Jæja nú fer að koma að því að nýr patch fer að koma út fyrir hl og það sem er í þessu er engu líkt og bara hrein snilld

ég nenni ekki að þýða þetta en í aðalatriðum eru þetta hlutirnir sem koma í næsta patchi

- Voice for Half-Life, innbyggt voice forrit sagt vera það allra besta sem nokkurtíman hefur verið búið til og það eina sem þarf að gera til að nota það er að samþykkja það að nota það í einhverjum options i hl og binda takka til að tala (eins og í BC) og ef það er einhver að spama þetta og er með læti þá er hægt að muta þann einstakling. Og þetta virkar auðvita með ÖLLUM modum (breytingum) fyrir Half-life

- Multicast Spectator Tech for Half-Life, eins og nafnið gefur til kynna þá er þetta mjög spennanndi, en þetta er bara svona tv brodcast fyrir hl, þetta er ekki eins og irc dæmið sem Hate er með heldu er þetta eins og að vera spectator á server nema þú ert ekki á server að lagga allt liðið sem er að spila heldur er bara ein tölva sem er á þessu og speccar og þeir sem vilja fyljgast með tengjast henni en ekki servernum, en hver og einn áhorfandi ræður sýnu sjónarhorni og til að koma í veg fyrir svindl þá er útsendingunni seinkað um 8 sek (en því er líka hægt að breyta á einstaka server).



Half-Life Gets A Voice Part1

The next update for Half-Life is set to up the gaming ante by including its own voice technology.
By - Tom Ham

If there is one aspect of online multiplayer that needs a lot of improvement, without question, it has to be the use of voice in games. Sure there are programs out there like Roger Wilco that do a great job and actually do “work,” but there is always the problem of incompatibility with the code or some flaw in the system that makes it frustrating to play with.

Valve Software realized this and decided to take matters in their own hands. Releasing with the next update of Half-Life (Version 1.1.0.7) which incidentally is coming out at the end of this month, is Valve's own version of voice technology, Voice for Half-Life – although that is not the official name (we here at GameSpy think it sounds cool). “We can handle all the flaws of other similar programs out there,” explains Erik Johnson, project leader at Valve Software, “programs like Roger Wilco don't have the resources or access to the game code so there is a bunch of stuff they can't do, but we can.”

So how long has this been in development? “Mike Dussault, one of our engineers and software developers here at Valve, took a hold of it and ran with it,” continues Johnson, “it's been a technical challenge, but with the help of Mike, within a few months we managed to do it. It truly adds another level to the games.” It's quite obvious Valve has built a community around its games and its mods, but now Valve wants to build a new one centered on Voice.
“Think how cool it would be to chat in Counter-Strike after you've been killed,” continues Johnson, “it's so much better than typing your message. After our first play test, we got a better reaction than we expected. People were really jazzed about it.” After playing with Voice for Half-Life first hand, we couldn't agree more.

“What's cool about our technology is that it is going to be compatible with all Half-Life games and mods,” explains Johnson, “so it will work with Day of Defeat, Team Fortress Classic and of course, Counter-Strike. We are planning on releasing an SDK before release to all of the mod folks so no present mods will ”break,“ so to speak.” And you wonder why Valve Software is so well respected in this industry; name one developer that does so much to support its mod community.

The initial launch of the Voice Technology is going to be a low-band codec, which is pretty damn clear over a 56K connection (believe us, we've tried it). “We're planning on releasing a broadband codec later on,” says Johnson, “that uses the same technology that cell phones use. So you can imagine how clear it's going to be.” All we could do is smile when we heard that.


So what sets this apart from the other programs out there? “This is where the challenge comes in,” explains Johnson. “Right now we're working on a technology that will actually dim the outside noises during conversation. So when you're in the midst of battle, instead of hearing grenades going off and not your teammates, that sound is toned down a bit so you can actually hear your friends.” Another cool feature is the ability to mute talkative players. “Nothing is as worse as some idiot screaming shit during a game, so what do you do? Simple. The player can bring up a Voice Properties dialog box where they can click on a player and mute them for the rest of the game.” So that dumbass that keeps spamming during a game, you can literally shut him up.




Half-Life Gets A Voice Part2

The next update for Half-Life is set to up the gaming ante by including its own voice technology.
By - Tom Ham


So how does it work? It's really quite easy. You can use any headset out there (we used the Microsoft Sidewinder during our demo) and in the Config screen, there is an option for “Use Voice Communication.” After you assign a key, that's it. Now whenever you hit that key, you're able to talk in the game. Another cool feature is how you're identified on screen while you're chatting. After you hit the key to start talking, a small nametag appears on the right-hand side of your teammates screen. That way you know who is talking at all times.

But hearing an explanation from Erik Johnson was cool, but to really “feel” it, we had to experience for ourselves. The game of choice was Team Fortress Classic and the map was Dustbowl. We were on the attacking team and as soon as we put on the headphones, it was a totally new experience. We heard everything from what folks had for lunch that day to where each of us should go when the game started.
Someone said, “We need a sniper over near the door.” Then someone answered, “Got it, I'm snipping.” It really took a life of it's own. Then just when the game was about the start, one of the team members goes, “Alright men, this is it!” Then all hell broke loose…“THEY'RE RUSHING LEFT!!! WATCH THE GUNS!!!! I NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE!!! QUICK GUARD OUR FLAG!!! SNIPER LEFT SIDE!!!! It truly was war, and to hear your teammates calling for assistance and calling out enemy snipe points made the whole experience that much more compelling.

But don't take our word for it folks; you can try it out for yourselves when the new update comes out later this month. Until then, invest in headset (if you haven't already), and get ready for multiplayer gaming on a whole different level.




