Raw Gameplay (Unedited) - Battlefield Play4Free (32 Players, Saiga-12 Won from The Daily Draw)

Battlefield Play4Free is a Free-To-Play title, where it doesn't cost anything to join in, but you can purchase weapons, armor, clothing and other items for Real Money by purchasing Tokens that you can then use in the in-game Store. There is also a nice feature where you can win prizes (weapons, armor, clothing, etc) from a game called The Daily Draw, where you choose a card from a draw of eight and it will generate an item for you.

The items range from temporary one-day use weapons and clothing, to seven day usage, to permanent items your character (Soldier) can use in the game forever (for example, a scope that can be attached to a gun for that soldier for all time). This is great for those who can't afford to purchase many in-game items, as it not only offers the possibility of getting some great gear 'forever', it also gives a nice preview of a weapon, mod or clothing, so that you can see what it will look like/feel like, if you decide to splurge and purchase it for yourself (supporting the game and developers as well) sometime in the future.

In this video, I present 'Raw Gameplay' (unedited gameplay) of BFP4F after winning a Saiga-12 Shotgun for one day's usage on my Medic via The Daily Draw. I had joined a 32-player server (running a Rush map) that was nice and full (16 soldiers per side). After getting the kinks out and getting used to the controls again after not playing for a while, I think things picked up as the game went on.. I was soon having fun arming MCOMs and healing and reviving. Near the end, I realized that my Aircraft controls weren't set/got reset, as my mouse wasn't 'inverted' and I couldn't fly the helicopter at all, haha.

Recorded game: Battlefield Play4Free, Online FPS
Recorded with: Bandicam (Registered Version) @ 864p
Recording codec: MPEG-1, 70% Quality, 30fps

This video was also a test of a few things (though not an 'Official Testing Video'): I was messing around with different settings (resolutions, quality settings) to see how low I could set things before the quality suffered too much. This is of course, something VERY relative and what looks 'good enough' to one person, looks 'like crap on a cracker' to another person. What I was testing here was, what seemed good enough to upload to YouTube (since it recompresses anyway) and still be enjoyable, while making the recorded file as small as I could via Quality settings (which limits the bitrate somewhat) and resolution size (the larger the resolution, the more bitrate/filesize that would be required).

As I have stated in earlier articles talking about Quality, Bitrate and Filesize, I still find that going below 60% produces too many compression artifacts (macroblocks and 'trails', Gibbs effects and more) for many games, especially if there are large dark areas (which would get compressed more highly and have these compression effects occur in them). This doesn't happen with all games however; some games are fast-moving and/or do not have many darker/flatter areas and using 50% quality doesn't look too bad, even with the MJPEG codec. It's a balancing and testing game, as some games (especially with text) look fine and others look very bad (the compressor will try to allocate more bits around edges like text and compress even more highly then, the flatter/darker areas in a scene). I have done recordings of news streams and other things however, that allow for a very low quality recording setting (down to 20%), but that is mainly because the source itself is of a low quality (many streams are highly compressed and there is not much 'extra' compression artifacts produced by recording it in a lower quality/bitrate, especially if you are going to downsize for the final output video).

For most games, I found I could go down to 70% Quality comfortably - as long as the resolution stayed 'higher' [720p or higher]. With lower resolutions, the bitrate/quality reduction means too many 'casualties', as 30% of a 1080p recording isn't that many pixels when you consider the screen size; but one-third of a 480p recording is a huge amount of the already small screen being 'lost' to compression. Thus, with some testing (again to what looks "ok to me") I arrived at a middle ground of 864p, which maintains decent clarity of text and is large enough to discourage overcompression of darker/flatter areas. For keeping recorded files small and downsizing to 720p HD, it looked fine to me in tests - and on some games, doesn't look that bad even if you wanted to upsize to 1080p HD (clear text was maintained, etc).

So, enjoy this first installment in an 'unofficial' Video Series here at The Game Tips And More Blog: "Raw Gameplay" of Battlefield Play4Free. If you like the game, play it, tell others about it and buy some stuff from the Online Store and support it!

See You In The Game!

