Tactical Gamer - Tactical Gamer News Items http://www.tacticalgamer.com/ News Item Postings for Tactical Gamer en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:25:14 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.tacticalgamer.com/images/tgstyle/misc/rss.jpg Tactical Gamer - Tactical Gamer News Items http://www.tacticalgamer.com/ Teamspeak 3 Open Beta Announced http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/151384-teamspeak-3-open-beta-announced.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:16:42 GMT
After years of waiting, Teamspeak 3 is one step closer!

From: goteamspeak

Quote:
We are pleased to announce OPEN BETA TESTING of the TeamSpeak 3 client and server will commence:

* SATURDAY DEC 19th, 2009
* 13:37 CET (Central European Time)
* 07:37 EST (Eastern Standard Time)

Both the TeamSpeak 3 Client and Server will be available for download and testing on the following platforms:

* Windows (32bit and 64bit)
* Mac OS X (Intel and PPC)
* Linux (32bit and 64bit)

We have received numerous queries regarding whether TeamSpeak 3 will be compatible with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 and in short, both client and server WILL be compatible with these operating systems.
Windows 7 compatibility is great news for the next generation of teamspeak. I am really hoping that this version will add many of the things we have wanted in TS. Hopefully TG can run a beta server. We shall see. ]]> Tactical Gamer News Items oniell121 http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/151384-teamspeak-3-open-beta-announced.html Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Demo Released http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/151248-flashpoint-dragon-rising-demo-released.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:06:32 GMT *Codemasters has just released a playable demo of their open-world military combat shooter. The demo includes the early tutorial missions from the full game and is available in five languages. If you have been holding off buying the game to see how it turns out, this is a great chance to get your...
Codemasters has just released a playable demo of their open-world military combat shooter. The demo includes the early tutorial missions from the full game and is available in five languages. If you have been holding off buying the game to see how it turns out, this is a great chance to get your boots muddy for free!

Operation Flashpoint, like many MP games, can be awesome when played with friends and other like minded gamers. That is why Tactical Gamer has an active Operation Flashpoint - Dragon Rising Forum , so be sure to check it out for all the latest news, tips, map packs, and even an x-fire group so you can find other players.

You can grab the demo lots of places, including STEAM and the Big Download PC Gaming website, both of which have very fast downloads.







]]> Tactical Gamer News Items Bamboo http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/151248-flashpoint-dragon-rising-demo-released.html Links To Keep You Busy This Weekend- 11-14 Edition http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/151020-links-keep-you-busy-weekend-11-14-edition.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:46:06 GMT
Once again Tactical Gamer is here to rescue all your free time this weekend.
By reading this post you have agreed to sleep no more than 1 hour a night, spending the rest of your now free time gaming and/or catching up on the past week's news.
To make this easier we have put together a handy little post:

Links To Keep You Busy This Weekend- 11-14 Edition

We apologize in advance for any unintended side effects.


]]> Tactical Gamer News Items Bamboo http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/151020-links-keep-you-busy-weekend-11-14-edition.html Book Review: The Zombie Survival Guide http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/150662-book-review-zombie-survival-guide.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:30:38 GMT
Are you ready for Left for Dead 2? I'm not talking about pre-orders and pre-loaded games. I'm talking about zombies. Are you ready for ZOMBIES? Do you know how to effectively incapacitate a zombie? Do you know what you should bring with you? Do you know how to...survive? I'm bringing a simple book review recommend by the Philadelphia zombie underground, best known for the Philadelphia zombie crawl events and other high profile zombie events and parties. More at http://phillyzombiecrawl.com/ & http://grendelsden.net/. The book 'The Zombie Survival Guide' is the book in review today. This book was released in Sept 2003 and is held in most notable book stores and on-line websites for $13.95 USD. The book is fictional and falls under the genre of humor. As you see, the zombie genius is Max Brooks, a professional zombie survivalist.

The reason I bring this book to TG is one simple fact, realism. How are zombies real? Its not the zombies but the tactics set forth in the book that you would use to survive, defend yourself, use transportation, and other areas that you'll need to know. Max brings to light the real concerns you'd face if you were put into the middle of a epidemic of infected zombies. What tools do you use? What weapons are practical? What buildings make good bunkers? What makes a zombie tick? blowguns to mini guns, gas to c4, and even Katanas. All weapon choices are explored. A simple house and how to defend it to a fully reinforced concrete fallout bunker and its weaknesses are brought to view. Did you know a simple bicycle might be a better choice than a military hummer? Why would a M-1 Carbine be better than a M-16 for zombie removal? All of these questions can be answered with this book.

