|
 |
What is Honor? Where is
Honor in DC? |
 |
|
|
- 30,
December 2003
by Bama |
|
 |
|
|
|
FPS games
have always had it's share of smackards, AW's, and
people who just plain don't give a damn about anything
including themselves.
I was visiting an old web of mine this morning one that
I have not visited in a long time. It is a web site I
made when I was heavy into the game Descent 2 and 3. One
of the topics was about Honor in the game and in real
life. What I had to say about it then still applies
today, and it seems that honor is something that is
totally missing today in many people's lives, and in our
game Desert Combat. One day, on a Kali chat server
between friends and fellow WC clan members the question
was brought up, just what is Honor. No one could put it
to words at the time what honor really was.
After giving it a few days of thought I attempted to
place in writing just what I thought the essence of
honor is.
Continued Here
SORRY WE LOST OUR FORUM!
|
|
|
The Good & Bad of DC .60
Beta Release |
|
|
|
- 22,
December 2003
by Bama |
|
|
|
SORRY WE LOST OUR FORUM! |
|
|
|
|
Desert Combat
Bata .60, was it released to soon? I'm not
concerned here with the new stuff, like the new
helicopters, Aircraft carrier, and what not. I am
concerned that some of the main things that needed
correcting were not corrected, or as usual the DCDT in
it's zeal over corrected some things. I am also
very disappointed that they think so little of coop game
mode that they never even checked to see if their
changes effected the AI, and it did in every map that
added new stuff. There are a lot of
players who like to check out the new stuff in coop mode
before playing on-line. There are a lot of players who
just plain like to play by them self's occasionally with
just the Bots. I can understand why they add
AI support to so few of their new DC maps, but why would
they destroy the original BF1942 AI maps.
Either they place coop very low on the pole or it's very
poor quality control. Anniversary or not the .60
Beta should not have been released until a few things
were checked. You want an example, start a coop
game of "Wake Island" and spawn on the new Nimitz class
aircraft carrier. Now watch all the Bots line up
and walk right off the end of the flight deck.
How many times have we asked the DCDT to at least
give the M1A1 the ability to turn on par with the T-72.
I can't remember, but I'm sure it goes back to the very
beginning of Desert Combat. They give it new
skins, new sounds, and even new main gun FX effects, but
it still gets stuck in lightly rough terrine. An
M1A1 getting stuck where a T-72 can move unimpeded makes
no since to me. All I have to say one more time is
(without the please) Fix it!
Apache v the Hind: Here is a prim example of swinging
the pendulum to far. Alpha .45 the Hind nose gun
was the most powerful gun in the game. Beta
.50 the Hind nose gun is the weakest gun in the game.
Beta .50 the Apache nose gun now becomes instance death
to a Hind, (only 7 hits kills a Hind), and it was not
toned down in Beta .60. When I'm flying a Hind and
meet an Apache with a Nose Gunner I just get ready to
bail. I have a much better chance using a stinger
on the way down. Why neuter the Hind? Why not make
them balance each other and then skill is the winner.
Ok there is more, but not more on this subject here.
The DCDT did do a lot right as they always do. The new
maps rock, nobody builds maps as nice as the DCDT,
nobody! The new helicopters rock as I knew they
would. Some of the tweaks were very nice.
All in all the DCDT has given us the best damn MOD in
the gamming industry. Awards, yes they deserve to get
every award out there. If Desert Combat was shrink
wrapped and cost $49.00 it would get game of the year,
not best mod. However I still feel they need to
pay more attention on the details, and maybe not listen
so much to all the forum-birds who have nothing better
to do than roost on the DC Official Forum 24/7. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DCBB Public DC File Site In
The Works |
|
|
|
- 19,
December 2003
by Bama |
|
|
|
|
All who play
Desert Combat have had the problem of downloading DC
files. Sure there are several web sites who have DC
files, like, fileplanet.com, fileshack.com, and
bffiles.com, but sometimes the line just gets way to
long. I'm not saying what we are bring on-line
will be the last resort in Desert Combat files
availability, but it will be another choice, and it will
be free. The DCBB Public Files link on our Nav-bar
will be one way to access this new DC files web site,
but it will be an antonymous web site called
desertcombatfiles.com.
