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Previous Spookie Side Return To Methos Quake

Spookie Lives
Thanks to all you people who've been bugging me to update, I just turned 33 yrs. old on November 17th and realized it was definitely time for an update to the Spooky Side so here goes.

Sex, Lies & Quake
I'll start by tellin ya'll what I been up too of late. Basically, I've been playing more Quake than ever before. I've been hanging out on Clan Arena servers and having a good time. I've also been dm'ing a li'l bit though not as much as I'd like. It seems these days the busiest Quake servers here in the USA are Clan Arena servers. I've had some good laughs playing Quake which goes to show that the game is still loads of fun. Of course it's the human element that ultimately makes it so like this.

Why is it when someone isn't playing well or the other is playing very well the words Raped, Gay & Suck are used? LOL It's very funny when you think about how some Quakers associate their game performance with these acts or states of sexuality. I'll go out on a limb and say that the majority of these people are not as sexually active as they'd like to be.  :(

Just the other day I was playing Clan Arena and was told, in so many words, that I "Sucked" and couldn't play.  So I asked this guy for a 1on1 game or duel. His reply was, "DM is Gay."  Since when did DeathMatch 1on1 become Gay? RFLOL Lies! If DM is Gay then id Software is gonna lose a lot of money with q3Arena which is almost entirely based on DeathMatch. I hope this fellow was in his early teens cause, if he was an Old Timer like me he's got some serious catching up to do!

New Friends and Faces
The Quake community is still rich with talent and good people. I had the opportunity to meet a few of these people online and even offline.

zZJohnZz
I met zZJohnZz on a Clanring server and we started to blab about strategies & techniques of dm. We're both fans of the Euro's style of play. What I like most about zZJohnZz is his maturity and his willingness to learn the game and help others learn it too. He's also got a great sense of humor which is something lacking from many Quakers out there. It's easy to laugh at someone else but, can you laugh at yourself for a change? I encourage all serious Quakers to take a visit to zZJohnZz's Page as he's got everything from demos to custom maps for ya. Rumor has it, that he even has a profile / qw demo of "Yours Truly" on his page! Told you he had a great sense of humor.  :)

MOP|Manowar
I've also been spending more time on IRC than ever before and by so doing I've made some good friends in Clan MOP or Masters of Pummeling. The first MOP guy I met was MOP|Oscar, then MOP|Swift1, both of whom are good players and nice guyz. I met MOP|Manowar a bit later by playing a li'l CRPG he had created from the ground up called Dransik. As it turns out, Manowar is an Old School Quake player who has played with the likes of sCary, Kornelia & XP-Kiljoy in some serious competition. When me and my girlfriend JeZeBeL heard he was coming over to Ohio from Texas to visit some of the other MOP's, we invited him over to our place as well. He and I did some Matador Runes & Clan Arena together he also showed me a thing or two on dm4. :)  Manowar has worked for some major gaming companies and if you go take a look at his game Dransik you'll soon figure out why!

B3nj1 a.k.a. Don
Benji is another guy who has alot of love for the game of quake and is also a very mature individual with a good sense of humor. Benji is a dm2 lover and if you underestimate this guy you'll be running around with two chances of beating him. Slim & None. You can check out Benji's Old Skull Quake Page for demos & more Quake resources. I believe he has a Frogbot contest going on too so hurry! Also, if you're into Boxing this guy is an Almanac of  "Who's Who in Boxing" and can even out talk an answering machine.  :)

You can visit or hang out with all of us at irc.enterthegame.com, #QWPlayers, #Clan_Mop & #XP. If you're lucky enough you might even catch the legendary Methos online  ;)


Q3Arena Redone Quicker!
Heh, I wish. Yes, as you all know the new test demo of q3arena is out and yes it's better than the last version except for the awful lag on voodoo3 cards. I'm happy we finally got some bots to play with, me being the q3 newbie I'm in no rush to go online to get smacked. The Lightning Gun has been fixed, it's more responsive and not quite as powerful. The Rocket Launcher feels like it has a li'l more Pizzaz! I really love the graphics and as soon as the probs with voodoo cards are fixed it'll be a real treat to play. But, for now can you say "CPU Lag!!?" I haven't been able to beat the darn bots in Nightmare mode, as I've worked my way up the tier to them. Of course the Fatality's & Hakeem's of the world have already laid down the smack. The Bots play a lot like the Omicron bots but, at Nightmare mode with Reaper "like" aim. Reaper aim with Omicron smarts not a bad combo if you ask me.   :)

Wheel of Time
If anything keeps me from playing much Q3 it's gonna be QW & Legend's Wheel of Time game. Now, I've heard a lot of negative comments about this game by certain Quake players. Well guys, Wheel of Time isn't an FPS game, nor is it a CRPG but it's something in-between and I personally find that a unique gaming experience. In some ways I feel as though I'm playing a Medievil version of Half-Life because I think the game truly shines in Single Player mode. The graphics are amazing! Unfortunately like with the new Q3 the CPU lag, monsters rear their ugly head again, but I m playing with all graphics cranked up on my Celeron 500 /v3/ 64ram puter. I'm probably a bit biased toward this game because I'm very much a fan of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books but I don't think you have to be a fan of the book series to be able to appreciate this game for what it is.  Neat.

The Few, The Proud, The Lady Quake Marines
LQMS-JeZeBeL is looking for some fellow Ladies interested in being Marines. LQMS-Caitlin, LQMS-Smile, LQMS-Coronita & LQMS-Vasquez want you! So, if you're tough enough and think you've got what it takes then click your browser here (http://lqms.quakemarines.com/). Those of male gender need not apply but if you've got a sister or girlfriend who you think would be a good candidate, then have her sign up for Basic Training now! Besides playing q3, JeZeBeL & Caitlin tell me they'll possibly be playing much Diablo2 when that is out so stay tuned.

Again, I'd like to thank all you people who've been tellin me to update, thanks for reading & peace  :)

SpookymaN_of_XP

Lakerman Lives
I thought one of the two biggest names absent from the recent Rapture99 clanwar/duel tourney was LakermaN. With so many Quake and Quake2 players having moved on to q3test I figured perhaps LakermaN had too. Not so because, here was the one and only LakermaN along with his clan, Swedish Chefs quaking it out with clan Imperial B-Hunters.

I spied LakermaN via Gamespy and arrived at the QW server (somewhere in Europe) along with my clanmate XP-WhyBee just after they had finished playing their 4 on 4 match at e1m2 (crazy Euro's :). I observed the next match which was played at dm3, THE ABANDONED BASE (there ya go!). There were some connection problems for clan [iBh] in spite of that the game was fairly even for both clans. Neither clan seemed to really lock down the level however, LakermaN seemed to always be on top with the highest frag total.

After the matches were over and all seriousness was set aside a couple of the [iHb] guyz asked LakermaN and his clanmate Yo for a 2on2 match at dm6. Lakes & Yo proceeded to lock down dm6 very well and both players had some amazing frags. I can only describe LakermaN's aim, reaction time and stealth as being quite frightening. For the record, my own eyes have revealed to me that LakermaN is still playing QW and I believe he is in top form.

