July 29, 2005

GameWag's BF2 Helicopter School (Part 1)

I'm glad you've come. We have a lot to cover, so let's get started.

1 - Getting Started
2 - Terminology and the Interface
3 - Basic Maneuvering
4 - Gunning

1 - Getting Started

Configure Your Controls
I have a strong preference as to how I pilot choppers, but I'm not trying to pass my bias on to you. There are no bad control systems, only bad pilots. For the purposes of this guide, I will reveal that I use a mouse and keyboard. It will become apparent why I mention it, as some of the things covered here will not apply to a stick/throttle/pedal system (something I haven't used in a decade). Please do not think I'm saying anything negative about using a stick - it's only that I don't use one, and can't speak to practical application. Anyway...

Before you start up a game again, go to your Options>Controls>Helicopter screen and check or reconfigure your controls with the 2 very important things in mind:

You will need to make both large and small movements with accuracy and speed - ie. in one instant, you will need to throw your machine forward as fast and hard as you can, in the next you will need to come left about a foot without wavering. Adjust for both.

In advanced maneuvers, you will need to descend (decelerate), pitch up, roll left, yaw (turn) left, fire flares, fire primaries, and VOIP to your crew, all at the same time. After that you'll have to cycle through your mini-map, request orders from your commander, and yell "get in" within a split second before you start setting up for your next move.

If you cannot execute either of the above without playing keyboard-finger-twister, I would strongly suggest you consider a different configuration. Like touch-typing, your hand shouldn't move around , your wrist rests in one place while your fingers do the work, and of course, you should never have to look down to see what key you're pressing.

Practice Alone (then practice alone again)
It's so important that this single, simple thought gets it's own part in this guide. In consideration of your fellow BF2 fanatics, do not learn to fly on public servers. It's rude. If you have no other choice, use empty unranked public servers. You might even find someone with whom to practice.

Further, please do not breeze through this guide, spend 10 minutes in single player, and decide you've got it. A repeated "crash dummy", or "empty helmet", or "smacktard" will cause other player's tempers to flare. Then they'll call you names and insult your dog. After that, you might call them names back, or start griefing, and then my purpose here has failed.

Don't do anything on a public server that you haven't done 50 times on your own. Practice in private, be brilliant in public.

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2 - Terminology and the Interface

Yes, it's just a game. Certainly, some of the maneuvers I'll discuss later have very little to do with reality. However, some common verbage needs to come about, and it might as well be closer to reality.

Pitch
Hold your head up straight. Now look down at the floor, then up at the ceiling. You are pitching your head forward and backward. Now with your head level again, try to touch your left ear to your left shoulder, then right ear to right shoulder. You're pitching your head left and right.

Yaw
The game control setup calls this "turning" but that's somewhat crude. Holding your head level again, look off to your left and then off to your right. This is Yaw.

In the game, Pitch will move you forward/back/left/right through space. Yaw will affect what direction you're facing. We'll get into that more later.

The HUD
You know this is short for Heads Up Display. Very quickly we'll review the configuration for all helo's in BF2. The bar on the left is your Throttle or Torque Indicator. Bottom left is your Speed, note that this is your speed in any direction, not just foward. Bottom right is your altitude. The circle or crosshair at the center is your targeting reticle, and the two horizontal bars on either side of it make up your horizon indicator. At the top is your heading indicator. If you don't already, you should know what each of these is called instantly. Attack helo's also have a Gunner View box, the dot in the center indicating which direction your gunner is facing relative to your current heading.

Speed is indicated in KM, but is a little sketchy, your altitude is measured in Meters.

^ top

3 - Basic Maneuvering*

Did you look over your controls yet? Do it now, then come back. I'll wait.

...

Ok, thank you. Load a map and get in the chopper of your chosing. Note your altitude, zoom your mini-map (N) all the way in. and ascend (accelerate) 50 meters straight up. Don't go anywhere yet.

Hover without moving
Using your pitch/yaw controls, keep the Horizon bars level, and your Reticle between them. If you're using a joystick/throttle, I imagine that you can set your Throttle somewhere that will keep a steady altitude. If you're using a mouse/keyboard, you must learn to, "feather" the throttle (hitting and releasing the key rapidly) in order to maintain a steady altitude.Look at your speed indicator, it should be zero. Look at your mini-map, you shouldn't be moving at all. This is called neutral.

Why learn this? A few reasons. First, you will need to get to neutral quickly sometimes, so you need to know what it feels like. More specificly, you need to know what it feels like to stop the momentum of the chopper, null out any turns or rolls you're in the middle of, and start executing your next move. Most importantly, at some point you will need to land, repair, or pick up friends without running them over. Once you can fly neutral, not moving up down left or right at an altitude of +50, then do it with an altitude of +2. With a larger point of reference, you can more easily see how much you're moving. Don't move.

Descend and land in the same spot you took off from. Now do it a few dozen times.

Move Forward, Intentionally
Load up a map with a chopper spawn that has a relatively flat terrain. Jump in your favorite helo and perform a neutral ascent to +30. Using your forward pitch control, slowly move your nose down until you begin to move forward. Try not to yaw or pitch left/right, we're just going forward right now. Return to neutral, and then move forward again.

There are 2 extremes that you have to work between: Too much forward pitch while at full torque will give you a lot of foward air speed, but you'll lose altitude just as fast, and wind up in a face-plant. Too little forward pitch and full torque will make you creep along, and gain altitude slowly (high altitude and slow speed = lots of missiles coming your way).

Stop, without hitting something heavy
OK now we're moving. We should think about stopping. To me, the earmark of an unpracticed pilot is watching them fight the machine to the ground. They pitch-up too fast, gain too much altitude, pitch left and right, and if they manage to not crash, they have no real sense of where they're landing - then they miss the target, yaw 840 degrees, hop a few times until they hit the edge of the landing pad, and say "get in". No thanks.

To stop in BF2, you again need to "feel" a balance. Like moving forward, there are 2 extremes to work between: While moving forward very fast, you can pitch-up hard, and hit decelerate/descend to maintain a steady altitude. This will bring you to a dead stop, but be careful (and practice) for you can belly-flop easily if you hit your decelerate key too long. The other, at a slower forward speed, is to simply pitch-up gently to the neutral position and let off the accelerator, eventually starting to feather it as done in the hovering maneuver. This will bring you to a very slow, gradual stop at altitude.

