƿylċe ġife ƿilt þū him ġifan? : Which gift do you want to give to him?

Pronoun syntax
Syntax rules and norms for nouns and pronouns differ somewhat in Old English.

Pronouns, when subjects, almost always come before the verb. Some scenarios where they follow the verb are:
 * yes-no questions, the pronoun must follow the verb (as with nouns): "dyde hē þæt?" - "did he do that?"
 * following quotations: '"Gā āƿeġ," cƿæð Iōhannes' - '"Go away", said John'
 * following ne, þonne, þā, nū, sƿā: "ne dyde iċ þæt" - "I did not do that"
 * in subjunctive constructions: "sȳ hē ahangen" - "may he be hanged"

Direct object pronouns go before indirect object pronouns:
 * Iċ ġeaf þæt him : I gave that to him
 * Þā hyssas dydon hit mē : The young men did it for me

Pronoun objects can go before verbs:
 * Se ƿer hine lufode : The man loved him
 * Þæt fisċ him folgode : The fish followed him

title: Old English/Syntax


text:
Yard Welding Fundamentals

= Introduction: Form Whom this Book is Written and Why: = This book is written for the guy who wants to learn to weld but can't do it in a formal setting. It is for the guy who just bought a welder and now wants to make good use of it. Because I am that guy.

I write this to pay down a debt. The debt I owe is to a machine shop in the Arcata Bottoms. They know who they are. In exchange for my doing a little yard work around the shop, these otherwise shrewd businessmen let me run a welder just outside one of their shop doors. For them, it must have been like having a half-witted step-brother living under the porch steps.

In my defense, I did my best to keep out of the way. It was a busy shop. But every once in a while, one of the crew would stray too close or linger a little too long in conversation, and an invaluable lesson thereby would be extracted. After this happened a couple times, I asked one of the partners about leveling the balance sheet, because quid-pro-quo is a lot better than charity. The deal we hit on was a good one: Whatever I learn from them, I pass it on. Hence, this book.

= What is a Yard Welder: = I say "yard" welder because to distinguish myself from tradesmen. This is out of respect for the trades. Picture an old asphalt lot bounded by brambles and weeds. There, tucked in a corner behind a rusted-out concrete mixing truck is the Yard. It is about as sophisticated as a bulldog's behind.

= Tips for Getting Started: =

1) Get a fan.
Smoke in your helmet is annoying and distracting. You don’t need that when you are trying to lay in a weld. And you can’t just count on whatever the breeze is, either. All that heat and gas coming off your work can swirl around you, even when you are lined-up with the breeze. So get a fan. A big, nasty-powerful fan, and practice working with it in different settings.

2) Take positioning seriously.
Sometimes you have to be your own jig. So get in the habit of making dry runs before lighting the arc. You will be focused on other things when welding, so take a moment to settle yourself with the position and motion that you will be using as you weld. Do not just fold yourself into the first way you think the position should be. Give yourself a minute to experiment. Hold yourself in different ways and place the electrode along different angles in the holder to find what works best.

3) Experiment Freely, Continuously Challenge Yourself
Always be varying your distance, position and weld direction when practicing. Run left to right then right to left. Run at a distance and up close. Run from up high and down low. Run horizontal, vertical, flat, overhead beads. Always use the hole electrode so you are forced to stop and start again on the same weld. Use both pushing and pulling techniques. In short: do not just run the same weld in the same direction from the same position over and over, unless you are just getting started. Try butt, fillet, lap, and other joints. Get in the habit of experimenting without boundaries. Keep yourself out of repetitious patterns. Boldly go...

= Gotchas: =

= The Machine: = ''This is my welder. There are many like it, but this one is mine.''

To weld, you have to know your machine. How well? A machinist I know calibrates his welder by ear. He knows so well the engine driving the welder's generator it speaks to him like a radio playing music. He just sets the tune.

That kind of perception comes by applying attention over time, and that is why care and maintenance of the machine also are the welder's solemn work. Every day, before you even hook onto the machine, give it the same kind of go-over you would if you were riding for the pony express and the machine was the horse. Lavish it with attention, even if only briefly. Let your eyes and hands travel all over it--taking note of even the faintest signs of wear or excessive play. Check your fasteners, wipe any smudges, and fret over every blemish. Always check the oil before starting. Then start it up and listen to it run while it comes up to temperature--all the time taking note of what you hear.

You don't have to name your machine, but you should know its personality.

= Setup = First pick the material you want to work with. I started with 3/16” mild steel. Then pick your electrode type. The crew at the machine shop said 7018 was what they mostly worked with. Once you have picked out an electrode, go to its manufacturer specs and learn everything you can about how the rod was designed to be used. Also determine what diameter you need for the amps/material that you will be welding on.

I chose 1/8” for the rod diameter. That rod was advertised as effective from 90 to around 160 amps. The next step was to fire up the welder and start experimenting. Here is what I learned.

1) 7018 is not “fast freeze” flux. Therefore, a finished bead tends to have more elongated ripples in it. So if you read somewhere that a bead should looked like a series of “stacked dimes,”  the writer probably was using some other rod or process.  My 7018 stringer beads were never “dimey,” even though I spent a lot of time trying to make them so.

2) 7018 is made to run low and straight. Once you get your machine dialed in, the rod will do most of the work.  Most all you need to do is to gently hold it against the leading edge of the puddle and just let it lay itself into the weld.

3) The natural width of a puddle, once you have one going, largely has to do with the voltage at which the rod is running, and that is not something you control. You can dial up the amps you are using, but that just increases the penetration.  So unless you just camp out over a spot and let the rod pool, the width of a stringer bead is just whatever the rod was designed to produce at whatever voltage the welder sets to maintain the amperage at which the machine is set.

