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Happy New Year

Well I'm heading off to the Bay area tomorrow morning, and then come on home to get everything finalized. This is a fairly decent update, a mixed bag of new stuff as well as some stuff from a couple of days ago that you may have missed. Believe me I can't wait to get home and get this baby on the road. Now that I no longer work for Ritual, things will shake up a bit and you will witness what a full time webmaster can do. :)

As for the move to VRGN, It seems like there are a couple of more things that I have to be back in Dallas to work out so we'll just have to wait and see. I'm guessing before the weekend is over though, but uh..  yeah, we know how that goes. (Domain still doesnt seem to be registered, grrrr)

GameSpy / QTracker

Couple of server trackers have been updated since I dissapeared off the face of the planet recently, here ya go.

• GameSpy has been updated to version 1.52 now (With Quake2 support) and is available over at www.gamespy.com as always.
• QTracker, which was updated a couple of times is now up to v1.41 which offers something that a lot of people have been dying for, Jedi Knight support! (The previous version only supported Jedi Knight on accident, heh) Here is a direct link to the file. IPX is now supported as well.

Quake2 Stuff

I'll try and run down a few of the major things that have happened concerning Quake2 in the past couple of days:

• Jawed the MD2 editor for Quake2 that has been rapidly changing is once again updated on the web page. I'm not sure what is new in this version, but hey, I bet you can do more than just look at the models now. :)
• Speaking of modeling stuff, you can head on over to the Quake2 modeling studio and learn a few things, maybe even how to make models
• As some of you may remember, (because we all know you read John Carmack's .plan update before and mail bombed the poor guys) that mr. Carmack asked for someone to post a poll asking about Quake2 patches. Well GameStats News has answered the call for this poll. -Blue's
• Lithium's mod for Quake2 which changes quite a few things including the HUD for Quake (I like the new one that he has created more than the original actually) He has hit v0.58 now.
• Our man ^Drag0n^ who was in charge of the skins collection for Quake1, has of course opted to continue with the great job he is doing and is accepting skins for Quake2 to compile the official skin packs for Quake2. Just email homeboy your skin in the correct format.
• If you have an opinion on what the best Quake2 patches are right now, The Lemming Clan has posted a bit of a poll to get your opinion.
• There are Quake2 map reviews being posted at this website, thanks to THE DARK MONKEY.
• Avatar, the man who NEVER seems to sleep, is releasing   yet more stuff for you. He has cranked out an amazing 10 levels for Quake2 already and posted a level pack for everyone to enjoy.

Ritualistic.com

A big page that everyone should be keeping on eye on for anything happening over at Ritual Entertainment has just opened their doors thanks in part to the boys at PlanetQuake. www.ritualistic.com with several webmasters, large resources, etc etc. Anything that is Ritual, they will know first.

GameGirrrrlzz

Gamegirlz just exploded with an all new site design and toin's of articles on everything from the top ten games played by women to new years resolutions! Give it a look! http://www.gamegirlz.com   Top Ten Game played by Women in 97 == http://www.gamegirlz.com/favgames/page1.htm

Year in review

A couple of articles for you guys to check out reflecting on the past year in gaming. First the always interesing Fargo has posted his thoughts over at PlanetQuake. After you have finished checking that out, here is a link I saw over on Blue's page from GamesDomain reviewing games as well in the past 1997.,

H3D

The H3D pages have been updated with new versions of the special 3D versions of Quake for these cool goggles. As for Quake2 support, they are still apparently working on getting something out, I imagine it must be soon though since Quake2 has been out for a while now.

Interviews

A few interviews have been posted for you guys to read:

• Christian Antkow (aka Disruptor) of id Software has answered some questions with the boys at Quake Editors Reference Guide.
• Levelord of Ritual has an article of his own talking about the "good old days" of doom level editing on OGR.
• Ken Hoekstra of Raven Software, a level designer there, has been interviewed at Bokatu's Realm of Sin.

.plan Wagon

What all the homeys are sayin:

• Brian Hook of id Software has made a few updates talking about the V2100 chipset from Verite, and um, he has an opinion on the logitech setup programs as well. Just my 2 cents, I have had no problem with the new mouseman+ and software.
• John Carmack has made a sizeable update to his .plan talking about the recent stuff that he is working on (Aside from Trinity) here is a bit of it:

Some of the things I have changed recently: * fixed the cinematics * don't clear config after dedicated server * don't reallocate sockets unless needed * don't process channel packets while connecting * rate variable for modem bandwidth choking * delta compress client usercmds * fixed sound quality changing after intermissions * fixed PVS problem when head was directly under solid in GL * added r_drawflat and cl_testlights to cheats There are a few problems that I am still trying to track down: WSAEADDRNOTAVAIL errors Map versions differ error Sometimes connecting and seeing messages but not getting in Decompression read overrun. Of course, we don't actually get any of those errors on any of our systems here, so I am having to work remotely with other users to try and fix them, which is a bit tougher. My new years resolution is to improve my coding style by bracing all single line statements and consistantly using following caps on multi word varaible names. Actually, I am currently trying on the full sun coding style, but I'm not so sure about some of the commant conventions: don't use multiple lines of // comments, and don't use rows of seperating characters in comments. I'm not convinced those are good guidelines.

