How to Win Call of Duty Mobile Battle Royale

How to Win Call of Duty Mobile Battle Royale

Ten Tips and Tricks to Buff Your BR

If you find it hard to win Activision’s Call of Duty Mobile Battle Royale (CODM BR), you aren’t alone! As a ranked game, you drop in with cracked gamers, and winning matches takes a lot of work.

I struggled finding comprehensive tips and tricks online when I began playing CODM BR, so I compiled the best tips and tricks here that have helped me up my game. I hope they help your game too!

Pro Tips (and Some from an Amateur)

The following tips come from tactics I’ve learned in the game, and tips & tricks I’ve garnered from YouTube videos of CODNarco (#1 CODM BR player in the world), iFerg (past top CODM player in the world), and HawksNest (CODM stats guru). I put these tips in chronological order for those who are just starting to play CODM BR:

1. FAST RAM

Whether you’re playing on a smartphone or tablet, your RAM should be at least 3 GB. Because milliseconds matter in CODM, anything slower than 3 gigs of RAM put you at a disadvantage.

However, you don’t need an expensive phone to play with 3 GB of RAM. Ask family or friends to use their old phones as internet phones only, or buy a cheap used one online. Even top of the line smartphones from 5-10 years ago have 3 GB+ RAM.

2. DECENT INTERNET SPEED

CODM BR displays your internet/processing speed in real-time in green numbers on the right side of the screen. A good speed is 50 ms or faster.

Anything over 70-80 ms and you may experience lag or freezing, which at an in-opportune time can mean an early exit of the game.

3. BEST PERFORMANCE SETTINGS

Under the settings tab, choose the lowest graphics quality and frame rate for best performance. (If you have a fast phone, you can choose higher frame rate and graphics without a drop in performance speed.)

CODM features a vast array of settings for all game play. So many that it can be dizzying. I recommend the YouTube videos of CODNarco or HawksNest for best game settings.

4. FOUR-FINGER CLAW

Most gamers just use thumbs to game on phones and tablets, resulting in limited capabilities. However, CODM lets you configure buttons to your preference, enabling you to use multiple fingers on your phone, such as the four-finger “claw” grip.

Take the time to learn the claw grip. It drastically improves your game play because it enables you to do multiple things at once. For instance, you can do a combo move of jumping and sliding, firing while jumping, or performing drop-shots (firing while lying prone). CODNarco displays his claw settings in a YouTube video, and iFerg uses a SIX finger grip on his tablet! (No wonder he’s one of the best in the world.)

5. MASTER JUMP/SLIDE/FIRE

Once you have the claw grip down, you can master simultaneous jumping, sliding, and firing. Moving targets are hard to hit in this game, so the more you move, the harder it will be for enemies to hit you.

In addition, it’s better to HIP FIRE in close quarters as the firing speed is much faster than ADS (Aim Down Sights)- the time it takes to raise your gun and “scope” a target. Different gun classes have different ADS speeds, but hip firing is virtually instant. Hip firing isn’t accurate at long distances, therefore only hip fire at close range.

6. SURVIVE!

A top tip from CODNarco. Above all, focus on survival first. You get ambushed a lot in this game, often from unseen foes. If your first strategy is to survive, then you can then take cover, revive if you’ve taken fire, and plan your attack.

In addition, try “camping” as a survival strategy. Camping is staying in one spot, whether it’s an overlook or hiding inside a house- camping-out and waiting for easy prey. In BR, camping is a great strategy to wait out the thinning of the herd (99 enemies taking each other out).

7. BEST WEAPONS CLASS

There are pros and cons to each weapons class. CODNarco mostly uses Ninja for the grappling hook. Pro: You can get the advantage of higher ground over enemies instantly. Con: It takes a lot of practice and skill to use well.

I recommend Defender for newer gamers. Pro: It’s a great weapon if you make it to the end of the game, as it freezes your enemy for a moment. Con: It doesn’t open on uneven terrain or with low ceilings. It’s also not as effective against multiple enemies or in squad BR.

8. AVOID CRATES

Pro gamers will disagree with this tip, but for newer gamers, the risk of crates outweighs the reward. Crates are a magnet for killers. Great players stalk the crate waiting for easy prey, and there is rarely good cover around the crate. Also, the best weapons in the crates tend to be single shot or close range weapons, so the weapons themselves have their drawbacks.