Multicast Spectator Tech for Half-Life Part1

Valve Software is ready to bring gaming to the masses with its new tech that will make it possible to allow thousands, if not millions, to watch a single multiplayer match at the same time. Wh00p!
By - Tom Ham


Directed Mode
Welcome back for our third and final day of Valve Software. Boy what a week this has been! Since the start of this series, we were the first to bring you the news of Valve's new mod, Quake for Half-Life. Then we reported first hand of Valve's new Voice Technology. Now just when you think it doesn't get any better, Valve has yet another Ace up its sleeve.

”Like the voice technology, this is something we've been working on for a little while,“ explains Erik Johnson, project leader at Valve Software. ”We wanted to add more options and depth to the basic Chase-Cam and Free-Look mode that's already in the games.“ So what is this new technology called? ”We're calling this Multicast Spectator Tech,“ continues Johnson, ”it's going to allow professional quality broadcasts of live games.“ If you're scratching your head wondering what that means, think ESPN meets Counter-Strike and you'll get the idea. ”We honestly believe all of the games – Half-Life, TFC and Counter-Strike are worth watching,“ says Robin Walker, design manager at Valve Software. ”If I had a choice of watching some shitty action movie on the tele or watching a good TFC game, I'd rather watch the TFC game! But I'm a little biased.“


Free Map Mode
With this new proprietary tech, players will be able to control the action and watch games like they were in the production truck during an NFL game. ”The Multicast Spectator Mode is designed to allow thousands, if not millions, to watch a single multiplayer match,“ explains Johnson. ”Spectators can access a single game, giving them the opportunity to learn gameplay elements, study individual and team strategies, or simply enjoy the action.“

How is this possible you say? Millions of people watching the same game? Johnson explains further. ”There are a couple of different ways that we can get really large groups of people watching a single game server. First, the proxy connects to the game server and takes up one slot. Spectators never actually connect directly to the game server, only to the proxy. Doing it this way allows a large number of people to join in, since the proxy only occupies one slot on the server. If there is a multicast path from the proxy server to the spectator, the client can “listen” into the multicast stream without actually degrading any of the proxy's network stream. Right now there are a bunch of ISPs that don't have multicast enabled at the router level, but that is changing. For people that are not capable of listening to a multicast stream, they can connect to the proxy via unicast (traditional connection). In this kind of setup you will need more bandwidth for each client that connects, but you can also chain proxies together. For large events you could chain 10 proxies together and easily have one thousand people watching the same event.“


Free Map Mode
Just like the Voice for Half-Life, this new Multicast Spectator Tech will be compatible with all Half-Life games and mods. Valve plans on working with all mod developers to make sure it's compatible. For the purposes of our demo, Johnson used our personal favorite, Counter-Strike. ”This is a top down view of the action,“ explains Johnson, ”in this mode, you can see the Terrorists here (red icons) and the Counter-Terrorist (blue icons). Here players can see what their teams are doing wrong and where they can improve on their strategies.“ Just watching the icons move on the maps was just like watching a football game using the blimp cam. ”You can even activate a picture in picture to see the game from any players perspective,“ continues Johnson, ”and if you look closely here, the highlighted player has a line of sight that you can see on screen.“ Watching the Multicast Spectator Tech in action left us speechless.





Multicast Spectator Tech for Half-Life Part2

Valve Software is ready to bring gaming to the masses with its new tech that will make it possible to allow thousands, if not millions, to watch a single multiplayer match at the same time. Wh00p!
By - Tom Ham


Free Map Mode
Suppose you don't want to watch the game from a top down view, no problem, just switch to a Director's view and you can watch as the AI automatically changes the camera angle to give you the best possible view of the action. ”The proxy will delay the network data for a minimum of 8 seconds before sending it to all the clients that are connected to the server. The first reason for doing this is so the director can look ahead into the network stream and decide on what the most interesting camera angle is. For instance, a Terrorist planting a bomb, a Counter-Terrorist rescuing a hostage or a large firefight are examples of events you'd want to make sure you got to see.“ Another reason for the 8 second delay is aimed more at cheaters. ”A person can't get an unfair advantage by running a second computer connected to the game server and watch from the overhead view,“ explains Johnson, ”the server can decide on what the delay is set to.“

And this is the only the beginning folks. ”We want to have professional play-by-play, just like in football and basketball,“ explains Robin. ”People can also chat during spectator mode and say stuff like, ‘Did you see that kill!’ ‘That was awesome!’ That's the sort of thing we want to see happen with this.“ And as expected, Valve is already working on the 2nd generation of the Multicast Spectator Tech. ”We're building a tool so a person can make a demo, complete with Matrix-style slow motion effects. Imagine slowing down a head shot with a sniper rifle and watching it at different angles. Clans can put together the ‘Best 3 Shots of the Match’ or ‘Play of the Day’ types of demos, the possibilities are endless,“ states Johnson. Wipe that grin off your face!


Take me to Valve!
And the buzz is already catching on. At a recent CPL event in Texas, Valve first debuted this new technology during Counter-Strike competitions. ”We had the top down view showing on two big screen TVs,“ says Johnson, ”a few people stopped and looked at it and then walked by. We were thinking, oh well, I guess they're not into it, but then a little while later, a whole mess of people were sitting and standing around the screens, screaming at the top of their lungs, cheering their respective teams on. It felt like a sports bar during a big game! Folks were pointing plays out on the screen, giving their two-cents – it was really incredible how it just took over the area. The only thing missing was a play-by-play announcer!" Note to Valve…make sure Michael Buffer is available for the CPL World Championships.

Valve's proprietary Multicast Spectator Tech will be available with the Half-Life update available later on this month, version 1.1.0.7. And yes, that is the one with the Voice for Half-Life as well. We'll let you know when it becomes available. Be sure of it!