Most Common Mistake: Some pilots instinctually think that you need torque to stop. The manifestation of this is that they nose up while at full throttle. This is called Ballooning, because your altitude will soar if you don't let off the torque.

Yawing and Strafing
There are two ways to move off line in a helo. Ascend to +10, Yaw left and come to bear North while keeping your horizon bar level. Like hovering in neutral, you should learn to not move in any direction except to yaw to bear on something behind you, to your left, or to your right. Return to neutral before moving on.

Next, without yawing at all, pitch the helo left and right. If you keep your nose level (the reticle between the horizon bars), you should start to slide left and right. Everything that you've learned about moving forward and backward applies to sliding/straffing left and right: sharp pitches will lose altitude but get you moving; small pitches will get you moving slowly while keeping level.

Executing turns at speed
Ok, now get some forward speed going. In a smooth motion, throttle up, pitch left, then ease your pitch back. This is all that is needed to make a simple turn. Using Yaw as part of a turn can be useful, but you should learn how to turn without yawing at all.

Like a fixed wing aircraft, a more effective way to turn while moving is not to just use your tail to steer, but to pitch and yaw at the same time. This, again, takes some "feel" to get right. Once you feel it, you can do it at all speeds. Yawing into the direction of the turn will decrease your turn radius, thus getting you moving in a different direction faster. You may have to pitch away from your turn direction to keep from side slipping. You might have to pitch back in order to keep the momentum of your turn going. Either way, to exit the turn at speed, let off the yaw key, then imediately pitch out to flatten your horizon. Pitch-forward a bit to keep your speed going.

...

Now, start your own server and practice for an hour. Seriously, practice just these simple things. Don't start using weapons, don't jump to the end yet, just practice these simple things. It sounds elementary, but it will pay off, I swear. Start Oman in 32 or 64 player mode, take off from the US carrier and land at the pool East of the hotel, take off and land again north of the crane, do the same with the enemy airfield flag, then take off and return to the carrier. Now do it without moving above an altitude of 40, then keep it below 35, then 30. Create your own time/altitude trials, make them legitimately challenging, then stick with them.

* Please note that all controls and techniques described here are relative to Battlefield 2. None of these exercises may necessarily have anything to do with real aeronautical maneuvers, aircraft, or elementary physics.

^ top

4 - Gunning

Ok, here we are. I hope you've practiced basic flight enough to have forgotten that there are 3 racks of 14 missiles at your disposal.

Leading
When you shoot at a moving target, you "lead" it, meaning you bring your sights and fire ahead of the target, anticipating that the target will keep moving in a constant direction and ultimately meet with your projectile for dinner and drinks. More times than not, you will be moving in relation to your target. Now learn 2 basic rules of thumb:

When moving up or forward, aim below

Whem moving down or backward, aim above

Leading applies here more than ever, and like all things, it needs to be practiced. At an altitude of 40 meters and a forward airspeed of 100KM, you will have to start firing at least 3 car lengths before your reticle comes over the target in order to hit it. It only takes 2 hits to dispose of a jeep, so don't waste ammunition shooting behind it. At an altitude of 10 meters and almost no forward airspeed, you hardly need to lead at all, just aim at the lower part of the target and you should be just fine. In a descent, you have to fight your instincts and aim above your target to score a hit.

Compund this with you moving at 100KM at altitude, shooting at a jeep that's moving left and away from you at high speed. You need to practice. There are no angles I can give you that you could read in your HUD, there isn't a formula for the speed of the target vs. the speed of your projectile here. Learn to hit a stationary object every time while on the move, the moving targets will come easier after that.

3 Attack Angles
Versus stationary or slow moving ground objects, you get a variance of 3 basic attacks.

Low altitude, low/no speed. This is sometimes called a "pop up". In any case, it's the most accurate shot you can take as the pilot. Approach a target below it's gun range, or at the same altitude but masked by a building, hill, or set of trees. With a minimum of movement, bring the helo up, left or right and bring your reticle onto the target and shoot. You should be able to get the kill, then mask yourself again to turn and escape. This is a sure fire devastating attack, but very dangerous considering you must remain almost stationary until you get the kill.

Mid altitude, mid speed. A strafing run like any other. Too much forward speed will kill your chances of hitting anything for much damage. so keep your nose up until the last second before you want to shoot. Your altitude shouldn't be much higher than the treeline. Lead plenty on this attack, as most vehicles only need to move toward you a little in order to get you to miss. Excellent for jeeps, ground troops, but weak against APCs. Against tanks, it might be better to combine a little of the next move.

High altitude dive. The death dive, or the face plant. With plenty of vertical space to spare, ease off the torque a bit, bring the nose down to bear on your target, and keep it there. Amazingly, the closer you get to your target, the closer to the ground you will find yourself. Funny that. In all seriousness, nobody likes a pilot who intentionally wrecks their aircraft. If you do this correctly, you should have plenty of time to fire all 14 shots you've got, and still pull out of the dive. If you face plant, you did it wrong. If the target is still there after 14 shots, and you face plant, you really really did it wrong.

...

Now start your own server and practice for an hour (remember I asked you not to practice on public servers?). Pop up on a target, strafe another, and dive on another. I find the carrier maps to be a good place to practice. Set time trials for yourself, and of course, make sure you can take out the target in one pass.

Thoughts until next time...
I will continue this article to touch upon more complex thoughts, advanced maneuvers, and working effecticly with a crew. In the mean time, I ask you to think about your favorite samurai movie.

The good guy is always the well tempered guy who knows he has more to learn, and takes a lesson away from conflict. The bad guy is usually the younger that thinks he knows everything or the slob that has given up practice because he speaks well enough of himself.

Keep practicing. Even after you've mastered the above, spend 10% of your weekly play time practicing, and be harsh enough on yourself to believe that what you're doing can be done better. This alone will improve your skill 10x more than any guide.

Until next time, go be the beautiful unique snowflake with a gun that you are.

