The Fort 2

Fourth of July Salute

Totentanz — 2001-07-04T12:20:00Z

To all too many people, the Fourth of July is merely a day off work, to have picnics and cookouts with families, and then to go see fireworks that evening. It's been forgotten - in many people's opinions - what this day is TRULY about. A day when a group of men decided they didn't like what their government was doing, and chose to become patriots, to try to make a better future for themselves and their loved ones. Many of these sacrificed their livelihoods and lives in this cause. And since then, there have been other patriots doing the same - fighting for the ideals the founding fathers of the USA set down, unswerving in their faith and loyalty.

Mind you, patriotism isn't anything that America has a monopoly on - other countries have their patriots as well. However, in my case, being an American, and a veteran of the US Army - all I'm personally familiar with is those that were Americans. If any of you readers out there would be willing to share accounts of patriots of other countries, please email me with any information, URLs, etc - I'm nothing if openminded, and living in various other countries in my time in the Army opened my eyes to the values and history of other countries in the world.

So, today's tribute I got from the American Legion homepage - an account of the determination, patriotism and loyalty of an American Serviceman in the Vietnam war.

Today, our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and CoastGuardsmen continue a bond with patriots before them: Protecting the common cause of America - a cause of freedom and human rights for themselves and their families. One such patriot is Army Special Forces Capt. Humbert "Rocky" Versace (Ver-sach-ee).. Rocky was a trimly built, twenty-six year-old West Point graduate. He was serving a six-month extension in Vietnam as a military intelligence adviser. His slightly out-thrust jaw and penetrating eyes were indications of his personality, but his close-cut, black-flecked, steel-gray hair looked as if it belonged on someone much older.

The most notable quality that Rocky displayed was a dynamic, outspoken frankness. He had an eagerness and disregard for danger. Those who knew him said it was a matter of liking Rocky a heck of a lot or disliking him intensely. He was too positive a personality to allow any other reactions and his unreserved observations could be quite abrasive. Rocky was obsessed with the idea of duty, honor, country, and was so dedicated to his nation as to be considered "different." The old Army term "Gung Ho" fit perfectly. No one worked harder or more diligently than he. There was even a sense among Rocky's comrades that one day Rocky would run into difficulty if he wasn't careful. He was so eager to accomplish his mission, it was bound to get him into trouble sooner or later. Rocky and his comrades ran into that trouble only two weeks before his six-month extension was complete.

On Oct. 28, 1963, on a raid near the Viet Cong-infested U-Minh forest, Rocky's team was overrun by a numerically superior force. His team was forced to withdraw. Rocky had taken three bullets in his leg. His wounds were pumping blood like a fire hydrant. Rocky wanted to charge out with the seven rounds he had left in his carbine and get that many more shots off at the Viet Cong. His comrades held him down long enough to bandage his leg. A second after the last bandage was applied, Rocky and his team were captured.

Rocky was the ranking member of his captured squad, and the Viet Cong tried for nearly two years to break him. They isolated him. They kept him in shackles and irons. They cut his daily rice rations in half. They twisted and beat his infected leg. Despite his pain and suffering, Rocky remained indignant. The harder the Viet Cong pushed, the wider Rocky's defiant smile would become. Fluent in French, Vietnamese and English, Rocky could argue with three different prison guards at the same time. He challenged their propaganda to no end, regardless of the punishment he incurred. The Viet Cong sought to use Captain Versace as an example to the local villagers that the United States was not invincible. They periodically paraded Rocky around from hut to hut, a rope around his neck and shackles on his hands and ankles. The plan failed. The villagers told other Americans that this prisoner not only resisted the Viet Cong attempts to get him to admit war crimes and aggression, but in their own language, he would verbally counter their assertions convincingly and in a loud voice so the local villagers could hear. The local rice farmers were surprised at his strength of character and his unwavering commitment to God and the United States.

Finally, the Viet Cong gave up on Rocky. The last time that any of his fellow prisoners heard from him, Rocky was singing "God Bless America" at the top of his lungs from his isolation box. Realizing they could not break his spirit, they killed him. On September 29, 1965 the National Liberation Front announced that they had executed Captain Versace. Rocky died without ever forsaking or forgetting the ideals set forth by our founding fathers

Patriotism, loyalty and dedication - values people around the world can - and should - respect. Even though that July 4th is the day that America celebrates, I ask all of you readers to take a moment to think about and offer thanks to patriots and heroes of your country - wherever in the world you may be. They made sacrifices so that you can continue to have what you do, and all too often what do they get in return for it? Being forgotten in a world where accumulation of material wealth has become the highest priority in all too many people's lives. So taking less than a minute out of your life to remember and give thanks to patriots and heroes isn't too much to ask - I'm not asking you to make the same sacrifices they did - only asking that you do a little bit to not let their memory die.

As usual, today's tribute is dedicated to Bundy, an American patriot and one of my personal heroes. My friend, I thank you for all that you gave to this country of our's.

A change of command

Totentanz — 2001-04-29T20:15:00Z

All things must come to an end - usually by circumstances beyond one's control - and it looks like it's that time for me, now. As of late, my work schedule, which wasn't exactly relaxing and liesurely in the past, became a slice of Hell. We're at 40% manning, and are no longer a 24-7 shop. I've gone from my comfortable graveyard shift, to one that runs 6am to 2pm, Eastern time. As you might guess, going to bed at 10pm, to wake up at 4:45am puts a serious cramp in my social life - even one online. Add to that, my marked decline in interest in playing TFC, or being involved with it, brought me to make some hard choices.

