Talk to you soon from our new home!

To make it short: Crysis and STALKER run at playable framerates at 1920×1200 with high detail settings on my Quad Xeon Mac Pro on Vista Ultimate Edition 32 Bit. It’s quite amazing how well these games look and how detailed their game worlds are. Still, I already know that my Mac Pro is maxed out with these games, and that probably later in the game, when more enemies arrive, I’ll have to reduce the resolution to get better performance. To be honest, I wouldn’t have expected Crysis to run at all at 1920×1200 - I am really surprised that it does, and I am even more surprised that it is really playable.

The other problem that I have now: What do I do with my third display? Vista’s Direct X 10 drivers already crashed on my while I still had the old 7300 GT cards in my computer. Only after removing them Crysis stopped crashing.

Furthermore, Aperture still showed the erratic display behavior when it’s running on a system with more than one graphics card.

So I think it might be better for my peace of mind to just leave it at having only one graphics card in my system, namely the new 8800 GT. But do I use her with my two 20″ Cinema Displays or with the 24″ HP TFT and one 20″ Cinema Display? Tough call. Although I originally had bought the HP display only for my Xbox, I have grown quite attached to it in the meantime.

I guess I have to sleep over it.

• http://www.python.org/download/

For GUI applications, wxPython probably is the best choice available for the Python programming language and platform. I use the Unicode-version from here:

• http://www.wxpython.org/download.php#binaries

I use the pydev plugin for Eclipse for my Python coding, and I find it great!

• http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=85796

I use it with the classic edition of Eclipse:

• http://www.eclipse.org/downloads

For deployment, py2app is the tool of choice, and it can be obtained from here:

• http://pypi.python.org/pypi/py2app

A nice multimedia and windowing library for Python is pyglet. It is also much more OS X-friendly than PyGame, so you should go and get it from here:

• http://www.pyglet.org/download.html

Rabbyt is a fast 2D sprite engine for Python that uses OpenGL and works nicely with pyglet. You can find it here:

• http://pypi.python.org/pypi/Rabbyt
• http://matthewmarshall.org/projects/rabbyt (This is the developer’s homepage)

For using SQLite with Python, I found pysqlite2 here:

• http://oss.itsystementwicklung.de/trac/pysqlite/wiki/WikiStart#Downloads

All of the modules and libraries that I use are not licensed under the GPL, and I want to keep it that way. Strangely enough, the BSD-licensed database server PostgreSQL caused me some problems here, and it took me a while to find a Python library for it that was available under a more BSD/MIT-style license. However, finally I discovered PyGreSQL, which you can get from here:

• http://www.pygresql.org/readme.html#where-to-get

If you need more number crunching power or simply higher performance, Pyrex might be what you’re looking for. You can get it from this website:

• http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/greg.ewing/python/Pyrex

Some of these libraries are only available in source code form for OS X, but the default sudo python setup.py install command is usually all the magic that you have to use to get them up and running.

Since no BlitzMax installation is complete without Bruce A. “Brucey” Henderson’s popular collection of BlitzMax modules, we will also those via SVN from the Google Code archive. Unfortunately, not all of his great modules have made it to the Google Code archives yet, so you should also check his webpage for the remaining modules. The URL is http://www.brucey.net/programming/blitz/index.php.

Before we start, you need to either download and install Apple’s Xcode developer tools from developer.apple.com or you install the version that is on the OS X Leopard installation DVD.

You will also need a software tool called “SCPlugin” from Tigris.org. SCPlugin is for the Mac what TortoiseSVN is for Microsoft Windows: A GUI front-end to Subversion that integrates into Finder’s context menus (where TortoiseSVN does the same in Windows Explorer).

SCPlugin installation files can be downloaded from the project’s “documents & files” page. The URL is http://scplugin.tigris.org/servlets/ProjectDocumentList.

Once SCPlugin is installed, create an empty folder for your BlitzMax installation. I always name my folder “BlitzMax” and put it in the /Applications folder.

Then, right-click (or Ctrl-click) on the new BlitzMax folder and enter the “More” submenu, select “Subversion” and then “Checkout”. This will lead to this dialog window:

In “Repository URL:”, provide the full URL to the main BRL development repository. This URL is:

• http://blitzbasic.com:81/svn/blitzmax/dev/main

You will also need to provide the credentials that BRL has assigned to your user account with them. The very same username and password that you use for downloading official product releases or that you use to access the BRL discussion forum will also work here. Do not use anonymous access for the SVN repository, it won’t work.

