Newer News
What to expect from Quake 2?
If you have read Fragmaster's Quake Hype article, you wonder whether all those things that were supposed to be in Quake (like realistic falling etc.) will be in Quake 2 or if we will wait for Trinity. I don't know yet what to expect from Trinity, but I can say this: For Quake 2 they are taking the Quake engine and making some impressive changes, and finishing stuff that was meant for Quake to begin with. Try to think of it as Quake being the Wolfenstien 3-D of true 3-d games of the 3-d genre. More is definitely to come......
Slipgate
Some goofups fixed
Yesterday was the 19th, but I repeated the 18th....... fixed. The link to Kee Kimbrell's finger wasn't correct, fixed. The MIDI on the page has been changed to the song of Episode 2 Level 1 from Doom 1. Quicker, more excited. The way I sign has changed to be less obnoxious...... Nite will do the same. I have put a notice at the bottom of the news page as to how Quake and Quake 2 (and the special 
we love) are registered trademarks of id. By the way, this page hereby needs you to have the QUAKE font to be viewed correctly so here it is for those who don't have it.
Slipgate
For a friend......
Preacher from EFNet IRC #quake asked me to mention this level in my news since it is "good enough to BE Quake 2". He is uploading it to ftp.cdrom.com today, and in the meanwhile I'll keep it here. Here is the link. I will check it out after uploading this update. (was doing this HTML when he mentioned it ;) )
Slipgate
My Counter is back!
My counter finally is back. They did some moving around without asking those people making use of their service. Right now, this is how many hits I had roughly three or four days ago, and the counters started on April 12. That's why it's not as large a number as it could be (since it was down all that time, the hits in the last few days were never recorded). I'm just hoping it stays up and running.
Slipgate
Opinions on page
I've gotten lots of positive and negative feedback on the layout of this page. If you are a regular reader or just hitting it for the first time, please let me know what you think about the layout.
Slipgate
Site now has a MIDI
This site now has a MIDI file included..... the victory song from Doom (1). It starts kind of pensive....... I think it sort of does fit this page. If you truly hate MIDI files (or have a suggestion for a different one) let me know.
Slipgate
Kind of quiet
I'm still updating the page, but new Quake 2 related news doesn't happen as fast I can update. I'm still waiting on the plan update from Mark Dochtermann including the summary of people's opinions and what they'll go with (regarding Java, QC, or DLL). John Carmack hasn't updated his plan since April 9 but I keep on checking. Will let you know when anything happens of course.
Slipgate
Quick note on Quake 2 webring
I have moved the Quake 2 webring image map to the bottom of the news page instead of the top....... people in 640x480 had to scroll down past the graphic to read anything, and its typical to keep it on the bottom anyways....... This has been done in the Old News also.
Slipgate
Now listed in QANS
QANS is now able to successfully parse this page, so that infotracking service now lists us. Cool.
Slipgate
Note on Older News format
Here's the idea. At the top of any installment of old news will be a Newer News link. At the bottom of any installment of news excepting the first is an Older News link. That's how it is now. That's just a quick note.
Slipgate
WHY am I signing each update now?
QANS is listing us now, but there is a slight problem. Since Nite and I don't sign until after a group of updates we make and QANS sorts updates in different ways, you don't necessarily see who wrote an update. So I am signing each update, and I will let Nite know he should do the same, for QANS' sake.
Slipgate
The "DLL thing"
About DLLs replacing QuakeC: Here is what I understood, and part of what id is planning has been augmented by a recent e-mail exchange with John Carmack. A DLL would contain only the code of the modification to be used in Quake, instead of a whole set of Quake's original code and the modification together as it is in a progs.dat. Since everything Quake uses behavior-wise is kept in one progs.dat, that is why modifications can't be run together (picture Quake asking, "So what parts of this mod and what parts of this mod am I supposed to run anyways?). DLLs on the other hand hold, as I said, only the code that relates to the specific change occuring in the game. A major idea behind this was that modfications could be run together. I asked John Carmack if this was the case, and I received this response from him:
You will NOT be able to automatically combine dlls.
There is one dll entry point.
Someone could write a combiner at that point, but we won't be doing it.