I'm the last person to pick up any book, I suffer bad dyslexia and getting into books are hard for myself. This book is so well thought out it was worth dealing with the issues. There are tactics inside that can be applied to many life & death cases. I gets your gears thinking, 'Why didn't I think of that?' and 'That makes complete sense'. If you enjoyed Left 4 Dead, any zombie movie, and any fictional books for that matter. I highly recommend 'The Zombie Survival Guide' to all my TG members. BE PREPARED - for Nov 17th! The next zombie apocalypse is almost here! (Left 4 Dead 2 Release date, Pre-orders are open now) ]]> Tactical Gamer News Items Eroak http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/150662-book-review-zombie-survival-guide.html Links To Keep You Busy This Weekend- 11-6 Edition http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/150573-links-keep-you-busy-weekend-11-6-edition.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:07:11 GMT Welcome back to this edition of weekly links, especially designed to occupy all of your free (non-gaming) time. Tons of Tech News, apps to try, and how-to guides. Links To Keep You Busy This Weekend- 11-6 Edition...
Welcome back to this edition of weekly links, especially designed to occupy all of your free (non-gaming) time.
Tons of Tech News, apps to try, and how-to guides.

Links To Keep You Busy This Weekend- 11-6 Edition



Read the ones you like and bookmark the ones you need.
And if you missed last week's special Halloween Edition, check it out HERE
Remember, sleep is for the dead......... Keep Clicking!

 ]]> Tactical Gamer News Items Bamboo http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/150573-links-keep-you-busy-weekend-11-6-edition.html Bad Company 2 PC beta in December and multiplayer demo in early 2010 http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/150492-bad-company-2-pc-beta-december-multiplayer-demo-early-2010-a.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:52:06 GMT Image: http://www.tacticalsites.com/~tgnews/images/bc2.png *Bad Company 2 PC beta in December and multiplayer demo in early 2010. Scheduled for release for the 2nd march US and 5th march Euro * From The Battlefield Blog (http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/) EA/DICE posted this regarding the...

Bad Company 2 PC beta in December and multiplayer demo in early 2010. Scheduled for release for the 2nd march US and 5th march Euro

From The Battlefield Blog


EA/DICE posted this regarding the Upcoming addition to its popular Battlefield franchise.
Quote:
"Coming December, we will invite players to participate in a PC open beta. Then, early next year, all players worldwide will get to experience this premier shooter when we releases a Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer DEMO on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be available on March 2, 2010 in North America and March 5, 2010 in Europe for the Xbox 360, PS3 and the PC."
Please note: As of today there is no official Battlefield Bad Company 2 Beta and EA/DICE wants to warn people out there of fake/hoax sites perpetrating to have a sign-up for one. So, unless you read it here or from the official battlefield Twitter page it isn't real.

Hopefully some members of TG can get in on the beta of Bad Company 2. EA/DICE has been making some great moves to remove the fears of the PC community generated by the recent MW2 server announcment and subsequent boycott. The Multiplayer demo will be the final piece as to the game acceptance here at TG as it will hopefully confirm the numbers of players in multiplayer modes. The TG Battlefield community has expressed a concern over some reports of low player counts although nothing from DICE has explicitly confirmed or denied any such reports. Personally, I believe it will be higher from news I've gleaned from EA/DICE blog posts and comments. Only time will tell.

Over all, this comes as great news for battlefield fans at TG. At long last, we will be getting our hands on a long awaited addition to the battlefield franchise. ]]> Tactical Gamer News Items oniell121 http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/150492-bad-company-2-pc-beta-december-multiplayer-demo-early-2010-a.html Shattered Horizon just over the horizon! http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/150366-shattered-horizon-just-over-horizon.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:06:09 GMT

Exit the atmosphere. It's just you, your gun, and 6 degrees of freedom.
Thanks kevlarorc for this article.


Shattered Horizon is a new zero-G first person shooter designed by Futuremark Game Studios. After the successes of Futuremark's 3DMark
software it seems there was enough demand for Futuremark to create their first PC game!

In the world of Shattered Horizon, Man is back on the Moon and the companies that took him there are reaping huge profits.
Their greed soon leads to the largest mining accident in history, which then throws billions of tons of rocky debris into near-Earth space.
Fragments of the Moon settle around the Earth and become known as the Arc.
With Earth surrounded by debris there's little chance of rescue or return. Survivors on the Moon are forced into conflict with those trapped
on the battered International Space Station. Control of the Arc means the difference between survival and death in the cold of space.

