The Mailbag

In this issue: Feedback about the license agreement (most people seem to think it sucks...), some comments about last weeks comment's, and some generally mad people. I'm doing something now which I've been wanting to do for a while: sections! I've split this week's bag up into a few sections, just to make it a bit more uniform and readible. And now, the index...

EULA feedback
Replies about last week's mailbag
Some mad people
Miscellaneous stuff

Question of the Week:
Another bit of shocking news: Quake3. Yes, id software has decided to expand their upcoming mission pack into a full game, which will REQUIRE a 3D accelerator card.
What is your opinion of id software's decision to make Quake3? Send replies to mailbag@quake2.com.

Remember, if you get tempted to send me a question or problem, DON'T! Check The Unofficial Quake II FAQ which is written and maintained by Richard. He's worked very hard on it so people like me don't have to answer dumb questions. What's that you say? Your question isn't in the FAQ? Well, try the messageboard! There's a link in the frame. Lots of people will read your problem and try and answer it. Another good resource is the Gamer's Guide, which can be found on Blue's.

License Agreement Feedback
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License Agreement - views and comments
submitted by BlackHorse

I just thought I would share my views on the new License Agreement that was put out with the 3.14 source code. id software was very justified in adding some of the things they did to the License Agreement, but I feel they didn't consider the effects before they did so. Most of the changes made were to protect the mod author, but are they really doing so by adding so many restrictions, and in essence banning commercial TC's? If a team puts out a crappy TC, and markets it, I can understand, but there are teams out there that can put out good quality TC's, that help id, not hurt it. One of the things id could have done was not to place a restriction on making a commercial TC, but regulate it. Perhaps all TC's wishing to go commercial would have to be looked over by id software themselves. The other restrictions such as the source code expiring after 1 year, just does not make any sense. It makes you have to ask yourself, "Why?"

You make some good points, but it is not really practical to have every potentially good TC looked over by id software. Imagine, working your ass off for months to finish up your TC, give it to id, and have them say, "nah". You'd then have no choice but to distribute it for free, which would probably not make you very happy. Also, I don't see how good TC's help id software... it's not like they get a cut of the profits. A good TC is not likely to influence anyone's decision to buy QuakeII.

Re: What do you think about the license agreement.
submitted by Seggallion

As team leader, and lead coder of the Ghost In The Shell TC, I think (and Im sure MANY agree) that the liscence agreement sucks. I mean, I agree with the fact that the code is property of Id, and of course I respect that. But I think it goes TOO far when it states that we cannot distro our mods/tcs on anything other than Internet. That means, no commercial mod work. (The PlanetQuake articles mention this and more, so I'll spare you). Anyways, this liscence gives us mod makers VERY little room to work, and very little possibilities, as everything we make now has an expiry date etc. Ghost In The Shell TC was hoped to be a commercial TC. If we couldn't, we'd sell the soundtrack on a CD, and bundle the TC with it. Well, thats no more. All in all, I think this is very un-characteristic of Id. More like something of Activision's doing. I just hope that Id see's our problems with the agreement the same way, and do something to correct it. Heh, sorry for being long-winded. :)

-=- Seggallion - seggallion@mindless.com
-=- Ghost In The Shell Quake2 TC
-=- http://www.quake2.com/ghost

Gee, it must suck to be you :). Good luck anyway with whatever you decide to do (probably release it for free over the net, what else can you do anyway).

Re: License Agreement
submitted by Darren

After reading Todd Hollenshead's .plan update, I agree with the license agreement. The purpose of the agreement is simply to protect id and its customers. It protects id by forbidding anyone to use its hard work for their own profit. It protects the consumer by preventing people from selling sub-par material. We all should know by now that id is not going to do anything to limit mod authors in any way shape or form. It simply wouldn't make much business since. As long as id allows mod authors to keep releasing new material, then more people will buy their games. Why would id want to stop that from happening?

True, true. Most people probably realized that the EULA (that's End-User License Agreement, BTW) was not meant to target the average Joe, just the commercial companies. But what happens when the average Joe wants to distribute a commercial product? Then people feel it's unfair.

