Air/Ground War III

[bigmike72]

Any matches today?

[CryptReaperDorian]

@bigmike72: There should be one on PS3 in about half an hour.

[bigmike72]

I'm going to have to get use to the time of the event again.

[Booze]

The problem is the SD image quality on my TV is just not good enough to play properly at all

I hear ya. Although I haven't noticed it being easier or harder to play, it's just plain ugly to play in SD when you know what HD looks like. One thing though that's kind of funny: I can see the dot better in SD (when having set the aiming reticule to basic). In both definitions, the dot is only 1 pixel, but in HD that pixel is just too small to see

 

On-topic: so were there any matches today?

[CryptReaperDorian]

Yeah Booze, there were matches. However, you came online basically after A/G War was done.

 

 

Anyways, sorry again for RPGing those GTs in the third match after my helicopter was downed. I was thinking that may have been within the rules since johnwontscore RPGed me in the previous match when I was a GT and his helicopter was downed.

 

@johnwontscore: How was that within the rules again? I didn't completely catch what you said over there mic with all static that comes from chatting on the mic?

[johnwontscore]

When your copter crashes, you can fire upon GTs to aid your escape; I suppose particularly when you come under fire. I'm still not 100% clear about the logic of it really, but there it is. Another thing that was decided was that when a rescue helicopter comes to pick you up, normal rules are suspended and respawned pilots can be killed by GTs if they are in the vicinity of the rescue helicopter.

 

In the Grinder match, I crashed, jumped out of my copter and found myself trapped by the wreckage. I was within GT range and came under fire of one of their RPGs. I managed to get past the wreckage and shot an RPG in the direction of the GTs. I was expecting to be sniped at, so I thought the RPG might make their snipers drop their weapons and move out of the way giving me a chance to escape. I didn't expect that the RPG would kill two GTs. As far as I know, an RPG hasn't been used by a downed pilot before. Maybe we should debate their use.

 

I've added some players from previous matches that Owl didn't seem to have on his list, so maybe there will be more people available next week. If we have a full room, I would really like to try the AG Turf War.

 

Booze: the problem with the way I had the SD video was that it was zoomed a bit (as you may notice from my videos), which messed up my spacial awareness, and I couldn't spot ground targets unless I was really close or could see the mussel flashes. I played in HDMI today and it was a lot better. Anyway, today I went to the shops and I found, almost by accident, a Hauppauge. I thought I'd have to send off for one, but there it was, so I bought it. It won´t record properly with the wife's old laptop, but I'll get a new one in the week. Definitely no noticeable control lag with it and it seems to work great. 250 euros though, so a bit pricey, but I'm happy with it. No more bloody SD for me.

[CryptReaperDorian]

@johnwontscore: Oh, that makes quite a bit of sense. I'm assuming we both f*cked up? Anyways, I still got that one kill with the Annihilator in the last round, managed to start your helicopter on fire in the second round (killing you eventually), and got some shots into you (second round again) with the M4 while you were approaching the crane. To be generous for I have done though, I let the GTs kill me in the third round. It was quite funny having two GTs knifing at me at the same time. Like I said, I haven't become the best fighter pilot yet, but I can surely zip through obstacles much better than I've seen most people do (unless it's just me thinking that). Also, sorry for the delay at the end of the third round. I was getting all confused if I should of dropped you off to get another helicopter (which I did) or I should of fought the GTs with you still as a passenger (which would of got both of us killed). The Sprunk Factory is a good choice by the way!

 

EDIT: Does anybody know if the APC is in any other mode in TBOGT other than FM? I was thinking about making an event with TDM in TBOGT if it's there (can always do FM, but that's not as good) when it comes to PS3/PC. I doubt it's in any other mode though. I know Turf War is absent, but that would of been an awesome mode for what I have planned. Let's just say it would of been a lot like Battlefield (atleast Battlefield 1943 mode called "Conquest" or whatever it's called).

Edited March 14, 2010 by CryptReaperDorian

[mylungsareburnin]

not sure if its in tdm on tbogt, the maps are in different areas and I have never seen a player try to get one and come back with it.

Edited March 14, 2010 by mylungsareburnin

[Booze]

Yeah, don't get your hopes up for TBOGT when it comes to multiplayer. On Xbox, there's only 5 modes: DM, TDM, Race, GTA Race and freemode. The APC can only be found in freemode and GTA Race (firing slower). The only helicopter you'll find in (T)DM is the Maverick.

