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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. |
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I have interviewed an expert in the Air Force communications field. He has 18 years or more experience in the field. Most of what is done in the Air Force can’t be done without comm. aid – and the operational commanders know it. He has done AIA (Intel), H.F., V.H.F., U.H.F., SATCOM, mobility, A.T.C., P.A., and Q.A. He has done it from the airmen side to the NCOIC side. “I was Chief of the Systems Flight at MacDill A.F.B. when it was still home of the 56th Comm. Squadron. We had all the functions you brought up above, plus the base telephone company, weather radars, NAVAIDS, DMSP, and a couple of others that might have slipped my mind. On the HF side, we had transmitter, receiver, and antenna maintenance, plus HF ops, and a MARS station that was just utterly off the map for the duration of Operation Desert Storm.” “Currently NCOIC is a ground radio shop. In only 8 years I’ve been exposed to everything from H.F. to E.H.F. systems. You just don’t see a great deal of A.F.S.C.’s that may vary so much base to base. And, without any unjustified modesty, our humans are a good deal of of the best. All you have to do is attend a few Leadership School and NCO Academy graduations and keep track of where the Distinguished Grads and Honor Grads come from. You’ll find that the trend is (in no peculiar order) Comm. guys (various AFSCs); Air Traffic Control (tower flowers commonly do well, too); and Med/Hospital.” “Current HF radio configurations. When I was at MacDill, we had a GCCS site. Our H.F. Radio Ops and Receivers were co-located at one site; transmitters were down the road and all over the base, with a couple of miles of separation among RX and TX, to denigrate cross-talk.” “There are a good deal of ground radio operator from 1969-73 in Vietnam. A.F.S.C. then went to 293×0 which changed to 293×3 later on. They went to the air borne radio from 1973-78 then back to ground while in Germany. Finish my carier in Combat Crew Communications at F.E Warren AFB.” “The new Ground Radio course is 73 academic days (14.6 weeks) long with 9 hr. class days. Add the 7 weeks of Electronics Principles and there’s your grand total (21.6 weeks). This does not mean that’s how long you’ll be at Keesler because that is the minimum amount of time to finish the school and you will learn that you’re training status varies from time to time and may slow your progress through training. Also, the course is subject to alter because this is more or less an experiment until they get everything the way they want it.” “From the last time that I had heard of it is shorter because it’s a tactical course yes, but no merger yet. That’s been in the rumor mill for a while. But when you go to this school you need to consider holidays and Christmas exodus for training as well. My training is only 27 weeks but a guy told me it took him 7 or 8 months. I all depends on what course you take and how well your unit dose on that course. But numerous of them have had to take up to ten extra mouths at school just to finish there course.” “Some humans suppose to listen of the merger w/ Satcom finelooking soon. The civilian at Keesler in charge of 2E training came up to my tech school (I was an instructor for Satcom/Wideband) and said the only reason the merger hasn’t actually gotten a head of steam yet was the hurricane. That pushed everything to the back burner. But suppose the head of steam to pick up (if it hasn’t already).”
