AI..
Back at Uni, and fittingly, was deciding wether to do a third-year module in Artificial Intelligence. Anyway, i went with a few friends to the local Cinema to see AI (the Kubrick-Spielberg film). The film splits roughly into three parts:

• Start: Although its needed for the storyline, i found the development of the psychological attachment to be rather slow going. Rather dull at one or two points.
• Middle: The best part (the relativley quick switch to this more action-orientated scenario was very nice) and it fits in very well with the post-apocalyptic setting i read about in reviews.
• End: Personally i would have been happy with the false (and rather apocalyptic) finish. It seemed to me that this was intended to sweeten the ending. The way it was done had surprises, but personally i found the introduction of rather Roswell-like aliens to be very off-putting (albiet believable). It also depended far too much on computer-generated graphics, which i don't like.

..and another 3 months..
Cleanup update of the Quake & Unreal pages. And a rewrite of the ClanPlay page, now that Sheol is writing his own version.. :)

Other clanges i can't be bothered to list right now.. Looks like the dentist has decided i need some major torture work doing, and probably burn about half a grand in the process.. :(
 
 

Thursday, 21 June, 2001

And 2 months later..
I've updated the Quake and Unreal pages. Mostly it was sorting out links. Since cdrom.com no longer likes direct linking, i've moved most of the links over to barrysworld. I've also done a major rewrite of the Linux page, having done a temporary install to a new harddrive from scratch. During the playing of the harddrive game, at one point i had 6 OSs instaled (Dos 6.22, Win95, Win98, Slackware-based Linux, RedHat Linux, and Win2000).

Clanplay..
..now i REALLY am wondering wether i'll play in a clan again.. Since CoB folded, i've gone for the longest period ever without being in a clan since the idea of clans started.
 
 

Thursday, 19 April, 2001

One year ago..
..was when i was first messing around with my new harddrive and Linux install. A few days ago i was mucking around with my new harddrive and Win98 install.. hmm.. And i might actually have found a working Sega MegaCD emulator..

Da Win98 install..
Couldn't be bothered with the rackmount, so i just chucked the harddrive unbolted into my case. Not sure if i'll ever bother with the rackmount (at least until i have to move the system). Anyway, here the tidbits..

• Award's BIOS thinks LiLo is a virus
• MSIE insisted on installing a modem, even though i had a live LAN connection to the internet setup.
• Win98 will sometimes randomly deinstall Adaptec SCSI cards for a single session
• MSIE and NS6 both have annoying FTP server views
• Win98 requires a different partition type number depending on wether LBR is enabled or not.
• Mouse wheel tracking in MSIE is patchy (might try Logitech's version of the drivers..)
• Network Neightbourhood failed to notice my Win98 Laptop on the LAN
• Maxtor harddrives are exceptionally loud during heavy accress (i usually use Western Digital drives)
• I don't think Win95's Fdisk will allow two primary partitions on the same disk.
• The installer for UT reports 7gb of free space as 2047 megabytes.

Damn..?
I've given up trying to fit another internal harddrive.. ..so i decided to buyt myself a removable drive rack. I had convinced myself that fitting amother Os install was not worthwhile, but just in case i change my mind..

Sorted..?
Since CiX got taken over by Nextra, CiX has started using the Brightmail spam filtering service. And since it is free for those who still use my account type, i decided to try it. For the first time in ages, my inbox does not contain junk mail. Even nicer, it  provides a seperate 'filtered out' mailbox on the server, with a big 'delete all' button ready for the pressing.

Loyalty cards are not worthwhile..
Was just clearing up some papers when i came across a Game store loyalty card leaflet. So i decided to read it..

• 25 points for ever £1 spent
• For every 2000 points, you get a £2 off voucher

They are gonna get screwed..
I'm not one who likes working during holidays, but i'm starting to be glad that i got shot of the bulk part of two assignments during this Easter break. I suspect that most in my department-year have..

1. Not started the last part of the Compiler
2. Not started the Multimedia.. ..at all.

Talking of group projects..
Being the sort of netaholics who like to register domain names for £1.20 (unlike me, who prefers to register direct for £80), one of my rival groups have decided to go bigtime and register scribblydraw.co.uk (or is it scribbleydraw.co.uk..). Only one problem: I think you need to have a LAN connection to the server to be able to play. I gave up after 4-5mins waiting for it to load on my ISDN link. At least it actually runs at all though.. :/
 
 
 

Tuesday, 10 April, 2001

Damn.. The 4 harddrive experiment failed. The 60gb harddrive was not even detected by my BIOS (odd as it was OK on an older version of the bios on someone else's machine). A 30gb (same as one i already have in the case) was initially OK, but eventually ran into problems. I gave up rather than try to chase the problem, though i am tempted to retry. I think on-the-fly partition rewriting, BIOS id relocation, etc, was just a bit too much.. :/

More purges.. I've finally decided to remove my email address from all pages that i update. The amount of junk mail i receive on accounts i mention on my web-pages is excessive. Actually, i wonder what happens if i replace my email address with that of my ISP's spam reporting address..
 
 

Sunday, 01 April, 2001

Looks like the april fool's jokes will be flooding in soon.. :/

Firstly a few page updates..

• Quake page: Fixed the broken links (ie just about all of them) and did some updating. BarrysWorld, Sunsite, and cdrom.com seem to have decided to do reorganisations.
• Linux page: Few updates, corrections, and a new section on compression.
• Home page: Minor corrections

MORE!! - I've decided to forgo the system replacment this summer. Main reason for upgrading is in time for Doom3, and for now, my P450/GeForce2 rig should be OK. However, i've decided to (once i buy it) install yet another (or more accuratly, my fourth) harddrive and use some Lilo trickery so that i can add a Win98 installation to my desktop. The olde Win95 install really isn't up to it but i didn't want to delete it since i am not yet convinced that Win98 is sufficently better. Its gonna be my 5th OS install on this system though.. :/
 
 

Tuesday, 27 March, 2001

Been a while.. ..again.

1 year.. It was around this time last year i started using Linux. Back then it was an experiment. Now it is my OS of choice. How things change..

Unreal.. Decided to get Return to NaPali (for £20, in a pack that included the original Unreal and UT). A potentially enjoyable game (it was standalone rather than needing Unreal) that was partly ruined by constant crashes. Oh, and some of the level design (such as swinging doors that are hard to get past because of the way they open) made me question the professionalism of some of the level authers. Would still be worth it if it was not for the crashes..

Team Arena.. Also got this today (more out of impulse since it doesn't seem to have caught on), but have yet to try it.

The lasy gits.. Project groups. They always have someone who is prepared to dothe lion's share of the work. Not so easy of your that person though.. :(
 
 
 

Thursday, 07 Febuary, 2001

Not quite yet: Well, it looks like BW was kept on (yes, i saw the BW column updates on the 3rd about a delayed shutdown after writing my update..). Don't hold particularly high hopes though.

Decided to try out a new layout of my home page, since the default selection of colours in MSIE (i usually use Netscape, because unlike Win32 and Solaris Unix, Linux doesn't have a version of MSIE for it) looks cruddy. The old one was basically a modified version of the one i designed back in 1998 (i think i wrote the imagemap back then), and i decided to update it a little with a bit of JavaScript and more graphics. I might still revert because the previous one loaded dead quick (the menu graphic in the old one took up ~1600 bytes)
 
 

Sunday, 04 Febuary, 2001

Why i hate web proxies: They end up choking access because the page you want is non-static and the system running the proxy is overloaded. Oh, and the proxy software itself is a load of unstable crap. As an aside, i wonder if TeleWest's forced WWW proxy on port 80 is the reason why a connection to www.cix.co.uk failed, despite the fact i also had a fast FTP connection to the same system..

BarrysWorld: Due to be shut down tomorrow. Another .com bits the dust. Pity it was one that i didn't want to fold, and it did outlast several others..
 
 

Monday, 22 January, 2001

Decided that my last update wasn't very good. However, i think that is going to be minor compared to this one..