You have more than just my word on this. I have secured a "cl_chasecam 1" demo from Lake's pov. I must warn you however that cl_chasecam 1 demos suck (almost as bad as regular chasecam demos) and if you do decide to download this demo be forewarned.

Now if you're a Di3hard (sup R3v-Di3Hard, congrats on the q3test ownage :) Quake demo watching mofo like me then you'll probably enjoy seeing this talented guy in action. Just remember the li'l yellow guy bouncing in front of your screen half the time is none other than the legendary LakermaN_of_SC.

Tale of a Different Swedish Fellow
Remember that Swedish guy who went by the quake name Xenon? That's right, the guy from Clan9 who helped Sweden wrench Quake bragging rights away from our beloved USA by defeating Deathrow. The same guy who slept late and missed his calling at the TGI. You know him well and you should because this time around he woke up on time for his Q3 matches Vs [cRc]Cyanide. This was a best of 3 matches but, that wouldn't be necessary as Xenon demonstrated total control in these demos on "The Proving Grounds" and "q3test1". Where there was armor Xenon was there. Where there was health Xenon was there. Where there were frags Xenon was there.

My personal observation is that Xenon is gearing himself up for q3. When I watch someone as skilled as Xenon use many of the sharp skills & tactics he developed playing Quake it brings a smile to my face. Xenon also shows how powerful the Q3 shaft can really be in the right hands.  Perhaps Xenon and Di3hard will meet someday for a grand q3 finale? Only time will tell.

Note on playing q3test demos: Download and install this file to your (v1.08) C:\q3test then be sure to rename demoq3 to baseq3 and create a folder within your baseq3 called demos and unzip the demos there (not required if you use Demoplay or QuakeStarter). Then start up q3test and type demo demoname at the console.

ShakesQGz Shakes Tokay's Towers
I've got a cool li'l demo here for all you people who still have Q2 on your hd. Methos informed me that I'm 1 of 2 people here in the USA who still has Q2 installed. I have no way of knowing who this other person is so for now I'll call him/her Willy Wonka. Hey Willy Wonka, check this Q2 demo out because it's quite shocking. Well it shocked me because I haven't seen too many Q2 demos that have impressed me aside from Thresh Vs Immortal at the PGL finals.

This is a match game from the Female Frag Fest so, you have the women slapping it up and throwing down. In one corner you have Sinny (who would own me at q2 any ol' day) and in the other you have Shakes from Clan Quake GirlZ. Now Willy Wonka, you're wondering why I selected this demo cause it's one sided right? Sometimes an exhibition of skill and talent is just that, one sided.

When I watched this demo I had memories of watching Reptile shut down DM6 in much the same way Sujoy shut down DM4 back in the old days of quake. Those are some pretty GREAT players I'm talking about and who is ShakesQGz right? If I may, Shakes shuts down and controls this level in a very familiar fashion that constitutes GREAT play in my opinion. She controls the armor and the 100 health, she also has demonstrates very keen level knowledge. Couple that, together with amazing aim and you'll see what I mean. Tokay's Towers doesn't look so foreign to me after watching ShakesQGz shake it up. It actually looks a li'l bit like a larger version of DM4  :)

Now download the demo Willy Wonka. ..Willy you still there? WILLY WONKA!! ..ahem  :|

Names, Names, Sign This ..Sign That!
When I first started playing Quake I used to wonder how people would come up with them cool-funny-looking names for quake. Then sometime later I joined clan POSTAL and a clanmate made my Jarlaxle-POST funname. It was very leet but then I formatted and lost my cool name.  Fortunately a lady Quaker known as Supes was there to rescue me and make me another funname. she even gave me the proggy she used.  I thought it was neato until all these other games started coming out and suddenly my old li'l proggy wasn't as useful.

Enter the "Game Name Builder" over at Planet Quake. A real nifty thingy for making your Quake & Q3 names with support for a few other games too. What a concept, way cool so go get it.

Spotlight That Homepage
JayDez hails from England and is in Clan Central Beating. He's a sharp Quaker with some nifty skills. He has some good stuff over at his own personal page called Corn Bits. It's a good resource for Quake World players who might be lacking this or that. So, be sure to stop by and look around.  Say hi to Jay too while you're there.

In closing I'd like to thank [fs]Krazy of the Netherlands who took the time to help me with my QW config. A very skilled QW player but more importantly a nice human being.

Good Night Peoples and since I'm feeling a li'l bit nostalgic I'm gonna close like in da old days.

Jarlaxle-POST

Jesus Christ a No-show at Rapture99?
Wait a minute, this was a quake tourney right? Ahhh, I got confused, sorry.  That's right, this tourney was a gathering of (some, lest I be spammed round the world by peeps telling me they got better players in Tibet :) the greatest Quake players since DeathRow & Clan9 met. It was the Euro-Selects Vs North American. It was also the 4Nations with England Vs Ireland, who themselves had an amazing set of final matches that were decided by 1 frag over the heavily favored English. Must be that "Luck of the Irish" thing happening. The Rapture event (which was held in Scotland) also featured an amazing 1on 1 tourney. By now all this stuffage is old news about who played and who won and who coulda' been a contender so allow me to post my own personal insights on these events as I seen them (as only I could :p).

The event was supposed to originally feature Europe's best Vs the USA's best but somehow that didn't quite happen cause here in the USA we only have two players that were Leet enough to compete (go figure?). The amazing Batch & Gemini along with the incredible talents of Pure &
Genocide would represent our USA team which would evolve into Team North America (which many of the UK's never seemed to understand). Let's not forget our very own Cataklysque too, who acted as team-captain and put out a lot of energy Into this to see that we were properly represented. Somehow, the USA wasn't able to raise a full squad. Did I care? Not really because there aren't many players in the USA better than those two Canucks as I'm sure the reverse is true also. Unfortunately the current Quake/QW scene here in the USA is no where near as alive as in the UK & Europe. Most QW servers are empty as many have moved onto Quake2 & especially Quake3 test. That being said, it's very tough to find a good team match or pick up game. It's a li'l bit easier to find a duel. Under these conditions it's not very easy to get ready for a big clan war or duel so with that in mind let's move on.

Now I thought Team North America had a good shot at going the distance in this Rapture Tourney if all the matches would be played on dm3 (which they were). Ownage at dm3 for Canucks and Yanks (cough, that what they call us? LOL) is much like riding a bicycle, it's something you never really forget. Noticeably absent from team the Euro-Selects would be LakermaN & Xenon. It's no small thing when these gents can't show up and play for you. That's equivalent to the NA squad not having Thresh & B2. Now Methos was kind enough to set up a proxy server to the event where I bumped into Hoony and chatted a bit with him, also I met a fellow named Lice who helped me log onto the friggin proxy. Ultimately I was forced to join up on the Barrysworld proxy which was a much more stable connect. From there I observed bits and pieces of the games, never really knowing if this was the last game or not. FPSgamers & QuakeNation were very helpful but I think until someone figures out how to show these matches via Real Player or something the general public is still left out.

