One of the funniest gam3r comments complaints whines that Gamer Bling has heard regarding the launch of 4e was that 4e doesn’t stress role-playing. That it is really just a miniatures game in RPG clothing. In fact, Gamer Bling heard several gam3rs argue that 4e isn’t a role-playing game at all.

Even Lone Wolf’s brogue-alicious Colen MacAlister, who is ordinarily a very intelligent guy, fell for this argument, and relayed it to Yours Truly at Gen Con 2008. Of course, by Gen Con 2009, he had actually played 4e, and vowed that he could never return to 3.5. Gamer Bling has also taken this vow.

Now, when he originally heard this argument, Gamer Bling was given significant pause to wonder. How can a game be definitively proven to be a role-playing game, or to stress role-playing? By definition, role-playing is not something that can be classified, categorized, and ruled upon. Doing so makes it a rule-playing game.

Simply put, to quote the august Mike Pondsmith, who is an amazingly creative guy and has given Gamer Bling many freelance dollars over the years, as well as allowed him to vent his frustrations regarding the First Edition Gamer Bling Official Companion upon a stack of boxes of old product, “RPGs are ‘let’s pretend’ with rules.”

This necessarily splits the content of an RPG into the role-playing part of “let’s pretend” and the rule-playing part. The rule-playing part deals with the effects of interactions: his sword versus her head (as Gamer Bling immediately commits a Freudian slip that clearly reflects his opinion on the First Edition Gamer Bling Official Companion). The role-playing part deals with the style of interactions and the motivations behind them.

Any gam3r worth his weight in pretzels must necessarily understand that any RPG book must focus primarily upon the rule-playing portion of the game. After all, most of us instinctively know how to play “let’s pretend.” Heck, most of us do it at the movies, when we agree or disagree with the activities of a character and whisper back and forth about it until the people behind us call the usher and we get ejected from the theater.

In point of fact, the Second Edition Gamer Bling Official Companion is a fan of making many comments during movies, though fortunately she only does so when we are watching movies at home. At times, the Gamer Bling Official Companion can be a regular pit bull of opinion, and when a movie is unrealistic Gamer Bling often wishes she would just let it go and suspend her disbelief from a noose dangling from the ceiling fan.

In any event, Gamer Bling was moved to wonder whether or not WotC had, in fact, created an RPG that wasn’t an RPG. But to make a determination, he first had to figure out how to go about analyzing the data.

The first thing that Gamer Bling decided was that he was NOT going to do it by word count. No way. He’d be up all night for weeks, muttering “three thousand seven hundred and forty two… three thousand seven hundred and forty three… three thousand seven hundred and forty four… um… zzzzzzzz…”

Even page count isn’t necessarily accurate, since (a) pages can have dramatically different numbers of words, and (b) Gamer Bling keeps getting distracted by all the pretty pictures. On the other hand, comparing page count to total book length is a reasonable estimate of how much gravitas a subject is considered to have.

Eventually, as Gamer Bling ruminated on the issue, it basically boiled down to the questions “What sort of examples do the rulebooks give?” and “What priority do the rulebooks imply?” and “How can I make some actual money doing this blasted web page?” Even ten dollars would be fine. That’d pay for pizza.

So Gamer Bling did a side-by-side comparison of the 4e rulebook and the 3.5e version that Gamer Bling has with a gold foil stamp on the cover that says, “GenCon 2003,” because it gives Yours Truly a chance to taunt people with his ownership of the book before he eventually puts it up on eBay to pay the Gamer Bling Monthly Access Fee.

The first thing that strikes Gamer Bling is that the 4e rulebook is friendlier (“How to Play” vs. 3e’s “Introduction,” and “Making Characters” vs. 3e’s “Abilities”), but that does not bear on whether or not it is an RPG, just how easy it is for n00bs like Josh to learn.

The introductory section takes three pages in 3.5 (1% of the book) and eight pages in 4e (3%). In addition, the 4e PHB provides an example of a role-playing session dialog before it presents the core mechanic of the game. In contrast, 3.5 moved the role-playing example so far behind the core mechanic that it apparently tripped over the index and fell right out of the back of the book. Oops.

Maybe that’s because in a real 3.5 RPG session there is little talking as folks spend so much time looking up the rules for grappling.

The next several chapters of both PHBs take players through the task of making their characters. In 3.5, they start with abilities, then race, class, skills, and feats. Then 3.5 ends with a pitiful 8-page chapter on “description.” So 3.5 demonstrates (intentionally or not) that description is the last thing you should think of when building your character.

In contrast, Gamer Bling is of the opinion that one must have the character’s gestalt before trying to bring it into life with abilities and such. 4e starts that part of the book with a 20-page chapter on “Making Characters,” which includes a section titled “Roleplaying.”

Gamer Bling looked; nowhere in the 3.5 PHB is there a section labeled “Roleplaying.” Zing.

3.5 spends a page—a whole page!—with charts for height, weight, and age. 4e ignores that almost entirely, leaving it in the hands of the players with no more than brief guidelines. Role-playing versus rule-playing. Zing.

In contrast, 3.5 spends a pitiful half a page on “Looks, Background, and Personality”—what, no eye-color charts?—before getting back to “Customizing Your Character.” 4e spends two pages discussing Personality, Mannerisms, Appearance, and Background.

After the introduction comes the Races chapter. Which makes sense, since if you parse out the standard PC intro, “I’m playing a” is the introduction, which is then followed by the race and then the class, as in “I’m playing a dwarf fighter” or “I’m playing a flying fire-breathing Syberis kobold rogue/sorcerer/arcane trickster so I’m better than you.”

In 3.5, each race gets a description and a black-and-white head shot or two. In 4e, each race gets a description with a full-color illustration. Each version gives racial rules and abilities, physical qualities, personality, etc.

The big difference is this: In 3.5, “Choosing a Race” is the title of a section at the start of a chapter. It deals with how your race/class combo can impact how potent your character is. In contrast, each race in 4e has a small section labeled “Play a [race] if you want…” and follows it up with three reasons, two of which are pure role-playing and personality issues, and only the third deals with race/class combo.

Next, we check out classes.

3.5 spends 40 pages, 14% of the book, on classes. 4e spends 126 pages, or 40% of the book. Now this is not a fair comparison, of course, since the 126 pages includes many, many options for each class. Because apparently (according to gam3rs) having options precludes role-playing, while renaming your skill from “move silently” to “footpaddin’ ” is extraordinary role-playing (see the end of the 3.5 Description chapter if you fail to catch the reference).

To compare the classes more equally, we should lump the Magic and Spells chapters in with the Classes chapter for 3.5. But that, too, is unfair, as we shall discuss presently. So instead, let’s look at how the classes are presented.

In 3.5, the section starts out with a brief description of a generic [classname]. There then follow the sort of adventures the class takes, what the class is like, what their alignment is likely to be, their religion, background, best races, opinions of other classes, and role in the party. Then we get into the game rules for the class.

4e starts out with a pull quote and a big ol’ illustration to set the mood. Then, in a rare case where 3.5 presents role-playing material first, 4e has a block that deals primarily with game statistics. But then 4e follows again with a larger description of the [classname]. Following that, players can pick a slant for their [classname], which is again prefaced with a solid description.

So the way that 3.5 and 4e present classes is fairly even. The big difference is in how 3.5 and 4e present sample adventurers.

