This is Vic.

Before we all go cram some books into our heads this September, let's clear up some space by cracking them open with a few frags and some good ol' LAN gaming fun.

Chowdown2K2-2

Time for yet another. Here are the details for the last LAN gig of the summer at my place.

The Usual Information

Date: Sunday August 4, 2002
Time: 2pm - 2am+ (no overnight)
Place: Err... my place
Setup: BYOC; no speakers or watt suckers
Food: Out to get subs

Games at CD2K2-2

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (4v2 team)
Half-Life: Counter-Strike 1.5 (3v3)
Half-Life: Ricochet 1.0 (FFA, 1v1 tourney)
The Sum of all Fears (4v3 siege/dom/SAR)

Summary

Generally speaking, everyone had a good time. Whether it was getting schooled in War3 (man do I suck), doing stupid things like running around a tree in 3v3 CS, or just chucking discs and constantly falling to our doom in Ricochet, we all had our moments of glory. :)

A couple things to note -- we noticed a decreasing amount of games to play. Are there simply less appealing multiplayer games out there? Or has our preference in games become so specific that we ignore a mass of hidden gems and sleeper hits?

Another nice thing was the apparent lack of technical difficulties. No computers exploded, and there were only one or two minor network problems. Contrary to my usual gripe about not assigning static IP addresses on a LAN, I let my router's DHCP server kick-in and it worked flawlessly for those that brought their boxes in.

Stories of note

I must admit - this LAN party was a lot less eventful than the previous one last month. With no exploding computers, it was almost a little too quiet.

Warcraft III Retrospective
Counter-Strike Retrospective
Ricochet Retrospective
The Sum of all Fears Retrospective
Pre and post LAN: SOF2

WarCraft III Retrospective

Shock redux: I've never really liked any Blizzard games. The artwork and overall asset/content quality has always been excellent and superb. However, the gameplay in their three primary worlds - Warcraft, Diablo (shudder), and Starcraft, never appealed to me. They always seemed to place too much emphasis on quickly building a base, inciting rushes and melee combat.

Warcraft III is More Of The Same, but it's nice and seems pretty polished. Our first game was a 4v2v1 (human vs. human vs. comp). Three of us were literal newbies while one played the single player campaign and the other two were fairly experienced. I got my ass kicked pretty hard in the three or four skirmishes we went through. Jon and Wayne (no one named Bobbit) just mowed us down. I'm still too accustom to the CnC style of play that discourages rushes. Anyhow, it's definitely a game I'll spend more time on and give a chance (contrary to Starcraft).

Counter-Strike Retrospective

This was also a game I never *really* got into. I used to play it a bit "back in the day," but it's since been succeeded by what I consider the vastly superior and refined Soldier of Fortune 2.

The teams were split 3v3 -- Jon, Wayne, Gabe vs. Tony, Stephen and myself. There was an obvious slant towards our team because we were more natural FPS players. We probably had the most fun only because we weren't too serious about the game. There were serious "leadership" issues (re: "Okay I'm following you guys" -- leader proceeds to run in circles or around trees) but it was all in good fun. Friendly fire was a must and that led to some comical mishaps. We ran through several maps; most of which I never personally played (since I stopped at CS v1.1-ish).

Ricochet Retrospective

Yes, we played that new and obscure Half-Life mod that comes with 1.1.1.0. It was surprisingly fun but is definitely only a one-time deal. Basically you chuck discs at each other hoping to knock your opponents off circular platforms.

Jon and Stephen did surprisingly well while Tony, Gabe and I did a good job of following off the platforms without much assistance. There were only three maps (one of which was an arena map) and beyond the antics that went on and the constant "spiraling to death" scene, everything was generally good if not repetitive. The only catch is that once you've played it for an hour or so, you never really want to get back into it. There isn't replay value like a game of Warcraft III or Counter-Strike.

The Sum of all Fears Retrospective

Yeah, it's basically a dumbed-down version of Ghost Recon. It's considerably more trigger- happy like a traditional FPS than its supposed tactical roots. We played this with the same teams as CS and while the action was okay, it was far less intense than Ghost Recon back in late June. The random spawning was also a serious annoyance as you could spawn right in a building that was supposed to be defended in a siege or something else similar and stupid.

Generally good, but most likely we'll turn back to Ghost Recon in the future because of the greater intensity and stealth factor.

Pre and post LAN: SOF2

Stephen dropped off his computer the night before and we played some excellent Soldier of Fortune II on the internet. We actually did some very strategic stuff, coordinating our efforts (which were also followed through with other guys in the game). Random Mission Generator (RMG) CTF maps were among our favourites although we did play some INF and DEM as well. A couple solid hours of this before and after the main LAN party proved to create a nice sandwich of healthy team-based gaming.

End

Well, that's basically it for the summer. I don't have as many photos compared to CD2K2 (probably because I was not up and around as much trying to do tech. support) but I'll get those couple up. As usual, there's the trademark Gabe-snoozing pic in the collection. It's been a great time in both instances and there will be more. Some uncertainty exists as to the possibility of a Winter Holiday Chowdown (school interference and the like) but we'll see. There will definitely be more next summer, though -- guaranteed.

Chowdown2K2-2 Photos

	Computer setup inside. The computer setup in the main computer room - me, Tony (playing off the laptop), Stephen. Unseen is the dedicated server box.
	Computer setup outside. The computer setup just outside the main computer room - Wayne, Jon and Gabe in the foreground. Unseen are the strands of network cable running along the floor.
	Chilling. Relaxing after about 10 - 12 hours of gameplay. Cut off is Wayne on the left and Gabe (though you'll see Gabe in the next pic).
	Gabe Snoozing. The guy has always slumped over this chair and fallen asleep after we play games. It's supposed to be an adrenaline rush, not an anesthetic!