Holiday Roundup

_FFC_

As the year winds on down, here's what's new in COD and FFC land...

FFC news -
Most of us now have "World at War", which is good since the last few new maps I've been able to find for COD4 just weren't that great. Plus there seem to be a lot of COD4 maps that don't work real well with the AWE4 mod....they either hang or have "the red blob" problem. Gets to be a RPITA keeping the rotation going these days.

Of those FFCer's that are WW-less, Semper just got a new pooter and I imagine Santa will leave a copy in his stocking soon...or so we hope. Of course the parting days of any year in these financial times are also prime opportunities for layoffs. He expressed some concerns about that. So let's wish him (and all of us) the best both for the job and the stocking!
Master B's luck isn't running real high for his older DELL. That new/used CPU he ordered had two broken pins! Such is a risk with eBay at times. He's trying to get the seller to replace it....hope that works out and soon!

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COD WW news -
From a November conversation with one of the Treyarch devs:
Question 12: The tanks are overpowered!

Vahn's Response:
"We didn't want a tank to be able to be taken out with just 1 player by himself. That didn't feel right at all. We tried it. However, if 2 players work together and concentrate on the armor weak spot, destroying a tank is not difficult at all."

In my own testing, 4 satchels on the turret will take out a fresh tank. If placed on the rear (weakest point) then 2 and a sticky grenade should do it. The ONLY way to take out a tank with 1 satchel is throwing it under the tank. Very hard to do and not become road-kill. But it does work. Bottomline, when playing TDM on the tank maps, let's team up to stop the tanks!
Speaking of tanks, I can now turn them completely off. Which really changes the playing style for those maps....you can sniper more...I kinda like it.

Not hearing much good news still about COOP mode. Hock, Gonz and I may do some testing this weekend with running that via LAN mode over a VPN connection. Maybe it's more consistent if the machines are all "local". Will report if so.

As for the awaited 1.2 patch, last I heard the soonest we'll see that is next year. So no new maps for now. Yes, there are a few new maps out already, but with the redirect function being broken what's the point?
There was a rumor of some "extra content" being released with the patch, similar to how we got a few extra maps with the COD4 1.6 patch. Frankly, I'd be happy if they'd just fix the redirect and quick-connect launch troubles. But we'll get what we get...

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COD 6 News -
Just announced! Call of Duty 6 will be known as "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" and will arrive some time late Fall of 2009.
Activision Blizzard made this announcement along with others as part of their "Massive Inc. upfront".... an upfront is an event where publishers show off their upcoming titles to advertisers and the media.
Details about Modern Warfare 2 are not yet known, but expect more news in the upcoming weeks and months. It is anticipated that Modern Warfare 2 will be handled by Infinity Ward.

Sure does seem to me that the release cycle is growing ever shorter...used to take two years for the next version, now it's down to one. Maybe that explains all the bugs that still exist in supposedly "gold" versions....just not enough testing time. The old "quantity vs quality" syndrome...and guess who loses out in the end?
Yep, we do. Grrrr....

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That's all for now....cya on the server(s)!

Mamba, out

F.F.C. Seasons Greets

_FFC_

Ah yes, 'tis that season again....the shopping nightmare, jingle bells, credit card debt, colored lights, and hopefully some quality time spent with friends and family.

Here's what's new in CODland...

RGN and several of the major COD forum/support sites are taking a united stand against the top problem with COD:WW when it comes to server hosting. Seems Treyarch took a relatively easy system of doing redirects for the mods and custom maps and hosed it all to hell. So the COD Community, especially the modders and mappers, is being asked to hold off on releasing anything new for WW until this glaring oversight is fixed correctly in a future patch. Thus far the solidarity is looking good, and I for one agree that this is a show-stopper. There were enough things screwed up in COD4 concerning this....NO reason at all that we should have to relive that nightmare.

There are still some "unhandled exception errors" crashing servers. One is related to the use of deployable bipods, as noted by Tally below:
"It 'seems' - and I use that word very carefully as it is not 100% certain - that it's caused by a bad animation on the bipods.
This seems to be confirmed by this fact: certain gametypes like CTF dont allow turrets on the maps, and the unhandled exception error doesnt affect those gametypes. Indeed, when I removed the turrets from WAR and TDM with AWE5 on my mod test server, the problem stopped immediately for those gametypes as well. The problem is recognized by Treyarch as a legitimate problem, and is being looked at."

Of lesser importance...note that I do still plan to get the Ultrastats working soon...may have some time this weekend.

And for Hock...the flamethrower gets unlocked at level 64...hopefully, for the rest of us, you aren't anywhere near there yet. ;-p

Lastly, as is tradition, there are no dues or donations being requested for the month of December. Go spend that $ on a new game or hardware upgrades instead!

Happy Holidays to one and all!

Mamba, out

COD:WW - The Fix List

_PC_

The WW complaint list thus compiled......fix requests:

• Server Authentication Failure
• Spawn Logic in need of optimization
• Optional Head Icons & Name Tags for both Friendly and Enemy Players
• HTTP ReDirect FIX
• alt+tabbing out, and back you get the black screen
• Screenshots Broken - not incremental, they overwrite each other
• Adding cg_drawfps feature
• Adding /record feature
• The cg_fov 80 not reseting after dying
• Players will no longer be able to put color in their name, like green to look like a teammate
• After Prestige, server will not say "Primary grenade 0 is invalid. Setting to frag" in red text.
• Co-op servers will show up correctly in server browser, many players have difficult joining others as well
• Name tags will not show through walls (Cross hair goes over enemy, they go behind wall, name shows for a second)
• Fix for when you quit the game, blue screen pops up and restarts computer
• Ability to launch a direct server connection via shortcut (+connect, etc).

