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Methos Quake News - June 1999
Sunday, June 27th, 1999 |
NZ Wins Village
Challenge II
Clan Dust 2 Dust from New Zealand defeated Clan Reborn from Australia, 3 matches to 1, to
win the Village Challenge II. For all the info on the matches, make sure you head over to Challenge-AU. Hoony was one of the
many people running the event and assuming he doesn't fall asleep, he should have a huge
update.
Lakerman No Show At
Rapture99
I received word from Vanish regarding the Rapture99 tournament. In his e-mail, he comments that Lakerman won't
be attending the Rapture99 tournament. There was no reason given for this and so far, I've
been unable to contact Lakerman. Here's what Vanish had to say.
"Lakerman cant make Rapture99 in Scotland to play the US select team on the 23rd July so the new team captain is Griff from clan SK and will be picking the new 5 player team at the beginning of next week."
There was no word on which players will be representing the USA in the matches between the USA and Euro Selects.
Germany Vs Turkey
Alligator send along word that Clan SK from Germany will travel to Istanbul Turkey to play
against Clan DBK. The matches will take place on July 10th and 11th.
Some of the rules are as follows.
Good luck to both clans. I'm sure you'll be able to get more info on the SK Home Page (when their news page is working)
AMD Athlon Benchmarks
Planning on buying one of them fancy new CPU's from AMD. You can go to their
benchmark site and see how they rate as far as benchmark speeds go. Keep in mind, this
is an AMD site so, I'm sure they're only posting the best results.
Deus Ex Preview
After winning one of the PC awards at E3, ION Storm's upcoming game Deus Ex looks like a
sure fire game for the RPG genre. PCparadox has done a Deus Ex
preview. Make sure you go take a look and see what Ion Storm has done with this Unreal
engine based game.
Here's a bit of what it's all about.
"Deus Ex is the future of what first-person action games should be. ION Storm Austin has taken the present world, placed it in the year 2052, and implemented role-playing elements to a first-person shooter to create Deus Ex. A plot set in a world full of chaos, corruption, and terrorists fifty years in the future, but still has the same locations, such as the Statue of Liberty, will entrance the gamer at first sight. J.C. Denton, a nano-augmented agent in an anti-terrorist group, has a very charismatic and appealing feel while the visuals are absolutely astounding. Beautifully detailed cities from across the world will make Deus Ex incredibly realistic. Deus Ex has all the ingredients to make a large impact on the gaming industry."
MicroSoft Developing
Censorship
Microsoft announced that it is
working a "ratings blocker" that would enable parental guidance for violent
games. Here's the scoop.
"The Redmond, Wash.-based software company is currently working with game manufacturers to embed code information on ratings in their new games, which the Windows Game Manager would check, said Kevin Bachus, product manager for Microsoft's multimedia group. Game ratings are currently printed on game packaging. The feature would allow parents to keep games containing excessive violence, sexual content or expletives from being played on the computer. Microsoft's Internet Explorer has a similar feature that can be used to block access to certain Web sites, he added."
I only imagine the can of worms that this one will open up.
Hardware Stuff
Here's the latest popular drivers and stuff.
Creative Ultra TNT2 Drivers
For those that have this expensive card, here are the latest Win9x drivers.New 3DFX V1 and V2 Drivers
Oh boy, new 3DFX Reference drivers for the V1 and V2 cards.Abit BP6 Review
Firingsquad has posted a review of my favorite motherboard. The dual CPU overclockable Abit BP6 board. Make sure you take a look.
Site Seeing
Here are a couple of sites for you to visit.
Q3Center
After being down for a few days, Q3Center is back up and running with their new design. I must not know what their old design was because it looks the same to me. Anyway, go take a look.Demoplace
Visit this Brazilian Quake Demo site called Demoplace. It's available in both English or Portuguese flavors. Go get them demos.
Methos Site Stuff
Sorry about the lack of updates. I've been busy with real life™ stuff. Plus the fact
that I'm pretty lazy. I've finally found a decent artist to work on the new site design.
Hopefully, it will end up being cool looking.