BarrysWorld due to close - You've probably heard all the details already. This is not good. At all. Closure of main leagueplay ISPs has happened before, but the sheer scale of BW makes it a disaster. It hosts almost every league in sight, is home to countless clans, and countless players. Many of all three will cease pernamently. Although i expect some leagues to relocate, it does not look good from my perspective. My clan is gone, my league is gone. Skills probably going. Starting again from scratch is not going to be nice, even with the attration of a CableModem and years of experience..

I won't bother with the other (unrelated) reasons why today has been a bad day for me.
 
 
 

Tuesday, 16 January, 2001

Been a while (again).. Had intended to update earlier (when i updated some other pages), but being unwell over the new-year, as well as the xmas workload, i didn't get around to it.

CableModem arrived: Finally got a CableModem in my Bristol flat. Although testing shows a 20ms ping in Quake3, i've yet to use it in combat. I've yet to really get used to actually having an always-on connection, let alone one that can be used for gaming and video streaming. However, having become cynical with two start-of-academic-year disappointments and 4 terms without Quake (within which i had to miss many things i did not want to - such as the QW UKCL cup semi-final), i don't feel any real joy in it. I think CoB finally folding is what did it.

Clan situation: I am able to play in matches, yet i am clanless. And it looks like CoB has fragmented, just as i predicted. I'm open to trial offers (see ClanPlay page for previous experience), though i don't expect to join a clan anytime soon (SPS, where two other CoB members went, looks a bit full ATM)..
 
 

Saturday, 02 December, 2000

Almost a mont since last update.. And quite a bit has happened. I had updated the Unreal and Linux sections on the 25th, but various things (including the host server going bang in a serious way) delayed me updating the news..

CiX Old Bastards: April 1999-December 2000
Most of the details (or at least the ones you'll hear about - which is almost all of them anyway) are on the CoB page. Basically, CoB's way of doing things, after many months, finally fell foul of extreme bad luck..

Ah sodit, i'll give the full brief. CoB has generally had reasonable (if rather last minute in cases) match turnouts, but practices have tended to be rather ad-hoc (since CoB had its own practice server, timings arn't as critical as with BW's bookable servers). However, CoB decided to start having fixed official practices at specified times, and eventually a enthusiastic practice partner clan was found. This was OK, as CoB was overall doing quite well, until the turnout at one of these practices was rather low. So low that it sparked what was, once all the tact is boiled off, a double-resignation from the active team.

So it looks like there won't be an active CoB for me to go back to upon the end of term. Current planning is trying to make sure that we don't all go off in different directions..
 
 
 

Friday, 03 November, 2000

Breaking the trend - In November last year, i didn't post a single update. Then again, my first term at uni was not exactly my favourite. Anyway, i've updated the Linux section. Also, since i feel a bit bored, here's a quick breakdown of various programming languages i've come across.. :)

• C: Came around as part of the development of Unix, and is pretty much the nearest thing to a standard language. Has quite a few traps in it, partly because it maintains some backward compatibility with an even older language, and partly because C compilers work on the basis that the coder knows what they are doing.
• Objective-C: I don't know much about it, but i think it was developed by NeXT (now part of Apple) for their systems.
• C++: C with encapsulation (this aids object-orientated programming) and several other things. Quite nice if you serously know what you are doing, but the language is a mess, partly from trying to maintain compatibility with C, and partly from some very bad design (and implementation) decisions.
• Pascal: Only glanced at Pascal code a few times, and it seems to be basically C with some symbols replaced by keywords.
• Java: Semi-compiled object-orientated language from Sun. It takes C, cleans it up, and adds encapsulation. In other words, C++ done right. It also replaces pointers with referances, and uses the garbage-collection approach to memory managment, which in C are major sources of bugs. Also has an enormous built-in library. The JavaC compiler program is not particularly friendly however.
• Haskell: A functional language (programs consist almost entirely of expressions/equations) defined in 1998. Most people outside university CS departments think this is 'Pascal' mispronounced. It is quite good for implemening algorithams (particularly recursive ones). Programs can be written in very few lines of code: MergeSort takes about 3-4 lines of code, but working out what those 3-4 lines should be can be hell. Early encounters make a lot of CS students hate the language.
• Visual Basic: A proprietry basic-based language, where you use a GUI to draw windows, and then write bits of code in BASIC where necessary. For some reason the auther of the Unreal engine quite likes it (he used it to write UnrealEd), but VB is proprietry to MS operating systems (ie it is non-portable), and i think the language has been redefined since v3.0.
• J++: Never used this myself. I think it is a proprietry ripoff of Java.
• Assembly: The only major difference between this and machine code is that Assembly uses words rather than numbers to represent instructions. Assembly tends to be mainly used for accessing hardware nowerdays, due to advances in compiler and CPU technology.
• Fortran: I think this is based around comparisons that result in a jump to one of (upto?) three different places. Been around a while and i think it was (supposedly) quite good for number-cruncing.

Major update - been keeping this one (almost) under wraps as usual..

• Front page: With CoB now only playing CtF and the dire load times of BW's league lists, i've changed the league link.
• Quake page: Some changes, mostly link updates.
• Unreal: Cosmetic changes and link updates
• Main Linux page: Large parts rewritten
• Linux basics page: Dumped and replaced by new startup section.

Why i think E-banking is a load of bollocks - I decided to give the e-banking service of a certain building society (which for this update shall be known only as alfanovember) a try. Having got the passcodes i needed via snail-mail from alfanovember, i logged onto the website, and (after having to waste time waiting for images to load) eventually found where to login. OK, i logged in, and eventually came to a section that requires you to change all your codes. Only problem is what the fuck does "new passcode is not valid" mean? Is it too short? is it too simple? After several badly written error messages that didn't inform what exactly i had done wrong, i gave up and killed the web browser.
Anyway, e-banking may be speedy in presentation, but they are really just a web interface grafted onto a traditional banking service. Transations are still only actioned after ~3 days. In online terms this is unacceptably slow. This is slower than downloading a CD image using an old 28.8 modem.

TeleW[e/or]st..? - looks like the CableModem release date isn't going to be mid-October. Well, BT ain't doing a much btter show..

hmm goes forth.. - I have now (with a few slip-ups) managed to compile a Linux kernel from source tarballs. All i need now is to start knowing CVS.. :)
 
 

Monday, 09 October, 2000

Back at Uni - and back to using me old USR Sportster (External) to connect to the net. Hopefully TW get their act together with the CableModem.

Linux reaches those other places other OSs simply can't - Decided to prepare me old P166 as its task as a router. RedHat CD mounted on this system and FTP access to it enabled. ISA PnP Netcard on P166 activated by Dos, and the netboot bootdisk loaded with LoadLin (well, thats how trial runs went - used newly installed Pci Netcard for real installation). Used something like 10.10.10.x (ie dodgy) as temporary IP addresses, with no nameserver present. And i did it twice in a row since Linuxconf went bang first time round (2nd time round i didn't bother being as choosy over packages at install time). Oh, and Disk druid didn't like confining itself to a 3rd harddrive, so it was Linux fdisk time..
..and the ultra delicate Win95/hardware config didn't even wobble. Even the D: icon positions survived.. :) Now all it had to do is survive a Kernel upgrade..

hmm.. - CoB (without me) were scheduled to play SuX tonite, after they had played BnL. I did have a small suspicion that they were in trouble (they had several outstanding games), but they decided to default all the Q3ctf games tonight in order to play in some RA3 league. Well, i think our match server was screwed anyway.

hmm.. 2 - Took Dr Belbin's team role tester today during a Software Project lecture. More specifically, in the CF (Completer-Finisher) section i scored 21. Bit worrying when the low/med/high/very-high ranking scale only goes upto 17..

hmm the third.. - Sometimes i wonder how far down the road i've got. My latest book: OpenGL Programming for the X Window System. Now if i get the Official OpenGL referance manual as well.. :)
 
 

Sunday, 24 September, 2000

Must update more often..