1. I've completely dropped any and all involvement in the TFC Reform Project. I've given control to it in total to Warthog. A combination of the lack of time and a complete lack of interest in the game has brought me to this point. My disgust with several glaring loopholes being exploited to hell that completely DESTROY the spirit and intent of the game and it's design - by what I thought at one time were fine, outstanding members of this community. For those of you who can't read between the lines, I'm referring to the "BunnyHopping" techniques that allow a HWGuy to outrun a Scout, and still fire his Chaingun. And if you want to argue semantics as say I don't know what I'm talking about by using that particular term AGAIN, frankly you can blow me. See that motto up there, the one that says "Dedicated to Honour, Sportsmanship and Team Play"? Use of that exploit violates the first two completely - there is NO grey area in that call, folks. If you say otherwise, you're lying to yourself and your fellow players. Add to this the last patch, which Valve led us here to believe was slated to fix many of the recurrant and annoying bugs - instead only offered the new models. Oh, yes - and a couple of minor bugfixes - oh joy. Some of the models I do like, some I don't. That's not the point. I started the TFC Reform Project as an effort to get Valve to fix, and continue to maintain a mod which at that time was SERIOUSLY broken. I managed to achieve most of the former, but since Counter-Strike has become their Golden Goose, I doubt we'll see much action on maintaining TFC any time soon.

2. I've handed command of The Fort to my valiant comrade in arms, Teatime. Like my mentor, comrade and personal idol in things TF before me, Bundy - I will be retiring into a capacity where I reserve the right to pop in and add my own blend of madness to this place - but expect it to be a rare thing, indeed. Perhaps it's good that my appearances will be rare indeed, because my few posts on the forums as of late seem to have brought up some bad feelings, as to the content of them. Oh well, as the French would say, "C'est la guerre". Teatime has my full confidence that he will be able to continue his sterling job of trying to beat some semblence of manners and intelligence to the uncultured ones that plague the game that is TF. I'm hoping that you continue to give him support and insightful feedback to this game that has captured the minds and spirits of so many of us for so long.

3. I've decided to discontinue ANYTHING to have to do with TFC, or any other Half-Life engine related mod. Last week I deleted Half-Life off my hard drive, and I haven't felt so good about doing something in a long time. John, Robin and the other guys that came up via the QTF/QWTF community - I have all the respect in the world for you guys in particular. You people gave me a game that literally took control of my free time, and gave me countless hours of enjoyment. In particular, I offer a heartfelt salute to David Sawyer, the genius mapmaker that brought us what I consider to be the best damned TF map EVER made, CanalZone. Some of my most fondly remembered playing time was me hunting Ramirez thru his own map, on the legendary CTSNET 24/7 CZ server (bows head in a moment of silence for it). He made me earn every frag I managed to get on him, and usually was the one ending up respawning. But I managed to learn that map completely as a result of those great times. Thank you, Ramirez - I will treasure those memories for a LONG time.

However, in this modern age, when you do move to the model of having to make games for a living, rather than making them as a labour of love - some things must by necessity be sacrificed. TFC started off as a great idea, and one that excited me - as something to hold us over while the legendary TF2 was being made. But time has passed, and passed - and still nothing. I still remember hearing TF2 would be out for Quake2 - and I bought that for the express reason. I played less than 20 hours of Quake2 online, because I only bought it for TF2. I played the single player game to kill time while I waited - but it never popped up. Then Half-Life came out, and it was said TF2 would be made for that. I'll be truthful and admit I bought HL for it's own merits as much as for being able to play TF2 with it, and in the beginning HL, and then TeamPlay HLDM, and finally TFC was good - but them it was announced, TF2 will be it's own game. So we wait more. And then They scrap the old engine, and start again - so we wait more. Then they start using TF2 technology in TFC, and TFC get's turned into a guinea pig. That wasn't so bad, and I agreed with the idea, initially - until they made two decisions which started my slow decline into hatred for this game. First, they put in the netcode which penalizes you for having a good connection. Getting lag-sniped, and infected or backstabbed by HPB's who were literally across the room from me - if it was reality, imagine being knifed from over 6 metres away - started to made me get disgusted. Then the decision was made to make it "easier for someone to get right into the game" - which I term changing it into AOL-Fortress. Couple that with the decline of the Moral Fibre of the so-called "community", and it caused me to no longer want to be involved in this game. At least the TFC players are head and shoulders above the cesspool that is the vast majority of the CounterStrike community - that's a really good mod, ruined by it's players. I only enjoyed it when I played either at LAN sessions, or on passworded servers with friends I knew would NOT be arseholes.

I've always held the opinion that if you usually do something to have fun, and it's no longer fun for you - don't do it anymore. So, finally having freed myself from my self-imposed obligations to the community, I've taken my own advice and left it behind. GG Valve, but in my opinion, not only are you no longer the only TF game out there, you're not even close to being the best of them. When I need my TF fix, I'll continue to play Quake3Fortress or Unreal Fortress, but presently my game of choice, when I get the time to actually play, is Tribes2. As for my thoughts on TF2 - I'll sum it up like this: "I'll get excited over it when I see a demo or the finished product. Until then, I could care less." Only so many times you can jerk people's chains, before they start to not care anymore - and I've hit my threshold.