However, if an enemy has a tank and there is a crate nearby, I recommend getting the FHJ rocket launcher from the crate. Otherwise, until you’re expert at combat with little cover, avoid crates completely. You can still win games without getting a single crate.

9. PRACTICE

CODM has a practice target range map, and practice maps vs AI bots. Use the practice maps to hone sliding, jumping, firing, and aim. After that, CODNarco recommends practicing in actual BR games with trees in a secluded area.

Pick individual trees at various distances and circle around them moving and firing. Then jump and fire around them, and hip fire while moving around closer trees. Also practice drop-shots on the trees. Don’t worry about enemies. You may get taken out practicing on trees but the practice is worth it.

Furthermore, the BR game engine is different from the multiplayer one. So, even in the practice maps on multiplayer, your player responds differently than on BR. Practice is beneficial on both, but practicing with trees enables you to practice within the framework and mechanics of the BR game engine.

10. WATCH OTHERS PLAY

Whether it’s watching pros play like CODNarco on his YouTube page, or your skilled friends through the spectate mode in CODM BR, you can learn skills and tactics from better players. Some basic tricks CODNarco uses include:

  • Lie and hide. There’s a glitch in the game that enables you to lie in the case of a fallen foe. You can steal their supplies while lying in the case, out of view of other enemies.
  • Always be moving. Move back and forth when firing, targeting, and even when camping to avoid ambushes from unseen enemies.
  • Use head-glitches. Kneel behind half-walls, barrels, rocks, or window sills so that only your head is exposed.


If these tips were helpful to your CODM BR gaming, please buy a copy of my Military Spy Thriller novel, Ghost Trail. It’s like an FPS Sci-Fi game in a book, in the vein of Tom Clancy and Bourne Idenity. Feel free to add me as a friend in game or invite me to your BR squad matches. My CODM gamer tag is GhostTrailBook.

Cloaking Devices from Fantasy to Reality

Cloaking Devices from Fantasy to Reality

The Science Behind the Science-fiction of Invisibility

The concept of invisibility has captivated the imagination since the dawn of mankind. From cavemen concealing themselves from prey to warriors hiding from an enemy in a Trojan Horse, men have realized the tactical advantage of being unseen in the field. Invisibility has also pervaded pop culture and literature going back to the first stories of vampires disappearing in a puff of smoke! Since then, Star Trek, Harry Potter, and video games like Modern Warfare have cloaked spaceships, become invisible with bewitched blankets, and used more plausible forms of “optical camouflage” cloaking devices to minimize their appearance in the battlefield.

Now, scientists across the globe are working on a variety of cloaking devices ranging from metamaterials to invisibility beams. The applications of which extend beyond battlefield tactics to the automotive industry and aiding doctors in surgery.

Metamaterials

Scientists at the Foundation for Research and Technology in Heraklion, Greece are developing an invisibility beam using metamaterials for a project called PHOTOMETA. Metamaterials bend light in unusual directions through microscopic structures.

These microscopic structures embedded in a stealth suit would bend light around them, removing the suit-wearer from the background. Though Photometa cloaking devices are still far off, a more practical application of enables surgeons to bend light around sensitive organs to detect viruses within the body.

Irradiation

Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology have created a new cloaking technology: Irradiation. The scientists found that irradiating an opaque object from above with a specific wave pattern can enable light waves to pass through it without any obstruction. The finding opens the door to a whole new approach to active camouflage.

This concept will work with various types of light waves (and even sound waves), according to scientists in the study. Professor Stefan Rotter uses the example of a sugar cube to explain the concept of outwitting light waves.

“Complex materials such as a sugar cube are opaque, because light waves inside them are scattered multiple times,” says Professor Stefan Rotter. “A light wave can enter and exit the object, but will never pass through the medium on a straight line. Instead, it is scattered into all possible directions.” If they irradiate the sugar cube, they can enable the light waves to pass through the cube instead of scattering, making it invisible.

The Rochester Cloak

Scientists at the University of Rochester have developed a cloaking technology that they’ve dubbed The Rochester Cloak. The technology processes a video signal to render objects invisible between the flat screen display and the background.

Toyota recently patented a similar technology that would make A and B pillars invisible (the side pillars supporting your car’s windshield), allowing you to see pedestrians and other objects through the pillar. One advantage of The Rochester Cloak is that allows you to see through objects from a variety of angles.

