Cricket Revolution is a fantastic cricket game made by MindStorm Studios who are based in Lahore. The cricket game was recognized as the first of it’s genre that incorporates many departments of the game which were left unexplored in previous titles.

Cricket Revolution has now decided to hit the major gaming cafes in the three major cities of Pakistan: Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi. The game is coming with a handsome prize money as an incentive for players. For two weeks all participants will play the game in the respective cafes and their total scores will be checked at the end by admins. Top 20 players will qualify from each city. For now the prize money has been said to be:

Here are the respective cafes which will head the game.
Lahore: Neomatrix Gaming Cafe 1 and 2
Rawalpindi: Tribal Gaming Cafe
Karachi: (Unknown but will be updated)

The event is sponsored by “Dell” and is going to be a must-attend event. A complete schedule for the Karachi tournament and registration details can be found below.

Dell Presents ‘The Next Level of Gaming’ @ Tribal Karachi. Registration for the event is now open and will stay open for each individual game till the tournament for that particular game starts. All the participants will be given a free Dell shirt on registration. The stakes are high and the prize money is higher. So register your team now!!!

Fifa: 24th to 26th December
NFS Most Wanted: 1st to 2nd Janurary
Tekken 6: 21st to 23rd Janurary
Call Of Duty 4: 28th to 30th Janurary
Counter Strike 1.6: 4th to 6th Feburary

Event Sign-Up Page: [Click Here]

Institute of Space Technology in collaboration with DICE 2010 presents IG3x, a gaming competition that will test your gaming capabilities.

Note that more than one team can come from one university but no clans. You can bring your own playing equipment like mouse and keyboards if you want. Those guys who use controllers should bring their own equipment. 

The following games will be played:

Counterstrike 1.6 ( 5 v 5 )
Entry: 1000/team
Winning Prize: 10,000
Runners Up: 5000

Warcraft III DoTA ( 5 v 5 )
Entry: 1000/team
Winning Prize: 10,000
Runners Up: 5000

FIFA 10 PC ( 1 v 1 )
Entry: 300/team
Winning Prize: 2000
Runners Up: 1000

Website: [Click Here]
Contact: 0333-5123441 ( Waqar Arshad)

Both games were supposed to take place this previous weekend but we had to prolong it a week out of respect for Muharram. All those who were eagerly waiting for the update on it, here’s the final details you’ll need to know. 

Street Fighter 4:
Date: Saturday, December 18th.
Time: 2 PM
Registeration Fee: Rs. 300.

Tekken 6:
Date: Sunday, December 19th.
Time: 2 PM
Registeration Fee: Rs. 300.

Venue: Tribal Gaming Zone (Beneath Cinepax, Rawalpindi)
Contact: 0322-5041368 (Mohsin Akram)

I’ve been waiting for the release for over 5 hours now. Thankfully just before I was going to bed, one last refresh of the page gave me the download link. The next update to the Promodlive mod is finally here, thanks to the promod team. From the team at codpromod.com:

It’s been a while since the release of 2.04 and it’s without doubt time for an update. We are, together with Vita Nova, glad to give you Promod LIVE 2.10!

Except a list of fixes and tweaks we have reworked and added a few functions in Promod. You can for example see improved Promod modes with a added kniferound function and a opportunity to mix them to your needs. The ability to killspec have also been integrated, together with an updated Strat mode and a improved Shoutcaster function. Plus alot more…

The download link is below after the break…

Changelog:

• Game code optimizations which reduce the size of mod over 50% compared to V2.04
• Killspec mode. Commits suicide, releases current class spot and does not respawn the player before a class is selected again. Can be activated through quickmessage menu: B-4-4 or by console command openscriptmenu quickpromod killspec
• Moved game timer closer to the edge of the screen for shoutcasters
• Improved server integrity checks
• Defaulted “promod_mode” to strat when starting a new server from main menu
• Knife round. For match modes adds an extra round and ready-up mode, in public games it will be the first round of map. It can be toggled via knife keyword in promod_mode (for example match_mr10_knife) or dvar “promod_kniferound” in public games. Scorebot announces knife round via knife_round keyword
• Ready-up mode is more responsive
• Improved promod_mode, for use see below
• Increased dropped weapon disappearing time to 3 minutes
• Promod Commands and Promod Graphics menus can be accessed via openscriptmenu quickpromod controls / graphics respectively
• Added tactical timeouts for lan mode. It is possible to take unlimited amount of timeouts for unlimited time
• Improved strat mode
• Fixed public server weapons glitch
• Forced fs_game for match modes. If you don’t know how to change fs_game setting, please contact your Game Server Provider
• Removed red enemy dots from large map
• Included with package: PunkBuster MD5Tool checks for main/iw_##.iwd files. This needs to be set up manually, see below
• Added echo command, which will display text only to yourself in game message box. Usage: openscriptmenu echo text_I_want_to_display – note that underscores are replaced with spaces. Works also with colors. However stacking two openscriptmenu commands to one bind will not work
• Shoutcasters can now choose who to follow using binds and even toggle players by their current class
• Plus many other visual, non-gameplay related improvements.