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. This three-disc set covers the Vietnam conflict from roughly the tail end of the French involvement right through to the very end resulting in Communist victory over the south in 1975. The video series covers not only the military aspects of the conflict but also the political aspects, showing mistakes made not only by the U.S. and their South Vietnamese allies, but also by the North and the NLF operating in the south. The video did a credible job of showing the often confused political objectives of the Johnson administration compared to a communist Vietnamese leadership who were united and unwavering in their goal of total victory. Military aspects are covered very well, making good use of archival footage from both sides appropriate for the subjects covered. Explanations of significant battles and their results were generally very good. Their use of 3D maps showing movements of military units were very good at showing what each side was trying to do and what actually happened. Explanations of weapons used was appropriate and effective in highlighting the tactical capabilities of both sides. There were a few small issues I didn’t like. Firstly, the series is not exactly in chronological order and there is some overlap resulting in the viewer having to cover some ground twice. The segments on the air war and “Rolling Thunder” cover the entire war period instead of integrating it into the other segments as required. That is a matter of personal preference, though. Secondly, in an attempt to remain objective (a good thing usually) the series refuses to make judgements on decisions made or tactics used. At several points in the series, they point out that the Americans (or the communist leadership) did such-and-such because they felt it was the best way to contribute to a victory. The problem is that, by being so rigidly objective, they refuse to say: “But the Americans (or the communist Vietnamese) were wrong. The actual results of their operations were…” These are relatively small reservations about the series and is perhaps something that would irritate the serious historian more than the general audience. I feel this is a good and complete series on the Vietnam conflict. It is a well-produced, researched, informative and a reasonably in-depth series on the Vietnam war at a very reasonable price. I feel it is superior to the PBS and other series and I recommend it with four stars. 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Of particular interest for those who are unfamiliar with the origins of American involvement is the first episode, which deals with the end of the French colonial period with the defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu, the political negociations involving the French, Vietnamese, Chinese and Americans, the ‘temporary’ division of Vietnam into Northern and Southern regions pending elections which were never held, and the growing American political, economic and military involvement. The series gives especially good insight into the military strategies and tactics followed by the different sides throughout the conflict. Highly recommended. |
96 of 98 people found the following review helpful. The interface is very easy to manipulate. The combat system is intuitive, and I found the regeneration of fatigue and magicka/mana to be quite unique to the RPG environment. I often found myself lugging around potions for regenerating mana and hitpoints in other games. This is not the case with Oblivion! My dark elf character regenerated fatique and magicka, while it was extremely easy to cast spells that restored health. The game crashed to desktop only a handful of times out of the dozen or so days I spent playing, so I’d say it was above average in terms of reliability. The game runs smoothly at 800×600 with a P4 3.0 GHz CPU and an ATI Radeon X1950 GT 256MB AGP video card. The most noteworthy aspect of this game is the sheer number of quests and the “sandbox” aspect of exploration and character development. I did not have to stick with the main quest, but I often found myself sidetracked with various quests that lead to additional quests! It is not uncommon to have a dozen or more active quests in your log! The second most intriguing component of this game is the ability to manufacture potions, spells, and enchantments for your items. This is quite a unique feature! No longer is the player restricted to cookie cutter items and equipment. You can enchant armor to provide chameleon (invisibility), while you can enchant weapons to suck the life out of your opponents with each strike. One “mini-quest” even allows you to play as a vampire, whom must feed on sleeping victims or else you begin to lose hitpoints under the sun (complete with smoke rising off your skin). I must say that Oblivion is one of THE most innovative games I have played in the recent years. This special GOTY edition includes Knights of the Nine and the Shivering Isles expansion, providing months upon months of playability. I have spent over 50 hours and have not even started the main quest. Pros: Intuitive interface for exploration, enchanting items, and making spells. The combat interface is exceptional for a RPG. I recall the days of