Gearheads of War

There are two reasons why gamers need to lead their shots when firing on the enemy.  The unfortunate reason is because gamers must compensate for lag.   In this case, the shooter always needs to be aiming just a couple of millimeters ahead of the where the target will be in order to compensate for the delay of client info reaching the server.  

The other very entertaining and appropriate reason for leading one's shots, however, is because one is firing slow moving projectiles across vast distances, and the projectiles require time to traverse the area between you and the target. In this case, the "lead" is not millimeters, but meters and 10s of meters.  When the ballistics come together and the target is hit, it is a beauty to behold in the same way that one might appreciate the skill of the quarterback tossing the perfect long bomb to his receiver.

In its day, there were a lot of Halo Blood Gulch movies out there where gamers were shooting from one end of the map to the other and hitting warthogs that were nowhere near the aimed location at the time of release.

Yesterday, I came across a video of some Team Fortress 2 gaming and it reminded me of the Halo 1 glory days of gaming where you need to lead your shots not because of lag, but because of ballistics!  The video is of "competitive" gameplay so all the weapons are stock (also included in the 360 version), even though the footage is of the PC version.  You will probably immediately notice the mouse-control benefits in the quick-look movement, however, everything done there can be done in our 360 gaming (one or two of the maps are different, however.)

One more thing, please notice the rocket/stick bomb jumping and just consider how much gameplay is available there, that we haven't even tried yet.  Seriously, this game is vast and deep, and we haven't even scratched the surface.

You can download it in standard of HD.  I recommend the HD version.  Watch it guys, it is worth your time. :)

(Also available on YouTube in both definitions.)

UPDATE:  Just a heads-up, the "lead" shots don't occur until about the 2:00 (and 4:00) minute mark. Stellar use of the scout and soldier demonstrated before then, but the main lead shots occur after 2:00 or so.  Cheers!

A Change For Me

For several months now, I have been struggling with various commitments both private and public, and have wondered what I can do to change my situation. In addition, I have also struggled with our main game, Gears of War 2.  Yesterday, I had a long, great visit with Tyler (papi) about the  game, the site and community, and my involvement here. About three minutes after our long phone call, I called him right back knowing what it was that I needed to do to make things work better for me. It is somewhat humorous, because it is basically just a return to what Tyler had originally wanted for me when he gave me access to the admin tools of the site, namely, the option to be able to post to the front page.

So here is what's up.  I am a "Front Page Poster" as opposed to an "Administrator".  This mentally frees me from any perceived (mostly just on my part) responsibilities of community policy creation/enforcement etc. etc.  And, it also allows me more freedom during the FFFs.  When I considered myself an admin, I always felt that I needed to lead/facilitate Gears 2 gaming (and all other things that Gearheads do), and right now, I can't seem to play that game without turning into an angry monster.

That's it.  My participation here in post count and diary creation may actually increase now that I have less stress.  I may not join in on the Gears 2 gaming for the FFFs, but I will always be up for Gears 1, TF2, CoD4, and L4D.

(Click Full Story for more)

The good news is that Infinity Ward has officially confirmed CoD:MW2, and they are planning on serving it up to us this Autumn.  'Twill be my first pre-order of 2009.

The bad news is that Aliens RPG and probably Colonial Marines are no more.  It is a rumor at this point, but there is nothing to make that rumor seem bogus at this point.  Very sad.  That is about the only other game I was looking forward to this year.