One of the biggest problems (for MP anyway) is the redirect server issue. Won't be seeing much in the way of hosted maps and/or mods until there is a patch for this. Sure don't understand how a game gets 2+ years of work, goes thru a public beta, and STILL has such glaring faults. Sloppy, very sloppy Treyarch!

Also, here is a link to a profile backup tool...be a good idea to run this periodically. Instructions are included.


Mamba, out

Left 4 Dead - released Nov 17 2008!

_PC_

While I don't often get excited about non-military FPS game releases, I've always had a soft spot for the weird/scary SciFi style games like Alone in the Dark, Half-Life, DOOM (1,2,3), F.E.A.R., Resident Evil, and their ilk. So been looking forward to "Left 4 Dead" for some time now.

Here's a couple review sites...sounds like it's going to be quite a hit:

Kotaku

Metacritic

Maybe eventually we'll get the bugs worked out of the "Nazi Zombie" COOP in COD:WW but I think L4D will make that look like a picnic in the park by comparison. I'll be real curious to see how the PC community fairs with the COOP on this one since that's it's main focus...the SP is pretty short.

Mamba, out

COD:WW Info and FAQ

_FFC_

I sent out an email today with info about my World at War test server...so check that out too.

Here is the default list of MP map names...left side is the display name, right side is the actual file load name...of course with the default maps the "file" is internal to one of the various game .IWDs:

- Airfield --» mp_airfield
- Asylum --» mp_asylum
- Castle --» mp_castle
- Cliffside --» mp_shrine
- Courtyard --» mp_courtyard
- Dome --» mp_dome
- Downfall --» mp_downfall
- Hangar --» mp_hangar
- Makin --» mp_makin
- Outskirts --» mp_outskirts
- Roundhouse --» mp_roundhouse
- Seelow --» mp_seelow
- Upheaval --» mp_suburban

Also, here is a trouble-shooting FAQ that should stay up to date...UZI does a good job on the follow-up:

COD:WW TroubleShooting FAQ

Mamba, out

COD:WW Finally HERE!

_FFC_

Not exactly here as in retail version hit'n my snailbox yet...that's due next week, but out in force via the usual retailers. Tho' I noticed the PC version conspicuously absent on the Walmart online site...hmmm. They had all the console versions, even the Wii....have to wonder what that is like...do you need a real Bic to light the molotovs? Do your home smoke alarms go off? lol

Not read any formal reviews yet, but here's a few lines from one of the regular gamers who posts frequently on the usual forums:

Our servers were busy much of the night. We had a great time. Some first impressions:
- There are some very large maps. I've been impressed with the flow of the maps and how well the tanks support game play. One map has 4 tanks. There seems to be a good mix of small, medium, and large maps.
- Game play is excellent and is similar to CoD4. The primary difference to me is that the weapons in CoD4 had laser like accuracy. In CoD:WW it actually takes some skill.
- They have made the bolts one shot kill on chest and head - so bolt skills are back.
- The artillery supports game play very well. The delay before it arrives means you have to use it to either protect or deny some real estate. Its hard to make it land right on a group as they will have moved by the time it arrives.
- The special effects on several items impressed me quite a bit - flares, incoming artillery, the glow of burning wood, etc.
- The cliffside map, in a word, is breathtaking. This was developed by Wrecks who is an RGN member who developed the "Vertical" custom map for CoD4.
- The water is used to great effect in several maps - on one map I was driving my tank through it.

And of course most of us did confirm many of these comments when we played the beta. Personally I've been playing the SP (or Solo as it's called) and been impressed with the improvements in the AI, scripting, graphics and over all "feel" of the game. I'm sure there will be several tweaks out for the multiplayer eventually, as a few of the weapons could use some serious Viagra.

Speaking of MP, I'll email out when I get the full (patched) server running on my home machine as that will have to suffice until everyone buys their own copy. Of course doing so may require a few hardware updates (or as in MasterBaker's case, a whole new machine). Such is the gaming evolutionary cycle...keeps the economy turning. ;-/

Mamba, out

Recap for October

_FFC_

Once again it's been a pretty good month for F.F.C. activity:
Do appreciate all your support and "regularity"...so to speak. ;-)
Hopefully the "Modern Paintball" and "AWE4" mods helped out by keeping things interesting and adding variety. I've tried to mix quite a few regular COD4 maps into the Paintball rotations, but not all the stock or custom ones are supported. I know a few custom ones tailored for that mod are being released so we'll check those out soon.

Lots of buzz going on about the COD:WW beta now that it's been out a few days. And of course there are the usual expected MP problems on the servers, like the "g_spawn entities server crash", authentication issues, DirectX errors, and so on. Those of us that have been in this biz for a long while aren't surprised but damn, it sure would be nice to not have to struggle through a debug period each and every new release. Ah well, it IS a beta...maybe the real release will have fixes...yeah, right.

Providing I get my pre-order sometime next month I may try to get a limited server going from home for test purposes. Will then poll to see which of our members might be interested in testing things out.

As mentioned last month, "Far Cry 2" is now out and the feedback sounds pretty good thus far tho' I've not heard much favorable about how the MP side is playing. The SP side sounds very extensive and involved. The map dev tools may make up for some of the MP lackluster as the custom map devs seem pretty excited by the new tools released. I'm not much of a storybook SP player anymore...prefer the faster action MP side so not sure if I'll try this one out or not.

Here's to hoping COD:WW is plenty o'bang (and BOOM! and KAPOW!) for our buck and we can carry on the COD tradition.

Mamba, out

Recap for September

_FFC_

Been a pretty active F.F.C. month as you can see:


Always more fun when we have a "full house", so thanks go out to ya'll for joining in on a regular basis. I've tried to keep things interesting with new maps, the Ghillie mod, and the recent Modern Paintball mod.
Regarding the last, I'll throw that mod back in on occasion for a change of pace. Later on the mod authors are supposedly including paintball airstrikes and other new features. There are also other COD4 custom maps that we already have that should work with the mod once we tire of the included paintball maps. But I'm sure more paintball-themed maps will appear too. And we can explore the new gametypes anytime:

StrongArm
Here you gain points for your team by eliminating players on the opposite team, and lose points if a member of your team is tagged. First team's score that reaches zero loses.