It's been real, it's been fun - and occasionally it was really fun. But not in my recent recollection. If you want to get hold of me, my email will be there. You can find me playing usually on East Coast Tribes2 servers, and sometimes on a Q3F one. But usually I'm just working. To all the true believers out still there - keep fighting the good fight, while the flame still burns. Just don't let get to the point where it starts to take you down - learn when to walk away before you become bitter and spiteful.

Totentanz out. *salute*

The new models

Teatime, Totentanz — 2001-03-20T17:00:00Z

While I'm sure that Totentanz won't spare you his opinion about the patch and the new models I'd like to make a short comment on the models myself.
Tot: Now, if that isn't an open invitation to add my 2 cents to his post - I don't know what is. *gryn*

All in all I think they are done well. Some are looking really amazing and done with a much detail (like the demoman, spy or the pyro), others look a bit silly to me (can't decide if the sniper looks more like a fireman or a bee-keeper), but there is no denying in the quality. I'm still in the progress of getting used to them - I still need a moment to register a scout as such when I see one and I stiff mistake a soldier for a pyro occasionally due to the similarity of the new soldier skin to the old pyro skin - and of course I have aesthetical preferences based on my personal taste (e.g. I dislike the look of the spy and the pyro, though both are well done).
Tot: I like the scout, he finally does look like a military scout should. The Sniper has a proper Ghillie suit - but the model just looks bad in my not-so humble opinion. The Soldier model rocks, completely totally and utterly. The Demo looks like an riot cop, and has lost ALL it's personality and attitude - I really dislike it. The Medic model is cool, I just don't like the helmet - makes him look like a mushroom-head. The HWGuy model just rules - best of the bunch, I say. The Pyro model - to put it bluntly - looks like a complete pile of crap. He has a pinhead, and anyone that's ever worn any firefighting gear would tell you that the mask he's wearing would have a negative effect on him - It should be bulkier, with some insulation space between it and the bare skin, except where an air seal is need - so it doesn't cause his face to blister and stick to the mask itself. The Spy model is another horrid one - it looks to me like this just recycycled the female assassin model from Half-Life, and added a couple of features to it - It's far too much of a skinny model. The Engineer looks kinda goofy now, and I agree with many people that I also want the good ole Caughley Tools spanner back. At least make it not look like a cheap Star Wars toy. :P But I do agree, the skins ARE well-done, at least.

However, I have two gripes with the models beyond aesthetics:

1) Some of the classes are really hard to identify by team color on larger distances. This applies to the sniper, the medic, the HWG and the spy. On many maps this is not much of a problem, but maps with much movement like warpath, cz2 or epicenter it often takes a crucial moment to tell friend from foe (and while the name now is shown in the teamcolor there is often not enough time to make a proper identification first). NOT done well, Valve!
Tot: surprisingly, for a geezer like me, with failing eyesight and slower reflexes - I don't have this problem making visual id of what team who is on. I gotta disagree with Teatime on this aspect.

2) On a more basic note I think the more realistic approach to many of the models isn't exactly appropiate to TFC. The HWG and the engy don't fit into this appraoch in the first place, and I actually liked some of the unrealistic touches the old models had (the eyepatch of the demo, the silly hat of the sniper, etc.). I would have wished they'd incorporated more 'funny' elements into the new skins (not in a silly way, but carrying on to comment the classes in an ironic way) than doing a testrun on TF2-model-design here. IMHO the HWG is a good example how to make a model looking a bit over the top without making it cartoonish (though I'm sure some people might disagree with me here). I'd liked to have more of that attitude behind the other models as well. The way the models look now even more people will mistake TFC for a wargame ...
Tot: Mixed feelings here. I prefer a bit of the more realistic look, but not at the complete sacrifice of personality or attitude. Like I said, I miss the old Demo's eyepatch and facial expression, but think the new HWG is much better, attitude-wise.

Tot: My biggest gripe with the model, is the animations. The legs move entirely too quickly most of the time, giving it a "skittery" appearance that I really don't like. Otherwise, I hate to admit it, but I'm starting to enjoy TFC again - except for the resounding lack of bugfixes in this release. But I'll save that for another rant.

In case you didn't understand

Totentanz — 2001-03-05T14:15:00Z

Like I say above, in case you didn't understand - and reading some of the feedback, some people HAVE misunderstood what I'm aiming for - I'll try to explain it again, in simpler and clearer wording, to attempt to ensure there is NO CONFUSION on the matter whatsoever.

The fix for this annoying situation *I* personally would like to see, is to make it so the HWGuy is unable to FIRE unless he has both feet on the ground. I want him to still be able to move - at the usual slower speed if he's running, or at the higher speed if he's performing some form of the "bunnyhop" - and keep his gun spun up so he can plant his feet, and be ready to "Stand and Deliver" in an instant. This would also negate the ludicrous ability for the HWGuy to fire that gun while swimming - something personally hate as bad as the bouncing HWGuy ball o'death. :P

I agree with many people that to remove the ability to bunnyhop at all - that is a much harder task that would most likely take a total rework of the HL netcode (again). That would be an ideal solution, because it would remove this exploit from ALL classes, even though the HWGuy is the one that benefits most from it - but at this point I do not think it would be a feasible one, nor would it be one that Valve would give any consideration to. In fact, this line of thinking is the reason I believe Valve has NOT been responsive to suggestions to fix this problem with the HWGuy in the past.

