The blog
Xfire Release 1.120
2010-01-26 10:04 AM PST
Following a beta release is a full release. This has been the case with Xfire for a long time and still is.
For Xfire 1.120 the focus has been on improving the new music player control interface and fixing some bugs people have been reporting about live broadcast.
Currently to try the music player interface, follow these steps:
By the way, had you noticed that the last website update changed the admin interface of Xfire Communities? While there might still be some room for improvements, it looks better than the old one, don't you think?
Some bugs related to the new admin interface such as people with "Recruit" permission not able to perform their duties will be fixed soon in the next update. Thanks to everyone who reported these issues in Xfire forums!
Joonas
PS. over 8500 entrants on the Xfire Video Capture Awards by now!
For Xfire 1.120 the focus has been on improving the new music player control interface and fixing some bugs people have been reporting about live broadcast.
Currently to try the music player interface, follow these steps:
- Start either Windows Media Player or iTunes
- Make up a playlist of songs you would want to hear while playing games
- Put the music on!
- Start a game where Xfire In-Game 2 (mouse interface) is supported in
- Play for some time (at least 30 seconds is usually good) for Xfire to acquire the music player information and playlist contents
- Open up the music player (Scroll Lock + M, or the music icon from XIG toolbar)
- Change volume or songs as you will from the music control panel
By the way, had you noticed that the last website update changed the admin interface of Xfire Communities? While there might still be some room for improvements, it looks better than the old one, don't you think?
Some bugs related to the new admin interface such as people with "Recruit" permission not able to perform their duties will be fixed soon in the next update. Thanks to everyone who reported these issues in Xfire forums!
Joonas
PS. over 8500 entrants on the Xfire Video Capture Awards by now!
Xfire Beta release 1.120
2010-01-20 2:31 PM PST
Are there any people in here that are interested in seeing the future? Or have you all already members of Xfire Beta Testing team? Because if you are interested in having your hands on the early beta releases of the Xfire client, you should be in that team!
Whether you are part of the testing team or not, the fact is that the beta version of Xfire 1.120 is now available! Since the previous version of Xfire added a brand new feature for testing, the in-game music player, it is only natural that this release fixes many of the bugs reported since the introduction of that feature.
Some people have had problems broadcasting their gameplay with Xfire 1.119. Indeed there was a little bug in the encoder used for the broadcast causing audio getting out of sync with video but that should now be fixed also. If you are one of the people suffering from that issue, please try the beta and give some feedback on the beta forums of how it works for you now.
And now the main link, you can get the Xfire 1.120 beta from the official beta release news post.
Joonas
PS. video capture works fine in the beta version too, so you can try the beta and still participate in 2010 Video Capture Awards held here on Xfire!
Whether you are part of the testing team or not, the fact is that the beta version of Xfire 1.120 is now available! Since the previous version of Xfire added a brand new feature for testing, the in-game music player, it is only natural that this release fixes many of the bugs reported since the introduction of that feature.
Some people have had problems broadcasting their gameplay with Xfire 1.119. Indeed there was a little bug in the encoder used for the broadcast causing audio getting out of sync with video but that should now be fixed also. If you are one of the people suffering from that issue, please try the beta and give some feedback on the beta forums of how it works for you now.
And now the main link, you can get the Xfire 1.120 beta from the official beta release news post.
Joonas
PS. video capture works fine in the beta version too, so you can try the beta and still participate in 2010 Video Capture Awards held here on Xfire!
2010 Video Capture Awards!
2010-01-11 1:51 PM PST
January 11th to February 22nd, 2010, participate in Xfire's inaugural Video Capture Awards. For six weeks, you're invited to take part in an all-inclusive gameplay video extravaganza. From kills and death to explosions and machinima, this is the video event to top them all. The VCAs welcomes players from any game to upload videos and encourages machinima film makers to submit their best movies to win prizes. Prove you've got game, capture and editing skills, and vie for a chance to win more than $25,000 in prizes!
All your favorite publishers will be there: Turbine, Codemasters, Nexon, S2 Games, Ijji, NDOORS, Outspark, Uforia, Games-Masters, Aeria Games, YNK Interactive, G4 Box, and more.
Sponsored by iBuyPower, Gunnar Optiks, Roccat, NZXT, Antec and Xfire, the event boasts 2 grand prize achievements, 6 general categories, over a dozen publisher sponsored specific game categories, and more!
To win a particular category, you will need mad gaming skills, a network of friends to deem your videos cooler than your opponents and luck of the draw for the player with the most cool votes wins!
Each week we'll also announce a special Xfire Reels category.