Replies from last week
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RE: Just a rant...
submitted by bEElzebUb

(comment from last week)
I know it's not a question, but.... QII sucks. I've been playing these games since Doom I, and loved Quake I. But ya know, this QII has so many friggin bugs, I can't believe they released it! The best games I've played are Dark Forces, Jedi and Mysteries of the Sith. There's so much more going on in these games. Much more to do..... I've got a 166 Pentium, 80 MB RAM, matrox Millenium 2D card, Matrox M3D 3D video card with 4 MB RAM and still this game plays choppy! What do I hafta do to make this game play smoothly? Run it on a friggin SGI with two co-processors? MOTS plays wonderfully on my machine. Oh sure, the graphics levels probably don't compare, but why buy a game just cause it has all this neat code for 3D but it doesn't play well on 90% of the machines out there? And how in hell do you even attempt to play this hog over a modem? I think id has sold you chip heads a bill of goods about this game. I've played it through and download add-on levels, but hit a big room with lots of bad guys and the frame rate drops to nothing. And don't give any crap about buying somebody else's 3D card to make it run. What's the point of building a game for a designated card? Getting kickbacks?
(end of last week's comment)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You just aren't seeing the whole picture here. To do so, look back on id's history. First there was Wolfenstein3D, which required a 386 to run. Then came Doom and its endless wave of clones, which required a 486. Once all the Doom buzz was over and done with, along came Quake, which required a Pentium. Starting to see a pattern here? If you aren't then I'll clarify: the next big jump for id will be Trinity, which will require a Pentium2. See how it works? Each new line of id's games are optimized for the newest and most capable technology. This doesn't show that id is screwing us over, what it shows to me is that they're ahead of everybody else. They're the first to do everything, which is why they're #1 in the 3D shooter genre. This might be unfortunate for people with lower end machines, but VERY fortunate for people on the higher end (like me).
No, Quake2 most definitely doesn't suck. It's just too good for you. Ever think of it that way?

In Reply to Richard Connery (he had a go at me)
submitted by Mugwum

Richard Connery: When i wrote that, i was doing it a bit "tongue-in-cheek" (ever heard of that expression). Mate, i have been into computers for two years and i have just started learning to program in C. I can create Quake levels, run Quake with command lines, Install hardware in Win95 AND DOS, use pkzip to make, restore, fix and unzip files. I can use DOS pretty much flawlessly and can link computers up using serial cables. Among my other talents, i can partition stuff, i can create patches for games and i play 3d games with a mouse and keyboard combo. "The Quaker's Way" If you want to know anything else, feel free to mail me. I also run a Grand Theft Auto website, visited by 200 people a day.

Please don't diss me publicly because you have a problem with what i say. Mail me at Mugwum@msn.com if you have a problem. I'd be happy to oblige. Oh, and Rickie.....if you like answering peoples rants so much, why did you ever quit?

Don't expect Rich to be impressed... I think he could out-credential you any day :). But, if you mean something to be tongue-in-cheek, then be a bit more clear about it, OK? Your old mail was a little bit vague...
P.S. Rich gave up the mailbag mainly due to time constraints. If he could be doing it, he probably would, but he can't, so he's not.

Like it or not, 3dfx is better, at least for QuakeII. But seriously, how bad could it possibly run? I'm starting to wonder what resolution people are playing this in, because with a 233MMX, I wouldn't complain (hint: if framerate is too slow, try turning down the resolution, using crappier sounds and textures, whatever works!). Seriously, if you think QuakeII sucks, that's your opinion, but I think it's not really valid if you're basing it on how QuakeII runs on your machine. You might say "I don't like it", but to say "It sucks" makes you a whiner.

Some very mad people
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Worldcraft 1.6
submitted by 82517

I waited months for Worldcraft 1.6, hearing how people said "How Great it was" and "It's the best level editor", waiting eagerly to test it out and perhaps even buy it.But, now Valve have done it again, by UPGRADE ONLY. Could you please put up on your page, a message telling everybody to e-mail valve and sierra complaining about this. They will be losing many users because of this, and it is unfair to registered users who have not tried the program before. Sure, they could download 1.5, but what's the point? None of the Quake II features are included, and another map file format! Please put this on your page.