Early on it seemed as though team NA was gonna get swept or something, it was quite frightening because the quake talent for team EU was quite visible and in your face. However our Canucks and Yanks made a good showing and the entire event was decided by one game in favor of team EU. Having seen Pure play before it seemed to me that he was a bit rusty or out of quake shape but after awhile his game came back and he was probably the most amazing player to watch in the tourney. Not bad for a 15 year old, eh?  Kane was just monstrous all the way around whether he was playing team matches or dueling.

I knew when Kane came up short to LakermaN at the TGI event that he was gonna be very hungry at this next tourney. Undoubtedly true, as he slammed his way through his duels and took the coveted Elite 1on1 Tourney away from a very capable Timber. I'd like to give out a special word of thanks to Cataklysque the only player from NA to compete in the duel tourney, nice job man.  ;)

All in all I think the Tourney was a GREAT success and it ultimately showed that Quake is not dead but still evolving. The players who dominated the game a year or two back would be hard-pressed to do so again because everyone is getting better and still learning new tricks.
I think what could be done better next time would be to see that the players are better taken care of. It's not cool when you have 15 year olds (Pure) waiting in the airport 6 hours in a foreign country. You've got to take good care of your guests after all you are their host and it will reflect in a negative way on you and your country if you don't. Also, someone has to be able to put these matches up on RealPlayer or QuickTime video. Watching through a proxy and not knowing what is really going on sucks.

In closing, I can say is this, Quake is not dead. Far from it, so go ahead and play Quake2 & Quake3 but don't forget about dm2, dm3, dm4 and dm6 because along these dark, seemingly abandoned corridors lurk some of the greatest talent ever seen. Beware.

Hoony Says a Mouthful
I mentioned to Hoony what an incredible li'l write up he had about the Elite 1on1 Duel finals awhile back. I don't want anyone out there to miss his li'l article so go read it NOW! The article is entitled "Kane Vs Timber," it's short and sweet. Be sure to scroll down to "Tue 27 Jul 17:46:34 1999 - Hoony" Here is a brief excerpt:

"Another thing I noticed with these games is the amazing demonstrations of control made possible by instant weapons switch. The rocket/ shaft combinations in DM4 undoubtedly contribute towards making these games so action-packed, but we see the same stuff in DM6. Many of these sort of shots are the type which elicit a "gasp" from the audience, particularly when they are seamlessly inter-woven with fluid movement and brilliant tactics. The sum of all this becomes greater than the sum of the parts."

Cry Havoc! Cry Railgun!
Remember way back when? Way back when I was crying for a Railgun mod for Quake. Ya' know the 2nd coolest thing about q2, the 1st being the q2 Girl ;). Well it doesn't look as though we'll be getting a q2 Girl mod for Quake however we now have a Railgun thanks to GoldBug! All programmers and non-programmers alike Hail GoldBug! So get your arse over here and download the Railgun for Quake (1). It sounds nice and works pretty good too. It's missing the particle beam display when you fire and it also fires instantly like the Boomstick which could imbalance things a bit. It's center of aim seems a li'l bit off to the right or maybe it's just my
Quake crosshair. You be the judge and try it out for yourselves. Big thanks to GoldBug for doin it!  ;)

JeZeBeL & Spookie Take Route 66
Nah, we weren't on route 66 all the way to Ohio from LA but we did drive on it at times. JeZeBeL has put together a spiffy li'l bunch of pics of us and our sojourn. Have a look here and whatever you do, make sure you visit and see the Grand Canyon at least once in your life. Pictures just don't do it justice.

Thanks for that li'l page, JeZeBeL
::kishes::

I got an email from John that made my day. No, not John Carmack or John 3:16 but, the other John. Thanks Man, Carpenter's Escape from NY OWNZ!

Settled In, Buckeye Style
One Month and 2,400 miles later here I find myself in Toledo Ohio. I thought I gave up Sunny California for Snowy Ohio, not so cause it's been hotter than hell over here. Snowy Toledo later on in the Winter? Prolly so. :O

Ok, let's talk..

Kwake Choo Duhn Kwick
A friend of mine (Lunatic) has been nudging me to install q2 onto my puter so we could go do some fraggin together (him fraggin me no doubt) so I finally grabbed JeZeBeL's q2 cd (she never uses it :p) and plopped it into my cd-rom and  about 20 min & 400 megabytes later I got q2. whoopee ahem.. So I figure why not check out this q2dq2 demo that Methos has been blabbin about. We've all seen what these guyz did with Quake, nothing short of amazing! Rocket & grenade jumps out of this world applied with a cunning & stealth not seen since Burpy put on a R3volution suit. I must say I wasn't in the least bit dissapointed either, only problem I had is that I never played q2 single player all the way through and since they basically dispatch of the bosses (and evade) so quickly I was left a bit shell-shocked. Quake2 Done Quick Too is a must see.

Fantastic job out too:
[+] RZA
Mattias
NancyBoy
Toxy
Mr-J[!!]
Optic
Ajare
Hatti
and Anthony

Think they'll ever do an Unreal, Half-Life or Blood2 speed run?  :)

What CPU Do I Choose For My FPS Speed Run?
It used to be that you could always bank your money on a Intel Pentium class processor and you were set. But now AMD enters the forray and to complicate matters they do it growling with their pearly-whites barred. You think oh yeah AMD, the 3DNOW! people with their K6-II. *Laf* Well I've been doin some reading over at the Firing Squad and Kenn Hwang has an helluva write-up about this stuff. I call it stuff cause it tends to get a wee bit too technical for yours truly however I get the gist. Ya' see AMD isn't just trying to keep up with Intel this time around.. they're leap-froggin'em! Ribbet.

Take a look at this page here. If those fps marks tell the truth it looks as though Intel is about to get kicked to the curb Kingpin style, Baby. However in all the excitement and right before AMD's victory celebration this happens. WTF? I dunno I just read & link this stuff however I imagine Intel has got something planned. Grab your soda & popcorn and enjoy the cpu battle. Hopefully us consumers will benifit from this scuffle of titans.

Kitty1.standford.edu Gets It's Due
After finally getting Win98se onto my puter with no problems (a clean install fixed earlier probs, so much for upgrading the OS :p) I installed quake and for old times sake and thought I'd take a walk back in time to 171.64.65.70 or Kitty1. The server was down or not responding and I was a li'l bit heartbroke. It was on that server where I (as Jarlaxle) spent so much of my earliest quake moments. What was Strafe & +Mlook and what were all those strange maps called I didn't know and it was so much fun learning about it all.  I got to play with (get fragged by) and watch some of the great early day quake players like Reptile, Little Dragon, B2, Unholy, Kiljoy, Xris and Thresh to name a few. I met some of my best friends on that server too, like Methos & VainDame. The server always showed up on my gamespy as C9 Mothership and it wasn't until later on that I realized who these guyz from C9 or Clan9 were. Not only were they kick-arse players but they were also the Server Admins and they kept the Kitty servers online almost all the time. At anytime in the day or night one could simply log onto 171.64.65.70 port 26666 and engage in pick up team games or 1 on 1 duel matches. Kitty1 was THE place for west side clan wars and maybe the greatest clanring server of all.