The Spy Thriller novel, Ghost Trail, employs a similar technology for its fictitious stealth suit, called SCIROC (Self Contained InfraRed Optical Camouflage). The SCIROC suit fabric is composed of thousands of nano-cameras and monitors. The microscopic cameras send a video signal to the monitors on the opposite side of the suit, producing the effect of a walking flat screen- showing only the background behind the figure in the suit- rendering him invisible. Check out the SCIROC suit and other advanced technology in the spy thriller Ghost Trail. Available on Amazon in ebook or paperback.

Boost Revenue with Virtual Currency

Boost Revenue with Virtual Currency

Get the Most from Your Game with Digital-only Currencies

A widely used video game monetization strategy is a virtual currency. Virtual currencies are digital-only currencies gamers use to make transactions online. With virtual currency, developers can create a virtual economy in their game, allowing players to purchase and sell digital goods. Players can acquire virtual currency in one of two ways — by purchasing it with real money, or by earning it through the game.

Virtual currency is an effective and creative way to deepen player engagement and grow a game’s revenue, no matter if the game is premium or free-to-play. How it is implemented and sold depends on audience preferences, game design, backend functionality, and regional limitations.

The Lord of the Rings Online Turnaround

When Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) launched, it was a typical subscription-based  MMORPG. Gamers paid $15 a month to explore Middle-Earth or bought a full year subscription at a discount price. But, as subscription fees began to dwindle, Turbine (the owner of LOTRO prior to current owners Standing Stone Games), needed to find a new way to boost revenue.

They made the decision to shift their business model, letting gamers download and play the game for free while introducing in-game goods that could be purchased with virtual currency. Gamers could earn the virtual currency through game rewards, or purchase it directly with cash.

The new model resulted in a substantial increase of inactive players, and overall game revenue through the built-in game store. LOTRO then introduced a premium subscription, which added revenue and removed restrictions on the amount of virtual currency, creating even more opportunities for gamers and further boosting game revenue.  

Smite Keeps Players Hooked with Complex Virtual Economy

Smite, Hi-Rez Studios’ third-person multiplayer online battle arena, is a free-to-play game that offers multiple types of virtual currency. Smite’s Favor, Gems and Fantasy points can be earned in a variety of ways. For example, completing the basic tutorial earns 100 Favor, while Fantasy points can be earned by participating in special events. Gems can also be earned in the game, or purchased in an online store. Each of these currencies offers different levels of access to the gods and Cosmetic items.

Another Smite currency, Gems, is used to purchase and upgrade items (objects and artifacts that give players special abilities) for SMITE matches. Players start with a certain amount of Gems and, as in the case of the other currencies, can acquire more through the game.

With multiple currencies and a complex economy for earning and selling and making purchases, Smite offers players challenging and addictive game experience.

One Virtual Currency for Multiple Games

Virtual currencies are often developed for a specific game but, in recent years, publishers have introduced a single virtual currency that can be used across multiple games. One example is NCoin, a virtual currency from publisher NCSoft. NCoin can be purchased directly at the company’s website, through the gamer’s account.

The gamer can then use NCoin to purchase virtual items in many NCSoft games, including Aion, Lineage II, and Blade & Soul — there’s even a separate store where gamers can purchase virtual goods with NCoin. By using a single currency for multiple games, game creators can expand the value and reach of virtual currency and make it easier to attract and retain players across titles.

Implementing Virtual Currency

Developers can explore virtual currency as an additional revenue stream. It’s a well-known model, one most gamer trust and is comfortable participating in.

The good news is that creating virtual currency — and the goods that are bought and sold with it — is an enriching process; it adds another dimension by introducing an in-game economy. Yet, developing the backend system to support an in-game economy is time-consuming and requires significant resources.

Elements of a Video Game Landing Page

Elements of a Video Game Landing Page

The Key Elements of a Video Game Landing Page

An effective landing page is an essential component of any successful video game launch, for it’s the landing page that ultimately convinces prospective players to download or purchase the game. If you have a forthcoming game, here are the key elements that should be included in your game website’s landing page.

The Call to Action

The sole purpose of a video game landing page is to convince visitors to download or purchase your video game, and everything on the page is geared toward that specific purpose. As a result, the call to action is the first thing that you should consider when making the page. Nothing is more important than the button that leads to a download.

The call to action is a landing page’s equivalent of a salesperson’s close. It should be direct, clear, and encourage action (download, buy, etc.). This call to action also should never be overlooked, which makes its placement critical. The site should have one main call to action, and it should be above the fold. Above the fold means it appears on a visitor’s screen without scrolling down the page.