• Charlie Wiederhold has updated his .plan with a nice little plug for www.ritualistic.com :)
• Embrionic Pete has posted some holiday wishes for everyone. Oh, and of course he teases us some more to keep you wondering just what QA is up to.
• onethumb has posted his view on the recent departure of KillCreek from the CyberAthlete organization. Guess here is the point where I put in my 2 cents since I had a bit to do with this. He compares her to Thresh and Michael Jordan. Yes, they are all great marketing, thing is, those 2 are both proven to be top 1% or the best ever at what they do. KC did not. placing dead last among the Cyberathletes at the most recent event. Marketing can only make up for skill for so long. KC has moved on to being a level designer, which may be her true calling. (I recall seeing some of her work before, top notch)

Road Trip

I'm still out here in LA, of course as expcected, the server has broken on and off consistently. I'm doin oldschool style notepad editing here and wanted to say hi. I didn't realize in the last update that yesterday was new years so I was um, not in the condition to update the page last night. :) Most of the graphics etc are ready for the page move now, I'll make some calls and see what's up, hell if I can get the page moved tonight, wouldn't that be peachy?

007 Quake

Thanks Primal and Xoque for the word that the 007 Tomorrow Never Dies mini TC for Quake has been released. It's about um, just under 4 megs. New models, sounds, textures etc.. kinda like a TC or something.

Slow video in Q2?

Ya, I've gotten a few emails about this one already, yes it's a goofup in the v3.09 patch, the cinematics are playing back at 10fps now. bummer. It'll be fixed in the next patch release, here is John Carmack's .plan update on the matter: (Of the few years I've been doin this gig, I've never seen John so .plan happy outside of a work log, aint it fun?)

The only widely reported problem with 3.09 is that the video playback is choppy. The fix for the modem connections reduced video playback to 10 fps. Its a one line fix, but I'll hold off on another version until a few more things accumulate. I am curious what the breakdown of opinion is on the rapid patch releases. If one of the polling websites would pose the question, I would apreciate it. A more liesurely patch release would allow us more testing time, and some problems (like this cinematic bug) would certainly be killed before the public saw it, but I definately found a couple things from the public that no amount of testing on our machines would have found. Some things only showed up with 48 people playing on our servers for several hours. Once again, we really didn't have a choice this time because of the server crashers, but we are planning another release in two to three weeks. I am happy to produce new versions fairly rapidly, rather than at monthly intervals, but I know that many people are getting a little irate at having to download new patches. There is a simple solution -- if you don't want to be on the bleeding edge, wait a week after a patch is announced and see how it is working for other people. What finally helped me get to the bottom of some things was just getting people with problems we couldn't reproduce to call me and let me send them executables by email until I figured out what was going on. From now on, if you send a detailed problem to me, include a phone number and times when you can be reached. I'm not tech support, so you certainly can't count on a response, but if you have a nice repeatable case of a problem that is high priority for us that we can't reproduce otherwise, your personal help may be usefull. BTW, does anyone know why Quake 2 became a hacker target? I can keep fighting attacks, but spending my time there doesn't help anyones game, and there are a bunch of things that fundamentally can't be stopped if people really set their mind to messing up the servers.

patch release, here is Joh

Quake2 v3.09 Local

Ok, duh.. forgot to do this earlier, here is a local copy of the v3.09 patch for Quake2.

BSP v0.90

A few minor updates have been made to BSP which you need to have already installed a copy of a previous version. (0.88 to be exact) Check out the BSP Headquarters to grab your copy. BSP is of course the map editor of choice for a lot of Quake2 map makers out there who dont have a machine capable of using QE4. -Blue's

More Quake2.exe's! (v3.09 now)

(For the record, once again as I write this update I can not get to my webserver) Back by popular demand, yet more stuff from id Software for you to download! Here is John Carmack's .plan update telling everyone that you MUST update your Quake2 with this patch because it is not backwards compatible:

Dec 29, 2:25 AM CST: new version:<a ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/quake2/q2-309.exe This one has an install that makes sure things get where they need to... <snip> because you still have the gamex86.dll from q2test in your quake2 directory. The latest quake2.exe just started looking in the exe directory as well as the game directory to make debugging easier, and it brought out this problem. You should only have gamex86.dll in baseq2 unless you are doing specific development. I had a version check in there, but I never bumped the game api version, so it was ineffective. The big news is that the modem connection and level changing problems are fixed. They should have been fixed in 3.07, but a timing error kept it from functioning. I also found the "no such frame" warnings that scrolled by under some circumstances. BFG gibbing crouching people would cause it. There are several other fixes in the menu and renderers as well, so everyone should upgrade. Right now, any client can send a "connect" message to the server and grab a client slot. If they are the wrong version, they will tie that slot up until they time out ot abort the connection process. I am going to force clients to send their version number with the connection request, so that bad clients will never take up slots. That will require everyone to upgrade to 3.09 to play. I apologize for the flurry of versions, but this was a forced set of releases due to the server attacks, and lots of people are on vacation here. It certainly could have been tested better, but I thought it better to try and get something out ASAP.

Verite Quake2

As a lot of Verite owners have noticed, the new quake .exe's dont seem to work with the Verite cards, Here is Brian Hook's .plan update on the matter:

As for people having problems with the VERITEGL.DLL driver -- everything still works on 3Dfx and Intergraph with the new patch, so Rendition looks like they're suffering from normal minidriver growing pains. Hopefully they'll have a new version out pretty soon, but near as I can tell the latest problems with that are not our fault (at least, the evidence suggests that the problems people are having with the V2x00 are not our problems).

So what does that mean? you're screwed. Ok, well I actually saw this post on Blue's page that will server as a temporary fix for ya:

"I'm also running a V1000 based card, and have encountered the same problems mentioned in your recent update. However, 3.07 and 3.08 both work fine using the Q2 optimized drivers posted on Rendition's site about a week before Christmas (refv1kb3.zip). If you install these drivers according to the Readme, then change the "set vid_ref" line in your cfg to: set vid_ref "v1k" both new versions will work fine... though you will...lose all colored lighting effects."