Posted by bradley at 09:16 PM

June 27, 2005

Battlefield 2 Commander Tips

By now, we've played enough BF2 to know a good commander from a bad one. By no means does a high rank ensure that the guy in charge knows what the hell he's doing. Here are a few tips to make yourself a little bit more effective in the hot seat.

Repair your assets with a supply drop
Unless you're playing a coordinated game with friends, you probably won't have the luxury of an engineer running around fixing the artillery, scan radar and UAV truck for you. In this case, you can place a supply drop near the damaged asset and it will be repaired in no time.

Scan before you place the UAV
Placing the UAV is essentially saying "I've seen something that everyone else should be aware of". Blindly placing the UAV somewhere is a good way to waste it and the attention of others. Scan first, and if you see a nest of enemy troops that your team should be aware of, place the UAV accordingly.

Proper placement of the UAV
This one seems pretty obvious, but it's amazing how often the UAV is misused. If you're directing squads at a single point of attack, sure you should put up a UAV so that they're aware of the danger, but the right placement is also important. In the screen below, notice how the UAV sweep will essentially cover the full path of friendly troops to the target.

The first UAV placement is also important. When a new round begins, it's unlikely that there will be much order (especially because you have to wait to find out if you've been elected commander). The best first course of action is to see where the main thrust of your team's offensive is headed, and place the UAV between them and their destination.

When to use the artillery on a single enemy
If you're playing a tight map such as Mashtuur City, there will probably be times when there is no good place to drop arty. This typically occurs when friendly troops are scattered around the map, and dropping arty on any flag will result in multiple TKs. This is a judgment call, but if it doesn't look like there will be a clear path for 60 seconds (the time it takes for arty to regenerate), find a lone enemy and take him out. In this case, it's better to use the arty on one person, than to not use it all.

Supply drops
First off, if the decision is to put a supply drop near friendlies or use it to repair a commander asset (arty, UAV trailer, scan radar), always repair the commander assets. They are a much more valuable resource than giving a few team members health and ammo. If you don't have any commander assets to repair, then proper placement of the supply drop is important. Make sure you put it in a place where the enemy will not likely get it.

Spotting enemies
The scan radar is your private view of the battlefield. Scanning dictates what your next actions should be: place a UAV to inform your team, drop arty or identifying enemies. Identifying enemies is somewhat tedious, but incredibly important. If you see a lone tank, working its way around to flank your flag, you should immediately identify it so that team members can take action. It's probably not worth wasting a UAV on, but a simple right-click -> spotted will go a long way.

Encouraging teamplay
If a squad leader makes a request of you, always acknowledge it in some way. If a request for UAV is made, but the UAV is recharging, right-click on the squad number and select "Sorry", which will say to the squad leader "I'm listening, but can't comply right now, hold tight". This little interaction will ensure that next time, the squad leader knows you're doing your job and will continue to make requests and keep you informed.

Talk damnit!
Talking to your squads via VOIP is the absolute best way to coordinate an attack. Maybe they don't see the incoming arty and are charging into a certain TK; let them know to back up. If a squad is capturing a flag and have requested a UAV flyover but you don't see any enemies in their area, just tell them that they're clear instead of wasting a UAV. Talking to your squads also lets them know that you're going out of your way to look out for them.

Posted by jb at 09:52 AM

June 21, 2005

BF2 didn't come today.

I love my grandfather. He's a short-tempered southern pragmatist, and mean as all hell when people behave stupidly in front of him. He points out the simple things, and has a power to make smart-aleck sales associates weep in shame before him (I hope someday he will teach me this).

A good example would be when my grandmother passed away, he asked me to drive him to a gym that they had just joined. He explained to the woman behind the counter that he had paid for 3 months, and would like a refund for the 2 months that my grandmother would not be using. The little chippie responded with a condescending smile and a quick "Oh I'm sorry we don't do that."

I can't describe what happened then. There was a brief silence while they held eye-contact, during which I imagine that some sort of psychic exchange took place. Then suddenly she understood. She didn't just understand, she was now the champion for my grandfathers cause. She was going to get him his refund, or she'd buy the gas to burn the place down. 10 seconds earlier, corporate policy was no refunds for membership cancellations, period. Now she got it, this man was asking them to return the money he paid for something he would never get - and come to think of it, that makes perfect sense, doesn't it.

I stood well behind him and watched. The chippie, transformed into a human again, goes to the jock in the office. Through the window I see him shake his head, bothered by the question. He stands and comes to the door where he makes eye contact, and the pause happens again, now he nods in agreement. He's on the phone in a heartbeat. 10 minutes later, they're issuing a credit remittance for 2 months of an unused membership.

My grandfather, who taught me how an electric circuit works when I was 6, believed in the unspoken and understood agreement behind monetary transactions. I will pay you to do something. If I don't come through, I will make it up to you, and you'll do the same. More and more, I'm having trouble finding services that work like this.

I realize today that the "pre-order" concept is just as diseased. "I will give you money right now, for nothing. In exchange, on the 21st, you'll have a copy of Battlefield 2 for me. If you don't deliver I get.. I get.." oh wait, I don't get anything do I. If you don't deliver, I get an editorial cartoon of me bent over a tree stump getting kicked in the ass by someone wearing your logo.

The price of admission was not enough. To be continued...

Posted by bradley at 04:49 PM

April 18, 2005

You Got Stale

There has been an influx of nothing to write about lately.

If you didn't know, jb and I have a hardcore Battlefield Vietnam problem. Since it's inception, the, "Battlefield" series has been like a secret candy-land where we spend the weekends with nothing else to do. Doom 3, Half-Life 2, CS: Source... all peasants by comparison in regards to gameplay. We had great hopes to find a new sweet taste in our mouths this last year, but nothing came to replace the sickening tart lemon-lime goodness that EA/Dice has provided.

But these last weeks, even our precious BFV has failed to deliver the way it once did. Perhaps it's the fact that the XM148 will kill everyone within a 50 yard radius. Maybe it's due to the inconsistencies of splash damage. Perhaps it's because everyone knows which direction you'll be facing when you spawn. Or even because EA/Dice hasn't patched the game in 5 months.

Like any form of media, a lack of new content equals a slow and painful death. Some of us extend this process by refusing to admit that the game is stale, laughing while the exploits fly, the suspect cheaters win, and we who simply like the game can only faintly taste what we once enjoyed so much. I'm sorry to say it.. I've written this article trying to avoid it.. but I'm afraid it's true.

