Anyone playing this? Really good fun.

www.playapex.com

Free to play...

Add me on Origins, I have a distinct lack of friends there. Forever alone!

"astzgamer" on Origin

"astz" on Steam

Humble Bundle Monthly

"Immediately receive The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, Quake Champions, and a special offering for The Elder Scrolls: Legends with more to come!
Each game is yours to keep. Cancel anytime. Enjoy 10% off the Humble Store."

$12 gets you Quake Champions early access and a load of other games. Big saving, whether the games are worth it or not is up to you. I figured this would be helpful to some people here! :)

Instant Game Access
50 Shards
100 Platinum
2000 Favor
Ranger Champion
BJ Champion

My Zowie EC2 eVo mouse is acting really weird. Using it on an Artisan red clothpad, but it is skipping all over the place. Not sure if it is a dodgy sensor, a bad combination with the pad or something else...

Anyone had a similiar issue? If not, can you tell me what the best budget mice are to buy these days?

If I have to buy a new one, I don't want to spend a lot. Are there no-name brands which perform well now? I am a bit out of the loop.

Thanks for any help.

Anyone using windows 10? Just wondering if it's worth trying out. I am a pretty casual PC user at the moment so... If and when I do pick up any games (for example UT4), are there any annoying consequences or negatives of switching from Windows 7? I never even bothered trying Windows 8.

Been following this site for longer than I care to think about. Just wanted to whine a little bit. It has really fallen in terms of content. Not the writers, I guess there isn't much to talk about anymore. The whole FPS scene just seems so flat. :(

Cry with me, brothers!

http://www.elitedangerous.com/

Anybody going to play this here? I grew up with Atari and Amiga so for me this brings back a lot of memories. I have watched a few gameplay videos and it looks like a really immersive and interesting experience. I didn't back it on Kickstarter but now wish that I had! Also heard that it is stunning when combined with Occulus Rift...

I'm thinking of pre-ordering it now and currently researching a flight stick to go with it. Anybody else going to play it or have any thoughts about it? How does it compare with Eve or any other similar games?

CPU: Intel i7 920 (socket 1366 LGA) @ 2.67ghz

MB: Gigabyte EX58-UD3R (x58 chipset)

RAM: 8GB DDR3

GFX: MSI Radeon 7850 Twin Frozr 2gb

HDD: 1TB Sata

SOUND: Asus Xonar DG

If I upgrade one thing (maybe more), what should it be? Bit stuck! Any help appreciated. :)

I don't have a set budget, but I don't want to spend shitloads. I want to buy the best 'bang for bucks' as my Dad says!

I don't seem to have any problems with most things but I'm in a position to upgrade now (money) so thinking it might be worth future-proofing it a bit! I play mostly Diablo 3 and some single player games. Currently Shadow of Mordor and Alien Isolation... Going to be playing UT4 and whatever other big shooters take my fancy. :)

*****UPDATE!*****

So, I ordered....

SSD: Crucial mx100 256GB - 90 euro
HDD: WD 3TB External drive - 99 euro
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12DX i4 - 70 euro
Case: Corsair 300R case - 85 euro

Extra: Computer chair (much needed, looks cool - racer style)

So.. I decided to an OC on my CPU before I consider upgrading the motherboard etc. As a cheaper option. I bought the cooler and case to help with that. The SSD and HDD are a general upgrade. I decided to wait with the graphics card since I'm not really having any problems with any games and it gives me time to save up for a full upgrade next year or something (CPU, MB and GPU).

I also got a new TV n stuff so I kinda blew money elsewhere. :P

I'll post another update when all the stuff arrives and say how the SSD feels and if I have success with the OC! :P

Thanks for the advice once again!

YARR!

******UPDATE******

Ok, final post for closure!

My motherboard went and died on me, great timing. This kind of forced (!) me to look at other upgrade options, went with new CPU, motherboard and ram as a more future-proof upgrade.

So... I now run this!