Shattered Horizon is a multiplayer-only game that supports up to 32 players fighting for control of huge moon fragments,
the International Space Station, and large cavernous asteroids.

Those who preorder also get special access to beta DLC maps before they release.
Did I mention there will be free DLC?
Did I mention there will be dedicated servers?
At release Futuremark will run several dedicated servers and user-run dedicated servers are said to be implemented soon after release.
They have released dedicated server files to selected providers who may allow some user-run dedicated servers at release. The files will be released to everyone soon after the game release.

Unfortunately there is no VOIP support as of yet. However, it seems that Futuremark Games is being very open with their development
and I wouldn't doubt it that with enough clamour for VOIP it could be implemented.

Watch the gameplay trailer
Watch the teaser

Shattered Horizon releases November 4th, 2009. The game will be distributed only through Steam and through www.ShatteredHorizon.com
Shattered Horizon retails for $19.99/€19.99 (Pre-order is $17.99 on Steam)
If you're like me and only buy games for the multiplayer then this is quite a deal!

System Requirements

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Shattered Horizon requires DirectX 10 on Windows Vista or Windows 7. There is no support for Windows XP or DirectX 9.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 / AMD Athlon64 X2 5600+
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT / ATI Radeon HD 3870
GPU MEMORY: 256MB
HARD DISK SPACE: 1.5 GB
RAM: 2GB
SOUND: Windows Vista compatible sound card

RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS
Shattered Horizon requires DirectX 10 on Windows Vista or Windows 7. There is no support for Windows XP or DirectX 9.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 / AMD Phenom II X4 940
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 / ATI Radeon HD 4870
GPU MEMORY: 512MB
HARD DISK SPACE: 1.5GB
RAM: 2GB
SOUND: Windows Vista compatible sound card

Futuremark GS Devs have hinted that the game will probably build upon DX11 when the opportunity arises. ]]> Tactical Gamer News Items oniell121 http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/150366-shattered-horizon-just-over-horizon.html Tactical Gamer Euros Steam Group http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/150316-tactical-gamer-euros-steam-group.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:37:48 GMT *Connecting with your European peers just got easier.* A couple kind folks from across the pond have created a Steam group to help enable European users connection with each other, helping to create a solid TG atmosphere in their alternating time zones. ... Connecting with your European peers just got easier.

A couple kind folks from across the pond have created a Steam group to help enable European users connection with each other, helping to create a solid TG atmosphere in their alternating time zones.

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/tg-euros

The group is invite only. To join, you can simply add your Steam name to this thread and someone should get to you shortly. Alternatively, you can contact Superfast, who will help you into the group.

Thanks for making a mature, teamwork-oriented game that much closer for the rest of the community.

---
A reminder - If anyone else wants to get a little extra attention for their Steam group or any group in general, you should submit details or an article at the Submit Content link at the bottom of the forums. ]]> Tactical Gamer News Items whistler http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/150316-tactical-gamer-euros-steam-group.html Modern Warfare 2 - The Boycott and You http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/149965-modern-warfare-2-boycott-you.html Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:45:31 GMT *_Modern Warfare 2 - The Boycott and You_* Image: http://i37.tinypic.com/29psny9.jpg What? There is a boycott (http://www.petitiononline.com/dedis4mw/petition.html) going on? Yes that is correct, another boycott is afoot; this one with more substance and more PC gamer outrage than the...

Modern Warfare 2 - The Boycott and You




What? There is a boycott going on? Yes that is correct, another boycott is afoot; this one with more substance and more PC gamer outrage than the last one that the PC gaming crowd saw. Before diving into the specifics and how this affects TG as a community, let me first share a little story.


On Sunday the 25th, I trudged in to my local Gamestop. Instead of doing the usual poking through the boxes of old used games and peeking at the store's dwindling number of PC games and marched straight up to the counter.
"I want to cancel my Modern Warfare 2 PC game." I placed the pre-order receipt on the counter and waited for the money back.

"You know," he said, poking at his display, "I've had more PC copies canceled then the copies I pre-ordered today. Even those have all been for 360s and PS3s.

The guy clearly knew what all the hubbub was about; I'm sure he heard the PC cancel rant a quite a few times today, I wasn't about to tell him again. I left the store, a few bucks richer, but still upset at this turn of events.

