(Rules)
Once the host has launched the game and you arrive in the "Game Lobby", DO NOT enter the game early. Entering early gives an unfair advantage and you run the risk of being booted by the host. Wait until all others have arrived and the host has said "go" or whatever. Of course if you find yourself in the lobby and the host has already entered the game, all bets are off. But you will probably find the game is not very enjoyable if that should happen.
Once in the game and you shoot someone who is standing still and they still do not move, that person is probably typing or is stuck. A "type kill" is a very cheap kill. If you should kill someone who is typing in the game, it is a good idea to apologize. You will know if they were typing if shortly you see a message appear on the screen from them.
Observe and obey all the rules either set by the host or agreed upon my the majority of players. Not doing this will usually get you booted from the game.
If Marshal Law (ML) is called, observe it. Nothing will get you booted faster. (refer to the next section for Marshal Law (ML) rules.)
(Marshal Law)
When Marshal Law is imposed, 2 items and one weapon are banned from use in the game. The 2 items are the "Badge" and the "Vanishing Cream" and the weapon is the Sawed-off Shotgun.
It is common courtesy if you should happen to accidently pick up either the "Badge" or the "Vanishing Cream" to stand still and not move and also announce that you have picked an illegal item up. You will probably be killed by doing this but it avoids argument and accusations of cheating. And also lets the other players know why that particular item is missing from the game.
Use of the Sawed-off Shotgun is illegal under Marshal Law. It has a distinctive sound when fired and will kill with one shot when both barrels are fired simultaneously even it the other person is carrying the Heavy Boiler Plate. Others will know if it is being used.
Outlaws IS a UDP based game. The other thing is that unlike Quake and Q2, which are both Client/Server based games, Outlaws is peer to peer. What this means is everyone's connection to the host will affect everyone playing.
( General Multiplayer Tips)
(The first thing is if you are trying to play Outlaws with the keyboard exclusively, DON'T. You have a mouse so use it. The mouse will be your "eyes" used for turning and aiming. All the manuevers talked about here will be in the context of using the mouse and keyboard and/or joystick.
If you are new to the game, the one thing that you will hear over and over again until you are sick of it is: DON'T STAND STILL!! That cannot be stressed enough! When you just sit somewhere trying to get a bead on your opponent, they are running, jumping, strafing and just generally doing a jitterbug around you all the while filling you full of holes.
Probably the 2 most important manuvers to master are the side to side strafe and the circle strafe. The thing about strafing is that whether you are using the the keyboard or joystick the default left and right settings have you turning not strafing. The only way you can strafe with that configuration is to engage the strafe mode, but then you can't circle strafe because your turn controls are now strafing controls and you can only side to side strafe that way. Since you will be turning with your mouse, configure your left and right controls for strafe left and strafe right respectively. Now you can do the side to side strafe with the left right controls and still turn with your mouse. To perform the circle strafe, just strafe either left OR right while turning with your mouse in the OPPOSITE direction. This action strafes you around in a circle and with a little practice you can keep the crosshairs on target. When performing both the side to side strafe and circle strafe you are a much harder target to hit.
A few other controls that should be configured for ease of access are the speed, crouch and jump controls. These should be configured so that you don't have to look to find them and close enough together so that they can all be reached easily as you will need to use some of them together. For example: there are some places you can only access in the game by crouching and then immediately jumping while moving forward. Well, if your crouch and jump controls are too far apart it will take you forever to get where you want to go and you will probably be killed in the process. The crouch and jump control should be set so that you can hit both at the same time with only one finger.
A technique that is gaining popularity is the bob & shoot. This is performed by rapidy pressing and letting off the crouch control while shooting. For some reason it is devastating and makes you a much harder target to boot. Another variation to this is the rushing bob & shoot. This is done the same way as the previous technique while also using the speed control to rush your opponent. It is even more effective. Using the speed control wisely when engaged in battle can give you an edge also. Short bursts of speed timed well while fighting is much more effective than just running around until you are out of breath. The jagged movement this creates also makes you a harder target.
A difficult but highly useful technique to cover a lot of ground quickly and conserve energy is the running jump. This is done by using the forward and speed control then jumping. When in the air, let off of the speed control until you land. Keep repeating this process. While you are in the air with the the speed control off you are not using any energy and thusly will not tire so quickly. You will cover a vast amount of distance and still have energy to fight with!!
