gattlen gun!

SMOKE GRENADES

Smoke grenades are the bomb! Not literally, but they are a wonderful part of your arsenal. Here are a few facts and thoughts on the smokers:

• they come in two flavors: red and white


• the hand thrown versions have no weight


• you get 3 white smokes, or 2 red smokes


• the higher the power on your scope, the easier it is to see through smoke
• 
  
• the grenade launcher versions can be shot extremely far


• you get quite a few with the grenade launchers

I would like to thank the wonderful people at BottmanBros.com for helping me with all the technical issues on this blog.

M60oe3 VIDEO

HERE IS A VIDEO OF THE M60oe3 JUST LIKE IN SOCOM

SOCOM O' MATIC

SOCOM O' MATIC says, "When is the PS3 supposed to be released? And is Socom 4 in the works?"

I played in a pistols only, small, citadel last night. The previous night I had been wasting time playing speed rounds through the single player using only a pistol, so I thought I was ready. Additionally, I set the speed and acceleration on my control settings to max. Guess what? I ate them up with my DE with Pistol Laser setup!

Report Cheats, the Spectator Glitch in Socom 3

     Right now the glitchers are up and Sony/Zipper should be taking defensive actions, stemming the losses and improving the online community by banning users who are ruining the online experience of the rest of us.
     The spectator glitch is a full sized exploit where a spectator is able to kill players. Someone using the spectator glitch is not able to be shot, but can sometimes be ran over or killed by an HE. They will be invisible or in in either sides costumes. When in a vehicle, the vehicle will look white on your radar (not red or blue).
     The only thing you can do is try to win the game and leave it far behind as soon as you hit the lobby.
     And our only hope is that Zipper or Sony will ban obvious glitchers from the game, some people would encourage you to post the Glitchers Name on the Socom 3 message board along with the Server, Game Name and Time.
Report glitchers here!
     This exploit is currently ruining the online play!! Lets hope Sony/Zipper stands up and not continue to stand down, waiting months for the perfect patch! This aggression must not stand!

Weighed Down

Just a quick post here of some random thoughts on gun load out and weight. If you are like me, you are changing your entire load out between every game, and also between every round. You know how it goes, you need to take out armor, but you also need a scoped gun which would be double cool if it was silenced. Take the 552 with med-scope, front-grip and m2 mines with a side of smoke.

MORE SOCOM INFO

CONVOY

Gripe time. I stayed up for 6 hours last night playing convoy on Socom 3. How many times do you think we won the game? zero? Yep! And you know why? Because everytime you are in the lobby, everyone piles onto the seals team, then when the game starts the terrorists are down 4 to 8 peeps. Coupled with the fact that the seals need only shoot two convoy vehicles to win, they win right from the lobby. THAT SHIT IS LAME! It really is not much of a game when it is 16 Seals versus 8 terrorists on Harvester Convoy, and the seals are still all sr25sd on the load zones, and even using the GL frags.

U R HERE

What did the Patch really do:

The SOCOM 3 1.2 update addresses many issues including the following:
· Resolved a hardware compatibility issue that was causing disconnects.
· Resolved an issue with "slow" DHCP servers that prevented some players from obtaining an IP Address before timing out.
· Resolved several issues where the player would be stuck with default weapons and equipment in game instead of the weapons and equipment they selected.
· Resolved the Clan Challenge issue where the wrong team would receive a forfeit when the other team does not show for the match.
· Updated libraries to resolve some of the voice chat issues. Some voice chat issues still remain and will be addressed in a future update.
· Resolved several stability issues with ranked and clan games.
· You now get credit for kills when you blow up a vehicle and the kills other players.
· Resolved an issues with ladder ownership that was causing ladders to not be climbable.
· Resolved an issue where a late joining player would be seen as alive by some players.
· Resolved an issue where the round timer was incorrect in extraction games.
· Resolved an issue where the M1025 would be damaged by its own turrets.
· Resolved an issue where the secondary DNS server would not be used when accessing the SOCOM Community pages.
· Resolved an issue where players were able to walk in mid-air.
· Resolved an issue where players were able to run and shoot while equipped with the RPG or LAW (though the RPG/LAW does not appear to be equipped to other players).
· Resolved an issue where players were able to fire their primary weapon while the RPG/LAW was equipped.
· Resolved an issue where players are able to create a 1 round ranked game.