Prizes Include:
• 6 x iBuyPower Chimera 2 Gaming PCS.
• 6 x GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 Graphics Cards.
• 6 x 24" Samsung Widescreen LCD Monitors
• 25 x GUNNAR Optiks Advanced Gaming Eyewear
• $100 Xfire Game Store Gift Certificates
• And a whole host of prizes from our sponsors and EACH publisher.
So what are you waiting for? Explore. Conquer. Capture. Be the digital eyes and ears of your favorite games and win prizes in the largest event ever on Xfire.
To check out the latest game specific categories, visit the VCA Publisher page.
To enter the contest, visit the 2010 Xfire Video Capture Awards page.
To view the rules of the contest, visit the 2010 Xfire Video Capture Awards Official Rules page.
Using VirtualDub to cut Xfire videos
2010-01-08 10:38 AM PST
Have you had a situation where you wanted to remove some parts of the recorded video but did not have money to buy an expensive video editing software and Windows Movie Maker produced too low quality video? For simple video editing tasks such as cutting parts of the video away there also exists a free open source program VirtualDub. You can download and use it completely free of charge.
This tutorial shows how to use VirtualDub to remove parts of video recorded with Xfire. I use a real world example here; I recorded a two minute video from Audiosurf but the video recording started from the in-game pause menu and I don't want that menu to be in the final video, so I am going to remove that part of the video away.
Other possible uses could be shortening down long videos since Xfire has 10 minute limit on uploaded videos. You could also split a long video into two parts and upload them separately using these same instructions.
To start, download and install VirtualDub if you haven't done so already from http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net/.
Now when you start VirtualDub, it starts with an empty grayish window with a menu at top and timeline plus some buttons at top. You can load the video you want from File->Open or you can for example drag & drop the video file to VirtualDub's window.
This is how it looked like for me when I loaded my Audiosurf video in:
Many operations in VirtualDub are done so that you first select the range of frames you want to edit and then you apply a command to them. So now that I want to remove some part of the video, I will mark the part I want to remove and then delete it.
In my case the part I want to delete is at the start of the video. So I mark the first frame (Frame 0) being the starting point of the procedure by pressing the Start selection button (see below).
Then I find the frame of the video that I do not want to delete. You can use either the timeline to quickly move to different parts of the video or use the backward and forward buttons to...
This tutorial shows how to use VirtualDub to remove parts of video recorded with Xfire. I use a real world example here; I recorded a two minute video from Audiosurf but the video recording started from the in-game pause menu and I don't want that menu to be in the final video, so I am going to remove that part of the video away.
Other possible uses could be shortening down long videos since Xfire has 10 minute limit on uploaded videos. You could also split a long video into two parts and upload them separately using these same instructions.
To start, download and install VirtualDub if you haven't done so already from http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net/.
Now when you start VirtualDub, it starts with an empty grayish window with a menu at top and timeline plus some buttons at top. You can load the video you want from File->Open or you can for example drag & drop the video file to VirtualDub's window.
This is how it looked like for me when I loaded my Audiosurf video in:
Many operations in VirtualDub are done so that you first select the range of frames you want to edit and then you apply a command to them. So now that I want to remove some part of the video, I will mark the part I want to remove and then delete it.
In my case the part I want to delete is at the start of the video. So I mark the first frame (Frame 0) being the starting point of the procedure by pressing the Start selection button (see below).
Then I find the frame of the video that I do not want to delete. You can use either the timeline to quickly move to different parts of the video or use the backward and forward buttons to...
Xfire Release 1.119
2010-01-06 4:57 AM PST
Happy New Year 2010 everyone!
What would be a greater start for a new year than a new version of Xfire with some neat in-game improvements such as music player controls:
(original image posted by user firemafia15 in forums)
This feature is still in early beta and supports two media players: Windows Media Player and iTunes. People testing this feature are asked to give feedback on Music Player Beta Forum.
Other changes visible in game are the change of new friend invitations and new mouse cursors. In Xfire 1.115 the ability to add friends in game was added, but the way friend invites took exclusive control of the in-game interface was too intrusive, so it was changed to a notification-based system in this release. You'll see how it works the next time someone wants to add you to friends when you are playing a game
The voice chat initiation has been edited a bit too. Now if someone calls you to start a voice chat and you are playing a game, then simply pressing the push-to-talk key (if configured) is enough to answer the call and start talking right away without the need to first press another key combination to answer the call.
In the previous version a Twitter plugin was added but many people complained of its behavior so there have been some adjustments on how it works to make it play nicer for most people. Still it is a beta feature and feedback is welcome so that it can be improved further.
