• Ward Six Entertainment is seeking applicants for a commercial Quake 2 add-on pack. The following positions are available:
  • 3d modeller/animator
  • Level Designer
  • Sound Designer
  • Musician (symphonic-- no techno)
  This will be a published work (negotiations in progress), but the pay is pretty humble. The real profit is the professional credit for your resume and the experience of getting through a full development cycle alive. You will have to be at least 18 years old, work fast, and do top quality work. For more information contact jason@wardsix.com..
• The Croatian Quake Arena Scene site is looking for an artist to help them make a few new logos to complement their new design. Visit their site for more information.

------ August 15, 1998 ---------------

Y'know, I still get e-mail from people that are JUST now reading plan updates from three months ago and are peeved with me for my tone, content, language, whatever. This is the reason I quit doing plan updates of a personal nature months ago.

Coming soon....early benchmarks for various 3D accelerators that we have in our grubby little mitts. I think there are going to be some big surprises. Smells about like this time last year, no?

For those of you that need a fix of my sarcastic self, I have transitioned my personal rants over to the Ask Grandmaster B column at www.voodooextreme.com. Have fun, and don't send Grandmaster B related e-mail to me here -- I WILL delete it unread.

Aug 14th/1998

I have received more than enough beta tester requests. Thanks for the great reponse everyone! But, please, my mailbox is going to explode. :)
/// Zoid.

• Both Teams are Free upon a Team or Flag Capture.
• Teams respawn in their own bases with longer respawn protection (10 secs).
• Defending your own flag/base by killing an enemy automatically releases the longest waiting teammate in detainment (Flag Defense ROCKS!).
• Punch command has been implemented for upclose battle. Bind a key to PUNCH.
• Autobind command for binding Menu keys and CAPTURE! specific keys.
• Players command updated to show who is in detainment and who is not.
• Zoom command for sniping from afar. Bind a key to +zoom.
• Teams respawn slowly on Flag and Team caps to eliminate lag and overflows.
• Player ID optimized to reduce CPU usage.
• Vwep (Diaper) situation has been addressed.
• CAPTURE! code optimized.

8-13-98

I've been doing some work on the Linux ports of Quake and Quake2. There are several different versions floating around out there with some problems in each and some outstanding bugs. I'm ratifing all the ports to use a common set of code for video, audi o and input. I'm also adding some new support such as glX support for GLQuake/Quake2 ref_gl so that there will be a version of GLQ/Q2 ref_gl that is not dependant on the fxMesa code in Mesa 3-D and should work with all GL renderers that are available for Linux (tho it isn't playable without hardware support). I'm also working on building glibc5 versions of the executables as well. I plan to release both libc5 and glibc versions of the binaries in the future.

These new glX based versions obselete the use of qkHacklib.

I've also ported 3DFX's OpenGL miniport (GLQuake driver) for Linux. The miniport is implemented as a lib replacement for esaGL.so that emulates the fxMesa...() interface. It's faster than Mesa 3-D on lower end CPUs right now, and will support multitextu re on the VooDoo2s. Mesa 3-D 3.0 also supports multitexture, so it will be interesting to compare the speed differences between the two.

My drivers support list looks like this:

• SQuake/Quake2 ref_soft.so:
  - requires svgalib, preferably 1.3.0 or later. Console only. Requires root permissions (setuid).
• Quake.x11/Quake2 ref_softx.so:
  - X11 based software rendering, requires X11. Doesn't need root if /dev/audio is writable.
• GLQuake/GLQuake2 ref_glfx.so:
  - requires SVGALib for keyboard/mouse input, Mesa 3-D with fxMesa support compiled in. Only runs at the console. This version requires svgalib 1.3.0 now. Still requires root for both svgalib and glide. (note that ref_gl.so will be glX based now an d a new ref_glfx.so will be for old svgalib/fxMesa hardwired support).
• GLQuake.glx/GLQuake2 ref_gl.so:
  - glX based and uses X11 for keyboard/mouse input. This version should work with all existing GL/glX implementations for Linux. Vendors of Hardware GL/glX implementations for Linux should contact me about testing with their implementation. This cu rrently requires root with Mesa 3-D because of the glide dependancy, but other hardware GL/glX implementations should not. You have to do a 'export MESA_GLX_FX=fullscreen' to hack Mesa 3-D into using the 3DFX instead of software rendering for now.

I am investigating support for GGI as well, but haven't done any implementations yet. Any GGI guys wanna gimme a hand in this?

I'm planning to release rpm installs of the new versions of Quake/Quake2 in the future that auto-install in /usr/games/quake and /usr/games/quake2 as needed.

One of the reasons for this plan update is I need some beta testers to help in testing these implementations. I need beta testers with the following requirements:

• Own a copy of Quake and/or Quake2
• Be able to test software and GL renders
• Be able to test libc5 and glibc versions
• Report bugs and retest new versions.

