Whats in The Box?

The video above links to this website.  whatsinthebox.nl appears to be a website aimed towards promoting a new movie.  But Half-Life 2 Sound Effects, and similar looking characters and environment?  That is indeed strange.  Could Valve be pulling our legs again?

Babel

Babel research.eu is another funny website.  This website was found a while back, but became popular during the portal radio transmissions I will describe below.  The website is copyrighted 2018, and as 3 logos at the bottom.  The Hanso Foundation being the most interesting.  The Hanso Foundation is the company in the TV Series Lost which is kind of the evil company that made things go bad (as I understand).  I do not watch TV, but I will take their word on that.

The other 2 logos are Aperture Science, and Black Mesa.  Both fictional companies which Valve created for use in Portal and Half Life 2 respectively.  Interesting to note, that 2 of the 3 products listed on the babel website, are used in the film displayed above.  The Involuntary Stomach Discharger, and the Computer Brain Interface.  Yet these websites claim they are not related to each other…  Odd isn’t it?  Perhaps Babel Research is a new fictional company which will be the ‘good guys’ in the new upcoming Portal 2, or even Half Life Episode 3.

There are many secrets within the website itself.  The most obvious is the flashing cat in the lower left hand corner.  This cat, when clicked on, may allow you to download an audio file.  The file is a reversed audio transmission, which translates to “Found, Project Detainable has failed!”

Portal Updates

The Portal updates last week included the patch note ‘Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations’.  Which of course got all the TF2 conspiracy theorists to dig up their copy of Portal (or buy a copy) and try to figure out what that means.  In the end it ended up being a ham radio operators dream.  Morse Code at about 20 wpm, and SSTV Transmissions could be found through the Portal game-play.  Decoding them turned into an interesting adventure.

The Slow Scan TV Images showed various clues…  But in such a way to be confusing.

Each image was picked up at a separate location.  There are a few hints in there at a BBS number.   A BBS is a Bulletin Board System, which allows users to connect via modem, and download or read information which is posted for public or subscriber consumption.   These systems sometimes have user names and passwords to protect them for subscribers only.

After decoding the string of visible letters and numbers in each SSTV Scan, People found the string “9459C6CAC8C203B8128B7CC63068D4FD” which is an md5 hash of (425) 822-5251.  So now we know the BBS Telephone number.

But what about the user name and password?  Oh yes, there was one!  At this point, you would think, gee what if these people were wrong, and this phone number was a private number…  or a private link somewhere…  That would of been interesting.  But none the less, indeed the user name and password were found in the morse code.

The 2nd morse code string translates to “SYSTEM DATA DUMP ACTIVE USER BACKUP ACTIVE PASSWORD BACKUP ACTIVE”.  So someone tried using User name ‘Backup’ and Password ‘Backup’…  This worked.

Other Morse code transmissions were…

“INTERIOR TRANSMISSION ACTIVE EXTERNAL DATA LINE ACTIVE MESSAGE DIGEST ACTIVE”.

“BEEP BEEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP BEEP BEEEP BEEP BEEP”, which is in turn Morse Code for “LOL”.

“9E107D9D372BB6826BD81D3542A419D6″, which is the MD5 hash of “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”.

There are many other hidden ‘easter egg’ clues in many places.  I think that everywhere you look, you will find some clue…  Or something that looks like a clue anyhow.  It is after all lent.  So the easter egg hunt is on.

Half-Life Link?

So far, many of the images we have seen, relate to both Portal and Half Life 2 in some way.  It has been said before that these 2 time lines are in fact linked…   And it is quite possible that every valve game is linked in some way in some large story arc, which will all be interconnected at some time.  With the announcement of Portal 2 confirmed, we can only assume that this new Portal game brings us closer to the Half-Life universe.  Portal is said to be a prelude to the events which take place in Half Life.

Portal 2 will include a 2 person co-op player mode, which will allow 2 friends to work together to solve campaigns.  I think this is a great idea, and look forward to Portal 2’s release.

For now however, I must say that I love Valve.  Undeniably THE BEST computer game company ever!

Tags: Computer Game Reviews by Roadwolf
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My birthday is fast approaching, and I just wanted to take the time to go over some of the things I have been up to lately.  For one,  my best friend here in Buffalo lost his house last month, so it has been tough for him to try to cope.  Damn foreclosures…   So I have tried to be there for him and keep him company.  On that note, he got me into a pharmacy delivery job, where we work as a driver under a contract to deliver medications to nursing homes and such.  I rode along with my friend on several runs, even heading down to the Southern Tier and the Pennsylvania border.  It was alright work, however there is a catch.  For one, it only pays .39 cents a mile, and about 1.50 or so per stop.  Usually you get about 10 stops, so that really doesn’t amount to much.