A useful manuever to use while dueling is when both you and your opponent are heading straight for one another, back up just before your opponent reaches you and keep shooting. This does not allow him/her to circle quickly around and shoot you in the back.
Practicing these techniques until they are second nature will make you a much more skilled Outlaws player.
(Strategy)
(As mentioned earlier, NEVER STAND STILL while playing Outlaws. If you find yourself running out of energy and need to rest, find a hiding place where you can stop long enough to catch your breath. Keep in mind though that the other players can hear your ragged breating and will almost certainly come looking for you. The only exception to the "NEVER STAND STILL" rule is when you are playing "sneaky". This "Stealth Strategy" will work if you have patience. This strategy involves "hiding around" and using the element of surprise to your advantage.
There are many "power-up" items such as Boiler Plates, Medical Bags, Canteens and Full Health Elixers in Outlaws. Learning where these items are in the different levels and knowing when they will regenerate once they have been picked up can be a great advantage.
It's also wise to know where weapons can be found in the different levels, since each character starts with only 2 weapons (besides fists). For example: Spittin Jack starts with pistols and dynamite so knowing where to find a rifle or shotgun is a great advantage. Also knowing where to find ammo at is important. Nothing will teach you this better than getting killed because you're trying to fire an empty gun.
Knowing what weapons to use and when and where to use to use them can greatly improve your life expectancy in a game of Outlaws. In close quarters such as indoors, the pistol and single barrel shotgun are your best bet. The same goes for outdoors if you are fairly close to your opponent. Use the rifle for long distance shooting outdoors and sniping from hidden or well protected places. Setting up with the Gatling Gun in some sneaky out of the way place can garner you a lot of kills but you have to be careful of others using the dynamite on you as you can't move while using the Gat.
With a little practice and experimentation you will find some characters survive better in some levels than others. Knowing which charcter is most effective in given level only comes with practice. As a general rule Bloody Mary is good in tight places and so is Cheif Two Feathers. The Marshal is great for wide open levels and Doc Death is a good choice for just about any level. Spittin Jack is not a good choice for newer players as he dies very easily (more on him coming up though). Having said all that, you may find that certain players will use one character only. That is usually because they have become highly skilled with that charcter.
Video Cards
3Dfx
There's never a dull moment in the graphics business. 3Dfx recently anounced its acquisition of board-maker STB Systems. For 3Dfx, the deal creates an entree into the lucrative system-maker (system OEM) graphics market, which represents the lion's share of the PC graphics business. 3Dfx has had some success in this area, with both Voodoo and Banshee, but it's looking to expand its prospects. Taking a cue from the industry's volume leaders, 3Dfx is looking to join the ranks of ATI and Matrox, both of which are integrated chip/board-makers. Future 3Dfx products will carry 3Dfx branding, and the chip-maker will tightly integrate its chip production with STB's board production facilities to achieve faster time to market.
Not everyone is jumping for joy over the deal, however, since it means that 3Dfx will no longer supply chips to other board manufacturers. Diamond, Creative, Hercules, and others have been successful selling 3Dfx-based cards. As to how 3Dfx smoothed over this abrupt change, one 3Dfx official said, "Have you ever broken up with a girlfriend?"
Chip-maker nVidia can't be pleased with the deal, either, since STB has been the No. 1 mover of nVidia chips, including the RIVA 128, the RIVA 128zx, and, most recently, the RIVA TNT. While STB will continue to sell TNT boards, it's highly unlikely that any future STB boards will use nVidia chips. The 3Dfx/STB deal still needs to be approved by both companies' stockholders and by regulatory bodies, including the Federal Trade Commission.
The mood at nVidia in the wake of the announcement was actually very upbeat. A spokesman there said that the deal leaves nVidia in a stronger position because it will now be the top contender in the chip-maker business. Further, it's probable that companies like Diamond and Creative-all bracing for life without 3Dfx-will be keen to shore up their relationship with nVidia.