Monday, June 21st, 1999 |
All Quiet On The Quake
Front
To say that there has been very little Quake orientated news would be an understatement.
It's been as quiet as I've ever seen it before. I could start ranting about Quake dying
but, I'm not sure it hasn't effectively died already.
We're in a comatose state until we see the next Q3A test release. Since Carmack was mailbombed, we haven't had the pleasure of dissecting his daily work logs. That was fun while it lasted. Maybe I should send John Carmack a letter on behalf of the Quake community and ask him to post his logs again. :)
Village II in Australia
Hoony has been working on some big doings for the Village 2 Lan tourney this weekend in Australia. Make sure you take a
visit and read all about it. I have it on good authority (his wife) that he has spent LOTS
of time working on this tourney.
Game Explorer Beta 3
Our buddy Mav has released a new version of his excellent Game Explorer program. Game
Explorer is the program that can find Internet Quake, QuakeWorld, Quake II, TRIBES,
Half-Life and Q3ATest servers. Oh, did I mention it was FREE? Make sure you download the
latest version.
Q3Test2 Strategy - Sujoy
Knows All
In similar fashion to his famous LavaJump Demo, our
buddy Sujoy has released
his "how to" demo for Quake 3: Arena's Q3test2 map. He covers nearly all the
bases and shows the right strategy to use on this wide open map. You can download the demo here.
(147k)
Popular On-line Game? [ShugaShack]
Saw this very interesting article on sCary's
site which was originally posted on CLQ. It lists the amount of game servers and the amount of players
they had on the servers. The results down below are recalculated (direct from the numbers
on CLQ) as I found some errors in the table posted on sCary's site (taken from his
messageboard). These totals are from last week and this week so far (about 9 days). The
numbers have been sorted by the number of players and active servers.
GAME |
Minutes |
Players |
Active servers |
Quake 2 |
28,129,297 |
357,244 |
2,387 |
Quake & QW |
10,715,243 |
145,311 |
954 |
Tribes |
19,569,146 |
118,716 |
894 |
Q3Atest |
5,335,064 |
71,496 |
540 |
SiN |
6,113,741 |
56,792 |
434 |
Half-Life |
1,042,333 |
21,752 |
50 |
Unreal |
95,236 |
2,488 |
4 |
I do find some of these totals a bit surprising. Here's my thoughts on the numbers.
Steven King In Serious
Condition [Bluesnews]
Not gaming related but, I had to mention the link on Bluesnews with an article regarding
the condition of writer, Steven King after being hit by a van near his hometown late
Saturday night. King was in serious but stable condition after suffering a collapsed lung,
multiple fractures of his right leg and hip and a scalp laceration in the accident.
Steven King has written some of the highest grossing movies over the last 2 decades such as "Carrie", "The Shining", "Firestarter", "Christine", "Pet Semetary", "Misery", "The Running Man" and "The Shawshank Redemption". Steven King is the most prolific novel writer in the world (according to Guiness Records) and I'm sure everybody's thoughts and prayers are going out to him and his family in this tough time.
Update: Surrounded by family after the surgery, King was alert and joking with hospital staff. He even asked about his favorite baseball team. Central Maine Hospital spokesman Chuck Gill said. "In fact, this morning he asked his wife Tabitha to read him the report of the Red Sox game."
You can read more news about Steven King in this CNN report.
Thursday, June 17th, 1999 |
Paul Jaquays Interview
Q3Arena has posted a lengthy interview with
Paul Jaquays of id Software. It reveals some interesting things regarding the thought
process involved in making a new game. It also shows that the mindset of talented artists
does not always lean towards great gameplay. Make sure you take a read.
Intel 1999 Pricing
Forecast
FiringSquad has posted a very
long article on Intel's 1999 pricing scheme. It includes nearly everything you wanted
to know about any Intel CPU. If you're like me and you only need to know about desktop CPU
prices, you can click here for that list.
Spookie's On The Road
Spookie has updated "The Spookie Side" with an unusual
update. He doesn't talk about Quake or any other game but, he does talk about computer
troubles, movies and love (wtf?). He also talks about moving from LosAngeles to Toledo,
Ohio.
