Yeah I always turned the engine noise off for most of the mission, only turned it back on for landing.

Damn, i think my eyes hurt from watching those screenshots. 😜

can i post my space combat stories here also?

Here's my story of when I joined up with the local Civil Space Patrol - aka Independence War - My callsign is Ag, and I reported to CSP Command at our local spaceport that's about a mile from the local mall. So our commander had all the new cadets go out on milk runs - we were supposed to go out into space, spred out and each one of us was to enter a debris field from various pionts - and locate ourselves a ship that's floating somewhere in this *huge* debris field - some photos from our first mission:

Using the command module to dock onto the USS Dreadnaut

Yay! I've found the Dreadnaut - unfortunately, she's beat up

Timmy, my copilot

After we brought the Dreadnaut back to base, our parents and the spectators cheered us, and then everyone went into the base's rec room for burgers, hot dogs, fries, shakes, soft drinks, and fancy Christmas-style cookies to socialize. During this time the game co-ordinators (of which my mom is the boss) played back a video of tonight's "Milk Run".

Happy Flying, Pilots!

Deathclaw Hunting 101

Game: Fallout.
Developer: Black Isle Studios.
Publisher: Interplay Entertainment.
Release: 1997

Even since I was raised as a kid in Vault-13, I always wanted to be a soldier. Yes, I read those pre-war magazines, and I always thought military soldiers were cool. You know, the helm, the uniform, the assault rifle, and the likes. Unfortunately, such gears didn't exist anymore in the Vault. Fortunately, I was the one picked by the Overseer for the water-chip mission, I took it as a good opportunity to live up my dream. Of course, I started with wimpy Vault uniform and even wimpier 10mm pistol, but hey, it was the entire wasteland out there! There must be some leftover junks from the pre-war era; the cool things I read in those old magazines.

I considered myself lucky; after roaming the wasteland for some time, there was a nice trader in a town named the Hub. Among his junks, there was a really cool thing called 'combat armor', which was probably the closest thing to the military uniform I saw in the magazines. There was also an even cooler thing named 'assault rifle'. Hey, just because I'm a pro-science, pro-tax left winger, it doesn't mean I do not love guns. In fact, I do love them. The bigger, the better. Guns, guns, guns. Hell yeah!

Ah, but back to the adventure, I also met several companions, namely Ian, Tycho, Katja, and Dogmeat. The last was a dog, and a very good one. People were afraid for him, but I won his affection with Iguana-On-A-Stick. By the way, unlike other adventurers in the wasteland out there, I didn't called me and my companions a 'party'; I'd rather call them 'special forces' instead, and for good reason.

Wasteland Special Forces

The old photograph above shows me and my team. I was, of course, the guy wearing the combat armor, with green camouflage uniform and cool-looking military helmet. If you don't recognize the short-haired fellow in metallic armor, it was Ian. Yup, I managed to convince him to switch his leather jacket with something better, as well as convincing him to have a haircut! I also convinced Katja to wear leather armor and do away with her mohawks, and she actually looked prettier that way. Tycho and Dogmeat were the only ones who did not change their appearance.

But before continuning with my story, let me tell me more about myself. I was already a 35 years old when the Overseer sent me to find the water-chip, and even today, I still wonder why he didn't choose younger, more fit candidates. The more I think about it, the more I believe that he chose me because I suffer from a genetic disorder called Hexadecimal Editing Syndrome. As the result, I have more beneficial physical attributes than average person, especially Perception, Charisma, and Luck --and I'm not a Gifted person!

Uh, yes, I'm a hexadecimal mutant freak. See my S.P.E.C.I.A.L attributes if you don't believe me.

I think the most valued attribute is my Luck. See, just few days after my exploration through the wasteland, I found a truck which contained a lot of bottle caps, which translated to currency in such post-nuclear civilization. So yes, I was filthy rich!

Rich, rich, rich!