Summary: Tot would ONLY like to see the HWGuy's ability to shoot if he doesn't have both feet on the ground. Leave him the ability to move (at the slower speed) while firing, and leave his gun spun up. Hell, I don't even mind the speed increase from the "bunnyhop" - cause all classes can do it. It's the firing while doing that maneuver, that violates the spirit of the class - and that I object to.

On another note, I've gotten a couple of comments about my remark that if it's not fixed, I'll quit TFC. Some people have said I'm immature - or used harsher language for using that as leverage. Sorry, that's not the case. People that have known me for a while are aware of my ongoing displeasure with TFC, and the only reason I kept playing, is that I made a commitment to the community with the TFC Reform Project. However, I'm sick of the game, and I can't find any reasons to really justify continuing with it. I stated I was going to evaluate the status of the game and community after the patch and make my decision whether to stay or go then - but Valve hasn't given it to us yet. :P So, I'm lumping a resolution to this issue in with my "status of the game" evaluation - that's all.

Speaking of getting comments - here's a quick rundown of the emails I've received, and what people have said:

Out of 22 email responses received, 2 were "good riddance you whiny-crybaby" ones - at least the authors of these 2 were literate, unlike all too many of the flames I do receive. 4 were ones that agreed something needs to be done, but did not agree with my solution, or did not agree with me trying to use the threat of quitting as leverage (which is NOT my intention, merely a statement of my frustration with the game as it stands). That leaves 16 responses that said they completely agreed with my position on this.

I haven't totalled up the posts on the thread in the PF forums, and I agree this is only a small representation of the entire community - but I think I might be onto something here...

Enough is enough

Totentanz — 2001-03-04T19:45:00Z

WARNING: the following editorial you're about to read WILL piss some people off. Hopefully, others will agree with what I'm saying here. Either way, it doesn't matter to me - this is MY (and Teatime's) webpage, and we tend to make it a habit of getting under people's skin. Many times, I glory in it - especially if it makes them stop and think, instead of acting like a sheep. Hang on to your socks, we're in for some turbulence...

First off, in case you folks don't know, I consider myself an old-timer when it comes to TF. I started playing it back in the Quake1 days, BEFORE all nine classes were in the game. I can remember when Engineers were able to make Teleport portals. I remember the Pyro's days of "sticky napalm grens" - when Sentry Guns didn't last, because you could airburst a napalm gren, and take out an Sgun with minimal effort (oh how I loved playing Pyro in my clan back in those days). I also remember the final version of QWTF, TF version 2.9, when they made it so the HWGuy could not move AT ALL, when his gun was spun up. Both good and bad playbalance decisions where made by TFS in those days.

Recently, on the PF forums (I no longer have the time to read any other ones, and often am lucky to read the PF ones), there has been a rather heated discussion about HWGuys (I can hear the groaning already), and their ability to accelerate to speeds on par with the fastest classes. I've personally seen these bouncing HWGs catch up to and pass a scout. Folks, something is definitely WRONG here. Let's analyze the class itself for a moment, shall we?

The HWGuy has the slowest running speed, on purpose. He has the ability to have 300 armour factor - that's 50% more than the Soldier can carry, and he's barely faster than ole fatso. He carries the godsawful nasty Assault Cannon/Chaingun/GE Mixmaster 2000/whatever you want to call it, which is capable of shredding lighter classes in under a second at medium to close range. The heavier classes, besides another HWGuy , it might take him 1-2 seconds to annhilate them. Folks, this gun, in real life, is designed to be mounted on a VEHICLE, like a helicopter, an airplane, or some nasty Armoured tracked or wheeled conveyance. The mere weight of the gun assembly itself, the ammo supply that voracious beast would devour, and the batteries required to spin it up would preclude any normal person from moving faster than a walk. Hell, I've carried the US Army M-60 machine gun, with tripod mount, on patrols, with a full combat load - and that thing is enough of a burden. Most of us that play TF have seen the movie "Predator" - and have seen what that thing would look like in action - if it actually existed in a man-portable format!
All of the characteristics of the class, put together, lends itself to the HWGuy conforming to TFS/Valve's original idea of the capabilities of the class. A slow, plodding but durable as hell SUPPORT class. Scouts were designed to run FAST - and as a result they have next to no armour, and no weapons that pack a punch. The Sniper has "that damned rifle" (another quote from the Vault, for us oldskoolers) - but next to no armour as well. He can't fire his rifle unless he has his feet on the ground - that's called playbalancing there, folks - back in the OLD-OLD days, he used to be able to jumpshoot. Bundy helped put an end to that crap.. As we work throught the other classes, they get progressively more lethal, and more armoured - and slower moving - for a damned good reason!
In conclusion, when you have a class with that much armour, that powerful of a weapon - to offset those advantages, he was designed to move slow. And if he's shooting that gun while walking, he moves even slower - as is logical for a gun that lethal.