The long awaited Dank & Skud

After several hints at the new comic, Dank & Skud have finally returned to your web browswer with a new episode. They tend to get better with each installment so head on over to the Quake Comics page and check it. -Rusty

DC-Con

Everyone better hurry up and sign up if you want to attend the largest east coast Quake tournament ever. See that little button in the left frame? click it and be whisked away to DC-Con land. Hey, I'm gonna try and sucker my mom into coming down, can't beat that eh? (Yea, I bet you are wondering how she can be proud of me and want to be seen in public.. heh. same here. :) )

Quake DM2 File Format

Uwe Girlich, the man known throughout our great community for giving us the .LMP, .DEM, and .QWD file specs has given us his new findings for the .DM2 file specs for Quake2. (demo files) Check out his page http://www.physik.uni-leipzig.de/~girlich/games/ he is looking for a new host btw sine he is taking off to work for a UNIX company. -Blue's

Preview / Review Land

What everyone else is saying about the games you play and the hardware you use.

• Obiwwan, on his never ending quest to review everything there is in the world, has reviewed VRGN's Very Twisted Christmas TC for Quake.

New Quake2 .exe - Updated to 3.08

Just when you thought it was safe, John Carmack updated his .plan about 3am this morning, then again around 5.20am this morning. with news that they found a couple of bugs in the server that they released just hours ago, So um, here is the update, and of course a link to the file:

There were a few problems with the 1.07 patch: Bodies stuck under doors caused a repeated explosion effect. Timedemo was broken. The servers crash about once an hour under full load. I have the first two fixed, and I hope the third. The four servers at Id are running a new executable. --------- LATER ------------ Ok, two hours without a crash on four servers. Here is a new patch: ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/quake2/patch_08.zip 3.07 and 3.08 can interoperate fine. All servers should upgrade to 3.08, but if you gravved the 3.07 earlier today and only play as a client and don't need timedemo, you don't nned to upgrade.

Minor note: As I write this update, of course the server is not responding to me again. Hopefully as soon as I get shell access over at VRGN I can move the pages on over there.

Omicron Bot Demo

Ok already, enough people bugged me about making a demo with an Omicron Bot that I went ahead and made one while I sit on my ass waiting for the internet sysops to fix the routing problems with my web server. I've spent the past couple of weeks working on my DM6 skills for competing in DCCON. (I'm already very comfy on DM2 and DM4)

Have fun and watch me struggle with the NetQuake physics. (Rocket jumps, as well as sv_friction are different, causing me to run circles around teleporters as well as fall off ledges a couple of times, shoot the floor.. etc etc)

Here a go, My Omicron Bot DM6 Skill 3 demo. btw, I used the registered 2 command so you dont have to have the patch to see the demo.

QTracker v1.3

Here is the email straight from the man himself, Ron Mercer:

Since Quake II v3.07 was released, I've been forced to release a new version of Qtracker. This release supports the new version of Quake II, changes the application layout, adds a Hexen II server list, and a few other things. Hop on over to http://qtracker.stomped.com for your copy and a complete listing of whats new.

New Quake2 .exe

Oh neet, of course as I work on this update my connection to the server is broke yet again. BAH! The fix everyone has been waiting for for Quake2 has been released. This client is not compatible with the older servers. (You won't find many of the older servers running anyways outside of your own lan) Here is John Carmack's .plan update on the deal:

The 1.07 patch is out: ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/quake2/patch_07.zip Please mirror and distribute this. When submitting bugs, make sure you say that you already have the 3.07 patch. Christian will go through and update the bug page when he gets back from vacation next week. This release does not fix all known problems. We intend to have another release in a few weeks.

Here is the file hosted locally. Also, here is part of the readme.txt included (I snagged from Blue's)

12/27/97 Quake 2 v3.07 patch release notes: This is an interim release that fixes the most serious problems with the initial release of Quake 2. There are four files that must be replaced to upgrade to 3.07: in the main quake2 directory: quake2.exe ref_soft.dll ref_gl.dll and in the quake2/baseq2 directory: gamex86.dll

Display Doctor v6.0a

A shareware video utility that everyone who plays Quake in software mode should have, Display Doctor v6.0a has been released with added support for several of the newer video cards: 3Dlabs Permedia / Permedia2; Alliance ProMotion AT3D; iX Micro Twin Turbo 128 / Twin Turbo 128+; Matrox Millennium, Mystique, Millennium II, Mystique 220; Number Nine Imagine 128 Series 1 & 2; nVidia RIVA 128; S3 86c911 / 924 / 80x / 928; Vision 864 / 964 / 868 / 968; Trio32 / 64 / 64V+ / 64UV+ / 64V2; Aurora64V+; and ViRGE, ViRGE / DX / GX / VX.

Small note though, my framerate actually dropped after installing this util on my pp200 with a millenium2 box. Really wacky.

Head on over to www.scitechsoft.com and read all about the utility. Here is a local copy for ya.

PowerVR Drivers

Vik Long has sent out some new drivers for you PowerVR (PCX2) owners for GLQuake. (The new windows drivers are not ready for mass release yet) Vik says there are some nice improvements made in this new version for GLQuake and as always they have squeezed even a little more speed out of GLQuake.

