I have been playing Enemy Territory (ET) consistently for a longer period than any other game I've ever played. And I've played a lot of games...
The fact that it is free is icing on the cake. The game does a great job of balancing different roles on each team and making sure you need a good mix of those roles.
Few games reward teamplay as much. A small team who actually comminicates and coordinates can butcher a larger team that fails to do so.
Good example is the soldier character with the mortar weapon. The mortor deals devastating damage but is rediculously difficult to aim. HOWEVER, if the team has a field ops character using binoculars to spot the target for the soldier with the mortar, then it becomes a withering weapon. Two guys can hold a choke point very effectively. The soldier can be VERY far from the target and the field ops can be reasonably far, so stopping them can be difficult.
However, a good covert operative can steal an enemy uniform and infiltrate the enemy and whack the soldier with the mortar (via a variety of methods including sniper rifle and knife).
Most maps require engineer characters to build or destroy objectives in order to win. I personally favor playing the engineer since I don't have time to play enough to justify joining a clan (thereby being part of an organized team). Since I'm usually on teams that are functioning individually without coordination (I am an army of one), I like to play the character that can achieve the map objectives. That way even if my team is playing pretty much at random, there is a chance they will distract the enemy enough that I can accomplish the mission.
The other thing I really like about ET is that the matches are usually about 20 minutes long. That means I can jump into a server, play for 20-60 minutes and have a great time without committing a huge amount of time.
Last point (I promise) is that I love the fact that ET uses PunkBuster to limit cheating. Nothing will ever completely stop all cheating, because cheaters can be a determined bunch, but PunkBuster has kept me from seeing much cheating. 99% of the times I've heard people complain about cheating the truth has been that a noob is simply unable to believe the skill and practice shown by an experienced player. ET rewards skill and practice... Headshots from an M1 Garand HURT. They are also hard to do without a LOT of practice. Occassionally I'll turn off PunkBuster and walk on the wild and wacky side. It is fun to play on a server where some admin is jacking around with the gravity settings. Occassionally. Like cake icing: great if taken in small doses. Jumping 60 feet in the air and shooting at bouncing NAZIs is fun in small doses.
Cgenman said: "Would you read a newspaper if the newsstand man required a valid drivers license, and watched over your shoulder taking notes?"
When you get the newspaper at the newstand you PAY for it with MONEY. The bulk of that cost goes to defray the cost of printing. A major daily paper has HUGE expenses that keep going up, yet they don't raise the price of a paper very frequently.
The profits from a newspaper come from advertisers who are willing to pay a fair rate for print advertising because it works. So far most online advertising has failed to meet the expectations of advertisers, so they don't want to pay much for it.
Newspapers know that the world is changing around them and they are trying to adapt. Are they making the right choices? Don't know. I don't like registering any more than anyone else, but I do know that if newspapers don't figure out how to make a LOT more money online, they will cease to exist. The trend is for anyone younger than say 45-50 to get their news online rather than from print. The good news is that it costs a LOT less to publish online (newsprint costs are soaring -- newsprint is the paper itself). The bad news is that the BULK of the jobs at a large daily paper are NOT reporters and editors, but printers and circulation people. That equals a ton of lost jobs in the future if newspapers go totally online.
We're coming up on 10 years of large numbers of people actively using the Internet and we STILL haven't figured out a way to exchange money for information that people are willing to use that will generate enough money to make it worthwhile to provide that information. Yes I'm a capitalist. Yes I expect people provide goods and services only in exchange for SOMETHING that can be equated to money.
It is basically a paradox. People pay for Internet service, so they figure everything out there should already be paid for, yet if you required ISPs to pay into a fund that was distributed amongst all web sites and services, each site would make microscopic revenues and would cease to operate.
I know you're joking, but to use the actual Sim City metaphor, you should see a building/web page turn into an archology with the/. logo, then it blasts into space and the vacant lot that is left behind has a server message (depending on server and settings) that says the building/page is inaccesible.
You are absolutely right! Let me go on the record as saying that things here are in such a horrific state that EVERYONE in EVERY other country in the WHOLE WORLD is better off where they are and will only be doing themselves a HORRIBLE disservice if they try to move here.
Do yourself a favor and STAY HOME. We'll muddle through all these awful, awful things here so YOU DON'T HAVE TO. It's the least we can do...
"clear skies ahead, and nothing but open road as far as we could see -- to looking disastrous in the span of about six months total. During that time I also made the decision to relocate to Atlanta, Georgia from San Diego."
I think this was part of his problem. I live in San Diego and I was just outside, the skies are clear and I didn't see any traffic on the roads. I don't know how the weather/traffic is in Atlanta but it must be worst.
Yes. That's definitely the problem. I live in Atlanta and this morning it is rainy and there are wrecks and severe traffic problems.
Had he stayed in San Diego he could have continued making puzzle games for the rest of his life!
That's exactly what he was doing. I did see
!revive in the chat area a couple of times...
