Starcraft News for Oct. 19th
Blizz Responds to CD Key Probs
The first post states that they are looking into the prob and gives directions on what to do if someone is using your cd key. The second post states that they're having 'issues' with the b.net servers and that when they get that cleared up, everything should work fine again. Hmmm, 'issues' .... so that's like when you give the monitor a good whack and kick the unit a few times yelling at it wildly "your really starting to p*ss me off now!!" right? Hey, it could happen :) heheheBrood War Beta CD's On The Way
This post was on Blizz's page tonight : - As of Monday, October 19, the StarCraft Brood War Beta CD-Roms are now on their way to all selected testers. Beta testers can expect to receive their beta test packages within a week. The test will be taking place over the next few weeks on Battle.net, and will focus on multiplayer testing.CD Key Update
About that email I posted below... Wargasm sent me an email that pretty much rips the theory apart. His remarks are posted in blue inside the email. (scroll down)Changes for 1.04
Mr Newbie made a lol post in the forums of what should be changed in SC. It's a must read :) Thanks to Shafes for spotting this one.*Shudders*
Well this is just umm... scary! Bill Clinton baby dance. You've been warned *wink* Oh and blame Talon Claw, he sent it to me.New Antioch SCM
Take control of Kel-Morian Shipyard, a vital Combine staging area in this week's new Antioch SCM Creation. It's a 256x96 Space Platform island map good for up to six players, in melee or Use Map Settings allied modes. Grab it now!Aren't I Tough Enough?
Well I'm not but these guys were. Here's who whooped butt in Phase 2 of the PGL and got one step closer to winning some big bucks. Congrats to all! You know TillerMan has got to be doing a little "Na Na Na Na Na" at Blizz after he got deleted for abuse by Mick last time around. :) Click the name to read the recap of the playoff match.TillerMaN - Bracket A
The~Insane~Frog - Bracket B
Kin-Dom{KoD} - Bracket C
KGOR - Bracket D
TanthalaS - Bracket E
Stwyla - Bracket F
~jolly~ - Bracket G
Esp - Bracket H
BrainCraft
SC Control Tower has a new unique scm that sounds pretty cool! Here's what it's all about:First off, let me tell you what this page is all about. Gandhi! (aka - Danthar), who also wrote up our official strategy page, and I were talking about SCT's Skills Test, and he was just bashing that thing. He says it's way to easy, and not very specific. :) So we thought of something. Gandhi! is great at turning Starcraft into a completely different game, something that takes a way higher level of thinking and reasoning. He volunteered to make a puzzle for you guys, and he did it in the form of a .Scm which, I think, is very creative. I decided to devote a page to Gandhi!'s extraordinary reasoning skills, and call it Braincraft. :DCool or what?? :) Download the Puzzle.scm and find out more about it here.
CD Keys - Generators or Stolen
The debate is heating up with ppl still reporting stolen CD Keys. Here's a post in the forums of a guy claiming to know who stole them and how they did it. I suggest reading the whole thread tho. SC.Org recieved this email (posted below) from Lithel concerning this also. It really just says that there are such things as CD Key Generators (duh!) and his theory on why the probs are showing up now. It's interesting tho, course the truth is out there, but somehow I feel like Mulder.. it's there but we may never know what it really is or be able to prove it unless Blizz takes us into their confidence.
If you have just (in the last 2 days) had your key stolen, here's the reason. You've had it stolen for MUCH longer than that. Originally when Starcraft was released, Blizzard had a feature on battle.net that allowed them to check for multiple uses of a CD Key and block those people from playing.This is nonsense, if someone had your cd key u would have noticed along time ago. I tried this with my friends cd key and if he was online and i logged on with his cd key then it said my cd key was in use by my friend.
However, a month or so after the release of Starcraft, members of the hacker community (don't ask me who), managed to get ahold of the code used to GENERATE CD-Keys. At this moment, people could randomly generate CD-Keys and log into battle.net in place of legitimate people who bought Starcraft. As the complaints mounted, Blizzard saw no alternative than to stop checking CD-Keys...
Random cd keys never workded. Change the last 4 digits of your cd key, 5874 (example) and see if u can get on bnet .. Razor 1911 cd key generator never worked and neither did all the others, and i test alot of them.
As time passed, people discovered this and began to burn copies of Starcraft and use any CD-Key (usually via the generator) to allow them and their friends to all use battle.net. Because Blizzard had stopped checking keys, even if the generated CD-Key conflicted with a legitimate user, battle.net would allow both of them on.
If the key conflicted with another user u couldn't logon. That simple. Further more, haven't u ever got the "wait 5 minutes and reconnect to bnet ?" Sorry but the above doesn't make sense.
Yesterday however, Blizzard started (either on purpose or by accident) to check CD-Keys again and this resulted in the hundreds of people who already had their keys duplicated to have logon problems. If Blizzard has a plot to stop these CD-Key gens, all the better. Otherwise, I don't think there is any solution other than to stop checking keys again.