Gobo's Back In Action
Gobo has updated his "Gobo's Gibbage" page with a lengthy
rant about many subjects including the ever popular topic of movies. As always, Gobo fills
his rants with some very interesting conversation.
New ICQ Released
A new version of the ever popular ICQ program has been released. You can download ICQ 99a Beta v.2.22 Build
#1800 here. Hmm, you would think that after all this time, ICQ (I Seek You) would've
been out of beta production long ago.
Need For Speed: High
Stakes Released [Barrysworld]
Electronic Arts announced the release of Need For Speed: High Stakes yesterday. Commonly regarded as one of the
best racing games around, this version includes cool features such as multiplayer on-line
racing.
Methos Site Stuff
Sunday, June 13th, 1999 |
Q3ATest Commands &
Tweaks [Blues]
I guess that we'll have to learn all this stuff sooner or later. Mad Dog CFG has
posted a bigass update to their Quake3Arena
Visual and Performance Tweak Guide. Make sure you squeeze every frame you can out of
that baby.
On a related note, I was talking with Zoid last night and I asked him a question that has been on my mind since the first glquake was released.
Methos: Dave, since you're a map designer (ctf), does it bother you or the other map designers when, after working for ages to get the perfect textures, colors and graphics into a map, that 90% of people use a picmip command or similar to do whatever they can to lessen the graphics and textures to a minimum?
Zoid: Most people leave the graphics as they are. Only some do that.
As much as I respect Zoid for his artistic talent, I think he's a bit "off" with this answer. From the many players I've spoken with over the last three years, 100% of them do everything they can to get less lag and a few more fps when playing. Since Q3A will basically be an on-line only game, I would say that this makes it even more likely that players will do this.
Professional Gaming -
The Future?
Over on sCary's Messageboard, he had a discussion running in regards to the
future of professional gaming. This is of course, games like Q3A and Unreal Tournament as
a spectator sport that would be viewed around the world. One thing that impressed my about
this particular message thread is that all the postings seemed to be of the intelligent
nature and didn't devolve into the usual bitchfest™ that normally occurs.
There were even postings from noted scholars such as Hoony and Spookie. Although they had opposing theories of what would be the best avenue for professional gaming to "take off", they both held valid arguments.
Hoony: What are the proper foundations? Aside from gameplay, it's adding features which make spectating easy and fun. Imagine a browser which you could use to spectate the USA vs EUROPE finals, year 2000. In a largish window you have the game, and in the bottom of the screen you have customisable game statistics. On one side of the screen, you have a chat window with thousands of fans from all over the world. You're watching the match from your comfy lounge sofa on your digital wide-screen TV, using the remote, a microphone and webcam so that you and your buddies, who are in three different continents, can share in the match with a few beers. If you like, you can switch on the live commentary from a team who are positioned in 5 different places on Q4DM6, covering the action as it unfolds.
At the moment, none of the companies making FPS games have this as a goal, as far as I can tell. Not even as a secondary goal. They're just trying to make an "arcade game" for the masses.
Spookie: The other element that is missing from Professional gaming is the "Human Element," and with online gaming I'm really not sure how we're going to get the audience more involved and realize there's another human being controlling what's happening on that screen. We can see Michael Jordan slashing to the basket with his tongue hanging out as he amazes us with a monster dunk. We can see Pete Sampras with a power serve. We can see the look of hope in Tiger Wood's eyes as he smacks that golfball.
With online gaming, we don't get to see LakermaN's excitement as he's being chased by SK-Kane on dm2, we don't see the look of desperation in Kane's eyes for the TGI finale. We don't get to feel the same rush Thresh has on dm3 when he's got Quad and bodies are being splattered all over the place. We can't see the look on his face when he's in "his zone".
I spoke with Hoony last night about this and the one thing we agreed on, was that most Quakers (Timber and Skinner excluded :) don't show very much reaction when they're "in the zone". I came up with a way around this stumbling block. My solution is that all players get an electrical "zap" when they get hit and a bit stronger zap when they get fragged.
The "zap" solution will benefit the game in a few ways, here's the rundown.