Rifle Scopes (Descriptions)

Low Scope: offers 1.5x magnification with a wide field of view and also gathers light making the scene brighter.
Medium Scope: offers 3x & 8x magnification, fits on numerous rifles, and is probably the most popular option for automatic rifles (ra14, m16, ...)
High Scope: offers 6x, 10x & 16x magnification, making it the highest scope in the game, very useful on the big snipers and the m14 and m16.
4x Scope: this is a straffing and headshot monster, but don't spend too much time in scope, because you are not that far away from them.
12x Scope: can't take the medium/high scope on the SASR, well you can always use the 12x.
Red Dot Scope: offers 1.5x magnification and a little red dot where you are aiming, fire in full auto and move fast while using this scope. This scope comes automatically with the F90.
Termal Scope: offers 4x magnification, and picks up heat signitures from players. View drops off at about 60 meters making for limited range, but you can pick out people glowing in the grass.

SOCOM 3 Update

Merry Christmas
SOCOM 3 Update

You heard right. The other night we received the long awaited SOCOM 3 Update. And you know what we get?
• You get kills for blowing vehicles with peeps inside.
• Mics connect a bit better.
• Connections to the server are supposedly better and last longer.

To bad for all the lazy gamers who wanted to have all their teammates highlighted and impossible to shoot. Makes me laugh, one of the cooler and realistic features of the game is friendly fire.

Peace out, see ya online!
BEATNIK

SOCOM 3 PATCH?

I was just reading the SOCOM 3 message boards and came across this nugget:

SOCOM 3 Disconnects: We are actively looking into the SOCOM 3 disconnect issues. It seems that the rate of disconnects increases the longer the SOCOM 3 server has been active so we are implementing daily restarts of the SOCOM 3 servers in order to temporarily improve the issue. We are looking for the root cause of the problem and will hopefully have a permanent solution soon.

SOCOM 3 Update (Patch): The SOCOM 3 Update candidate is in QA now, but we've exposed some compatibility issues. We are working on resolving these now and hope to release the update before the holidays.

Rank Ups: We are still working on addressing the rank up issue. Again, this is a complicated issue to address but it is one that we are actively working to resolve.

SOCOM 3 Online Team

One Hundred Fingers of Death

Do you know what I am talking about? Yeah, I'm talking about the M60oe3, the original 'Heavy Heat'. This has been my favorite weapon since the original SOCOM, so I thought I would go over the pros and cons with y'all.

PROS:
· no attachments: carry two sets of mines, or a missile and grenades and still run like Flo Jo.
· 100 bullets: hold down the trigger and you can mow the grass for around 25 seconds.
· big bullets: ask an enemy to carry 2 of your slugs around in their chest and they tend to get weighed down and fall over.
· full auto: if you have huge thumbs like me, you don't have to worry about showing your opponent your famous single shot dance. (i.e. < POW < > POW > > POW POW < > POW)
· spray: shoot 20 shots in an enemy's feet and one will hit them in the head.
· loud: intimidating sound like you are popping some heavy duty popcorn.
· available to both teams: specially designed to pop caps on anyone independent of race, creed or religion.

CONS:
· no attachments: that means no scope for you.
· range: what range? I usually just set it on the baddies chest before firing.
· loud: once you shoot your cover is blown.
· inaccurate: see range above.

SOCOM O' MATIC: Socom News and Sh*t
High Country Gamers [HCG]: A Socom Clan

Hiding in a Bush

You all might be saying, "I haven't heard or seen from MNGL for awhile." Well, I have just been sitting in a bush on the very edge of the level in a ghillie suit with my silenced sniper rifle that has no scope attached. Seems like everytime I join a game in Killing Fields the host leaves and I am stuck with that set-up. Instead of hiding, I could always steal a gun off an opponent then survive the round to keep the lifted weapon, but I am quietly working on my survival stats.

Convoy Tactics

Review details of Socom 3 Convoy Medley at SocomO'matic

I thought it was high time to discuss tactics, I am going to detail different strategies for the different game types. I am starting with Convoy, since it is likely the game type that demands the most team play. Especially for the Terrorist team who is trying to get a convoy thru, often the Seals don't have much game because they don't need to on these maps. But if the Terrorist are playing a good game the Seals have to pick it up, and if they do then you have an exciting game!

Lots and lots of people play Seals on Convoy, hoping for easy wins. It is no way to Game! There is nothing as fun as having a good team on Convoy and blowing loaded cargos thru a green Seals Team to a Drop Zone. But then again, when the Terrorists are playing a respectable game it is very exciting to to blow a Cargo truck or control a Drop Zone.

Lets review the Mission:
Convoy Mission:
• Terrorists team use a convoy of two cargo trucks and armed vehicles (sometime tanks) to retrieve and move important supplies from one of two load zones to the extraction point. Seals team prevent the enemy from doing so by destroying the two cargo trucks, killing the enemies or prevent them from delivering one truckload of the cargo to a Drop Zone.

