LakermaN_of_SC Interview

Name: Oskar Ljungström
Alias: LakermaN_of_SC
Title or Occupation: Student
Age: 18
City based out of: Uppsala, Sweden

Methos:
Can you tell us a brief history of yourself in regards to computer games? What were some of your favorites before Quake came along?

LakermaN:
I've been playing video games since I was 5. I got my first computer in 96 and my favorite games back then were Warcraft 2 and Doom 2. I've always been a huge fan of Role Playing Games like Zelda, Final Fantasy, Phantasy Star, Ultima and Might & Magic. Right now I'm playing Zelda64 and I'll buy Baldurs Gate the day it comes out here.

Methos:
Tell us your first impressions of Quake. What did you like or dislike about it? When did you start playing Quake? Were you any good at it when you first started playing it?

LakermaN:
I actually didn't like Quake at all when it came out because of the crappy modem support. I used to play Duke3d and Doom2 against my friends daily over modem, which was very smooth but with Quake one player had a 0 ping and the other had about 150 which made the games really unfair. I kept it on my harddrive though and one day an Internet friend showed me how to play online which had always been a dream for me and my friends. We jumped on a DM server and we thought it was really cool despite the 300 ping. My friend Salmiak played with 4 fps and a 350 ping for 6 months :). I really sucked in the beginning but it didn't matter at all because it was so much fun :).

Methos:
You're now in the Swedish Chefs clan. Can you tell us your history with other clans and how you ended up in SC?

LakermaN:
Swedish Chefs is the only clan I've been in and I'll hopefully be in it until I die :). Me and Salmiak were on a DM server when Dance (retired) and Nikodemus (Now in clan9) joined the server and asked me if I wanted to tryout for SC. I said sure, if Salmiak could tryout as well. They said ok and gave us an IP to an empty DM server. We had never played on DM maps before so they kicked our asses for about an hour. I thought they wouldn't let us in but for some reason they did :). Since then (Sep 96) I've been in SC :).

Methos:
You're considered by many as one of the best players in the world. Can you tell us how much time you put into practicing Quake and what was involved in your practice routine?

LakermaN:
Thank you :). I used to practice maybe 4-5 hours per day when I lived in USA but nowadays I'm pretty tired of bots and playing online with a 200 ping pretty much just improve tactics. I play maybe 1 hour/day now, but when I get a chance to be LPB for a few days I play non-stop. When I wanted to become a top-player I ran around maps with godmode and impulse 9 and learned every trick, every shot, every jump on the map. I also played a lot of bots to improve my aim. I learned tactics from playing lots of 1-1's.

Methos:
Tell us what kind of config you use for playing Quake.

LakermaN:
I use WASD for moving, space for jump, mouse1 for fire. I've got weapon binds on Q E R F Shift and Mouse2. I've got a rocketjump script on CTRL but rarely use it. I use d_mipscale 50 and d_mipcap 3 because I think it's easier to see the enemy that way. I would play GLquake if I had a Voodoo2 card. My fov is 110.

Methos:
When you won the COTS Tournament in Sweden, you commented that "since it was my first Lan tournament most people didn't expect me to win". Did you yourself expect to win or were you using the tournament as a watermark to see how well you would do against other "known players"?

LakermaN:
I knew I had a big chance of winning because I had seen so many demos from almost every top player in Scandinavia. I wouldn't have been pleased with a second place finnish at all, it was win or nothing. I had been known as a pretty good modemer for almost 2 years so I wanted to show that I was one of the best.

Methos:
Thresh is normally a polite guy. In his FrontLine Column, he had some "less than cool things" to say about you. Can you tell us what prompted his comments?

LakermaN:
When he and his clan were coming to Stockholm to play [9] I wanted them to enter a 1-1 tourney with some of the top European players on the third day but they weren't sure they had time. Then Frick misunderstood something I said which led to an argument and within a minute 4 other DR's joined the channel and I was battling Deathrow and Deathrow's supporters in some lame argument about who was the best player. We were both saying stupid stuff about each other. I don't think Thresh was in a very good mood (after the loss) when he was writing that so I don't know if he still thinks I'm a "total egotistical, trash-talkin', pimple-faced, assmunch". ;P

Methos:
Before [9] beat DR, you mentioned in your interview with Hoony that you'd like to see [9] win so that the Quake spotlight would be focused on Europe. After [9] won, the focus was only on Europe for a very short time. What do you think caused this and what could be done to change this in the future?