So I guess he was "legally" cheating...;-)
Realistically the best way to say it was that although he wasn't technically cheating, he wasn't playing fairly. Poor sportsmanship. Like spawn-killing. No rule against it, but not socially acceptable...
I've been playing a good bit of ET with punkbuster and have only seen a couple of times when I was sure someone was cheating. One was pretty funny because there was an axis character who would not die. Another allies player and I stood over him and shot him and shot him. He would fall down, then in a couple seconds he would come back to life as if a medic had revived him. We must have put him down 6-7 times before we just toasted him with grenades...
On the other hand, I have been on several teams that were accused of cheating. Invariably the accusations came from new players who were dismayed that we won so quickly. I tried to explain to them that it's all about the objectives... Our team was simply focusing on the objectives while their team was playing Quake-style (run around and shoot anything that moves).
Incidentally I've noticed that I've gone through different stages as a player of this game... First I was playing just to have fun, then playing to complete objectives, then playing to win ranks and awards. My most recent change was to switch from playing games without friendly fire to games with friendly fire. It's almost a different game. The strategy of shooting your teammates just in case they are an enemy covert in disguise just isn't as appealing (at least not to your teammates). You also can't unload a tommy-gun into one of your guys just to move him out of the way...;-)
I hope the result of releasing the public code is that we get lots of cool new mods and not lots of kewl new cheaters...
You Intellivision owning bastard! Or was it Collecovision?;-)
We had Atari, but I lusted after Intellivision and Colleco. (Coleco?). My cousin had both. They had far better graphics, but we had a greater quantity of games (most of which were crap).
My favorite 2600 game was Adventure. Several months ago there was an article on/. about some dude who re-created Adventure in shockwave. I was SHOCKED to find that I still remember the mazes and could navigate them with no hesitation. Damn. I can't remember 3 things I learned in high school, but I guess those mazes are with me forever...
You really aren't missing much... Just a 3D rendering of two lame looking plastic keys hooking together, twisting and breaking. They don't even make the damned keys look interesting. Just one flat color.
Who wants to bet these stupid things were supposed to do something, but came out wrong, and some marketing twit said "Wait! Don't throw those out!"
Tempest was one of my all time favorite arcade games. I've tried it on MAME, etc. but it is difficult to play without the little dial to control it. Same is true for several other games Gyruss comes to mind. Their gameplay was pretty much designed around the dial.
Slashdot Mirror
Sadly, this joke will probably make more sense and be more interesting that whatever the real writers come up with for the show...
A guy threatened me with a duck once. ONCE!
You could also crank it up for a perma-woody. Then you could forget the viagra as well.
I have been playing Enemy Territory (ET) consistently for a longer period than any other game I've ever played. And I've played a lot of games...
The fact that it is free is icing on the cake. The game does a great job of balancing different roles on each team and making sure you need a good mix of those roles.
Few games reward teamplay as much. A small team who actually comminicates and coordinates can butcher a larger team that fails to do so.
Good example is the soldier character with the mortar weapon. The mortor deals devastating damage but is rediculously difficult to aim. HOWEVER, if the team has a field ops character using binoculars to spot the target for the soldier with the mortar, then it becomes a withering weapon. Two guys can hold a choke point very effectively. The soldier can be VERY far from the target and the field ops can be reasonably far, so stopping them can be difficult.
However, a good covert operative can steal an enemy uniform and infiltrate the enemy and whack the soldier with the mortar (via a variety of methods including sniper rifle and knife).
Most maps require engineer characters to build or destroy objectives in order to win. I personally favor playing the engineer since I don't have time to play enough to justify joining a clan (thereby being part of an organized team). Since I'm usually on teams that are functioning individually without coordination (I am an army of one), I like to play the character that can achieve the map objectives. That way even if my team is playing pretty much at random, there is a chance they will distract the enemy enough that I can accomplish the mission.
The other thing I really like about ET is that the matches are usually about 20 minutes long. That means I can jump into a server, play for 20-60 minutes and have a great time without committing a huge amount of time.
Last point (I promise) is that I love the fact that ET uses PunkBuster to limit cheating. Nothing will ever completely stop all cheating, because cheaters can be a determined bunch, but PunkBuster has kept me from seeing much cheating. 99% of the times I've heard people complain about cheating the truth has been that a noob is simply unable to believe the skill and practice shown by an experienced player. ET rewards skill and practice... Headshots from an M1 Garand HURT. They are also hard to do without a LOT of practice. Occassionally I'll turn off PunkBuster and walk on the wild and wacky side. It is fun to play on a server where some admin is jacking around with the gravity settings. Occassionally. Like cake icing: great if taken in small doses. Jumping 60 feet in the air and shooting at bouncing NAZIs is fun in small doses.
Actually in the bathroom of a flying car passing the moon heading to Saturn to look for the remains of the Cassini.
With your WIFE!
What makes you think we won't BE the side-dish. Kind of an ego trip to assume we'd be the ENTREE.