text-based RPGs and RPGs like Final Fantasy II for the SNES where you were always forced to take damage during turns. Oblivion is a mix of a first-person shooter and RPG. Godfather fans will probably see quite a resemblance, with the exception that Oblivion is far more fleshed out and involved than Godfather. The GOTY edition includes the latest patch and I have not run into any problems with the quests that were previously found in earlier versions. Cons: The voice acting gets repetitious since they keep recycling voice actors for the minor NPC’s. This is also a pro because this allows for a bigger budget in developing the game itself. I find myself reading the text more than listening to the NPC’s whining that someone stole their ring, or they need some special wine. I found that not being able to fast travel to marked locations was annoying. Fast travel is useful because you can go from one location to another without being forced to ride a horse or run on foot. Unfortunately, fast travel only works if you have explored the region and found the location. In addition, fast travel only works if there aren’t enemies attacking and if you are outside in an open area. You can’t fast travel from the inside of a cave or inside of a building. This can be get rather boring at times. While you can develop your character by improving his or her skills, there isn’t much development in character interaction. For example, when you join the Dark Brotherhood, almost everyone is open and receptive. It felt like this was the friendliest faction. Antoinetta Marie seemed to have more than a friendly disposition towards your character, but it never developed any further than typical banter with NPCs. I feel this is a major flaw in many of the games today, but it is most likely a technical limitation more than anything. Bottom line: 97 of 104 people found the following review helpful. ‘Oblivion’ is a non-linear, free-form, 1st-person RPG, colored with beautiful next generation graphic that enhances the immersive gameplay set in the gigantic gameworld, where you can do anything anywhere anytime you feel like it. There are over 20 cities and settlements, 300 quests, 300 dungeons, caves, ruins, tunnels, and whatnots available in the game (combining ‘Knights of the Nine’, official DLCs, and ‘Shivering Isles’). I spent close to 200 hours with over 50 mods installed and I only covered less than 70 quests. I was too busy crawling underground, fighting monsters, retrieving loots, selling them for better equipments and houses, decorating. The production value is simply stratospheric. From character design, character model, environment, grass, tree, flower, water, animal, item, monster, building, right down to single pebble and stone, Bethesda paid so much attention to details that it is breathtakingly marvelous. Music by Jeremy Soule and sound effects are another praise-worthy achievements. No other RPG in the history of video game gives the gamer so much freedom in gameplay as it is so evident from the very beginning in character creation. Whether you like it or not, I think ‘Oblivion’ has set the standard by which all future CRPG, and even other genres to some extent, will be measured for a long time. To Bethesda’s credit, ‘Oblivion’ successfully streamlined the CRPG mechanics from its beloved franchise into more accessible mainstream game that became a runaway success; or dumbing down for console kiddies as many describe, depends on how you look at it. I know many of people were turned off by the changes made from older TES series, and ‘Oblivion vs Morrowind: Which is better?’ is still one of the most fiercely-debated topic in the official forum. Since I have fond memories of all previous TES series, I won’t get into the flaming war. I just don’t see any constructive point of insisting one game over another. They all have pros and cons, and no game is perfect. I couldn’t read single review of new CRPG called ‘Two Worlds’ without comparing it to ‘Oblivion’. What a burden and curse it is for ‘Two Worlds’, which has been brutally trashed by critics and users alike. I really love that game, too. Although I really enjoyed that game, it was ultimately not enough to erase the memory of ‘Oblivion’. If ‘Fallout 3′ becomes anything close to the success of ‘Oblivion’, Bethesda Softwork will become the next formidable RPG Giant like ‘Blizzard’ / ‘Black Isle’ / ‘Bioware’ trinity once achieved back in the days. You can be sure Bethesda will come out with TES V, and its success is pretty much guaranteed no matter which direction it will take. Now I think far too many game mechanics from the past CRPGs such as ‘Ultima’, ‘Baldur’s Gate’, ‘Wizardry’ or ‘Diablo’ series stemmed from the limitation of technology at the time rather than game design choice. I still have the original copies of ‘Baldur’s Gate’ and ‘Diablo’ series along with ‘Ultima’ series, ‘Wizardry 8′, ‘Planescape: Torment’, ‘Fallout 1, 2′, and of course ‘Daggerfall’ and ‘Morrowind’. Even ‘Morrowind’ took some adjusting time to re-immerse myself. When I say technology, I am not just talking about graphic but the scope and possibilities that was just not feasible in the past. The improved technology doesn’t always result in better game but it immensely helps to create immersive