Hey, it's no big deal to download a previous version, is it? They had a choice, make an upgrade, or have the next version be a LOT bigger. They probably figured most of the people who would want it already have 1.5, so they shafted the minority. Big deal. Happens all the time.

Quick comment on CTF and server-side cheating
submitted by Havok[AK]

The one thing that pisses me off more than anything about CTF is when people join a team that already outnumbers the other team and/or is kicking the crap out of them. What is the point? Obviously the team does not need you because they are winning!!! Basically by doing this, you are saying you can't stand up to a challenge. I love a good challenge. I recall one game last week where my team was winning by two captures (2-0) and we were out numbered 8 to 4. The problem with this is, eventhough we were winning by 2 captures, we were losing in overall points due to they're team size. Not to mention, people switch teams mid-game to play on the winning team, WTF is up with that??!!. If CTF was percentage based, this would not occur as much. There could be a simple formula by which you divide the teams total points by the number of its members giving an overall percentage based score. This would be fair and would have a crippling effect on those overcrowded teams.
Okay, check this out. This is just one instance in the many dozens I have encountered that begin to prove that server side cheating is going on. My base was being overrun by a female(with a male name) character that was putting a dent in our defense. She was extremely quick(0 ping time) and very accurate. My brother complained about launching quad damage rockets into her and she would not die. After all of his complaining, I returned to my base to check it out. It was obvious who he was talking about. I began shooting her with rockets dead on target and then double barrel shotgun blasts at point blank. And to my suprise, she was not dead!! She was not wearing a shield(obvious by not having a green glow or funny noise when taking a hit). She could have had a med-tech(or whatever), but they don't supply you with 800 hit points, just 150 max.. 3 good rockets would have killed her in 15 seconds, but my brother and I pounded on her with 15+ rockets and 10+ double barrel blast in under 30 seconds. She was not grabbing health or anything, its like she was in god mode. This person had a 0 ping time which meant that they were sitting right there with access to the server console. I am sure there are many other people who have witnessed this take place also. I would like to say that I am not complaining, but just bringing the subject up for discussion. The sad thing is, these people still end up in 3rd or 4th place anyway; I wonder how they play without the cheats?

Havoc [AK]

People who join winning teams suck, generally. Some servers have an 'autoteam' feature which will automatically place people on a team, but most leave it up to the player to choose. But hey, if you love a challenge, why does it bother you? :) Just more people to frag!
As for server-side cheating, well, I've never had anything like that happen to me... in fact I didn't know it was possible for the server to cheat unless all the server was running +set cheats 1. Anyway, if you can prove this, get some more people to back you up, then maybe you could mail an id software person and have them look into it. It doesn't sound like the sort of thing they would want to have in their game,

Frickin Patches
submitted by jake

look, i know what i want in a game and thats action. but what is with these patches??? I think the game should have been released after it was in beta a little longer (and i think most people would agree) so all those bugs could have been handled. Im tired of constanly d/l all these stupid patches for the game itself!!! I can understand network patches because of all those greasy computer freakshows that are constantly finding a way to cheat or somethin' stupid. And while Q2 loads you can go take care of more opressing matters like take a shower or go to your local bike retailer and scopin' out huffy bikes. I just have one more thing to say and that is "Q3 better be a whole lot better, or im gonna be tossin fo0s!!!"
l8r, jake

Blah blah, patches, yeah, agree, blah, blah. Wake up, man! The patches arguement is so passé! :)

