Games

Ahh, a good day…

by

Spent most of the work time, thinking about todays tasks. I really did not expect the new continuation training sessions to go over very well, just an inkling. Almost had a full server, but lost a few due to connectivity issues and ~20 minutes delay in trying to get as many bodies as possible. But hey, if we had started on time, there would only have been two participants to scare off  >_>.

Things went pretty well, tried to keep the live fire exercises fairly easy since it was the first session. Ezbassr and company proved to be more then up to it, much to my relief lol. The purpose of continuation training, is to give you a rough and tumble environment to practice your skills. It’s not a piece of cake, you’ve gotta be sharp, or you’ll fall flat on your face. Ah, the joys of [SAS] training :-D. We train harder so we can fight Eazy ;).

by

Spent mos of the day working on the [SAS] Dept. of Agriculture map… been in a terrible mood all day. That’s just the way things have been rolling here of late :-(.

Sorted out the details at the outside spawn point, adjusted the fire escapes accordingly, but had to remove both the window frames and glass in order to move through it. After shooting out the planes of glass, there’s to much stuff left, and it blocks you from climbing through lol.

Got a brain fart, and added extra rooms/doors connecting that spawn poin to the basement garage; just need to sort out the nodes properly before that is finished.

Began work on redoing the central office upstairs, only to find out that I can’t look up the same brick wall paper used all over the blasted map, so I’ve had to substitute a more fierce kind of brick. Gonna sort out that office space and rebuild the bombed out bathrooms below, then the structural changes will mostly be complete.

I have to do the AI related work and tidy up the marketing office area, but otherwise the map is basically done, it’ll be ready for a little testing soon, hehe.

Full throttle

by

So far so good, managed to burst through my weekend todo’s hehe. Completed my work for [SAS], got time to play a couple games, did the setup for ticket and documentation management needs on a personal project. Plus I’ve been aggressively moving ahead with the [SAS] Dept. of Agriculture map for SWAT 4.

All this while upgrading my laptop >_>.

Remaining to do with The DoA, is setting up the access from the outside spawn on level 1, to the window breaching point up on level 3. I’ve completed the relighting and half the general cleanup of the building, so the only big task: redoing the AI. I plan on setting up an interesting little “Scenario”, hehe. If I could, pushable barricades would be a nice touch but I’ve yet to figure that out in SwatEd.

Most of my time has been spent on the Encapsulated Package Installer (EPI) project. We now have a forum, issue tracker, and wiki system going. Things are not moving as quickly as I would like with EPI, but the past two weeks have advanced rapidly on infrastructural issues. When our new systems are more established, I’ll likely make references to it here.

Overall, the highlight of my weekend, has been (at long last) getting my invitation request to Google Wave accepted. So far it seems to be coming along well, but I have almost no one to wave with at the moment lol. The ability to invite 8 others came along with it; most of which I’ve mentally reserved for a few close friends and a couple for good uses. The main downside of Wave, is simply that e-mail and traditional IM systems have been around a really fraking long time; so it’s an uphill battle. One that I expect the world is not quite ready for yet, although it is very much a technology in the direction of our Internet future.

I’ve even found the time to migrate most of my gaming related pictures on to the WWW! The old home directory is getting thinner ^_^. Another thing I’ve gotten down, is transferring Live Journal entries from November 2008 to this Blog. I really need to pick up the pace on that. As much bother as it is, one thing I really do like about this migration procedure, is it gives me the ability to organise my old entries using lables; walks me down memory lane, and helps me to find ‘useful’ posts that were forgotten.

Life is busy, the serious issue is advancing forward quick enough for my tastes… rather then being bogged down and omni-tasked to death. My family is good at doing that.

DINNER OUT, best live op I’ve had in years

by

Today was the go date for [SAS]_Trp_Walkers Live Op, DINNER OUT. The first one he’s made actually, and doubtlessly, one of the best I’ve gotten to participate in, in quite a while lol. It really was a good LO.