Once you have entered your credentials, click on “Checkout”. When everything works well, you will see a screen like this:

Confirm it with clicking on “OK”.

This was only the beginning, and there are more folders in the repository that you need to checkout to complete your BlitzMax installation. Namely, these are the folders “bin”, “lib”, “samples” and, if you have purchased a license for it as well, MaxGUI.Depending on the CPU of your Mac, you will either need to checkout the PowerPC or the Intel version of BlitzMax.

The PowerPC versions are stored here:
http://blitzbasic.com:81/svn/blitzmax/dev/macos_ppc/bin
http://blitzbasic.com:81/svn/blitzmax/dev/macos_ppc/lib

The Intel versions are located here:

http://blitzbasic.com:81/svn/blitzmax/dev/macos_x86/bin
http://blitzbasic.com:81/svn/blitzmax/dev/macos_x86/lib

To checkout the “lib” folder of your BlitzMax installation, right-click (or Ctrl-click) on your BlitzMax folder again and once more go to “More/Subversion/Checkout”.

Enter the URL to the lib folder matching your CPU architecture and make sure that you checkout the files to a subfolder named “lib”. In our example, the files will be stored in /Applications/BlitzMax/lib. Again, you also have to enter your BRL username and password.

Now do the same for the “bin” folder. Following our example, you will want to store the files to /Applications/BlitzMax/bin.

Then, you might want to checkout the sample games and code that comes with BlitzMax. Checkout http://blitzbasic.com:81/svn/blitzmax/dev/samples to /Applications/BlitzMax/samples.
If you own MaxGUI, you want to check it out from http://blitzbasic.com:81/svn/maxgui/dev/maxgui.mod to /Applications/BlitzMax/mod/maxgui.mod as shown in this dialog:

Now Brucey’s modules are checked out from http://maxmods.googlecode.com/svn/trunk to /Applications/BlitzMax/mod/bah.mod. And this time, we use anonymous access:

This will also checkout at least two trouble makers: The MySQL module and a module names xlwriter.mod. The MySQL module won’t compile unless you install the header files from a MySQL installation. If you don’t have those and if you don’t necessarily want to access a MySQL database from a BlitzMax application, my advice is to delete the folder dbmysql.mod in /Applications/BlitzMax/mod/bah.mod. xlwriter.mod won’t work without a wxMax installation; for now, I also recommend deleting the the xlwriter.mod folder.

I will not go into the installation of Brucey’s exhaustive wxMax module, which at the time of this writing has not yet officially reached release status, but still is in late beta stage. You will find more details on the official Google Code page. But in any case, the URL to the wxMax.mod SVN repository is http://wxmax.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/wx.mod. Again, anonymous access will do. But in order to get it to work, you will have to download a collection of wxWidgets files and headers. Really, follow the official instructions on http://code.google.com/p/wxmax/wiki/SetupAndInstallation.

To finalize the setup from SVN and to get BlitzMax working, open a Terminal window (the OS X terminal application is in /Applications/Utilities) and type the following commands:

cd /Applications/BlitzMax/bin
./bmk makemods

This will build all modules that you’ve just downloaded from the repository. It is a long procedure and will take a while, but it is a mandatory step - BlitzMax won’t work without it.
If you are new to the command prompt, or shell, as it’s usually called in the Unix-world: You can use auto-completion by pressing that TAB key. For example, if you type in cd /App and press TAB, it will auto-complete to cd /Applications. Then you can add /Bli and press TAB again and you will see cd /Applications/BlitzMax in the command line. This feature can safe you a lot of typing.

You will also want to build the documentation. Still in Terminal and in the /Applications/BlitzMax/bin directory, type in the following command:

./docmods

Now there is one culprit left for us to install: MaxIDE. The problem here is that no MaxIDE application binary is stored in the repository (only the source code), so we have to get it from somewhere else. The recommended procedure is to copy it from an existing BlitzMax installation. That certainly is a valid and easy option, but we will compile an own version from the checked out source code instead.

In Terminal, type these commands:

cd /Applications/BlitzMax/src/maxide
../../bin/bmk makeapp -t gui maxide.bmx

This will create an application bundle with the name maxide.app. You can close Terminal now and open Finder. Move maxide.app from /Applications/BlitzMax/src/maxide to /Applications/BlitzMax. For convenience, you should also create a link in the dock for MaxIDE by simply dragging its application icon from Finder to the dock. Launch MaxIDE. Strangely enough, it will want to rebuild the documentation on the first start. Simply confirm this request.

