A *very late* World of Tanks Common Test trial; v1.7.1

And also posted on the day where the update is already available on the live server...

Yep, that late. The edited videos had already been uploaded to YouTube about 4 days ago, and the recording was done last Tuesday...

Been rather busy lately, not to mention quite lazy and tired... and it's just the first month of the year! The workflow should lessen after January, as is the case since 2018; the near the start/end of the year is always the most busiest of periods.

...and when it comes to relaxation time/vacations, I tend to slack off a bit too much to the point of forgetting things...

But enough about that! This World of Tanks Common Test version brings us Russian Double-Barreled Heavy Tanks, about 3 of them to the Tech Tree. Obviously not counting the recently added Object 703 Version II which is obtainable through lootboxes. Such greediness...

A double barreled 112...

So, the first things first... the new line consists of 3 tanks, Tiers 8, 9 and 10 respectively... and they'll branch out from the KV-3.

The first tank on the list is the IS-2 II... and from the name, one can guess it's an IS-2 with 2 guns, or with a tutu. Unlike the 703 II however, you don't have the 122mm guns available to use, which is rather odd... considering that it's an IS.

Since it's essentially an IS-2 with another gun, the armor of the tank is still the same as it was in Tier VII... which is not a good thing. The 100mm isn't that bad and there's plenty of ammo to spare... just kinda disappointing that there's no 122mm gun, which I think they conveniently left out to make the 703 II more powerful... not to mention the superior armor it has over this tank.

And now, the IS-3 II; a Tier IX IS-3 with two guns... finally, we get to use a bigger gun!

...although it takes quite a lot of combat experience to get the 122mm gun, though... the last 122mm gun available, that is.

The first 122mm gun is pointless as it leads to nothing, not to mention it's not that much of an upgrade aside from bigger caliber and damage output. you're better off researching the last gun instead.

The 100mm gun still isn't that bad though. Penetration might be a bit shite for this Tier, but ammo capacity is still great... and yes, it still retains the large ammo pool for the 122mm guns as well. So one can have a healthy amount of all three ammo types!

Armor is so-so with that pike-nose hull, but turret armor is okay, unlike the glass double cannon from before. The tank is very looooong, too... like a limo!

And finally we have the ST-II. Pretty much the same tank but with an extra gun...

Now this tank, I don't enjoy that much...

Sure, it's somewhat historical... but World of Tanks threw that out of the window a long time ago. There's nothing special about this tank; it's like a carbon copy of the ST-I. Even has the same ammo pool that the single gun variant has.

And here's the part where I start bitching...

Overall, the tanks don't feel that special. Perhaps the most interesting tank was the IS-3 II, and even then I feel like that should've been a Tier VIII vehicle. The whole line feels very off...

You've got a Premium Tier VIII can clearly perform better than the Tech Tree counterpart, not to mention it looks very similar to an IS-3 but with a flat angled front plate... but at Tier IX we have a Pike-nosed tank. Although I guess that can be overlooked as this particular Tech Tree's focus is on the double barreled gun capabilities...

Hell, the KV line also has it's problems, too.. the last two Tiers specifically. The ST-I is clearly an experiment to an improved IS-4, but it's a tier lower. If anything at all, the IS-4 should've been a Tier IX like how it was back then.

The Tech Tree variant for the Tech VIII tank should've been something else rather than the IS-2 II, in my opinion... maybe the IS-3 II or something similar to the 703 II. The Tier IX could be the ST-II or IS-4 II (a made-up tank?! Preposterous!) and the Tier X... well, I have no idea.

The Tier VIII should have the stock gun as 100mm and several 122mm gun upgrades... sharing similarities to the regular IS-3 variant BUT no BL-9 to make it in-line with the 703 II. This tank will have its damage output go from 250 to 390 and penetration values from 175 to 215.