Our plans are to make available every Desert
Combat file for download, Every map, every mod, every
add-on program made for Desert Combat. Now the
really biggie will be the new beta releases of DC, and
our first real test will be the Beta .60 were all
waiting on. This file could be over 600 megs in size.
We are suppose to have unlimited space and unlimited
bandwidth, but we will not know just how good the
downloading will be until Beta .60.
One of the first things on the to do list will be an
upload feature that contributors can get their new mods,
maps, and new versions of said to us easily. Also
planed will be a major review section on all maps, mods,
and programs, as well as hardware that DC players might
have an interest in. We will of course keep you informed
on our progress.
Any potential Advertiser reading this should be
aware the Desert Combat community is quite large,
estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.
Fileplanet.com alone
has had over 812,000 downloads of Beta .50L, and the DC
Development Team feels there have been well over
1,000,000 downloads. Desert Combat on it's own
stands as one of the top five FPS games out there, and
that's placing it with all the $49.00 shrink-wrapped FPS
on the market. If your interested in becoming a charter
advertiser contact Bama.
|
|
|
Punkbuster included in 1.60
Patch |
|
|
|
- 02,
December 2003
by Bama |
|
|
|
|
Dice & EA
have just announced
the inclusion of the anti-cheat program Punkbuster
in their next patch, 1.60. Punkbuster is the premier
anti-hack program on the planet and I must give credit
to Dice and EA for biting the bullet, and opening their
wallets to protect this game from the Cheating Punks of
BF1942. I just hope that it will cover all the
Mod's as well.
UPDATE: From the desk of Ken
Creedon of eavenbalance.com (PunkBuster).
"PunkBuster should work with any and all mods for BF1942." |
|
Review
Section Coming Soon
Thanks to Desert Wombat we will be doing a review
section on this web site soon. The reviews will be
on DC Maps, Hardware, and software programs for
DC. The 1st review will be on the DC map Basrah's
Edge. You can read it
here. |
|
|
|
|
|
The Quality of Gaming Sound |
|
|
|
- 17,
November 2003
by Bama |
|
|
|
|
So it's late
at night your into a great game of Desert Combat or any
other game for that matter and the wife or your Mother
shouts from the bedroom "turn that damn thing
off". Big disadvantage of using a speaker
system no matter how good it is. So you go buy a
pair of earphones from Wal Mart, now the Wife is happy,
but your not. The sound sucks so bad that your
ready to devoice the little woman so you can use your
speakers again without being bitched at. Have no
fear there is a solution!
Go Quality! The cost is more, but the sound from a
good pair of Sennheiser earphones will rock your
world. I have been using a pair of Sennheiser
HD-590's for over 3 years and all I can say is they are
just as good or better than any speaker setup out
there. Surround sound? With a sound card and
game that supports it, you bet. I get perfect
surround sound from my HD-590 Sennheiser's. Sound
range is so good I can hear things that most gamers
never hear, and yes I can tell where it's coming
from. MSRP $295.00, Ebay.com anywhere
from $150.00 to $200.00. Anyway here are the
specks. Oh, if you have the bucks Sennheiser has
earphones all the way up to $14,000, but I don't recommend
spending that much. :) Sennheiser does have
cheaper earphones, but the quality of sound goes down
with the price. |
|
 |
|
Technical
Data |
| Transducer |
Dynamic |
| Ear
coupling |
Circumaural,
open-aire |
| Frequency
response |
12-38,000
Hz |
| Characteristic
SPL @ 1 kHz |
102
dB |
| THD |
<
0.1% |
| Nominal
impedance |
120
ohms |
| Connector |
1/8"
stereo mini-jack w/ 1/4" adapter |
| Connection
cable (detachable) |
10
ft. single-sided, OFC |
|
|
Features |
- Audiophile,
Open-AireTM, hi-fi stereo headphones
- Superbly
natural, spatial sound reproduction
- Award-winning
BioNetic design offers an ergonomically correct fit
for maximum comfort
- Duofol
technology reduces standing waves
- New
dampening element for controlling the diaphragm
oscillation, optimally matches the headphones to all
sound sources
- Computer-optimized
magnet systems minimize harmonic and intermodulation
distortion
- Detachable,
robust, single-sided connection cable made from
kevlar-reinforced oxygen-free copper
- Velour
ear cushions
EBAY.
