Crimbo Carnage

Thanks to all the LANFix'ers that attended Crimbo Carnage this year, especially to DM for hosting and providing pizza :)

You'll be pleased to know that the stats are now available... http://stats.lanfix.net

You've been tagged?

Stumbled upon a curious thing today... Microsoft Tag; Microsoft's entry into the barcode world.

Doesn't sound too exciting when you put it like that, but it is quite an interesting idea. Basically, with everyone seeming to have a smart phone these days (or the very least a phone capable of browsing the Internet) there seems to be a lot of interest in making it easier for people to enter your web address (hence the rather exponential number of short URLs floating about atm). Microsoft's Tag basically allows you to take a photo of the rather colourful 'barcode' and the Tag app will translate it into a web url or email address etc...

They certainly are the first to try this approach, but their barcodes are easily created, colourful and customisable!

I've included one below for this website using the standard Microsoft format (triangles) but the easiest thing is to try for yourself... for the main website visit http://www.microsoft.com/tag/ and to get the application for your phone, go to http://gettag.mobi

Just don't!

Quick post today... Twin Sector... DON'T BUY IT (or else).

At the risk of devoting more time on this post than I could tolerate of the game:

- Cliche-ridden story
- Shocking animation
- Painful, grinding voice-acting
- Laughable gameplay

If this had been released 10 years ago... it still would have been crap!

End of Summer Smackdown

Thanks to everyone who came along today... it was a great event.

I'd particularly like to thank DM (for hosting), Wod (for being Wod) and Grizzly for providing the first real possible replacement for "What's the reload key" in the last decade... that's right, "Hit 'F' to shoot out of the helicopter". Nothing like the sound of disbelief and panic to drown out the noise of your character plummeting towards the ground and the obvious consequences.

As usual, the statistics for our Counter-Strike Source matches can be found at http://stats.lanfix.net

It's good to be the king (again) :-P

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited

For those that still play MMO's, Turbine have just announced that Dungeons & Dragons Online will become Free To Play.

The newly titled Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited is currently in beta in North America only at present and Codemasters have not yet confirmed if they will be going down the same route.

All details can be found here - http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=184786

DDO Unlimited introduces a new Free To Play option to the game! Players can download DDO for free and enjoy many free adventures. The new DDO Store allows players to purchase even more adventures, special items, and account services! The best part is - as existing subscribers, you're automatically enrolled in our VIP program for DDO Unlimited and will enjoy all the benefits that come with being VIPs! You'll continue to get unlimited access to all of the game's content, plus get some extra perks as our thank you just for being a VIP!

Nuke it from space... it's the only way to be sure!

Cool new trailer for the latest AvP game. I've loved the previous ones and this is looking amazing!

Take a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an0gLnboLjE

More information can be found on Sega's blog here http://blogs.sega.com/usa/2009/05/20/new-aliens-vs-predator-details-and-images/

Looking forward to many hours of sneaking around as an alien, fragging Hollywod over... and over... and over... and over again! :-P

In other news...

LOL... looks like myself and DJRedline had similar ideas (and timing) so you get two posts on E3 for the price of one... bargain!


Anyway... so this week E3 (The Electronic Entertainment Expo) has been stealing the gaming headlines. After two years out in the cold (having become a no-frills business meeting) it's back to it's former self with all the glitz, stunts and booth babes you'd expect from one of the gaming calendar's main events. As usual the announcement were a mixed tale of sequels and surprises. Anything there of note? Maybe... I've picked out a few bits that caught my eye:

