Hobbies

You have finally reached my third last page within my Website. This page is dedicated solely to what are my most enjoyable past times (hobbies). You will notice some of the terms and phrases that I use are in bold text, these are "Netspeak" and "industry" terms. I have created a glossary at the end of this document that explains these terms and phrases for you.

Counter-Strike: Source

Counter-Strike: Source, also known as CS:S, is a first person shooter that I began playing when it was released in November 2004 at LAN's. I did not fully enjoy this game until I finally got broadband Internet at the beginning of the year. I had purchased the Collector's Edition copy from Harvey Norman for AU$120. The Collector's Edition came with a collector's strategy guide, a collector's T-Shirt, and a collector's edition box.

Weird Starjumps
Upside down seems an odd position to be attempting to do starjumps!

CS:S is a first person shooter released by the game developer Valve. It was origainally a mod of the very popular Half-Life. CS:S graphics is based on those from the Half-Life sequal Half-Life 2. At any one time up to 30 000 people are playing the game world wide on the Steam supplied servers. The game is made up of "Terrorists" (T's) and "Counter-Terrorists" (CT's). Each team must complete certain tasks in order to win the round. For the T's, depending on the scenario, they will either have to plant and detonate a bomb at one of two locations on the map, or prevent the CT's from rescuing hostages. And of course it is the job of the CT's to prevent the T's from accomplishing these tasks. The game however very rarely plays out like I just mentioned. Usually each team will rush each other and kill as many of the "enemy" before they are killed. It may not sound like it but there is a strategy that is used, but is too complicated and long to discuss here.

These wars are conducted on many different maps that mimick many different places around the world, such as Italy, the United States, China and Japan to name a few. I have wasted many hours playing my two favourite maps, known as "office" (technically "de_office") and "dust" ("de_dust").

CS:S is a free game, however there is a catch. To obtain a copy of this free game you must purchase a copy of Half-Life 2 from you local game dealer, such as EB Games. Also you will be required to create a login for Steam to be able to play on their servers, which just happen to be the only legal servers available. Also the first time the game connects to the Internet will automatically download or notify you to download the latest updates.

From having played this game online, below is what I would reccomened as the bare minimum system requirements if you want to be able to enjoy the game with decent graphic(al) pleasure:

Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz Processor.
1 GB of DDR333 Generic RAM.
nVidia 5900XT Video Card.
Broadband connection to the Internet (512K and up).

There are also guilds / clans that you can join which allow you to enter competitions against other guilds / clans. I used to be part of the clan called {NeoN}. I was a recruiter and the leader of C (Charlie) squad. I also organised competitions between {NeoN} and other guilds / clans.

Golf

Golf was one of my favourite hobbies when I had the time to play. I used to play golf round-the-clock until February-March 2002 when I had to start worrying about my H.S.C. I wouldn't consider myself great but I could play a fair round. My Home club is the Wagga Wagga County Club. The professional there is a great guy, his name is Ian Ferguson and for many hours per week he used to try and teach me how to play golf on the practise fairway.

I began playing golf in 1999 just as something to do. I had to stop playing for around 2 - 3 months as I had acute appendicitis. I suppose it ended up being a lucky thing as I won the Junior "C" Grade Handicap championship that same year. The next year (2000), I won the Junior "B" Grade scratch championship. After this I had a very bad dryspell until January 2002, when I shot my personal best score of 75 scratch at the Wagga Wagga Country Club that has a Par of 72.

There are always times when I look back at the fun I had, and wish I still had the time to play golf, but for the next three years or so I dont think that is likely.

LANing

What?
The average gamer (NOT ME!)

I love to LAN. On Saturdays and Saturday nights its all I do, and drink Coca-Cola as well.

It all started when I was going to TAFE. One of the guys said that there was a LAN on at the Wagga Amatuer Radio Club (WARC) halls in Small Street and invited me along. Its officially known as the MAYHEM LAN Group. I have wasted many a good Saturday and early Sunday morning playing games there. We of course play CS:S, but we also play (in order):

WarCraft 3: The Frozen Throne Expansion Set.
Flat Out.
Joint Operations.
Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising Expasnion Set.
Call Of Duty.
Call Of Duty: United Offensive Expansion Set.
Quake 2.
Quake 3 Arena.

Lights Out!
This is the best way to LAN, with the lights out

Glossary Of Terms

Mod: A mod is a moderation on the original game in some form or another. Usually it gives the game a different persepctive entirely. Such as the game may be a first-person-shooter and the mod a racing car game.
Map: This is the level and its layout that you can physically explore.
Rush: This is when one whole team decides to all go to the same point within the map at the same time.
Wars: A war is a regular game of CS:S, with each team having members from the same guild / clan only.
First-person-shooter: A game where the the player plays the game through the eyes of the main character. Also it is a war like game, usually set in the future or in World War 2.
Guilds / Clans: A group of people who come together to create a team so as to challenge other teams.
Recruiter: A member within a guild / clan that can ask other players from outside to become members.
Home Club: The golf club where you first ascertain your handicap.
Handicap: A handicap is how many shots you are allowed on each hole on each course. For example, the hole is a par 4, however because of your skill at the game, you are allowed 6. Therefore, 5 shots is a birdie. It also works the other way (3 shots on a par 4 instead of 4).
Scratch: The score a golfer makes without adding or subtracting their handicap.
LAN / LANing: A local area network, a group or two or more computers connected together so as to communicate with one another.