The "zap" solution does have it's drawbacks too:
Oh well, those are my thoughts on the future of professional gaming. I think the "zap" would be a nice addition to the on-line gaming world. :)
Stayne's House Of Demos
- The Return
Can you believe all this hoopla over SHOD? Seems as though Stayne has hooked himself up with some bigass
hosting site called GX Networks. Now, I don't know what the fuss is all about. Okay, sure,
you can go and download thousands of demos all decked out in the form of a cool database,
you can read his funny little postings, you can get all the official PGL demos but, that
doesn't always make for a great site. Does he have QuakeBabes™? NOOOO. Does he have a
MethosCam™? NOOOO. Ha, I've even heard a rumor that most of his demos are Q2 demos!
How's that for bad? So, I suggest that you never visit his site. I know that you'll feel tempted, but don't click this link to SHOD.
Note: The above comments are only a joke, no Q2 players were sacrificed in the making of this post.
3DFX Sues Creative Labs The suit asserts claims for copyright infringement and breach of
contract. 3dfx claims that Creative breached a licensing agreement and infringed 3dfx
copyrights by incorporating 3dfx Glide(R) source code into Unified, its recently announced
technology designed to run "Glide-only" software titles on Creative TNT and
TNT2-based graphics accelerator products. The license agreement prohibits the use and
modification of any 3dfx source code to operate with non-3dfx acceleration technology.
3dfx also asserted a claim against Creative Technology for unpaid amounts owed for 3dfx
products. Umm, is it just me or am I mistaken thinking that Creative Labs do not use any of the
Glide SDK to develop their drivers?
Since the world of 3D video cards has become so convoluted lately, I expected to see
something like this a while ago. I just find it odd that it's these two companies.
Quake2 Done Quick
While I'm not a fan of Quake2, I am a huge fan of the Quake Done Quick project. The QDQ
guys have posted a "trial run" of Quake2 Done Quick which finishes the entire
single player Q2 in "hard mode" in under 28 minutes. This should get our
appetites up for the official Q2DQ which they say will be much faster. You can download it
it from the QDQ Home Page.
Wanted - One Decent 1on1
Map For Q3A
Somebody has the same idea that I have. Take a look at these two pictures
(and enlargements) of a Q3A map. Do they look familiar?
Click Each Picture To Enlarge
I doubt that these shots are from id Software but, wouldn't it be nice? Kinda makes you drool, doesn't it?
Methos Site Stuff
Is it just me or is it law that when you delete 40 people on ICQ
that you never talk to, they all contact you the very next day?
Thursday, June 10th, 1999 |
DeathRow Vs Nine - The
Whole Scoop
Since posting the story about the proposed 9vsDR matches that Playground99
has reported, I decided to dig a little deeper to find some more information. I received
another letter from the folks at Playground99 and it turns out that Playground99 is being
run by none other than Ignatu from WDT fame. Here is what Ignatu had to say regarding my
comments.
At this point, the match is 50% likely. Clan 9 has already signed an agreement for participation in the event. This afternoon, we're speaking with Thresh (Dennis) to discuss details of the tournament, so DR certainly knows about it. Since we're discussing details like rules, I guess DR plans to sign. There are other details regarding budgets for the event that still have to be ironed out (what's the non-dangling version of that statement, 'out of which we still have to iron the wrinkles'?)
We do plan to send out full details of the match some time around the 15th of June. I expect it will have a format similar to the August match in Sweden, but as a good American hope for a different outcome :) It's Quake1/QW, with maybe a Q3A exhibition game thrown in.
As for the Playground 99 Web Site being taken down, it was a billing problem at the hosting service. We've corrected it, and expect the site to return today.
-Ignatu
iGames
There are some concrete things with what Ignatu says. One is that Clan 9 have signed "an agreement for participation in the event". I'm not sure what this agreement says, but I will presume that it means they will attend, participate and get paid for being at the tourney. I will go as far as saying that the Clan 9 members that were planning on being part of the Euro Selects at the Rapture99 tourney, will not be attending Rapture99 (because of the date conflict).