Any gameplay videos or animations uploaded are only one example of one possible path of game play and is not representative of the gameplay experience of the entirety of the game material as it is non-repeatable in exactness (movements, actions, viewpoints, etc) to a high degree of accuracy (especially in regards to online multiplayer play and interactions) and therefore is not a representation of a large portion of the game content (this includes complete Walkthroughs/Playthroughs, Raw Gameplay Footage and Tutorials). All material and content uploaded attempts to respect copyright and is presented for Educational and Entertainment purposes only, utilized under Fair Use and can be construed as Free Advertising. No copyright infringement is intended and cannot be inferred. Any possible representation approaching any infringement, to those seeking infringement action, requires double notification and will be honoured by permanent removal of the infringing material.

Game Tip - Hitman: Absolution - The Axe item in the level "A Personal Contract"

Just a quick tip for Hitman: Absolution and finding the 'seemingly-not-as-easy-as-everything-else' Axe item in the First Mission/Tutorial, for those who don't know where it is already. It is found outside, in the Gardens area, before you actually get into the main mansion - before you even get to the Greenhouse. It is near the very beginning of entering the grounds. It can be found stuck vertically into a shortened, cut tree. My Agent47 got ticked off walking around the level backwards using Instinct off and on, looking for it until he finally found it (for 100% completion of the level):

GTAM Minute Tutorial - Editing the Bouncy Yellow Text in the Minecraft Menu Screen and Fixing the 'ZWN BSF' Problem (and Locating the Minecraft.jar file)

Yes, I had to put absolutely everything in the title. As many of you already know, the yellow 'bouncy' text that shows up on the Main Menu screen of Minecraft ("Splash Text") can be edited to display whatever you want it to say. The problem is, when editing that text, one weird 'error' that can occur is, just before your personalized text, a little box with ZWN BSF (it's actually ZWNBSP) can show up. I've seen this problem talked about on many different forums for a while now and as I was editing the file myself, I figured out this way of fixing it and thought I'd share it with everyone:

In this GTAM Minute Tutorial, I'm editing the Splashes.txt file inside the Minecraft.jar source file [in Windows] to simply say, "Game Mode: Hardcore!", when working on recording some future Hardcore Mode Playthroughs. I show the problem as it pops up while editing [it's a one-take video] and then immediately show the fix for it. I don't think this is the only way around it, but it solves the problem and worked for me multiple times and since people are still talking about it; I thought I'd throw this out there to help others.



To locate the Minecraft.jar source file the game uses (for almost everything including Mods/addons), there are a bunch of ways, here are some [N.B. - (3) works on all operating systems]:

1) If you are playing Minecraft in Windows, you could do a couple of things**:

 - Open Windows Explorer and in the top Address Bar area, where it says your location on your computer, type in
%appdata%
and it will show the location of the ".minecraft" folder, where game files are normally kept. There is a "bin" folder inside, it should be in there

 - Click on the Start Button/Orb and where it says "Search Programs And Files" type in
%appdata%
and it will show the location of the ".minecraft" folder, where game files are normally kept. There is a "bin" folder inside, it should be in there

- Open a Windows Explorer window and navigate to C:\Users\<your user name>\AppData\Roaming and this is the location of the ".minecraft" folder, where game files are normally kept. There is a "bin" folder inside, it should be in there

 **You may have to 'show Hidden Files And Folders' in Windows by opening a Windows Explorer window and pulling down the Tools Menu and choosing Folder Options. In here, click on the View Tab and under the Hidden Files And Folders category, select the 'Show Hidden Files, Folders And Drives' Radio Button and click OK. You may also have to UNCHECK the 'Hide Extensions For Known File Types' checkbox in the View Tab if you want to see the '.jar' file extension/ending

2) If you are playing Minecraft on a Mac:

- Open Finder and in the Go To Folder section, type in
~/Library/Application Support/Minecraft/bin
and it should be in there

3) If you are on most other OS's (such as Linux):

 - Run the Minecraft game and go to Options, then Texture Packs and choose Open Texture Pack Folder
 - Go up one level to the ".minecraft" directory and there should be a "bin" directory inside, it should be in there

 Have fun editing the Minecraft Splash Text for your video projects and See You In The Game!