BFV has jumped the shark.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to charity in the name of "BFV Addicts Annonymous".

Posted by bradley at 11:35 AM

January 28, 2005

The Money Grab

I've been away for a bit, sorry. Remember that we here at GameWag have real jobs. Not just that, but good real jobs that we want to keep so we can continue to drink real booze in our real apartments. Enough time at the Narcissus pool, lets get to business.

EA buys Dice, AFL and NFL rights. Take Two buys MLB rights. You've heard about it I'm sure. It's too much to be ignored, so here's a little more commentary on the great content grab of '05. Predictions for the coming year:

• EA will gain representation rights from World War II, The Vietnam War, and the CAR-15.
• SOE will copyright any game concept involving standing around in a field doing nothing.
• Blizzard will buy exclusive rights for the National Orc Foundation.
• Valve secures rights to all games that have wall hacks.
• IGN will copyright the headline "Best [platform] game ever?"

You know it takes money to make money. EA wants to make money. The NFL wants to make money. Business is war and all is fair in that realm. But who do we blame for what's agreed as the start of a trend of improprieties worse than John Wells thinking he can write political dialogue (yeah I'm reaching there, but I'm pissed)?

Here is a good example that may appear less obvious to some corporate monkey pants: Bungie makes Marathon > Marathon is a good game > Microsoft buys Bungie, because they like people who make good games > Microsoft/Bungie make Halo > Profit. Makes sense - one studio, one first person shooter, one megalithic corporation, good deal.

In the above example, some recent moves would be more equated to Microsoft approaching the Space Marine union and securing all Video Game rights to any likeness or license thereof. Bungie ergo is out of business, and anyone who likes shooting aliens is in bed with Bill Gates, bad haircut and all.

It's not illegal. Certainly if I were the NFL, and EA drove a truck full of cash in front of my apartment, I wouldn't care either. As long as consumers will continue to put aside ethical disagreements for the ability to play the games they want, we'll continue to see this kind of deal. Next are billboard ads on loading screens, paid placement in the game content, and secret levels and power ups only accesible to those who opt to wear Nike merchandise while they blast the bad guys. In short, like so many things today, the price of entry isn't enough. Yes, you bought the game - but they need more. You need to be bilked for every penny possible.

What is the solution? How can we avoid having to endure a map where you rescue your local Starbucks with the skillful use of a silenced pistol and a low-carb low-fat decaf latte? I don't know. We can all dream that abstaining will do something, but it won't because they're right. We are all monkeys that will buy NFL games regardless of ethical malcontent.

We'll play those games and run down the sidelines with the banners that say Nike and Coke. We'll see the cut scenes brought to you by Sprint, and never bother that nobody can do better, not because of lack of ability to be creative or innovative, but because legal licensing says they're not allowed to be any of those things.

Way to go Big Business. Please let us know what your next move will be to root us in mediocrity for the sake of the all mighty dollar.

P.S. Please click on the Google links on the right.

Posted by bradley at 12:12 PM

December 22, 2004

Forza Motorsport vs. Gran Turismo 4

Forza Motorsport is Microsoft's Xbox response to the upcoming (delayed) PS2 title Gran Turismo 4. I've heard claims of Forza being the Gran Turismo killer, which are often dismissed as ridiculous.

GT4 is without a doubt the king of the genre, and it would be a difficult feat to unseat it. I don't think Forza will outsell GT4. I do, however, think this could be an irrelevant comparison. If MS does 3 things right, I think we'll see people buying both titles instead of one vs. the other.

Here's what Microsoft needs to do:

1. Nail the realism. We know GT4 will have gobs of authenticity. Tracks, car appearances and handling are key. If the experience is realistic, and punishes those who drive like they're playing Need For Speed, it will provide a reward for improving their driving skills.

2. Implement Xbox Live just like Halo 2. If you haven't played Halo 2 on Live, you're missing out. I'm by no means an MS fan, but they have created the best online console gaming experience available. By far. If they adopt the same approach and attention to detail for Forza, you'll see flocks of people racing online. Gran Turismo will ship with no online component. This creates a huge gap, as the type of people who play games in this genre are the type that are itching to show others how good they are (See Live for Speed). Web-based statistics are another benefit of the tightly-integrated Halo 2 experience. Bungie.net lets players review their statistics in great detail, and even see how each game unfolded via overlaid map views. If they do the same for Forza (letting players review sector times, best laps, passes, etc.) they'll create a community of obsessive stats watchers.

3. Release new content regularly. Another huge advantage of the Live platform, the ability to make new cars and tracks available on a regular basis. This is something that is impossible on the mostly-offline PS2. Forza won't ship with nearly as many cars and tracks as GT4, but if they time new content releases well they can extend the life of the game indefinitely.

GT4's breadth of cars and tracks drawfs those of Forza. This is not necessarily a big disadvantage since it's all about the online experience. Being able to master a handful of cars and tracks makes the online component more competitive, as opposed to joining a race and never having seen a given track before.

If MS produces a visually appealing, solid racing experience and adds to it a the fantastic online piece, they will make irrelevant the success of Gran Turismo.

The official Forza Motorsport site

Posted by jb at 09:50 AM

December 10, 2004

Gamewag Half-Life 2 and CS:Source Mapping Guide

Since the release of the Source SDK, there has been a flurry of activity in the development community. Quite a few people have created tutorials and solved problems in the usual forums, but finding useful information can be tough. The goal of this guide is to provide a categorized listing of help topics for mappers. We're not addressing coding resources yet, but may in the future.

We created this list initially for our own mapping uses, but it quickly grew to the point of becoming useful for the public. Sharing is good.

Visit the Gamewag Half-Life 2 and CS:Source Mapping Guide

Posted by jb at 12:38 PM

October 12, 2004

Counter Strike: Source - First Weekend

O-2, O-4, B-4-3, B-6, B-7. Ok, let's go:

What's Good: Oh my ME it is fast. Really fast. During my first session I was embarrased by how much my hand was shaking, it was so bloody fast. BFV has spoiled us a bit, suddenly we're back to a game where a round time of over 90 seconds is drawn out and boring. Get there, get it done, and get ready for the next round.