Ah, but let me tell you about what me and my Special Forces team were doing down there. You see, it was a pretty large town named L.A. Boneyard, which I believed to be the remains of the pre-war city named Los Angeles. There was a section in the town people called 'Warehouse', and the section was pretty much uninhabited. In fact, nobody dared to go to that section, because it was populated with Deathclaws!

Now, nobody was sure what Deathclaws actually were. Some said it was a radiation-mutated geckos, the superstitious folks said they were ghosts, and the kids considered them the ultimate boogeymen. Nonetheless, everyone agreed that Deathclaws were extremely dangerous. Very few returned alive to tell their experience first-hand.

So maybe you would think, what the hell we were doing in the section? Why, for a game of hunting, of course! I've met some Deathclaws before, and they were flesh and blood alright. And since nobody said that Deathclaws were endangered species, I believed it was open season all the time.

Ah, but a good hunter needed to prepare my weapons, right? Since I already wore the combat armor uniform, I think there would be no better accessories to complement my attire with assault rifle and rocket launcher. And thus, I readied them both.

Readying my gear.

Both Ian and Katja were handgun experts, so I armed them with the best pistols I could find on the wasteland. Ian was armed with .223 pistol --a souvenir we got from a farmer whom we helped to get rid his house of Raiders. The .223 pistol was such a great weapon; it was a handgun re-chambered to accept rifle munitions! A truly work of art, I must say, and it had such a very long range for a pistol. Katja got 14mm pistol; the next best handgun could be found on the wasteland. The 14mm was even better than an SMG in dealing damages to the target.

Tycho, the Desert Ranger, was really good with shotguns and rifles, but he always preferred the former. I had to take all the shotgun shells from his pockets in order to convince him that .233 sniper rifle was much, much better. And yet, he fought better with sniper rifle indeed. But when I think about it again, I believe he still missed his combat shotgun.

So we were ready; I slung the rocket launcher over my shoulder, looking for our trophy. I didn't have to look that far, though, as a Deathclaw was spotted next to a nearby building.

Have rocket launcher, will hunt.

The Deathclaw seemed to ignore us. In fact, it turned it back on us. Big mistake. I aimed the rocket launcher carefully. Ready... aim... fire!

Ready... aim... fire...

The rocket was flying in its trajectory....

..and KABOOOM! Ouch, that was gonna hurt!

The fairy tales were true; a Deathclaw's skin is as thick as any armor. I was using Armor Piercing rocket, but it did not kill the beast. If anything, the Deathclaw was very, very pissed. It came right to our position, and I salivated nervously, immediately retreated behind Ian.

Dogmeat, on the other hand, was intrepid as always. He fearlessly approached the Deathclaw, eager to sink his teeth.

The very intrepid Dogmeat.

But before Dogmeat was still on his way, Ian quickly drawn his .223 pistol and took his turn. Poor Dogmeat, Ian beat him to it.

Nice shot, Ian!

It seemed Tycho did not want to mis the party either. Exclaiming "have a nice day", he pumped out several shots with his sniper rifle. While my squadmates were busy, I gradually retreated to safer position, buying some distance.

And you too, Tycho.

The Deathclaw was getting closer, and it seemed the beast was after Katja. I readied my rocket launcher again, aimed carefully to not hit Katja.

Aiming my rocket launcher...

And bullseye!

..and KABOOM again.

The Deathclaw was still alive. It seemed the beast died really hard. Katja did not give it a chance though. A single 14mm rounds was pumped into the Deathclaw's body, doing really serious damage.

Katja's turn...

Finally, Dogmeat got his turn. Just few bites, and the Deathclaw was crippled in the right arm. Sometimes I thought Dogmeat was even more scary than a Deathclaw.

...and Dogmeat's. Good dog, good dog.

I was right when I said the Deathclaw was really pissed, but I was wrong when I said the Deathclaw went after Katja. Nope, it went after ME, and it managed to get reaaaaally close. Uh-oh.

Uh-oh. Uh-fucking-oh.

