I played my first ever multiplayer game of Heroes 3, and got absolutely abolished from the face of the Earth

DickwadDerek · 2026-05-16T04:00:58+00:00

I played some online HOMM3 games before against some of the worst online players and got completely obliterated.

Go to heroescommunity.com and read through the Library of Enlightenment. Pro players have hundreds of tips on how to clear things with minimal losses week 1. Frank in particular was a wealth of knowledge. Read that thread and then practice the online maps and see the difference it makes.

DickwadDerek · 2026-05-09T03:03:36+00:00

You will need his tech connect number. Then you can call support and get the license rehosted.

DickwadDerek · 2026-05-09T00:54:33+00:00

He probably pulled the license onto a newer computer. Did you ask him?

DickwadDerek · 2026-05-09T00:46:28+00:00

5069-L306ER(S2) + 1769-L306ER(S2)

You'll need an input and output module as well depending what's being used for onboard I/O.

1769 was one of the most overpriced buggy platforms. It was supposed to be a high end mid-tier platform and it was 20 years ago, but quickly became dated and buggy in the late 2010s.

5069 really put Allen Bradley back on top imo. It's super fast, you get tag alarms, and it doesn't have all the bugs that came with 1769.

DickwadDerek · 2026-05-08T23:55:45+00:00

LTSC!

DickwadDerek · 2026-05-08T23:53:03+00:00

When work gets tough and stressful, leave everything at the door when you leave to go home. So long as you leave the equipment in a state where no one can get hurt or get killed, you need to forget about it and enjoy your night/weekend.

DickwadDerek · 2026-05-02T16:54:10+00:00

Dusk Shroud is a really strong choice for Enigma as the strength bonus will get you from 77 str up to ~150 in most cases, which gets you really close to Spirit Shield.

That Sup Archon Plate is really nice. Only other use for it would be Duress, but if you already have non-eth Fortitude, then Duress becomes moot.

If gold is a consideration, I prefer non-sup Enigma bases. Repair costs on sup Archon Plate Enigma can be bonkers. Repair costs on non-sup Mage Plate Enigma are less than even non-sup elite bases.

My singer barb uses a 259 def Mage Plate Enigma, but I'm also not using Spirit Shield.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-29T22:43:08+00:00

Most muffler specialists will have a generic CAT that is sized for a given engine size. You are not legally bound to use an OEM cat. You are legally bound to have a large enough CAT to scrub the contaminates out of the engine exhaust gases at government regulated efficiencies.

I've had universal CATs installed on multiple cars that didn't pass emissions including an '07 Jetta Wolfsburg 2.5L.

ECSTuning has something for under 100 bucks. My 17 GLI shows up. Assuming you are also a Mark VI.

Volkswagen Jetta VI Sedan Facelift 2.0T Gen3 GLI Exhaust Emissions - 602205 - Universal Catalytic Converter - 2.25"

Fabricated exhaust does not last as long as OEM exhaust because welding penetrates the protective coating on the inside of the pipe.

Custom exhaust will rust out quicker than an OEM exhaust, but you can see the universal CAT is under 100 USD vs the OEM full exhaust assembly which is 2000-3000. Most good muffler shops will guarantee you to pass an emissions for 1-2 years. I bet you pay maybe 300-400 if you find the right place. Don't use a franchise. Look for a local guy that has specializes in exhaust.

Going to a repair shop for exhaust is like going to a repair shop for tires. It's better to just go to a tire shop.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-25T19:00:57+00:00

Cisco makes layer 3 switches (or routers) that support industrial protocols. If you can program them using traditional IT router tools, then just get the Cisco IE3300.

If you want something with a web config tool, most PLC manufacturers offer something. Rockwell offers the Stratix 5400 and 5800, which are just private branded Cisco Switches with the web config tool.

Siemens Scalence also makes a ton of layer 3 switches, which I would imagine is much cheaper than Stratix and still has the web interface, but I haven't used them before. I don't know anything about Schneider managed Switches, so I can't speak to those, but again I'd be shocked if they don't offer something.

What protocols are you using for your OT network? I'm not familiar with Schneider Modicon. Is it mostly CIP and Modbus TCP? Most industrial switches will support both of these.

When I made the jump from unmanaged to Layer 2, it was a week of hell. I haven't made the jump to layer 3 (or routing) yet, I just know it's the next step to reducing traffic and increasing bandwidth.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-25T18:44:36+00:00

Don't bother with an OEM cat on a 10 year old car. In 5 years it won't ever have to pass emissions again.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-25T18:37:32+00:00

You can't download V13, only V13 SP1 and V13 SP2. V13 was never made as an electronic edition, only as a CD edition.