The graphics are silky smooth on the new HL2 engine. You will find beautiful new textures and light effects on all the classic maps. To be truthful, the fact that I had played these maps in a previous incarnation is the only reason I climbed out of the kill/death ratio abyss for a brief period on Saturday. Did I mention that it's fast?

What's Bad: Collisions are ridiculous. Despite amazing advances in the physics engine, all other players are imovable objects. Combine this with a collision detection box that seems to extend twice the expected distance, and you've got jammed up choke points galore. This goes for world objects as well - if you're moving quickly down that hallway, the door on your left might have a molding that will stop you dead in your tracks.

I'm going in for another 20 hours of play, will be back later. Also, it's fast.

Posted by at 08:41 PM

October 07, 2004

Introduction to modding your Xbox

We've been meaning to do some Xbox modding for awhile now here at Gamewag. Now that Bradley finally decided to return my console I dove in head first. The fundamental reason for modding your Xbox is to allow you to run unsigned code. This means you can use applications that have not been explicitly approved by Microsoft. This cabability opens up an entire world of possibilities, and turns your Xbox into a semi-standard PC. The benefits over a standard PC being a) it sits nicely on your AV rack b) has nice TV out video capabilities c) can be completely controlled by your Xbox controller or remote and d) it's damn cheap.

Since I just finished going through the whole process, I figured it was worth sharing the experience.

What can you do with a modded Xbox?

1) Install a new dashboard. The Xbox dashboard is that green menu you see if you turn your console on without a disc in the drive. By installing a modified dashboard such as EvolutionX, you have a full application launcher and Xbox manager. Most of the other enhancements on this list depend on having a modified dashboard installed.

2) Use the Xbox as a media center. This was the most compelling reason for me to mod my Xbox. Using software like the Xbox Media Center, you can use your Xbox to play movies (DVDs, AVIs, etc.), music, display photos, read RSS feeds and show local weather. All of these things can be done off of the local Xbox drive, from your PC drive across the network or even streamed over the internet. You can also use XBMC as a dashboard replacement.

3) Upgrade the Xbox hard drive. After modding your Xbox, you'll quickly discover how inadequate 8GB is for your needs. Installing an alternate dashboard will allow you to mirror the existing drive (keep those saved games!) onto a much larger drive to store movies, games, music, etc.

4) Play emulated games. There are a number of emulators available for a modded Xbox (NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, MAME, Atari, etc.). From the comfort of your couch, you will be able to play these old ROMS on your uber console using the Xbox controller (we're assuming you obtained them through legal channels...)

5) "Backup" your games. Pull games straight from the original DVD/CD onto your Xbox hard drive. This will decrease load times and reduce disk swapping to change games. Some of the more nefarious folks might use this feature to take advantage of Blockbuster's unlimited game rental plan, but of course we don't condone such a practice...

6) Run homebrew software. There are a number of development projects to create Xbox-specific games and applications. With a modded Xbox, you can customize it to your own needs.

7) Run Linux. Now that you've got this nice PC, you can run Linux and everything that comes with it. Use it as a file sharing server, web server, IRC client, you name it.

How do you mod your Xbox?
There are 2 routes to go once you decide to make the leap.

1. Soft mod. Soft modding is way of taking control of your Xbox without modifying any hardware. The most famous example of this is the 007: Agent Under Fire exploit. This exploit takes advantage of a flaw in the game, in which buffer overflows are not checked when loading saved games. Discovered by "Habibi-Xbox", this clever chap was able to send code through to the system allowing him to install his own dashboard.

You can read more about some of the other Xbox soft mod exploits on Prime 1.

2. Mod chip. Mod chipping is the practice of installing an additional chip onto your Xbox that allows you to run alternate BIOSes. The beauty of running a modchip is that most modern chips allow you to easily drop back into the standard Microsoft Xbox BIOS in order to run Xbox Live. (Don't try running Live with your modchip active as MS will detect it and ban your Xbox from using the service)

There are a number of companies that sell modchips with a variety of features. Modern modchips (known as generation 4 chips) have several MBs worth of storage and allow you to run multiple BIOSes. Some companies also sell solderless kits in case you're not comfortable with weilding a red hot soldering iron. You can read more about the features of these generation 4 chips here.

I decided to go with a Xenium Ice solderless kit. I made this choice based on a) good reviews b) my lack of a soldering iron and c) the fact that the Xenium comes with an onboard OS for managing your BIOSes.

Impressions
Overall, the process went much smoother than I expected. I was able to get up and running with an alternate BIOS in a few hours, and was playing MST3K episodes over my network less than an hour later.

Hardware Installation
Really quite simple. Taking apart my Xbox took about 10 minutes and I had no troubles at all. There are a number of guides available instructing you how to do this (here's one).

Installing the chip was also straightforward. You're going to need to get up close and personal with your box to see the contact points, but once you've got everything identified it's a piece of cake.

Upgrading my drive to a larger version was also painless. The Xenium OS has a built-in disk copy tool (make sure you're using the latest version of the Xenium OS before you do this, the older versions have problems with disk copying! You can find the latest version here.), which made the setup a 5 minute task. Note that you'll need a hard drive power splitter to do this. A splitter can be found at Radio Shack for around $5.

Chip OS upgrade
I had read that the first thing I needed to do is get the latest version of the Xenium OS. I did come across some difficulty here. The Xenium site lists two versions of the latest OS 2 binary, a CD/DVD version and a hard drive version. Since my network was up and running, I decided to use the drive version; which only requires you to copy the relevant files to your box over the network and reboot in recovery mode. After doing this, I was prompted by a disturbing HALT error, with a cryptic explanation. After a few more attempts, I hit the forums and found that the most part the hard drive version of the OS does not really work. Uggh. I downloaded the CD/DVD version, burned a disk and followed the procedure for upgrading. I again was promted with a HALT error. Frustrated, I walked away from it for a bit. After power cycling by Xbox, I was shown an upgrade success message. I guess the Xbox can be finicky when dealing with burned disks, and previously couldn't find the upgraded binary.