TeamSwap
In Team Death Swap, when you are tagged you are swapped to the other team. First team with no players left loses.

Last Team Standing
Your goal is to eliminate all players on the opposing team. When you die you have to wait for the next round. The team with the highest score wins.

Moving on...only a little over a month until "World at War" releases! I expect a few servers to showup right afterwards but I'm in no hurry to switch ours over as it always takes several weeks to work the bugs out.

As for other games besides COD, I put my local "F.E.A.R. Combat" server back online recently but no one seems too interested. Right now it's offline as I'm having an activation issue with my home server but should have that ironed out this week. You can check the new FC monitor page here, and may've noticed I re-vamped our regular monitor page too. Only problem with hosting the FC server at home is my bandwidth...but should be fine for at least 6 players.

I'm also hearing good things about "FarCry 2" so will keep an eye on that one. I have the original but not tried it out since my last game machine rebuild...damn, I need to retire so I have more time for this kind of important stuff! ;-)

In closing, here's a Xmas idea for the really hard-core FPS gamer. Not sure I'd want to have 10lbs of force bruising up my torso during RNG battles. Must be some really masochistic players out there.

Mamba, out

F.E.A.R. 2 and COD:WW

_PC_

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin...
....is full of visceral combat set inside a sinister and paranormal universe that begins shortly before the ending of the 2005 hit. A Special Forces squad is on a routine mission when the city of Auburn is rocked by a supernatural explosion. Alma, a girl with immense power and a thirst for revenge, has unleashed her wrath upon the city and thrown it into chaos. The squad must combat enemy forces and the supernatural as they struggle to find a way to stop Alma and uncover the mysterious forces arrayed against them before it’s too late.

This next F.E.A.R. release is scheduled for mid-Feb in '09.

Note that the old "F.E.A.R. Combat" site *should* be back online around Sept 22nd of this year. Apparently there were some buyout/merge happenings that caused the site domain ownerships to shift and a new site hasn't yet been established. Hopefully they'll have a similar sign-up system for distributing online validation keys as before.

Call of Duty: World at War...
....has a limited multiplayer BETA coming in October for both the Xbox 360 and PC! These MP BETA’s will serve as an early chance for players to practice the tactics needed for survival in the intense chaos of Call of Duty: World at War. Through the MP BETA players will experience the game’s new squad system, as well as fan favorite PERKS and kill streaks – all preparation for the full battle, which will commence on November 11, 2008 when Call of Duty: World at War is released to retailers nationwide.

Mamba, out

News, Maps, and Welcome Ryuu!

_FFC_

Here's some recent high praise for COD4 from one of the main Halo devs...hmm..wonder if we'll see a "perk system" in the next Halo release?

Not heard much news about COD:WW lately. There's an unconfirmed list of perks circulating but I'm not going to post that since it's just rumor at this point. Release date is still set for Nov 11th.

Map-wise, MasterB and I looked at a couple new ones on Wednesday. There's a small one that has a very kewl jungle theme but the stock ambient sound track is WAY too loud. I reduced the volume by 18db and it seems about right now.

The new maps list in case you want to download early:
mp_haus - CQB house in the jungle
mp_pillar - CQB arena, good pistol map?
mp_kob_breakout - CQB/Sniper, largish so set for DM right now
mp_village_night - CQB/Sniper evening version of an old favorite

Lastly, welcome aboard to our newest player "Ryuu" (which BTW is Japanese for "Dragon", not a brand of spaghetti sauce). Hope you are having fun and keeping Hock out of trouble at work now and then. ;-)

Mamba, out

New Maps and COD:WW PreOrders

_FFC_

For those of you who want/need to download new COD4 maps ahead of time (cough Crow cough) here is the new rotation I put up today. As usual, you can download direct from our redirect server and place the new map folders in the ..\usermaps folder.

New maps, in rotation order:
mp_poolday - very small CQB style
mp_aosta_valley - small CQB,village,lots of rooftop action
mp_karrak - medium CQB, maybe good for HQ play
mp_henged - medium CQB, village
mp_dawnville_rota1, medium CQB, variation on COD map
mp_asp_cod4 - split sniper, valley, long distance

In other news, COD:WW goes on sale Nov. 11th and you can preorder from the usual places...see this link.

Mamba, out

More COD:WW detail!

_PC_

I found the following on one of the COD forums...of major interest is that the release is THIS Fall, not next year. WhooHoo!!
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From rudedog:

About two weeks ago, I received an email from the new Community Manager for Treyarch. He had invited several members of the Call of Duty community to come out to LA and visit Treyarch for an early sneak peak at the next game in the Call of Duty series.

While we have all heard rumors regarding where and when the next Call of Duty game was taking place. These where still just rumors, so I jumped at the chance to get to hear from the guys who where actually working on the game and get an early preview of the next Call of Duty game.

It was almost a year ago when we where all out at Infinity Ward, the original developers of the Call of Duty franchise, taking an early look at Modern Warfare. Yes, the game that took the PC and console by storm.

While it has been an exciting year for the Call of Duty franchise we where looking forward to getting back to the roots of the franchise back to the war to end all wars, WWII

It's been a great year for Call of Duty 4 and IW has done some amazing things like supporting the game with small, frequent patches, releasing some amazing extra maps and blow everyone else out of the water so it was exciting to see what Treyarch can bring to the franchise this time around.

Treyarch, founded in 1996 and merged with Grey Matter Interactive in 2005 is owned by Activision the publisher of the Call of Duty series. Activision also owns Infinity Ward.