It ended up costing as much as you make at the place, per day.  The surcharges on your ‘rental’ of your scanning device, plus your uniform fee, plus a number of other things you must pay for weekly…  Not to mention the gas money, which comes out of your own pocket, and is not reinversed.  So all in all you do not make much doing this job, and in the end it will cost you more on maintnance of your vehicle then you are making.  A pizza delivery job would be much much better then this.

So I never went through with that.  Which is likely a good thing.  I must say that my wife is pleased, as she thought it was a scam right off the bat.

I have a major interview coming up with a major local company, so I hope that goes well.  Otherwise I am still looking.

Team Fortress 2 update:

My Team Fortress 2 server is moving along nicely.  As a clan, we are continuing back to the basics.  Applications and interest had gone through the roof, and we were not really prepared for that.  In order to retain the family feel of the clan, we have decided to revert to a invite only policy again.  At the same time, we plan on making the server more entertaining and including more theme nights.

I am still working on the bylaws for the clan…  That is work in progress for me.

The servers are running great, and I have nothing negative to report.

Social / Family Life:

I ended up going to Fort Erie to watch my sister skate over the weekend.  It was fun, and surprisingly quite interesting.  I basically grew up in an arena when I was younger, as her skating was a serious thing when she was younger.  Her team did alright, and I am proud of her for sticking with her interests, even when it demands so much from her.

I ended up also meeting my mother there, and it was very nice to see her.  My grandmother is not doing very well, and my mothers side of the family have been taking turns being with her to keep her company.

New Project

I am working on a new project, Railsexy.com – Yes I know it is a copy of hamsexy in a way, but my intentions are similar;  To get the younger generation interested in rail fanning.  I am currently looking for any input and assistance in running that website.  I want it to be a community project.  It is indeed a wiki, as well as a photo gallery.  Please check it out and offer some feedback, if your interested in trains at all.  www.railsexy.com

Dawn of Discovery / ANNO 1404: Venice

I have pre-ordered ANNO 1404: Venice (Dawn of Discovery: Venice), and hope to write a detailed article about it to enforce my other articles regarding the game.  Venice edition is an expansion which will offer multiplayer capability and co-op modes.  As well as a new playstyle, and many new objects, and missions.  I am looking forward to it.

I do plan to write a single page which will link all my ANNO 1404 articles together.

Scajaquada Rails

Scajaquada Rails is a new Trainz 2009 route I am working on.  The work is going quickly, and I should have the basic scenery done on the first phase of this route within the week.  You can read more about this route here:  http://www.railsexy.com/tiki-index.php?page=Scajaquada+Railways

All in all, that is about all that is about all that is really going on.  Fun stuff I know

Tags: Buffalo Life, Canadian Life, Computer Game Reviews, Roadwolf, Train Spotting by Roadwolf
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As I follow along on the latest Team Fortress 2 update, I can’t help think how the Engimatical from August is a prediction for this upgrade.  While, yes I was a bit off in my predictions…  Overall, the Engimatical seems to be coming true.

This update however seems to be the most enjoyable of all.  The comic series is amazingly fun.  Of course this update isn’t without its hidden pages, such as the ‘poopyjoe‘ page.  The poopyjoe page predicted the new rocket launcher, and the broadsword thus far.  I believe that the Bugle, Pick-axe, and Larate are likely as other weapons.  I also believe that there will be some sort of doomsday weaponry, perhaps as the final weapon awarded to the winner.   This doomsday weaponry will likely be a large AOE style explosion, which will infect players with a DOT or mini-crit biological disease.

I think the bugle will likely either give your team a speed boost for a short time, or cause nearby enemies to loose control for a short time.

I am unsure about the zeppelins.  As for the engineer being mixed into this update?  I kind of doubt it.  Although this is called an Engimatical, there is not enough time to toss the Engineer into the storyline.  And I think the name Engimatical was chosen just to screw with our heads.

