FPSNation

Semper Fi Saturday with Mappers United

Fri, 18 May 2012 14:02:17 +0000

Semper Fi Saturday with Mappers United and Friends
8:00PM EST MAY 19th!

TS3: 208.167.232.2:9117
Battlefield Battlelog Server Link

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Battlefield 3 Performance Analysis

Wed, 16 May 2012 17:05:20 +0000

Some folks have asked about optimal BF3 settings. I was going to post my particular settings but, they would really only pertain to the hardware in my rig, and would not necessarily benefit those with lower/higher components.

Below is a link to a very good performance analysis that includes various degrees of hardware and monitor resolutions.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2011/11/10/battlefield-3-technical-analysis/1

While some of you probably use FRAPS http://www.fraps.com/download.php, you can also check your FPS (Frames/Second) in game by opening the console (in game) by pressing the ~ Tilde key located above the Tab Key. The console will open in the upper left portion of the screen. Enter the following command; render.drawfps 1 be sure to put a space between the s and the 1. You will need to do this each time you boot the game up.

There are some Video settings that I use, and it does not matter what GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) you are using.

1. Motion Blur- OFF

2. FOV (Field of View) - I think Default is 82. I use 92. This is a personal pref. The higher the number the greater your peripheral vision will be. However, other players will appear as smaller targets. Given a little time you will acclimate to a higher setting, and if not you can always reduce the number to fit your needs.

3. Verticle Sync (Locks FPS) - OFF Turning it on will prevent what is known as tearing. Turning it will definitely reduce your FPS.

4. Shadow - I find that setting it higher redues the fog/smoke effect.

Color blind Mode:
A friend of mine who plays BF3 is slightly color blind and found this setting to be very useful. I tried it a while back, and while it does improve visuals in the game for me (I am not color blind) I found it to be a bit confusing.

Here is a color blind test you can take.
http://colorvisiontesting.com/ishihara.htm

Here is a BF3 video showing colorblind mode being used. Discussion starts at the 3:10 mark.

Foregrip or Underslung Rail ?
With respect to my favorite weapon, the M416 Assault Rifle I have found that the underslung rail provides less recoil than the Foregrip. A glitch perhaps ?

At the end of the day I am always willing to give up some eye candy to achieve a higher rate of FPS. A lot of discussion in BF3 has focused on running the game in Ultra, or at the highest settings your GPU can handle. Very little discussion talks about the actual degradation of the FPS, and how that will negatively impact your ability to play well. If you had all the hardware, and a high end IPS monitor capable of playing in true Ultra mode, you find that while the games look beautiful, you would have difficulty seeing the players at that level of detail against shrubs.

Here is a video where Sammy goes through each Video setting, and shows their effect.

Audio:

Setting the audio to War Tapes will give you a more robust sound.

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Tactical Tuesday with Off Duty Gamers

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:17:09 +0000

Tactical Tuesday with Off Duty Gamers
Drop Your Cots and Grab Your Socks

Your hosts are ODG6Actual, RickGivens and RogueDoc

Tuesday, May 15st. 8:00PM EST

ODG TS3: 64.34.212.191:9989 (VOICE.OFFDUTYGAMERS.COM:9989)

Battlelog Server Rally Point

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Steam Wallet cards are real, in US stores now

Mon, 14 May 2012 18:43:24 +0000

US games retailer GameStop has announced in a press release that the rumoured Steam Wallet cards are, in fact, real and in stores now. The cards are available in $20 and $50 denominations and those funds can be used for anything on Steam, from games to workshop items.

“Offering Steam Wallet codes at GamesStop extends more options and convenience to gamers around the world” said Valve’s Director of Business Development Jason Holtman.
No word yet on whether Steam Wallet cards are coming to the UK. In either case, the move suggests that the relationship between Steam and traditional retail is warming, or at the very least that brick and mortar stores are learning that they can’t ignore the digital distribution juggernaut. It was only a few years ago that shops in the UK asked publishers to stop using Steam in their games.

Are you interested in getting your Steam funds from a traditional shop, readers?

source: PCGamer

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Inside DICE: Tweets from the Battlefield

Thu, 10 May 2012 17:50:50 +0000

Alan Kertz is the Core Gameplay Designer behind a lot of great in-depth blog posts published here at the Battlefield Blog. In this episode of “Inside DICE”, he takes a handful of your most tweeted questions and answers them personally.

Keep the questions coming here on the blog (or send them to @battlefield) and we’ll do more round-ups like this. Now let’s dig into the questions and some answers we think you will find illuminating.