In 3.5, sample adventurers are placed in the classes section and presented in emotionless game-stat format: “Human Sorcerer Starting Package / Armor: None (speed 30 ft.) / Weapons: Shortspear (1d6, crit x2, range inc. 20 ft., 3 lb, one-handed, piercing)…”

In 4e, sample adventurers are placed in the races section and presented in role-playing personality format without any game stats whatsoever: “Donaar is a paladin of Erathis [who] believes that the dragonborn race is destined to rise from the ashes of its ancient empire…. As a reminder of his heritage, he keeps a piece of the shell from which he hatched in an amulet around his neck.”

Next, Gamer Bling observes that both 3.5 and 4e give roughly equal treatment to the chapters on combat (10%) and adventuring (3%). The sole difference is that in 4e, the chapter on adventuring comes before combat, while in 3.5 combat comes first. But of course adventures should be more important, right? Because adventures lead to combat, but not vice versa, right? So which version pushes adventuring to the rear? Why, 3.5.

Skills and feats get more or less equal attention, although Gamer Bling will point out that skills and feats have less import in 4e than they do in 3.5, because the class abilities are so much more flexible and impactful.

The equipment chapter in 4e is longer, because it has magic items. So call that a wash.

Finally, the last 40% of the 3.5 PHB is devoted purely to spells. That’s over one third of the book devoted to effects that 4 out of the 11 base classes cannot use. Worse yet, another 3 out of those 11 can’t use nearly all of the spells, being restricted in level to 6 (bard) or 4 (paladin, ranger). That’s an awful lot of the book devoted to a few classes.

This fact requires barbarians, fighters, monks, and rogues to employ feats to develop an identity. But that’s an argument for another day.

In conclusion, Gamer Bling presents another fun Deathmatch table:

So remind Gamer Bling… which version stresses role-playing?

We found the bloodiest, most ringside worthy short story contest ever at www.brokenpencil.com/deathmatch

For the price of a subcription to a unique, beyond contemporary ezine, become a member so you can join the fray!

Update from Richard.

Indie Writers Deathmatch III has begun, and the controversy has already broken out! Competitors Jordan Abel and Ben Anderson are tearing each other apart…at the moment, Abel has the edge in votes (61%) but Anderson has been steadily catching up. Readers and writers alike are bloodying both the stories, as well as Broken Pencil itself! Ouch!

Plus, both stories ran this week on the revolutionary CellStories.net, as will all stories that follow! Check them out for the next three Monday-Tuesdays on your mobile device, then vote for your favourite.

Our own Hal Niedzviecki is the Deathmatch’s first moderator/colour commentator, and he’s not pulling any punches either. Over the next weeks we’ll have writers giving their perspective on the literary carnage, right on the Deathmatch website. Make your voice heard where your voice really counts! (from Richard Rosenbaum)

brokenpencil.com/deathmatch

First things first. This is a quick opinion piece, I have not thoroughly researched this topic beyond the games I have played. So there, no nasty comments.

I have played multiplayer games all my life. Even before the incarnation of this thing we call ‘The Net’, I was playing winner-stays-on on PES and busting out mine kills on Goldeneye. For me, multiplayer was the real draw to gaming. Having an older brother who was infinitely better than me (was, ha ha) made me want to improve, just so I could see the look on his face when I beat him.

Even when I was older I played two player death matches on Red Faction and Star Wars Battlefront, infact, I even played single player death matches. I now call them training sessions. I had friends, honest.

My point being, as this current generation moves forward there seems to be less and less time spent on offline multiplayer/guest support. For example, the CoD series  dropped guest play with MW and has not looked back. I used to stay up way too late getting silly drunk with my good friend Matt playing CoD3. Although not a great game, it was made so much better because of this. Even NFS: Shift (which I reviewed today) has no offline multiplayer. It’s a bloody racing game! Jesus.

Hopefully future games will abort this trend and do what the likes of Bungie have done with Halo3 – allowing guest play on unranked games. Thus making Halo the go-to game when I have friends over – as well as sports and rhythm games. I know CoD cannot implement guest play straight into their game thanks to the ranking system, but it would have been nice to have a mode I could play with friends.

I just worry that Bungie will follow suit if they change their ranking system to something similar to CoD (lord forbid). But, ranking systems are something to get into another day, and that will be a BIG post when I do get round to it.

Nt. Anyone know of any good games for playing with guests? Any opinions?

My list – Left4Dead, Left4Dead2, Halo, Rockband/GH etc, FIFA, Madden.

Yes, I’m back. I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year Eve party. Their has been a lot of news since I last posted.

In F1, the return of the dark lord himself, Michael Schumacher is back in an F1 car for the Mercedes Team for at least 1 year. Bernie has already said that he is in on the title race, yet days later, he said that Vettel is going to win the championship. At least we can tell what nation Bernie is supporting this year then (GERMANY), well they did win the Team event in the Race of Champions.

In games, if you don’t own an PS3 (like me) and you want to try out the latest Battlefield game, if you preorder the game on xbox or playstation version, you get the demo a week early than anyone else. Here’s the link. BF has also said that there is a new mode called Squad Deathmatch, which is 4 teams of 4 battling it out to get to 50 points first. Any forza fan out their will be happy to know that new DLC is coming on the 12th this month, I’m looking forward to that.

So over the hoilday, I been thinking of a little project to do, so I will be doing a montage of anything strange and ‘how the hell did I do that’ moments on Forza 3. I been get vids and pics of Forza and ready to edit when I get back to school.

So it looks like a busy year for me, I will be choosing a new vid from Youtube and picking it on for Youtube Vid of the Week. If you want to know when that is being updated, follow me on twitter @f1_racing_mad. Catch you guys later!