Ignatu says the matches are 50% likely. The reason he says this is because DeathRow haven't agreed to play (yet). I talked with Thresh on Wednesday, you can read his comments below.
The Playground99 site is now back up. They don't have much info on the 9 Vs DR matches yet but, I'm sure they will if / when DeathRow agrees to attend.
Is it just me or does it seem strange that they would announce a two clan tourney before both clans have accepted their offer? Also, does it really seem like 10 months since the first 9vsDR matches took place. To me, it seems that the TGI was a month ago and the 9vsDR matches were about two months ago. Wow, time flies when you're on the run.
Thresh Talks About
Playground99
I spoke with Thresh on Wednesday afternoon from his offices in San
Francisco. I asked him a few questions about the Rapture99 and Playground99
tournaments. Both of these tournaments are taking place on the same weekend in July.
There are a couple of quirky things to deal with here. One is that the Rapture99 dates were changed and as far as I know, none of the USA team members were asked prior to the date change, whether this would affect their schedule. The other is that Playground99 has announced that DeathRow will play against Clan 9 without getting confirmation of attendance from DeathRow.
Here is the brief conversation I had with Dennis:
Methos:
Can you tell me what you know about Playground99 saying that Clan 9 and Deathrow are going to have a rematch in July?Thresh:
I heard about the tournament yesterday. Death row hasn't practiced anything since November in PGL. Even if we did, it's still a rather awkward situation, in that Quake is all but dead here in the US... *shrug*Methos:
Have you agreed to play in it? Also, are you still going to be a part of the USA Vs Euro Selects at Rapture?Thresh:
We haven't agreed to anything. If I do participate in one of the events, it'll likely be Playground '99, simply because its location is nearby in San Francisco. (Note: Thresh said later that he is not sure which, if any, he would attend)Methos:
I can understand that. I actually thought you had given up on Quake. Am I wrong?Thresh:
I more or less have... haven't played it for a looong time now. I'm a bit concerned in that since it seems these "events" are popping up at the last minute, and **NONE** of them have given us any warning / confirmation ahead of time that it indeed was going to happen, any team we sport (whether US or Deathrow) will not have ample time to prepare... both Rapture and Playground are both in a month's time.To have not played in months and closer to half a year, to come back and compete in a tournament against a team that has continued to play for the last two years and is likely in the top of their form... is what I'd call a poor tactical decision. However, we may have to go through with it, simply because the tournament organizers have commitments and confirmation from sponsors now... though it is far later than what I would find acceptable.
Methos:
My personal choice is that I'd rather see you play in Rapture as that might bring about a Lakerman / Thresh duel. The world would pay to see a mini tourney of you and Laker on dm2, dm4 and dm6. (/me stops drooling now) :)Thresh:
Hehe, well, unfortunately... the chances of me being in anywhere near top form is highly unlikely given the time frame. It'd make more sense to me for a Q3test exhibition tourney, but that's likely not going to happen either.
There you have it. Words from Thresh himself saying that he only heard about the Playground99 tournament on Tuesday. I'm not sure what's going to happen but, I really want to see this happen. It would be great to have some great Quake matches and new demos to watch before we head off into the slow motion world of Q3A.
Okay, I can't type anymore, I'm going of to dream about seeing Lakerman and Thresh play. :)
Another Open Letter To
id
Note: If you're offended by profanity, please don't read this part.
Our friend Paul2 is back on the web and has his own column that he updates more than when he had his "Quake Mental Hospital" site here on Methos Quake. Paul2 has written his own "Open Letter To id" and as usual, he's at his diplomatic best. Err, okay, that may be exaggerated a bit.
Here's what Paul2 had to say. (remember, it contains profanity)
An Open Letter to ID Software.
Re: Quake3 Test
Dear ID Software
I have recently downloaded Q3test from the internet and would like to let you know MY opinion on it with regards to playability etc.
1: DO AS UR FUCKING TOLD AND SPEED THOSE FUCKING ROCKETS UP! SLOW FUCKING 'SHTUMP'-SOUNDING SLOW NOT-ENOUGH-'UMPH' TWATS THEY ARE!