When I saw the floor plans he attached today, I remembered a note I had scribbled down last year from [SAS]_SSM_Medic. He used it for some SNCO duties, and I got to thinkin’, what if it supported loading external images into it? Well sure enough, it did :-D. Spent a while playing with our `new’ish` toy, Walker and DUKE helping with the testing. It also fell on my head to lead the live operation, since Walker delegated it to the highest head on the totem poll.

After the call for the LO came up, I got everyone into the briefing software, and conducted a mission briefing. The plan was quite simple, Alpha and Bravo would link up on the top floor, Alpha providing support fire for the entry, and Bravo silently securing the flank—then taking position for a hard entry. After the “CHEESE GO” signal was to be given, we would’ve launched our raid: Bravo doing a breach bang entry while Alpha supported with tear gas and marksmen fire. That was the plan anyway, and we would’ve setup a similar assault in the next choke point on “PIZZA GO”.

What really happened, in manoeuvring Bravo into position, we came to a rather sticky set of situations. The areas we had to clear were surrounded with grated catwalks overhead; we took care of the first entry like clock work, but it was the second area… our rally point for after cheese. There was two doors leading into the RP, the right one with an X-Ray having his buttocks planted firmly to the doorway, and a buddy standing on the stairs next to him. The right door, had spotty obstacles and another X-Ray within arms reach of the door. I made the call to maintain the stealth, and informed [SAS]_Sgt_Duke comming Alpha, that we may be compromised within the next 15 secs; he was ready. We stacked on the left door, aiming to drop the sentry without much alarm; we did that and took care of the guys on the other side, before moving into the freezer behind our way point: a double door to be wedged before the take down on cheese. When we got there, the door was open and we took a lot of flak, [SAS]_Trp_COT going down almost on the spot… a hostage was shot in the distance before we could get the situation locked down—Alpha went GREEN and took out the shooters. Once I got bravo to our final assaulting position, commu with Duke showed we should have little resistance, so I signalled our entry with just a quick bang clear. While working around a bullet proof cage to kill a remaining shooter, I got quick draw mcgrawed out of the action without a chance to fire lol. In a couple minutes, Bravo was down to [SAS]_Trp_ESCRT while [SAS]_Sgt_Duke and [SAS]_LCpl_DeCapi took charge of the clearing effort. Soon after that, ESCRT went down leaving just Duke & DeCapi, when DC crashed, it left Duke to save the day on his own lol.

In retrospect, I should have changed the plan on the spot, split my Bravo team into RED and BLUE on each door: breach bang entries and push on, having Alpha engage cheese while that was happening. Instead, I aimed to keep things on the hush & hush, rather then take the gamble on hostages getting off’ed.

I chose Duke to lead Alpha team, because I wanted my best man ready in case things blew up in my face… and I knew his level head could cope with the pressure up there in the OP lol. While it would be easier for me to manage the assault team (Bravo) if I was up front where the action was. It was watching Duke and DeCapi clearing the map together, that really impressed me, for the first time in quite a while. Watching them in action was like looking at the epitome of [SAS] teamwork and tactics in action. Two [SAS] members knee deep in trouble with no real shortage of OPFOR to shoot at, and Duke brought order to chaos in the end.

A little bit ago, I sent an exaltational e-mail up the CoC, recommending them both for medals in the new awards matrix. There display of how we work together, and Dukes actions during the LO was that good – I generally don’t send recommendations for such things lol. But I think, after all the Live Opeartions I’ve been in, Duke deserves a citation for his effort, and DeCapi is also worthy of commendation. There virtual battlefield action really was awesome. Since our refined awards matrix is more focused towards live ops and trainers, Duke just made my first two cents for our equivalents of battle field commendations.

In [SAS], the only people I’ve ever felt worthy of serious recognition for their contribution to the team, are [SAS]_Maj_WIZ and [SAS]_CO_Random, because I know they’ve given more to [SAS] then most of us combined. WIZ in particular, I’ve been around to see better then most, how much he’s put into this group. Those that know me, I don’t do so highly very lightly lol.

