Docks tutorial video set, and some fun stuff!

[Frag Maniac]

OK folks, it's finally here, my first tutorial video set. This is only the hardest jumps in Docks, as the rest don't really require too much effort. I feel this is the best route and is very incremental in descending. The lack of damage you'll see is proof of that. Only 18 HP and 70 AP between the first and last descent, with no damage on the first and last ones.

Please excuse the short nature of each clip, hosting them free is restrictive, but they will DL quicker for those on dial up that way.

I took the liberty of showing some fun stuff too, the first being the benefit of landing in the right spot after the 5th secret, on top of the boat hull. The second is sort of a grand finale shootout incurring no damage from the "rocket boys" on the bow of the ship.

I've managed to play up to the end of the last clip with no damage from any monsters through the whole level so far, and I'm gong to do my best to finish that way.

Varus, consider this a late birthday present, and kal, what can I say, couldn't have done it without your advice. Thanks guys, enjoy.;)

The Official Frag Maniac Docks Tutorial Video Set.:D

First descent from 2nd secret.
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Docks-1st-descent

Jump to 3rd secret.
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Docks-3rd-secret

3rd secret descent and 4th secret.
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Docks-3rd-sec-descent--4th-sec

Back to 3rd secret crane and checkpoint.
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Docks-back-to-3rd-sec-crane--checkpnt

Checkpoint to 5th secret.
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Docks-checkpoint-to-5th-sec

5th secret. (Not a jump, and no damage sliding down in 2 steps)
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Docks-5th-secret

5th secret descent.
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Docks-5th-secret-descent

Boat hull domination. (The payoff)
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Docks-boat-hull-domination

Final descent. (Includes, "Whoo hoo,..I'm a crane operator!")
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Docks-final-descent

Battle on the bow! (Let the lead fly baby!)
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Docks-Battle-on-the-Bow

[Mr. Q]

Nice video's and a new way i hav'nt seen yet.

[Frag Maniac]

I could use some input for those that need advice, sometimes it's hard for certain people to download or stream these.

BTW, I couldn't see any PK videos on that French site you mentioned, just an old broken link to painkillerhell.com.

[Mr. Q]

There are no movies, i was a bit to fast the only movies are from the docks and that was the first i looked at and i asumed that there would be more movies on that site but there are'nt.

[kalme]

Here's the link to th french crane video, in case you missed it in the other thread:

Cranes video (http://www.photo-sport.ch/diverts/jeux/soluces/painkiller/videos/painkiller.secrets.holy.item.crane.dock.(withoutch eat%20cards%20and%20save!!).avi)

Some parts of it look very similar to your videos :). You surely put some work into those, gratulation to your first video tutorial series... definately looking forward to future surprises from you ;).

[Frag Maniac]

...started out with such low health and no armor though. The descnet all the way to the ground and climb back up the ladder is the most obvious difference from mine, but I like it and may try it next time to see how damage compares. The biggest benefit i see in his over mine is 0 HP loss in getting back to the crane witht the 3rd secret.

The main thing he did I thought was unecessary was the hop several times in circles only to lose momentum up the steep beam on the first crane Holy's. You can get up just as much speed starting out on top of it doing that, which he had to just to get speed back up anyway.

60 HP loss is quite a bit, it may have been less with armor, but I doubt at or under the 18 HP loss of the method I used. I may be able to do even better combining his method with mine.

The part where he skipped the checkpoint the first time round, and jumped onto the little shed roof from above to get to the crane with the 5th secret takes more skill, and produces just as much if not more damage.

These vids are nice for show, although a bit redundant in ways. I was thinking mostly in terms of showing the easiest and least damaging way for those that need tutorials. Even the "fun" parts I included are examples of safe and effective firefight, with no damage.

Quite frankly I thought I'd see more people responding to this thread than the few that have seen it, after all the interest I encountered in mentioning I was going to do it. Maybe they're playing other levels at the moment though. I'll let the critics, the players, speak for themselves though, after all, I'm just a noob at this moving picture stuff.:p At least I'm out of the silent movie age now though.:D

[CHFlagg]

Frag: Great videos. Now is there a way to make the cranes alot closer to the ground.

[Frag Maniac]

It can give you vertigo flashbacks on some of those hopping in circles at high altitude ones though. Sometimes I think I should have included some bloopers of me trying to fly without wings, when I found myself missing my mark in bouncing around up there.