General Strategies
• It's all about the Convoy, read the above Mission, Convoy is not Suppression and though killing the other team helps, it does not win the game. Everybody should be involved with either protecting/destroying the Convoy trucks or controlling the Load and Drop Zones. There is nothing more embarrassing than being the last one alive and not being in the game at all. Just remember "It's all about the Convoy!". All assets, people and vehicles, need to be focused on the Mission.
• Vehicles, this is Convoy, vehicles are key for both sides. The Convoy Trucks are the whole game, so don't try to run people over or leave them while you shoot at people, remember "It's all about the Convoy!". Always try to capture or destroy the opposing team's vehicles. The Mounted Machine Guns will make small work of a Convoy truck when shot into the front grill. Don't lose your vehicles, vehicles are the center of the game for Terrorists and on levels where Seals have vehicles they are key to their success. Often if you have the other teams vehicles you own the map. Likewise if Terrorists turn a Technical over to the Seals it is likely it will be turned on the Convoy Trucks. Terrorist sometimes have a Tank, DO NOT EVER GIVE UP THE TANK TO THE SealS, on Convoy this usually means a win for the Seals.
• Communication is good on every Game Type and helps so much on Convoy. All you need is a small gap or distraction to run the trucks thru, or a secure load zone. Make sure your team knows where you are, where the Cargo Trucks are, where the enemies and enemy vehicles are. With a little Intel it's easy to slide a Convoy Truck into the Load Zone or Ambush it on the way there. Share Intel with your Team and guarantee the win.
• Timing goes hand in hand with communication, if the Tank can distract or you can rush a gap with good timing and avoid the bigger battles on the way to the Load Zone your Convoy game will be even stronger. Or perhaps you adjust the timing and placement of an ambush to make sure you net the Convoy. If you change the timing, a little slower or faster, you change the game. Most people have no patience to wait, so try it. Likewise if you meet a challenger way forward of where you did the previous round you will undoubtedly surprise them.
• Split the Convoy is a way to give you an additional chance at Loading and Dropping. Some maps are more conducive to splitting the convoy. If as a Terrorist you do split the convoy make sure both Convoys have support. If you are a Seal and notice on your Radar, call it out and make sure they both are being targeted.
• Block Roads at Pinch Points wether you are blocking the Seals or the Terrorist you can change the pace of the game by interrupting traffic. On Convoy blocking the traffic is important especially for the Seals. You can do this with an ambush, vehicles in the road, mines in the road or all of the above. When blocking travel pick pinch points where traffic is bottlenecked and you can make the most of your Road Block. When I say roads I am really talking about any place you can drive or walk.
• M2 Mines for Convoy are great, especially for the Seals team. Often Both Load zones are heavily mined up by the Seals, so when the unsuspecting Cargo Truck drives in to load up they blow sky high. M2 Mines are great for blocking traffic at pinch points as per above and are very useful against the Tank.
• Ambush, remember its all about the convoys. Ambushing the Cargo Trucks is the best strategy for the Seals on Convoy, Terrorists beware.
• Smoke the convoys. Smokes are handy for Terrorists on this map, especially to hide the Convoy Trucks and yourself while loading or to cover a mad rush thru a Seal ambush.
• Switch it up after playing the same game. Pick a different load zone, ambush or tactic. Do not give them a chance to get wise to your game.
• Roads are fastest sometimes it's good to dodge behind every rock when you are trying to drive thru an ambush. But sometimes it's bad when you need to really cover some distance before the other team can catch up or find you. Put some distance behind you when appropriate. We have seen people drive back and forth with in the same area under fire rather than make a quick escape. Once a convoy truck is loaded it is a race with the Seals to the Drop Zone.
• Hide out for a Win, if a Seals stays alive and the Terrorist do not get a loaded truck to the Drop zone the Seals will win. So keep it in mind, when you are the last Seal and they do not have time to get to a Drop Zone, stay alive and win the round.