Congratulations, that’s it! You now have a working BlitzMax installation from the SVN repositories!

To keep the installation updated, you can simply right-click (or Ctrl-click) on the folders and select “More/Subversion Update”.

My Mac Pro has 8 GB RAM, and that’s too much for a 32 Bit OS; Vista correctly reports that there are 8 GB in the system, but it also says that only two GB memory are available for applications. I could get myself a 64 Bit version of Vista, but the problem with that is that Apple only provides 64 Bit Windows drivers for the second generation Mac Pros, and mine is a first generation model. I’ve finally reached the age where I want my computers to ‘just work’, so I don’t want to go to that uncharted territory anymore.

It’s already problematic enough to get Apple’s latest software running on officially supported systems. For example, I did not manage to install the BootCamp 2.1 drivers update - Apple’s setup file just does not work on a German Vista version (with the display language set to English). A quick research on Google told me that I am not the only one with that issue, and it seems that Apple just does not care enough to fix this. Anyway. Everything runs well enough with the original BootCamp drivers that are being shipped with Leopard. Did I say ‘well enough’? Well, the truth is that Vista with SP1 runs snappier on the Mac Pro than Leopard 10.5.4; the Microsoft system is very responsive and fun to use on this machine.

But what was the reason why I installed Vista in the first place? Right: Games.

I hadn’t played Far Cry in quite a while, so I’ve installed it with the 1.40 32-Bit patch. Not caring much for the recommended system settings that the game suggested, I cranked up everything to the maximum: 1920×1200 resolution, all details set as high as possible.

At first, I had a problem with the mouse in Far Cry - it only worked in the menus, but not in the game itself. Googling helped immediately: In the game’s control settings, you have to select “default”, apply, quit Far Cry, start it again - and voilá, the mouse now also works in the game!

What can I tell you about the game experience? Well, I currently only have two GeForce GT 7300 graphic cards in the Mac, but Far Cry runs extremely smooth on my configuration - no lags, delays, frame drops, hiccups, nothing. I’d never seen the game on that detail level, so it was an all new experience for me. I knew that there would be fish in the water on high details settings, and they really look nice. But I didn’t know that there were also pigs, parrots, dragonflies, fireflies and flocks of other birds flying through the game world. Far Cry’s fauna really is amazing on a powerful enough computer.

But talking about birds, here’s a nice one from last night’s gaming session: There’s a mercenary patrolling on a wooden bridge that I need to cross. From a long distance, I grab my sniper rifle and take the guy in my sights. The moment I pull the trigger, a bird crosses the path of the bullet. The merc remains unharmed, but through my scope I see white feathers everywhere. Oops.

People buy iPhones because they somehow fell in love with that little device that could be out of a Star Trek movie. Then they quickly discover that the iPhone is just a pretty looking device that’s significantly crippled - you cannot use it with the phone provider of your choice and you cannot install software on it that did not get Apple’s blessing. For example, there still is no legal way to install Python on the iPhone, although a Python interpreter for it exists. You need to jailbreak the iPhone to do all these things, which is a fancy word for hacking it.

Now many people still buy iPhones, forfeit their warranty and illegally jailbreak their new phone. Only to do something they should have been able to do in the first place: Use the phone with a phone provider of their choice - or maybe just use the phone in a country where it is not yet sold - and install software on without having to comply with Apple’s vendor lock-in sales strategies.

Somehow, remotely, this kind of remembers me of the situation with DVD playback on GNU/Linux systems: People hacked the DVD encryption not to make illegal copies of their DVDs, but to watch them on their operating system of choice. Absurd as it sounds, but customers had to do something illegal to obtain their legal rights.

Copyright laws in general have become consumer hostile to an almost ridiculous degree, and it’s copyright laws that enable Apple to create mechanisms to completely control what their customers can do with their products and enforce them by law. How can the interests of a company with a few thousand employees weigh more than the interest of more than ten million customers who have bought their shiny mobile phone?

How can it be legal that the movie industry sells you DVDs but does not allow you to watch them with free software?