Again, if you haven’t tried this game yet, it is amazingly fun for all ages.  If you are looking for a mostly mature, and fun loving server to enjoy the game on?  Check out my server at 72.37.228.194:27015

Tags: Computer Game Reviews, Computer Stuff by Roadwolf
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So it seems my WoW account has finally been hacked.  Wonderful.  Honestly, I do not really care, but heck, I tried to get it back from Blizzard anyhow.   Sadly Blizzard does not seem to care either.  They are not even replying to stolen account inquiries these days.  So far I have sent in 4 emails to their support site detailing all of my information, and they have only responded with a “Blizzard Support Customer Satisfaction Survey” which they send out after every support issue is dealt with.

It is telling when a company like blizzard has finally given up on a game.   Obviously they just don’t care about their customers anymore.

Tags: Computer Game Reviews, General, Internet Stuff, MMORPG's, Roadwolf's Rants by Roadwolf
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When I first figured out that Operation Flashpoint 2’s mission editor was not as user friendly as the original mission editor, I was dissapointed.  However after some tinkering, I am finally starting to learn how to use this editor to create some decent missions.

Items I plan on covering in this post are:

• Mission Properties
• Player Setup
• Unit limits
• Entities
• Mission Objectives
• Scripting
• Triggers, and Spawning Entities

Mission Properties

You will find this window in the lower right of the Editor under the Mission Properties tab.

This is where you name your mission, and provide any general information for the mission.  i.e.  Time of Day, Weather, Briefing, Multiplayer Capabilities, etc…

These are the multiplayer settings.  Currently this map is set to allow Co-op Multiplayer play, with a maximum of 4 players.  As for Server Bandwidth, I have no clue what that is for?  Is it for determining how much bandwidth is needed, or how much bandwidth the mission will use?  Or how much needs to be available?   I am unsure…

That covers the basics for Mission Properties.

Player Setup

In order to place objects, we need to go into the Create window, which is located in the upper right of the editors screen.  Select USMC and then expand the Soldier’s directory.   Select a soldier, and then simply click on the map.  This will place a soldier on the map.

Place 5 soldiers on the map, and then switch to the System part of the Create window.  In there expand the AI folder, and select Echelon.  An Echelon is a small group of soldiers.  This is the only way to group soldiers together in the in game command system.  Place a Echelon beside the 5 soldiers you just created.

What you want to do now is select the 5 soldiers, and right click on them.  Select Parent Echelon and then click on the Echelon icon.  This will group them all together.  You can only have up to 5 soldiers (or units*) per Echelon.  You can also create a Echelon with 5 Echelons in it.

*Note: In terms of Vehicles, unless they are set as using a virtual crew, all vehicles will need to be staffed by soldiers in order to operate.  We will cover this later, however note that the amount of non virtual soldiers inside a vehicle, does count towards the maximum amount of Entities on the map, even if they are inside the vehicle, and not visible.

With your Echelon created, right click on one of the soldiers and select “Set Control Mode of This Character”  Then select Player.  I choose to set the Echelon commander as the player.  You can tell which one is the commander by the special icon beside him.

Unit Limits

In OFP2, we are limited to having a maximum of only 63 Entities at any specific time – anywhere on the Island.  This is mainly to improve multiplayer and online performance and help with lower end systems.  While I personally think that the developers should of let us stick in as many units as we like, I do see their reasoning behind forcing this.

Entities

In order to help with this, we have a system of Entities to help.  We can simply spawn, activate, and despawn whole groups of soldiers based on how the player is progressing through the map.

“Startup” is the default Entity which you want to use for every object and unit which has to spawn at the start of the mission.  Also, use this for objects such as ammo boxes, and sand bags as well – as they do not count towards the 63 unit limit.  Generally in terms of soldiers, you only want the players Echelon, and any other Friendly Echelon which will remain in action during the entire mission to be set under Startup.

When you “Add Entity Set”, the new Entity will likely show up as a sub-Entity set of Startup.  Simply drag it to its own location in the Explorer menu (seen above).

Create a new Entity called “Enemy”.  Set it as your active entity set.  And then create a fireteam or two of PLA Soldiers nearby – but out of visual range of your USMC Soldiers.  I chose to place my USMC Soldiers just West of the town of Aynskoye, and place my PLA Soldiers inside the town around the bridge.

Near the fireteams, place some waypoints.  I set mine up to be Aware, Standing, and Formation Controlled by AI.  I also set a 25ms delay.

You will now want to switch your active Entity Set back to Startup.  Now, go back to the Create menu, and in the mission folder (for Systems) select “Triggers events when someone enters or exits the  zone.”  Now place the trigger near your USMC Troops, between them and the town.