4) To find a baseline, I adopted the adage: Set amps so you can run a tight arc (just enough), then run a tight arc.  Another adage that helped was to add 1 amp for every .001” of electrode diameter.  With 1/8 (.125) diameter rod, 120 amps of current worked allright for starters.

5) The hotter the metal gets, the more it resists the flow of current.  At some point, if the piece you are working on gets too hot, the machine will have to raise the voltage in order to maintain the target amperage.  That means more watts on the work.  More wattage is more heat.  So unless you pause to cool the piece off, from time to time, be prepared to lower the amperage setting to keep the electrode and the work from melting too fast.

6) You will find yourself experimenting with different machine settings as well as different travel speeds, electrode angles and heights, etc.  It is mostly learning by trial and error.  At some point, it is of tremendous benefit if you can get a professional welder to look at what you are doing.  You don’t want to be practicing bad technique and sometimes there is no knowing for sure if you got it right.  Get a pro to give your practice welds a glance.  That can save you weeks of guesswork.

= Seat Time: = Reading about welding can help you understand how to be a better welder, but only to the extent you are able to put what you read into practice. This is because the act of welding largely is kinesthetic. If you have every played a sport, then you know what it is like to teach yourself to move in certain ways. You start by thinking your way through the move to get an idea of how your muscles will need to work together. Then you practice until it all starts to feel natural. When are you done practicing? Never. You are always seeking to improve your technique. Even your breathing can matter.

To teach myself a move I take three steps. First, with the welder offline and my helmet off, I’ll size up the path I need to follow. I first try to determine how best to place my lower torso. Then I grab a loaded stinger, take a position, and experiment working the electrode along where I will draw the puddle. I want to get an idea of how I am going to have to move as I draw the weld. That gives me a place to start. I make adjustments, fire up the machine, and the rest is just trial and error until your muscles obey without your thinking and the puddle you trace is smooth and even.

*** add something about practicing always to meet changing conditions...every weld is unique.

= You’ll need a good back-hand = To be a welder, you can’t just go left to right. You also have to go the “other” way. That means pushing when you might normally pull, moving across the body instead of away, and using the backhand muscle (the tricep) instead of the forehand (bicep). The forehand was the more natural, at least for me, because that is how I learned to write. The backhand (or cross body) motion took more practice. Here is what I learned.

Using your backhand often means you draping the electrode cable over the "other" shoulder, standing with the "other" foot forward, and switching to using the "other" side of the electrode holder, etc. It feels very "other" and may take some practice. At first, I was gripping the electrode holder way to tight. I needed to practice letting my hand relax. I watched a guy explain his badminton backhand technique on Youtube, for insight.

After a day or so, you find your control with the new set of muscles you are using and it becomes just another technique to practice and refine. Read the section on Seat Time if you have not already.

= The eyes follow the puddle and the body follows the eyes. = This is a kind of simplifying mantra, or maybe it is an incantation. I started saying it right before I strike an arc. It works because, after you have picked your electrode, dialed in the machine, and practiced your technique, when the arc lights, all the things that came before were just to help you draw a good puddle. So don’t just keep an eye on the puddle, lock it in the cross-hairs of your concentration. Gear everything you do to keeping it stage center, uniform, and looking like you want it to. Your world rotates around that weld puddle when the arc is lit.

= Scraps = The Welding Circuit:

Back to music as the analogy: Think of the welder as a set of bag pipes. The engine/generator combo is what huffs out the bag, and the circuit is the part where the sound comes from. Every welder should be familiar with the circuit he is welding on. I use a Lincoln Electric Welder from the Ranger class. These are called "choppers" by some. A chopper first routes the AC output from the welder's generator through a rectifier to produce DC current. This current is then routed through a control board with a microprocessor running at tens of thousands of cycles per second. This is a time scale far beyond the reach of human perception. In a single beat of your heart, the welder might send 10,000 or more pulses (or pulse gaps) of current, each one tailored toward keeping the weld current constant, in the aggregate.

What they don’t tell you in the brochure.

In a way, it runs just like a light bulb. You don't notice it, but

By "familiar" I mean you should at least understand how the components  The circuit I weld on is called a "chopper." different

the the musician and the welding circuit would be the instrument.

place holder for book

title: Yard Welding Fundamentals


text:
South Park: The Stick of Truth/Betrayal From Within

Head to the left and enter the shop. Purchase any supplies you may need, then continue left. Now you must defeat Princess Kenny. After you defeat them, they will return as a Nazi Zombie.

Continue fighting Nazi Zombie Kenny. At some point, Kenny will use one of his special attacks. The attack will depend on the buddy you are currently fighting alongside with. Mash the button to counter the attack. After the attack, your buddy will be replaced by a different one. This process will be defeated for four turns. The first buddy will be whoever you have equipped before the fight, however the next three will be completely random. Regardless of the sequence, the attacks that go with each buddy are:

 * Butters: Kenny summons Death; Butters becomes Professor Chaos to blast Death away with energy
 * Kyle: Kyle kicks Ike into the bottle of Nazi Zombie goo to prevent Kenny from drinking it
 * Jimmy: Kenny summons Nazi Zombie rats; Jimmy lures the rats away with his flute
 * Stan: Kenny summons his Nazi Zombie Unicorn; Stan decapitates it with his sword

Once you have depleted Kenny's health, defeat him once and for all by breaking the gentleman's code and farting on his balls.


text:
Mario franchise strategy guide/Bosses/Gooper Blooper

Gooper Blooper is a squid enemy from the Mario series who first appeared as a boss in Super Mario Sunshine. He has also appeared in Mario Power Tennis, Super Princess Peach and Mario Hoops 3-on-3.

