Games

zzzZzzzzZzzz

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So tired…

The [SAS] Killhouse Redux is coming along nicely, haven’t been able to figure out one of the extra’s I wanted… but level 1A is now feature complete, pardoning the stairs. Level 2A is aout 40% done, the second wing, ladies room, and two more hotel rooms need furnishing + a wee bit of work in the hallway (decorations).

So far, the map is coming along pretty nice all things considered. I’ve also got some plans for a few ‘secret’ area’s just to make things interesting. Hehe, if I’m the smoe making the map, why not have a little fun?

The question is how long will it take the membership to find them ^_^

On another note, I’ve been trying to replace Konversation as my IRC client for *nix. Many KDE apps on my laptop seem to suffer greatly on performance when being run under fvwm instead of a full kde session. I tested out tirc, which is nice and handy — even has Vi based key bindings ^_^. The only problem is the bus error when forcing a nick greater then the 9-char standard and doing a call to the nickserv bot.

So far, it looks like it will probably boil down to learning either BitchX or irssi.

The only IRC clients I’ve really liked in the past have been, Konversation (the best!), Chatzilla, and X-Chat. But I’m not really in the mood for needing a web browser to run an IRC client, nor in using X-Chat again. Nice client but eh, kinda boring.

I really need to get some time to focus on KDE4, between family, life, and work. I’m behind schedule on everything these days :

Dang it… I need a vacation !!!!

Map making time?

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Spent 90% of the day working on trying to make The [SAS] Kill House Redux map a reality. I’m a couple months ahead of schedule so far, most of Level 1A is complete and who knows what will become of Level 1B… hehe.

I think the hardest thing probably has been the lighting, it has to be reasonably realistic. But at the same time, it really would help to not need a flash light just to see the weapon in your hands >_>. When you ain’t got one to choose from design wise, ya never realize how useful windows really are !!!

Level 1A is pretty simple, spawn point, ~30m long hallway ending in a T-Junction. And a number of small to large rooms; exploring center doors, corner doors, threat points, multiple entries, etc. In a very basic manor, just perfect for basic training work. Level 2A, is meant to be more of a “simulation” environment then a clean room.

Decorating the spawn point, since most of Level 1A is meant to be unfurnished was kind of fun. The desks are kind of personalized to my tastes hehe. I also put a sign up which I feel fits quite well in several meanings of it, only I know them all ^_^.

Just for the heck of it, I’m considering putting in a secret room… Hey, why not have an office or something hehehe.

I’m looking forward to Level 2A and the challenge involved but joining my teammates in training on it will be sweeter still.

Recent activities.

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Havn’t had a lot of spare time lately :

Survived my 20th birthday on the 20th, makes me wonder if I’m starting to get old in my own way lol.

My brother called and wished me a happy birthday, was good to talk with him even if I had to put up with a ‘lecture’ 8=). I know the old axim is “those who can’t do, teach” but in my families case it is lecture >_>.

Night before my birthday I managed to polish off one of my favorite burgers from Ruby Tuesdays. I remember the first time I had one, hehe a few years back I was the only guy involved in a project. So the girls had to throw a birthday party and what else but The Ultimate Colossal Burger xD

They always did know how to throw a party lol.

Ma also made 2lbs of Chili, so I’ve been feasting on that for the past couple days, hmm now that I think of it.. A little chili would hit the spot about now ;).

I spent most of my birthday eating, sleeping, and coding — three good things, especially since sleep is a premium for me +S. I ain’t done much of anything in C++ in about 3 years, sad considering November will be my fourth anniversary. But I’ve really been enjoying the C++/Qt4 work of late, even better I’ve got suitable development environments on my laptop and desktop. Lunch was a trip to the best all you can eat joint in town, so that went well hehe.

Still, it’s all overshadowed by one thing… But I guess that’s a different subject.

I’ve managed to get a bit of training in this weekend, been concentrating on the fundamentals of room clearing for Jonsi’s training. One nice thing about teaching it, I’ve been doing it enough in the virtual world, that I parts of it flow into the real world lol.