And as you can see on the Release notes, this release does not come without a load of new supported games either. Do not mind the year, though, it will be fixed soonish.
Joonas
What would be a greater start for a new year than a new version of Xfire with some neat in-game improvements such as music player controls:
(original image posted by user firemafia15 in forums)
This feature is still in early beta and supports two media players: Windows Media Player and iTunes. People testing this feature are asked to give feedback on Music Player Beta Forum.
Other changes visible in game are the change of new friend invitations and new mouse cursors. In Xfire 1.115 the ability to add friends in game was added, but the way friend invites took exclusive control of the in-game interface was too intrusive, so it was changed to a notification-based system in this release. You'll see how it works the next time someone wants to add you to friends when you are playing a game
The voice chat initiation has been edited a bit too. Now if someone calls you to start a voice chat and you are playing a game, then simply pressing the push-to-talk key (if configured) is enough to answer the call and start talking right away without the need to first press another key combination to answer the call.
In the previous version a Twitter plugin was added but many people complained of its behavior so there have been some adjustments on how it works to make it play nicer for most people. Still it is a beta feature and feedback is welcome so that it can be improved further.
And as you can see on the Release notes, this release does not come without a load of new supported games either. Do not mind the year, though, it will be fixed soonish.
Joonas
Xfire reaches 15 million users
2009-12-22 3:35 PM PST
If you check the user counter on the Xfire Home page, you can see it is now over 15,000,000.
It's been a tad less than 600 days since Xfire reached ten million registered user accounts so it is apparent that the pace in which new users appear on Xfire has been accelerating since the number is now already more than 15 million, six years after Xfire as we know it started operation.
With 200,000 to 300,000 users logged in to the service simultaneously around the clock, Xfire is one of the largest global online gaming networks. With new additions such as official gaming communities backed by official community managers of the groups, live gameplay broadcasting, video and screenshot sharing, integration with other social networks and now even selling games online with direct downloads the direction into which Xfire is aiming for is clear: to become even bigger and to give better service for gamers.
From a simple messenger tool "Friends don't let friends die alone" Xfire has become the one tool that provides almost everything a gamer can hope for; from getting games to playing them together with friends and clans and sharing the gameplay with the whole world. Gaming Simplified.
Thank you for your support for Xfire dear users. Without you Xfire would not be what it is today. Now I want to wish everyone happy and peaceful holidays. We'll be back with a new Xfire version afterwards. If you can't wait for it, you are welcome to try the beta version
Joonas
It's been a tad less than 600 days since Xfire reached ten million registered user accounts so it is apparent that the pace in which new users appear on Xfire has been accelerating since the number is now already more than 15 million, six years after Xfire as we know it started operation.
With 200,000 to 300,000 users logged in to the service simultaneously around the clock, Xfire is one of the largest global online gaming networks. With new additions such as official gaming communities backed by official community managers of the groups, live gameplay broadcasting, video and screenshot sharing, integration with other social networks and now even selling games online with direct downloads the direction into which Xfire is aiming for is clear: to become even bigger and to give better service for gamers.
From a simple messenger tool "Friends don't let friends die alone" Xfire has become the one tool that provides almost everything a gamer can hope for; from getting games to playing them together with friends and clans and sharing the gameplay with the whole world. Gaming Simplified.
Thank you for your support for Xfire dear users. Without you Xfire would not be what it is today. Now I want to wish everyone happy and peaceful holidays. We'll be back with a new Xfire version afterwards. If you can't wait for it, you are welcome to try the beta version
Joonas
Xfire Beta release 1.119
2009-12-16 3:48 AM PST
It's a new beta with some very interesting features!
The Options dialog has been further worked on to arrange things more logically. For example you can now set all Xfire hotkeys in one tab including video and broadcasting keys. Also since this version you can use the push-to-talk key to answer calls in-game.
The in-game interface has been improved in other ways too. Now new friend invites do not steal attention from the rest of the system but appear as notifications you can open if you so want. Also Xfire mouse cursor now changes depending on the status, for example when you are on the edge of a window, it changes to resize-looking cursor so you know that dragging the mouse with the left button held down will resize the window.
And finally the feature a lot of people have been looking forward on... Xfire In-Game Music Player! It currently works as in-game frontend for either Windows Media Player or iTunes. More media players might be added in future.
Before rushing in and trying it out, make sure you read the 1.119 Beta Notes, especially the known issues part written in red there.
Now that you know what to expect and what might go wrong, go ahead and grab the beta of the next Xfire version from Xfire Beta Testing Team.