John Carmack
What this means is that DLLs containing modifications could not be run together automatically, that there is still only one DLL entering consideration. However, this doesn't prove much of a problem because at that point a combiner that takes two DLLs (each containing their code and nothing else) and putting them together into one. You could combine two or more modifications by combining their DLLs into one DLL with this combiner program he mentions. Things would technically still be multi-patch runnable, but the person would want this little combiner program. He could easily pick, choose, and combine his favorite mods. Id won't write a combiner and won't create confusing multi-DLL running code. This is John's current stance (as of last I spoke to him), it may change but knowing what it means when John makes a decision, I would safely say that somebody who can program should appoint themselves now as the person to write that combiner when Quake 2 is released. I replied asking for further information but have not received a response to that yet.
Slipgate
Fancy some speed?
OK, this is Nite writing. I have recently received an email from someone who has a P60 and is worried about whether Quake2 will run OK on his computer. I can't pull him down for having a computer of that speed because I do too, and I know that this is a topic that alot of people are concerned about. Even though information isn't being released very quickly, I can probably say that the change to DLLs should make up for the slow-down of the new architecture, etc. I'll try emailing someone at id Software and ask exactly how much speed has been lost due to coloured lighting, among other things.
Nite
Old news started
I have moved all the news from the start of the site (March 23) up to April 11 to my first installment of Old News. Hence the new link in your upper left corner of your screen and the older news link at the bottom of this document. Click on the Old News link in the upper left to get an index page of all the sets of Old News installments so far (only one currently). The Older News link at the bottom of this page is to go to the last installment of news. All Old News pages will have Newer News and Older News links. Current news won't have a Newer News link and the first installment of Old News won't have an Older News link. Basically you can search for an installment or parade backwards or forwards. (Yes I spent a lot of time planning this :) ). Now, hear this: Older News links will be at the left side and Newer News links will be on the right. That is to tell apart sort of. Maybe too much news moved, but a) it's all accessible still b) there's a reason, keep on reading.
Site updates/improvements, including new logo
First off, my buddy Nite has shown up again for work :). I'm just kidding of course, you don't see him writing these updates but he's very active behind the scenes here. I've been very happy with him....... recently he showed me a GREAT new logo for the Fault Line, you see it up there now. This logo, unlike the last one, fits alright on the screens of folks with 640x480 (no scrollbar going right). It also looks GREAT. And of course the advent of Old News! (gasp). Also, I've made some fixes here and there on the page. Sorry you couldn't just go off what was in your cache this time :).
QANS
Remember that whole problem with 1997 going on a second line? Even though I didn't want to, I went back and fixed that problem on the April 12 and up pages that HAD that problem, even though I hold the opinion I shouldn't. I also removed bolding to make it all a consistent format....... never again though, my consistent format is this from here on out. I can't believe I went back and did all that on this installment, but I did. The "Old News" is untouched by my profane hand :). Seriously though, for two reasons I did that. a) consistent look on the front page and b) QANS (Quake Automated News Server), which is a new infotracking service that lists some major sites, wanted to list this site but the datelines weren't consistent and it used a perl script to read datelines and news that was fed the dateline format and expected it to remain constant...... umm, problem :). I haven't heard from QANS again after replying to them, so I will mail them and let them now they can index all my latest news since I've FINALLY got a consistent format. I am very happy they even considered me and am sorry that my site posed a problem for them. There is also a HANS for Hexen 2. Once again, thanks for thinking of me.
My counter burned in hell
Aaarrgh. My counter's domain is still down. It's been 24 freaking hours! I spent so much time looking for one in the first place I don't want to find another....... and I'll lose all those hits I got so far. I'm just going to be patient with it. Fro now it is commented out until I see the site come back up again...... You guys shouldn't be stuck trying to find a crashed domain.
Suggetions threedux
God I hate bad jokes! :) Anyways, once again I am still accepting any Quake 2 suggestions anyone has, IRC, e-mail or whatever, until April 27. Then I will put together an organized packet of suggestions for Quake 2, crediting each guy who made each suggestion, and mail a whole group opinion packet off to id like I've been planning. Please note that I must receive the suggestions by April 27 in the morning (I go on US Eastern Standard Time) or your sugestion will be booted to the second packet of group suggestions. I think packets of group suggestions that are organized will receive more priority than dozens of individual e-mails or IRC one-liners, so please refrain from bugging id about Quake 2 for now so that they don't assume that the e-mail I send them on the 27th is just another of a gazillion letters. Send to me. First packet goes out April 27. Second packet I'm guessing in the middle of May sometime. You can send them to Nite also, I will ask him to forward them (complete with headers so I can give you credit) to me. People are sending more and more suggestions at last....... I'm actually getting some material TO put together.... keep it up. If any of you have already mailed me and have any other good suggestions, OK.