 

I don't know if I'll be there tonight, I have this thing planned with my gang and there's also 16vLCPD (which is AWESOME btw, check it out, even if you're on PS3 because we're trying to set up a PS3 branch).

 

John, I ordered the Hauppauge Friday, should be here tomorrow. I hope my laptop is good enough! Good to hear that there's no lag while using it, that was my only concern because it's analogue. Now I'm thinking about buying a switcher, so I can hook up more than one system to the Hauppauge, but I'm afraid of that creating lag. After all, you'll have the signal running through two stations (the switch and the Hauppauge), using 3 different cables...

Also I see what you mean, looking at your videos. There is a bit of zoom, but what would throw me off more is the fact that it's a widescreen signal projected as a 4:3 image. Did it look like that on your TV as well? That looks really hard to play with...

[johnwontscore]

"There is a bit of zoom, but what would throw me off more is the fact that it's a widescreen signal projected as a 4:3 image. Did it look like that on your TV as well?"

 

I don't know what you mean here, but the SD image was horrible to play with. It was zoomed when I started testing the composite connect with the hauppauge as well, but I asked the wife to show me how to fix it and I ended up with a really nice image that seemed almost the same as normal hdmi, it just flickers a bit sometimes. I wish I'd asked her for the same advice with the SD setup.

 

The hauppauge system requirements are here:

 

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html

 

I checked new laptops yesterday and I think I can pick one up that should do the job well for 250 to 300 euros, things are cheap these days. I can't help thinking though that once I've got things set up nice, Sony will announce an update with a record function on the PS3 and I'll have wasted all my time and money.

 

Dorian: usually when someone gives me a taxi ride in the AG war they like to show off how clever they are with the copter to the extent that we end up crashing, so I appreciate the way you got me there without any disasters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Booze]

 

"There is a bit of zoom, but what would throw me off more is the fact that it's a widescreen signal projected as a 4:3 image. Did it look like that on your TV as well?"

 

I don't know what you mean here, but the SD image was horrible to play with.

I mean that the image is "squished". You can see the deformation really well when you bank your helicopter and you can see it clearly if you look at the radar, which is supposed to be a perfect circle, but is more like an oval:

 

 

 

If you look at the video on a YouTube page (which has a 16:9 player), the black bars on the sides (pillarboxing) shouldn't be there, or, if you look at GTAForums embedding (which is in 4:3 format), black bars should be added (letterboxing) to the top and bottom, like in this video:

 

 

 

EDIT: I just realized I had a "Woooohw OW!!"-moment in each of these videos, haha! In John's video (3:08), you can't see what happened, but his empty helicopter fell on my head

Edited March 14, 2010 by Booze T

[johnwontscore]

I see what you mean now about the distortion. Anyway, no more SD for me. You're going to love your hauppauge. I love mine and I haven't even got it working properly yet. It's got lights that flash when it starts recording. It's great. There is one problem with it though. The hauppauge has a computer in it, the PS3 is a computer, the TV has a computer in it and the laptop is another computer. They all seem to get annoyed with each other and stop talking unless you start them up in the right order. Not sure what that order is yet, but I'll work on it. Image quality on the TV is really good though, so it's going to be worth the effort. I think I'll have to make a checklist of settings and things to follow when I use it as there are getting to be too many to remember.

[ChristopherD]

Its good to seethese are still going!

 

@john: When you sent that PSN message, I was in the process of setting up my new connection (50meg...oh yea...lol) and still had 3 more devices to hook up.

 

And I realized some things too...

 

To anyone that is still on the AllPilotsMustDie Friends List: I knda screwed up (again)...

 

Me, my son and brother-in-law (both live w/me) are currently seriously into MAG and only have 2 PS3s. Unfortunately, that game can require multiple accounts to be taken full advantage of and I told my son he could use the APMD account for MAG, since I wasn't organizing anymore.

 

So, thats why you may have seen that account active quite a bit lately.

 

Then im watching my son play MAG on that account and he accidentally clicks into the messages screen and there are like 60 or so unread messages (way more than I ever got there while doing A/G).

 

I figure that they are messages from folks that met Tye (son) in MAG so tell him to open them.

 

Sure enough, every single one was in regard to the A/G War from maybe 25 different ppl. Now, I did not recognize a single name (and I do still read this thread consistantly), so I believe most of them are not forum members....but...