Sad, Sad Day for One Quaker
submitted by ZEN

You meet people like yourself, Joe Sixpack, tarra, KillerDawg, Bubba in the Quake community and you really dig these 'faceless' people who are just genuinely nice and cool...but...I guess it had to happen....you meet real assholes like buttcheese, killer, and Kiss Me who are just F*#&@!G *SSHOLES who cry and snivel about anything and everything.....Can they take the time to tell someone how the grappling hooks work on the Lithium Server....NO....Can they take it when someone goes in like a maniac and kills them since that is what everyone else is doing....NO....But, the real kicker, is that they complain that there is no competition.....Excuse me, but some people have a life and play Quake to relax from the job stress you gather up during the week.....So buttcheese, killer, and Kiss Me....You aren't good...1) You know all the workings of the mods...maybe if you shared that knowledge you might find it more of a challenge since everyone will know how the game plays, and 2)Some of us have lives who enjoy an hour or two of killing online to relieve life's pressures....Unlike you 3 *ssholes who think your gods of Quake II and who probably dream of becoming professional gamers....Well, hate to tell you, but I doubt if nike or reebok will name a shoe after you...and I seriously doubt anyone will watch your games on ESPN (I may be wrong, but I really don't think many people believe that gaming is a legitimate 'Competitive Sport'...its for enjoyment and relaxation....So get a life you 3 and play the game and quit sniveling....One more rant....Why do guys use the female character instead of a guy...In real life, are they scared they might get caught dressing in mommy's clothes, so they explore their homosexual tendecies online...or do they think the 'real guys' will get pissed off being beat by a girl?...well folks....Wake up call....anyone (female,male,black,or white) can beat anyone if they played long enough...and anyone with a real life realizes that a woman of 56, a girl of 8, or a boy of 7 can beat you if they play more than you (yeah, I got my ass whoopped by a 7 year old).....so quit pretending to be a girl, and play...that is PLAY...meaning-enjoy the game, comraderie, and the people of the community...and quit sniveling about everything....and....most importantly....when a couple of people in the game ask about the 'Red Beams' be a sport and take the time to tell the folks what is going on....Real Sports do that
ZEN

Sounds like you had a bad experience at a Lithium server. Well, don't let it sour you on the whole Quake thing, not everybody is like that... jeez, after reading your mail again, you really are mad. Calm down, man. QuakeII is important in some people's lifestyles, and it is just a relaxation thing in other's. You'll have to accept that some people are gonna take it very seriously.

opinion
submitted by SuperLuminal

Well this doesn't have anything to do with the question of the week, but here it comes:

I HATE people who play without tactics. An example of this is getting 200 health and armor and then pulling the RL-trigger 5 inches from your enemy's face. It's so damn annoying! This just shows how lousy they are! Really, a nice clean shot in the back is OK but that is just plain dumb!. A lot of people would say "well why don't you have the 200 armor+health?" Cause I just respawned! This happened to me 4 or 5 times repeatedly in Tokay's Towers yesterday.

Another dumb thing is just standing around in a dark corner hoping no one will see you. Well, with brightness on max, you are completely visible, and very attractive targets!

Last dumb thing (but there are many more) are people who don't listen to the sounds of the game. Like in the Fragpipe, when someone jumps repeatedly, they are trying to get up the ladder to the RL. Or if you hear the Quad, they are by the Fragpipe. Or if you hear them picking up 6 shards of ammo then they are running on the bottom floor towards or away from the pipe.

I just wish people could play intelligently, rather than letting their trigger fingers do ALL the work!

Well, hate to break it to ya, but running up to you with the RL and 200 armor and hitting the trigger does count as a legitimate tactic. After all, you died and they survived, right? Well, what do you want them to do? Hide around the corner and wait for you to walk by, then pop you one in the back? Not while they have 200 armor and the RL!
Most people tend not to play with the brightness on max, so most people expect to be relatively invisible in a dark corner. It works most of the time... I guess if you want to ruin the visual effect and pump up the brightness, that's your option.
The trigger finger's work is easily just as important as the intelligence part of the game, IMHO. To get the highest frag count, you should be able to outsmart your enemy if he has a bigger gun than you, but you should also be able to obliterate him easily if you have the rocket launcher and he has the blaster.

Wait a second! (miscellaneous rants)
submitted by Zarathustra

I've played on a number of servers, and it doesn't seem to me as if crouchers are newbies at all. In fact, many of the most expert players I've played against crouch... BUT ONLY ON CERTAIN OCCASIONS. If you crouch while running ALL THE TIME, you're gonna get plugged an insane number of times. But if you only crouch to get in small spaces or to avoid someone shooting at you close-by, it actually turns out to be somewhat efficient.

And playing with a mouse or any other fancy controller has never done anything for my gameplay. The keyboard works better for me than for anything else, as it has through Wolfenstein and DOOM. (but that's just me :)

And KILL THOSE PEOPLE WHO FEEL THE NEED TO SEND THE SAME MESSAGE 50 TIMES IN DMATCH. I don't mind when people want to chat a little ( a LITTLE) or get e-mail addresses, but when someone sends the same message forty times in two seconds... DAMN. I've run into these people before (you know who I mean Trekie you SOB), and they do nothing but piss people off and send ping rates flying. Give your comment once or twice, and SHUT UP. You're just gonna get people to kill you a million more times.