Map Specific Strategies
• Killing Fields
- This is a discinct Convoy Game, the large open map makes vehicles more important than ever. There are load zones are in the center of the city and in the Seal base. The Terrorist base is both the Convoy spawn and the Drop Zone.
- Seals have two Technical dune buggies, DO NOT not to lose these vehicles and stay away from the Tank. As seals Wolf Pack the convoy, find the convoy, don't get to close but zoom around in and out and your gunner should take out the Convoy Trucks and the lone Terrorists on the Periphery. Don't get hung up when driving, don't get your gunner shot and keep track of the convoy trucks. (they are on your radar)
- Terrorist hold up and capture vehicles. The best tactic I see is to block the Terrorist base with the Tank and wait until we have destroyed or captured at least one Seal's technical. Do not wait past 2 minutes, you need time to load up and come back to the Drop Zone. Call it out when Terrorist have destroyed or captured a Technical from the seals. Seals will get wise to holding up at the base so be prepared to switch it up to a rush on occasion.
- This is a good map to split the convoy on, especially if you have a Seal technical under your control. Split the convoy, one Truck to the city and one Truck to the far Load Zone either along the North or South wall of the map.
• Devils Road
- This is a circular map, the Terrorist Convoy Spawn and Drop Zone is in the same spot. There is the big city at the oasis, at the far side of the map, with a a Load Zone (the Oasis) and another Load Zone (the Back LZ) just up along the road further near a smaller village.
- The Seals spawns and most obvious tactics are to Ambush the Terrroist along the long road to the Oasis or Ambush the Convoy at the Oasis Load Zone. There is a path thru the mountains above and between both of these areas as well as the Back Load Zone.
- A good Terrorist tactic is to make a fast run directly to the oasis led by the Tank, control the Oasis Load Zone. As soon as a cargo is loading, smoke it up and when loaded take it back the way you came.
- Seals can easily camp the Back Load Zone, as well as make their way to the Drop Zone and camp it out as well. The Drop Zone on Devil's Road is very defensible.
- This is a good map to split the convoy on, especially since it's circular. At any point, and dependent upon the game play, you can go either direction to reach the Load Zones and the Drop Zone. At the Terrorist Convoy Spawn you can take an immediate hard left to head to the Back Load Zone.
• Cistern
This is a very unique map for Convoy as well, there is one way forward and the Drop Zone is on the far side of the map from the Convoy Spawn. Terrorist control either end and need to push past the Seals in the middle.
Seals ambush top of the mountain or better yet at the crossroads
Terr control second load
• Harvester
circular map
Seal map, hide out in central area
Seal control barn
terr control the farm house
good split
have to blow the brach to the drop or fjord on the river

SOCOM Ranking Gripes

First off I have to say that Zipper had a good idea when they set up the ranks so that there are different classes of players. Additionally, I think it smart to also make the lower ranks dependent on number of games played. But here is the rub: 100 games until you make it to the actual Ranks (thats rank with a capital 'R'). Given that the majority of games when averaged end up lasting one hour, you are looking at having to play over 100 hrs to achieve status. 100 hours equals 2½ full-time work weeks! And I am not even taking into account that at least half of the games you enter are filled with bad mouth children or are half-way completed and don't count towards rank, which must add another 50-100 hrs of gametime. My suggesdtion is that they drop the rank requirement to 50 games.

Check your Socom 3 Rank online

√ Socom 3 Rank online

You can check your Socom 3 rank online at socom3.scea.com. You use your game username and password to log in and Check your Socom 3 Rank online.

There are message boards and leader boards as well, all of which are so much easier to use than via the in-game interface. They need to add game type Leader-boards, Convoy and Control Points leaders etc. I have yet to mess with the ladders but will. I know there are many weak strategists trying to slowly inch there way up the ranks, I also know how much I would enjoy quickly pushing my way thru them.

Unlockable Content for Online Play

Here is list of the content for online play that can be unlocked by playing through the single player version of Socom 3. To unlock everything play through the game 3 times at the hardest diffuculty allowed.

North Africa KILLJOY (Seal): Complete Training Mission
North Africa Ghillie Suits: Complete North Africa on Commander
South Asia Ghillie Suits: Complete South Asia on Commander
Poland Ghillie Suits: Complete Poland on Commander
Poland COLDKILL (Seal): Complete Poland on any difficulty.
South Asia Hari Raman (Terrorist): Complete South Asia on Captain

Front Grip: Complete on Captain
Medium Scope: Complete on Captain
IW-80 A2: Complete on Admiral
STG-77: Complete on Admiral
ZX25 Airburst: Complete on Admiral

Online Play

Well after reading Donkey's sharply critical review of the single player version I thought to start an online play review version. Well let me tell you, I think that this SOCOM 3 shit is more addictive than cigarettes and beer, both of which I comsume mass quantities of while playing online throughout the night.
I don't have time to waste talking about how to play online, when I can play online.

Problems with single player

I decided to take a little time and write a review of the single player game. In a nutshell, this series has been going down hill for the single player game. Socom 1 was very hard but was playable. Socom 2 was damn glitchy, making you have to restart because your teamate fell through a hole in the level. Socom 3 has horrible AI, period.

SOCOM 3 Among Top Sellers

According to an article over at gamedaily, SOCOM 3 is among top sellers.

Wedbush Morgan Securities October 2005 NPD Video Game Sales Preview notes that the firm believes October sales will total $416 million, down 13 percent over last year. Despite the sluggishness of the market in recent months, share strength among companies tracked by Wedbush Morgan remains strong, implying that investors are confident in the group as a whole, and unconcerned with the financial burdens that will accompany the coming console transition.

