Halo Demo Freeware Multiplayer Shooter Gameplay Banshee Dogfight

Here's a video of me and my friend duking it out in Covenant Banshees in the skies above the Blood Gulch map. The freeware multiplayer shooter component of the Halo demo is fully functional and allows one to immerse himself in online play using Bungie's servers. The Halo demo only provides one map though. But hey, who's complaining?

It's free.

We played this using Hamachi as our ISP doesn't give public IPs to its clients. Major bummer.

Download the freeware multiplayer shooter HERE.

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Download Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne Patch 1.23

Now here's something you don't see everyday:

(Of course, if you have pirated the game, chances are, you wont' see this. Ever.)

>>>UPDATE: Blizzard has released patch 1.24b. Click HERE to see my "Download Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne Patch 1.24b" article

I just love this company. Blizzard just released patch 1.23 for Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne. Just login to Battle.net to download the Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne 1.23 update. There are no alterations stats-wise, only a couple of fixes:

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Patch 1.23 Changelog
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FEATURES

- Battle.net now uses a new banner ad system.

FIXES

- Fixed an exploit where an altered custom map would be seen identical to the original custom map.
- Fixed an issue where some patches could not apply on Intel Macs.

1.23 :D

Download the Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne patch 1.23 (incremental) update HERE.

Download the Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne patch 1.22 update HERE.

>>>See more Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne resources (where to place NGL One professional map files to view Warcraft III: Frozen Throne replays, micromanagement resources, gameplay videos, links to important strategy articles, etc) HERE. (Scroll down to see more.)

>>>Click here to read more...

Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne Gameplay Videos: Night Elf Vs Human in Echo Isles

Uploaded videos of another game again. This is still against a "Normal" AI. In these Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne gameplay videos, which show me playing as a Night Elf against Humans, my micromanagement has improved a bit, but I'm still dissatisfied with my skills. At least this time I haven't forgotten to buy Boots of Speed and a Circlet of Nobility.







Mistakes:

• Not using "Alt" during skirmishes, resulting in critically wounded enemies still swinging at my forces
  
• Not watching resources; I could have pumped out more Dryads. The Druids of the Claw came out very late.
  
• Got fixated on micromanagement, resulting in a very delayed Tier 3
• Not picking the right targets with the Naga's Fork Lightning
• Not designating a newly-trained unit to a (Ctrl) group
• Not pushing the advantage by erecting Ancient Protectors and an Ancient of Wonder next to the enemy base
  

>>>Click here to read more...

Freeware Multiplayer Shooter: Halo Demo

So I downloaded the Halo demo...


Well, being a demo, it's not really a freeware multiplayer shooter but it does the job. It contains the "Silent Cartographer" level and Halo's multiplayer shooter component.

I played around for a bit and yes, it IS Halo. I was expecting some eye-candy cuts here and there but for all purposes, it IS the game. And while those who have never played Halo before will definitely want to get the full version asap (it IS Halo THE game after all), the multiplayer shooter component is definitely a keeper for those who have yet to purchase the award-winning game. (There were some connection glitches but I think it's my damned Wi-Fi.)

The report page doesn't display scores but heck, I had fun:

Don't mind the name lol! It's a private joke.

>>>Click here to read more...

Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne Gameplay: Night Elf Mirror Match in Echo Isles ("Normal" AI)

I made two videos showing Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne gameplay. The videos - which total 13mn 56s - show my meager micromanagement skills against a "Normal" AI (Gaaaah! How does Moon do it?). (Edit: Whoa the numbers changed! What's up with YouTube? Meh.)

These are not meant as comprehensive Night Elf strategy guides since I am very much a beginner at Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne; I just uploaded these in YouTube to remind me of my mistakes.