Case: Corsair 300r
CPU: i7 4790K @ 4.4ghz
MB: Asus Maximus VII Ranger
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB DDR 2133mhz
GPU: XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB
Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 cooler
Storage: Crucial 256MB SSD, 1TB internal, 4TB external HDD

Monitor: 27" 120hz iiyama ProLite G2773HS

Zowie EC2 eVo mouse
QCK+ pad
Logitech G510 keyboard
Sennheiser HD280 pro headphones
New super comfy racer-style computer chair. :)

Wasn't cheap in the end, but god damn it's fast! :) I bought the GPU for 150 euros on ebay, the keyboard for 40 euros on ebay, the headphones from a UT player in NORWAY for 35 euros etc. The rest I bought from amazon and Scan.co.uk at normal prices. The monitor was free from my buddies at Team Dignitas, thanks once again for that!!!

So even from a mix of ebay deals, amazon/scan buys and a kindly gift from Team Dignitas I still ended up spending.... quite a lot. Ended up with a great PC that should last me quite a while though. :)

I've been using this mouse for a few days now, as an upgrade from a Microsoft intelli 3.0a. What I wan't to know is if anyone has had any problems with the mouse feet or tracking? It feels like it really drags and it's effecting my aim. I'm also having problems with the lod and me unintentionally tilting the mouse resulting in it stopping tracking.

My sens is around 30cm/360, at the highest dpi setting (2300) and at 1000hz.

Using an artisan hien red I think, it has no branding on it. I tried it on a navy coloured artisan too but I don't think it was any better. I've ordered a QCK+ because I read that black works best with this mouse... Should arrive tomorrow.

Anyone got any similiar experiences or is it just me being whiney?

Update:

I started using the QCK+ and have gotten a bit more used to the liftoff distance now and the mouse feels great. Can't really fault it now, except for the tracking on other pads. :)

Hello!

What is the best sound card for gaming (and general music) these days? I've been using a Creative X-FI for a long time and always thought it was pretty damn good but it's finally died on me. Wondering if I should just replace it with another X-FI or if I should try a Xonar or Soundblaster Z?

Anyone got any quick advice on what to go for? I don't want to spend a lot, no more than 100 euros but preferably a lot less.

I'm using Superlux HD 668B headphones, currently without an amp. So if anyone has any advice on wether I should get an amp or not too.. That would be helpful. I would like to buy something quickly, and yes I will be googling it myself but was hoping good ol' esreality would have some advice for me. :)

Thanks in advance!

Somebody has asked me for advice about buying a monitor, expecting me to know what to tell him. Help! ;(

He's looking for a jack of all trades monitor, budget up to £300 (more like £200), which performs well in 3D applications but is also good for casual gaming (MMO, Diablo 3 etc). Preferably around 27".

I know there are a lot of talented folks on this website who are interested in 3D stuff, hardcore gaming and also keep up to date with hardware so I figured it was worth a shot asking! I really have no clue about modern monitors as I've deliberately used a CRT for the last 14 years or so and not bothered to keep up to date (I know, I know)...

How important is refreshrate etc? Any specific brands or models?

Any advice would be appreciated. :)

Hey,

I've tried a few times recently to overclock the default Hz on my IMO 1.1a. It's been successful in the past, but for some reason every time I do it now (win7 64bit) the mouse just switches off and won't come back on until I change the USB port. Can't get it to work! I'm following the guides to the letter etc... Has anyone else had this problem and found a fix?

I have had it working on win7 64bit but it was a different install, so could it be a driver issue? Motherboard? Intellipoint? :S

Cheers in advance!

Hi,

I'd appreciate some help if anyone has the time. I am looking to upgrade my system and am not really sure what is the best thing to go for. I currently have...

CPU: Athlon II x4 630 (Socket: AM3, Clockspeed: 2.8 GHz)
GPU: Radeon HD 4870 (1gb)
Motherboard: MSI 770-C45 (Socket: AM3)
RAM: 8gb DDR3 (1333mhz)
Soundcard: Creative X-FI
PSU: 600w

I play mostly singleplayer games these days, the odd bit of UT and so on. A lot of DayZ too! Looking forward to the standalone. :)

I have a budget of £200 to upgrade, was hoping to order something tomorrow if I can work out what's best.. I'm still googling around but if you have any advice, post away! :)

Thanks in advance.

YARR! <3 ESR.

