It was raining "cats and dogs" and I was late for physical training. Traffic was backed up at Fort Campbell, Ky., and was moving way too slowly…
I was probably going to be late and I was growing more and more impatient. The pace slowed almost to a standstill as I passed Memorial Grove, the site built to honor the soldiers who died in the Gander airplane crash, the worst redeployment accident in the history of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). Because it was close to Memorial Day, a small American flag had been placed in the ground next to each soldier's memorial plaque. My concern at the time, however, was getting past the bottleneck, getting out of the rain and getting to PT on time.
All of a sudden, infuriatingly, just as the traffic was getting started again, the car in front of me stopped. A soldier, a private of course, jumped out in the pouring rain and ran over toward the grove. I couldn't believe it! This knucklehead was holding up everyone for who knows what kind of prank. Horns were honking. I couldn't wait to see the butt-chewing that he was going to get for making me late. He was getting soaked to the skin. His BDUs were plastered to his frame. I watched-as he ran up to one of the memorial plaques, picked up the small American flag that had fallen to the ground in the wind and the rain, and set it upright again. Then, slowly, he came to attention, saluted, ran back to his car, and drove off. I'll never forget that incident.
That soldier, whose name I will never know, taught me more about duty, honor, and respect than a hundred books or a thousand lectures. That simple salute -- that single act of honoring his fallen brother and his flag -- encapsulated all the Army values in one gesture for me. It said, "I will never forget. I will keep the faith. I will finish the mission. I am an American soldier."
I thank God for examples like that. And on this Memorial Day, I will remember all those who paid the ultimate price for my freedom, and one private, soaked to the skin, who honored them.
True account written by Army Captain John Rasmussen
This should be a day to remember all fallen soldiers, not just Americans. There are many soldiers from other lands who gave all, and should never be forgotten… -Mojo
TMB_Swifty wins the inagural TransAm series race at Daytona Road Course!
Viper, Cratemotor Wolverine & Big Daddy Lee rounded out the top 5 respectively. It was a fast race and worth mentioning that Mr. Swifty lead every lap, although Viper was coiled on his bumper waiting for a chance to strike and take the lead. A few of us need some work on our right-handers but, the rest of the series should be a blast. Feels good to be back in the saddle.
Next Sunday takes the TMB crew to Barber Motorsports Park. We will be broadcasting the race on GNL/TV if anyone is interested in watching, let us know and we'll get you set up with it.
TMB is talking about starting a mid-week series running trucks and there's still some openings. If you're intersted, register with the site and post in the forum. www.teammegabyte.com
We rarely announce anything regarding commercial cheats and hacks. However, we are aware of the numerous "You Tube" type videos and posts on various sites where hackers who sell cheats make claims that are false but sound believable about PunkBuster and hack detection status. We receive numerous emails daily by concerned honest players regarding advertisements for undetectable hacks, etc. The truth is that via recent enhancements to PunkBuster's detection capabilities, we have cracked down hard on cheaters who pay for hacks in the games we support. Some commercial cheat sites have closed down due to our new methods and others have private forums where punks routinely complain about getting caught with the "undetectable" hacks, demanding refunds, etc. We have always maintained a strict policy of not giving money to punks, but thanks to community volunteer moles who have helped us obtain access to private hacks via donations of their time, etc., PunkBuster has been catching hacks from virtually all commercial cheat sites in recent weeks and months.
One of the recent enhancements involves our memory scanner which aggressively scans for patterns included in known cheats (public and private). A commercial hack site where we have had recent success catching their subscribers has recently staged a few demonstrations of inserting text-based patterns via certain chat-related systems such as IRC, Instant Messaging, etc. directly into the memory of computers. These are specific text patterns that we have deployed in some supported games in the recent past. It is clear that many of the demonstrators are cheat-supporters willingly participating in the demonstration, but there is evidence that some innocent players had PunkBuster violations triggered during the past few days by the hackers who sent specific text patterns into the chat programs that were open during gameplay. We are removing these text based patterns from our system and encourage admins to not ban for PB violations that occurred during the past few days.
