the donation meter (located on the right side column of the front page of aloha.pk) has been updated to reflect our estimated annual expenses for the upcoming year of 2019, which will add up to $705 USD if current services remain the same. fortunately, we already have a head start of $118, or 17% of 2019's expected total expenses, thanks to the community's generosity in 2018. the excess donations that weren't consumed in 2018 will be applied towards 2019 expenses, and the 2019 meter has been adjusted to show that.

big huge mahalos to the following community members for their 2018 contributions, sorted first by today's USD conversion value then alphabetically:

Nathan $300 USD
BR $100 USD
topo $100 USD
VerstehIchNicht $50 EUR
Gingerbear $25 USD
Pink Floyd $25 USD
Spring $25 USD
Colorpinpoint $30 CAD
Kuunikal $30 CAD
shywolf91 $5 USD
TrueGunner $1 USD

Merry Christmas everybody! big thanks to staff, contributors, and participants like you for keeping this community going. special shoutout to shywolf for making the above image and thus inspiring this post.

2018 is winding down. for me, it was a life-changing heartbreaker, but good things happened too. i traveled a lot - experienced unforgettable and often unexpected realizations, and in the process learned more about myself and this complicated little world we all share. (if ever you have an opportunity to travel, please do yourself that favor, and then travel even more when you can again because the gained awareness that comes from it is totally worthwhile. well, i guess that's... advice?)



i like this photo because the road sign is a reminder that horizons aren't always as they initially seem. if only life itself was that predictable! ...captured in Phuket, Thailand.

looking forward into 2019, my commitments to aloha.pk and Build and Shoot will continue. i'm wanting to also build unrelated ideas i've been brainstorming over the years that might interest some of you. i'll explain more about any of that when i'm ready.

here's to another year! what are your goals, New Year's resolutions?

aloha,
izzy



Santa and his helper. sighted in Santa Barbara, California.

this is my calling to get back into Rising Storm 2: Vietnam...

https://www.pcgamer.com/rising-storm-2-vietnam-adds-64-player-campaign-mode-that-takes-place-over-11-battles/

Multiplayer FPS Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is getting an ambitious 64-player campaign that spans 11 battles. Between battles, each side votes on tactical decisions, such as where to attack, where to defend, and what faction they want to put on the frontline.

To win, you have to capture every territory on the overall tactical map or accrue more victory points, which you gain for winning individual maps. As you proceed through the battles, spread over 11 years, the equipment and commander abilities for both the northern and southern Vietnamese forces will change to reflect the real-life technological advancements and political events that happened during the Vietnam War.

Each side will have a special ability that will grant "unique, asymmetric advantages for a single battle", but they can only use it once every three battles. That should throw up some interesting tactical decisions: in a close campaign, do you counter your enemy's ability with your own, or wait until the enemy has used theirs so you get a clear shot?

*** SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION BELOW ***
Some of you may know me as I used to play here, the name of this account isn’t my nick but I have gone by several usernames such as meme man, panzer battalion and the like. I used to frequent babel servers although time does not permit any longer.

This is why that’s the case:

I have been developing my own game know as Stargazer program, it’s a multiplayer duelling shmup maybe first of its kind.
Check this out:


You are the shuttle on the bottom and you play against an enemy on the top.
 Unlike most shmups this one doesn’t emphasize on the bullet hell aspects and instead promotes strategy and wit.  There are about 12 levels in total, all with different aspects and a different strategy for beating it. Beating the CPU is no easy task and you really must use your environment to your advantage to do it. Not to mention that everything between you and the foe is a threat too.

The best thing of all is that this supports network multiplayer, both by direct ip and steam. If you got a friend you can play locally with controllers instead.
If that sounds like something you would like to play hit me up on discord:  https://discord.gg/NcDhmrc or get the demo over at itch and have a go: https://beargears.itch.io/stargazerprogram

Thanks for sticking around aos its been fun and maybe I will hop in when I got the time.

a hardware upgrade has been completed on our primary server. it's now sportin' 32GB RAM for your smoother in-game experience! (hopefully this will fix certain lags, such as the "warping" on AoS babel)

the funding calculator on the front page of aloha.pk has been updated to include this additional cost. it's only January and our 2018 expenses are already 54% funded!

huge thanks to Nathan, topo, VerstehIchNicht, Spring, Colorpinpoint, and shywolf91 for donating the funds to make this and our continued operations possible. <3

New year = more fun = launching nades on mini maps!

	MINIFUN
	January 6th, 2018
	10 PM UTC <-- Click Here
	Grenade Launchers-  Read Below!

Grenade Launcher

Event Server: http://central.aloha.pk:54322/

Sign Up Here

Please join the aloha.pk Discord Channel before the event begins!

The official Build and Shoot league is back! Gather a team of friends to compete in multiple intense 40-minute, 3-versus-3 matches and fight to be the league champions. Starts January 2nd, 2018; sign-ups are open now!

Click the banner below for more info!

so backwards to the point that we need to defend net neutrality AGAIN.

net neutrality prevents internet providers from controlling and charging for what we see and do online. without it, the internet would become divided into subscription-based packages similar to cable TV, and whatever access you're fortunate enough to afford would still be isolated from the whole internet.

defending net neutrality is common sense; it's defending the open modern internet the world has been using for nearly two decades. even if you're not in the USA, losing net neutrality there would have a huge negative effect on the internet as you know it.

if you are an American, please encourage Congress to stop the FCC from killing net neutrality. www.battleforthenet.com (thanks BR for the link) makes it super easy to email and call important decision makers -- a script is even provided for your email that you can also use to read aloud during your calls. press * after finishing each call to move on to the next. thanks!