Characteristics
Gooper Blooper is an enlarged version of the enemies known as Bloopers. It has four large tenctacles on the front and four small tentacles on the side. Its skin is coloured white with blue spots. At the end of the tentacles are blue-coloured bulges, similar to suction cups. Its head is arrow-shaped, and the point of it is coloured light blue. It has a black strip across its face, where its eyes are. It can commonly be seen with a cork in its tube-like snout. Gooper Blooper also has a small resemblance to the colossal squid.

Super Mario Sunshine
Gooper Blooper is fought as a boss on three (twice in Ricco Harbor, once in Noki Bay) occasions in Super Mario Sunshine. When Mario first encounters Gooper Blooper it is inside a pile of crates with just one of its tentacles sticking out; if Mario pulls this tentacle, Gooper Blooper will engage in battle. In order to defeat Gooper Blooper Mario must pull off its tentacles, grab its snout and pull it to damage Gooper Blooper. This must be done twice to defeat it. If it's face is sprayed with water, or its snout or tentacle is pulled, it will attempt to smash Mario with its four large tentacles. When one of its tentacles is pulled off, it will eventually grow back. Its main attacks are slapping with its tentacles, and spraying the area around it with ink from its snout. After shooting out ink, its face will be smeared with black ink, which can be washed off with water.

Gooper Blooper appears in a later Ricco Harbor chapter; Mario must re-battle the giant squid using the same techniques he used against it before to defeat it. However this time, the Gooper Blooper uses a few new techniques.

Gooper Blooper surprisingly appears as a boss in the second Noki Bay chapter, it must be defeated again using the same strategy as the previous two battles.

Mario Power Tennis
Gooper Blooper appears in the mini-game Gooper Blooper Volley. Here players must hit balls wacked by Gooper Blooper onto designated squares, if the player hits an undesignated square the game ends. It is impossible for Gooper Blooper to miss a tennis ball, due to having four rackets.

Super Princess Peach
In this game Gooper Blooper is the fifth boss, here it is fought in much the same way as Super Mario Sunshine. He will throw a tentacle at Peach, who in turn must jump on it. When all tentacles are hurt, the mouth will be vulnerable. Gooper Blooper can sleep to heal itself when desperate.

Mario Hoops 3-on-3
Gooper Blooper appears on the Pirate Ship course, if players gets to close to it, it will whack them with its tentacles.

Miscellaneous
A very similar giant Blooper type squid called King Kalamari (Takotsubagessoo in Japan) appeared in the game Super Mario RPG. It is believed that King Kalamari is actually a prototype Gooper Blooper. Another giant Blooper type squid appears in the Deep Blooper Sea gameboard of Mario Party 3.

Earlier promotional material for Super Mario Sunshine shows that Gooper Blooper was originally going to be dark blue in color.


text:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Places

This is a list of fictional locations in the video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Some of these are dungeons within the game and others are areas that are simply a region. They are listed in alphabetical order and can be navigated by lists below.

The locations are reached in this order (dungeons in bold) per the official Nintendo walkthrough:

Optional: Lon Lon Ranch, Fishing Pond, Gerudo Training Ground

Death Mountain
This immense mountain houses the city of the Goron race, as well as Dodongo's Cavern and the Fire Temple, which lies inside the very heart of the mountain itself, and a Great Fairy near the summit. It is located near Kakariko Village, a small town. Due to its instability, rocks and boulders are often rolling around the area. When Link attempts to brave Death Mountain's eruptions as a child, some rocks track Link as he runs and cannot be dodged. This is not the case seven years later. The area is rich in a plant called the Bomb Flower that the Gorons call their "special crop". The slopes of this Hyrulean landmark are infested with Red Tektites - a spider-like creature - and many Gold Skulltula prizes. Death Mountain is a frequently recurring area in the Zelda world. The first version of it appeared in the original The Legend of Zelda.

Desert Colossus
Located in western Hyrule, this is a desert area which arguably isn't as volatile as the Haunted Wasteland, and is home to an oasis, a giant statue of a Gerudo goddess, and the Spirit Temple, Ganondorf's headquarters. A Great Fairy fountain is also found hidden within a cracked wall. Leevers, dangerous cactus-like tunneling enemies, constantly roam the area in daylight. It is possible to complete the Desert Colossus before completing the Shadow Temple. (use the Longshot to get across the sand on the first section of the Haunted Wasteland!)

Gerudo Valley
Gerudo Valley is accessible from west Hyrule Field. The valley is divided by a large chasm; at the bottom of which is a river, which leads into Lake Hylia. If Link goes there as child, he can't get to the other side because of the Gerudo guard blocking his path. He can, however, grab hold of a Cucco and glide down to a small riverbed at the bottom of the canyon to find a Gerudo woman, a cow, and soil for planting magic beans. When Link is an adult, the bridge has been destroyed, and Link must use the longshot or Epona to get to the other side. Once Link rescues all the carpenters from Gerudo's Fortress, they will rebuild the bridge.

Goron City
Goron City is located in a cave near the top of Death Mountain in the northeast corner of Hyrule. It can be accessed by climbing the Death Mountain Trail from Kakariko Village. Within the city itself, a series of boulders in one alcove can be shattered to create a pathway to a teleport to the Lost Woods in Kokiri Forest. Goron City is inhabited by the Gorons and ruled by their chief, Darunia. It contains a number of shops and a giant spinning vase. When a bomb is thrown correctly into the vase, rupees appear depending upon which face the vase stops on. In the center of Goron City is a platform suspended by ropes where the Goron Ruby was once displayed. When Link becomes an adult all the Gorons, except Darunia's son (who is named after the player) and the store clerk, have been captured by Ganondorf to be fed to Volvagia, the dragon boss of the Fire Temple. In Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, there are Goron Cities in Holodrum and Labrynna, and in Termina in Majora's Mask. Goron tribes are featured elsewhere as well, such as in Four Swords Adventures. Gorons are almost completely absent from The Wind Waker, and the game does not directly explain their absence; the only Gorons seen in the game are three traveling salesmen wearing hats that cover their faces (although these can be blown off with the Deku Leaf). The Gorons in Twilight Princess are significantly larger and more aggressive than their previous versions. They refuse Link entry to Death Mountain until he proves his worth by defeating their leader in a sumo wrestling match.