Additional BIOS install
After getting the Xenium OS upgraded, the next step was to add the MS Xbox BIOS to the OS so that I can maintain a non-modded Xbox. After that, I installed an additional BIOS that would enable me to launch a modified dashboard. I chose the EvolutionX M8 BIOS. After that, I made sure to do 2 VERY IMPORTANT things. 1) set the correct date and time on your MS Xbox BIOS 2) backed up the EEPROM from within the Xenium OS.

Dashboard install
Intalling an additional dashboard gives you the power to launch additional applications and manage your modded Xbox. I chose the EvolutionX dashboard due to the positive reviews I read on the forums.

Applications install
After getting the dashboard up, you've basically got everything you need to get rocking with your modded Xbox. I then installed Xbox Media Center, downloaded and installed some emulators, moved some movies around and started backing up my Xbox games.

One of the difficult aspects of installing applications is finding them. Most applications need to be compiled with the Microsoft Xbox Development Kit (XDK), which is a big no-no from Microsoft's point-of-view. Therefore, you're unlikely to find any compiled binaries on the websites you visit. You'll have to look into alternate channels to get them (IRC, Usenet, etc.). With the recent release of OpenXDK, hopefully this situation will change soon allowing freely distributable Xbox applications.

As I said, the process had a few hiccups, but nothing too challenging. I'm definitely happy with the end result; a very powerful gaming and multimedia center sitting under my TV. As you dig in, you'll be overwhelmed with the number of people involved in the community and spectrum of available applications.

If you're interested doing some modding, you'll want to visit Xbox-Scene.com, which is the definitive resource for all things related to Xbox hacking.

Posted by jb at 03:21 PM

October 04, 2004

Bored! Send Help!

I've hit the lull. This is the scary time when I think that I'm done being a gamer. It comes around every year, usually sometime between the Jerry Lewis Telethon, and my birthday. This year has been a little bit of a disappointment. Because I'm only following a few select titles for the remainder of the year, and I have an undying dedication to our reader, lets look at the first 3 quarters of the year in review:

Battlefield Vietnam Yep, we loved it. We drank every precious drop of thirst-quenching FPS goodness, and asked for more. Helicopters? I love 'em. Thank you EA for allowing that incorporation that made our illicit love affair so much the sweeter while it lasted. Still a great game, but after playing several hundred hours, doesn't have the magic anymore. Perhaps the release of some new maps would help, perhaps not.

Joint Operations I read the reviews and picked this up the day it was released. I only played for a few weeks, and my strongest impressions were as follows. Big Ups: Sniper rifles have to be ranged to be accurate (where has this been for the last 2 years?); using an ammo supply allows you to change weapons; and a waiting que for joining a full server. Yeah neat huh? Unfortunately, every step forward this game took, it took 2 steps backward: helicopters that behave like flying cars (personal sore spot); directional audio was a nightmare; maps the size of Wyoming; 3 year old multiplayer interface; mystery scoring system. I hope we see some future works that incorporate the "what worked" section.

I was looking forward, really looking forward, to, Doom III. JB no doubt clued you in that we were watching that title like children with our noses pressed against the glass of the front window of Macy's in December. And like the spoiled child, I played with it for a day and forgot about it. Yes, great graphics, neat ideas for interface, but after that, I'm running around in the dark shooting monsters, again. Don't the Monsters know they can't win?

Anarchy Online was not released in this last year, but I spent some time with it in the Spring when they gave 2 free weeks of account time to previously cancelled accounts. As it was when I left the game: great graphics and potential, bogged down with linear play, repetetive content (go to the cave/ship/temple/house and kill everything), and lack of any ability to be different from anyone else while being effective in the least.

Star Wars Galaxies was another from last year that I picked up this year. Content wise, it has much more support for people who don't want to play cookie-cutter characters. Despite this, it still falls victim to a lack of low-level play for casual players. Your time invested in the game yeilds you very little. Did you know that Verant originally wanted to charge by the hour for people to play EverQuest? It's sad that there are still game elements that harken back to the call of time-sink design. One thing that I'm looking forward to is the expansion pack coming called "Jump to Lightspeed" - as I have wanted "X-Wing vs. Tie-Fighter" to come back for years now. The expansion, which will cost $30, grants you access to the space sections and flight related combat. It does not, however, gurantee that you'll have anything to fly. Check back in another month, I'll be whining about it again.

Posted by at 01:44 PM

August 09, 2004

The Commandments of Online Gaming (11-20)

The traditional ten commandments of FPS are too basic to deserve an article. Don't TK. Don't whine. Don't cheat, spam, type in all caps, lie, steal, block, camp in dumb places, or covet thy neighbor's ass. If you can't figure them out on your own, you should consider going back to minesweeper.

If you've managed to form this framework on your own, good for you. Let's move on to advanced game etiquette 201. This isn't just about winning, this is about being a gentleman (or gentle person - a/s/l?). If you think being a gentleman equates being a wuss, look up the gentlemanly art of Schlager Fencing. That being said, let's dive right in.

11 - Thou shalt be humble.
If you find yourself on the losing end of a battle, whether you've got the high score or not, attempting to elevate yourself above your teammates by proclaiming, "OMG my team sucks" singles you out as the poorest of sports. Once you've said such a thing it doesn't matter if your team sucks anymore, because clearly you're the biggest ass.

12 - Leaders seldom appoint themselves.
Few things are as bothersome as someone who spends their time telling other players what to do. So don't do it. Play your game. If you deserve to be followed, it will happen.

13 - Voice comms are for the game.
I was invited a few weeks ago to go on comms with a clan that was "21 and older". When I got into their TS server, I listened to the voice of a child telling everyone about his/her dreams the previous night. The kid needs some therapy. Oh, voice comms are for the game.

14 - Respect the Imaginary Que.
I have to admit that I've broken this one a few times myself. You know where a vehicle spawns, there are 2 people already standing in the spot, and you run up and spam the "enter vehicle" key, hoping your ping will rub out the others already waiting. I know the temptation, I know the need, but it's a crappy thing to do that none of us appreciates when done to us.

15 - Thou shalt apologize.
I've TK'd. You've TK'd. "Sorry for TK" doesn't take long to type.

