Dslyecxi on Youtube

This page acts as a simple way to give additional information about myself and my content, for anyone who has viewed my work on Youtube and would like to know more. If you haven’t checked out my site’s landing page, take a look at that first for some basic intro and interesting links.

I create videos from my experiences with a community I founded known as ShackTac. These videos are reflections of my experiences in said community, and are done because I find it rewarding to chronicle that gameplay and share it with a broader audience. Bear in mind when watching that the idea isn’t to do things for an audience or specifically cater to an audience – it’s just me playing, and if you like it, you like it. Any kind of comment or suggestion that I do something for an audience is very likely missing the point, as that isn’t generally what my channel is about and not how I approach the creative process. If you want a channel where the creator is at the whims of the audience and highly responsive to their requests or demands, that isn’t what you’ll find here. I appreciate your understanding in this matter – this is a fun past time for me, and I hope you can gain entertainment by approaching it with that mindset.

Support

If you would like to support my work, there are several ways you can do so. I appreciate it all, and I do my best to live up to the very generous support that’s been shown over the years.

  • Support through Patreon. This is for those of you that are really keen on the content in general and want to help facilitate more work like my Hindsight, Art of Flight, Video Tactics Techniques & Procedures, Year in Review, and other such efforts. Patreon support allows me to spend more of my time working on “cool stuff” above and beyond what I already do. This pays off in a multitude of ways – if you’d like to know more, have a read through the page. 

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  • Spread the word! Saw something you liked? Let a friend know, share it around. Word-of-mouth is the best kind of exposure. Even just liking/favoriting a video, or commenting on it, means a good deal in the scheme of Youtube.

Presence & Resources

Some of the places where I maintain a presence or a resource for further information:

  • Twitter. Generally video announcements and misc scattered light commentary.
  • Tumblr. Meatier responses to various questions, but no longer regularly updated. There are a ton of already-answered questions here, though.
  • About ShackTac. Want to know more about the group, how to apply, etc? This is the place for that.

Notes

  • I use TrackIR for view movement within Arma and other games like DCS. If you don’t know what that is, take a look at this video. Yes, I am always using TrackIR in my Arma videos.
  • I use rudder pedals for various things, including leaning as infantry, controlling vehicle speed, and of course helicopter pedals and aircraft rudders. I’ve talked about that here. I have some really nice pedals as well, which I did a review of here.
  • I fly mouse & keyboard in Arma (details can be seen here), but with a throttle and joystick in the advanced flight model or in DCS. I cover my DCS control setup at the start of this video. We don’t use the Advanced Flight Model of A3 in ShackTac, and you can watch this to hear why.
  • I’ve authored the definitive guide on Arma 3 tactics, techniques, and procedures – check it out for free here!
  • My video thumbnails are intended to help to give you an idea of the content style – if you’d like to know more, check this out.

 Youtube Channel / Comments Standard of Behavior

There are a few basic things to keep in mind when commenting on anything in my channel.

  • Be polite and respectful. If you come out swinging with negativity, you will be blocked without a warning. There are many places online where you can be hostile and confrontational with people – my comment section isn’t one of them. 
  • Discussion and debate is fine. Attacking others for their viewpoints is not, and I don’t tolerate it.
  • Everything I post is meant to be fun and entertaining, videos of games that I play with people I consider friends. If you’re there to armchair quarterback us and be overly critical of us playing a game, you’re not going to get a warm reception. Our ethos is ‘Serious Fun’ – try to understand this and you’ll get a lot more out of things. If you’re personally attacking people in my group, expect to be shown the door. My content is not a vector for you to be nasty to people I game with.
  • If you’re looking to grind an axe with any person, any game, any company in my comments, you can expect to be shown the door. My content is not a vector for you to spread hate and negativity. Different people enjoy different things.
  • People who post “First!” or similar on a freshly-released video, I have no personal issue with this. Some do. Try to keep it civil. Enthusiasm is cool and is what helps to motivate me, and I see those posts as just that – enthusiasm. I also don’t mind people quoting memorable lines from videos in the comments, as it’s neat to see what people pick up on or find most interesting.

My General Youtube Interaction Workflow

  • I tend to monitor the comments of my most recent videos and respond to those as time permits. I am most active when a video has just been released. 
  • Older videos I will typically view the comments of at less frequent intervals, and usually I don’t respond to comments in them. Generally speaking, the questions people ask weeks or months after a video has been released can be found already answered by me within them. Simply take a look at the full comment history for a video and search for my nickname to find those sorts of answers.
  • I enjoy interaction with Youtube commentors, as with twitter and tumblr. If I’m not replying to you, it’s probably either because I’ve already answered your question, or I simply don’t have time to reply to everyone. Please don’t mistake my brevity for coldness.

FAQ – ShackTac / Videos

  • What server am I playing Arma games on, who are these people, and can you join?
    • It’s the private server for my community, Shack Tactical. As of 2020 we’ve been around for over 14 years, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything – we have a fantastic memberbase and it makes for amazing gameplay in Arma and elsewhere. You can read more about us here.
  • What modset does ShackTac use?
  • Does ST play against players or AI? / Is this versus players? What island/map/terrain is this?
    • We do a mix of about 80% coop and 20% adversarial, having shifted more towards coop missions over time. The intro to a video shows information about this, along with the terrain and date of the mission. “Adversarial” means it’s versus players, “coop” means it’s versus AI. Note that snippets won’t generally have this information in them.
  • Will you make a full mission video of this?
    • I usually state this in the video description or comments if I plan to do so. I don’t edit videos with the intention of hitting a certain duration, so they can range from a few minutes to an hour or more depending on what I found interesting during a given mission or session. I strive to make my videos high-quality and worth watching, so I think it’d be counter to that goal to release footage that I don’t think would be compelling viewing.
  • What’s with the “black bars”?
    • My monitor is a 21:9 aspect ratio with a resolution of 3440×1440, and I upload videos in this ratio. Youtube, instead of conforming the player to match the ratio, instead keeps it at a 16:9 ratio and adds black bars to the tops of the player. No, I’m not going to change to a 16:9 monitor.
  • What AI do you use?
    • We don’t use any special AI mods, but instead have developed AI behaviors as part of our mission and framework design.
  • Is Zeus being used?
    • We have various tools for game mastering, including Zeus. Missions are generally scripted, with Zeus and other elements being used to adjust the scenario in response to player actions.
  • Why don’t you use (example asset) which is much more powerful than what you’re using?
    • Challenge is fun. Having overpowered assets isn’t fun. We use combinations of equipment that make for challenging gameplay, as that’s where the series shines brightest.

FAQ – Dslyecxi

  • What are your system specs?
  • How long have you been playing the Arma series?
    • I’ve been here from the start, with my Operation Flashpoint experience beginning with the demo’s release in 2001. I went into the US Marine Corps shortly after (no relation!) and in 2004 I started playing OFP in multiplayer. 2006 saw me found ShackTac, which started in OFP and then transitioned through Arma 1, Arma 2, and finally, Arma 3. I hope to continue this for a long time into the future, as well as share the ride with viewers like you, as corny as that sounds.
  • Were you in the military?
    • I was, many years ago, but this is not something that defines me, nor something that I wear on my sleeve. If you want to know more about me as a person, read the about me page of my site.

Playlists

As far as my actual channel goes, I break things into playlists and cover quite a few different topics. The following is a list of my major playlists, beyond what Youtube allows you to list for your channel:

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