LakermaN:
The spotlight is focused on USA because they have the PGL and the CPL. They have big tourneys with huge cash prizes and great coverage. Europe needs a big league like that. I personally like the CPL concept better than PGL's because LAN tourneys are more fair and I also think they are more public friendly. USA also has great organizers like Lindril/Ignatu (Per_COTS in Sweden is very good at setting up LAN's too).

Methos:
There has been a lot of talk in regards to Quake (mainly QW) players cheating these days. Most notably, players from the Scandinavian countries and Germany are mentioned. Do you use anything that would be considered "cheating"? If so, why?

LakermaN:
I wasn't using any cheats (except fullbright skin) before the COTS tourney in Sweden. Pretty much every top player used replacement shaft, rockets and grenades which was allowed in the tournament. Since I really wanted to win the tourney, I started using them as well. The only way to stop people from using cheats is to not allow them in tourneys. I don't think a proxy is considered cheating if you only use the location command which just makes communicating easier.

Methos:
Have you seen others cheating as well? Who are some of the more well known players you have seen cheating and what sort of cheats do they use?

LakermaN:
At the COTS tourney I remember clan Disney Devils had the new models (Sectopod, Mastah^killah, Mr.Kill, Sniket) but there might have been others. However they weren't trying to hide it or anything and people didn't call them cheaters. It was just something that made shafting easier and most people thought it was great. (I thought it was pretty cool too :P)

Methos:
Do you feel that using these "cheats" has improved your play to the point that you wouldn't be as good a player without them? If somebody waved a magic wand and all cheats disappeared, would you have any trouble adjusting? Would other players have more trouble?

LakermaN:
I think the light cheats improves your game by maybe 5-10%. I don't think I would have any trouble if the cheats disappeared but, I think some of the very good shaft-players would get problems since the new shaftbeam is so much better. It would probably take me a day or two to get used to the regular models/skin.

Methos:
What do you think of the state of Quake these days? Will it die soon or do you see it continuing for a while?

LakermaN:
The only way Quake would die is if something better comes out. All the new games coming out now (Half-life etc.) have nothing new to offer except new weapons, monsters, maps. For Quake to die, something revolutionary has to come out. When people played Quake online for the first time they were like, "WOW, this rocks!".

Methos:
Have you tried any other the so-called "Quake Killer" games that have come out? (i.e.: SiN, Shogo, Half-Life & Unreal) What did you like or dislike about them?

LakermaN:
I played the SiN demo for maybe 30 minutes but I really disliked the physics and the feeling of the game. I thought Unreal was pretty good in single player but I only tried multi for about 30 seconds (guess why). I haven't played Shogo or Half-Life yet but, I hear Half-life is a very cool single player game but not so good in multi. I've pretty much given up on this generation of Quake killers.

Methos:
What do you think Quake ]|[ Arena will be like? Do you think it will be enough to bring the Quake, Quakeworld and Quake2 players together into one big happy scene?

LakermaN:
It's really impossible to say from watching a few screenshots. If the game really is a lot better than Q1/Q2 then I'm sure every Quaker will switch. I really hope it will rock, 2.5 years with one game is a little too much.

Methos:
What do you think will be the future of on-line gaming? Will it continue to grow or will it remain in it's segregated state? What would you like to see?

LakermaN:
I think almost everyone knows that on-line gaming is the future. Playing against each other is a lot more fun than playing against the computer. I would really like to see an Ultima Online / Quake mix. Playing Quake against 3000 others in a huge futuristic town would be really cool.

Methos:
Some people have said that Methos Quake Demos page has become the "Lakerman Demo Page". What has the response been to sites like mine posting so many of your demos for everyone to see?

LakermaN:
Some people are really sick of it, others can't seem to get enough demos. It's fun when people are asking me to update my page all the time.

Methos:
Is there a downside to being a well known Quake player?

LakermaN:
Yes. It really sucks to not be able to play Quake for fun. Whenever someone asks me for a game I have to win. If I don't win there are demos all over the net and people keep messaging me asking how I could lose. The only time I can play for fun is with friends while we use fake nicknames. People mailing me telling me I'm their Quake-idol pretty much makes up for that though :).

Methos:
With the high degree of playing skill you have, what are the things you see missing from the playing ability of "lesser" players?