Anyways, it's solely designed for a tutuorial, while at the same time offering a flowing, fast paced route, with as few jumps and climbs as possible. My hope is that it can help some overcome their doubts of achieving "high marks" in gaming.

Thanks for the compliment, glad you enjoyed it.;)

[Frag Maniac]

"I've managed to play up to the end of the last clip with no damage from any monsters through the whole level so far, and I'm gong to do my best to finish that way."

The game just keeps getting easier to play, once you get all the moves down. I managed to finish Docks with no damage from monsters through the entire level, ending with 465 Health, and 200 Armor, my highest for that level yet. This was played in Nightmare, but it felt more like a Daydream.:D

http://img242.echo.cx/img242/5678/shot00106sm.jpg

[BloodBuster]

Blimey! Fragtastic!

[kalme]

Frogtastic! :D
SCNR

[Frag Maniac]

...although I'd prefer to have wings sometimes, when I'm feeling tired and clumsy.:rolleyes:

Hey Kal, got a question for you about making mp3s/WMAs for the video clips. I'm set up now so I can record a variety of files onto my HDD, but there in WAV. I tried converting them to WMA without a burner using Media Player, and I can't seem to do it that way. It appears to be only capable of burning to disc, or ripping from disc.

Meanwhile, I've DLed a great program that is more specifically a converter, and will play the converted file as well. It's not the full registerd version, but I seem to have everything I need in it as is. It does, however, involve more steps in going from one program to another, but none the less produces excellent results. It's called Acez All Audio Converter http://www.micocosoft.com/audio-converter/ .

As I said, this is a great tool, but do you know if Media Player can be used to do this, without using the burner?

[BloodBuster]

...although I'd prefer to have wings sometimes, when I'm feeling tired and clumsy.:rolleyes:

Hey Kal, got a questin for you about making mp3s for the video clips. I'm set up now so I can record a variety of files onto my HDD, but there in WAV. I tried converting them to mp3 without a burner using Media Player, and I can't seem to do it that way. It appears to be only capable of burning to disc, or ripping from disc.

Meanwhile, I've DLed a great program that is more specifically a converter, and will play the converted file as well. It's not the full registerd version, but I seem to have everything I need in it as is. It does, however, involve more steps in going from one program to another, but none the less produces excellent results. It's called Acez All Audio Converter http://www.micocosoft.com/audio-converter/ .

As I said, this is a great tool, but do you know if Media Player can be used to do this, without using the burner?

Hey Frag, iTunes for the PC will easily convert .wav to .mp3 and it's FREE

[Frag Maniac]

"Hey Frag, iTunes for the PC will easily convert .wav to .mp3 and it's FREE"

...Apple looking in nature, for instance the skin look and color, and the little colored buttons that highlight with a (-), (+), (x) when you put the cursor over them.

My guess is you don't get the option of converting to WMA with itunes though, as that is a Microsoft patent, and according to both Varus and Kalme, it's the best for audio, just as they say WMV is the best for video.

It would appear from the look of this product it was originally intended to appeal to Mac customers, but apparently Microsoft jumped in and got them to make a version for their WMA format. The original was called Acez Mp3 WAV Converter, and did not offer WMA.

http://www.micocosoft.com/

Thanks for the mention anyway Blood, believe me, I tried to argue the point whether Microsoft's WAV/WMA codec were still the best, comparing them to the new H.264 Sorenson Apple codec, but Varus and Kalme both were very insistent that Microsoft still has the best one. I've never been able to find any flaw in there knowledge of PC tech stuff yet, I doubt I will with this either, after all, they have been at it for a while, and really know things some of us don't.

Apparently there's a guy from Germany named Jürgen Prochnow that claims to have the best of the best though. He's got a system called "Allcanview", and it's an integrated PC home entertainment system. Just the DVD player and HDTV receiver are $12,800.00.

He says his codec uses a simpler method of compression other than the extensive fixed algorithms that others use. He describes it in simple terms, but I'm sure it's much more complex than it sounds.

So it looks like Varus and Kalme may see something better than the WMV/WMA in their own back yard, if all this is true, but it certainly won't come cheap.

