Fatal_Papercut~SPARTA~

A 650W PSU will be enough, provided that you're not running several other peripherals in your machine, such as multiple hard drives. The GTX480 will require both 6-pin and 8-pin connections, and any new card should come with Molex converters in the box. You should be good to go.

** UPDATE: EVENT CANCELED** Due to scheduled downtime on our main TS/Arma servers and the fact that we really don't know what is going on with the latest patch for Arma (especially for Steam users), this event has been canceled. I apologize for any inconvenience; it just seems that events are conspiring against us at the moment. I have already informed Evan, and he agrees that it's a good idea to put this off, because they are already having problems with the PCG server--users that have applied that patch cannot connect to the server, which is hosted through Art of War Central, and some Steam users that tried to apply the patch have had their games corrupted to the point that it no longer runs. I will re-post in a new thread if we get the opportunity to reschedule.

I was unable to play on Fallujah. The first time I joined, I did not have any tasks, notes, or map markers. My GPS position was all zeros, so I could not get a fix on my position. The second time I joined, I got a message saying that my ACE was missing something; it was one of the vehicles, although I can't recall which one at the momement. U am using SPARTAACE1.9.

Thanks for taking the time to introduce yourself, and welcome to our community! I hope you had fun playing on our servers your first night here. I didn't notice that you had come back late in the evening; I was playing a Zombie Mod with some of the other regulars (we had some good laughs and a scare or two), and I'm glad to see that you joined up with a good group of guys on the ACE server. There is almost always someone on TS that will be glad to answer any questions you might have. Keep your eyes on the forums for general news, and also for specific posts related to tactical Arma sessions. Cheers!

The BIS forums have a thread dedicated to user-made videos, and some of them are amazingly well-done. The thread currently has 232 pages (!), but you'll probably find something interesting just by clicking through the thread at random. http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=75962 This one in particular makes me laugh...

Welcome, Rooster! I'm glad to see that you found your way to us and are already joining in on the ACE server. Keep an eye on the forums so that you can sign up for some of our TAC missions. I would also love to spend some time playing DoW: Retribution with you. I've been trying to find someone I can play with to level-up my Lord General (and other characters).* As per your comments about "very bossy, pushy, unfriendly people" in other TAC-play groups, I think you'll be happy to know that you'll find none of that here. We have no rank structure; no single person is in charge of everything. We value the different experiences and skills that everyone brings into the group. If you have an idea, by all means, please share it with us. We also play some of the "twitch" games as well, including Left 4 Dead 2, Bad Company 2, and CoD: Black Ops. We usually play Black Ops on "Crouch Only" servers so as to lend modicum of tactical consideration to the game. One of my favorite quotes from Zeno in regards to Black Ops is that the game is all about "running around in circles", and that the only tactical consideration is whether you will "run around in circles clockwise or counter-clockwise". I'm looking forward to seeing you in-game. * Thinly-veiled implication that y'all need to get off your butts and get this game.

LOL, this reminds me of something that happened when I was in Basic Training (Ft. Jackson, SC, 1987). Our Drill Sergeants were having us practicing with dummy grenades. My squad had been equipped with the dummies, and we were watching demonstrations on their use from a set of bleachers. One of my squadmates was absentmindedly fiddling with his grenade when he pulled the pin, and a look of frozen-in-the-headlights terror swept over his face as he literally urinated in his own uniform. In true military fashion, this guy was not punished for his deeds--the rest of our squad was. Our DS told us that we were all "dead", and the only way to come back to life was to do 100 each of push-ups, sit-ups, and jumping-jacks (aka side-straddle hops), followed by a fast-paced 5K run on the hot asphalt (my training began in August). In the meantime, out would-be killer was taken to the chow-hall and forced to celebrate his fortunate escape from death by stuffing himself with all of the treats he could stomach, sitting in his urine-soaked uniform. Nothing more was necessary. Our would-be team-killer learned his lesson, as by the time we completed Basic Training, I would say he turned out to be a pretty good solider.

Thanks for the clarification.

Hey guys, I have a couple of friends from my former gaming group that are interested in Arma 2. One of them is trying to play through the demo from Steam. Would there be any potential issues if were I to download and install the demo so that I could walk my friends through a few things? I would be installing the non-Steam demo version to help avoid potential conflicts with the full version I have installed.

Howdy Folks, Evan Lahti has said that he is more than willing and excited to join us for another TAC mission. I expect to hear from him soon as to what date & time will work best for his schedule, but odds are very likely that it will be Saturday the 26th or Sunday the 27th, and the time is likely to be similar to what it was before. Furthermore, while I have agreed to remain silent regarding specific details for the time being, I can tell you that we will be participating in something special. As with the previous mission featuring Evan, I am hoping to be able to record the event, and I will create a new thread for sign-ups as soon as the date & time are set. I can also tell you that we will have a few more slots for this event (Evan says he thinks the mission will support up to 12 players), so there is an even greater opportunity for more people to get in this time around.

The video has now hit the front page of PC Gamer Magazine's website. http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/03/17/hardcore-war-watch-me-play-arma-2-with-proper-tactics/

Please tell me the copy on our server will have an Observer slot.

Oh my, thanks for the head's up. I just wish YouTube had informed me that this is the case, but then again, I knew when I made the video that it might be a problem. The previous video for Angel Rage used some of the same music, but then again, the music wasn't as prominent due to all of the background noise. If nothing else, the end credits music for the recent vid is very prominent, which may have triggered YouTube's algorithm that sniffs out such things. So, from now on, videos will take longer, because I will compose my own score, with the exception of the use of the GR:IT Theme music for the opening sequence (and only for GR:IT missions). ** EDIT ** In fact, since Evan Lahti is out-of-office for SXSW and may not put a link on PC Gamer until he gets back, I'm going to start composing and recording right now. I may have to re-render and re-post if PC Gamer is going to have an issue with the video being blocked in some countries.