Now, one other thing. This e-mail packet I propose...... would you guys like to see it and give your thumbs up or thumbs down to it before I send it to id? I'd print what I'll send on the page and get opinions from you, that sort of thing? You know, last ditch effort to make sure that your suggestion goes the way you want it to go. Let me know.
Will Quake 2 run on my computer???
There is some concern (as Nite saw) as to whether some people can use Quake 2. Here's my general understanding of it.... Quake's engine has had some improvements. The game is no longer being cut short to make sure it runs on 8 meg ram machines. If you have more than 8 megs of RAM and Windows 95 or NT (Quake is going to be win32, not DOS) and you have at least a Pentium (a floating point unit just like Quake needed) things should be OK. I don't know how well 486's will be supported, but I don't know that many computers that have Win95/NT and are 486's either. The speed a DLL can be accessed with compared to the rather messy tokenized code of QuakeC should be a good speed booster.
I stand corrected by the Giggler
Giggler of Hipnotic Interactive told me that they MAY be going with DLLs, but that other methods (including sticking with QuakeC or going to Java compiled code) are still open to them. Just keep an eye on Mark Dochtermann's plan, he should update it with a summary on what people sent him and their decision soon. This in reference to my claim yesterday that everyone with Quake technology is using DLLs.
By the way, according to Nuclear of The Chaos Sphere (official Hexen 2 site), Hexen 2 is using DLLs now also...... but Raven has not publicized that yet, or has it? I've been so involved in Quake 2 I'm getting out of touch of the other game I'm looking forward to.
Note on format of this page
Just so you know, here is how I and Nite sign our updates: When we do one or more updates, we wait until all of them are over and sign our name at the bottom. Nite made the first update of the day and signed, and all the rest is by me, so I am signing now.
Slipgate
Possible move
I have recently spoken to Blue about moving this site to Planet Quake. He has yet to look at the page and let me know if he'll take it on Planet Quake, but I'm letting those of you who read my page know so that you don't get surprised if in the off case suddenly you see a "I have moved!" and a link. As a matter of fact, Blue may be reading this update! Heya Blue! Just letting my readers know so they aren't surprised!
New finger links!
I have replaced the old finger gateway finger links to links to Blue's html finger scripts. This is because of how much nicer it looks, how the background will fit with the rest of the page, and so html tags in the various peoples' plans will work as intended. I do have permission from Blue. Here is a quote straight from him in an e-mail he sent me after I asked him about using his finger scripts. Note it is verbatim, don't sue me on spelling errors or anything.
feel free to linnk to my finger scripts (you should probably write that you have permission next to the links so you don't attacked for 'stealing" from me.
Apologies
I realize that this page has somewhat of an inconsistent format....... because I have been revamping now and then. The format it is in right now on this page update is what I will stick to.
Everyone going with DLLs
I think I can safely make the statement now that EVERY ONE using Quake technology is a) moving to Windows and b) Using DLLs instead of QuakeC.
Some Quake 2 rumors or facts????
Okay guys, here's some news......... apparently part of Quake 2's plot has been established, and there is a rumor that id software loved the grappling hook so much that one WILL be included in Quake 2. This from Tritian's page (press previous button on my webring graphic to get there, or use the link I just gave you. Remember to go to his Quake 2 section). The plot according to what he has heard is this:
Something happens somewhere and a big armada of warships is sent from Earth to a distant alien planet to nuke the living crap out of it. The ships all arrive at the alien planet, but the alien dudes knew about the attack, and friggin blew Earths spaceships away like they were Tonka trucks! So, all the Humans start to jet and stuff. They jump in there little escape pods and try to leave there spaceships before they all go kabloey. Well, your in one of them escape pods, and you notice that all the other escape pods are being picked off by the alien ship. Apparently they dont like Humans anymore. Well, you ship gets hit (I think) and comes crashing down to the alien planet. You crawl out of the wrecked pod to realize that you are stranded on the alien planet, Well this SUCKS dont it. Obviously you wanna be getting your butt back to Earth. So you grap your weapon (whatever that will be) and pump some (insert ammunition type here) into it, and your off to try to get home.
