152mmDumbRocket

Big news! Clay has responded! Here's the full text of his response: It's great to hear that DropTeam's 2nd incarnation is coming, eh? I looked over Server67's website, and it looks like Clay made a typo. I think he meant to say Linux Fedora Core Release 6, because there is no Linux Fedora Core Release 5 on the website. Still, I don't think a P4, 160GB HDD, and 1 GB DDR2 RAM are ideal for all scenarios, but Battlefront had to have had a reason to select these people. One good thing about these people is that you can send your own server to their data center, so my sub-$1000 "DP Destroyer" and sub-$500 TeamSpeak servers could make the big time! :cool: The specs of the server Battlefront probably is using are listed above, but I just wonder exactly what chassis this 3U form factor server is using. It looks like an iStar USA D-300 series.

Fine by me. Once I have all the .scenario files, I'll burn them to a CD or DVD from my Mac, then put them on the laptop where my copy of DropTeam is and get them into /data.

I'm just wondering whether or not we should use a VoIP gaming comm. system in DropTeam. Sure, the push-to-talk feature in-game is fine, but it requires the recipient to wait the entire time you're transmitting. I have experience with TeamSpeak from a game called Steel Beasts, and I know a guy on the SB forums who used to be on the Battlefront forums as Chainsaw. This idea has promise. On a TS server, channels and sub-channels can be created for anything, from in game channels and sub-channels to places to discuss strategy, to places to just get away from everyone else. A server for something like TS would also help put our beloved game on the map, since in TS at least there is a search function for public TS servers on the web. So I can't help but wonder: Should we or should we not use a VoIP gaming comm. system like TeamSpeak, Ventrilo, Xfire, or something else? As for a TS server, I would bring that together, if I had time and a budget (like the DP Destroyer server I mentioned in the Bloody Sunday topic). Now I shall dive into my bag of computer goodies, and bring forth...well, I won't go as far as to say that a TS server could be made for only $500, but I'll give it a shot. Here we go: </font> AMD Athlon X2 BE-2350 dual core 45W processor: $70</font> APEX DM-387 MicroATX Slim case: $49</font> Gigabtye GA-MA69GM-S2H motherboard: $80</font> mushkin 1 GB DDR2 800: $23</font> Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160 GB hard drive: $45</font> Sony NEC Optiarc Black DVD-ROM/CD-ROM drive: $18</font>PLANAR PL1700-BK 17" LCD monitor: $190</font> The final price: $475. I guess I am a wizard.

Well, to look on the bright side, we did manage to avoid the curse of those who play DT on Easter. :eek: Meanwhile, I've finished the list of components for my "DP Destroyer" server, and these are the parts and prices: </font> Intel Xeon 3065 2.33 GHz dual core processor: $185</font> Asus P5VB-C motherboard: $170</font> ARK SR6590BK black server case: $75</font> Kingston 2 GB ECC DDR2 800: $55 (in my system, 2 kits totalling $110)</font> Western Digital Caviar SE 16 WD5000AAKS 500 GB hard drive: $90</font> Enermax PRO82+ EPR385AWT 385W power supply: $90</font> Sony NEC Optiarc Black DVD-ROM/CD-ROM drive: $18 And finally...</font> PLANAR PL1700-BK 17" LCD monitor: $190</font> The grand total? $928. Looks like I should have said I could build a better server than Delta Pavonis for under $1000 dollars. And as for a less cumbersome method for voice communication, I'll discuss that in another topic.

Yeah, the crashes were annoying, but the Forsaken round was great. Still, Clay won't talk about Delta Pavonis' hardware, so I'm assuming he's too embarrassed to say it's probably running on an ancient Pentium II or something. All I want to say is that I could probably build a better server than DP for under $1500 US dollars.

More to the point, since you have mouse control, why don't you look under "Controls" to see what's going on?

OK. I've updated my profile here so that you (hopefully) can see my e-mail. Update: The scenarios I would like are Hide and Seek, No Man Is An Island, Down On The Bayou, and Bloody Iwo (in restricted and unrestricted modes). [ May 09, 2008, 08:10 AM: Message edited by: 152mmDumbRocket ]

Alright then-who wants to donate some scenarios to a guy who wants to enjoy some of his old favorites?

Well, it's a bust. I've searched for the .scenario files everywhere, but I can't find any .scenario files other than the ones already in /data. The only thing mentioning any other scenarios is an XML file that's already in /data. So is there something wrong with me specifically? Update: I did update to version 1.3.5 shortly after I got version 1.0.0. Could this be the problem? [ May 08, 2008, 05:30 PM: Message edited by: 152mmDumbRocket ]

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll try to find the scenarios again.