Not another one.. :(
Defection season has started. After losing NoCode, KamI has decided to jump ship for another clan thats about to get promoted. However, COB (a bit overstretched) needed to drop participation in 1 of the 2 leagues it is involved in, which was a move that would inevitably cost players (Kami were basically DM-only whereas FT was CtF-only), so his departure had made dropping a league easier.

And when we thought it was safe..
TraZ, who like me is a real 'old-skool' player (to qualify for 'old-skool', you had to have started playing over 4 years ago) has become a victim of RealLife. Pity. I'm not sure when Sheol started playing, but he's the only other potential old-skool player i know.

Quake3 v1.25 Patch - I agree with a lot of the gripes, but IMO a lot of them have been reactionary (on reading a 10-reasons-not-to-upgrade some of the reasons were duplicates and some were non-issues). Anyway, here's my views of the reasons not to upgrade:

• No backward compatibility: On its own this is not a big deal (1.17 wasn't backward compatible either). However..
• Mod compatibility broken: Since most servers use some sort of mod, servers wil be holding back on upgrades. id broke mod compatibility with Q2 once or twice, and i suspect that memories of how long it took them to release the new source code are being recalled.
• Damage through floors - This should have been fixed earlier. Since i don't duel (Quake-style duelling seems to have more to do with tricks and camping than weapon usage) i'm not that concerned.
• Bunnyhopping/strafe-jumping: id should have had the balls to break this when Q3 first came out, not now. When having a quick game of UT CtF i noticed that i actually missed bunnyhopping
• Air-control: I suspect that complaints are mainly duellers and div1 deathmatchers who cannot stand landing 5 pixels shorter than they used to be able to. Need to see this one for myself though.
• Item respawn times: As a strategist, i'm not sure i like or hate this alleged change.
• Size: 17mb. Fair enough.
• No Linux/Mac clients: This is my reason for not upgrading

UT Linux (428/428a) patches: I think they are buggier and slower than than very playable 425 patch. And screenshots are still broken. I won't bother updating my links (Unreal Page) before 430 comes out..
 
 

Thursday, 31 August, 2000

Modemer: June 1996 - 16 August 2000 - I'm not sure of the exact date of my first online Quake game (i think it was in June, but it would've been very late June), but for around 4 years, 1 month, and an unknown number of days i was a modemer. My trusty Pace Internal 56k has now been replaced by an ISDN card. Here's a few tidbits from that period with modems:

• CiX clan came and went (at a point having claim to 'top UK clan')
• Several leagues have come and gone, as have countless clans.
• My membership of CoB has been longer than the lifespan of several other clans.
• BW was the name of a dubiously obtained TCP/IP stack. For Dos.
• A P166 16MB (later 80mb) was sufficent to cause envy.
• In the CiX internal league, there was an argument over wether to adopt QW, or stay with 'normal' Quake.
• Seen a time when a 400 ping was considered good.
• Have successfully (before full version came out i think) done the entire of episode 1 of Quake, on Nightmare skill, wiuthout dying or using savegames.
• Have seen proxies being both banned outright and been made compulsory in league play.
• Have seen Quake being slated as having very slow gameplay.
• 28.8 modems were once considered fast. And getting one meant forking out quite a bit.
• Top Quake speedup tip: Don't download files in background while playing.
• Most ISPs were London-based. Fortunatly, my ISP had a local node (no 0845 back then), and i was only regional cost from London anyway. BT took more players than bordom ever did..
• TeamFortress2 was cancelled as an addon for both Quake2 and HalfLife. Its now not even using the HL engine.
• Diakatana started and finished production.
• Row over QWCL verses GLQWCL
• Tactical training involved knowing the exact location of every single shotgun cartridge
• copy player.mdl eyes.mdl - and that internation team was found out.

MIA..? - CoB had a few people being snatched (temporaraly) by the dreaded RealLife. Fortunatly, the jaws of RL has decided to release a few of them.. :)

BTclosedworld? - Supposedly 'launched' recently. Maybe if they would actually mention dates in their web page's "When can i get it" section..
 
 

Monday, 14 August, 2000

Might be my last update via modem.. Anyway, i changed quite a few of the pages:

• Front Page: Few links replaced.
• Quake page: Updated links, and a few minor changes
• Unreal page: Updated patch links. Major changes done because Loki now officially maintains the Linux port of Q3.
• ClanPlay page: Removed dead link and made a few updates to the Clan descriptions.
• Linux page: Not even sure i changed anything before uploading it.

Been some time..With the instability of my GeForce2 under Win95 (i'm gonna try the referance drivers), and the bad Q3 connects, i have ended up running Linux most of the time (and this newspage is the one webpage that i don't update from Linux). Anyway..

TF2 - Apparantly, they've now dumped the HL engine in favour of a new one. No commentary needed.

Sometimes I worry - Just been looking over the collection of books i have got since October: Of the seventeen, nine are computer related (four of which are Linux-specific). One of the more recent ones is a book about OpenGL programming. Looks like i am a VERY long way down the road..

Pace Internal 56k - This has served me loyally, and has caused a few surprises when i (and another ISDNer come modemer - not by choice) had a bash on a QW server. However, i may well be replacing it with an ISDN TA before long. I've been modem Quaking for over 4 years, and i've decided it is time for me to go LPB.

Feedback - someone recently emailed me asking for 'the long story' behind the GeForce2 bit last update. These details were more or less covered in the Quake section (though the Linux setup page link isn't that easy to locate..)
 
 

Monday, 26 June, 2000

BTclosedworld - BT's ADSL website is so lacking in real information that one wonders if the webmasters understand the technology itself. Supposedly a definitive source of information, the 'When can I get it?' section doesn't even tell you when it is going to be availabl: It merely gives some marketing babble about upgraded exchanges. I want to know if its static-IP, DHCP, or simply an oversized LAN that uses NAT (IP Masquading). I want to know if any ports are deliberatly firewalled off by BT. In contrast, Demon give real information. More worryingly though, Demon say that installation of equipment (done by BT) isn't starting until the end of July. Maybe BT have something to hide?

GeForce 2GTS 64mb - Finally decided to rip out the Matrox Millenium G200 and replace it with a GeForce2.

• Win95 installation: Took a while (and a few lockups), but got there. A clearout of DLLs from my Q3 directory sorted out a few problems with Q3, but now it all seems fine. Yet to try anything other than Q3 though (UT works, but it uses Glide, so therefore uses my VooDoo2s)
• Linux Install: Had to install XFree86-v4 and the nVidia drivers before i could get anything, since the 2D-only driver included with XFree86-4 doesn't support the GeForce2. To cut a long story short, i made a fairly straightforward process hell. Its all working now though.
• 2D - i'm convinced this is not quite as good as the G200's 2D, but this may just be psycological. However, i don't use 2D as much as i used to: When i got the G200, i still played a lot of the Doom engined games, and occasionally even Quake in 2D. Now the occasional zDoom is all the 2D i really play. 2D is simply not really a selling point anymore.
• 3D - The only reason to get a GeForce. 32bit, 64mb, fast, and Linux capable. TBH the 1st generation GeForceDDRs, and perhaps even the SDRs, will go a long way. 3D has come to a point where 3D cards are no longer really a main worry.

Decided to make the update exactly a month after the last one. This may well also the last one i make while in University halls. It is still some time before i go back home, but exams are all finished. I've even got a unofficial mark for one of my modules: A First. Not bad going for a module where the average mark in the exam was about 45% (below 40% is a fail).

Doom3 - Although i will very likeley get it myself, i think that popular old games should NOT have sequals, since more often than not they are trying to cash in on a popular name rather than having the game stand on its own hind legs. OK, Doom3 may be good, but it will have a lot of optimism to satisfy. TBH i think id were right in trying to keep it under wraps because of potential hype.

Laputa - A Japanese Anime which i remember watching a VERY long time ago (probably around 1989). Someone gave me a FanSubbed RealVideo copy of it. Quite good, even if its not my usual sort of Anime.

