xawery

I must say, you have a very nice project going on here Dmakatra! Are you using a spectator script btw? During my SWAF days I was in charge of basic combat training, and we had a lot of training maps at our disposal. It soon became apparent that in order to effectively evaluate the players' performance, the DI needed more perspective. Participating directly limits your possibilities of overseeing the entire op. A spectator script works very well to this end. Incidentally, I would like to support Jinef's suggestion. If there's any place on the net where you can expect large scale tactical engagements, it's the Zeus server (gad, I think I should change my signature to Jinef's... Pimping Zeus has become one of my daily tasks as well). While most OFP missions limit the tactical possibilities due to spatial constraints (i.e. limited AO), Zeus missions usually put so much distance between the teams' starting points that any approach becomes a viable option. Are the defenders going to move up in order to intercept the attackers? Or will they pull back and fortify their positions? Will the attackers take a more direct route or flank the target, at the risk of running out of time? Will they create a diversion or bundle their forces into a single iron fist? The Zeus missions are the first to make full use of the enormous scale that the OFP engine has to offer. There is nothing more gratifying than anticipating the enemy's route and mining it, only to hear distant explosions and death screams 20+ minutes into the game

This part is especially ironic... Really, how can you expect people to leave if you annihilate the infrastructure in the first place? I would like to make use of this occasion to present you with an editorial from The Economist. Over the years, I have found The Economist to be a very even-handed magazine. Often, I do not agree with the opinions presented on it's pages, but the articles are always well-written and supported by sound arguments. The following article is an editorial, i.e. it represents the opinion of the editors. I foud their analysis to be very unapologetic and insightful.

Looks awesome TB! It certainly deserves a seperate thread. Also, it goes without saying that I too eagerly await the download links:) One question though. The features list states the following: IIRC, in previous versions of FFUR the ammo values were based on WGL values. This time around, I don't see an explicit mention of WGL. Are the ammo values different now? /Edit: never mind, I just took a look at the credits list and everything became quite clear Regards, X.

Preloading as we speak! Loved the mod, but nevery really got around to ordering the full game. We shall see!

One interesting aspect of Warriors is the cast. Ioan Gruffudd (Black Hawk Down), Matthew Macfadyen (Spooks) and Damian Lewis (of Band of Brothers fame)... Great stuff

Hahaha, yeah, great games yesterday chaps! I really like your coop Kaka, although it was a shame that towards the end, the game degenerated into a TK fest... But that's not the fault of the mission. We had some great CQB inside the first town, and running into that VDV patrol in the woods was quite tense Blue Quartz was also great fun - a change in tactics on OPFOR side actually tipped the scales in favour of the Soviets. I especially enjoyed my final moments as the last man standing on BLUFOR, hehehe... "Oops, I'm hit. No matter, I'm in cover now; just let me apply these bandages..." *BOOOOM* Seems I should have been on the look out for abandoned satchels with a timer

Could you tell us where you got these quotes? Because the transcript of Hess-von Kruedener's e-mail says something completely different. Not only does it not say anything about Hezbollah positions ("I cannot give you any info on Hezbollah position, proximity or the amount of or types of sorties the IAF is currently flying"), but it details the proximity of Israeli bombardments. With regard to the Hezbollah flag allegedly flying next to the UN's one - of course it matters if this story is true. The situation would have been quite different if your claim added up. You may try to bagatellise it by saying it wasn't the core of your post, but if the core is proven to be incorrect (or at least sourceless), then the 'supplemental part' of your post suddenly becomes equally important. And equally wrong. The point remains that this 'incident' is incomprehensible. It's one thing if the IAF bombs the bejeesus out of unmarked lorries, because "they could be used as weapon platforms", but a clearly marked UN post? All UN personnel, assets and buildings are marked as such exactly to prevent this kind of incidents from happening. Deadmeat, you say that the Israeli JDAM has an error radius of 13-30 m from the target. I think it's fair to assume that the operators are aware of that as well. If you choose a point of impact 10 m from the outpost, there is a reasonable chance that the outpost will be hit! In that case, the responsibility still lies with the Israelis. Incidentally, Israeli brass has claimed that the incident was due to the fact that the artillery personnel were using outdated maps. How could that matter, if this UN outpost has existed in it's current (well, recent) form since 1978? Surly the Isrealis aren't using maps from before the Yom Kippur War?

I know you won't be using WGL for your training, but might I suggest some attack & defend missions by the Zeus folks? These player vs. player missions are simple in concept and incredibly deep in game play. One team is tasked with defending an objective (e.g. a city) while the other (obiously) has to capture it. Both teams need a lot of cooperation, coordination and anticipation in order to succeed. You can read my rather gushing AAR's of these missions in the Zeus thread in the Multiplayer forum:) To put it shortly: a player vs player, objective based mission is IMO the best test for tactical & teamwork abilities.

Warriors. There are tons of good/great war films out there, but this BBC series is the best depiction of war and helplessness. Of course, it all depends on your definition of war film. If you expect fantastic firefights, shelling and heroics, then this doesn't fit the description.

Will you be playing it because you are Swedes, or is it excellent because you are Swedes? I smell bias here Hehe, don't mind the Beauty & The Geek stamp, I rather enjoyed that show (mostly due to inherent geekiness on my part). Also, bear in mind that B&TG was being touted as a 'social experiment' ad nauseum, so the comparison is easily made

Where did you get these CS kiddies you speak of? And what will the training look like? I mean, is it going to take place online, or are these fellows actually in your physical vicinity? What are the criteria for 'passing' and 'failing'? Will we be able to observe the progress of the project (FRAPS captures, etc.)? Sorry for all the questions, but this reminds me of Bratcamp and Beauty & the Geek:p

Haha, although this may be rather off-topic, I'd like to share a little story with you. Yesterday I was withdrawing some money at an ATM, and the keypad sound was EXACTLY the same as the infamous OFP 'ping!'. The first thing I thought when I heard it was "what?? but I'm not playing OFP right now!".