Without a doubt, best live op I’ve had in ages!!!

Rambling the Metal Gears

by

Been playing more of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, managed to get 2 of the C3’s planted before setting off the alarms in the hanger… So Dragunov SVD time from the top level catwalk vs goon squad below with shotguns 🙂

Although I missed the M60 machine gun again on the way to the sniper dual with The End, I did find a new toy. A russian knock off of the Czechoslovakian. Scorpian SMG, I remember using one in Raven Shield and Syphon Filter 3… But in MGS3 you get one fitted with a laser aimpoint, if that sucker had a suppressor it would be the ultimate stealth weapon xD

The Colt M1911A1 is just too weak, I got detected in the hanger because I decided rather then tranquilizing the maintenance tech and then shooting him with the .45 so he wouldn’t wake up before I was done (less sound then the knife, oddly). I put a shot in the back of his head and he ran off, emptied the rest of the mag trying to take him down… I’m used to a MK23+SD and double taps using a laser sight from MGS but I don’t mind using the pistols iron sights in MGS3, just that the M1911A1 is less then optimal for dispatching enemies.

The prototype M16 ain’t so good either, not a lot of attack power and the suppressor can’t hold up to a lot of gun fire. The Patriot is just as bad as the M16 IMHO but the unlimited ammo and small size make it more useful for firefights then the Soviet AK47 in the game.

Placed the last C3 charge, nice cut scene of Snake musing over the heart-shaped plastic explosive Eva gave him, molding it into a butterfly and catching it. Just like the one he failed to catch in the Cave after he lost his eye protecting Eva. Of course thing sin MGS are never so easy lol.

The melee with Col. Volgin was actually a lot easier then I remember, first time I played through the game it was hard. This time it was pretty easy though, I can see why I’ve heard rumors of people posting “speed runs” of the fight online hehe.

Creamed Volgin, survived the bullet riddled chase out of grozny grad on Eva’s motorbike — finally using the Scorpion :-). RPG’s, Scorpion, and Patriot fire to deal with the Op4 chasing in motorbikes with side cars. Sniped the C3 on the bridge with Eva as spotter… all the way through to the final show down with a pissed off Volgin driving the shagohod and another escape from the goon squad now on motorcycles and jet-platforms!

Saved after the final crash, I know the running firefight through the jungle is the hardest part. Especially with an injured Eva in tow; armed only with Snakes SAA “Peace Maker”. MGS3 does show quite well what happens when you don’t WATCH THE ROAD!!! After the crash Snake ends up breaking a few ribs on a tree while Eva is less fortunate and gets impaled.

Snake refuses to leave her behind but oy’vey what an exchange. While he’s telling Eva “I need you”, I’m thinking… If I know Snake, he’s thinking she’s the only one that can fly. And sure enough he had to point that out (^_^).

She’s only lucky to be alive after all!

The end game can wait for another night, I remember it well… With luck I can use a mixture of SVD and Grenade assistest ambushes, the patriot for suppressive fire and manage to complete it without to much damage. I don’t recall Eva being much help but between injuries and a SAA I guess that makes sense.

The final dual to the death with The Boss, eventually earning the protagonist the title “Big Boss” is not cake walk either from what I remember. Hmm, would be nice to survive a close encourter with The Boss without any broken bones or firearms hehe.

Hmm, looks like some one actually made a model of the shagohod out of LEGO bricks.

http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/11941

Not a bad job either if I do say so myself as a former LEGO addict. This persons got some talent at reproducing things for sure.