The research note did note that the October year to year comparison is somewhat difficult, due to the release of GTA: San Andreas in October 2004. Wedbush Morgan expects October sales to be driven by SOCOM III (SCEA), Soul Calibur III (Namco), Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (Activision), The Warriors (Take-Two) and SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, PANTS! (THQ), and for 15 titles to sell over 100,000 copies (compared to 18 the year prior).

Destroy the TANK!

· 3 missles from an RPG to the body
· 1 missle from an RPG to the turret
· 2 vehicle mines at slow speed
· 3 vehicle mines at top speed
· 3-6 shots from the seal mini-tank
· 1 shot from humvee mounted TOW missle turret

H-C-G.com ~ High Country Gamers

Extraction Medley, Socom 3

Extraction Medley, Socom 3

Extraction Mission:
Protect hostages in your custody or rescue them from the enemy and move them safely to the extraction point(s) before the time expires.

Extraction Medley, Socom 3 Maps
Harvester
Citadel
Devils Road
Boneyard
Tidal Fury
Antenora
Storm Front
Blackwoods

H-C-G.com

Escort Medley, Socom 3

Escort Medley, Socom 3

Escort Mission:

Escort Medley, Socom 3 Maps
Harvester
Crucible
Killing Fields
Citadel
Waterworks

Control Medley, Socom 3

Control Medley, Socom 3

Control Mission:
Recon the area by planting beacons at key Navpoints on the map before the opposing team can. Once a beacon is planted by a team at a control point, it cannot be removed. Both teams can plant beacons at the same control point. The first team to plant beacons at all control points wins, or the team with the most beacons planted at the end of the round wins.

Control Medley, Socom 3 Maps (all maps except Boneyard)
Harvester
Crucible
Killing Fields
Citadel
Devils Road
Tidal Fury
Antenora
Storm Front
Fault
Waterworks
Blackwoods

H-C-G.com

Breach Medley, Socom 3

Breach Medley, Socom 3

Breach Mission:

Breach Medley, Socom 3 Maps
Harvester
Citadel
Boneyard
Tidal Fury
Antenora
Fault
Waterworks

Suppression Medley, Socom 3

Suppression Medley, Socom 3

Suppression Mission:

Suppression Medley, Socom 3 Maps (all maps)
Harvester
Crucible
Killing Fields
Citadel
Devils Road
Boneyard
Tidal Fury
Antenora
Storm Front
Fault
Waterworks
Blackwoods

SOCOM 3 Scopes and Zoom Levels

Just a little rundown on the different zoom levels on the scopes:

• LOW SCOPE 1.5x and 3.0x magnification
• 4X SCOPE 4.0x magnification
• MEDIUM SCOPE 3.0x and 8.0x magnification
• 12X SCOPE 12.0x magnification
• HIGH SCOPE 6.0x and 10.0x and 16.0x magnification
• THERMAL SCOPE 4.0x magnification
• BINOCULARS: 12.0x magnification

H-C-G.com looking for hard core gamers!

High Country Gamers are looking for serious, in it to win it, SOCOM 3 gamers.

• Do you like strategy, communication and winning?
• Do you enjoy winning the hard maps?
• Do you play cool as ice and get lots of kills?
• Do you like smart plays?
• Got Tactics?

H-C-G.com is looking for leaders in online games and on the web at H-C-G.com. the [HCG] guild is looking to build tactics and teams that are unstoppable online in Socom 3 and develop web content that supports our teams, tactics and better game play online at H-C-G.com.

Get with the crew: info@H-C-G.com

Demolition Medley, Socom 3

I am really beginning to like the Demolition Medleys on SOCOM 3 quite a bit. Due to the fact that the tasks are pretty straight forward: get the bomb and plant it in the enemy base, this game type seems to get the least amount of draws. Hopefully most of the Newbies will pick up the idea soon and will quite just hanging out in bushes when you can be either playing defense or offense with the the football being the bomb.

Demolition Mission:
• Defend your teams base while retrieving and planting the bomb at the base of the opposing team.

Demolition Medley, Socom 3 Maps
• Harvester
• Crucible
• Killing Fields
• Citadel
• Tidal Fury
• Storm Front
• Fault
• Waterworks
• Blackwoods

Convoy Medley, Socom 3

Convoy Medley, Socom 3
What can I say, team work rules.

Convoy Mission:
• Terrorists team use a convoy of two cargo trucks and armed vehicles (sometime tanks) to retrieve and move important supplies from one of two load zones to the extraction point. Seals team prevent the enemy from doing so by destroying the two cargo trucks, killing the enemies or prevent them from delivering one truckload of the cargo to a drop zone.