You might have a second call to action lower down the page for visitors who do scroll down, but no one should have to scroll in order to download your game. There should be a clear button or link right on the screen that makes it as simple as possible to download.

The Navigation Menu

Navigation is actually contradictory to a landing page’s purpose. A navigation menu shouldn’t be above the fold, and can even be absent from the page altogether.

Whereas navigation menus are useful in almost every other type of web page, they only detract visitors from downloading or purchasing a game when on a landing page. This is the one time you don’t want visitors learning more about your company or trying to contact you. Those links should be discreet and well below the fold, so people focus on the call to action.

In fact, you can just include a single link at the bottom of the page to your main home page. People who are truly interested in your company will search for that link, and they can find the information they want from your main page. Everyone else can focus on the landing page’s much more prominent call to action.

The Game’s Name

The name of the game is the other essential element that must be above the fold. The top of your landing page is a natural place to display the game’s name, but you might be able to find another suitable location depending on where your call to action is and how the page is laid out. As long as the name is clearly placed somewhere above the fold, any location is fine.

The Screenshots

Video games have become highly visual, and the most successful games now feature astounding graphics. The best way to showcase your game’s graphics is with screenshots. Take images of your best visual elements, and post a few on your landing page. They’ll help keep people on the page because images have been shown to increase time-on-page, and you can place them below the fold so that people who scroll down have something to look at.

Counterintuitively, you should avoid posting videos of your game on the landing page. These won’t show the visual elements any better since a picture displays the full beauty of your artwork. Additionally, embedded videos can cause visitors to watch videos on a third-party platform. That takes them away from your landing page where they can download the game.

The Reviews

If your game has received reviews from anyone, proudly display those on your landing page. Where they go can vary depending on your game’s exact design, and you may even want to include a few in different areas if you have multiple reviews.

Moreover, you can include both reviews from well-known critics and aggregate reviews from users. All of these can help convince visitors of your game’s quality. Just make sure you update the reviews as your game receives new ones.

The Type of Game

Landing pages don’t need a lot of explanation on them because the primary focus is downloading and not providing information. Anyone who visits the page has likely already learned something about the game from another source.

Nevertheless, there are a few basic items that your landing page should make evident. The type of game and level of expertise required should be mentioned somewhere if the visuals and other elements don’t make these details plain.

Any Links to Other Games

If you have other games, links to them can be placed toward the bottom of the page. Near the navigational link is a good spot to put these links. The focus of the page isn’t to promote your other games, but this is sometimes an effective cross-marketing approach.

Does Evil Exist in Drug and Alcohol Addiction?

Does Evil Exist in Drug and Alcohol Addiction?

You may have heard the saying to “slay your inner demons” with regard to vices and bad habits that trouble us, but do demons really exist in addictions to drugs and alcohol? As Heaven, Hell, angels, demons, good and evil are all under the realm of the spiritual, theological and supernatural, the laws of contemporary science don’t directly apply to them. As such, there are no scientific conclusions in applying spiritual terms to drug and alcohol addiction.

Science is the pursuit of explanations of how the natural world works, and until spiritual entities can be scientifically proven, most scientists and doctors will exclude the supernatural from their research and examinations. However, for people of Christian faith, including the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith (Bill W. and Dr. Bob), God (i.e. a “higher power”) is integral to Alcoholics Anonymous and the Twelve Steps program that they created. They believed that addiction is so powerful that people cannot overcome it on their own without the help of a higher power. Bill and Dr. Bob don’t view AA as a religion, but when Bill met with Catholic Jesuit priests at the Sodality Headquarters, he discovered that the renowned Catholic theologian St. Ignatius had comprised a list of Spiritual Exercises that paralleled the Twelve Steps.

What Does the Bible Say About Addiction?

Many Christians believe there are individual demons associated with vices like lust, greed, vanity, sloth and the other Seven Deadly Sins. Jesus and his disciples drove “unclean spirits” and demons from people, freeing them from their vices, their “addictions” and their way of life that would otherwise have led them to certain death.

Though drug and alcohol use may not cause demonic possession, it can invite demonic possession, according to the following scriptures: Galatians 5:19-20,“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery (in Greek, pharmakeia), enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions…”Revelation 18:23,“and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery (Greek, pharmakeia).”