Haunted Wasteland
The Haunted Wasteland is located to the west of Gerudo Valley and only accessible through a gate kept by the Gerudo. The area is very dangerous and in order to cross it, Link must complete two challenges. The first is the 'River of Sand'. Link must use the longshot to get to the other side or risk being swallowed by the river. Alternatively, the Hover Boots can be used to walk across it. After the river, flag posts guide Link to a platform where the second challenge--the Spirit Guide--begins. There Link must equip the Lens of Truth and follow the Poe guide through the remainder of the desert. (Players who have memorized the route are able to cross without the Lens.) Failing to adhere to this path results in getting "lost", and Link returns to the entrance of the wasteland minus some health. On the other side is the Desert Colossus, a huge statue that houses the Spirit Temple. Besides the two challenges, the desert is also home to a carpet merchant who sells bombchus.

In a certain area of the wasteland, by straying from the Poe's path a bit, one can see what appears to be a pyramid structure. During the extensive hunt for the Triforce, this pyramid was one of many points of interest for the search. It soon became apparent, though, that this "pyramid" was actually just part of the level boundary, given the triangular shape because of occlusion by the dust in the air.

Hyrule Castle
Hyrule Castle and its surrounding area is the arguably most prominent and important place in the game, housing both the Temple of Time, a town, many of the game's plot twists, and the game's final bosses, Ganon and Ganondorf. Surrounded by a small village, drawbridge, and moat, it models the stereotypical monarchial or feudalistic castle. The king of Hyrule is never seen in the game, although Ganondorf is seen inside the castle at one point, apparently bribing or otherwise influencing the king to support his plans. Along with the poor castle defense and the subsequent sack of Hyrule Castle, the entire ruling body of Hyrule is generally made out to seem powerless against him. This is a common theme throughout the Zelda games, leaving room for Link to quest and make right that which the kingdom cannot.

Most of the castle is never seen or explored. The castle courtyard, including extensive gardens, are the only areas available to explore.

Castle Courtyard
The castle courtyard serves several purposes, both as introducing the characters of Princess Zelda and Impa, and as a staging point for embarking on the next series of quests. One curious feature of the courtyard is the paintings of several Nintendo characters, including Mario and Yoshi, as can be seen through one window. Using the Slingshot, hitting the Mario character successfully will earn Link a red rupee. Aiming towards the opposite window will result in a bomb thrown at Link.

The Beta Quest, a game mode unlockable through usage of a GameShark, reveals the complete Triforce hidden under the courtyard. This find, although not an answer to obtaining the Triforce sought by gamers, was an interesting twist to the players' understanding of the game's original intent to make the Triforce an obtainable item. It is now known, however, that this Triforce is simply the Triforce symbol that appears on the player's hand during the game.

Market
The market is located in northern Hyrule, below Hyrule Castle/Ganon's Tower on the map. The only 'essential' item attainable here is the Hylian Shield. This area features a main section and a few alley ways. Several buildings are accessible (as a child), including a bazaar, the Happy Mask Shop, several houses, and some games. The Happy Mask Shop contains masks up for trade, similar to the trade sequence in The Wind Waker. The masks (and other items) are obtainable as follows:
 * Keaton Mask
 * Skull Mask
 * Spooky Mask
 * Bunny Hood
 * Mask of Truth
 * Goron Mask
 * Zora Mask
 * Gerudo Mask

As an adult, what was once the lively, bubbly marketplace is now a desolate and dark ruin. The villagers are gone, and ReDead inhabit the place. Most buildings in the market are destroyed and cannot be entered when Link is an adult. This area uses a fixed 3D perspective.

Hyrule Field
Hyrule Field is the large expanse of grassland in the very center of Hyrule, surrounded by the many places of interest in the game. From Hyrule Field, it is possible to access most areas of the known kingdom. To the north of Hyrule Field is Hyrule Castle Town. It is surrounded by a moat and can be entered by a drawbridge, which closes at night. To the west lies Gerudo Valley, over which a long plank bridge extends towards Gerudo Fortress and the Haunted Wasteland. To the northeast is Kakariko Village and Death Mountain. To the east is Zora's Domain. To the southeast is Kokiri Forest and the Lost Woods. To the south is Lake Hylia. Zora's River flows around the perimeter of Hyrule Field. Aside from Lon Lon Ranch at its center, there is little else actually in the field. There are small stands of trees in the north corner across the river and near the entrance to Kokiri Forest. A series of trails lead from Zora's Domain to Lake Hylia along Zora's River, past Gerudo Valley and Hyrule Castle Town. Another trail lies to the east of Lon Lon Ranch and another perpendicular to that. At night, when Link is a child, Stalchildren will attack anyone wandering the field, and Peahats, which inhabit the western part of the field, will attack anyone wandering during the day. No enemies inhabit the field when Link is an adult other than the Poes that can be found at specific spots throughout the field. When riding Epona, Big Poes appear at these specific locations instead.

There is no equivalent to Hyrule Field in the other games in the series, except for Termina Field in Majora's Mask, South and North Hyrule Fields (in The Minish Cap), and the Hyrule Field in Twilight Princess. Instead, the general vicinities of grassland surrounding Hyrule Castle are usually unnamed.