Two words: Columbia, Challenger
What I hate is when the fridge tells me I don't DESERVE milk.
When you get the newspaper at the newstand you PAY for it with MONEY. The bulk of that cost goes to defray the cost of printing. A major daily paper has HUGE expenses that keep going up, yet they don't raise the price of a paper very frequently.
The profits from a newspaper come from advertisers who are willing to pay a fair rate for print advertising because it works. So far most online advertising has failed to meet the expectations of advertisers, so they don't want to pay much for it.
Newspapers know that the world is changing around them and they are trying to adapt. Are they making the right choices? Don't know. I don't like registering any more than anyone else, but I do know that if newspapers don't figure out how to make a LOT more money online, they will cease to exist. The trend is for anyone younger than say 45-50 to get their news online rather than from print. The good news is that it costs a LOT less to publish online (newsprint costs are soaring -- newsprint is the paper itself). The bad news is that the BULK of the jobs at a large daily paper are NOT reporters and editors, but printers and circulation people. That equals a ton of lost jobs in the future if newspapers go totally online.
We're coming up on 10 years of large numbers of people actively using the Internet and we STILL haven't figured out a way to exchange money for information that people are willing to use that will generate enough money to make it worthwhile to provide that information. Yes I'm a capitalist. Yes I expect people provide goods and services only in exchange for SOMETHING that can be equated to money.
It is basically a paradox. People pay for Internet service, so they figure everything out there should already be paid for, yet if you required ISPs to pay into a fund that was distributed amongst all web sites and services, each site would make microscopic revenues and would cease to operate.
Heh. GIANT frickin building with the lights so bright they burn out your monitor...
I know you're joking, but to use the actual Sim City metaphor, you should see a building/web page turn into an archology with the /. logo, then it blasts into space and the vacant lot that is left behind has a server message (depending on server and settings) that says the building/page is inaccesible.
Maybe it's like the three shells in Demolition Man...
So much for "don't ask, don't tell".
The mouse looks kinda rough for extended play (the kind you do with Half-Life...), but that could just be the appearance.
Valve shouldn't reward him, they should hire him.
Do yourself a favor and STAY HOME. We'll muddle through all these awful, awful things here so YOU DON'T HAVE TO. It's the least we can do...
I think this was part of his problem. I live in San Diego and I was just outside, the skies are clear and I didn't see any traffic on the roads. I don't know how the weather/traffic is in Atlanta but it must be worst.
Yes. That's definitely the problem. I live in Atlanta and this morning it is rainy and there are wrecks and severe traffic problems.
Had he stayed in San Diego he could have continued making puzzle games for the rest of his life!
Oh, wait...
Have they done anything that would allow you to access a joystick? I'd love some retro games that might work out in java if you could control them.
I agree that if you aren't talking about cutting edge games, that java could work IF you can get access to controllers.
That's all well and good, but I for one welcome our new Uber-Rat overlords...
"My bead says you HAVE to make out with a 40 year old virgin game designer who lives with his mom!"
So I guess he was "legally" cheating... ;-)
Realistically the best way to say it was that although he wasn't technically cheating, he wasn't playing fairly. Poor sportsmanship. Like spawn-killing. No rule against it, but not socially acceptable...
On the other hand, I have been on several teams that were accused of cheating. Invariably the accusations came from new players who were dismayed that we won so quickly. I tried to explain to them that it's all about the objectives... Our team was simply focusing on the objectives while their team was playing Quake-style (run around and shoot anything that moves).
Incidentally I've noticed that I've gone through different stages as a player of this game... First I was playing just to have fun, then playing to complete objectives, then playing to win ranks and awards. My most recent change was to switch from playing games without friendly fire to games with friendly fire. It's almost a different game. The strategy of shooting your teammates just in case they are an enemy covert in disguise just isn't as appealing (at least not to your teammates). You also can't unload a tommy-gun into one of your guys just to move him out of the way... ;-)
I hope the result of releasing the public code is that we get lots of cool new mods and not lots of kewl new cheaters...
You Intellivision owning bastard! Or was it Collecovision? ;-)
/. about some dude who re-created Adventure in shockwave. I was SHOCKED to find that I still remember the mazes and could navigate them with no hesitation. Damn. I can't remember 3 things I learned in high school, but I guess those mazes are with me forever...
We had Atari, but I lusted after Intellivision and Colleco. (Coleco?). My cousin had both. They had far better graphics, but we had a greater quantity of games (most of which were crap).
My favorite 2600 game was Adventure. Several months ago there was an article on
Who wants to bet these stupid things were supposed to do something, but came out wrong, and some marketing twit said "Wait! Don't throw those out!"
The real danger is that some kid will get cut up with the sharp shards of broken plastic. Lawsuit city!
Tempest was one of my all time favorite arcade games. I've tried it on MAME, etc. but it is difficult to play without the little dial to control it. Same is true for several other games Gyruss comes to mind. Their gameplay was pretty much designed around the dial.