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IRSWalker

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Everything posted by IRSWalker

  1. The Royal Cheriton is the name of the pub that I frequent!!!!!! Just goes to show where my priorities lie!
  2. quote:Originally posted by TheBunny: and the Droidians are wondering "WTF good are we in any of this?" There have been a good number of Droidian suicides this week.You are all fools - the Droidans will inherit the galaxy when your feeble flesh has rotted away. Either that, or we'll all rust......
  3. It'll end when it ends, and right now it ain't ended!
  4. quote:Originally posted by Epsilon 5: Of course, it's 450 us ...This is another example of a bit of thinking I have been doing lately about the old adage "Youth is wasted on the young". My belief is that this should be reformulated as "Jobs with decent wages are wasted on the middle aged" Smiley
  5. Just to clear up any confusion: Atheist = someone who denies the existence of God (with a captial G). Effectively this is an active role of constantly challenging the beliefs of others. Agnostic = someone who believes that the existence of a higher being (God or otherwise) is both unknown and probably unknowable (the probably is important apparently), and therefore irrelevant. This can be an active expression of this viewpoint, which is slightly different from the atheist, or a simple passive lack of belief in anything. I'm old enough, wise enough and British enough not to get into an argument about it. Cheers, Smiley
  6. C'mon, admit that those aren't screen shots - they must be pen-and-ink art! Looks very cool. Better start saving for a new PC. Smiley
  7. A bit of fun... England Roster Rundown, US Style Smiley
  8. Just a quick note for the Americans out there - the team currently in the World Cup is ENGLAND, not "THE BRITS". If there were such a team as Great Britain, it would be England with Ryan Giggs on the left. If you ever feel that you are in need of some bruises, just wander round Glasgow telling people "you must be really proud of the British team in the World Cup" for an exciting time. Smiley
  9. There is a serious theory about the invention of the printing press being largely responsible for the problem of knowledge propagating faster than people's ability to understand it.
  10. quote:Originally posted by Shadow_Wolf33: note: whenever a person makes something that is idiot proof. A new breed of idiots will emerge to show them their error in thinking that something can be idiot proof.A Darwinist could probably use this to show that there is an environmental pressure to promote the "idiot gene" that has a positive benefit to humanity as a whole - ie making people design society's tools better. Or maybe not. Smiley
  11. BCM is in my ROM drive, and has been for nigh on a month. 'Nuff said. Smiley
  12. quote:Originally posted by KreKol: Is there any reason the server will not run on NT4? Besides being older software and will not run most games. One good reason would be that NT4 is no longer supported by Microsoft as of yesterday. Smiley
  13. Agreed, PCZ used to be a very good, very unbiased magazine, until they sold their soul to Black and White, after which, the rot set in and they started to follow the crowd. That's the problem with abandoning your principles - it's an irreversible step. Why is it that all of the magazines now insist that the first qualification for a reviewer is that they eat, drink and breathe first-person shooters? Every single game gets marked on whether is has a good graphics engine (ie is it pretty?), and does it have a deathmatch option? (multiplayer won't do - it has to be deathmatch......) I don't buy PCZone any more, since B&W. I don't think there is a good alternative in the UK. Probably best to stick to fanzine sites. Personally, I think the only decent reviews online nowadays are womengamers and gonegold. But, if you don't like it, you can always try to do better. Any other UK gamers out there want to make a games review magazine/website?
  14. quote:Originally posted by Bringram: ...SmileyMan's instructions for base destruction... So, how much am I going to regret this then? The instructions I posted earlier were not a "complete handholding walkthrough", and weren't meant to be. For instance, I didn't include that you should prep your EF marines for combat before you deploy them. Or that you should load your fighters with atmospheric-capable missiles. These things aren't 100% obvious, but I learned them the hard way, and as a result I don't forget to do them. Also, "into the middle of the base" does not mean "into the mathematical centre of the base permimeter and do not move". If your troops don't engage, move them. Regards, Smiley PS - SC, dunno if my comments in the other forum on group selecting units affected your feature list for XP1, but thanks all the same - it's already on my buy list!