He admitted to not remembering all of it.
Counter woe!!!
Well, the domain I get my counter from seems down right now (possibly not when you read this) so my counter displays nothing but a nondescript since it can't access the site...... which means I could be getting hits that I'll never know about! Oh well....... hopefully it's back up by the time you read this. I broke 300 hits yesterday (and that's just since April 12) so I really don't need THIS right now :).
Important note to regular readers
My compadre Nite got sick of the bold, also I like the way it looks with the non-bold text. Headlines and datelines will still be bold, but that's all. He also suggested something I plan very soon....... move some of the old news out to an old news section...... This html file has gotten cluttered enough right now.
Slipgate
Some work on the page
Alright, I've updated the Fingers section with Ion Storm's fingers and removed Janitor Bob's finger because its useless to this page and kinda sick too (just my opinion, sorry Fragmaster). I did not include the finger of the fictional Ion Storm janitor Ronny Tepoole. Also, I made this page actually usable in 640x480 (it couldn't be used before because a certain frame was too large). It's not perfect for you 640x480's but it should work. Also, the datelines take one line instead of two once again (don't ask why it happened to begin iwth). Right now this page looks fantastic at 1024x768........ ok at 800x600, and usable at 640x480.
Need a finger question answered
I haven't done the Rogue fingers....... also I'm not sure if they would help this page's purpose. Here is my question to the Quake community right now. The fingers have lately been including more and more html, which is not presentable using the finger gateway as I currently do. I have been contemplating linking to blue's finger cgi scripts instead for two reasons: a) nicely formatted html with a black layout that isn't incongrous to the rest of this page like the gray or white you guys are currently getting, b) html tags (color etc.) will function as intended. I'm not sure if I need to ask permission from Blue before I link to his fingers. Planetquake is linked there, of course. I've asked Blue in e-mail but I haven't gotten a response since he's so busy. Somebody let me know if what I want to do is OK...... thanks. You know how to e-mail me.
Finger updates galore
It was a busy Monday plan wise. Kee Kimrell updated his plan talking about the QuakeC going over to DLLs. Here is what he had to say:
Hey Mark, was up? I knew that id was going to use dlls for its rendering engine but I didn't
know that they were going to switch to dlls as a substitute for qc too. Thanks for the update.
As you know an incredible part of the quake paradigm is based on the qc files. I don't
think I really understood how much of the paradigm I was going to shatter when I nixed the
qc code. However the pain is past.
Here is what I like about using the dlls:
1. Speed speed speed. I can't believe how much faster the c++ code is over the qc code.
This is simply due to the fact that qc is interpreted and the dll code is compiled.
2. Modularity. Daikatana can load as many dlls as you want when the game starts. This means
that one person can write a reaper bot, another a zeus bot, another person a cool weapon
and you can run them all at the same time. Breaking the qc into multiple progs.dat files
would help this problem but what a mess.
3. Fully supported languages. Currently we have dlls written in c, c++ and visual basic.
You can use any language that creates windows dlls. Also we have a public domain c compiler
that we are going to distruibute with the game.
Things I don't like about dlls:
1. Security. However people download dlls and applications every day and run them.
2. Lockie lockie. When you have a serious bug in a dll you can lock up your machine
pretty bad.
Kee
Mark Dochtermann also updated his plan thanking everyone for their responses to his DLL question....... looks like they are going to go with DLLs. Here's the excerpt:
[04/14/97 10:13 AM]
- Thanks for all the responses on the DLL/Java/QC debate. I will post a
summary shortly, and tell you which way we are going to go.
There were other plan updates Monday...... about various things, not specifically Quake 2 oriented. If you are interested you may finger anyone at id, Hipnotic or ION Storm with my fingers page of course.
If anyone wants to know where Nite is........
The reason you don't see a lot of my compadre Nite around is because I'm in the US, he's in the UK. We ocassionally find each other :). However, he's been a help on this page to run ideas by and also helped start things like the webring we are a member of. I may specifically update the HTML, but he's doing a lot behind the scenes. You may find him ocassionally doing an update here himself.
Don't forget to send me suggestions!!!!
