General Geekery

Its been a while. It has been a busy few weeks. With birthdays and christmas seeming to come all at once and the end of the year screaming towards us, I thought I would best get one more post in before the the years end. So, with this in mind, I turn my attention towards the general geekery that has been happening in my life of late. Most of my free time is being eaten by HAWKEN. Its easy to think "i'll just pop in for a quick match" and it ends up being four or five in a row and suddenly you have lost an hour or more. My FPS skills are still rather rubbish, although I have still been having a blast. The community in general is pretty good and with the standard one or two exceptions here and there, most people are friendly and seem to want to grow this game. Unfortunately, there are the ego-centric that are rude/abusive or generally childish in nature and I sincerely hope that this attitude doesn't scare off new players. Its hard enough to get n00bs to stick with the game, especially when the majority of experienced players have been playing since alpha or have twitch-skills from other FPS's. Add this to the misconception that level is an influencing factor (it is currently  =< 5% advantage) - I do worry that many who would enjoy it provided an more informed learning curve may end up rage quitting.

I have also upgraded some of my PC gear of late. First to go was the power supply. The old unit had been starting to misbehave on me and after a series of random restarts and rather distinct electrical odor, it was time to update. After a bit of research on just how much power i would need, i settled on a Corsair HX650 (v2). Primarily because i don't tend to overclock much nor run any SLI/Crossfire on the GPU's, this gold certified energy efficient PSU sounded like just the ticket. My local retailer had it in stock for cheaper than online could provide (once you included postage), so off i set to the local store. After unboxing, removing the old PSU and installing the new one, it didn't take long for a rather strange noise to start happening. After isolating it to the brand new power supply, further investigation online revealed this to be a fairly common problem with this particular model of corsair's. Playing around with the power saving settings as suggested by corsair's own forums brought no fixes, so i had no other option than to return it. If i had RMA'd the unit, it would have cost me atleast $50 in postage. This sort of problem i might expect with some cheaper PSU's - as far as i know, it's the capacitor chirping - however on a premium product such as this, I would expect corsair to recall the affected units (from what i understand its a batch issue). In the end, i stumped up more money to go for the HX750 as i didn't want to risk replacing the unit with another defective unit. Besides, RMA'ing the original unit would have taken weeks and quite possibly more than the difference in price.

This is a video of the HX650 chirping

I've also upgraded my keyboard to a Ducky Shine II. It's a mechanical keyboard with cherry switches and dampening o-rings. It is back lit (available in numerous colours), features n-key roll-over with a hefty build quality and is available "locally" in the model i wanted. It was down to the choice between the black widow ultimate or the ducky shine 2, i opted for the "lesser known" brand because it was thoroughly endorsed whenever it was mentioned/hinted at in a forum. besides, the ultimate stealth comes with cherry-black mx switches, which are generally unsuitable for typing due to their zero actuation. I also stumped up for the leather wrist rest which is essential if you intend on using it to type/game on for extended periods and want to avoid RSI. It also has some nice effects with its adjustable lighting methods and modes. I was able to get the keyboard online from a trusted online store, however, the o-rings to mod the keyboard to decrease the switch noise when typing had to come from the US. buying online, it cost me less than $30 to DIY (inc. postage).

Found inside the box is a key-puller and red back-lit replacements for WASD, other key sets or entire custom keyboards can also be purchased online (although i could not find any back-lit compatible replacements). There were some inspiring examples of these in the stores gallery, however, i enjoy my back-lighting too much - so i will stick with the stock key-cap set. Generally though, the ducky has been in the "trenches" now for over a month of solid FPS action and has earned my  recommendation as a great product. My only criticism would be the quality of the USB cable (which is detachable, thankfully). I ended up having to replace the provided cable with another, which is unfortunate on a premium product such as this one.

Photoshop-fu

<open beta begins>

12.12.12

The above image is one from HAWKEN's FANSITE kit. i have used it as the background for this photoshop-fu inspired by my clan's "patch". I have also created a generic avatar replacement for it too, also from the kit. I hope this is ok with the copyright owner/artist.... please? :)

87th Mechanised DropBears, unit 032 reporting in.