As kind of a tribute to the old days of Quake Lowtek over at Planetquake did some questions & answers with Lemurboy & Ahnuld of KittyStanford.  It's a good read about the history of perhaps the best quake server ever and it'll even make ya chuckle here and there.

Thanks to XP-Squishy for tellin' me about the article


Before I close I'd like to wish a get well to our friend Hoony, down under in the land of Challenge AU

I'm off to see what this cable modem can do. till next time... keep my milk & cookies warm

Stupid Is As Stupid Does, Sir
Ever have a li'l prob with an interrupt setting in yer puter? Ever get some friendly advice on how to remedy that? Ever wish you had just let the li'l interrupt problem be? Well there is a happy ending to this li'l tale I'm about to spin on you so sit back and put down yer X-Men comics whilst I tell it.

Once upon a time all was well in Spooksville until Spookie right clicked on "My computer" and peered into "Device Manager"

- insert Imperial Death March Theme here -

Lo' and behold what is that.. why it's a tiny yellow exclamation mark on my "Creative SB Live! SB16 Emulation" device. WTF?? >:| So my SB16 and my Creative Labs Modem Blaster are both fighting over Interrupt 5. What's the big deal, she's only a 5 right?

I know what I'll do.. I'll just tell either my SB16 or Modem Blaster to find another Interrupt to hang with. Not gonna happen tho cause all the other Interrupt Chics have dates = no available Interrupts. Ack, I'm stuck, I'm not all into this puter stuff I just want my Quake to have sound! I need someone with lot's of "Know how," yet someone who's very cool and won't make me feel like a chimp.

So I set my Banana down and proceed to ICQ one of my most trusted friends, a very wise and trusted Sage. The wise old Sage does his best to help me via NetMeeting only by this time I've deleted some components of SBLive and can't even communicate with him over the microphone. Finally he suggests, "Hrmmm you need to free up some Interrupts.. are you using a serial mouse or any other serial devices?"

"um.. no Sir," I reply.

"You must go to the Castle Bios and Free up Princess Serial then you will find more free Interrupts.. Here take my Warhorse Del." The Wise o' Sage instructs.

How kind and the Sage has definitely given me some new hope here. So I go in and disable them pesky no good for nothing serial ports. Obviously they're no good for nothing if the Sage instructed me on disabling them.. pffft, besides I use a ps2 mouse with ps2 mouserate. :p

Whoo hooo... my problem has been solved! Only now I can't connect to the Internet. FN win95 keeps telling me the modem is not installed or is not working properly. WTF? OMG now my cd-rom is being disabled too! WTF? There must be a conflict with my Secondary IDE controller and my modem.. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRGGGGG!!!

I'll bet it's the darn A-Bit Motherboard or maybe even my 400mhz Celeron.. I knew I shouldn't have overclocked it to 500mhz! :|

My Sage was long gone and I couldn't get my system working properly.. only one thing left to do right? After I take another bite outa' this Banana I'm gonna format C:. Format completed reinstalling win95.. no problems until I plug in that pesky ISA Modem. WTF Secondary IDE controller out again!!! :~(

I'll format again.. and again and AGAIN until my system works properly. By now I'm offline for a few days and even my Sage cannot help me. Meanwhile my Monitor finally gives so I go out and buy a new one.. and I upgrade my cd-rom from a x6 to a x48 speed.

Still no luck.. Device Manager is still showing me conflicts with my Secondary IDE Controller and any other PCI or ISA card I add to my System.

Despair begins to set in.. and I feel myself all alone in Death Valley.. Wait! My puter buddy and Mentor the great Buzard resides here in the desert.

After trying a few things with Buzard on the phone it hits me. HOW IS MY MODEM SUPPOSE TO WORK IF BOTH COM PORTS ARE DISABLED?

I'm out of Bananas and maybe it's a good thing. Things are up and running in no time as I remember that a Com Port is needed for an Internal modem. I also recall something about Com Port 1 & 3 being linked as are Com Port 2 & 4.

To sum it all up I've upgraded my HardDrive (Not related to this last saga), Cd-Rom Drive and Monitor. I'm just happy as hell that my system is back to being functional and my Quake & GL cfg is right on! ;)

Gobo, I'm gonna stay away from DVD's for now I've still got this strange craving for Banana's and tall trees.

The Big Move
Ack! I'm leaving Los Angeles. I'm being dragged across the US of A by a wonderful Lady Quake Marine known as LQMS-JeZeBeL. She's one of the most amazing persons I've ever met. She's even been to Spooksville and back and has lived to tell the tale. Now we're heading to Toledo, Ohio, a town with all the seasons. She's not shoveling snow by herself this winter. I promised her that last winter. No sireee, me and her dog Baron, will be inside the house cheering her on! :)

I'm so very happy and fortunate to have met a woman as terrific as herself. We met about 2 years ago on dm4. Heh, it was online and at the time I was Jarlaxle (Jarlaxle-POST) and she was Vixen. At the time she had a boyfriend and I was busy shaggin' it up at Sin-A-Matic and of course, flirting with the QGirlZ online. :p~ Somehow events landed her and I together and I'm just so happy to have met such a fantastic person. Online or offline you're wonderful, Sweetheart.

::Kishes::

We embark on our sojourn Wednesday afternoon, the Stang has a hitch, we have a trailer and all my junky comic and fantasy books are in place. This feels like the beginning of something wonderful that you only see the Griswalds do in the Movies. :)

I'm very fortunate and hope that each and everyone of you out there meet someone just as wonderful.

Austin Is The Phantom Menace!
Well not exactly, but JeZeBeL and I did get a chance to see both movies here in LA and I just wanted to share some of my own thoughts regarding these very good films.

Phantom Menace: By now I think we're all in agreed that Darth Maul must have been the Phantom Menace because of how short his screen time was in this most recent addition to the Star Wars lore. What I don't understand is how does George Lucas continue to dis our favorite bad guyz? He did it with Boba Fett.. he ended up as a burp for the Sarlac. And now Darth Maul, who demonstrated incredible acrobatics and perhaps fighting prowess unmatched. What happens to him? Obi Wan Kenobi does a routine somersault that freezes Darth Maul in his tracks, Why didn't Lucas just have Maul say, "OMG, I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE.. HOW'D YOU DO IT?? I WORSHIP YOU OBI WAN!"

Regardless tho, Maul single-handedly took on both Jedi and did a GREAT Job. I hope we see him cloned and back for the next Star Wars installment. Maybe Less Jar Jar Binks screen time and more Darth Maul?

Something else that kinda' bothered me about these Jedi. I don't remember seeing Luke blocking Laser Blasts and sending them back to their sender? That kinda' Jedi defense was a bit um.. unrealistic if such a thing is possible in the Star Wars tale? I have no problem understanding a Jedi who's quick enough to deflect blasts aimed at him or her but, blocking those blasts and sending them back to their attacker?? ok :|

Maybe I'm just getting a bit old here and losing my ability to suspend disbelief.. eh? Overall I really did enjoy the Phantom Menace even though at times it did have a TV Sitcom feel to it. Lucas clone Darth Maul and bring him back for the next movie!