Convoy Medley, Socom 3 Maps
Harvester
Crucible
Killing Fields
Devils Road

Supression & Draws

After a few days of play I am still torn about the no draws on suppression maps. Here is how it works: The team with the most men left standing after time expires is the winner. This keeps the game from continually ending with one guy hiding in a bush on these gigantic maps, but it does make it so the team with the most people is rewarded for camping and has a good chance of winning straight from the begining.

Case in Point: I joined a game last night that started with 16 seals versus 12 terrorists, and the seals just ran to the pinch points w/ SR25SDs hopped in bushes and waited, and waited, and waited until the end of the round to win. The poor terrorists were forced to run about the whole map searching the bushes, desperately trying to make up the four extra kills.

SOCOM 3 ONLINE ERROR #36

Well I just recently got my copy of SOCOM 3 and I was psyched to get online. Then the horror began, log in to the network via the nice Quick Logon feature and surf for a few seconds and get the big fat Error #36. Try again and agian, jut to get the same thing. Well after some experimenting, I have come up with a solution:

Log on and get into the first game you can within 20-60 seconds. After that you can leave the room and surf the main interface to your liking.

Control the Boat, SOCOM 3 bastards

Playing SOCOM 3 last night I finally found a Control Medley , it was Waterworks. I dig the swimming and actually dove under to avoided detection more than once. Though I had the misfortune to be in a learning game for some of the more selfish and aggravated players, so after listening to people wasting the mic hating on people, screaming to let them drive the boat it finally devolved into team killing.

I wish you could fire your own weapon, at least in some limited fashion, from all the vehicles when you were a passenger. I played Storm Front and the little rubber rafts were SO slow, but unlike the Tacticals at least you can shoot your gun from your position in the raft.

Convoy medley is still the most enjoyable, but I am really looking forward to the learning curve catching up to a serious gamer and war history buff like myself. A couple of times I rode with people who could follow in the tank as it cleared mines off the road or could take advantage of the tactical being drove to position to hit the convoy. Right now I see people trying to run each other over with the tacticals or ditching the convoy in the fire zone. Last night on Devil's Road I had a good truck driver who would follow the tank into the oasis, start the truck loading, get under armor while we sat in middle of the town shooting at pitiful unarmored fools, once the truck was loaded we would flip a bitch and make a fast run home. So Fun!

Got Tactics? H-C-G.com

SOCOM 3 boasts 48,000 online players

On the second night after the release of SOCOM 3, the developers are boasting that at one point there was 48,000 simultanious online players. Don't worry I have alreadyt done the math for you:

If you can frag one person a second, it would take you 13.3333 hours to frag all the unique players.

Looking for a clan: H-C-G.com

Socom 3 is on the Street

I picked up Socom 3 yesterday and gave the online portion an introductory 12 hour trial run, I can say that I am very pleased with it. I do have a ways to go before I am completely acclimated to the new controls, but am looking forward to mastering all the vehicles. I had a good run last night single handily running the tank to a good hill top and then popping over the main gun to cover my CONVOY.

There are two new game types in Socom 3 US navy Seals, those being 'Convoy' and 'Control'. Convoy is great fun and the parameters of the game forces some strategy on both sides, there were a few Convoy medleys available last night and I enjoyed them. It was amusing during a Convoy game to watch people running down the middle of the road. I could not find one Control medley, I am looking foreword to that as well.

The configurable guns were awesome and the suppressors seem to work great especially on these bigger maps.

There was some strange lag going on including not showing scores at the end of games. I do hope lag has been dealt with somewhat in Socom 3.

Loading the bigger maps works great during game play, but when your flipping between players after you have died it is tedious. The load time in general was awesome making for a lot less wait time overall.

Get you and your Clan hooked up with a Socom 3 Gaming Guild like H-C-G.com.

Playing Silent, keeping my wifes head to the pillow

So last night has marked one week of house guests, they stay in my dedicated Socom room (my wife calls it the family room). Being part of a top Socom 3 Gaming Guild, I play most every night, for awhile, and at times for 6 hours or more (seriously).
So after a week away from my machines, my online crew, and the thousands of victims awaiting online I needed to set up for some muted gaming (mute TV).
Playing silently I gained more kills than deaths, but without the visceral nature of gunfire and grenades the excitement was just not there. Getting jumped or not realizing your team has gone down was frustrating, but I was reading the red flicks on the cross hairs much better by the end of it. My second game on deathtrap as seal earned me MVP but was not enough to keep me online for more.

The short story is without the rumble of gunfire, SOCOM 3 is just not as exciting as it is with sound. I think I need to get a set of headphones rigged up to play at night, LOUD.

Though on a side note I must say I love Macintosh computers, with the ease of sharing an internet connection, I was able to cruise to the bedroom and share my wireless connection to my well worn Playstation.