On the 19th of December I went to my friend’s paintballing birthday party thing. (It wasn’t actually on the day of his birthday) I’d never been paintballing before so I was a bit nervous, but it turned out to be great fun. Getting hit doesn’t hurt as much as they say it does.
I hit: Someone right in the middle of the back; Someone in the neck; James apparently (although I couldn’t see through my misted up visor); Probably a few near misses at people in the distance.
Hit me: I got hit in the forehead but I was wearing a visor covering the entire front of my face so it didn’t hurt; Someone got me right in the shoulder from behind. It stung for a while but the pain faded away after that and now I’ve forgotten which shoulder it was.
It was hard to imagine what it would be like before I actually did it. All I could compare it to was Laserquest (but that’s not really a very good comparison) or playing an online game. I think there are too many videogame metaphors in my life.
I spent a few days before the time wondering if it would be a case of A) sneak round the edge like some kind of movie secret agent B) Charge straight in there, guns blazing C) Stay back and fortify key strategic points and think about everything before you do it D) Something else. I’m not sure which it turned out to be, but conserving ammo was the main thing you had to do (if your gun actually worked). For two of the 5 games I could hear my gun leaking – They’re “Semi Automatic” guns powered by air pressure. – They’re really powerful though. And accurate. Or maybe that was me. I could hit fixed targets pretty well, but I have shot air rifles before.
The first game we played was one flag CTF (Each team has a base and there is a flag in the middle of the playing field. The aim is to get the flag into the enemy base). That went very well. First we gradually moved towards the centre, using plants and wooden walls for cover. There was a tank (real or fake, I can’t remember) at the centre, with the flag leaning on it. We just stopped there and shot at the other team until they were all out. (I think we got two lives and I stuck by that idea all day). That was when I got someone i the back.
I think the second game was the church game, in which one team has to defend a (fake) church from the other team, who have to get into the church and upstairs and ring a bell to win. We just stayed in the church and tried to hit the people in the distance most of the time, wasting our ammo. Occasionally someone came up in a kind of suicidal attempt to get in. I saw someone out of the window and got hit in the forehead, but shot back and got him in the neck. I only had one paintball left at the end. (There was a time limit so we won)
The fourth game was the tower hostage game. My team had to attack a tower to rescue a hostage, or we could win by killing all of the other team, which we did. I got shot in the shoulder during this game when I came out from behind my cover to advance a bit further towards the tower. I went behind a tree, but it wasn’t very good at blocking paintballs so I turned round to head back and got hit. I recovered behind the original cover.
After that there was a team deathmatch. I really have no idea what happened because Ben and I decided to go to the church building and see who we could hit from the upstairs balcony like thing, assuming the deathmatch would span the whole woods. The problem was, it didn’t so we gradually made our way beck to where all the others were and I didn’t really have a clue what was going on so I didn’t do to well.
The fifth and final game was an all against all deathmatch kind of game. I made the same mistake of going too far, so I came back to kind of the edge of the action (I didn’t really feel like getting my limbs shot off by going any closer) I was a bit more nervous in that game because nobody was on my side. I got plenty of fighting anyway because I had a firefight with someone-or-other, which I won because I had superior cover. (Skill doesn’t matter unless you’ve got something to hide behind!). It was quite exciting/scary to hear the bullets  paintballs flying over my head and splatting on the trees behind, or in some cases the log wall in front of me. I either won or scared my enemy off. A while later someone else appeared. I couldn’t tell who it was because my visor had misted up so much it was nearly completely opaque. So I did the default greeting and shot at them like mad. I probably missed because I couldn’t really see them. The mysterious person wasn’t firing back so I stopped and tried to de-mist my visor with limited success. It seemed a ceasefire kind of agreement had been made between us, but I kept an eye on him anyway. A bit later someone (who I think was James) snuck round behind me and started shooting. I went the other side of the tree I was using to hide behind at the time and returned fire. I think I hit (but I’m not sure) and I think I didn’t get hit (but I’m not sure). It turned out the mystery person who didn’t shoot back was the referee, and he only had a gun in case someone’s stopped working.

The last few matches were less fun, but that was my fault, and overall it was a great experience.

          LAN (Local Area Network) Gaming             

     or           

LAN (Lazy Arsed Nerds) Gaming

Not quite a look at retro gaming, or even a movie for this ‘mid week mini’. Instead I thought I’d introduce a new category… *pauses for ooo’s and ahhh’s*

Due to the fact I’m attending a LAN this weekend thought i’d put up a few tips (not rules, just tips, not to be taken literally or internally) for hosting one, including good games to play. For a number of years I have attended LANs as they are hosted by a good friend of mine who is able to house (or garage) up to 10 networked PC’s at these events. These LAN’s are often PC based (although this doesn’t have to be the case) and occasionally gaming can move indoors to consoles.

So, a few tips:

1. Get your invites out early. This is mainly to establish numbers coming. If you only have a small venue then keep it to a first come first served basis, if you want to include everyone then think about hiring a hall (although this can be costly) and if you are hosting at your own place don’t be afraid to ask for a small contribution, even if it’s towards the electric bill, or food and drink.

2. If you want to host a LAN but do not have the space look to hiring a hall, see what the local area has to offer, make sure they have the facilities to accomodate your guests, computers and of course connectivity needs. If you want to attend a LAN event you can do this by seeking out and joining  gaming forums, getting to know people is the best way to find out about gaming events. Or just a good old-fashioned Google search. (My tips are based on an event hosted at a private house and the invited are usually well-known to us) or though we get the odd, um, random person…

3. Decide on which games are to be the focus of the LAN. This is to make sure everyone has time to purchase a copy if it’s certain it will be played. A good example was a LAN in which those coming made sure to order a copy of Command and Conquer 3 so all could join in. 

4. Make sure everyone plays something they enjoy. Two types of game are usually played at a LAN. RTS (Real Time Strategy) these include great LAN games such as Battle for Middle Earth 2, Supreme Commander, Dawn of War, Command and Conquer 3, Company of Heroes, Red Alert 3, Empire at War. The second being FPS (First Person Shooters) such as Counter Strike: Source, Republic Commando, Far Cry, Half Life 2: Deathmatch, Call of Duty 4, Unreal, Quake. And for some retro network FPS (knew I’d get the word retro in this week) Serious Sam II and Halo.

5. Don’t feel excluded. Sometimes friends or even family may want to join in. It’s really up to the host but make sure there are other things on offer for them to do. It’s not only about gaming but about being with friends and socialising. Laptops are great for those unexpected visitors to use to search the web, chat or join in on some gaming. Consoles are also an alternative if you need a break from PC gaming, or need to go in the warm because the garage…. I mean gaming room is so freakin’ cold.

6. Time Limit. Think about how long your LAN is going to last, whether it’s a weekend or just a day that much gaming, junk food and sleep deprivation can take its toll. I don’t want to sound too much like the warning on Wii games but taking a break can refresh the brain as well as the body so get some fresh air, even if it is a walk to the shops to get more snacks. The time limit  is the hosts decision and things will run smoother if people respect that, after all people attending may actually have jobs at the end of the day and need to get back to them.

 7. Food and Drink. The first few LANs people contributed some money here and there and the car owner (haha) is sent out to do a big shop. If all can contribute something and the food agreed on then this is a good way to provide the necessary sugar rush for the duration. Any extras can be bought by individuals and the local shop tends to benefit greatly from this. Obviously for the older LAN crowd beer is a good thing but not essential (what am I saying) but hilarity can ensue watching a drunk person trying to play Dawn of War (he knows who he is). Another great, and cheaper way to provide a meal is a BBQ, especially if you have a sunny day, it’s nice to get outside away from the stuffy darkened room of the LAN gamer.

 8. The part time LANer. If you have an attendee who is taking up a space but is not going to be there the whole time find out if their PC can be used by others so they can join in the gaming to. If they say no respect their wishes, if it’s a yes then obviously respect the person’s property. Theres nothing mature or funny about pornography desktop wallpapers, especially ones you can’t remove.

 9. Accommodation. LAN’s can and do go on for a long time. It’s not uncommon for gamers to pull all nighters to satisfy the need for gaming. If you have the space camping out in the back garden is a great way to preserve valuable gaming time and sanity (and no, not FPS type camping, actual outdoors activity camping). Especially useful for those who wish to attend but live too far away to travel back and forth every day. Pitch a tent, stumble into it, sleep a bit, wake up and game.  

10. Finally, competitiveness is great, but lets not suck the fun out of the game, or the event either. Remember it is only a game and its nice to be sportsman like when you’ve just kicked someones arse. Remember to enjoy it, play a variety of games, and socialise.

The year’s most anticipated game has finally reached store shelves. Needless to say, the public welcomed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with open arms. First day sales are estimated at 4.7 million copies with a cash value upwards of $310 million. Do you have your copy yet? No? Then allow me to break the game down for you.