Treyarch was the developers behind Call of Duty 3, the console only version of the game. Grey Matter was responsible for Call of Duty: United Offensive which was a very successful PC version, which many of you say was the best version of the series.

While some of the console players may be concerned with the past CoD game from Treyarch. It should be noted that they had about 8 months to release CoD 3. This time around they have been working on CoD:WW for close to two years. Some say they may have even been rushed to get CoD3 out the door. Treyarch will be quick to say they are not going to make that mistake again.

I want to first explain that this preview is more of a sneak peak. Just like last year's early preview of CoD:MW, we where not able to actually play the game. However we where shown actual in-game footage by Treyarch's developers in real time, while answering many of our questions.

Also because our day was fast paced, we really did not get any time to take notes during this preview. All my notes where written from memory at the airport after leaving Treyarch that night. I was also home for only a day before leaving for work the following week. I was very short on time to prepare this piece. I will be following up soon after with any corrections and will post accordingly.

Let's get started:
For the first time since the franchise started, this Call of Duty game will not be numbered. Instead, it will simply be know as: Call of Duty:World at War. Treyarch tells us the correct abbreviation is CoD:WW

We are headed back to WWII but this time the game will cover the Pacific theater, which will be a first for the CoD franchise. Not only does CoD:WW cover the Pacific it also takes us into the boots of the Russians moving towards Berlin via the Western front

CoD:WW is built upon the current CoD tech engine that powers the very popular and successful CoD:MW game. However Treyarch has had an opportunity to do some polishing and a bit of their own custom coding for their version of Call of Duty.

I'm going to cover more or less the tech/features behind this CoD:WW then the maps we were shown at the preview. To be honest, you should have already read about the maps and seen the trailer via the larger print and general media sites. I want to cover the details for the hard core fans.

Game Rating:

There was no 13 year olds fighting in the Pacific so why would they try and give this game a T rating. It's nice to know they are looking at an M rating this time. Yes for the first time in the CoD series we are getting the blood, sweat and bad language we have been longing for in a macho WWII FPS game.

I will say I was shocked at some of the footage in the opening scene. The one where we saw a US prisoner, having a lit cigarette put out in his eye, and then having his throat cut, spraying blood all over the walls.

Also several times I heard the F word in game when the enemy surprised the Marines. While CoD:WW is nothing like GTA, I would call if more like Saving Private Ryan. They use the blood and gore where you would expect it. It's not over done to try and impress the older players/customers.

With that said, there will be a parental control option for those who would like to tone things down a bit.

Sound:

Again the CoD series does an excellent job at capturing the sounds of the weapons you will be handling. However this time Treyarch has put a little more effort into how you hear these sounds in game.

All sounds in game are location based, meaning that a weapon being fired by an enemy in SP or MP will react to it's environment. Tossing a grenade into a bunker will sound completely different when standing outside then how it sounds when in the same room, or when on the same side of a cement wall. They have taken the long hard road at getting this right and to be honest, you have to hear it with your own ears to appreciate what they have done.

Sound alone will take MP to the next level. Not only are the weapons and combat location based but the music is also location based. Gone is the map/level sound track and it's impressive. The guys at Treyarch say invest in a good 5.1 sound system to take full advantage of all their hard work.


Lighting:

Now we all know CoD:MW has some amazing lighting effects and filters. However Treyarch has done a little more to enhance your immersion into the game.

Moving from outdoors to indoors will affect your vision. Your vision will take a few seconds to adjust to the change in environment. For example, running into a dimly lit bunker will have you at a disadvantage for 1 or 2 seconds before you will be able to see clearly. This is a very cool and interesting effect that TBH should have been done by other developers long before now.

Looking up at the sun will temporarily blind you for a few seconds. Again, this brings a whole new ambiance level to MP alone. Using flares in MP will be like the modern day flash bangs. You can use them to your advantage to gain the upper hand. It's simple yet effective and very nicely done in CoD:WW

Water:

Hell, you're in the Pacific....
So you may have tried to play Crysis on your mid range PC only to be let down. I will say, the water effect in COD:WW looks amazing and almost as good as Crysis. Not only does the water look good, you can now swim under it but you will only have a limited time while holding your breath. Again this brings a whole new level to MP.

Objects float or sink depending on their characteristics as well as a fully rendered ocean bottom. You will also see bullets steak by under water just like the opening scene in Saving Private Ryan.

Fire:

Where there's water there has to be fire. Yes, it's been a while sense we had a flame thrower in game. Now not only do we have a flame thrower but the fire burns brush and wooden buildings just like in the real world.

You can throw down a wall of flames and depending on the direction of the wind it will travel and burn everything in it's path. The enemy reacts to fire just like you would in real life.

It seems as though they have spent some serious time getting this right. While they are still working on MP balancing it does look and work well in SP. I was amazed at how the vegetation burned and the fire spread to a building we were shown.

Not only do you have a flame thrower you will also get Molotov Cocktails to do some damage with. Fire is stopped in it's tracks by water. Water effects fire just like you would expect it to and it's a nice balance between the two.

We were told the flame thrower will be in SP, MP and Co Op. We will cover Co Op in just a bit.

Physics:

As mentioned above, fire and water will look amazing and will react with each other. The other cool physics features will be bullet penetration just like COD:MW but this time you can destroy certain structures. We were shown a bamboo hut over the water just off the beach with a small wooden plank leading to it's only entrance.

They showed us how you could escape an attack by shooting out the wooden planks that make up the walls, thus creating a hole to escape from. They also showed us burning a wall with the flame thrower.

Now while we where not shown any heavy concrete destruction it's unknown if you can do the same to brick and concrete walls.


Co Op:

Co Op is where you and up to 3 other players can take on a single player level, which is another first for the CoD series. Depending on the number of players you have in game will determine how smart the enemy AI will be. We are told they will be very very smart if you have a full 4 human players playing against the AI.