 

I will send out a mass message to these folks and give them PSN Tags Captain_Owl and johnwontscore (if thats alright, john) to send request too and will let them know how to sign up here (wish u could C&P URLs from PSN's browser to the message). I will also send out that massage to everyone already on APMD list like I prommised to do months ago (sorry... ).

 

Its gonna take me longer than one sitting to send out that many messages but will be worth it if it results in a surge aof participants.

[johnwontscore]

I pretty much reserve my johnwontscore account for AG wars anyway, so that's fine with me Chris. I thought there should be more people interested in this. I hope we can try that turf war mode some time. Maybe once these people are added we'll be able to do it. I thought about buying MAG myself a while ago, but since TBoGT is coming out soon I'm going to be spending too much time being a suicide bomber to be bothered learning another game - can't wait to land my exploding helicopter on someone's head.

[dj.arsonizt]

@ Booze and John: Stay away from recording in MP4 format on the Hauppauge. You wont be able to play it normally on any media player other than the Theater software that comes bundled with total media extreme disc. It only plays the top left portion of the video in any other player. Aside from that about a 20 min vid on MP4 @ 8 mb bitrate gives u like a 2.5 gig file enormous! Stick with M2TS format, file size is about half that and same quality. If you guys need further help with tweaking it out message me here or on PSN I went through hell to finally get good settings to record, edit and re-encode and get good results on youtube. I use sony vegas 9 to edit IMO its the best software that fully supports m2ts files with no lag.

[Spartan574]

I'd like to join for the Xbox 360 division!

I'm already in the 16v. LCPD, so why not get in on this action?

 

GT:nighthover 34

[Kinko Kabuki Koshi KaPOW~!]

The Xbox division is kinda dead, Nighthover. Someone needs to take over.

[johnwontscore]

I won't be playing Saturday as I've got to on a family visit.

 

Arsonizt: thanks for the advice. I'm getting there with the hauppauge. I've tested my new laptop at 13.5 (I think) Mbps and it records ok, but the files are a bit big and playback is a touch jerky on full screen, but ok with a reduced window. I recorded about four hours of gameplay last night at 5Mbps and it worked fine and the quality still seems good - total file space was about 2 gigas. I don't notice the difference between the image the component cables provide and regular HD, the flickering I mentioned hasn't happened again. That Hauppauge is one hell of a cool capture card I must say. The new laptop cost me 343 euros in the end. It's got no disc drive, but it's small and compact and nice to use. What I don't understand is that the wife didn't complain about me buying the Hauppauge, but the laptop was a different story. My testicles are now in a plastic bag in the fridge.

[ChristopherD]

@Booze & john:

 

I have been reading your thread about video creation and thought I would add one thing that might be a help.

 

I do a web show and have to upload many files to the net and have discovered one thing that neither of you has mentioned.

 

After I output my final product (from editor), I use flash to convert the .mov file to a .flv file.

 

When you upload a raw file to Youtube, what takes so long is first, uploading your raw file (whatever format it is) AND for their system to convert it to a Flash .flv file.

 

So, if you convert it yourself, you speed up the process in two ways...first, you are not uploading your raw file, which for me, for a 12 minute show the raw file is approx. 450meg, but cuts down to around 140meg when converted to a .flv. This decreases the upload speed to Youtube substantially.

 

Second, add the fact that Youtube now does not have to convert the file, this decreases the upload time as well. It also has the advantage in that since Youtube is not converting the file, the aspect ratio will stay what YOU make it (no squishing).

 

Now, you may think that the doing the extra step to convert the raw file to a .flv will add more time to the total process, but keep in mind that there is no internet connection slowing the converting process down.

 

If you do not have Flash itself, there are many good (and free) video file converters out there that would do the job well.

 

I release two shows a week (usually), and adding this extra step (converting raw file to .flv) saves me at least three and a half to four hours a week!!!

 

Just thought I'd mention it.

Edited March 18, 2010 by ChristopherD

[johnwontscore]

Sounds like a very good idea Chris. Could you give me the name of one of those free converters?

[Booze]

I thought YouTube converts your video no matter what? But if that's not the case then indeed, converting the file yourself - or even rendering it in flv (if your editing software can do that) would give you more control over your quality and reduces the processing time once uploaded. Of course, YouTube still has to make a couple of transcodes so you can watch the video in a lower resolution.

