Weekly Report - 11/09/2012

Another very light week for gaming. At least I finished Arma 2 and Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead. The final mission of Arma 2 is an absolute bear; I think it took me over four hours to complete.

Arrowhead, on the other hand, was shorter - the whole game - than the final mission of Arma 2 alone! I finished the game in less than three hours. The only improvement I could find over Arma 2 is the addition of the apache chopper. Flying is great fun, but it's pretty challenging too. I recommend a joystick for flight.

After Arma I played a round of one of my favorite games ever - Left 4 Dead 2 - and decided to look through my backloggery for an unbeaten title to tackle. Turns out it's time to finally beat Half-Life.

Weekly Report - 11/01/2012

It's been an outright wash this week. I haven't even turned on my gaming PC since last weekend!

That said, I did make some progress in Arma 2. I have made it roughly halfway through the final mission which requires you, apparently, to conquer every single village in Chernarus. Charnarus is 225 square kilometers of foothills, forests, dirt roads, villages, factories, and a few larger towns. Fortunately you have access to a variety of vehicles and multiple squads of AI infantry and armor to assist.

In between bouts of Arma 2 I started to rebuild my ice HCE Embermage in Torchlight 2. The previous one was one-shotted through a wall by an unseen champion monster. This time around I'll be ignoring Dexterity and putting all attribute points into Focus and Vitality; I'm skeptical of the pitiful dodge rate granted by a handful of Dexterity points. I think it might also help to wield a one-handed wand instead of a two-handed staff so I can carry a shield. It's worth thinking about.

Weekly Report - 10/26/2012

I spent most of last weekend playing Torchlight 2 on HCE with some friends. We started over with fresh characters (see my latest build) in Act 1. Everyone died along the way - some of us more than others - but a good time was had and we made progress. We were most of the way through the Frost Hills area when my Embermage succumbed and, it being Sunday evening, we called it quits for the weekend. I hope to rebuild the character with a few changes for our next multiplayer romp.

Throughout the week I focused on Arma 2, which I'm enjoying rather more than I expected. I haven't even played much DayZ due to having so much interest in the core game so far. That said, the game certainly has a number of technical issues. Hopefully Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead resolves some of these issues. I haven't played multiplayer yet, but I suspect that's where the game will really shine.

Eyes Peeled

I've experienced enough of Arma 2 to share a few conclusions I've reached about the game and, perhaps, the world in general.

There are three NPC soldiers in this shot. Can you spot them all?

It's really hard to see people out in the field. I work in an office environment where I normally encounter other humans at a maximum distance of five meters. In Arma 2, they may start shooting at you from 500 meters away - and that's not even counting designated marksmen (snipers), mobile armor units, or static equipment like artillery.

Believe it or not, all three NPCs are less than 70 meters away.

That said, the realism is one of Arma 2's most appealing factors. I actually enjoy the challenge of tagging targets in the wilderness before they spot me. It reminds me of playing paintball in the woods, only at super-exaggerated range.

Anyway, I leave you with this piece of advice: keep your eyes peeled.

Eyes on!

Weekly Report - 10/19/2012

It's been a week since I beat Torchlight 2 and while I haven't stopped playing it altogether, I have definitely slowed down. I'd like to reserve my remaining interest in the game for playing with friends (if we could ever arrange to be available at the same time). That said, it's entirely possible my interest will spark again and I'll try out an embermage or berserker in HCE. Who knows?

I eventually caved and purchased Arma 2 late this week. I've only played the first two missions but I can already report it's a fun game. The multiplayer components look even more entertaining; Shack Tactical in particular looks like a blast.

Since I bought Arma 2 primarily to play DayZ it should be no surprise that I downloaded it on my first day with the game. How is it? Well, it's something else. Stay tuned for further details, but for now I'll say this: it's a jungle out there.

Head Tracking in Arma 2

Having just purchased Arma 2, but unable to play it during the 15GB download, I started browsing the web for some tips and tricks regarding the control scheme of this exceedingly complex game.

I'm not a fan of gimmicky motion tracking and alternative methods of player input. However, what I found in terms of motion tracking for Arma 2 is actually quite interesting. The TrackIR 5 from NaturalPoint is a piece of hardware which clips on to your monitor and tracks your real-life head movements to adjust your in-game character's view accordingly.

The TrackIR 5 tracks your head movements

The TrackIR 5 apparently taps into the game's free look control scheme and allows you to move your character's head without moving your character's body. That means you can look back over your shoulder while holding your weapon toward the enemy. I can imagine a number of uses for this in a complex, realistic military simulation such as Arma 2. Imagine being able to look around dynamically while running and gunning, or while driving a truck or flying a chopper.

The TrackIR 5 features excellent support for Arma 2 as well as a number of flight sims and racing games. The cost is a bit inaccessible at $150, but the link above offers a $5 discount.