Well, its time I took a breather from all this beta-goodness I am loving at the moment. SWTOR has been relegated to a quick login to create screen-caps of the clipping issue *still* affecting armor (c'mon Bioware, this has been an issue for a while now). I've also downloaded the MECHWARRIOR ONLINE client and installed it, redeeming a bobble-head code in the process. It was only after I had done this that i realized that I would need to spend real money before I could make *any* progress in-game,  let alone see the bobble head in action. I have also been beta testing the excellent Connectify Dispatch which has been helping me deal with some of ongoing Optus Fails/DC's...

I am of course, spending just about all of my free time in HAWKEN, or talking about it here and in the forums. Personally, FPS has always been the less appealing game when compared to a traditional MMORPG. This is because you have the opportunity to level your character and increase in skill at a more sedate pace and not get destroyed by higher-level players. I enjoy a good PvE server more than PvP, although that's simply because I've never been much of a FPS fan,  and lets face it, PvP *is* essentially FPS in a MMORPG.

Don't get me wrong, I used to play a few first person shooters back in the day (Wolfenstien3D, Doom, Quake etc etc), I just never really saw the appeal to long term playability. It wasn't until LAN and of course the LAN Parties and that that my interest peaked. Trouble is, when you tried all this over old-school dialup, all it would take for you to disconnect would be for someone to pick up the phone...  Whilst most FPS are really "MMOFPS" simply because the majority of shooters these days have online modes (or use these as the foundation of the game), its invigorating for a MMORPG player like me to experience a game with such a smooth learning curve AND have it be FPS-centric.


I missed out on HAWKEN's first closed beta due to other commitments, however, playing frequently for the most part of CB2 and CB3 (about two weeks of my own beta-testing time) - i now feel ready for the fresh influx of n00b's and fuzzy bunnies that will be rage-quitting games. Or being haters-by-hating. HAWKEN opens its *beta*-doors to the general public on 12.12.12. The actual release date has been pushed back until early/mid next year, however open beta is open beta, so you can still play the game for free. I wont go into why this game is so good again, you can read more about that in older posts and online, I will instead just mention that I was more than happy to spend USD$60 on a pre-purchase pack to help support this game. Although the 10% GST (tax) charge was something i found odd (especially when you consider that it is *not* something that should have GST applied) the fact all players who paid the extra charges gained more in-game currency. The swift response to the communities outcry over other issues was handled incredibly well and its refreshing to see a game built on the feedback from its devoted community.

optimizations (skill-tree)

rocketeer <#std loadout>

rocketeer <new mid-chassis (cosmetic)>

the australian based clan (guild) I have joined

I'll quickly mention MECHWARRIOR Online here, so that this post isn't entirely about HAWKEN. I was able to download the client easily enough, installed fine and even managed to run it on a laptop with dedicated graphics. Comparing the two MECH games is almost impossible. Outside of the fact that they are both MECH based games, their play styles are completely different. The free-to-play (F2P) models they both claim, however, are also as different as night is from day.  MECHWARRIOR online is one for people who like simulators. If you want to jump straight in as a pilot of a giant robot that stomps about and shoots things, this is not your game. This is for players who are looking for an all-out mech-simulator, with hours spent navigating menu's and learning all the nuances.


I honestly did not spend more than five or ten minutes playing with this game. Why? well, aside from the fact that at the moment, HAWKEN is still in closed beta 3, as soon as I smelt pay-to-win, I left. Reading a recent PCPP article, I was astounded to learn that you needed real-money to buy "hero" mech's which were superior anything F2P could "earn". On top of this - and this is what sealed the deal for me - you could even use real-money to buy ammunition or repairs for your MECH's. This is definitely free-to-learn, not so much F2P. Maybe once HAWKEN shuts down for the six or so days before open-beta begins i will give it another shot - maybe after a few tutorial videos.

