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Here's the game-monitor.com entry.

Hope to see you there.

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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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...

"If a player fails to kill an enemy in time and the enemy is able to shoot back, the simulator delivers a powerful electric shock through the player's hips. You definitely know you have been hit," Mr Haag said. "It has the same power as a stun gun. It knocks you down."

Err.. right, I really want my jimmy hooked up to a car battery while I play against a 12 year old with a wall hack and an aimbot. There are other areas of game development that I would like to see explored before entering the realm of, "How can I play a video game, and abuse myself at the same time?".

Mr Haag said it was only a matter of time and demand before the system could be sold to the public as a computer game.

Mr. Haag said, off the record, that by "matter of time" he meant decades from now when we're all so desensitized by mass media that an electrical charge is the only thing we can feel.

"Those who play on PCs would love a game that shot back", said David Wildgoose, editor of the game magazine PC Powerplay.

Thank you for speaking up for the game comunity David. Can we hook you up to a shock generator triggered by large 3rd party deposits to your bank account?

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".

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.

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

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

At nearly the same time as the announcement, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata was quoted as saying "PSP has been created with the assumption that the golden success formula is still working. We don't believe that. We're making every effort so that people will say we were right."

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Fantastic graphics, great storyline, solid Xbox Live implementation... we have a winner.

Update 8/11/04 - More reviews:

IGN (9.8)
Gamespy (5 out of 5)
Gamespot (9.4)
1UP (10)
Eurogamer (9)
G4 TechTV (4 out of 5)
GamePro (5 out of 5)
Team Xbox (9.9)
Daily Game (9.8)

This is crazy, in the past year we've seen pre-release copies of Half Life 2, DOOM III, Halo 2 and now this. Just about every major AAA title has suffered.

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"The Code is where all the real fun starts to happen. The Doom 3 SDK comes with pretty much half the source code for the game. I will briefly go over the major portions in the SDK, and touch on some subsystems that are in the main engine."

You'll need Visual Studio.Net to compile (although the savvy can probably get it to work with VS 6).

If you're having trouble getting the files from the id site, you can try this mirror.

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A look at the torrent sites indicated that there is a binary being distributed. Uggh.

Having worked on large software projects, I really feel for the Bungie developers who've worked so hard only to see their big release spoiled by this.

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• Dreamfall: The Longest Journey


• Fahrenheit


• Still Life


• The Moment of Silence


• A Vampyre Story (previously covered here)

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