Story 7/10

Taking place five years after the events of the first game, Modern Warfare 2 is staged all over the globe. The campaign itself is fairly short, and takes between five to six hours to complete depending on the difficulty level. It plays like a great action film. Most missions are very intense. From stealth missions, to snowmobile chases, to all out war on an airplane junkyard, this game has it all. Intense missions are separated at intervals with slower missions to allow for a smoother play through. Difficulty does not progressively increase in MW2 like most games. Obviously they do not thrust you into the action without the obligatory tutorial, but some early missions are harder than some later missions. The difficulty is fairly cohesive which allows for fairly non frustrating game play. **Please note that I intentionally left out any information regarding the story. I feel that because it is so short, if I were to give any information, there would surely be spoilers.**

Sound 8/10

The sound is done well. Dramatic pieces are placed strategically and allow the gamer to be immersed in each scenario. Successfully done, but not over the top.

Graphics 9/10

The graphics in MW2 are superb. I have yet to see a texture that does not immediately load. The cinematics of the campaign are simply amazing. Dramatic music only adds to the graphics. Simply WIN. The graphics of multiplayer are the same as campaign play; featuring richly detailed levels with a high level of interactivity. The backdrops of many campaign levels are quite intricate and give the feeling of being on the field of battle. The character models are what keep me from scoring graphics any higher. Facial features are quite possibly the hardest part to get right on character models. MW2 gets close; however I feel that they appear to be a bit on the goofy side. This argument, while true, may be nitpicking on my part.

Game play 10/10

Game play must be broken into its respective components for this game because the different modes do not play the same. As such, multiplayer will be addressed in its own section. Spec. Ops. (a series of challenges you can play alone or with a friend) and campaign play the same way. Auto aim is traded in for quick scoping. If you center your gun near an enemy then look down your sights, the gun will automatically move to where it is centered on that enemy. This allows for quick target acquisition and dispersion of multiple targets fairly quickly. A diverse array of weapons may be found, many of which are used by military forces across the globe today. Campaign features frequent checkpoints that keep you from pulling your hair out on higher difficulties. Using the surroundings to your advantage will make the campaign much easier. It is also wise to stay in formation with your squad as they will draw fire and provide support. Spec. Ops. Features many missions similar to those faced in campaign. These missions however, do not have checkpoints. They are also tweaked to provide a more challenging, but shorter, version. Two missions require a partner, however I advise grabbing a buddy when you tackle these because they get progressively harder the farther you get. By the time you reach the last set of missions, they are pretty tough.

Multiplayer 9/10

If you enjoyed previous COD multiplayer, you will love MW2. Game types include: Team Deathmatch, FFA, Capture the flag, Demolition (bomb arming and defense), 3^rd person game types, as well as several others.  There are challenges like the previous Call of Duty games that you can complete to earn experience. Experience counts towards levels. Levels in turn unlock guns, perks (used to enhance a certain aspect of game play I.E. extra bullet damage), and explosives. Modern Warfare 2 offers an unseen level of customization. Titles and Emblems are unlockables that allow players to showcase their greatest gaming achievements. Furthermore, you may now choose between a wide list of killstreak rewards ranging from sentry guns to a nuke. There is a slight level of auto aim that was unseen in previous games. I believe that this was done to simplify game play for newer players. The auto aim is not as drastic as campaign, and does not water down play very much. Multiplayer maps are well built. Each map features strategic choke points, as well as an environment that is highly interactive. Cars or drums may be shot (which in turn explode) to kill nearby enemies. While multiplayer is extremely fun, there are a few reasons why it cannot currently score a 10. Firstly, party chat is not allowed in some playlists. This was done by Infinity Ward in an attempt to encourage team play. However good the intention, this is a mistake. Younger players (and some older) often fill game chat with annoying banter that forces me to mute everyone except the people I already know. Lastly, the matchmaking system is anything but graceful. When teaming up with multiple friends, players are frequently dropped. This forces everyone to leave the pre-game lobby to recover the lost teammate. Leaving pre-game lobbies even become an issue because the option to bring the whole party is not available.

Overall 9.3/10

CoD:MW2 is a game of monumental proportions. Combining awesome game play with graphics and sounds, this game offers the complete FPS package. Hopefully Infinity Ward will resolve the current issues with multiplayer, and make this a flawless game.

Celebrity Librarian DeathMatch: Due 2010.
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Watch the first trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_hvNXroWME

Some time ago I decided to have a go at mapping. I had some experience with 3D CAD from my job and thought that the skills I had learned there would transfer quite quickly. I decided to use UT2004 as it was a game I was playing at the time (I don’t even have it installed these days) and to make things simpler for myself I decided to base my map on an existing one, that way I am learning how to use the editor rather than trying to do that while designing a completely new map. I figured if I was any good at it a new map could come later. The map was going to have to be one I knew well, and one I enjoyed playing enough that I knew my way around it really well so I picked a map from the original quake (though I normally played it in Deathmatch Classic. Thanks Valve!), DM4 by American McGee.

It took a long time to get right, one thing I cam across fairly early on was the fact that as movement is completely different in Quake from UT2004 a simple scale of the original level would not work. UT2004 needs more open space than Quake, and jumping with the Shield Gun does not get you anywhere near as high as a rocket jump in Quake I had to alter the level considerably to make sure that all the routes through the level existed. I found I was constantly loading up Quake and comparing particular jumps and the adjusting my level to suit.

The actual building of the level architecture is relatively easy in UT2004. you start with a completely solid area and can put in shapes which either add or subtract material to create rooms and corridors, these shapes have an order and are processed in that order when the level is compiled. There is obviously a lot more to it than that, particularly if you want to make something other than basic shapes.

Lighting in UT2004 is hard to get right, it isn’t a case of putting in a light entity where you want the source to be and having it calculate it. Because it doesn’t calculate lights by raytracing it won’t look right, you need additional light entities elsewhere to make it look like there is some ambient light being bounced around.

Texturing the level is fairly simple, I used textures from the Quake Retexturing Project though some, like the sky and lava I drew myself.

Once all the walls are textured it was time to start puting in the entities to make it into a playable level. I based the locations of guns on the Quake level using as similar weapon as I could from the UT selection, the double shotgun becomes the flack cannon, the supernailgun the minigun and so on. Player starts were then added and the teleporters put in. There is a lot of help in using the various entities that can be found on various UT wiki sites, the one I used most was this one, but there are plenty more and I browsed through several of those as well.

The hardest part of this for me was the bot pathing. At its most basic all you do is put down breadcrumbs to create trails for the bots to follow, the compiler then links these all together (along with pickups and teleporters) to create a web that the bots can use to determine the best way to get around the map. There are also entities that you use to mark jump spots and things like one way paths to consider. When done I was expecting a fairly good experience fighting the bots, however my pathing left a lot to be desired and I was wining matches by standing still as the bots jumped into the lava trying to get the Double Damage. After a lot of tweaking I got it playable in single player but there are still areas of the map that, despite being able to get to, the bots do not think are worth their while.

The result of about 5 days work? Well you can see for yourself if you have UT2004 installed as I have uploaded the .zip file for your amusement. Maybe I will get round to converting it to UT3 one day (or more likely UT4 by that time) but until then enjoy my poor copy of the best deathmatch map ever made.