LithelIf Blizzard took such extreme measures then they can expect maybe a lawsuit since alot of legit buyers encountered enormous problems this weekend. Taking the recent lawsuits into account i think Blizzard would act with more care now .. Not saying that all off the above is not true but there are too many holes in this theory.
WARGASM
p.s. That post from a hacker in the forum .. well i think that is bogus too after some more msg exchanges between him and me.
Starcraft News for Oct. 18th
New Tomb Raider 3 Screens
OGR has a bunch of new pics up for all you Lara Lovers. Go here and please remember to properly place your tongue back in your mouth before heading downstairs to talk to the family, they allready think your wierd enough. hehehe, just kidding! *wink*Shogo: Mobile Armor Division in Stores
Yep it shipped early and you should be able to get it now. You can find out more about this anime 3D shooter, get the demo and d/l the movie all at the official site.A Preview and a Review
GamePen starts it preview of Starsiege off with "I hadn’t seen an eye-massaging sight like that in a while. "Can I play?" I asked." Sounds like this game is going to have a lot of eye candy and a detailed story line that fans can submit ideas for. If this one catches your interest read the preview here. They've also reviewed the dirty half dozen of Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines, the new RTS game from Eidos that has you duking it out with Nazi's. Anyone who loves WWII and RTS will probably love this game. Check it out here.Lower Ranks Campaign
If you like the Crossworlds Saga Campaign (and hey even if you didn't) Desler is making a new campaign called The Lower Ranks. It should be out sometime in November. Desler is also interested in reviews of the Crossworld Saga campain, so if you played it why not let him know what you think of it :)Unreal 2
Epic Mega Games has confirmed there will be an Unreal 2. Epic won't develop it though, they're farming it out to Legend Entertainment. There really isn't any news on what the game will be like, just that there will be one.Name The Next TA Unit Contest
Cavedog is having a contest to name the next downloadable TA Unit. It's a Core Mobile Anti-Nuke unit and the winner gets a TA T-shirt, Cavedog baseball cap and a Core Contingency poster autographed by the TA team. Entries must be in by noon (PST), Oct. 22. Enter the contest here. If your not imaginative, you can still win stuff from Cavedog by taking their web survey. It doesn't get easier than this one.Jagged Ailiance2 and Wizardry 8 Live On
Despite the recent closing of Sirtech Softwares publishing and distribution operations in New York, Gamecenter reports that Sirtech is alive and kicking in Canada and plans to release Jagged Alliance 2 and Wizardry 8 continue. There's actually two articles on the closing. This article, on the shutdown of the New York base is kind of interesting because it gives a little insight into the inner workings of getting a game published and the difficulties a small independant software company has to deal with.Gauntlet kicking Your @ss?
Gauntlet is a map that is supposed to heavily favor the Zerg. I don't know cuz I haven't played it *gasp* but that's beside the point. There's a new strategy up by Deathwing on Protoss vs Zerg on Gauntlet. Maybe it'll help ya.GameSpot Aptitude Test
Gamespot has a new feature up, the Gamespot Aptitude Test (GSAT). If you think you know games, go test your knowledge with this 160 question monster. But be warned, it's 32 pages long and covers the history of gaming and the relationships between games and the designers. (umm ... they have relationships???) :) Anyway, wiggle those fingers, stroke the keyboard once for luck and take the test here. [news source - Shafes]AoE: The Rise of Empires Demo
Gamecenter has the stand alone trial version all ready for you to download and get playing. If you want to read a little about it while your d/l check this interview out with Bruce Shelley, AoE designer and head of Ensemble Studios.For the RTS Die Hards
If you love RTS games, then you just might like Zero Point. It covers only RTS games. There's a column up, part 2 actually, on what he would like to see in RTS games. The columns good, this one mainly has the feedback from others on part 1, but what caught my attention was when he started talking about the use of Dynamic Sound in games and how music can affect the mood and level of adrenaline in a game. I lol while I read that section, and it shows just how into a game you can get sometimes :) If your interested give it a peek here.
Starcraft News for Oct. 17th
CD Key Hack?
Something weird is going on. In the SC Tech Forums many players are reporting their cd key's are stolen / can't access them! Glitch or hack ?? Hope it's just a glitch. Check out the posts. Thanks for the info Wargasm :)Brood War Sites
Well when I wasn't looking BroodWar.com opened. And if I may plug my own site, check out my Brood War Section also. I also saw that a site called Shadow Spiral's Brood War Site has opened. My favorite layout still has to be ES's Brood War page, though Brood War Dynasty is reworking there's at the moment. But hey, call me prejudiced, I still say mine has the most content... And if ya'll were somehow living under a rock *wink* and missed the new BW cutscenes Blizz released this week, don't forget to check em out here.Is ICQ the Best?