I remember back when The Phantom Menace came out I designed and built my own “super” version of the droid hover tanks in Star Wars. Even in my youth I’ve always liked designing and building things hehe. The droid hover tank I did out of LEGO bricks was armed to the teeth and weighed a freaking ton. I didn’t have the kind of parts that they used for the base when LEGO released a droid hover tank model kit of their own a few years later but I created my own hover tank with a distinctive shape with parts from an old Exploriens kit I had and used solid-blue canopies from one of my brothers old kits (~1980s) to make armoured loading bins. My setup was much detailed then the official kit,down to the torpedo and missile tubes, I think the official LEGO kit only painted there’s on, cheap bastards hehe. The one I cooked up also was scaled larger, I used the Battle Droid action figures painted with the right markings of course 😉 to crew the battle tank. I created my design in the “spirit” of the one from the films and tried to improve on the combat effectiveness of it, not reproduce it exactly as it was in the films: I wanted to make it better xD

It made a great display in my bed room for a few months until I needed the parts to build something else loool.

I’ve always enjoyed the Metal Gear games but I never thought about building one out of LEGOs when I was a kid… If I did, I probably would have done the Metal Gear REX from the first Metal Gear Solid game. Hmm, I think I must’ve been about 10 years old when MGS came out in the USA and maybe 11 around when Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace hit theaters.

It’s kind of strange, 10, 20, maybe even 30 years (if I live to see) that you can still remember to stuff you used to do lol.

Old razor, still sharp.

by

Decided to join the action on Proving Grounds EU tonight, for a little Raven Shield ;). It’s been about two months or more, since I really bothered playing RvS, but went pretty slick. I breezed through the first few maps with the skill you would expect a WO1 to display, and survived until the clock ran out on staying up late 8=).

Even more comforting, is that I’m not rusty, even though I play without an aiming reticle lol. Then again, if I expect to be shooting beyond ~10 metres fairly often, I generally will equip my weapon with a scope: as opposed to using the CQ style employed throughout RvS.

I just find it more natural and instinctive without the aiming reticle, and usually my reaction times are elevated, since I’m engaging the target in a fluid motion; there’s no point of reference from the centre pip.

by

Man I gotta lay off the [SAS] dynamic room clearing. It’s like bam, bam, bam, bam bam bam – 2 story building with 30-40 contacts clear in the blink of an eye.

I feel like doing back flips, lol

The glory of Raven Shield / Unreal Engine 2….

by 
OS: Windows XP 5.1 (Build: 2600)
CPU: GenuineIntel Unknown processor @ 3003 MHz with 2045MB RAM
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS  (8250)

Assertion failed: Actor->ColLocation == Actor->ColLocation [File:.UnOctree.cpp] [Line: 1703]

History: FCollisionOctree::RemoveActor <- ULevel::MoveActor <- NormalSubUzi37  <- UObject::ProcessEvent <- (R6TMilitant04 Alpines.R6TMilitant31, Function R6Engine.R6Pawn.SpawnRagDoll) <- AR6Pawn::UpdateMovementAnimation <- AActor::Tick <- TickAllActors <- ULevel::Tick <- (NetMode=3) <- TickLevel <- UGameEngine::Tick <- UpdateWorld <- MainLoop

Both Raven Shield and SWAT 4 display crash messages like these, so perhaps it is an Unreal Engine 2 thing rather then specific to RvS/S4, but if it is, I would assume there is a way to turn it off. My feelings: This is good stuff to see if you are one of the games developers or testers—but should _never_ be seen by retail customers! Not only is it Martian to regular people, since we can’t go edit and recompile code ourselves, all it does is display information that we didn’t need to know. If I was going to do something like that for crash handling in a *release* product, I would probably make it said “Programmer fuck up, please sue the company for idiocy” 🙂 This seems to remind me, of one time I was on the website of a large north-american company, when for doing nothing at all but routine, their website gave me the most interesting error messages…. telling me enough data to find out several server side paths, there otherwise hidden implementation language, and enough data to clue in on what “stuffs” were being used to make the whole show go. I nearly died laughing lol. Maybe I’m a freak, but I don’t think user should be allowed to see developer information in a closed product like that.

post script: this was my 1500th journal entry

Rolling an idea into an operation!

by

Well, my live operation is all but completely setup for Sunday; all I have to do is zip up & attach the intel photos, get the map files ready to rock, etc. I think I’ve taken about eight to ten hours in prep for it :-/. It takes me all of like, five minutes to come up with an idea for a live operation, then I spend time cooking up more details and brain storming…. once them creative juices get flowing, watch out! You just never know where we’ll end up before zero hour lol. As stressful as it can get when Murphy leaps out of no where, I really do love LOs in SAS.