How can it be legal that Apple sells you an iPhone but tells you what carrier to use with it and what software you are allowed to install on a device that is a mobile computer? What would you ask Microsoft if they sold you a notebook on which you could only install software that you’ve bought from a Microsoft store? (Not that their Xbox 360 works any differently, by the way.)

The sad truth is that the lobbies to which those companies belong have managed to purchase themselves laws that legalize all their monopolistic strategies.

Jailbreaking these devices is the wrong answer that we consumers can give those companies.

The only right answer is not to buy such crippled hardware.

But to make your day and to contradict myself here: I own an Xbox 360 and an iPod Touch.

I am fully okay with the Xbox and when I bought it, I was fully aware of the fact that it was a DRM fortress. But I only use it for gaming and I do not pirate software. The Xbox 360 is a great deal for what I have purchased her and I do not mind her copy protection mechanisms in the least. It’s a gaming device, and I understand the need of the companies for a certain degree of copy protection. I’ve once worked for a software company that went bankrupt, and until today you can still download our software from file sharing networks. When my employer went bust, I’ve had to live off my credit card for three months before I saw my last salary. That wasn’t funny and it made me think a lot about software piracy (and poor management, but that is a different story).

I am not okay with the restrictions Apple has put on the iPod Touch. There simply is no excuse for why I cannot install any software that I want on it, and there certainly is no excuse for why I can only purchase software from Apple’s AppStore for that device. Monopoly is the word for this situation, and Apple is misusing its position to not even let a competition come into existence.

I had bought the iPod Touch when it was clear that Apple would introduce a software developer kit for it - and in my naive interpretation for me that meant that Apple was going to open the device. But they haven’t.

So did I buy the iPod Touch under a wrong assumption? Obviously yes. I was not expecting to be treated by this company like I was an underage retard whose only right to exist is to pour some money into Apple’s pockets.

Besides being so closed that I can only install software from Apple’s AppStore, the iPod Touch - like the iPhone - is also a device that does not even let me copy my DRM-free-music files to whatever other device or computer as I see fit.

Which part of my files are DRM-free is Apple not understanding here?

And which part of IT’S NONE OF APPLE’S FUCKING BUSINESS WHAT I DO WITH MY OWN DRM-FREE FILES are they also not willing to understand?

I could only copy files that I’ve bought from their iTunes store, and then it would not even matter if they were DRM-free or not.

But without having paid an Apple tax, I cannot do what’s my legal right to do.

If the word democracy was worth the ink and paper that were used to write it down, (copyright) laws would protect the consumers, not the corporations.

I use a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 with the latest drivers from the Microsoft support website, and those do not seem to be compatible with Apple’s Java 6 VM.

The most recent version of the IntelliType software is 6.22 and the actual URL for the drivers is:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/a/7/c/a7c998ff-d953-42fc-9824-a370a0214f82/Microsoft-Desktop-X-d203.dmg. (This is intentionally not a hyperlink.)

When I switch to Apple’s original drivers - who do not properly reflect my German Microsoft keyboard layout - I can type in Netbeans and everything works. When I switch back to the “German - Microsoft” layout, Netbeans won’t react to any key that I press.

For kicks, I could now also try and see if the problem also persists when I use an “British - Microsoft” or “US Intl - Microsoft” layout, but honestly, I don’t care. Neither Apple nor Microsoft pay me for testing, and I bought a German keyboard and want the German layout which is printed on the keys to work - but it doesn’t. Interestingly enough, keyboard shortcuts like “Command-Q” or “Command-Shift-N” work, only text edit controls don’t react.

I think that companies with so much cash on their bank accounts like Apple and Microsoft should spend a bit more of that on QA. And it is also about time that both corporations realize that they serve international customers who also use other languages besides English in their daily lives. I know, this might be a bit of a culture shock, but I am sure the engineers over there can handle it when their management lets them. (Sorry, but I need to be cynical here for self preservation.)

Update: Of course, I couldn’t leave it be and eventually gave in and tried it with “US Intl - Microsoft” and “British - Microsoft” - with the same results. None of the Microsoft specific settings work, only the default Apple layouts are compatible.

When Autumn’s plot begins, some unknown force - a germ, a virus, whatever it is - kills almost the entire world population within only a few minutes, leaving just a handful of people alive. Autumn is the story of those survivors and their fight for further survival in a dead world.