Article about the technology:
http://translate.google.com/translate?sourceid=navclient-menuext&hl=en&u=http%3A//www.3sat.de/3sat.php%3Fhttp%3A//www.3sat.de/neues/sendungen/spezial/75626/

Allcanview website:
http://translate.google.com/translate?sourceid=navclient-menuext&hl=en&u=http%3A//www.allcanview.de/indexLanguage.php

[BloodBuster]

I understand what you are saying. I thought you wanted a wav to mp3 converter and did not realise you were after a wma one as well.

I use iTunes quite a lot. It certainly is 'Apple', but it works a treat.

Edit:
That's pretty mindblowing! I look at my system and think - now if I could just integrate the TV, DVD player, Music player, Freeview, Video.... Man, I'd be in heaven

[Frag Maniac]

...in the first post I was talking about the original Acez Mp3 WAV Converter, but when I was finishing the post, in checking to see I got the info right, I found they had the All Audio Converter version, so I edited it, and DLed the ALL Audio version.

I'm sure the itunes one works fine, I know Apple stuff is high quality, and I may get one of their mp3 players, although with the advent of WMA, that's kind of an outdated term anymore.

The only thing I don't like about the All Audio version, is that when you use the dropdown box to select which WMA compression rate you want, you can see the khz (#####) and 16 bit stereo/mono, but you can't quite see the actual compression rate (64-128 kbps) until you select it. I've also yet to see a 192 kbps rate offered in the free version, which Media Player will do, but apparently only if I burn to disc, then load it back onto the HDD.

The Mp3 compression choices are numerous though, going from 8kbps, all the way up to 350 kbps, quite good for a free tool. What is the range of choices for Mp3 compression rates on the itunes btw?

I like using 192 kbps alot, it's still a fairly small file and is noticably fuller sound than 128. The sound is equivalent to MP3 Pro, which is a 192 rate, but Mp3 Pro has the advantage of compressing down to the file size of a 160 rate compression. I seriously doubt there are any free programs that will convert to Mp3 Pro though.

[BloodBuster]

Hi Frag

Here's the info. I have simply copied the following from the iTunes MP3 encoder options dialog box:

For the MP3 encoder you can choose between:

Stereo Bitrate - 16kbps to 320kbps
Sample Rate - 8KHz to 48KHz
Channels - Mono/Stereo
Stereo mode - Normal/Joint Stereo

Plus the option to allow smart encoding adjustments and filter frequencies below 10Hz and to use variable bitrate encoding

[Frag Maniac]

...and variable bit rate. That's the free version you said? Pretty good dude, I'll have to try that one, especially if I find I'm limited to 128 kbps in the WMA coversion of what I'm using, although I'm not surprised Microsoft would put that kind of cap on a free product that's 3rd party.

[BloodBuster]

...and variable bit rate. That's the free version you said? Pretty good dude, I'll have to try that one, especially if I find I'm limited to 128 kbps in the WMA coversion of what I'm using, although I'm not surprised Microsoft would put that kind of cap on a free product that's 3rd party.

Hey Frag, it's not the free version.. it is free...

[Frag Maniac]

...with it, as many say it's not a very good player.

I chose not to opt for making itunes/Quicktime the default player, as I didn't want it taking over my Media Player, and Musicmatch players.

The first thing I noticed was the import function does not work well. I can browse to the original source of the WAV, but the file type box wants to stay on text types. I can switch it to M3U, but it still wouldn't show the music file in the Total Recorder Output file.

I tried changing the file location of the WAV to My Documents, and it would then import it, but it won't convert while importing as I've set it up to do. It shows in the library list on the left as the wave file, but when I click to open it, it just goes to the playlist, without being able to even click on the play tab (greyed out).

To make matters worse, when I first just added it it to the playlist, without using the import function, it would play as a WAV file, but very scratchy sounding.

This may be an incompatability thing, as I'm using an m-audio sound card, but so far even if there wasn't a problem with the sound playback, I don't think I'd like this program.

The Mp3 192 kbps compression rate of the Acez is very quick and easy to use, and sounds fantastic. It's skin is also very small and unobtrusive, making it easy to use simultaneously with other programs like Media Player.

Sorry Blood, itunes just isn't working for me.