Ok, so is it that bad if you tend to stack on doors and button-hook entries ? haha

Started work today on a diagram for a new swat4 map, The [SAS] Killhouse Redux. I’ve got over 25 rooms and two floors with concepts for adding another wing on the first floor. What I like the most about the design, it’s trivial to build it in bits and pieces. Level 1As first wing, then the other wing or Level 2A, etc. My original “dream” for the ultimate training facility included like a 5-6 floor shooting house but no map maker got into the project.

The only big problem is me and the Unreal Editor used mix like water and oil. I should be happy though, as crappy as SwatEd is it really is less bothersome then the UnrealEd build shipped with Raven Shield. Although I’m more used to the Rvs build… At least the S4 one doesn’t crash so often!

I can do almost anything I set my mind to, it’s just a matter of time. Tomorrow I need to inhale one of the tutorials and set to work on more of the map. The main problem atm is adjusting the objectives, although I reckon I could always make a room in the middle of no where full of tangos lol. The old [SAS] Killhouse in RvS that we used to use before I even got here, had a lone tango hidden behind boxes. But that was more so because of issues with the game design, Swat4 is a little less, ehh irksome.

Today I also got some time on the SWAT4:TSS server for the first time in a good while, I really miss that game lol. The only bad thing I can say, is the MP5s don’t support full auto. I’d rather have a trusty MP5N but hey, the devs had to make it more ‘balanced’ :. The UMP.45 fires at about 300 RPM on their own scale and on full auto, while the MP5 is limited to three round bursts as respective alternatives to semi automatic.

I really prefer full auto because I can control the bursts. In RvS, I often like to use the MP5/10A2 because the way it was implemented. You can’t hit shit past about 30 metres and if you fire more then 2 rounds at a time, you won’t (consistantly) hit shit to start with ! The FAMAS G2 also has such a high rate of fire, that it’s great fun to put on full auto and try to fire one round from it per trigger pull.

SWAT4 has one of the worst simulations of ballistics I’ve ever seen but, Rvs has good shooting but the worlds most unreal physics.

Tomorrows plans, map making and training ops. With how long it’s been since I’ve really played SWAT4, I think I should take some drill time to work on my usual reflexive plan.

3-round burst to centre mass then follow up with a double tap or another burst to the noggin.

Me, I fire a lot of rounds per kill — because I keep firing till the f****er goes down. The advantage of video games is, once they die they start to fall over dead (realistically or not). The disadvantage is unlike the real world, getting shot doesn’t have much effect on the enemy. At the best you might jar their shots (rvs) or stun them briefly (swat4) for another follow up shot.

What I really would love to do some day, is set up sensors on the monitor and a laser pointer on a model weapon. And have the sensors on the screen detect the movements of the laser beam across their own beams and use that to generate mouse movement-input for the operating system.

That would make aiming a lot more reflexive then a mouse lol.

DI Planning Phase

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Just finished my notes, I figure I can make the encrypted file available to the other NCOs to save me time reiterating it vocally. It’s mostly an outline of what ground I’ll have to be covering as a drill instructor.

My planned format is much like that my greatest teachers used for me, Rand, Wiz, and Relish.

I know my work on Tuesdays now (formally Mondays job) is almost a total washout when it comes to computer time. I kind of would like to get at least 3 or 4 days of the week going for training an hour or 2 per if possible. Time issues will tell the tail I guess. One thing I like about most of my work, I’m usually home some time in the local afternoon which generally works well.

I really prefer Zulu time but I kinda like my time zone. It balances out to an interesting inter-mix of times when syncing with other countries, I usually get to see people in several very different time zones during my online time lol.

The smaller portions of my training phase need to be taken day by day more so. I like what I have so far, a fairly ironed out wave of it but still a lot of breathing room to swing with whatever I end up. One thing I need to do is get this TeX file setup for printing so I don’t crash from all the alt+tabing lol.

