Friday, October 17, 1997

Mailbag delayed
My computer was on the fritz today, so today's mailbag has been delayed till tomorrow. People have had a chance with the extra day though to send in some additional feedback so it wasn't all that bad. Expect the mailbag sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Slipgate

Mailbag
Thanks to everyone who has sent their thoughts to the mailbag. Keep them coming. We have received a number of messages about the new layout here. We have open ears towards all suggestions, and we want to make the site the best we can to serve you, the readers.

Polls Polls Polls
The Quake2 Press will now be featuring polls, their first one asks, "Did you think the Quake levels were easy to complete." Quake2 will have much larger levels, should make Single Player much more of a challenging aspect of the game. As far as polls go, we plan to get our first one starting very shortly.

Dyno

Thursday, October 16, 1997

Boot article on Cyrix
Bootnet has an article on the apparent next Cyrix chip coming and how it is supposed to have much better FPU performance to alleviate the speed problems people have with products like Quake on current Cyrix chips. The article quotes Cyrix as saying that they feel it will even quiet John Carmack with this new chip.

More on "crunch time"
id Software programmer Brian Hook updated his .plan about Steed's comments yesterday regarding "crunch time." He makes comments on both the good and bad parts of "crunch time", summed up nicely in this quote from part of the .plan:

Crunch time sucks because you don't get sleep and you're really tense and stressed all the time. Crunch time rules because everything comes into focus and you see all the different pieces coming together into a product that is greater than the sum of its parts. We've really got a competent team here making some kick ass products, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Mailbag encouragement
I just wanted to take a minute to encourage you guys to send feedback on anything this site does or its articles or interviews contain or just to get your voice heard on this site to the mailbag. I've gotten a lot of positive and some negative feedback on the new layout, that can be an initial topic for this week! The first mailbag will be done tomorrow, and then every Friday after that (weekly).

Be sure to read the mailbag page prior to sending your feedback.

Slipgate

Wednesday, October 15, 1997

Quake 2 demo news
Apparently, according to this PC Gamer article, there will be TWO Quake 2 demos. The article is well summed up in this quote from it:

The Quake II demo will be released in two versions, id Software's Barrett Alexander tells PC Gamer this afternoon. Alexander, id's director of business development, tells us that the first release will be a compatibility demo, primarily to test the game with people's machines. A second, more polished demo will be released shortly after the first, perhaps within a couple of weeks of it.

Thanks to everyone who's mailed us about this. The list of people is just so very long that we couldn't possibly thank all of you.

Subsite news
Some interesting items of note on our subsites today:

The UAC Gateway, a links database similar to Slipgate Central and Serpent's Realm but solely for Quake 2 sites, is now up as our links database. Run by Satanic, a new staff member and news editor for Quake2.com whose past credits include Serpent's Realm and the Official Hexen 2 FAQ, I think you'll be pleased with it.

The Illuminati TC has a logo contest running. Logo entries must be in by November 14th and submissions must include your nickname and e-mail address. The winner receives a free copy of Quake 2, and they will be contacted about what their postal address is via their e-mail address. They ask you to send submissions to isaeed@erols.com. The Illuminati team would like to stress that the logos must be related to the TC and creative. Illuminati would also like to put out a request for interested potential new members to contact them.

The QuakeMunity Green Ribbon Campaign (though not actually a hosted site is given space by us) now has a "Quake 2 ribbon" graphic for Quake 2 sites who are participants in the campaign.

Quake 2 ad news
Rotwang let us know that a type of marine's journal is part of the Quake 2 ad in the current issues of PC Games and CGW. I'm not certain about whether or not we may quote this text, so I do so only under the disclaimer that if requested to remove it we shall.