AMD Athlon II x4 630 (2.8ghz)
nvidia 8800GTX
4gb DDR3
1TB HD

I'm considering upgrading my PC and wondering if anyone has any suggestions? I had a quick browse through the forum to see if there was any recent, similar threads but I couldn't quite find what I wanted. Any help appreciated!

I never keep up to date with the latest developments so it's quite daunting trying to find out what all the best buys are. I seem to remember reading about the i5 being the best CPU to go for because of overclocking capabilities?

Another question I guess would be, is it actually worth upgrading what I have?

Thanks in advance! :)

After an intense weekend of competition the UT2004 tournament at Dare ProtoPlay 2011 has come to an end. It was interesting for me to on be on the organizational side of a UT2004 LAN event for a change and I have to say it's quite a challenge. However, I am very happy with the way it all turned out. I got to see some amazing matches, meet some of the nicest guys in the gaming community and generally have a great experience - although exhausting.

Check out the ASTZ! @ Dare 2011 Image Gallery for an idea of how it all looked.

Tournament wise, we saw some fantastic matches with the two Dutch players dominating (as expected). The biggest surprise for most people was the amazing comeback to form from ecko! who came out of a 2 year absence to a striking performance in the tournament, even taking a map from our eventual winner. zelVz also impressed me, with a fantastic hitscan and strong performance throughout, only falling short to the more experienced players in his first ever international LAN. A disappointed Kenchu and lo2dk also fell short of the very top spots, although they both showed a lot of promise and determination.

In the end it was always going to be between ScrMz! and Frantic and they didn't disappoint. All the scores from the 1on1 tournament are now available. There are interviews with some of the players as well. They talk about how they found the experience, what's next for them and how satisfied they feel with their performances.


Links: Original Announcement, Coverage Article with Interviews, Predictions etc, Image Gallery, YouTube Channel, Tournament Page, #DARE.UT

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ScrMz, Kenchu, Rozzy

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Working on the bracket, making sure all the seedings are correct!

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Right after winning the 2on2 tournament on the Friday.

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Scheduled: 03:00 CDT, 12 August 2011 to 13:00 CDT, 14 August 2011
Schedule: Passed

As the UT2004 LAN in Dundee, Scotland draws near, I have been collecting some information from the confirmed players to put together this coverage article. On the pages below you will find some information about the players themselves along with their personal predictions!

Mathijs "NeMeS|s" Beemsterboer
Florian "zelvZ" Malletier
Thibault "ecko" Delaye
Jan "lo2dk" Hannibalsen
Ivan Thomas "Forseti" Pietruszenk
Andreas "Kenchu" Ehnbom
Wouter "ScrMz" Hinloopen
Kim A. "rmzs" Lorentzen
Frederiek "Frantic" van Gammeren
Matthew "savantguarde" Bett

Lovey, eXen, Skullthrone, marauds, Rozzy

The tournament is sponsored by Intel, Bigfoot Networks and Artisan Gaming. The fantastic Jee Network are hosting the signups and bracket, you can find the link below to register your interest.

The tournament will take place alongside Dare ProtoPlay 2011 - a large games industry event where teams compete to design a game in just 6 weeks, with the winner being judged by the public and some industry VIPs for large prizes and potential jobs in the industry.

The Format, Seedings, Groups and so on will be added to the article tomorrow! :)

Update: Tournament results! Read on to page 13 for some player interviews. Gallery, demos and videos coming soon.

Links: Original Announcement, Tournament Page, #DARE.UT

I know there are a lot of guys here with great experience in providing online coverage for LAN tournaments. I am organizing a LAN next week and was hoping to provide SOME kind of coverage online but I fear the net connection will be terrible.

What's the minimum speed/bandwidth needed to run a (stable) audio and/or video broadcast?

The download speed is around 7 mb and the uplink is around 256 k at the venue. This won't be dedicated for me either, I'm not sure how many others will try to use it but I'm pretty sure it will be spread thinly. :(

Any help appreciated!

It is my great pleasure to announce a UT2004 LAN to be held in Dundee, Scotland. It will take place between the 12th and 14th of August at Caird Hall, the premiere venue in Dundee...