A lot of terminologies come up when gaming peripherals are involved. A lot of people have no idea what these mean and go on believing any explanation the first person they meet gives.

I’ve made a list of those lingos and terminologies that are associated with a gaming mouse. I’ve tried my best to explain it as easily as possible in this article. If i’ve missed some please do tell me and if you need more clarification then just simply post a comment below. Corrections are welcomed as well. 

Acceleration:
By definition acceleration defines the rate of change of velocity of your mouse when you move it from one point to another. Simply saying a mouse with acceleration enabled will give your mouse a boost every time you move it. But you should know that this boost is not constant all the time. More or less each mouse has a specific acceleration rating which is in accordance to it’s sensor. If the mouse is moved at a rate faster than the acceleration rating then the cursor will go haywire on your screen. It’s always good if acceleration is disabled.

Ambidextrous:
An ambidextrous mouse basically means that the mouse is designed to be used by either hand. The design is symmetrical in shape and is supposed to be comfortable for players either left or right handed.

Dots Per Inch (DPI):
When you move a mouse across a screen, the computer reads the mouse movement in terms of “Counts”. For example let’s say you moved your mouse one pixel, then the computer will read it as one count per pixel. These counts are recorded by a mouse’s sensor. Hence, a mouse’s DPI rating is the number of counts it can record over one inch of physical movement of the mouse.
A higher DPI means that the mouse can record more data but a rating of 1800 is more than enough. Let’s take an actual scenario into consideration to understand the concept better. Imagine you have moved your aim in a game from the extreme right side of your screen to your left. Now if your mouse’s DPI rating is low, it will be unable to register much of the mouse movement you just did and your aim will be heretic no matter how accurately you move your mouse. A higher DPI rating will take into consideration each and every pixel that you move making your aim true.

Driver:
A drive is a computer software that acts as a bridge between the computer applications and the mouse itself. They are useful in allowing players to customize certain functions of their mouse, such as sensitivity, macros, dpi rating, polling rates and many other options.

Ergonomic:
An ergonomic mouse has a design focused to be used by a single preferred hand. Unlike ambidextrous designs you cannot use an ergonomic mouse with both of your hands.

Firmware:
Firmware unlike it’s driver is embedded into the mouse itself. It controls the basic functions of the mouse. A firmware can be upgraded to fix minor things or upgrade the hardware itself, for example the sensor.

Frames Per Second:
Optical and laser mice emit a beam of light from below onto the surface. The light is reflected back and the sensor stores the exact position of the mouse at the moment in the form of a frame. The number of frames per second refers to a mouse being able to store and process as many frames per second as it can. The higher the FPS a sensor can process will result in a more precise calculation of the mouse’s location.

Hyperesponse Buttons:
Traditional mice buttons have a sweet spot where you can be sure to get an actual click. Most gaming mice however have hyperesponse buttons which ensures that the buttons will always be clicked no matter where or how quickly they are pressed.

Lift-Off Distance:
An optical or laser mouse sensor uses light to process data about the location of the mouse cursor on the screen. Most gamers are in the habit of lifting their mouse when they go beyond their reach on their mouse pad and placing it back in the center. Such traditional mice stop tracking once the mouse is lifted to a certain height. Almost every gaming mouse now has a good lift-off distance, as it wont stop tracking even if you lift your mouse.

Macros:
A button on a mouse can be programmed to do multiple commands whenever the button is pressed. This is usually done through it’s drivers.

Polling Rate:
A mouse is continuously sending information to the computer, it’s the amount of information that a mouse is able to send which should be seen. A typical mouse will send data 125 times a second. This is the polling rate and is expressed in Hertz. Gaming mice can send data upto a 1000 times a second (1000Hz). The polling rate might take its toll on you if you have an old computer system. It’s best to select an average value for the polling rate.

The road was rising and the community was prospering. However, this gradual rise has met with a brick wall now and won’t be able to survive much longer if things go on as they are.