Download DM-Four V0.85.zip (2.4MB)

Be sure to let me know what you think.

PS: I was quite bored when it came to write the readme file…

sad day for me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4dy__iudlI&hl=en

My Links : Best HDTV For You Best Budget DSLR Baby Safety Gate Winter Beanies Hats

Just finished listening to Michael Bublé’s latest album, Crazy Love.

Man, if Frank Sinatra were alive he would have had Michael Bublé killed for trying to sound like him. And I’m not saying that he would use his alleged mob connections, this one he would take care of himself.

I just had to get that off my chest. Check back tomorrow for the full review.

Jak usunac wyskakujace reklamy z tego moda po polaczeniu sie gracza na server. Przy wylaczonym modzie, ktore wygladaja tak :

#[CSSDM] Counter-Strike Source: Deathmatch (version 2.1.0.446)
#[CSSDM] Visit http://www.bailopan.net/cssdm to download.

Sposob pierwszy (i prostrzy):

Wylaczamy poprostu moda bez kasowania. Przechodzimy do katalogu /cstrike/addons/sourcemod/plugins. Bedziemy tam widziec juz utworzony katalog disabled i  cssdm. Przenosimy poprostu katalog cssdm do disabled. Jeszcze w configu /cstrike/cfg/cssdm/cssdm.cfg ustawiamy cssdm_enabled 0. Restartujemy server i denerwujaca rekalama juz nam sie nie pojawia.

Sposob drugi (dla wytrwalych):

Idziemy do katalogu /cstrike/addons/sourcemod/scripting i tam szukamy pliku dm_basics.sp a w nim takiego wpisu:

PrintToChat(client, "[CSSDM] Counter-Strike Source: Deathmatch (version %s)", CSSDM_VERSION);
PrintToChat(client, "[CSSDM] Visit http://www.bailopan.net/cssdm to download.");

i zmieniamy go na:

/* PrintToChat(client, "[CSSDM] Counter-Strike Source: Deathmatch (version %s)", CSSDM_VERSION);
PrintToChat(client, "[CSSDM] Visit http://www.bailopan.net/cssdm to download."); */

Nastepnie musimy ten pliczek jeszcze raz skompilowac i posluzy nam do tego skrypt compile.sh w katalogu /cstrike/addons/sourcemod/scripting odpalamy go w nastepyjacy sposob:

./compile.sh dm_basics.sp

Naszym oczom powinno ukazac sie cos takiego:

Compiling dm_basics.sp...SourcePawn Compiler 1.2.4
Copyright (c) 1997-2006, ITB CompuPhase, (C)2004-2008 AlliedModders, LLC

Header size: 2824 bytes
Code size: 4348 bytes
Data size: 1312 bytes
Stack/heap size: 16384 bytes; Total requirements: 24868 bytes

Teraz w katalogu /cstrike/addons/sourcemod/scripting/compiled znajduje sie nasz pliczek w postaci dm_basics.smx. Przekopiujemy go do /cstrike/addons/sourcemod/plugins/cssdm i zastapimy istniejacy tam plik. Przechodzimy jeszcze do /cstrike/cfg/cssdm/cssdm.cfg i ustawiamy cssdm_enabled 0. Restartujemy server i reklama sie juz nie pojawia

Pues por ahí esta rondando un video que al parecer hay un nuevo modo de juego el cual se llamará 3rd person team deathmatch, el cual como lo dice el modo de juego será team deathmatch en tercera persona, y al parecer serán 2 modos que se podrán jugar de esta manera, ya que en el video que le dejare a continuación muestran el listado de modos de juego que tiene el juego, pero para personas normales leer este listado en el video que tiene peor calidad que los que tomas mi celular con cámara de 1.3 mega pixeles, es imposible pero como se que quieres enterarte de los modo te los pongo a continuación.

• team deathmatch
• free-for-all
• domination
• ground war
• sabotage
• HQ Pro
• Search and destroy
• capture the flag
• demolition
• 3rd person team deathmatch
• hardcore team deathmatch
• hardcore Search and destroy
• teamdeathmatch …(No alcanzo a leer) (pero es algo de team tactical)
• cage match 3rd person

Y bueno qué opinas después de ver el video? verdad que se ve bien y como podrás apreciar no es la versión hackeada de PC (que es lo que siempre hacen), sino que es la versión de Ps3 que hasta el día de hoy nadie ha podido hackear. Y por muy emocionado que estés recuerda que esto aun no se ha confirmado oficialmente pero como se ve en el video lo más probable es que sea cierto solo habrá que esperar más noticias.

Y para que veas que el día de hoy estoy de buenas les dejo el video bonus donde al parecer el juego ya se está vendiendo fuera de su fecha de salida y en el video esta persona nos presume sus trofeos.

"elmagoo".... elmagoorron que!

Bueno, como algunos ya saben, fui de los afortunados en tener el demo del MP de Uncharted 2 unas semanas antes de que estuviera al público.   Y después tuve la suerte de hacerme de otro código, gracias a que alguna gente reportó a GameStop que tenían problemas con los códigos, así que los de GameStop decidieron volver a mandar otro código 3 días después (17 de sept) y el resto de la historia ya lo conocen.

Pues bueno, a lo que te truje Chencha.    Decidí darle un poco más de tiempo al MP para hacer un análisis un poco más serio.  No dejarme llevar por el buen sabor de boca que me dejó en cuanto lo probé; decidí probarlo bastante en sus 4 modalidades de juego, en su store y en varias cosas que les platicaré.

Para empezar tenemos que cuanta con 4 modalidades de juego online, siendo 2 de ellos cooperativos:

1. Un Team Deathmatch. Matar a todos los del otro equipo.
2. Un tipo Team Deathmatch pero con Objetivos.  Matar a todos los del otro equipo, pero con la variante de que hay que recuperar objetivos, como tesoros y ponerlos a salvo en tus cofres.
3. Cooperativo, modo historia. Pueden jugar hasta 3 personas, en tipo campaña.
4. Cooperativo Arena. Siendo éste de los que más me gustó, es un tipo horda, por rounds y teniendo que recuperar un tesoro.

Además de eso, viene incluido un trailer, que sí tienes una buena TV o HD, te hará babear la alfombra.   Es uno de lo ya vistos, el de tipo narrativa donde Drake está tirado en la nieve, pero creo un poco más extenso.

Cuenta con las clásicas opciones, controles, sensibilidad en los ejes Y y X, uso del sixaxis, display, audio, etc.

Además de, como ya saben muchos, la opción del twitter. Sí, en el demo ya está incluida esa opción.   Personalmente no uso twitter, todavía no soy tan 2.0 para usarlo, pero no dudo que habrá gente que le esté sacando provecho.

Twitteando desde Uncharted 2.

A pesar de que son modos ya antes conocidos, se sienten frescos.   Mejor dicho, los hacen frescos, nuevos y bastante adictivos.  A continuación les detallaré un poco más los 4 modos de juego.