Yes, it would be a great scene in a machinima, and it's as easy as hitting the Tab key. This key will unlock your view to the tank and let you fly around the battlefield. Use the WSAD keys for horizontal movement, the cursor for turing the camera left, right, up, and down, and the Q and Z keys to move up and down vertically. I wasn't always one of the best, either. Keep at it, and you might be ready for this Sunday's games. Actually, the 20mm is quite an effective weapon when used correctly. Perhaps the best gunnery technique you can learn is alternating fire. In this technique, you fire off your main 120mm gun, then quickly switch to your 20mm gun by pressing R. Then, when the black circle around the reticule disappears, you can hit R again to cycle back to your main gun, and repeat the cycle until your target is dead. Also, there are times when you want the Mercury command track around. With it, you can drop deployables whenever you want, such as in a turret drop. In a turret drop, a series of AT turrets, sensor jammers (to make it harder for the bots to spot them), and optionally sensors and AA missile turrets. There are 2 distinct styles of turret drops: </font> The Jung turret drop is usually dropped mid-game. It consists of a wide range of AT turrets, sensors, jammers, and AA missile turrets spread out widely. While it is strategically excellent, giving fire support across a battlefield to divide the defenders, the deployables are vulnerable to being picked off, and their firepower is not as great as it could be. Another Jung style is to drop AT turrets on you just after an EMP mission stops firing.</font>The 152 turret drop (my style) is a concentrated turret drop that is used for attack or defense. It consists of AT turrets and sensor jammers with an occasional AA missile turret, all dropped in a concentrated area. While more narrow in its range, it is far more concentrated and difficult to overcome, as the concentrated firepower, combined with that of its closely linked vehicle forces, is enough to destroy most attacking or defending forces outright. While (in theory) it is easier to stop with a mortar barrage, turrets are not as easy to destroy as you think, with the exception of AA turrets.</font> You also want to have a Mercury for orbital missions. Any vehicle can call in a Galaxy resupply/point defense dropship by using the Control-R combo. But only the Mercury can send down these missions: </font>Fire missions are triggered by the Control-F combo. This will send an orbital artillery barrage down on a specified point. Note that the mission will be more accurate and less scattered if you have line of sight to your target. Also, it will kill sensors and jammers, AA missile turrets, IFVs, and light tanks, but are unlikely to kill MBTs.</font>EMP missions are triggered by the Control-E combo. This is perhaps the best option of all. This will send down a group of capsules that will blast the landscape with EMP on a specified point, and will paralyze all vehicles caught in the blast radi. If timed correctly, you can move in while they're still unable to respond, and execute them. A note of advice and warning: EMP does not affect infantry, so you can use them without worry as a backup, but beware, there are many other ways to use infantry in combos with EMP, and Phonan and myself, among others, know them all.</font>Smoke missions are triggered by the Control-S combo. This will send blinding smoke down onto a specified point. Note: Smoke is banned under the New Geneva Space Viking Convention because it causes massive lag online. So only use smoke in standalone and campaign, and only if your PC can hack it.</font> Finally, the Mercury has another important feature. It's connected to every other friendly unit and deployable by various methods that allow you to see the threat data from everyone on your side. Not unlike the "digital battlefield" concept being developed today... Hope that helps. P.S. Ask Jung about 20mm fire on the Forsaken map.

I've checked YouTube, and the name "DropTeam" returned 41 results, only 4 of which had anything to do with this great game. So I'm suggesting that since Battlefront isn't doing major advertising, we should. We should try to let our friends know about DropTeam, encourage more people to play on Sundays and Wednesdays so they inform other people, and put more videos that go beyond simple gameplay up on YouTube and other online video sites . Maybe we could make machinima movies about the Liveship clans fighting for survival. Well, what do you think?

You're right, now that I think of it. Hub made that scenario and several other favorites, which is why while others bow to Nexus, I do so to Hub. I would really like to see that map (and several others) brought back in 1.3.6 (assuming that is coming). I've been trying to work with poesel to bring back that map, among others, on my computer, but my complete newness to this, which you might have noticed in the "running a linux dedicated server" topic, has prevented me from doing so. So far, he hasn't responded to my latest cry for help. Could you help me? I've found /data, but I don't know from where to dump.

Actually, there is a reference to Earth in the map description for Bloody Iwo, where it talks about the terrain being similar to an "ancient Terran battle", causing the place to be nicknamed "Iwo Jima". So Earth isn't as far from the minds of the Liveship crews as you think.

Yes, it's 7:00 CST.

That's too bad. I just hope people show up at all tonight, because when you're not around, people don't seem to want to hop on as much. I wonder if tb87670 will be able to show up, given that his shift ends at the same time the games start, he should make it back in time to catch at least part of the action.

I almost forgot, I've put up a Angry German Kid spoof up in the topic titled "Some DropTeam Humor". I've gotten as far as the middle of the deployment phase. Once you're done reading up on DT, do you think you could continue the story with me?