But now, thanks to ingenious people exploring the limitations of the Half-Life Engine, they have discovered ways to invalidate the DESIGNED checks and balances. Thanks to these techniques, we see plagues of these insane creatures, bouncing like a playground ball, and firing as they do so. Warriors, there is something seriously wrong with this picture. And now, all you advocates of this technique are going to start battering me with reasons why this should be. Hmmm, let's go through a couple of the statements they'll make in defense of this crap. In interest of simplifying this discussion, and with all due respects to Maj. Ghob - who recently provided a very thorough post (since I disapprove of this tomfoolery, I refuse to use the adjective "good" in reference to it) on how the various techniques are done - I'm going to call them all "bunnyhopping", because that's how ludricrous it makes a HWGuy look on the battlefield when he's doing it. A "bunny rabbit" with an assault cannon and a tonne of armour. *spit*

1. It's not a cheat! It's a skill anyone can learn, like rocketjumping or concjumping - *bzzt* Rocketjumping and gren1 jumping has a definite cost to it - it take a significent amount of armour and health away from you when you perform that maneuver. The concjump leaves the jumper concussed until it wears off, leaving you at less and optimal combat effectiveness during that time. If you mess up you bunnyhop technique - all you do it slow down to your normal - designed by Valve - speed. No other negative effects. You cease abusing a loophole, and revert back to how the design document intended the class to be.

2. The soldier can fire and shoot, the HWGuy should be allowed to as well, to be able to survive being attacked by them - "Uhm, negative on that, Houston" Lets go back to the design of the class, folks. What happens when you're walking/running, and you crank up that gun? That's right, you slow to approximately half-speed. For a damned good reason, a weapon like that would have one hellacious recoil to it, that there would be no chance of keeping it on target if you didn't have a firm stance. But besides that - it was designed that way.

3. If Valve didn't mean it to be in there, why haven't they fixed it yet? - *insane laughter* Anyone remember how much effort it took to get Valve to START working on the initial problems, bugs and other nonsense with TFC? I damned sure do - I started the TFC Reform Project to try to make these fixes happen, and I'm glad to say between it, help from other people/organizations, Valve decided to keep maintaining a product that generates them ZERO revenue. But remember, they're working on TF2, and using TFC as a guinea pig for technology that might be used in that product. How many people are screaming "Where's the patch?" - hmmm? In previous posts I've detailed the lengthy QA process Valve has to go throught, because of their relationship with Sierra, because of all the various mods out there, especially their present darling, Counter-Strike. Meanwhile, in the time between the last OFFICIAL release, and now, there have been at least 2 newer versions of the Speed Cheat, 2 of the Unban Hack, and other cheats that are probably higher on their priority list, WITHOUT breaking the working functionality they have at present. Change takes time, and persistance. Hence me being persistant. But I'm about to take this persistance to another level.

I could probably come up with a few more of the prevalent arguements that advocates of this idiocy would use to try to defend it - but I'm not in the mood to waste my time doing so. I'll probably get a bunch of flamemail calling me a talentless whiner that can't play the game for shit. Well, quite frankly, I've got a simple answer for anyone who feels that way about my stance on this issue. And I'll make it really simple, so everyone can understand it. "You can kiss my ass." This little exploit is by itself destroying the "balance" TFC had before, and I feel it needs to be reined in, ASAP.

As for myself, I've made a decision. Right now we're polling the PlanetFortress staff as to their positions on this issue, and at the end of that, we plan to send a group email stating our position on this issue. I'd recommend any other large TFC-related webpages to do likewise - both clan-related ones, and general discussion ones. But either way, if Valve decides that they will NOT take prompt action to eradicate this lunacy, I know what I'll be doing. If that is the end result, and Valve allows this to persist, *I* personally will stop playing TFC completely. I will discontinue my participation in the TFC Reform project, and leave that in Warthog's hands to do with as he sees fit. If it comes down to that, I WILL be deleting Half-Life from my system, and I'll definitely be looking VERY warily at TF2 - if in the event it actually stops being anything more than vapourware. What, it was shown at E3 2 years ago, wasn't last year, and will not be this year - not very encouraging, in my eyes.

This is a very sad decision for me to make, as I've always been a big fan of the TFS guys, and that stayed when John and Robin achieved their career goal by being hired by Valve. However, As much as I love the TF genre, and as much as I respect John and Robin - this is no longer the only TF game in town, and I'm having MUCH more fun playing Q3F and UnF these days. I see no reason I should waste my time supporting a game that no longer gives me any enjoyment. I'm not getting paid to do this, and when a hobby ceases being enjoyable - there's no sense in doing it any more.

If you feel a need to want to email me, to try to convince me why it should stay as is, or to send the usual slings, arrows and other abuse - you know the email address. Be forewarned - I'm cocked, locked and ready to rock, and as usual, I reserve the right to respond to intelligent conversation, ignore inane, profane and abusive ones, and to post suitable ones for ridicule here on The Fort - if they're truly deserving. That having been said - Bring it on....

Apologies, and an explanation

Totentanz — 2001-02-18T15:00:00Z

Tot has been rather scarce over here on The Fort, and remiss in his duties here and elsewhere. I'm lucky to make a coupla posts in the PF forums on occasion, as is. Although I prefer to NOT talk about my personal life here, I think that I owe you folks an explanation as to why I'm not holding up my end, and making Teatime do all the work.