Co Op will be coming to both the PC and console; however because of the way you would join up or start a SP game, there is no so called dedicated co op server for the PC. This side of the game will act as a listening server.

Split screen console only, you will need a PC for each of the players in Co Op under the PC platform.

Console/PC FPS

While most of the game play action was shown on the console (because of the media room and ease of use via a projector) we experienced a constant 55+ frames per second if not a solid 60 and they are still polishing it.

Another thing we are told, is the game will take advantage of all those extra cores if you have them and will scale very nicely. One thing to note, we where not given actual system specs. However everyone hinted to the fact that if you can play COD:MW on your PC you can play CoD:WW just fine.

I inquired about scaling with SLI. They are still looking into that. If you're building a rig, they say go for the dual or quad core PC over SLI

DX9 is still good enough for the CoD series and it looks beautiful. So no need to upgrade to Vista and DX10.

Multiplayer:

You will get the flamethrower & vehicles in MP. There will be maps for infantry and maps for vehicles. We were told they will have a good selection of maps.

You will be able to switch game types in your map rotations, just like CoD4:MW, you will see location and time based achievements. You will be able to build your classes just like MW, but they will also be incorporating a new squad based feature that I need to follow up on.

PC server side:

* Windows, Linux and Anti-Cheat
* All your current COD:MW server features
* I asked about improving HTTP redirect or shall we say fixing, they are looking into it.
* More then likely it will be the same server side setup. Upload the whole DVD just like COD4:MW

Maps and mods:

OK, this is one area that they kept wanting to talk about. They are big into being able to mod this game once it's released.

They will be working on tools, guides, sample scripts and even video tutorials. They may not make the ship date but they should be released soon afterward.

Rope. Many of the Axis soldiers will tie themselves into a tree. When shot they will fall but hang from said tree by this rope until it's burned or you shoot it and they drop. A cool effect is burning them out of the trees.

Rag dolls looked good in this respect as well as walking into them, then move in a realistic manner.

** Another big note. Grass and vegetation move when walked through just like Crysis, which looked awesome - no more clipping in the grass.

Conclusion:

While things can change and promises be broken, I have the same impressions I had when I saw IW's Modern warfare last year.

Not only am I impressed by what I saw regarding the game, I'm impressed by a development team who showed a passion for the game they are developing.

I don't know what Activision does or how they motivate their in house developers but other publishers should take note.

Treyarch reminds me of the IW guys last year. Look how great that turned out to be. I will say I am ready to head back to WWII and step into a different theater.

I said it last year with IW, if Treyarch can deliver 1/2 of what they promise or have shown us, it will be one hell of a game.

As of right now, Call of Duty World at War is scheduled for a fall '08 release.

Call of Duty 5 - World at War

_PC_

There's a teaser trailer out now and some decent info about the details of the next Call of Duty release.

I also ran across this piece of related humor....guess we'll see who laughs last in another year or two.

Mamba, out

Patch 1.7 - IWD files - New Maps

_FFC_

First off, the game server has now been updated to the 1.7 patch level so be sure to update your game before connecting! Easiest way to do that is within the game menu (AutoUpdate); GamersHell is a good mirror.

Regarding "invalid IWD" errors, check your "mods\custom" folder and make sure there are NO files in there. At one time we stored IWD files there and that could be a problem.

Map-wise, as we have limited server space I try to only keep the best or most popular maps in regard to our numbers and playing style. That recent map I uploaded (mp_freeb aka "Freedom Bridge") was pretty cramped in play testing and wouldn't download properly so I dumped it. For that matter, I dumped several "too large" or "not best" maps today. Feel free to compare the list on our redirect folder with your local maps and clean out your local usermaps folder to match.

I also uploaded several NEW maps and put them in the current rotation:
mp_bridge (remake of an old UO favorite!)
mp_eerie (just how it sounds)
mp_falujah (another desert town)
mp_oase (an oasis...not bad if we stay outside the temple)
mp_ruins (CQB ruins courtyard arena map)

As usual, get in early to download the new maps either off the game server or direct from the redirect site. I walked the rotation and all downloaded okay.

Mamba, out

COD5 News & FFC Welcome

_FFC_

First off, wanted to officially welcome our newest players (SemperFi and Squint) into the ranks. Semper is an old hand at online chaos from my Maxtor days and a current Seagate compadre of Gonz, while Squint is a former FFCer who's now back in action. Last night's game session was "most excellent" since we had enough members in there for effective play on the larger maps. Keep up the good work (...uhh...play)!

And here's some new news about the next version of "Call of Duty", taken from the COD4Forums newsletter:

Today the proverbial 'big bomb shell' dropped for COD fans. The setting of COD5 was announced, to what could best be called 'mixed reactions'.

Just in case you're a COD4Forums visitor and haven't heard the news, I'll divulge. Yesterday, it was announced that the next game in the series would be going back to WWII. Instead of taking place in Europe, COD5 will be set in the Pacific.

Here is a quote from Treyarch's President, Mark Lamir about COD5, "The direction for the team was to make the best game they could, and as they were doing this they created a grittiness that quite frankly made some people very uncomfortable...This is a scarier Call of Duty than we've ever seen."

The news was announced in the UK by way of Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine. While the setting might discourage some players who grew to love the modern time frame, there is good news as well. A few new gameplay elements have been announced that definitely sound intriguing. First there will be the ability to swim underwater, flamethrower usage, and the addition of vehicles to commandeer. Co-op multiplayer is easily the biggest addition announced so far. There can be up to four-player co-op over Xbox Live. Split screen co-op is also going to be available to those who like to play co-op next to an actual person.