The tournament is sponsored by Intel, Bigfoot Networks and Artisan Gaming with more to be announced. The fantastic Jee Network are hosting the tournament, you can find the link below where you can sign up and read news updates.

There will be 20 high-spec machines, so there is no need to worry about lugging equipment to the venue. All you need to bring are your peripherals and config files. The tournament will take place alongside Dare ProtoPlay 2011 - a large games industry event where teams compete to design a game in just 6 weeks, with the winner being judged by the public and some industry VIPs for large prizes and potential jobs in the industry.

The focus of the 3 days will be on a 1on1 DM tournament but I am happy to organise some 2on2 and 4on4 if people are interested. Signups are now open to everyone via JeeSports (see below) but expect more information to be released shortly!

This is a great chance for the UT2004 community to meet up and put a face to those names you've played with for so long. It's also a chance for a fantastic competitive community to test their skills in a LAN arena once again.

hypno, ScrMz, rmzs, Frantic, winz, Varagh, zelvZ, NmS and many others have already expressed their interest in attending.


Links: Tournament Page, #DARE.UT

Hi,

I’m working on a project to design an ‘FPS Trainer’. I know the obvious answer here is "Practice, Practice, Practice.." but try to think outside of the box here. It’s going to be a web-based game to help develop the skills necessary to compete in popular FPS titles like UT, QL etc.

…an accessible browser-based multiplayer game combining an innovative coaching system with a community-based website and social networking features.

The objective of the game is for players to rapidly improve their FPS skills and knowledge through sound training methods and helpful coaching. Players will be able to rapidly progress and become more proficient in popular multiplayer FPS titles such as Quake Live, Unreal Tournament, Halo etc. The idea being that if you can master the basics of FPS deathmatch, you will be able to carry those skills into other games. As you progress you will also learn about the deeper strategic elements of FPS gaming that can bridge the gap between beginner and intermediate, onto advanced and professional levels of play.

Now, we all know that although the game physics, item timings, layouts, weapon characteristics and so on, all vary from game to game, the general makeup remains similar in 1on1 modes. Each interpretation usually has a time limit, is won by frags, has a power up/armour pickup system and various weapons. The weapons have short/med/long range uses and we can see similarities from title to title. Due to this, there are certain skill sets that carry from game to game..

Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea. This is not going to be a full competitive game like Quake Live. Think of it more like a training centre, with customizable features to help practice elements from the game of your choice in a separate 3D world.

Something like this can only be good for deathmatch gaming. We all know about the dwindling player numbers.. So I'd like to discuss any ideas you have regarding features and what people would like to see included.

I'm well aware most people here are more than comfortable with the basics of 1on1, so I'm talking about the deeper levels of strategy like positioning, setting traps, timing multiple items etc and how you think those could be taught outside of playing the actual game itself.

For example; timing specific modes, movement modes (think more about positioning rather than strafe jumping etc), peer coaching etc

I'll probably keep editing this post to try and make it a bit more understandable, so bear with me. :)

Hi, I'm gonna be setting up a LAN this weekend. It was meant to be Quakelive but I guess that's pretty much impossible, so I'm gonna try Quake 3 instead. Got a couple of questions though.

- Can I just copy my whole Quake3 directory onto each machine, from a USB key, will it run fine like that?

- Do I need to have a dedicated server? Or, is a listen server enough? It's just going to be duel, maybe 1 spec.

It's for a showmatch/challenge match type booth at a computer fair. I downloaded a High Quality config.

Are there any other files you recommend getting?

Thanks in advance!

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/debut-gamep...orm/100172

It's violent, bloody and without redeeming social value. When do we get to play it? Featuring music by Nine Inch Nails.

OK! So I somehow managed to blow up my CPU this weekend while trying to uprade. Possibly need a new motherboard aswell as they were both pretty dated. Soooo, it's been a long time since I looked at new components and I'm totally out of touch with what's good for the money etc.. Now I'm looking for some help in finding a new Motherboard/CPU combo, PCI-E express on a pretty tight budget.

Looking to spend under £150 pounds... I've got a good power supply, with two PCI-E power connecters, 1gb ram (maybe 4gb soon), good graphics card possibly on the way soon too. So I'm basically just looking for a good CPU/MBOARD to build a computer from.