Mysterious Cities of Gold - Same story as above. Someone had obtained a few CDs with all the episodes on them. Quality isn't particularly great, as it looks like it was encoded from a recording off some US cable channel. Since i was seriously bored, i decided to copy the contents of the CDs to my harddrive (as a side note, if your a serious Anime nut looking for these episodes, look elsewhere - they are FAR too big to upload, let alone e-mail). There is something about seeing something you last watched when you were very young (back in my generally ignorant-minded days).

Win95 - sometimes i wonder why i subject myself to this excuse for an operating system. OK, Linux is very rough at the edges and in serious need of some refining, but when coming back to Win95, i wondered how i could put up with something that crashed so much. OK, i've had Linux programs go bang their fair share of the time, but it hardly ever takes the Kernel down with it. On the other hand, a dropped modem carrier while in Q3 seems to be a sure way to hang my system in Win95..
 
 

Tuesday, 16 May, 2000

Decided to bring forward a few site updates:

• QuakeNation link on home page fixed.. :)
• Unreal page rehashed.
• Fixed Quake page, including adding a link to my Q3-CtF level
• Added a Linux for Gamers page (intended for Win32 experts who are Linux novices)
• URL changed to http://www.remynet.co.uk/lair/

I suspect this will be my last update for quite a while. Exams and class tests are in too close proximity.. :(
Oh, and Bristol's ResNet has FINALLY decided to de-throttle connections after 01:00 (about fucking time), although because of some of the anti-ResNet content on this page i, as usual, will be uploading it via ACC (now WorldXchange).
 
 

Friday, 28 April, 2000

Nolstalga street..
Just played my first real game of QW in months, and gawd, it was great.. I'd forgotten how lag free the game was compared to Quake3.. :) Pity that there are no longer any QW leagues.. :(

GeForce 2 for Linux..
Looks like there will be drivers for the GeForce2. Not sure if its worth getting for my lowly P450 though.. :/
 
 

Wednesday, 26 April, 2000

Goodish day for the Penguins..
Looks like nVidia has released proper 3D drivers for the GeForce. They are closed source, are beta, and require installing XFree86 v4, but they are fast. Looks like i'll be getting the GeForce after all.. :)

Ouch..
Managed to just miss CoB's first DM match of season2. And they lost. Oh well. However, i don't think i'l be around for next week's matches.. :(
 
 

Tuesday, 25 April, 2000

Game editing..
Since SoWat (a CoB Clan member) has decided to make a Q3 editing site, i've decided to take a little trip down memory lane. The subject: game editing..

• Doom/Doom2 - The downside to this was that there was a lot to learn (hence a LOT that could go wrong in your map), and there were a lot of limitations. The upside is that large levels could be made fairly quickly (if you knew what you were doing), and by large, we are talking about levels that would put anything Quake or UT has to offer to shame. And it didn't stop there, as Doom editing knew no bounds - including the doom.exe itself. The (now unavailable) AlienTC even included a patch that altered, amoung other things, the Doom startup messages.
• Quake - Getting together a full set of editing tools took its time but at least there was a wide choice of available editors. The feature set for level editing was small, which lent itself to the creation of generally static levels (ie relativly few moving parts). There was also a fairly small range of textures (which had to be included within the level .BSPs) but since i prefer to make Medieval-style levels, i found the texture set to be near optimal (it didn't take forever to decide which texture to use). Game logic was held in a progs.dat file which was a primitive version of Q3's .vm system (although it did qork quite well)
• Quake2 - This gave more control over surface parameters, added coloured lighting, added surface-based lighting (point-based lighting became unused), and added rotating brushes, but the tradeoff was that compile times became long and very memory hungry. The game logic was moved into .DLL files, which caused a lot of concern over possible viruses and trojan horses but it enabled a lot more to be done (one Q2 addon added MP3 music).

..then again, maybe not..
Looks like nVidia has contacted the auther of the GeForce Linux drivers article that i mentioned a while back. Allegedly, the news isn't bad for Linux users, but waiting in anticipation for anything is an unhealthy activity.

Quake3 mission pack..
PlanetQuake (gawd, i think its the first time in years i've visited it..) has an article on it regarding the Q3 mission pack which is going to be teamplay orientated. I've rarely bothered buying mission packs myself (i assume it not going to be free), but i might try this one out if CoB go along with it. Looks like Q3's award (humiliation, multikill, etc) system is going to be integerated into the scoring system, which is a nice thing. Some of the modes seem much like Q2 addons though..

Oh no, not again..
..and sometime next week it is back to Bristol (complete with no Quake). The term is only (supposedly) 8 weeks but it is going to be brutal: a mere 2-3 weeks and then its a direct collision with a 3.5-hour exam. And after barely recovering, i have a Maths exam, which in itself isn't going to be as bad, apart from being on a saturday (or more speifically, a saturday morning). I'm going to have the consistancy of a Jellyfish by the end of it all..
 
 

Friday, 21 April, 2000

Halls of Dispair.. ..again
I've repackaged/recompiled this level and have now uploaded it to BarrysWorld's FTP site as well as this site. One of the alterations make the map appear on server maplists so there's no longer any need to switch to the map manually. I generally dislike releasing more than one version of levels i create (because of the CRC checks), but i think that noone outside CoB has downloaded the old version of the map anyway. The correct nctf-hod.pk3 should be 2,309,762 bytes..
 
 

Thursday, 20 April, 2000

Console Emulators..
Although it is fairly clear-cut on the legality of ROMs (unless the people who wrote the original game made it freeware, its illigal, no matter what), emulators themselves are in a grey area. My guess is that, for the end user at least, having an emulator is legally safe. Anyway, background aside, i had been looking for a Mega-CD emulator so that i can play some of the Mega-CD games i've got lying aroung. Unfortunatly, the leads varied from a page that had a philosophical debate on why software "emulators" don't exist, to pages of Sega-CD implementation in progress. I managed to save a few decent URLs though:

Emulation Zone
Zophar (??)
Atani Software
Destination Emu

Mega-CD emulation seems to be a bit of a holy grail, but getting a MegaDrive (Genesis) and other console emulators, even for Linux, is fairly easy. Pity they arn't what i'm looking for.. :(

Halls of Dispair.. continued
I've already been asked: why isn't the level included in the start-server lists? This is because i decided not to include a replacment resource that contains the map list within the pk3 file. To play the map, start a CtF game on one of the maps on the list, then switch to Halls of Dispair using 'map nctf-hod'..
 
 

Tuesday, 18 April, 2000

Halls of Dispair
Never managed to get CoB to do a group test of this level so i've decided to release it. It is a Q3ctf level, which is based around one of my QWctf levels. This is my first Q3 level though it will be the 14 or 15th CtF level i've released.

I've also uploaded the Quake and Unreal sections of my new site, though i'll probably edit them at some point. I've yet to decide wether to maintain the new site from Win95 or Linux though (if i choose to maintain it at all.. :)
 
 

Monday, 17 April, 2000

Finally decided to brush off the dust on my website. Both the old and new versions are up. As usual, only expect this page to get updated regularly.. :)
 
 

Thursday, 1413 April, 2000

(almost) no holds barred optimisation - Just to see what would happen, i decided to do a few benchmarks under Linux using a near-barebones setup. Not only did i shut down just about all the daemons (roughly Linux's equivilant of TSRs), i also got the X-server to skip loading KDE and load Quake3 directly. For those who don't know, the X-server merely provides graphics and I/O support, and normally KDE (or some other window manager) sits on top of it, providing a nice looking interface (and just about everything else). Anyway, while this didn't bring about much gain (demo2 was still 44.1 up from 42ish whereas W95 gives 45.4), it did show me how rotten Win95 can be in some respects. With Win95 a wrong move when trying to change a setup can rapidly lead to the need to do a reinstall (now guess why i'm not upgrading my graphics card until i know wether i'm going to be getting ISDN or broadband), whereas with Linux my rather extreme (by Win95 standards) efforts of making background process use very lean didn't even involve any config file changes or reboots.