A Standard Must Be Set For All Games:
One of the problems gamers face is that the community is broken down between cities and main event hubs. This sees to a difference in rules, game-play, mods set for the same game playing in all cities. Lets take an example, the game Medal of Honor which is wildly played all over Pakistan is sadly broken down between two of its versions. Medal of Honor Allied Assault, which is extensively played in Islamabad/Rawalpindi while Medal of Honor Spearhead, which is preferred in Lahore. Now we must realize that our community does not conceive of a thousand members. The number of gamers are minimal and they are further broken down between cities. Instead of having a nation wide event for Medal of Honor where all the teams unite for a stand down we see them divided. The Lahore gamers will keep to their Spearhead events while the Allied Assault ones will side with theirs. They are not to blame, they were brought up with their specific titles and they have spent time honing their skills for that game. So why should they drop their title to come play another version which might have the same name but different game-play.

Same is the case with Call of Duty 4. The largest community for Call of Duty 4 is online. We, from the online community are following the rule set which is being enforced globally. But Lahore is promoting the game with another set of rule sets while Karachi is promoting it with another. So what do you get when you call teams for Call of Duty 4 for a nation wide event? Off course you get in a heated argument involving how they play the game differently than the others and each side will want their rules to be enforced.

If a standard is enforced right now then we will see a gradual rise in the number of teams for future events for sure. Greater number of teams mean more competition which in turn will see to a rise in our game-play standards. Better revenue for gaming cafes and definitely more gamers presence in events.

Biased Administrators Leading To Biased Pools:
Every game has a person in charge for specific events. And that guy always either belongs to a registered team for that tournament or he has a favorite team. At the time for making pools, he will always have the toughest team play amongst themselves while he’ll pick the lesser skilled teams as opponents for himself. What effect does this have on the community?

Gamers are not fools, they will know or eventually figure out they are being screwed. Most of the teams come to tournaments for fun and they do not like it when they are put against stronger teams and get knocked out right in the start. Eventually teams will stop attending tournaments that are being conducted by such biased managers. Result is that the community further divides.

So it’s best if the teams ask for a fair pool. Random pickings of tickets with team names from the basket works good if the tickets are taken out by random people. Marked tickets are not unheard off…

Biased Administrators Focusing On Their Favorite Game Only:
This factor has caused a lot of concerns in the community. When someone announces that he is hosting an event that means he is to work to keep the gamers contented. They have paid for their team to take part in your event, it’s only natural you hold your part of the bargain. What we see is that the event management will give their time to a specific game while completely ignoring the other games. This leads to a lot of confusion, anger and discomfort for the gamers who have no idea when their part of the tournament starts, who is making the pools, any last minute information they should know, which computers will they be using, the list goes on.

Call of Duty 4 is a prime example for Karachi. This has happened twice now, the organizers have no idea what they have to do with this game. The rest of the event goes on while the teams for Call of Duty 4 sit in one corner waiting for their turn. The wait will take them through the night when finally the gamers themselves will have to take the initiative and conduct the game themselves. I heard that in the last event the players had to even set up the computers themselves which is really shocking.

I believe this to be so because Call of Duty 4 is considered a minority in Karachi. There are not many teams and as I mentioned earlier in this article that no standard rule set is defined. So organizers have no experience in handling these situations. My advice is to get someone from the community who knows the game. Do a meeting with him, talk on each aspect of the event and he’ll help you setup everything the gamers need.

Gamers Being Lied To:
Trust plays an important role in every thing. Anyone whose hosting a tournament naturally wants a maximum number of teams showing up. What they do is feed gamers with information that will reel them in. The teams are disappointed and feel betrayed when they turn up only to see the bigger picture.

Stories of a large prize money is usually the main course. Teams will travel from other cities on their own expensive to come play for a prize that won’t even cover their food cost. No one is going to blame a tournament holder for a small prize pot but at least don’t lie to have us go through much for nothing.

Awareness Is A Powerful Weapon:
Not many believe in this and they have no idea what a powerful tool bringing awareness to the local populous can be. I’ll explain this further in the next portion of this article. Let’s stick to basic promotion for now. We look to the international gaming community and see a common trend. Every team has a website with over a 1000 minimum followers. There are other forums and web presences bridging communities together. We don’t really see that happening in Pakistan. Now we can’t see a 1000 followers for a single team but what we can see is having a single platform made for the whole nation and for every gamer for every game. We have many game forums and sites in Pakistan but none of them deal with Lan. Imagine such a stage setup and in its prime, every gamer mingling with other gamers from the nation exchanging news, game-play tips, gossips, updates, reviews, previews, thoughts on something etc. It would be a perfect place for sponsors to show up too.

The Incentive And Sponsor Tag:
I talked about awareness above, little do people realize that it can help us in reaching sponsors and endorsements. We once again look at the International community. Brands are practically dying to sign up good teams to advertise their products. You see your favorite gamer using a specific gaming hardware and you have to buy that too. This has been happening for a long time and I don’t see the chain breaking any time soon.