Kakariko Village
Kakariko is a rather peaceful village when Link is a child, and even so at times as an adult. There are several things to do here, such as collect Anju's cuccos as a child for a prize bottle, and play a shooting game in a building as an adult. After the seven-year passing, the village is affected by the monster Bongo Bongo. Also, Link can use the help of a potion lady as part of the Biggoron Sword side quest. The Skulltula House is located in Kakariko Village.

Graveyard
Adjacent to the village is the graveyard. When Link is a child, he finds that Dampé the Gravedigger runs the Heart-Pounding Gravedigging Tour in which Link can receive a Heart Piece. It is also possible to obtain the Hylian Shield from one of the tombs towards the front of the graveyard. As an adult, Dampé the gravekeeper is now dead, although can be found in his grave as a ghost. Link races him for the Hookshot, which is essential for getting into the Forest Temple. One inaccessible ledge leads to the Shadow Temple and can only be reached by the Nocturne of Shadow. As a child, Link enters the Royal Family's Tomb and learns the Sun's Song from a gravestone deep within.

House of Skulltula
In Kakariko Village, there is a house in which cursed humans, turned into Skulltulas, live. To break the curse of the family, one must collect a certain number of golden Skulltula tokens (from killing certain small gold Skulltulas, for which the token serves as some sort of carapace - thus they are called golden Skulltulas). As a reward, the human whose curse was broken will each in turn give the character a different specified item:

 * Adult's Wallet (10 Skulltula Tokens)
 * Stone of Agony (20 Skulltula Tokens)
 * Giant's Wallet (30 Skulltula Tokens)
 * Ten Bombchus (40 Skulltula Tokens)
 * Heart Piece (50 Skulltula Tokens)
 * Unlimited Gold Rupees (100 Skulltula Tokens)

? (Windmill)
A somewhat large windmill exists in the southern part of Kakariko Village, known as ? in the game. A man (known as Guru-Guru in Majora's Mask) who plays an instrument lives in ?. He tells the character as an adult that someone played a song that sped up the windmill in the past. He teaches Link it as an adult seven years later. The character learns this song (Song of Storms) and can play it as a kid as the windmill man said happened (in an ontological paradox). ? is also the name of Dampe's grave as it is connected to the windmill.

Kokiri Forest
Kokiri Forest is a forest east of Hyrule Field accessed by a single entrance over a bridge through the Lost Woods. It is Link's homeland. Its inhabitants are the child-like Kokiri and their fairies overseen by the Great Deku Tree. Mido is the self-proclaimed Kokiri leader. Kokiri Forest contains six buildings: the houses of Link, Saria, Mido, the Twins, and the Know-It-All Brothers, and a shop. The forest has a training area and a stream running through it. To the east of Kokiri Forest lies the Lost Woods. In the early stages of the game, when Link is a child, Kokiri Forest is a peaceful place, but when he returns in the later stages as an adult, the place has become overrun with Deku Baba, and the Kokiri inhabitants only stay indoors. Once the Forest Temple stage has been completed and the Deku Sprout appears, the area returns to normal. In The Wind Waker, after the flood, Kokiri Forest is now the Forest Haven and the Forbidden Woods. It is now inhabited by Koroks.

Major items: Kokiri Sword, Deku Shield

Lake Hylia
Lake Hylia is located in southern Hyrule. The giant body of water can be accessed by climbing on top of a wall in southern Hyrule that leads there, following the river from Gerudo Valley, or by using Epona to jump over tall fences blocking the way to the lake. There are several noteworthy places therein: a laboratory, a fishing pond, a small area beneath a tombstone, and a major island with a lone tree, connected to the mainland by bridges. The Scarecrow's Song can be learned on the lake's furrowed shores. Ruins of ivory or granite columns akin to those found at Zora's Fountain and bearing the Zora's insignia protrude from the shore like a dock stretching towards the major island. There is an entrance at the base of the central island that leads to the Water Temple, and a portal within the submerged coastal ruins which links to the waters within Zora's Domain. When Link is a child in Ocarina of Time, the lake is completely filled, but as an adult the lake is mostly drained, although rain never ceases to fall near the Water Temple's entrance. Link must traverse the temple and defeat the evil Morpha who is sustaining the lake's curse; once this boss is defeated, Lake Hylia fills again with water.

Major items: Bottle (as a child), Fire Arrows (as an adult)

Fishing Pond
The Fishing Pond is a fairly small area adjacent to Lake Hylia where Link may fish. There are a few secrets, including a special lure called the Sinking Lure and the ability to catch the hat of the man tending to the pond. A session costs 20 rupees. Link can receive a Piece of Heart and other items for catching a record-size fish.

The Hylian Loach, a highly elusive eel-like creature, can be found here just before dawn and just before dusk. Usually weighing at around 30-35 pounds, it dwells on the bottom of the pond if it decides to make an appearance at all.

Major Items: Golden Scale

Lakeside Laboratory
Within the area of Lake Hylia there is a small laboratory in which an old scientist lives. He will measure how deep Link can dive and is a part of the Biggoron Sword side quest. Using the Golden Scale while diving in the tank here will yield a Piece of Heart.

Lon Lon Ranch
Located in the center of Hyrule, Lon Lon Ranch is a horse and cattle ranch originally owned and run by Talon. As a child, Link can learn Epona's Song from his daughter, Malon, which calls Epona over to him when played on the ocarina. This song is useful when Link wishes to ride her as an adult in Hyrule Field and other places. When Link is an adult, Ingo, the once spiteful farmhand under Talon's employ, has become a weak follower of Ganondorf, taken over the farm and kicked Talon out, who thereafter resides in Kakariko Village. The character must beat Ingo in two horse races (which costs 50 rupees per race if Link loses) in order to keep Epona for himself and win back the ranch. Freeing Talon from his doze in Kakariko requires the Pocket Cucco from the Cucco Woman, and kick-starts the Biggoron Sword Quest.