Online gamers who play with other programs running should always enable security features in their messaging and chat programs to deny auto-download of files and only accept downloads from people they know and trust. As always, from PunkBuster's standpoint, if a known cheat pattern is in the memory of the computer during gameplay, then a violation will be triggered. We have always suggested closing other programs while you are playing multiplayer games on PunkBuster servers and that remains the safest policy. Leagues that require chat room usage for competitive play should take steps to ensure that only league participants have access and suspicious activity should be reported to us when there are concerns about manipulating the system.
Team MegaByte Racing League is hosting a Nascar2003, Trans Am points Series in April.
Veteran league drivers should Click Here to be added to the line-up ASAP!
We are accepting rookie drivers in this series. The requirements are a Steering Wheel w/Pedals & a Microphone. You must be able to use TeamSpeak while on the track & listen for directions from the Race Manager. You must be comitted to attending races regardless of your previous weeks performances. If you're trying, you'll get all the help you want to improve your racing. If you're interested stop by the TMB site and register. Then click the link above to be added to the line-up. Once you've been added to the line-up, you will receieve instructions to get the necessary files & configurations you will need to race with TMB as well as your car number.
We are also accepting experienced drivers that have not raced with TMB, please register with the TMB web site and click the link above to be added to the line-up.
We will host a Fun Run prior to starting the series with a full line-up to make sure everyone is on the right page and wants to commit to the series. Tentitively Race Night is set for Sunday, most likely around 8pm Eastern Time. The track will be open for practice one hour beafore Qualifying. We will also be broadcasting the races on NRTV Live for any spectators that might want to watch and not race. Full rules will be posted prior to the start of the series. If you have any questions, register with the TMB web site and ask. www.teammegabyte.com
Doom Platoon, Allied War Clans oldest clan have recently reorganized their web site and converted to Evolution Clan. =DP= is our primary Battlefield Group, so it looks like there might be some action in BF2 again soon! They are also running the Official Battlefield Apocalypse servers in addition to BF:Vietnam and and moving into Crysis. There is a distinct possibility of a Crysis:Apocalypse conversion. =DP= was very active in the BF:A conversion and with the talk of launching a Crysis server we can speculate the possibility of a Crysis:Apocalypse conversion. From what I've read & heard, the Crytek engine is highly moddable. We're not announcing a Crysis:Apocalypse conversion but, don't be surprised if it happens. Stop by, check out their new site & say Hi. www.doomplatoon.com
Here's their 88x31 to add them to your supporters, they will gladly add yours if you submit it to them.
We've just addressed some more issues with a few maps still crashing after our first patch, which now should make the build more stable. Whether you've already patched the game or not, you should patch again just to be sure that you have the latest updates.
Click the link below to access all the latest available downloads:
If you have already downloaded the Version 0.1 build, then you won't need to redownload it. And if you've already patched your game with the 0.1a patch (or if you've never patched the game in the first place), please download the combined 0.1a & 0.1b patch to get you version up to date.
The server files also now have a patch. If you've downloaded the server 0.1 files, you shouldn't need to do so again, but it is advisable to update your files by installing the server patch. It addresses some of the crashes that we've been experiencing.
Note: Please do not run the Tug of War map. While it shouldn't crash, the map is still very laggy at this time. We will address this map at a later date.
We are planning the release of v0.2 in mid-March 2008. There are more maps that weren’t ready for this release and a lot more objects. As with any game or mod we expect some bugs which will also be addressed in v0.2. A hotfix or patch is not out of the question prior to the release of v0.2 if needed.
They say the world was green once. Trees and grass. I've seen the pictures, but it's still hard to believe. How the hell did we come to this? There are a hundred different stories, and who knows what's true and what's not any more? You see, I was born After. Never got to feel the grass between my toes or climb a tree the way my granddad talked about. For all I know, he may have been the last one from Before, and he's gone now, too.