H-C-G.com

SOCOM 3 MAP NAMES AND IMAGES

Harvester
Crucible
Killing Fields
Citadel
Devils Road
Boneyard
Tidal Fury
Antenora
Storm Front
Fault
Waterworks
Blackwoods

For images try this directory on a real slow host.

News on SOCOM 3 from the Developers

I was just perusing an article on socomblog and i decided to distill the good info for you. They have slightly reworked the controls adding somethiong they call 'TCA commands' which allow you to give commands to your oline teamates by tapping the button (Cover) or holding it for a split second (Follow). They rid the controller setups of sureshot, but put in 'frogman' which allows for nothing mapped to L3! That is terrific news to us guys with huge thumbs that had to use the M60 unless they wanted to always change fire rates, but the bad news is that this same setup also has the mic on the trigger buttons. One last bit of news is that you can once again unlock multiplayer secrets by finishing the single player levels.

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs: Mobile Recon

Socom on your Cell Phone? You Bet!

During my Google today for news on the Socom franchise, I ran into something totally unexpected. According to an article at businessweek.com, you can play a socom spinoff on your cell phone. Details include the use of two characters: Wraith and Bronco; Six weapons to choose from: M4A1, M8, F90, HK5K, HK36, M8-M25; they also included the throat slit. Everything is curser based and uses one button. You hold the curser over territory and hit the button to get your men to move there, or you hold the curser over a bad guy (terrorist) and hit the button to shoot/slit throat.

Have you FRAGGED Tiger Woods?

mtv.com has an article about the realease of Tiger Woods new golf game. Woopee! The big news is that he says he is a SOCOM fan, and spends hours a night playing. I love the thought of hitting Tiger with a grenade in the first 3 seconds of the game, leaving him sitting in his mansion yelling about me and my Noob game!

SOCOM 3 Link Exchange Offer

Hey webmasters and clan members, have you a Socom related Web site? I would love to set up a link exchange with you, so both of our sites can get a little more exposure. Please comment to this post with your site and we can get this underway. Peace Out!

SOCOM 3 vs Fire Team Bravo

According to the rumor mill that is the internet, the folks at Zipper an Sony Computer Entertanment America (SCEA) have built in some way for your game of Socom Fire Team Bravo on your PSP to connect to your Socom 3 game running on your Playstation 2 (PS2). They have been pretty tight lipped about it, but did say that the single player games will reflect progress in your single player game on the other.

A List of Vehicles in SOCOM 3

M1045 Up-Armored with TOW Missile
ALSV (Advanced Light Strike Vehicle)
Bradley
CRRC
T-72
Ural troop carrier
Ural cargo
Technical pickup
Technical SUV
M1114 Up-Armored with .50 Cal Machine Gun
M1025 SEAL Configured Multi-Turret
SOC-R
Technical speedboat

I just hope the mounted guns on these vehicles work a little better than RMGs in SOCOM 2, which had about 10 degrees of movement. Actually my favorite is the night vision scope on the RMG on the back of the base in Enwapi, which doesn't have enough site to see the ground in front of it.

A Film composer scores SOCOM 3

Hey, look at this article at gamespot.com. Were you find out that James Michael Dooley conducted a 70-piece orchestra to create background music for Sony's new US Navy SEALs game, SOCOM 3. Oh boy, orchestra music!

questions answered by the Zipper and SCEA development team

Over at SOCOMBLOG there is a blog entry that answers some questions you may be having about the upcoming release of Socom 3. Here is a list of questions answered:

Will SOCOM 3 offer different scope reticule options?
What are the different sizes for the maps? What is the smallest size, and how could it compare to a specific map from S2?
How will the new encumbrance system work?
What about strafing momentum and bullet damage affecting the victim?
How effective is the public beta? Have there been drastic improvements to the game already?

SOCOM 3 Release Date

Well the release date is officially set for October 11th, 2005. Which is creeping up pretty fast. If you search around on the internet some, you can find video footage of the demo for SOCOM 3.

I can hardly wait, I have found that lately socom 2 is getting to be a drag w/ the small maps and the outrageous grenade throws.

SOCOM 3 Release Tournament

Sounds like sony is teaming with gamebattles to host a mega-tournament right after the release of the game. The two companies are in contract negotiations for a live launch tournament for the new "Socom 3" game in October. Kellam (a dude from gamebattles) said the event will be held in New York or Chicago and will pit up to 64 teams of eight members each. In addition to receiving a sum from Sony, he said he expects to attract other sponsors.

See the article I found this in.

Single Player: Undetected

I just discovered that the same trick where you to run around in multiplayer with grenades equiped and people don't get gun up also works in single player. So on the missions where you need to remain undetected, just keep your grenades on and you can run all around the baddies without them detecting you. Though they do end up detecting the other members of your team.