gaming world, and the technology lifted all the barriers for game developers to realize their vision into games. This will result in new convergent games that crossover the genres. Upcoming games such as ‘Mass Effect’ and ‘Fallout 3′ are the evidence of new gaming asthetics being formed right now. What would you like to see in the future Bethesda RPGs in terms of game mechanics? For me, one thing I really like to see is the interaction with NPCs improved. Radiant A.I. is the right direction for the NPC interaction, but I like to see more detailed implementation. In ‘Gothic’ series, NPCs actually perform various activities, which player character can also performs. NPCs react when weapons drawn upon or intruded by. I know these reactions in ‘Gothic’ are scripted events but the presentation makes them as if the NPCs were alive. NPCs in ‘Oblivion’, while acting on dynamic schedule, sometimes look like pantomiming. Many times I’ve witnessed the awesome NPCs interaction only possible with ‘Radiant A.I’, but many times NPCs walks around aimlessly in circle, too. The character deposition drops when weapon is drawn during conversation, but it would be nice to hear more distinctive reaction from NPCs about the fact. Daily routine could be more detailed in animation. Fishing, chopping woods, forging metals, making weapons, eating and drinking, the lists go on. I like to have more dialogue choices and right to refuse any quest. Many times you are given just one choice in ‘Oblivion’. Another thing is consequences of player character’s action and its influence to the persistent world such as guilds. In ‘Oblivion’, your deeds, either good or evil, hardly create impact on the gaming world. Although there are more than one method to solve many individual task, and more than one result in outcome of the quest, it really doesn’t change the grand scheme of the game. I heard ‘Bethesda’ is really working hard on this for the upcoming ‘Fallout 3′. Multiple endings and various intricate political stands among different factions would be greatly appreciated. Next thing is different combat mechanics for 3rd person perspective. 1st person perspective is outstanding in ‘Oblivion’ but it would be sweet to have the alternative combat mechanics in ‘Vanity Mode’ also. That way, gamers have choice between realistic 1st-person combat and more arcady 3rd-person combat. Accurate jumping mechanics like the one in ‘Metroid Prime’ would be awesome compared to the unrealistical moonwalking in the air in ‘Oblivion’. More acrobatic combat moves like rolling and dodging would be fantastic additions. Havoc engine is great, but I hope the object manipulation becomes more useful in the actual gaming world, quests, or combat in the next iteration. And my pet peeve of the game, it’s so difficult to fight the enemies while NPCs are around, especially the essential characters that you must protect. These are merely the positive suggestions rather than pointing out the game’s flaws. New ideas to improve the immersion for too much open-endedness would be great idea to narrow the gap between linear RPG and non-linear RPG. Making RPG and simulating more life-like world is the ultimate holy grail Bethesda has been working for since ‘Arena’, I am sure. The newly released GOTY (Game of the year) edition of ‘TES IV Oblivion’ contains the original ‘Oblivion’ along with ‘Knights of the Nine’ and ‘Shiverilg Isles’. Unfortunately, the rest of the official DLCs (Downloadable Contents) are not available in the package. You can either purchase them to download from the official website(www.elderscrolls.com) or you can purchase the retail version of ‘Knights of the Nine’ at the store, which also contains all the DLCs except the new ‘The Fighter’s Stronghold’. I strongly recommend you to purchase the retail version for you can freely install and uninstall anytime you need. The precedure of downloading through the website is such a pain. This game literally never ends. You’ll spends hundreds of hours and one day, you’ll simply quit at your own device. ‘Oblivion’ is the one game truly non-linear, free-form, open-ended to the bitter end, indeed. 41 of 44 people found the following review helpful. First, the game has a lot of ‘improvements’ which seem like they were put in place because they would make the game more appealing to the masses. These include things like the idea of fast travel (I wish I could do this to work every morning), the auto leveling of the enemies, and so on. I’ll explain more on those subjects further on. Generally though these ‘improvements’ break the atmosphere of the game some and, while you can ignore the fast travel, don’t seem realistic. Your character just ran into what could be the equivalent of hell for the Elder Scrolls world, he came outside and suddenly every single mercenary is wearing glass armor (really nice stuff) and using top of the line swords? Oblivion gates opening must have really boosted the economy. The visuals are beautiful though and the voice acting really gets you engaged in the story. I also love how the NPCs all have varying looks to them (even if most have the same vocal track). It’s a somewhat realistic environment. Now my biggest complaint would have to be the auto leveling, as I mentioned above. The