Lost Woods
Adjacent to Kokiri Forest, the Lost Woods are a somewhat tricky area that must be carefully passed through, since most of the paths lead back out the entrance. When Link first goes through the Lost Woods, he can use the sound of Saria's Song to guide him to the end. This ends at the Sacred Forest Meadow, where Saria teaches Link Saria's Song as a child. Within the Lost Woods are pathways leading to both Goron City and Zora's River, as well as several mini-games. The Skull Mask can be sold to the lone Skull Kid here. The character's Deku Seed Bag can also be upgraded in a simple task of slingshot target-practice.

Sacred Forest Meadow
The Sacred Forest Meadow is the favorite haunt of Saria. It lies in the center of the Lost Woods and can be reached by following the sound of Saria's Song. The gate to the forest maze in this area is guarded by a Wolfos. The maze is infested with Deku Scrubs when Link is a child, and Moblins when Link is an adult. Beyond the maze Saria teaches Link Saria's Song (essential to entering Dodongo's Cavern) as a child. As an adult the Forest Temple can be reached here using the Hookshot.

Zora's Domain
Zora's Domain is located in the eastern part of Hyrule, behind the Sleepless Waterfall at the source of Zora's River. Since those who dwell there, the Zora, are a secluded race, only those knowing "Zelda's Lullaby," which is generally taught only to members of the Royal Family of Hyrule, are granted passage through the waterfall and into the domain. However, Zora's Domain can also be accessed via portals within Lake Hylia and the Lost Woods. The domain itself is a rock shelter grotto formed within the cliffside and does not contain much aside from a throne room, an inner waterfall and a small shop. King Zora is its ruler, and with his permission Link can enter Zora's Fountain beyond his throne where Lord Jabu-Jabu, the Zoras' revered fish deity, resides. Link can also play a diving game at the top of the inner waterfall where he can win a Silver Scale. When Link is a child, Zora's Domain is filled with water and thriving with Zoras, but when he returns as an adult, it is frozen over and largely abandoned—only King Zora and the shop merchant remain, trapped in unnatural red ice. The Ice Cavern is accessible through Zora's Fountain when Link is an adult.

Zora's Domain may be a remodeled version of the unnamed lake at the source of the river leading to Lake Hylia in A Link to the Past. Located at the base of Death Mountain in northeastern Hyrule, this lake is home to many river Zora including an extremely large Zora whose Zora's Flippers are readily for sale and from whom King Zora may be derived.

Zora's River
Zora's River is a river running from Zora's Fountain to Lake Hylia. It flows through Zora's Domain, Hyrule Field, Hyrule Castle Market and Gerudo Valley, before finally ending at Lake Hylia. The Magic Bean salesman sits near the downstream entrance of Zora's River when Link is a child.

Inside The Great Deku Tree
The Great Deku Tree, lies deep within the Kokiri Forest and is the wise guardian of the Kokiri people, their forest, and the Lost Woods. Its role was to protect the Hero of Time until he was needed. The tree was cursed by Ganondorf with a parasitic creature named Queen Gohma after the Deku Tree refused to give him the Kokiri's Emerald. This curse caused the Deku Tree to die slowly from the inside, and after completing the dungeon, the Deku Tree reveals to Link that he was doomed from the curse all along, then dies.
 * Element Theme: Wood
 * Item: Fairy Slingshot
 * Boss: Parasitic Armored Arachnid: Queen Gohma
 * Floor Range: 2B-3F
 * Sacred Stone: Kokiri's Emerald

Dodongo's Cavern
Dodongo's Cavern is the main source of food – minerals and rocks – for Gorons. It is also home to Dodongos and other lizard-like beasts. Ganondorf sealed the entrance with a boulder and made the number of Dodongos increase and summoned up King Dodongo in an attempt to weaken the Gorons and overpower them, again, mainly to gain control of the Goron's Ruby.
 * Element Theme: Fire | Lava
 * Major Item: Bomb Bag (holds 20 bombs)
 * Sub Boss: 2 Lizardolf (x2) wel
 * Boss: Infernal Dinosaur: King Dodongo
 * Floor Range: 1F-2F
 * Sacred Stone: Goron's Ruby

Inside Lord Jabu-Jabu's Belly
Lord Jabu-Jabu (jä'boo jä'boo) is the protector of the Zora and their Domain. Like the Deku Tree, Ganondorf cursed  him with a parasitic infestation of electric jelly fish called Biri and Bari, poison bubbles called Shabom and rock spitting Octoroks in an attempt to acquire the Zora's Sapphire. The infestation also caused Jabu-Jabu to eat Princess Ruto who had the sapphire with her.
 * Element Theme: Inturnal | Water
 * Major Item: Boomerang
 * Sub-Boss: Bigocto
 * Boss: Bio-electric Anemone: Barinade
 * Floor Range: 1F-1B
 * Sacred Stone: Zora's Sapphire

Ice Cavern
The Ice Cavern is located off Zora's Fountain and accessible only as an adult by jumping across ice blocks. It is a minor dungeon that usually should be completed before attempting the Water Temple. The final boss is a White Wolfos and defeating him earns Link the Iron Boots and Link learns the Serenade of Water from Sheik. Also in the dungeon are a few endless supplies of blue fire which can be used to melt King Zora and the Zora Shop entrance.
 * Element Theme: Ice
 * Major Item: Iron Boots
 * Sub-Boss: White Wolfos
 * Floor Range: 1F