Also, feel free to add a mission objective.  You can find those in the Mission directory of the Create / Systems window.  I added one on the bridge.  Be sure to select it, and enable it as a primary objective.  Also, in the Scripting directory of Create / Systems, place a levelScript nearby.  This will control what is going on.

Scripting

I placed 2 Objectives in the town.  The first one to kill the PLA Units, the second one to secure the town.  The Trigger will activate the second Objective.  I also set the same trigger up to spawn a small counter attack of PLA Soldiers which will activate as Entity Enemy2.  Take a look at the script for this and it should make a little more sense…

Spawn Points and Triggers

I had some issues getting the waypoint for the Enemy2 soldiers to work.  Often they would spawn properly, they just wouldn’t walk to their waypoint.  However if I set them to spawn at Startup, they would walk to their waypoint.  So I sum this up to some random bug.

I ended up adding a 2nd fireteam under the Enemy2 spawn inside some of the buildings in the town on the East side of the bridge.

All in all, the troubleshooting involving the Enemy2 spawn took about 2 hours, and I am still not sure it is working properly.  But I wanted to get this post finished.  The Enemy spawn is working fine, as are the objectives.  I shall upload the .mssn file for those who want to check it out.

Tags: Computer Game Reviews, Computer Help and Advice, Computer Stuff by Roadwolf
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Well I must say that I have been looking forward to this games release for several months.  Politics regarding the developers aside, I was worried that maybe it was not going to live up to its predecessor.  As far as game-play however it meets and exceeds my expectations.

Firstly you notice that the graphics are fairly well done, and run on a mid-range system quite nicely.  While some may say that the textures could use some work, I disagree.  It is quite a feat making every mission take place with the whole island being a possible battlefield, that the fact that a few textures are slightly off is a minor detail in my mind.  I like having free range in terms of games.  I dislike being scripted and led through a maze of pre-defined pathways in order to complete a mission.

The campaign is nicely laid out and well structured. The AI often have me pinned behind a tree or pile of logs trying to get a shot at them from around a corner or over a ridge. The game feels very real. Concussion waves from nearby explosions can shake you and cause you to even fall over in some cases. All in all it generally feels real.

Some of the initial issues I came across were only slightly annoying. Upon giving a command, the command menu does not disappear. This causes problems, because you can often forget you have it opened, and then issue commands with your movement keys by accident when you go to move.

Other issues would be that sometimes the AI would be standing there, looking straight at you, and not engage you at all. Or sometimes walk straight past you in broad daylight.

Other then that, everything else seems to flow pretty well for single player. And I am sure that those issues will get patched soon. Some issues with Multi-player are that there are no dedicated server tools available. Nor are there any anti-cheat devices in place.

In the editor, there are also some issues or restrictions which I think are a tad depressing. You have this whole Island – Some 25 kilometers long – on which you can place troops and items. And plan out a battle… Yet you are only seemingly allowed to place up to and including 13 Echelons (on either team) of 5 soldiers MAX? But no more? Otherwise I get a Grey / Green screen of doom when I test the map file – and have to terminate the application in order to exit it. Surely this has to be a bug? Otherwise 2 small tank columns, and you have used up your allotted amount of soldiers you can place for a mission.

I also think that 5 soldiers per group is a tad small. Perhaps for co-op playit is alright, but for versus play, or single player custom maps, I would like to see more soldiers available under my command. This way I can assign more tasks and flank and such with just one Echelon. Sure I could use Squads… But where is the fun in that

I am a tad confused about some aspects of the editor. I am trying to learn as much as I can about it, but documentation is lacking. For example what does “TOO Dummy” mean in the unit properties. It seems to cause the unit to disappear?

Once I understand everything better, I shall write a bit of a tutorial for the mission editor. Until then,I would appreciate any advice about it.

Anyhow, go out and buy the game. It is only 40 bucks! And honestly, it is well worth it!

Minimum System Requirement

Hard Drive Space : 8 GB

Operating System : Windows XP SP2 or later

Processor : Dual Core CPU 2 x 2.4 GHz

RAM : 1 GB

Video Card : Shader 3.0 (GeForce 7900 GT / 256 MB VRAM or higher)
Recommended System Requirement

Hard Drive Space : 8 GB

Operating System : Windows XP SP2 or later

Processor : Quad Core CPU

RAM : 2 GB

Video Card : Shader 3.0 (GeForce 8800 GT / 512 MB VRAM or higher), DirectX 9.0c

Tags: Computer Game Reviews, Computer Stuff, MilSim by Roadwolf
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