reason for this is that the enemy’s levels are driven by a few things such as your level and the level of the magic in your inventory. This can noticeably become a problem if you play a mage, buy one really nice spell which drains all your mana in one use, and then notice while you can easily kill one enemy every other enemy in the world now is 10 times your own level to auto balance making it impossible to continue. You have to be careful about buying spells close to the level your mana can support rapid which seems weird being that you’d think you could just do whatever is in your capability. Also for a class like a thief you’ll find yourself leveling up quickly using your main skills and find that many of the enemies will be way too strong for you so you have to focus on leveling up secondary skills and not using your main skills quite as often to stay on par which forces how you play the game. The auto leveling somewhat removes the whole nature of the RPG aspect of leveling from the game if you think about it. What’s the point of becoming super strong if the enemies are just as hard when you start as when you finish? Yes, it adds to gameplay and I’m sure with your new skills if you use them correctly you do become stronger than the enemy but it removes the ability to destroy a legion with a powerful spell or the chop through a group of weaklings once you deserve to have that power. Regardless, it’s a fun game though and the environment is interesting to explore. The story also is interesting considering many Action RPGs tend to have trouble tying the main character into the story because of the nature of them but Elder Scrolls has always been strong in this area. The dungeons can be repetitive (besides the core ones) because often the auto leveling will cause the dungeons to just have the same enemies all around. The dungeons are auto respawning and while they do have treasure chests which also auto respawn they lack a real unique feel (although they are setup differently they generally will give you a similar experience as a whole). There are four types of enemies you’ll generally find and they’re usually exclusive to their own dungeons: animals, humans, the undead, and daedric beings. I have to give credit to the developers though in this area because unlike Morrowind there are a plethora of creatures to encounter which was one of its pitfalls Oblivion does not have. I’ll leave my review at this, and I’m sure most people have said everything else, but I’d say get this game regardless, it’s worth buying and playing through. I’m only giving a somewhat mediocre review because I figured I’d point out where the series went wrong this time around. It’s an all around great game and probably the best Action RPG on the market today but still has a lot of room to improve on which hopefully we’ll see with the next iteration of the Elder Scrolls series. |
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217 of 224 people found the following review helpful.
A comparison to Grand Slam Tennis. Motion Plus. Actual tennis player.
By James G. Henderson
I’ve had Grand Slam Tennis and Virtua Tennis for one day and played them about 3 hours each. I’ve played tennis for years. I’m using Motion Plus.
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful. I’m so disappointed that I did The charger is beyond cheap and chintzy – it’s hard to get the mini-usb plug lined up with the DS’s slot, and if you have the strap (a part of this kit) on the DS, it doesn’t fit in the charger. I love the light, but it’s on all the time and it’s BRIGHT. The 3 lens wipers would be great had they not been taped into the package. The tape left residue on the backside of the wipers, which my daughter accidently swiped across the lens protectors, which then had to be thrown away. The game cases hold two games, but there’s nothing to hold them into the case, so they just float around. The car charger is a joke. Seriously. Don’t waste your money on this!! 29 of 32 people found the following review helpful. 14 of 14 people found the following review helpful. I wouldn’t say that anything that you get is great, which is strange because you can usually find at least one gem. The only plus I can give this set is that at least everything is truly portable, unlike other sets that end up feeling like your carrying a suitcase. The case for the DS Lite feels strong, except for the zipper which feels like it will break pretty soon. The lens cleaner doesn’t do a great job of cleaning. The screens are pretty useless (either do not stay or really do limit the clarity of the DS Lite), the docking station feels pretty cheap, and the car charger feels like something I could buy at a 99 cent store. The worst product of the set has to be the headphones. These are immediate disposables. The sound quality is terrible. Overall, I’m satisfied (it will keep my DS Lite protected and the accessories are usable), but I’m pretty sure I’ll eventually end up spending a little more on something a little higher quality (when I find something else that I like.) |
| Most helpful customer reviews 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. 0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. 1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. |