In a way, yes. You can hit their ammo or their fuel. If you hit the ammo, and its status light goes to red, everything else in the turret will go as well (in worst case scenario, blowing up in spectacular fashion). But if your fuel goes to red, the entire tank will go bye-bye. :eek: Odds are, though, that either will simply go yellow if hit, meaning that they continue to function at a degraded status. I'm not certain about tracks, given I've almost never penetrated them from the front or rear, which are the only ways to penetrate them (I think). But the tires are not counted as side armor, and getting hit in them will adversely affect your mobility. For instance, if you're hit in one tire, and it goes red, you're either going to have degraded turning, or you're going to want to turn in one direction all the time, which requires that you constantly steer at high speed. Hope that helps. Edit: Thanks Phonan for correcting me about weakness. I thought tb87670 was talking about more general armor values, not armor and ballistics calculations.

It's great to hear you're a Sci-Fi writer. I've dabbled in Sci-Fi myself and had been thinking about putting up a fanfic on these forums, but didn't think anyone would be enthusiastic about it. Let's get to work! Here are some ideas about what could we call the fanfic, feel free to suggest your ideas: </font> Iridium Tide</font>Raiders of the Lost Memory</font> For a plot, try reading the background story behind DropTeam (you can find that on DropTeam's website, or in your manuals, both electronic and paper, depending on which you have), then we'll work together to iron it out. Oh, and one suggestion: Don't use profanity here. These forums are actively moderated by real people, unlike so many other forums you may be familiar with. And they don't take their jobs lightly.

Yes, there are spots you should aim for, but they are not "more vulnerable". That term is used to refer to a cheap substitute for real armor and projectile ballistics. You should aim for the sides and rear, because the armor is thinner there and you have a better chance of penetration and doing damage, but remember, you're vulnerable as well. The only armor that gives you a reasonable chance of survival is your frontal armor, and that's what you should keep pointed toward the enemy. Where you shoot matters, as a shot to the side will cause some (potentially fatal) damage, and a shot to your turret will cause damage or destruction of your gunner, ballistics computer, or ammo (in the worst cases, your turret will blow up in spectacular fashion). If it seems you're doing little damage, don't be fooled. What looks like a 120mm HEAT strike to the rear that causes sparks to fly and nothing more in reality could be an immobilizing hit that knocks out the engine and leaves the target a sitting duck. In the realm of 120mm AP, it's really not effective beyond 4 km unless you're aiming for the rear end of a Paladin. At and beyond those ranges, you should use HEAT, and only if the target is sitting still. (My all-time record for a 120mm HEAT kill is 6,127 meters, set at Ice Field) This game requires a perfect mix of gunning and thinking, one that will hook you, guaranteed. Finally, you should stick to campaign and also play the standalone scenarios, before you go online. The standalone scenarios have maps the campaign mode doesn't have, thus allowing you to get used to the diversity of environment. Once online, you can communicate with your allies via chat or, if you have a microphone and/or headset, by voice by holding down the P key. We'll have an online battle tomorrow starting around 7:30-8 PM EST. I'll see you there.

Nice to see that things are working out. If you need someone to explain the basics, head onto the main forum where you can learn from me and everyone else. :cool: If you can't make it on Sunday, we also have online battles on Wednesday starting at 7:30-8 PM EST. Also, jby runs an online server on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and the weekends, so if he thinks he tutor you, you should head out there when you can. Edit: I went out on jby's server, and tested the /showfps true trick. It revealed that my lowest average framerate was 34 on House to House and The Dam, and my highest was 76.92 on Ice Field. Note: I was looking through the newest scenarios on jby's server, and spent just enough time in the deployment phase to get a general idea of what my laptop could do: CPU: AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile Tech TL-52 HD: 120 GB (5400 RPM) RAM: 1 GB Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 integrated with up to 128 MB shared memory All of this running at 800x600 with everything turned off and view distance close to the max. Not bad, eh? :cool: [ May 06, 2008, 05:58 PM: Message edited by: 152mmDumbRocket ]

Due to the unclearness over what the CPU was earlier, I couldn't tell what it was, so I didn't know. And Athlon XPs are dirt cheap these days. So is the memory I mentioned. Nice to see you're a Newegg fan too, that's where I always look for components.

Is the "Athlon 3000+" an Athlon XP 3000+, or a Athlon 64 3000+? If it's the former, you might want to get a new processor. Am I right or wrong, jby? As far as I can tell, you've got enough RAM, although you could upgrade to a higher speed DDR (Mushkin sells a 1 GB stick of DDR 500 RAM for about $60, 2 for 2 GB would only be about $120). Graphics are good enough as well, so unless the CPU simply isn't up to it, I don't think it's hardware related. By the way, jby, thanks for the info about OpenGL.

Well, Google isn't everything. About your nVidia Forceware drivers, what version are they? The latest version of Forceware for the GeForce 7600GT is Forceware 169.21. Also, the OpenGL app comes standard with your system. So if you're really downloaded the latest drivers, you should be ready. http://www.opengl.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page It's the OpenGL Wiki-just in case it helps. Finally, what is your system? It's hard to help when you're only giving us the graphics card series.

The OpenGL drivers are different from the Nvidia Forceware drivers you're talking about. Look up your OpenGL level before you respond again.