While I have pretty high Perception, Charisma, and Luck, I have such low Endurance. If the Deathclaw managed to land his claws on me, it would live up its namesake. I quickly switched to assault rifle. I chose not to spray bullets in panic, though, since it would probably hit my squadmates as well. Instead, I made an aimed shot to its left leg, hoping it would be crippled enough to buy me some distance.

Aming at the leg....

...and blam!

Well, I guess I was lucky, huh? The shot did not only cripple the Deathclaw, but killed it as well. Whew! That was fucking close.

It was dead! Dead!

So there we were, gathering around our trophy. I wondered what the people in the Hub would say when we shared the story later. Hmmm... maybe we could sell the carcass to Bob. Deathclaw-on-a-stick, anyone?

Our trophy.

Anyway, here is the lesson taken:

(1) Always use the heaviest gun possible when hunting Deathclaw...

(2) ...and remember to arm your squadmates properly.

(3) Unless in some very rare circumstances, the Deathclaw in L.A. Boneyard always goes after YOU. Use it to your advantage. Shoot, retreat, and take cover behind your squadmates. Let them perforate the Deathclaw with bullets while it goes after you.

(4) Never underestimate Dogmeat.

(5) Cheat, cheat, cheat. 😁

===================================

Systems:
MSI Wind U100 netbook.
Windows XP Home SP3.
XVI32 Hex Editor.
Fallout with the folowing patches and mods:
- Fallout_1_TeamX_Patch_ENG_1.2w
- f1child_patch
- fallup13 from TeamX
- f1npcmod
- High Resolution Patch (v1.3)

Oookay, not really a full-fledged after-action report, but I'm currently playing MDK on my GeForce-powered notebook, with anti-aliasing and texture filtering all maxed out.

I wish modern video cards would be backward compatible for old games. MDK is one of those games that work without problems with newer video cards. I always liked "fancy stuff" like AA and AF to be able to relive the classics, instead of slowing down the already-moderately-slow newer games.

System:
Lenovo Essential B460 laptop
Intel Core i5 Processor i520M
4GB DDR3
750GB HDD
nVidia GeForce 310M DDR3 1GB
Windows XP Professional SP2 => hell yeah!

Do dragon/boss monster raids in EQ count as war stories? That topic should have a thread of it's own.

sliderider wrote:

Do dragon/boss monster raids in EQ count as war stories? That topic should have a thread of it's own.

Well, I think it belongs. i have to change the thread title to accommodate fantasy games as well, though.

Balancing Act

Game: The Global Dilemma: Guns Or Butter.
Developer: Chris Crawford.
Publisher: Mindscape, Inc.
Release: 1990

It wasn't an easy job as I, King Kreshna III of House Statum, had to balance between improving the economy and building up a military superiority and conquer Kublai, the rebellious Duke. It was not an easy job, but as my beloved mother --the queen dowager-- had said, "a ruler must have iron in their backbone to carry their responsibility to the people", then here I was, trying to balance various production aspects to ensure the prosperity of my people.

My kingdom.

The first step I took was to call my court for report, to oversee the production of various commodities in my kingdom. I had to ensure that commodities were produced in such balanced way, so that there would be enough food for everybody, without neglecting the country's need of self defense.

Production summary.

Fortunately, my beloved mother had taught me economics pretty well (author's note: she did in real life). One of her lessons was the so-called "input-output analysis", which analyzes interdependencies between economic sectors. The following is a simple example; both Sword and Farm Tools require Pig Iron, which in turn requires Iron Ore and Charcoal. In order to produce enough Sword and Farm Tools, I need sufficient Pig Iron as raw materials, so I would need to allocate enough workers to Pig Iron factories. But workers are limited, since they are taken from the population of my kingdom. So if I allocated too many workers to make Pig Iron, I wouldn't have enough workers left to produce Iron Ore and Charcoal --which in turn are required to make Pig Irons! So you see, I have to balance the production of various commodities to achieve optimal result.