Two days after the initial incident, one third of the dead rise again to walk the Earth. At first, they only seem to be moving because for some diabolic reason they can. There’s no direction in their movement, no purpose. We don’t know why they suddenly can move again, and except for a few hints, we don’t learn what actually motivates them either. But it doesn’t really matter. The nightmarish presence of the walking dead is more important for Autumn than the why.

In the course of the story, the risen dead and their behavior change. Although their bodies are decaying, they slowly regain control and senses and become aggressive towards the survivors. But the Autumn saga is not your typical Zombie book. Or maybe it is, but the zombies themselves are not what you’d usually expect. They don’t eat their victims, but if they manage to catch and encircle them, they tear them apart nevertheless. In a further development, they even begin to attack other walking dead when they are in the way or when they get too close to one another.

Noise, light and movement attract them. You attract one of the creatures, the noise it makes to get to you attracts more of its kind. When you are in a city, within minutes you will be surrounded by thousands of them when you were unlucky to catch the attention of just one of the moving bodies.

How do you survive in such a threatening, dead world where walking, decomposing corpses lurk behind every corner, their only purpose being to wait for you and then hunt you down?

How do you find food and shelter?

Where do you hide?

Where will you go?

Will there be a future for you?

While our planet is quickly turning to hell around them, the characters in the Autumn saga are trying to find answers to these questions.

David Moody’s books are great reads and page turners. They are very different to Z. A. Recht’s Morningstar Saga (Plague of the dead, Thunder and Ashes and the forthcoming Survivors), which are set in a more ‘traditional’, George A. Romero-like Zombie scenario. Moody’s books are more about darkness and fear, thus reminding me of Richard Matheson’s I am legend, while Recht pumps the reader through much more action right from the beginning and also provides a more global, total view of the events.

Both authors produce great work for genre fans, and it’s fantastic for us readers that they have different foci.

Read them both and decide for yourself if you like one saga better than the other.

Tip: David Moody used to distribute the PDF version of the first Autumn novel for free on his website www.theinfected.co.uk. But since he is preparing a major relaunch of his website, I cannot say if he will still be offering it for free in the future.

PS: I know that the following links only point to the German Amazon store, but in all honesty: I don’t care. Some dumb Amazon recruiter with a condescending attitude and manner pissed me off recently, and there is a good chance that I will soon remove all links to Amazon from my page. In the meantime, you’ll have at least an idea of what the covers look like.

Watching old German Sci-Fi Operas

Thing - yes, this hand really walks!

With Tim Drums

Tim Drums, Wopoohpooh and ze boyz with Steaky, Mozy and Porry

Although this bed is 2.80 meters wide, it’s sometimes not big enough for all the personalities on it

ze Boyz and their pets

(Hercule with Porry, Darce with Mozy and Pardi with Steaky)

Darce and Pardi discover an iMac G4

Look, look… The little one is installing Unreal Tournament 2004 on his notebook!

There is a new R2 unit in our home

Last year’s christmas card

Es ist dein achtes Turnierspiel und du weißt schon nicht mehr, wie oft du in einem neuen Körper wieder zu dir gekommen bist, nachdem ein anderer Spieler dich in Stücke geschossen hat.

Der Vorteil eines Ligaspielers wie dir ist, daß immer genügend geklonte Körper für dich in Reserve gehalten und dein Vertrag dir garantiert, fortlaufend wieder in Stand gesetzt zu werden. Jeder geklonte Körper ist eine perfekte Kopie deines ursprünglichen Körpers, jedoch ohne Erinnerungen, Persönlichkeit oder Bewußtsein. Eine leere Hülle ohne Leben, die auf ihre Animation und das Einspielen eines Bewußtseins wartet.

Nach Ablauf deines Vertrages steht dir auch wieder ein gesunder Körper mit uneingeschränkter natürlicher Lebenserwartung zu. Bis dahin bekommst du nur Körper mit einer in den Erbanlagen festgelegten maximalen Lebenserwartung bis zum Ende des Turniers. Das garantiert, daß du als Spieler nicht vorzeitig aus der Liga aussteigst, nachdem du einen Frag, also einen Lebenspunkt und mithin ein tatsäcliches Leben, zuviel verloren hast, die seelische Belastung und die ständige Gewalt nicht mehr aushältst und dich nicht mehr abschlachten lassen willst.