Hmmm...like many others out there I was hope'n more for something like a Vietnam or Desert Storm setting rather than the Pacific theater. Who know's if that "vehicles" addition (vehicles?...flame throwers?...can you say "UO"?) might include actually flying a plane or glider....I'll be very surprised if so, but both were key elements for that theater. And of course the only talk thus far is about the consoles...typical.

I'm sure it'll be another year or more before the release anyway, so we'll have lots of time for rumor-mongering and wish-listing.

Mamba, out

COD4 Map Pack Soon!

_FFC_

Originally Posted by 402 Blog

Variety Map Pack sponsored by NVIDIA hits PC June 5th
May 30, 2008

Great news! Heads up that the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Variety Map Pack sponsored by NVIDIA will be available worldwide for our PC players next week on June 5th!

NVIDIA is making it possible for PC players to download the map pack for Free on the PC thanks to their sponsorship. In addition, expect to see quite a few promotions popping up leading up to the launch of the map packs on the 5th and beyond. I know NVIDIA has a lot of great things planned for PC users in addition to maps becoming available.

There’s going to be some PC specific previews going up online this weekend I believe that will cover how well the maps play on the PC version as well as some contests and promotions happening all next week. I’ll be posting up details on them as they get started all this week!

The Variety Map Pack includes four new maps for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer including Broadcast, Chinatown, Killhouse, and Creek.

In addition to the map pack hitting, PC Players will be receiving the 1.6 Patch for the PC version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare that will add support for the new maps, fix a server crash exploit recently reported by the community, and a few additional features / bug fixes. I will post a full patch notes list next week.

The four maps are:
- Chinatown - a remake of Carentan set at night in Chinatown.
- Broadcast - based on the broadcast studio mission from SP but expanded. I've heard very good reviews of the first two maps from the 360 players.
- Killhouse - small maps based on the first training mission from SP
- Creek - all new outdoor map that was designed to be sniper friendly.

The supposed 1.6 patch might also be released this month; originally they were going to be released with the new map pack.

Mamba, out

Welcome And New Map Added

_FFC_

Just wanted to welcome our newest player, "MasterBaker" into the FFC gaming clan! Hope you waste many pleasurable hours online with the rest of us FPS addicts. ;-)
Maybe we'll have a few more new players this year....I know one of our old "Wolf:ET" clan members bought COD4 recently (you read'n this Semper?..get a move on soldier!).

Also, as several players were whine'n about the "Bunkermayhem" map, I replaced it with the remake of another old favorite, "Borisovka". It's not in the current rotation but I'll probably manually load it during game time so we can check it out.

Mamba, out

The Rumor Mill

_FFC_

Been awhile since I posted here plus it's "dues" time again and I do so want ya'll to feel like you're get'n your $-worth, so here we go.

Patch-wise, the rumored COD4 1.6 patch is still a rumor. There are still quite a few bugs with the game that need squashed and the more elite of the COD user community is fighting the good fight in that regard, but Joe Average Player doesn't see much wrong, making it an uphill battle. Supposedly it might release in conjunction with the map pack...supposedly.

Speaking of..still no definitive news on the IW COD4 Map Pack release ever being made available (purchase, download, whatever) to the PC community. Of course the console platforms get all the gravy these days so they already have it. The official rumor is that it will probably make it's way to our PCs but not for several months. Hey, could be worse...the game itself STILL hasn't made it's way to the Macintosh tho' that will change later this month.

User-made Custom Maps. LOTS of new maps out there now and many are awesome. I put a few of the better bigger ones on our server and four of us checked them out last weekend. Overall they were quite fun, tho' we could have used a few more players given their sprawl. Crow's player lost 5lbs just running around on MP_BURG and of course he hates that...no news there. The KStoujane map had some major spawn point problems (hey, let's EVERYONE spawn in the same place at once and try to survive). So that map never got a decent chance. I heard there is a new fixed version so I'll track it down and we can try again.

In non-COD news, Micro$oft released SP1 for Vista last week. They were supposed to release SP3 for XP this week but ran into some last minute error reports so it'll be a little longer. One rumored good thing about XP SP3...it may give you a noticeable performance boost. So you can bet I'll be giving it a try ASAP since I need every advantage I can get to compensate for my little ping. ;-/

Mamba, out

Spring ah yes, It Sucks!

_FFC_


I put together a new round of maps recently...here's the breakdown:

mp_arbor - small-medium dusky wooded area with a shelter or two
mp_burgundy_bulls - slightly larger remake of popular "Burgundy" COD2 stock map
mp_deserted - similar to stock COD4 "Backlot" map
mp_dust_world - VERY small arena map, good for pistols/shotguns
mp_first - rainy deserted city map
mp_iced - another smallish arena map similar to "COD2 GOB Iced" map
mp_hillside - rainy outdoor arena sytle with two opposite corner buildings
mp_modern_mice - a different layout in the GOB Rats style

I had a few others that looked good but sadly just too damn big...need a jeep to get around some of those. Saw one that was 80MB in size and 64 players suggested, sheesh! And oh yeah, the claymores are back "on" so watch yer step!

Player turnout has been fall'n off again lately, probably due to Spring weather. Guess I'm gonna have to go recruit'n once more. Sure is hard to find good people with "no life". LOL

Mamba, out

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

_FFC_

Yes, I've been changing things around again. Some of this, like the monitor page move, was prompted by my Windows Home Server setup last week. The game mod changes are more because I'm trying to get the best of all worlds (ranking, weapon effectiveness, player environment, custom maps, etc). And some has been due to the move to our new server host a couple weeks ago. Believe me, it's a lot of work and I'd rather just f'n play!

Anywho, here's the current scoop. The monitor page link has now moved to:
http://mamba.nuclearfallout.net/statusmon/ffc_statusmon.php

Turns out our new host supports PHP on the free website/redirect and I needed to get this off my home network anyway. They also had some canned scripts for stats display so I revamped the page design a bit to include their code...hope ya like it.