They are FAR too cunting slow and make the rocket launcher a complete waste of fucking time. The one reason people will say 'don't change the speed'.... Because they are Quake2 CUNTS, and they are scared of getting cunted all over by us. They are attempting to use the "It's not supposed to BE Quake1" argument... FUCK OFF YOU SET OF CUNTS! I FUCKING HATE YOU!
2: MAKE THE SLOW BASTARDS (The rockets, not Quake2 players.) DO ALMOST AS MUCH DAMAGE FOR A DIRECT HIT AS THE TWATTY RAILGUN
This will mean more of the original Quake players will like the game and at the same time make it much more competitive for the Quake1 Vs Quake2 players. Those cunts can have their railgun, we can have our rocket launcher. Thank ya! Fuck all that Alien VS Predator shite, this game should have been QW Vs Quake2. YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE.
3: MAKE THEM SOUND LIKE ROCKETS BEING LAUNCHED!
Because at the moment they sound utterly fucking SHIT.
4: KNOCK THE RAILGUN POWER DOWN...
IT'S WANK! How about 1 shot ALMOST kills a player, so someone with a bit of coordination who can quickly follow it up with a weapon change and a bit of machine gun fire, or anything, is better than some total TOSSER who can just stick their crosshairs on a player and press fire once?
And finally: SORT THAT FUCKING SHOTGUN OUT! IT'S CRAP!
--
Good points....
IT'S FUCKIN' PRETTY INNIT?
Net code movement: Moving around feels lovely and smashing and super etc.
Air control... Not to quake1 standards, but it's 'not supposed to be quake' [(c) The Quake2 Fucknuts] so who cares.
It surprisingly runs 'ok' on my p200mmx.
It's not quite Quake2. (HAS to be a good point!)
That's it.
Love and cuddles etc
Paul2
P.S. Quake2 was utterly FUCKING SHIT! DON'T DO IT AGAIN!
P.P.S. Any comments regarding this letter may be directed to the wall behind you.[ Paul2[m00] ]
Well, that's Paul2 for you. As you can tell, he doesn't care for Quake2 very much. I keep telling him that he has to loosen up and say what's on his mind but, he's always so quiet and reserved. :)
You can visit his page and read his columns here.
Methos Site Stuff
Tuesday, June 8th, 1999 |
MicroSoft Buys Battlecom
Microsoft Corporation
has purchased Canadian independent peripheral company ShadowFactor. For those that don't
know, ShadowFactor makes the ever popular BattleCom which is an in-game communication
program for use when playing Lan or Internet games.
Although no terms were disclosed, I talked to a friend of mine who worked on BattleCom and he said that the amount paid by Microsoft was "unbelievable".
Duke Nukem Forever
Update
I found it interesting that in George Broussard's latest update about DNF,
he commented that they're not using the latest Unreal engine technology. Because of
Unreal's never ending bug fixes and all the problems that still exist, 3D Realms has stopped updating the
engine code and will use v2.20 instead of the latest v2.25f (I think that's the latest).
Here's the word from George.
"We broke off after v220 due to delays in getting the code drops. We just couldn't wait any longer. but considering we've added skeletal/bones based animation, infinitely (and I mean infinitely) more control of moving brushes and tons and tons of other interactive things, I think you should ask whether Unreal is up-to-date with DNF"
Carmack Gets Mailbombed
Id Software head honcho John Carmack has related to us in his latest .plan
update that he has been mailbombed. The mail has been coming from people complaining about
the 250ms wait between jumping in Q3A.
"I have been mailbombed, so I won't be reading email for a while. No more work logs for now."
Although I do agree that the 250ms wait should be removed, I don't agree with some hacker mailbombing John Carmack. What he should do is send a letter on behalf of the whole community... err, hmm, maybe I should forget the whole idea. :)
DeathRow Vs Nine - The
Final Verdict
Playground99
has advertised that there will be a rematch of the Clan 9 Vs DR matches that captured the
entire Quake world. The return matches are to take place "somewhere in North
America" between July 23-25, 1999. For those that don't remember, this is the same
date that 2 of the Clan 9 players will be in Edinburgh at the Rapture99 tournament.