I always felt [SAS]_Cpl_Spidey01 had the best ring to it in my time thus far, although I admit SSM/RSM/WO1 has enabled me to do a lot more then I otherwise would’ve been able to… but it’s the Corporals that fill many of my favorite tasks in [SAS].

Good to have my butt back on the virtual training grounds doing training!

days notes

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Ahhh… A busy, stressful, but reasonably productive day I guess…

TG#3 problem should be el’fixo.

The RSM finally posted the reply to my volunteering to the be our new Recruits drill instructor.

Tonight I need to take some time out and finish prep work. It’s been a good while since I’ve focused on this sort of thing, having never filled the position in the past. I’m a wee bit apprehensive but looking forward to it a lot.

Back in my day, we didn’t have such an arrangement and by the time we did: I was a bit to highly placed to get a chance :. Oh well, it’s about time I guess lol. I’m lucky though, I’ve got a good recruit to work with so the biggest problem will probably be not boring him to death during training >_>.

As an NCO and SNCO on the team I have usually planned out my training sessions in advance, complete with a lesson plan. One thing I kinda liked about being an RSM/SSM is the chance to do more ‘off topic’ trainings, covering advanced stuff and things that we don’t train as frequently on.

For Drill Instructor, I want to continue to apply the level of expertise but not in quite the same way. I figure, for this since it’s more of a one to one / two to one approach… And I’m very much used to training in groups, I think I’ll try and follow the format that thought my generation the techniques of the trade.

I’m used to doing trainings in a more structured class. I usually would line it up so I could have 2 or 3 recruits around and bring in a few promising candidates when I could. Walk us through it, refine it, and where possible a lot some time for practicing it without the instructors interventions. Most times I’d be dealing with 3 to 7 people and if ever a stroke up luck, someone to back me up lol.

Me, well I was trained quite a bit differently hehe 😉

Writer’s Block: Funniest Thing Ever.

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Out of all the funny things that have ever happened to you, which experience still cracks you up?

Live Journals Writer’s Block

Without a doubt?

Cored in a second flat!

I was in a casual game of MechWarrior 4: Mercs with a friend, her smoke signals host (AOL Dial up), and the Op4 was three of her killer ‘Mech configs piloted by level 9 bots (the hardest mode). I was piloting my Shadow Cat, a 45 Ton medium ‘Mech and iirc she had her Black Knight.

I was like, “Ok I’ll go destract them you go flank” and before she could warn me, I jump jetted over the wall and BAM

My ‘Mech exploded as they cored out my Shadow Cat about as fast as my legs cleared the wall hahahaha !!

Crap, we were laughing till it hurt after that one lol. Normally bots can’t fight worth a darn on any difficualty level let along the maximum but when shes the engineer — RUN FOR IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hmm, it’s been awhile since I last thought about the ‘cored in a second flat’ thing hehe. That’s one thing I always liked about playing with Lioness, she was brilliant at putting together strike packages. Blending the perfect mixture of weapons payloads to balance both human and bot skills with the desired effect, and to top it off grouping them into strike groups of demi-lances or larger. Often 2 assault ‘Mechs and a heavy or a med, hvy, and aslt.

Some of those configurations were scary :

And I’m a guy who used to train versus like 12 level 9 bots lol.

My favorite part about Mech Warrior was the ability to design ‘Mech configurations. I was never really happy that in competitive play, I usually ended up in ‘Mechs designed for the more natural ‘stand up fight’ of a league drop — weapons were largely limited to the heaviest hitting ones grouped in mass, alpha striking was the goal. Like the common street-fight Highlander every body used for short to medium range work and urban ops.

About 90 tons of jump ‘Mech with low slung arms, big torso sections and tall legs. But that sucker could pack a heavy gauss rifle (the biggest gun back then) plus still cram in clan guass, light gauss rifle (basically super long range), and a capacitor packed particle projector cannon (PPC) — meaning one big alpha strike. It only had a 600 Metre rang eon the heavy gauss but the closer you got, the harder the gauss rifles hit. Heck if you got as close as 400m the heavy gauss would probably critical most heavy ‘Mechs in one center torso shot.