Balancing act.

I wouldn't bore you with details. Suffice to say that after juggling between economic sectors, I managed to achieve pretty good result --one that produces enough food to increase your population, while keeping your military prowess ahead of your rival.

Indeed, I managed to keep House Statum ahead of House Kublai.

Population growth means more workers, and more workers means I could expand to new economics sector previously untouched due to the need to maximize Farm Tools and Sword production. This time, I started making Coal, which in turn is required to make Iron. Iron itself one of two types of raw materials needed to make Musket.

I started making Iron...

Musket requires Gunpowder as well, so I started producing it as well. Of course, Gunpowder requires Sulfur and Charcoal, to which I assigned necessary workers accordingly.

...and Gunpowder.

But of course, these new ventures should not make me neglect Farm Tools production --which is required to produce food. After all, what good are weapons when the soldiers are starving? So I went to ensure that Farm Tools are still healthily produced. In fact, I managed to increase their production.

The Spice... I mean the food must flow.

And thus, the fruit of my labor. Not only my population far exceeded that of House Kublai, but my military prowess was sufficiently bigger than theirs as well.

Guns and butter; who says you cannot have both?

Then it was time to take down the rebellious House Kublai. I wouldn't bore you with details, suffice to say I had to maneuver my troops to concentrate it around the border between our domains.

Maneuvering my troops.

Then I made my attack, and won!

Taking Kublai's city.

As the result of my vicious attack, Duke Leto Atreides... I mean Duke Leto Kublai offered surrender. A merciful ruler I am, I accepted.

House Kublai surrendered.

Then the rest is history; I, Kreshna III Corrino, became The Padisah Emperor of the Known Universe.

Yep, that was how it ended.

Author's note: in case anyone wonder why I used the name 'Statum' instead of my own, my version of Guns Or Butter is abandonware, and post-installed with the name already set. My original disk, on the other hand, seems to be beyond repair. 😵

Once, a very, very long time ago (15 years or so), there was a online website-based game of which the name has slipped my mind (the fog of ages, young whippersnappers!), where one could create a nation that could trade with other nations, form alliances and so on. A turn-based game, each tournament (game) took a mere RL month (one round a day), and the game featured vast wars waged between strictly led clans that forced you to use certain strategies. I hated that kind of gaming, so instead I tried to hide in the limelight and simply nurture my little countries to adulthood. Sadly, surviving without joining a clan was pretty much impossible due to raids, land grabs, and other nuisances, and I ended up joining a clan of free nations (also free of dumb shit like trying to emulate the Third Reich).

One of my countries, named "Roadbuster" (after the Transformer), specialized in stockpiling tanks, something that was discouraged by the larger clans. At the height of its glory, Roadbuster owned 30,000 tanks despite being far smaller than any other country with a similar arsenal. Our clan of free nations got into a conflict with a much larger clan. Armies battled. Ballistic missiles were exchanged, first conventional ones, then chemical ones, finally resorting to nukes when things started to go really wrong for our little clan. Soon our countries started to fall, one after the other. Roadbuster survived salvo after salvo, striking back with all its might, crushing some smaller members of the opposing clan into oblivion. After two or three days, Roadbuster was all alone, the other clan members having been obliterated, conquered, or reduced to a size preventing any further attacks. Roadbuster still had tanks. Lots of tanks. Lots and lots of tanks.

All in all, it took eight further days of continuous assaults by 21 members of the opposing clan to reduce Roadbuster to ashes. Eight days of assaults in which Roadbuster still managed to take out a few enemies permanently. Eight days of assaults by enemy countries sometimes much larger than Roadbuster. Eight days that probably brought part of the enemy clan close to rage-quitting. Eight days telling the glory of the Tank. Eight days that still make me cackle out loud 15 years later. 😈 🤣

And that, boys and girls, is why you should stockpile Tanks. All hail the Tank.