It's like I told JeZeBeL the other night in my sleep, "Soon we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi, soon we will have our revenge."

What about Austin Powers? OMG, I know all you young men our there are modeling yourselves after him.. hell I am and why not? The guy is just simply studly! My only problem is I can't seem to grow any chest hair. :| But in all other areas I'm Shagadelic Baby, Switched on and I'm putting my putting my right foot forward to do the bad thing.. er, was that what he said? :p

I really thought I had seen it all though until Dr Evil and Mini-Me started rappin' I really busted up in a large way. The references to that large flying object in the sky were cool too. I didn't think Fat Bastard was to cool though. Imagine if you had a fat bastard uncle who you took to see the movie? Man I'd be apologizing my arse off afterwards :O

It's late here and I'm moving outa' LA tomorrow so I'm gonna cut to the chase here, IF YOU PAY TO SEE ONLY ONE MOVIE THIS YEAR SEE THE "PHANTOM MENACE" BUT, BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE THEATRE SNEAK IN FOR FREE TO SEE "THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME."

My alter ego sLeEpHoLiO is callin me...

Mr. Sandman.. send me a dream.. send me the cutest that I've ever seen..

sPoOkHoLiO's 10 Questions with a Quake Monster
I've got a treat for all of you. It's a surprise interview with Canada's Alex Morse better known as Monster of clan Evil Geniuses. Oops no webpage for clan EG ..hrmm word around seems to be that EG|Mayhem is is working on that.:) EG|Monster is currently finishing up highschool. His hobbies include, but are not limited to, girls (he's 17 for all you ladies out there) and hanging out with his friends. In the meantime you can drop by irc.enterthegame.com channel #EG to hang with this leet group of gamers.

XP-Spookie: How long have you been online and what are some of your earliest online gaming memories?

EG|Monster: I've been online about 3 years. The first game I ever played online was actually quake, the original shareware version.  I remember downloading it the first day it came out.  It was exciting cause I was a huge doom fan. I wasn't disappointed either, I was addicted the first time I played it.

XP-Spookie: What set Quake apart from the rest of the online gaming experience? What is it about the game that even today makes it so competitive and fun to play?

EG|Monster: I think that Quake was a game that really made itself. Good gameplay and the ability to play against people around the world at any given time really made Quake the first really competitive game I've played. I think it's how a lot of people feel that keeps the game alive. People still want to be able to say, "I'm the best" so they continue to try to prove that they are.

The game isn't truly outdated technologically, at least not yet, either. That helps, it makes the game still seem appealing to newbies who also want to "be the best". These newbies probably get a similar feeling I did when I first started playing the game. It keeps the game alive, at least
somewhat.

XP-Spookie: I've always been impressed with your good sportsmanship, while others were busy fighting or bickering amongst one another you were usually quite passive except in your desire to get the next pick-up game going. How important is a good attitude to a player's team/clan and individual success?

EG|Monster: It's hard to have a good game when you're pissed off, at least most of the time. So I'd say that keeping yourself in a good mood is what really makes or breaks your game. Usually poor sportsmanship results in verbal fights which end up leaving both players in pissy moods. Sometimes people get really competitive though and they play better after a clash of egos. I'd have to say it totally depends on the person.

XP-Spookie: Back in the old NetQuake days myself and others were always amazed at how well you played the game with a 300+ ping. What are some of the things you do to improve your skills? What advice would you give to a Quake novice looking to better his or her game?

EG|Monster: I really just played a lot. I guess I probably have some natural talent too, which always helps. Experience is key though, I played doom previously with the mouse so that gave me an edge at the start that I have maintained with practice. I also keep my cool in intense fights and just in general. You play better and make less rash decisions when you don't let the pressure get to you. Also get comfortable with your cfg (duh). :p

XP-Spookie: When I think about Clan EG I think of Clans like GIB, LGD, DR, U4, POST and XP.. well the list is considerable but so is/was the talent. What does it mean to you to be associated with such an elite group of gamers? What are some of your fondest memories and aspiring hopes for the future with clan EG?

EG|Monster: I think putting the smack down on wd (wicked demise) in genocide2 was really a defining moment in the clan. The match was really hyped up, most of the easties (east coast players) thought wd would win, all the \x/ (west side players) thought we would win. When we won (by a huge margin) people in qw knew we were a very talented team. We have had a lot of great games though, in general we haven't lost when we've had our starters playing in matches. It's an accomplishment that we're proud of, maybe too proud sometimes :P

XP-Spookie: We had a conversation a few weeks back regarding the Rapture99 and your efforts in getting together a group of Canada's best for this event. Tell us a little bit about who these players are, why you've chosen them and how they might fare against the likes of a possible USA team spearheaded by D11-Thresh or an All Star Swedish contingent lead by LakermaN?

EG|Monster: Well there's me, and I know I can compete with all the players in the tournament because I have in the past. There's genocide who used to live up here with me, we played a lot of lan and I know he is a great team player and that we are very close in skill.  He is a strong player with a lot of experience. Then there's Pure, he has slick aim and he knows how to get the job done, fast and efficiently. Definitely a guy to be feared :) Diehard is another guy with a lot of experience, he plays well under pressure and has good aim. You just have to watch his demos to see :P   Last but not least, Cujo. Not many have heard of him, but he's been playing a long time. He plays a lot like Pure, but he's a little more defensive in style. He also has a huge amount of experience is the type of guy you can rely on when the shit goes down.

We definately have a good chance of winning if we can go. I think that all the games will be good ones though. We have strong well rounded, if not as well known players and we intend to put Canada on the map as far as online gaming goes :)

XP-Spookie: Speaking of LakermaN, the True Gamers Invitational just crowned him as it's first champion. The tournament was played on LAN/QW at dm2, dm4 and dm6. Arguably some of the greatest 1on1 duelers in the world made this the toughest dm tournament ever. Your thoughts on the tourney competition and the way it was held? Might the results have been different if North America had not been absent from the tourney?

EG|Monster: I think the results would have been vastly different if the top North Americans went. I personally KNOW I can handle Lakerman and Nik on dm6 and I'm not bad at the other maps either :p  But, I think that there are lots of players that are equally skilled or maybe even more so than all of the europeans and australian that played in that tourney. But anything I say is purely speculation. I simply wish they asked more than just the "big name" players to represent. I mean everyone knows that sCary's strength is in  team games and not 1on1, so why ask him? Perhaps a mini invitational tourney to decide who gets flown to TGI would've been appropriate? Also, I don't think it was cool that Xenon got dq'ed for being late. He had a valid shot at winning and they weren't THAT strapped for time from what I know. All in all, I'd say that TGI was indecisive and generally a failure as a tournament.

XP-Spookie: On a sad note, April 21st 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed many of their fellow classmates at Columbine High in Littleton, Colorado. We've all heard they played Doom & Quake like many of us. Your thoughts on this tragedy and do you see any link between this outrageous behavior and violent movies and video games?