VooDoo 3D cards - 3dfx have basically been building on the same architecture they had back with the original VooDoo card. While this has resulted in the lack of 32-bit output (a major omission), they have been able to make their cards real speed demons (to such an extent that the soon-to-be-released ones require external power supplies). More importantly, 3dfx seems to be the only major 3D card company that actually cares about non-WinTel users. 3dfx has fairly well optimised drivers for Macs and Linux as well as Win95 whereas the GeForce has nowt. Pity as it means that i'll not be able to use Linux for serious gaming (32-but colour has become one of my requirments out of a 3D card)..

Linux 3D - Still looks bleak for games, but it looks like the Utah 3D project has managed to produce some decent OpenGL-like drivers for some cards, as shown by a recent LinuxGamers.com article... However it looks like support is basically restricted to 3dfx and older (TNT, etc) cards. I think NVidra probably promised more than it could deliver and realised that it also had to sort out the Win2000 drivers at the same time..
 
 

Wednesday, 12 April, 2000

Win95 vs Linux - Recently i decided to grab a new 30gb harddrive and install Linux (RedHat 6.1) onto it. After a few ittitations i finally got the setup pretty close to how i want it. The question is how does it square up?

• Stability: Linux wins hands down. Since installing Linux (about a week ago), Win95 has hung on me 7 times, while Linux has only hung once (when for some reason i decided to kill the X-server from a windowed console). OK, there have been 2 or 3 times where i had to switch to a virtual console and issue a system restart command, as well as the odd anomoly popping up under Linux, but Win95 has more of such problems.
• Software availability: Win95 wins, but not without taking a lot of knocking. The sheer range of software that comes on the RedHat CD helps erode Win95's lead. Linux also has Wine (a Windows emulator) up its sleeve but that still need a lot of work.
• Driver availability: Win95 also wins, but it is a close call. In my case the only problems are that the SBlive (until recently on Linux blacklists) driver is primitive and that the mousewheel doesn't scroll windows (it works within games though). Things were not so rosy on my laptop though.
• Internet/network utilities: When you try setting up temporarly TCP/IP links over ethernet (in my case so that i could transfer large files from my desktop system to my laptop), you'll start to appreciate Linux. I'm also convinced that Samba is a more robust implementation of Network Neightbourhood style services than Microsoft's.

TF2 - Every time i think about this title, it seems more and more like vapourware. Firstly it was a free addon for Quake2, but then it was bought out by Valve to become a part of HalfLife. After that, they decided to make TF2 a standalone game, tossing a quick kipper in the form of TFC to keep people quiet. In short, its been delayed for over 2 years, probably because of the state of the HalfLoife netcode, and the possible hardware requirments. My current prediction is a August release (at the earliest), and i think sales will be disappointing. I think even hardened no-clones-accepted TFers have finally decided to go for Q3fortress because of TF2's massive delays.
 
 

Thursday, 30 March, 2000

Coming home soon.. Time to regain my sanity after 2.5 months without proper Quake.. :)
Voxels.. Read a good article about these. They are basically 3D bitmaps (where each pixel is a small cube in 3D space rather than a square in 2D space), and they allow for some quite good effects, at least in theory. The only problem (and its a big one) is the size of them in memory (a few MB each in cases), so i think they will be used mostly for wall decorations and some (probably only the player) model skinning initally. Blood1 used them, but only for select items. I don't think Procedural textures (where textures are drawings rather than bitmaps) are going to catch on though..
 
 

Saturday, 18 March, 2000

Must update this page more often..
I've come to the decision that Linux is worthwhile after all. My usage of it came from the need to access my email on the departmental UNIX server (something that would've meant messing around with my Win95 setup, which i've learned to avoid). Although Linux can be bloody annoying at times (most notably the availability, or lack of, software/drivers for the cutting-edge gamer), it does have some nice touches: I didn't even have to exit X-windows in order to activate the driver i'd just added for my SCSI CD-rom.
I now know for certain the i only have to put up with halls for one more term. The flat at which i will be residing for the remaining 3 years is still being refurbished, but features both close proximity to the department (few mins walk rather than a few miles), and if i'm lucky, ADSL or Cable Modem internet. I've stopped caring about ResNet, as it will never improve.
 
 

Thursday, 2017 Febuary, 2000

Linux worth the effort..?
I'm coming to the conclusion that Linux is not worth it. For instance:
    gcc test.c -o test
produced the appropiate test program files on both Linux and Win98 dosprompt (verified by looking at the file list dir/ls displayed). However
    test
ran the program under Win98, but under Linux produced a 'not found' message.
    del c:\phat\*.*
Since 40% of my computer usage is gaming (most games are Win32-based), and 40% is programming (in which platform is immaterial ATM), i'm yet to be convinced of the merits of Linux..
 
 

Thursday, 17 Febuary, 2000

Got my new Laptop today (and also the first Intel-based one - in the past all the laptops of which i was the primary users had been Macintoshes). Have spent a long time sorting out the things the people i got it off should've sorted (such as setting the autoexec.bat up properly to recognise the UK keyboard), but finally getting it near something i like. Although its nice that its builtin utils can handle more file types, but i find the Win98 interface vile (guess why i put OSR2 on my desktop instead..). I can't stand the tap-click of the mousepad either (its FAR too sensitive). Managed to get Linux working on it dead quick though, as well as a whole slate of compilers.
Now i have to work out how to get around the fact that my room has about as much space as a Tokyo prison cell and i've now got a pile of boxes/manuals/CDs as well as about double the computer equipment..
 

Saturday, 05 Febuary, 2000

UK Internet/E-commerce capital..?
If your a member of the UK government, you'll probably think that the above is going to be true, but maybe someome should point them towards a certain Belgium ISP, where you can get a 1MBit/sec (roughly 100KB/sec) download speed for about 1,569 (+VAT)  Belgium Francs per month. Assuming UK VAT rate, that translates into about £30-40, and that isn't even TurboLine's low-end offer. Now guess why i don't think the UK will be significant as far as the Internet is concerned..
 
 

Sunday, 30 January, 2000

UT vs Q3..
Since i finally got around to installing the full version of Unreal Tournament and having played it for a while, i can now do a fair comparison between it and Quake3:

1. CD detection: Even though Unreal had no problem with my system, UT did. 1-0 to Q3 since UT required extreme measures to get it working.
2. Music: Although UT has some annoying soundtracks, its got a better range than Q3. Point to UT simply for the better range.
3. Levels: While Q3's levels are more atmospheric IMO, the reduced range (particularly CtF levels of which there's only 4) allows UT to make this a draw.
4. Technology: While Q3's technology is superior, UT has been refining its existing technology, so it is more stable (and easier to get working). Marginal win for Q3.

Bristol's ResNet still blocks a lot of traffic even though its had an estimated turnover of ~£60k this Acdemic year (1110 people connected @ £55), while Bristol as a whole, was charged ~£40k for JaNet access (bill.ja.net). Since this news update was uploaded by my somewhat sluggish ACC line rather than ResNet i can freely say that i think this fucking annoying and is a primary reason why i'l be moving into a flat (with dual-ISDN lines) by the summer. However, in order to keep things civil (and to prevent a rant from turning into libel) i have decided that registering the domain resnet-sucks.com is inappropiate.

Now, with that aside, it's nice to see that the CoB hasn't forgotten about me. I've now geen relegated to playing bots, with some consequences for both CtF and DeathMatch.. It looks like my modem play is going to get wrecked after this..
 
 

Wednesday, 12 January, 2000

TraZ mentioned on his site that CtF ought to be based on flag captures rather than frags and i agree with him, since if its based on frags then the game just becomes a DeathMatch (particularly as captures don't earn as many frags as they did in QW and in Q3, getting in and out of an enemy base alive involves more combat). Heck, i've once played a CtF game where my team lost on captures but still racked up more frags than the opponents. In the past, it had to be based on frags because the CtF mods didn't keep track of captures, but nowerdays there's no reason to base it on frags.
 