As I've mentioned to only a few people in the community, mostly the other PF staffers and my comrades in BTEG - my health has taken a dive into the shitter since about early last summer. I'm having some as-yet unknown pain and difficulties in my abdominal area - which when it flares up, sends me to the Emergency Room to get a hit of Demerol to kill the pain. And sometimes results in my staying there for a day or two. I've gone thru just about every possible test the doctors can think of - CTscan, X-rays, Colonoscopy (which I do NOT recommend for anyone to have done - trust me on this, folks) - and the doctors and specialists can't come up with a reason WHY this is happening. I'm on the diet from hell, and what I can eat is VERY limited, and anything "fun" - like alcohol, sodas, spicy foods, fried foods, etc - is completely out of the question. I've lost over 30 pounds in two months, cause some days I just can't eat - basically giving me a really low energy level. My schedule is usually work, sleep - with the occasional visit to the doctor or hospital mixed in. Work has become a madhouse - we're at half the staff we were 6 months ago, so I can't work on reviews and web stuff while at work anymore. I try to make the time to pop online and frag it up a bit - if I'm not too damned tired to do so.

I'm NOT looking for sympathy, mind you - I just wanted all the readers to know why my backlog of projects - which include working on the TFC Reform page, finishing up my UnF review, and a coupla good rants I told Teatime I'd write - have all fallen to the wayside. I've seriously considered just hanging up my rocket launcher and leaving my position in the community - as I've been unable to devote the time required to do so. It's depressing, frankly.

Add to this my growing dissatisfaction with the state of TFC (I refuse to call it TF1.5 - the REAL TF stayed behind with QuakeWorld), and it's so-called "community". I remember when being -TPF- meant something, and if you encountered a member on a server, you knew they weren't going to be an arsehole. As it is, these days the only TPF people I "trust" - are the old guard - those I remember being around when we first started it off - and those newer individuals I recognize by name and reputation. The others - you have to prove yourselves to me, by your behavior.

So, I've come to a decision. This upcoming patch Valve has promised us - the one with the new models - will be the deciding point for Tot. I'll be taking a long, hard look at ALL facets of TFC then - I've made my opinion of the netcode crystal-clear on several occasions.. I'll evaluate the state of the community, the general attitude of the players - and then I'll decide if it's worth expending the time and energy to stay with this mod. If I rule against it - I'll be deleting Half-Life from my system, pulling out of the TFC Reform project completely, and devoting myself to other games I enjoy MUCH more these days.

Moving on to the next subject - TF mods I have MUCH more fun playing - I've been having some difficulties with them, and I've posted some questions about it in their respective forums to see if I can get some help - but I'd do it here as well. I prefer to play either Q3F or UnF these days - both engines have superior netcode, and the people aren't complete jerks when you get on a server. My problems with Quake3Fortress as as follows: I get dropped from the server over 50% of the time I try playing these days, with either the "Lost Reliable Commands" errors, the "CL_ParseServerMessage: illegible server message", or the "CL_FlushPackets" one. Some conjecture on the Q3F forums seems to think it's connected with the LinkSys router I use for my home network. I never had the problem until I udpated the firmware to support IpSec, so I can VPN to work from home. As for Unreal Fortress - I just have a devil of a time trying to connect to servers, and only about 5% of the time, when the map changes at the end of a level, do I successfully load the next map. Needless to say, this is not making me happy, and I end up playing TFC, cause I can usually stay connected there, at least. If anyone can help me solve these issues, I would be VERY happy. I'm presently running firmware revision 1.36 on my LinkSys Ethernet Cable/DSL Router, because when I loaded 1.37, I could connect outside my LAN with my Unix box, but not with my Win98SE box.

Anyhow, that's enough babbling from me for one day. I don't know when I'll post again, or if it'll be before the fateful day when I decide whether to purge TFC from my system or not. Until then, I hope all you folks are having better luck, both on and off the battlefields - than I've been having as of late...

Don't touch that dial

Totentanz — 2001-01-08T01:15:00Z

Whelp, once again Tot's cunning plan snares people. And the flamemail pours in. Let's see, I've been compared to a "flunking highshooler" by someone who can't spell, nor can they use complete words. I've been insulted, with the use of MANY profanities. And I've had my webmastering skills mocked, because I like to use colours to emphasize certain points. I feel sad now.

Folks, let me tell you something, that the long-term readers here on The Fort already know. We're not a game reviewing page. We're an editorial page. We post things to piss you and, and to TRY to make you think. You know - frankly, I don't care if people don't like me. I'm not in that business. There's a good reason why I'm BTEG, too. What I did here with my little UnF review, I have done before with Team Assault (before it went under, sadly) and with Counter-Strike. I published a review that pissed a lot of people off - usually the rabid fanboys send in nasty emails and insult me. I get a pointed email from one of the development team, and we start to talk. Regardless, 1-2 days after the negative review post, I post another one where I detail all the things I like about whatever it is, and if I've spoken with the devteam, I put in any comments or statements from them as well. As well as any corrections or apologies for misinformation I may have said. But I don't apologize for stating my opinion.

You know what that is? It's the web version of "Shock Radio" - the old Howard Stern tactic. You piss people off - they tell others, more people read/listen/whatever. There's no such thing as bad publicity, people - as long as you have a thick skin to deal with it. And after 11 years in the US Army, I can deal with it.