That’s how competitive MW4 play was, speed was a luxury for most, heat sinks dead weight, armour was cheap compared to guns. And if it couldn’t destroy any ‘Mech in the game with two direct hits, your ‘Mech was too weak for combat. Although of course in games where we got points by damage done rather then kills (never very popular) people would mix in some shredders using short or long range missiles.

The only big difference between long range and short range combat was for brawling we took shotguns (LBX Autocannon) and heavy lasers most times, for sniping we took Gauss rifles, PPC, and ER Large Lasers :. So what if I could work a 70 Ton Nova Cat with 7 ER Lasers, minimal reflective armour, 90+ KPH engine and no heat sinks what so ever, and go hill-humping as the Nova-style sniping was nick named, blasting away ‘Mechs ? I much rather have been in a little ol’ Shadow Cat or a Raven zigging and zagging through the battlefield.

In some ways, I envy my old partner in the engineering wing. She never played competitively (good for me because her personal ‘Mech was the Queen of Alpha Strikes) but she also always used the style of ‘Mechs that she preferred to bring into virtual combat (y).

She was always a great one at designing ‘Mechs for all range combat, a skill very few people ever developed well. My own line of bots got used for training but were never quite up to par with Lionesses monsters from a Doom speed run lol.

Although, I did work together a group of bots that cored my shadow cat in half a second once lol.

They were never quite up to that same nightmare configs that she cooked up :-(.

I remember she once gave me her personal ‘Mechs configuration, a 75-Ton Black Knight that had an alpha strike that put 100 ton ‘Mechs to shame!!! When I brought it to bare against’ my friends ‘Mechs they couldn’t believe it hit so hard haha. It was like bringing a midget to a sumo match and packing the death stars super laser !

With Lionesses very much respected permission, I eventually gave my buddies the config so they could stop (wrongly) trying to reverse engineer it on her >_>.

*shakes head*, that girl was a bloody genius of ‘Mech Engineering!

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Oy these trouble makers are starting to get insulting!!

I figured at first, fine let the babies have there candy… Now they are just asking for a spanking.

So far it seems they can try stealing copyrighted content, insulting us, disrespecting us, and personally disappointing the WO1, insulting the major, but one thing they can’t do?

Is actually prove they have more maturity then that stupid character always following SpongeBob SquarePants around, man I’m glad I’m not working at that one clients anymore… The bosses grandkids were nuts about that show (and I’m not) :

After what Wiz did to ol’Snipe, that should at least keep the whipper snappers busy for a little while, but I still wish they would GROW UP.

It makes me sick to think about how some of these peoples actually used to be a decent example of conduct lol.

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Oy these trouble makers are starting to get insulting!!

I figured at first, fine let the babies have there candy… Now they are just asking for a spanking.

So far it seems they can try stealing copyrighted content, insulting us, disrespecting us, and personally disappointing the WO1, insulting the major, but one thing they can’t do?

Is actually prove they have more maturity then that stupid character always following SpongeBob SquarePants around, man I’m glad I’m not working at that one clients anymore… The bosses grandkids were nuts about that show (and I’m not) :

After what Wiz did to ol’Snipe, that should at least keep the whipper snappers busy for a little while, but I still wish they would GROW UP.

It makes me sick to think about how some of these peoples actually used to be a decent example of conduct lol.

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Managed to get done with work in half the time today, I don’t mind getting home early !

Haven’t managed tog et much coding done today though… Hopefully tonight, tomorrow, and the weekend :

Took sometime to relax, fired up Halo: CE and finished off the game on Heoric. Came in at what was left of Captain Keys as the shoot out was about to start. Not very hard, just move down the ramp to trip the area-triggers on the flood goons and back pedal off the dais and use the pillar at either corner for cover while doing some hit’n’fade and sharp shooting work.