 

Saturday, 8 January, 2000

New Video card setups..
I've finally decided to bite the bullet and replace my current Matrox G200 and 12mb VooDoo2 SLI setup. This setup has served me well, but in Quake3, the VooDoo2 is coming to the point where it is maxing out, and in Q3, the VooDoo range has the disadvantage of no 32-bit mode. Now the choices:

• Matrox G400max: Matrox has generally had the best 2D cards and as the G200 has not let me down in this area, a G400 is a pretty safe bet in this area. The G400max is promising, but reviews are mixed, and it seems that there are still speed problems, particularly in lower resolutions under OpenGL. Otherwise, the card is perfect in every respect (apart from being rare in the UK) and comes with a host of other goodies (such as DualHead).
• GEforce 256: The cutting edge and is a real speed demon. However, being ultra-recent is a double edges sword since the card and its drivers havn't really been tried+tested. My P450 probably couldn't get the most out of this card anyway.
• TNT2 Ultra: Tried+tested, and has given good framerates as well as having 32-bit. Its fairly cheap from what i've seen although it is really aimed only at people interested in using it for 3D gaming. The 2D seems pretty standard (although not necessaraly bad) but 2D is not quite as important as it used to be.
• VooDoo3: Since i have an existing VooDoo2 setup that i'm happy with, this card has some appeal. 3dfx seem to have concentrated on making this card a speed demon, but for a modern card, the lack of 32-bit rendering is a disadvantage.

Modem Play?.. naah
For those who don't know (which is just about everyone) i've been playing Quake on the internet since June 1996, and they've almost exclusivly have been via a modem. I've been using a Pace Internal 56k (this is the modem that can give those legendary 90 pings) for almost a year, and i've come to the conclusion that if i want to play Q3 competativly, i'l have to convert to ISDN. Only one problem though: it'l be about April before i'l get the chance to use ISDN, and thats if i'm lucky (not sure if my area is served)..
 

Saturday, 1 January, 1900

Happy new millenium. 30mins has now passed so i assume the world's nuclear arsenal has not gone off.. :)
 

Saturday, 25 December, 1999

X-mas.. :)
One of the things i got was a LCD display for the computer, although it it destined to be returned to the store because it has some dead pixels within the display (translation: Crap Quality Control on the part of the manufacturers). Since the idea behind it was that it takes up far less space on a desk than a monitor (spare space is a luxery in Uni halls..), i now have two choices:

1. Stick with my current monitor. Its what i'm used to, and i'm not worse off than before. Its also perhaps the best thing for games, but at Uni, that probably isn't a major selling feature anyway. Its also less nickable. However, the amount of spare space desk is more or less square-rooted
2. Get a replacment LCD display. My current one doesn't have a very sharp image at 800x600 (my favoured resolution for serious work), but it does mean that i would actually have a decent amount of usable desk space (the back half is usually covered by about 5 inches depth of loose papers), and i can be a complete showoff with my system (with a P450, 256mb memory, 18gb harddrive space, CD burner, etc, its just as well my window is not at ground floor level..).

Just over 2 months since my last update..

Bristol, ResNet: The occasional 5-minute non-teamplay Q2 game is not my idea of fun. Despite that fact that i won't get 300KB/sec downloads elsewhere (current ADSL/CableModem plans are restricted to 512kbit/sec, which is only 64MB/sec) i've decided that lack of decent TeamPlay Quake is one luxery loss too far - i've got plans to install at least a dual-ISDN line in my new Bristol flat. My guess is that JaNet is no longer the Quaker's dream it used to be.

ADSL: I still think this is fiction for most people. I won't believe it has come until i have an ADSL line attached to the rear end of my PC (heck, even Cable Modems only serve a minority of the country ATM)

ISDN at home: I have thought about it (as i usually do every 6 or so months), but i doubt it will be possible to get an ISDN line installed before going back to Uni. Looks like that idea is going to be lost for another 6 months since i probably won't get any real usage out of it until after the 1st year Uni exams..

Unreal Tournament: Tried the demo and quite liked it, but i'm not sure if will get the full version. The music is certainly better than Q3's offering..

Quake3: Got my full version copy. Find the CD detection and CD key timeout annoying, but other than that, good first impression. Yet to try it in non-FFA mode though..

Quake/QuakeWorld source release: Could be interesting to see whats done with this. League admins are up in arms about it, wanting all proxies to now do CRC checks on qwcl.exe. Now since most don't bother to do proxy .exe checks..

Q3/UT Bots: They are either cannon fodder, or complete aimbots. I've always preferred live targets..

UKCL Season7 Cup: Watching from the sideline was not nice. Against my expectation CoB made it to the silver cup final (which went to 3 rounds as the two sides were in turn trashed on their own home maps), but lost what may've been the last UKCL match. The choice of tiebreaker map (Andromeda9) certainly counted against CoB.
 

Thursday, 21 October, 1999

Been meaning to do an update for quite a while but never got around to it..
CoB have won a match.. :) The report on it is on the UKCL Season7 page. The match seemed reletivly uneventful in terms of action (only around 130 frags were scored by both sides combined - the lowest by far) but it was a tight match more or less throughout. Since i no longer have a Quake-capable internet connection most days (i'm currently at Uni - while internal intranet and WWW/FTP connections routed via the proxies are dead fast - such as downloading Unreal Tournament in a few minutes - all direct internet connections are subject to savage bandwidth chokes, and the Uni's telephone system is crap for modems) this may well be my last clan game using QW (i'l have to miss the UKCL cup)..
 

Saturday, 18 September, 1999

Usual situation with CoB and UKCL matches.. :( There is only one match left in the UKCL Season7 and i think this is one match CoB will definatly want to win..
 

Saturday, 18 September, 1999

Things arn't going too well for CoB.. :(  I didn't particularly enjoy adding this week's results to the UKCL Season7 page, which was the worst to date. Hopefully next week's game will be better..
 

Sunday, 12 September, 1999

Added this week's game to the UKCL Season7 page. Today's match didn't go that well but at least CoB managed to gain another 3-figure frag count..
 

Saturday, 04 September, 1999

Updated (and corrected) the UKCL Season7 page. CoB, earlier today, lost another close match, but did managed to rack up a respectable 127 frags in the process..
 
 

Wednesday, 01 September, 1999

Trust Bristol University's *finanace* department to be the first off the mark. They sent me details on tuition fee payments (incuding DirectDebit form) the day they received my form indicating I was taking my place. Incidentally, when I rang up the admission office asking them why my registration pack (which the finance department's letter claims I should've received) had not arrived, they said the packs had not been sent out yet..

IE5 security hole - With so many cropping up, its just as well I use NetScape rather than MSIE (MS Internet Espionage?) - it has its own flaws but AFAICT at least it doesn't have a security holes cropping up as frequently, and the ones that I know about are reletivly minor..
 
 

Monday, 23 August, 1999

Time for another update.. :)

A-levels: As Traz has mentioned, I have gained the ABB I needed for Bristol University (Bristol Uni itself - not West of England). The subject grades didn't come the way i wanted them to (I was expecting, and wanting, an A in Physics, but as it turned out, it was the Maths that supplied the A, and as far as Uni is concerned, the A in maths is probably better..), but nevertheless i got my place on SuperJane^H^H^H a MEng course in CS.. :)

Doom Page: Added a few more level packs and TCs. I plan to either rank them all against each other, or relegate the ones that are not so good, as even the good ones alone (MM, MM2, Eternal, Icarus, Requiem) give 163 levels to play on..

CiX Clan Page: This has been revamped and renamed the ClanPlay page but for now, i can't be bothered to change the front page.

Articles section: I'm still thinking about this one..

Quake page: I don't see any point in updating it. I'm not as interested in Quake2 as i used to be, and the Quake1 part is still reasonably up to date. Thought of adding a levels section but leagues always have the level required on their own pages (and i don't intend to become a full blown level reviewer, at least for now)..

Misc page: I've come to the point where i don't really care about Half-Life patches (i've lost faith in Valve catering for modem users so i won't upgrade while i have a modem, and might never upgrade at all. Apart from the Heretic2 enhancment pack, the other 2 parts are up-to-date, and i don't feel like adding new sections (such as for Unreal).
 
