_FFC_
Well, now that I've ordered a DVD drive for my game machine, the Deviance group has released the "no CD/DVD" hack for version 1.0 of CoD2....of course. LOL
Just tested it out (rename the old .exe, replace with the fixed one)...works fine as usual. Ah well, down the road with more games issuing on DVD media it'd be handy to have the drive and it was less than $30 inc/shipping from Newegg.
You can find the "fix" off my Gamefiles link in the right-hand pane.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Friday, October 28, 2005
America's Army: Special Forces
_PC_
Just curious if anyone plays AA:SF and what is your opinion on it vs the CoD series. Obviously it's a different style game (pure MP, objective based, one life per round) with the focus on realism. I've considered it a few times, but I think there's an extensive training session (like boot camp) you have to endure before you can play. But the price is right..FREE, courtesy of our tax dollars. I sometimes miss the objective-based team playing style (started out serving "Enemy Territory" after all) but like anything it got old in it's own way too.
Just curious if anyone plays AA:SF and what is your opinion on it vs the CoD series. Obviously it's a different style game (pure MP, objective based, one life per round) with the focus on realism. I've considered it a few times, but I think there's an extensive training session (like boot camp) you have to endure before you can play. But the price is right..FREE, courtesy of our tax dollars. I sometimes miss the objective-based team playing style (started out serving "Enemy Territory" after all) but like anything it got old in it's own way too.
CoD2 vs UO - Your Thoughts?
_FFC_
Ok, now that CoD2 is out and the Linux server release is in beta so will be out RSN…what are your views on switching from UO to CoD2 on our server? We'd maybe lose the tanks/jeeps (not sure on that yet) but most of those types of maps are too big anyway. Personally I think we should wait a few months for the bugs to get ironed out and for the mod teams to have a chance to release their toys. While it'd be nice to have the new maps and the improved graphics some of those might prove to be too much for certain (Crow) players that (Crow) have anemic (Crow) connection speeds. Of course it could be that the CoD2 MP will be optimized better than expected and thus not much more of a pig than is UO. I say we play on the publics and then get your feedback on how feasible/attractive CoD2 is over UO. And who knows, maybe the MP maps will be backward compatible so we could use some of them in UO…that would be cool!
And speaking of cool, there's rumor that our "lost soldier" Randor might be homeward bound early next year..WOOHOO!..hope it works out Randy!
Ok, now that CoD2 is out and the Linux server release is in beta so will be out RSN…what are your views on switching from UO to CoD2 on our server? We'd maybe lose the tanks/jeeps (not sure on that yet) but most of those types of maps are too big anyway. Personally I think we should wait a few months for the bugs to get ironed out and for the mod teams to have a chance to release their toys. While it'd be nice to have the new maps and the improved graphics some of those might prove to be too much for certain (Crow) players that (Crow) have anemic (Crow) connection speeds. Of course it could be that the CoD2 MP will be optimized better than expected and thus not much more of a pig than is UO. I say we play on the publics and then get your feedback on how feasible/attractive CoD2 is over UO. And who knows, maybe the MP maps will be backward compatible so we could use some of them in UO…that would be cool!
And speaking of cool, there's rumor that our "lost soldier" Randor might be homeward bound early next year..WOOHOO!..hope it works out Randy!
CoD2 Single Player Impressions
_FFC_
I took some time last night checking out the new CoD2 SP missions. As rumored, in most ways it's "more Call of Duty". You start out in the Russian character, with the usual training session at first..but with a few twists that I'll let you discover for yourself. You're then off on the missions, with various objectives, tho' there are too many "blow up the tank" ones already for my taste. You have to use the new smoke 'nades a lot to get past the tanks unless you prefer that swiss-cheese look for your combat attire. Speaking of, the character models are gorgeous and much more realistic…shovels, canteens, etc. are now 3D and the clothing itself has a rich woven appearance complete with dustings of dirt, snow, and so on, to match the environment. Gameplay is still "on a rail" when it comes to mission progression, but you can tell they try to mask it as much as possible. Personally I don't mind…I hate wondering around lost for long periods of time…reminds me too much of my childhood when my parents moved..and didn't tell ME. hahaha
What I DO mind is the new health recovery system. Unless you're a total berserker it's nearly impossible to die, even on Regular difficulty. While the health packs weren't very realistic either, at least you had to make it to the next one (and those were sometimes scarce). It's too much like being a super-soldier and I expect IW to catch a lot of flak about it and possibly offer a switch to the old system in a future update. If not, the modders are already looking into a mod for that and for other features like cookable grenades, sprinting and the other realism aspects we've enjoyed in the past. One such mod group is "Cold-Grit" and might be something to look into depending on what the AWE developers release.