EG|Monster: It's horrible that they did what they did.  I think that pretty much says it all. It's too bad we humans can never accept the blame for anything though, we're always trying to find an easy answer instead of fessing up to the fact that we're not all good human beings.  I'm sure the fact that these kids were teased incessantly in school played a MUCH larger role in how they felt and behaved. They were also probably the type of person that is easily hurt and therefore felt much worse than your normal person would. It's all human nature though, it's depressing and sad but it's the truth.

XP-Spookie: Quake3 Arena matures enough for a win32 q3test and the masses spare no amount of bandwidth to download and play this work in progress or test. There are already about 500 servers up and running and q3test fever seems high. What are your early impressions on this q3test? Are you liking what you see and hear? Could this be the Quake Killer Q2 was supposed to have been?

EG|Monster: The game has A LOT of potential. I think this could be THE definative online shooter, but it needs to have some things improved. Most notably, the netcode which seems to be pretty horrible from what I can tell. The weapons need some tweaking too, I think the rl should be made faster and the plasma gun made a little weaker, and the railgun a little stronger. This could very well be the quake killer everyone has been hoping for.

XP-Spookie: Uh oh, now for my last question and quite possibly the toughest to answer..  Let's say you're invited to have a clan war at the Playboy mansion. Your competition will be four lovely Playboy Playmates.. er.. clan [PP]. If you are victorious you will win an all expense paid trip to Hawaii with two Playmates of your choice.

"Sounds good, doesn't it?" echoes Mr. Hefner himself, "but do you know the rules? The rules are you can only use broomsticks on my bunnies AND you only get one teammate. I've had my bunnies training in Sweden with Clan9 for this so don't you think it's gonna be a cake walk." He flashes you a sly grin and adds, "If you lose.. heh if you lose you leave my mansion dressed in a bunny outfit for the delight of the press."

It's your call man.. do you accept the challenge? If you do who do you choose to be the other half of your dynamic duo? Remember you can choose anyone you like.

EG|Monster: Hell ya, I'd accept :) What hurts me only makes me stronger right? And if I win I score a playboy bunny, it sounds like a good deal to me. EG|Freak would be the other half of my duo, his boomstick is pimp and he needs to get laid (heheh)

Be sure to drop EG|Monster some mail with your comments

Q3Test An Instant Success
On 5/10/99 Monday night the much anticipated q3test is released and guess what? No one downloads it. Ok everyone and his bald headed granny download it. I haven't seen this much excitement since Q2's release. It's been nearly one week and already I see a decline of QW & Q2 servers. The word on ICQ & IRC generally speaking is that Q3test rocks. Many love it just the way it is and others feel that with a few good tweaks here and there it'll be "The Game." It seems to be an international sensation even QW veteran Randemarr from Germany likes it. I wonder just how much of this willingness to embrace Q3test is born out of the game being that good and how much of it is coming from people being just plain bored and tired of Quake & Q2?

I hear people saying Q3Test is even better than Q2. I'm no Q2 fan but people please, Q2's feel and control are much better than this early Q3test. I won't even mention Quake in comparison to this Test. I probably sound like I'm anti-Q3test but I'm not. I think there are some simple improvements to be made though. Most of the people I've spoken to are in agreement with me on these issues.

1.) The Q3 Rocket Launcher should look,  work and feel just  like the Quake Rocket Launcher.

2.) The Q3 Railgun should look, work and feel just like the Q2 Railgun.

Q3 will feature skins & models from previous id games such as Doom, Quake and Q2 so why not incorporate some of the best weapons from those games? Allowing them to function exactly as they did in those games? Doom's Double Barrel Shotgun should make a reappearance as well. So far, id has gotten the physics most correctly done with Quake. Why not go back to that type of feel? I'm all for graphics and netcode improvement. Q2 was a very good game, Q3 seems to be built upon that foundation? Quake was a GREAT game. You say, "Come'on it's just personal preference it's like comparing apples and oranges." Not really though because if apples were Q2 demos and Oranges Quake demos why are there so many more GREAT oranges left and what happened to all the apples?

I would like Q3test to be a pulse pounding, fast paced, slap you in the face dm style game. I want incredible matches similiar to Quake's dm4, dm6 and dm3 with people doing things we never thought possible. With a little bit tweaking here and there Q3 Arena could be just that.

I'm confidant id's finished product will be a very good game and much better than this Q3test. I'm just concerned about a few things.. oh well..  and further more wtf is up with mouse sensitivity in Q3test? LOL

Spookie Goes Shoppin'
Ya'know it all started out with me getting up early this morning (Sunday) and wanting to head over to Eagle Rock California for some breakfast. I also love letting the Canary V8 Stang run up the 2 Freeway at 100+ mph. Usually there arent' any CHP around at that time and traffic is light. :)  The only thing that sux about owning a Stang is eating. Rice & Beans gets tiring after awhile so I wanted to spring for some Breakfast at Bob's Big Boy. Ack, no cashola.. np, I'll just take some money outa' the ATM right? Right, so after rationalizing a 60 Dollar withdrawl I head to Bob's and buy my $3.99 Breakfast. So wtf did I take out 60 bux from the ATM for?  I have half a tank of gas (only burned 1/4 of it speeding over here), and breakfast is dirt cheap. I dunno, maybe I'd better head over to Music Land and Walden Books to think about it? Yeah, famous last words cause now I'm the proud owner of the all new Star Wars the Phantom Menace novel wrtten by Terry Brooks which costed me 25 big ones. I also aquired the DVD version of "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" which costed me another 25 big ones. Can you say Spaghetti Western Junkie? Hah, I don't even own a DVD player yet, go figure? Anyways it's back to Rice & Beans for me and driving slow (burns less gas).

Cataklysque Leaves Methos Quake :|
Hey Cata dood, I miss reading your page and I'm sure I speak for alot of peeps out there. I wish ya the best wherever you take your writing talents.. the world is yours. Cya around at irc.enterthegame.com Channel #XP :p .. and don't forget about that USA Rapture 99 squad!  :)

Goodnight my friends, sleep well and good spirits watch over you all.

sLeEpHoLiO

Q3Test for PC Users Not.. Yet!
Well my fellow brethren not yet anyway, id as we all know by now, felt testing via the Macintosh platform would be the better way to go because the user base is much smaller and that would make trouble shooting that much easier. Today Linux Q3Test is came out. So what do we do now? Buy a G3? Or maybe learn the Linux OS? Or how about just wait longer? No small task for the majority of PC win32 users. id had to realize how this would make us feel? So the test couldn't have been released on all platforms because the bug alerts would have been too overwhelming? Fine, just address the Mac OS problems for the interim if that occurred and give us all Q3Test. Or is work on the Macintosh version of Q3Test being prioritized? We PC users played a huge role in the success id has relished with Doom & Quake. But what are we to do about this? How about some more Screen Shots? LOOK and WOW yourself to death while your buddy with his Mac frags away. You like that? YOU THINK YOU'RE BIG TIME!!??  ..um excuse me I slipped into Al Pacino mode and lost myself there for a second  ;)

When the Q3Test for the Mac was released I scrambled for a way to run it on my sucky first generation Pentium. I was told about a Mac OS emulator but the only link I was given was this. Cute program but it really didn't help me out.. lemme know if you have better luck with it?