Blew away the flood 2 or 3 at a time with my Assault Rifle and Shotgun then reloaded on my (very low) supply of grenades and ammunition from the corpses. Since several previous attempts told me there would be a covenant attack squad full of elites and grunts including fual rod guns. I stock pillied weapons near the corner, (ab)using the weapon swap to prep my fall back point. I setup a plasma rifle and pistol in the strong corner and left my assault rifle and a plasma pistol on the opposite side from the covenant door. Then loaded off my shotty and picked up a needler for some long-range work.

I figured, if I couldn’t take out the attack squad when I went for the door — lobbing grenades into there midst while letting rip at survivors with a needle gun. I’d do a fall-back by suppressive shotgun fire to the pillar, fall back point (FB) one. If I got boxed out of there, I’d fling the empty needler, frag out and rush to the assault rifle over by FB two, a last stand and run for ye life moment.

Brains over brawn 😉

So I went over to the door, tripped the auto-open and chucked in a few grenades as the grunts threw back, blew most of them up. Then applied needler fire to deal with the living critters and put some more grenades in. Took it easy and fetched full supplies hehe

Halo I think is very much a game where you need to learn when to stand and fight from a distance and when to kick down the door and storm the enemy position, if you want to survive. After 15+ years of gaming and thousands of hours in the shoot house with my teammates training room clearing in RvS & SWAT, it comes a bit easier tome then it used to.

After that, made it off the ship (while dodging endless streams of plasma grenades) and down to the pillar of autumn. Fighting through armies of Covenant and Flood, even going toe to toe with Hunters (up close and shotty). Blew the ships reactor and high tailed it out… Halo’s ending really is a bit anti-climactic compared to the pump up to get through the end game lol.

Game felt much shorter and much easier this time around 0.o

One thing I like about Halo is the Elites are almost the Master Chiefs equal, on legendary if your not paying attention a single blue elite can kill you. Heroic, well is not that challenging imho but it gets the job done for R&R. I find the best way of dealing with Elites is to use the range advantage — and hit there shields with accuracy. The 12.7mm pistol and covenant plasma rifle work best, but the needler also works great in open ground. And you can always use your own movements and grenade tosses to control the AI’s movement patterns, Halos AI ain’t that bad for the Elites (although the rest suck) but they don’t do long range work well and like any half realistically intelligent creature of an AI, they know RUN FOR COVER. Which makes grenades great for flushing out elites and forcing them to move towards ground more favorable for you to pick them off.

I also like going “up close and personal” in situations where I can use mobility to close and avoid more hits while finishing them off. During the control room missions I did that a lot, blast’em with the pistol then close in with the plasma rifle and rifle butt any slugs that got to close.

Halo is far from one of my ‘preferred’ styles of game but the single player makes good relaxing. Multilayer, I avoid though. Whenever I play Halo online I usually get owned for actually trying to capture the flag. Or I spend the round shooting the heck out of the other team like a crazed one-man-army and screaming at my stupid teammates for having the tactical ability of a slug, for camping our base instead of taking advantage of the perfect time to launch an attack !!!

Modern siege warfare favors the attacker in the long run.

Hmm, code time soon !

Knee deep in flood, shells, and bullets.

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Managed to fight through the flood running gun battle levels all the way to Cortana popping up to save the universe >_>

Perhaps it’s just me but I think it was actually harder playing it the first time way back when, rather then playing through on Heroic of late :

Or maybe it’s because I concentrated more on wiping out the flood then just keeping in Master Chief in one piece lol.

If my ISP could keep the (snip) connection working things would be much easier… Made it to 455MB on the last ISO Kriss Moore posted for PC-BSD 7Alpha before it the aDSL finally died.

Why pay for service that works like crap?

I want to get it setup for some testing, the PC-BSD install on my test machine uses a partition that I’ve reserved largely for testing Linux/BSD alpha/beta/release candidates any way so it’s no loss. Later on I also would like to ‘play’ with an idea that needs a fresh FreeBSD-7 install… 😉