Redwood's 3DNews

Redwood has scored himself a new look thanks to Walter Costinak (that |2| dude) who also did his previous logo as well. Redwood is no long Redwood's Quake page though, and will be covering all sorts of 3d games now. (That would be my guess, since the name sorta implies 3d news)

Ion Video part 2

The Ion Storm video has been posted in a high bandwidth version for all you spoiled T1 / T3 people out there who want to get a closer look at John Romero and Tom Hall etc. You of course need a Real player from www.real.com

Unreal Shot

Myshcha of Epic (A level designer for Unreal) has updated his web page that he plans on having as a Level Designer resource for people who wish to edit with UnrealED when Unreal is released. He also mentions that Unreal is going towards the final stages of production. Very exciting news! Oh, and yea, there is a new screenshot there as well showing off some nifty transparency.

Hexen2 Editing

Jonothan "W_Wallace" Daugherty sent out this mail:

I've put up some Hexen 2 Editing Pages at The Chop Shop, www.planetquake.com/chopshop/ There really isn't much going on with Hexen 2 since Quake 2 is out, but I'm sure some people might be interested. Thanks...

Quake2 Stuff

Yea, more stuff guys:

• PowerBall for Quake2 beta 2 has been relesaed on the homepage, here are some notes:

This verison adds some lighting effects along with some other fixes. The Powerball Team urges you to submit comments, suggestions, and criticisms to pball@planetquake.com. We are *still* looking for a Quake2 server to host Powerball full time, so if you have one, let us know. Enjoy!

• Quake2 Trading Cards? Uhm.. yea. I guess that's cool. The guys from CO2 sure think so. They were apparently inspired by this set of trading cards created earlier for Quake1.
• Don't forget crt is updating the Rocket Arena page with plans and details of the progress of the Rocket Arena patch for Quake2.
• Liono's Team Fortress page is being updated with regular news concerning the state of progress for the Quake2 Team Fortress patch as well. Keep checking back there for further updates.
• USteppin sent out this link to yet another Quake2 Coop patch for people who wish to play through the single player version of Quake with their friends. id Software promises that a patch will be out to support mutliplayer "when it's done

I'll be damned

Ok, no more bitching. connect was broke again, but fixed as of a little while ago.

Trinity FAQ

"Don't get all excited about Trinity just yet" or yea.. ok. Not that there isnt already a popular IRC channel and now an FAQ talking about id Software's next technology. (yummy!) here you go, the Trinity FAQ v0.1 -Hanif

Storming Christmas

(Witty title eh?) StormFront, the weekly (or bi-weekly? i forget..) show done by Ion Storm in cooperation with the boys at Pseudo has a holiday special real video interview with Romero and Tom Hall for the first half, then Porter and the art director (his name slips my mind) for the 2nd half.

Preview / Review Land

What everyone is saying about the games you play and the hardware you use:

• Obiwan has posted a review of the popular Future vs. Fantasy Quake patch for all those interested in checking out the TC but havent gotten around to doing so yet.
• ZDNet has posted a review of Quake2 asking "Does Quake2 live up to the hype?" and well, check it out and see what they think. Yea yea, I know.. tough question. (thanks k-rad of 311)

.plan Wagon

What all the homeys are sayin:

• Brian Hook made a couple of updates to the ol' .plan talking about his views on the PCX2 with performance in GLQuake and GLQuake2. also um, some other goofy programmer talk of course.
• onethumb shows off his poetic gift in a funny as hell .plan update talking about VooDoo.

QGraph v1.0

You guys prolly already saw this thing on Blue's, but here is the email I got (kinda late, but hey.. I didnt have a net connect for an entire day! can you imagine the withdrawals? I'm still sucking my thumb...)

QGraph (Quake Graph) is a utility to help people in managing Quake's DeathMathes. QGraph is a program who connects to a Quake Server and shows you realtime data about the deathmatch running on that server. QGraph offers real-time data and graphics, log recording, off-line data browsing and printing. You will get full information about the Quake Server, full information about the players connected to that server and more! I attached to this mail a screenshot of QGraph, so you may understand what the program does more that reading 1000 of my words. If you are interested in QGraph please go to: http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/7409

Quake2 Stuff

More Stuff for your Quake2 grab bag:

• Meddle is being worked on diligently to get it up to speed in supporting all the new stuff for Quake2. I played with it earlier and it's pretty nifty to look at actually. It's up to version 2.01 alpha 4 now I think.
• Coop+ for Quake2 has been released, allowing players to play through the single player part of the game (with monsters, ya know?) cooperatively. (I do tend to slip and cap my teamates a bit, but I'm ust trigger happy.. heh)
• crt sent out an email describing their incredible sounding plans for the Rocket Arena Quake2 patch. here is a bit of it:

* Up to 256 arenas per level (massive multi-arena support) * Unlimited teams/players per team * Different arena types: -Open: ArenaX/arenazap style -Strategy: Arenarg3 style -Team: Larger DM level style * Support for custom RA2 and normal id style DM levels * Allow map makers to define default weapons/ammo for their levels (so one level could be a rail gun duel, and another a shotgun battle) * Awesome spectator chase cam * Non-player observer areas * Advanced map rotation from custom config file * Seperate arenas based on ping * Option to send you to the least crowded (or empty) arena * Option to display menus of all arenas to pick * Tournament Play: -Option of single/double elim or round robin -Run across multiple servers :) -Option to set which map/arena(s) is played for each round

Have you been good?