Bad News First

Not to be confused with earlier anger about price, those boycotting MW2 cite the absence of dedicated servers. These servers run 24/7, the location can be chosen and in turn the ping from certain areas, and have various other advantages. In MW2, this system will be replaced with IWnet, a match making service. All games will be hosted on the IWnet servers. For those who game on consoles, the idea of a finely tuned match making service is a dream come true. But those on the PC see it as a large departure from a system that works. With match making, the gamer is unable to choose their server and ping as well as choosing to play on a server with the kind of tactical game play that TG offers.

Infinity Ward and Activision seem to be bring the "console" way of play to the PC. TG is a PC driven community. TG members play on PC for a variety of reasons, may it be the ability to customize hardware, controller preference, or simply a liking to PC.

Apart from match making, downloadable content (DLC) will be charged for, and mods will essentially be eliminated, and perhaps even custom content along with it. Let me put this into perspective: without mods, TG would never have Project Reality; a mod so popular here, more people play it than Battlefield 2 vanilla.


This means that the individual player cannot choose a server on their own. The player doesn't even know where they are connecting too.


Even though this sounds all well an good, this is the same as local hosting. An individual's computer cannot provide the business class internet service to run a "server" that provides a good and stable connection to all those playing.


VAC doesn't need IWnet to function properly. Besides that, server admins do much more then just taking care of aim-bots and other such players. Being an effective server admin on TG calls for the watching of conduct, general maturity, and teamwork. VAC doesn't take care of that "team killer" or "bunny hopper" that one encounters quite often.

But that doesn't mean that the announcements were all bad. Right?


Good News Next


MW2 will be fully integrated with Steam along with the Valve Anti-Cheat System (VAC). Steam is integrated with a variety of games played here at TG, including (but not limited to): ARMA II, Counter-Strike: Source, Call of Duty 4, Left 4 Dead, and Team Fortress 2. Steam also comes with a great chat program as well as a great way to stay connected to friends playing a whole variety of games. Steam is a solid program; PC gamers can easily welcome this aspect of MW2. The use of VAC over Punkbuster; it may just be the "2142 experience" but Punkbuster has given me numerous problems requiring a variety of re-installs and odd fixes. These two additions can be seen as two true upgrades to the CoD franchise.


What Does this Mean for TG?

Dedicated servers allow for communities to spring upon the stationary games. Without dedicated servers, the large scale community we know as "TG" would be nearly impossible to exist. Without control of servers team-play could not be enforced, thus robbing TG and other fans of tactics of the ability to have a "home" for tactical gameplay. Whether you play Call of Duty or not, this development could possibility be a large turning point: if MW2 becomes the "blockbuster" game that it is made (and priced) to be, the concept of matchmaking on the PC could become a more common facet in the future. It still remains to be seen if the boycott will have enough people abstaining from the game to truly change and remove IWnet from the game. Over 164,000 people have already signed the petition pledging not to buy the game.


Outraged? Content? Participate!

Dedicated Servers for CoD:MW2 Petition
Dedicated Server Discussion - CoD:MW2 Forums
Infinity Ward Responds To PC Fanboys' Dedicated Server Woes - CoD:MW2 Forum
ack of dedicated servers and gaming ]]> Tactical Gamer News Items oniell121 http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/149965-modern-warfare-2-boycott-you.html The TG Folding@Home team needs your help! http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/149949-tactical-gamer-folding-home-team-needs-your-help.html Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:30:22 GMT The TG Folding@Home team needs your help and your otherwise wasted cpu cycles! http://www.tacticalsites.com/~tgnews/images/1bp40b.png The TG folding teams is currently ranked 581 out of 167427 with only 10 active members. We would love to crack into the top 500 teams by the start of 2010. ... The TG Folding@Home team needs your help and your otherwise wasted cpu cycles!




The TG folding teams is currently ranked 581 out of 167427 with only 10 active members. We would love to crack into the top 500 teams by the start of 2010. That's where you come in.

This is a perfect opportunity to spread our name around in the outside world, and help a cause that's right up our alley and obviously deserving of all the support we can give it, especially if it's otherwise wasted computer cycles.

Folding@home is a distributed computing project -- people from throughout the world download and run software to band together to make one of the largest supercomputers in the world. Every computer takes the project closer to their goals. Folding@home uses novel computational methods coupled to distributed computing, to simulate problems millions of times more challenging than previously achieved.