We gamers have yet to feel the full implications of the 3Dfx deal, but one advantage of the former arrangement for consumers has been that board-makers using the same 3Dfx chipset have had to compete with one another on price. While 3Dfx will still have to compete against other boards using other chipsets, the self-generated price pressure factor will disappear.
The Voodoo2 ONLY covers 3D acceleration. Therefore, when you're looking around at webpages and such you're likely viewing at 24-bit color (full color). To tell you the truth, the 16-bit vs 32-bit issue won't be that important until the software that actually uses 32-bit textures come out; Most games that are out now does not use 32-bit textures because of the performance hit.
If you have a Voodoo2 now, I don't see a reason to upgrade right at the moment.
The TNT2 has good pre release press but beta boards are not the final product. S4 also looks OK right now.
If you need a new card, go ahead and buy one, but if you already have Voodoo2, hold off another month or two at least. Some folks are having trouble with drivers on TNT cards not working with older games like Descent2. Other drivers are also not so hot for the other cards. I believe that 3d card makers are rushing cards to market to cash in on the 3d craze instead of delivering a solid product, so the drivers are poor.
The biggest advantage of a TNT2 over a Voodoo is the larger max texture size. The V2 allows for only 256x256 (ditto for V3) textures; think about that in terms of your screen, and you see how small that really is. As games begin to utilize larger textures, changing to a TNT may become more idealistc. However, I'd wait a few months and see how the prices go down -- not to mention the inevitable clash of manufacturers with nice 'accessories' with their boards.
PC Clocking
Overclocking the Intel Pentium
Intel's Pentium processor is the most successful CPU ever. Because of that it has to come first here. The nice thing about this CPU is that it is also the most overclockable CPU ever. This can be attributed to Intel's increased quality demands put in place after the floating-point flaw disaster. The new Pentium MMX is just as overclockable as the Pentium Classic, maybe even better. This CPU normally runs at 2.8V. Most motherboards that offer this voltage also offer 2.9 or 2.93V. This is only 0.1 V more than 2.8 V and probably just the right thing for overclock-unwilling Pentium MMX CPUs. My own Pentium MMX 200 runs fine with 2.8 V at 208/83 and 225/75 MHz. For 250/83 I have to increase the voltage to 2.9 V and everything works fine. BTW mine's a 'SL23S'.
So far the only thing Intel has done once was disabling the CPU pin 'BF1', which is responsible for the multiplier settings x2.5 and x3. My survey could reveal, that the affected CPUs are about 50% of the 'SY022' and maybe 10% of the 'SU073', both P133 CPUs. You still can run those P133 at 166 MHz, but only with 83 MHz bus speed.
Now since the message about thousands of remarked or counterfeit Pentium CPUs has eventually reached the US, Intel has to at least make some announcements to this counterfeit and overclock protection again, which they did. However already 2 years back, Intel was claiming to soon ship their chips with a overclock protection, which never took place. I still doubt that Intel will invest any money in producing this feature at all. Before they do that, they should and will have to do something against the remarking opportunity of their chips. Hence I wouldn't worry at all. Intel will probably never avoid that their chips can be clocked higher, but they may push the motherboard industry to produce motherboards that don't offer any overclocking abilities.
If you've read all the paragraphs above, you'll remember the following things:
1. Always try to increase the bus speed first if you can.
2. Don't increase the multiplier while decreasing the bus speed - you won't gain anything.
3. Try higher voltages and don't be afraid of it!
4. Avoid the P133 'SY022' and 'SU073' if you can.
5. Don't buy a remarked Pentium - there are loads of them around!
The most overclockable Pentium CPUs:
P150 is the absolute winner - it's most likely nothing else than a P166 in disguise!
P166 Classic & MMX (and hence the P150) is super for 187.5 @ 2.5 x 75 MHz and in most term runs fine at 200 @ 3 x 66 MHz.
P133 great for 150 @ 2 x 75 MHz or 166 @ 2 x 83 MHz - forget about higher multiplier settings with that CPU.
P75 most of them run at least flawlessly at 90 @ 1.5 x 60 MHz, many of them at 100 @ 1.5 x 66 MHz.
P200 Classic & MMX superb at 208 @ 2.5 x 83 MHz, great at 225 @ 3 x 75 MHz, amazing at 250 @ 83 MHz - the CPU for the real speed freaks!