Nach einem verlorenen Frag wird dein Gedächtnis mit etwas Glück bis zu dem Zeitpunkt des Todes rekonstruiert. Sollte das mangels Masse nicht mehr gehen, weil dein altes Gehirn beispielsweise nur noch als Gelee an einer Wand in der Arena existiert, wird der Gedächtnisstand wieder eingespielt, der kurz vor Beginn des Spieles aufgezeichnet wurde. Den Rest mußt du dir dann, wie alle mordlustigen Zuschauer da draussen auch, die die Liveübertragung des Spiels verpaßt haben, per Aufzeichnung ansehen, um zu wissen, wer deine Revanche verdient hat.

Das Verfahren der Rekonstruktion dauert zwar mittlerweile nur noch wenige Minuten, weil immer ein komplett ausgebildeter Körper mit leerem Hirn auf dich und deine Erinnerungen wartet, aber es ist nicht gerade billig und für den normalsterblichen Menschen von der Straße unerschwinglich. Im Vergleich zu den Einnahmen durch Wetten, Werbung und sämtlicher Merchandiseartikel sind die Kosten für die Tournament Corporation jedoch eine vernachlässigbare Größe geworden. Das Turnier ist zum einträglichsten Industriezweig nach Nahrung und Rüstung geworden und die Corporation kann sich einige Dutzend kostspieliger Stars wie dich aus der Portokasse leisten.

Aber täglich mehrmals zu sterben ist auch eine sehr schmerzhafte und zuweilen traumatische Methode, sich den Lebensunterhalt zu verdienen. Dennoch symbolisierst du für die Masse den Traum von Unbesiegbarkeit und Unsterblichkeit und Millionen würden ihre Seele dafür verkaufen, an deiner Stelle zu sein. Und vielleicht hast du das auch getan, deine Seele verkauft, als dein Bewußtsein das erste Mal in einen geklonten Körper transferiert wurde. Der Lebensstil und die Bekanntheit eines Gottes aus dem Olymp haben eben ihren Preis. Du fühlst jedenfalls keinen Unterschied, auch wenn du nur eine Kopie deiner selbst bist, und wenn du das Turnier gewinnst, ist deine Trophäe die Unsterblichkeit in Form eines unlimitierten Anspruchs auf Ersatzkörper, wenn deine alte Hülle den Weg allen Seins gegangen ist.

Die Bilder deines kürzlichen Todes blitzen noch einmal durch deinen Kopf, bevor du die Augen öffnest und wutentbrannt von dem Animationstisch aufspringst. Du achtest nicht mehr auf das ganze medizinische Personal und die unteren Executives um dich herum, sondern greifst dir sofort eine frische Uniform und springst in sie hinein.

Du kennst die Szene in dem Animations-OP mittlerweile zur Genüge und befaßt dich nicht mehr mit den Themen Bewußtseinstransfer oder Klonen und wunderst dich auch nicht mehr darüber, daß du wieder in einem intakten Körper weiterlebst. Auch für die sterblichen Überreste deines alten Leibes, der auf einem zweiten Tisch direkt neben dir liegt, damit man ihm dort die letzten Gedächtnisfetzen entnehmen konnte, hast du nur noch selten einen Blick übrig.

Es wäre deutlich effizienter und für dich selbst auch weniger traumatisch, dir jedesmal nur die vor dem Spiel gespeicherten Erinnerungen zu implantieren. Der Grund, warum man sich aber die Mühe macht, deine Leiche zu bergen und soviele deiner Erinnerungen wie möglich zu rekonstruieren und sie dir in dein neues Leben mitzugeben ist, daß es dich zu einem immer besseren, rachgierigen bösen Gladiator werden läßt. Das macht die Spiele spannender und steigert damit die Umsätze.

Zum anderen dient es auch der Forschung, um die sogenannte Blackout Zeit der superreichen Kundschaft immer weiter zu reduzieren, so daß ihr Bewußtsein immer nahtloser vom Zeitpunkt des letzten Todes fortgesetzt werden kann, selbst wenn dieser bei einem extremen Unfall eingetreten ist und man nicht auf eine vielleicht wochenalte Bewußtseinssicherung zurückgreifen muß und dem Kunden somit wertvolle Zeit in seinen Erinnerungen fehlt.