Now we can’t possibly have a similar trend in Pakistan because we would need those brands to have official outlets here. What we have here are retailers who buy and sell. There’s a difference and its a big one. What we can have is that even those names come forward and promote themselves through us. Instead of “I have to buy that gadget from its makers” we can have “Where did you buy your gadget? Okay I’ll buy it from them too.” Everyone is happy in the end.

However, sellers wont see eye to eye on this topic because they don’t realize the potential. To them it strikes as giving a bunch of kids free equipment or privileges. No one can promise an instant return or results. Anyone in any business knows of this but someone has to take the first step so that others follow.

Helping out teams triggers a growth in the community. Everyone wants to reach that stage and will strive to do so. Number of gamers start increasing, more teams are formed, more presence in events leads to more marketing of products which finally ends in good coverage for store owners.

Unity Is A Thing Of The Past:
With already a handful of teams we see teams breaking up more than new teams being formed. Instead of having 20 teams we will see to 15 because five of them had internal issues and broke up. A major factor is over recruiting. Every team wants the best players to play for them but why recruit ten from the cream of the community when only five will play in any tournament. This also disturbs the balance of the community. Remember that good competition gives way to better skill. Beating lesser skilled teams because you recruited all the good player is of no use. Give them a chance too and recruit only when needed.

No Bridges Between Sub-Communities:
Pakistan definitely needs a government for the gaming community. An organization to setup all rules and black list trouble makers. It will help shape up players and keep them in check while making the community progress in a homogeneous fashion. In the end we will always need a higher up with authority to unite everyone for a single cause.

The existing G-Zone gaming cafe found in Cinepax (Rawalpindi) is now Tribal Gaming Zone. Tribal, which has it’s roots set firmly in Karachi had already offered it’s powerful rigs to Cinepax. The time had come for both of them to merge for a better future.

Tribal is working closely with Dell to bring you all a magnificent nation wide event. The event will cover two major gaming hubs of Pakistan: Rawalpindi and Karachi.  The prize pot is a good Rs. 150,000 for both cities. The registration for the event will begin on October 5th  and will end on the 23rd of the month. The Tribal Gaming Zone is located in Cinepax Cinemas, Jinnah Park Rawalpindi. More details regarding the registration will follow soon.

UPDATE: Registrations are now open. You can register yourself by going here [Click]

]]> http://www.team-metal.org/tribal-dell-tournament/feed/ 33 http://www.team-metal.org/szabist-gaming-competition/ http://www.team-metal.org/szabist-gaming-competition/#comments Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:29:12 +0000 BOOM http://www.team-metal.org/?p=357

Szabist institute found in sector H8/4 Islamabad is bringing a gaming competition for you all. You can find the basic information below and if you still have some questions then you can find the contact information in the poster above. 

• SZABIST Business Club brings a Gaming competition and Web development competition on 14,15 and 16 of October 2010 followed by a concert on 17th October 2010 at 7:30pm.
• Registration fee for Counter Strike 1.6 and MOHAA is 1500Rs/team and that of Web development Competition is 500Rs/person.
• Last date to register is 10th Of October…

Yesterday saw the end of the first day of the World Cyber Games 2010 being hosted at Los Angeles. The matches on the first day saw some of the best teams in the world enter the battlefield. India’s counter-strike team ATE had the bad luck of facing SK from Sweden. The swedes demolished them 24-6; pocketing an easy win on their first day. Apart from SK we saw WeMadeFox give a brutal thrashing to PlayMore taking a 24-6 win too.

The day one matches for StarCraft saw a hilarious turn of events. Korea won six matches along with a couple to China, proving once again only they have the StarCraft genes. US got a pretty bad beating until their player G5 won his match against xGs.Small. from Mexico.

Pakistan’s counter-strike team i-DX is scheduled to play their first matches today on day two. They face off against Forze from Russia and Firegamers from Brazil. Russia and Brazil are placed at 5th and 6th place respectively on the WCG ranking ladder while Pakistan is at 70th. Unless i-DX has some severe game plan and good luck they are most likely to find themselves with their Indian brothers, beaten and bruised. Let us pray that they destroy their competition.

Good news for the FIFA fans, Pakistan has won their first two FIFA matches and is up 2-0. Player SmoothCriminal has won both of his matches and is looking good. We will see how he copes with his matches on day two.

The WCG Country Rankings: [Click Here]

UPDATE: I just got to know that team i-DX actually could never make it for the WCG. The reason they told was their visas not clearing in time.