1. Team deathmatch. Cómo ya les dije y como ya todos saben, el clásico de matarse a todos los del otro equipo, como puedas.   Pero con el agregado de que en esta, y todas las modalidades de juego, te encontrarás con tesoros pequeños tirados por el piso, u otros un poco más escondidos, estos los recoges igual que cuando levantas otra arma o recoges munición, con Triángulo, pero aumentan la cantidad de dinero ganada al final de la partida (es como la XP).   Un truco para recoger ammo, u otra arma en el suelo mucho más rápido, es rodar sobre ellos con Circulo y cuando estés sobre de ellos, presionar Triángulo.   Bueno, pero de qué me sirven los tesoros?  Espérenme tantito, más adelante les explico.
2. Deathmatch con Objetivos.   Exactamente lo anterior, pero ahora ganará el equipo que recupere el mayor número de tesoros.   Aparecen al azar, mostrados de un color dorado, tienes que tomarlo y llevarlo hasta una zona segura y depositarlo dentro de un cofre.   Obvio se escucha mucho más fácil decirlo que hacerlo, ya que si eres el afortunado en cargarlo, te lloverá metralla a morir de parte del otro equipo que intentará quitartelo.   Aquí influye mucho el trabajo en equipo.
3. Cooperativo en campaña. Hasta 3 jugadores.  Uno es Drake, otro Chloe y otro un viejito (no sé su nombre).  Es un escenario, aquel donde se voltea un camión, visto en un trailer.  Sinceramente, está pasado de merga de difícil, lo he jugado siempre en Easy, y es por demás o yo soy muy malo, o la gente con la que juego es muy mala pero no logro terminarlo.   Todo empieza muy bien, enemigos genéricos, hasta que aparecen los G.I Joe´s con sus pinches chalecos invencibles y se pone mucho más difícil.   Aquí el que tenga el rol de Drake tendrá que ir abriendo camino a los demás (levantando objetos que estorben al paso, dando “patitas”, etc).  La interacción con los otros jugadores, es excelente.   Al momento de que un jugador caiga herido, los otros 2 o 1 sobrevivientes, tendrán que buscarlo y revivirlo (tienes un tiempo límite), al momento de morir 1, vuelven a empezar desde el último checkpoint y sólo tienen 3 oportunidades.   Este señores, es un verdadero co-op en campaña, no mamadas.
4. Cooperativo Arena. Recuerda mucho el modo horda de Gears, pero a la vez se aleja de él haciéndolo especial.   Para 3 personas y es por Rounds.   El objetivo es localizar un tesoro que se te mostrará como un punto dorado en el mapa, llegar a él no es fácil, subir, escalar, brincar edificios, etc.  Tomarlo y llevarlo a un cofre que aparece aleatoriamente en el mapa.  Todo esto, mientras salen y salen enemigos y los otros 2 cubren al que va por el tesoro.   El que cargue el tesoro no podrá usar el arma principal, sólo la pistola o uzi (depende cuál tengas), sí te ves en el apuro o te rodean enemigos, tendrás que lanzar el tesoro tan lejos como puedas (con L2) y tomar cubierto con Circulo.   Cada que recuperes un tesoro, subes de Round y con cada nuevo Round alcanzado, los enemigos que enfrentes serán, más y más difíciles, mejor equipados, más grandes y más culeros (hay unos cabrones que te toman por la espalda y te empiezan a asfixiar y sólo un compañero puede lograr safarte, con uno enemigo normal basta con presionar Triángulo rápidamente.  Para eso del Round 6 (lo máximo que he llegado) es de rigor que camines con el escudo (sólo puedes usar la pistola), aunque te vuelves más lento y pesado, ya que los enemigos traen armas pesadas que te masacran inmediatamente.  Hay unos snipers, que hijos de su madre, ya los odio.  Sin duda, el modo que más me gustó y claro, necesariamente se ocupa de coordinación con el resto del equipo.  Cada que muera un compañero, no se acaba la acción, los que queden siguen intentando terminar el round, hasta que todos mueran.  Para ello tienen 3 oportunidades.

.

Bueno, pues todo muy bonito pero qué más ofrece o cómo es su gameplay?   Pues no tienen nada que temer, el gameplay se siente ligero, te acostumbras casi inmediatamente, sobre todo sí ya antes has jugado el primer Uncharted, lo importante es aprender a caminar con los tesoros y/o los escudos, aprender a lanzarlos para tomar cubierto.   El número de armas se siente bien, aunque no haya tanta variedad como en un juego de FPS, es suficiente.  Todas las armas las apuntas sosteniendo L1, y si presionas L3 se acerca aún más la mira, sobre todo con el Sniper y la FAL.  Con L2 lanzas las granadas, o los tesoros.  R1 disparas; R2 recargas; R3 cambias la forma de sostener el arma y apuntar, de derecha a izquierda y viceversa.  Circulo tomas cubierto y sí  vas caminando ruedas.  Con X saltas, trepas, y haces todo lo demás.  Con Cuadro atacas cuerpo a cuerpo, siendo magníficos los combos que aplicas y por último Triángulo, con el que recoges todo, armas, ammo, tesoros y sosteniendo L1 + Triángulo cambias de arma.

Todavía no te convence?  Bueno, aparte cuenta con un menú especial, donde puedes modificar tu “profile”.   En el escoges el skin de tu personaje, con 2 varientes, cuando eres Heroe y cuando eres Villano, dejando especificadas las 2 en caso de ser de los maloras.   También escoges la burla o taunt, siendo la de reírte la primera que está accesible.

También este menú te especifica tu rango y la cantidad de $ con la que cuentas.   Aparte, tienes 2 casillas o slots donde puedes colocar 2 boosters (tipo perks) a escoger de entre una gran variedad.   Tales boosters son desde poder cargar más ammo, hasta los de correr más rápido con el escudo, mayor puntería, mejoras para cierto tipo de armas, etc.   Todo lo que pudieras pedir en el MP, te lo ofrecen los boosters, pero tienes que saber como combinarlos.

Pero de qué me sirve el $$$, los tesoros encontrados durante los juegos, la XP?  Pues el juego también cuenta con una Store. En la cual podrás desbloquear (comprar) los boosters, todos los que quieras, o cuantos te alcancen.  También hay más Skins para tu profile, mejoras, etc.  Excelente replay value.

.

Te encabronaste porque te dieron un headshot y no supiste de dónde vino el tiro?   Pues ya no hagas berrinches y ve dónde se pone ese “camper” que tanto te estuvo surrando.  Entra al modo de cinemático, para que reproduzcas tus últimas partidas, analices de dónde vino ese tiro y sepas dónde se esconde el cabroncito.  Puedes manejar la cámara, poner pausa, adelantar, regresar, etc.   Un extra para esos ratos de ocio después de hacer un excelente tiro, o aventarte uno de esos sapos que te quedas diciendo: “no mames, cómo le hice?”  Jajaja!

De los mapas les puedo comentar que aunque vienen pocos (4 creo) se sienten muy diferentes a otros MP´s que he jugado, nada como andar de chango, subiendo por paredes a punto de caerse, brincando entre ruinas y apenas alcanzar a sostenerte con una mano, o bajar a una cueva o desnivel para sorprender al enemigo por la espalda y como los meros traicioneros darles “por detrás”.   Sin duda, son el sello de Uncahrted 2, al igual que su música.

Sus gráficos son definitivamente un punto fuerte a favor.  Lo que me llama y atrapa mi atención, son los colores, daaamn, llamativos, chillones en ocasiones, pero su gama de colores es grande y abarca desde los azules y blancos de la nieve, hasta los oscuros corredores de una plaza poco iluminada.  Me muero por ver los del juego completo y sobre todo su campaña.