SOCOM 3 ON TV

I found the below listing at yahoo for Spike TV.

-- THE ULTIMATE GAMER: SOCOM 3
Premieres Thursday, October 6 (10:30 - 11:00 PM, ET/PT); encores
Saturday, October 8 (Midnight - 12:30 AM, ET/PT), Sunday, October 9
(10:00 - 10:30 AM, ET/PT), Tuesday, October 11 (1:00 - 1:30 AM, ET/PT)
and Saturday, October 15 (12:30 - 1:00 AM, ET/PT).

Spike TV combs the nation to find one guy who will be crowned the
"Ultimate Gamer" for SOCOM 3. The lucky winner will have the
opportunity to meet the creators of SOCOM 3, simulate a real special
ops mission, and destroy a weapons pile all while Spike TV's team decks
out their room in the style befitting of the "Ultimate Gamer

Cord Pullers

These little bastards infect all the online games. Socom 1 was nearly unplayable due to code magic and Socom 2 got to be a joke with the magic switches. Rumor has it that in Socom 3 if a disconnect is detected by the servers, then the player is automatically dropped from the server!

On a side note: In Socom 2 if another player has a long clan tag, it had to have been created by pulling a cord. They are advertising that they are glitchers. Do the right thing and vote them out.

An end to Rushers

So with bigger maps, easier kills, 16 members on a team and better hit detection; I would suppose that rushers, especially running around in the open won't do to well. I am hoping that team players will get the reward they deserve.

You ever notice how it is always someone running around the center of the map that bitches about lag or I-DUBS, lets fry their EGGS!!

Better Hit Detection in SOCOM 3

Another article from Gamebattles.com discussing improved hit detection in SOCOM 3 and that the amount of health is more like SOCOM 1. This is great news if it is true, but it will be quite a feat for them to reduce lag while doubling the amount of players. You will no longer have to put all 4 of your mines in a string to have a chance at killing the seal who runs over anything. Not to mention the fact that the sub-machine guns may be worth something again. Can't wait for October 11th to find out myself.

Socom 3 Big Maps

Over at gamebattles.com, you can read about and see a graphic of one of the planned Socom 3 Maps, named 'Killing Fields'. The graphic also has a handy size comparison on it, showing that is as easily as large as 6 Socom 2 maps. But it also looks like you maybe will be just driving your cars around in a giant figure 8.

Belly Bounce

If you dive to your belly, pressing a direction on the joystick and the crouch button, you can jump up as quick as you go down. Hit the crouch at the instant you belly flop in the dirt, hit a direction at the same time and jump up in that direction.

It's definitely better for dodging than jumping, especially if the ground is uneven or grassy. You also have the choice of staying down if the cover is good, get a bit to eat, switch clips, whatever.

Rubber Pineapples!

Grenades Bounce! Not off of the ground, but they do off walls. They always bounce with the same angle they hit the wall at, so throw it straight at the wall in front of you and try to catch it in your mouth, or bounce it off the wall and around the next corner. My favorite usage is to kneel and bounce a grenade off a window frame to have it blow immediately outside the window.

That Very First Shot

After extensive hours of online play, it seems to me that for almost all of the guns in the game, that the first shot is extremely accurate. This is most notable with the non-scoped rifles using the binoculars.

Try this out: Take a position you usually would go to with a sniper rifle, but take a M60 (super inaccurate). When you get a stationary target, line them up in the middle of your binoculars, back out to first person, and pull the trigger three times to send three individual bullets hurling towards your prey. Dead! Now try it with the M14 and you will never take a sniper rifle on a daylight level again.

Get the Rushers

Leave your team ahead at 15 or 30 seconds in!

Socom 2 's maps are so small that some people never stop rushing, even when they are losing.

So take advantage of this and make sure you mop up rushers at the beggining of the game.

My Guns Hot!

Did your gun just go up while you were running about? A member from the opposite team must be in visible range or is making noises behind you.

If you equip your grenades, people will not get gun up around you. Try lying in a dark corner with your grenades/mines on and see what I mean, people will run right by/over you. Also try to keep your grenades equiped while running around, then when you see an opponent hit L1+R1 to switch on your primary and fire.

SOCOM 3 Weapons

The innovative new weapon customization system in SOCOM 3 allows players to use more than 30 different weapons and 20 attachments, resulting in nearly1,000 different weapon combinations.

Socom 3 Bigger and Better

SOCOM 3 will support up to 32 players which is double the amount in SOCOM 2 or SOCOM 1 and the maps will be up to six times larger. Players can go versus on 12 unique multiplayer maps, each supporting multiple game types.