If you're a total beginner, you might get a tip or two here (like using the Ancient of War as a tank when creeping). If you are a vet, have a good laugh:






Mistakes:

• Ancient of Wonders erected too late (the Staff of Preservation is very much a standard item for Night Elf players)
• Not using items from the Goblin Merchant (Boots, etc)
• Not shifting targets when the AI dances a critically wounded unit from the front (chasing a unit down will collapse your formation into the enemy lines. Very bad if you're going up against an enemy using strong melee units)
• Not expanding early
• Rushing a Night Elf base is a very bad idea. You can of course, pick of a few wisps if the enemy army has wandered far but fighting a protracted battle near their moon wells is a disaster in the making.
• Setting the rally points of unit-producing structures to a hero who has gone home to heal/buy items. Always transfer the rally points to the hero who's/that's (things not human mwehehe!) laying down destruction on the enemy front! Reinforce the poor sucker in front!
  
• Not switching off the Naga's Ice Arrows ability when there are no more enemy units alive (waste of mana)
• Not using Fork Lightning often
• Too slow in destroying enemy moon wells
• Too slow in pulling out a critically wounded hero
• Too slow in staffing (Staff of Preservation) out units
• Using a Scroll of Town Portal when I could have just left my army at the enemy base while retreating my Demon Hunter

Constructive feedback (whether positive or negative) are very much welcome.

Again, how does Moon do it? Gaaah.

>>>Click here to read more...

Free K-Lite Codec Pack Full Download Update Version 4.7.0

TUGSHTUGSHTUGSHTUGSH!


I've been extremely busy the past few weeks that I haven't updated my drivers in quite a while. Having gotten a breather last Sunday, I checked Free-Codecs.com and learned that they have released an update to their free K-Lite Codec Pack.

Version 4.7.0 is one of the best K-Lite Codec Pack updates. Bass and treble separate more clearly now and the latter has more "bite" this time around, sticking out clearly from the lower frequencies.

In Memoriam: Justin H. Bulge Man in the house! Oh yeah baby!

The changelog as it appears on Free-Codecs.com:

• Player :
- Media Player Classic [version 6.4.9.1 rev. 98]
- Media Player Classic Home Cinema [version 1.2.1005.0]
• FFDShow :
- ffdshow [revision 2732]
- ffdshow VFW interface
- extra plugins
• DirectShow video filters :
- XviD [version 1.2.0 build 2008-01-10]
- DivX [version 6.8.5]
- On2 VP6 [version 6.4.2.0]
- On2 VP7 [version 7.0.10.0]
- MPEG-2 (Cyberlink) [version 8.1.0.1608]
- MPEG-2 (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.4]
- MPEG-1 (MainConcept) [version 1.0.0.78]
• DirectShow audio decoding filters:
- AC3/DTS/LPCM/MP1/MP2 (AC3Filter) [version 1.51a]
- Vorbis (CoreVorbis) [version 1.1.0.79]
- AAC (MONOGRAM) [version 0.9.5.0]
• DirectShow audio parsers:
- MusePack (MONOGRAM) [version 0.9.1.2 | 0.3.1.2]
- WavPack (CoreWavPack) [version 1.1.1]
- FLAC (madFLAC) [version 1.8]
- Monkey's Audio (DCoder) [version 1.0]
- OptimFROG (RadLight) [version 1.0.0.1]
- DC-Bass Source [version 1.2.0]
- AC3/DTS Source (AC3File) [version 0.5b]
- AMR (MONOGRAM) [version 1.0.1.0]
• DirectShow source filters:
- AVI splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.9]
- AVI splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.8.122.18]
- MP4 splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.8.122.18]
- MP4 splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.4]
- Matroska splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.8.122.18]
- Matroska splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.3.0]
- Ogg splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.8.122.18]
- Ogg splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.1]
- MPEG PS/TS splitter (Gabest) [version 1.2.997.0]
- MPEG PS/TS splitter (Haali Media Splitter) [version 1.8.122.18]
- FLV splitter (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.5]
- CDXA Reader (Gabest) [version 1.0.0.2]
• DirectShow subtitle filter:
- DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter) [version 2.39.5.1]
- DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter) [version 2.33]
• Other filters:
- Haali Video Renderer [version 1.9.42.1]
• VFW video codecs:
- XviD [version 1.2.0 build 2008-01-10]
- DivX [version 6.8.5]
- x264 [revision 1114]
- On2 VP6 [version 6.4.2.0]
- On2 VP7 [version 7.0.10.0]
- Intel Indeo 4 [version 4.51.16.2]
- Intel Indeo 5 [version 5.2562.15.54]
- Intel I.263 [version 2.55.1.16]
- huffyuv [version 2.1.1 CCE Patch 0.2.5]
- YV12 (Helix) [version 1.2]
• ACM audio codecs:
- MP3 (Fraunhofer) [version 3.4.0.0]
- MP3 (LAME) [version 3.98.2]
- AC3ACM [version 1.4]
- Vorbis [version 0.0.3.6]
- DivX ;) Audio [version 4.2.0.0]
• Tools:
- Codec Tweak Tool [version 2.2.9]
- GSpot Codec Information Appliance [version 2.70a]
- MediaInfo Lite [version 0.7.11]
- VobSubStrip [version 0.11]
- GraphStudio [0.2.9.0]
- Haali Muxer
- FourCC Changer
- Bitrate Calculator