- Bioshock 2 : After such an amazing first game, it was hard to imagine that they'd be able to better it. It's looking good so far... and now it includes multiplayer.
- Mass Effect 2 : I still haven't managed to finish the first one (something always gets in the way) but the sequel promises a darker and more sinister plot line and even better cinematics.
- Castlevania: Lord of Shadows : Another attempt to drag the Castlevania into the third dimension. I loved Castlevania on my old Game Boy and, personally, I don't think they've managed to make a sequel that even equals the original... perhaps this will.
- Left 4 Dead 2 : Even more zombie-killing fun... now with chainsaws and frying pans! An announcement no-one was really expecting (HL2 Episode 3 or Portal 2 anyone?) but a welcome sight all the same. More locations, different bosses and survivors and some real up-close and personal combat.
- Assassin's Creed II : Bigger, better, faster, longer? I've got to be honest, I don't normally expect much from Ubisoft. This, however, looks amazing. The original Assassin's Creed was good, but from what I've seen of the sequel so far, this is going to blow you away. All sorts of new moves and looking even more amazing... I can't wait!
- Modern Warfare II : The sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare appears to be shaping up nicely. It's also looking like the story line may be a little more gritty and unforgiving...
- Uncharted 2 : Among Thieves : Not owning a PS3, I've not played the original... but the sequel is looking amazing. A reason to buy a PS3 perhaps?
- Crackdown II : The ultimate bad-ass super cop sim IS getting a sequel. No real details as yet
- Red Steel 2 : The original wasn't bad. Hopefully the sequel will be a more refined experience.
- Forza 3 : Just watch this trailer... http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-forza/50004
- Lego Indiana Jones 2 : Will apparently include the ability to build your own levels in Lego!
- Agent : by Rockstar... little is know so far but they are obviously quite keen to hype it up.
- Modnation Racers : Build-your-own racing fun
- APB : I've been following this for a while. Essentially a Cops and Robbers MMOG and it looks to be shaping up nicely.
- DC Universe Online : There is certainly more polish on this since I played it last year (thanks Jens) and they've been showing off the 'cases' (AKA quests) available. Likely to reach beta in the Autumn (hopefully).
- The Agency : Sony's Spy MMO seems to be moving along nicely. Looking forward to beta testing this too.
- Alan Wake : At long last it looks like this may actually surface. Whether it'll be any good is a different matter entirely.
- The Vitality Sensor for the Wii : Yup... your Wii will now be able to, um, check your pulse (I'm sure they'll find a use for it).
- The Sony Wand : A glowing orb on a black shaft (that looks nothing like a dildo, according to GameSpot) that the Playstation Eye can 'see'. Seems a little bit of a step back from the Wii controller but time will tell.
- Project Natal : Microsoft's "surprise" announcement of a new controller for the Xbox 360 that uses a camera (with full body motion capture and facial recognition) and voice recognition to let you interact with the system. If it works, it has the potential to be amazing...
- PSP Go : A new PSP that looks a little like a cross between a Nintendo DS and a Samsung Mondi (or any other mobile phone with a slide-out keyboard). They've now ditched the UMD drive so it'll be interesting to see how PSP Go owners are going to be able to get the older games.

E3

Well i have completed 'Broken Steel' for Fallout 3 and was quite pleased with the content and the new weapons and armour i now have in my inventory.
I haven't downloaded the 1st two DLC's that were available as it was the ability to continue the game past the main quest that Broken Steel gave that promptly made me download this.

For those that have followed E3 this week may have seen the big annoucement from Microsoft with 'Project Natal' If this concept works then Nintendo's annoucement regarding the new motion sensor changes to the Wii controller look very dull (imo)
Now 'Project Natal' provides a full 3d depth of vision with Voice and facial recognition so no controller required.

Other annoucements -
Fallout 3 'Point Lookout' the 4th DLC
Metal Gear Solid Rising will be coming to X360
Crackdown 2 - I loved the 1st game and this one hints at an infected city
Modern Warfare 2 - OMG i almost got aroused at this :) and for me will be a definate purchase on the 10 November.
Beatles Rock Band which claims to contain the complete back catalogue (now do i wait for this or shall i just pick up the amazing GH Metallica ????)
Facebook and Twitter coming to X360 dashboards
SKY TV coming to X360 including premiership games streamed live
All HD videos have been changed to full 1080p and are now instantly streamed instead of having to download previously.

COD4

Well it's my 1st Blog attempt so here goes :)
Ever since i got my X360 http://profile.mygamercard.net/djredline there has been many games that have been inserted into its CD Drive, but only 1 that i return to time and time again.

That game is Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
The single player side of COD4 is an amazing experience, but its the Multi-player that just draws me back.
The game has now had time to settle down from when it got initially released, with all the cheaters etc attempting to get 1st place on the leaderboards and currently has 11 million Xbox live players (only recently been removed from No1 spot by Halo3).

I played COD: WaW for quite a while but had to return it back to the store. The reason behind this was that there was no competition online, and it got a bit boring always ending up either 1st or 2nd place within the game lobby with over 25kills and a handful of deaths. Now COD4 provides me with a harder fight (i'm still pretty darn good if i say so myself) and hover around the 550k out of 11million in world ranking (dont really think i can get to the top unless they clear out all the cheaters).

I will get to prestige 10, currently at 6 (the ability to at lvl55 to remove all levels/weapons/perks etc and start from lvl1 again) but i love my Silenced MP5 / UAV Jammer too much. Hmm Decisions, Decisions........

Free TF2 weekend!

Oh... and if that wasn't enough... Team Fortress 2 is FREE to play from May 21th to May 25th!

Enjoy...

Team Fortress 2 update released

So... today's the day... and instead of just being a Spy OR a Sniper update... it's both!

There has also been a complete change to how the weapons are unlocked. Instead of having to complete a set number of achievements (which, personally, I wasn't very keen on as I don't play TF2 often enough to get them), you will now get the new weapon unlocks on a random basis.

Full details of this update, including fixes, are below...