Performance-wise, CoD2 WILL push your system more than UO. I can't run much higher than 1024x768 at 60Hz or there's too much "stutter" when the action gets intense (which is most of the time of course). The game sure looks prettier at 70-75Hz but I just couldn't get the same play smoothness without drop'n the size…and 800x600 on a 19" monitor just sucks. My AMD 3000 is show'n it's age I guess, meaning it'll be time for a new mobo and dressings for Xmas. Might keep the GF 6600XT, buy another and a mobo that supports SLI…depends on how cost effective that is compared to a vid card upgrade to a PCIe or -X style. And unless the "no CD/DVD" fix releases soon I still gotta drum up or buy a DVD drive…right now just piggyback'n with a long IDE cable off my other system..looks pretty weird. lol
I took some time last night checking out the new CoD2 SP missions. As rumored, in most ways it's "more Call of Duty". You start out in the Russian character, with the usual training session at first..but with a few twists that I'll let you discover for yourself. You're then off on the missions, with various objectives, tho' there are too many "blow up the tank" ones already for my taste. You have to use the new smoke 'nades a lot to get past the tanks unless you prefer that swiss-cheese look for your combat attire. Speaking of, the character models are gorgeous and much more realistic…shovels, canteens, etc. are now 3D and the clothing itself has a rich woven appearance complete with dustings of dirt, snow, and so on, to match the environment. Gameplay is still "on a rail" when it comes to mission progression, but you can tell they try to mask it as much as possible. Personally I don't mind…I hate wondering around lost for long periods of time…reminds me too much of my childhood when my parents moved..and didn't tell ME. hahaha
What I DO mind is the new health recovery system. Unless you're a total berserker it's nearly impossible to die, even on Regular difficulty. While the health packs weren't very realistic either, at least you had to make it to the next one (and those were sometimes scarce). It's too much like being a super-soldier and I expect IW to catch a lot of flak about it and possibly offer a switch to the old system in a future update. If not, the modders are already looking into a mod for that and for other features like cookable grenades, sprinting and the other realism aspects we've enjoyed in the past. One such mod group is "Cold-Grit" and might be something to look into depending on what the AWE developers release.
Performance-wise, CoD2 WILL push your system more than UO. I can't run much higher than 1024x768 at 60Hz or there's too much "stutter" when the action gets intense (which is most of the time of course). The game sure looks prettier at 70-75Hz but I just couldn't get the same play smoothness without drop'n the size…and 800x600 on a 19" monitor just sucks. My AMD 3000 is show'n it's age I guess, meaning it'll be time for a new mobo and dressings for Xmas. Might keep the GF 6600XT, buy another and a mobo that supports SLI…depends on how cost effective that is compared to a vid card upgrade to a PCIe or -X style. And unless the "no CD/DVD" fix releases soon I still gotta drum up or buy a DVD drive…right now just piggyback'n with a long IDE cable off my other system..looks pretty weird. lol
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Call of Duty 2 Released!
_FFC_
Picked up my "Collector's Edition" box yesterday from EB's...two DVDs of fun and info. Didn't actually get to play the single-player yet, as I don't have a DVD drive on my Hornet game machine, and installed the game over the network. Thanks to the usual $#@! copy-protection the SP wouldn't start since I didn't have a local DVD drive to put the disk in. I'm sure there will be a "fix" out soon, but meanwhile I'll have to move one of my other DVD drives into that box so I can play...bastards!!
I took a look at the MP locally (since that requires no disk), and it looks VERY good...great look'n maps, character and gun models. And there's even a SHOTGUN!!...finally! No knives yet tho'...sorry Crow. lol Already a few public servers out there too so may check those out soon.
Meanwhile, here are a couple review links to munch on...one from Lockergnome and another from IGN.
Picked up my "Collector's Edition" box yesterday from EB's...two DVDs of fun and info. Didn't actually get to play the single-player yet, as I don't have a DVD drive on my Hornet game machine, and installed the game over the network. Thanks to the usual $#@! copy-protection the SP wouldn't start since I didn't have a local DVD drive to put the disk in. I'm sure there will be a "fix" out soon, but meanwhile I'll have to move one of my other DVD drives into that box so I can play...bastards!!
I took a look at the MP locally (since that requires no disk), and it looks VERY good...great look'n maps, character and gun models. And there's even a SHOTGUN!!...finally! No knives yet tho'...sorry Crow. lol Already a few public servers out there too so may check those out soon.
Meanwhile, here are a couple review links to munch on...one from Lockergnome and another from IGN.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
FFC Newsletter blog goes public!
_FFC_
Since the blogging software I was using in the past didn't allow web updates (local interface only) I decided to move to this service. Figured it'd be nice to have the ability to do updates, allow member comments, and so forth from any web browser.
This blog doesn't support categories, so I can't seperate things out BUT you can use the Search feature as a workaround. I'll put a color-coded keyword at the beginning of each post (like FFC, PC, or Xbox) to denote the post category...then you can find them by Searching that keyword.
Another new feature is that you, as a reader, can add Comments! Not exactly a forum, but might come in handy if you have questions or input about a new post here. I have to add your email addy and send an "invite" to you first, as I'm only allowing Members (of this blog) that privilege.
I've re-created the old blog link list, plus added a link TO the old blog for historical reasons. But all future newsletter posts will be here, so all you need remember/save is this blog's address ( http://ffcnewsletter.blogspot.com/ ) .
Since the blogging software I was using in the past didn't allow web updates (local interface only) I decided to move to this service. Figured it'd be nice to have the ability to do updates, allow member comments, and so forth from any web browser.
This blog doesn't support categories, so I can't seperate things out BUT you can use the Search feature as a workaround. I'll put a color-coded keyword at the beginning of each post (like FFC, PC, or Xbox) to denote the post category...then you can find them by Searching that keyword.
Another new feature is that you, as a reader, can add Comments! Not exactly a forum, but might come in handy if you have questions or input about a new post here. I have to add your email addy and send an "invite" to you first, as I'm only allowing Members (of this blog) that privilege.
I've re-created the old blog link list, plus added a link TO the old blog for historical reasons. But all future newsletter posts will be here, so all you need remember/save is this blog's address ( http://ffcnewsletter.blogspot.com/ ) .
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