Cnet has an article up comparing all the 'buddy list' programs. Yep there are others. See if ICQ is the best for your needs and find out the features some of the other programs offer. It also includes tips for using ICQ and a complete d/l list of all available versions. [news source - BLW]StarCraft Registry Editor and New PalEdit
Here's some goodies straight from King Arthur at Camelot Systems :Tonight I just finished my StarCraft Registry Editor (SCRegEdit). I have uploaded it to the software page for you to download. Fortunately I finally got around to doing something in Borland C++ Builder, so you don't need those damned Visual Basic Runtime Libraries. :) I've also included the source code as well.In addition to that, I uploaded a slightly modified version of PalEdit (a little smaller, better organized I think...) This also now has source code available for it.
SCRegEdit v1.0 Program Files (177kb) - Designed by King Arthur
SCRegEdit v1.0 Source Code (C++) (8kb) - Written by King Arthur
PalEdit v1.3 Program Files (25kb) - Designed by King Arthur
Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Runtime Libraries (1.7mb)
PalEdit v1.3 Source Code (11kb) - Written by King Arthur
B.Net Hits the Comics
Infoceptor received a scan of the comic strip 'Betty'. Now it doesn't actually say b.net but well, take a look and you decide. Pretty cool :)WOW! Auspex is Famous!
Episode I of The Antioch Chronicles has made its way onto the November issue of the PC Gamer CD-ROM (check out the blurb near the bottom of page 22 of the magazine). Due to the fact that these things are put together so far in advance it's v1.00. No problem tho, If you get it off the cd, just head over and upgrade to v1.02 with the patch available in the Campaigns section at his site. Cooler still, he latest version of Episode I, as well as future episodes, will be in future issues of PC Gamer. Congrats Auspex!!! Quite an accomplishment :)This Just Sux
Got an email from Talon Claw, who just bought Klingon Honor Guard... (I've really been looking forward to this game) Anyway he tells me it won't run :( He also said "A lot of other people are also reporting it wont run with their voodoo2 card." This is strange since it uses the Unreal engine and Unreal runs fine. *sigh* Oh well, bottom line, if you were thinking of getting it, I guess you better hold off and see if Microprose fixes the prob. Like I said before, this just sux :(Local, Non B.Net Servers and Launcher Prog
Here's an email I recieved from Shadow that may help everyone having probs with b.net or are looking for a free alternative.A member of Shadow Syndicate has created a program that allows you to connect to local, non bnet servers. In addition it also supplys a link to connect to the Shadow Syndicate SC/Diablo server, as well as allowing the user to type in another private ip address of their choice. The server was created by FSGS. As you might guess the private server and servers dont experience split channels and/or any other common bnet problems, such as lag. You can d/l the server at FSGS's page. Download the program here. Zeradur~SS~, a member of Shadow Syndicate [who created this program] has also made available a page to supply the program, screenshots and information about this program here. Thanks for taking your time to read this and I hope it helps some of the players out there! as it did us. - Shadow~SS~
Starcraft News for Oct. 16th
SCM of the Week
This weeks scm is Polaris Prime, is an Official Ladder Map. It's a 192x192 Space Platform recommended for 2-6 players. Print the Enlarged Map View now! Here's the teaser :
Originally designed as a diplomatic enclave, Polaris Prime was envisioned as a place where disparate factions would gather and work out their differences in a peaceful manner. The station, consisting of two central meeting areas and six separated rooms, were well suited for the needs of visiting Ambassadors and their staff. The station gained a well-earned reputation as a haven for those individuals dedicated to peace. That all changed when the Zerg onslaught began. Polaris Prime was quickly abandoned when it fell into the ravenous path of the Swarm. Now, diplomacy of a different kind has begun, as those species that once spoke of peace return to present their arguments in a more aggressive manner. Download it now (121k)An Excellent Post on Lag
ZealotOnAStick has put up an informative post on lag and b.net, what it is, how it works, what affects it, etc.. Basically everything you ever wanted to know but didn't know who to ask. So before you go get that 56k modem or whine at someone for lagging the game, give it a read. Knowledge is a good thing :)New Maps Cause Imbalance?
Annihilator-X17 has made a post in the forums concerning the new ladder maps, how they favor the Zerg and some suggestions for correcting the balance. Also has a recap of 3 games that he and Everlast played on Gauntlet, a map they feel the Terran cannot beat the Zerg on. Read it here.To PK or Not to PK
This debate has always plagued Diablo and probably always will. But I digress... Gamesmania has an article up written by Ducky of BGC on the PK switch and the pro's and con's of it. You can post your views on it below the article in the Gamesmania SuperFan Forum.Tech News
Cnet has several articles up the new chips being released and some more info on the Foster and Willamette chips and Campaq announces it shoot for the 1000 MHz chip by 2000 and it's new Alpha based servers also. Anyway if you love the tech news go get your fill at Cnet.AoE Expansion: The Rise of Rome
Microsoft announced that the Age of Empires expansion: The Rise of Rome trial version will be released this week here. Check it to see when it goes up. Free multipayer gaming will be offered on the MSN Gaming Zone and you don't need the original AoE to play. Eh, it's something new to do this weekend.
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