In both of these passages, the word sorcery is translated to the Greek φαρμακεία pharmakeía, which is where we get the word pharmacy. In Greek, pharmakeia is defined as sorcery, black magic, and the use of magical incantation with drugs. Sorcery is also associated with demonic activity in the bible as it uses unbiblical means to summon spirits, cast spells and foretell the future. It is not permitted by God.

Fallen Angels of Addiction

In the Christian tradition of Heaven, when “fallen angels” were cast out of Heaven by Archangel Michael, these fallen angels became demons that “prowl about the Earth seeking the ruin of souls.” They will attack weakness in humans and anything that God loves, and when a weakness in any human is present,Christians believe it will draw the attention of demons as an opportunity to destroy that person’s eternal spirit. Hence the warning in Galatians to avoid behavior that can make one vulnerable to evil.

The Spirit of Success over Addiction

For the faithful, there is hope. Demons are limited, created beings and can never match the omnipotent power of God. The founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W. and Dr. Bob, aren’t theologians or experts on theology, and they didn’t publicly talk about evil in addiction.

However, they found recovering alcoholics achieved more success when they called on the help of God as a higher power to give them strength and freedom to help them overcome their addiction. Bill and Dr. Bob found through experience that when the spiritual content of the Twelve Steps is ignored, alcoholics can seldom remain dry. “That is our A.A. experience,” said Bill W., “We stress the spiritual simply because thousands of us have found we can’t do without it.” (N.Y. State 3. Med., Vol. 44, Aug. 15, 1944)

Sex, Drugs, and Dave Navarro

Sex, Drugs, and Dave Navarro

Jane says… I’m gonna kick tomorrow…

Dave Navarro, lead guitarist for the punk rock band Jane’s Addiction, found his “tomorrow” in the late 1990s when he kicked an addiction to cocaine and heroin. He says he hasn’t intravenously used drugs for 15 years and has been sober for the past four years.

In 1983, when Navarro was only 15 years old, his mother and his aunt were murdered by the boyfriend of his mother. Navarro says if he wasn’t at his dad’s house that night, he most likely would have been killed too. He attributed his drug use as a means of escape from the trauma of his mother’s death. Navarro joined Jane’s Addiction in 1986. His entire life has been one challenge after the next, walking through fear to emerge on the other side. One of his greatest challenges was meeting his mother’s murderer in prison. After the meeting, Navarro commented that he can now tackle the rest of life’s challenges more easily.

Mourning Son

Dave Navarro tells his story of fear, loss, trauma and drug addiction in a new documentary, Mourning Son. His goal with the film  is to help others face their fears and become successful in their own addiction recovery.  Navarro explains in the film’s trailer, “I have never been one to not share what’s going on with me emotionally. I think as an artist and a musician, that’s just inherent in what we do. It’s the most profound moment of my life and I do not think I should just sweep it under the rug anymore. It was just the darkest, most horrible moment of my life.”

Creating the film was a cathartic endeavor for Navarro, and it led him to find even more healing. He is hoping his experiences will lead others to find healing from trauma and addiction. Navarro said in a press release, “Many of us invent our own coping skills. Mourning Son is my journey of discovering which of these mechanisms might send me further into suffering and which would help me recover and heal.” Mourning Son isn’t Navarro’s first foray into filmmaking, though. He directed the adult film, Broken, and won the trophy for Best High End All-Sex Release at the 2008 AVN Awards. Ironic that he’s never won a Grammy, but brought home the gold for porn!

Fearless Innovator

Navarro’s music career really began when he was in a high school marching band. It was there that he met Stephen Perkins, who later invited Navarro to join Jane’s Addiction. After Jane’s, Navarro played for Red Hot Chili Peppers, and scored his biggest hit with “You Oughta Know” when he teamed up with Alanis Morissette on their multiplatinum album ‘Jagged Little Pill.’ He had the opportunity to join Guns N’ Roses upon guitarist Izzy Stradlin’s departure. Navarro cited his heroin addiction as the reason for not joining Guns N’ Roses.

Navarro also achieved success in reality TV as a judge of CBS’s singing competition franchise “Rock Star,” and as an author with the release of his 2005 autobiography, Don’t Try This At Home. Navarro is now an advocate for domestic violence and admitted he was unaware his documentary is about domestic violence until they were halfway through producing it. The film is a cautionary tale about domestic violence and addiction, and explores alternative methods to move through those traumas.

Mourning Son is currently available but a word of caution: The film depicts graphic footage of Navarro using early in his career, and may be a trigger for some.