16 - Name-calling is reserved for the weak.
I see far too many people casually calling each other by names that would make my grandfather blush (and he was a sailor). Race, color, creed, and lifestyle choice have no relation to a players game behavior. Being a jackass does, and if you think it's alright or cool to throw around racist terminology, then you've got bigger problems coming to you.

17 - Give credit when it's due.
If you suddenly get knifed in the back of the head when you thought you were alone, that's someone else's skill speaking for itself. Don't tell that person they were lucky, don't call them a jackass (unless it's jb), and certainly don't ask the admin to kick them. "Nice knife" will do, and generates peace and love and good happiness stuff.

18 - Admin doesn't mean God.
If you're an admin, congratulations. Remember that the argument, "It's my ball and if I can't be quarterback, I'm going home" was last used by David Jameson in the 5th grade. In the 6th grade, David left the ball at home and moved on to beating other kids up because they didn't like him.

19 - Don't feed the trolls.
Inevitably, you will find an unmonitored server that has someone breaking the rules intentionally. They'll hack, play dumb, call names, insult your dog, TK, and otherwise do everything in their power to make everyone else mad. These troglodytes are to be pitied and ignored. Short of kicking them, there is nothing you can say or do that they don't want you to say or do. Don't buy into it, they don't deserve your attention.

20 - Be the model.
Play like a champion, play with gusto and style. Play like the unique snowflake (with a gun) that you are. Great players don't just stand out because of their skills alone, they stand out because of their attitudes and willingness to be consistent despite adversity. Sticking by the rules is easy when everything is going your way, the real tests always come when your blood is boiling. Be better, play clean, and win beautifully.

Go forth and prosper!

Posted by at 10:50 PM

August 02, 2004

Artificial Driving Intelligence

I've often wondered if you had a team of crack programmers, AI specialists and physics gurus if it would be possible for a computer to beat a human driver on a race track. Sure you'd need to put a load of sensors on the car to get as much "seat of the pants" into the computer as possible. Certainly, a computer would be able to reproduce activities such as breaking points more accurately.

I think it would be great to have a version of the Grand Challenge on a more restricted playing field. Pick a dedicated race course, put beacons on each turn apex and on the track shoulders, get a fleet of cars with identical performance and see who can add sensors, write code and get the fastest lap.

In the meantime, there are two open source projects focused on optimizing driving AI via race simulations. TORCS and RARS are quite similar in concept, although TORCS allows a human to drive and looks much nicer. Both, however, allow developers to create their own driving robots. Using a combination of inputs such as force vectors, car positions and track surfaces, developers can create logic and try to set the fastest time (or just be purely defensive and not let anyone pass).

This is such an intriguing concept to me, as there seems to be quite a bit of "feel" in driving. To be able to quantify that feel and make the most of it is certainly a difficult task.

It would be great if racing sim developers started offering this type of AI extension. I would love to start seeing folks competing as geeks as well as drivers.

TORCS
RARS

Posted by jb at 03:27 PM

July 13, 2004

Indie Spotlight: Racer

Ruud van Gaal is dedicated to realism. That seems to be the mantra behind his work on Racer, a driving sim that has attracted a small community of dedicated modelers, skin creators, testers and racers.

For the past few years, Ruud has been a one-man source of inspiration for indie-coders. His focus has been less on the racing experience (although Racer does support multiplayer connections), and more on real physics; the result being possibly the most realistic feeling driving simulator available.

All of the physics logic has been coded by Ruud, although he does rely on the Open Dynamics Engine for some basic joint calculations. The outcome of his hard work is that the sim "just feels right".

While Racer is free, it is not open source. Ruud used to make the source code availble for Racer, until after version 0.5.0 that is. At this point he began working on the shader engine and made the decision that too much effort had been put into Racer to make freely available. Ruud does not seem to interested in making Racer open source.

However, Ruud is an active member in the RSC forums, and the community seems to be attracted to the open nature of Ruud's development process. A quick search reveals that around 200 cars and 60 tracks have been created by this community. Racer-Xtreme is a site dedicated to these improvements, and is maintained by Patrick Wassmer, Tobias Greuter, João Pereira da Costa and Dave Walker.

Ruud has also integrated force feedback output, and not just steering wheel feedback. Racer is being used on a full motion platform for race simulations. Watch Racer in action (WMV file).

Racer is currently in version 0.5.2 beta 6.1 and is compatible with Windows, Linux and OS X.

Racer homepage
Racer forums at Race Sim Central
Racer-Xtreme

Posted by jb at 10:54 AM | TrackBack

July 09, 2004

Why We Play: Part II - Deconstruction

It's true. I'm a snob. I'm also a gamer. I'm a snob gamer, and don't challenge me. The games I play are superior to yours in ways that I can elegantly justify while making you seem small and funny looking.

In my view, the only way to be able to destroy something completely is to understand it thoroughly. It is from the perspective of knowing everything knowable that we can deconstruct and give real form to our complaints about games. Thus, I have played some seriously crap games, from start to end.

I know that this is not nearly as common a reason that people play than the reason I've addressed in the previous article, but I know there are others out there like me. You who have played early RPG's for the PS2 with mind-numbing cut-scenes that had no escapes - but you finished it. You who have seen the final boss of the FPS that was grounded in reality, until the last level when you were confronted with bad guys carrying guns that shoot out dogs with bees in their mouths, and when they bark, they shoot bees at you - but you finished it. You who have completely re-worked how you use a mouse and keyboard to interact with a game, because it doesn't support a five button mouse and half the keys aren't mapable - but you finished it. You are my brethren.

I and people like me finish these games for reasons that other people don't understand. We do it because I want to learn about what works and what doesn't. Game A had great graphics and no content. Game B's interface was impossible to use. Game C was trying so hard to be original it descended into being a game about nothing.

This understanding is the source for our arrogance, our snobbery, and the ammunition we draw upon to blast bad games to bits. So next time you see some game you've never heard of in the $5 bin next to the cashier, pick it up. Play it front to back, then deconstruct it using more than 2 sentences and 1 adjective.

Posted by at 03:38 PM | TrackBack

July 05, 2004

Gamewag Wishlist

2004 has brought us some fantastic gaming, but there's plenty more to come. Sure, everyone's waiting to play Half-Life 2 and Doom 3, but there are plenty of other good games in the pipeline. Here is our mid-year look at the games we're excited about.