17:05 It's either us or them this time. We lose, and we all end up bratwurst on the grill of some ungodly mechanized carnivore. We win, and the terran Coalition of Man can start rebuilding the cities of Mars, Olympus, even Earth. Who knows -- they might even get the old interplanetary football league going again. God, I miss Monday Night Football. 18:03 Grotesque images of Stroggs have been filling my sleep at night. Their metallic spines jutting awkwardly through muscle, skin and connective tissue, masks of human facial skin smeared and bonded to their cyber-alloy heads, crude but powerful weapons jammed into oozing, gaping sockets. Thank God the endless sleep ahead is dreamless. 19:11 THE LINE BETWEEN MAN AND MACHINE SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ERASED. Blood vessels and wires should never have been crossed. Souls and circuitry, brain stems and processors. 19:42 You learn the hard way in the outer sector... Like never get into a drinking match with a three-headed Bukan. Never assume a Strogg is dead even when he's nothing but bloody scraps of shrapnel. And never go to bed with a Rabaul no matter how many breasts she has.

Houston Chronicle
I'd heard yesterday about Redwood being in the Houston Chronicle, but apparently the physical article contains Quake 2 information the online does not. I can't confirm or refute this, so if you are a reader of the Houston Chronicle perhaps you should read the article closely. Thanks to Matthew Bovett for informing me.

.plan updates
Paul Steed made a lengthy .plan update describing what he calls "crunch time" in game development, relating it to school's "crunch time." I'd like to thank Rotwang for informing me of this .plan update. His last paragraph in particular struck me as noteworthy and a respectable request:

To say this last month of development is stressful would be like saying natural child birth hurts a little. Being our fans and attempting to be respectable news site managers, please respect the enormous pressure of 'crunch time' and cut us some slack when it comes to 'demos', 'release dates', 'news scoops' and other important things in the life of the rabidly waiting. Bugging us or posting 'off the record' comments to the public does nothing but ostracize you in our eyes. I'll talk the talk and I'll walk the walk. Right now all of us at id are on the longest of walks but we know the finish line is near. We're busting our asses to get this really, really, REALLY quality entertainment experience to your eager little hands. Give us some space and just a little bit of patience, and think back to that final you had to cram for and relate.

Quake 2 sites
The Big Gun is a new Quake 2 site.

Slipgate

Zoid Interview
The Quake Workshop has in interview with Zoid, from Threewave. They discuss CTF matters, and CTF in Quake2 as well. Thanks Prophet.

Dyno

Tuesday, October 14, 1997

Quake2.com site redesign
We hope the shock value is immense right now. Quake2.com has begun using |2|'s winning logo and the site has been redesigned anew. A lot of new features include the weekly feedback among several other new developments. If you didn't know about Quake2.com's QuakeWorld servers or IRC server, you can now find them as well as other cool new features. Quake2.com's a team effort, so be sure to check the credits page to see who's involved! Check out the various choices on the menu to explore the new Quake2.com.

We'd also like to announce the hosting of a brand new Quake 2 maps site, A World of Quake 2. Although Quake 2 maps are not out yet this site is going to be ready for when addon maps are released for the game.

The new links page couldn't make it in time for unveiling tonight, come back sometime tomorrow to see it as well.

Quake 2 Press move
Quake 2 Press has moved to gagames.com/quake2/. That happens to be co-webmaster Dyno's old spot. We wish Lag and Pestilence the best in the new location. Thanks Hanif and Prophet.

What to do while you wait for Quake 2?
The Peon Palace has an answer to that question. They've posted a list of the things you can do. Thanks Hanif.

Q2 Maps depository contest
The Quake 2 Maps depository is having a screen shot contest. Details can be found on this page. Thanks Mindbomb, Hanif, and Prophet. Apparently the prize is a copy of registered Quake 2 when it comes out.

Q2 Demo again
I was requested to remove the log previously posted (as were all other sites who printed it) by Disruptor. To that effect I have complied. Suffice to say the demo will be single player only and id have their reasons for doing this.

More Q2 Demo news
Gamespot has an article called QTest2 Rumor Dispelled. This is slightly older news I saw on The Sentinel. Since the IRC log presented in this article includes me, I can tell you that it is a legit log. It's among the logs on The Undernet #quake2 page as well as on my hard drive.

Slipgate

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