I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. Granddad said that men always seem to find a way to destroy each other, and themselves. Seems to me they did a hell of a job this time, and took out the whole damn planet in the bargain.
I guess we're not any different now, though. No lessons learned. They say it was a real mess in The Dark, that time just After when the survivors began crawling out of their holes. The sky was blacked out by ash clouds, and almost every growing thing was dead. People killed each other over food, and to hear Granddad tell it, sometimes they had to eat those they killed.
Wasn't long before folks started banding together. They built strongholds in the rubble, and they salvaged what they could from the machines of Before: cars, generators, guns. Eventually, the Dark passed, and Man survived.
You might think that's a good thing, that it's the start of civilization again. You might think that the worst is behind us now. But if you'd ask me, you'd be wrong. You see, these "civilized" people, they still fight and kill, sometimes for the sheer joy of it. And some of those who crawled out of their holes in The Dark came out changed, twisted, mutated into something no longer completely human. No, the worst is not behind us. We're right here in the middle of hell. So I roam these roads alone, my car and my gun my only companions. Waiting...waiting for my turn to die.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys & girls… Dyin’ times’ here!
After more than two years in the making and much anticipation, DoomLab Studio is proud to release the 1st Official build of Battlefield Apocalypse v0.1, a Total BF2 Conversion!
What is Battlefield Apocalypse? BF:A is a total conversion of the EA/Dice multi-player pc game, Battelfield2 with all new maps, weapons, vehicles and player characters(coming in v0.2), based in a post-apocalyptic era. The world as we know it has been destroyed and it’s every beast for themselves! You rely on whatever you can find to survive in the wasteland, or thrive in it. Never underestimate the power of any weapon or vehicle, no matter how insignificant it may appear.
Content:
Maps:
Crater
Deathtrap
Death Rally 69
Fuel Outpost
Graveyard
Ground Zero
Helltown
Railed
Sea of the Cyclopean
Three Mile Island
Tug of War
Vile Ville
Weapons:
A full list of weapons is detailed here -> Weapons Arsenal
A couple things not listed in the arsenal are; the Nuke, which will obliterate every living thing on the map that doesn’t take cover, and our special version of humiliation. Instead of tea bagging your enemies mortally wounded body, you can unzip & mark your territory by taking a whizz on his head!
Vehicles:
Blue Baron
Boom Kart
Bus
Doom Buggy
Doom Wagon
Dump Truck
Flame Camaro
Gladiator Bi-Plane
Interceptor Pursuit Special
Mad Max Truck
Monster Truck
Ramp Boat
Speed Boat
Trike
We are planning the release of v0.2 in mid-March 2008. There are more maps that weren’t ready for this release and a lot more objects. As with any game or mod we expect some bugs which will also be addressed in v0.2. A hotfix or patch is not out of the question prior to the release of v0.2 if needed.
DoomLab Studio would like to thank the following people: EA/Dice for providing a platform for us to build this mod on. All of the people past & present who donated their precious time to the making of this mod, developers, artists, coders, testers, you guys are the best! The great folks at www.totalbf2.com for their inspiration, support & encouragement. www.bf2player.com and www.bf2tracker.com for supporting the release of BF:A and the BF2 community in general. =[DAM]= Clan for some productive, last minute bug testing.
A special thanks to our families for putting up with us, not only thru this mod, but in general =) Those who stuck it out to the release, new & old, you know who you are & you guys are friggin’ awesome! The “Old Salts” at www.bfpirates.com , what can we say except thank you, thank you & THANK YOU! Thanks for all of your contributions in the development of BF:A and the Battlefield Pirates Mod that totally kicks ASS!
We hope the Battlefield2 Modification Community & Players enjoy playing this mod as much as we enjoyed making it. It was truly a learning experience, and we are looking forward to releasing Battlefield Apocalypse v0.2!