I found out that if we change the mod folder name to match what we ran before ("Custom", meaning no mod but allows custom maps) that we get our rank back and most of us had ranked up pretty high already with that "mod". So I figured since we're not using the actual AWE4 mod right now anyway, might as well go that route. The new "mod" will download the FFC.iwd file again or if you want to save time, just create (if not already existing) a "../mods/custom" folder in your game path and copy that file over to there from the "../mods/awe4" folder.
AWE4 has a lot of attractions but I think it was mess'n with the sniper rifle accuracy and I'm still waiting on the 2.0 release as that should include support for the "Overkill" perk. In case you are curious that perk is normally ONLY available in the stock game. I wondered about that too.

That's pretty much it. So right now we're running with the normal game HUD but the weapons damage should be near Hardcore levels...or so I hope; hard to tell without another player in there to test with.

And Floppo, if you are reading this...GET YER VENTRILO WORKING! Was good to see ya finally connect into the game last night but can't yak at ya to help out with "orientation" if yer not on the voice server. ;-p

Mamba, out

New! Host, AWE Mod & Maps

_FFC_

First off, hope you like the new site style here; I figured it was time for a change. Note: you can now "Call Me" if you need gaming assitance.

I spent most of Saturday gathering up enough new maps for a full rotation and get'n the AWE4 1.2 mod installed & configured. I was trying to wait until AWE4 2.0 releases but that's taking longer than expected. And then our game host (BranZone) was take'n much too long to get the changes made so I found us a new home...again.

Here's the new game and Ventrilo info...passwords are same as before:
Game - ffc.nuclearfallout.net:28960 (or 72.5.102.233:28960)
Ventrilo - chicago-ventrilo.nuclearfallout.net:7270

Primarily what AWE4 adds is more control over various features; like now we can still play "HardCore" mode but retain the minimap/compass. I may be able to limit weapons like in COD2 (via script/restart) so we can have some pistol-only small map sessions. Speaking of COD2, that game is now retired...no one showed up the last couple times I sent out email about it being online so figured it was time...R.I.P. COD2.
AWE4 also adds a few new CTF gametypes that are nicely done. And it appears that the "rank up" will work, as we noted online. Of course we'll all start at the bottom again but we should be used to that by now. ;-)

As for the maps, I cleaned out three that weren't that great so you can delete them locally if desired:
mp_ze_spray
mp_tlotd_deserteye
mp_sps_industrial_zone

The new ones are:
mp_vok - largish desert/dunes map, mainly sniper
q3ctf3 - nicely done medium CQB CTF old-style Quake
mp_bb_arch - smallish CQB arena map
mp_palms_v2 - medium open desert CQB/sniper
mp_dhc_carentan - classic medium in-town CQB
mp_backlot_night - night-vision remake of stock map

These maps and the mod files will auto-download or grab them off the new redirect link. You'll also need to grab the AWE4 folder and contents if going that route. Note that the IWDs for the new and old custom maps have been combined into one file now, the FFC.IWD file.

As usual, get in or manually download the maps ahead of time to save on delays in-game. I'll probably be around early.

Mamba, out

Hosting Woes & Maps & Mods

_FFC_

I'm still going rounds with our server host about the inconvenience of their game setup. Now that maps and mods are fast appearing it's get'n to be a RPITA to make changes. Unfortunately I don't think they are going to be able to do much about it...they are small fry and not a lot of extra $ to buy more drives and servers. So I'm going "host shopping" again. I really hate to leave BZ and may not if there aren't affordable alternatives. It's a choice of stay'n with a cheap, clunky but good-service-level host vs a more expensive, modern unknown-service-level host.

Speaking of maps and mods, I looked at the latest AWE4 1.2 release. It offers a lot of granular game control (weapon limiting, healthpacks, message displays, etc) along with adding CTF gametypes but nothing "must have" that I can see. So I think we'll hold off on that for awhile. Whenever the "zombie" mod gets ironed out I'd like to try that one...might be a fun alternative game type. But any new mods will probably wait until the host issues are resolved one way or another.
I'm watching the development of several new maps and as soon as they are sufficiently publicly tested will add another new rotation into the mix. Really want at least a couple open sniper maps included in there too.

That's it for now...I'm "gone shop'n".

Custom Maps Finally Working

_FFC_

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First off a little news from the official site:
We were overjoyed with the recent news that COD4:MW surpassed Halo 3 as the top played game on Xbox LIVE. (check out Major Nelson's coverage here)

Even more impressive, it was just announced that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the best selling video game title worldwide for the 2007 calendar year according to The NPD Group, Chart Track and The GFK Group! The fact that this game was released in November and only had two months to achieve the top position is phenomenal. (read all about it!)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now about the maps:
I've made progress on get'n custom maps working on our server. I won't bore you with the details, but the 1.5 patch that just came out makes it possible to load custom maps WITHOUT running a mod file. AND the server stays "ranked", meaning you can build rank, create custom classes and so on. That's the good news.

The not-so-good news is that when running in this manner you are starting at the bottom again. Different tracking files are being used so even with the same player name the rank tracking is stored in a different file. So it won't impact your rank on the "stock" server. In one way this sucks, but in another it levels the playing field (for awhile) again. Also, I'm not having any luck get'n the "free" redirect server they gave me working for map downloads. I can get this to work okay on our old redirect server but that one is outta room and frankly I'd rather use the free one. So I'll be submitting a ticket today to have them help out with that.

Meanwhile, direct downloading from the free server DOES work. So for now we can download the maps and manually install them on our game systems. This might work out better anyway, since even when redirect downloading works it's a wee flaky. On big files the "progress bar" disappears so it looks like nothing is happening even tho' the map IS still downloading. Plus the average map file is 25MB or more and this would be very slow for the "bandwidth challenged" among us. By manually installing the maps ahead of time you can avoid the in-game delay.