Hitman: Absolution - First Impressions and Screenshots

I finally picked up the latest iteration of the Hitman Series, Hitman: Absolution, starring Agent 47 as the main anti-hero, id est killing the bad guys but never quite [arguably] becoming one of them. Differing from the last couple of Hitman publications, Absolution has an overarching story, connections being made in a chronological manner throughout the various stages and settings. Characters are introduced and developed via cutscenes, as the plot is pushed further by your completing the next mission for a feeling of engagement in the storyline.

I personally liked this approach, as opposed to the last couple of Hitman games, which seemed like mostly 'replays' of old missions from previous games (which in and of itself, isn't a bad thing). While there were similar settings, such as a Chinese Market Square, they were sufficiently changed enough - especially with the graphical improvements and new gameplay interface - to seem varied enough to be enjoyable. There were even updated versions of [personal] 'old favorites' that I waited excitedly for (such as a 'Hotel' stage). Slightly more varied than the old versions, if you include the new "Instinct" game mechanic, these levels felt 'fresh', even if they weren't new.

The "Instinct" game mechanic seems like an effort to simplify the game, making it easier for newcomers and those who had trouble with the complexity and scope of the previous Hitman games. Indeed, I remember reading a lot over the years of people saying the Hitman games were "too big" or "too complex" and that it didn't help the player much at all, as far as where to go and what to do. It "plopped you down in a large area with just a map", they felt. Of course, that was the draw for all of the other people, the complexity and seeming openness of the game was enjoyed, where you had to figure out everything yourself. You could decide what to skip and what to do and could decide for yourself how to do it. The new "Instinct" mechanic of Absolution doesn't take too much away from this (you can turn it 'off' if desired) and it actually adds to the cinematic feel of the game by taking the 'player out of playing', so to speak, which results in more of a feeling that you are 'playing Agent 47', guiding him (and using his innate abilities) through the game, as opposed to 'actually being Agent 47' and figuring everything out yourself heavy-handedly. I suspect this more objective approach has already been a point of contention since the game was released.

An example of Hitman: Absolution's new 'Hitman Instinct' game mechanic, showing how Agent47 can 'sense' enemies in and around the nearby area and estimates where they may be heading.

When utilizing Agent 47's 'Instinct', the game shows where 47 'senses' there are enemies and where they are and shows you on the screen with outlined shapes. It even shows where 47 'calculates' enemies will be moving to, showing you their intended path with a line of flame and where they will stand still with a larger lick of fire. This is where the adrenalin-dipped decision making and primal 'danger' awareness kicks in during the game, as a player can choose to set up an engagement with an enemy, or stealthily avoid these paths and points.

For those who do not like or want the new game mechanic at all, it can be turned off, mainly by choosing a higher difficulty level. There are five to choose from and higher difficulties result in more 'sensitive' or 'aware' enemies, tougher enemies (wearing more body armor one assumes) and more of them. For those who are new to the game or having trouble with it, the difficulty can be lowered as well, with less enemies, enemies with less skill (not as good at aiming) and less awareness (having a bit more 'tunnel-vision') allowing you to sneak around them easier. The option to have this game mechanic off or on, at the players choice, is nice and was no doubt included to appease those who would not like it's hints and guidance. New players (those talking about the games' difficulty in the past) can have it on and still enjoy the action and storyline as well. It feels like an 'attempt to please everybody' - and I assume it will work well in that regard. (I haven't read any Reviews of the game (to avoid exposure to the material within) before I purchased it, but I assume that once I indulge in others' opinions, I will see much disagreement on that last sentence).

View of a hotel cleaning supply room from an air ventilation shaft. Click to see Full Size

The game itself felt atmospheric and cinematic. The music changed as action waxed and waned. Enemies ignored or chased you around winding levels that you had to discover and remember. The graphics were spectacular, with detailed textures, dark and gritty lighting and shading. The core Hitman gameplay was there - even if it wasn't there for very long. This game felt very short to me. Perhaps it was the somewhat simple Television Movie Special plot, perhaps it was the number of missions (although they were split up into sections). Perhaps it was merely enjoying it so much that I wanted more, but just during the course of writing this article off and on, I have completed the game in it's storyline entirety (not counting Challenges and Item Collection) in just over 20 hours. That doesn't seem very long, but I suppose it is to be expected in a game that is more like "Max Payne" and less like "Skyrim" (more Action and less RPG). You could keep playing after finishing the main story, select past levels and retry them, doing them 'cleaner' for a better score or achievement, or look around and discover new weapons and pathways, or just redo any level you wanted to for fun.