Sid Meier's Pirates! (PC)
Just about anything from Sid Meier warrants our attention (well, okay, we didn't get all giddy about SimGolf). However, given our love of the original Pirates! and penchant for wearing puffy shirts, this one's got us excited. Staying true to the original design from 1987, Pirates! is based on the open-ended gameplay that presents very few restrictions.
Available: Christmas 2004.

Official site
Gamespy preview

Evil Genius (PC)
Inspired by James Bond/Austin Powers, Evil Genius puts you in the shoes of an evil villain determined to achieve world domination. With various henchmen and minions under your control, your job is to defeat super agents while building the ultimate doomsday device. If they pull it off, this should be a hoot.
Available: September 2004.

Official site
Gamespy preview

Gran Turismo 4 (PS2)
My PS2 is in storage somewhere in Chicago. This game alone will probably justify buying a new one. With an updated graphics engine, 50 tracks and over 500 cars, this is a no-brainer.
Available: November.

IGN site

Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude (PC, Xbox, PS2)
Sure it's juvenile, but we can't resist everyone's favorite loser (well, it's actually Larry's nephew this time, but we don't really care about plot).
Now in 3D, the new Larry will ship in early October.

Official Site

Posted by jb at 09:44 PM | TrackBack

July 01, 2004

Why We Play: Part I - Persistence of the Digital Ego

Sometimes I wonder why I keep playing certain games. Games that may bore me, or rather resemble work more than fun. They remind me of when I asked my friend Jonathan why he was addicted to the first Mac version of the Star Wars: X-Wing series.

"You gotta understand. You fly around on these missions, and they get harder and harder, but I got tired cos it's really the same mission. But, after you finish this mission, there is this screen that shows your character. He's standing there and he's wearing all the medals that he's earned, which in my case isn't very many. So I gotta keep playing and get him some good medals. In some parallel universe he's walking into a bar and trying to pick up some chick and he can't get any cos he's only got a few little training medals. He aint' gonna score with that."

Now, I find myself playing an MMORPG. My character is standing in the middle of an empty field looking for something. There is no fighting, no interaction, no chatting with PCs or NPCs. My digital personae is standing in an empty field looking for something. This can take hours, and at some point my girlfriend comes over and asks me, "Is this fun?".

"No, not really, but if I can find another [component] then I'll be able to make a [dealy] which goes with this [thingy] which I can turn into a [outrageously overpowered weapon]."

"What do you do with it?"

"It will last awhile, but more importantly other players can see that I've got it, and it's really hard to get. It's like a status symbol."

She looks at me with her, "do you realize what you just said.. out loud?" look, and I can hear Jonathans voice saying, "Yeah, your character will totally get laid if he's carrying that thing around." The awful truth comes toppling onto me, that I'm doing something that isn't fun, active, engaging, or even interesting. The only ability that I'm really showing off is my patience to stare at the screen while my character sits in the empty field looking for something. Someday, another character will see mine and say, "Wow, you must be an uber player if you sat in the empty field for that long".

I want to crawl into a hole, which I will, right after I find the [thingy].

Posted by at 11:36 AM | TrackBack

June 28, 2004

Indie Success Story: Live for Speed

Live for Speed is one of the rare success stories of independent game development. The LFS team has managed to succeed where larger, commercial development efforts have failed; they've created a strongly-branded, engaging race simulation game with a rabid fan-base (not to mention snagging a 92% rating from PC Gamer).

Three Guys in a Garage
Well, not exactly a garage, but it is just three guys that have managed to pull together one of the best racing sims around. Scawen Roberts, Eric Bailey and Victor van Vlaardingen have been working on LFS for the past 3+ years. Without a publishing firm behind the game, the LFS three have developed an online promotion and sales solution that works well. It is possible to purchase (~ US $22), download and be playing the game in a matter of minutes (bandwidth permitting). The LFS website indicates almost 40,000 registered racers and dozens of teams.

The Simulation
Currently in version S1, LFS is a realistic racing simulator with a broad range of vehicles and tracks. The game is available as a free demo, which is limited to 2 cars and 1 racing environment, and a full version, which adds more cars, tracks, a skidpad and an autocross editor.

The game supports three racing modes: Single Player, Hotlapping and Multiplayer.

The Single Player gameplay allows for the addition of AI racers, which have been executed fabulously. The AI racers are slow and tentative at first, but learn as you compete with them. You'll often see a message indicating that it is the first time a particular AI racer has driven a track. This is intended to be a warning of possible slow/erratic behavior. You can also assign the AI racers to one of five pre-determined skill levels.

Hotlapping is also a solo experience, but done with the intention of creating an official laptime that can be submitted to the LFS website. The laptimes you submit are used to compare your times with those of other LFS'ers to establish a ranking.

These modes are fun, but nothing compared to the Multiplayer experience. This is where the heart of the appeal is for this sim. Going head-to-head with other racers is a thrilling experience, even more so in the company of folks that really want to race cleanly and not perform car-to-car ballistics experiments.

There are also dozens of online racing leagues and competitions to join. As of late, endurance leagues are getting a lot of attention, where races go well beyond the short 10-15 lap races that are the norm.

To encourage competition and stats whores, the LFS three have created LFS World where you can find detailed analysis of all online racing data. Individual race results, driver histories, trends, aggregate race data, it's all there. As of this writing, LFS World reports that 21,230,918 miles have been driven, and 403,906 total races have been run online.

Not all is roses, however. The in-game UI is definitely primitive compared to most commercial ventures, and doesn't instill much confidence the first time you launch the game. The physics of the sim feel great, but definitely would be criticized as "arcadish" by some of the more hard-core sim fans. The graphics engine is showing its age, and fans are eager for some new bells and whistles. That being said, none of these issues detract significantly from the overall experience.

S2
Scawen, Eric and Victor have been steadily pushing towards the next major release of LFS, dubbed S2. Some of the features to be expected:

• 8-10 new cars


• 3 new track areas


• Downforce settings


• Tire wear modeling


• Fuel usage


• Improved suspension system


• More cars allowed in multiplayer races


• Improved sounds

Visit the Live for Speed site

Posted by jb at 10:22 PM | TrackBack