Here is a list of the custom maps so far:
* mp_bunkermayhem
* mp_pk_harbor
* mp_subway
* mp_village
* mp_darkroom
* mp_warehouse

The first two are re-makes from earlier COD versions that many of you will recognize. "Subway" is an underground map with a large central "war room". "Village" is a single-player conversion that is a largish map and could be good for snipering (eventually, when we "rank up" and get a sniper gun). "Darkroom" is a CQB dark map, fun for night-vision play. "Warehouse" is daytime CQB map, good for pistols only (yah, right ;).

In order to download/install the maps do the following:

1) Within your "Call of Duty 4" game folder root there should be a "usermaps" folder. If not, create one.
2) In your internet browser, goto http://www.ffc.branzone.com/cod4/usermaps/
3) In your "usermaps" folder (from Step 1) create the same map folder names you see listed in Step 2 (wthout the end "/" of course)
4) In your browser, click on a map folder name and download the *.ff files to the corresponding map folder name created in Step 3
5) Repead the above steps for all the maps
6) Within your "Call of Duty 4" game folder root there should be a "mods" folder. Within that create a "custom" folder.
7) In your internet browser, goto http://www.ffc.branzone.com/cod4/mods/custom/
8) In your browser, download all the *.iwd files to the "mods\custom" folder created in Step 6
9) Done!

I've walked the server map rotation and as long as you follow the above steps and get all the map files in the right places there are no rotation/load problems. FYI, this would be a LOT simpler if I didn't have to separate out the %$#@ing IWD files (not all maps have them) but there is still a bug in the game that requires this...for now, to avoid crashes. Hopefully that will get fixed in a patch soon.

As usual, email me with any related questions/problems. Hopefully I'll get the redirect working properly soon, but even then you could follow the above steps if you want to "get ahead of the game" so to speak and avoid the in-game download wait. I'll also let everyone know when I add new maps again.

Mamba, out

COD4 Custom Maps

_FFC_

First off...WELCOME HOME RoadDog! Hard to love them Patriots but we're still glad to have ya back on our server. Looks like we lost LaPua and maybe Jimbo...neither has been around in a long while.

Been a looong dry spell for COD4 maps, but quite a few new ones are finally showing up on the publics now. I have one (mp_subway) loaded on our server. That's the good news.

The bad news is:

1) Most of the custom maps are LARGE, both player-wise and in download size (20-40MB).

2) It'll still be quite some time before the really talented map developers get experienced with the tools and we see "quality" maps appear. Right now the ones I've seen are rather primitive.

3) Compounding things is the fact that our server host is still using that $#@! "shared base install" model, which means I had to submit a support ticket just to get that one new map loaded. Their Tech guy told me they will probably be going back to a standard setup....well, DOH! I should hope so. But for now if you want new maps go play publics. If you see any really good ones (quality, but smaller) then note the map name and I'll watch for it.

4) The ONLY way to host custom maps is by running a mod on the server. So that means no rank and no custom classes....have to pick your guns/perks each time. Some of the mod community is trying to figure a way around this but for the present that's how it works. SO...I'm loading the stock "modwarfare" mod that comes with the game. Nothing fancy is configured for it so hardcore, normal, oldschool, etc. mode game play looks the same.

That's it for now.

Tactical Night 1.3 Mod

_FFC_

This mod is now working and I tweaked out the settings somewhat today; didn't have time yesterday so the duration times and such are fixed. Plus most larger maps will be daylight, and the night maps will not be quite as dark. The mod can't run in "Hardcore" mode yet, since that would disable the fulltime UAV map and healthbar, and you really need the former on the night maps.

I figure we can run this mod (and maybe others) on occasion to break the routine a bit. At least until decent new maps start showing up.

Here are the 1.3 features (note that 1.4 is in the works):
-----------
- Enables *Night time* for all stock maps
- 3 Levels of night mode
- Nightmod can be set by map in tnmod.cfg so that a rotation can have night/day maps
- Laser sight (only for smg, pistols, assault rifles)
- Modded range, size, laser will disable if no nightmod
- Weapon drops if hit in arm/hand
- Added Tear Gas Grenades (will replace flashbang if used)
- Added detailed obituaries messages: Weapons, Hit Location, Range
- Stock obituary can be switched off
- 2D & 3D icons can be turned off (or on except "KILL" icon on sab/sd)
- Spawn Protection (redone)
- Modded MykMod v4 (modified) for Bandages & Bleeding
- Healthbar ( won\'t show on Hardcore Mode)
- Modded HardPoints messages
- Modded Welcome message
- Rotation messages

Hello 2008!

_FFC_

Another new year has arrived in F.F.C. land....hope everyone survived New Year's Eve and has recovered from too much party'n. We were busy watch'n the grandkids most of the weekend and the holiday, due to their other "Papa" being in the local hospital and passing away shortly before the new year arrived. A sad end to a (in many ways) sad year.....let's hope 2008 is great by comparison!

Not much news server-wise. Hope to see several new maps release this quarter for CoD4. I know there are a few new mods in the works. I'm already play'n with the "Tactical Night" mod and may get that working on our server (with a limited map rotation) later this week. I have it working on my home test server but our FFC server is being stubborn....I managed to hard crash it and had to submit a TS trouble ticket to get it back online. Our server host uses a "shared" file model for CoD4 and locks down most of the files and command line changes so it's very limiting to work with in comparison for mod addons. But once I get it working it'll be easy to switch the mod in/out as desired.

There should also be an initial beta AWE mod release very soon for CoD4. Not sure what all will be in that one but it's the same style mod that we ran on CoD:UO and CoD2. I'll also need to do some testing with how having a mod installed affects the server "rank" status. So it'd be a good idea to regularly backup your player profile as I mentioned in an earlier post...just in case. Note that you may need to install .NET 2.0 if the backup program doesn't run for you.