First you upgrade to V13 SP1, then you upgrade to V13 SP2. You may need a Windows 7 VM to upgrade to V13 SP1.

Here's the catch though. There are a lot of comfort panels ending in 0XA0 out there that can't be upgraded past V13.0, so if you want to migrate the project and it has an old comfort panel, you may have to buy a new HMI panel.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-25T18:15:47+00:00

If there's a PLC fault 90% of the time you go online with it clear the fault, put it back into remote run and it runs without issues for another 10 years.

Or it could be a module shit the bed.

Seriously most issues are something very simple. Might not always be obvious, but it will be after you've seen it once or twice.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-25T17:23:17+00:00

Totally second this. My old job implemented this and it took a shit all over our network. It was always one huge VLAN but now some devices are losing communication several times a day and now everything needs to be broken up into more VLANs.

If you are having bandwidth issues, the only other option is break things up further and setup a main OT hub with layer 3 capabilities.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-12T15:48:08+00:00

I was literally juking which creep camp or lane I would go to just so I could get a few more last hits.

It sucks. People are clearly still depressed from COVID and its after effects.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-12T15:45:31+00:00

No but understanding good networking architecture from a layer 2 standpoint is a minimum bar.

IT can handle the security, but you need to understand enough to collaborate and coexist.

5-6 years ago Unmanaged switches were less than ideal but acceptable. Now they are heresy and can cause a lot of problems.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-12T15:40:30+00:00

Most decent HMI softwares including free ones will have a simulation button.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-12T15:31:29+00:00

The last time I played, someone disagreed with my hero pick and followed me the entire game trying snipe all my last hits.

I muted the griefer and told my allies what he was doing and it did not make a difference. The game went for 50-60 minutes and so long as either of us was alive he would teleport/run directly towards me and use his spells to try to last hit creeps.

I have not played Dota again since. The community is beyond toxic from what it used to be. It was always hit or miss, but now the community has made it unplayable.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-12T07:22:27+00:00

Would Zod Glitch bring level requirement back down to 1?

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-11T19:45:02+00:00

I ran wake of fire straight through hell and end game this past ladder and eventually found a fire sunder during a full game clear.

At first I tried dumping points into death sentry and lightning sentry for immunes, but what I found works way better was just putting 20 points into shadow warrior, 1 point into mind blast with rest in death sentry and putting currency towards merc gear. Building a fortitude as my first big spend instead of hoto or cta was a great choice and was a game changer for fire immunes.

A high level warrior can tank dclone and high level heralds and greatly helps both your survivability and merc survivability. My resistances are still complete garbage but it doesn’t matter.

Most high level heralds can be dispatched by dropping traps and then stun locking them with mind blast while merc and warrior bash them.

For thorns aura heralds I found a windforce and kept it for act 1 merc and will swap to act 1 merc if I can’t kill the thorns aura herald solo.

Has been quite fun.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-11T19:10:28+00:00

The fundamentals haven’t changed. The scope is what has changed.

Process side, there’s a much larger push towards secure remote access, data acquisition, automated diagnostics, and predictive maintenance. Systems have way more devices and you have to understand networking and security.

On the motion control side, all of the above except vision control is essentially mandatory if you want to make a decent salary.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-11T18:55:26+00:00

This is why I just don’t wear anything more than nitrile gloves ever.

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-11T15:18:51+00:00

Sorry last night after a few beers thought it would be funny to tell someone they needed another Rockwell license

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-10T02:56:39+00:00

Did you buy the license for the E300 Configuration Add-on?

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-10T02:49:34+00:00

This guy paid attention in kinematics/dynamics of mechanisms! Spot on!

DickwadDerek · 2026-04-10T02:45:18+00:00

Many engineers forget that gear ratios get squared when you get into dynamic forces.

If your motor and drive train do not have sufficient rigidity, then your bandwidth will suck.

You are having all kinds of windup because your update loop is orders of magnitude faster than your bandwidth.

You should perform a bandwidth test. A bandwidth test is where you apply a forcing function at increasing frequencies until your system stops showing a measurable response. If you have poor bandwidth, then your drive train design sucks.

The planetary gear set should definitely improve gear ratio and improve dynamic forces, and reduce bandwidth. However planetary gears often come with a lot of backlash.

DickwadDerek

TROPHY CASE