 

Monday, 26 July, 1999

Looks like there have been a few takovers amoung Cable companies.. TBH, when are they going to get their act togeter, and actually DELIVER Cable Internet rather than constantly stalling..
 

Wednesday, 21 July, 1999

Decided to update the Doom page (its the first time a page other than this one has been updated in months..)

[Later] decided to update the Clan page and make a cosmetic change to the front page. I might also remake the misc page. I'l leave out the planned Quake3 section for now as those interested in it already have all the files for it..
 

Monday, 19 July, 1999

Maybe I should update this page more often - i didn't even put an announcment about my birthday on the 10th..

I was thinking of updating some of my other pages as well, especially my Doom page (i've recently been looking at 3 TCs). They seem to be getting a few hits a month, though my guess is that quite a few of them are search engine scans..
 

Sunday, 06 June, 1999

Time for the old coffin lid to open once again.. :)
JC mailbombed - pity some selfish bastard has to overreact to some of Carmack's attempts at putting something new into Q3a's GamePlay..
G400 Max: Comparativly great at 1280x1024.. Unfortunatly, who actually plays online at resolutions above 640x480..

..and maybe i ought to write that article about the history of level editing.. might be nice web-space filler.. :)
 

Saturday, 22 May, 1999

G400... Max??
Just seen some timedemo fugures on G200.com..Quake2 was used, and at 640x480x16bit it scored 63fps. If these values are accurate (this is meant to be the top-notch version of the G400) then the G400 will almost certainly crash and burn because my current V2 SLI obtains 60fps..
 

Monday, 17 May, 1999

Ouch..
BT, supposedly, has been doing a clampdown on people who have been dialling into a FreeFone ISP intended for usage only by BT staff (i didn't even know it existed..). One of the unfortunate fellows who was caught in the act has now been billed for around 681 hours usage at national call rate. Better him than me..

Go in the bloody slot you piece of s...
Seems like politicians have managed to come up with yet another bright idea: Any party standing in the Euro elections must have all its candidates (AND party logo) printed on the ballot paper. Pity to the poor sods doing London (12 parties and 3 independents) as the ballot papers will be A3-sized..
 

Tuesday, 11 May, 1999

Quake3...
First reaction was that it felt a bit Unreal-like. I have to say that it is somewhat unstable (and TBH the dithering on the sky on my 16-bit 3d card looks a bit dire) but the few games i've had so far have been fun (esp since i pipped 1st place before i started locking) and unlike when Q1 and Q2 initally came out, its fairly decent over modem connections..

If you've got a VooDoo2 SLI 12mb setup and are using the 3dfx referance drivers released last Feburary, try shoving this DLL into your Quake3 directory (g:\q3t\ in my case) and you should be able to run Quake3. Not sure about side effects though but a reboot should sort any out.. Not sure about the legality of this so i might withdraw the file without notice..
(Thank to V-Nim for the trick - he beat me to it.. :)
 

Monday, 03 May, 1999

DS, the guys who beat CoB on Saturday (UKCL Cup) had the ordassity to do a no-show against TS. For those who don't know, TS and CoB are 2 clans that (probably mutually) wanted to play against each other, so preditably, DS are not being viewed in good light..
 

Sunday, 02 May, 1999

UKCL Cup - CoB was expected to defeat DS so DS winning here, knocking CoB out of the Cup, was something of a surprise. DS got a better start and it wasn't for some time until CoB really got into the game. In the end, DS were only 9 frags up (CoB went on a killing spree at the very end). However, at the end, DS used the questionable (although allowed, i think it a bit cowardly) tactic of hiding to save their torsos.
 

Thursday, 29 April, 1999

GameExplorer - if you've got a spare moment, its worth giving this a try. It is still in beta and is somewhat unrefined (i hate the nonstandard way it automatically highlights menu options), but it shows promise and includes features which, for GameSpy, requires registration.
 

Wednesday, 21 April, 1999

Serves the bastard right..
According to a BBC Article, someone is being sued by his former ISP, VirginNet, for spamming using multiple accounts which resulted in VirginNet being blacklisted (in other words, other ISPs set up their firewalls to block VirginNet traffic). While i'm not exactly fond of VirginNet, its nice to see spammers receiving some inconvenience for a change..
 

Saturday, 10 April, 1999

3dfx suppresses wrappers
Just read an article about this. Doesn't surprise me too much as it looks like Glide is just about 3dfx's most important feature and (arguably better) cards are moving in the the kill. However, it does make me wonder what sort of position things like Matrox's Direct3D wrapper are placed in..
 

Friday, 09 April, 1999

After some of the CiX TeamFort guys derided the CiX DeathMatch guys (for those on CiX, see half_life/1teamfortress2, thread starting at #127) as colour blind, tactic deficient, and unable to work as a team, someone threw into the air the suggestion that the 2 factions should play against each other in a game of CtF (a reasonable halfway-house between TF and DM). So far it looks like it may be a default in favour of the DM guys as the TF group has yet to make any arrangments, while the DM group is battle-ready (more or less) and waiting to defend its honour.
 

Saturday, 03 April, 1999

16-bit Vs 32-bit rendering..
I finally decided to see for myself the difference 32-bit rendering has over 16-bit rendering. For comparison i played Heretic2 and at a point, switched directly from 3dfx mode to G200gl mode. The difference is very noticable when you know its there, and when you know where to find it. It is an effect that is most noticable with effects that involve transparency (such a light coronas and fog). The VooDoo2 (and to a lesser extent the VooDoo3 - It may be worth reading this article comparing the V3 and the TNT) are going to suffer from this in the future (to some extent i am regretting having got a V2 SLI setup, especally since the G200's 3D, despite being visually very good,  is sluggish).  My advice is go for a single VooDoo2 (for compatibility) and get a TNT2 for its 32-bit support when it comes..
 

Saturday, 27 March, 1999

Just did some FPS tests, and came out with these results (using timedemo on demo2):
 

Getting above 50 for a software rendering mode at 640x480 is a bit surprising. 512x384 is quite a nice resolution to have in software mode (fairly sharp and gives a fps of 81.5) but it might require you to adjust your monitor so you can read messages. If you're going to play at 800x600 in GL mode you may as well go to 1024x768 as in GLquake, 800x600 makes text near unreadable.
 

Saturday, 27 March, 1999

Having had my new hardware for about a month now, its time i made some comments about it..

VooDoo2 cards (12mb): Limited to 16-bit colour, but that isn't a real problem ATM, and it is the tried&tested (as well as by far the most widely supported) choice. Odds are that you'l cap your FPS to about 30 to prevent your connection being overrun, so a single VooDoo2 would be adequate if you usually only play MultiPlayer.

Matrox G200 (8mb, AGP version): Most 2d cards can manage the 800x600x16bit i am used to using but this card will go much higher than this and have a depth of 32-bit colour at the same time. Direct3D is a bit on the dodgy side and the 3d performance is a bit on the disappointing (especally compared to the VooDoo2 setup when using higher resolutions), but 40fps in a 640x480 window on a 800x600 desktop still deserves a measure of respect (i've yet to try its 24/32-bit 3d modes though)..

Pace Internal modem: On a bad day you will be plagued with lockups (although this is probably the case with all 56k modems). On a good day your ping can go as low as 100..

SoundBlaster Live: Lousy Dos support (soundcard emulation has never been good) so i miss DoomLegacy with DigMid. It wasn't my preferred card but so far, i'm happy with it. Most (or all) of the features that make this card better than the SoundBlaster-16, however, are not really needed for games though.
 
 

Thursday, 18 March, 1999

Finally got around to giving HalfLife MultiPlayer a decent try. Yuk. I was dialling into CiX-IP and tried CiX's HL server, and it was like going back to the early versions of Quake2. To add to this, it has this bright idea of downloading resouces while you are playing (just guess why that is a stupid idea). Subsequently trying one CiX's QW server produced a very smooth game. Not good. At this rate, TF2 (which is based on HL) could be a bit of a failure..
 