Bottom of the Well
The Bottom of the Well is a minor dungeon that should be completed before attempting the Shadow Temple. It is located in the eastern part of Kakariko Village and is only accessible when Link is a child after he has learned the Song of Storms and drained the 'Well of Three Features (Dark! Narrow! Scary!)', as it is called. The Bottom of the Well is infested with ReDead, Gibdos, Wallmasters, and Like Likes. It is referred to as Kakariko Well in Nintendo's official Player's Guide. The Lens of Truth is gained here by defeating an enemy named Dead Hand. It being a prison to the Shadow Spirit found as an adult could mean it is also prison for other spirits, due to the sighting of several paintings of the dead that speak metaphorically, providing vague hints on dangers that lie up ahead.
 * Element Theme: Earth
 * Major Item: Lens of Truth
 * Sub-Boss: Dead Hand
 * Floor Range: 2F

Temple of Time
The Temple of Time, located around Hyrule Castle, is the place in which the ancient relic known as the Master Sword lies. By collecting three spiritual stones and playing the Song of Time with the Ocarina of Time in front of the Altar of Time inside the temple, the Door of Time opens so the player can become an adult. It is also the entrance into the Sacred Realm, where the ancient Triforce lies. It is said that only the Hero of Time may enter the secret chambers of the temple and draw the Master Sword; as such, Ganondorf can only gain entrance to the Realm once Link performs this task. The Temple of Time is also the entrance to the Light Temple, one of the six temples of Hyrule that are linked to each other by mystical forces.
 * Element Theme: Light
 * Major Item: Master Sword
 * Sub-Boss: None
 * Boss: None
 * Floor Range: 1F
 * Light Sage: * Rauru
 * Warp Song: Prelude of Light

The Temple of Time is featured once again in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The temple itself has gone into ruin and been forgotten by the time the events of Twilight Princess took place, but Link still visits it as a dungeon. In Twilight Princess, its position in Hyrule is heavily retconned, or possibly modified. Rather than appearing in the north, directly north-east of Castle Town, it appears in an uncharted area of the Ocarina of Time map-- being the Faron Woods in Twilight Princess.

When found, the Master Sword rests in the Pedestal of Time in a forest clearing surrounded by spring water and trees, similar to its location in A Link to the Past. Once the player has acquired the Master Sword, a door frame left in a broken wall can be entered, transporting Link into a non-ruined version of the temple. This implies that the player has actually travelled through time to the Temple of Time before it was forgotten and left in ruins. The interior architecture is also heavily retconned. There is no pedestal for the three Spiritual Stones, no pedestal for the Light Medallion, and not even a suitable Door of Time (being very significantly smaller). However, "Time Door" is written on the mysterious door in Twilight Princess ' s Hylian language.

The Master Sword's Pedestal of Time has also changed slightly, there is no Triforce marking, and the six medallion symbols do not circle around it. When the player strikes the Master Sword the Pedestal of Time in the "past" temple, it opens a magical walkway similar to the one that sages created for Link in Ocarina of Time to make it possible for him to walk to Ganon's Tower. Upon walking up the walkway, the player enters the Temple of Time dungeon, consisting of eight floors and having a magic wand called the Dominion Rod residing in it.

In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, it is likely that the gigantic tree on the south side of the Great Bridge of Hylia is the same tree on the island above Water Temple in Ocarina of Time, thus alluding to the possibility that the entrance to the Lanayru spirit shrine, which is directly under the island with the tree in Twilight Princess, may have once been the entrance to Ocarina of Time's Water Temple.

Light Temple
The mystic place where the sages gather. it is the place where link collects his medallions after every temple. He also gets a medallion just for coming here. It was Said to be located in the sky or ether world.
 * Element Theme: Light | Air
 * Major Item(s): Medallions
 * Floor Range: 1F

Forest Temple
The Forest Temple is supposed to be the first of five main temples through which the player must progress during the part of the game in which the main character, Link, is an adult. It is an ancient ruin dedicated to the Forest. It is located in the Sacred Forest Meadow within the Lost Woods and accessible only with the Hookshot since the entrance stairs have collapsed. The temple consists of two floors and two basement levels. There are two courtyards in the back. There are two hallways in the temple which can be "twisted," allowing Link to enter the rooms beyond at a different orientation. The major treasure of the Forest Temple is the Fairy Bow, which is gained after defeating three Stalfos. There are four sub-bosses, the "Poe Sisters" Joelle, Beth, Amy, and Meg (named after the four main characters of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women). Additionally, two sets of two and three Stalfos respectively can be considered "mini-bosses", because they play the sub-boss theme.
 * Element Theme: Wood
 * Major Item: Fairy Bow
 * Sub-Boss: Poe Sisters (x4)
 * Boss: Evil Spirit from Beyond: Phantom Ganon
 * Floor Range: 2B-2F
 * Forest Sage: Saria
 * Warp Song: Minuet of Forest

Fire Temple
The Fire Temple (based on the place of worship for Zoroastrians) is usually the second major dungeon that Link experiences as an adult. It is located inside Death Mountain Crater, which can be accessed through Darunia's chamber in Goron City. Due to the intense heat in the active crater, areas of the temple can only be entered while wearing a Goron Tunic, which protects its wearer from searing temperatures. The Fire Temple was built as two large, five-floor columns that are interconnected by a series of hallways on the first and third floors, and it is often sectioned into chambers and large mazes. The first floor of the temple is essentially a large lava pit, and is also where the boss's lair is found. It is suggested from its columnar structure and the location of its entrance that the temple extends into the twin peaks visible inside the crater, which could be a reference to Spectacle Rock. The vertical shafts in the center of these columns allow smoke to rise from the lava pits on the first floor up and out of the crater, and due to their height it is possible for Link to fall several stories down these shafts. In traversing the temple Link must climb to its higher floors to receive the weapon of the legendary Goron hero, the Megaton Hammer.
 * Element Theme: Fire | Lava
 * Major Item: Megaton Hammer
 * Sub-Boss: Flare Dancer
 * Boss: Subterranean Lava Dragon: Volvagia
 * Floor Range: 1F-5F
 * Fire Sage: Darunia
 * Warp Song: Bolero of Fire

Another notable thing in the Fire Temple is the music theme. The original music contained chanting that sounded vaguely Islamic. Nintendo was forced to change this theme and replace the chants with groans taken from the background music of the Shadow Temple. Many fans prefer the old theme to the new one, however. The premium placed on the version 1.0 and 1.1 cartridges is in part because of this.