Yeah, yeah.. I know, google etc! :D

Appreciate any help!!!

YARR!

___________________________________________

Ok, so I managed to get my hands on some new components and I'm pretty happy with the results! It didn't cost me much at all and I now have a pretty sweet system! :)

amd athlon II x4 630 (2.8ghz)
nvidia 8800GTX
4gb DDR3
1terabyte HD

hell ye :D

THANKS FOR THE HELP! :) Appreciated. Woulda probally preferred to go intel, as some of you suggested, but this was too good an offer to pass up.. MASSIVE improvement anyway. :)

Previous specs:

Intel P4 3ghz
Nvidia 6200LE
1gb DDR2
80gigabyte HD

HA!

Ich bin daddy!!11 No, really! My baby boy, QUINN! Born at 8:41am, on the 19th of December. :)

He was 8 pounds, 6 ounces, 52cm long. Pure awesomeness. Half pirate, half helicopter etc. The Usual.

MWUHAHAHa!











\o/ \o/ \o/

IM A FIRE AND I BURN BURN BURN TONIGHT!

aufurfuksake.

So... have you seen southland tales? please tell me i'm not the only one that found it to be a total MIND FUCK. it was so confusing and so lost and oh my fucking god i'm going to jump out my window. it was awful.

awful.

AWFUL!

currently using a sony ericsson k800, really like the camera and most of the features but just fancy a change. i'm already on an o2 contract, so just want to buy a phone!

any suggestions? ideally i'd like great photo and music capabilities, with a nice interface. price doesn't matter as at the moment, i'm just looking!

iphone?!?

p.s. i'm a helicopter

............

Hallo Hallo.

I'm planning a trip with my girlfriend before we go back to study at the end of August. The dates are the 10th of August to the 24th/25th
. Basically, we're looking at going from Edinburgh to Berlin for 5 nights, then to Paris for 4 nights, then onto Barcelona for 5 nights. Then home! We've already priced it (works out around 750 pounds for two for all the flights + hostel accomodation). All I'd like to know is if anyone knows any good local websites for those cities where I might find better (cheaper!) kinds of accomodation, maybe some tour guides etc. We don't really want to goto other cities or anything, we're pretty set on the current choices, just trying to bring the price down and maybe get some tips about where to go and what to see while there!

Any help appreciated!


.....YARR! <3

*update*

BOOKED! :D

Edinburgh -> London -> Berlin -> Paris -> Barcelona -> London -> Edinburgh!

whoop whoop. gonna be fun!

*update 2!*

ok... so i need some ideas for stuff to see in berlin! where to go etc, we're there for 4 nights. apparently she wants to see the concentration camps and the berlin wall, so i want something CHEERY, don't wanna be all doom and gloom right at the start of the trip. no disrespect, but c'mon, hardly a way to start a holliday! :D

GIMMIE SUGGESTIONS FRIENDS!

YARR!

Ok, basically I'm looking to sell some components and possibly a PC but not sure about prices, so I would like some suggestions! Make me an offer if you're interested... I know it's not the best gear around, but it might be a lot better than what you're using or maybe you just don't need a top-end machine. This machine runs Quake4, UT2004 etc without any problems.

Full PC (already built):

-Abit x800-Guru Gfx card
-Pentium 4 2.6ghz Cpu
-Abit IC7-Max3 Motherboard
-Creative Fatal1ty X-FI Soundcard
-1gb Corsair DDR

Components:

-Fatal1ty AA8XE Motherboard (PCI-E)
-VIA Chrome 128mb GFX Card (PCI-E)

ASAP! :)

arrr....

There's two cows in a field. First cow says to the second cow, "So you heard about this mad cow disease that's going round?". The Second cow replies "Doesn't affect me mate!". The first cow looks surprised, shakes his head and asks "How do you figure that exactly?" The second cow then looks at the first cow again and says ".......I'm a Helicopter!".

Yep. AWESOME!

Without a doubt the greatest fantasy role playing have I have ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever encountered. Check it out!

http://www.lanceandeskimo.com/flash/quest.html


p.s. i stole this from MeZ