Thursday, July 29, 2010

The Mechanics of Fighting part 2 ranged weapons

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about combat again. A few weeks ago I wrote about using melee weapons in combat. Today we will talk about ranged weapons, which means guns, bow & arrows, etc.



So, lets say you are in Deadwood. One of the local toughs has challenged you to a fight, what do you do? If you know how set up a gesture tied to an Fkey for the draw and holser animations.
Once you have the Fkey set up go into mouselook and when your ready, hit the Fkey. Presto, your guns are out and ready to fire. This is how many are able to beat you to the draw. Many times though I will use the weapons hud to draw and holster with. Its really a matter of preference, but if you want an edge, set up the gesture. Also set your graphics to low to help reduce lag.

Now where to aim? In real life combat you aim for the body. Forget what you saw on TV and the movies. No one ever shot a gun out of someone's hand, and if they did it was by accident. In real life, if you do shoot a mans gun out of his hand several things may and likely will happen,
1) the mans gun hand will be shattered
2) you have just pissed the man off royally and he pulls a knife and rushes you or pulls a backup gun with his other hand.
I mention this because JF had an opponent in DW who shot him, but did not totally disable him. JF proceeded to shoot him down. The guy wasn't happy because he said he was rping that he was shooting my gun out of my hand. Well, as you know that was god modding on his part which I explained and since we try to emulate rl, trying to shoot my gun out of my hand is just plain stupid.
But you say, this is Second Life, not Real Life. Yep, your right and the rules are different. When in combat with a ranged weapon, aim for the head. Not the name tag, like you would in melee combat, the head. Thats just the way the physics work in Deadwood and in DCS sims. I have no knowledge if this works the same in CCS or other combat systems, though my thought is that it works the same.

One more thing you need to know about ranged combat. Movement is life! Thing about it, it is much harder to hit a moving target. Be random in your movement. If you go in a straight line or are predictable in your patterns, you will be full of lead in no time.

Now just a few thoughts about weapons. If at all possible buy the best weapons you can afford. Just make sure they meet the requirements of whatever sim you are playing in. I will say this, my character Jonah, used Caed Aldwych's freebie SAA in combat and defeated an experienced fighter who had a really nice weapon. So, the most expensive gun does not guarentee a win.

Lastly, the bane of all rp sims, LAG!! Lag can be your friend, but is usually your enemy. I have had battles where I thought I was doing great, then all of a sudden I get hit 8 times in rapid fire. the culprit? LAG. Folks lag happens, if you lose a fight, laugh it off and go with it. Its just a game and your not really hurt. Your character is not really dead, unless you wish it so.

I hope you find this helpful and Happy Fighting!!

Monday, July 12, 2010

JF Kanto in Deadwood 2.0

Many of you may remember JF in Deadwood 1.0. His story was, he had been a killer for hire who got sick of what he was doing and turned a new leaf. He became a dedicated lawman, Town Councilman and devoted Husband and Father. He had a hard edge to him, but was generally level headed and quite affable.

JF 2.0: JF when he arrives in Deadwood is 32 years old. He was born in north eastern Tennessee, close to the Kentucky, Virginia borders. JF grew up on a farm and was, by all accounts a good farmer. When he turned 18 he enlisted in the Confederate Army and by 1864 was a member of Mosbys 43rd Battallion. When he returned home from the war he found his home in ruins, his family gone. He and (Aintgotnoname)Larsson team up and head west to try to make something of themselves. However both men are still young and full of beans. They soon find that a life of crime suits them just fine.

JF makes his money by doing whatever he is paid to do. Someone needs a herd rustled, a house burnt, the occasional killing, JF has no problems with any of that. Both he and Larsson are hot tempered and quick to take offence. Larsson, for reasons known only to him likes to beat on any woman he takes to his bed. JF has an eye for the ladies too, but is not given to beating them.
JF and Larsson have come to Deadwood, because to their way of thinking if money is being made then there are enemies being made. Which means business opportunities for JF and Larsson.

Starting again

Hello Everyone,

I have decided not to close this blog and to start posting again. I thought about my reasons for and against maintaining the blog. In the end, it came down to my being a bit stupid to think about closing this. Yeah, you read right, stupid. I believe myself to be fairly well read, level headed and somewhat intelligent. But like all humans, I sometimes do not think things out real well and make rash statements or actions that just were not real smart (read stupid).

So, I will be posting somethings in here and will try to be a bit more regular.

Friday, July 2, 2010

The end, maybe

Good Morning Everyone,

I will not be posting on here for a while. In fact I am considering shutting down this blog, but have not yet made up my mind as of yet. The reasons? Well, there are several.

This particular blog is called BlackJacks Ruminations and was mostly about Jack and the rp in Deadwood. However, Jack is not going to be around for a while. For reasons that I will keep to myself, I have decided Jack needs a break. Will this typist continue to play in Deadwood? I don't know. I love Deadwood! The owners and all the players there are great people. I have not found better rp anywhere in SL.

As for my other characters, Ezra, JF, and Carlton will all be on hiatus.

I am not going to say good bye here, just so long and happy trails to you all.

BlackJack Landar