My other moment of glory on the early internet was making a chatroom troll rage-quit violently 🤣

yawetaG wrote:

Once, a very, very long time ago (15 years or so), there was a online website-based game of which the name has slipped my mind ( […]
Show full quote

Once, a very, very long time ago (15 years or so), there was a online website-based game of which the name has slipped my mind (the fog of ages, young whippersnappers!), where one could create a nation that could trade with other nations, form alliances and so on. A turn-based game, each tournament (game) took a mere RL month (one round a day), and the game featured vast wars waged between strictly led clans that forced you to use certain strategies. I hated that kind of gaming, so instead I tried to hide in the limelight and simply nurture my little countries to adulthood. Sadly, surviving without joining a clan was pretty much impossible due to raids, land grabs, and other nuisances, and I ended up joining a clan of free nations (also free of dumb shit like trying to emulate the Third Reich).

One of my countries, named "Roadbuster" (after the Transformer), specialized in stockpiling tanks, something that was discouraged by the larger clans. At the height of its glory, Roadbuster owned 30,000 tanks despite being far smaller than any other country with a similar arsenal. Our clan of free nations got into a conflict with a much larger clan. Armies battled. Ballistic missiles were exchanged, first conventional ones, then chemical ones, finally resorting to nukes when things started to go really wrong for our little clan. Soon our countries started to fall, one after the other. Roadbuster survived salvo after salvo, striking back with all its might, crushing some smaller members of the opposing clan into oblivion. After two or three days, Roadbuster was all alone, the other clan members having been obliterated, conquered, or reduced to a size preventing any further attacks. Roadbuster still had tanks. Lots of tanks. Lots and lots of tanks.

All in all, it took eight further days of continuous assaults by 21 members of the opposing clan to reduce Roadbuster to ashes. Eight days of assaults in which Roadbuster still managed to take out a few enemies permanently. Eight days of assaults by enemy countries sometimes much larger than Roadbuster. Eight days that probably brought part of the enemy clan close to rage-quitting. Eight days telling the glory of the Tank. Eight days that still make me cackle out loud 15 years later. 😈 🤣

And that, boys and girls, is why you should stockpile Tanks. All hail the Tank.

My other moment of glory on the early internet was making a chatroom troll rage-quit violently 🤣

Interesting. Is it a clone of Empire or Empire Deluxe?

So, does anyone have gaming after-action report to share? Anyone currently play RPG? Or how about flight sim?

To be honest, your reports are pretty intimidating with all the screenshots and sheer length. I just don't think I have the time and energy to do it justice! But I do have some interesting tales from Baldur's Gate that might be told in a shorter, simpler way.

I got a funny one. Sorry but my story telling skills aren't that good.

The game was counter strike 1.6
The match was 6ct to 8t and the map was de_dust
I was on the counter terrorist team.

The match started rather quiet. The terrorist broke up and hid wile 3 were trying to plant the bomb.
Meanwhile me and my fellow counter terrorists were slowly on the move trying to smoke out the terrorists only to be ambushed by the other 5. The 5 terrorists were tossing gernades and friering like banshees. In the end the 5 terrorist and my team layed dead. 😵 I survived some how but barely, one more scrape and I would be dead.

Now the odds were 1ct to 3t. I slowly made my way to the bomb site as the bomb had been planted. And out of the blue one of the members of the terrorist team asked what button you have to push to use your mic via the games chat function. Instantly I replyed "alt f4" BOOM I killed a terrorist! And not one shot fired 😈

Now the other two terrorist did not like this and they started swearing and complaining over the chat. I used the opportunity to kill the other two terrorists wile they were bitching on the games chat. 😈 then I defused the bomb! Saveing the day.

clueless1 wrote:

To be honest, your reports are pretty intimidating with all the screenshots and sheer length.