I dunno... I've heard some stories about a few of you that make me question if you are all on the "nice" list. We'll just give you the benefit of the doubt this year though, you are lucky I'm feeling nice. Uh, John Carmack (aka god) updated his .plan for us Christmas workers (He's in the union!) about the next Quake2 release:

We are going to release a new quake 2 executable that fixes the malicious server crashing problems Real Soon Now. It also fixes a ton of other problems that have been reported, so we are going to have to give it some good testing before releasing it. John Cash has two kids that would lynch him if he came in and worked on christmas, so we certainly won't be able to get a release candidate together before the weekend. I am fairly confidant we will have it released to the public on sunday. I have been spending most of my time on trinity research but I have still made quite a few fixes to Q2. John Cash has made many more (he is just finishing up the IPX coding, among other things). I have been doing a lot of testing over a proxy that gives me a very bad ping (400 - 800), so I was able to find and fix two significant errors with the prediction code. The reason why you get a jerk when running forward and firing rockets, blasters, or grenades is that the client side prediction code was blocking you on your own missiles. The jerky behavior on plats was due to a subtle error in the prediction error interpolation. A prediction error was causing oscillations as long as your latency, instead of smoothing out over just 100 ms. The plats are now smooth as long as you aren't dropping packets, and other mispredictions are also handled much better. There are still a lot of other things that will be fixed in an upcoming release, but this will definately be an executable worth grabbing. <snip> some of the more interesting fixes <snip> * joystick not in menu * classname for rockets and bolts * lowered water blend values * clear powerups when dead (no more breather sounds) * only play "computer updated" three times max * max 10 packets/second during connection process * set cl_maxfps to 90 * fixed ; binding from menu * pause on landing before re-jump (fixes no fall damage bug) * public server framework * teleporter events * lower hyperblaster damage * dissallow kill from intermissions * faster rockets * less bfg effect damage * added protocol to serverinfo * don't predict clip into your own missiles * good netgraph * changed connect packet on client to differ from server * fixed error interpolation on plats * only respawn with attack or jump * fov as a userinfo * show weapon icon if fov > 90

Merry Christmas!

Yeesh, talk about suck. um, my page was broke or something for the past few days (perfect timing, just for the holiday when nobody is around to help fix it) So uh.. sorry about that. Believe me I was about to bust out with some WWF style wrestling moves on my ISP here for this crud. It dont make me happy when the page is broke. I'll be spending time with my brother and his wife for the day, but I'll be back late tonight all egg nogged up, so you kids better be good while I'm gone.

Oh, here is a nifty Idea I have for you guys in the Christmas spirit, I noticed that giggler has left his ICQ running while away for the holidays, I know he would just be thrilled if you would msg him telling him Merry Christmas. His # is 437728 and he just loves to hear from people. Don't ya Mike? (heheheh, Man I love doin this stuff)

Anyways, here is some great news, the pages will be moving to one of the fastest net connects in the world. (no shit) hopefully by next week. Courtesy of the great guys over at www.vrgames.net

Why do you ask? well because I'm moving over there as well. My man Bob over at VRGN offered me a position there a couple of weeks ago (yes, I am a cheap slut and will change jobs when offered large amounts of money) and I happily accepted. I havent been this excited about a job, since um.. well, in a long time. :) This means that I have full control over the VRGN servers so uh, it'll be neet. :)

I am departing Ritual on the best of terms, in fact while the VRGN offices are being constructed over at the Infomart here in Dallas, Harry Miller here at Ritual offered to let me sit on this fat T1 connection and work from within the Ritual offices for the next 2 months while the construction is underway. So uh, that's it. Oh, once I do get over there to VRGN in a couple of months, I'll be on a disgustingly fast T3. Of course I will only use that bandwidth for business purposes and would not think of abusing it for my own "recreational" web browsing.

ps. Ibtar9 says "fuck off" to everyone, I think he has problems showing his true feelings towards everyone, we should all embrace him in his time of need.

BAH!!!! I just got ready to upload this update, and guess what, it is 7.44am and all of a sudden the damn page is broken again. Someone will die today, this is less than amusing. =/

Sin Shots If you happened to have missed the new Sin screenshots, well, they are kind of cool or something. Here is one of the 3 shots for you to look at. You can check out SiN CiTY or Ultimate SiN to dig on the other two shots. Tom Mustaine is the star of the day, since 2 of the 3 shots come from levels of his. The underwater shot coming courtesy of Levelord.

Half-Life Shots

Here is the email I got from Steve Silva, AKA sNeAk.

A New design ... New shots ... Prepare to sp00ge <G> We've redesigned eXponential Half-Life and got our paws on some eXclusive shots straight from guys over at Valve/Sierra. Check 'em out at http://half-life.warzone.com and SPREAD the WORD.

Christmas Gifts

Everyone is in the spirite of giving this time of year I guess, here are a few of the little "gifts" that have been given out.

• Epic Megagames has released this 11 meg AVI of Unreal that you all should have a good time slobbering over. I can't wait for this baby to hit the net, they have a hit title on their hands, but man is anyone else out there a bit tired of waitng? :)
• Paul Steed has released a cool looking windows background for all you Quake2 fanatics.
  - Here is the 1280x1024 version
  - Here is the 800x600 version.

Quake2 Stuff

Gah! ok.. well over the past what, 3 days? A LOT of stuff has happened concerning Quake2, I'll make an attempt at running through all this stuff for you, I'll pretty much rip off Redwood and Blue for this section, so don't hate me. :)

• Zoid who is working on the Quake2 Linux port has posted some screenshots on the Linux Quake2 page of course.
• Fahrenheit176's Quake2 Console command list. (pretty cool name origin btw) You probably need this page if you dont happen to understand the CMDLIST or CVARLIST commands on your own. :)
• The boys over at www.openquake.org are hard at work verifying Quake2 dll's to be sure they are safe for mass consumption. Check out the list of verified mods that you can download and be sure wont blow your computer up.
• The Quake Workshop has made the conversion over to being the new Quake2 Workshop now, and of course has helpful tips for all you Quake2 hax0rs out there.
• The Unofficial Quake2 FAQ has been updated to veresion 1.2 now and is oline at www.quake2.com
• PowerBall for Quake2 is now available on the PowerBall homepage.
• Loki's Minion CTF for Quake2 is going up another version number and available on the homepage as well. This should keep your CTF itch satisfied until the CTF pack by Zoid is available.
• Qfind2 for Quake2 of course is available for all everyone to download with Quaek2 server support.
• Jawed Karim has released jawMD2 v0.1 with MD2 support for all you Quake2 lovers. It is designed for Win95 use as well as WinNT. If you use win95 you need the OpenGL drivers from Microsoft though. Check out the page at http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~jawed/ under "Software"
• Some Quake2 Skins for you guys to check out:
  - The Chosen's Quake2 Skins.
  - Snowball's House of Skins.
  - This cool Doom Skin for Quake2.