Friday, 05 March, 1999 (U/L 11/Mar/98)

Had intended to post an update weeks ago but it got delayed as i was going to update it via my old system (which as it turned out, i've hardly used it for internet activity since). Anyway, my new system has arrived (around the 20th), and for those who are a glutton for envy, it is a P2-450 (256mb ram) with Matrox Millenium G200, 2x VooDoo2 (12mb), SCSI CDrom (it can burn CDs as well), SBlive soundcard and Pace Internal modem.. Need to sort out a few occasional connect probs (can't connect to BarrysWorld at all) but its nice having me ping cut from ~250 to ~130 and still be counted as a HPB for my clan.. :)

Quake3 - I havn't got around to obtaining the leaked copy of Q3 yet, but legal issues aside, i don't think i'l bother since the legal Q3test is due out shortly (allegadly).. Also on Q3, its nice to hear that it'l be different (but not too different) from both QW and Q2..

Hacking around with Quake's files - i've never done this myself, but it seems to be one of those things thats topical at the moment. While playing around with the player/eyes MDLs is definatly cheating, altering the other resources is a bit of a grey area. The main area in question is Quad timers. While it is not practical to stop people having manual timers (this includes having a cronometer on top of the computer), it does bring into question the point of banning proxy timers..
 

Thursday, 11 February, 1999

QuakeWorld Vs Quake2 & Q3:A
*Groan* - how often do we have to be inflicted with the pain of hearing this over and over.. Being someone who plays both QW and Q2, i can say that some of the reasons not to play Q2 are reasonable to an extent, but Q2 is not the satan spawn it is frequently made out to be. Those hardened QW-only players out there who think that Q3:A will be QW all over again with Q2 being forgotten are going to be in for an extremly nasty shock..
 

Wednesday, 10 February, 1999

BarrysWorld - by now just about everyone knows about the 'difficulties' that BW faces. AfterGlow has written what i thought was a reasonable commentry (the sort that a lot of people denounce without taking in much of what is being said) that covers quite a few 'hidden' issues. BW going would be a major loss (although i don't usually use BW dialup, i use some of their servers quite a lot) but it is far from the end of the world, and its not the first time BW has had problems. Dependance on BW is certainly running a bit too high..
To some extent, i wonder how much of the problem is caused by people using BW for purposes other than gaming..
 

Saturday, 06 February January, 1999

I've seen the article on a few WWW newspages about the CableModem trial in Aldershot. Quite honestly, its not worth getting too exighted about it (unless your lucky enought to live in the trial area) because there have been trials like this before and they have a tendancy not to get out of the trial stage. I'l only believe a 'going nationwide' claim when someone's actually done it.
 

Thurday, 04 February, 1999

CiX's Withdrawal from MCW
CiX had previously withdrawn from the UKCL and FPL, and has now withdrawn from the MCW as well. The UKCL/FPL withdrawals are discussed below (Jan 30th). The plan (which i supported) was to play only in the MCW since this meant less matches to worry about, and the MCW was expected to be the least intense of the leagues, but this would still keep CiX in the clanplay scene. However, recent departures (some were the usual inter-season losses admittadly, but others had teamUK committments) upset CiX's short/medium term plans..

The UKCTFL, in an effort to counter cheating, is making the use of a proxy during matches a requirment. I can understand that cheating (unfortunatly) has become a mainstream passtime and there is a need to counter it, but being a bit of a traditionalist, forcing non-proxy users to use proxies doesn't seem right..

CiX's future: The CiX Clan has existed for a long time, and while being at the top of the UK's domestic QW scene is an envious position, it is also very demanding. Many of CiX's players have been playing Quake for a long time (2 1/2 years in some cases), and the punishing practice schedule required is simply too much to carry on with (SAS, QPD, and QL have already called it a day). Therefore CiX have withdrawn from the UKCL and FPL and will now only participate in the MCW.
The plans for CiX's future are being discussed at the moment, but until something firm has been decided, those discussions are best kept confidential.
 

Monday, 25 January, 1999

Nice to see that the BWctfL has got off to a competant start by succesfully ignoring the joining application i sent to them over a fortnight ago. After seeing what happened to the UKctfQ2L, i'd not be surprised if this leagues folds.
 

Friday, 15 January, 1999

I've made changes to the CiX-Clan section. It now includes a link to my MCW-Cup page, but i havn't decided what to do with the other links yet.. (I was going to upload it on the 17th, but it slipped my mind.. :/)

For those who are interested, the Heretic/Hexen source code (The original doom-engined ones) have recently been released..
 

Thursday, 14 January, 1999

MCW Cup: CiX beat TS in Cup Final
I've updated the MCW Cup page to include the match report. Havn't decided wether to release my .QWD recording of the match though (it was interrupted when i had to briefly act as substutite)..
 

Wednesday, 12 13 January, 1999

MCW Cup: CiX 228 KOD: 71
Report is on the MCW Cup page. I'l fill in the details of the Final (which CiX is in against TS) once the game has been played..
 

Tuesday, 12 January, 1999

MCW Cup: CiX 140 Dn: 110
Dn took an early lead which they eventually inched up to around 30 - then the tables turned and CiX clawed their way back and took the lead. A close game, but a good win against a strong opponent..
Odds are that the Final will be CiX v TS..

LPBs - Many of them have this nasty tendancy to be real arrogant little fuckers. I know plenty of good LPBs but the attitude of some of them makes one wonder why modemers even bother putting up with them.. I've been in plenty of games where my modem ping was a half/third of most of the other players and i didn't show off (even after securing first place by an enormous majority..)
 

Friday, 08 January, 1999

A 22.5mb AVI of Quake2:Arena has been released. Don't expect to be able to get a copy tonight (its 00:45 ATM) while the Americans are up, but it should filter thru to cdrom.com's mirrors soonish and be picked up by FTPsearch..

Remade the Quake page - I added quite a few more items and the old one was looking a bit makeshift in comparison.. (i'l sort out the proxy section when i've managed to get into the NF-Proxy and Quzmo homepages..)

The CiX Clan newspage has been updated for the first time in an eternity, an indication that the long Xmas break is ending and people are coming back to normal reality.. CiX's practices were becoming a bit random, and i suspect some clans hardly practiced at all. Anyway, the new seasons are starting, and its nice to see Athena back.. :)
Pity that it seems that Treznor has decided to depart.. :(

I havn't got hold if it yet, but looking at the Tribes homepage and a few of the screenshots it look promising. Its a multiplayer-only game (much like Q3:Arena will be) that is going to be targeted at teamplay. However, not being based on the Quake netcode i'm a bit cynical about how well it'l cope on the internet, but it ought to be worth trying..

Decided to redesign the other parts of this site and re-upload them. Don't expect any part of this site (other than this page) to be updated very frequently though.. :) I've avoided some of the more flashy HTML features but since just about everyone seems to be using some form of either Netscape and/or Internet Explorer.. Thanx go to Traz for giving me the motivation to redo the other pages.. :)
 

Wednesday, 30 December, 1998

TeamFortress - I'm starting to wonder if TF2 is ever going to get off the ground. TFsoftware was bought out so the Quake2 version was cancelled, and now its become a standalone product rather than a Half-Life addon with the release date pushed back (again) 3-5 months. I'm not a TF fan, so having to pay for TF2 is going to be enough to stop me bothering with it..

What on earth has happened to BarrysWorld? Their WWW server (which hosts the homepages of many of the UK Quake Leagues) has been down for days. Another wave of Denial-of-service attacks..?
The games servers seem alright though.. :)
 

Saturday, 26 December, 1998

Decided to delete the other parts of Necro's Lair and just have this news page. The others were basically glorified links pages, and this page would've been the only 1 to ever get updated..

Zbot - pity its become so epidemic, especally in CtF games. One of the last QWctf games i was in had over half the people there using it, including some half-decent CtF Clan players..

Heretic2 - got a copy of it from someone for xmas.. :) I havn't got round to installing it, but i have looked at the intro movie.