SKUN, a Quake3 player model skinning page has a couple of emails from Kenneth Scott of id Software (The skin guy there) talking about an upcoming interview. Also on SKUN is this bit on getting around the EULA for creating skins from a reader:

"the skins were created to be viewed with a model viewer, not with Q3 .. and they're being created for artistic reasons, not to be played with. People can download them, but what they do with them is their business"

Couple of strategy guides for you less experienced gamers out there looking for a edge. Quake3Source takes a look at Q3Test2 and gives the run-through of all the possible tricks you can pull on your unsuspecting friends (or enemies) Also, FiringSquad has a new Aliens vs Predator Marine walkthrough guide that is pretty handy.

Tim Willits over there at id Software has a .plan update for those of you wanting to send in bug reports for the next version of Q3Test which is nearing release, checck it out:

As you have heard, we are working on releasing another version of the test. This new  version of the test will require you to download all of the data again. Many of you might not immediately see this as a good thing, but it is!!! This gives me the opportunity to make some minor bug fixes to Q3test1. If there is anything in the map that you feel is a "bug" please drop me an email and I'll try to fix it before the next test release.

Examples of some good bug fix suggestions:

1. Sometimes when I round the corner out of the rocketlauncher room towards the plasma room I see a vis error at the top of the steps.
2. I get stuck when I back into the corner on the left side of the steps leading up towards the rocketlauncher in the courtyard.

Examples of some bad bug fix suggestions that I DON"T want you to email me:

1. This map plays nothing like Q3test2 and it basically sucks.
2. Make it more like the Edge, that's my favorite map!!
3. I can't believe you put two rocketlaunchers in the map.You are dumb!!

Thanks again for everyone's feedback on the test and the levels.

Graeme Devine updated his .plan with the results of a little internal Quake3 tournament they just had at the offices. It looks like not only can John Carmack hax0r like a champ, but he's pretty handy with the rocketlauncher to boot. Also in the .plan update is this bit about the pending release of "Q3Test 2"

So where’s that darn test?

Like the Great Prophet Zarquon said, “all sorts of things popped up”. It’s still “soon”. We need to merge code, test, and do a drop to IHVs to make sure everything is hunky-dory with them. The tourney map needs a wee bit more tweaking, and some of the tourney code needs a little bit more work and testing. There’s a lot of new stuff in there!

Got a few more details on the Brandon James departure from id Software. Paul Jaquays was kind enough to post to the Quake3 messageboard a fair amount of clarification on why no announcement was made and other things. Here is a bit of it:

Why did he go? I don't know. That was his personal decision. But he wasn't fired or anything even close to that. Let's make that clear. Frankly, we were all pretty stunned by both his decision to leave and the timing of the decision. I didn't find out until the following Monday. Brandon has a lot of varied talents and I wish him well in whatever he chooses to do in the future. How will this affect Quake 3? Brandon James's incomplete maps and other responsibilities will be divided up between us. It does mean a bigger work load for the rest of us, but that's what we get paid to do.

Check out the Quake3 messageboard for the full deal. Here is the original post I made: As many of you guys probably heard a few days ago Brandon James was removed from the id Software BIO page and the rumors began to fly. Well it's official that Brandon "Killme" James has left id Software as a level designer. You can check this little Q&A over at the Oxygen Tank out.

Why did I leave id Software? I'm not going to answer that. However, I will say that I really needed time to get by myself, to pick up the hobbies (music, gaming, etc) that I had put aside for far too long. As for any other reasons, I will not talk about or answer those now or in the future

While sending everyone over to read that John Carmack interview a couple of days ago that was so interesting I never even got a chance to read the full thing myself. Well witzbold spotted this one important bit out of the article that most of you guys should find interesting. It looks like Quake3 will officially not have character classes. Check it:

"One thing that will not make it into the game is a character class structure. The team toyed with the idea, but eventually found it to be unworkable in a deathmatch environment."

Redwood is the man of the hour having scored a high res AVI or MPEG video of that Quake3 footage so many of you checked out from the Mac presentation yesterday. Everyone say thanks to James Black for scoring the video for him. Let me HIGHLY recommend you check this video out. You will poop masonite. I took 6 screenshots for those of you on a modem who dont Wanna download a 23meg AVI or 16meg MPEG. I'll index these into the screenshots section this afternoon. If Stomped is slow you can grab the file from cdrom.com as well.

You'll notice the quaded player now has a glow that is easier to spot along with his cool electric effect. One of the complaints about the Quake2 quad effect which id has apparently listened to the players about. There was also a rotating mirror which could make for some really interesting gameplay. Hopefully they'll do something else with mirrors like perhaps a certain energy based weapon can bounce shots off mirrors etc. As anyone who read my old Half-Life preview knows, I'm pretty anal about the DM player models, and I'm just giddy that Q3 DM models look so good.

CDMag has a preview of Quake3 that has a couple of interesting tidbits in it. Read this for yourself: One thing that will not make it into the game is a character class structure. The team toyed with the idea, but eventually found it to be unworkable in a deathmatch environment. Also, here's something interesting: The flame-thrower is the only truly new weapon in the game, filling the medium range area effect niche in the player's arsenal. I don't recall the Flame Thrower being confirmed. But hey, it's something new, eh?

John Carmack updated his .plan a couple times, the first time appologizing for not getting the Mac version released and also talking about some fixes he's made.

A couple cool fixes were:

* Showing your weapon at fov's greater than 90 (good for me, I run at 120 and have never seen the lightning gun)
* Spectator's are no longer tied with you goober's how are stuck at 0 frags because you suck

id's Graeme Devine has been interviewed on Inside Mac Games, where he discuss Apple's support for games, Mac OS X, and also mentions the Quake3 add on pack Team Arena will be a hybrid Win32/Mac CD.