Du setzt dir dein Intercom auf und wirfst einen Blick auf den modifizierten Chronometer an deinem linken Unterarm, das dich mit spielerelevanten Informationen versorgt. Du liegst zwei Frags hinter dem Favouriten zurück und das Match geht nur noch zweiundvierzig Minuten. Du greifst dir deine Waffe und rennst unter den Augen einiger Videokameras durch einen langen Tunnel hinaus auf das Spielfeld, eine alte Fabrikanlage aus dem späten zwanzigsten Jahrhundert, die ein geniales Schlachtfeld für Sniper, Scharfschützen, liefert.

Kaum erreichst du das Ende des Tunnels, fliegen dir schon die ersten Querschläger um die Ohren. Verfuckter Camper! zischt dir ein grimmiger Gedanke in neudeutscher Sprache durch den Kopf. Aber ein Sniper, der beim ersten Schuß nicht trifft, ist ein toter Sniper. Diese Lektion wirst du ihm jetzt beibringen.

Du rennst auf einen umgefallenen Metallträger zu und wirfst dich dahinter auf den Boden, spürst das Pumpen deines Herzens, wie dein Körper Adrenalin ausschüttet, deine erhöhte Atemfrequenz. Du zwingst dich zur Ruhe, konzentrierst dich auf deine Umgebung. Eine Lichtreflektion seines Zielfernrohrs verrät die Position des anderen Schützen und du visierst ihn mit deiner eigenen Waffe an. Dein Finger gleitet zum Abzug und betätigt ihn. Sofort darauf siehst du wie der Kopf des Anderen unter deinem Fadenkreuz explodiert und der Körper leblos mehrere Meter zu Boden fällt.

Dein Zielfernrohr sendet ebenfalls Bilder an die Sendezentrale und du weißt, daß die Zuschauer des Matches jetzt eine Großaufnahme deines Treffers zu sehen bekommen und eine mit Hall versehene Stimme dabei laut KOPFSCHUSS ruft. Du auf dem Schlachtfeld bekommst das nicht mit, aber du kennst es von den Aufzeichnungen, die du dir angesehen hast. Du tust deine Pflicht als guter Turnierspieler und sagst einen Spruch für deine Fans in dein Intercom: „Das nächste Mal solltest du besser zielen!“

Du hast jetzt zwar einen Frag aufgeholt, aber dein Konkurrent hat zwischenzeitlich ebenfalls wieder gepunktet, wie die Anzeige dir verrät. Noch achtunddreißig Minuten Zeit, drei Punkte zu machen, um sich an ihm vorbei in die Führung zu spielen.

Vorsichtig beobachtest du die Gegend erneut. Erst ohne, dann mit deinem Zielfernrohr, um andere Scharfschützen auf der Lauer ausfindig zu machen. Und in der Hoffnung, ein weiteres leichtes Opfer zu finden.

Fehlanzeige. Du springst wieder auf die Beine und rennst über das offene Feld auf den Schutz des verfallenen Gebäudes auf der anderen Seite zu, in der sich dein letztes Ziel verschanzt hatte, gehst in das Innere und kletterst einige Leitern hoch, um auf eine bessere Aussichtsposition zu gelangen, legst dich dort flach auf den Boden, das Gewehr im Anschlag, beobachtest wieder das Gelände, wirst dabei selbst von mehreren hochauflösenden Digitalkameras mit integrierten Richtmikrofonen in deiner Nähe beobachtet.

Du siehst, wie zwei Sanitätsroboter aus dem Tunnel kommen, um die Überreste des anderen Spielers einzusammeln. Ein Schuß fällt und einer der Roboter gerät leicht ins Taumeln. Jemand war dumm genug, die Droiden für andere Spieler zu halten und hat dadurch seine Position verraten.

Wieder wandert dein Fadenkreuz über eine Gebäudefront, wieder findet es ein Ziel. Du siehst das Gesicht einer schönen, amazonenhaften Frau mit eiskaltem Blick in deinem Sucher. Du kennst sie gut, hast zwischen den Spielen häufiger Sex mit ihr. Es macht euch an, miteinander zu schlafen nachdem ihr euch Stunden vorher mit Kugeln durchsiebt habt.

„Halt einfach nur still, Baby, und ich besorg es dir schnell und gut“ flüsterst du in dein Intercom und drückst ab. Du siehst die Explosion in deinem Zielfernrohr und die Punktestandsanzeige bestätigt umgehend deinen Treffer und du grinst zufrieden.

Ein Sniper, der am leben bleiben will, verläßt seinen Unterschlupf sofort nachdem er geschossen hat, also machst du dich auch so unauffällig wie möglich wieder auf und davon.