Proteins are biology's workhorses -- its "nanomachines." Before proteins can carry out these important functions, they assemble themselves, or "fold." The process of protein folding, while critical and fundamental to virtually all of biology, in many ways remains a mystery. They aim to solve these problems with distributed computing.

Both PC and PS3 owners are able to contribute to the team by downloading the Folding @ Home software, and putting the TG team's number (#78445) in the configuration panel of the client software.

If you're really looking to rack up the points, click here to download a GPU client!

Thanks Spyder228 for the article. ]]> Tactical Gamer News Items oniell121 http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/149949-tactical-gamer-folding-home-team-needs-your-help.html Windows 7 - The Mega Tactical Gamer Thread http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/149928-windows-7-mega-tactical-gamer-thread.html Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:04:13 GMT Image: http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/4370/windows7completeguide01.jpg (http://www.tacticalgamer.com/hardware-software-discussion/149924-windows-7-mega-sticky.html) Unless you have been living in a foxhole the past week, you know Windows 7 was just released. And there has been a TON of...


Unless you have been living in a foxhole the past week, you know Windows 7 was just released.
And there has been a TON of info on the net including buying guides, reviews, tips and tweaks, etc.

But Tactical Gamer wants you to spend as much of your free time gaming instead of looking for news,
so we put together a massive thread that should let your find all your answers in one place.
It has everything a gamer needs to know to get his/her rig running right.

Windows 7 - The Mega Sticky

Check it out A.S.A.P., then get back to the battlefield!

]]> Tactical Gamer News Items Bamboo http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/149928-windows-7-mega-tactical-gamer-thread.html Server FAQ for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/149894-server-faq-battlefield-bad-company-2-a.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:13:54 GMT Of the games that are coming out next year, the latest installment of the Battlefield franchise, is one I personally am excited about. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is the first game from EA/DICE on the computer to use the frostbite engine. This will allow players to do many more cool things than... Of the games that are coming out next year, the latest installment of the Battlefield franchise, is one I personally am excited about. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is the first game from EA/DICE on the computer to use the frostbite engine. This will allow players to do many more cool things than other PC battlefield games.

One of the concerns however, has been about the server setup of this upcoming game. A recent article from the EA battlefield blog answers some questions about the servers for this game.
Quote:
Dedicated Server FAQ for Battlefield Bad Company 2 PC

Will there be an option to have my own dedicated server?
Yes, DICE will have trusted partners with datacenters worldwide that you'll be able to rent a dedicated server from ensuring you always have a quality server in your region.

How much will it cost to rent a dedicated server for Battlefield Bad Company 2?
Because these are offered by the trusted partners we can't answer that, but they will be priced fairly according to your market.

Can I control my server with remote admin tools?
Yes, you will have the ability manage your server via remote admin tools allowing you to manage your server, your way.

Is there the option to give my server a custom name?
Yes, you'll be able to name your server what you like.

Will I be able to make a reserve list for my server?
Yes, you will be able to reserve a limited amount of space on your server when public for whom ever you like.

Am I able to host a private match?
Yes, you will be able to password protect your server.

Is there a client server browser to view server lists?
Yes, clients on the PC will have a full server's browser to select the server they'd like to play on.

Can I earn ranks and rewards on my rented server?
Yes! You will be able to run your server as Ranked allowing you to still earn unlocks, rewards, and host a server for all to enjoy.

Are PC clients going to be match made to servers?
No, PC clients will use their server browser and filter options.

Will you have an anti-cheat requirement?
Yes, all dedicated servers and clients on PC will be required to have the anti-cheat software running at all times.
Is it to much to hope that we won't have PB to deal with?

Thanks Silver for the FAQ! Great find! ]]> Tactical Gamer News Items oniell121 http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/149894-server-faq-battlefield-bad-company-2-a.html Links To Keep You Busy This Weekend - 10-23 Edition http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/149844-links-keep-you-busy-weekend-10-23-edition.html Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:01:53 GMT You should of course be gaming all weekend, but for the times when you absolutely can't (i.e. eating, using the bathroom, doing the family thing ), Tactical Gamer presents you with a new mega-thread to keep you busy.

You'll find tons of links to keep you up to date on tech news, ways to keep your pc rig running it's best, and some just for laughs.

Check it out here:

Links To Keep You Busy This Weekend - 10-23 edition

Enjoy, and of course we still love you if the following picture describes you......

]]> Tactical Gamer News Items Bamboo http://www.tacticalgamer.com/tactical-gamer-news-items/149844-links-keep-you-busy-weekend-10-23-edition.html