GameSpy v1.5

As promised, the new shareware version of GameSpy has been made available on the homepage at www.gamespy.com so go grab the new version and play yourself some Quake2 on the net. (I'll have to admit to you guys I don't play Q2 on the net, I'm still playing Quake1)

Oh, and register GameSpy you puds! you realize how much you are using this program?

Quake Done 100% Quick.

The incredible guys over at Quake Done Quick have a new present for you to download over at the homepage. As always it is quite good and well worth the time if you are a Quake fanatic such as myself :)

Christmas Quake Stuff

A couple of Christmas deals for you guys to download in the spirit:

• VRGN (Hey, those guys sound cool! maybe I'll go work for them.. ) has released a really cool mini TC style pack for Christmas where you run around a Mall and shoot elves and the like. Neeto snow and all other kinds of trimmings. Some great texture work in there as well.
• Xmas Quake, Operation Santa Slay has been released and um, is pretty twisted. :) Check it out, pretty cool.

Preview / Review Land

What everyone else is saying about the games you play and the hardware you use:

• Messiah, by Shiny (those guys who were talking about copyrighting or patenting or something like that) has been previewed on OGR.

Interviews

Actually havent been too many of these in the past few days, but here is what all the homeys are sayin:

• Tom Hall of Ion Storm is interviewed on Square.net Tom is the project leader on the Anachronox project.
• Craig Hubbard of Monolith is interviewed talking about the Riot:Mobile Armor project.
• Chuck Jones of Valve Software (formerly of 3D Realms) on the Half-Life project is interviewed over at Jaspur's Half-Life page.
• Mike Werkle of Raven Software has done some "how to be an animator" .plan update that well, I figured should be posted in the interviews section because it is pretty in depth. :)

Ion Storms Quake2

The level designers over at Ion Storm were so excited when they got the Quake2 code drop (all the Quake engine license dudes got the code drop a few days after the shipping of Quake2 to the stores) that they put together some deathmatch maps, here is Rich Carlson's descriptions:

• Vanguard Spectacle II (323 KB) by level dude Larry "Rocketman" Herring (Read me). A classic id-styled map with all of the trimmings. American McGee is rolling in his grave. (And he's not even dead yet!) A very hardcore deathmatch level from a very hardcore deathmatch player.
• Umbriel Station: Reactor Core (275 KB) by level dude Rich "Zdim" Carlson (Read me). Another "weird deathmatch" level from the guy who did a chicken single player level for HERETIC. (A big, vertical "danger room" arena, with secrets.)
• A Sensual Pain (487 KB) by level dude David "Cleaner" Namaksy (Read me). This level oozes DOOM 2, as squeezed through the pores of an architect. Dave aims to please with this awesome hunt and chase level. A great tournament map.
• Circular Death (44 KB) by artist Lee Perry (Read me). Lee is a true gamer. Lee is an artist. Lee does not make maps like the other guys. This map, inspired by a Marathon level, will knock you out! People with acrophobia should not play this level.
• The Warfare Warehouse 2 (435 KB) by artist Ludovic Texier (Read me). Ludo was actually the first person at ION STORM to make a Quake 2 level. It will appear on an upcoming cd rom release, has already garnished an award ("Level of the Week", World O' Hurtz) and was archived at CDROM.com at least week ago...

Also, while you are checking out Quake2 maps, dig on this Arma5 map from Matthias Worch for Quake2 (soon to be hired by Ritual as a level designer) the final version was actually compiled here in the offices. :) It's a DM map for 4 players and up.

Star Wars TC Released

The second prelim release of the Star Wars TC for Quake has been released over on the hompage of all places (can you imagine?)

Brutality no more.

Due to his increasing commitments to the Cyberathletes, Polish passes along word that he's closing down Brutality. A page will be posted shortly with forwarding addresses for Brutality's hosted sites.

Doom Source Code!

John Carmack has updated his .plan and id Software has FINALLY released the source code to Doom2! Well, actually this is the Linux code, so you'll have some port work to do. You of course need a registered copy of Doom to work with this stuff as well.

The DOOM source is up. Merry christmas! ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/source/doomsrc.zip

John has a list of ideas that he would like to see done with the source code including what one of our own here at Ritual is doing, a GLDoom port. Speaking of Doom, check out AVault's nice little article, the "Kids of Doom"

Also, you gotta check out the Doom Programmer Network boys, if you plan on doing some hax0ring on your own.

.plan Wagon

Here be the lowdown on the .plan's:

• Of course, as yo saw above, John Carmack updated his .plan with the release of the source code for Doom, here is a link the to full update.
• John Cash updated his .plan talking about the recent cool dudes who are running around crashing Quake2 servers:

A new release within a week. We could just rev the old codebase, but instead we are going to try and get all the bugfixes we have so far stable enough for a release. It won't have all the bugs fixed or all the new features (still no coop), but it will have lots of stuff.