Maps
- Added new map, Pipeline. Pipeline is the first map in a new game mode named payload race, which uses two carts in each map instead of only one like traditional payload maps
- Added new arena map Sawmill
- Added new arena map Nucleus
- Added new community payload map Hoodoo

Sniper Changes
- Added new sniper rifle replacement, The Huntsman. Instead of a sniper rifle, you have a bow that allows you to move around faster while firing, and fire more quickly than the sniper rifle. Works better at medium range than the standard rifle
- Added new SMG replacement, Jarate. If thrown on an enemy they will take more damage for short period of time. Also extinguishes flames on yourself or allies
- Added new SMG replacement, The Razorback. Will protect you against a single spy backstab, and stun the spy for a short period of time. Comes with a 15% move speed penalty for the wearer
- Standard sniper rifle now shoots through friendly players
- Added 54 new Sniper voice lines
- Added 35 new Sniper achievements

Spy
- Added new revolver replacement, The Ambassador. First shot is very accurate and will cause a critical hit if it hits an enemy's head. Accuracy is poor for a period after that
- Added new watch replacement, the Dead Ringer. When armed, you will appear in all ways to die to the first damage you take from an enemy. You'll be cloaked for 8 second after taking this damage. Upon de-cloaking you'll make a loud, distinct sound
- Added new watch replacement, the Cloak and Dagger. Your cloak meter is only depleted when you move, so you can stay invisible indefinitely if you're standing still
- Spy name tags now show up properly when disguised as their own team
- Fixed a bug that would cause spectators to see disguise weapons incorrectly
- Fixed a bug where enemy spies disguised as friendly spies would have cigarettes that didn't burn
- Fixed a bug where overhealing disguised spies would show the wrong overhealing amount to the medic
- Made it more obvious on first person view model when your motion cloak is out of juice and you are partially visible
- Also made it more obvious on first person view model when you're bumped while cloaked
- Improved the way your disguise weapon is determined to make it clearer and fix a couple of rare issues
- Spies disguised as enemy spies now get a random mask to help complete the disguise, and their target id will be set appropriately
- Spies disguised as medics now have an Ubercharge: line in their disguise target info
- Spies outward facing "disguise health" now matches their disguise target when they first apply the disguise
- Spies can now pick up health kits for their "disguise health", even when uninjured
- Disguise UI doesn't show up in minimum UI mode (hud_minmode)
- Spies that disguise as a player using an unlockable now show that unlockable in hand
- Spies can now use enemy teleporters
- Added 70 new Spy voice lines
- Added 34 new Spy achievements

Scoreboard changes
- Dominations no longer get wiped when teams switch sides
- Dead players draw slightly darker in scoreboard
- Converted class labels to class icons
- All players now display the total number of people they are dominating

General
- Fixed a bug that would cause the scout's ball to regenerate at inappropriate times
- Demomen can now detonate their stickies while taunting
- Flamethrower's air burst now extinguishes fire on friendly targets
- Grenades and rockets deflected by a pyro under the effects of Kritzkrieg will now be criticals
- The Heavy and Sniper now have new custom death animations
- Fixed payload HUD not updating properly if you join in the middle of a match and the cart isn't moving
- Engineer's dispensers now give 20%, 30%, or 40% of player's max_ammo (for each ammo type) on each use, based on the level of the dispenser
- Added -sillygibs commandline parameter which will allow the non-violent gibs to be enabled
- Added a new taunt for the Kritzkrieg, which also heals for 10 points
- Improved the deathcam camera handling used when a player plays a custom death animation

Or maybe...

This one (if you'd prefer to keep the logo on a black polo shirt)

Ask and you shall receive...

How would it look on a T-Shirt? Well... how about these for a couple of basic ideas?




Maybe not quite as cool as the black ones we've had before... but not too shabby ;-)

New Site

Gotta love the logo, not sure how it will transpose onto a polo shirt but hey. 

Still playing Eve, got a new char into Eve Uni, but a lot of station spinning atm, due to constant war decs to the Uni, means that lessons are curtailed alot, but I managed to get in on a battleship kill in my tackling frigate :). 

Playing a few other games as well, should have a go at getting back into BF2142, esp after losing my CoD 4 char because of a steam cockup!!

Hopefully see ya all soon, or maybe an online CS:S session might be called for

Bones

A new home...

Tada... as if by magic, the LANFix team blog is now available via http://blog.lanfix.net!

For those of your already tuned in to this new frequency, please be aware that the look and feel of the site may change a little over the coming weeks as we try a few new ideas.

In other news, a (not particularly shocking) twist in the upcoming 'Sniper Update' for Team Fortress 2 means that it's actually a 'Spy Update' instead! More details here... http://teamfortress.com/spyupdate/english.htm (opens in a new window).

Naiboss

Welcome to the new LANFix blog

We thought it was about time the LANFix website got a bit of a much needed refresh, so welcome to the new LANFix team blog, complete with new logo!

Hopefully you should see a little more activity on this site as we make it easier for LANFix members to contribute to the site.

Stay tuned...

Naiboss