Joonas
The Options dialog has been further worked on to arrange things more logically. For example you can now set all Xfire hotkeys in one tab including video and broadcasting keys. Also since this version you can use the push-to-talk key to answer calls in-game.
The in-game interface has been improved in other ways too. Now new friend invites do not steal attention from the rest of the system but appear as notifications you can open if you so want. Also Xfire mouse cursor now changes depending on the status, for example when you are on the edge of a window, it changes to resize-looking cursor so you know that dragging the mouse with the left button held down will resize the window.
And finally the feature a lot of people have been looking forward on... Xfire In-Game Music Player! It currently works as in-game frontend for either Windows Media Player or iTunes. More media players might be added in future.
Before rushing in and trying it out, make sure you read the 1.119 Beta Notes, especially the known issues part written in red there.
Now that you know what to expect and what might go wrong, go ahead and grab the beta of the next Xfire version from Xfire Beta Testing Team.
Joonas
World Premiere Broadcast Event
2009-12-07 10:04 AM PST
A little over a year ago now, Xfire became the first to broadcast live gameplay video. We’re at it again! On Monday December 7th, we’ll be the first to premiere what has only been glimpsed at in trailers and screenshots. The Age of Conan is coming to life as Funcom and Xfire team together for the World Premiere Broadcast of the highly anticipated Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer expansion.
Watch December 7th as the Game Director for Age of Conan takes you along with a team of players through several of Rise of the Godslayers new lands and features.
About Rise of the Godslayer:
Embark on the most savage, sexy and brutal Conan adventure yet as you descend into the shadows that have fallen over Khitai, the fabled empire of the east! Ride across the grassy steppes and see the purple pagodas of Paikang rising from the vine-choked bamboo jungles. Unravel the corruption that threatens to taint the very heart of this beautiful land forever!
• All New Character Race - Khitan
• New Content for players of all level ranges
• Countless new monsters and rewards
• Hundreds of new quests
• Two new mounts - the Wolf and the Tiger
• Choose a side in the war of Khitan!
Want a reminder of when the event will begin?
Join the Official Conan Community!
Xfire release 1.118
2009-12-02 12:48 PM PST
This update came one day later than usually, but it also has one more feature than the previous update.
Perhaps the most significant addition in 1.118 is the Twitter plugin that allows you to get tweets from the people you follow immediately as Xfire instant messages and also update your Xfire status and gameplay on your Twitter account.
Here's how to set it up!
First go to Tools -> Manage Third Party Social Networks:
Then click on Add Account:
Now select type to Twitter and write in your Twitter username and password:
Now you have a new virtual friend on your friends list, named Twitter. Whenever someone you follow on Twitter posts a new tweet, this Twitter friend will message you with the contents of the tweet, so you will always be up to date what is going on, even when you are in game!
Also when you start playing a game, you start broadcasting your gameplay, or you set yourself a custom Xfire status message, they will be updated on your Twitter page:
You can also send a message to the Twitter "friend" to tweet a message directly from Xfire.
If you are wondering what that extra date/time on the Xfire tweets are, they are there to allow Xfire to post the tweets. Twitter itself does not allow any user to tweet the same message twice, so if you ever played one game and it got updated to Twitter, it would never again display that message since you already have it there. Xfire therefore puts the date tag to make each tweet unique and as such acceptable to the Twitter system.
(and in case it is not obvious, this is an alpha feature, so in very early testing phase, don't be too mad if it has some bugs or doesn't work the way you want, but instead report them on forums so they can be fixed)
Joonas
Perhaps the most significant addition in 1.118 is the Twitter plugin that allows you to get tweets from the people you follow immediately as Xfire instant messages and also update your Xfire status and gameplay on your Twitter account.
Here's how to set it up!
First go to Tools -> Manage Third Party Social Networks:
Then click on Add Account:
Now select type to Twitter and write in your Twitter username and password:
Now you have a new virtual friend on your friends list, named Twitter. Whenever someone you follow on Twitter posts a new tweet, this Twitter friend will message you with the contents of the tweet, so you will always be up to date what is going on, even when you are in game!
Also when you start playing a game, you start broadcasting your gameplay, or you set yourself a custom Xfire status message, they will be updated on your Twitter page:
You can also send a message to the Twitter "friend" to tweet a message directly from Xfire.
If you are wondering what that extra date/time on the Xfire tweets are, they are there to allow Xfire to post the tweets. Twitter itself does not allow any user to tweet the same message twice, so if you ever played one game and it got updated to Twitter, it would never again display that message since you already have it there. Xfire therefore puts the date tag to make each tweet unique and as such acceptable to the Twitter system.