• Can't forget about Brian Hook updating his .plan file with all that programmer talk that we all enjoy so much. (Ok, it's generally over my head, but I feel cool reading it)
• Steve Tietze over at Rogue has updated his .plan a couple of times talking about the HTML version of the QE4 manual soon to be avialable for all you QE4 users out there.

BSP v0.89b

A new version of BSP has been released over at BSP Headquarters. Yahn has put a bit more work into the Quake2 support, and it's looking spiffier than ever. If you wanna make maps for Quake2, download this!

Jedi Knews

A new version of .MAT Edit was released by DagBud (Ed Weese) and this new version has lots more options / goodies: Here's the stats:
File: MatEdit v.07b: (253k) (GOB) (Readme NOT Included) Author: DagBud Author Description: This is MATedit v0.7b. It is an updated version of the old MATedit and includes more toys than the previous version. It is a self extracting .exe file so just run it and it will extract all the files to a specified directory. Thanks www.jediknight.net

Quake2 Stuff

Here it is, yet more Quake2 "stuff"

• Ron Mercer tells me that QTracker v1.2 with Quake2 support has been released on the homepage. QTracker is an alternative to GameSpy with some unique features of it's own.
• PingTool v1.7 with Quake2 support has been released on the homepage also. I bet you can guess what PingTool does. Something fairly similar to GameSpy and QTracker maybe? Quite refined though and easy to use.

- Quake2 deathmatch flags support added (df_no_health, df_no_items, etc...). -Support for Quake II address book. You can manually add a server to a slot in the Quake2 Address Book. Or you can have PingTool automatically populate it with the top 8 servers every time you launch Q2. -Added "Import Quake II short cut in Start Menu" feature to make it easy to configure PingTool with all those wacky Q2 command line args.

• PlanetQuake is hosting the Quake2 Marines Survival Guide which provides a lengty walkthrough of Quake2 and all the levels in case you are having problems completing the single player game.
• OpenQuake is beginning to churn out the mods, there are now 5 difffernt mods available from www.openquake.org that you can be certain are free of any naughty mods that eat your computer.
• Qspawn v1.52 has been released, and of course has Quake2 support. QSpawn is a front-end program. Grab a copy from the homepage and make your life easy.
• Quake2 CTF is currently under submission over at OpenQuake for approval and release. Check out the homepage at http://quake2ctf.com/ by Aaron Goldsmith.
• Cartman (Of South Park fame) has opened up his own Kickass Quake2 page. Dig it.

Leveled

Preacher has put a tone of work into refining and reworking the Absolute Quake pages, and has now renamed the pages to Leveled.

Alot of work went in to making the site as easy to navigate and read as possible and will provide with daily editing news and coverage of q2 editing. The Editor watch section gives you all news regarding quake editors and also mirrors all files so you can download them from a number of locations. An problems&error section has been set up so that one can easily submitt errors and solutions regarding q2 editing also features design tuturials, complete quake1 entity reference, quake 2 reference is in the works, basics, advanced topics, humor. A file deposit for editing related files , tricks, lighting tuturials and much more.

QuakeEd "Radiant" Project.

QuakeEd 4.0b (by Robert Duffy) is undergoing renovations in the form of the QE-Radiant project. The purpose is to make the program more accessible to conventional computer systems and to give it a streamlined interface - without completely deviating from the way QuakeEd has functioned in the past.

Version 1.0b has been posted at QuakeLab2, it's 1.4MB. Keep in mind that this cut basically rebuilds some key issues in UI rather than focusing on huge speed boosts in the 3D view. Steve Fukuda

Tournaments

A few contests for you guys to enter:

• A 32-player quess tournament, Quest32, is taking signups now at: http://localsonly.wilmington.net/~les/quest32
• The SpiderNET 1on1 tournament is entering it's 2nd phase. When I checked out the page yesterday there were a few guys over there who were undefeated, someone better head on over there and show them whats what eh?

Preview / Review Land

What everyone else is saying about the games you play and the hareware you use:

• The Houston Chronicle has posted their own impressions of the full version of Quake2 for you to read.
• GameSpot via UK has posted their review of Quake2 as well. -Redwood's
• AVault has posted a review of Myth.
• After the Fall is reviewed on Talons Review of the Week http://www.planetquake.com/reviews/atf/ " This is store-shelf, retail quality work"
  (its freeware!!!)
• Obiwan Reviews After The Fall as well, http://www.public.usit.net/jerwin/atf.html

.plan Wagon

What the homeys are sayin:

• Brian Hook has a gloriously long .plan update (looks like he's shootin for a record!) going on first about Mike Abrash's super optimized code and how they are using it when the yanked it out earlier, then he moves on to a big rant about people thinking they know everything about what makes a cool game.
• Yet another clarification of a clarification by Paul Steed (artist at id). leave the guy alone or something, just let him make cool models. :)

Doomed?

Saw on Red's page that it looks like no Arnold for the Doom movei afterall. bummer. Check out the article linked thanks to Big daddy Tommy Winzig.

Doh

Sorry about the lack of updates yesterday, the page will be on the move again shortly so I've been a bit occupied. :) Server going up and down sure didnt help things either though.. blech.

AirQuake Final v1.01

According to the AirQuake TC homepage, (hosted by PlanetQuake of course)this latest bug fix in the server progs.dat should be the absolute final release for the TC as it is completed. So.. head on over to the page and grab yourself a copy of this awesome TC. Air combat of course. :)

GameSpy v1.5 beta3

If you are a registered user of GameSpy, then head on over to the homepage at www.gamespy.com and download the new version just for you. Also the Team GameSpy guys have announced that a version of GameSpy shareware with Quake2 support will be available for download the night before christmas. That way when you get that copy of Q2 for Christmas (and we all know everyone is getting one) you can fire up GameSpy and have at it.

