Methos: How long have you been into computer games and what were some of your favorites prior to Quake coming along?

DaNoLd: About 13 years now, my favorite games were BoulderDash, Elite, Dungeon Master, Jagged Alliance, Doom2, and Meridian59.

Methos: What were your first impressions of Quake? How did it differ from other games you had played previously?

DaNoLd: I didn't like Qtest because I couldn't find the mouse settings and my friends were killing me too easily with the auto-aiming stuff. :) That changed when I saw the shareware version. The starting demo when you launch the game hooked me immediately. I had wanted this kind of control in a multiplayer game since Terminator Future Shock. Being able to launch a dedicated server for "everyone" on the internet made the real difference.

Methos: France isn't really known for having a vast Quake community, how did you manage to find good competition during the early stages of Quake?

DaNoLd: It was difficult to find players as there was only one active server (Pipo.com) and our connections were always bad. Some people I met on Pipo are still playing with us now. French ISPs were very hermetic and still are, which is a bit stupid. We pollute their international lines instead of playing on our own servers. I played a lot of LAN Quake with arguably the top Doom player in France named SKILL5. Having such a tough opponent is very thrilling.

Methos: You became one of the better players in Quake while others were just learning the game. Can you tell us what kind of practice and training you did to get up to that level?

DaNoLd: That's probably because I was okay playing with a 200+ms ping (Quake v1.01-6) while a lot of players wouldn't play with such lag but, that's just a modemer's complaint. I learned a lot by playing on many European servers, with different styles of playing, rules, and maps. I played a lot with Steve Polge's reaper bot when my connection was unplayable (>500ms). sCary's contests were nice training too. The hardest part was to find opponents in LAN games, we packed-up our computers many times for this.

Methos: Similar to the way rock stars became known for videos in the 80's, you and a few other Quake players (such as sCary, Paradox, Romero) became well known for Quake demos. Can you tell us how this happened and were you surprised at the reaction to your demos?

DaNoLd: I spotted Jeff Blaine's Demoland and emailed him to choose one of the demos I had on my site. I didn't expect him to download the whole bunch. I was very surprised, pleased, and embarrassed. After that, I received lots of positive feedback, so I continued. That's probably unfair to some players, but we learn a lot by watching demos, and I consider that I was sharing something.

Methos: We've already heard Sujoy's side of this story, can you tell us your side of the story regarding the now infamous jdanold demo? (see Sujoy Interview here)

DaNoLd: Everything Sujoy said was true. Sujoy is a speedy guy, always changing conversation subjects so, I figure he forgot about the box of floppy disks I put on the table before we start to play. ;)

Methos: You're well known as a "smart" Quake player. Sujoy even mentioned you as "our master tactician" for clan Demonic Core. What do you attribute this talent to and can you practice such a thing?

DaNoLd: I'm not very confident on my aim and people tend to quickly get better than me, so I always tried to "kill the fish in the barrel" (I feel better when my opponent doesn't have a RL in hand). I don't remember if I did a real description of any map. (ala Thresh's bible). I just tried to use some guidelines.

To sum them up:
   - Hardware (FPS/connection/interface/reflexes)
   - Control (aiming/moves/self-control)
   - Will (conviction/self-discipline/perseverance/perfectionism)
   - Knowledge (physics/rules/maps/techniques/opponents/yourself)
   - Lucidity (perception/anticipation/synthesis)

When you cover theses topics methodically you'll probably find something to polish and you can expect a nice boost in your general efficiency. Attitude is not very important, as many players are very good and at the same time very unpleasant.

Methos: Most people tend to play on servers close to them. What was involved in the decision to play with Clan Demonic Core from the UK instead of playing with a clan based in France?

DaNoLd: There was no clan in France at the time so I played a lot where my connection was playable. I had some games with Sujoy and DD, enjoyed them, and was impressed by their general skills. They entered DC (Clan Demonic Core) and I knew I'd have some nice moments with them, so I asked to join. For many months, having international players in a UK clan didn't bother anyone, but that has since changed.

Methos: Since you've been a part of the Quake scene from the start. In your opinion, what are the pros and cons with being involved with Quake from a player and a UK clan member point of view?

DaNoLd: The Pros: Is our passion for the game. A lot of events (LAN/online) have risen because people like the game and want to enjoy it with the others. If a newcomer wants to meet people and share his love of the game he'll find a pretty well organized Quake community, even in France.

The Cons: We have to deal with aimbot or cheat tools programmers, nukers, etc. People who just want to take us from playing. I mean, people who program bots don't give a shit about the game and the enthusiasm of players, they MUST be somewhat frustrated by life. Those people I refer to as "parasites".

Methos: What is your opinion of Quake 2. Is it the game you thought it would be?

DaNoLd: I enjoyed the game a lot until the "Point release" came out and of course when the "wait-for-the-PR" versions were playable. The solo game is fine, you can finish it quickly, just the time you need to prepare for deathmatching, the second life of the game. I'm not reluctant to dig a new game, that's the way I enjoy games, and Quake was getting old.

In the first months after the Quake release date, a lot of new stuff was created, so I was searching for any new weird patch running on servers to test it. It quickly changed to become competitive, so we all stuck on default maps, with default rules. With Quake2, (unfortunately) the DM maps are poor, ugly, and simply boring. I never enjoyed any match I played in, even after hours of playing. On the opposite side, some single player maps are pure joy and CTF is fun compared to the deathmatch maps, but I'm not a hardcore CTF fan.

Most people stick to what they're used to so, most Quake players stick to Quake, in the same way a lot of hardcore Doomers stuck with Doom. Some of them moved, but were reluctant to do so. We all expected to move to Quake2 when the time came but, the game was a regression on many points compared to both Quake/Quakeworld. Add this and the fact that the "wait for the next patch formula" didn't work and you can explain why Quake2 is a poor product for gamers. I think the people who enjoy Quake2 the most are the programmers, designers and artists, not the players.

There are things that I enjoy in first person shooters, especially ballistics and tactical weapons so I was a bit (just a bit) disappointed with the (too) slow fire rate of the Grenade Launcher in Quake2. It makes that gun pretty useless compared to the others so. I focused on the BFG which is a nice weapon for tactical assaults. Unfortunately, everybody seems to disable it on servers.  =(  Quake 2's main weapon quickly became the Railgun. That gun is a bit too powerful, for more tactical and interesting games, 60/80 hp points would have been better.

Short Questions...

Methos: Favorite map?
DaNoLd: DM4 & DM1, with a lot of people playing, I'm a discharge maniac in dm3 on dmm3, and a pineapple tree in e1m3. :)

Methos: Favorite player?
DaNoLd: Sujoy

Methos: Toughest opponent?
DaNoLd: Those who rarely miss and those who think when they play (very rare). There are a lot of very impressive players but Sujoy has been special from the start.

Methos: Favorite beverage while playing Quake?
DaNoLd: Iced tea & water.

Methos: Favorite Demo (without you in it)
DaNoLd: I don't think my eyes blinked the first time I watched these demos:

-  Demo1 (at the start of Quake)
-  Swansong's entry for sCary's reaper bot contest.
-  Perkele's entry for scare's reaper bot contest (another one).
-  Quake Done Quick, chase cam view. Jewel stuff. They should bundle it with the game.

Methos: Thanks Dan.

DaNoLd: Thanks