(and in case it is not obvious, this is an alpha feature, so in very early testing phase, don't be too mad if it has some bugs or doesn't work the way you want, but instead report them on forums so they can be fixed)
Joonas
Workshop collection
2009-11-27 4:51 PM PST
Now if there is one post in the Xfire blog you should bookmark, it would be this one. The links to all significant GODJonez's Workshop posts as well as some look at Xfire's history. I have posted a lot of information about Xfire in this blog over the year, so here's links to all that information in several categories:
Xfire In-Game
In-game FPS and Clock
In-game web browser
Alen's Workshop - VLC through in-game browser
Sound recording in videos
Web browser hotkeys
Slow audio on videos
Xfire Options
General options
Privacy options
Chat options
Sound options
Files options
Voice chat configuration
Games options
Video options
Broadcast options
Generic Xfire usability
Chat commands
Chat rooms
Sending files to friends
Xfire download system
Xfire Sound Packs
Introduction to Xfire Clans & Guilds (now Xfire Communities)
Clans & Guilds forums (now Xfire Communities forums system)
Unlimited clans (now Unlimited Communities)
Friends list management
Chat logging
Xfire + Windows UAC
Saved usernames for login box
Xfire Website
Personal settings and profile
Xfire Blogs
Website update 2009-06-19
Website update 2009-07-10
New Xfire Communities
Generic information (GJ hax)
USB Portable Xfire
A bunch of handy tools
RSS Feeds
Xfire updates
Xfire 1.103 Beta
Xfire 1.103
Xfire 1.104 Beta
Xfire 1.104
Xfire 1.105 Beta
Xfire 1.105
Xfire 1.106 Beta
Xfire 1.106
Xfire 1.107 Beta (new XIG interface)
Xfire 1.107
Xfire 1.108 Beta (AIM support)
Xfire 1.108
Xfire 1.109 Beta
Xfire 1.109
Xfire 1.110 Beta (Xfire Beta Test Community)
Xfire 1.110 (Xfire XO Toolbar)
Xfire 1.111 Beta
Xfire 1.111
Xfire 1.112 Beta
Xfire 1.112
Xfire 1.113 Beta (MSN support)
Xfire 1.113 (from Dyyno to Livestream)
Xfire 1.114 Beta
Xfire 1.114
Xfire 1.115 Beta (add friends in-game)
Xfire 1.115 (broadcast title text)
Xfire 1.116 Beta
Xfire 1.116
Xfire 1.117 Beta (webcam)
Xfire 1.117
Xfire 1.118 Beta (Twitter)
Joonas
Xfire In-Game
In-game FPS and Clock
In-game web browser
Alen's Workshop - VLC through in-game browser
Sound recording in videos
Web browser hotkeys
Slow audio on videos
Xfire Options
General options
Privacy options
Chat options
Sound options
Files options
Voice chat configuration
Games options
Video options
Broadcast options
Generic Xfire usability
Chat commands
Chat rooms
Sending files to friends
Xfire download system
Xfire Sound Packs
Introduction to Xfire Clans & Guilds (now Xfire Communities)
Clans & Guilds forums (now Xfire Communities forums system)
Unlimited clans (now Unlimited Communities)
Friends list management
Chat logging
Xfire + Windows UAC
Saved usernames for login box
Xfire Website
Personal settings and profile
Xfire Blogs
Website update 2009-06-19
Website update 2009-07-10
New Xfire Communities
Generic information (GJ hax)
USB Portable Xfire
A bunch of handy tools
RSS Feeds
Xfire updates
Xfire 1.103 Beta
Xfire 1.103
Xfire 1.104 Beta
Xfire 1.104
Xfire 1.105 Beta
Xfire 1.105
Xfire 1.106 Beta
Xfire 1.106
Xfire 1.107 Beta (new XIG interface)
Xfire 1.107
Xfire 1.108 Beta (AIM support)
Xfire 1.108
Xfire 1.109 Beta
Xfire 1.109
Xfire 1.110 Beta (Xfire Beta Test Community)
Xfire 1.110 (Xfire XO Toolbar)
Xfire 1.111 Beta
Xfire 1.111
Xfire 1.112 Beta
Xfire 1.112
Xfire 1.113 Beta (MSN support)
Xfire 1.113 (from Dyyno to Livestream)
Xfire 1.114 Beta
Xfire 1.114
Xfire 1.115 Beta (add friends in-game)
Xfire 1.115 (broadcast title text)
Xfire 1.116 Beta
Xfire 1.116
Xfire 1.117 Beta (webcam)
Xfire 1.117
Xfire 1.118 Beta (Twitter)
Joonas