The Tier IX should have the last (or second last gun) researched 122mm from the previous Tier and some upgraded 122mm choices, which will end with the M62-T2 gun... making it similar to the IS-4 or ST-I. This tank will have its damage output starting from 390 to 440 and penetration values from 215 to 240-ish... shouldn't be as high as the IS-4 or ST-I.

The final tank should have the last researched gun as its stock, and perhaps a 130mm gun upgrade to really bring out the tank. 152mm is overkill as 750 x 2 is devastatingly high for a Heavy Tank as compared to 490 x 2. Perhaps the gun will be more in-line with the IS-7's gun, as damage values of other guns close to 130mm (mainly the 12.8mm from Germans) is around 560... still too high. Keeping the damage values just under 1000 I think is better, as RNG will and can decide if one rolls above just 1000.

Now this tank will have the 130mm's gun with better penetration from its 122mm gun, unlike the IS-7, more like the Object 277... because just 50 (or 100 if doubleshot) damage increase, but is offset with worse penetration sounds like downgrade... not to mention that it'll have much longer reload, aim time and probably worse accuracy.

Speaking of which... this Tier X will have it's damage output go from 440 to 490, and penetration values from 240-ish to 255+... better than the IS-7, but not better than the Object 277... somewhat similar to the ST-I or IS-4.

The ammo capacity will shrink when moving to higher calibers, as it would make sense. So for the final tank, one has to make a decision to use a bigger gun with better penetration or a smaller gun with more ammo pool.

Guess the most comfortable Tier would still be Tier IX, as all it's guns are 122mm, the same ammo pool throughout all guns and is just a progressive upgrade with no drawbacks or second choices... just a bunch of guns to research like the Tier VIII tank.

Well, at least that's how I see this mini-tech tree addition should be. It's somewhat mixed, just like French 'Heavy' Heavies; mediocre Tier X, an okay Tier IX and horrible Tier VIII... but with an exceptional Tier VIII Premium Tank variant. Huh... almost like a carbon copy...

Eh, whatever. I think I ran on for too long, now. Quite disappointing, but not that it matters anyways... the next post is most likely not gonna be World of Tanks, as I've posted quite a number of times that I wanted to try other games... just hoping that they don't fall apart like Armored Warfare did. Let's just hope it doesn't take me a month plus to update...

-Panzer Fist- 

Belated Fallout 3 Video Test - Mostly Fixed, Slightly Modified (FOSE) Version

Wowee... forgetfulness, procrastination and business all piled up!

So much about posting it ASAP after the last blog update, huh? Got busy with work/projects again, and that let to some procrastination in the form of playing some games bought on Steam not too long ago... and then ended up forgetting on what I was supposed to be doing...

Sometimes I don't even know how this head of mine works...

Anyways, enough about that! It's time to showcase the other version of Fallout 3; one that has been thoroughly fixed, tweaked and modified!

This one has Fallout Script Extender (FOSE) installed, as it was needed by some of the other stuff thrown in to help make the game function much better than it did last time...

Metal Blaster... LETHAL LIGHTSHOW, INDEED!

Thankfully, I did remember to keep a note on the various fixes/tweaks needed for this game! This'll help prevent the same mistakes from happening again...

unless of course, I happen to lose those notes one day...

Now... FOSE is pretty much needed, even if one plans to just have reskins/retextures in their game. Some of the tweaks and game fixes requires it to function.

An example would be the Fallout 3 3GB Enabler which helps increase the game's disk usage above 2GB, which is handy when running plenty of mods.

The only stuff used that were remotely close to mods were reskin packs and some retextures for some of the weapons. Other than that it's pretty much same ol' Fallout 3, but not running like ass.

Overall gameplay is smooth, with minor crashes... sometimes the odd freeze or two. Although, I experienced an increased number of crashes once I've started playing the Mothership Zeta DLC. Not sure if it's that DLC's problem, or something from my end....

Recording seems pretty much the same as before; some hiccups and hangs, but it only showed up in the videos and not when I was playing the game. Perhaps I should use some other video recording software to see if there's any change. It could also be this computer showing its age.