[BloodBuster]

Well, when I use it I import the files using File>Add File to Library... Once it's in I go to Edit>Preferences, click the Importing tab, then set the conversion type. Next I right-click the song and choose 'Convert selection to <whatever has been chosen on the Importing tab>' from the context menu.

Have to admit though, that I've not used the convert from .wav to .mp3 much, as I usually use AAC because it converts .wav files to one tenth their original size.

Also, I only use QuickTime to view .mov files on the web. Never used it for anything else.

[Frag Maniac]

...and it may have been due to my trying to convert and audio file by itself with it. At any rate, ttied DLing a program called XPLite, which is supposed to allow you to remove certain Windows components, then reinstall them. When it didn't work, I just used good old System Restore.

I really get frustrated with this PC stuff sometimes, but the Apple type software is just as vulnerable to corruption from misuse as Windows. It's also not as intuitive to use IMO, despite Apple's claims. I'm finding you're best off sticking with more made for Windows type programs, things seem to run smoother.

[T'krau]

I haven't read EVERYTHING you guys were talking about, and so I'm saying I might have missed something vital, but if you just need to convert one format to another, try this - http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm

This thing works!

[SYS]

...a voice from the darkness.....

No doubt: the videos are Frogfragstics! :p * thumbs up! * Some thoughts below...

Generally many of the methods are completely new to me, and they are very precise but also must be very hard for the first few tryings. However they surely worth it and I'll get use to them, after a while. I'll definitely try these new methods next time... My absolute favourite is the "Docks-5th-secret-descent.wmv"-video, I think: it's awesome..very sharp and precise, I was shocked on it, really! :)

About the "Docks-back-to-3rd-sec-crane--checkpnt.wmv"-method... Well, I've known here a better way already: what that French-video shows, although I found the place by myself, during one of my latest completions. I uploaded a picture, click here (http://tombraider.central-game.net/sys/painkiller/pk_docks-goodplace.jpg) to check it: You can reach this place with "no scratch" easily, and then You can carefully descent from here down to the ground with "no scratch" at all..then You can climb up on that ladder, where the lift "lifted up" Daniel... :)

[Frag Maniac]

"About the "Docks-back-to-3rd-sec-crane--checkpnt.wmv"-method... Well, I've known here a better way already: what that French-video shows, although I found the place by myself, during one of my latest completions. I uploaded a picture, click here (http://tombraider.central-game.net/sys/painkiller/pk_docks-goodplace.jpg) to check it: You can reach this place with "no scratch" easily, and then You can carefully descent from here down to the ground with "no scratch" at all..then You can climb up on that ladder, where the lift "lifted up" Daniel..."

...away by that particular part, if one's main objective is a route with the least possible damage. Then I realized, this is a tutorial video, and one has to balance the practicality of what is the least possible amount of damage, without adding too many jumps climbs that some may stumble on. Descending those cranes by creeping down their legs, and climbing up those ladders are both more difficult than he makes it look there.

My jump back to the 3rd secret crane is admittedly one one the most damaging, but it does keep you up off the ground in a quick route to the boat hull.

I've always thought of the crane jumps as an aerial acrobatics thing, and was inspired in choosing this route by the painkillerhell.com videos, but that's not to say I won't try this other method for that particular part.;)

[SYS]

...a voice from the darkness.....

Oh, don't think that: I did it some times already, and I never had any problems with that part. I even didn't have to practice that. It's a safe method, and I can't see what could be hard in it, and I think, it's just simply as easy as it was shown in that French video. Climbing up on the ladder is also very easy, although I remember, it wasn't so easy earlier for me (maybe because I got lower FPS with my older videocard). But I never had problems descending from that Secret onto the ground. I must admit, I don't do it in exactly the same way what is shown in the video, but maybe that's visible on my screenshot (I directly go to that point, so I don't start lowering down from that "machine-house")...

All in all, it's worth some tryings or practicing..at least, if You've never tried it yet. And that's the reason for me to try out Your method too: I simply haven't tried it yet, although I feel it a bit more hazardous than mine (but I'll try first and then I'll see how it works for me), because I always hated those not sure jumps in those heights (but I know, they become easier after a while)... :)

[Frag Maniac]

...is that you can pick up any ammo, or destroy any objects you might have missed on the ground.

It was a long time ago I tried that method, and probably wasn't as skilled, so I think I'll give it another shot.