COM SENNHEISER HD 590 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DCBB Forums New Web Site |
|
|
|
- 12,
November 2003
by Bama |
|
|
|
|
The new DCBB
forums web is up and running as of today. The old
forums had a corrupted data base which caused problems,
one was the not being able to confirm registering on the
forum. The other was the cookie problem if you
went through the dc-bandofbrothers.com web site to get
there.
We have "Chef" to thank for the forums, the
work of setting it up for the 3rd time, and the new
domain for the DCBB Forums. Chef purchased "dcbbforums.com"
and is hosting it. All links on the dc-bandofbrothers.com
web now point to the new domain, and don't worry you
will get your cookie.
DCBB FlyZone 24/7
As of today our 14 player DC game server will play both
No Fly Zone maps 24 hours a day until further
notice. Here is your opportunity to learn to fly,
bomb, and dog fight. Have fun in the zone!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joystick, Game Pad,
Keyboard & Mouse |
|
|
|
- 04,
November 2003
by Bama |
|
|
|
|
If you want
to play you have to master one or more of the above
input devices. I started on-line gaming with
Descent2 in late 1996, and I had to master the use of a
MS Sidewinder Pro. Some mastered Descent using
Keyboard and mouse, but not me, my fingers just don't
train very well. I played Descent almost exclusively
for 5 years, went through a lot of Sidewinders, but then
I just lost interest. Next came UT and I had to
use keyboard and mouse, but was just not good at
it. I started looking around for something better,
something that my left hand could use with out me having
to look down to find a key. I can't remember how I
found it, but I did, and it improved my game big
time. It was Belkin's Nostromo n50, a keypad with
10 programmable keys and a thumb hat. About a
month later I was ruling the maps I liked to play, and
there were very few players who could beat me. I
then went to UTk3, which I liked but was still not the
game it's predecessor was, but the n50 preformed just as
good, my fingers knew what to do.
Last year in September I bought MOH, and then
Battlefield 1942. Medal of Honor was ok but just
not my cup of tea. The biggest problem I had with
BF1942 was mapping all the keys and getting my fingers
to remember them, but the Nostromo n50 did a great job.
The movement keys on the n50 is the 8-way thumb hat, and
that had not changed from UT so I did very well right
out of the box. The very first thing I noticed
when I took up Desert Combat was the helicopter jocks
were getting all the kills. It took me several
weeks in single play, but I learned to fly them using
the Nostromo n5o & Mouse. Today there is not
much I can't do very well using the n50, but flying the
airplanes. Oh, I can fly them just not as good as
the Joystick guys. If Dice would give BF1942 real
joystick support I could then use both a joystick and
the n50, but today I can have only one, and I pick the
n50.
UPDATE: After several
weeks of playing many games of No Fly Zone I can now
fly, and fairly well too. I still can't stay with
the best in a Dogfight, but I can reek havoc on the
other 95% that fly the fixed wings.
|
|
Several days
ago I ordered the new Belkin
Nostromo n52, which just hit the market in
October. The n52 is a much improved
version of the n50 and a cool looking bitch as
well. Now the n52 has 14 mapable keys at your
finger tips plus one above and one below the thumb hat,
and a programmable mouse wheel. The biggie is the
shift feature allowing you to program the same keys 4 different
ways giving you as many as 80 keys to play with.
If you master using all 80 combinations your a better
man than I am, but I'm just fine with the few I use
today. The n52 is also heavy for it's size, I had
to Velcro my n50 to the desk, not so with the n52, it
sits nice and steady in the heat of battle. I now go off
to combat with my Nostromo n52 in my left hand and my
trusty Mouse in my right. Does it give me an
edge? I think so, it's been good for me when my
old fingers remember what to do. Try it, I found
it on-line priced from $26.95 to $49.95, and that's in
line with most comptrollers today. Belkin has done
a very good job with the n52 taking a lot of input from
n50 users to improve and expand a great gamming tool. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