Editing the videos was much easier than it was before, and there's still those un-synced moments that I have to rearrange... but not as difficult as it was in the previous trial.

Now I have a bunch more Fallout 3 videos from different DLCs... I think I can still make something outta them. Just that it won't be immediate.

I dunno... bad computer? Switch recording software? Run smaller games? Well, I know what I'm doing... so for now I'll leave the remaining Fallout 3 clips on-hold for the moment... gotta try other games first...

-Panzer Fist-

Small Update

One month goes by without a peep...

Hmm... I really need to get things in order around here... been quite busy for some time, and ultimately forgot about the modded Fallout 3 video edits.

Well... its a good thing I remembered about this, otherwise it might end up with another month or 2 of inactivity. Haven't really checked up much about games, recorded videos or updates from the usual World of Tanks, Armored Warfare and things like that... bet nothing much has happened, aside from the usual Premium Tank shill.

Anyways, I'm looking to finish up the modded Fallout 3 videos by tomorrow... if I can. After that then I'll be seeing what else I could record... or try to record. Looking to try recording much smaller games, as I have several in mind...

-Panzer Fist-

Second Fallout 3 Video Test - Semi-Vanilla (Unstable) Version

And here it is...

A little late uploading 'cause I was busy... but it's finally done, and also up! This one's the somewhat default (or vanilla) version of Fallout 3, with a little bit of re-texture/re-skin mods applied.

This was a bitch to set up... but most of it is my own damn fault as I decided to play a 'semi-vanilla' version of Fallout 3; which means it doesn't use Fallout Script Extender (FOSE) but it does have some mods applied. It's mostly re-skins and re-textures, though.

It's been like what... 4 years (2015) since I've last played Fallout 3, so I kinda forgot all the necessary fixes and tweaks that I needed to apply in order to make the game more stable... it was hell to play! Constant crashes happening randomly around 5 minutes to half and hour intervals.

Had to save after every little thing done... don't know when this shit's gonna go kaput...

It's also pretty 'choppy'; stutters a bit here and there and it just feels... slow for some reason.

Perhaps it was due to me adding in those re-textures and re-skins to the game, but Fallout 3 is already known to be the most buggiest/unstable outta the whole Fallout series... yes, even New Vegas vanilla runs much better than it's predecessor, at least to me.

I guess that's why I prefer playing NV over Fallout 3... these crashes and other slew of problems would normally make me just play another game entirely.

Note to self: keep a note of instructions on what to do to fix Fallout 3 next time...

Well... after a few days of searching around and navigating around the usual sites, I've finally gathered all I need to make the game run at a stable rate. This means I used FOSE and numerous other fixes and tweaks, from old ones like editing .ini files to new fixes like the Fallout 3 Tick Fix. Some old fixes and tweaks didn't seem to work as they're probably not compatible with Windows 10 or something.

It's about as stable as it can be... for now. So far I haven't encountered any crashes since I've applied all these various fixes and tweaks, but the game can sometimes have these split-second freezes... particularly when engaging in a fight or switching weapons.

Recording gameplay footage was fine, and was settled in using Nvidia Shadowplay's Instant Replay to record certain parts that I find interesting.

Had quite a mess to sort out though during editing... the audio isn't linking up with the video, so I had to manually adjust them... to sync them up as best as I can. There were some moments where the audio just completely cuts... possibly the game going into crashing mode, but thankfully they only hanged up for a while.

Well, I guess I droned on for too long there... I plan to get another batch up and running, but this this the game's already been fixed as much as possible.

So let's see how much of a difference it really did...

-Panzer Fist-

Test Trials and Ol' Annoying Problems

Hmm... maybe I should just try a different game instead...

A quick update; I'm currently collecting some Fallout 3 footage. Might be a mistake though... as I'm playing it "raw" without any tweaks or fixes, but with some visual updates in the forms of retextures/replacers for various terrain and weapons.