  15. Just been comparing missiles using the data from the Appendix, and if the Max Launch range of 15km for the Vagrant is correct, then the missile is a total waste of money. The blast energy and lock time for this missile suggest that it is a tactical missile, but at 15 clicks, keeping even a stormcarrier in sight for 3.5 seconds is going to be tough - unless you are cloaked. The only thing the missile will be any use for is attacking very large, VERY slow targets. Of course, it could be a specialist starstation destroyer, but since ANY missile will hit a starstation, you could buy three Questors for the price of one Vagrant, with more than twice the destructive power. Anyway, either the data in the appendix is incorrect, or Vagrants are REALLY poor value for money. For the record, here are my results, based on the appendix data: General Purpose Missiles: STARCHILD (85.2%) FIRESTAR (81.1%) PEREUS (80.9%) QUESTOR (77.3%) RALIX (75.7%) STARFLASH (74.5%) STARSEEKER (73.0%) ANALOG (63.0%) VAGRANT (60.0%) Dogfighting missiles: FIRESTAR (82.7%) PEREUS (82.4%) STARCHILD (81.5%) STARFLASH (79.6%) STARSEEKER (75.2%) RALIX (74.7%) ANALOG (68.1%) QUESTOR (67.9%) VAGRANT (57.1%) Tactical missiles: STARCHILD (80.9%) QUESTOR (70.9%) FIRESTAR (70.8%) STARSEEKER (67.5%) RALIX (67.3%) PEREUS (67.1%) STARFLASH (65.7%) VAGRANT (57.1%) ANALOG (55.0%) The message from the figures is: Buy Starchilds for your carrier, and Firestars for your fighters. Questors might be useful too if you want to take out starstations on a regular basis. Above all, don't be fooled into "more expensive=better" when buying missiles, and avoid Vagrants (sounds very right-wing!) as they aren't worth the money. If the range for Vagrants is wrong, I'll change the lists.
  16. quote:Originally posted by Panther: By any chance are your system engineers ff over 50%. I was doing repairs recently and when mine went over 50%, they would not do any repairs, I could assign them but they would just go either off-duty or on-station. To stop them going off-duty by themselves, take your CE off station. Of course, this will make then sys engs even less efficient, so you can really work them into the ground.
  17. Given the games that I've been playing recently, a troop carrier would be excellent: 40 MI marines 20 EF marines 20 SF marines 8x shuttles 8x OCs high capacity transporter? (ie 20 people rather than 10) Then I could do big ground invasions in my new RTS way of playing.
  18. You do have to give them all orders individually, which is where the "HOLD" button in TacOps really comes into its own. This stops AI updates so you can give all the marines orders at once. I find the EF marines have a much better survivability rate than the MI marines for the initial SEAD assault. Just make sure that once they have taken out some of the SALs that you get the fighters in there for air cover. Another fun thing to do, which might work for the non-carrier commanders out there, is to beam down all ground capable marines some way outside the base, then set two MI marines to escort each EF marine and give the EF marines individual targets inside the base. You need to micromanage like hell, but you might come out of it with all the marines alive, and no need for fighter cover. Or more likely with everyone dead. But generally, the key to my approach is the use of a balance of the forces you have, except that I don't use OCs because I never have anyone with a high enough AI to drive them in combat!
  19. SmileyMan's generic Starbase destruction procedure (assumes you have a Heavy Carrier): 1. Beam your 5 EF marines directly into the middle of the base with SEAD orders. They will take out the SAMs and SALs so your fighters don't get creamed. Prep your 10 MI marines for combat, and get your 5 SF marines on duty. 2. Once the EF marines have taken out some enemy air defences, launch two of your fighters with a ring of waypoints around the base, and SAD orders. Launch the other two with escort orders for the first two. 3. Order your EF marines outside the base perimeter. The mobile forces from the base will follow them to engage. Beam down all 10 MI marines behind the enemy forces for a pincer movement. At this point you might wish you had a faster PC . Extract the EF marines and get them to medibay if they need it. 4. Once your MI marines have destroyed the mobile enemy forces, extract any injured ones, and send the rest back into the base with strike orders on any remaining enemy air defences. 5. When the air defences are down, fly your carrier in there with the PTA on about 30% (so that you can hit the small, fast enemy targets). Personally, I like to give the A/P orders to Fly To one of my fighters, then decouple the IOD and try to hit targets on the base with the main guns. The Fly To order makes your carrier dodge far better than you ever could. 6. Once the enemy base is totalled, fly out of the atmosphere, recall your fighters and evac your marines. Then go look see how much experience you got. Should be lots! I tried base attacks about ten times in the TA commander scenario until I got good at it. It needs lots of practice. My approach is a bit like playing an RTS game. FPS fans might like to beam down with the EF marines (you will die!) or the MI marines (you will probably die) or after the MI marines have taken out the enemy mobiles (you might die). Battlezone fans might like to land themselves in an OC some way from the base, and get into the action after the EF marines have done their SEAD work (or else your shuttle will get shot down with you and your OC in it). Remember that in first person you can get to Tacops with Alt+S, so you can still order down your fighters/carrier for support. Beam down with the EF guys on top of a structure, snipe from there and order all four fighters to escort your ass! This is one of my favourite ways to play the game, but a word of warning - do not do this with your long standing commander career until you have practiced. Cheers, Smiley
  20. quote:Originally posted by Emmett.hendrick: ...just change to VTOL mode and tap TAB until your ship slowly lowers itself to the ground you know you've landed when you see "TAXI" on you HUD Note that this method didn't work until patch 1.0.0.2, so make sure you a fully patched up to the latest version. Cheers, Smiley
  21. One thing that might be fun would be a sort of Gunship class ship, ie a bigger, slower fighter that had a couple of PTA turrets for CAS missions (ie fly low over the target and let the PTA rain down hell on an enemy base). Would be good in space as well, flying deep space escort missions, ie ACM mission 1 if you choose a super carrier that can't keep up with the diplomats.
