This website is now running on a new webserver from Media Temple. Something not working? Then click on the “bugz” link above and post away. However, there should be few if any problems with this new server. GG diggers.

I played some Battlefield 2142 multiplayer some more tonight and here’s a little rundown of the command system in place. Long story short: being a commander is FUN! At the beginning of the game you get a chance to apply for the position of commander of your team. The computer will decide whether or not you will be accepted as the current commander based on the military rank of all of the people who applied. If you don’t get accepted you have a chance to disgrace your whole family tree, call mutiny and let your team vote you into the position.

Now, as commander you get to run around like everyone else, but the real fun begins when you find a hidden spot to lay down and switch to map view. From here you get to initiate global artillery strikes, emp strikes, send out UAV’s, do satellite scans of the battlefield, zoom in with imaging satellites, initiate supply drops, and lay waypoints and give orders to your squad leaders. Except for waypoints and orders, every one of these resources are on a timer that lets you use them only x times a minute. If your squad leaders aren’t doing their job as well as you would like, you can send them the message “Follow my orders soldier!”. There’s nothing quite like doing this and having a few of them click respond “Yes sir!” and see the squads slowly start moving towards your intended waypoints.

In map view, you can only see the map and positions of your 32 or so teammates, you get the enemy positions temporarily by sending out the UAV’s or doing a satellite scan. This battlefield intel is then transfered to your soldiers in the field so they can see where enemy positions are for a number of seconds. Think of it as lumberjack-dar on steroids, but with a lot less “I’m a lbj and I’m ok with that”ness. (only THX’ers will get that one, sorry)

Using the satellite zoom feature, you can get a visual on enemy troops and more precisely call in your global artillery and emp strikes. It looks a lot like the top down feeds we currently get from AC-130s and other surveillance aircraft. Getting a visual on the troops will not log them into the tracking system though, you have to use a UAV or a satellite scan for that.

If you take the chance to be a squad leader, you will have 5 or so people on your squad that you can give orders to. As a squad leader, you will be receiving commands from your commander. You will be given the opportunity to accept or reject a command based on your interpretation of the situation on the ground. You can also request artillery, emp, supplies, and support. Squad leaders can issue waypoints for their squad as they see fit.

Needless to say, I will be clicking the “Apply for commander” button at the beginning of each game from now on. There’s nothing quite like being head to head against another commander in a game of chess with 64 live players on the ground.

Unless you’ve been specifically invited into the HALO 3 beta, you will need to have the Crackdown disc in your drive if you’re going to play it. Yes you’ll download it to your hard drive, but you’ll only be able to launch HALO 3 beta via a menu in Crackdown. The HALO 3 beta won’t show up in your “Games > Demos and More” blade on your XBOX 360.

Xbox 360 Fanboy has put up a scan of the invite card you get when you purchase one of the specially-marked boxes of Crackdown that give you access to the upcoming Halo 3 public multiplayer data. It contains the answers to many of the questions that those hoping to get into the beta have been asking themselves:

• The beta will be downloaded. Obviously you need and Xbox Live Gold subscription and a fast internet connection to play at all, but it seems some users were hoping there’d be a disc to save them the download. Looks like the answer is “no”. Expect about a 1Gb download from Xbox Live.
• The Crackdown disc is required. This is probably only true for those who gained access to the beta by buying Crackdown; but you have to access the Halo 3 beta through the game’s menus, and the disc must be in the drive. No word yet on how it will work for those who gained access some other way. When the beta becomes available, this menu option will activate; no code is needed.
• The Halo 3 Beta will expire. The invite doesn’t say how long it will last, or whether this applies to Phase One, Phase Two, or Friends & Family beta participants, but it does cleary say that the beta will end at some point and no longer be accessible, at least for Crackdown owners.

That last one is likely to apply to most beta participants; I’d warrant that Bungie will not want the full game, when released, competing on Xbox Live with the Beta, so it likely will end some time before the final release.

Registration will open February 12 for the 5×5 Proelium Standards Myth vTFL tournament, part of the events scheduled this year to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Bungie’s Mac and PC RTS game, Myth: The Fallen Lords.

Thanks to Zandervix at Myth.Bungie.Org for the news.

Members of the PMS and Cavegirls clans came out to challenge the Bungie guys (and friends) in the latest humpday and came away winners, 6 to 5. The Bungie guys complain they were undermanned, but surely they knew that going in? Details at Bungie.net in KfeckingP‘s post.