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First off I can’t knock this game too much.  It’s a real blast to play with friends; especially the Co-op missions which is what we look for in a game first before it’s even released.  So far since Modern Warfare (the first one) each one has been the same.  Play more, level up, unlock, restart.

Since the first release each Call of Duty game has been really good.  Not only that, each one has spawned other games that attempt the same concept of leveling up while blowing opponents away.  There is just something about games that you gain levels in that makes them addicting.  Maybe it’s the increases in power making you feel like a monster?  I don’t know.  It’s a new phenomenon that has emerged with some of these games.

With the recent release of of the “Stimulus Map Pack DLC” comes 5 new multiplayer maps.  Think about what you are paying for.

I can think of a few reasons off the top of my head to not buy this extra content.

• No Dedicated Server Software – This is one of those things that separates PC Gaming from consoles.  From what I have read there are millions of PC gamers that are quite frankly, pissed off, about this.  When joining a game it chooses the “best host”.  This is a bad idea considering I have ended up with some of the laggiest games ever conceivable.  I was once connected to a host that was running on wireless using a laptop with an AMD @ 1.8 ghz.  Imagine how quickly this game ended once everyone left.  Another point that needs to be made is the fact that since you can’t join a specific server/game/map, you don’t get to play where you want.  YOU ARE LIMITED to what the game gives you.  You wanted to play Terminal?  Too bad.  Oh there’s a cheater in your game?  That’s also a shame because you can’t kick, ban, mute, etc.  Which brings me to the next bullet.
• Hackers – Need I say more?  Of course Valve is responsible for the anti-cheat side (I guess..) running VAC but how up to date is that?  Get this, my roommate and I decided to play one Saturday afternoon.  We were put into a game with 2 players using aimbots.  We left and clicked “Find game” again.  It put us in the same game.  We left again and did the same thing but this time picked a different game mode.  We were put into another game with another aimbot that had just launched a nuke.  Wonderful.  This happened a (not surprisingly) SEVEN times.  Would you like to be level 70?  Maybe you’ll get put into one of those hacked hosts that instantly gives you 10e-11 experience points.  With that happening you’ve unlocked everything so why play anymore?  Waste of money if you ask me…
• IWNet does not care. – Welcome to earth.  IWNet’s forums have been flooded with numerous posts like this very one you’re reading.  Everyone is complaining about the hackers, lack of software and updates, glitches that need to be fixed, etc etc.  This goes on for pages and pages and there will be no response to them since, well, we are still giving them money.  The lack of response to the *needs* of the game are sickening.
• You are paying for maps. – The reason I made this post.  You’ve already payed $50 for a game that has been saturated with cheats, fails to release updates to fix reported glitches, etc.  You are giving them an extra $15 for something that should be free in the first place.  I can understand if you get bored with the maps it already has but guess what you can do with dedicated servers?  THAT’S RIGHT! Custom maps!  One of the biggest things that brings someone in the PC Gaming is not only the look at flexibility but the ability in itself to play maps that have been contributed by the community.

I’m sure there are a million reasons TO buy the game.  It’s fun, fast, and it’s good for LAN’s.  Problem is : this was a game that was to be made for the console and should have had major changes in it for PC release.

I’m sure the screenshot at the top of this post looks very familiar to console and PC gamers alike.

Update : Apparently there have been numerous reports of hackers being able to send trojans to other players machines..

“It’s possible if you host a game for a hacker client, and it’s possible if you don’t host a game, but are connected to a hacker hosting the game. If the game’s net code is not 100% secure then it could be possible to craft special packets of data to cause buffer over-runs (stack smashing). This injects hackers code into your computer, which executes it, and hey presto you have a remote code execution hack. If the code’s written well it’s possible to make it secure, but stack-smashing bugs are so often overlooked.  Yet another reason we need dedicated servers.”  -  Quoted from IW Forums ( Link )

Link to Steam Forums post stating this discovery in the IW Net Forums.

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Ah, a long standing battle of which is better…although the main battle is between Ventrilo and TeamSpeak, Mumble is a good alternative to either of these.

With the recent release of Teamspeak 3, Ventrilo is having more and more competition to go up against.

There really are no online posts with hard-proof and real data about the bandwidth, cpu usage, memory usage, etc is for each one of these programs it is all linked more to personal preference.

If you have your own server boxes like we do you can run the free ventrilo server which is limited to 8 connections while Teamspeak has a limit I cannot remember what it was.  As far as I can remember, Mumble has no limit.

While some may worry about bandwidth used by these programs there is no real difference between them.  It all depends on what voice codec is used coupled with its bit rate and whether stereo or mono.

Like I said, it boils down to personal preference.  Ventrilo is certainly easier to install and maintain and use rather than Teamspeak but I consider ventrilo to be like apple.  Closed off to innovation and source.

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…using InstantStorm.

I’ve actually known about this program for quite a while and I enjoy using it.  Usually when I do it’s from creating some kind of looping motion in Cinema 4d, exporting the 90-frame render to flash, and then creating the screensaver from it.

InstantStorm is software that you can use to transform a *.swf file into a screensaver with an installer and it’s extremely simple to use.  Just tell it what files it needs and viola.

Some features include…

• Setting options for screensaver settings including Exit events and Changing Resolution.
• Override all “Stop” Actions
• Password Protected Installer
• Settings Dialog Designer
• Custom Icon
• Screensaver Preview

All-in-all, this is in my opinion one of the best applications out for creating your own screensaver.  One of the best things : It’s free; although we always encourage donating.

The only downside : Knowing how to use flash; that’s another story.

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Having an FTP and file server at your home is a very useful thing to have. By having a central point in your home where everything is stored and have the ability to share everything you need across your home network.

Now, if you are going to grab files from your home while you are away there are a few things you should really keep in mind before doing this.

• Having it exposed to the outside world will make you available to brute force attacks (mostly from Russia that I’ve noticed).
• Make sure you have your ports forwarded to the server.  You can set this up in your routers administration panel > Port Forwarding.
• Do you have high bandwidth on your connection?  I would recommend having at least 2Mb up (~240 kbps upload speed).

Today since we are working with windows we will be talking about FileZilla FTP Server.  Why not IIS on Server 2k3?  Keep Reading…
(continue reading…)

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