Quieres crear una partida, dónde sólo haya como armas RPG´s?   Pásele a crear una partida y crea tanto caos como tu imaginación te lo permita.  Sólo pistolas o Ak-47.  Personalizalas tanto como gustes y deja que los demás entren a tu partida y se maten entre ellos.

Lo único que le encuentro de defecto, es que tarda un poco en encontrar partida, no es que se tome una eternidad, pero tampoco es rápido.  Me imagino que por ser un demo “no público”, los servidores aún no están funcionando del todo.  Esperemos que para cuando salga se mejore todo eso.

Bueno, hasta aquí mi OverView del Demo de Uncharted 2, el cual tendrá su demo pública para el día 29 de septiembre (no dejen de descargarlo porque se pueden hacer parties con tus amigochos de la PSN).

Recuerden que el bluray saldrá el 13 Octubre. Y una ves que vean los gráficos del MP y las posibilidades con las que cuenta con tan sólo 1.2 GB de espacio, se quedarán con ganas de ver que es lo que puede ofrecer dentro de un bluray llenito hasta el tope.

Abur!

True.  At least the NYT website.  For Portland’s recently booming reputation on the foodie scene, as it were, which has been making waves across the country.  The visitor’s bureau has recently decreed that more money is spent in Portland, ME’s restaurants than anywhere else in the country, save the two giants, New York and San Francisco.  This didn’t come as an enormous surprise to me, it’s easy living here to stroll down the street and take note of the shoulder to shoulder restaurants, diners and bar/grills.  What did come as a surprise was the reason for the NYT making such a hub-bub (grub-hub?) about our little port city’s food culture.

In the last decade, Portland has undergone a controlled fermentation for culinary ideas — combining young chefs in a hard climate with few rules, no European tradition to answer to, and relatively low economic pressure — and has become one of the best places to eat in the Northeast. The most interesting chefs here cook up and down the spectrum, from Erik Desjarlais’s classically pressed roast ducks at Evangeline, to the renegade baker Stephen Lanzalotta’s gorgeously caramelized sfogliatelle (sold out of the back of Micucci Grocery, an Italian-imports shop), to Mr. Potocki’s simple but brilliant chili-garlic cream cheese and handmade bagels.

Tablecloths, Asian fusion and spherification are out (the locals aren’t interested in, or rich enough to indulge in, frivolous food experiments, the thinking goes). Nose-to-tail, rustic French and Italian, and small plates are in.

They go into a lot of the more famous chef’s names and signature plates from around town, emphasizing Portland’s infamous “Buy Local” campaign and mentioning both of the weekly Farmer’s Markets. Of course, I was very skeptical at first by all the name-dropping. It seemed to highlight the finest dining establishments in the area, such as Evangeline or Bresca.

Buttermilk panna cotta from Bresca -- looks so good it might fellate me.

This is all in lieu of Bon Apetit magazine recently declaring Portland, Maine as the Foodiest Small Town in America (!!!).

Forget name-dropping chefs, Portland’s ride just got pimped to the rest of America. Forbes already boasts how livable our city is, and now here’s Bon Apetit telling everyone to eat here. Their very well-written narrative article on the decision goes even further into Portland foodie culture, turning over stones to find the less-renowned businesses that build the backbone of eating out, the breakfast diners. Both Becky’s and Marcy’s are praised, as well as South Portland’s 158 as having “the country’s best bacon, egg, and cheese bagel sandwich.” Even Hot Suppa! makes it in. Here’s the whole article, it’s really something.

Japanese snapper rolls, out of Masa Miyake.

Miyake, the little innocuous sushi place up in the West End, gets mention in both NYT and Bon Apetit. The head chef Masa Miyake moved his family of five out of a single bedroom in Queens to open up shop here in Portland, and now they’re apparently running the best sushi game in town. I’ll have to check it out and test my strong loyalties to King of the Roll and Fuji.

Both authors also took part in a top-secret invite-only underground no-holds-barred dinner party, referred to only as “Deathmatch.” This is when two local culinary players throw down and match their mettle against each other. With themes ranging from “foie gras” to “breakfast” to “Your Last Meal,” the latter of which was an 18-course meal complete with caviar and crème fraîche on potato chips, grill-roasted local Damariscotta oysters served with hot sauce and a squeeze of lemon, and “bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches served by young women dressed as Catholic schoolgirls, wielding hot mayonnaise in squeeze bottles.”

I don’t know where this infamous event takes place, but I simply must infiltrate it, deep undercover reporter style. I’m sure they’ll probably black-bag me somewhere in Monument Square, spin around ten times, then put me in a van for two hours before letting me out deep in a catacomb of tunnels where I must paw my way through Portland’s underbelly to their hidden arena, where I’m fully strip-searched and beaten with reeds for good measure (Reader, don’t fear, they will never find my trusty pen and Moleskine. Hint: They’re not in my bowel cavity.)

I, for one, am enthused Portland’s getting so much cred on the national scene. Sure, I’ll bitch and moan at all the tourists, but will I still kindly, almost eagerly, give them directions to Exchange St. or the Nickelodeon, or Five Fifty-Five? You bet your filet mignon. But I still feel a wide demographic of Portland’s business is being neglected: the cheap-eats we twenty-something collegiate depend on for breaks from the ramen and tuna, where we will actually take people on wallet-friendly dates while still maintaining class, the places we’ve grown up with and can’t seem to stop going to.

Join me, Potentialites, in an archiving of a true local’s eatery experience in this grand city, before the lower middle class gets broad-brushed out by these fancy-shmancy New York Times toting “foodies.”

On a related note, I also wish to catalog and review all of Portland’s bars and pubs, before someone else beats us to it.  J-Christie, I’m looking Straight.  At.  You.

Nah, just kidding. I have no idea what the fallout of Disney’s acquisition of Marvel will be, other than having stupid Marvel-based rides at the theme parks.

Though Mulan vs. Laura Kinney could be sort of fun.

My money’s on X-23. Just saying.

I’ve been pretty vocal about my disinterest in Marvel titles lately. I’ve also shared my dismay that Marvel’s movies are better than DC’s (though I have yet to complain about the lack of female Avengers in the upcoming movie, which believe me I will) since I like DC’s characters better. I’ve also been very vocal elsewhere (including college papers, no lie) about my hatred of the Disney Princesses imprint. Like it wasn’t bad enough we had to grow up thinking that a happy ending = Prince Charming, Disney now has to saturate stores with pretty pink and sparkly princess items that girls Must Have to Be Cool. Grr and argh, in that order. Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster that I had a mother who would sit me down and tell me it was okay not to be like the princesses in the movies, because everybody is different.

So what is Disney going to be doing with Marvel? I’ve been told “something exciting,” by an anonymous source that will probably kill me for even putting that in my blog. I have no idea how said anonymous source knows this, other than that anonymous source has been involved in some wheelings and dealings with some production companies lately and said to me, when I mentioned the news this morning, that “I knew it was happening, but couldn’t tell you.” Stupid non-disclosure agreements!

Yeah, I don’t know. I guess we’ll see if there’s much of a shake up. I have a feeling this will affect the movie division more than the comic division, but I have no idea. I’m not a business-minded person. I’m a consumer, and I haven’t been consuming much of either company’s products lately (though I love the movies I grew up on and I love Enchanted, and we all know my feelings on Tron, which better have a kick-ass comic tie-in now).