I personally would LOVE to see this happen but, I have my doubts that it will. I spoke with Thresh when I first heard about this a few weeks back and he told me that he hadn't heard anything about it. I also talked to Xenon from Clan 9 who said "nothing like that is gonna happen".
I sent mail to the guys at Playground99 and I received a reply from the webmaster that said "if it says it on the site, it must be true".
I hope they play but, we'll have to wait and see what happens.
Note: As I write this, the Playground99 web site has been taken down. I'm not sure if this is a server problem but, it seems a bit suspicious to me. Where's Perry Mason when you need him?
Mentos Trial Aftermath
I received an incredible response from my latest .plan
update which was a fictitious trial between myself and a UK Quake2 player named
Durzel. The trial stemmed from the amazing hoopla (and silliness) about the "Open
Letter to id". Nearly every response that came in was positive and I guess it goes to
show that even Quake2 players have a sense of humor. :)
The bottom line I was trying to get across with the trial is that it's only a game and we shouldn't take it so seriously. When it gets to the point of personal insults, hundreds of messageboard writings, hundreds of e-mail comments and even personal threats, you know that it's getting a bit too serious. When I think about it now, of the 3 suggestions that were made in the letter, Carmack's "on a whim" decision to add a 250ms jump wait will have just as much impact on the gameplay.
Even Durzel himself sent me an e-mail with his comments on the trial and his agreement that the "open letter" issue should be put to bed.
There was one final thing I'd like to post regarding the original letter. It is a reader response I received about the "open letter". Even though it was a negative response, I was able to get a laugh out of it.
"When are all the little twitch-monkeys gonna realize 90% of the people who play online do not have the reflexes of a 12 year old on crack."
I won't comment on the content of this but, I can't keep from laughing when I read it. :)
New DemoPlay Released
Jason sent along word that he has released a new version of the ever
popular DemoPlay program. One of my favorite Quake addons, it now has demo support for
Quake 3: Arena. You can download
it here.
Site Seeing
Hmm, must be the week to promote sites. I received a few e-mail informing
me that sites are up or have returned. Here's the rundown.
Demolition
My old buddy Owl has informed me that his Demolition demos site is back up and running. When I heard that he lost his host site, I put him in contact with a guy who mailed me. I'm glad they were able to work something out and Demolition has the demos back on-line for all of us to enjoy. Oh, and I'm not mad that he only has a link to sCary's site and not mine. After I slaved for him for years and years. Ahem, I'm okay now. :)Demos by Ichor
Ichor has returned with his demos in tow. This time, he has setup shop in the Challenge-AU demos area so that he can be closer to his hero. :) Make sure you take a look at his new site.Gemini Interview
Received word that EG|Gemini has done another interview (bastard!). You can read all about it on this site.UK PC Games Championship
Mr. Pink sent along word that the UK PC Games Championship is going on as we speak. They are playing many games including Quake2. Make sure you visit their home page and read all about it.Brazilian Quake
Ellen sent along word that there's a new Brazil Quake site called Demoniac. It seems like a nice site with news, demos and polls. It's available in Portuguese and English, but the English is a bit broken. Knowing how most Quakers spell, I won't worry about it too much.
Methos Site Stuff
Okay, I need a couple of things so, I'm calling on people to help me.
If you can help me with either of these requests, please send me e-mail.
Wednesday, June 2nd, 1999 |
John Carmack Changes RL
Speed
John Carmack has updated his .plan with some interesting happenings with
Quake3Arena. Here's the edited scoop.
* defaulted com_maxfps to 100 and archived, automatically disabling during timedemo. It was possible to lag out some client connections on ultra fast systems even with cl_maxpackets set fairly low due to a huge number of individual commands being created
* 250 msec minimum time between landing and jumping again. I hate having players bouncing around all the time...
* new lightning and rail beam drawing
* player torso twitches with pain sounds
* Increased rocket speed to 900 from 800. Decreased direct hit damage from 120 to 100. Splash damage same as 1.05
* allow different servers to respond to a challenge, allowing redirecting server proxies
* removed neck length pivot to prevent view poking into low subdivided curves. Also make aiming when looking up or down more precise.