Anyhow, stay tuned, because in the next one or two days, I will post my counterpoint article, telling you what I DO like about UnF, constructive comments on what I'd really like to see in future versions. And possibly, if they decide they do want to talk to me, comments from the UnF development team as well. See you again here in a day or so. ^_^

Tot checks out Unreal Fortress

Totentanz — 2001-01-07T18:00:00Z

Welp because of a bunch of annoying things going on in my personal life - that I won't bore you folks with here - I decided to spend some money on myself, and upgrade my system to something more respectable, a 1Ghz Athlon with a GeForce2 card So, now seeing I've got a system that can run Unreal Tournament without bogging down, or excessive choppiness, due to it's crappy OpenGL code, I decided to check out this Unreal Fortress thing. A few of the regulars in the PF forums were talking about it, and I'm open to new experiences. Well, let me tell you, after downloading, installing and doing the RTFM thing yesterday, and playing it all morning - I'm ready to make a few observations. And yes, I am keeping in mind that this IS only a Beta version, and it will (hopefully) get better. And yes, I know that it's NOT intended to be a direct port, either. Read on.

Also, keep in mind I've got a LOT of experience in the various TF-like mods out there. I've at least checked out and given each of these ones a fair chance: QWTF, TFC/TF1.5, Weapons Factory for Quake2, MegaTF for QW, Deadlode for QW, Deadlode2 beta for Quake2, Q3F. The utter nonsense of Weapons Factory scarred me so badly, I doubt I'll check out WFA - I don't want to waste my time when a far superior equivalent mod for that engine is available. Anyhow, on to my comments.

It comes in umod form, with a nice installer. Good stuff, no problems there. All the classes can get their keys bound from a setup menu - nice touch, but there's no info if different class can use the same key for different purposes. My biggest gripe with UT has been it's HOSTILE scripting. I can script QW, HL and Q3 - but Unreal - forget it! Damnit Jim, I'm a Network Admin, not a code monkey. :P
You MUST remember to bind the menus to keys you can recall - or as a newbie you will be lost as all hell. UT has a nice integrated game browser - I've always used it over Gamespy when I play UT anyhow. Found a server and hopped on - no probs. Figured out how to join team and choose class - doing good.
On the battlefield - hooooo-boy. Time for Tot to show his displeasure. Once again, I will stress I KNOW THIS IS ONLY A BETA!!
Trying to differentiate classes is a task in itself. "what is that enemy coming at me, anyhow?" It seems they just re-skinned 3 different player models - and I'll be damned if I can tell the difference much.
Weapons models - uhm......WTF? Did thet get some kindegarteners to do some of this stuff. The Rocket Launcher isn't a bad model, per se - it's just the stupidest-looking thing I've seen in a long time. It's a polygonal box - for lack of a better term - that the end opens like flower petals to disgorge a rocket when you fire. Ugh. The SMG looks really good, but this burst mode of fire SUCKS. It absolutely blows. I need a full-auto setting for sentry removal, damnit. The HWGuy's AssCannon....is.....repulsive. It looks like one of those basic tutorial for a 3-d modeling program. The flamer for the Pyro - looks like a coupla pieces of plumbing stuck together. SGuns are REALLY ugly right now, but not as bad as WF2's "egg on a tripod with gun barrels sticking out" when I gave up on it. I didn't try the spy, because of the next thing I'll discuss.

STABILITY! This thing crashes more than Windows on moody hardware. I lost count after 24 times, that I got a "connection problem" indication, rejoined the server to see everyone else doing the same, asking "what happened?". Granted, that was on the BarrysWorld server. The Official UnF test server seems more stable. But not much more.
The last thing I want to bitch about - it the maps. UT has the ability to make AMAZING maps. However, the mappers forgot one factor - it has to be FUN to PLAY! Instead, they went for these enormous maps which take most classes forever to get to the enemy base. UNF-Tuskan is one of the worse offenders, and UNF-Rock is Dead also. UNF-Well, fortunately, is a good sized map to enjoy playing.

Tot's Report Card for: Unreal Fortress, available Beta version as of 7Jan2001

Stability is a joke - this thing crashes as much as a bumper cars ride in an amusement park. Player mdls are merely reskinned default ones, and nigh impossible to differentiate classes from the distance. Weapon mdls are a mixed bag, some very good, some horrendous. Most of the maps are too damned big to make an enjoyable playing experience - someone hit the mappers over the head with a stick for me, please? Binding keys is easy at a beginner level, due to the menu that allows you to set it, but advanced scripting requires you to deal with the overly user-hostile Unrealscript.
UnF team - I like the potential I can see in this mod. UT is an EXCELLENT engine, with superior mapping capabilities that only recently id added to their Q3 engine. I'm looking forward to seeing future releases of this mod, more stable ones with new mdls/skins. I applaud your work on what cannot be an easy platform to deal with, and wish you continued success with this.

Christmas Salute from the Fort

Totentanz — 2000-12-22T20:00:00Z

Christmas. A time of year where many of us get the chance to spend some time with our friends, family and loved ones. A time for happiness and joy - but not for everyone. There are many people that, for one reason or another are seperated from those they hold dear. The following poem is - as is common here on The Fort - about a soldier, but as I've said before there are many "soldiers" and "heroes" you see in life everyday - and you just might not realize it. Police, Fireman, Paramedics, Doctors, Nurses, Hospice workers - the list goes on. All these people are soldiers in a fight they chose to devote themselves to. So, I ask you, in this holiday season, as you look forward to spending time with your loved ones - take a brief moment and thank those who continue to serve, to be on duty, so that others can have the special time free from worries or concerns.