I think you're right, Ukraineboy. I've done a couple of searches about this (rather annoying) feature, but were unable to find any direct confirmation of this claim. However, I did find this: Perhaps the developers wanted to simulate this vulnerability by forcing you to fly at a low speed when firing the AT-6?

It's understandable that there are far more interesting things than the war in Iraq going on right now, but let's not forget this topic. In 2004, we all voiced our outrage at the Abu Ghraib torture in this thread. A recent report by the Human Rights Watch shows that not only did the torture continue after the Abu Ghraib scandal, but it was also routine, sanctioned by the higher levels of the chain of command. A few 'bad apples'? Doesn't sound that way.

Haha, yes, that was classic. Me: "Ok, we're going to backtrack a bit, find an opening in the fence, flank south and-" *BOOOOOOOM* Me (posthumously): "What the hell was that?!" Dethleffs (idem): "Sorry, sorry, wrong button!"

I feel obliged to say that tonight's games were an absolute success. Great cooperation and coordination, on top of a very friendly atmosphere. This is the friendliest bunch of strangest I've ever had the pleasure of encountering. OFP is 5 yrs old now, but this types of missions, in this type of an environment truly show that the game is far from dead. If you haven't tried it yet, do it now!

Well, I think that's taking it a bit too far. I believe it is a lot more simple... The last occupation of Lebanon was a complete failure for Israel, and Hezbollah knows that. It wasn't too difficult to figure out that kidnapping soldiers would provoke Isreal into retaliation, especially given Isreal's response to the Hamas kindapping. So, Israel has attacked Lebanon in order to neutralise Hezbollah (the fate of the two kidnapped soldiers has rather faded into the background, don't you think?). To do so, they will eventually have to commit ground troops to this operation; you can't destroy a rebel movement with air strikes on civilian infrastructure... And this may be exactly what Hezbollah wants, i.e. lure the IDF into a guerilla war. During the last occupation, Hezbollah gave the IDF hell while having only outdated weapons at its disposal. Now, they are much better equipped thanks to Iran. It seems rather straightforward: Hezbollah wants to fight Isreal, and now they get to do it on their home turf (there's already a lot of fighting going on along the border). Israel's furious attacks on civilian infrastructure have increased the support for Hezbollah amongst the population. It's a win-win situation for Hezbollah - if Isreal is serious about tackling this terrorist group, they will have their ground troops enter Lebanon. This will result in a guerilla war, which suits Hezbollah rather well. If Israel doesn't commit ground troops and just keeps shelling the bejesus out of the country, the popular support for Hezbollah will grow and so will it's political power. Either way, Lebanon will be plunged into chaos, and who thrives under such circumstances? Terrorist groups such as Hezbollah.

I have found a rather interesting figure in today's NRC Handelsblad. It depicts the range of the missles at Hezbollah's disposal. After some rather tedious copy-pasting and editing I finally managed to digitalise this picture. I've translated some of the captions. Click on the image for a larger, clearer version. Regards, X.

Yep... assholes are notorious for spewing crap, one way or another. Or was that too graphic a metaphore..?

I love that Burke quote. It is of the same quality as 'a man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do'. It advocates asbolutism and a black-and-white view of the world, is completely reversible and can be used by anyone to justify his actions. As soon as you stick the concepts of good and evil into a maxim, it becomes potentially dangerous.

Hi Sanctuary, I don't have OFP on this pc so I can't test the pack myself right now, hence this question. Have you reworked the running animation? I absolutely loved your previous anim pack, but the running anim was a bit strange... Regards, X.

No wonder everyone just referred to me as 'X'...

'Xawery' is a tribute to my grandfather. His name was actually 'Ksawery'; 'Xawery' is the archaic spelling which I found visually more appealing. Xawery is the Polish form of Xavier, which derives from the Basque place Etxabier, meaning "the new house". Other sources claim that the name means "the bright one" in Arabic. I have been using this name consistently since 1998 IIRC, both in games and on forums. It wasn't until I started using TS that I realised how impractical this nickname really is - noone (except Germans and Poles) manages to pronounce it correctly... This has led to some awkward momens, such as me getting renamed to Celery on the Zeus server Incidentally, should any of you be interested in the etymology of your name, I strongly recommend www.behindthename.com. I've spent countless hours there, completely awestruck by the rich history of our everyday names.

God, yes, the bus... "All right comerades, we have the pinnacle of Soviet technology at our disposal! SVD sniper rifles to take out enemy officers, RPG-7's to obliterate enemy armour, grenade launchers to pour steel rain upon our foes, and a 1960 Jelcz for transportation. Ticket please."

Allow me to rehabilitate Zeus a bit: the games on saturday were quite fun! Admittedly, it was my first time on the Zeussie server, but I've had extensive experience with tightly organised games back when I was a member of SWAF, so I do have a certain frame of reference. Although the first coop wasn't particularly engaging, the PvP A&D that followed was sheer fun. Good coordination, tense firefights, and 20+ players with little to no lag! All in all, great fun, and you may expect me to become a regular visitor. The only thing which was slightly less than enjoyable was me getting renamed to Celery. Apparently Xawery is too difficult to pronounce... Damn monoglots!