I will admit, however, the ability to look around inside the cabin by holding down a control key does make me want to see it in both games. I would even pay for a bobble-head like novelty for my cabin if i was able to customise it as such. Hmmm... better go and start a topic on the forums, especially seeming the Oculus RIFT will be compatible with HAWKEN when its released. ERMAGERD, stereoscopic 3D inside of a giant robot = epic win :)

More MECH Mayhem and a RIFT reality

With the third closed beta of HAWKEN wrapping up soon, I am writing this post while sitting in a team death match lobby waiting for enough players to start a match locally. The low population numbers are mostly due to the fact that the game is in closed beta and accounting for the fact that,  while the battle of the mech's rages around the clock, players (both local and abroad) tend to populate games whenever they have a free moment. To give credit where it is due, the devs have done well by removing server browsers to force us beta-testers to actually test the matchmaker system and while I am disappointed in the removal of the "all regions" tab when matchmaking a games, forums seem to indicate that this has been done temporarily so that players don't get dumped into games with high ping times. Having given the matching system another chance at redemption recently, it now seems a whole lot more balanced - pitting like-leveled mech's against each other. The earlier beta's did have issues which Meteor openly admitted to and thanks to this approach with the community, things are much better now. While mech-level doesn't influence the game a whole lot, there are upgrades available in both the skill tree and load-outs. This way, in a game that has numerous mech-level's on the playing field, it doesn't automatically mean that the high-level mech's can simply overrun a map.


Still, with practice, my rusty FPS skills are gradually improving. A familiarity with how the gameplay elements work in general helps builds a strong foundation, while knowledge of the different load-outs and choices of mech's and the skill-tree-like upgrade path, make customizing your mech into the ideal machine easy. Meteor have wisely kept the freemium elements entirely cosmetic (atleast as of CB3) and i am looking forward to when this game goes open-beta so that i am able to find local matches easier. There are still a few bugs, however, these are relatively minor glitches and i have experienced far worse in commercial and patched releases, which goes to show you how it should be done in this day and age of DLC. While there are still elements I would like to see, at this point I feel confident this game will be a strong competitor for many gamers.

Target practice on an empty map and familiarity with the areas definitely helps

use holograms to practice weapon lock

team dm should be played as a *team*

fuzzy bunny ;)

<#std.mechs> (closed beta 3)

(*please note: <prtscr>'s are all on medium graphics settings, i did this so that my GPU wouldnt melt in this heatwave ;)

Unfortunately, the inevitable has occurred recently and its with a slightly sad-face ( :( ) that i report that the Oculus Rift devkit ship date has now been pushed back to March-April 2013. This has been somewhat expected, given the overwhelming success of its Kickstarter campaign and issues with upgrading many components for significant gains. Not only is the Oculus team supplying nearly eight thousand devkits, they have also decided to  upgrade the screen (thus eliminating most of the motion blur) and to build their own sensor system which will now include a faster refresh rate (1000hz) *and* magnetometer (along with the accelerometer and gyroscopic sensors (accessible via the SDK)). Oculus has also indicated that the plans for the consumer version are well underway with more features planned after the dev-kits ship. While its frustrating that the manufacturer chosen for the job will shut down for four weeks over the Chinese new year,  its still only a month out of the four months it will be before i can get my hands on my very own dev-kit. For something this awesome, i am quite happy to wait :)

The latest RIFT prototype @OculusVR

For those of you out there who are mech-warrior fans, this next announcement will please you no end. The mech-warrior licence is getting a fresh reboot from Pirhana Games in the form of MECHWARRIOR ONLINE. Whilst I missed out on the closed-beta on this one, open beta has just commenced (October 29th in fact) and from the media I have watched on their website (whilst downloading this F2P), I am slightly disappointed that its been built on the CryEngine3. This is purely because the RIFT is fully compatible with the Unity engine and will soon have Unreal engine support as well. While the CryEngine is certainly a great engine with its own merits, it would have been nice to experience mechwarrior online through the RIFT. Especially seeming you can look around your own cockpit without torso rotation, by holding a key bind down and moving the mouse). Here's hoping the community get on board an engine integration for this because it would be simply stunning in SS3D.

Last but not least, there is some free in-game items to be had if this information is accurate. I wont be able to verify this until after I have downloaded and installed MECHWARRIOR ONLINE, however this is how to get some free-stuff for the open-beta...

     1. Pick up a copy of December's PC Gamer for a unique paint-scheme and bobble-head.
Update: while i am yet to get my hands on a copy of the mag, you can redeem the code here

     2. Nvidia has a promo code on their Facebook page for a "Dawn Fury" bobble-head.     
 Update: the link on FB does not work, which is most likely because it was a "limited"promo.