One more thing: the new DMatch maps, in many cases, are WAY too conducive to camping, especially with railguns, rocket launchers, and bfgs. You can camp out by the railgun in the first DM level (after going through the water pipe) and NEVER GET KILLED through an entire DM session! Come on, ID... put a little more thought into these levels!

By the way, what are everybody's records for ping numbers? Mine is at about 10,500. :)

--Zarathustra

Well, I'm still not much of a crouching fan... I'm just not used to it enough. Speaking of getting used to it, have you actually tried using the mouse+keyboard? I admit, I was a diehard keyboard player for many a year (my mouse sucked anyway). But, when my old mouse died, I bought a really good new one (Logitech MouseMan+) and started using it. It took some getting used to... blah, blah, blah, now I'm a helluva lot better than I used to be.
I agree with you on the spamming issue, QuakeII needs a standardized spam control thing, where you can't speak for 10 seconds if you reapeat something like that.
I have found the DM maps to be fairly well balanced. There are some good spots for camping, such as the one you describe, but they don't get a lot of traffic! You may not die sitting by the railgun, but you'd get pretty bored! But what do I know, I haven't played the DM levels in a while (I'm hooked on CTF!).

I posted this one as a public service... many people are going to benefit from this one. Go to Blue's, and click on the Gamer's Guide link in the frame.

Help the VWEP patch become a part of Quake2
submitted by Aleks Zawisza

Hi there, this is about the VWep mod for Quake2 (http://brentagon.intelegenesis.com/quake2/), the patch that allows you to see opponents holding their actual weapons. I would like to initiate a petition to get id to incorporate this mod into the next Q2 patch. Simply put, this mod RULES, it's Quake2 the way it was meant to be. I know it was supposed to be in Quake2, but the guys didn't have time to do it. Hentai did it, and did an AWESOME job of it, so why not just put this in the next release? There is simply not a single drawback to using this mod, so I really don't see why it's so hard to find a server that uses it (I only know of a single one). Please help this patch become part of Quake2, or at least help make it as popular as it deserves to be. I'm hoping that a few letters sent to id (or rather a petition, so that they don't get pissed off), would help convince them to incorporate this into the game.

Regards,

Aleks Zawisza -- http://qlink.queensu.ca/~3awz/ --
http://aphex.ml.org/

Well, are you going to start a petition? That sounds like the sort of thing a lot of people might go for...

[no subject]
submitted by Princess Bob

Just want to congratulate you guys at Quake2.com, I love reading the Mailbag, especially when someone who has the IQ of a smahsed cantelope tries to act smart. Anyways I would just like to know what your definition of camper is, one guy called me a camper for not constantly moving (I was lagged for frig's sakes) and then another guy says there is no such thing as camping (I later was forced to GIB him real good). So if you could please tell em what you think a Camper is. And by the way, why do these people call you guys at id? And please don't read any more into my name than is neccessary, I am not a she-male!

-- Princess Bob

Camper (KAM-pur) n: One who sits by a respawn point with a powerful weapon and kills people before they realize they have respawned. Of course, my definition may vary from other people's... some lamers think a camper is someone who kills them...

And so ends my latest mailbag. If I didn't post your mail, then you didn't read the guidelines! Remember, technical questions will go straight to my trash can. I will try to post submissions which contain ONLY VALID OPINIONS. Read on for the guidlines...

Guidelines

Don't send me specific hardware questions; mail them to the respective companies' technical support.
Don't send me specific gameplay questions like how to finish a certain level.
Don't send me specific problems you're having; mail them to id Software instead.
Don't send me questions about a specific mod; mail them to the mod author.

The Mailbag deals with opinions, not specific questions. Also, I don't reply directly so you'll need to check The Bag each week. If I happen to grin at your submission you are free to send another. Use it to show I was wrong; if you don't send other logic arguments or facts I will grin a lot harder. Send them to mailbag@quake2.com.

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