I still am accepting suggestions. I decided that I will take everything I have so far on April 27, pile it together coherently and mail it off as our first suggestion packet. I've gotten LOTS of good suggestions and everyone will be credited to their suggestions. If you suggest something to me on IRC I will go by your IRC nickname for crediting you unless I happen to know you and your real name really well....... That's just how it goes.
The ONLY Quake 2 screenshot around!!!!
There is right now only one Quake 2 screen shot around, which is why I don't have a screenshots section. It's a screenshot that American McGee gave to his clan Dark Requiem. I have it below...... looks like a spaceship or something. If I am asked by Dark Requiem or any id Software guy to remove it, I will. Enjoy it.
Slipgate
Thanks to Crash
Just jumping on the bandwagon to let you know that Crash of
Crash's Single
Player Quake mentioned my site, including a link. Thanks Crash! In
return, I have linked your site.
Slipgate
Webring has moved
The Quake 2 webring has moved to
the QNN. The links and
image map are now updated as to this development. Also, my compadre Nite
has a Quake 2 column up there, you can find the first edition somewhere on
the site.
Site now reviewed by Slipgate Central
The site was reviewed by Slipgate Central....... we got a 3.5 out of 5 on design and a 4
out of 5 on content...... not too bad a rating.
Mark Dochtermann plan update
Mark Dochtermann of Hipnotic Interactive has updated his
plan and is looking
for opinions on whether they should go with DLLs like Ion Storm and id are doing, go with
Java, or stay with progs.dat. E-mail
your opinions to him (after reading his plan update).
His plan update is presented in nicey nice html below.
Jim and I are trying to figure out which way we want to go with QC.
Ion Storm and Id went the DLL route. We are considering the following:
QC - multiple progs.dat with a plugin architecture similar to DLL's. This
would allow you guys to use the Reaper Bot with our pack for example.
DLL - Fast and furious but no security. This also gets rid of most
portability possibilities. Hard to make without commercial compiler, and
you guys don't pirate your software do you? I am surprised Id and Ion
went this route to be honest.
JAVA - Not quite as fast as DLL's but with JIT compiler, it should still
crank. Great security and portability. New paradigm of thought when
creating objects, but that is bound to happen anyway.
What would you guys like to see out there. Are you happy with Id and
Ion's decision to go with DLL's. Do you care?
Counter blues solved.
Finally got a counter that a) lets me choose the style, b) Lets me choose the
number of digits it can handle, c) Had no advertisements, d) is free, and e)
allows me to have multiple counters so I know where to go if ever I need
another counter. Remember that this counter started at 0 yesterday.
No more WYSIWIG at all
Me and Nite aren't going to use Netscape Communicator on this page anymore.
The new htmls involved in the new layout I handwrote, and updates are now
beign handwritten........ I'll just ignore the mess of all caps html below
and keep it manual from here on. Another problem with Netscape was hte
excessive font tags........ made a 38K html 50K, you know. Also, yesterday's
updates were supposed to be in teal like today's updates are, but WYSIWIG
editors screwed that up and made it purple...... Fun. But that's not
our problem any more.......
Suggestion redux
Anyone with any Quake 2 suggestions, send them to
me. I will organize a
coherent group of Quake 2 suggestions and mail them off in a big packet
that id software will pay more attention to than thousands of little e-mails.
Where to find me
Just so you know, I, Slipgate, hang out on EFNet IRC #quake and #quakeed
very often...... that's where you can get ahold of me.
Warning to low-resolution people
As it turns out...... this page isn't meant for 640x480..... It's absolutely
ridiculous looking at that resolution. Please use at least 800x600.
Although it works well with 800x600, 1024x768 is what I use to make this
site and what I view it in (although I do make cursory glances in other
resolutions). Motto: view this in at least 800x600 :). Anything less is too
large.
Giggler interview
I interviewed Giggler from Hipnotic to see what he could tell me about Quake
2 (what he'd seen) and anything he'd be willing to tell me about Hipnotic's
next game. I have some formatting yet to do on the interview...... so it's
not up yet. Tomorrow or maybe later today.
Whoa
Go to bpmusic.com, Bobby Prince of DOOM
music's fame has a site there with the songs he has made, and lots of other
stuff including the news that a CD is going to be released this month that
contains some of the most popular songs from Doom/Doom 2. I'm gonna use THAT
for Quake 2!!!!
Slipgate
Older News
Quake, Quake 2, and the stylized 
are registered trademarks of id Software, Inc.