Tetrinet
The Players
Posted By: That One Guy
We started off with some friendly games of Tetrinet while we waited for stragglers. We hadn't played on the dorkslayer.com server since my good friend Andy reset the winlist, so it was fun to start with a clean slate.
It was BigBadMrT's (Mark) first time playing Tetrinet, though he was an avid fan of Tetris in his younger days. He proved to be quite the "hustler" in the few games that we played... Don't believe me? Click the nice "Show Tetrinet Scores" link on the home page to see where we stand.
Starcraft - Sorry All! No pics or replays from our game.
The Players
Posted by: That One Guy
Actually, we started out trying to play a game of Rise Of Nations, but the dang thing doesn't seem to want to allow us to have more than 3 people in a given game. Instead of fighting it, we moved on to Starcraft. We had to download the latest patch (didn't think they were still updating that game) - and some of the new features rock! They've added the ability to add units to grouped team by using SHIFT-# (like CTRL-#, except it will add on to an already existing group.) There are other cool additions for making control of the game easier, but for some reason, they still haven't added an "idle SCV|Drone|Probe" button. Oh well, the game still rocks!
Even Starcraft gave us a little trouble at first, due to some connection issues, but those were resolved quickly and we were able to get our game on.
We played a game of Top vs. Bottom with B_ROCK (Brock) and That One Guy (Jeff) versus BigBadMrT (Mark) and tsam314 (Dan). Brock and I started in the top-mid-right and top-right of the map "Greener Pastures"; while Mark and Dan started in the top-mid-left and top-left.
Brock and I decided we'd start by moving straight down the map and attempting to secure the right-half of the map, then advance to the enemy half. In a maddening rush to not only secure our positions, but get the resources cranking, we quickly dotted the map with Command Centers... Brock actually took over the whole bottom of the map, while I took the right and center.
As I (That One Guy) started establishing my Command Center in the center of the map, I met up with some of Dan's troops. We had a little gunfight about the same time I heard the ever-so-pleasant notification: "Nuclear Missile Ready."
Of course, we're on the conference bridge having a good laugh as the first "Nuclear Launch Detected" warning of the game hit (well, ok, Brock and I were having the laugh.) Dan started sending troops down to get me. Since I hadn't quite established that section of the base yet... I continued to fortify with some basic troops, but asked Brock for some backup.
30 seconds later, I see B_ROCK's trademark "Boom-Boom Brigade" at the crossroads between our bases and the enemy front-lines. Nuke Fest and Siege Sensation, a merry mix to be sure. (I wish I would've saved the replay so I could've snapped a screenshot of those Siege Tanks, it really is a beautiful sight ... considering you're not on the receiving end.)
Anyway, it wasn't long before I had enough fortification to hold my ground, so I engaged Dan full-on, while Brock sent his brigade to move into Mark's neighborhood. I didn't get to see what happened there, but it didn't seem to be long before Brock's crew was finished with Mark and coming to help finish off Dan.
It was a very well played game by all... I think Dan stopped more nukes than I'd care to ever have stopped (hehe) -- but thanks to our plethora of bases all over the map... resources weren't an issue, which, in my humble opinion, is what won us the game... we were able to "paint them in a corner" - limiting their income of resources.
I'm not worried though... I know my time will be at hand next week. I've been on the receiving end of a heapin' helpin' of whoop-butt from Mark and Dan in RTS games before. I'm arranging to have eyes in the back of my head installed this week, so I'm covered for the revenge that will be dealt me next week. GOOD GAME ALL!
Motocross Madness 2
The Players
Posted by: That One Guy
We started out with some racing on Mackheu Basin (see pic.) It was a great
warmup and I realized I'd cranked the sensitivity setting up to max a few
weeks ago. I totally wasn't ready for it, and flew off the track many times
with my spastic quick turns.
Everyone did well with Brock and Dan taking a few of the races. Other
tracks raced were: Grassy Knolls SE and Funky Flyer Second Edition.
Luckily, when we moved on to stunts... I turned my sensitivity down slightly and lowered my resolution so my oh-so-antiquated machine could get the best performance possible. We played two rounds of Halfgrand Playground and wow, did everyone do well. I wished I would've scored a screenshot of the final scores after the 2nd round. We were all at 400,000 or higher.
I know my tweak in settings did me a world of good, as I was able to pull 3
[score] x 5.5 jumps off the ever-famous Smokin' ramp:
2 - 20800 x 5.5 (see pic)
1 - 21300 x 5.5
It totally felt like a 21600 x 5.5 (the current FNG high) is doable again
if not beatable. I'm thinkin' ... 22500 x 6 *as I throw the gauntlet at all
FNGers that have ever scored a 17400 x 4.5 or higher on the Smokin' ramp.*
After the stunts, we had an incredibly entertaining run at Baja on an ultra-cool track whose name flees me at time of writing. I'll look it up again cause it's definitely one FNG needs to return to in the future. It was loaded with high flying jumps that, if hit right, sent you soaring for what felt like half the quarry, but sitll offered you a nice landing ramp down a hill on the other side.
We liked the track so much, we decided to play some "Tag Ball" tag in the
quarry when we finished the Baja (see pic.)
It was a delight, and Dan actually only missed the #1 slot on the podium
by a few seconds.
Brock, Mark and I tried to hook up with some Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 after Motocross Madness 2, but were unsuccessful in getting connected. Oh well, I'll rope one of them into testing with me until I can master which ports need to be forwarded and which need to be triggered. I will post those in the faq when I get them nailed down, as well as posting the settings that I've been most successful with on the Smokin' ramp for Motocross Madness 2... watch for them in the future.
Anyone that has similar success with any of these games, feel free to take screenshots of your settings to "share with the rest of the class" as well. Nothing is funner than pushing each other to new heights (literally) and new limits. Kudos to all who are taking that challenge. See ya next week!