Ok, kidding and all aside, Q3 for the PC will be out someday for all of us to buy & play. I have a good feeling that most of us will like it. I just think this latest Mac Q3Test by id was a Boo Boo. More of a Public Relations Boo Boo than anything else. Hrmm I wonder if Steve Jobs was pulling some strings there too? :)

id, I personally don't need anymore news about Q3Arena just take as long as you need and finish the game. All this Q3Arena stuff  has left me feeling a li'l bit like this.

Eric Harris and Dylan Kleybold Got Even (and Everyone Lost)
Why haven't we gone on such a rampage before?  I'm sure we've all experienced pain as great as these young men have and maybe even greater? So why haven't we lashed out at the world in a likewise manner? We have the same tools they have, the internet, violent online games and movies.

What is it that keeps us in line? Is it our belief in the God we answer to? Is it compassion for our fellow man? Are we much better at keeping our ego in check? 

I've often wondered what it is that allows us human beings to commit such horrific crimes against our fellows?

How about if we all try less hate and more friendship?

If you'd like a thorough read on the Littleton tragedy check out Gobo's last update.. it's a helluva write up.

How About a Cool QW Server?
Maybe one of the reasons why I'm still content playing quake online is because of servers like Visi Net? A cool guy who goes by the callsign "Zappa" runs these servers and he's got some very leet maps available for your enjoyment. Thanks to QW you can just log on and download them or grab them from the webpage. It's a neat feeling running around a level you don't know, it brings back memories of early quake playing when there were no masters of the "Dark Zone" or the "Abandoned Base." It's a real treat with all the new terrain and going back to our FFA roots.

So check this: 209.98.3.217:27500 for high pingers or port 27501 for low pingers

And if you see a guy out there playing as "Mooch the Cat"  take it easy on him.. k? :p

Thank you Patrick McDonnel for bringing us such a wonderful comic strip in Mutts.

Irc Chatter/Idle Bugs
Drop by our all new #XP chat room on ETG network and Idle with us: irc.enterthegame.com

I'm off to idle at ETG, thanks all and GG!

Sincerely,
Spookholio

TGI Reflections
The majority does rule doesn't it? Voting prior to the TGI event on Methos' page indicated most of us felt LakermaN would triumph and overcome all and he did.  Kane had us chewing our fingernails with his amazing play and made it as difficult for Laker as probably anyone else could've. All the competitors were fantastic in their play and sportsmanship. Unfortunately not much coverage was given to the event here in the USA. I guess maybe it would've helped if we had had a "RepresentOr?"

I had the opportunity about one year ago to play dm3 and dm6 with LakermaN, his ping was about 150 and mine was about 250 however due to his major talent it seemed as though his ping was more like 0. So I basically just ran around as I said. Belated Congratulations LakermaN, you're the TGI's best.

I hope if there is ever another TGI event or big Quake tourney that the organizers consider sticking with NQ on Lan.  I myself am a QW convert online but NQ feels best for lan.  Beyond a doubt. Also, I think keeping the matches in dmm1 mode would be the way to go I think it's conducive to more strategic play and level lockdown. If we wanted to see who was the best BRAWLER in QW/NQ why not just hold a Rocket Arena tourney? Dm6, dm4 and dm2 are all levels of strategy and should be played in dmm1 mode and in turn reveal the sharpest of ASSASINS.

These slights aside the TGI truly kicked booty and I'm very grateful that Quake has finally been blessed with such a fantastic exhibition of raw skill and talent. Super Thanks to all involved. The heart of Quake still beats very hard.

Stroked by Q3A News, Hoopla and Hype?
We've all eagerly anticipated Q3. We've all wanted it to be the biggest, baddest game ever. So why do I feel somewhat whacked by all the news, hype and rumor of Q3 Arena? Is id to blame or are we? Have we all become part of the Q3 marketing posse? If you're wondering what the
heck I'm talking about lemme explain.

First the news that id's newest game would not be a full game but, Q3 Arena which prompted much communion and speculation from us Quakolytes.

Then came the screenshots which wetted our appetites, web pages sprang up just to display these images that were often times poorly scanned magazine pictures. Then we got better pictures and magazine articles.

Then the chosen (ok so maybe we're a bit envious?) were selected to play this work in progress and do some playtesting if you will. The Quake chosen weren't allowed to tell much about the game until later and after a few more trips to Dallas.

Then Q3 ihv is mysteriously leaked and the commoners (us) struggle to get a hold of it and get it up and running on our systems. Which was no easy task we might add.

Now with the official Q3 Arena test supposedly near completion more .plan files.

Enough already.

I think  what we all want out of Q3 and how hard we've all been fighting for it coupled with the above mentioned antics have saturated my appetite a bit. This is not to say that I'm not awaiting Q3 Arena like all the rest of us but, only to say that I'm tired of all the talk plus all the official and unofficial info.

Just let me know when I can download the test.

The Late Worm Hooked in LA
In a li'l bit of non-related Quake news Laker Power Forward Dennis Rodman was recently let go from the team. I was big on the Worm's (Dennis Rodman) game and knew that if he could keep himself disciplined he would be a boon to the L.A. Lakers. Things started out this season
with the Lakers playing uninspired basketball and Phil Donhohue.. er I mean Del Harris being let go and the Worm arriving to the team after much haggling of money and even an emotional outburst at his press conference.

Things went up from there as former Laker power forward Kurt Rambis took the helm as head coach of the Lakers and  the Worm let his presence become known and helped the Lakers to a 10 game winning streak. The LA forum fans loved the Worm, perhaps more for his Wacky ways than even his hard play. The Lakers were not playing great but they were doing well.

Until Elden Camble and Eddie Jones were traded for Glenn Rice and J.R. Reed. We lost defensive intensity (Eddie) and a great back up center (Elden) for Rice's sharpshooting.   Rice had been recovering from elbow surgery and so has his shooting. The Worm headed for Vegas and skipped out on the Lakers for four games citing personal problems. The Lakers were never the same after that.

So the Worm is gone in physical essence now, having left the team in spirit many days ago. The Lakers can't get the players they traded away. In disarray our Lakers now look towards the future and there isn't much time with the shortened NBA season nearly over.

Dreams of another dominant Laker team have since erupted into sleepless nights for the hopeful.

I always did think LakermaN was cool because he was a LosAngeles Lakers fan  :)

sCary Discovers Silicone Boobs
I found a quite amusing blurb on sCary's Shugashack (4/15/99) entitled, "The Glorious Boobs."  With webwork and keenness only possessed of the Leetest of webmasters, Steve goes on to crack the case of Britney Spears um.. enhanced form. Well I got news for the Shugashack and all of you guys out there, various boob enhancements run rampant.. especially in the entertainment industry. How would I know? I work in the medical field.. nuff said.  A friend recently remarked to me that he noticed women's um..  busts were seemingly growing as a natural result to keep up with there silicone enhanced counterparts. Natural selection works like that.. doesn't it?  Not exactly, the advent of the padded and push-up bras have become mainstay in the ranks of the lovely not artificially enhanced. This is not to say that there are no gifted women about. Only to suggest that maybe that Hollywood starlet who has become your pin-up fantasy is not truly so gifted.