Thanks! My original inspiration wasn't actually SimHQ After-Action Reports subforum, but the book Gunship 2000: The Official Strategy Guide (Secrets of the Game) by Bob Guerra. Guerra wrote lengthy after-action reports using first-person perspective of a fictional US Army Air Cavalry gunship pilot, which is also very entertaining to read, that each after-action report is a good story on its own. Not only that, he also emphasized proper tactics and strategies in each story he wrote, so the reader would learn the game's tactics in such entertaining war. That really inspired me, and I tried to do the same. On this AAR, for example, I tried to emphasize the importance of flying low and slow to survive a typical F-117A mission.

clueless1 wrote:

I just don't think I have the time and energy to do it justice! But I do have some interesting tales from Baldur's Gate that might be told in a shorter, simpler way.

Can't wait to read your story. 😀

Jade Falcon wrote:

I got a funny one. Sorry but my story telling skills aren't that good.

Indexed.

Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition

It's now been seven weeks since my guardian Gorion was murdered. In that time, I've barely had time to grieve, but I have met up with so many interesting (sometimes quite dangerous!) people, including my current party, that I've not had much time for grief. Imoen, being a friend from childhood, I'm closest with. But I've grown quite fond of Jaheira and her mate Khalid. He's a little on the skittish side, but when his back is to the wall, he's fearsome with blade and bow alike! The other two are quite a couple as well. Minsc (does he really believe that hamster understands him?) is bordering on insane, but his devotion to Dynaheir is unwavering! And she's been more than credible with her spellcasting, though it's taken her awhile to acclimate to the group.

We arrived in the city of Baldur's Gate less than a week ago. A gentleman who goes by Scar of the Flaming Fist has sent us on a quest that I believe is the key to unwinding this mystery. And that strange Elminster that I keep bumping into has vouched for Scar, so I trust him about as much as I've trusted anyone up until now. But at the moment, we stand outside a home that I've been told belongs to a mage. We wish to speak with him to determine if he can yield anymore clues to guide us on this adventure.

Once we entered, we learned his name is Sunin, but he mistakes us for thieves! Though I tried to convince him otherwise, nontheless he attacked, summoning a pair of servants to aid him!

We had no recourse but to defend ourselves. Fortunately, my hand rested on the hilt of my blade, so I drew quickly and managed a devastating blow on the mage just after his servants teleported in. He did not go down, but I knew his injuries were grave. Dynaheir summoned some Kobold Commandos to aid us. We knew if we allowed this mage to cast, he would make life VERY difficult for us!

Fortunately, Imoen struck Sunin quickly with an Arrow of Fire, and Minsc followed with the deathblow from his two-handed sword, leaving us only to deal with his two lackeys.

Though the Kobolds did not deal much damage, their presence served to distract Maka and Joular. Khalid dealt the final blow to Maka, while Minsc traded blows with Joular. Minsc was hurt, but his counterswing found flesh and bone, felling Joular with such force, bits of him were thrown about the table and walls.

After the foes were vanquished, we indulged in the spoils of victory. Included among their remains were Arrows of Piercing, a Long Sword +1, a Mage Robe of Electrical Resistance, a Ring of Wizardry, and scrolls of Fireball and Vampiric Touch. Of course, we had no way of knowing until Dynaheir divined their true nature by casting Identify upon them.

If anything, this encounter has taught our party to always be on alert. Though we consider ourselves lawful and good, we cannot count on our alignment to assuage the spirits of those we come across. Now, where were we? Come! Let us continue exploring the southwestern district of Baldur's Gate proper. I believe the Flaming Fist Castle should be just around the corner. We should find Scar and see if he may guide us to further our quest!

- written by the hand of Arnellis, Ward of Gorion, Paladin of Candlekeep

clueless1 wrote:

Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition

It's now been seven weeks since my guardian Gorion was murdered. In that time, I've barely had time to grieve, but I have met up with so many interesting (sometimes quite dangerous!) people, including my current party, that I've not had much time for grief.

😳 Now that's the spirit! Thank you for such excellent tavern tale, indexed. 😀