It's been 3+ years since I've last installed Fallout 3, and I still remember it as the most buggiest Fallout game outta the bunch. Crashes left and right, sluggish performances (even though the com meets it's specs) and many more...

I have a small bunch of recordings from these moments, and currently trying to remember the various fixes and stuff I needed to do for this game to run smoothly... or at the very least to a somewhat stable level.

Yeah... shoulda tried a different game instead. Buuut I'm sticking with what I'm doing to for now, as it shouldn't be too hard to deal with the problems. Thought about getting some Killing Floor 2 recordings for the other blog, but couldn't be arsed to install such a large game back again. That will have to wait till I find something nice to play...

I think I'll do some recordings of smaller games after Fallout 3... they can't possibly be any worse than this buggy mess at the very least! Well, soon enough I'll be done with these Fallout clips... then it's off to some editing and then uploading to YouTube. Here's hoping they look much better than how my first Fallout 3 recording went some years back...

-Panzer Fist-

The Great Tank Race of 2019

And here it is...

Well, at first it was supposed to be 3 videos, but I figured just one will do... as they're pretty much the same as one another, aside from losing/winning and using different tanks.

The Great Race is a revisited game-mode from the past called the Chaffee Races, and I didn't partake in that game-mode (and many others) in the past due to being busy, lack of interest or I was just too late/didn't knew it was around.

The driving mechanics are rather simple, but the "drifting" is automatically done during corners, so it kinda feels... off... at least to me. Maybe I'm just terrible at driving in World of Tanks, 'cause in games like Burnout, Need for Speed and various other driving games I usually have little to no problem with the driving mechanics.

Anyways... here's the video!

Used the Leopard Sport in this replay... and that is the vehicle with the highest top speed, slowest acceleration and poor handling. It also has a machine-gun armament which takes 4 seconds to reload.

I mainly use the T-50 or Leopard Sport as I do okay in those, but not so for the Chaffee. The gun is single-load, but takes twice as long to reload compared to the T-50 and does a bit more damage. Maybe that's just not my taste...

Nothing much to add, as I'm still planning on putting up other videos aside from World of Tanks stuff. Not sure whether to go with Fallout 3, or something smaller... well, that's for me to decide... and so I'll be away till the next post drops...

-Panzer Fist-

Sudden Disappearance and MORE Delays

2... close to 3 months... yikes...

I figured I should at least put up a post before September ends... no need to wake me up for that, though.

Where have I've been? Nowhere, really. Just been so busy that I hardly had time to get things done here! But I was free these last 2 weeks, and been spending time collecting materials to record and post over to YouTube.

First off; some World of Tanks videos... specifically the recent Tank Race and some Frontline replays, no Steel Hunter replays saved as I didn't partake in a single battle in that mode. There's some ST-I replays saved so I can make use of those, too.

Been meaning to expand my horizons beyond just World of Tanks or Armored Warfare videos, although the latter had already stopped before it can even begun [see last post] and a few games come to mind; Fallout 3, and about 5 games that I've dived into it's game genre types before...

Still having some trouble sorting out the recording processes, as about 2 of these new games ran into problems with OBS; can't use Nvidia Shadowplay to record videos for them. Fallout 3 is a buggy mess that needs to be tweaked with a ton of mods and fixes before it'll be anywhere close to being somewhat okay.

Even now these few Fallout 3 clips I've recorded were choppy and stutter between various areas...

Maybe I should try recording some racing games, too. There's Burnout Paradise... not sure about recording any RTS games, as I'm garbage at them... even though I still like to play them from time to time.

Still not gonna be recording any PS2 games like Metal Saga though, those will need more than just videos...

And as for the other blog? That'll be Killing Floor 2 and perhaps the first Dead Space or Doom 3... as Dead Frontier is still the same old thing from before.

Hopefully some videos will be up either later today, or latest by tomorrow...

-Panzer Fist-