LakermaN:
One thing you really need to be competitive today is a good computer. I wouldn't win against a keyboarder without my 70 fps. Some people can't aim that well, others don't have the tactics. I think pretty much anyone with a good computer can learn to aim well but you have to be pretty smart to master tactics. I remember seeing a Randemarr demo on dm4 once where his aim was extremely good with lots of nice frags but he couldn't lock down the map. To be a top-player I think you need good aim, good tactics and good map knowledge.

Methos:
Lots of USA Quake players don't like Thresh (mostly out of envy or jealousy) but, when they meet him, they think he's great. Do you get the same type of response from players in Sweden and elsewhere? If so, what causes this reaction in people?

LakermaN:
Well, I've only been to 1 Lan tournament since COTS so I don't know :). I try to be friendly with everyone but that can be very hard online when your just talking to a name. Sometimes I can be in a bad mood and don't feel like chatting with people I barely know but I'm usually a nice guy IRL :).

Methos:
When I was setting up this interview, I asked a few people some questions in regards to your Quake playing. I was surprised when I questioned other Swedish players and received some negative reactions. Any particular reason for these reactions or is it similar to the question above?

LakermaN:
I'm sure some people think I get way too much attention which I can understand. I pretty much promote myself with my demopage, which a lot of people consider lame, but others really enjoy watching the demos. Also whenever I lose a game a lot of people will know about that and they'll go "What? he lost to him?!, I could beat him!". I don't think anyone can play 1-1 constantly without losing games (maybe Thresh?). Some of the very good swedish players who aren't getting any attention at all don't like me either, but that's life :).

Methos:
When I asked some of the better Scandinavian clans if they had thought about asking you to join them, the most common response I received was that you were "too selfish a team player" and that you had "quite an ego". To what do you attribute these kind of remarks?

LakermaN:
I don't know why people think I play selfish, but I guess it's because I run Quad. Maybe I am selfish, I'm not sure :). If my clanmates tell me I'm being selfish I'll take it more seriously. I don't have an ego, but I'm very confident. I can also be pretty cocky and talk shit sometimes, but I do that IRL too. That's just me I guess :P.

Methos:
In the Ultimate Quake Poll 2 on Methos Quake, you were very prominent in a lot of player categories and you won 4 of them. Most of the people voting were Quake players from around the world. What did you think of this kind of response towards your Quake playing?

LakermaN:
I thought it was really cool that so many people like my way of playing but I don't think I would have gotten nearly as many votes if there weren't so many of my demos on your page. Polls are pretty much decided by demos, but at least it shows that people enjoy watching me play :).

Methos:
Recently, Spookie and I were discussing a mini tourney with you and Thresh. Let me pose the same question to you. If you and Thresh played 6 matches (3 - NQ and 3 - QW), 2 each on DM2, DM4 and DM6. What do you think the outcome might be? No modesty here, just your honest thoughts.

LakermaN:
That's very hard to answer since I haven't seen Thresh play 1-1 in about a year. Hopefully I'd be victorious, but Thresh has proven to be almost impossible to beat for 2 years. All I know is that the games would be very exciting for us and the Quake community.

Methos:
Is there any part of your game that (you think) still needs to be improved?

LakermaN:
Oh yes! I'm not very good on dm6 yet, my shaft is pretty weak and I can be a bit too offensive sometimes :). I think a Voodoo2 would improve my shaft a bit, so hopefully I'll get the money to buy one soon.

Methos:
What's in the future for Lakerman? Do you see yourself playing on-line games for a while to come or can you see a day that you will give it up for something else?

LakermaN:
I've been playing computer games since I was 5 so I don't think I'll ever stop playing. I'll hopefully be playing on-line games until I'm dead (or get a girlfriend, which is very unlikely) :).

Methos:
Favorite Quake 1 level? Single Player and DM map?

LakermaN:
E1M1, DM2

Methos:
Favorite player?

LakermaN:
I like DOOMer, he was very modest and nice despite being #1 in Sweden for 2 years.

Methos:
Toughest player to play against?

LakermaN:
I hate playing y0_of_SC, he's more defensive than Thresh :).

Methos:
Toughest clan to play against?

LakermaN:
9, I guess :).

Methos:
Other hobbies?

LakermaN:
Hanging out with friends, partying.

Methos:
Favorite Quake demo without you in it?

LakermaN:
I really like the Timber - Nightwing demo. Sectopod is also very nice to watch.

Methos:
Favorite Quake demo with you playing?

LakermaN:
Against Mastah^Killah on dm2 in the COTS tourney.

Methos:
Anything else you'd like to add for the readers?

LakermaN:
Someone please send me ISDN and a Voodoo2 card :).