Future vs. Fantasy v4.01

Saw on Blue's page that another version of FvF has been released on the homepage with bug fixes etc for you to enjoy. Head over to the FreeForm Interactive page and grab a copy of this shareware add-on for Quake. Monsters have been tweaked and Fullbrights have been removed.

More Quickness

The Quake Done Quick guys are what I would have to classify as, superfreaks. They have now ran through Matthias Worch's Beyond Belief pack for Quake at of course the fastest time known to be possible. This time it's called Speed Beyond Belief though. :) Some spectacular levels btw, someone should hire this guy! <g>

Quake2 Levels

Alright, this is getting to be a bit much, no more attaching your "INCREDIBLE BADASS BEST QUAKE2 MAP EVER DUDE?@#LJ!!!!" maps and emailing them to me. Just chill for a bit, take your time and make a quality level. I just got a look at a couple of maps today and I'll have to say I was less than enthused. Um, if it is so great that it just can't wait, give me a URL that I can download it from. Chances are I won't post it though, because when I post 1 map, i get 20 more people sending me their map, and getting all pissy at me when I don't post theirs.

LinQuake

Ok, the webmaster of this page has bugged me enough for a mention, if you are a user of Linux, and happen to enjoy Quake. (Most likely you do if you are reading this page eh?) Then check out LinQuake at www.frag.com/linquake/

Oh, while you are at it, check out Golbez's Fortress. Pretty cool page too :)

Ah! and another one, the Quake Movie Archive has made it's way over to frag.com at http://qmovies.frag.com/

About Arnold...

Jobe of www.Quake2.com sent me this email:

A little info. for your piece on Ahnuld Does Doom. In the 3rd Book of the Doom series, the dedication page says: "To Arnold Schwarzenegger (with no ulterior motives)"

Video Stuff

Couple of items on the video card front

• Zanshin has updated his Dojo talking about colored lighting on the PowerVR again:

I just recieved the supposed "full colored lighting" dll for Quake II from a contact at Videologic. On behalf of all the PCX2 users out there, I'd like some updates on whether they are going to be able to make this work or not. So far, only the entities and the weapons are lit. The blending got better from the original miniports, but I have heard over and over again that they found some trick to implement full colored lighting in Quake II on the PCX2.

• Also, thanks to VooDoo Extreme for the word that there is yet another new version of the RIVA128 tweaker utility that people are raving about. (RIVA owners, that is) RIVA Extreme, of course.

Quake2 Stuff

All you guys lucky enough to already have a copy of Quake2, here is the stuff for you:

• Duval Magic, of Rebel Boat Rocker (making an incredible 3d game) has been playing around with the Q2 weapon stuff and wrote up this surprisingly lengthy and in depth FAQ on uses of all the weapons in Quake2 in DeathMatch. Make sure and check the thing it, I couldnt believe how long it was.. heh.
• Blue is updating his Quake2 tips page still with some help for Worldcraft users this time.
• MPlayer has announced support for Quake2 on their multiplayer network. I'm hoping MPlayer gets around to hosting a large online tournament with big $$$ since they play QuakeWorld there and none of that hacked up NetQuake stuff.
• Inside3D has opened up several items on their pages, 2 new sections are "getting started" and "source code" now making a total of 7 in all.
• Loki's Minion CTF for Quake2 is now up to version 1.1a and available for download as always on the homepage.
• TBallz v1.2 is available for all you Quake2 lovers out there. I um, dont remember any of the other versions personally, but hell, if they are already up to v1.2, it has be worth a look :) -Blue's
• Couple of new skins pages for Quake2 people, Quake2Kill, Skinner's Sins, and Quake2 Skins. (Snagged those links from Blue)

Drivers

Several new drivers for you guys to grab:

• Pure3D drivers from Canopus are now available. they are now at v1.30.04
• Unified Millenium / PowerDesk drivers have been released by Matrox. So if you own a Matrox Mystique, Millenium, Millenium2 or whatever, these are for you.
• Dont forget the Creative Labs SoundBlaster drivers that were released yesterday also.
• Here is a.plan updaet by Gateway (Steve Tietze) of Rogue, (driver related of course)

Ok I have a BETA 3dlabs driver that im going to have redw00d post as soon as he can. This should fix the qe4 crashes. Send bugs about the driver to me. Enjoy and REMEMBER this is a BETA DRIVER. For a list of compatable 3dlabs cards check out www.3dlabs.com.

Preview / Review Land

What everyone else is saying about the games you play and the hardware you use:

• GameCenter has posted a first look at Monolith's Blood2 project. -Blue's
• OGR has posted a review of Galapagos.

Interviews

Under the hot lamp...

• Paul Steed, artist of id Software did an interview with QNewz.
• Mike Wilson, CEO of the new g.o.d. (Gathering of Developers) publishing company has part 1 of his GameCenter interview posted.
• Oh, here is a link to part two of the interview.
• Valve Software, the Half-Life team has an interview posted on Games.net

.plan Wagon

What all the homeys are sayin:.

• Paul Steed, artist over at id Software seems to have quite a strong opinion on people modifying Quake2. he also posted a little follow up update (which he seems to do a lot, for people who arent quick to understand his point) Oh, also Paul made an earlier update with the mention of just finishing up some new animations that will be used in the CTF pack to be released for Quake2 at some unknown time.
• Brian Hook has made a couple of changes to Quake2 noted in his .plan talking about the uses of the Number Pad now, as well as joystick / mouse support in the menus. (It's a bit of a hack, but oh well)