Good news for Kavlarakos and anyone else that wants a nice, HD copy of the recent video! I have completed a second render in the WMV format; while it is not of Blu-Ray quality, it is much better better than what you get when you watch or download YouTube's 1080p version. The file size is 1.27GB. You can right-click this link and choose 'Save Link As' to download it. If anyone has any problems using this link, please let me know. I will also make new renders for the other two GR:IT videos and provide links when they are available. I am currently shopping for shared online storage solutions, but in the meantime, I'm hoping this DropBox account will work.

Believe me, I wish we lived in a world where that would be a simple request--the average total size for the game footage from one session is 155GB (this recent video generated 169GB of video for me to sort through. If it were practical to transfer such huge amounts of data, I would be happy to share the footage with anyone and let them have a go at it. As for special effects, their use is strictly a personal preference. I prefer a "clean" look for these Arma videos; the software I use for editing has all sorts of fancy features, transitions, and effects that I have no use for, at least not with my current projects. If I were to ever do a scripted movie, I would probably consider using filters, time-stretching/compression, and who-knows-what-else. The one thing I am planning on doing that I could always use help with would be music composition; I would like to do a video with a completely original score. I have a complete recording studio in my basement (nothing fancy, but more than adequate for my needs). However, it would probably take me three times as long to compose and record music for a 15-minute video as it would to edit 15 minutes-worth of footage. Anybody that would be willing to grant me royalty-free use of their compositions would be given due credit and greatly appreciated. I would prefer to have the the data as MIDI files so that I may tweak it, but I would also be willing to accept and use produced compositions if they fit the theme and mood I am going for. Thank you for your kind offer. However, at the moment, once we have completed a filming session, the duty falls to me to do something useful with it.

You have read the thought that has crossed my mind many, many times EBE. I've seen the footage that Dai-San has recorded from his machine, and it is of the same quality. The benefit of having two cameras would be substantial; one to cover the team, one to cover tangos, or an opportunity to cover all team members when they fragment into separate elements. Each camera is bound to capture something great that the other will not. Besides, with Dai as cameraman, he would indeed have to STFU. P.S. All of this talk reminds me of one of my favorite songs from by of my favorite musical groups (albeit in one of their least popular incarnations, minus Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman). Yes - Into The Lens

I would be more than happy to upload this and the other videos to the Sparta "Downloads" section. Can anyone help me to do this, please?

Thanks to everyone for what I think has been another successful video production! You can watch it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ9oHUj4td4

I began the rendering process just after midnight, MST, on Tuesday, March 15th. I expect to begin uploading what should be a 3GB file by 1AM. When it's done--or when I wake up, whichever comes last--I will create a new thread.

Welcome back!

Progress Report: Due to a series of unfortunate events (my family and lady-friend insisted on spending time with me this weekend), I was unable to start video production until late Sunday evening. In hindsight, this turned out to be a very good break; it didn't realize until Sunday morning how wound up and tense I had become during the recording session as well as the few hours leading up to mission start. I don't recall breathing during the entire game--I was too worried about system crashes, gamepad malfunctions, loss of 'Net connection due to inclement weather, etc. Nonetheless, I'd say that the video is 60% complete. I had to spend more time than usual creating additional assets to brand the video with materials that PC Gamer wanted me to include. I estimate that the final length of the video will be 18 minutes, although I am granting myself a total of 20 minutes so that I don't have to cut away too much good footage. I am also taking my time with this production. I learned much about the software I am using in the process of creating the other videos, and the new-and-improved camera controls have more than doubled the amount of usable footage. I continue to refine my editing techniques; it is now common for me to show a particular clip of video while using audio assets (usually comm chatter) taken from other points in the timeline. While the presentation of the video is linear--events are shown in the order that they occurred--I do occasionally exchange the sequence of some elements for dramatic effect. The end result of all of this is that I sometimes spend up to 30 minutes creating a segment of footage that is only one minute long. I won't bore you with further technical details; I will only say that I am very happy about how this video is shaping up. And now, once last bit of good news: I have confirmed that Evan Lahti will be joining us again for another session. At the moment, we are planning on the last Saturday or Sunday of March. As soon as I have more solid information, I will create a new thread so that we may begin our preparations.

Mission accomplished, good work everyone! I was really worried about the outcome when Dai-San went down for the second time, but we got lucky because Lightspeed got a 2-for-1 revive on both Evan and Dai-San. Until that happened, I thought the mission was going to be a wash. It's also a good thing that Evan was demolitions man, because it allowed him to feature prominently in the video when it came time to destroy the airfield assets. As soon as the video is done, I will create a new thread. Once the video is featured on the PCG website, I will post that link in that same thread.

No worries, and thank you for the heads-up. My post with the team/alternates list has been updated.

Dai-San, you are my go-to guy for this event. I hope this is not too much to ask, but the fact is that you seem to really enjoy helping to get these things going. As always, your assistance is greatly appreciated. Please bring along a few of your AirSoft weapons to help keep people in line.

@IDAN - Added to alternate list. I will also be on TS about 90 minutes prior to mission start. Our guest notwithstanding, Ebden is the only person on the team that I am not certain has ever played one of the GR:IT missions. We will have a GR:IT mission running so that you can test your connection to the server--if you can get in, you have everything configured correctly. As for our alternates, please feel free to drop by early so that we can be certain that you are squared away should your services be necessary. If you are using the Digital Compass add-on, please make sure that it works when doing a server connection test. As stated in the original post, please disable any add-ons that are not required, especially ACE and RH Weapons (for those of you that play on the Lingor ACE server).