I posted a short message in the LO forum on SAS this afternoon, and spent parts of the afternoon / morning working on the details, including an OPORD. This one is going to have two maps to it, assuming the element doesn’t die two minutes after insertion or fall down a vent shaft, haha! I am very tired of how many delays we often bump into with the start of a LO lately, so this time out, I’ve enacted a stricture—you come late, you sit this one out in the TOC or can go buzz off. This live ops beginning strictly on time, if I’ve gotta grease the wheels and push; considering that I’ve given everyone ~48 hours notice of the launch window, and will be tapping the assault team at least 15 minutes early for setup / briefing; there are no excuses!!! I think the assault team is going to have an interesting feeling, if they make it to the end of the first map, muhuahauhauahuhaaua!!!!

You know, I could make a fortune if people would pay me to think of contingency plans and potential attack vectors, just look at my service record with the EVR lol.

Personal Training Cycle, 2009-10-02

by

Map 0: Meat Packing Plan 1, RvS Mission
Kit: Medium vest, MP5SD5+Scp, P228+HCM, 3 Bangs, 3 Gas
Results: Bullcrapped twice during clearing but aced it on the third go. Snuck in covertly until I was forced to cap a sentry through a window; no alarms were raised. Proceeded to secure the building room by room, penetrating into the upstairs ands ecuring my backdoor. Normally in server, we usually take the easy hostage first with bangs then go for the hard ones; for me, not so! I’m sorry, but I just don’t feel it is realistic to bang the downstairs kitchen, then creep into position upstairs ^_^. I setup an ambush on the catwalk; downed the guards with my H&K before they could raise an alarm – pick and choose your angles carefully. Moved the catwalk hostage into the hall for safe keeping, then I hit the gas pedal—full dynamic mode: blew through the next office with a flashbang, snatched the hostage, then moved them both to the next assaulting point. Dropped them off, plunked a pair of aces in the next hole, then stormed through with my H&K leaving nothing but the third hostage alive. Collected all three hostages, then moved out for egress by a different route then my ingress; taking it cautiously but expidetiously through the facility. Extracted the two hostages, then went and capped the last tango who was wondering around trying to follow me lol.

Map 1: Penthouse, RvS Mission
Kit: Medium vest, MP5SD+Scp, P228+HCm, 3 Bangs, 3 Gas
Results: Failed the first run do to being a moron, got spotted on the second go when the office door jammed on me. Third run was like clock work… Solid Snake couldn’t be more of a sneaky son of a bitch. A lot of people use Heart Beat Sensors and Smoke grenades to clear the Penthouse mission in RvS, me… I don’t believe in it for training purposes, it should be hard ^_^. I went in using no tactical aids, just two eyes and a beady little brain to sneak through undetected.

Map 2: (MP) Presideo, RvS Terrorist Hunt
Kit: Medium vest, MP5A4, P228, 6 Bangs
Results: Crept into a suitable place to light the fireworks, then moved swiftly at a controlled pace, securing the entire building. Got shot in the right shoulder, after getting “Overly zealous” on a dynamic entry but the poor tangos were too unprepaired to stand a chance. Had to track down the last terroristm, who was probably on my heals the entire map but just to slow to keep pace; hit’em with a flash bang and a semi-auto shot to the head.

All engagements were done fully automatic with the H&Ks, except for the very last tango which had to strong cover to warrent the chance at that distance (I had no scope).

If dinner wasn’t ready, I’d go for the SWAT 4 portion of my cycle, but it will have to wait until tomorrow :-(.