1. Where did you start before working for DICE?
(Asked by @minikanelive)
Alan answers: “I was actually quite lucky to enter the industry directly working for DICE on Battlefield 2142. Of course, I didn’t just start cold turkey, I’d previously been a member of the Battlefield 1942 modding community where I developed tools, levels, and mods. Some of my work was featured in mods like Eve of Destruction, Desert Combat, and Point of Existence. Scholastically my background is a Computer Science degree from a university in the US where I grew up. While the CS degree wasn’t a real influence on me getting the job, I do find that understanding the concepts of coding is a definitive edge when working as a game designer.”

2. SKS bullet drop is very pronounced. Bug or intended? It ruins my immersion whenever i see it.
(Asked by @shimme01)
Alan answers: “The SKS has a relatively low velocity round when compared to other DMR and Sniper weapons. Over the same distances the SKS round will drop further and lose more energy since it’s a smaller caliber round. The SKS is range limited, though it makes up for this by being mobile, fast firing, and deadly in mid-range. For longer range engagements I would step up to something like the M39 EMR or the QBU-88 sniper from Back to Karkand.”

3. In comparison to the P90, the MP7 is a bit outclassed. Maybe consider reducing the MP7′s first shot recoil and increasing the P90′s?
(Asked by @kryptikspaniard)
Alan answers: “The MP7 has a lower overall muzzle climb, a faster reload (especially from empty), and a higher rate of fire than the P90. Finally, the MP7 is rather easily obtained via COOP play, while the P90 comes later on at Rank40. Obviously they’re both similar weapons, and I feel the subtle differences between the two weapons makes it an interesting choice for players. Some players clearly prefer the P90, others prefer the MP7.“

4. Do scopes have an effect on vertical recoil? Didn’t know if the weight of the scope factored in? It’s not in the descriptions.
(Asked by @friedpixels)
Alan answers: “Another great question. Scopes only change two variables: how much zoom they provide and how fast the weapon aims down the sights. A high zoom scope, like a 6x rifle scope, will be slow, and a low zoom sight, like a red dot sight, will be fast. There are no additionally effects on the weapons’ handling, no changes to recoil or accuracy.”

5. So a gun that has just a suppressor and a sight has better aimed accuracy than one with a foregrip & suppressor?
(Asked by @KILLAnthonyMan)
Alan answers: “The short answer is Yes. The long answer is Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssss. The explanation though, is more interesting. A foregrip carries a small aimed accuracy penalty, if you’re trying to get the best absolute accuracy you can with the weapon, a suppressor will give you better aimed accuracy. However, combining the Suppressor and the Foregrip will give the weapon the same accuracy as if you had no accessories, while also reducing recoil. It’s my recommendation that you only forgo a foregrip (see what I did there?) if you demand the absolute best accuracy you can obtain. Generally, inside 100m a weapon with a foregrip is still plenty accurate to hit consistently on target, and it will be easier to control.”

That’s it for now! We hope you enjoyed this Q&A session. Once again, if you want similar questions answered right here on the blog, ask them below in the comments section. See you in the next episode of “Inside DICE”.

source: EA Battlefield Blog

Introduction

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:35:55 +0000

Hello All,

It was brought to my attention that some folks really did not know a whole lot about me; I’m not used to talking about myself, having written primarily about others’ accomplishments for some time now, so I decided to work up something of an introduction.

Quite a few of you are familiar with me as Lunch Meat, here and under various versions of that screen name in a few different games. My actual name is Rick Givens, and in addition to contributing here on FPSNation, I am a staff member for Off Duty Gamers and for Sergeant Merrell. I am a prior U.S. Marine, and served in various Law Enforcement agencies over a span of several years. I am inactive now, but may rejoin the fight one day. I'm also currently affiliated with Plastic Piranha as part of the Media Relations team, although until our first title is ready for release, my role is limited.

As far as gaming goes, I have been doing it off and on since the days of the Atari 2600. I am most active on the PC, but I own and Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as well. The consoles are fine, but I have large gorilla thumbs, and it is just easier for me to use a mouse and keyboard. My particular interest is in long RPG style titles, with a definite leaning towards anything Fantasy, or Sci Fi related. Games like Skyrim and Deus Ex Human Revolution suck me in for hours, and I log the majority of my time there. Other than that, I do play quite a few First Person Shooter titles, with my favorite being Battlefield 3 thus far. You will find me on others, such as Call of Duty, or other Platforms at times, as I am at the mercy of chance when it comes to reviewing a title or product.