Water Temple
The Water Temple is usually the third major dungeon of the adult-Link portion of the game, and is where the Zoras pay homage to the water spirits. It is located beneath the waters of Lake Hylia at the base of the lake's largest island. The Water Temple is effectively a maze of chambers on four floors, some only accessible when the water of the temple is at a certain level. Part of the challenge of this temple is being able to raise and lower the water level effectively. The temple's main treasure is the Longshot. The Water Temple has been called the hardest temple in the game due to the water puzzles as well as overlooked doors and openings to new rooms. Some suggest that the difficulty has been decreased in the Master Quest version, but this is a subjective evaluation. The Water Temple was intended to be reached using the Iron Boots and the Zora Tunic, which allow you to sink to Lake Hylia's bottom to the temple entrance is, opening it with the Hookshot. The Zora Tunic, however, is not actually needed to enter and complete the temple, and only removes the time limit incurred by swimming underwater.
 * Element Theme: Water
 * Major Item: Longshot
 * Sub-Boss: Dark Link
 * Boss: Giant Aquatic Amoeba: Morpha
 * Floor Range: 3F-1B
 * Water Sage: Princess Ruto
 * Warp Song: Serenade of Water

Shadow Temple
The Shadow Temple is intended to be the fourth major dungeon in the adult-Link portion of the game. The Shadow Temple is located on the ledge in the far east side of Kakariko Graveyard and can be accessed only by playing the "Nocturne of Shadow" and Din's Fire. Some believe that the Shadow Temple and The Bottom Of The Well are the same dungeon (since they both are only composed of basements, the designs are very similar, they both possess the same music, and they are both located in Kakariko Village). The Shadow Temple consists of four floors infested with ReDeads, Gibdos, Like Likes, and Dead Hand as well as the many paintings of the dead that give clues to the frightening darkness. The temple is described as a house of the dead. It includes many invisible enemies and false walls making a near-continuous use of the Lens of Truth necessary for many players, although more experienced ones are able to clear the dungeon without the item. The temple layout is unlike the others in that players find a key or solve a puzzle in one area and move on to the next with little backtracking. Many metaphors are used that are read usually from the paintings of the dead who obviously know the dungeon that make the clues strange each one means the following
 * Element Theme: Shadow | Earth
 * Major Item: Hover Boots
 * Sub-Boss: Dead Hand
 * Boss: Phantom Shadow Beast: Bongo Bongo
 * Floor Range: 1B-4B
 * Shadow Sage: Impa
 * Warp Song: Nocturne of Shadow

 * "The shadows will only yield to those who have the Eye of Truth..."; false walls etc. can be identified with the Lens of Truth for reason being the painting is false.

 * "Make my beak face the truth... a descent into deep darkness"; make the beak face the real skull or possibly a trap will reveal an abyss.

 * ... Sacred Feet... valley of the dead"; the Hover Boots are obviously the "Sacred Feet" and "valley of the dead" is unknown but most likely it's the abyss you must cross.

 * "... trick of the ill"; flying jars are nearby.

 * "... ferry to the other world..."; Most likely refers to the boss room. The room in which you face Bongo Bongo is completely dark, and contains a drum that moves constantly in the same direction, theoretically forever, probably meaning that you are temporarily transported into an flat, endless parallel universe.

Spirit Temple
The Spirit Temple is, according to the standard game progression, the fifth major dungeon of the adult Link portion of the game. The Spirit Temple lies within the Desert Colossus to the west of the Haunted Wastelands. The temple is divided into two portions - one accessible only when Link is a child and the other only when he is an adult. The child Link section consists mostly of puzzles along a linear climb to the top of the temple. Its boss is an Iron Knuckle and its defeat earns Link the Silver Gauntlets, which are required to access the adult Link section of the Temple. In the adult-Link portion, the temple is less linear and more action-based. Its major treasure is the Mirror Shield. According to the game, the Spirit Temple was built by all-female architects and masons from the Gerudo tribe of thieves. It is said to hold a vast amount of treasure and secrets, presumably in the form of picture writing that can be seen on its walls inside the game. It was once Ganondorf's hideout before invading the Sacred Realm. On an interesting note, a design above certain doors in the temple greatly resembles the final boss of Kirby 64.
 * Element Theme: Sand
 * Major Items: Silver Gauntlets, Mirror Shield
 * Sub-Boss: Iron Knuckle (x3)
 * Boss: Sorceress Sisters: Twinrova
 * Floor Range: 1F-4F
 * Spirit Sage: Nabooru
 * Warp Song: Requiem of Spirit

Ganon's Castle
Element Theme: All 6 This castle is where Hyrule Castle once stood and was built when Ganondorf took over Hyrule. It appears only as Adult Link and contains six mini-dungeons which must be cleared to access the central tower. These dungeons are based upon six out of the seven sages, excluding Zelda: a Forest, Fire, Water, Shadow, Spirit, and Light dungeon. This is where the final battles of the game, the first between Link and Ganondorf and the second between Link and Ganon, occur.
 * Major Item: Goldnen Gantlets
 * Sub Bosses: Dinolfos (x2), Stalfos (x4), Iron Knuckles (x2)
 * Boss: Great King of Evil: Ganondorf
 * Floor Range: 2B-2F
 * Sage: Ganondorf
 * Warp Song: None