 

Anyhow, I have not yet been able to capture footage of GTA IV with the Hauppauge, sadly... I can preview and record the dashboard fine (I'm recording off the Xbox), but as soon as I start up GTA, the preview window goes black. Could that have something to do with the PAL settings? What do those presets even mean, PAL A through D or whatever? I tried setting my Xbox output to PAL-60 and selecting the PAL 60 preset on the Hauppauge, but still no luck

[johnwontscore]

I had a problem with it blacking out and saying there was no signal when I was doing the display settings on the PS3. I fixed it by not selecting the 1080p option as one of the resolutions the PS3 asked me if my TV could support when setting up the component input. I've managed to record a lot, but I've been having problems getting the editing and conversion software right. Sony Vegas 9 trial versions crash as soon as I load a Hauppauge file. I've had to try a few programs, but I think I've found one I can use.

[ChristopherD]

The one I use is "Any Video Converter".

 

Here are links to download it:

 

For PC

 

For Mac

 

I use the PC version even though I edit using Mac...our IT guy at work is a control freak and doesn't listen to anyone, so have to spend an extra 1/2 hour to an hour transferring files back and forth between my PC and Mac...I love what I do at my job but hate the ppl I work with...

 

Anyhoo...I have no idea how the Mac version is, but the PC version is excellent and no need to download the full version. The only thing you have to put up with (cuz its free) is it askes if you want to buy it after every conversion...you just click "No Thanks!".

 

Hope this helps.

[Booze]

I got it to work whoohoo! I started up the game, then opened the capture software and it came through! And for some reason, I can now go back and forth between the game and the dashboard (what I couldn't do before), like it had to calibrate or something... Anyway 1080i looks horrible (the recording that is, the image looks fine on my tv), even at the max bitrate. 720p seems like the best resolution to use. Get good results with an acceptable bitrate (8 mbps).

 

I hope I can edit these files in Avid, otherwise I'll have to use Sony Vegas. I'm still not sure about YouTube not transcoding your video if you upload it in .flv format...

 

Those smart-asses... "Any Video Converter"

[The Owl]

Okay, there are some more people added to the list since last week, so hopefully more people will show up. I have sent a message to everyone via PSN with the time of the next match.

 

Please note that the UK has not gone switched to daylight savings yet, so those of you who have switched to daylight savings will be playing a hour later then normal.

[ChristopherD]

Please note that the UK has not gone switched to daylight savings yet, so those of you who have switched to daylight savings will be playing a hour later then normal.

Oh crap...forgot about that!

 

Thanks Owl!!!

[The Owl]

Todays match was cancelled due to lack of people showing up. I assume the daylight savings time confused people.

 

Next week I'll be gathering everyone in party mode before swiching to Team Deathmatch so we don't have to wait for 20-30 minutes in the lobby.

[johnwontscore]

Booze: gald to hear you've sorted it out. Vegas 9 didn't work at all for me but Cyberlink Powerdirector v8 is working really well. You can download trial versions of these programs and use them for a month before you have to pay for them.

 

The Hauppauge kicks ass doesn't it? Once it has stopped fighting with the TV, computer and PS3 that is.

 

 

[Booze]

I'm sorry Owl, I couldn't make it today. I guess I should've told you guys beforehand but I figured it wouldn't really make a difference...

On that note, I won't be able to make it tomorrow either

 

John: Yeah, the Hauppauge indeed kicks ass! I get the occasional black-out for a second, but it has happened maybe 3 times in the past 13-15 hours of play time. The last time it happened was on my PS3, which might be running on 50 Hz (I understand the Hauppauge doesn't like 50 Hz). Anyway, the longest time I've recorded is over 3 hours and no problem at all. I could play the file back perfectly. The only thing I still wish for is to be able to edit the raw file. Like, if I would want 1 minute of footage out of those 3 hours then I don't want to have to keep the whole file just for that 1 minute.

 

I haven't tried importing anything into an editing program yet but if both Avid and Sony Vegas can't work with m2ts then I'll just record in mp4.

[johnwontscore]

Booze: I think you should be able to use Windows Live Movie Maker to chop up you videos. But I strongly recommend testing Cyberlink Powerdirector. I've put a video on Youtube using it but I messed up on all the settings so the quality sucks, but that program really is put together well. Give it a try. I've learnt how to use it with little effort and it seems very reliable.