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS, A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND.
FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,

I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.
THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE,

CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.
THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,

NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER. WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA, IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

I would like to dedicate this post to my friend - the person that was my role model and inspiration in things in TF- Bundy. The Fort feels empty without you, warrior.

HEY YOU!! - out of the gene pool!

Totentanz — 2000-12-05T21:00:00Z

Yes, you can joke about Spirits of TF past and all that, but Tot is still actually here. I wish I could say I had interesting, GOOD news to report - but that's not the case. Instead, you'll have to deal with me going into Rant Mode™.

First, a personal one. This one goes out to the arsehole who keeps sending virii attachments (that's viruses to the less-educated) to my planetfortress email account, with the subject line of Snow White and the seven dwarfs - the REAL story. This fucknuckle first sent it as an .scr file - which is a windows screensaver, usually. The latest was sent as an .exe file. Well, lemme tell you something, sparky - The "send Tot a virus" thing was done last year as well, and it had the same effect. Me notifying GSI's technical department, and them doing whatever they do. Lemme clue you in on something, I'm a IT professional. I'm not Johhny AOL luser. I don't blindly open fscking attachments - especially from people I don't know. Especially with a return address of hahaha@sexyfun.net. If GSI ran their email on a Unix platform - which I sincerely wish they would - I'd use auto-updating .procmail recipes to block out the published list of spammers and junkmailers. But as it is, I rely on my brain - which works quite well, thank you. Oh, and by the way, did you realize that maliciously sending virii thru email is now classified as a federal crime? And the FBI has become rather cooperative with ISP's and Corporations in tracking and prosecuting these cases. Think about it, ace....

Next is an item that's closer to the normal theme here at The Fort, and PF in general. In the past, I've been the maintainer of the TFC Reform Project webpage, and corresponded closely with Valve on issues I get reports about, and got info from them. However, After the release of TF1.5, I grew disenchanted with TFC, and coupled with personal and health problems - I've let TF matters slip to a much lower priority in my life. In fact, the last time I played TFC, was then the last patch was released, to check out the 3 new maps that came with it. I play almost exclusively Q3F these days, because I wholly feel it is far superior to what Valve has mutated TFC/TF1.5 into. With all the changes that have made it "easier to jump in and play", I truly believe it has devolved into what I call AOL Fortress With the auto-upgrade/auto-repair features of the engineer, plus the dispenser's auto-restock (inhibiting it's usefullness as a dispenser-bomb) and other changes - it's NOT a version of TF I want to play. Plus, from reading the league message boards and all - which I still do on occasion, the sportsmanship seems to have gone down the toliet. In particular, I keep hearing comments about one particular dominant clan having a propensity to once they get ahead by a cap or two, go into complete turtle/chaser mode. This Malcolm X style of "by any means necessary" to win mindset completely takes the fun out of playing the game, in my honest opinion. None of the clans I was in ever did this - not that I ever had a desire to be in a l33t, top 10 clan, mind you. So I find something like that, something that goes against the principles of Honour, Sportsmanship, and Fair Play, to be completely abhorrent. That's another reason you'll never see me type "gg" at the end of a map or match. It's become a reflex action, and in that aspect merely lip service. If I see something I truly think worth commenting on, I'll spell it out, not abbreviate it to a "gg". All too often I see maps end like 130-20, with imbalanced teams, and the usual bunch of "gg" at the end. Frankly, that doesn't look like a "good game" to me.

Anyhow, back to the point I was trying to get at, before I went on a semi-related tangent. :P In the past couple of months, I had been seriously thinking of giving up on TFC, because I no longer found it fun. I asked Slick to see if he could find someone to take over the TFC Reform page - because I didn't want to just drop another project on him, especially one I no longer wanted to do. Slick has been helping me with it - reports to the reform@ email hit both of us. However, here's my problem. For the past coupla months, ANY bug reports, etc I've sent to my usually helpful contacts at Valve - have remained unanswered. The emails aren't bouncing, so I know the accounts are still valid on their mail server. However, I am getting absolutely fucking ZERO SUPPORT from them. Now, I dunno about you, but the only reason I did stick with this thing that long, was because I was seeing that the community's concerns WERE getting acknowledged - and in most cases, addressed. I don't intend to stand in an empty area, shouting and not being heard. I'm going to send out a 911 call to the rest of the PF oldsters I know have - or had - contacts with Valve, perhaps look up others in the community who might too - and get some goddamn answers as to why I'm not getting any input from them for what I thought they felt was a valuable asset to the community and to the fans of their game. If I don't get some kind of satisfactory response from Valve, in a semi-timely basis, I will simply step down from maintaining the page, hand it to Slick and tell him to do with it as he sees fit, and go ahead to do something I've wanted to do for a LONG time now - to delete Half-Life from my system.

And take my word on this - it's not meant as some kind of threat to Valve - cause I really feel they they couldn't care less - it shows in their lack of support of fan websites, and past track record of emphasis on the big, commercial sites. Nope, I don't consider it a threat to them at all. More of keeping a promise I made to myself. gg Valve.

We now return you to your normal silence from this area, so Tot won't offend anyone's delicate sensibilities any further.