Rating: 4 (rating system: 1 - no discernible changes; 2 - changes in audio but it could be just my imagination lol; 3 - distinctive changes; 4 - a must-download)

The free K-lite Codec Pack full update can be downloaded from HERE.

>>>Click here to read more...

Freeware Strategy Games Update: UFO: AI February Development News

User interface improvements yay!



The folks developing UFO: AI, a Quake 2-based, sci-fi freeware strategy game, have released updates for February. Some interesting points:

• A lot of UI updates and fixes, including new recruiting window look, multiplayer UI updates, mouse handling, language selection, pilot assignment, aircraft menu changes, statistics charts, tooltip related fixes, UTF-8 fixes and initial changes for better widescreen support.
• Translation updates, including initial Dutch translation and updates to UFORadiant translations.
• A lot of new checks in the mapping tools, which in turn lead to...
• ...a lot of minor fixes and improvements for maps.
• Improvements to multiplayer team creation, including alien teams and team saving.
• Included Thai fonts for platforms that don't have them.
• Music updates.
• Minor performance improvements.
• Game mechanism updates - interceptors can no longer carry soldiers, base mission is lost if there are no soldiers, soldiers can be equipped before base attack without aircraft and more weapons available in multiplayer.
• Fixes to concurrent sound playing.
• Fixes to console tab completion.
• Fixes to the battlescape HUD, including reaction fire, firemode selection and reload button activation.
• Geoscape fixes, including crashed UFO loading.
• Dirtmaps added to some textures.
• Savegame format changed to XML, using bundled Mini-XML. This should reduce savegame breakage rate in future.

Updated color scheme and textures! (This image is not mine and is the property of the UFO: AI developers)

>>> More details about this sci-fi turn-based freeware strategy game

>>>Click here to read more...

Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2 Multiplayer Gameplay Videos

"I'M THE BIGGEST! SO I'M THE BOSS!" - Ork Warboss


(It's too bad you can't say the same about YouTube videos.)

A user named DoWCodex has uploaded several Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2 multiplayer gameplay videos on YouTube. Two of these show a 4-player match that pitted Orks and Eldar against each other. I found the videos stunning as they fully highlight the graphics upgrade the series has gotten what with Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2 being powered by the Essence Engine, the same one that Company of Heroes uses.

Indeed, the developers of Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2 have made a plethora of graphical improvements. In these Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2 multiplayer gameplay videos, the shoddiness of the Orks' technology is even more pronounced; one can even see the various parts of Ork tanks rattle as the metal hulks advance relentlessly into Eldar lines. Eldar Wraithlords now have embellishments and rear fins (heat sinks?) that the more expensive Masterclass Wraithlords figurines sport. Even minor units have gotten additional visual oomph: the Eldar D-Cannon now has a special attack that fully demonstrates the awesome technology that powers this turret: it can now create a miniature singularity in the midst of enemy lines. The tiny black holes the cannon creates can effortlessly rip apart enemy armor.

My only gripe with the sequel is that the Warp Spiders - Eldar elite units that carry lethal anti-infantry weapons called webspinners and can teleport - are much harder to spot. But then it could be just the reduced quality inherent in all YouTube videos.

Or --- ha. ha. --- maybe I'm just growing old.

The vids:

>>>Click here to read more...