What would I like to happen? I’m not really sure on that, either. This isn’t as big to me as when Warner Brothers bought DC (which was only vaguely big, because I wasn’t into comics as much at the time). I’m still a DC kid (girl, reader, whatever), and probably will favor DC for as long as they turn out better stories and more realistic cup sizes (yes yes, Power Girl, I know). It’s all opinion, of course. I just prefer the world of DC and the characters of DC, and so the fact that Cinderella may join H.A.M.M.E.R. doesn’t really worry me.

Please note: I don’t really think that Cinderella is going to join H.A.M.M.E.R. Belle might, though. She’s fiesty.

Okay, just for kicks, Thunderdome match ups I’d like to see:

Mulan vs. X-23
Maleficent vs. Phoenix
Megara vs. Carol Danvers
(What’s with the M-ladies, Disney?)
Ursula vs. Emma Frost

And to be fair, some guys:
Prince Charming vs. Captain America
Aladdin vs. Spider-Man

Wait, why do women have to fight each other? Tsk tsk, Sam, you know better than that. Mulan could totally kick Spidey’s ass. Illyana Rasputin vs. The Sorcerer from Fantasia? No contest. Oh, and who doesn’t want to see The Incredibles vs. The Avengers? Crazy people, that’s who!

And I bet Giselle would tame Wolverine in no time flat.

Now that’s a movie I’d pay to see.

About a year or so ago, Winston, my long suffering class-mate, made a small change to the standard HL2 Deathmatch format, making everyone invisible. When you shot, you became slightly more visible. You also get a distance tracker, which gives you the distance to your nearest enemy.

We played it 5-way at a LAN party and had great fun with it. I’d also created a small map called dm_catacombs, based on the idea of Time Team gone wrong. Lots of trenches and scaffolding inside a Church, causing more damage than they preserve, eventually coming across a long lost burial chamber underneath it. Lots of Coffin Lids to fling with the gravity gun, and a big heavy Pullpit. All the flying debris and invisible players made for an excellent Poltergeisty game

But why mention what’s happened a year ago? Well, Winston has decided to keep working on it. Adding upgrades to the existing weapons, including Beam-less SLAM’s, Decloaking Frag Grenades and the “Crowbar of Ghostly Visions” – Check out Stealth Deathmatch on ModDB and keep watching this blog for more maps, which, due to their nature, can instantly be used in Vanilla HL2DM (And vice versa)

I threw together an experimental SLAM Arena which will be more fun when you can have beam-less SLAMs, and dm_Subway, which is a mixture of the Glasgow and Oslo underground system.

It has been a long time coming.  I, like many TF2 players, have never played arena mode, stories of single life rounds and boring deathmatch gameplay have put many off.  But today I decide it was finally time I had a go.

When I started I decided to watch the introductory video.  I skipped this for all of the other maps but thought it would be a good idea for this new mode, surely it couldn’t be as simple as deathmatch?

To win, your team must either eliminate all players on the opposing team or capture the control point that will be activated during the round.

Firstly a quick summary of how this actually plays out.

The round starts with everyone at their spawn points (obviously), since this mode is round-based there is a handy view of the make-up of your team.  In the other game modes the class distribution can be constantly changing but as the selection will be set for the entire round it makes sense to carefully plan the team.  When the round starts everyone rushes out into battle, at this point all you need to do is take out as many of the opposition as possible but you also need to survive yourself unless you can take many of the enemy with you.

There isn’t a timer you can see during the round (except for the last five seconds before unlocking the point) and it’s quite possible the server administrators can adjust the time any way so; after a certain period of time (only a few minutes) the central capture point is unlocked.  This stops the game from becoming a full-on deathmatch, whilst a round often ends with the destruction of one team, it is also quite possible to simply hold-on to the point.  It caps at about the same rate as the central point in a cp game, so with only one person it can take an agonising amount of time.

The counter at the top informs you of how many players are left per team, giving you vital information that can sway your tactics.

At the end of a round quite a different list appears, as the normal one this covers the top three players but it goes into specific details regarding damage and healing points, as well as how long they stayed alive and how many kills.  This means it isn’t as simple as points and gives the medics a good chance of appearing on the list.  It doesn’t just do this for the winning team though, it also covers the top three players for the losing side.

Now for the maps, there is quite a large selection on offer, as well as variations on the five-point cp maps there are ones created just for arena mode.

The ones based around normal cp maps block off the strongholds and simply focus on the central points.

Well loses it’s main water feature and just has a simple hole in the ground that leads inside.

Ravine is one of the new maps, and is the one I spent the most time on.  A similar style to dustbowl and goldrush this is a small map, with four buildings at all the cardinal points and one that houses the capture point.  There are a series of gutters and sewers on the lowest level and a nice looking (but far to exposed) sniper point at the top of the central tower.

Watchtower is another of the new maps, and this one is very impressive.  On leaving the spawn you find yourself on a cliff edge, in front of you there is one extremely large hole in the ground, two paths lead down on either side.  In the middle of this hole is ‘The Watchtower’ which houses the capture point.  There are many ways to get in, large pipes which you can walk on come out of each side two lead to the sides and the other two lead to both spawns, then there are two flights of stairs that spiral up from the bottom.

So that’s arena, now for my experience.

Once I’d settled in I actually quite enjoyed myself, this doesn’t quite have the same depth as the other modes.  Maybe it isn’t as well suited to general play as the others where you have a goal focusing your efforts (the intel, the next capture point), it may require more of a team effort to get as much out of it.  I suspect the best way to play arena is if you were playing with proper teams and an arena map came up in a cycle for only a handful of rounds.  The other modes have many paths to victory, arena is more about the other team than the map.

I won’t be playing arena for as long as I play the other game modes, but for a short play every so often there is a lot to get out of it.  Focusing on individual round performance is the key, maybe I will learn some extra survival skills?

I think I have a pretty reasonable grasp of the various tactics behind the mode, engineers are the most affected, this is much more about team support than simply setting up a sentry nest.  You see there are spawn points, but that is all they are, there are no resupply lockers and most of the maps don’t have any health.  Never has a dispenser been more used.  This also increases the need for medics, in general play all you have to do is wait for one to come along but in arena, if you don’t protect your medics you can find yourself in a lot of trouble.

Pyros do tend to dominate far more easily than usual, whereas you can normally retreat and come back later, once you have taken fire damage your stuck like that for the entire round if the aren’t an dispensers or medics about.  Added to the fact that the flamethrower does more damage than actual kills and it is also easy for pyros to make the top three positions in a round.

The Kritzkreig also comes into play a lot more, before it would only clear a temporary path but now it can clear the map.

This just goes to show you that you shouldn’t let other people’s opinions about a game affect what you play.  When it comes down to actually buying a game then it matters more, because you obviously don’t want to spend money on something you don’t want to play, but when it comes down to something you already have or can try for free you should probably give it a try.  (Although that isn’t always the best idea.)  Part of the dislike of arena also comes from people not giving it enough time to sink in, on the surface it doesn’t have the major focus’ of the other modes, but if you can find a good server things will be much more fun.  I’m not exactly sure what kept me back in this case but hopefully I have learnt something.