This is all good you say? But what are we males to do? Shouldn't we be rushing to counter all this and keep up with our female halves? Well, before you start sock-stuffing, I've got a better idea.. but it could set you back a few games and a puter system or two. So stroke back um..
I mean strike back with this http://www.2020tech.com/mensurg/

This has not been "Fight Back" with David Horowitz but..

sPoOkHoLiO who becomes.. sLeEpHoLiO.. g'nite.. fade

Da fn TGI!
The TGI is upon us and I'm really excited cause representing the USA are, RiX, sCary and Thresh! Whooo hoooo! NOT! :(  huh? Ok, so perhaps the greatest Lan QW (ewh) player isn't American but I thought we were still gonna represent? Well hell I'd love to play and throw down for the good ol' US of A but, I have a hard time with 1on1's versus guyz like Methos so I'm out.:| The good news that Sujoy will be attending. It'll be really exciting to watch Sujoy in action again, I hope he can dust off his QW game and type deltree c:\quake2 for good! Of course Sujoy isn't American.

So no Pure for us cause he's a Canuck, damn?! Man, move down here.. the weathers better and we have lots of cool stuff goin on like Police Brutality and Drive By Shootings! Ok, scratch that, what can I say?

It seems like our best Quake fraggers were indeed NQ fraggers and not QW guyz. So if this tourney had been maybe 2 years ago then guyz like Thresh, RiX, Unholy and B2 woulda' been in the thick of it. Sujoy, you old schooler you whip out some new moves and show these young upstarts what it's all about!

Rapture Me!
[R2]Cataklysque is goin to the Rapture99 Tourney.. and look who he's brought with him:
 
Thresh, Batch, Gemini and Hobbes.

Whooo Hooo, all star line-up, now I'm almost more excited about this event than I am about the TGI. Why? Cause we got represented this time around. Now if Clan 9 doesn't show up maybe we can kick some arse!

Clan AMD >:|
Speaking of those Swedes clan9, way to go guyz. Spookie high fives ya all the way, down with them Russkie's! Why, clan AMD (Americans Must Die) pppfffffft WTF?? What a lame name for a clan, it's not our fault your people prefer our country (I've worked with several Russians)! :p  And do the world a favor, keep outa' our business.. first ya poke yer ugly heads in on us with Iraq, now Kosovo.. scoot or we won't give ya no more grain! I digress, forgive me good people of the world.. I'm sure the Russian guyz are cool but their clan name sux!

Quake2 Map That Barely Made It!
Hey did any of ya download and try that q1Edge map? Whoa, I haven't had a chance to try it on a server but it looks really neat and feels so much better with Quake. Although the level is quite large and spacious and a Railgun would definitely come in handy :) Someone do a Railgun mod for Quake, then we'd all be happy 8).

Cata & Gobo!
Btw, I never did geta' chance to welcome Gobo and Cataklysque to our online family.   ::Big huggs from Spookie::  And very good writings guyz!

Ok, back to the bots.. I hear Methos is practicing and I don't want him to own me ;)

                Shhhhpppooookkkkiiiieeee out!

The Return
I've dusted off my "Spookie Side" page and would like to turn back the calendar just a li'l bit..  bare with me.

TGI for Really?
Methos and I had that conversation / speculation in my last update about, "Who is the Best in the World?" At the time it seemed such a tourney would never occur, but now thanks to the "True Gamers Invitational", things are looking REAL. Methos never came out and said LakermaN would win such a tourney however in our talks he seemed to lean towards that conclusion.  Methos' TGI Survey would indicate most of you feel the same way. Word seems to be that Thresh is once again playing quake (now QW) and "might" actually attend the TGI.  Dennis has been busy with everything else but Quake in recent months, however I think it would still be very nice to have him at the TGI event. He's proved his game many many times in the past and has nothing to prove this time around. Except maybe to show that he can still have fun with this antiquated game we all know and love called Quake. If he enters, do I think he'll win? I'll admit I'm not as sure about that as I was many months ago especially with all the other tough players who are native qw'ers, but who knows?

Quake 3 Arena.. and the Quake Purist
What's that I see not so far off in the horizon? Could it be.. no.. it is.. Quake 3 Arena!  The game that finally unites all of us quakers? I sure as hell hope so, as do we all. Lets see from what we've seen so far (not much but some movies and   the leaked ihv) it seems Q3 will deliver the goods with GREAT graphics. I hear ya, you say, "But Spookie, GREAT graphics don't make for a great game.. Playability does!" I concur but, was it not nice to make the jump from Doom's flat fuzzy graphics to Quake's actual 3d look & feel? I believe that graphics in games must improve and that's all part of the natural evolution of the gaming industry and in that area Q3 will astound I'm sure. How about the network code? I may not have been the biggest Q2 fan in the world but I always thought it played very well over the net. Look for even more improvements in this area as no one tops id & Carmack for Internet play.

I have a feeling Q3 is all but a given transition for q2 players. But, what about us Quakers? I think deep down inside even the Quake purist is a li'l bit itchy to get his/her hands on a Railgun. Will we dig the 600ms, 400ms or 300ms weapon switch or however long it is? No. Will we finally embrace the Q2 style teleporters? No. Will we embrace the slower paced gameplay of Q3A? No. Will we like our Rocket Launcher once again weakened and our centered weapon off to the side again? No.

Have you ever seen a super, acrobatic, fast paced 1 on 1 match at dm4 or an incredibly strategic, frightening 1on1 at dm6 or maybe an amazing, deadlocked clan match at dm3 decided by Pent/Quad/RL control? If not download some of the demos Methos offers and be shocked.  The maps will change with Q3 but, does the fast paced action have to too?

Rocket bounce opponent, shaft and hold them in the air then finish with Rail before he/she touches the ground and falls over dead. Sound like fun? Well it's gonna be very tough to do that with anything more than an instant weapon switch.

Escape from a highly armed and dangerous opponent with a double Teleport trick.. or cover more of any given level with a double Tele making it easier to catch your fleeing, wounded foe.  Well that's not gonna happen in Q3 cause the Tele's are Q2 styled. (last I heard)

There are many other scenarios that can be illustrated to demonstrate what the "Purist Quaker" will not like about Q3A. This is not to say that the game will not be fun or that it'll suck. By no stretch of the imagination, it'll be a REALLY good game, perhaps even GREAT. I sincerely hope the best of Quake & Q2 will be put into Quake 3 Arena. There is nothing wrong with changing things for the better or learning from the past. Ok, bring on them Q3 BotZ cause I want'em NOW!  ;)

Spookie on IRC?
Are you cool and do you like IRC?  Good, now start up your mIRC or Pirch or whatever the heck you use and drop by Gamesnet #XP. Come on down and chat/idle with us folks.. perhaps more of the latter.  :)

Thanks for stopping by everyone. My next update will be far sooner than 3 months from now.

Chow!

p.s. Hey Rodman, if you're out there.. anywhere.. perhaps surfing online at a sleazy casino in Vegas, listen up.. GET YER ASS BACK IN A LAKER UNIFORM NOW!  8)