Some of these changes will dramatically affect the gameplay of Q3A. Let's look at a couple of these.
Rocket Launcher Speed: For a reference point, the Quake 1 rockets traveled at 1000 "speed". The Q2 rockets traveled at 500 speed (increased to 600 in the point release). In Q3A, that was increased to 750 and then 800. Now with the rockets being increased to 900, it will 1.8 times faster than a Q2 rocket and 90% as fast as the Quake RL. This should make for some interesting gameplay.
As a side note, please don't think that I am under the impression that the "Open Letter" helped change the RL speed. The letter may have had a little to do with it but, the main reason it was changed was because Carmack thinks that a 300ms ping and slow rockets makes it too hard to hit anything on the big levels in Q3A. I would think that this was probably a lesson learned from Q2.
250ms Jumping Delay: This one is a curious one. Carmack has done it because he doesn't like players that are always jumping. On one hand, I agree with Carmack as watching somebody and listening to Q2 players go "huumf, huumf, huumf, huumf, huumf" for an entire match gets quite annoying. On the other hand, this will have a great affect on gameplay. The "bunny hop" method of playing has become quite popular in Q2 and QW so, a lot of players will have to change their style.
Redirected Server Proxies: Not sure if it's meant to be this way but, from the way it was explained to me, one of the advantages of this is that we may be able to get "real" QuakeTV from this feature as opposed to 100 people connecting to a single proxy to watch a match.
You can check out his entire .plan by clicking on the "Quakefinger" link on the left page.
Brian Hook's
Destination?
Brian Hook hasn't officially announced his new job location since he told
us that he is leaving id Software. The two most talked about destinations have been
EverQuest and Microsoft. The "official" announcement is suppose to be made on
Friday. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, June 2nd, 1999 |
Brian Hook Leaves id
In what could only be considered bad timing for id Software, Brian Hook
has decided to leave id and move on to other ventures. Here's Brian Hook's full .plan
update.
Egads, how rumors fly so quickly and brazenly. And how scary that they are often so close to the truth and yet so far. :-)
To make a long story short, I'm leaving id.
My work at id has been a pivotal and important part of my life. I've learned a lot about programming, team work, and dealing with being in a position of high visibility. Even better, I've made some really good friends. The owners here have given me a great opportunity to advance myself both professionally and personally and they've rewarded me far better than expected in the process. This is a once in a lifetime gig, and will mark one of the most significant periods in my life.
For all these things and more I am hugely appreciative to Kevin, John, and Adrian. I cannot emphasize enough what kind of a privilege and learning experience it has been working here and, specifically, working with John. The type of talent, genius, and hard work he has demonstrated is the kind of thing you see once in a generation, and I feel privileged to have been able to work with someone of his caliber.
The team here consists of some of the most talented people I have ever worked with, and it was one hell of a ride working with so many people that simply will not accept anything but the best from you or them. These guys have done a stellar job with Quake2 and Quake3 -- which will OWN the first person deathmatch market -- and going forward, I expect even bigger and better things from this crew.
And of course -- the fans. You guys and gals rock. I may have had my disagreements with some of you in the past, but most of all, if you're flaming at me, it's because you care, and I'd much rather have you folks argue with me than not give a damn. Crap, I'm getting all teary eyed and shit, so instead of turning this into some James Cameron acceptance speech, let me wrap up.
I will probably remain here another week or two cleaning up loose odds and ends, getting things transferred over cleanly, and saying my goodbyes. For business stuff, if you are an IHV your interim point of contact will be Graeme (zaphod@idsoftware.com). I expect that I will continue to receive e-mail here for a bit, so I will start forwarding relevant e-mails to the appropriate parties.
There is no sinister reason for my departure, it's actually an age old story: I got an offer from another company that, quite simply, I could not refuse. Later this week a press release will be issued announcing my new position, and I'm sure some of you will not be surprised when you see where I've ended up. :-)
Signing off,
Brian Hook
When you think of it, that's pretty big news. I wish both Brian Hook and id Software good luck with things for the future.