I have always had an interest in writing, anything from short funnies in school, which landed me in trouble, to a few amateur publications.There has been nothing really solid or consistent until I blended my gaming interests with writing, which started with the launch of Off Duty Gamers. It is a lot of fun, and allows me to be every bit as funny, and often, sarcastic as I care to be. I try to leave hate and venom, but sometimes you have to point things out.

A few folks have asked me why I chose my screen name. Really, I don’t have a good answer, it just sort of shot in my head one day. I was heavily involved in the Quake 4 Community for a time, and was tired of seeing all the high speed, low drag names like XSNIPERX or something, and it would be someone who was, 10 years old. I wanted something that no one would want to copy. I started using The Mighty Tick, in honor of one of my favorite comic characters, and eventually settled on Lunch Meat, when I remembered a name one of my instructors in the Marine Corps called me. There is a hallowed tradition in all Branches of Service of creative names and memorable events following you around for a while… Mine involved both, one of my instructors stared at me, and said “Boy, you about as dumb as a damn bag of lunch meat.” It would have stopped there, but I blurted out a snicker. Well hell, it was funny.

That is me in a nutshell. I will warn folks in advance, that while gaming I use everything on hand to my advantage. If it is in a game, then I believe I should be able to use it. If I join a server with specific rules however, I abide by them as long as I am there, but if rules aren’t spelled out, then it is fair game. I utilize the tools of my training acquired when I was in Service, and play to the particular class or kit I am using at the time. So you can expect me to hide, sneak, hit and run fast. I only mention this because some have taken issue with a few of my tactics. My answer to that is “If you know I am using claymores, don’t chase me down in revenge for blowing you up with one. You’ll just get hit again.” The fact is I don’t watch my win/loss ratio closely, or keep a close eye on my stats. I could care less if I rank high in the leaderboards, because I have no ambition to be a competitive player. I like to have fun, game with friends, and talk a little trash when it is warranted.

Hopefully, this gives you all a good introduction, and a little background on who I am, and what you can expect out of me, both in game and in other interactions I’ve been told I’m funny, and I would like to believe it, but there is a fine line between being funny and being a smart ass. I tend to teeter back and forth.

See you online.

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Battlefield 3 Hacker Reveals Startling Numbers

Mon, 07 May 2012 19:04:30 +0000

Source link

http://mp1st.com/201...ers/?utm_source

Being a server admin for many years you see a lot of stuff, but this post tweeted by spawnstar sums up pretty much what we have to deal with. The post talks about the level of customization for the subscribed hack's. I’m betting we all know at least one hacker, I’m betting at least, you will have a hacker on your friends list,

Some guys are so good they can hunt you, and keep hunting you. it’s very probable that some hacks are being used.
it’s not often you can sneak up on a player and take his tags, sure the opportunity happens, But go with your gut, and if you think you got a hacker on a server your on, just leave it !!!!! Making a fuss will do you no good at all.

I Enjoy gaming in the FPSN community cuze I know the members are unlikely to use hacks. All who i have meet through FPSN are great guys and very honorable. I’m just making this post, so that the hack awareness is out there, keep a good eye out, after a while you will start to realize some guys are just too good, and BTW it’s not lucky.

The message I’m trying to send here is watch out for low life scum fuckers, cuze the hacks are being used and they are not detectable, unless they are complete noobs.

Regards Paul

Sortie Sunday with Team PnX

Fri, 04 May 2012 01:54:39 +0000

Sortie Sunday with Team PnX

May 6th, 3:00PM EST / 8:00PM U.K.

PnX and Friends get together. Battlefield 3!

PTFO
Grenade Tossing Contest
Pin the Javelin on the Donkey
Gunny Sack Races
All you can eat Lunch Meat

3:00PM EST - 8:00PM U.K.

Teamspeak: PnX-Clan: ts3:gtxgaming.co.uk:10021

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Semper Fi Saturday Ideas

Wed, 02 May 2012 18:41:26 +0000

This is not final. We are improvising here. Coming up with ideas and putting them on the table.

We want to make this regular monthly event. Looking to kick this off with Mappers United on May 19th.

2nd Revision:

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Warfare Wednesday with The Company and Friends

Wed, 02 May 2012 16:41:12 +0000

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 7:00PM EST

TS3: ts3.thecompanyhub.com

Battlefield 3 Server Rally Point:

Battlefield 3 Battlelog

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