Please note, a beta tester is NOT someone who gets to play with stuff before other people do. They are someone who wants to help out in the development and evolution of Quake for Linux.

If you feel you have the ability to run this new code and help out in finding and eliminating bugs, please drop me a line and I'll add you to the beta tester list.

/// Zoid.

8-13-98

On Monday of this week the guys at www.qvt.com called to tell me that they had a huge increase in orders starting Thursday of last week. Thanks for the great response. The Queen Village Trinkets guys really do good work and they definitely appreciate th e business (as do we). I also hear a certain competitor/business associate of ours found the QVT stuff cool enough that you might see someone else touting QVT jewelry, etc. soon ;)

• Quake2000.net has been revamped. Go check out their new funky logo, and their new section "Off Topic," where they interview gaming industry people about everything except gaming! Please note that they are currently using a temporary ip, until their permanent address becomes available...and we will, of course, keep you informed of the changes.
• There is a new site called Hell's Atrium which has recently opened its doors. Go check them out.
• There is a new Quake 2 site dedicated to our Korean and Japanese fraggers over in Asia. The site is located here: 'http://q2.always.co.kr/japakor" and is in English.

• FLo Industries Inc. is a Quake2 Demo Movie producion crew, which makes demos for entertainment purposes. They are looking for a mapper and a skinner to work with them on their new movie pr oject, so if you are interested, stop by their site.
• Recon Wars is a Quake 2 Team Fortress based mod, and is in need of several skinners, modelers, and mappers to help out on the new version which is soon to be released. Email Fatal for more details.
• If someone is interested in taking over a Quake 2 map review site, please visit http://www.quake2.com/bestq2maps for more details.

8-12-98

------ Y2K++ -----

With all the media twits droning on and on about Y2K, they've missed that there are some other "fun" dates coming along that are as bad, if not worse, to correct than 1/1/2000. Did you know that:

• The year 2000 is a leap year (and 2100 is not).
• The ANSI C library breaks on January 1, 2010
• The Unix time function breaks on September 30, 2034
• The Unix OS time breaks on January 19, 2038 (at 3:14:07)

Please, please, please don't email me about other fun dates. I've got quite a list and just wanted to share this little bit with the people who read my plan. You guys are light years ahead of the general press and those of you that didn't already know of these dates can at least comprehend the problems and their ramifications.

• The Gunman Q2 TC team are looking for a coder and a publisher. Stop by their site at http://gunman.telefragged.com for more info.
• Armageddon 4099, an upcoming mod, is in need of another experienced modeler. If you can help out, visit their site at http://www.badheat.com/arma4099.
• The creators of Duel CTF, a one on one Capture the Flag, are looking for an experienced programmer, along with several mappers, and texturers. You can get more details on this project as well as download the first Duel CTF map from http://quake2000.net/duelctf.
• Qbal, an interesting-sounding partial conversion for Quake 2 involving dodging balls while trying to kill members on the opposite team, is looking for help. If you are a programmer, mapper, or modeler, and are interested in working on this project (f or a small stipend), please visit this site.

Aerotic Software has posted a press release which can be found on their news page in relation to their future plans including the announcement of a new version of multiplayer quake 2 which will include an enhanced/tweaked deathmatch, or the server can choose a 'last man standing' type experience all within the same add on. It will also include 10 new high quality multiplay designed maps. this prduct is called Cataclysm

• A budding Quake2 mission pack is starting to be worked on, if you'd like to help in any area email them here.
• The Super Metroid TC needs help in all areas, to fill 11 available positions. Drop by their site and click "Join".
• The Shadowrun TC is looking for a skinner to join the team.
• Urban CTF is in need of a talented 2D-artist or two. These people would be doing textures, logos, etc. Please apply before the 15th if you're interested.

• Quake Clan Killers is a new site featuring mod and level reviews.
• Darkened Fears is a new 1 on 1 tournament site that is currently taking registrations.
• Bladefire.com has just opened, starting off with a logo contest. The winner gets a copy of Unreal!
• Jump THIS! has added a new section covering the Quake2 Mission Pack: The Reckoning.

Tag Team Quake Action - August 23, 1998

Sunday, August 23 the Sniper Network Gaming Group will be hosting a huge 35 player BYOC Quake 2 CTF and QW Team Fortress LAN Party in Vancouver, BC. Get out of the heat into our air conditionned banquet hall and frag on our lag-free LAN! For more information, check out our website at http://www.sniper.net or e-mail Grimoire@Sniper.NET.

• Check out newly redesigned clan page.
• The Locator is a new clan search-engine site, with indexes of clans, tourneys, and other stuff.
• If you're interested in learning the secrets of the Railgun, you might be interested in this railgun guide. This guide even covers Railgun use for both LPB's and HPB's.
• A new site called Quake2 Model Packs, which specializes in (you guessed it) Quake2 model packs.
• Discussionworld.com is now open, featuring 23 discussion boards, with new ones being added weekly. They also offer free forums to anyone who wants one!