An example of how the levels are split up into sections and how you can select past levels to replay them.

An example of the updated game engine, with higher-detailed character models, textures and environments.
Click to see Full Size

Other than the copy-pasted 'general population' mannequin-people utilized in larger crowds (used understandably to keep memory/resource usage of the game down of course - all of the 'main' NPCs have good detail to them), I personally liked the attention  paid to smaller details, such as the amount of debris scattered around the levels - things like cups, papers and garbage, all part of the gritty 'lived-in-ness' of the environment, adding to the realism. It's nice to see games that pay more attention to the surroundings/settings these days, as opposed to the stark, clean-floor environments in games of yesteryear.

Overall, Hitman: Absolution was very enjoyable. It was great fun to figure out steps and schemes for the various areas and carry them out with cold calculation. I laughed out loud a few times and grit my teeth in anger at the more difficult parts, playing them over and over again, trying to figure out new ways to accomplish the objectives and complete the contracts. Despite feeling shorter (perhaps just because it was so enjoyable) and despite some changes that others might not entirely like, I still suggest trying it (especially if you are a fan of the previous games in the Hitman series). I personally had a lot of fun with the game - and isn't that the most important thing?

Have fun with Absolution and See You In The Games!

The Game Tips And More Blog's Ludo Ludi (Game Play) #1-3

I wanted to start a video series that was Random Gameplay Video Clips that I have collected over time. I started out calling it FLASHBACK, creating a logo for it and everything; but I wanted a way to archive/share them out a little bit faster/easier, rather than 'Featuring' them every time, so I came up with the concept of "Ludo Ludi".

It means "game" and "play" in Esperanto. The idea was to not label the gameplay clips or state what they are, in order to have other people enjoy the "surprise reminiscence" of the games. Viewers could try to guess what they are for fun or just enjoy them as part of a playlist where they didn't know what was coming next. For the most part it would be easy to guess them of course; if you played the game, you'll know what game it is and what class I played, etc.etc. But, I still thought it would be entertaining to have a bunch on a playlist of some sort, with no obvious names, having a transitory video (without logos/intros) of something loopable such as static - as though changing the channel on a television - in-between videos. With Youtube's Playlist and Randomize features, this can now be done and one can sit and reminisce on games of yesteryear with my video clips showing snippets of gaming moments recorded from a wide variety of games! Everyone with ADD/ADHD can just click the Next button on the playlist to skip to the next one if the current one isn't holding their interest! Everyone is a winner! With this in mind then, I now present one long paragraph and the first three installments of :

The Game Tips And More Blog's New Gameplay Video Series, "Ludo Ludi (Game Play)"

Enjoy and See You In The Games!

Speedrun - Hitman: Absolution - Contracts (The First Hit)

After playing through the first Contract ("The First Hit") properly, I noticed that the only requirements were to kill the target. It didn't seem to matter if you got spotted or anything else, so I thought - that would be perfect for a Speedrun!

Level: Hitman (Absolution) - Contracts (The First Hit)
Time: 21 seconds
Score: 95,186
Runs: About 4-5


After a couple runs of seeing what the fastest path might be (leaping over the log takes more time than running around imo), I changed to a smaller resolution and turned the graphics down to low settings to help with speed. I don't know if this is the fastest possible route, I just found it worked well instinctively after a few runs.

Bandicam seems to have some trouble with H:A, the fps keeps popping through, and seems to lag it out a bit. I even tried disabling SLI. I thought it might be my NVIDIA cards, and in the end, I ended up running it on an AMD/ATi HD 6870 even smoother than dual GTX 560Ti's (this game prefers AMD videocards).

Good luck with it and See You In The Games!