  22. Had my first experience of deploying marines in anger. I located the enemy base, and teleported my 10 MI marines to the surface a short distance from the perimeter. So far so good, 10 marines on the ground. Having not much clue on how to use marines on the ground, I decided that I would set them up with 10 escorting 9 escorting 8 escorting 7 etc...... then I gave Marine 1 an order to destroy the Command and Control building in the middle of the base. Seemed like a likely target. Next came one of those things that makes BCM so cool. My ten marines running across the landscape in single file, heading for the enemy base. When they crossed the perimeter, the local grunts started appearing. The marines given the escort orders started to fan out and engage the enemy, while marine 1 doggedly ran towards his target. All of a sudden, I see tracer cutting across where he has just been, and closing in on him. Fearing for my "sergeant", I zoom in on his attacker, but my marines are way ahead of me, as I see two lines of rifle fire cut him down where he stands. By this time I am worried that my marines may be outnumbered, as the enemy has more marines, and some of them have EF designation. But zooming out, I realise that a lot of the base is grey, and that my fantastic troops have taken out some of the air defences. So I send in the fighters to provide cover. I give all four fighters orders to attack individual enemy soliders, since I want to be sure of the kill. They seem to take an age arriving, and I curse that I did not deploy them in readiness. Five marines down, and the fighters arrive. Those boys must have been glad to see the air support coming in. With so SAMs to protect the base, the fighters run riot, strafing enemy marines, destroying enemy buildings, and clearing the area around my boys. Run riot, that is, until the local flyboys turn up. Luckily my pilots seems to have been blessed with superb AI today, as they take down two of the enemy fighters with ease, leaving just some P21 Vandals to buzz them but cause no problems. I beam up my marines, then order the fighters to return to the carrier. The enemy base is a total mess, and I'm sure my CO would be pleased with the result. I watched the whole thing through Tacops, and I just can't believe how cool this game is. It just gets better and better. I wish I had some screenshots to show you, but frankly, I had my jaw on the floor the whole time, and the adrenaline that was pumping (especially waiting for the air support to turn up) meant that I was too engrossed in the game's experience to take them. Awesome!
  23. Expanding on the basic principles behind the "real world warp drive" the ability to travel "faster than light" (the quotes will become evident later) depends on the idea that the speed of light is the universal limit for objects within spacetime itself. However, we do not know how fast spacetime itself can travel. Imagine a (2-dimensional) stick man drawn on an infinite piece of paper (a 2-dimensional universe). He cannot move, because he is a useless inanimate stick man. Now, cut a square of paper around the stick man, fold the piece of paper into a dart and throw it. The stick man is not moving in terms of his universe, but part of his universe has moved in relation to itself, so we have moved him faster than his theoretical maximum speed (zero because he is made of ink) without breaking the laws of his universe. The trouble is, that we needed a presence in the higher-dimensional universe to enable the transaction. If we were the stick man, living on our infinite paper, the warp drive would be equivalent to inventing a pair of scissors and a means of providing an impulse, all in a dimension perpedicular to our entire universe. There is no way to prove that this is impossible, but on the other hand it is difficlut to prove that it can be done. Bleurgh! Smiley
  24. quote:Originally posted by Paddy Gregory: Hey, who said we went off topic. I dunno 'bout you, but my missus does WONDERS for my framerate. Give her a phone, sit her next to you while you play, and you can turn off the bridge chatter effects...... (ducks!)
  25. During my very brief flirtation as a supercarrier commander (things are too slow for me) I tried assigning all eight pilots to a fighter each. My experience, and this is purely subjective, is that they seemed to die an awful lot quicker than fighters with copilots. For instance, on the first mission of the campaign (escort the diplomats) I assigned 4 single-pilot fighters to escort the diplomat (since the suppercarrier couldn't keep up with it. They all died. Same mission, with two dual-pilot fighters to escort the diplomat, both fighters survived. Luck, maybe, but I drew my own conclusion that it was more expensive, resource wise. On the other hand, escorting the carrier, under the protection of the PTA system, they seemed more than capable of holding their own with only the pilot. So I ended up with the following standing orders (changed whenever circumstances dictated) Highest AI pilot: pilot FC1 Lowest AI pilot: copilot FC1 2nd Highest AI pilot: pilot PC2 2nd Lowest AI pilot: copilot FC2 Other pilots: single pilots for FC3-6 FC1 and 2 got assigned to missions away from the carrier, and FC3-6 were held in readiness for carrier defence. I gave up on the supercarrier and went back to my Nightstar soon after, so I can't really say whether this was perfect or not, but it seemed to work. One good thing was that I tended to launch the carrier defense FCs in pairs at a time, meaning that there was always a pair of defenders on standby while flight prep was being done on the other two. Hope this helps Smiley
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